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Dashie & Me

by Emerald Flight

Chapters

Chapter One - Breakfast

The early light broke through the small, circular window. I awoke slowly, trying to operate myself after the events of the night before. My eyes opened, and I sighed contentedly. I had no idea how things would work out for me, if at all, but I felt like they would. Everything would fall into place eventually.

Dashie had been up since earlier that morning. I could already smell the breakfast that she was making. Dashie had never been the best cook, but, you know, neither had I. I couldn't complain either way. I rose from the bed and fell off clumsily, lying there for a second and sighing. I might need another lesson later today on how to balance on clouds.

I trotted down the stairs to a bit of a surprise. I saw Dashie sitting at the circular kitchen table talking with Fluttershy, who was floating at the stove. It wasn't that much of a shock, but it broke my concentration and I nearly fell through the cloud floor. I wasn't used to the wing business, but I would learn to live with it.

I laughed, drawing Dashie's and Fluttershy's attentions. Without too much hesitation, they began to laugh with me. No reason why. It was just... laughter. And I enjoyed it for what it was.

After we had settled down, Rainbow Dash turned to face me again. "Did you sleep well, Dad?" she asked, leaning on a hoof drowsily.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, definitely. I kept waking up and trying not to fall off the edge of the bed, though," I added, yawning ungracefully and standing with caution.

Fluttershy hadn't said anything. She was busy making... something. Whatever it was, she was making it well. I groaned as I realized another adjustment of mine would be to learn to live without meat.

"You really need to learn how to control your wings," Dashie commented, then paused. "Looks like that's what we'll be doing today: I'll teach you how to keep yourself in the air."

I smiled briefly. "Thanks. I could probably use the help." This body was hard to use. I suppose I just wasn't used to it yet, but it was still frustrating. I wondered if this would be the time to talk about a few characters I thought I knew: after all, the cartoon differed slightly from reality. But, I decided to not make the mistake of procrastinating again, and asked. "Do you think maybe Scootaloo could join us?"

Rainbow Dash's response confused me. She looked like she recognized what I was saying, but couldn't process it. She stared at me for a second before Fluttershy finally decided to speak up.  

"Um, I think... that she's free today, but... I don't know what she would want to do." She turned away slightly. "You could ask... I mean, if you wanted to."

I tried to suppress a giggle. It would have been terribly rude.

"Oh... yeah, Scootaloo!" Dashie cried, throwing a hoof in the air. "Duh!"

I chuckled lightly, and sat down across from her at the table. But then a problem sprung into my mind. "If you're going to teach me how to fly, how will we get off of this cloud?"

Dashie smiled. "I invited the others up for breakfast."

I glanced around the room. Everything seemed... well, marvelous, but it felt so strange. Here I was, alone in a nearly alien universe, in a different body with different anatomy, with only really Dashie as company. I felt my tail flick back and forth andmy ears twitch every so often and - well, it's not possible to describe my confusion on paper.

While we waited for the balloon, I asked Dashie a question. "How will they eat up here? After all, earth ponies and unicorns can't stand on clouds, right?"

Dashie looked at the floor. "Oops." she said, embarrassed, and grew an odd shade of purplish-red. She looked up again. "Okay, that's, like, my one weak point."

"What, memory? Nah. It's probably just your mind getting you back to where you belong." I smiled, and looked off into the distance. "I barely know anything about anything up here, and you only got what Twilight's spell could give you back..." I trailed off, looking for words. "It looks like we're two strangers in a new world."

I didn't hear her respond, but I heard a breathy chuckle.

I looked across the table at her. I smiled, and so did she. We broke into grins and began to laugh. Fluttershy remained silent, periodically glancing back at us from the strange little cloud-stove thing.

We had to act quickly, before the others arrived. I walked away from the table wobbling a little, and called out behind me, "Do you have any balloons?"

"Oh, uh, Pinkie got me a huge bag of them last time we were talking about them. She said I was 'deprived' because I didn't have any."

My smile grew slightly. Oh, yeah, she exists, too. "Where are they?"

"Closet!"

I found them quickly enough, blew one up, and tossed it onto the ground. It was light enough to avoid sinking through the cloud. I grinned triumphantly. "I know what to do now!" I called back into the kitchen. "Get me four chairs!"

I couldn't help but burst into laughter just looking at the monstrosity we'd created. We took the table from the kitchen and strapped four chairs to the legs, before liberally applying balloons to the underside. They way clouds worked alongside balloons was absolutely miraculous.

Dashie sat down at one of the chairs (if something went wrong, I couldn't fly yet). I held my breath as the small chair ducked and bobbed slightly before stabilizing. She looked up and smiled. "We got it!" she said, holding out a hoof.

I pressed mine against hers. "Yeah, we did."

We guided the makeshift floating table out to the cloud dock, and before we arrived, we saw the tip of Twilight's huge balloon approaching the cloud slowly. When we arrived, we were greeted with shouts of 'Hi!' and 'How've you been?' and to me, 'Do you feel any better?' and 'Are you okay?' and from Pinkie 'Holy wow, you're tall!'

While the ponies were loading (precariously) onto the floating table, it wobbled and tipped and I could've sworn it was about to duck under. We tried to steady it to the best of our ability, until we finally balanced it by putting a pony on each side of it. However, I noticed with dismay that Rarity wasn't on the balloon - but it was too late. All of the ponies were already on the little table-thing. How were we going to steady it now?

One of is would have to get on the table. When I offered the seat to Dashie, she shook her head. "No offense or anything, but I don't trust you to balance a bunch of ponies on balloons yet!" she giggled. I graciously took the seat. Just coming out here on the clouds was difficult enough. She was right.

Applejack looked to Dashie, standing right behind her. "Now, please, sugarcube," she pleaded, "try not to go too fa-"

Bang! Dashie took off like a lightning bolt. Everypony around me started screaming, but I heard Dashie laughing. She has such a cute laugh. Despite of myself, I found myself laughing along with her. Nothing at all could ruin my mood that first day.

We got to the house pretty quickly, even though the docks were quite a while away. Dash guided the table to the center of the kitchen, where Fluttershy stood smiling. After a brief chorus of greetings, Fluttershy brought seven plates to the table, all of which were loaded with mounds of... plants. Just plants. I sighed to myself. It was gonna be a hard life.

When she noticed that Rarity was absent, she began to apologize. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that - well, I mean - is she... okay?"

Applejack smiled. "'Course she is, 'Shy." The smile fell from her face. "Probably worryin' and obsessin' over this week's trials 'n' tribulations." She shook her head.

"Actually, I couldn't find her this morning," Twilight interjected. "She wasn't at the boutique or... well, anywhere else. I honestly don't know whether she's okay or not."

I tried to act - I don't know the word for it. Like I was as scared as they were. Compassionate, I guess. Of course I'd help them look when I could, but... well, I wasn't feeling it. I was still ecstatic. Dashie had been such a big part of my life for as long as I could legitimately remember. And now I was existing alongside her, neither of us out of place. I felt like I belonged there.

Chapter Eight - Job

I felt like I was putting needless pressure on Dashie. She had been confiding in me for a few days about her debt problem, because, after all, living in a cloud was expensive. Since then, I had been contemplating the best way to help her. Then, out of pure coincidence, on Tuesday I was walking down the street, back to Cloudsdale with groceries, and I saw a 'For Sale' sign next to a small newspaper printer.

    I poked my head inside. There, behind a counter, I saw an old pony with a light gray mane, wearing a dark brown apron. "Hi there!" I said amicably. "How are you?"

    The maroon stallion returned my gaze. "Terrible. I'm out of business."

    "I could tell." I walked into the shop. "But why?"

    "Everypony gets their news my word of mouth. Just cause everypony's trustable."

    "Well," I grinned, "who said you have to print the news?"

    He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "I don't follow."

    "How about you print a... um... story pamphlet?" I'd promised Celestia that I wouldn't say anything about my world, so I couldn't say magazine.

    He processed this, and his eyes grew wide. "You've done it, mah boy!" He laughed. "You've put me back in business!"

    'Without even selling anything yet?' I thought, but I wouldn't say it out loud.

    "Do you want to be a storyteller?"

    I was a bit taken aback (I'd only just met the pony) but I agreed under pressure.

    "Great!" he said, smiling widely. "You'll start tomorrow!"

    "Um... how about I just turn in a story every Saturday? So I have four days to write it."

    "Okay!"

    I walked out of the store, and turned to see him waving goodbye. I smiled weakly, and walked away. I pushed off the ground and thought, 'Relative of Pinkie Pie?'

    The only thing that I had left to do today was talk to Dashie. I floated into the door and called up the stairs. "Hey, Dashie!" I yelled.

    "Gimme a second!" she shouted back.

    "Yeah?" she said, coming down the stairs a few moments later.

    "Guess what I did today?" She didn't answer. "I got a job!" I said happily.

    "Dad," she replied, smiling. "You didn't have to..."

    "Yes I did! I didn't want to leave too much pressure to a twenty- er- thirteen-year-old." She sighed.

    "I love you Dad." she said, walking over and nuzzling my neck.

    I returned the hug. "I love you, too, Dashie." We sat down at the table, across from each other. I sat for a second before beginning to speak. "How was work today?"

    "Fine. I finished early, around two, so I came back home."

    "Oh!" I said, remembering something. "I wanted to ask you..." I turned, away from Dashie. I was a bit embarrassed. "What happened to your original parents?"

    She yelped, and turned to me with dilated eyes. "I - I don't want to talk about it."

    I turned back to her. "I'm - I'm sorry -"

    She stood abruptly. "I n-need to be alone." With this, she turned and flew up the stairs into her room, slamming the door behind her.

    I was shocked. I didn't mean anything by it. I looked down, finding it hard to breathe. What did I do? I needed to apologize. She needed to know how much she meant to me.

    I sat, contemplating, until the sun was low in the sky. I then floated up the staircase, and turned to my left. The cloud door made a fwooshing sound as I opened it.

    Dashie was lying on her bed, her back to the door. The house was silent.

    "Dashie..." I began.

    She turned back to me, tears fresh in her eyes. "I'm - I'm sorry..."

    I floated to the bed and hugged her with my forearms. It was uncomfortable to me, but not to her, and that was all that mattered. We hugged until the sun had set, and she began breathing very slowly. I laid her down on the bed and pulled the cloud blanket over her. I kissed her forehead. "I love you." I said as I floated out the door.m

Chapter Nine - Date

I finished the story on Thursday, so that I could spend Friday preparing. It was about a forest in the West with a tribe of ponies living in it. I had no idea where I was going with it, but I bet I would figure it out by next Saturday.

    I could hardly care less tonight. Because tonight, I had a date.

    The entire morning, I had washed my coat and mane in Silver Lake, past the suburbs of Canterlot and relatively close to Cloudsdale. I only went there because I heard that that lake had the cleanest water in Equestria. I needed to be perfect for tonight.

    I got Rarity to help me with my suit. I sat through two hours of endless talking about fashion and who-cares-what-else, but it was all worth it, because the suit she made me was the best (and only) pony-related piece of clothing that I'd ever seen. It fit perfectly. Not too fancy - not too casual. I didn't even know that Rarity was capable of not going over the edge.

    When I finally went out to pick up Ditzy, I looked great. My mane was styled, my tannish coat was shiny, and my suit was excellent. I knocked on the door with my hoof. The door opened, and there stood a beautiful, blonde, derpy-eyed pony.

    She was wearing a light green dress and her mane was a little combed. When she saw me, her eyes rolled a bit. "Oh, hi, Star!" she said, smiling.

    I blushed. "You look great tonight, Ditzy." I meant it.

    She smiled, and her wings ruffled a bit. "Thanks," she replied, "you too." I could only hope she meant it.

    I took her hand, trying to steady myself. I led her to the rented carriage, and opened the door to let her in. I essentially did everything much smoother than I had in high school.

    We sat next to each other in the carriage as it floated along to the Tapestry Grill. Ditzy spoke first. "I heard you got a job."

    How did she hear - I shook my head a bit, trying to concentrate. "Yeah, I'm writing for a newspaper...ish... thing."

    She giggled, and I blushed. "I'm trying to hold three jobs together, and it's hard to do." She giggled again, her left eye rolling a bit. "It's a good thing I work for muffins."

    "You... wait, what?"

    "Yeah, my parents paid the house off before they died. I'm not in debt to anypony."

    I remembered back. Damn, she had such a big house, too! And in Cloudsdale, no less. "But - but how do you eat?"

    She closed her eyes. "Umm... I'm paid in muffins by the company, but... Oh yeah! People give me food as tips!"

    I was absolutely thunderstruck. Anypony else, and I would've thought they were lying. But, I suppose, only Ditzy Doo can live on muffins and tips.

    I burst out laughing. When I saw the look on Ditzy's face, though, I stopped myself. She looked really down. I blushed furiously. "No, I - I wasn't laughing at you, I - I just remembered something funny."

    She brightened up almost immediately. "Oh, okay!"

    I forced myself not to smile. Was everypony around here like Pinkie Pie??

    We arrived at the Tapestry Grill momentarily. I tipped the driver an apple and he accepted it gratefully (I honestly thought it wasn't going to work) and I followed Ditzy into the restaurant.

    I walked up to the maitre d' and requested our tables. I made a reservation a week in advance. "Two for Falling Star, please."

    When we were seated, Ditzy began to look over the menu. "Wow! Look at the selection here!"

    I was confused. "I thought you said you've been here before."

    She blushed a little bit, and sighed. "I haven't... exactly ever been to a restaurant before."

    I tried not to stare. I wonder how old she'd been when here parents died? Hadn't they ever taken her to restaurants as a child? Then, a question popped into my head.

    "Ditzy." I said, and she turned to me. "Is this your first date?"

    She seemed embarrassed, but responded, "Yes."

    I didn't say anything, but must have looked confused, because she elaborated: "Well, it just seems like guys don't really take any interest in me. It's been that way all throughout school and since."

    I felt really bad for some reason. We were silent for a little while. Then she asked me, "Is this your first date?"

    "As a pony-" I clapped a hoof over my mouth. Dammit!

    But Ditzy didn't catch on. Wow, I thought, that is so sweet. I seemed to fall for dumb people as a human, and I guess it hasn't changed as a pony. I just hoped this date wouldn't end up like the others.

    "Oh yeah!" she said, and snapped... her... hoof? I was about to ask how she did that, but she continued. "You said you would tell me the wing story."

    We sat in the dimly-lit restaurant for almost two hours, laughing and talking until we had pretty much started loitering. Eventually, the maitre d' asked us to leave.

    We returned to Ditzy's home first. I walked her out to her door, as we were still talking. By now we had moved past the wing story and we moved to a muffin conversation. We stood in front of the door for a while, just talking and laughing and having a good time. When I heard the carriage driver became impatient, though, we stopped speaking for a second.

    "I had a great time tonight," Ditzy said, smiling broadly. "Can we do this again next week?" I nodded. She reached up to kiss my cheek, and disappeared behind the cloud door.

    I stepped back a bit, smiled, and took off into the night, leaving the carriage to return to... wherever it was going. I was so happy right then. I did things that I wouldn't be able to in any other occasion, like flips and twirls. I laughed into the night sky, before quieting down to return home. I didn't want to wake Dashie.

    When I passed her room, though, I heard her speak. "Good date, Dad?"

    I smiled. "I'll tell you in the morning."

Chapter Ten - Approval

I woke early in the morning on Saturday, heading straight for the small printing house. The maroon stallion looked over my work (which I had mouth-written, with difficulty) and his face lit up.

    "My, Mr. Star," he beamed at me, "I didnt know what a gifted writer you are!"

    "Well, thanks," I replied. "I thought it was pretty good." I smiled. "I just hope it'll sell papers."

    He clapped me on the back. "See, that's the kind of work ethic we need! Oh - smile!" he said, whipping out a camera. I was just able to smile before the camera flashed.

    "I - wait, we?" I asked, confused.

    "Yeah!" he continued smiling. "I thought your idea was such a good one, I expanded the idea, and the company, a little bit."

    Almost as if on cue, a tall, golden pony with a blackish mane came out from the back room. His apron (and face, for some reason) was covered with ink. "Mr. Widget, I just finished cleaning the printer, what else -" He noticed me. "Oh, so you're the first writer?"

    I nodded, and muttered, "I didn't know his name was Widget."

    He must have heard me, because he began shaking my hoof quickly. "Of course, Mr. Star, my name is Todd Widget, and I'm glad to meet you personally for the first time."

    A question popped into my head. "Did I ever even tell you my name?"

    "No, but I was in the hospital bed to your left when your wing was broken."

    I stared at him. Why wouldn't he have told me that before?

    "Anyways," he continued as the golden pony returned to the printing room, "I also hired another writer for the paper. She should be arriving sometime in the next few minutes."

    I stood there, unsure of what to do next. "Uh... can I leave?" I asked.

    "Oh, yeah, sure!" he said, his attention returning to me. "I'll just wait for her."

    I walked out the door, my head still turned to Mr. Widget. "Bye, Mr. Widget!"

    "Call me Todd," he replied, before -

    WHUMPH! I collided with another pony, who was apparently in a hurry (judging from how far back I flew). I groaned and looked up from the ground. I saw a really short young filly, with a light orange coat, light green (and in some spots blue) mane, and bright pink eyes.

    "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. Can I -" she pulled me up with her horn. "There you go!" she grinned. I fluffed my wings a bit. "Oh, my name's Sherbet." she held out her hoof.

    "I'm Falling Star," I replied, by now taking this kind of weird crap in stride. "Are you the new writer?"

    She held out her paper. "Are you the first writer?"

    "Yeah, I just turned my paper in to Mr. Widget."

    "Call me Todd!" I heard from behind me.

    "I'll have to read it!" she grinned, walking past me.

    I flew away. I just realized - I hadn't met an unfriendly pony yet. I kinda hoped I would, or I might become delusional. Seriously, it was freaking me out.

    By Tuesday, I literally had ponies stopping me in the street. "Nice story, Mr. Star!" and "Hey! You wrote that story that was in the paper, right?"

    I guess all of this unintentional fame was okay, but what put it over the edge was when I had Applejack's little sister Applebloom asked me about my story.

    I was shocked at first, but then, taking weird crap in stride again, responded. "I'll be writing a new chapter every Saturday. And..." I tried to control myself, "what's your name?"

    "Applebloom, sir!" she said (so cuuuute!)

    "Oh yeah!" I said, pretending to remember. "Your sister told me about you. Speaking of, where are your other two friends?"

    "Ah think Scootaloo's sick, and ah don't know where Sweetie Belle is." She looked at me again, then gasped. "Could ah get your advice, sir?"

    "Okay, on what?"

    "How'd ya get yer cutie mark?"

    I was confused. "I just - I don't have one yet -"

    "Well why wouldn't ya?" she said cheerfully, and walked around to my flank. "See, there it is!"

    My eyes opened wide. I whipped my head around, and I was able to see a notebook with a pencil. "Ha!" I cried, happily. "Would you look at that!"

    "So how'd you do it?" Applebloom asked, smiling up at me.

    "Well, it must have happened during the week..." and I recollected everything that had happened since I got my job. Before I knew it, we were in the heart of Sweet Apple Acres. I'd been talking the whole way.

    "Hey, mister, I'm home!" she seemed excited. "Wow, how'd ya do that?"

    "Time flies when you're having fun."

    I didn't think ponies knew this idiom, but she seemed to accept it. "Thanks for the story, mister! Now I'm gonna get a job!"

    I smiled. I'd let Applejack deal with that.

Chapter Eleven - Accident

The news came late on Wednesday afternoon. A winged guard of Celestia's came to my door, holding an official red scroll. I had already been worried up to then, because Dashie hadn't come home at three like she usually does after her shift.

     My third-to-worse suspicion had been confirmed: Dashie was at the hospital where I was while my wing was broken. At least she wasn't killed or kidnapped.

     I read the letter on the doorstep, then without a word dropped the document and flew off in the direction of the hospital. I was not yet an accomplished flier, but I flew as fast as my wings could handle. It was pretty frickin' fast.

     It felt like hours before I arrived at the hospital, but when I saw the clock, it had only been twelve minutes. I rushed to the front desk, tripping a bit.

     "Looking for Rainbow Dash?" I said, franticness apparent in my voice.

     "She's in room 28, but... what relationship are you with her?"

     "I'm her father."

     "Oh, okay then, go on in."

     I followed her direction, but I was a bit confused about not having to fill out forms or confirm my relationship or something. I guess security was relaxed in this situation; after all, what reason would I have to lie?

     I calmed myself down as much as I could before entering the room. I unruffled my feathers and smoothed down my mane. I knew it was important to keep a victim calm.

     I entered the room slowly, unsure of what to expect. I hadn't fully read the letter. What I saw forced tears into my eyes. Dashie was in traction, both her right legs suspended by wires. Her entire midsection was wrapped in that cast stuff. I could barely see her anymore.

    I rushed to her bedside, totally ignoring the nine other ponies (and one dragon) there. "Dashie?" I manages to say, still almost about to cry. "Can you - can you hear me?"

    I almost died when I heard her speak. "D..." A cough. "Daddy?" I laughed, tears streaming freely down my cheeks. I bent over her, crying - with happiness that she was alive, and with sadness that she was in such a state.

    "What - what happened?" I turned to the others. They were silent. "Was anyone - anyone there when it happened?" I asked pleadingly.

    Rarity looked up at me. I noticed for the first time she was bruised. "Well, Rainbow Dash was doing a - a cloud-clearing job, when - when there was another Pegasus that came from her right, and - and they crashed -" a small sob - "crashed into the ground in front of me!" She began to lean forwards, sobbing freely now. Applejack and Twilight were able to hold their friend up.

    The doctor walked in around them, his assistant following. [Author's note: see what I did there?] I turned my head to them, questions spilling from my mouth like quicksilver. "Is she gonna be okay? What'll happen to her? Will she be handicapped?" I sobbed.

    The doctor turned to me. "By our assumptions, she should make a full recovery in four to six weeks." He shook his head. "But I can't say the same for the other pony involved."

    Rarity gasped, and Fluttershy began to cry, leaving the room quietly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders left, following Fluttershy. I couldn't comprehend this now: I had to ask, to make sure.

    "What happened to the - the other Pegasus?"

    The doctor remained relatively calm. "Dead on arrival."

    The ponies behind me gasped and I heard lots of faint crying. I'd seen it happen before: I wasn't as shocked. I was a small bit, though: I had been under the impression that everything was all nice and dandy in Equstria. I was wrong.

    I asked the doctor whether I could see the body. I felt a huge knot in my stomach out of hope that it wasn't Ditzy Doo.

    He led me into a white and green tiled room, and there in the middle of the room was a stretcher covered with a white cloth. He pulled the white cloth down, and I tried very hard to keep a solemn face. It wasn't anypony I knew.

    "Thank you, doctor."

    There was a small funeral for the blue Pegasus the following Sunday. I didn't feel obligated to attend, but I did, if only to pay my respects. I was surprised to see Daisy there, along with Sherbet.

    "Was it anypony you knew?" I asked Daisy.

    "My uncle," she replied, stoically. "I didn't know him well, though."

    Sherbet walked up behind me. "Family friend," she said. She wasn't emotional, and neither was Daisy. I didn't know what to say.

Chapter Twelve - Support

I didn't sleep well that night. I was so glad it wasn't Dashie, though. All that time in bed did give me on thing to think about: the mortgage.

    Dashie had told me the price of the mortgage once. If my weekly paycheck was 125 bits, and the monthly mortgage was 450 bits, I had just enough to pay that off for the next two months.

    With only 50 bits a month for food.

    Damn. But, I thought, I am a responsible adult... pony... mixture. I can do this. But, how will I pay for the date with Ditzy? I sighed and rolled over. I would have to call it off. I was so disappointed.

    I awoke Thursday morning, though, and the first thing I see as I go for a morning fly (fly?) is a red basket of food with eight balloons on it. It was floating in such a way that I almost walked into it. I read the tag. "Just some help! We all pitched in. <3 Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie)."

    I was touched. I brought the basket into my house, and saw it was filled with different foods from all the different ponies. There was some kind of flat wheat noodle from Twilight, a wrapped apple pie from Pinkie Pie, six red apples and three green apples from Applejack, lemons and oranges from Rarity (???) and a head of lettuce and twelve brown eggs from Fluttershy.

    Aww! I was really touched by this. I set the foods down in the fridge and went to the reading room, supercharged for a new day, and bent on getting a promotion by Saturday. I would pay this mortgage (and repay the other ponies) for this, or my pony name wasn't Falling Star!

    I wrote the story thoroughly, and it felt really natural. It just came to me step by step. This would be a friggin' NOVEL by the time I was through with it. Heheheheh.

Chapter Thirteen - That Time Again

[Author's note: Sorry for the mini-chapter last time. I was in a hurry, about to go somewhere. I hope this clears things up a bit!]

    I had an unbelievable amount of luck today. I woke up at just the right time to go for a morning fly (yeah, I'm just gonna call it that) and Ditzy Doo was at my mailbox, delivering a small envelope. I had to explain a few things to her (it was, after all, Friday morning).

    "Hey, Ditzy," I said, accidentally startling her. Her hoof was in the mailbox when it happened, and it hit the top. It made a huge clanging noise.

    "Oh, gosh! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" I was worried. "Do you need ice, or...?"

    "No," she seemed confused, "why?"

    I shook my head (taking weird crap in stride) and continued. "Um... I don't think I can... can I postpone our date until... Sunday, maybe?" She was shocked, and then turned away. "No, Ditzy, I still - I want to have our date, but I don't have any money right now." Jeez, that was blunt.

    She turned back, all bad feelings erased. (Wow!) "Oh, yeah, I heard Rainbow Dash is in the hospital. How are you doing by yourself?" A thought hit me: Ditzy wasn't portrayed as sweet or thoughtful (or even very eloquent at speech) on Earth. But her she was, in front of me, being all three. I just wanted to propose, or kiss her, or something. But I couldn't.

    "Star?" she said, her soft voice bringing me back from my thoughts. "How are you doing by yourself?" she reiterated.

    "Oh, um... fine," I said, hoping she wouldn't want more.

    She didn't. "Wait..." she said, thinking. "How about we don't go anywhere for our date? Then it could still be tonight." She must have really wanted to spend time with me.

    I blushed deeply. "That would be excellent." I said finally. Before she flew away, though, I thought of something else: "Ditzy?" She stopped. "Would you like to accompany me to visit Rainbow Dash?"

    She turned and smiled. "Can I finish my mail route?" I didn't respond. "I'll be right back." she flew off somewhere into the center of Cloudsdale. I grinned. Any time I could get to spend time with her was excellent. Everything today was excellent. So much excellency.

    In fact, I began to ready myself immediately. I put on a watch and a symbolic necklace. I couldn't wear any clothes, because the suit Rarity had made me was in the wash (I wore it at the funeral). I readied myself quickly, and I was sitting in the living room on a comfortable cloud chair, browsing through 'Ponyville: A Tourist's Guide' when I heard a knock at the door.

    I greeted Ditzy warmly, even though it had been about two hours. She was dressed in a flowing purple and blue evening dress that seemed, actually, perfect for the evening. "Hi, Ditzy," I said, "ready to go?"

    She nodded, her eyes bouncing a bit. I grabbed the lunch basket I prepared. As we flew off to the south, we began talking about clouds and the color purple, and then we came upon the subject of Dashie.

    "I noticed something about Rainbow Dash," she said rather sulkily, "and I don't think she likes me very much." To my surprise, Ditzy looked really downcast by this.

    I couldn't lie to her, because I know what happens when you do that to anyone. But I also couldn't tell her the truth. I didn't know why Dashie didn't like Ditzy, and I tried to reply. "Sh- when she, uh... I wish I could answer you," I finally said, truthfully.

    We arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, having traveled at a slow, meandering pace. Since that comment, neither of us had spoken. As we entered room 28, I felt her head rest on my shoulder. I continued walking, Ditzy by my side, until we reached her bedside. She was still sleeping, and no doubt she needed it because of the healing her leg would be going through.

    Dashie's eyes opened slowly, and her head turned as far as it could towards me. She still actually looked like normal, with a sleek baby-blue coat and a semi-messy rainbow mane. Although she was still waking up, Ditzy tried to speak to her. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" she said (cheerfully?)

    I put my hoof over her mouth quickly. I guess I just fall for the dumb ones, I thought. [Author's note: nothing I write is a shot to blondes. Ditzy Doo is just blonde, okay?]

    I put my hoof gently on Dashie's shoulder. She didn't seem to care whether Ditzy was there, but she ushered me in closer. "Have a nice date, Dad..." she whispered, and fell back into a deep sleep.

    Ditzy gasped. "What happened? Did she go into a coma?"

    "She fell asleep," I laughed. We laughed quietly together, standing by Dashie's bedside. Then Ditzy stopped us.

    "So..." she tried to stop laughing, her eyes rolling comically. "Ready to go?" she queried, looking directly at me with her beautiful golden eyes. They were crossed diagonally, one upwards, one downwards.

    I grinned.

    Our first stop was a large field outside of Ponyville. I noticed in the Tourist's Guide book that it was a huge meadow full of flowers. I had packed boiled noodles and apples, with a cherry pie as dessert. "Not much, I know," I commented to Ditzy, "but it was pretty much all that was in the fridge."

    We sat there, talking. I slipped up quite a few times (I'm not the smoothest pony), but Ditzy didn't seem to notice. I was just so happy to be there with Ditzy, and even happier that she loved to be with me. I couldn't wait until the next day.

    After lunch, I planned on going to Pinkie Pie for a suggestion (I had no idea in the least of how to do anything fun), but it turns out we didnt need her for this. We stayed in the field until five, just talking and flying around, just... having fun.

    I didn't know I was capable of this. I wasn't being demeaning or mean or inappropriate (as I always seemed to be on dates in college), but really very charismatic. We talked about my stories, her mail route, and the fact that I called Rainbow Dash Dashie.

    Of course, after that, I had to explain the entire story to her, which took much longer than I thought. By the time we returned to Ditzy's house (frickin' mansion), it was already 6:45, 7:00. The sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows over Cloudsdale (and Ditzy's doorstep).

    "Thanks for bringing me home," she said. "I was wondering, it's getting late, so... Would you like to stay for dinner?"

    I wanted to refuse, but my stomach said yes before I could say no. "I can hear that!" Ditzy said, smiling widely. "Come on in for supper. I insist."

    Even though it wasn't romantic by sight, I felt a ton of romance in my heart. We were in a (normally-lit) room, sitting across from each other (at an averagely sized table), in front of a roaring... oven. I tried not to laugh at the sheer irony of it all.

    Within ten minutes, Ditzy had pulled potatoes au gratin out of the oven. That was really fast. We sat and ate, talking and laughing. It seemed as though we couldnt run out of things to talk about. I loved it. We had such alike views, and Ditzy brought ideas to me and I to her. We simply enjoyed each other's company.

    When it was time for me to leave, it was nearly ten. As I left the house, though, Ditzy turned my head towards her and she kissed me, full on the lips, for four seconds. It felt longer.

    My heart was screaming. I was dazed. She closed the door quietly behind me, and I flew with what seriousness I had left to the house. I fell asleep happy.

Chapter Fourteen - Bro

I woke up this morning really invigorated, like I just wanna run a marathon. I went out for a morning fly (that is so cool) and I stayed out for a bit longer then I planned. When I came home, I was absolutely breathless, and the sheen that was in my coat yesterday had all but disappeared. Plus, it was only eight.

    I thought for a second, grabbed the next chapter from my story (along with a bundle from the fridge), and turned back out from the door. It was Saturday, and I had to turn in Chapter Two.

    When I reached the printer house, the only pony there was the one with the golden coat. I decided to greet him as amicably as possible, because the last time I met him, he didn't seem to be very friendly. "Hey, bro," I said, approaching him.

    He cocked his head. "Bro?"

    "It's short for brother," I said, trying not to laugh a the strange expression on his face. "It means friend."

    "Oh," he said, turning back to wiping down a knobbed wooden mechanism. Without turning back to me, he said, "Widget's not in yet."

     "I could tell," I said, pulling my paper out from under my wing. "Could you give this to him for me?"

    He looked at the paper for a second, then took it swiftly. "Sure."

    I scrutinized his face, and seeing no expression, I left.

    Next stop for today was the hospital. When I reached the room, I saw Fluttershy seated on Dashie's right. "You awake, Dashie?" I asked softly.

    "Yeah," came the reply. I walked over to her bedside, Fluttershy coming up silently behind me. She looked comfortable, but furious. Her limbs were relaxed a bit.

    "What's up, Dashie?" I asked, worried at what the answer might be. "Oh, wait, before you say anything: I brought you something." I held out the bundle that I had been carrying, and tried with difficulty to unwrap it using my mouth. "It's a burger," I said, smiling, "'cause I know what hospital food tastes like."

    She took it, almost hesitantly, but in a second, looked up to me and smiled. There was a cut above her left eyebrow. "Thanks, Daddy," she grinned, "you read my mind."

    I turned to Fluttershy. "Why isn't anyone else here?" I asked.

    She answered very quietly, and I could barely hear her. "They... um... I don't really know..." and her words drowned out as she turned away.

    'Just being Fluttershy?', thought, 'or something deeper?'

    I coughed. "Fluttershy, could you let Dashie and I have a second of privacy, please?" She obliged quickly, leaving the room like a shadow when the sun ducked behind a cloud. That means fast. I leaned down to Dashie. "I know you don't like Ditzy, so why have you been so nice about our relationship?" I moved a strand of her rainbow mane out of her rose eyes.

    She looked at me, and whispered back, "I don't control your life, Dad."

    I smiled, despite of myself, and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Dashie."

    I returned to the printer's on Sunday morning, to grab a copy of the Storywheel, the newspaper I had printed in. However, when I looked at the paper, I noticed the story on the front page where mine was supposed to go was not the one I had handed (hoofed?) to the golden stallion the other day.

    I took the stack of papers in my hooves, balancing them carefully, and walked into the door of the printing house. I set the stack of papers on the counter, and walked behind it to the printer room.

    "You!" I practically yelled to the golden pony, who was facing the printing press. "What have you done?"

    He turned, smug in appearance, and absent of oil or ink stains. "I don't know, 'bro', what did I do?"

    I snorted, pawing my hooves against the ground. I rose into the air with my wings, the tips of my ears pressed against the ceiling. "You shouldn't have wasted all those papers."

    "Wasted?" he snorted back, "I improved them."

    That was just insulting. I landed within an inch of his face, and being about an inch taller than him, I leaned him down. "Change it." I could see both fear and indignance in his eyes. "Now," I growled.

    He leaned forward once more. "Fine," he sniffed, still holding onto his dignity, "whatever you say."

    I didn't feel bad. He deserved what I gave him. I looked over the story once more as I was walking out, proud of myself for handling that so quickly and easily. I didn't like it, because even though it followed by storyline, it seemed to have become very grimdark. I shuddered. I hope no one had read it. I'd try to tell all the subscribers tomorrow.

    As I walked out, Mr. Widget walked in. "It's not my story." I said, and I knew Widget was a smart pony. He knew what I meant. I flew away just as the yelling had begun. Young, foolish mares have to learn.

    I may or may not apologize tomorrow, though; I didn't want to make enemies.

Chapter Fifteen - Company

I got the greatest news today, as I checked my mail this morning: Dashie was allowed to leave the hospital today, and all she needed was until next Sunday for her limbs to heal. Doctors can be wrong, right? Her right legs'll still be in slings, but she dosen't have to be in the hospital anymore.

    By noon, I had turned in my second chapter and attended the small funeral for the blue Pegasus. I was still a bit downcast from the little ceremony, but that was cancelled by the lrospec of Dashie coming home. I was gonna throw a welcome-back party for Dashie, but I didnt know too may ponies, so I just decided to invite... well, everypony I knew by then.

    I flew by their houses individually (PHONES Y U NO EXIST) to invite them: I was planning on a potluck. My fridge was still essentially empty, because I only got paid yesterday and I haven't been grocery shopping yet.

    Twilight was first on the list. "Sure, Mr. Star!" she replied, "but I'll need to bring Spike, you know."

    "Yeah, she'll need to bring Spike!" I heard Spike yell from the back of the library.

    Next was Sweet Apple Acres. "Permission to enter bucking territory?" I called to Applejack playfully.

    "Oh, good mornin', Mr. Star!" she stopped her harvest for a minute. "What can ah do ya for?"

    After my invitation, she used a long, complicated Southern metaphor that I'm not even gonna try to remember in response. But it meant yes. "Can ah bring Big Mac and Applebloom?" she asked. I nodded. Today's party was gonna be huge.

    I stopped by at Sherbet's and Daisy's before flying over to Ditzy's. I hoped Dashie wouldn't be too pissed to see her, but I invited her anyway. I knew Dashie would get over it eventually.

    I arrived at Pinkie Pie's shortly after. "Pinkie?" I called through Sugarcube Corner's door.

    "Oh, hi, Mr. Star!!" she said, peppy as usual. She had just pulled a warm tray of cupcakes out of the oven. "You wanna try a cupcake?"

    "Maybe later," I said, smiling, "I just came over to invite ou to a party I'm hav-"

    "A PARTY?"

    "Yeah, a -"

    "YESOHYESOHYESOHYES!!!" she shouted, bouncing around the room.

    I explained the concept a potluck (without too much difficulty), and then I only had two more stops: Fluttershy and Rarity. Next up: Rarity.

    "Why?" she asked, right off the bat.

    "It's a welcome-back party." I said, "because Rainbow Dash is coming home from the hospital today."

    "Oh, well then yes, darling! Why didn't you say so sooner?" she said, promising to bring the best gift ever. As long as she brought food.

    Lastly (but not leastly) was Fluttershy. I traveled quickly to her cottage, dodging the birds that seemed to group in a higher concentration near Fluttershy's house. I knocked at the door twice, but couldn't hear any action coming form inside. "Fluttershy?" I peered in through the peephole.

    Then I heard a singing comin from the backyard. That pretty much confirmed that Fluttershy was int he garden. I was thinking up a comical situation in my head (Fluttershy radar, boop boop boop) when Fluttershy had come up beside me.

    I almost fell over. Ninja pony? I think not. "Hello, Mr. Star, sir." she said, still apparently not fully trusting in me yet. I had to make this quick.

    I was barely able to get my explanation out before she complied. I was relieved at the speed of our conversation, and flew away, to the hospital, to pick up Dashie (literally).

    When I arrived back, pushing Dashie in a special cloud wheelchair, I noticed that Pinkie Pie had basically vomited party all over the cloud house. It was totally decked out with streamers and there was confetti on the ground, with a big banner reading "Welcome Home" in rainbow paint. Clever.

    I rolled (floated?) the cloud-chair into the house, and a huge "SURPRISE!!!" jumped back at us. The party had just started.

   Dashie was beginning to roll herself around with her left legs, while I went to check out the (already-set-up!) food tables. I saw that each pony brought something different: Twilight brought a huge casserole, decked out with... casserole... ingredients. I don't know what goes in a casserole. Ditzy brought muffins. (Ya don't say?) Rarity brought a fancy, prepared fish that seemed to already been eaten off of (I found out later that it was just that good of a fish). Fluttershy had brought a really big bowl of Caesar salad, with eggs and olives to complete it.

    Last were the desserts. Oh my God, the desserts. Well, first off, Sherbet brought sherbet. Duh. Ans Daisy brought a type of crunchy cookie candy thing that looked excellent. Applejack and her family had blown the idea to shreds, overdoing it is such a delicious-looking way my mouth watered. Apple strudel, apple pie, apple crunch cake (yeah, there's a thing called apple crunch cake), and ever other apple-related dessert you could think of.

    But I think Pinkie Pie's section was just flat-out overwhelming. There were cakes and cupcakes and brownies and scones and RRGH. 'I think I'm gonna get diabetes', I thought, 'but it'll be worth it.'

    The party lasted until two in the morning, when Applejack and her family left. A little while after, Pinkie fell asleep, and the party pretty much died from there. I carried Pinkie (to my great embarrassment) back to the Sugarcube Corner, and when I returned, all but Dashie and Fluttershy had left, and they were sleeping next to each otheron the couch Dashie's right limbs at comfortable position.

    I tried not to laugh as I finally saw why had been keeping all the earth ponies up: tons of popped balloons, with hoofprints on them, were too light to fall through the cloud floor. I wondered why I hadn't wondered that before.

    I left both ponies on the couch, sleeping soundly. The living room was silent, and I flipped off the lights and I left it. "Sweet dreams, Dashie," I whispered.

Chapter Sixteen - Substitution

Monday came slowly, and when I woke up, I could still vividly remember three individual dreams. I was up at about dawn, and when I returned home from my morning fly (I'm using it casually), I saw a mound of presents sitting wrapped on the kitchen table. There was at least one present from everypony there at last night's party.

    I didn't need to act too quickly, because I knew that Dashie would be sleeping for two more hours. I picked up each one, individually, and stuck them as hidden as I could in the walk-in closet upstairs, between our two bedrooms.

    When Dashie finally woke up, I helped her get back into her cloud-chair and she brought herself to the kitchen table. I set a piece of toast with butter in front of it, and she bit into it, still groggy.

    "Hey!" she complained. "This is cold!"

    "Well, it would've been warm I you were up at eight."

    She thought for a second, then wolfed down her toast and floated quickly to the door. "I gotta go." I smiled. "I still have stuff to do today, like I have to make it rain over Sweet Apple-"

    "Dashie!" I said, starting to laugh. "I know this stuff's important, but you can't fly unil next Sunday!" I stood up and floated her back to the table. "I'll do it for you."

    She stared up at me. "You really think you know how?"

    "Well, yeah, you've been doing since you were eight." I floated out the door. "How hard can it be?"

    "RRRGH!" I tore through the clouds in frustration. I'd been trying to make this cloud rain for an hour. It was about noon, and the sun was killing me. I groaned, and laid on top of the big grey cloud that I was trying to make work.

    BOOM!! A bolt of lightning zoomed out of the cloud under me. I gasped and flew into the air. Just then, a bright (I mean, really bright; almost neon) purple Pegasus flew towards me from the clouds. "Hey, hey, dude, what are you tryna do?"

    I looked down. I had accidentally scorched an apple tree. I grimaced, and turned back to the pony in front of me. I saw that his cutie mark was a black cloud and three raindrops. "HELP MEEE!" I cried, falling backwards onto the cloud. "I've got no idea how to do this!"

   "Well, why are you, then?"

   I tried to explain what had happen to Rainbow Dash, and he sighed. "I remember her. The one with the rainbow mane." I became interested. "I was the one who brought her in."

    "What, to the hospital?" I said. This Pegasus had saved my Dashie. "Thank you," I said, holding out my hoof.

    We got off to a pretty good start, and he began teaching me about clouds, and when they were ready to rain, and the sweet spot to hit them.

    I practiced until about three, and I thought by then I was pretty good at it. I had a feeling I would enjoy doing this for the next week. "Thanks, uh..." I started.

    "Oh, I'm Raindrop." he said, laughing. "Why didn't I tell you before?"

    "Hey, did you ever meet Rainbow Dash before?" I asked. "I mean, aside from..."

    "No, I just felt compelled to help a stranger in need." he replied. Nice guy.

    "You know what, I feel like I owe you something." I said. "You ever read my article in the Storywheel?"

    "Oh, that's you? Nice story, dude."

    "Yeah, thanks," I replied. "Well, anyways, I think I'll make you a character."

    His face lit up (more than it would have because of the neon purple). "Oh, awesome!" he said, grinning. "You really will?" I nodded. "I'm gonna be in a story, I'm gonna be in a story..." he flew off singing.

    I finished off Dashie's job list before returning to find her in bed. It must have taken her all day to get up those stairs. I smiled. I knew she'd be up for dinner, though.

    I decided to start writing right away. I knew that this would be a long chapter.

Chapter Seventeen - Congrats

I had been enjoying myself immensely. Every time I went out to complete Dashie's job list, I had a huge amount of fun. I could tell why she liked the job. I guess it was just a cool experience for somepony like me to see clouds rain by my command. It was certainly a boost for the ego.

    When I returned home on Tuesday, I saw a pile of brightly- colored wrapping paper and envelopes to greet me. After shoving the lot into a garbage bag, I floated up to Dashie's room. She was laughing so loudly, I could hear her from the kitchen.

    [Author's paragraph: When you walk into the house, to the right is a window and a cabinet, and to the left is the table, the oven and fridge, and the doorway into the living room, also the library. Right behind the table is the staircase, going to the left. At the top, directly to the right, is Dashie's room, then a walk-in closet, then Star's room. Then the hallway empties into the bathroom.]

    I knocked briefly on the cloud door to Dashie's bedroom and the laughing stopped quickly.

I heard shuffling and then the door swung open. "Hi, Dad!" she said, still giggling a bit under her breath.

    I saw behind her a huge mess of objects, all clustered on the bed so they wouldn't fall through the floor (special spider-web material, very strong but buoyant). I saw a huge, thick joke book, a purple flame in a jar, a large green apple made of wood that was open and twinkling music, a thick rubber mat, two mugs (one saying "#1" and one saying "Paleontology Squirrel"), a small maple box, and a beautiful blue dress with a rainbow trim that I thought would look great on Dashie.

    "So, uh..." I started.

    "I," she declared triumphantly, "found your stash." She giggled. "I've been lying around the house all day for three days. The house isn't really that big."

    I tried to look shocked, although I pretty much knew she would find them. "But how?" I said dramatically. "I'd hidden them in the last spot you would look!" I put my hoof on my forehead and fell backwards. "Oh, howEVER did you FIND them?"

    "Are you TRYING to sound like Rarity?" she was laughing. "Cause it's working!"

    "Ha ha, okay, got it." I walked into the room. "So, what'd you get?"

    "Well..." she began. She explained each one, and gave me a brief explanation on the Paleontology Squirrel mug. "See, when Fluttershy and I were in the woods one day, she saw a squirrel digging through the dirt. She checked out what it was doing, and before she could get too close, the squirrel pulls an animal skull out of the ground!" She laughed. "It's still on display in the Canterlot museum."

    Apparently, the thick rubber thing was a floating skateboard. You use the air currents to move it around. Dashie offered to let me try it, but I wouldn't go within two feet of that thing.

    A huge shock came on Wednesday. I was sitting down to finish up my chapter a bit early, and I was stuck on how to put in Raindrop. Once I figured it out, though, it made quite a nice subplot.

    Then, I heard a voice that scared the crap out of me. From right over my shoulder, I heard: "Dude, make me look cooler."

    I jumped, literally, like, three feet into the air. "Nyaaagh!" That was the exact sound I made. I turned my head to see Raindrop, followed by a sweet-cream and yellow pony. Dashie was sitting on her cloud-chair in the doorway.

    "Hey, uh, um -" I stammered, "how - why - did I even give you my address?"

    "It's in the paper."

    "Oh. So, uh... why are you here?" I said, trying to recover.

    I introduced myself to the yellow pony. "Hi, I'm Lemon Yellow," she said softly, a direct contrast to Raindrop's rough bass voice. "It's nice to finally meet you..."

    Her voice substantially lowered the stress in the room. In fact, that's how I recovered from a writer's block I had later. Raindrop answered my question: "We just came over to invite you to our wedding tomorrow," he said cheerfully.

    I raised my eyebrows. "Getting married, huh?" I smiled. "How long have you two known each other?"

    Raindrop spoke with the excited air of, well, an engaged pony. "We've been dating for a year, and I asked her yesterday," he said. She showed me her necklace.

    "Oh, so a necklace is a symbol of engagement?"

    "Well, yeah. Everypony knows that, right?" Raindrop said like I didn't know what I was talking about. He was right: I didn't.

    "Dashie," I said, looking over at the door, "just got a dress recently, and that would be a perfect opportunity for her to use it."

    "Great," Raindrop said, turning away, "see you tomorrow at four!"

    "Wait," I stopped him. "Why did you invite me?"

    He turned back to me and grinned. "I know you'd do the same for me."

    Dashie looked beautiful. She was dressed in Rarity's (genius) dress, had her hair done a bit, and put on the necklace that was in the small maple box she got from Ditzy. She looked like a princess.

    The ceremony was short and sweet, but the reception was long and sweet. Considering that the event was catered by Pinkie, how could it not be sweet? I had a great time, talking and laughing with everyone. I actually knew most of them by this point. However, one appearance surprised me: apparently Ditzy Doo is the cousin of the bride.

    Ditzy and I had long conversations together, and we danced twice. Also, I saw a great coincidence happen: when the bride threw the bouquet, Ditzy caught it.

    Was it a coincidence, or was it more?

Chapter Eighteen - Desicions

An idea entered my head late at night. So many things have been going on, including the fact that my third date with Ditzy was tonight. The past week had been great, and I was actually thinking of getting a job as a weather-pony even after Dashie had healed on Sunday.

    I wondered about my future, and whether I would have a great life. My dreams had never been huge, and it remained even after my transformation. My dream for this, my new life, was simply a good job and a good family.

    I just needed work on the family part.

    Don't get me wrong, I really did (and still do) love Dashie as a daughter ever since I found her, but something was missing. I realized that the marriage between Raindrop and Lemon Yellow made me see: I wanted what they had.

    I thought about everything, and I saw that all I wanted... was Ditzy.

    This came suddenly and profoundly, like a lighting bolt from a deep black cloud. I was amazed that I even thought it, because it seemed like it wasn't supposed to happen - but it also felt so right.

    I would give it a few weeks, hoping that we would continue our every-Friday thing, and I knew by last time that she showed an intrest in me. This gave me a hope, and it made me feel like what I planned on doing would succed. I knew then that I had to go through with this idea.

    In two weeks, I would propose to Ditzy.

    I woke up well-rested, and did everything I usually did in the morning, while tonight was still heavy in my mind. I finished Dashie's job list as quickly as I could, so that I could come back and begin getting ready. I was really happy for tonight, but I was also really nervous about my idea.

    I didn't tell anybody. At least not today. My anxiousness depleted slightly after I saw Raindrop at work, with Lemon Yellow waiting below. They were both grinning eat-to-ear, and Raindrop barely paid attention to anyone else, only to her. I wanted that.

    I took great care to dress that night, actually buying a vest right after work, because I knew Ditzy had seen my other vest before. I dressed in a new, actually very good-looking outfit, and styled my mane as well as I could without Rarity's help.

    I didn't look bad. I looked great, actually. That definitely helped lower my anxiousness. I took a carriage over to Ditzy's, taking my time as it was still light out. I touched down in front of Ditzy's house, trying to gather myself. I didn't even have to knock.

    The door swung open, and Ditzy was stepped out from behind it. It seemed that every time we went out, she was wearing a more and more beautiful dress. This time, she was wearing a pale yellow sundress that matched her eyes and mane. She lit up the dark room behind her as she stepped into the dying daylight.

    I took her hoof in mine, and led her to the carriage. Tonight, we were heading for Pathway Palace, a semi-fancy restaurant on the road between Ponyville and Canterlot. It wouldn't take us long to get there.

    "You look beautiful tonight," I commented. I was telling the truth: her dress was perfect for her.

    "Thanks," she replied, giggling. "I've never seen that vest before."

    "Actually, I got it just for tonight," I responded, trying my best not to be awkwards. I wasn't in the same mood tonight as I had been the other two: the decision I wanted to make was still hanging in my mind.

    We arrived in a few minutes. I helped her off the carriage, and we walked side-by-side into the restaurant. It was dimly lit, and decorated with white marble and old Canterlot armor and family crests. The ceiling was twelve feet high, which was much more for a pony than a human.

    This would set the mood perfectly for tonight - seriousness. I would try to figure out what she thought of me. I looked over to her. She was looking up and around in awe at the decorations. 'Tonight wouldn't be so different,' I thought, 'because it's worked so well before. No, it would be better.'

    We were seated quickly; there were few ponies in the restaurant, talking quietly and eating slowly. I didn't recognize any. She spoke first. "You're being quiet tonight," she said.

    "Am I?" I replied, looking back at her. "I am! Oh, n- I-"

    She laughed. "I kind of like it," she said quietly. I blushed a bit, and looked down at the menu. I thought Ditzy was being quiet, too; maybe she had something on her mind like me.

    We conversed quietly, and I was surprised at how sophisticated she could be. In some subjects, she knew a lot more than I did. We talked about the strangest things, one blending into another in the strangest ways. Many questions were left unanswered, but it didn't matter; we were just having a great conversation.

    The date went really well, and I brought Ditzy back to her home only just after midnight. I left the carriage (I actually told him to leave), and I returned to Ditzy, who was standing on her doorstep. She spoke before I did.

    "Would you like an after-dinner drink?"

    I was confused. I didn't know there was alcohol in Equestria at all. Hmm.

    Weeeeell, it turns out I was right. We had apple cider, which I assumed was the strongest drink in Equestria. I wouldnt be surprised if Celestia had a personal stash, though.

    We were sitting on the cloud couch, talking for the better part of an hour, before we reached an odd point in our conversation. It was about love. She had been talking about how she had had a crush on someone in her flying school.

    "Have you ever liked someone a lot, Star?" she asked.

    "Not until two-" Oh. Heh.

    She looked at me. "Did you... do you mean us?" she said.

    Us?

    I blushed deeply. I swallowed, trying to keep control. "Y-yes, I do."

    She blushed, too, and a small moment of silence followed. Then she leaned in and we kissed, deeply and romantically. I could tell she hadn't before, but neither had I, and we worked together well. My head felt like bursting with happiness, with the joy and innocence of a first love.

    My eyes closed, and I moved back, until we were leaning together comfortably. We stopped for a second, and I brushed her hair out of her eyes. They had focused slightly, but not much, still giving her a sweet, innocent air. I leaned in again, and we kissed for what felt like hours, but it was in reality only about four minutes. I didn't want it to end.

    It did, though, eventually, and we stared at each other. I smiled, and she smiled back. What was next? What did I do?

    I'll tell you what I did. I got up, and left quietly. It didn't seem cold, or awkward, though; it felt expected, but also like it would happen again. I flew to the house and fell asleep peacefully with this feeling.

Chapter Nineteen - Sooner

On Sunday, Dashie finally got her cast off. The only problem was that she tried to fly the se one she came out, and she had cast-trophy. It's like atrophy, but it's not permanent; anyways, she has to go to physical therapy for the next three days.

    Three days? Wow, ponies heal quickly. As a human, it could take weeks or months to regenerate muscle fully. I'm glad I was transformed when I was transported [or this would be another Human-in-Equestria fic. I hate those]. Well, at least I could be a weather-pony for a little longer.

    Monday came around, and I asked Raindrop everything I could about pony marriage at work. He explained the concept, most or which was the same as human marriage. You find the right ring (necklace) and just ask. Then, there's a ceremony, and you get married. That's it.

    Now I just actually have to do it.

    I wondered sometimes during the next few days whether I was rushing into this, but I thought I wasn't.  Plus, Friday night really gave a second wind to my courage.

    On Wednesday, Dashie finished up her physical therapy, and was just as strong and fast as ever. I was glad the event hadn't crippled her. She took her job back, and we were back to our usual schedule. On Thursday. I applied at the weather facility in central Cloudsdale as a weather-pony.

    Things just in general went great, and I had the job all set up so I could start tomorrow. I had a good life,  but I wanted it to be great. I had a huge savings account by this point (after all, rent dosen't increase per pony in a house), and I decided to get something done. I had to.

    I can't believe I'm writing in this thing about two dates in a row. But, anyway, Friday I got prepared. I had everything ready: reservations to Tapestry Grill (our first date), the same suit I wore on the first date, and I had Rarity style my hair. I prepared everything by six, and I was at Ditzy's house in a carriage in ten minutes.

    I knocked on the door: I hoped she would stick with our arrangement. We hadn't actually set Friday as our next date, bu I thought she would know.

    Apparently she did. And, really, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was dressed for the occasion. She was wearing an off-white evening dress, which hung loosely from her as though it were water. It was the mos beautiful I'd seen her.

    "I- oh," I stammered, trying to get out a compliment, but the words didn't come. She smiled.

    "I know," she said, walking past me. I was blushing. She really had stunned me. Was it that, or just the anxiousness I was feeling? I turned, stumbled, and climbed into the carriage.

    It really was sentimental. We sat down, and in a few seconds, Ditzy was already talking.

    "How was Rainbow Dash?"

    "Oh, uh, she just got home from physical therapy on Wednesday," I said, turning towards her. "I'm kinda worried about her."

    "What," Ditzy asked seriously, "does physical therapy hurt?"

    "Oh, no, no, it's just..." I shook my head. I would deal with it later. "...Nothing, never mind."

    We sat and talked about all kinds of things, before we reached the grill. We continued our conversation into the restaurant.

    I remember, we just sat down and I was saying, "... Yeah. But seriously, you have to stop living on random food other ponies give you."

    "It's not like I never make money," she replied, "I just -" She stopped. "Oh," she murmured, surprised. "This is my favorite song." She looked at me. "Star, did you..."

    I smiled. She blushed and looked at me. "Thanks," she said quietly.

    The main course came in about a minute. When the plate was set down in front of Ditzy, she gasped. I stopped dead, hardly daring to breathe. She moved the plate to the left, and two tears fell on the table.

    Had I done something wrong?

    No. She looked up at me, one hoof on her mouth, smiling. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. I acted quickly. I took the necklace from the table, and stood.

    The restaurant had gone dead silent, except for 'Moonbeams' playing softly in the background. I smiled, and looked up at Ditzy. "Ditzy Doo," I began. She gasped a bit. "We haven't known each other long," I continued. "But I've come to know you, and love you, more than anypony else." Her face had turned a deep red.

    "Will you marry me?"

     The question hung dead in the air, as there was a moment of terrible silence. I needed a decision.

    "Yes."

    The answer had arrived in a split second, and everypony at every other table clapped, or stomped their - whatever. I was too happy to care. She stood, and leaned in, placing her hooves on hy shoulders. We kissed. I felt the greatest I ever had in my life.

    The wedding was in a month. I couldn't wait. I dropped Ditzy off at home, late, as we had been talking and hugging for quite a while afterwards. I took the chariot home tonight, feeling too excited to fly.

    When I reached home, however, a terrible sound greeted me: Dashie was in her room, sobbing faintly. I grew worried instantly. I sped upstairs, and opened the cloud door quickly. I saw Dashie, sitting upright in her bed, crying into the covers.

    I rushed over to comfort her. I didnt know what was wrong, but her first action told me.

    "Get away!" she yelled, pushing me off. I was shocked.

    "What's wrong?"

    "Sh- I-" she sobbed. "I know what you did!"

    "I - what?"

    Then I understood. She knew I was engaged before I told her. How? More importantly, why wasn't she happy for me? A tear fell out of my eye. What was wrong?

    "I saw you - buying a - a necklace!" she cried.

    "Wait, Dashie, why don't you -" I sat down again on the bed, tears once more staining my face. I thought - I didn't know she wouldnt like my decision. I didn't want to see her unhappy. "Do you really hate Ditzy that much?"

    "It's not Ditzy!" she cried, leaning on me. Apparently, it wasn't me either. "It's not her."

    "What -"

    A sob. "My - I never - my parents were divorced," she cried, leaning on my chest. I put my hoof on her back. "Sh - they weren't happy," she said, "and that hurt." I knew what she was talking about. My mom got really depressed after my dad died. It hurt me in more ways than it did her.

    "I just - just don't want that to happen to you."

    Silence.

    She embraced me, sobbing into my body. I sighed, leaning back. "It won't happen," I siad softly. "She really loves me, and I really love her."

    She looked up into my eyes, hers red and filled with tears. "More than me?"

    I looked back. How could I answer? "Two kinds of love," I said, embracing her. "Two kinds of love."

Chapter Twenty - Plans

Today, I'm gonna start out with a little good news and move on to the great news. Ok, so, today I got called in for an interview for being a weather-pony, and everything went fantastically. At the end of it, the Pegasus across from me got up, and shook my hoof. I would start on Monday!!

    I rushed back home to tell Dashie the good news. When I opened the door, I heard movement from her room, so I flew cheerfully up the stairs. I looked into her room, and my jaw just dropped. There, sitting on Dashie's bed with her, was Ditzy, and both were smiling. I shook my head a bit in disbelief.

    "Yo, uh, Dash- Ditzy? Wh-" I stammered.

    Dashie interrupted, giggling. "Ditzy came over to talk to you, and..."

    "Dash was the only one here," Ditzy finished.

    I nodded, still pretty unsure about what was going on. "So, um... you guys are... friends now?"

    "We sort of made up after talking a while," Dashie said.

    "Wait a second." I looked out the window. "It's, like, four! How did I get home so late?" I looked back at the pair, still relaxing on Dashie's bed. "And how did that happen in an hour?"

    "I guess we just like each other," Ditzy replied, and she and Dashie giggled.

    I groaned. What, now they have inside jokes?

    Then something hit me. I looked across at the two, facing each other and laughing in front the sunlight from the window, and I saw family. I didn't see two individual ponies anymore. I saw family.

    I walked over to them and hugged them, both, for a few seconds. Then I collapsed onto the bed. I started laughing. "What am I gonnna do with you two?" I said, and they started laughing, too. We all fell backwards on the bed together, and that was the first time in so many years that I felt... like I had a family.

    Then, we heard a knock on the door. I got up slowly, not really wanting to leave. I skipped down the stairs, still laughing a bit.

    I pulled open the door, and Fluttershy was floating in front of me. "Oh, hi, Fluttershy!" I said, still a but out-of-breath. "I haven't seen you in two weeks or so..."

    "Um - hello, Mr. Star," she said characteristically shyly. "I'm just here to, um, pick up Rainbow Dash."

    "Oh really?" I said, turning my head. Dashie had followed me down the stairs. "Where are you guys going?" I turned to Fluttershy again.

    "Everybody's going to Pinkie Pie's today," she replied. "It's her sister's birthday." She glanced up at me. "If you want to come, you can..."

    I smiled. "Thanks, Fluttershy, but I have something to do today." Dashie brightened, and flew over to the door. "Don't die, Dashie," I joked.

    "Yeah, got it, Dad," she grinned back at me. They flew away, and Dashie turned back. "Love you, bye!"

    "Love you too!" I shouted back. I don't know whether she heard me.

    I didn't hear Ditzy come up behind me. She sighed. "I can't believe I'll be a mom in a month." She leaned her head on my neck. "I've always wanted to be a mom."

    I leaned back. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" I asked.

    "Yeah," she replied, pulling away slowly. "I wanted to plan the wedding a little today."

    She walked into the living room, and I followed. We sat down on the cloud couch. "I already figured out the living space," she said, "and I think I would rather live here than in that huge house with three people. Plus," she added, "I don't want to tear Dashie away from the house she's lived in her whole life."

    "That's thoughtful," I said, moving in closer. "But you really don't have to."

    "I want to," she said, smiling, "because not only will the extra money from selling the house fund the wedding, it'll over-fund it. We can have the best wedding ever." I smiled. That's what I wanted.

    "What's that?" I queried, motioning to a folder under her wing.

    "That's for later," she said, kissing my cheek. "For now, i want to figure out our wedding plan."

    I was still ecstatic, 'cause, you know, I was actually ABOUT TO MARRY DITZY DOO. My heart was fluttering. Her actually talking about the marriage made it more real than ever.

    "I think whatever you want is best," I said. I really did want her to be happy; after all, it would be her special day. (Mine too, but to a lesser extent.)

    "I've always dreamed of having a wedding with everypony I know," she said dreamily. She looked back at me, her eyes rolling dramatically. "Can we do that?"

    "Only if I can invite everypony I know, too," I replied, smiling widely. She laughed.

    "Of course," she replied, "it'll be the biggest wedding in Equestria!"

    We laughed at the same time. We knew neither of us knew many other ponies. She quieted down first, though. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked, looking up at me.

    "Only if I can ask you a question," I responded.

    "What did you look like before you were a pony?" she asked.

    I thought. Would this violate Princess Celestia's orders? Naah. "Well, I was tall and pinkish," I began. She leaned in closer to me, like I was telling a scary story. "I was about two times as tall as I am now, and I walked on two legs."

    "Always?" She seemed surprised.

    "Yeah," I responded. "I only had fur on the top of my head, and it was a dark brown," I continued, "and instead of flat hooves, I had long tubes on the end of my front legs called fingers." She gasped. (Why??) "On the back legs, on which I walked, there were lots of little fingers called toes that helped me keep my balance. Plus, my nose was squished onto my face and I had fleshy things around my mouth called lips."

    "What else?" she asked.

    Should I? No, I shouldn't. "Nothing else."

    We were now sort of snuggling on the couch, pressed into each other. "My turn!" I said, interrupting the brief silence. "How..." I started, "did your eyes get like that?"

    "Oh, that?" I heard her say. "I fell off the roof when I was two, and landed on my face. My nose didn't break or anything, but my eyes have a tendency to cross and uncross now randomly."

    "I'm glad it's not a more touchy subject, because that question was killing me."

    Dashie got home around ten, and by then Ditzy had left. I had a sandwich out on the counter for her, but I was sound asleep on the couch. I guess she just went upstairs and fell asleep, because the sandwich was still in the counter when I got up in the morning.

Chapter Twenty-One - Broken

Today just... it just really sucked. It just sucked really bad.

    I woke up early this morning. The sun hadn't even come up yet, and I was flying through some clouds, just for the heck of it. Remember, by this point, I was still happy. You know, I was getting married, everypony around me was happy, we had an excess amount of money in savings, and I was locally famous.

    Well, I touched down right outside the house and stood for a second, watching the sun risenin the distance. I smiled, purely content, and walked inside the house. I pulled a pack of sausages out of the freezer and threw them on the skillet. Today would be a good day.

    By seven, Dashie had already come sown from her bedroom, still tired. "Up early today, Dashie," I commented. "Y'alright?"

    "Sausage," she groaned.

    We sat across from each other and ate. I was trying to get her to talk, but she just, you know, made morning noises. I smiled. "What do you want to do today, Dashie?" I asked. It was Wednesday, but it was a holiday (no idea what it was). We had off from work.

    She didn't answer. "Well, maybe I could invite Ditzy over and we could-"

    And that's when the shit hit the fan. Dashie stood, knocking her cloud chair over. "No! Dammit, just -" I saw her fighting back angry tears. I gaped at her. What the hell just happened? I dropped my sausage on my plate.

    She was leaning on the table in front of her, panting. "I didn't- I don't WANT this!"  she cried loudly. I shook my head a bit, trying to clear my thoughts.

    "I thought you-"

    "I DIDN'T!" she yelled. I leaned back, taken by surprise. What was this change of emotion? I hadn't seen her so broken up. She sighed. "I couldn't do it." She kicked her chair back up and slumped back, her hooves crossed across her chest. Her rose eyes shone dark red through the shadow of the early morning light, and she glared up at me.

    I was silent, numbly wondering what had happened. "So what happened yesterday?" I said  after A long pause.

    She shook her head. "I just needed to keep everypony happy." She bit her lip, almost like she was nervous. "But I can't do this forever."

    I blinked. "Well," I said, softly, "what do you mean?"

    She remained in her position, still hidden almost entirely by the early-morning shadows. "They didn't just get divorced," she said slowly. Oh God, that's grim. "When my mom left, my dad died three weeks later."

    My eyes opened wider. That's- that's terrible. I didn't know what to say. She spoke again. "They said it was because of anxiety." She remained stock-still, her face not recognizable because of the shadows. "But it was because of the divorce."

    She leaned back into the light, still almost expressionless. "That can't happen again."

    It actually scared me. Her position was indignant, but she seemed to have no emotions. This was definitely the strangest I'd ever seen her. I stayed silent. We remained at the table for quite a while. I couldn't look away from Dashie. I wondered what her feelings were.

    Eventually, after almost an hour, I stood, and walked around the table to her. She was looking down, away from me. I sat next to her. I opened my mouth, but found it difficult to speak. "It won't," I said with confidence. "It can't."

    "How do you know?" she replied softly. "You don't know who Ditzy is."

    I had to agree. I didn't actually know Ditzy perfectly, in, like, every detail. But I did know one thing. "She said yes."

    Dashie looked up at me and sighed. "I have to trust you, Dad." She tried to smile. "You know what you're doing."

    I smiled, and hugged her. "Thank you."

    Nevertheless, the day had a low mood for me. I felt like it was my fault that Dashie was feeling that way. But I knew it wasn't. Dashie went off a little while later to do something with her friends, and I just wrote a bit on chapter four and went over to Ditzy's for lunch.

    I had a good time, but I didn't tell Ditzy anything about what happened today. I hoped putting it off wouldn't have the same effect as it did that long time ago. I hoped Ditzy wouldn't respond like Dashie did. I took my chances, though.

    When dinner came around, I came back home. Dashie wasn't back yet, though, so I sat down and read a bit. When she did come home, she was smiling and laughing, accompanied by Fluttershy (who was laughing along). She and Fluttershy floated into the kitchen, and she put a bag on the table.

    "Hey, Dad!" she called into the house. I guess she didn't see me in the living room. "I brought noodles!"

    I called back, "I like noodles!!"

    I walked into the kitchen, and tried not to laugh a what I saw. Dashie was covered, literally, with streamers. "Why are you covered with streamers?"

    "I don't know. Hey Fluttershy, why am I covered in streamers?"

    "Um... Pinkie Pie had a party cannon."

    "Oh. That's why."

    Earlier that day, Ditzy taught me how to flick my ear, and I guess since then it's become a bit of a habit for me. So I did. Flick. "So..." I said, "Noodles?"

    We were talking and laughing (including Fluttershy, surprisingly) for quite a while into the night. Once Fluttershy left, though, Dashie and I retired. I walked past her room on the way to mine, and I heard her call out. "Dad?"

    "Yeah, Dashie?"

    "Love you."

    I smiled. "You too, Dashie."

    I hoped things would work out for the best. For all of us. Appearances have decieved before, but I hoped that wouldn't again.

Chapter Twenty-Two - News

At about seven on the Monday before the actual marriage ceremony, Ditzy rushed over to the house to deliver her great news. She touched down right pitside the door and and on way in, hit her right side against the doorframe. "Woah, Ditzy!" I said, standing from my place at the table. Across from me, Dashie stood up too, also looking rather worried.

    "Guess what!" she said, smiling widely. "Guess!"

    "Uh... um..." I stammered, surprised at the randomness of her arrival. "Does of have to do with Friday?" I shrugged.

    "Well, kinda," she giggled. "I sold the house!"

    "Wait, you sold it already?" I smiled. "Nice!"

    Dashie interrupted. "Woah, wait, where are you going to stay?"

    Oh yeah, I forgot. I hadn't told Dashie about what would happen after the marriage. "Dang, uh... okay, um... after Friday, we were either going to live in Ditzy's house or this one -"

    "And we just figured you'd want to stay in the house you'd had before," Ditzy finished.

    Dashie looked confused. Then she brightened up. "Oh, yeah, I got it."

    I looked back at her. She really did seem fine with it, but, uh... I couldn't be certain. She did have an excellent poker face. I would ask her about it later. Now, though, I tried to figure out what to do. After all, we both had to be at work in, like, an hour. I turned to Ditzy. "Do you want to stay for breakfast?"

    "No," she replied, "I have to finish my mail route. But you two can come over to my house for dinner, okay? It'll be the last dinner I'll have in the house." She smiled. "It would be nice to spend it with my soon-to-be family."

    I smiled. "Do you have anything to do tonight, Dashie?" I asked across the table.

    "Actually, I dont," she replied, smiling politely, "not tonight. Tomorrow, I will, though."

    "Well, then I guess we'll meet up tonight."

    I didn't see either Dashie or Ditzy all day, at least until dinner. After work, Dashie probably went off with her friends, but I returned home to work on chapter eight. I would turn it in Saturday night, when Ditzy and I came back from our honeymoon. *SQUEE* That one thought just put me I'm a happy mood for the rest of the day. I went about my writing humming, and finished the chapter quicker than I thought. Plus, I thought it was well-written. Bonus!

    I headed over to Ditzy's at about six. The sun was about to set, and I saw Ditzy's over the horizon, lightly colored with reds and oranges by the sun. I knocked twice and Dashie answered the door. "Oh!" I said, surprised. "You're here early."

    "Yeah, I got here about an hour ago. What happened to you?"

    "I - wait, what have you been doing this whole time?"

    "Talking with Ditzy."

    I was a bit confused. At the risk of being rude, I decided to get the question that had been annoying me out of my mind. "Did you work it out?"

    "Actually," she said, "I guess - I guess it would be nice to try again -"

    I leaned over and hugged her. "That's great, Dashie. I really am glad." I pulled away and looked onto her eyes. They were rose mainly, with a maroon halo encircling the pupil. "You have beautiful eyes," I said, smiling.

    "Thanks, Dad... but what does that have to do with -" She stopped.

    "Nothing." I walked through the doorway. "Nothing at all."

    It was a nice day, and a nice dinner. Dashie was more participative than I'd seen her at other dinners like this. I'm glad my family dream was almost there. Almost.

    Can't wait til Friday.

Chapter Twenty-Three - Secrets

   I'm not too fond of this chapter. It felt rushed to me... oh well. Enjoi.

   Throughout the entire week, I had an absolutely wonderful time. Some of the best things of my life happened that week: Raindrop, Lemon Yellow, Ditzy, and I were invited to a couple's picnic in Canterlot (which, as I remember, was not as snooty as the original show put it), and we had a great time. Even better, Ditzy and I finally managed to pool our bank accounts (through much law research), and best of all, we had a visitor on Wednesday.

    I learned after the fact that Dashie had actually invited her over, for the same reason I would have: a secret exchange. See, there's an old tradition in Ponyville - well, actually, not really as much a tradition as a, uh... what's the word for, like, a habit? Not really a tradition, like a... like a routine, like a weird, unique practice. Rrgh.

    So anyways, it was a secret for a secret. It had to be the same degree of secret, like a little one for a little one, or a huge one for a huge one. I suppose Dashie had her own secret to trade with her, but I had mine too.

    I heard a knock at the door, while I was sitting at my desk, finishing up chapter... what... eight? Dashie was in her room next to mine. She wouldn't be out now, 'cause it was almost ten PM. That also explains my confusion; who could be at the door at night?

    I finished my sentence and floated downstairs, only to find that Dashie had beat me to it, and already had the door open to a green-and-white pony. "Woah..." I said, interrupting their greetings. "Daisy?" I walked forward to greet her. "It's been a while," I said, shaking her hoof.

    "Hi, um, Mister..."

    "Falling Star," I said, an stepped aside to let her in. "So, uh... why'd you drop by?" I said finally, after all three of us were seated at the table.

    "I was -"

    "I invited her," Dashie interrupted. "You got a problem with that?" she said jokingly.

    "Oh no," I said, in mock fear. "I was just wondering why you invited her so late."

    "It's part of the ritual," Dashie replied, apparently forgetting that I was kinda new to this.

    "Oh, wait, the - uh -"

    "The secret exchange."

    "Yeah, I remember that. I think Raindrop told me about that once."

    Daisy joined in. "You're supposed to do it at night, when, as the legend says, nopony but you and the exchanger can hear your secret." The candlelit room got quiet, and no sound could be heard except the crickets, humming faintly from he ground below.

    I interrupted the silence. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

    Dashie looked at me indignantly. "It was kinda supposed to be just us. But you can join in too," she added, more cheerfully.

    "Okaaay..." I looked a the two young ponies sitting across from me at the table. "How do we begin?"

    It felt like a seance. Even though I hadn't ever been to a seance before, I would have figured that this was like one. A small three-pronged candelabra rested on the center of the circular blue table, which was now covered with a white tablecloth. This wasn't some kid's truth-or-dare type of thing; it was serious chiz.

    We were all seated around the table in a perfect triangle, and we were totally quiet. Daisy started. "To do this, we have to teach any new ponies the rules first," she said, addressing me. "Rule one is equal degrees of secrets -"

    " - Rule two is the gradual increase of secret degrees -" Dashie continued.

    " - And rule three is no private matters," Daisy finished. She look at Dashie, then back at me. "Do you understand, Mr. Star?" she queried, and I affirmed.

    "Let the games begin," Dashie said, grinning mischievously through the dull candlelight.

    "You wanna go first, Dash?" Daisy asked.

    "Yeah, okay," she grinned. "I wear contacts," she said. I didn't notice. "They're not colored, though," she added, seeing my face.

    "I own a wedding dress," Daisy replied. What in earth would a- "Your turn, Mr. Star," she said, interrupting my thoughts.

    I hadn't had time to think yet. This was all so fast-paced. Thankfully, a knock at the door saved me.

    Woah, wait... a knock at the door? It was at least ten-thirty, if not eleven! Who could-

    "Come on in, Fluttershy," Dashie said, still staring intently at me.

    "You invited Fluttershy?" I asked, a bit surprised. "I thought you two knew everything about each other," I said as Fluttershy sat down at the table.

    "Good evening, Mr. Star," Fluttershy greeted me softly. "I was invited to a secret exchange tonight."

    "I can see that. Nopony else, right?" I said, turning to Dashie.

    "Nope."

    "I'm allergic to seafood," I said, having thought up at least something about myself that might qualify during turn one. I turned to Fluttershy. "Your turn," I said.

    I really didn't expect her to be prepared. "I love salmon," she said, in a different voice than the one she usually used when near me. I almost laughed at this; it was just so random. She turned to me. "I'm sorry you're allergic to seafood," she said, her voice reverting back. "Your turn, Rainbow Dash."

    "Turn two; I keep a diary." I looked at her, surprised. She didn't have a 'diary' personality. "Your turn, Daisy," she smiled.

    "I look good in ruffles."

    "I got my cutie mark a week and a half ago."

    "I whittle."

    The pace increased gradually, almost dramatically. Dashie told me later that this was supposed to leave you open and intimidated, to make you say bigger and bigger secrets.

    The turn I really wanted, though, turned out to be turn 37. By now, I knew that Fluttershy cut her hair once a year and has twenty-three siblings, that Dashie had a crush on Gale Winds, somepony at the flying school she had graduated from, and she had written a book of poems, and that Daisy blacksmithed as a hobby and that she had lived in Saddlesburg for most of her life.

    "Turn thirty-seven;" Dashie started. "My first parents were divorced and my father died because of it."

    Silence.

    "I have ancestry in the first generation of Equestrian royalty," Daisy said, her face remaining still and emotionless. So was everypony else's. That was the factoid I was waiting for. Score one for me.

    My turn. "I was originally of a different species, before a weird coincidental magical problem turned me into a pony."

    Fluttershy continued speaking in the voice that I wouldn't have recognized, had I not heardnit for the last hour. "My love for animals stems from a crippling anxiety disorder that I have since been cured of." Still totally emotionless.

    Immediately and oddly, all three Pegusi stood. I stood too, as soon as I realized everypony else had. All three nodded, and I did too (a little late), and Fluttershy and Daisy silently floated out the door. I looked back. "Why did -" But Dashie had already left to her room.

    How on Celestia's green earth did I manage to sit through that without cracking a smile? Why was I able to play along even though I didn't have the slightest idea what was happening? How could I have possibly not thought it was strange at the time?

    I floated back into my room, wondering why ponies would do this. What was their reason? WHY??

    Ah, well, whatever.

Chapter Twenty-Four - Big Day

    I'm sure I don't need to relate to you the same tired cliché always associated with weddings. But I will, because it's true: when she walked down the aisle, she was the most beautiful being in the universe. Everything about her was more pronounced than normal. Her amber eyes were sparkling in the sunlight, and her blonde mane was flowing and shining like silk.

    She had spent all day getting ready, as had I. I hadn't seen her since Thursday morning, when she delivered the mail in the morning. Since three that day, I prepared everything: I set aside a tailor-made suit vest made by Rarity, and practiced my vows endlessly.

    As a strange coincidence, I also hadn't seen Dashie since earlier today. But she was sitting in the from aisle with the other five, smiling up at me, cheering me on with her eyes.

    Ditzy slowly approached the podium where Princess Celestia was standing. Apparently, Celestia takes her time to minister every single wedding in Equestria (woah). It was pretty cool that she was there, especially since, one, I hadn't seen her since day 1, and two, I finally noticed that I was really tall for a pony, being about 2 inches shorter than Celestia herself.

    At the time though, I couldn't really pay much attention to anything other than Ditzy, walking slowly down the aisle in a flowing white dress. Maybe a little too flowing, though; when she came to abot five feet from the podium, she tripped and fell flat on her face.

    I sprung to action, of course; I jumped from the podium and placed a hoof on either side of her, helping her up. "Are you okay?" I asked, hoping she didn't break anything.

    "I don't think I hurt anything," she replied, and looked up at me. She looked fine. She laughed. "That kinda ruined my whole dramatic-aisle-walk, huh?"

    I laughed, too, and guided her back up to the podium. Celestia looked down at both of us and smiled. She spoke to the audience, composed of Ditzy's relatives and my friends. "Ponies from all of Equestria, of all races and personalities," she began, "we are joined here today to affirm the marriage of our two friends, Ditzy Miranda Doo -" ...Miranda?... "- and Thomas 'Falling Star' Pyle." Woah, she remembered my people name.

    "These two met only two months ago, but their love has grown stronger and stronger since that day. We are here today to finally bind them in eternal companionship and harmony, til by death they part." Ditzy actually wrote this part of the ceremony; she really was quite an eloquent writer.

    "Ditzy Doo," she turned to Ditzy, "do you confirm your wish, in front of me, your family, and your loved ones, to wed Falling Star for the fullness of your life?"

    She looked at me, her amber eyes filling me with pure content. "I do," she said.

    "Falling Star," she continued, turning back to me, "do you confirm your wish, in front of me, your family, and your loved ones, to wed Ditzy Doo for the fullness of your life?"

    I hadn't taken my eyes off Ditzy. I smiled broadly, and replied, "I do."

    "Do you have the wedding necklace, symbolic of unity and continuity, to give to your bride?"

    I produced the ring from the pocket of my vest relatively smoothly, and lifted it over Ditzy's head, laying it on her neck. [By the way, necklaces and other jewelry in Equestria come with special latches that are easy to attach with a hoof merely by slinding the hoof across the latch. In case you're wondering.]

    I heard something Id been waiting for, the final, simple confirmation of marriage. "You may kiss the bride." I leaned forward and kissed her, until the other ponies stood and cheered for us. As we trotted briskly down the aisle, Pinkie Pie threw confetti over us. Apparently, she gave some to every other pony, too, because by the time we left the building, we were literally coated with confetti.

    We trotted into a special carriage with an enclosed cab, and... well... would you call it making out if you just got married? Heheheh.

    I'm married to Ditzy Doo, I'm married to Ditzy Doo, I'm married to Ditzy Doo, I'm married to Ditzy Doo [okay, he literally writes this for, like, three pages. I'm gonna skip it.]

    Anyway, we arrived at the reception at the same time as Pinkie, considering she was the caterer. Who else would I trust for my wedding? And when I said to go crazy with the cake, I didn't mean seven-tiered with neon pink and blue icing with perfect sugar models of Ditzy and me on the top. I mean, my God, they were PERFECT. Oh well, I was pretty much rich by now, we could afford everything Pinkie's insane mind could come up with.

    DAYUM! The decorations were... there was... there are no English words to describe them. So I won't use English. The banners were really grandlie, and there was so much RENDATH everywhere!!!! [what?]

    We were seared at the front of the hall we rented just as the other ponies arrived. The food was great, and the desserts were obviously divine. One of my favorite parts of the reception, though, was when someone clinked their glass and then most of the others joined in. I laughed when I saw Ditzy's face. "It means we're supposed to kiss," I explained.

    We were 'forced' to do that multiple tomes throughout the night. Near the end, though, after the dances (which were fun, even though neither of us could really dance), when things were quieting down, Ditzy slowly picked up her fork and clinked the side of her glass. She turned to me, and everything got quiet. She leaned in and we kissed for a relatively long time, everypony tin the room watching.

    She broke off, and everypony in the room simultaneously went, "Awwwwwww!" I grinned at her, and she at me. We knew what would happen after the reception. [ ;) ]

Chapter Twenty-Six - Best Day Ever, Part 1

If you've been reading this, you would know by now that I hate clichés. So, I'm not gonna use the same cliché that people always use: the best day ever is everything they ever wanted. No. My best day ever was far from the best day anyone could ever have... in fact, I kinda wish everypony I know could somehow be transformed into humans and we could all go back to Earth and... celebrate... opposable thumbs. I don't know.

No, my best day ever was perfect just for me: half the day with Ditzy, half the day with Dashie, and half the day with both of them. Perfect balance, perfect stuff, perfect company, perfect day. Tha end.

I'm joking. Anyway, I woke up this morning totally content. I didnt even move for the first few minutes, but just laid there and watched Ditzy sound asleep. She was still as beautiful as she was coming down the aisle. I smiled, and remained there for almost ten minutes until I saw her eyes open slowly.

She blinked, readjusting her eyes, and yawned. "Hi, Star," she said, smiling drowsily.  

"Hi, Ditzy," I said, kissing her forehead. It was a warm, late spring Saturday morning. The breeze through the window told me that it would get a little cooler late in the day, but it would spike up again. [Pegusi are able to tell weather fluctuations by the smell of the clouds.]

She tried to get up, but I held my hoof against her midsection. "Star," she giggled, "let me go."

I laughed. "See if you can get away," I said, still holding her down lightly. By then it had grown to be nice and bright in the room because the sun's rays through the window had finally hit the bed.

She turned over. "Naah." She came a bit closer. "I don't think I need to."

...

... [Sorry guys!]

I fell over again, laughing a bit. She fell on top of me and we nearly rolled out of the bed. She rolled over me, though, and flew out of bed, touching down near the door. "I need to take a shower." She giggled, winked, and trotted off down the hall.  

My wings returned to normal position. [What the hell, Star, we didn't need to know that!] I rolled over onto the floor and began to float in the direction of the bathroom. I heard a door open downstairs: Dashie must be home! I turned around just as the water began to run.

"Oh, hi, Dashie!" I greeted her as I came down the stairs. "What's up?"

"Hi, Dad!" she replied, smiling. "Fluttershy's house was packed to the brim with mice and gerbils and hamsters, so we slept outside." She took her sleeping bag out of her saddlebag and unfurled it from its bag. Bagception. It was ripped to pieces. I looked up at her with my jaw on the floor and she laughed.

"Nature can be rough," she said, "especially when you convince your scaredy-cat friend to sleep out in the Everfree Forest."

"Oh, Dashie!" I groaned, sarcastically. "Why do you do this to me?"

"More like why do I do this to Fluttershy," she said, and turned around for the first time. Fluttershy was clasped strongly on her right hind leg and lower back. "She's been like this ever since the first owl hooted."

"Y'alright, Fluttershy?" I said, leaning down to her. She looked like she didn't get any sleep. "Jeez, Dashie," I said, turning back to her face. "What did you do?"

"I thought it would just be a harmless prank, as usual, but this seems to have gone out of control." She looked worried.

I bent down to the curled-up Fluttershy again. She was shivering. "Fluttersh-"

"Boo!" she looked up, smiling widely. I turned back to Dashie, half-smiling. She looked as confused as I was. I hated seeing people (now, I guess, ponies) in uncomfortable or embarrassing situations. I fell backwards as convincingly as I could and shouted, pretending to be surprised.

"Oh, my, um, Mr. Star," she said, releasing her grip from Dashie's rear. I stood, too, chuckling a bit. "Was that too convincing, Mr. Star? I didn't mean to scare you so much..." She looked up at me with huge, innocent eyes.

"You sure got me, Fluttershy. I didn't think you had it in you to prank anyone," I said.

"Any one what?" she asked.

"Oh, um, anypony. I meant anypony." I wasn't the obsessed type of brony in my human life, and I really didn't use the pony language. I guess I wasn't so good at it.

All three of us were trying to make breakfast, laughing and teasing each other, when Ditzy came downstairs, her mane shiny as it usually was.

"Oh, hi, Dash! And... um..." she stumbled in speech. Apparently she hadn't met Fluttershy before.

Fluttershy mumbled something unintelligible. Classic Fluttershy. "She's Fluttershy," Dashie said, after a brief silent period. "Where were you last night? Why didn't you guys come out for our sleepover?"

I put down my pan forcefully on the counter and blushed. Ditzy backed up a bit and looked down. Dashie opened her eyes wide, looked over at Fluttershy and coughed. If I wasn't involved, it would have been funny as hell.

I glanced over at Fluttershy, who looked confused. Dashie was still 20 on the inside: she knew how stuff worked. Fluttershy was 14... in a restricted world. I doubt she would have known. On Earth, yeah, but in Equestria?

Thankfully, Ditzy came to my rescue. "We were looking at the photo albums in the library!"

"Yeah!" I caught on. "There are at least a dozen. It took us a while." I smiled stupidly. I'm glad Fluttershy didn't catch on... I don't know how she would respond to it.

I was desperate to change the subject. I stepped away from the messy counter and stove, turning to Ditzy. "Breakfast is ready!" I said, trying hard to suppress a burst of laughter.

Her face was just excellent. Her eyes dilated a little and her mouth opened slightly. I laughed when I saw her start ot smile. Soon we were all laughing... just like day one, I thought.

Speaking of, it's only been half a year since the first day. I don't really know what made me realize this, but I said it out loud. Dashie looked thoughtful for a second, then replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I've been counting by every Saturday, and I guess you have been here for that long. Weird, huh?" Uh-oh... I forgot. I needed to turn in my story.

"Anypony wanna get breakfast from someone who actually knows how to make breakfast?" I asked.

"I do."

"I do."

"Um..."

"Then it's decided."

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Best Day Ever, Part 2

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever swapped out of your realistic self and swapped into your transcendental self? Have you ever looked up at the sky, and heard people talking around you, and wondered about your amazing life, and just had to sit and think for a moment?

It's like, how could anything be real? How do I know that everyone - pony - is really here? What if I'm dead? I had a moment of this today, that took me out of my body and forced me Ito neutrality. I looked around at everypony I knew - ponies that I knew existed in cartoons... my daughter, Dashie, a miracle in her own respect; Fluttershy, her friend and my friend, somepony who I'd just recently really gotten to know; and my wife, my beautiful Ditzy, whose name fit her as well as a turtle shell fit a snake.

I stood back and stared at them, stopping midstride. I could hear them asking me what was wrong, but I didn't respond. The moment I came back into being, though, I walked forward and threw my forelegs around Ditzy, holding her tightly. I reached across and caught Dashie by the back of the neck.

"Get over here, kiddo," I said jokingly, and pulled her into my hug. It was too great; everything was as it should be. I would enjoy today like no other, because according to Murphy, my good times would be over soon. I felt Fluttershy pop in and hug all of us, too; the icing on the cake, really. Made me appreciate everything even more. God, I thought, you're just too good to me.

"You alright there, Dad?" Dashie asked, muffled by - um - me.

"Shh. Too happy to talk."

I broke apart our hug soon after, and we were back to walking and laughing. It was good... that's all I can say. Good feelings. I looked into Ditzy's eyes, unfocused at the time; the amber eyes I'd always loved. I looked across at Dashie, laughing and joking with Fluttershy. The stupid part of my brain was all like, "Oh my God, when's it all gonna explode?" and I'm like, "Shut up, brain, I hate you."

We came to the little corner diner quickly enough, at that perfect time when you're just hungry enough to want to eat. Does that make sense? 'Cause I thought it made sense.

Anyways, I pretty much expected what was next. I pretty much expected there would be somepony there that I knew, or at least that one of us knew. And, Luna be praised, it just just so happened to be Daisy.

Test your luck, bro. "Yo, Daisy!" I called.

"OhmygawdStar!" she said breathily, like I knocked the wind out of her.

"How you doin'?" I asked, leaving the other three to grab a table or something I don't know, and walked up with my hoof raised.

"Uh... not too well," she said, looking with confusion at my hoof. "I have a few things going on that... well, they're making me jumpy."

"Well noted," I replied, putting my hoof back down. "Anyways, screw manners, I wanna know what's up with the alicorn deal thing. Really." I tried to look stone-serious, but I had to keep myself from bursting into laughter.

She sighed. "That. Yeah. Well, it's... I mean, I - I'm not really an alicorn. Not like the Princesses... well, look for yourself." She flapped her wings and scrunched her eyes tight. Her horn glowed for a few moments and my mane blew back a little from the speed of her wings, but otherwise not much happened.

I waited until she finished spazzing. "...So, you're like an -"

"Yeah, like an earth-pony with accessories."

"Woah. That's totally, like, verbatim what I was thinking."

She looked at me with a look I knew far too well: You're a goddamn idiot. I finally let go and burst into laughter.

"Ah, well. I kinda figured. I feel like an idiot just for thinking that, uh, you know. Oh, well. Peace out!" I added, turning and walking cheerfully away. I could imagine the surprise her face, but I didn't dare turn around. Didn't wanna lose my cool, right?

I joined a table of wide-eyed pegusi, staring in a hilarious mixture of horror and amusement at my little ad-lib. Ditzy was the only one who looked really confused. But, well, maybe it was her eyes.

"Star, are you alright?" she asked as I sat down, still chuckling. "You don't... well, usually do stuff like that. It was really, really weird."

I looked across the table vaguely, as if unsure of who was talking.

"... Star?-"

"Oh, yeah, no, I'm fine. It's cool," I said, smiling. The world was good, but I was tired. It obviously showed. I mean, come on, I stayed up late last night, what do you expect?

It was like anything else, really. Breakfast, I mean. Daisy came over and sat and talked for a few minutes, but otherwise nothing else really happened. But it was probably the greatest breakfast I'd ever had. It reminded me of breakfasts back... well, I couldn't call it home anymore. Just me and Dashie, back then. But here I was, with peo - ponies I loved. If it were in the real world, it wouldn't have been too much different, but even having this thought made me put ponies in perspective.

Well, I recently learned about pony anatomy... or the parts that mattered. [Wings... right, Star?] But it was still so different. Every once in a while I thought about my hands or legs, and I've tripped a few times thinking like a human. It had lost its oddness, but... well, I can't explain it right. Not with English.

I'm rambling. I'm sorry. I'll sum it up by just saying I had a great time. The food was great, the conversation was great, and... I guess I just love to hear my two favorite ponies' voices. Well, can't forget Fluttershy... alright, three favorite.

Today... it's always gonna be ingrained in my memory. After a great breakfast, we waved goodbye to Fluttershy and continued on - um - doing what we were doing. I don't even know what compelled us to do half the crap we did. I remember we found ourselves going in a circle when we were flying around a huge hill in the middle of the South Fields. I remember us all wrestling on a cloud bank. I remember Dashie running into a tree and snapping it in two. I applauded; I didn't think she was hurt too badly.

For dinner we went out again. Dashie ate more than any time I've ever seen her eat; well, except that one time when she was at the dining room table after a full day of -

No. I shouldn't try to remember my old life. I should forget it. I know, I just know, that if I dwell on it, I'm gonna go insane. Where was I?

Well, I guess the best day ever doesn't mean that anything emotional has to happen, or that you have to spend the entire day relaxing. When we had an idea, we went with it, and the world was perfect. I don't have much else to say, really.

We returned home late. Really late. Dashie was still positively full of energy - at least to me. I was wrong, apparently; Ditzy and I retired to our room right after Dashie, and I swear, a heard the fluff of a pillow and a snore. I smiled; she was exhausted.

And here I am. Writing. Swapping between this and my little periodical or whatever you call it. I should get bed; if I'm lucky, Ditzy's still up and is willing to accept a second consummation.

If you know what I mean.

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