Chapter 1

“This is the last time, Mr Pierce. I’ve told you again and again, you ain’t welcome ‘ere anymore. Now stay out.” You yell, using your magic to throw the cerulean blue unicorn out of your pub. He landed with a rough yelp, before immediately getting back to his hooves, “Lads” was your response to him turning back to you, and a pair of drinkers left their seats at the bar.

“Now, you might want to think about what you’re going to try next, matey.” you start, your soft brogue putting your point across as well as the two large stallions flanking you, “We’re trying to have a good time, and you trying to mess with the fillies is ruining the atmosphere. Go home.”

He snorts at you, eyes darting from your face to the two farmers behind you, one fore-hoof pawing at the ground. He eventually turned and left, and your companions went back to their drinks.

Being the landlord and barman of the only pub in Ponyville had come with it’s own set of difficulties. The punters themselves, especially your regulars, hadn’t been that much of a problem and most who entered on a one off hadn’t been bothersome either, it was always just those who showed up from time to time.

Tonight you had thrown out a pair of young colts escorted by a baby dragon; the three had thought that a set of fake mustaches, whilst fine mustaches indeed, would allow them to try their first pint of beer. You had considered giving the dragon his drink, as after all they couldn’t process alcohol, so it wouldn’t affect him. In the end you’d decided against it on the off-chance that another one of your regulars, a member of the Royal Guard, would show up and take issue with you supplying drink to the under-aged. Back home in Cloplin, the legal age was closer to a guideline rather than a law, but it was far more strictly enforced closer to Canterlot. The trio hadn’t been that much of a problem, and had simply accepted your ruling when they were turfed out - complete with a series of tiny “awws” as they left.

The unicorn you had just thrown out was Pokey Pierce. He had been a good laugh at first, watching him try and fail at flirting with mares whilst sober. The problems only really started when he had a few drinks in him and began acting like he was Celestia’s gift to fillies; often making suggestive comments to other punters at the top of his voice. Once or twice, Pierce been challenged to step outside by other regulars after he had tried it on with their mate - he would laugh it off and aggressively stare down smaller males, yet run if a larger stallion took a dislike to him.

Your pub was quite a small place, probably enough room for fifty ponies maximum, with a stage at the far end. It was decorated in the traditional colours of your homeland, rich greens against earthy browns that appeared to work incredibly well against the backdrop of Ponyville in general. The natural wood tables had cost a small fortune to procure, but they worked with the theme of the pub fantastically, and helped keep a light airy atmosphere despite how rich some of the colours were.

At the moment, the stage was occupied by a local band as part of a talent night, consisting of an overly sophisticated looking fiddler, a guitarist who couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, and a harp player who was doing her best to keep up; their singer was a blue and pink maned cream coloured mare who couldn’t keep her eyes off of the harpist. The song they were working through was a cover of “Are you gonna be my mare” by Pitch,

So 1, 2, 3, take my hoof and come with me
because you look so fine
and I really wanna make you mine.

I say you look so fine
that I really wanna make you mine.

Oh, 4,5,6 c'mon and get your kicks
now you don’t need that money
when you look like that, do ya honey.

Big gold eyes,
mint green hair,
she's so sweet
with a harp on her derriere!

Well I could see,
you home with me,
but you were with another fiiii-lay!

I know we,
ain't got much to say,
before I let you get away, yea!
I said, are you gonna be my mare?

Oh yea. Oh yea. C'mon!
I could see,
you home with me,
but you were with another mare, yea!

I know we,
ain't got much to say,
before I let you get away, yea!
Uh, be my mare.
Be my mare.
Are you gonna be my Maaaaaare, yeah!

Levitating a glass over and absent mindedly polishing it with a rag that you kept for such tasks, you hum along with the band, reflecting upon your life so far as you watched the punters enjoy the next few acts.

You were happy. Far happier than you had been working at The Burning Lyre in Canterlot, even after a flood had caused a full refit and rename to The Doused Lyre. The drinkers were far happier here too, the Lyre had a bit of a reputation as a rough pub, but your new establishment, and the first pub that you fully owned, had taken off wonderfully... even if you had to deal with the occasional trouble maker.

The final act was a young lilac unicorn, whose wall-eyed pegasus mother had begged for the opportunity for her child to perform a stand up comedy routine. As she takes to the stage you hear the audience go quiet; she didn’t look very old at all, likely a classmate of the colts you had asked to leave earlier, but gauging the reaction of the punters after she started, the young filly was very talented. The laughter very rarely stopped, and you could see the proud mother weeping with joy, sat with another pair of your regulars - one of whom you recognised as the teacher of the local school, the other her fiancee, the guard captain.

“Hey Paddock. Another round, please?” asked somepony at the bar, a large red stallion.

“Aye, no problem Mac, just leave the bits in the jar.” you reply, placing a clean glass under the pump and pulling the lever with your hooves. Macintosh complied, picking up the hoof-full of bits and dropping them in the jar you kept on the bar; he was a very honest stallion and definitely one of your favourites, often appearing for a drink with farmhands or occasionally with his younger sister when she wasn’t working herself crazy. He was one of the ponies on a list, the ones who you had served often enough to allow a slight bit of leeway on payment. His debts were always filled by the day you had to do your books, so it wasn’t a problem.

As Mac left, carrying the drinks on a tray held between his teeth, you turn to another one of your regulars. She was normally quite a quiet mare, happy to sit at the bar with a bottle or two of wine. Berry Punch was her name, you recall, and she was a single mother. She’d dealt with it by descending into what your father had once called “bottle bottom eyes” - not quite alcoholism, but she definitely needed the drink to help with her home life. Berry, or Ms Punch as you often called her, wasn’t as reliable as Big Macintosh or his friends. She was one of the ponies who you always had to ask to pay in full at the bar, and had once or twice left after realising she had no money, despite your offer of a glass of water and somewhere warm to spend the evening.

She tended to show up at around ten, presumably after she had put her daughter to sleep. It was just reaching midnight now and once the audience’s applause died down, the building began to empty. You waved goodbye to Mac and his companions, congratulating Dinky on her routine even though you hadn’t really listened to it that intently. As the last pair of drinkers left, a local astronomer and his slightly oafish friend, you notice that Berry had left also.

Thinking nothing of it, you set about cleaning the detritus from the day from around the bar and tables, levitating stools onto the tabletops after having wiped them, and then mopping the floor. Smiling at how quickly you had returned the pub to it’s pristine condition, you switch the lights off and trot out into the cool autumn air. It was close to the running of the leaves, probably one or two weeks before by your reckoning without a calendar, and the nights were drawing in quicker and quicker.

Ponyville was still rather quiet at night, although you could just just make out the shape of Mac and his friends in the distance as you reached Sugar Cube Corner. Walking past the bakery, you hear a grunt, accompanied by a sob. You poke your head around the corner,

“Come on, you know you want it.” a familiar and arrogant voice crooned.

“No. Leave me alone, we’re over!”

“There’s nopony here Berry! I... can... do... what... I... want.”

You walk slowly, slipping off your flat cap and approaching Pokey Pierce from behind before clearing your throat. The scene was not at all pleasant, you could tell what he had in mind for the rapidly shrinking Berry Punch cowering before him, one hoof held out in front of her, the other covering her face. He stood easily a good six inches taller than you.

“Now, what on Equestria do you think you’re doing?” you ask, before leaning around him, “Ms Punch, has he touched you?”

She nods.

“And you didn’t want him to?”

She nods again.

“Right. I’ve had enough of you,”

You rear, forcing one of your forehooves into Pokey’s face as his turns back from her to you. Not expecting the response, he staggers back before pulling himself together and running at you. Still on your hind legs, you bring yourself backwards, out of the way of his horn. You run after him into the middle of Sugar Cube Corner, meeting his face with your hoof again as he turned to face you. He snarls, low and primal, rearing and taking a swing at you. Growing up in Cloplin had given you a few street smarts, as well as significant training in bare-hoof boxing to survive anything that working in a bar may throw at you.

He took another drunken swing, this time half connecting with you, but not well enough to throw you off balance. You hit him again, weaving around the tip of his horn. You hear hoofsteps behind you and turn to see Mac and his friends, the red stallion doing his best to hold back his rusty coloured companion, whilst Cheerilee held Berry in her hooves.

“Oh, look, your back-up has arrived!” Pierce taunts, still arrogant despite the trickle of blood coming from his nose.
Ignoring him, you dodge again, planting another blow next to his horn, light and fast. Eventually he appears to start favouring protecting his head, allowing you to strike him in his stomach, both still reared up, almost dancing together on your hind legs in the moonlit street.

The blow to the stomach winds him, and he drops his guard just enough for you to punch him square between the eyes; he goes down to the applause of the small group of townsponies that had heard the commotion. You turn to Macintosh’s friend, raising a hoof towards him,

“Alright officer, I’ll come quietly now. He hit her, and would probably have done worse had I not stepped in - there’s no chance I was going to let that go.”

The stallion looks you dead in the eye.

“I’m sorry, but from what I saw, he charged at you. You simply defended yourself,” he turned to his mate, who was still comforting the now crying Berry Punch, “Cheeri, is she going to be alright?”

The mare gently nodded her head, soft magenta and pink curls bouncing.

“I can make sure she gets home, I’ve dropped her off more than once.” you respond, “Is he to be arrested?” you add, nodding your head towards the unconscious unicorn behind you.

Snapshot smiled, “Oh yes. Mac and I will secure him for the night - I’ll get a D-mail sent first thing tomorrow to have him picked up.”

You nod, satisfied with the response and draw a hoof through your dark brown mane, green eyes floating over to Berry, who had stopped crying but was overly quiet, occasionally peeking at Pierce laid out on the street. She glanced at you, eyes probing your cream coat - you had sugar coated your past for her when the two of you first met, claiming to have been a dancer in your youth, which was technically true - the boxing school had taught you a small amount of ballet in a very odd attempt at getting students to be more fluid with their movements.

She eventually pulled away from Cheerilee, and walked over to you when the crowd dispersed; Big Mac’s sister had appeared with rope and a garish pink cart that “a friend of hers” had made, and Mrs Cake had appeared out of the front of the bakery to give Berry something to eat, claiming that the sugar would help her deal with any shock from her experience in the alley. You had seen the old mare watching out of the window as you had fought Pierce, something in her eyes telling you that she had seen combat before, but it didn’t feel right in such a usually jolly baker.

Holding the cake with your magic, you walk alongside Berry as the pair of you head towards her home. She stays silent for most of the journey, taking small bites from the floating cake. As you reach her home, you notice in the moonlight that a bruise is starting to rise on the side of her face that she had been covering when you found her. Eventually, the pair of you end up outside her door, which you notice had been left unlocked.

“I... I... Thank you, Paddock. Again.” she stuttered, looking at her hooves, “He’s never been like that before, I don’t know what got into him. He used to be so sweet and... and...”

“Calm down, and don’t be making excuses for him. You’ve seen him thrown out enough times for trying to force himself on mares; honestly, the last one threw him out herself - she’s a spicy one that Miss Dash.”

Berry laughed at the memory.

“There we go, you’ve got such a pretty smile, Ms Punch.”

Berry blushed, before bringing her lips to yours for a second. Before you knew what was going on, she had left and locked her front door behind her.

“Wha?” you think, barely avoiding saying the phrase out loud, aware that she may well be listening through the other side of the door. “Well, that was nice. Unexpected, but nice.” you eventually say, hoping that she heard you. When the door doesn’t open again, you decide to leave, trotting back through town to your own lodgings - temporary until the room above the pub is usable.

Finally reaching your apartment, you let yourself in and immediately fling yourself on the rickety single bed, the wooden frame shifting slightly under your weight. The room itself was tiny, but this didn’t really matter - you spent all of your time at the pub, and almost all of your personal possessions were in boxes next to the kegs in the cellar, waiting for you to finish fixing up the upper floor.

The only things of yours in the room itself were a picture of you and your parents taken the previous summer, along side a stack of mail - letters from your family. You did your best to keep in touch with them as often as possible, updating them on how life in Ponyville was working out for you. Unsurprisingly to most others, your parents were brewers, making a living from the hundreds of gallons of beer barreled and shipped off site to a number of bars and pubs all over the expansive nation of Equestria from their Cloplin home. Giving the picture a final glance, you slip into a dreamless sleep, reading no further into the kiss you received.

Chapter 2.

The next morning, you’re woken by the sound of a hoof banging on your door. Dust drifts down from the rough hewn boards over your head, and you hear the occupant of the room above yours bang their hooves against the floor to try and get you to be quiet. Cursing under your breath, you open the shaking door to a stressed looking Guardspony accompanied by a juvenile dragon... at least you thought it was a dragon, it looked closer to an over-sized rodent with scales.

“Morning officer, what can I do for ye?”

“Green Paddock? I’m Sergeant Bridges, this is Corporal Needles. We’re with the guard.” The stallion pointed first at himself, then at the dragon behind him, who was attempting to stuff a pipe with tobacco.

“Aye. Whatcha need?”

“We understand that there was a disturbance last night, and are here to collect a statement.”

You open the door, waving a hoof around the room behind you,

“I think we should head to my bar. Bit more room, y’know?”

The sergeant nods, and turns to leave with his companion in tow. Grabbing your cap, you trot after them after locking the door. Outside, you follow them silently, trying to piece together your side of what happened last night.

“‘Ere, Brassy, you think I could have a drink when we get there?” Needles asks, lighting the pipe with a small burst of his own flame and sucking on it.

“That’s Sergeant when we’re on duty Needles, and you’re under-age.”

“But Bras- Sarge, I don’t get drunk like you ponies. It’s actually good for my flame glands.”

“Snappy’d go spare if he caught us drinking on duty.”

“Yeeeah, but who said ‘us’?”

You grin to yourself listening to them bicker. Passing through the town, you could see the hustle and bustle of daily life begining to get into full swing; a streak of rainbow bouncing between clouds to disperse them, fresh food being put in the window of Sugar Cube Corner, the scent of various apple-based goods floating down the way from an open cart.

Nearing the bar, you greet a fellow Clopliner, Mr Breezy. He tries to strike up a conversation, to which you nod towards the two guards accompanying you, he gives an understanding glance and tips his hat your way, before going back inside his fan shop.

Finally approaching the bar, you see Ditzy Doo stood waiting for you, a large crate by the door, a bundle of mail sat on top.

“Top of the morning Paddock!” She half yells, enthusiastically trying to mimic your accent, “Thank you so, so much for letting Dinky perform last night, it meant so much to her!”

“Not a problem, Ditzy. Where is your little’un today?” you respond, levitating the delivery receipt over and signing it with a pencil offered to you by the mailpony. Dinky quite often accompanied her mother on the weekend mail route, as it was slow enough for Ditzy to complete without having to fly.

“She’s visiting a little friend of hers, with Berry’s daughter?”

You gulp.

“Did you hear about last night?”

“Yes. That’s why I’ve got the fuzz with me.” you respond, motioning to the two officers, stood waiting for you to open the door, “If you could get Snappy to come, it’d be grand.”

“Captain Snapshot is taking a statement from Ms Punch, mate.” the sergeant said, looking a little impatient.

“Uh... Brassy...?”

“Not now, Needles.”

You glance behind you, looking past the pompous sergeant to the figure Needles was pointing at. Bridges, having not seen his superior approaching, kept talking, babbling on about wanting to do real policing, not dealing with “Bloody immigrants” - seemingly oblivious to the fact that Cloplin was well within Equestria’s borders. As Snapshot approaches, he clears his throat and you laugh as Brassy snaps into a salute, one hoof dinging gently against his helmet. The corporal copies the gesture lazily, to which Snapshot rolls his eyes, unused to the lack of professionalism seen outside of his usual department within the royal guard.

“Sergeant, Corporal, you’re dismissed. I witnessed what happened, so we don’t really need his statement.”

“But sir, protocol dictates...” Brassy starts, before being cut off,

“Sergeant. You know who I report to, and you know who I regularly spend a great deal of time with. If you have a problem, get in touch with my commanding officer.”

The stallion sergeant visibly shrinks, his companion unable to stop himself from snickering. Embarrassed, he salutes again and gallops off, leaving the young dragon behind. The remaining officer waves, more than salutes, before making a move as well.

“Oh, Corporal, thought I should mention, I’ve got some lovely fresh blue-john gems in this delivery. Would you be interested in stopping by later to sample them?”

He smiles, revealing a set of beautifully shiny teeth and promises to come and visit the bar later, glancing at Snapshot, who appears to give no sign of disapproval.

You finally manage to open the door, levitating the delivery box in first after you and Snapshot wave farewell to Ditzy. Glancing around, you curse yourself again for expecting the place to have been broken into - it had frequently been the case when you had been working at the Lyre, often ponies with little to lose had found a way inside and had taken beer or occasionally money if they managed to get into the safe in the back. Ponyville, however had never given this problem, which made you smile. You spend a few minutes putting stools back on the floor, before Snapshot takes a seat at the bar, removing his helmet and placing it in front of him.

"So, what can I do for you?" you ask, unloading several smaller packages from the crate you had brought inside.

"What really happened last night?" the captain responds, staring you dead in the eyes.

"I told ye', he hit her, so I hit him. T'isn't right for a stallion to be beatin' on a mare like that."

"Hmm," The captain began,

"You've had a problem with him yourself, haven't you? What happened? Did he try it on with your missus?"

"No, and she isn't quite my wife yet, Paddock."

"Care to tell me the story then? I saw Macintosh holding you back."

Snapshot sighs, looking at himself in the polished oak of the bar. Recognising the look, you levitate a clean glass from the rack and pull a pint. Putting it in front of your only customer, he finally talks once more,

"When we were young, Pierce and I were friends."

"And he changed one day, aye?"

"Yes. You've seen Ditzy's eyes, haven't you?"

"Ah, they might be wonky, but they're amongst the prettiest I've seen."

"They weren't always like that. There was an... accident."

"His fault?"

"She was lucky not to have been blinded. Pierce didn't understand that though, he was too busy laughing at her misfortune with his new friends. It broke her heart."

"He's a nasty piece of work." You say, frowning and shaking your head, "I take it you're thankful for me having dealt with him?"

"I'll admit, there was a certain satisfaction in watching you, Paddock. With Berry's statement, we can have him put away for some time, provided the charges stick."

"What do you mean, if the charges stick?"

"Did you see him strike her?"

"Well, no, but it was pretty damned obvious... didn't you see the shiner he gave her?"

"Then there is a chance that he'll get off. It's up to the courts. Unfortunately I don't have the leverage to change what they think."

"Hold on, you work with the damned Princesses, you have their ears on a daily basis and you can't have a creep jailed!?"

The stallion looks down, looking as if he wanted to drown himself in the beer before him. Realising you lost your temper, you immediately apologise.
"I'm sorry Snappy. S'just not right that he could get away with what he's done."

"I know. Trust me, if there was anything I could do, I'd have done it." the guard replies, bringing his head up to look at you, "There actually was something else I wanted to talk to you about," He opens the saddlebag around his waist, and grabs a delicate looking envelope between his teeth. He places it on the bar, allowing you to levitate and open the letter.

----
Dear Green Paddock,

You are cordially invited to the marriage of Captain Snapshot of the Royal Protectorate of Canterlot, and Miss Cheerilee of Ponyville. This joyous ceremony will be led by Her Majesties, Princesses Celestia and Luna in full tradition of military matrimony, on the fifteenth of August, 1003CR within the halls of Canterlot Castle.

As this ceremony is military tradition, members of the guard are permitted to wear their dress uniform for the event; civilian guests are expected to be dressed in formal attire, and many tailors throughout the nation will be able to provide stallions with full morning suits. Following the ceremony itself, there will be a reception held on the grounds of Sweet Apple Acres, of which everypony is welcome to attend, but we would like to request that younger guests are taken home shortly before sunset.

We would also like to extend the invitation to allow you to bring a guest with you, however please inform us via D-mail or in person if you intend to bring somepony!

Our kindest regards,

Cheerilee & Snapshot.
----

You fold the letter up again and slide it back into the gilded envelope. Beaming, you turn to Snapshot;

"I'll definitely be attending... not too sure if I'll have a plus one to bring with me though."

The captain smiles, clearly in on some sort of joke that you're as of yet not privy to. He finishes his drink, nudging the glass towards you and you levitate it over to the sink to deal with later. The stallion places the helmet back on his head and bids you a good day, trotting out into the mid-day sun and no doubt on his way back to his mate...

Chapter 3.

Still smiling after you lock the door to the pub, you levitate the letter over to you and trot downstairs into the cellar, opening one of your boxes of personal items and placing the invitation inside carefully. You breathe deep, the scent of alcohol mingling with the mustiness of old barrels. Inspecting your boxes again, you can see that they're beginning to get damp, and instead of looking through your things you choose to grab some tools and head upstairs to what would eventually become your home above the pub. You had kept putting off fixing the roof, purely because of the work it would require - you're not too rich financially, so you couldn't just pay somepony to fix the couple of leaks that had poured water onto your bed on your first night staying there, at the time unaware of the gap in the thatched roof.

Opening the book on thatching and roof repair that you had borrowed from Ponyville library, you spend the next few hours tweaking bits of thatch until satisfied. You knew that there was a light rainfall due this evening, so that would serve as an adequate test of your work. Looking out of the window as you move downstairs, you see the small line of punters waiting for you to unlock the door for tonight; your heart skips a beat as you notice Berry Punch there too, chatting animatedly to Ditzy Doo, who had also chosen to grace the bar with her presence tonight.

Stopping by the toilets, you quickly check yourself over in the mirror, smoothing down your hair with a hoof after moistening it with water from the tap. You glance again and cringe, looking close to how you had as a foal, and then run the hoof through your hair, moving backwards instead. "Much better," you say to your reflection, and quickly wander over to the front door, using your magic to insert and twist the key. Tonight's customers allow you to at least get out of the way before making their way inside, which was something else you rather liked about this town - very few ponies were in a rush to do anything and were much more respectful towards employees of their favourite drinking hole.

"Good evening, Paddock!" comes the familiar mock-Cloplin accent of Ditzy Doo. Her attempt at your accent made you cringe slightly, but not in the way of being terrible - she actually sounded very similar to your mother.

"Good evening to you Ditzy, and good evening Ms Punch - it's wonderful to see you well."

Berry nods, blushing slightly. You notice that the bruise on her face has all but gone, presumably the work of somepony at Ponyville Emergency Care. Ditzy orders a bottle of house red wine to keep her and Berry watered whilst you begin to serve your other customers. When you're done, and everypony is drinking, you find an additional stool and sit opposite Ditzy and Berry at the bar.

"Ohh! Paddock! You've JUST reminded me!"

"Of what?"

"I've just remembered that I've got an emergency at home!" Ditzy said, glancing either side of her, "It's a... uhm... muffin based emergency?"

"Right...?" you respond, slightly confused.

The grey pegasus immediately gets up from her seat and says good bye to Berry, who glances at you again. Something in your head clicked, and you understood what was being done; the wedding invitation, the sudden need to leave you alone with Berry... were they trying to set you up with her?

"They're trying to set us up, don't you think?" Berry finally says, sipping her wine and glancing at you once more.

"Aye, I'd say that's the case. I'm game, mind you; especially after last night."

"Ditzy has been trying to get me to talk to you since you opened this place... I hope you didn't mind me kissing you last night?"

"Not at all, Ms Punch. I'm sorry it hadn't been under better conditions though."

"Please, just Berry will do. Thank you for stopping Pokey. He and I were seeing each other a while back, but he wasn't any good for Ruby, he practically ignored her."

"Ah, Ruby would be your little one?"

"That's her. She's the light of my life, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"May I ask where her father is?"

Berry frowns at your last question, before eventually answering with an upset look on her face,

"He just left one day. He didn't even leave a note."

"I'm so sorry, Berry, it must have been tremendously difficult for you."

"It was, at first, but Ruby and I are comfortable now. We'll be alright."

"Well, if there is anything I could ever do, just ask and I'll be there."

Berry looks into your eyes for a moment, and the room seems to go quiet as you stare at each other before you finally tear your eyes off of her to serve somepony waiting patiently for a drink. As the night progresses, you keep chatting to her about various subjects, and she responds looking genuinely happy. By the end of the night, you realise that she isn’t even drinking that much - the equivalent of two glasses of wine for the whole evening, rather than the two bottles she regularly ordered for herself.

As the pub begins to empty, she stays, still chatting to you; Berry even offers to lend a hoof with the cleaning, dealing with the glasses whilst you gather together stools, putting them upside down on the cleaned tables as usual. Glancing back to check, you see her polishing the last glass, humming as she works. You can't help but notice how beautiful she is, her attention held by a pint glass for the moment, allowing you to run your eyes from her deep pink mane, over her light pink coat, to the bunch of grapes on her pert rump.

Wandering up the short flight of steps onto the stage, the mop animated by your magic glides around like a ballerina performing alone for an audience of furniture. Humming to yourself, you roll out power lines for the band coming to perform tomorrow night, as well as a small lighting setup that their manager had dropped off the previous week. Turning back to see if Berry had finished her work, you see her stood on the stage close by.

"I'll just be another minute, then I can walk you home, if you'd like?"

She shakes her head and steps closer, avoiding the still working mop. Time seems to slow down as Berry Punch comes closer, until she is less than a foot away.

"Thank you, Paddock."

Standing on her hooftips, she brings her lips to yours, fluttering her eyelids closed. You close your eyes too, your sense of feel heightening slightly, feeling her mouth moving in response to your own, the faint flavour of wine on her soft pink lips. The sound of the mop falling to the ground makes you both jump and pull away, Berry giggles upon seeing how distracted she had made you and pecks you on the cheek, blushing.

"Oh, you enjoyed that, did you?" She asks,

"Aye. That I did, Berry... that I did. I think I should get you back to your home. Isn't Ruby waiting for you?"

"She's staying over with Ditzy and Dinky tonight. Ditz has actually offered to take her off my hooves for a few more days... wouldn't even take no for an answer."

The pair of you laugh and you embrace her once more.

"Then how about a moonlit stroll by the river?"

She nods in agreement, and then nuzzles your neck. Smiling, you guide her between the tables to the door, your cap floating over and nestling behind your horn, the key on a nail behind the bar also floats over, and you lock up for the night once you and Berry have stepped outside.

It's a beautiful clear autumn night outside, the moon can be seen directly overhead, full and round, a beautiful sight. Marvelling at it, you nudge Berry, who also stops to look and gasps gently, amazed by the sphere. She snuggles up close to you and rests her head on your shoulder. You take a slight sniff of her mane, the aroma of forest fruits filling your nose, making your heart flutter slightly. This fluttering was a new feeling to you completely, but you thoroughly enjoy it.

After a few minutes, the chill of the night air becomes obvious, and the two of you begin to walk, hooves clopping gently against the cold ground. The silence begins to feel awkward, so you decide to try and strike up a conversation.

"So, how did you end up in Ponyville?" You ask, your side brushing against Berry as you continue to walk, reaching Sugar Cube Corner.

"I was born in the wine country near Fillydelphia, moved here for work. Although I wasn't expecting to meet Ruby's father... when I found out I was expecting, I chose to leave my job to take care of her. My parents are vineyard owners, so I rely on them for money."

You could feel your chest getting tight.

"Are you sure you're alright for money? I could do with an extra pair of hooves at the pub?"

"I'll have to think about that, but thank you for the offer" Berry replies, kissing your cheek as you both trot down the street, "Are you as crazily cold as I am?

"Definitely."

Berry smiles, flicking her eyes over to you,

"Let’s forget the river. Chase me, Paddock." she says with a wink, before cantering away. You take chase, laughing as you warm up. She seems to speed up just as you get close enough to catch her, and before long, you're both in front of her front door once again. Berry flings her forelegs around your neck, kissing all over your face. You pull back, and she gives a mischievous grin as one of her hind legs flicks back to push the door open. Balancing on her hind legs, she pulls you over the threshold, still planting gentle kisses on your face. Her home is nicely decorated, not following a set style, but obviously well loved; the sofa that she pulls you over to holds a simple striped pattern and feels soft as she pulls you down onto it with her.

She kisses you again, slightly more passionately than before, her small pink tongue poking at your lips. You open your mouth, allowing your tongue to dance with hers, the flutter in your chest accelerated by the deep breaths of the mare held between your hooves.

"Berry, are you sure you want this?"

"Yes!" she says enthusiastically, her face buried in your neck, nipping and biting at you.

You groan slightly as she bites a little harder. You'd never had a mare bite you before, and it was certainly something you wish had happened sooner. The bites turn to kisses and she slowly and seductively makes her way down your body. You can feel her hooves travelling over every single part of you, before they settle on your flanks, massaging your muscles through your coat. You breathe deep, her scent of wild forest fruits filling your nostrils, with the sharp tang of red grapes lingering on your senses.

She kisses you somewhere very sensitive, and you moan out loud,

"I thought you'd enjoy that..." she says, coming back up and kissing your lips, "That's all you're getting for now though..."

"I didn't have you down as a tease, Berry?"

"I'm full of surprises..." she says, with a yawn and a wink, kissing you again weakly.

Eventually, Berry rests her head on your chest, her tiredness preventing her from trying to take things any further. You smile, and stroke her mane for a few minutes before drifting to sleep yourself.

Chapter 4.

Berry wakes you gently in the morning, running a hoof down your face, brushing your features with the tip. You smile, staring into her eyes, and she lowers her mouth to yours once again. You sigh into the kiss, contented,

“I should tell you, I’ve been interested in your for a while, Paddock. I hope you don’t think I’m coming on too strongly?”

“I... I had wondered about you, you’re lovely, everything I look for in a mare.” you respond, looking into her eyes still. She grins, and kisses you again,

“Well, if you and Ruby get on well, I would love to have a proper relationship with you?”

You smile back at her,

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

Berry pecks your lips, before shifting to let you up from the sofa, one hoof propping her up, gravity making her mane fall nicely over her shoulder, she motions to the clock on the mantle, showing the time as just after mid-day.

“Aren’t you opening up today?”

You nod, rising from next to her, levitating your cap back to it’s home atop your head,

“Will you be in this evening?”

“Well, I’ve not got Ruby for a little while, so sure. I wouldn’t mind helping out behind the bar if you still want me? I couldn’t take money from you though,”

You smile again, gazing at her enough to make her blush,

“The company would be all the payment I’d need. When would you want to introduce me to your little one?”

“Ditzy said she’d look after her until next weekend, but said I’m welcome to pick her up any time... would Wednesday be alright for you?”

“Wednesday would be fine - I can have an evening off for once. Would you be alright with me cooking for you both?”

Berry smiles and kisses you once more, bringing her hoof up behind your head to pull you down to her level and then walks you to the door, letting you out with another small kiss, waving as you head back home. Arriving back at the pub, you find that the thatch has indeed been successfully repaired, your room being bone dry, and you move your boxes from the cellar before flopping down on the bed and sleeping for a few more hours.

That night, the pub is busier than ever, easily reaching the recommended maximum occupancy. You weren’t sure why until you had chatted to a younger looking punter at the bar. Having checked his ID, he requested a glass of red wine, before commenting over his thick framed plastic glasses (which you couldn’t help but notice were only frames - the glass itself had been removed) that he wasn’t surprised you’d never heard of the band. The colt made a comment about “manestream” being “uncool”, before trotting back through the crowd of similarly dressed ponies shuffling themselves between their hooves rather than dancing.

“Bloody hipsters, eh?” a voice said, belonging to a white unicorn leaning on the bar. Her scarlet eyes scanned the bar as she adjusted a poorly fitting wig with one of her hooves, trying to hide a tuft of two-toned blue hair, a light brown colt next to her frantically taking notes using a pencil held between his teeth.

“Is that what they’re called? It doesn’t feel right being the oldest pony in the room at all.”

She laughed, “Two pints of Deuchars, thanks. Not seen that around these parts in a long while.”

“Aye, I get it delivered from the brewers in Shetland, they’re family friends.” you respond, pulling the drinks and sliding them over to the mare. She levitates her payment along with a tip over to the jar, kept behind the bar tonight, and drops them inside. As she leaves, you feel Berry Punch put her hoof to your shoulder, having arrived a few seconds earlier, embracing you for a moment or two.

“You know who that was, right?” she whispers into your ear,

“Nope. Her fella looked like a journalist though?”

Berry laughs at your cluelessness and presses her lips to your cheek for a moment, before trotting off to serve a customer who had been rudely tapping his money on the bar-top. The two of you spend the rest of the evening both rushing between customers, incredibly busy until an hour or so after the band had finally finished their set and left.

Alone once again, you and Berry continue chatting to each other as you finish the cleaning for the night, taking half the usual time. You offer to walk her home again, and the two of you once more kiss outside her doorway before she trots inside, blushing and slightly out of breath. This cycle repeats itself for the next few days, until you suddenly realise all too soon that it has finally reached Wednesday and the make or break moment in which you are due to meet Berry's daughter for the first time.

Determined to cook something delicious yet healthy for your potential new friend, you stop by several market stalls in the town, picking up various vegetables in order to make your mother's famous stew - several large potatoes, mushrooms and carrots in a deep and rich vegetable broth with the tiniest hint of beer to add to the flavour. Your mother had always made sure to explain to you that cooking with alcohol was always fine regardless of who you were cooking for, as the alcohol in the beverage itself often boiled off way, way before the meal was ready to serve.

You decide to find something fancy for dessert and choose to stop by the bakery at Sugar Cube Corner, your eyes dancing over the selection of beautifully hoof-crafted confection within. Looking through the windows, you notice a batch of cupcakes holding all the colours of the rainbow,

"I helped make those, you should totally try one! They're SO AWESOME" comes a comment from your left. You turn your head to see Rainbow Dash, one of the local weather ponies, pointing at the cakes you had been admiring.

"Ah, hello Rainbow, how've you been?" you ask her, "I'm looking for something special, I'm... auditioning for a mare."

"Oh boy, yeah, if you're looking to impress, I'd definitely go talk to Pinkie Pie - she'd totally know how to help you out with that!" Dash responds, practically pushing you into the store. The bell above the door rings and goes silent. You glance around for a moment, before turning back to see the manic grin of Ponyville's pink premier party pony staring back at you.

"Hi!" she exclaims, practically bounding around the room, "You're mister Paddock, right? huh, huh?"

"Y... yes." you respond, feeling a little light headed. Dash grabs Pinkie by the tail to hold her still, before pulling her nose to Pinkie's ear and whispering. Pinkie's eyes go wide, and she stares at you before nodding furiously and disappearing into the rear of the store.

She comes back with a pair of books balanced on her back, one entitled "The Candy Sutra", the other with "The Joye of Snackes" in curly writing. You think about the titles for a moment before shuddering.

"Whoa, whoa, fillies, I didn't mean that kind of stuff!"

Pinkie stops, looking visibly dismayed, "Aww, Gytha will be so upset, I'm trying to sell our books together!"

"Maybe one day I'll have a copy, but not today. I'm meant to be doing something nice for a mare and her youngster. I just want a nice dessert that'd work with a decent vegetable stew."

"Oooh! Alrightie! You can never go wrong with a toffee-cream-puff, they're super delish!"

"That'd be lovely m'dear, I'll take three. Could you wrap them up for me? Oh, and I'll have three of those Rainbow cupcakes from the window as well."

"Okie dokie," Pinkie responds, still her jolly buoyant self and you see Dash beaming with pride that someone has actually bought something she had made. She bids farewell to you and Pinkie, before leaving the bakery, presumably off to find somewhere to sleep between her shifts.

You wait for Pinkie to finish wrapping the cakes, and then drop a few heavy golden bits on the worktop. She waves goodbye as you leave before going into the back of the store. Checking you'd got everything, you then start to walk towards Berry's house, a small knot of worry forming in your stomach as you think about the meal you're about to cook. You knew that children could be fussy when it came to food, and hoped that Ruby would still like you even if she wasn't fond of the stew.

You knock on the door, which is answered by Berry. She lets you inside after greeting you with a kiss and you wander into the front room to see her child sat on the floor playing with a trio of dolls.

"Maxie, we've got to get to the bottom of this mystery and I need your help!" she says, moving a figurine of a yellow coloured colt in a fedora, changing her voice to make it sound masculine. Picking up another, a cream filly with her mane in pigtails, a green choker around her neck, Ruby continues, "But Squeak, we’ve got no idea where the writers are going!?"

You sit down next to her, hoping to introduce yourself, and Ruby drops the dolls, darting to the safety of between her mothers' hooves. Berry laughs gently, stroking Ruby and giving you a caring glance.

"It's alright, sweetie, this is my friend Paddock, he's been hoping to meet you."

Ruby stays silent, shyly eyeing you from behind her mother's foreleg. You lower yourself to Ruby's level and speak gently,

"Hello, your mum has told me a lot about you, she's very special to me and I'd love it if we could be friends?"

The little filly approaches you, one step at a time,

"Your voice is funny." she says, still appearing cautious and shy. You smile, stifling a laugh, "Can I wear your hat?" she asks, becoming a little bolder upon seeing your positive reaction. You smile, and levitate it over, placing the flat cap backwards on Ruby's head.

"Paddock is going to make us some dinner, do you think you would like that?" Berry asks, to which Ruby nods enthusiastically, your hat sliding forwards and back on her little head.

"I've even brought some very special treats for if you eat it all up, like a good girl." you add, receiving an approving look from Berry coupled with curiosity of what exactly you had planned, "You two play together a bit, and I'll get dinner on the go."

You slip out of the room into Berry's kitchen, listening to her join in with her daughter's playtime, her dedication warming your heart. Cutting the vegetables into relatively small chunks and tossing them into the pan, you overhear the two fillies talking to each other.

"I like him, mom. He's nice."

"I'm glad to hear that sweetie, I really like him too."

A tear forms in the corner of your eye as you add a splash of ale to the broth bubbling away on the hob. You put the cakes, still in their delicately tied box, in the fridge to keep the cream from spoiling and find three bowls from one of berry's cupboards. Having a taste and deciding that the meal was ready, you ladle it into the bowls and place them on the wooden table, before calling the girls in to eat.

The food goes down incredibly well with both mother and daughter, and you unveil the toffee cream puffs with a slight flare that you imagine would do Pinkie proud. They both gasp, and Ruby immediately wolfs hers down, cream going everywhere, spread like the joy all over her face. You can't help but smile, seeing them happy, watching and laughing along with Berry as Ruby attempts to lick a blob of cream from her nose. The clock in the living room chimes, signalling that the time is nine o'clock, to which Berry asks her daughter to go and get ready for bed, having been awake longer than usual already. She trots off upstairs, a tiny yawn accenting her tiredness. A few moments later, she appears again,

"Mom, I can't sleep, can you read me a story?"

"How about if I sing for you, Ruby? Would you like a lullaby?" you ask, memories of times with your own parents flowing back, bringing emotions long forgotten into the foreground.

Her eyes light up and she nods enthusiastically, before dashing back upstairs to brush her teeth. Berry walks up and nuzzles you,

"She hasn't been sung to in a very long time, I'm not that good."

"My own mother used to sing to me, she taught me a little song that I still know the words to."

Berry smiles, and you both walk upstairs to Ruby's room. You're surprised at how tidy the child keeps her things, no toys on the floor, or homework strewn across her tiny desk. Berry perches herself on the edge of Ruby’s bed, and runs a hoof through her mane gently. Mother and daughter look to you expectantly, before you remember yourself and sit next to Berry, taking a deep breath,

"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's a Cloplin lullaby."

Oft in dreams I wander
To that cot again,
I feel her hooves a-huggin' me
As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a -hummin'
To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep
Outside the cabin door.

Opening your eyes as you finish, the first thing you notice is the light gentle breathing of the dozing Ruby still being stroked by her mother. Carefully, you and Berry slide off of the bed, making sure not to wake her infant, and make your way downstairs

“We’ll have to be quiet, I don’t want to wake her up...” Berry says, running a hoof through your mane, caressing you. You respond by doing the same to her, her dark pink hair soft to the touch. She exhales deeply as you run your hoof through, a contented sigh as she leads you over to the sofa once more...

Chapter 5.

Later that night, you wake in a cold sweat. Something felt wrong. Looking at the clock on Berry’s mantle, you see that the pair of you had only been asleep for an hour or two. Her head shifts and she wakes too, looking into your eyes.

“Can you smell that?” she asks, after kissing you gently.

Feeling slightly groggy, you breathe in through your nose, the smell of burning oak faintly detectable on the air.

“It’s just oak, I imagine somepony’s just burning some old barrels. Probably that little restaurant bar on the other side of town.”

“Didn’t you say that your bar was built mostly using oak?”

You blink as the thought sinks in, before immediately leaping up and darting out of the door. Berry follows at full gallop and you can see a glow on the horizon. Panicking as you get closer, you see flames licking out of the upper windows of your pub, suddenly remembering the small oil-lamp you had left up there, but it had been turned off, hadn’t it? You realise that you don’t have the keys, and resign to letting it burn...

You see the window open, with a small blue scooter laid outside.

Bloody kids.

“Berry, there’s somepony in there. Get some help, I’m going in.”

Before she has chance to object, you buck the front door off of it’s hinges see to a ground floor filled with smoke. Taking a deep breath beforehand, you run into it, using your magic to hold your cap over your mouth.

You hear high whimpering, somehow, over the sound of the flames. Looking up, it gets slightly louder, and you run up the stair case, feeling the weakened wood construction creak under you weight. Bursting into your bedroom, you hear the whimpering coming from the direction of an old wardrobe that had been there when you first moved in. Using your magic to wrench it open, you grab the child by the scruff of her neck and move cautiously down the stairs, able to feel the heat through the wood.

Your four hooves left black smudges on the pavement as you push your way through the flames and out into the street. Staggering towards the crowd that had gathered, you could hear them all gasping at the tiny foal gripped by the scruff of her neck in your mouth, desperately panting for the fresh air now that she was out of the smokey insides of the building.

Glimpsing through the crowd of ponies, you’re sure you can see somepony who could be the mother of the purple maned pegasus, she was also a bright orange pegasus with a similarly styled purple mane - presumably the child’s father was the hourglass-marked brown earth pony trying to hold her back to stop her getting too close. You nod to him, and then to her, but receive nothing back. Wearily, the little pegasus looks at the pair too and gasps.

“...mom?”

Having lowered the child to the ground, you cough heavily, spluttering, and fall into the black velvet of unconsciousness...

***

Watching the fireponies put out the fire, you already begin to try and think of a way out of the situation. Thankfully the filly trapped inside whilst exploring hadn’t been hurt aside of a case of smoke inhalation; diagnosed by a doctor who had miraculously turned up as you staggered, smouldering out of the building. You cough once more, thick black mucous dragged up from your throat with a small amount of dull red blood, and spit it out onto the ground.

Berry had been clutching you since she had caught up after alerting the fire brigade and couldn’t believe that you were alive, her tears partially cleaning the soot and ashes out of your coat.

“Berry... I... I’m ruined.”

She squeezes you tighter than before, tears still pouring out of her eyes.

“It’s my fault, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t come with me, I feel so stupid!”

“No, you saved my life. I was going to sleep there again tonight, in the attic, I wanted to see if I’d fixed the roof right. The cellar and my rooms in the attic are ruined, I’ve got no idea how the bar survived. If we’re going to make it through this and get the bits for repairs, we’ll need to source more booze, and sharpish. I’ve got a bunch of letters at my old lodgings with the names of ponies who could help. If anything, it’s pure luck that I’d forgotten about the place.”

Watching the last of the fire die out, you look around once more. The little pegasus had gone.

Chapter 6.

Weeks pass, soon becoming months as you follow the slow process of claiming for insurance money. The contacts you had mentioned to Berry had so far yielded very little, a brewery in Shetland having sent a few barrels due to arrive in a couple of weeks, and beer from your parents' brewery due to arrive when the bar was suitable for re-opening.

You were surprised to hear that the restaurant bar on the other side of town, run by a Mecklenburgher couple, had been looking for a pianist and singer to help with their evening service after the last stallion had been discovered emptying the tills when left alone. Tonight was the night for a performance you had agreed to give, and you had arrived with barely minutes to spare after going with Berry to drop off Ruby for a sleepover at Ditzy and Dinky's home.

Stood backstage, the lights begin to dim and you watch the slightly eccentric waitress take to the stage and clear her throat.

“WELCOME EVERYPONY TO THE GILDED LILLY!” she cries, “THE GILDED LILLY IS A PLACE ALL ABOUT FUN AND DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR A CHANGE!”

You watch as the owner takes the stage and stands next to his employee. “When my wonderful wife and I move to Ponyville, all we want is to make people happy. Food and drink okay, but sometime you need laugh!”

His wife gets on the stage. “Recently, a pony by the name of Paddock came to us. His own bar burned down. He needed beer so he wouldn’t lose his business. We had much beer to spare, so in the end, we gave it to him. He wanted to pay us back, but we turn him down.”

He points to the back of the room “So instead, he play piano now! Until he gets back on hooves, he plays here once a night for special game.”

“That’s right, mate! But, first, I’d love to sing a little ditty for you all, would you like that?”

The crowd began to clap in approval, and you take your seat at the piano. Taking a quick glance, you see Berry sat at the back, watching intently.

“This tune, is a little something I wrote for a very special mare in my life. She’s out there, in amongst you all tonight. Her name is Berry, and well, I love her very dearly. Here’s to you, sweetheart.”

You gently play the opening line to the song, before bursting into a jollier tune;

Ring a ring a rosey, as the light declines
I remember Cloplin City in the rare ould times

My name it is Green Paddock, as Cloplin as can be
Born hard and late in seventy-two, in a house that ceased to be
By trade I was a barman, lost out to fire, you see,
Like my house that fell to the flames, my trade's a memory

And I courted Berry Punch, as pretty as you please
A rogue and child of Celly, from the rebel Liberties
I saved her from a unicorn chap, with skin as blue as sky
When she kissed me for the first time, she taught my soul to fly!

Ring a ring a rosey, as the light declines
I remember now Ponyville, in the new and better times

The loss done made me bitter, the smoke it dimmed me brain
Cause life keeps on changing, and nothing seems the same
But at least I still have my love, of lovely purple mane,
Her smile like a summers day, makes a smile of my frown

There is a few moments of silence as the last of your message filters into the crowd, before they burst into a round of applause. Looking out as you place your flat cap back on your head, you see Berry, weeping unashamedly on the shoulder of another onlooker.

The proprietor takes to the stage once again, congratulating you and suggesting a toast, clutching his wife. The whole establishment join in with the toast, and you feel a little jolt of pride as they drink to your devotion to her, before realising that it’s now time for the game that the owner had mentioned when he first took you on.

“Alright Now!” you start, clapping your hooves together theatrically and stretching, slipping your cap back off and putting it on the piano, “Let’s get this going then!”

You play the first scale of an old drinking song, watching the crowd’s interest peak once more.

“Now it’s time for the audience to get piece of action!” the owner of the Gilded Lily yells, “We are going to make a Cloplin drinking song on the spot! Now, we’re going to need four ponies to come to stage!”

Still sat on the stool behind the piano, you watch as four stallions appear. The first looks similar to the gentlecolt who had introduced you, yet much younger. The other three were earth ponies, and appeared to have come from the same table, leaving an embarrassed looking blue pegasus staring at his friends, mouth open. You recognised two of them as Snapshot and Big Macintosh, regular patrons at your own pub until it had burnt down. The middle one gave a somewhat camp wave to the pegasus, and part of you expected him to blow a kiss.

“The rules are simple,” the colt on stage begins “They sing one right after another and make up song as they go. Song ends when a pony can’t add anything or when I say so. Now we need topic,” he says as he turns to the crowd “Name me something that would happen to you that you want to keep secret.”

“Lobotomy!” somepony cries out.

You look at the owner, who gives the audience an odd look, and shrugs.

“Lobotomy. Let’s hear the lobotomy drinking song. Take it away, Paddock!”

Stretching your hooves in front of you with a satisfying click, you play the first line of an old drinking song.

Big Macintosh clears his throat and begins. “I had a lobotomy,”

“and now I’m not so nuts.” responds the owner’s son,

“They took away half my brain,” Caramel said with a chuckle.

“and now I eat cigarette butts.” Snapshot said, making the whole crowd laugh.

It goes back to Big Mac. “I am not too bright,”

“Now I’m kind of sane.”

“I am really stupid.”

“Hey is that the rain?”

All four of them began to sing together, barely in tune “Oh aye de di de di de di de di de di”

Big Mac remains quiet, so the next pony along fills in for him. “I used to go down on the streets.”

Caramel continues the song “I used to have a scar.”

“Now I ask for money.”

“And I like to chase carts. WOOF WOOF!” Big Mac says with a grin.

“But when I come into your town.”

“I like to shout a lot.”

“I run around scream:”

“Wow, this is hot!”

“Oh aye de di de di de di de di de di"

“Oh I feel so much better.”

“I think I’ll go back home.”

“And after I’m finished,”

“I’ll marry a lawn gnome.”

“Boy that’d be so beautiful,”

“as happy as can be.”

“Cause I don’t care so much, you see,”

“For my lobotomy!"

“Oh aye de di de di de di de di de di”

Caramel lets Snapshot begin this verse. “Oh I really need a job now.”

“I look in the paper.”

“But I can’t find nothin’.”

“I have a scraper.”

“But I’ll keep on looking,”

“I’ll look until I can’t see.”

“If you want someone who’s nuts,”

“Be a host named Paddy!”

“Oh aye de di de di de di de di de di de diiiiiii”

You stop playing and laugh aloud with the crowd, who applauded for all of you. The four stallions take a bow before heading back to their tables.

Walking along with Berry on your way back to her home to drop her off, you notice that she’s oddly silent, as if trying do decide on what to say. Eventually, as you reach a small bridge a short distance from the library, she stops, turning to you,

“You really wrote that for me? And you meant it?”

“Aye.” You respond, gazing at Berry in the moonlight, “I know we’ve not been together long, but I love you, Berry Punch.”

She flings her forelegs around you,

“I love you too! You’ve been so good to me, and Ruby adores you, and... and... and...”

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

“I’m going home with you tonight. I’m not going to take no for an answer, Paddock. I want you. Let me have you whilst I don’t have anything else to worry about, whilst Ruby is away and I can be as loud as I want.” she says, bringing one hoof up to your chest, stroking you, her eyes fixed on yours.

You gulp, “Well... if you’re not taking no for an answer, then I guess we should head back to yours.”

Berry pushes you through the door, her forelegs wrapped around your neck, the same way she had done many times before, but tonight, the two of you were to consummate your love completely. Once inside she practically drags you, her eyes closed as she continues kissing you deeply, to her room. Seizing the upper hoof, you levitate her gently onto the bed, laying her down with her back lined up with the edge of the bed. She turns back, her eyes half-mast,

“What do you have planned, my sexy Cloplin rogue?”

“It’s a surprise,” you reply, leaning over and kissing her, savouring her flavour. Berry flicks her tail, it brushes against the barrel on your flank, a wonderful teasing sensation flowing from your rump. You smile, and turn her head to face away, as you gently nibble the tips of her ears,

“Oh my goodness, Paddock, how did you know?” Berry gasps, arching her back, the back of her neck pressing against you. You shush her quiet, before kissing your way down her spine, finishing with a gentle nip at the base of her tail, the mare groaning with appreciation of every kiss. She rolls herself onto her back, pulling you up with her using a surprising show of strength for a usually docile mare. Smiling, with you on top of her, she then grips your hat in her teeth and slings it onto her dressing table, knocking over a few bottles of perfume.

Your eyes locked with hers, you lean down and kiss her, your magic easing the door shut with a gentle click...

Chapter 7

Very little had happened in the run up to the wedding, and both you and Berry had been very surprised about how quickly the time had passed. Naturally, Berry got her dress prepared way in advance, a beautiful piece of clothing that appeared to hug her figure in the most amazing of ways.

Since the two of you had been together, your lives had become much more active, often going on long walks together and occasionally rowing around a nearby lake. You had taught Ruby to fish, just as your father had done to you, and your catch earned Ruby few extra bits from a pink maned pony with ferrets to feed. The filly had even began going out on her own or with friends down to the lake, and you noticed a young colt probably around her age had started to spend a lot of time with her.

Today however, you had been pushed into going to have your measurements taken for a suit to wear at the wedding, and had gone to the Carousel Boutique in town after having transferred what remained of your belongings to Berry's house. She had offered you the opportunity to move in a week or two after your first gig at the Lilly, but it had taken until now for you to get around to moving everything - the damp of the boxes had protected a great deal of things with intense sentimental value, but sadly your clothes had been irreparably damaged.

The unicorn mare stared at you upon the podium, assessing and measuring with a tape held using her magic.

"Sooo, Rarity is it? Are you going to the wedding?"

She snorts, frustrated, her curled purple mane bouncing as she levitates a pair of red spectacles onto her face.

"No. The groom and I do not get on."

"Really? You don't like Snappy?"

"Oh, I think he is a charming and upright stallion, with a stable honorable job, and is perfect for Cheerilee."

"So it's him that doesn't like you? That doesn't feel right, you seem a decent sort?"

"Hmmph. Try telling him that, why don't you? Here I am, one of Cheerilee's oldest friends, and I overhear him saying about how he had done his best to avoid inviting 'that damned stupid white unicorn'. All because I got upset with a simply dreadful stallion at the gala last year."

You cock an eyebrow, "Hold on a minute, aren't you doing the clothes for the event?"

She snorts again.

"Yes, and HE is attending in his guard uniform. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to make a wedding dress that doesn't clash with bronze armour? Part your forelegs please."

Slightly scared by the angry mare, you comply, allowing her to measure your inseam, "Well... that's very generous of you, but you do know that he was talking about some relative of the royals?"

Rarity freezes, her glasses falling off her face,

"But, but I haven't been given an invitation, and the wedding is only two weeks away? How do you know?"

In honesty, you didn't know for certain, but it didn't feel right that an old friend of the bride hadn't been invited and everypony knew about Rarity's clash with Celestia's nephew, who also happened to be a white unicorn.

"Just talk to Cheerilee."

Rarity smiles unsurely, rolling the tape measure back up and putting it away, making her final set of notes.

"I will. Also, if you could ask Berry to drop by at some point for me to take her dress in, it would be wonderful. Your suit should be ready by the end of the week. Thank-you, Paddock."

"Not a problem, I'm sure 'tis just a case of your invite being lost."

On your way out of the boutique, you see Cheerilee trotting your way looking slightly worried, an ornately decorated piece of paper in her mouth. "Funny how things turn out," you think to yourself, a gentle smile creeping onto your face as you hold the door open for her.

Chapter 8

You pace around the living room, waiting for Berry Punch to appear from the bathroom with Ruby. It was getting close to eleven in the morning, and you were slightly worried that you were going to be late for the ceremony.

Eventually, the two of them appear and you can’t help but let your jaw drop as you see your mate enter the room. Berry’s mane was tied up majestically, her hooves polished and in dainty sequined red shoes, a very slinky red silk dress delicately flowing over her. She notices your stare, and smiles, blushing gently and trotting over to kiss you, nudging your tie and taking your cap off of your head, hanging it on the door, determined that you wouldn’t be taking it with you.

“You’re beautiful, sweetheart,” you say, nuzzling her. You feel a tug at your sleeve, and look down to see Ruby, in a dress similar to her mother’s, but lacking her delicately styled mane and the foal wearing only the tiniest bit of makeup, “and don’t you look lovely too! Goodness, I imagine the bride’ll be very jealous of two such lovely young mares showing up to her wedding,” you add, moving to ruffle Ruby’s mane, but being dodged.

“Do you have the invitations?”

“Of course, they’re in my pocket,” you reply, smiling and patting your chest, feeling the reassuring resistance of the thick, folded paper inside.

Leaving the house, the three of you board an ornate-looking carriage, holding another couple from elsewhere in town. Looking out of the window, you see several of the carriages, obviously on loan from the castle, trundling through Ponyville, picking up passengers to take to Canterlot for the wedding. Losing yourself for a few minutes, you’re eventually brought back by Ruby, who had fallen asleep on you, whilst her mother chats with the familiar-looking couple in the carriage with you.

The stallion, a deep green pegasus with brown mane, mentions that he and his ginger unicorn were trying for a foal of their own, asking if you and Berry had any tips for new parents. Berry blushes, explaining that you aren’t Ruby’s father, but she gives them the advice that they had been asking for anyway - things such as schooling, the importance of reading to them at an early age and other useful ideas. You then ask how the couple knew the bride and groom, and they reveal that they had been university friends with Cheerilee when she was training to become a teacher, and the mare had shared a room with her during her own training as a nurse.

As your carriage approaches the outer limits of the city below Canterlot castle itself, you notice that once again the Lyre had changed it’s name, now called “The Broken Lyre”, and as usual it looked like it had seen several fights recently - one window boarded up, no doubt through having had a bar stool thrown through it.

Several minutes later, the carriage shakes violently for a few moments as you pass over a set of very rough cobblestones, and you hold on to Ruby and Berry as the pegasus sharing the carriage with you clings to his fiancee. Sharing one of those “what the hay was that” moments, known to males of all species throughout the multi-verse, you both look outside to see the castle gates, realising that the shaking had been from the road leading up to the castle.

Entering the large throne room where the wedding was due to take place, a young colt guides you to your assigned row seats, around three quarters of the way from the front. You notice that there were a great deal of ponies already in the hall, and the stallion and mare you shared the carriage with were sat in relatively the same area.

Sat next to Berry, you shift and slip a foreleg around her shoulders. Waiting for the ceremony to begin, you watch as more friends and family of the couple appear, filling up the aisles in front of where you were.

Finally, with the hall full, the princesses appear, signalling the start of the ceremony and the doors behind you are thrown open. You see Snapshot enter, his armour shining brightly in the eternal sunlight cascading through the stained glass windows of the throne room. With him is an aging, faded magenta mare, who you slowly realise to be Cheerilee’s mother. The guard captain guides her to her seat, sat at the very front, where Princess Celestia bows her head in respect to the mother of the bride, her sister following suit. The old mare returns the gesture, smiling broadly to the two royals.

Snapshot then takes his place in front of Celestia, and two stallions appear from a side door to join him. The first is instantly recognisable as Big Macintosh, who positions himself closest to the groom, adjusting his bow tie. The second stallion is somepony that you do not recognise, an ash grey pegasus in formal military wear, a patch covering his left eye.

An unseen organist begins the wedding march, and the doors at the back are thrown open once more. All heads turn to see Cheerilee walk slowly down the aisle, accompanied by her father, with the train of her pure white dress flowing a short distance behind her. Following the pair are three bridesmaids, you recognise the first as Ditzy Doo, and the second as the town librarian, but the final mare is unfamiliar, and you assume that she is a member Cheerilee’s family.

When Cheerilee reaches the front of the room with her father, she takes her position parallel to Snapshot, her maids lining up behind her, her father helping her mother to her hooves. They all bow their heads to Celestia and Luna, before the tall, white alicorn begins to speak,

“Before we start, it is my duty to ensure that the bride has her mother and father’s permission to leave the family to begin her own.”

“She does, your majesty.” Cherilee’s mother and father answer, simultaneously.

“Thank you, please, be seated,” Celestia replies warmly, waiting for the two ponies to take their seats. Once they are sat down, she addresses the audience, “Good afternoon everypony, my sister and I would like to thank you on behalf of the happy couple for attending the castle this day. It has been a fair time since we have performed a military wedding ceremony in tandem, and we are truly thankful to have you all with us. Snapshot, please remove your sword, and pass it to your best stallion.”

He obeys, allowing Macintosh to take the weapon, who places it at his hooves as dictated by tradition. Celestia speaks again,

“The act of marriage is a sacred bond. The pair of you are promising to not only be mating partners for life, but also to support each other equally as friends, promising to be there for each other in sickness and in health.” She then turns to Luna, and nods, encouraging the younger royal to speak her part.

“Cheerilee, do you promise to love and care for Snapshot, even if his duties take him away from your side for prolonged periods of time?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Snapshot, do you promise to love and care for Cheerilee, even if your duties take you away from her side for prolonged periods of time?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“To all of the friends and family of Snapshot and Cheerilee, will you do your best to support the couple, to the very best of your ability?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” everypony in the hall responds, even Ruby, sat beside her mother, replying to the question.

Luna moves back to Celestia’s side, and the taller of the two addresses the couple again.

“I understand that you have chosen to prepare a short few sentences of dedication for each other, you may speak them now.”

Snapshot speaks first this time,

“Cheerilee, you are the only mare that I have ever truly loved. You were there for me when I lost my own family, even though my grief would eventually cause us to fall out of contact for several years. When we were reunited, three years to this day, I felt my heart burst with joy once more, and I realised that you are the one, my soul mate, the mare that I would die for. As your husband, I promise to love and obey you as much as I can as a mortal pony.”

Cheerilee blushes, tears welling in her eyes,

“Snapshot, to say that you make me happy would be an understatement. I had searched for love for so long, and never realised that I’d already found it all those years ago, until I saw you, handsome and grown up, talking to my class - a stallion so respectful and honorable. I truly promise to stay by your side as long as I can, I love you...”

She dissolves into tears of joy, and Ditzy moves to her side, holding her. You can see that Snapshot is trying his hardest not to cry himself, a single tear slipping out. Eventually, Cheerilee regains her composure, and Celestia speaks once more.

“It is my honor to formally marry you, before all of these onlookers who wish you both well, may your love be timeless, may your lives together be happy! I pronounce you, Snapshot and Cheerilee, to be stallion and wife!”

The couple stand, staring at each other for a few seconds, and the princess’s eyes light up.

“And you may kiss the bride.”

Snapshot immediately raises a hoof, gently lifting Cheerilee’s veil and bringing his lips to hers. Several seconds pass, and as the two finally part, a cheer erupts from every pony in the hall.

As the organist strikes up again, you see Macintosh pass Snapshot’s sword back, and a group of six pegasus guards file in to line both sides of the aisle, raising their wings and allowing the new couple to pass beneath them as they leave, soon followed by Big Mac and Ditzy, then Cheerilee’s parents, and the rest of the wedding party.

“Mares, stallions and foals, the wedding party, as well as close family and friends, will be attending a banquet in honor of the bride and groom. We shall reconvene at the wedding reception, which is taking place near Sweet Apple Acres. Goodbye for now!” Luna adds, before walking away with her sister.

Chapter 9

As you approach the huge green field, having followed a path through the orchard marked by small candle-bearing lanterns, you see Big Mac running towards you at full tilt. He looks at you in panic, completely out of breath, before pointing at the small band setting up on a wooden stage, magically powered lights suspended in the air, a bar being set up at one side.

Still panting, the stallion explains that he needs your help, saying that the singer hadn’t been on board the carriage from Canterlot. You leave Berry and Ruby and trot with him, wondering what Macintosh could possibly want from you.

"He could have just gotten on a different carriage, are you sure he's not shown up?"

"Eeyup, please Paddy, can y’join the band, put on that singin' voice of yours? At least until the singer makes it here?"

"Alright, I guess. Do the band know?"

"We do now," responds a blue stallion, eavesdropping whilst pretending to be checking his piano. "Good to hear that Burt is being as reliable as always. The name's Freddy, that's Bluenote on the brass, Moony on percussion, Parish on guitar and 'Tavia on the violin.

You turn to the charcoal-maned mare next to Freddy. "Hold on, I know you, you're the fiddler from a band that played my old pub! What happened to your fella? The one with the fancy white guitar?"

"We broke up," she responds dryly, "and it's a violin, not a fiddle."

"Right,” you start, unsure of the actual difference, “okay, do we have a list of songs or are we just going to wing it?"

“We’ve had a couple of requests from the bride and groom.” Freddy says, passing you the list. “But they’ve said they’ll tell us if they want anything specific.”

You read through the three songs requested, immediately recognising two of them. The first one on the list had the words “First kiss” written next to it in Cheerilee’s neat muzzle-writing, along with a few words explaining why the song had been chosen. Trotting out onto the stage and looking out over the crowd of friends, family and coworkers of Snapshot and Cheerilee, the band sitting down at their instruments, you speak into the mic before you.

“Good evening everypony! My name is Paddock, and I’m with the band tonight to bring some music to this lovey day! Sadly, the proper wedding singer isn’t here at the moment, so I’m filling in for him. Anyway, this first song is something of a ballad that’d been playing on a certain stallion’s record deck the first time he kissed the filly he’d eventually marry...”

Steeling yourself as Octavia and Bluenote play the opening lines to the song, you swallow and then begin to sing, closing your eyes as the words flow through you with Freddy delicately putting hooves to ivory.

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Lying close to you
Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes and I’m thankful we're together
And I just wanna stay with you
In this moment forever, forever and ever

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing

I don't wanna miss one smile
I don't wanna miss one kiss
Well, I just wanna be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just wanna hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time

Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
'Cause I'd still miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing

I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cause I'd miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you, babe
And I don't wanna miss a thing

Don't wanna close my eyes
Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah
I don't wanna miss a thing”

Opening your eyes again, you notice that several couples, including the bride and groom, had been slow-dancing, lost in their love for each other. Looking out, you can see somepony trying to grab your attention, having broken away from the grey pegasus mare he had been dancing with.

“We’re going to have a short break now, as the best colt wishes to say a few words,” you announce, looking out, seeing Macintosh approaching the stage. Slightly inebriated, the gently swaying giant plods onto the stage beside you, his bow-tie and the top few buttons of his shirt undone, and a clearly intoxicated, light yellow mare in the crowd wolf-whistles at him.

“First, I’d like to thank y’all for coming... and I really must say, most of you really scrub up nice! I’d also like to thank all of you for bringing such lovely gifts, I’ll be fightin’ her Majesties for the blender after I’m done here, hopefully they won’t cheat and use their magic.”

Looking out as the guests laugh, you’re sure you see Princess Luna wink at the stallion, who coughs awkwardly into a forehoof before continuing, “Now, I’ve known the bride ‘n groom for a real long time, so long, in fact, that I’ve still got photos of us durin’ the eighties...” he says, signalling to the noticeably red-eyed and giggling town librarian at the back, who levitates a white sheet up behind him, holding it in place as another unicorn projects a photo onto it.

As he waits for everything to be set up, you notice Berry bring a tray of drinks your way, giving one to Macintosh and each member of the band before giving you yours and taking the last one for herself. Wondering where Ruby is, you see her over in the corner, talking to a group of school-friends; no doubt members of the bride’s class.

You stifle a laugh as you see the four younger looking faces of Snapshot, Cheerilee, Big Mac and Ditzy, seeing the sheet ripple as the unicorn levitating it struggles not to giggle along with the crowd herself. The groom’s mullet, which draws a gasp from a certain white unicorn fashionista, and a sharp giggle from the electric pink pony beside her, stands out along side Cheerilee’s radically-styled mane and braces. Glancing back towards the other guests, you see the blushing bride trying to hide her face behind her husband, who didn’t seem to see the mullet as a bad thing, and was laughing fondly at the memory.

“That photo was taken by our chief bridesmaid, Ditzy, who I must say is looking lovely today, but I still have no idea how on Equestria she took that picture and managed to get in the frame too! This next one was submitted by... well, I’ve been asked to only identify this pony as “R”, but it’s of Cheerilee in her first school play.”

The picture appears on the screen, showing her in a fancy looking costume at around nine years old, stood between a filly with a heavily gemmed bowl of fruit on her head, and a filly wearing an equally flashy cake costume.

“Shucks, I have no idea what she’s meant to be in that picture, but ain’t she adorable, everypony?” Mac says, to a chorus of “d’aww” from the audience.

“And believe it or not, I’ve even managed to track down a picture of Snappy as a foal too,”

You see Snapshot’s head turn, and he grins at the picture of himself wearing what appeared to be an enormous bowler hat whilst sat in the bath. The audience “d’aww” again, and Macintosh smiles, nodding to both unicorns, a look of relief on their faces as the picture fades and the sheet rolls itself back up neatly.

“Anyway, I’d like to raise a glass to these two wonderful ponies, who we’d all be the poorer for not knowing. To Cheerilee and Snappy, may they live happily and long together!”

You raise your glass as the stallion gives the toast, before drinking deeply, the fluid welcome in your throat after having exerted yourself from singing. Seeing Macintosh walk off stage, you return to your position at the mic.

“Thank you, Big Macintosh. Fillies and gentlecolts, I've been asked to use the next song to let the younger ponies among us know that it's time to be heading home." You smile apologetically at a chorus of groans from the younger members of the audience. "Sorry kids, but it's time for the grown-ups to have some fun. This is Don't Stop Believing, by Trek..”

As Parish and Freddy take the lead and play the first few bars of the song, you see parents begin to gather their children and move towards the outskirts of the field that the party was being held. You notice Berry and Ruby amongst them, the sleepy child resting on her mother’s back.

You take a deep breath once more,

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights ponies, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night.

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights, ponies

Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlight, ponies

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights, ponies"

You glance at Freddy as you finish the song, noticing the number of couples on the dance floor, and point at the third song on Cheerilee’s list. He nudges Parish, who had finally comes back to the world following his solo, who brings Bluenote, Moony and Octavia with him. Looking out of the corner of your eye, you see Berry appear from between the trees again, and turn back to the band.

“Fellas, d’you know this one?”

“Yeah,” Parish replies, grimacing, whilst the other band members nod, “It’s a bit slow considering what we’ve played so far.”

“I know, but it’s what they asked for and I don’t think my voice would sound right for it. Would you like to sing this one, Parish?”

With a look of determination on his face, Parish nods, and allows you to exit the stage and run over to Berry. You guide her to the dance floor as he introduces the track and Freddy plays the opening notes, whilst you nuzzle berry, gently kissing her neck as the two of you slow dance, a comfortable distance away from the bride and groom, lost in their own bubble of happiness in the center of the dance floor.

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

Look into your heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all - I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you”

Parish stops singing, bringing his hooves down on the strings of his guitar as he expertly plays the solo, his eyes sweeping over the audience as he performs, before stepping back up to the mic to continue,

Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
I would fight for you - I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you

You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you”

As the song ends, you give Berry a lingering kiss, before walking back onto the stage, Parish bowing as the crowd applaud him and the other band members. Looking out, you can see that most of, if not all of the guests have returned, and crack a smile as the memory of your sister’s wedding back in Cloplin floats to the surface of your mind.

“Stallions and Mares, now that the young’uns have left and folks have come back, we have a tradition in old Cloplin town, of singing a little dirty ditty to try and encourage the embarrassed groom to go and have a drink. This isn’t one of mine though, it was taught to me by an old friend up in rainy old Shetland, but I’ve been told I pull it of wonderfully. I don’t know if any of you know it, but it’s called ‘The Shetlander’s Kilt’, no idea who wrote the damned thing.”

You hear a laugh, seeing Ditzy giggling to herself, obviously having heard the song before and whispering into Cheerilee’s ear. The mare gives you a brief glare, but smiles shortly afterwards, nodding her head.

“Oh, I’ve gotten permission from Mrs. Snappy, looks like we’re good to go! Freddy, Octavia, give me a drinking tune and play by ear. Blue, Moony and Parish, go have yourselves a drink! Your Majesties, I’ll apologise in advance, please don’t be taking no offense.”

As the drummer tears the tape holding his sticks to his hooves and trots off stage with the other temporarily-dismissed musicians, the blue stallion at the piano gives you a confused look. Shrugging, he nods to Octavia and plays an opening bar. You see Snapshot raise a hoof to his face, Ditzy Doo trotting away from him calmly to the bar.

Ring ding diddle diddle i de o
Ring di diddle i o
He stumbled off into the grass to sleep beside the street.

Later on two young and lovely fillies just happened by,
And one says to the other with a twinkle in her eye
You see yon sleeping Shetlander, so young and handsome built
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath their kilt.

Ring ding diddle diddle i de o
Ring di diddle i o
I wonder if it's true what they don't wear beneath their kilt.

They crept up to the sleeping stallion, quiet as could be
Then lifted up his kilt about an inch so they could see
And there behold for them to view beneath his Shetlandish skirt
Was nothing but what he had been graced with upon his birth

Ring ding diddle diddle i de o
Ring di diddle i o
There was nothing there but what he’d been given upon his birth

They marveled for a moment then one said we'd best be gone
But let's leave a present for our friend before we move along
They took a blue silk ribbon and they tied it in a bow
Around the bonnie spar that the Colt's lifted kilt did show

Ring ding diddle diddle i de o
Ring di diddle i o
Around the bonnie spar that the Colt's lifted kilt did show

The Shetlander woke to nature's call and stumbled toward a tree
Behind a bush he lifts his kilt and gawks at what he sees
Then in a startled voice he says to what's before his eyes
He said, 'Lad I don't know where you've been but I see you won first
prize'

Ring ding diddle diddle i de o
Ring di diddle i o
He said, 'Lad I don't know where you've been but I see you won first prize!”

By the end of the song, you can see around half of the ponies present singing along, mugs of beer swinging in time with Freddie’s playing. Celestia appears to be grinning broadly at the story as she whispers into the ear of her bright-red and giggling sister, and a group of the guards present had raised Snapshot up onto their shoulders, the stallion laughing and taking a long gulp from the tankard in his hooves and then placing it back on the head of his best stallion.

Hearing hoof-steps, you turn and see Cheerilee wandering up to you, her beautiful white dress trailing over the wooden boards used to make the stage. Expecting a telling off, you back up and prepare for the worst; instead, she smiles, and leans in to whisper a request in your ear instead...

“Aye, I know that one... want it now?”

She nods, before trotting back down to the dance floor and rescuing her stallion from his colleagues and Big Mac. He glances at you, smiling broadly, his dress uniform gleaming in the late day sun. You can see Berry sat at the back, also watching you and beaming, mouthing her adoration for you and blowing a kiss.

Stepping up to the mic again, you’re interrupted by the frantic hoof-beats of the wedding singer finally showing up, flustered and thoroughly out of breath. Eventually, he steps up and thanks you, nodding to the rest of the band.

“The bride had a request, you alright with me introducing it before you go on?” you say, putting your hoof over the mic.

“W... what is the song?” he asks, catching his breath. You whisper Cheerilee’s choice, hoping that nopony nearby would be able to hear you and he nods before turning to the other musicians.

“Number thirty eight, looks like I owe you dinner, Freddie.”

The pianist laughs, before turning the pages of the sheet music in front of him and playing the scale.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, the wedding singer has shown up, so it looks like I won’t be singing again for you tonight... which is good, because I understand the bar is still open! Anyway, he’s going to be handling the slow music. May I present, Burt Hayrach and the Posies, Fillies and Gentlecolts!”

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Luna, we don't need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some but for everyone.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some, oh, but just for
Every, every, everyone."

As he starts singing, you dart offstage, galloping over to Berry and nuzzling her, once again making your way through family and friends of the happy couple, who had started dancing with the floor to themselves for the first couple of verses.

When Burt begins the third verse, other members of the wedding party take to the floor, shortly followed by you and Berry, and the pair of you slow-dance amongst the other couples. You smile at each other as the music picks up pace a little, before dying back down to it’s slower rhythm, elegantly bringing yourselves out of the way of Macintosh, now positively steaming drunk and dancing with Cheerilee’s mother.

The song ends, and you find yourself simply stood swaying, staring deep into Berry’s eyes, lost in your love for her before being disturbed.

“Excuse me, Mr Paddock? I’m sorry to take you away from what must be a tender moment...” a young voice from behind you asks. Turning, you see the younger of the royal princesses, Luna, blushing at having disturbed you.

“Y... your majesty,” you stutter, immediately bowing, Berry curtsying too.

“I heard about your misfortune, and I was wondering if there was something that my sister and I would be able to do to help? I’ve been trying to get back in touch with the everyday citizens of Equestria, and I think that supporting small businesses would be a nice way to make ponies happier.”

You stand there, dumb struck, mouth gawping at the blue alicorn. After what feels like a minute of staring, you hear the gentle melodic laugh of Luna’s sister,

“Forever working, my dear little sister? I’d know the look of somepony offered a chunk of the royal coffers anywhere! Mr Paddock, we shall have a building expert with your business as soon as possible, and I will gladly top up your supplies from those of the castle; we have wines that have not seen the light of day in years that I am sure would be much more appreciated by your customers!”

Still standing, brain completely disconnected, you’re brought back by Berry, who gently nudges you, causing you to finally close your mouth.

“Oh... oh my, I’ll gladly take you up on your generous offer, your majesties, and I promise you that none of your staff will ever have to drink for full price in my pub.”

“There was one thing that I wanted to ask in exchange, before Celestia made the offer. When you re-open, could you make it a place where families are welcome? Young and old should be welcome to enjoy the atmosphere, which one of my bodyguards tells me was wonderful before you were forced to close.”

“Of course, anything for you, your highness.”

“Also... the final song you sang, it has been a long time since I heard that last. I do wonder whatever happened to the two fillies from it.” she says, with a smile, “Part of me likes to think that they grew up together to be very close...”

“Wait, are you saying that-”

“I’m not saying anything, it was just nice to hear such an old song.” Luna giggles, and trots away to find her sister.

Berry laughs, and whispers into your ear that she thinks the young royal was simply having a little fun, suggesting that the pair of you find somewhere nice to watch the fireworks display that had been organised last-minute by several members of the royal guard she had overheard whilst you were on stage. You ask Berry if she needs to be getting home to look after Ruby, and she tells you that Ditzy's mother and father had offered to look after her with Dinky for the night.

As the announcement about fireworks is made, by Cheerilee’s harassed looking father rather than the completely inebriated red stallion you had noticed kissing Ditzy during the last song, you canter after your date. You eventually find her after following more small lanterns leading to a valley lined with more apple trees, and she takes you a fair distance off of the marked route to underneath a single tree, roughly near the top. The view of the valley below is amazing, and you can’t help but wonder why the wedding party chose to proceed further to the small clearing around two hundred feet below where you were sat. Sitting beside your love, she rests her head on you and sighs contentedly, allowing you to breathe through her mane, picking up the scent of forest fruits that you had come to love.

When the sparks from the first rocket of the display illuminate you, you turn to Berry, her eyes stare deep into yours, not showing any desire to watch the beautiful explosions in the sky above. You suddenly become aware of the feeling of your heart beating in your chest, leaning in to kiss her as nervously as she had done the very first time. Her lips meet yours, and the two of you caress each other, your hoof running through her mane as she kisses you.

Pulling back, Berry noses at your tie, undoing the knot between her lips, using her nose to tease the buttons of your shirt undone, encouraging you to remove it as you use your magic to undress her. With her dress hung delicately on the tree, your shirt and jacket in a pile beneath Berry's head, you run a hoof up and down her chest.

“I love you, Berry Punch.”

“I love you too, Green Paddock.”

You kiss her, and the two of you spend the rest of the night in that spot, together.

Chapter 10

Six months later...

Checking yourself in the mirror one last time, running a hoof through your mane and straightening the tie around your neck, you’re ready for what tonight has in store. Calmly, despite what feels like thousands of butterflies in your stomach, you walk down the stairs from your room, to see the pub busier than it had ever been.

Looking out into the busy ground floor of your fully renovated public house, you smile. The money from the royal funds had paid for everything, and now that the business was back on it’s hooves you had been able to quickly pay back all of the bits that Luna and Celestia had given. The royal sisters had refused to accept the money at first, but you had insisted that they use the cash to help other ponies in similar situations.

Things with Berry had had their ups and downs, mostly after an incident involving a pepper pot left her hesitant to be anywhere near the usually harmless table top items; this had eventually sorted itself out with time and patience. Your only really big argument with her had been over money - she still refused to take payment for working at the bar, and so you had started a secret account for making the occasional grand romantic gesture, such as the one you had planned for tonight. Not knowing what else the future could bring, you also started putting money away for Ruby, should she ever decide to go to university, something that after a discussion with Cheerilee was completely possible.

Tonight, you were celebrating the end of yet another successful winter wrap-up, and the pub was full to capacity. Trotting past the bar itself, you see Berry smile and blow a kiss your way, before returning to Pinkie Pie, who had been explaining to Rainbow Dash, her voice heavily slurring, that “Fwiendsh don’t let fwiendsh fly dwunk”. Dash laughs, and asks Pinkie if she wants to take her wings home with her for the night.

“Evenin’ Ditzy, Macintosh,” you say, stopping briefly at the table at which the relatively new couple were sat,

“Good evening Paddock” Ditzy responds, using her mock-Cloplin accent as usual, “I hear you helped out with preparing the fields for replanting today?”

“He sure did, never seen such a short stallion handle a plough like that, got some muscle behind him!” Macintosh chimes in, giving you slightly-too-hard nudge, causing Ditzy to look at him a little sternly, making him quietly add that he won’t be having anything more to drink tonight.

Smiling, you promise to talk to them a little further later on, before walking between the tables full of ponies. Getting close to the door, Snapshot appears, flanked by a couple more off-duty guards, and they weave their way to the last free table whilst Snapshot walks over to his wife. A waitress appears from the newly built kitchen, several plates levitated above her head as she dodges between patrons, and she gracefully places them in front of waiting customers before wandering back through the still-swinging door.

Nearing the stage, you use your horn to draw the microphone close as you climb the steps, and address the customers for the night.

“Good Evening, everypony, and welcome to The Alicorn’s Wings. For those of you who are visiting us for the first time tonight, I’m Paddock, the owner. I’ve got something of an announcement to make; I came to this town with little more than an idea and a run down pub to refurnish. I met a mare soon after, and she and her little foal soon became everything to me. Berry, sweetheart, could you come up here and join me?”

Berry blushes at the mention of her name, and then begins to make her own way through the crowd.

“Now, Berry and me, we’ve had a wonderful year together, and I’ve quickly been realising a lot of things about my life,” you start, and then help Berry onto the stage, “I’m finally ready to settle myself down, and become a family stallion, and well, Berry, my love, I’d like to do that with you.”

You kneel before her, your magic levitating a small box from the rafters above. Berry’s eyes grow huge as she begins to catch on, gasping as you remove the lid.

“Berry Punch, will you marry me?”

Her eyes fill with tears as the beautiful mare nods. You levitate the diamond-studded anklet out of it’s box and secure it around her left foreleg, and then rise and kiss her as the crowd applaud.

Once the applause had died down, the two of you make your way back to the bar and begin working again, congratulated by everypony you walked past, you even receive a pat on the back from Needles, the dragon you had met what felt like far more than a year ago.

After closing time that night, you and Berry creep quietly up the stairs to the room above the pub, the two of you watching Ruby sleep for a few minutes. Gently, you levitate the sleeping foal onto her mother's back, wrapping the blanket around her, reclaiming your flat cap from her head.

It was another beautifully clear night out tonight with the stars and moon shining down upon you, as normal shortly after winter wrap-up, and after locking the pub up for the night you bid farewell to the waitress and chef. Trotting back to your fiancée's home with your new family, you couldn't be happier.

The End.

Epilogue - Eight Years Later

"Ruby, look, you're a grown mare now, so I trust you'll take care of yourself, but I can't help but be wary of sailors. They go port to port in more ways than one, and I know he seems nice, but well, you could just be his Ponyville filly."

"I know, Paddock, it's just that Armada treats me so well, you know he took me out in Manehattan last time he was on leave, he's planning to take me to Stalliongrad for All-Hearts-Day."

"Why did you come to me anyway? I thought your mother would have been more use to you when talking about colts?"

"Oh, yeah, because her taste is so, so in tune." Ruby says, nudging you in the ribs and laughing, “I don’t know, part of me just feels like it’d be better if you AND Mom liked him.”

"Ruby, if he makes you happy then I’ve got no place telling you to ditch him, just please be careful, okay? Besides, if I recall, you were an item with that Scootaloo the other month? At Snappy's knighthood? You know you don’t have to hide that sort of stuff from me."

"Dad, it was one kiss, at a party, to get the attention of that cute new assistant librarian, not that it worked," Ruby starts, rolling her eyes, "Besides, I noticed you and Mom slipped away for a little while."

You pause for a moment, smiling broadly.

"Here I was thinking you'd decided not to call me that again, you know it makes me well up."

Ruby hugs you, your old frayed cap still backwards on her head in the same way she had worn it as a child.

"You'll always be my Dad, Paddock. You looked after me and Mom, did all the stuff my birth dad should have done."

A few tears roll down your cheek, and Berry appears. She has aged slightly, her first few gray hairs now showing, but she is still the wonderful and amazing mare you fell in love with. Ruby had grown up looking very similar to how her mother had been all those years ago, and like Berry had become rather popular with colts and the occasional mare; although she tried to hide it from you. She had even started working part time in the bar whilst she tried various different ventures on the side, and many of Ponyville's inhabitants considered the business better on the whole with Ruby behind the bar as well as her mother and step-father.

Tonight though, you and Berry were waving Ruby off on the start of her own journey, aiming to become a member of the royal guard. Very few mares ever made the physical demands required for such a job, but it wasn't completely unheard of. You and Berry had both at first tried to discourage her, believing that she was simply chasing a stallion, but watching her work in the bar, being able to handle ponies from all walks of life, part of you knew that she would one day make a fine police officer.

Watching Ruby climb on board the chariot pulled by two of Her Majesty's pegasus guards, you and Berry start to cry. Granted, Ruby would be back every few weeks, but you would miss having her around a great deal and you were genuinely concerned for her safety during the extensive trials and tests required for those joining the guard.

Berry nudges you, wiping her tears away on your coat.

“You do realise that this means we finally have the house to ourselves, right?”

A smile creeps onto your face.

“Aye, that I do, Berry, that I do. Let’s go home and celebrate.”

fin

References - Songs

The songs used in this work of fan fiction were adapted from the songs below and used in parody. They are by no means my own work, and at no point should it be thought that I lay any claim to the original or adapted lyrics or musical score - I’m just a fan.

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet
"The Rare Ould Times" by Flogging Molly
"The Scotsman's Kilt" by Unknown
“What the World Needs Now” by Burt Bacharach and the Posies
“Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey
“The Labotomy Song” performed by a group of comedians as part of an episode of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and adapted for use by Gentleman Creeper.
“I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith.
“Everything I do, I do it for you” by Bryan Adams

References - Fan Fiction

I have also referenced the following works of fan fiction, some of these references I have received permission for, others I have been unable to reach the author to ask for. Once again, at no point do I lay any claim to the original fan fiction. I do this as a mark of respect for other writers, although I may have also referenced other stories without realising it...

"Homecoming", "Downpour", "A Change of Tempo", "Backstage Pass" by Coffeebean
"A Familiar Shape, A Different Taste" by Doctor Dapples
“The Candy Sutra” by Gentleman Creeper
“Freudian Slip” by Gentleman Creeper
“Gun and Pony” by Squeak
“Cupcakes” by SergeantSprinkles (Apparently?)

There are also many other references to previous fics that I have written, but I don’t think I could possibly get them all written down, as this story is essentially a continuation of Homecoming, told from a different perspective.

In the event that I have missed crediting a reference, please email me via Fimfiction.net's messaging system - but ONLY if it is your work being referenced.

(Hearths' Warming Eve, 1004CR - Three years after the episode.)

“First we meet Paddock, the barman of course, something something something, something something... horse? Or maybe sauce, source?” Ruby said to herself, watching the ink-laden quill scratch along the coarse parchment. The filly had been working on a Hearth’s Warming poem for a competition at school, and had so far found it to be far more difficult than first imagined. Sighing, she looked out of the window, idly switching on the radio with her newly-found magic, tuning to EBC Radio One, anticipating the Hearth’s Warming number one to be aired that night, before her step-father took her to out for the evening to meet up with her mother.

“Ruby, sweetheart, can I have some help?” the voice of Paddock called up the stairs.

“Yeah, I’ll be down in a second!” she yelled back, merrily, putting the quill down and closing the ink-well in her desk.

Since he had first moved in with Ruby and her mother a few weeks back, Paddock had been something of an experience to the foal, who was unused to a male role-model who had never raised his voice in anger to her. She had of course been naughty once or twice, as foals often do, but the way in which Paddock reflected it had made her feel worse than any amount of yelling.

He would simply sigh, and explain how she was making him feel - he did exactly the same with her mother too, although she had heard what sounded like wailing coming from their room once or twice when they thought she was asleep, complete with something banging against the wall in a regular pattern.

As Ruby had seen Paddock have to throw stallions out of the bar before, she was naturally concerned for her mother’s safety whilst they were in the room alone together. This concern was why Ruby had eventually gone to see Captain Snapshot about it, who had laughed and told her that it was nothing to worry about; she had then gone to see Miss Twilight at the library, who simply turned red and ushered Ruby out of the building.

Taking her mind off of the bizarre behaviour of adults, the little unicorn trotted downstairs, to find the stallion almost pitch black, rather than his usual creamy colour.

“Wha... what’s happened?” she asked, slightly dumbfounded.

“Well, your mother told me about how one of her ex-coltfriends had blocked the chimney, I figured I’d try and shift some of it out.”

“And it didn’t go well.” Ruby replied, giggling as she tried to copy Paddock’s soft Cloplin accent. He smiled, and did his best not to laugh at how awful she sounded.

“I got the main load of soot out, so we can at least have a fire goin', but I need to get cleaned up. You know what night it is tonight, right?”

“Kareoke night! Did Mom say if I could come?”

“That she did. If you can do me the favour of cleaning the fireplace, I’ll take you with me, and we might even get Greasy Spoon to cook us something when we get to the Wings.”

“Deal!” Ruby replied excitedly, before trotting over to the fireplace and animating a scrubbing brush.

Over the last few months, the bar had been doing amazingly well, catering for serveral important functions in the happy town of Ponyville. With this success, Paddock and Berry needed extra help around the establishment, such as Greasy Spoon. Despite his name, Greasy was an excellent chef, and was fully responsible for all of the food to come out of the kitchens, which was taken out to the customers by Miss Colgate. Ruby wasn’t sure about Colgate. She had an odd name for a mare, and something about her didn’t feel right; her friends felt the same way about Colgate, like there was something in the corner of their eye whenever she was near, something so obvious and outright wrong, hidden in plain sight.

Ruby’s mother had explained to her that Colgate was a pony very down on her luck, found wandering near the Everfree Forest a couple of years ago by Lyra and Bonbon, only capable of remembering her name, an old style fob-watch hung around her neck - it reminded the foal of a book she thought she had read a long time ago, or maybe even a dream she had, but Ruby continued cleaning and didn’t follow the train of thought any further.

When Paddock had finally trotted down the stairs again, he was once again his usual cream colour, brown mane still wet and pushed out of his eyes. He glanced over the child’s work, and smiled.

“Alright, fetch your things, and make sure you wrap up warm or I’ll never hear the end of it.” he said as he levitated a large, thick wool jumper over his head, stepping into the foreleg holes and adding a scarf. Ruby fetched herself a warm goose-down coat - a gift from Paddock’s mother who she had taken to very well when they visited.

Wrapping herself in a scarf knitted by Berry the previous winter, Ruby topped her head with Paddock’s old flat cap and sat waiting at the door whilst the older unicorn struggled to put on his new hat; it was a deerstalker gifted to him by Berry’s father, and difficult to wear because of the fiddly straps used to hold it in place. Not being used to using his magic for such fine movement, Paddock had been trying to use his hooves, and watching him struggle reminded Ruby that even the most competent of adults still have their own difficulties in life - a lesson worth remembering. Watching the stallion struggle, a smile slowly creeps on to Ruby’s face, and she considered helping him, until he miraculously managed to do it up. He glanced at her, also smiling, with a look of triumph in his eyes, until the pair of them started to giggle.

As Paddock had finally managed to dress himself, the two of them stepped out into the bracing winds and snow of a typical mid-winters’ night. The snow was close to the top of Ruby’s legs, making her shiver, before she was magically lifted and put on Paddock’s back. Looking around, the foal could see how thickly the snow had covered most of the houses nearby, which had been almost completely bare less than ten hours ago.

“How’s that?” the stallion asked, warm underneath her, his shoulders moving up and down as he slowly walked towards their destination.

“Great, thanks” she replied, snuggling down on his back.

As the blizzard began to blow a little more, the two ponies found themselves unable to see very far ahead, relying on their knowledge of the route rather than sight to work their way to the tavern. The blizzard didn’t last for much longer, and as they passed Sugar Cube Corner, Ruby noticed a white light coming from the top of a blue box nearby - it was either flashing, or turning as if it were a lighthouse - she couldn't be sure. Paddock didn’t seem to have noticed, and continued on, the snow half-way up his legs now, but his tracks had at least began to mingle with those of other ponies going in the same direction.

Soon, the two unicorns began to feel warm as they drew closer to their destination. Looking through the mottled green and clear windows of the Wings, they could see the pub was already packed out with the residents of Ponyville, and the hum of music was heard over the whistling and howling of the wind.