Generations-Chapter 11

Sweetsong's head was pounding and she felt nauseous. Everything was blurry, and she had no idea where she was. She groaned and turned her head a little.

"Mom�" her voice was faint and shaky. She heard mumbling from the other side of the room, and made out the word 'delusional'. A purple pony appeared over her and placed a damp cloth on her forehead. She felt herself get choked up, despite how bad she felt. "Mom�" she said louder.

"Shh, no," the purple pony said gently. "Don't excite yourself. You're safe now."

The purple pony became even more blurry, and Sweetsong felt herself drifting away again. "Mom�" she whispered this time, as she fell back into unconsciousness.
 

Majesty and Barnacle had eaten dinner in silence, as they usually did. They had nothing in common to talk about: different interests and occupations, different ideals and values. Majesty followed the example of her forbearers. Her family had been great rulers for centuries, and she took pride in her rich family history. After all, the history of her family was the history of Ponyland. The same could be said of the future. Everything was traditional for her, and any kind of deviation from tradition meant disaster. Her ideals were exactly what theirs had been, and she ruled exactly as they had to preserve the present and future of her kingdom.

Barnacle was almost her polar opposite. He was much more of a forward thinker. He didn't believe in the caste system that had been in place for so long. He felt that many of the laws of Ponyland resulted in oppression, not stability. This had been the cause of a number of fights between himself and Majesty. For this reason, they very rarely spoke at the dinner table. And because Barnacle led such an active lifestyle, they very rarely saw each other outside of the dinner table.

Majesty rose, and was going to retire to her quarters when Barnacle stopped her. "Mother, I'd like to speak to you."

Of course, Majesty was surprised, but very pleased with what she thought was an extended olive branch. "Of course dear. You know I'm here for you." She very much wanted a closer relationship with her son, but it had always been so difficult. She wasn't going to miss this opportunity to patch things up.

"I wanted to announce to you that I've gotten engaged." Barnacle smiled proudly.

"Oh how wonderful!" Majesty cooed, "And who is your blushing bride-to-be?"

"Twilight," he affirmed.

"Really dear?" Majesty seemed confused, but continued to smile. "Well it surprises me that you've chosen someone older than you, but it's certainly an eligible match, and it will be nice to have another unicorn around the house."

"Unicorn...?" Now Barnacle was confused. But he quickly figured out who she meant and grimaced. "Oh, no Mother, not her. There's another Twilight that lives in Ponyville; she's the only daughter of Thundercloud."

Majesty's smile was now pasted on. "Well, you know dear, he wasn't nobility."

"His family have been citizens for centuries. He was one of the wealthiest ponies in the town, and highly respected, even among the nobility."

The smile was gone completely now. "Well, good for him. And I'm sure his daughter will be able to marry well. But that certainly doesn't make her eligible to marry a prince."

Up until now, Barnacle had remained calm and even-tempered. He had expected some resistance from his mother, but now he began to raise his voice a little. "Eligible? She's eligible because I love her."

Majesty scoffed. "You can't possibly love that fuzzy nobody. It's nothing more than infatuation. The whole idea is ridiculous!"

"Mother..." Barnacle started, but Majesty interrupted him.

"Even if I did approve of her father, look who her mother is!"

Barnacle shrugged, "Her mother was Northstar..."

"Exactly!" Majesty was getting indignant now. "A 'so-soft'! All that wooly fur from living in the mountains all those years. And they're nothing but gold-diggers, you know. They couldn't make enough money in the tourist business, so they had to come into the village and marry into respectable families." She pointed an angry hoof at him, "And don't you think I don't know about Northstar's imprudence either. You're probably too young to remember, but there was a lot of gossip about that pony around the time she gave birth to her little brat."

"Now that's not..." Barnacle started.

"And now this little hussy is trying to win herself a crown. You're not in love with her Barnacle. She's just deceiving you to advance herself in society. Doesn't she run some sort of store in town? It's highly abnormal and untraditional for a woman to work in such a way. Probably another scheme to advance herself, as if her father's money wasn't good enough."

Barnacle had so much running through his mind to retaliate, but he bit his tongue. He knew it was pointless to continue arguing over her position in life. That wasn't the point anyway. "Mother," he said quietly, "I'm going to marry her with or without your consent."

Majesty's eyes grew wide, and Barnacle thought she might explode. Instead, she spoke calmly like him. "Unfortunately, that is impossible. You have an arranged marriage." She waited for Barnacle to respond, but he simply clenched his jaws. "I never told you about it because I knew how much you are against the traditional ways. I wanted to give you the opportunity to choose a bride for yourself. But if this is going to be your choice, I will force you to marry Bowtie."

"Bowtie?" Barnacle shouted in disbelief. "She has hardly ever said three words to me."

"Well, you've never made the effort to speak to her either!" Majesty matched his shouting now. "But that will all change upon marriage."

"No, Mother." Barnacle said firmly.

"I'm putting my hoof down this time. I've let you get away with a non-traditional life long enough. You have a duty to yourself and to your kingdom, and you will do the right thing."

"No Mother." Barnacle reaffirmed, shaking his head.

Majesty worked herself into a frenzy. "Very well, I shall speak to Bowtie's parents and set up a wedding within two days, and you are not to leave the castle during that time. You leave me no other alternative. I will not see my family ruined by some social-climbing, billy-goat, mountain pony!" With that, Majesty stormed out of the room.
 

When Sweetsong awoke again, her head felt much better, and her vision and thoughts were much clearer. She looked around the room.

It was not a hospital room, but a bedroom in someone's house. It was small, but very cozy and comfortable. Homey accents like pictures on the walls, and the handmade quilt made the place very welcoming and warm. There was a rocking chair near the foot of the bed. Someone had been caring for her; perhaps that purple pony. Or was that a dream?

She knew she must have been asleep for a long time, but she had no idea how long. She had fragments of memories of the past few days. The last clear memory she had was that moment after the storm when she and Waterfire had caught eyes. That moment had lasted forever. It was lasting still, because she now had those eyes before her. Their sea-blue color washed over her and swept her away...

"You seem to be feeling better," The purple pony stood in the doorway.

"Oh, yes. Thank you," Sweetsong blushed at her previous thoughts, but tried to hide it.

The purple pony smiled, and brought in a tray of food. She had the most beautiful hair. It was the longest hair Sweetsong had ever seen on a pony. She didn't even think pony hair could grow that long. It fell in multicolored cascades of curls and waves. "My name is Rainbowberry. You've been unconscious for almost four days and haven't eaten in all that time. You must be hungry, but take it easy; you're not fully well yet."

Sweetsong introduced herself and thanked her, eating slowly. While she ate, Rainbowberry explained that she was the nurse of the town, and that this was the guest bedroom in her house. Their village was located in the Enchanted Forest, just south of the Dream Valley.

"Your husband will be relieved to know you're better. I've sent a message to him that you were awake, but it will take a while for him to get here. He's out working on the balloon I believe. He told us how the two of you got blown off course by a storm."

Sweetsong was confused. "My husband?"

Rainbowberry suddenly looked very concerned, "Yes, the blue pony with orange hair you were traveling with. Don't you remember him?"

Sweetsong rolled her eyes, but then she wished she hadn't becuase it made her headache worse. "That's Waterfire. And he's not my husband! Did he tell you he was?"

Rainbowberry looked relieved. She was worried that Sweetsong might have amnesia, but it was just a simple misunderstanding. "Oh, your boyfriend then. I suppose we just assumed you were married."

"He's not my boyfriend either. We don't even like each other at all..." She began to tell Rainbowberry of her time with Waterfire, from his coolness the first time they met, to his rude silence any time they spent time together, to his arrogant insistence on taking her home. "And now he's out working his precious balloon. He hasn't come to see me once. He obviously can't wait to get out of here and be rid of me." She looked away, and wiped a few angry tears from her eyes.

"Please don't excite yourself," Rainbowberry said gently. "You're still not well." They sat in silence for several minutes. Sweetsong allowed herself to calm down. She felt badly about giving Rainbowberry a bad impression of herself. The beautiful pony had a sweet and calming presence about her that Sweetsong liked. She tried to start a conversation again gently.

"So, why did everyone assume that Waterfire and I were married?"

Rainbowberry shrugged. "Well, I suppose it was just how concerned he was for you when you were injured."

Sweetsong was surprised, "What do you mean?"

"For example, when he first came running into the village. It was the middle of the night and the whole town was woken up by his yelling. He was practically hysterical. He kicked down the fence at the town gate and kept yelling for help until he got some attention." Sweetsong raised her eyebrows in surprise. This was certainly not the quiet withdrawn Waterfire she knew. Rainbowberry continued, "Some of the town leaders thought he was a robber, and came out with sticks and stones. The rest of us just thought he was crazy, and possibly dangerous. He was out of breath from running, and trying to explain what happened, and all the men were trying to drive him off, but he held his ground. It took a lot of courage, and it was very risky for him to come here, but he finally convinced them to follow him back to the crash site. It was several miles away through dense forest. It must have been quite a run for him here and then all the way back..." Her voice trailed off and she just shook her head in awe.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same pony?" Sweetsong laughed.

"I'm completely serious. He was beside himself. He kept saying 'I can't lose her'. Sweetsong," Rainbowberry put a gentle hoof on her arm, "He blames himself entirely for the accident."

Sweetsong stared away; she was shocked. She felt terrible for everything that had happened, and for everything that he had gone through on her account. But she also could barely believe it. It was so out of character for him. She had so many questions running through her mind at once. "Why hasn't he come to see me?"

"He's come here everyday. You've been practically in a coma, and were never awake when he was around." Sweetsong looked down; now she felt even worse. Rainbowberry went on, "I think he felt helpless, seeing you in that condition. He's thrown all his energy into work. He repaired the fence, and a thousand other odd jobs around the town, but I think it's just a distraction for him. It was only today that he started working on the balloon, not because he really expects to be able to fix it, just to give him something to do other than worry about you."

Sweetsong shook her head incredulously, "Maybe I've misjudged him this whole time..."

"Well," Rainbowberry smiled, "I know he's not exactly the talkative sort, but that doesn't make him rude or conceited. The first day he met you, he offered you a room in his house you said. And then when you hadn't heard from your friend, he left his breakfast to get cold just to go and find her for you. He spent as much time as possible with you while you were on the island, but maybe he was just to shy and didn't know how to start a conversation. And then, when you wanted to leave, he left his home, friends, and family to help you." Rainbowberry looked at Sweetsong and smiled as she walked out of the room, "Sounds like a pretty great guy to me."

Sweetsong was happy and confused. She had never thought of any of the times with Waterfire that way before. She had a million thoughts and emotions all at once. It was all perspective. She thought over every moment she had spent with him in a new light. All of a sudden, all of his actions were positive and gentlemanlike; he was sincere, introverted, and pleasant, but not arrogant.

She thought over the night before they left, what a great time they had had together, and such a deep conversation. Then she thought of the next morning when he had seemed so cold, and it suddenly dawned on her. Of course! The bags...

He must've been hoping that their conversation would convince her to stay, and then he saw her bring down her suitcases and set them by the stairs. No wonder he had been so withdrawn that morning. And no wonder he insisted on taking her back to Dream Valley...to spend more time with her.

She heard the clicking of hooves on the stairs and looked up. Waterfire stood in the doorway of the bedroom, muddy and out of breath. He paused there for a moment and just stared at her. Then he walked over to the bed, knelt down, took her hooves in his own, and buried his face in her side. Sweetsong knew for the first time...he loved her.
 

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