Generations-Chapter 17

Sweetsong raced downstairs to answer the front door after the soft knock. Her hooves clammered on the wooden staircase, raising quite a raucous. She threw the door open and gave a little squeal to see Wysteria standing there. She threw her arms around her in a big hug and the two laughed and hugged for several minutes.

Waterfire appeared behind Sweetsong, having come down the stairs in a much calmer (not to mention quieter) manner. He shook hooves with Bowtie and they each gave each other a very masculine pat on the back.

When the two girls calmed down, Sweetsong invited the pair in, but they lingered at the doorway. "We've got a surprise for you," Wysteria's eyes danced.

Sweetsong looked at Waterfire in surprise, "Really? Well we've got a surprise for you too..."

"Well, ours first," Wysteria interrupted. "Follow us." Bowtie and Wysteria led Sweetsong and Waterfire through town at a walk, but their excitement got the better of them and they quickened their pace to a trot. Soon, they were at a full gallop.

Sweetsong couldn't imagine what the surprise could be, but she had little time to guess. She was just trying to keep up. The four rounded a corner and came to a sudden stop. There was a huge crowd at the town gates. As Sweetsong looked closer at the ponies she gasped. She recognized Fizzy Pop and Kiwi Tart, the two ponies that ran the concession stands. And there was Round-n-Round, Coconut Cream, Beachberry and...all of the Butterfly Island ponies. Even Island Rainbow had gotten off the beach to come to Dream Valley.

Sweetsong turned toward Wysteria, her mouth agape. Wysteria laughed, "I knew how much you wanted to share Ponyville with everyone, and I knew how disappointed you were that no one would come. So Bowtie and I kept nagging them, and before we knew it, the whole island decided to come."

Sweetsong was grinning ear to ear, but still in shock. She just shook her head in disbelief. Bowtie continued for Wysteria, "We thought they could all stay at the castle. From what Wysteria tells me, there's more than enough room."

Sweetsong finally came around and answered, "Oh yes, that would be perfect!" She was even happier now that they had cleaned the castle top to bottom. Waterfire opened the town gate and greeted his old friends.

"Why don't you and Wysteria lead the way to the castle. Bowtie and I will pull up the rear." Sweetsong nodded and turned toward the castle. Waterfire leaned closer to Bowtie, "There's something I want to talk to you about anyway." He said it in a low tone very secretly, but Sweetsong still managed to hear. She furrowed her brows, 'What was that all about?' She wondered, but the activity of the crowd quickly put it from her mind.

About halfway through town, some of the Ponyville ponies joined the crowd, introducing themselves to the Butterfly Island ponies. It gave Wysteria and Sweetsong a chance to talk to each other. Wysteria told her all about the wedding, and her dress, and all the other details. Sweetsong revealed the reception plans to her.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Sweetsong explained, "But I wanted to make sure you were dressed for it and at least somewhat prepared."

"Well, it's still definitely a surprise!" Wysteria reassured her. "Thank you so much. I can't wait for tonight!"

"Neither can I! Especially now with a bigger crowd, this is going to be a real party now!" she concluded enthusiastically, but her face soon fell. Something was still bothering her. "Wysteria, did Waterfire seem a little mysterious to you?"

Wysteria shrugged, "Well, he's never been much of a talker."

"I know, it's just the way he huddled off with Bowtie. I feel like he might be keeping something from me..."

"Oh that!" Wysteria rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about that. They just want some time to catch up, just like us."

"I suppose so," Sweetsong said reluctantly. She was about to tell Wysteria about Waterfire's strange behavior the day before with Rainbow Dash and Spring Parade, but right at that moment, Bowtie ran up to them.

"Uh...I think the two of you should see this." He said very seriously, and then turned and went back through the crowd the opposite direction.

Sweetsong and Wysteria looked at each other a moment to try and figure out if the other knew what he was talking about; obviously, neither had a clue. Sweetsong turned to Shell-Belle, one of the front-most ponies, "Just stay on this road all the way through town until you see the castle peek out above the houses. You can't miss it." She and Wysteria turned and disappeared back into the crowd to find Bowtie.

They made their way all the way back to the gate before they found him, and there he was with Waterfire, talking to Sunshimmer! Next to Sunshimmer stood Gem Blossom, and behind them stood all the Jewel Ponies. Sweetsong's eyes got wide. It looked like the whole city was there!

She turned to Wysteria, but she just shrugged. "I didn't know about this," she insisted.

Sunshimmer stepped forward. "After seeing Butterfly Island for myself, I couldn't help but talk about it for weeks. It made me want to see Dream Valley since you spoke so much about it when you came, but I still had a hard time convincing anyone to travel here."

Gem Blossom continued for him. "So when Wysteria and Bowtie, and all of the Shimmer and Dazzle Ponies came through town on their way here, we really thought it must be something to see! And we haven't been disappointed yet!"

"But we are sorry to drop in without warning like this." Sunshimmer went on, "I just wanted to come before everyone changed their minds. But don't blame Wysteria for it; it's because of me."

"Blame you?" Sweetsong shook her head, "I'm overjoyed to have you here. And don't worry about not giving us warning. There's plenty of room in the castle. We can house all of Butterfly Island and Jewel City, and still not be full to capacity."

Waterfire invited them all to the reception that evening, and led the off in the direction of the castle. Sweetsong was on Cloud 9 as she walked beside him.
 

As the guests milled around the ballroom and dining room of the castle, waiting for the festivities to begin, Rainbow Dash waited for Spring Parade at the foot of the steps. He trotted up with a devilish grin on his face.

"You ready for this, bro?"

"Oh yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded mischievously, "One last time."

"And this will be one for the books!" They gave each other high fives (or rather, high hooves) and trotted off to their places. Spring Parade toward the sound-stage, and Rainbow Dash to the catwalk.
 

Sweetsong helped to prepare and serve dinner at the party that evening. With a much bigger guest list, Golden Delicious and his wife were overwhelmed and understaffed. Fortunately, no one outside the kitchen seemed to notice, and the meal went off without a hitch. Everyone ate and enjoyed each other's company, and there were many compliments about the food.

Wysteria and Bowtie were the guests of honor, of course, and Sweetsong had asked Waterfire to eat with the company to bridge the gap between the different groups of ponies. Fortunately, it didn't seem necessary, and everyone mingled and talked.

When everyone else got up from dinner, Sweetsong finally had a moment to relax, and she was about to eat, herself, when Moondancer tapped her on the shoulder.

"There's someone at the door asking for you,"

"Well, bring them in here to join the party!" She couldn't imagine who it could be that wasn't already here.

"I did invite them in, but they said they wanted to talk to you first," Moondancer continued hesitantly.

Sweetsong sighed. She was the hostess after all, and had to make everyone feel welcome. She rose from her chair and headed toward the front of the castle. Moondancer showed her into a sitting room where she'd put the new guest. As she pushed the door open, she heard a great commotion, like many voices talking at once. But before she could process it, she was embraced in a big hug.

"It's so good to see you again!" Rainbowberry said warmly. "And I'm happy to see you're feeling better."

Before she could react, she was caught up in a hug again. "We really missed you," Desert Rose smiled.

Sweetsong did a double take. There were all of the Super Long Hair Ponies and all of the Sparkle Ponies all in one room. She just shook her head in confusion. "Wha...how...?" She felt completely stupid for being unable to complete a sentence, or even form a thought. Rainbowberry rescued her.

"I really wanted to see how you were doing, especially after you were so sick in the Enchanted Forest. When I told the SLH's that you had invited us to Dream Valley, they all seemed eager to go. I guess we not as against traveling as I thought." She and the other SLH's in the room chuckled.

Desert Rose laughed, "We all were against traveling, (especially Starbeam if you know what I mean) but we've had one of the hottest summers ever, and we just couldn't take it anymore. Especially with the promise of a cool, crisp, green valley only a few days away."

"And then when our two groups met on the east side of the Dream Valley yesterday, we couldn't believe we were coming to see the same pony!" Rainbowberry concluded for her.

Sweetsong just chuckled and scratched her head, "Well, it seems all of you get along well. If you don't mind meeting a whole lot of new ponies, you've come just in time for a huge party!"

Desert Rose shuffled her feet. "The maid told us about the party. We didn't want to be an intrusion though."

Sweetsong just shook her head, "Trust me, it's not an intrusion." She led the large group through the short corridor to the entrance of the ballroom. "You're all here and," throwing the doors open to the ballroom, "Literally, everyone else is here. So why not have fun?"

While the Sparkle Ponies and SLH Ponies dispersed into the party, Sweetsong went around to all the Ponyville Ponies to ask if they wouldn't mind a house guest or two. Not all of them would able to stay in the castle, not with the Jewels, Shimmers, and Dazzles taking up residence there as well. Fortunately, everyone was very willing to help when they heard even more ponies had arrived.

The party was about half over by the time she found rooms for all the newcomers. As hostess, she wanted to make sure that every pony, near or far, felt welcome in Ponyville. She'd completely forgotten about her dinner, and she was very hungry. Oh well, they'd probably cleared her plate by now anyway.

She looked around the room and smiled to herself at the great success of the party. Ponies of all types were mingling and talking and dancing together. There was no awkwardness anywhere. Everyone was perfectly accepting of each other. She felt herself get choked up a little. Even though she hadn't planned on everyone showing up, it was exactly the way she would have wanted it. In fact, she realized she couldn't have planned it this well, so she decided to enjoy it.

She'd been so busy playing hostess this whole time, she hadn't gotten to talk to anyone, or even dance at all. Where was Waterfire? She craned her neck over the crowd, but couldn't see him. In fact, she hadn't seen him much at all that whole night. She was just about to look for him when the bell tolled. It reminded her that she hadn't given her speech yet for the wedding reception. Oh well, hopefully she'd get to dance at some time tonight.

She made her way through the crowd and up onto the stage. She looked out at all the ponies and was suddenly very nervous. She started to step up to the microphone, but then paused. She'd wait until the end of the song. Yeah, that'd be better.

The song ended much too quickly. She swallowed hard and hesitated again. Then she quickly stepped up to center-stage before they played another song.

She tapped lightly on the microphone, "testing, 1, 2" she said in a quiet voice. Everyone got quiet and turned towards her. She took a breath; her heart thudded in her chest. "I'd like to thank everyone for coming," she tried to smile, but she was not used to the microphone. Her voice seemed even smaller than usual, but it echoed in the now quiet hall.

Suddenly the power went off. The microphone died, all the lights went, and all you could hear were a few screams and rumblings of confusion from the crowd below. Sweetsong was immediately furious as two names came to mind. "Rainbow Dash and Spring Parade!" she said aloud. She jumped off the stage, and pushed her way through the crowd in the pitch black.

She was trying to remember where the fuse-box was when she noticed the crowd around her had dispersed. Suddenly, everything was silent. The murmurs in the crowd had ceased, and all Sweetsong could hear was the sound of her own hooves clicking on the dance floor. She came to a stop. You could have heard a cricket chirp.

Without warning, she was suddenly blinded by a brilliant white light. As her eyes adjusted, she realized it was one of the spotlights. She looked up to try to see Rainbow Dash on the catwalk, but everything was black against the brightness of the spot.

"Sweetsong..." came a familiar voice over the loudspeaker. She turned around to see Waterfire up on the stage at the microphone with a spotlight on him. She furrowed her brows. What the hell was he doing?? Was he involved in this prank too?

"Ladies and gentlemen, I know that this party is meant to be a wedding reception for Bowtie and Wysteria, but let's have a round of applause for the real guest of honor tonight: Sweetsong. Come on up here!"

Applause erupted all around her. She peered into the darkness beyond the spotlight. She could barely see them, but all the ponies had made a huge circle around her. Wysteria stepped up to her.

"Go on," she whispered.

"But this is supposed to be your party..." Sweetsong whispered back.

Wysteria just shook her head. "Go up there; don't keep him waiting," she added, shoving her toward the stage. The applause grew louder as the crowd encouraged her.

She made her way up and stood next to Waterfire. She felt incredibly shy and embarrassed, even more than before. He just put an arm around her.

"Friends, neighbors, citizens of Ponyland," he began when the applause died. "What started as a small gathering to honor a couple of newlyweds, has turned into a Celebration of all Ponykind! We are all here, from all over Ponyland, under one roof because of one pony. Her courage, her tenacity, and her willingness to step outside the box has changed each and every once of our lives in profound ways. The most obvious way is in lifting the two hundred year old ban on travel, but it's been so much more than that. We could probably spend the rest of the evening hearing individual stories about how she touched our lives." He looked at her and gave her a smile and a little squeeze around the shoulders. "But I'd like to humbly suggest that the life she affected most was mine." He paused again.

"I lived a quiet, sheltered life before Sweetsong. I had no contact with the outside world, and rarely spoke to anyone. Now, I have friends all over Ponyland, and can stand on a stage and speak to a huge crowd with no fear. I've tried to come up with some way to repay her for enlightening me as she has, but there's just no way. Nothing would be enough. So, I have no choice but to spend the rest of my life trying..." He knelt down and looked straight at her, "Sweetsong, will you marry me?"

Her eyes grew wide and her heart gave a little leap. Her mouth was completely dry and she was suddenly trembling all over. She barely managed to whisper, "Yes." The crowd erupted in applause. Over the noise, she heard her favorite song come on in the background.

Waterfire held out his hoof to her, "Dance with me?" She glanced over at Spring Parade and he just nodded. She took his hoof and he led her out to the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rainbow Dash giving her a 'thumbs-up' from above, and Wysteria and Bowtie smiling and clapping across the way. Sunshimmer and Gem Blossom joined them dancing, and so did Desert Rose and Desert Blossom. Soon, all the ponies were dancing, and as each passed them on the floor they offered their congratulations.

Tears started welling up in her eyes, but Waterfire just wiped them away. "You know, we're not going to have the same fate as Twilight and Barnacle. You changed it for us; you made it happen. Look around: you brought all these ponies together with love and acceptance, just the way you wanted."

She smiled and nuzzled him, "I love you, Waterfire."

"I love you too, Sweetsong." And she kissed him.
 
 

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