A Stallion of Law

Lawton did not want to get up today, that liquor he drank yesterday made him have the worst of his list of hangovers. He was unconscious during the whole day and to be escorted to his room by some of the small guard patrol in the home. But today was... a sad day that Lawton had to face. He did this sort of ritual every year since that one day. Forcing himself out of his bed, he brushes his pony teeth, combs his mane back, wraps his scarf around his neck, and stumbles out of his chamber door. Lawton slowly went down the stairs leading to the living room when he heard some conversation from the mares.

"So Twilight, when are you going to meet that Flash fellow?" asked the cheery Rarity.

"W-Well, I was planning on meeting him tomorrow." answered a blushing Twilight Sparkle.

"Ooh, somepony's falling hard for another somepony." said the bouncing Pinkie Pie while nudging the flustered Alicorn.

"Yeah, soon you to will be married at this point." joked the floating Rainbow Dash.

"Hush now both of y'all." said Applejack with a stern look. "Lets not embarrass are princess for to long, we still need to work on the party."

"What? jealous you don't have a special somepony?" Rainbow Dash laughed as she winked at Applejack. Applejack just grumbled as she went to straighten out a curtain. Twilight was still blushing until she got a glimpse at the slowly moving Lawton.

"Should you really be moving Lawton?" asked Twilight as she approached the stallion. Lawton came down the stairs and opened his eyes to stare at the Alicorn.

"Eh, its nothing Twi, I swear." said Lawton waving his hoof.

"Actually, since your up, mind if I ask a favor?" asked Twilight. Lawton could never refuse Twilight, she had those lovely eyes and that adorable face that would bend his will. However, he had things to do today, so he hoped it was somewhere along the route he was heading.

"Shoot" he said.

"Well, Pinkie, Rarity and I were thinking of going to that joke shop owned by one of your friends so we could get more party items. Since we don't know where to go...I was wondering if you could escort us?" Twilight gave Lawton that wonderful smile of hers, but Lawton was just sad at hearing this. He would have accepted, but Horse Shoes shop was the complete opposite to where he had to go.

"I-I'm sorry Twi, but Horse Shoe's shop is way out of the area where I need to go. I'm sure if you get Monty he'll be happy to escort you though." Lawton tried to give Twilight a smile, but he didn't feel in the mood to give fake smiles anymore.

"O-OK, but are you sure Montesquieu has the time?" Twilight asked.

"Knowing Monty, he's probably halfway done." Lawton replied.

"Alright, come on girls." Twilight and the other two mare headed for the doorway. Lawton felt bad that he couldn't help Twilight...but then he remembered something, or to be more suffice, somePONY.

"Twi." Lawton said, getting Twilight's attention. "Apple Tree's garden is on the route I have to travel, if you want i can go get the food he would bring here."

"You don't have to do that Lawton." Twilight said with concern in her voice.

"I don't mind Twi, really, its the least I can do for you." Lawton did his best to give Twilight a sincere smile, trying to fight the feelings of this day.

"Ah could go with ya. that wouldn't be a problem now would it Law?" asked Applejack as she stepped forward to the doorway with the group.

"N-No, I could use an escort." Lawton replied. Just why was AppleJack being so nice to him? in fact, why were all of these mares being nice to him? Lawton was pretty sure that most mares or stallions don't get used to somepony for quite a while. He just assumed that she did that to see the apples the Apple Tree grew.

"Alright, we'll be heading off." Twilight said as she dawned her cloak to hide her wings.

"And we'll be going the other direction, lets go Applejack." Lawton and Applejack went out of the door first and headed right, The other three went the opposite direction as the doors closed. Behind the doors, Rainbow Dash just looked in disbelief that she wasn't even acknowledged by the group.

"Was I just dissed?"  Rainbow asked in an annoyed tone.

"Isn't nice to observe conversation?" said the meek voice of Fluttershy. Rainbow just responded with a sigh.

Lawton and Applejack were trotting down the Poor-Horse district to Apple Tree's house. There was an awkward silence between the two as they walked. Lawton appreciated this, as a day like this is when he rather not speak and just drown in beer. Applejack, however, wanted to break the silence with something that was bothering her.

"So pardner," Applejack began "ya have a thing for are Twilight don't ya?" If Lawton had a drink in his mouth, he would have spit out, took another sip, and spat it out again.

"W-What makes you think I have an interest in Twilight?" Lawton tried to ask as if he didn't know what she meant. Applejack simply gave a smug smirk at the reaction Lawton gave her.

"Pardner, ah'm the element of honesty, ah can tell when somepony's speaking through there teeth...so out with it." Applejack was stern, uncomfortably stern for Lawton's taste.

"Y-Yeah... I had a crush on her since I first met her... didn't go away either." Lawton's voice was faint on that last part, not wanting to remind himself of his crush having a coltfriend.

"Aw, don't get to sad sugarcube, ah'm sure you two would have made a cute couple." Applejack said with with some sincerity in her voice.

"Can I ask a question?" Lawton said hastily.

"Go ahead." replied the apple mare.

"Why do you like me? I mean, why do all of you like me? We met practically two days ago and you and your friends seem to be okay with me."

Applejack looked at Lawton like he was crazy. "What's the problem with trustin' somepony off the bat. 'Specially since yer Twilight's friend when she was just a filly, I reckon, as well at the others, that you were quite a trust worthy pony." The law pony was angry at this. He wasn't trustworthy, he made his closet friends believed he developed a heart condition while still drinking the reason for it. Lawton kept quiet, keeping his face neutral so the farm pony wouldn't notice his tirade of thought. "Well, if it makes ya feel better, Twilight was quite cheery when she would tell us about your play dates when you would go to sleep."

"Yeah, well... she'd probably be more cheery if her coltfriend was here." Lawton said in a deadpan tone. Applejack just sighted as they trotted along the streets. She took notice to a lot of the pony's that roamed the Poor Horse District. Many were dirty and rough looking, others were frail and helpless. Applejack didn't like to see pony's this way, especially when they all look like they haven't eaten something edible since birth. Lawton took notice to the disgruntled face the Earth Pony. "I wouldn't worry about the poor horses Ms. 'Jack...a lot of pony's look out for each other in these parts." Applejack gave him a nod until she saw a greenhouse not to far away.

Twilight and Rarity were walking to Montesquieu's clothing shop...while Pinkie Pie bounced there. A lot of the Poor Horses were staring at the group of three...but mostly at the pink Party Pony.  Most of them were actually smiling at the display, the Poor Horse District never did get any cheer until Hearth's Warming. As the group came up to the door, they opened it to reveal, just like visit before, that Monty was no where to be found.

"Should we go in the backroom like last time?" asked Twilight while pondering on the idea.

"Oh heavens no, what if he's doing some important work on our dresses and we accidentally ruin his effort?" Rarity said with exaggerated panic. Her panic was soon reasonable as Pinkie Pie tapped on the small bell repeatedly, sending an annoying ring throughout the store. A long creaking sound was heard when the back room door was opened. Monty, with a messy mane and black lines over his eyes, trotted slowly over to Pinkie...who was still ringing the bell while looking at the pony. Monty sheepishly slammed his hoof on the bell before the pink pony could ring again.

"*Sigh*...hello Ms. Pie...would you like to see the dress I made for you." said Monty with a yawn at the end.

"Are you okay Monty-wonty? you seem a little sleepy. OOH, were you at a party, what kind was it. Was it a let's-not-go-to-sleep-party, because I've tried that before... it was the only party I couldn't last till the end. Although, maybe it was because of the super-duper amounts of eggnog I was drinking considering it was Hearth's Warming Eve. I mean, Hearth's Warming is a time to eat, and love, and cherish, but most of the time eat. What if-" Pinkie was cut off short by Twilight putting a hoof to her mouth.

"Mr. Montesquieu, we were hoping that you could escort us to Mr. Horse Shoes shop so we could purchase some party items we ran out of?" asked Twilight, struggling to keep Pinkie from talking to much as she did.

"We understand if you can't make it darling, we really do." Rarity said with as much sincerity as possible. Monty looked at the three mares for a few seconds until a small smile crept from his face.

"I'll be delighted to, after all...*yawn*...this is a request from the elements of harmony." Monty said as he levitated a near by brush and started aimlessly combing his mane.

"Here darling, used my mirror." Rarity levitated a mirror out of her hoof-made saddlebag and handed it over to Monty. Monty smiled as he levitated the mirror while combing his mane to be more presentable. After he was done, he gave Rarity the mirror back and levitated a saddlebag with nothing inside and put it on.

"Not going to bring anything darling?" Rarity asked.

"Knowing Horse Shoes, you may have more than you'll want."

"Well now, what a surprise, my lawyer friend visit's me the day after I visit him...FOR ONCE." Apple Tree joked as his company came in his door.

"I thought I told you I was working on a case for chariot theft, there was no time to visit." Lawton explained.

"Well, ya could have come fer a snack...but back on the track here, wha' brings you and yer OTHER farm pony friend." Apple Tree said with the same sarcasm in his voice.

"A.T, are my lawyer skills telling me your...jealous." Lawton imitated Apple Tree's sarcasm. A.T gave him a mock pout and flicked his head back, which made his quests giggle. "You need to stop hanging out with Monty, he's rubbing off of you."

"Tell me about it, so what brings y'all here?" asked Apple Tree.

"Well pardner," began Applejack "We were jus' wonderin' if ya would be so kind as to give us a sample of your treats that you would bring to the party?"

"Now that's jus' dandy, alright...follow me." Apple Tree lead his quests to the backyard of his humble garden house. Applejack expected some crude containment for A.T's apples, he didn't have the land that her family had. What she didn't expect was a very healthy apple tree in the middle of his garden surrounded by smaller trees's. Applejack looked at the apples hanging from the tree, taking note of the quality of the fruit.

"Somethin' the matter miss" Apple Tree asked as Applejack looked intently at his "apple farm".

"Nothin', just lookin' at the quality of yer apple's" answered the honest Applejack.

"So......what do ya think?"

"They look nice...though, if you planted these here trees in my family barn they would be ten times better."

"Really now? how good is yer mulch?"

"Probably better then this here ground you planted in."

"Hm, ya may be right on that." Apple Tree said as he looked to the ground. Canterlot was never the place with much dirt to plant in. The only form of dirt that A.T ever saw was the ground for the parks...the so very little.

"Uh, hey...Ms. Applejack, do you mind if you could take things from here...I need to do that errand quick." Lawton said with some hesitation.

"No problem sugarcube, I know how to get back to the house, you just go do what ya need to do." Applejack replied. Lawton went to open and close fence-gate in Apple Tree's garden to leave before A.T yelled out to him.

"Wha-" Lawton caught a bouquet of roses from Apple Tree, who gave him a sympathetic smile.

"For him." was all Apple Tree said as Lawton dashed of to his wanted location.

Monty and the girls arrived at Horse Shoes shop, an unsightly array of mismatched colors adorned it. The sign displayed a gold clown pony with a pie in his right hoof. As the quartet walked in, they saw the stock that this pony carried. Chattering teeth, whoopee cushions, joy buzzers and even a giant rubber chicken were some of the items that were displayed in the shop. Pinkie was admiring the stock before a bolt of color came out of a back room. this bolt of color turned out to be a pony...a very colorful pony. He was red coated and had a dark green mane, along with a purple line around his waist. He had interesting eyes...interesting as his eyes were different colors.

"Ooooh, are those contact lenses?" Pinkie stared into this pony's eyes very closely, so closely that her eyes nearly touched his.

"No, just a heterochromatic. Do you like zem? I think brown and blue match me complexion." said this Germane-accented pony.

"Whats your cutie-mark." Pinkie then stared directly at the germane ponies flank. It was adorned with two horse shoes and a rubber chicken in the middle. Twilight used her magic to pull Pinkie towards the group as Monty trotted towards his old friend.

"Hello again Horse Shoes, mind if my...um...acquaintances." Monty said, smiling guilty as a certain alabaster unicorn gave him a look.

"Oh my fruend, have you come to try my haarpflegemittel." asked Horse Shoes.

"...you know that there joke products right?" asked a concern Monty.

"...Kann sein." Horse Shoes said as he looked of in multiple directions trying to avoid the gaze of his angry friend.

"Actually," Twilight stepped up to the two "we were wondering if you could spare some party items for a-"

"A fohlen dusche, a betriebsfeier, the coming of Cthulhu!" Horse Shoes shouted with glee. Twilight gave a small smile at this pony's randomness, for it reminded her a lot of Pinkie.

"Horse Shoes, do you know who this is?" asked a stern Monty. It seemed that no matter what age Horse Shoes was, he would still be the practically insane individual.

"Ze Prinzessin der Freundschaft, Element der Harmonie Twilight Sparkle." Horse Shoes said with a smile, "Ooooh, is Lawton going to be here? I have a new fedora for him."

Monty gave Horse Shoes a sad smile "Horse Shoes...you know what today is right?" Horse Shoes looked at his calendar on the wall and then deflated...like literally deflated into a flat surface. Twilight and the group gave the two a troubled look. Rairty walked over to Monty and poked him on the shoulder.

"Mr. Montesquieu...what day is it today?"

The day Clear Skies died...almost like he died just yesterday. This was an annual thing for Lawton...just standing there...in front of the grave of his mentor. Not many things could make Lawton happy this day...nothing at all. It was simple, Lawton would get some flowers, place them on the grave and leave for a rough night of drinking. Thanks to Apple Tree he was able to skip the whole buying part of the process, or worse, getting the flowers from Madame Flora. Madame Flora was very protective of her orphaned foals, protecting them like they were all her own. Lawton apparently was the biggest example of such, as even in stallionhood the old mare worried about him constantly. His drinking didn't help with trying to calm her down. Lawton wondered what life could have been...if Clear Skies didn't die. Maybe he could have convinced him to stop his drinking...before he caused something to happen to him. Just on cue, his heart started to beat fast, causing immense pain in his chest. He levitated his pill case out of his scarf and took two capsules in his mouth and digested. Instantly, the pain ceased and his heart rate became normal. Lawton decided that he was hovering around the grave long enough and trotted back to the house.

On his way back, Lawton caught sight of something he despised, something that he attributed to everything that went wrong...Tarturas Wine. A drink that had the lovely color and class of red wine with the sharp punch of vodka. It started with a few shots, but soon Lawton was drinking bottles everyday. It was this drink that Lawton started to pin the blame on his condition and relative progress of becoming an out of control drunk. The only drink that Lawton ever quit... and most likely will always be the only one. Lawton snapped out of his funk and started jogging to the home. He got their in the nick of time before it got dark and opened the door. Instead of an empty hallway, he was greeted with a bone crushing hug. Lawton was a little annoyed until he realized it was the pony of his dreams.

"T-Twilight." Lawton was confused, but figured that Monty spilled the beans. Twilight didn't let go as she broke Lawton's oxygen flow. "P-Please...let go...your chocking me...I'll sue." Twilight let go, allowing Lawton to see the distressed look on her face "What's wrong?" he asked.

"L-Lawton... I'm so sorry." Twilight was on the verge of tears...an unholy sight to Lawton. He pulled her into another hug, not letting go until she calmed down. He stroked her mane as she quietly sobbed, Twilight remembering the horrible confrontation by her and her childhood friend.

"So, your friends asleep." Lawton asked as they stayed in the hug.

Twilight gave a small smile "Yeah...they were quite surprised about why you were so gloomy today. Pinkie's thiinking of throwing you a 'sorry we didn't notice' party." Twilight gave a short giggle to that.

Lawton also chuckled at the bizarre choice of a party "I take it Pinkie and Horse Shoes got along?"

"Oh yes, I don't think I've seen Pinkie converse with sompony for so long, let alone see sompony else keep up with her." She replied as she and Lawton stopped their hug.

"Yeah, he's a special pony."

"I was quite intrigued with his fluent germane, did he grow up their?"

"Yes...but the reason for him being here is something I don't discuss with everypony."

"Ah." there was a long silence as the two friends stood in place looking at the ground. Lawton, hating uncomfortable silence, tried thinking of something to ask Twilight. So many things popped in his head...but one just sticks out like a sore hoof.

"Are you going to visit your coltfriend tomorrow?" this took Twilight by surprise, it wasn't common for her to openly discuss her relationship...especially to a stallion.

"W-Well, I was...but there's still a lot of things to go over for the party." Twilight looked at the ground in a sad manner, which broke Lawton. Sure, he was glad she couldn't see this coltfriend of hers, but seeing her sad was worse. Every fiber of the law pony's body was telling him to let it happen, to let Twilight stay here...but his heart told him otherwise.

"Twi...if you want I can take over for you while you see him." Lawton said with as much sincerity as possible. Twilight looked at her friend like he just spatted something out of his muzzle.

"You don't need to do that Lawton, really." Twilight said.

"No, you, your friends, and your brother and sister-in-law have shown me nothing but unrelenting kindness. The least I can do is give my childhood friend the one chance she has to see her special somepony." Lawton said. It may have hurt, but Lawton knew what he was doing was the right thing. Twilight looked at him for a few seconds before pulling back in another bear hug.

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I'll write a list down of everything that needs to be checked. Lawton, I don't know how I can repay you." She said as Lawton was still being crushed by the hug.

"A smile is all I need." Lawton said through his breath. Twilight let go of Lawton and gave the best smile he'd ever seen until she waved goodbye as she left for her room. Lawton could only think of one thing as he stood there.

I need a drink.