Log Twenty-Three - Chapter Twenty-Two

I began to understand why Twilight was freaking out earlier; I believe the reason why Twilight had to depart to go prepare so early was that it took around thirty minutes for my daughter to do her touch-up in the bathroom.

I muttered Homer Simpson's famous catchphrase as I punishingly slapped my forehead for not remembering that girls have to devote their time longer than guys do in getting prepared.

That and they're ponies.  Can't bring myself to imagine how much of a hassle it is using hooves to groom oneself.  At least Twilight wouldn't have a problem with that, though...  But a non-unicorn pony?  That's tough.

I was patient enough waiting for my daughter to finish her business, standing next to the cottage's open front door, all dressed neatly in my suit and pants and fedora.

I started hearing the sound of hoofsteps rushing down the stairs.  It was my daughter, who appeared panicked.  She was quickly trotting up to me.

"I'm sorry, Father!" she shouted.  It wasn't much of a shout, actually.  It was more along the line of talking loud in a graceful way.

"Don't worry about it," I pardoned, slowly walking outside with a hand gripping the door's handle at the ready.  "If we hurry a little, I'm sure we can recover the lost amount of time."

Fluttershy slowed once she passed the threshold.  She signalled me with a quick nod.  I nodded at her signal and closed the door.  At last, we were beginning our path to Ponyville, where we were expected to meet Twilight and a carriage that would be awaiting for us.

Oh, right; I totally forgot to mention the part in Twilight's plans that we were to rendezvous at the Golden Oaks Library where a carriage would be waiting to take us to Canterlot.  It didn't cross my mind until this recently.

We have almost arrived at our destination, although we had to quicken our pace from time to time.  And I immediately regretted wearing the color black.  The answer is simple; add the unadulterated heat of the summer sun, plus the trip walking to Ponyville, plus the clothes' color absorbing the aforementioned heat equals...

'My God, I'm gonna have two fried nuggets in my pants by the end of the day.'  I was panting with a tongue lolling out of my mouth.  I swear I could feel a stream of sweat running down the back of my left leg.  My pits were in no better condition, either.  I had to find some sort of shade otherwise my suit was going to be ruined.

Fluttershy merrily trotted along beside me, unaffected by this god-forsaken heat.  I reckoned that ponies here were used to these intense temperatures.

Fluttershy was evidently moving ahead of me while I was losing stamina at a dangerous rate.  My feet felt like lead, as if I was wearing iron boots given I've been dragging than walking.  Whole figure slumped, both shoulders sagged and arms hanging limply near to the ground, I panted heavily as I tried my best keeping up.

But I miserably failed.

I ended up falling forward, my chin hitting the ground first, and grunted in a dry, hoarse voice, "I don't think I can make it, my dear Shy!"

My daughter stopped for a moment and turned halfway.  "But, Dad-"

"The heat!  It's unbearable!" I croaked.  "Go, my dear Shy!  Go on without me!"

"But, Dad," Fluttershy repeated, "we're here..."  She slowly lifted a pointing hoof at the Golden Oaks Library several feet ahead, and there outside in front of the treehouse with confused stares were Twilight Sparkle and a duo of well attired stallions, all standing beside an ornate white carriage and wooden wheels trimmed with gold.

One of the stallions had a dullish-grey coat, a black mane and tail and had yellow eyes.  The second stallion had the same mane as the first stallion's, but his coat was chocolate-brown and had cobalt-colored eyes instead.

Each of them, save Fluttershy, were looking at me bemusedly.  Red my face was from the scorching heat, my cheeks flushed in an even darker red as I fumbled trying to get back up.

On my feet, I brushed the dusty dirt off of me, stood upright with one arm behind my back, bowed, and spoke articulately as I could, "Evening, Twilight.  Evening, gentlecolts."  I faked a lavish smile and doffed my hat for further impressions, but the two stallions still had their brows aloft in bewilderment.  I suggested it's about my presence and not my embarrassing display back there.

There was an awkward silence between the three of us, that was until Twilight cleared her throat to prevent any future awkwardness than there could've been.

"So glad you two could make it," Twilight said cheerfully.  "And only one minute, point twenty-three seconds late."

And the stallions were still staring...

"I'm terribly sorry for that," Fluttershy said guiltily.  "I was in the bathroom getting ready and I wasn't aware how long I was in there.  My Father and I left and we hurried quickly as possible."

And they're still staring...  Really starting to get old and aggravating.

Twilight waved a dismissive hoof, smiling brightly.  "No trouble at all!" Twilight said.  "We do have a couple of extra minutes to spare, so we can compensate by taking the carriage right away."

I broke from my staring contest with the unsettled stallions and looked at Twilight excitedly.  "Great!" I cheered, putting my fedora back on my head.  The faster we get these punks out of my face, the better.  "Let's get this thing rolling."

The two speechless stallions continued fixing me with that dumb stare of theirs.  My left eye twitched annoyingly.

"Um..." Fluttershy coughed nervously at my twitch, "yes, let's get to it."  Fluttershy poked me on my thigh.  "Father?"

I stared down at my daughter, shaking off my aggravation.  "Right, right.  Sorry."

With that said, Twilight and Fluttershy were the first to hop inside the carriage.  I was the last, but not before I gave the two stallions another daggering glare.

They nervously gulped, sweating bullets as they dutifully geared up in their harnesses in matter of seconds.

Got to say, this vehicle was mainly designed for ponies; getting in required me to bend down almost halfway, and I took up one whole side of the carriage.  Thankfully Twilight and Fluttershy were able to share the other side just comfortably fine.

The entire carriage lurched forward once the stallions began their pulling.  I barely heard them mumbling something offensive that I wouldn't like to repeat, knowing it involved me.  I shrugged... for now, anyway.

I had a leg folded over my thigh, as it was slightly cramp inside the carriage.  I'm relieved all I had to do was keep my head down with my chin on my chest.  Well, relieved as in I didn't have to stay bent during the whole ride.  My neck's already aching the first minute of our road trip.

"Oh, this is so exhilarating," Fluttershy said conversationally.  "My best friend is going to be crowned as an official princess."

"Mhmm," Twilight genially hummed at my daughter's comment.  Twilight looked to me inquisitively.  "What do you think, Rick?"

I made a short grunt before replying, "I think it's, hng, great."

Trust me, the discomfort was only the least of my worries.  My major concern was what I was going to do at the buffet; I know Twilight and I had already compromised what I was going to do, but what am I to do when I run out of nice things to talk about?

We ran across a small bump, which caused me to knock my head on the top of the carriage.  I winced with a hiss, rubbing the new sore spot.

Both Fluttershy and Twilight noticed this.

"You okay, Father?" Fluttershy asked, curiously worried.

"It's fine, my dear Shy.  Just a tiny bonk on the head.  No big deal," I insistantly replied.  I shifted a bit to get rid of the numbness in my ass.  "It's just sitting like this isn't... comfortable."

"I do apologize, Rick," Twilight said, "this was the only biggest one they have."

"Like I said, it's no big deal," I lied.  I didn't want neither my new girlfriend and-slash-or my daughter to worry over something trivial.  Reassured, the mares resumed their chit chat, though I could hear the two stallions indistinct sniggering amongst the girls' conversation.  I growled inwardly, suspicious that the bump was nothing but intended.