Home once again (Patreon)

The next day passed without too much drama in my Equestria dreamscape. Unfortunately Rainbow Dash was so busy granting interviews and being surrounded by hanger-ons that I was still unable to get a chance to take her aside and just talk.

    Unfortunately the Sky Shad was scheduled to depart the next morning, and I was on the schedule for the morning weather detail the next day in Ponyville so with some reluctance I boarded the great silver airship and headed back home. I had told Petina and Carousel about my conversation with Trade Winds at Lenticular Lounge and that I had been amazed at how accepting Dash's parents had been of our household arrangement. Petina seemed to be very pleased with this information.

    “See Brick! This is will sort itself in the end. Now the next we need to do is start planning on some necessary remodeling of our current residence. We've wanted to make some improvements to the old homestead and now we can! Plus we can enlarge the master bedroom now for a new bed!”

    I just shook my head and looked out the window of the airship as we plodded across the skies of Equestria. Part of me wanted get this trip over while another part of dreaded what waited me when got back to Ponyville. RD stayed in Cloudsdale for a bit longer to take care of some details but she'd be back on the clock with me tomorrow punching clouds.

    The remaining Mane Six made the return flight with us, and for the most part they were polite and courteous but I still sense some strain and antagonism in their manners and speech. Petina and RD might be correct and in the end it maybe alright, but at the moment it made for a chilly flight home.

    It was just after 4 in the afternoon when the familiar valley and Ponyville came into view. Slowly familiar landmarks came into view. In fact looking out the window we watched as our cottage passed beneath us. It would be good to be home again.

    Once again as we got closer to Ponyville pegasi started to fly around the airship escorting in for its final approach. Some were my coworkers while others were just curious ponies. It was interesting to just sit inside the airship and watch as my coworkers went through the effort of helping guide the great behemoth on to the mooring tower. I could feel their weather magic as they manipulated the winds to get the optimal docking conditions.

    After what seemed like an eternity we were allowed to disembark and after a further wait we were able to retrieve our luggage and head out for our little cottage. All over town there were banners celebrating Dash's victory in Cloudsdale, but word of her performance had already reached Ponyville and that along with events at Hurricane's Column meant that the rumor mill had kicked into overdrive. As we made our way through the town I could feel dozens of eyes watching us as we passed by. To her credit Applejack kept us company until we reached our cottage then she went on her way to Sweet Apple Acres.

    It was nice to see the place I consider home in this dreamscape. It's not as luxurious as a fancy hotel, or as regal as a Royal Palace, or possess the exotic flair of a city floating in the clouds. But this is the place Petina, Carousel, and I call home. After wishing AJ a good night we went in.

    Once inside, we started the process of bringing our cottage back to life. The icehouse had delivered a fresh block of ice the day before so the icebox was in fine shape. Now it was just a matter of getting the water heater fully lit and the stove going. Cogs in anticipation of our return had started a small, banked fires in both, but now I had to get things up to speed. As I set out to accomplish these tasks Carousel went out to the wood shed and brought in fuel as I cleaned the grates. In the meantime  Petina unpacked and put away our garments and organized those that would need washing this week.

    By the early evening we had the stove going, and the fireplace merrily crackling away. The water heater wouldn't be done heating the water in its tank until tomorrow morning so we resigned ourselves to sponge bathes with water that had been heated on the stove top.

    We then spent the rest of the evening going over what the recent acquisition 30,000 bits really meant to our households bank account. That was one area where our situation was really looking up! After several minutes sliding beads back and forth on the abacus Petina calculated our annual household expense averaged a bit over 500 bits a year not including taxes. Suddenly Carousel and I realized  just how much money Petina had succeeded in winning. Of course the little unicorn had plans for some of these winnings.

    “Well first we need to decide whether we stay here and remodel or buy a larger house in the immediate area. This one is paid for but to make this really work for us it will need a bit of TLC!”

    “Also I plan on investing some these winnings into some investments that I think have the potential of even further improving our P&L, and of course we'll want to sink some of this into the bank for safekeeping! Plus I think we can afford to indulge ourselves from time to time now!”

    After that it we settled into some mutual grooming. Petina and Carousel aren't as good as Dash when it comes to preening but the two mares have figured out the basics, and hey, I've got two awesome mares doing it so I wasn't complaining.

    The only thing spoiling the whole mood was the thought of what would happen when I went into work tomorrow and would Carousel get any grief as she went about he delivery business. Carousel didn't seem to worried, and Petina assured me it wouldn't be as bad as I was dreading. So with both of them snuggled up against me I contemplated the last piece in the puzzle. Dash. She was on the clock to and what kind of reception would she receive when she returned tonight?

To be continued.