What Happens in Mexicolt 4

After the guard came, no one was much in the mood for celebration.  Pinkie excused herself before the fuzz showed up.  Apparently there was still a warrant out for her arrest, accrued during a long, disjointed story ending with the phrase " . . . and I woke up in a graveyard next to Rainbow Dash wearing a pork pie hat and a surcingle.  Man, that was the craziest Good Friday ever."

Don de Fortuna gave Rarity a slightly pained look that said: 'This is one of your best friends?'

Ponies began to drift away from the party yard in ones and twos, giving Rarity and Vida odd looks.  Well, it was expected for them to stare in this circumstance; Vida had just been attacked by kidnappers.  It wasn't the first time the guard had been called for one of Pinkie's parties, but not for the usual reason.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were given carte blanche to destroy the piñata, which they did with gusto.

After the guard had asked and re-asked all their questions and taken the two stallions away, the party area was empty of anypony except for Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Vida and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  

The three fillies were having a sleepover at Sweet Apple Acres, so Rarity kissed her little sister goodbye.

The guard escorted the white unicorn and her donkey companion back to the Carousel Boutique.

"Is he . . uh . . . staying with you, ma'am?" One guard stallion growled.

"Yes, he is," Rarity confirmed.  

"We'll be stationed outside the house tonight," the other guard pony said.  "The chief will examine the case in the morning and decide if you need a continued escort."

"Thank you, gentlecolts, for seeing to my well-being," Vida said.

The two guard stallions gave the jack a long look and a noncommittal grunt.  Rarity thanked them personally before entering her home.  It may have been her imagination, but she felt she got rather dark looks from the pair of them before retiring.

The dressmaker paused at the bottom of the stairs.  What exactly was she going to say to Vida?  He had come all this way to see her, but if she allowed him into her room, there was no doubt in her mind they'd be adding to the foal possibility.  What was she to do?

Vida tilted his head to one side as he observed her confusion.

"Is something the matter, mi corazón?" he asked her gently.

"I . . I was just considering the sleeping arrangements, darling," Rarity sighed.

The jack nuzzled her neck gently.

"If you say it; I will sleep in the street," he murmured.  "And be happy to be so close to you."

Rarity closed her eyes with a small noise of frustration.  Vida's collar lit up as the white unicorn gripped it with her magic.  He smiled when she dragged him upstairs.

"This is all your fault for being so infuriatingly charming," she informed him.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rarity could get used to sleeping next to Vida.  He was warm, cuddly, and prone to gentle, half-nuzzles in his sleep.  Opalescence took one look at him, hissed, and hid on top of the wardrobe so Rarity wasn't disturbed by her pet jumping on the bed and stomping all over her as usual.

The donkey jack had been rather insistent on sleeping on the left side of the bed.  Rarity didn't realize why until a clattering noise from the kitchen drew her out of a sound sleep.  Vida jerked upright, both ears straining forward.  

"Stay here, mi corazón," he ordered, slipping out of bed.  "Lock the door after me."

As the Don hurried out into the darkened hall, Rarity realized he wanted the left side of the bed because it was between her and the door.  And now he was heading out into the darkness to battle forces unknown.  Alone.

"Not likely, darling," the white unicorn muttered, heading out into the hallway after him.  

There was a display table at the bottom of the stairs that she could levitate and use to bash someone.  Rarity was just gripping it with her magic when a horrible crash reached her ears.

"Ah ha!  Submit, villain!" Vida cried.  "Who sent you?!"

"All I took was a lousy sandwich!" a very familiar voice answered.

"Father?"

Abandoning the table, Rarity cantered into the kitchen.  Vida was wrestling with her father on the floor.  The two guard stallions were already inside, watching.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Rarity demanded.  "Vida, do let him up!  Aren't you two supposed to be guarding my house?"

"It's your dad," one guard stallion said by way of explanation.

"Your father?"  Vida picked himself up off of the unicorn stallion and inclined his head.  "My apologies.  We had a close call earlier tonight and I was on my guard."

"Vida, this is my father, Touchdown Pass.  Father, this is . . . my dear friend, Vida De Fortuna," Rarity said, gesturing between the two.

The jack and the stallion nodded to each other and grunted greetings.

"Now what are you doing here?!  It's nearly two am!"

"I had a fight with your mother," Touchdown admitted, picking himself off of the floor.  He promptly staggered, catching up against the kitchen table.  The unicorn stallion managed to crawl into a chair with difficultly.

"I think I should make some coffee," Vida murmured under his breath.

"I think that would be a splendid idea," Rarity sighed.

The guards stallions went back outside, figuring the best of the entertainment was already over.  Rarity slumped in a kitchen chair opposite her father and sighed.

"Did you have a fight because you were out at the Watering Hole until one o'clock?  Again?" Rarity guessed.

"N-no!  I was at th' Waterin' Hole until one o'clock because we had a fight.  S'totally different," Touchdown Pass slurred.  "'N when I got back to th' house, Buttons had locked all th' doors an' hid the spare key.  Carrot Cake had t' stop lettin' me crash at the Corner when his wife found out, so I came here."

Rarity sighed and hid her hands in her hooves.

"So, is that your new shopcolt?" Touchdown asked, eyeing Vida.  "He's living here?"

"Shopcolt?" Rarity echoed.

"Yeah, Doubletree said he saw him carrying all your bags home."

The dressmaker looked over at Vida, eyes wide.  The donkey shrugged and gestured with one hoof as if to say: 'Whatever you like.'

"Vida is my dear friend," Rarity said coldly.  "He isn't a servant."

"Mmm, sorry," Touchdown grunted.

Vida placed a tray on the kitchen table between the father and daughter.  Touchdown Pass got black coffee, but Rarity's cup was filled with . . .

"Cocoa?"

"Too much caffeine is bad for you now," the jack said.

Rarity's eyes widened, but her father was too far gone to notice.

"Thank you, darling," she sighed.

Her father levitated his cup and sucked down the strong brew without hesitation.

"Ya make a hay of a good cup a' coffee, Vinny," Touchdown grunted.

"Thank you, señor," Vida said.

"I'm – I'm sorry I woke ya up, honey," the unicorn stallion said.  "I'll bed down in th' guest room."

Touchdown Pass stood, shook himself and headed up the stairs carefully.

"A shopcolt!  Really!  That's why no one gave us looks on the way back from the station; they thought you were a servant!  I wish I could say I was surprised by all of this.  After all of that nonsense with Zecora . . . I suppose this is karma."

Vida lowered himself in the chair Touchdown Pass had vacated and placed a hoof over Rarity's.

"It doesn't matter to me," the jack said.  "I have travelled extensively throughout Equestria.  This place is actually a lot better than Canterlot."

The dressmaker groaned.  

"You're relishing this," she declared.  "This was secretly your plot all along.  You keep trying to convince me to return to Mexicolt with you."

"I am very crafty that way," Vida stated with a grin.

"Cad," Rarity said warmly.

The donkey jack leaned across the table to trade nuzzles with the unicorn mare who had stolen his heart.

"WHY THE HAY AIN'T THE GUEST BED BEEN SLEPT IN?!" Touchdown Pass roared from upstairs.

Rarity and Vida could do little more than stare at each other as Touchdown's unsteady hoofsteps clattered across to his daughter's bedroom.  Both younger equines could imagine what he was seeing; a rumpled bed that had clearly been slept in by two bodies.  If he were sober enough to figure out that Vida and Rarity had slept in the same bed, it wasn't much of a stretch to realize what else had been done in that bed.

"RARITY JEWEL!!!!!!!!"

From the sound of things, the unicorn stallion fell rather than walked down the stairs.  He staggered into the kitchen and pointed a hoof at Vida.

"Get out of my house, you jackass!" Touchdown bellowed.

"Daddy, this is my house!" Rarity reminded him.  "And I will stay with whom I please!"

"Would it make you feel better if I said I planned to make an honest mare of her?" Vida inquired coolly.

"No daughter of mine is going to end up a mule maker!" the older stallion roared.  "Now get out!"

A light blue aura surrounded Touchdown Pass and lifted him clear off the ground.  

"Daddy, this is my house, my paramour, and my dignity you're slighting!  I'll decide who stays and who goes and I have decided you have to leave!"

Rarity levitated her father out of the front door, dropped him unceremoniously on the step and locked the door behind him.  She turned to look at Vida and burst into tears.

"A mule maker?" she sobbed.  "My own father called me a mule maker!"

"Corazón . . ." Vida cooed, enveloping her in a warm embrace.

The donkey jack held her until her sobs became more like sniffles, coaxed her to finish her cocoa, and sent her off to bed with the promise he would be up after he washed out the cups.

Vida washed the mugs as promised, then indulged in a few moments of privacy to viciously kick the air and curse.  Send this whole town to rack and ruin for the pain it caused Rarity!  She couldn't even think of raising a mule here by herself!  Bunch of elitist snobs!  They smiled and made nice to you until you dared go out with a mare, then it was slurs and slander the whole way!

He would get Rarity to return with him to Mexicolt.  That was all there was to it.