The Parade

Ryder sat in the bleachers as he and the pups watched the Adventure Bay Disability Pride Parade move down the street. To his left sat Skye who unsurprisingly was cuddling with Chase. To their left sat Rubble, Zuma, Dr. Turbot, and Tracker who was busy cuddling his girlfriend, whom Ryder didn't particularly want to interact with Skye too much.

As they continue to watch, all eight of them cheered as Rocky and Marshall marched into their sight, the former of whom was caring an orange flag with a rainbow infinity in the center. In addition to the usual cheers from everyone, Chase had also cheered "you go Marshall!", while Everest looked on the Dalmatian dreamily.

All the while, Zuma could be heard shouting, "you go dude," for Rocky.

Ryder was also particularly proud of Rocky for finally coming out about his diagnosis. Based on what he'd known about his feelings about it, he knew this had been a difficult decision for him to make. So the fact that he decided to face his fears like this and set a good example for others had earned him major brownie points in Ryder's book. However, given the lack of surprise he heard from the other townsfolk, it was clear that many had already suspected, it and Mr. Porter flat up figured it out.

Ryder remembered from the previous week, when Mr. Porter had straight up asked, "does Rocky have Asperger's?"

To which he had responded, "How do you…" only for Mr. Porter to cut him off.

"He acts similarly to one of Alex's friends who has it," explained the grocer/café owner, at which point Ryder confirmed, but asked him to keep it quiet, as Rocky felt self-conscious about it.

Meanwhile, Rocky was also thankful that most people at least suspected he had it, as it eased his anxiety about prejudice. He then smiled at himself, proud that he was setting a good example for others like him. Then looked over at Marshall and gave thanks for all his wonderful friends.

As the parade continued, Rex and Jura marched down the street. As the two pups came into view, everybody let out a cheer for them, but especially Doctor Turbot, and Taylor. Additionally, Skye let out a hearty cheer for her brother.

Rex then reared up (on his wheels), and shouted, "you can do anything you set your mind to regardless of your disability!" earning another loud cheer from Doctor Turbot and her daughter. Jura was particularly happy to hear this. After Rex's little freak out during their jungle vacation, it was great to see him be his normal self again. Then, Jura hugged him tight and placed an affectionate kiss on his cheek. Of course, this earned another load cheer from the Turbots. Additionally, seeing Jura kiss Rex inspired Skye to plop a kiss on her own special pup. The shepherd blushed in response.

Next to come down the street were two of Rubble's AU cousins. Ryder recognized Charger from the Christmas episode, but didn't recognize the pointer standing next to them. Not surprisingly Rubble gave them a great big cheer. As did the rest of his family.

Next in the parade was a double amputee Rottweiler, who was cheered on by a different construction crew. At the center of the crew seemed to be an adorable, innocent looking corgi, who, like the rest of the group, cheered on their comrade. Although, he very briefly turned his head towards rubble and, in an accusatory fashion, mumbled something under his breath,which Tracker could hear was, "copycat."

Finally, the parade finished with a Jack Russell terrier and border collie whom Ryder had never seen before. Furthermore, the two of them were being cheered on by a group of Australian accented dogs in the bleachers. Ryder also noticed that the Jack Russell was being cheered on quite enthusiastically by a red kelpie, whom Ryder assumed to be his best friend.

As they were headed home, Ryder and the pups were approached by a group of people wearing blue shirts with puzzle pieces on them, and Rocky immediately started growling.

"Calm down Rocky," requested his master.

One of the men approached Ryder and said, "hello, I represent a company called Asperger's talks…" he began. Ryder then turned around, and proceeded with his pups back to the look out.

The End