The party had simply been too much. The day had been too long, his feelings had been too overwhelming, and the party had simply been too much. Sandow had escaped and sought refuge in the quiet orchard, off to find some much needed quiet. Too much noise. Strange music coming from a strange box. Six mares had arrived, ponies he really didn’t know. He couldn’t keep track of it all, everypony talking, playing, singing, and all of the noise. And those three fillies...
It had been too much.
And now, Sandow sat, his haunches parked in the cool grass, trying to collect his thoughts. He wasn’t even sure if anypony had noticed that he had left. He had simply escaped quietly, in such a hurry that he had actually taken wing and flown away, something he rarely did. He had gone up the stairs to his room, and then escaped from the open window.
He fell over and rolled in the cool grass, collecting his thoughts, smelling apple blossoms and feeling a little better.
“They meant well.” Said a voice behind him.
Sandow rolled over and sat up, looking at Big Mac.
“They’re all a little squirrely, especially Pinkie Pie.” Big Mac said. “But they mean well. Good mares, all of them.”
Sandow nodded.
Big Mac sat down.
They sat together in silence, watching bugs fly by, watching the grass grow, occasionally looking up at clouds.
“So…” Big Mac said after a long while, “your wives. What happened?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Sandow replied quietly.
“Well, you said you left them alone. But you also had a foal and one more was on the way. So something happened. What?” Big Mac asked.
“Big Mac, I’m sorry, but I don’t know if…”
“Talk.” Big Mac said, interrupting.
Sandow sighed. Big Mac was sitting beside him, close by. waiting patiently.
“Let it out before it eats ya.” Big Mac said.
Sandow took a deep breath.
“We traveled together for quite some time. I made sure they were looked after. I fed them. I was nice to them. And I didn’t lay a hoof on them. They were scared. Far away from home. And they knew what was expected from them. They watched every move I made.” Sandow said, casting his eyes down upon the earth, looking at the grass. “We lived with my sire and my dam for a while. I had a large amount of coin. I finally settled on getting my own patch of land. I secured an orchard with apples and some other types of fruit trees. There was a little two room cottage on the land. Tiny. Small. Had a tiny window. No glass. A sod roof. And there was no door. Just a tattered sheet of waxed canvas weighted down with stones at the bottom. A little fire pit. It wasn’t much, but it was home, and it kept the rain off.” Sandow took a deep breath. “I let them sleep in the one little room the cottage had, away from me, where they would feel safe. I heard them crying a lot.”
Sandow fell silent, unable to continue. His throat felt tight.
“Keep goin’.” Big Mac urged. “We must remember those we love, not silence their memory.”
“They tried to make themselves helpful. They cleared brush. A garden was planted. Root vegetables. And cabbages. Bluebelle fashioned a broom from twigs and kept the dirt floor clean. I taught them how to make fire by scraping flint against an iron shoe.” Sandow looked upward at the sky, his face pensive. “They settled in. And then one night, Bluebelle came out their room and told me that I could do whatever I had wished with her, provided I took her outside and out of earshot, but to please spare her sister.” Sandow’s ears drooped and he seemed embarrassed. “I sent her away, back into her room. She was very confused. And this continued for quite some time. She’d work up enough courage to offer herself up, but asked me to spare her sister. And I sent her away. She became quite frustrated with me I think.” Sandow paused and chuckled, somehow still sounding sad.
“One night, Bluebelle approached me and began to shove me out the door, saying that it was time for this foolishness to end. She actually kicked me a few times, forcing me outside. We had a long talk. A very long talk. About everything. What she wanted. What I wanted. I didn’t know what I wanted. Bluebelle knew what she wanted. At some point, she started to have some feelings for me. And she told me that she would have the final decision about her sister after she had spent some private time with me.” Sandow gazed up at the apple blossoms, thinking, silent for several minutes.
“It was very difficult, that first time. It didn’t go well. We fumbled around in the dark a bit, trying to figure out what to do, and when something finally happened, it hurt Bluebelle. I stopped right away. We’d only just began to figure things out and I hurt her. I ran away. I left her standing there, all alone, and I felt so awful for hurting her. I didn’t return home that night. I slept off in the orchard, feeling very very guilty. I had one chance at showing her that I was a decent enough husband and I had hurt her. It was the worst feeling in the world and all I could think about was how disappointed my dam would be with me hurting a mare. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to show my face at home again. I cried all night.” Sandow said, shame audible in his voice. He took a few long deep breaths, his gaze dropping back to the ground, his wings fluttering slightly.
Big Mac said nothing, allowing his companion to be silent for quite some time, chewing on a long stalk of grass thoughtfully.
“So I finally went home and I found them both waiting for me, worried sick. Bluebelle and I couldn’t figure what to say to one another. I finally said that I was sorry, begging her for her forgiveness, saying that I would never touch her again.”
“I take it she forgave you.” Big Mac said.
“She called me an idiot for running off and scaring her, and started poking me in the chest with her hoof. She was really angry. And she wasn’t scared of me at all now. She knew she had me under her control. I could have just kept going after hearing her cry, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. And she had the upper hoof and she knew it. I’ve never been the sort to put a mare in her place. I suppose I learned it from my sire. He really loved my dam. He worshipped her. Did everything she asked.” Sandow turned his gaze skyward. “And my own mares realised that I was almost a gelding. Spineless. I wasn’t the scary stallion that they had spent all those nights being scared about.” Sandow shook his head.
“She called me a big lummox and gave me a lecture. She chewed my ear off for what felt like hours. She told me that sometimes it hurts a bit that first time and that it had surprised her more than it had hurt her. And I was a big stupid foal for running off like that.” Sandow paused, chewing his lip, closing his eyes. “She also told me that she would trust me with her sister when the time felt right.” He exhaled sharply and opened his eyes.
“Yer a good colt.” Big Mac said thoughtfully.
“We finally got around to trying again. I still bolted when she cried again, but she coaxed me back and we tried once more after I had calmed down. It got easier with time. We became familiar with one another. She started to trust me. And I trusted her. We started to make a life together. Eventually, she trusted me with her sister, knowing that I’d be careful and gentle like I had been with her. Bluebelle finally started getting fat and eating a lot. She was beautiful.” Sandow began to sniffle slightly, his eyes welling with tears. “And not too long before Hawley finally came, Azalea began to get fat. And they were both very happy. And we all slept in the same room, in a pile. Together. I had my self a family and a farm. We had made it through the first winter, Hawley was coming soon, and it was spring.” Sandow began to sniffle some more, his breath catching in his throat.
He heard a sniffle behind him and he froze. Panic gripped him. Forcing his head to move, turning around, and looking behind him, he saw six young mares, three young fillies, and one very old mare sitting in the grass and staring at him. All words died in his throat. They looked at him, all of them, eyes watery, ears drooping, none of them saying anything, waiting for him to continue.
Big Mac cleared his throat. “Don’t go payin’ no attention to those ponies in the background.”
If it's any consolation, I think you did this one good.
Love the end of this chapter
Equestrian Editors away!
it had surprised her mare than it had hurt her.
And heh, background ponies. :)
Called it! Did they follow or did Mac have them come along on purpose? I can understand why he wouldn't say anything about it. Exactly how would you broach that situation?
You were absolutely correct on the awkwardness of the good ole 'first time'. My wife and I bumbled around under the covers and it was just very frustrating.
This was clearly written before you got very far in The Chase if sexual misadventures were an awkward thing here...
Yeah...if I was that poor guy, I'd be wondering just when they started listening in...and be very embarassed...
Pay no mind to the mare behind the curtain.....
5281957 *goes to look* I SAID IGNORE THE MARE
That's fandom Big Mac for you, always knowing when a pony needs to let it out and willing to provide a listening ear. Poor Sandow's going to have a long time before the hurt fades away, and as anyone who's lost close family can attest, it never does completely.
This line is a little bit odd since it seems you're referring to the Mane 6 here. _MOST_ of them he wouldn't really know, having only really interacted briefly with Twilight and Pinkie earlier, but he just spent a day with Applejack!
6345087 Yeah, I'd never lost anyone I felt very close to before and that really hurt how I handled things when my wife's mother died less than a month after we got married. What followed was the worst 4 years of my life so far. We have finally started healing and begun getting close to each other again. Not a fun road.
Are bluebell and blue blood related by family
6757254
God I hope not
Nah, It was fine. It was actually fairly accurate, as young men without parents to explain things most likely wouldn't know much more than base instinct. I doubt in olden times, sex talk was very open or public.
I had a conversation with a young lady who was far to expecting of her boyfriend. Complained he never did romantic things like in the movies. Told her, real life isn't like movies. You set the bedroom with candles and soft music, sprinkle rose peddles across the bed and when you and the girlfriend get right down to it, she gets a leg cramp and knees you in the groin, causing you both to get tangled and fall off the bed. Now that's real life.
True story too. 😊
The Monk
“There are many ways to create a monster, and the one the girl knows best is rather basic: you tell someone they're a monster over and over again, then wait to see how long it takes before they agree with you.” -Estee