Golden Harvest was wailing something awful upon the couch, her husband and herdsister doing their best to comfort her and keep her volume down lest she wake the children. No amount of ice cream or hugs seemed to be working.
"That poor boy," she cried into Turner's chest. "I treated him horribly. In front of his own sister. Why did I have to be such a crabby grump? It was just a vegetable garden."
"There, now," Derpy cooed softly as she rubbed the mare's back in gentle sweeps with her velvety wings. "You heard Lyra. She said that Brady and his sister were just fine. She's our friend. you know we can trust her."
"I kn-kn-know-ow-ow," Harvest cried. "But I was so scared when it exploded. What if something had happened? His last memory of me would be awful."
The other two ponies refrained from pointed that he was unlikely to see them ever again anyway, and his last memory of her would still be as such. It just seemed something that would be unfair to say.
"But it's not just that," Harvest choked, wiping her eyes. She pushed away from Turner and looked him in the eye. "We knew you were getting those children dog food because of the meat shortage."
The stallion's ears drooped. Lyra's plan was no longer possible. Now he was about to be berated and blamed for being an inadequate provider. He closed his eyes and waited for the onslaught. What he got instead was a mighty hug.
"Derpy and I were gonna tease you after they left. We're h-horrible mare-ares. Please, forgive us for not being considerate to you. You do the best you can, you're loyal, and we just let you stew like a... like a... like a steeeeww."
Derpy quickly joined the hug. "That's right. I forgot about that. We should have said something and made sure you knew we appreciated your hard work."
Turner felt his temperature rise a bit as the mares pressed ever closer. In fact, the both appeared to be trying to shove the other off in an attempt to gain control of his warmth.
"Um, well," he began swallowing hard. "Since we're making confessions and all... I knew what you two were planning. Yeah. Um. When I went to see Lyra last week, I told her about it and we made a plan to um... turn the tables on you. Eh-he. So you both don't have to feel so bad, I was gonna tease you both as well."
Both mares looked at him in surprise, which then turned into tears.
"We would have deserved it," Derpy cried, burying her muzzle into his neck.
"You would have had every right," Harvest wailed.
Turner just sighed. "Ugh. I'm trying make everyone feel better. I don't like when you two start crying. A stallion's greatest fear is that he can't provide for his family. and I can't seem to provide a way to make you both feel better."
Both mare's froze, pushing away from him and wiping their eyes. Each wore shocked expression.
"Oh my, we did it again, Derpy," Harvest groaned with a sniff.
"Are we making you feel inadequate again, Turner?" Derpy asked, placing a hoof on her husband's shoulder.
There was no sense denying it.
"Yes," he nodded, lowering his head.
He suddenly found his head twist about and his lips locked with the carrot farmer. He never noticed she was glaring at Derpy. Breaking away he noticed the earth pony's body was tensing up. Almost though she were ready to...
"I get to go first," she hissed, quickly grabbing the stallion about the withers and wrapping her hooves defensively about him.
Turner turned to look at Derpy for some kind of clarification. She was scowling too, wings spread in an intimidation display. The lightbulb came on.
"No fighting," he cried out, managing to wench a hoof free from Harvest and hold it up. This actually worked.
"Fine," Derpy reluctantly gave in, sitting down on her plot. "She was feeling worse than me... I guess it's only fair."
"Yes," Harvest hissed ecstatically, nuzzling the stallion's mane affectionately. She released him and began nudging him a bit to encouraged him towards her bedroom.
"He'd better still be awake by the time you're done," the pegasus warned her herdsister with a heated glare.
"We'll be done when I can't walk straight," Harvest smirked and stuck out her tongue in defiance.
With that, they closed the door and left the other mare alone on the couch. She quickly lost the glare and even chuckled a bit. "Eh. May as well go to bed. Neither of them are gonna be walking right for a while."
She quickly turned off all the lights, checking on the children as she went to make sure they were all in bed, and then went to her own room, across from Harvest's. She made sure to leave her door unlocked, though.
"Just in case," she said with a smile. Then she dove into bed and was out like a light.
Headboards will do that to you.