Night Cap stared at the photo frame held in his shaky pale blue magic, squinting slightly before adjusting his glasses with a hoof. He knew three of the four ponies in the photo, his mother and father stood in the middle with Uncle Wake Vortex smiling beside his mother but the fourth pony was a mystery. Flanking his father was an Earth pony of average size with a ruddy brown coat and deep brown mane. His father had a foreleg thrown around the other pony’s withers and both wore a matching smile. This confused the colt though, he had never seen or heard of this pony but they all looked so happy in the picture. Time for some answers.
“Daaaaaaad! Who is this pony in the picture? The one on the mantle?” the small blue colt called out, his high pitched voice echoing through the spacious abode. He heard the familiar gait of his father start clip clopping his way into the parlor and took a deep breath to prepare his questions.
The green coated Earth pony soon entered the room with ears perked, heading towards the mantle while looking down at his son with a small smile. “One more time, champ? Who’s what now?” The stallion had but a few seconds before the oak framed picture was shoved into his face.
“This pony. The brown one. Who is he?” Night Cap all but demanded, staring down his father to gauge his reaction. He had picked up this trait from his mother and was quickly learning how to read ponies based on body language. What he wasn’t prepared for though was the amount of sorrow that his father noticeably expressed, his ears falling flat and eyes squinting from suddenly growing misty. Night Cap watched as his father stared at the photo for a few seconds, wondering if he had done something horribly wrong, before High Light cleared his throat and collected himself.
Taking the photo from his son’s magic, High Light carefully placed the photo back on the mantle and turned to his son before sitting. With a soft voice, barely above a whisper, he finally responded. “That pony” he started, pointing a hoof towards the photo “is…was… Cider Smashed. He passed away a few years before you were born. He was my best friend all through growing up in Canterlot and eventually moved here with your mother and I.” Finishing speaking, High Light closed his eyes and allowed the wave of memories to crash into him. He felt the fur around his eyes and on his cheeks grow damp but made no move to wipe away his tears.
When he opened his eyes again High Light was surprised to see not one of his foals but both now sitting in front of him. A lithe blonde coated Earth pony filly was sitting beside her brother, her long golden hair braided and tucked into a rather familiar bun. She too studied her father, having seen this many times in her life, and waited for the right moment. Seeing her father take notice of her the little filly moved forward and embraced her father, sniffling slightly. “I miss him too, Daddy. You should tell Nighty about him, it always makes it better.”
Chuckling lightly, High Light stroked his daughter’s back while returning the hug. “You know what Morning, I think you’re right. Think you could ask Mom to put the kettle on for me? You know how these stories are on my throat.” Before Morning Glory could end the hug he leaned his head forward and kissed the top of his daughter’s head and whispered “Thanks, sweetie”, earning a giggle from the filly. Wiping his eyes, High Light silently stared off into space. His son would ask questions when he was ready.
The silence was heavy after Morning Glory left the parlor and Night Cap continued to stare at his father. The tiny Unicorn tried to work out the events that had just transpired. He was obviously out of the loop on this subject and that vexed him to no end. Even his bratty big sister knew more about this mystery stallion that him! The emotional response of his father was something he had actually never seen before, this side of High Light was very well hidden away. Ears back, Night Cap screwed his courage to the sticking place and finally spoke. “What was he like?” came out with a high pitched squeak.
His father cast a sidelong glance at him while nodding his head before he wordlessly stood and walked to a nearby sofa. After climbing up and making himself comfortable, he patted an empty space beside him.
“Come sit by me son, I’ll tell you all about him.”
Shifting slightly on the sofa, High Light cleared his throat and began to speak only to be interrupted by Morning Glory returning with a steaming cup on a tray balanced on her back. “Mom already had the leaves steeping. Sometimes, I think she can read minds.” Morning Glory said bluntly, not a drop of humor in her statement.
“She’s is pretty awesome, you have to admit” High Light said with a chuckle, reaching for the mug. Carefully taking it off the tray (scalds to the back do no pony any good), he took a long slip and closed his eyes for a moment to let the effects sink in. He barely noticed his daughter climbing up on the sofa with them and when he opened his eyes he saw them patiently waiting for him.
After getting comfortable himself, Night Cap took another deep breath and blew a blue/purple lock of mane from his face. He had learned a long time ago that pressing his father before he was ready was a good way to shut him down completely. A great many questions went unanswered until the colt could learn patience. The green stallion took his time as always, eyes staring to a time not the present, and finally began to slowly speak.
“I met Cider Smashed in a coffee shop in Canterlot when I was a little older than Morning Glory. I hadn’t earned my Cutie Mark yet and was wandering about the market district looking for something to interest me. I remember walking into that shop, all it’s wonderful smells and sounds. Cider was sitting off in a corner, his nose shoved in a book.” High Light smiled at the memory before continuing, “Now this was odd for two reasons. Earth ponies aren’t as common in the capital as they are here in Ponyville, so seeing a young Earth pony reading a book on fermentation was actually pretty out of place. It peaked my interest immediately so I walked up and introduced myself. We talked about everything under Celestia’s Sun, anything that crossed our minds. We must have sat there drinking coffee for hours until the shop finally closed. I remember the tanning of my hide for being out past curfew too.”
High Light paused to take another long slow sip of his tea before he resumed his story. “I actually got my Cutie Mark because of Cider Smashed. He was from the Apple blood line and had a life goal of making the best apple cider than anypony had ever had. I ended up working at the coffee shop where we met, so we spent our days and nights hanging out. Inseparable. Cider Smashed worked in a nearby tavern. Eventually we saved up enough money to afford a small flat where we could experiment for the perfect cider. We spent months trying to figure out the perfect recipe. One day; I’m in the middle of mixing up some new, very expensive, herbs that had just been discovered in the Everfree Forest when Cider slams the door to our flat shouting about something or another. In my alarm, I dropped the herbs I was carrying into a large modified bunsen burner I called “The Pit” and POOF! The whole room is filled with a concentrated dose of these new herbs. We sat there giggling for what must have been four hours before the effects wore off, and when they did I had these lines and letters on my flank. We never could remember what was so important.”
Blinking a few times and shaking his red brown mane out of his face, High Light drank deep from his teacup before looking at his children. Morning Glory had heard most of these stories while growing up and her earliest of memories recalled a time spent playing with the goofy Earth pony. Night Cap, on the other hoof, was hearing this all for the first time and undoubtedly had a plethora of questions brewing in his head. High Light knew it was only a matter of time before the big heavy questions started pouring out and he would be forced to relive the very end of his longest friendship. ‘Let’s see how long I can delay the inevitable.’ he thought to himself before speaking again.
“Now, let me tell you about the time your uncle cleared an entire restaurant with a prank.”
