The Uncle
By Alaborn
Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.
Chapter 6: Quiet Evening
“Dinner was less than a success,” Evan admitted as he put what was left of the pizza in the icebox.”
“Yes, but at least we tried,” Darlene agreed.
The only pony left happy about dinner was Stonehoof, who didn’t seem to notice the quality of the pizza.
“What do we do now? Darlene asked.
“Before it gets too late, I want to take the kids to the hospital. See how Jason’s doing.”
“Sounds good.”
Evan went into the living room and then to the closet. He came back with the baby carrier in his mouth.
“Ugh. I don’t want to have to deal with that thing again,” Darlene said. “Why don’t we just take the stroller?”
“Yeah, that would probably be better.”
Ten minutes later, the family was ready to go. Rose Aurora was tucked snugly into the stroller, and Stonehoof looked ready to gallop. The sun was low in the sky, and the weather was pleasantly warm. It was the perfect night for a stroll.
“Do you remember how to get to the hospital?” Darlene asked.
“Uhh... maybe?” Evan said. “Well, I remember how to get out of the neighborhood, and I think I remember where to go from there. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to see more of the town?”
“As long as you’re ready to deal with two cranky kids if you take too long,” Darlene said.
“It shouldn’t be that bad,” Evan said.
Once they reached the intersection of their road and the main road through town, Evan looked around. He recalled the purple house from Jason’s instructions, and vaguely remembered his directions. “I think we take a right here,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
They turned and walked down the road. “These buildings don’t look familiar,” Darlene said.
“It was dark when we walked home yesterday,” Evan said.
“There are also a lot more ponies out and about,” Darlene said. She went over to a passing unicorn mare. “How do we get to the hospital?” she asked her.
“It’s a way’s down the road,” she replied, pointing behind them.
Darlene turned to Evan. “All you needed to do was ask for directions.”
Evan huffed. “Men don’t ask directions.” He sniffed the air. “Because sometimes, going the wrong way is the right way!”
“What?”
“See that restaurant?”
“Is that an Italian restaurant?” Darlene asked. The building looked like any other in this area, but the odor of garlic was quite noticeable.
“Yeah. Or Bitalian, because everything’s a horse pun. Jason took me there when I came here for the wedding.”
“You mean we could have just ordered a pizza?”
“Oh, come on. Trying to cook was fun, even if we failed spectacularly,” Evan said. “But I was thinking, maybe get some garlic bread? I know I’m still hungry, and I bet Jason would like something other than hospital food, too.”
“That does sound good,” Darlene said.
“Want to wait with the kids, while I order?” Evan asked.
Darlene nodded.
Evan patted his neck, confirming he still had that pouch of bits stored under his mane, and then trotted off towards the restaurant. The odor of garlic and Italian spices grew stronger. He could already taste the buttery, garlicky bread.
A tinny bell rang as he pushed open the door to the restaurant. It was as he remembered; with only a dozen tables, the restaurant was small enough to be handled by one waiter, a young unicorn stallion.
“How many will be in your party?” the waiter asked. He had a slight Italian accent.
“Actually, I’m just looking to order some garlic bread to go. Enough for four peo-ponies,” Evan said.
“We can certainly do that,” the waiter said. “Please sit at one of the open tables while you wait.”
The waiter headed to the kitchen and relayed his order. The back wall of the dining area was open, allowing diners to see the chef in action. Evan thought the chef was the same one he had met before, the one who looked like an Italian chef with his thin moustache and pronounced accent. He wondered if the waiter was related to him, perhaps a son or younger brother. For ponies, coloration didn’t often suggest familial relationships; even type of pony wasn’t a clear guide. But Evan did notice that both unicorns had similar curly manes.
After watching the kitchen, Evan’s attention turned to his fellow diners. Three of the other tables were occupied, one with a family of four, and the other two with couples.
Evan blinked. The couple at the table in the corner wasn’t just any couple. The mare was immediately recognizable as Princess Twilight Sparkle. He was surprised to see her, though not that surprised, given that she lived in town. But he also knew the stallion, and he was not expecting that.
The princess was sharing her table with an olive green unicorn stallion that he recognized as the pony form of his brother’s friend John. And they were sitting at a candlelit table, sharing a large plate of pasta. It reminded Evan of the famous scene from Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.
He hoped the chef didn’t have an accordion with which to serenade them.
By this time, Twilight Sparkle noticed Evan looking at her. She squeaked out an “Eep!”, and tried to shrink back in her chair. John noticed as well. He nuzzled Twilight Sparkle and whispered something in her ear, and then stood up.
John walked over to Evan and reached out a hoof; Evan took the offered hoof bump. “Good to see you again, Evan. Twilight mentioned she brought you to town, but, uh, I wasn’t expecting to run into you.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see that,” Evan said, waving a hoof to their corner table. “This looks like a lot more than just some friendly visit. It looks serious. So, that time at the wedding led to....”
“Well, Twilight will be the first to say that she doesn’t have a coltfriend,” John interrupted. “I remember being like that when I was younger, too.”
“Not ready to admit it?”
“Yeah. It always seemed like a big step, something serious, not something I was ready to handle. Give her time to get used to the idea.”
They were interrupted by the sound of somepony clearing his throat. “Your garlic bread is ready,” the waiter said. He levitated a paper bag over to Evan.
“Thanks,” Evan said.
Once the waiter left, Evan turned to John. “I wish you two the best.” He shook his head. “I still can’t imagine wanting to live in another world.”
“For years, I thought the same thing,” John said. “But you never know where life will take you.”
Evan took the bag of garlic bread in his mouth and headed outside. He joined up with Darlene and the foals, and then said “I think I know why the princess wasn’t as friendly last night.”
“Why?” Darlene asked.
“Her boyfriend’s in town.” Evan then relayed to her what he saw.
Darlene reacted with shock. “The princess who’s basically the ambassador of ponykind is dating a human? Why haven’t we heard about it?”
It was a good question. The news media covered news from the pony world with a zeal that made their coverage of past celebrities and politicians look restrained. “Maybe the ponies don’t have TMZ?”
Darlene laughed. “Guess that’s one way the pony world is better than ours!”
Evan and the others finally made it to the hospital. Just as Jason had said, they were free to visit at any time; the staff welcomed him back and reminded them of Rose’s room number. They were friendly as always, but Evan noticed one nurse eyeing hungrily his bag of garlic bread.
He found the door and opened it. Just like the previous day, Rose was asleep on the hospital bed, the magical machines doing their work. And Jason was seated pony-style on a bench; he was reading a thick book that he held in his magical aura.
“Daddy!” Stonehoof shouted. The colt ran to Jason, jumping on the bench and hugging him.
“Shh, shh, ponies are sleeping,” Jason said to his son as he hugged him back. He closed the book and set it on a nearby table.
“We brought a snack,” Evan said.
“Thanks. I could really use some good food,” Jason said. He took the bag in his magic, opened it, levitated out a slice of garlic bread, and broke off a piece. He gave the piece to Stonehoof; the colt eagerly accepted it. Meanwhile, he ate the rest of the slice.
“Is hospital food as bad here as it is back home?” Darlene asked.
“It’s not bad, but it’s made by hospital staff. Something like this garlic bread is made by a pony whose special talent is cooking. You can notice the difference,” Jason said.
“How is Rose doing?” Evan asked Jason.
“She’s responding well to the treatment. It’s just a matter of waiting now.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“So, how are the foals treating you?” Jason asked.
“Well, Stonehoof got his hands... hooves on the cookie jar the first moment he was out of our sight,” Evan said.
Jason looked to Stonehoof. “That was bad, Stonehoof. If you want a cookie, you ask for it. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy,” Stonehoof said.
Jason turned to Evan. “One day, he’ll learn that. But it’s hard for an earth pony foal.”
“What do you mean?” Evan asked.
“Using magic burns energy, just like physical activity. And for earth ponies, that magic comes into play with their great strength. It takes a while to learn how to turn off the magic, to use that strength only when it’s needed. So foals his age keep needing to eat.”
“We saw that. It’s like he’s always hungry,” Darlene said. “How much are we supposed to feed him?”
“We let him eat as much as he wants at meal times, at least as far as healthy foods are concerned,” Jason said. “Regular snacks, but only one cookie or other treat.”
“What about overeating?” Darlene said.
“It’s not that different from human kids. If he starts eating slower, he’s getting full.” Jason shrugged. “I guess you kind of notice these things when they’re your own kids.”
Jason grabbed a second slice of garlic bread, and then levitated the bag back to Evan. “I’ll be glad when this is all over. This bench isn’t all that comfortable. And I could really use a bath.”
“Isn’t there a bathroom there?” Darlene asked.
“Just a sink and toilet.”
There was the sound of crinkling paper as Evan poked his head into the sack. “Can’t you just magic yourself clean?” Evan said afterward, mumbling around a slice of garlic bread.
“I’m doing that, but I get the feeling the spell was created before ponies knew about bacteria. So it gets rid of the dirt and grime, but not the body odor. And speaking of which....” Jason nodded his head towards Stonehoof.
“Yeah, we didn’t think about a bath for Stonehoof yesterday,” Evan said. He offered the last slice of garlic bread to Darlene.
Darlene waved off the food. “We did have to give Rose Aurora a bath after she had a magic surge and got covered in sugar,” she said.
“Oh? How bad was the surge?”
“Pretty bad, if I had to guess. She teleported twice during it.”
Jason grumbled. “I don’t know where she gets that kind of power. It certainly wasn’t from me.”
“But your advice was helpful, and we calmed her down and got her back to sleep,” Evan said.
“After feeding her,” Darlene added.
“Again, magic. She’s rapidly burning through her last meal when she surges,” Jason said. “If she only surged once, you got off lucky.”
“We’ll see if we can get through the night,” Evan said.
“It’s what we all have to do,” Jason said, looking at his wife. “Stonehoof, say goodnight to mama.”
Jason lifted the colt up in his aura and floated him toward the bed, letting him hug the unconscious mare. “Night mama. Get better,” Stonehoof said.
Jason lifted Stonehoof and lowered him to the floor, and then magically lifted Rose Aurora from her stroller. He nuzzled the filly and kissed her on the base of her horn. “Good night, angel,” he said.
Rose Aurora squirmed, but didn’t wake.
Jason returned the filly to her stroller and strapped her in. He then turned to Evan. “Thanks for visiting. It means a lot to me,” he started. “Hopefully, Rose’s parents will arrive tomorrow, and you can have the rest of your weekend back.”
“You know, I don’t mind missing our camping trip if it means visiting you,” Evan said.
“You’re welcome to stay,” Jason replied. “But these little ones need to get to sleep.”
“That’s right,” Evan said. He stood up. “Come along, Stonehoof. Time to get you home, so we can give you a bath.”
“No bath,” Stonehoof said.
“Yes, bath,” Evan said.
Jason chuckled. “Good luck, you two,” he said.