The smell of prench toast tickled at my nose, cutting through the haze of the first good night’s sleep I’d had in a week. I was in my bed. Not the bed in my apartment. My bed! The one at my parent’s flat. The best bed ever.
I got up slowly, enjoying the rested feeling. Once I’d soaked up as much of that bliss as I could, I did what royal guards did in the morning: I made the bed, perfectly. It was a ritual that helped me. It was something I could control.
Once the sheets were perfect, the pillows were in their place, and all was as it should be, I set O. C. Topus in the middle so he could keep an eye on my room.
It was time for a shower! If I was going to hang out with Aurum and run the shop, I needed to look my best, not like some half-crazed pony that spent her nights galloping through the streets trying find safe havens.
I’d always had a little bathroom in my parent’s flat to myself. That was one of the perks of having older, more established parents. They were able to give me things my aunts and uncles couldn’t give their foals.
Uncle Emerald was the oldest of the three on my father’s side and Aurum was his only foal. He’d had her at a more conventional age. Well… about my age, actually. Maybe a little older. That was a crazy thought. It was something to consider while I waited for the water to heat up.
Or not. It was better not to consider that at all. Instead, I imagined what Mr. Peepers and Diver Pony’s children would look like.
Eventually the water running over my hoof turned hot, so I slipped inside and just stood there, letting it hit my head and wash down onto my back. Unlike the locker room at the campus, nopony would try to get in my stall here.
Aurum was my cousin, but she was old enough to be my mom. In fact, she had a son that was only three summers younger than me. When I was growing up, despite her and Emerald and their family living far away, she always took the time to write and visit me.
“Why haven’t we talked in so long?” I asked aloud as I started to work manewash into the long hairs of my mane.
She’d sent flowers and notes after my incident. She’d wanted to come, but Quartz had been going through a rough patch, too. That had hurt my feelings, but I tried not to hold it against her. I had my parents to help me, and I guess Quartz needed his mom. That made sense, but jealousy is irrational.
I finished up and spent some extra time working on my mane. Yes, I was a mess, but I didn’t need to look like it for my favorite cousin. She should get to see the Azurite she remembered. Not the new mess of one that took her place.
After some drying, brushing, and a dab of makeup, I looked just right. When I got down to breakfast, Mom was just setting the prench toast on the table.
“Good morning sweetheart. You look rather chipper. How did you sleep last night?”
My dad was sitting at the other side of the table, his paper up. It ruffled warmly in greeting. “Good morning, pumpkin.”
“Hi Daddy, hi Momma. I slept very well,” I replied, settling into my place at the table.
“Good! A good night’s sleep does a pony well. Of course, so does their mom’s prench toast, right?” My mom flew a plate over to land it in front of me. A second one zoomed around my father’s head before landing out of sight behind his paper.
“Thank you, dear,” he replied before setting the paper down. “That Wonderbolts show last night was sold out. Evidently, they’ve brought on some new talent to the Canterlot team that can rival the Equestrian one.”
My mother followed her own plate over as she sat down. “Is that so? Perhaps you and I should go sometime.”
That was not for me, and I was glad my mother didn’t include me in the statement. I started to eat but then stopped. “When will Uncle Emerald and Cousin Aurum arrive?”
Dad looked over at the clock. “I’m willing to bet he’ll drag himself up the stairs and knock in about twenty minutes.”
Mom’s ears wiggled and she chuckled as prench toast flew over to her mouth.
I looked between them, my brow furrowed. “What am I missing?”
“Your uncle’s watch has been off by twenty minutes for the last three years,” my father said with a grin, “but he absolutely refuses to let me look at it. He swears up and down it’s correct, but it isn’t. We were supposed to meet here for breakfast, so they’ll be twenty minutes late. I bet you two nose kisses.”
“Deal!” I chimed before going back to breakfast, watching the clock.
At exactly twenty minutes past the hour, there was a knock on the door. Daddy looked up and winked. “Why don’t you go let them in, sweetie?”
“Will do!” I replied before getting up, paying two nose kisses, and trotting over to the door. My horn blazed brightly as I pulled it open with excitement.
“Uncle Emerald! Cousin Aurum!” I squealed when I saw them. Yes, I’d already known it was them, but it was still exciting. I hadn’t seen them in so long.
Uncle Emerald hadn’t changed a bit. He was still tall and lanky, just like dad. He had big, expressive eyes, also just like dad, although his were gold instead of violet. The only major difference was the fact that instead of blue, his coat was emerald green and his mane was honey-brown instead of blond.
“If it isn’t my favorite niece! What a wonderful surprise,” Emerald replied, wrapping his forelegs around me.
I gave him a tight hug, looking over his shoulder to Aurum. Unlike her father, she had changed some. The biggest was her mane. When I’d seen her last it was all the way down to her hooves. Now it barely went past her chin and had been styled with an undercut. It was a dramatic shift in her look!
“Hi there, little cousin,” Aurum said with a wink.
Aurum, unlike most ponies, was allowed to call me little. She got a special pass.
Uncle Emerald let me go and smiled. “I’ll just going to pop in and steal a kiss from that pretty mother of yours.”
“You go get her!” I teased as he trotted past. Once he was gone, more words spilled out. “Aurum, your mane!”
She grinned and flipped the platinum locks. “What do you think? Is it too much?”
My head shook quickly. “No, you look amazing! I’m just stunned. It used to be as long as I am tall.”
Aurum nodded. “That’s true. My stylist convinced me this would be easier to maintain, which is true, and show off my coat more. She said it would make the gold pop. I’m not exactly sure what that means but the time I save in the shower is worth it.” She chuckled.
“Well, I’ve always thought you were beautiful! I guess now you’re beautiful, and you pop,” I replied before nestling in for a hug.
She slipped a hoof around my back. “I’m so pleased to see you, Azurite. I wish I could have been here sooner. We’ve got a lot going on back home with mom getting up there in age and Quartz being… well… a rump.”
“A rump?” I asked, peering up at her while still holding on.
“It’s a long story. He and I just aren’t seeing eye to eye on his ambitions, and he’s taking it out on everypony. Let’s not worry about that, though. I came to get a break. Let’s talk about you!”
If she needed a break, that was fine with me. I was the sort of pony that hated when others pried when I didn’t want them to. “Fair enough. Mom made prench toast. Would you like breakfast? We can catch up once we open the store. Dad and Uncle Emerald are going to the Moose Club today.”
Aurum sighed, rolled her eyes, and then smiled. “I knew those old birds were up to something. Alright, let’s eat quick and go continue the family tradition of selling shiny objects to ponies!”
“You bet!”
Breakfast with my family was usually pretty lowkey and quiet. My mom and dad share a lot of little secrets and jokes. Uncle Emerald and Dad weren’t that way. They were far more animated together than apart.
“Just let me look at it, you stubborn old mule,” my dad said to Uncle Emerald.
“Are you, my little brother and former apprentice, suggesting that I can’t fix my own watch?” Uncle Emerald asked, his voice raising. He wasn’t actually angry; this was just part of the game.
My father’s hoof thrust accusingly out at Emerald. “Ah hah! You admit that it needs fixing. Checkmate.”
Uncle Emerald’s eyes narrowed. “I did nothing of the sorts! Aurum, tell this senile old stallion I didn’t do that.”
Aurum stuffed prench toast into her mouth and said something that was impossible to understand.
“There you have it, the girls never lie to us!” Emerald put in.
Sapphire laughed and stood up. “Who’s the senile old stallion now? Mares always have their secrets. Come on, we’re going to be late to the club if we don’t get a move on.”
Emerald grinned and stood up. “Alright, alright. Thank you for a lovely breakfast, Azalea. If you ever decide to leave this old coot, let me know.”
My mom laughed and waved a hoof at him.
The two stallions then left for the club. Both of them ruffled my mane on the way out.
Aurum finished her plate and asked, “Should we get to work, Azurite?”
“Yes, I think we should.” I tipped my nose in the air. “We need to be more mature than the stallions and show them what collaboration looks like.”
Momma grinned. “Alright, girls, don’t be too successful. You’ll hurt your fathers’ pride. See you for lunch.”
“Yes, Momma,” I replied before Aurum and I trotted downstairs and opened the shop. We got everything out of the safe and opened for business.
Once we were behind the counter, Aurum said delicately, “You’re looking well, Azurite. I’m happy about that. I know you’ve been through a rough time.”
We were cutting straight to the chase, it seemed. I shrugged and smiled. “Good days and bad. Today is a good day.”
“More good than bad?” she asked.
“More average to below average than good. More good than bad,” I replied, looking away gratefully when the chimes on the door jingled and a pony came in.
“Oh, where is Mr. Sapphire?” the light pink mare asked.
“He’s off today, I’m his daughter Azurite. Welcome to Sapphire’s Hoard, how can I help you?”
The mare trotted over and pulled two rings out of her saddlebag. “I bought these from your father years ago. They’re my favorite pieces. He cleans them for me. Can you do that?”
Could I clean rings? Could an octopus give four hugs? Could a fish fall in love with a diver pony? Could Celestia raise the sun? I grinned. “Yes, ma’am. That was one of the first things he ever taught me.”
“Lovely! Well, I’ll just run a few errands and come back for them.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied before taking the first ring up into my magic and holding it steady. Keeping something levitating while switching to another spell wasn’t easy for me, but this particular combination was one I’d done hundreds of times.
With a bit of will, I pushed energy through the levitation spell to start scrubbing the metal so close that the eye couldn’t even see that small. It would be a slow process to get everything off, but at Sapphire’s Hoard we didn’t do things halfway. My father had a reputation to uphold.
Aurum’s hoof found my shoulder. “Azurite, I don’t mean to pry. I’m just asking because I worry. Our parents are great, but they’re... well, you know. They would keep us as foals until they couldn’t, if it were possible. Are you getting the help you need?”
The ring wavered as I lost focus. My eyes narrowed at it, and it lifted once again and the cleaning continued. “I’m trying, Aurum, really. I go to therapy a lot. Yesterday, I went to this painting class and that seemed to help. The mare running my case says it will take a while.”
She nodded and leaned against the counter. “I’m glad to hear that, but what about your quality of life? Do you have any friends? Are you seeing any stallions? And don’t be smart with me, little cousin. I mean dates, not looking at them.”
Without warning, my tongue poked out at her. It was an instinct. The ring spun briefly in my magical grip as I continued to break away even the smallest dirt particle, making it shine like the day it was made. “Not really and no. I’ve never had a lot of friends anyway, so that isn’t new. Actually, I’ve never had a lot of stallionfriends, either. The status quo is about the same.”
Aurum cleared her throat and picked up a cloth in her magic. She slowly flew it up and down the glass cases, cleaning them. “I was thinking that making some friends would be a good idea. A support network, right? And you want to have a stallionfriend, don’t you? I mean, or a marefriend! Azurite, you know I don’t care, if that is what this is about?”
She came into focus beyond the ring. I slowly lowered it down onto a velvet pillow before picking up the other. “No! I mean, no that isn’t what this is about. I do want one. Some day. Either, I really don’t care.
“I just don’t know how to do that and the idea of it, right now, on top of just trying to feel normal, scares me. I can’t even walk around in the street without panicking. How am I supposed to make friends or have a relationship?”
“I understand that. I mean, no, I don’t understand how you feel, but I mean I get your logic,” Aurum said, her back to me and her voice dropping low. “My concern is that you’re going to put yourself in a fuzzy little cage and by the time you get out, you’ll have missed some of the best parts of your life, and I don’t want that for you. I want you to have everything, Azurite. You deserve it.”
The second ring landed, and I trotted over to her and set a hoof on her shoulder. “Aurum, are you alright?”
She wiped her eyes and turned down to loop a hoof over my shoulders. “No, I’m worried for you, and I’m feeling like a hypocrite because I can’t even get my own life together.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, nuzzling her neck.
“I’m not sure why I haven’t told you, yet. I told myself it was so I wouldn’t add another burden to your pile, but I think I was just frightened about what you’d think. Like you’d think I was a failure.”
My brow furrowed. “A failure? What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“As a mother and a wife. Azurite, Quartz is so cold towards me, and as for Ocean Wave and I—” She inhaled sharply, her voice stifled by a soft sob as she pressed her forehead to mine.
“Aurum?” I whispered.
“He… He left me.”
WHAT! My small hooves looped around Aurum and I squeezed her tightly. What could I say to that? Nothing! Keep your mouth shut, Azurite. Hug her, hold her!
Aurum softly cried against me before she pulled back and wiped her eyes. She lowered herself to the floor behind the counter. “I’ve been living with Mom and Dad since just before you were hurt. I’ve been in my own fuzzy cage.”
She lifted her hoof and set it on my heart. “Azurite, promise me you’ll get better. You can’t live upstairs forever, hiding from the world. I’ve been doing it and it isn’t getting better. It’s just delaying the inevitable. I’m going to have to go back out again. We both have to.”
I could feel my jaw hanging slack. Aurum was alone? She was living at home, too? How could Ocean Wave do that to her? Where was he? Could I punch him in the snoot?
“Azurite, please,” she whispered.
Tears were starting to streak down my cheeks. “Yes, I promise. I promise you, Aurum, but you have to promise me the same thing! You’ll get better, too. We’ll do it together!”
She wiped her eyes and replied softly, “Yes, maybe we should.”
Then it dawned on me. We should. “Aurum, move in with me. Just for a little while. Move here, get away. I have a place, I never use the bedroom. I sleep on the couch. If you were there, I’d come home more. Please?”
Aurum’s head titled. “Azurite that is sweet, but this is so sudden.”
“Who cares! You’re like a sister or a mom to me,” I said, wiping my tears and sniffling. “I’ll never be cold to you. I’ll never leave you. I’ll never treat you like Uncle Emerald, though, and you won’t treat me like Daddy and Momma. Please? We will be our support network. Family.”
My cousin looked left and then right. Her face shifted to one of resolution and she nodded. “Yes. Yes, you’re right, of course. For a little while. Long enough to get on my hooves. I can work for Uncle Sapphire while you go to school.”
“Exactly! Daddy could use the help. After all, he thought I was going to take this place over before I joined the Royal Guard.”
Aurum stood up and pulled me to my hooves. “Okay. We’re going to do this. Me and you.”
I squealed, “Yes, we are!”
“Yes, we are.” She sniffled, pulled several tissues out of the box on the counter and started to clean up her face. Then she started to clean up mine. “For now, we should probably make sure the store is okay. I’ll never get a job here if you and I can’t manage it for more than an hour without breaking down.”
I was going to have a roommate. A great roommate. One who was wiping my face. I grabbed the tissue from her and teasingly poked her. “No fuzzy cage.”
She waved a hoof. “Sorry, habit! Why don’t you get to cleaning up that ring before our customer comes back? I’ll keep cleaning up over here.”
“Good idea!” I replied before picking the second ring up and focusing on it. That was going to be a lot harder now that I was full of excitement. My coat was tingling. Aurum and I were going to be seeing each other a lot. She would be a friend. She would understand.
I could help her while she helped me! Together we could get through our own issues. Mindful Soul would be thrilled. Maybe Aurum should see her, too? Did she have a therapist? Did she want one?
The ring dropped out of my magic and bounced on the counter. “Eek!” was all I could get out as it started to roll down the counter. Little flashes chased after it before snatching it up just before it fell. “Whew…”
“What was that,” Aurum asked.
“Nothing, nothing!”
I pulled the ring back to me and put all of my focus into the cleaning spell. That was what I needed to do right now: clean the ring, make it perfect for the customer, and think about the future after that. It was a future that looked brighter, and that made me happy.