I drifted back from sleep and looked around. It took me a moment to get my bearings and realize that things seemed off because I had slept on the couch. Remaining still I took in the predawn's quiet. I reflected on what had happened last night. Elation and unease juxtaposed with each other, as I tried to think through what Coco and my next steps could be.
I heard the door to my room open, and Coco stepped out from the hallway. She looked in my direction and smiled at me. “What are you doing awake?”
“I’m not sure,” I said in a quiet voice and sat up. “I guess some part of me wanted to get a head start on the day.”
“Same here,” Coco said.
I smiled and raised part of the blanket away from me like a cape. “Care to join me?”
Coco nodded and sat beside me on the couch. “I was thinking about sneaking out for a little walk, but this is better.”
Using my magic, I wrapped the blanket around us. “Now I know it’s true, nothing beats a warm Coco in the morning.”
“You silly pony.” She leaned into me and hummed a happy note. “You’re snuggling is progressing very well.”
My eyes lingered on her neck and what I could see of her shoulders.
“What?” she asked and tilted her head.
I blushed when I realized she had noticed me staring. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your sailor’s collar.”
Coco looked down toward her chest and then back up to me. “It’s not that big of a difference.”
“It’s not, in one sense, but it is to me. It’s another appealing part of you I haven’t seen before.”
“Here I thought you were interested in my flank,” she teased.
“I am interested in every aspect of you.” I shifted and kissed Coco’s closest ear. “I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“Nothing too serious I hope,” Coco said and leaned against me again. “It’s too early for heavy conversations.”
“Did you get an invitation to the celebration?”
Coco nodded. “I did.”
“Would you like to go together?”
Coco smiled. “I would.”
“Then it’s a date,” I said. “When should I pick you up?”
“Pick me up?” Coco asked.
“From Rarity’s,” I said.
Her ears drooped. “You’re going to kick me out after your parents are gone?”
“No! I want you to stay here from now on. I would never-” I froze as I realized what I had blurted out.
“Pin?” Coco smiled at me, as I tried to say something coherent to recover from my slip and failed. She touched her hoof to my nose. “Stop, don’t worry. I’m flattered.”
Drawing in a breath, I took her hoof with mine. “I meant it, though. I would love to have you here, but I realize that you have to make some very important decisions soon that could… lead you to other places. I know it’s contradictory, but as much as I want you to be here I don’t want to be an undue influence and you make a decision that is not the best for you.”
“Caring for somepony else can put us in conflict with ourselves,” Coco said in a sage way.
“I considered not giving you the heart’s desire because I thought it might be manipulative even if it signifies how important you are to me,” I confessed.
“You gave me your honest feelings, which I appreciate.” Coco put her head on my shoulder. “Most of my life is in flux right now and I’m not sure what will happen. Knowing that you care for me and want me here gives me a calm, safe spot in all the uncertainty.” She giggled. “You’re comfy to lean against and a comfort overall. Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome,” I told her and kissed her head.
Coco glanced at my alarm clock. “We still have a half hour before we’re supposed to be up, if you wake up when I do.”
“It seems I do. Would you like me to make coffee?”
She shook her head. “Thanks for offering, but no thank you. My mind is going fast enough as it is.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You already have.” Coco turned and hugged me. “You offered me a job, fed me, and given me peace of mind. The rest of what’s going is stuff I’m going to have to deal with.”
I hugged her back and snuggled her to me. “What happened up in Manehatten? Rarity never got the chance to tell me what she was doing up there.”
Coco sighed. “It was another mess I needed help out of.”
Coco told me about her trip to Manehatten. She detailed how the community play came close to not happening and how Applejack and Rarity helped her community reestablish the connections it had lost so that the play could go on.
“Then Rarity and I spent the next couple of days scouting locations for her new shop, while Applejack went to visit her family,” Coco ended.
“That’s a lot to pack into one trip,” I said.
“You’re thinking too much again,” Coco said. She prodded me in the ribs with a hoof. “Relax. You’re not as comfy when you tense up.”
I chuckled and did my best to let my muscles loosen up. “Sorry. There’s just so much I was to talk with you about.”
“No heavy conversations, remember?” She glanced at my alarm clock. “Besides, we’re supposed to getting up in few minutes. We don’t have enough time for any deep discussions.”
“True,” I agreed. “I don’t want to spoil the moment either.”
“Pin, there is something I would like to tell you that is serious,” Coco said, looking into my eyes.
“Yes?” I said in a whisper because of the intensity of her gaze.
Coco grinned and gave me a gentle but firm push so I flopped over on the couch.
I grinned up at her. “Coco, what are you-!” Coco pounced on me and kissed me into a delighted, surprised silence. I wrapped my forelegs around her, as she hugged my head to her chest and rested her chin on the top of my head.
“Pin, I’m not sure what will happen, but I know we will make it,” Coco said, sounding sure. “I promise to do my best not to let my worries get in the way of us sharing time together, no matter what comes in the next few days and weeks. I want you to promise you will do the same.”
I smiled at hearing her royal mare’s voice coming through. I looked up her, as she pulled back from me a bit, and caressed her cheek with my hoof. “My lady, you have my word I will limit my worrying to the best of my ability. However, since every moment that I spend with you is special I can’t promise that I can stop worrying they will become rare or stop completely.”
“They will not stop,” Coco said with conviction. She leaned close enough I could feel her breath on my lips when she told me, “You mean too much to me for that to happen.”
Just as Coco’s lips touched mine, my alarm clock went off. We jolted at the sound, and she leaned back from me. She and I both reached for the clock at the same moment, shifting ourselves too far over. We tumbled from the couch in a tangle of blanket and limbs into the space between the couch and the coffee table.
“Ouch,” Coco said with a faux pained expression. “That woke me up, how about you?”
Chuckling, I reached out with my magic and silenced the alarm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said and rested her head in the crook of my neck so her cheek touched mine. “I guess it’s time to get up.”
“We could stay here for a minute or two.” I caught Coco’s ear in my mouth and gave it a soft nibble, gaining me a giggle from her. “I’m finding it cozy down here,” I said after letting her ear go.
Coco sat up and patted my ribs with a hoof. “That sounds tempting, but we need to-”
A gasp from the direction of the hallway stopped Coco in mid-sentence and drew her attention. She blushed a beautiful shade of red and said to somepony I could not see, “This isn’t what it looks like!”
I held up a hoof, making it visible over the coffee table to the unknown pony. “This is exactly what it looks like. Coco and I were cuddling on the couch.” I pointed to the couch.
“My alarm clock went off.” I pointed to the alarm clock on the coffee table.
“We both reached for the clock.” I pointed at Coco then downward at myself.
“We tumbled to the floor with the blanket around us.” I held up a part of the blanket that was not entangled with Coco and me.
“I tried to get her to stay here with me. She, being the responsible mare she is, refused.” I let the blanket drop in a show of disappointment.
Coco looked down at me with an amused grin. “Behave yourself.”
I leaned up and waved at Mom, who was doing a poor job of hiding a broad smile behind her hoof. “Good morning,” I told her.
“I am glad to see you were using protection during your activities,” Mom said.
Coco burst into laughter.
I blushed and looked cross-eyed at the safety ball at the end of my horn. “I forgot I had this thing on,” I muttered.
“I didn’t even think about it,” Coco said and touched the ball off the tip of my horn with a hoof. “My brother wears one of these too.”
“It has saved many a pillow,” Mom said. “Pin earned his nickname of Pokey Pierce, when he was younger.”
“What in Equestria is going on?” Satin asked, as she emerged from the hallway. She took one look at Coco and me and grinned. “Wow, that’s bold: pinning him right here in the den, out in the open, while there are so many ponies in the house. I’m impressed, Coco!”
Coco looked at me as if seeking understanding. “Why do ponies think I have this thing about pinning you against things?”
“You’ve pinned him up against something before?” Satin asked in a curious tone.
“Pin, a mare has needs,” Mom mock scolded. “Do not make Coco resort to using force to get affection.”
“I think you’re looking at this wrong, Mom,” Satin said. “Wrestling around can be part of the fun.”
I sat up and touched my nose to Coco’s, while Mom and Satin continued to debate the merits of affectionate tussles. “I warned you my family was crazy.”
*****
The workroom’s back door opened.
“Pin, we’re back and we brought lunch!” Satin announced.
I put the piece I had been working on down. “That sounds great. Did you have a good time?”
“We did,” Stormbreaker said. “We’ve got everything sorted out for the wedding too.”
I turned towards him. “That fast? I’m impressed.”
“It’s going to be a small thing,” Satin said. “Having Lemon Hearts being in town was fortuitous. We made Berry berry happy with an order, too.”
“Davenport was thrilled with the wedding invitation commission,” Dad said. “You were right. He showed us samples of his previous works. He really is talented.”
“There’s a bet going around that his cutie mark changes if he keeps getting better with his printing,” I said.
Mom made her way to me and gave me a hug. “How are you doing?”
“Keeping a good steady pace,” I said, returning the hug. “There’s still a lot to do, though.”
Mom turned her head toward Satin. “Come here, Satin.” When Satin got close, Mom pulled her into the hug. “I am so proud of both of you. I do not say it often enough. You are caring, hardworking, solid ponies, the both of you.”
“We had excellent parents as examples,” I said.
“That’s true,” Satin said and nuzzled Mom’s cheek. “Even if you two drive us crazy sometimes.”
“That’s part of a parent’s duties,” Dad said with a grin.
Mom let go of us. “If we did not pester you a little, you would not think we loved you.”
Satin pointed a hoof at Stormbreaker. “He needs a hug too. He’s going to be your son-in-law soon.”
Stormbreaker looked surprised at Satin’s suggestion. He reestablished his poise and said, “She doesn’t have to hug me, if she doesn’t want to.” He made a show of looking small and wounded. “It wouldn’t hurt my feelings too much, if she didn’t.”
“I will give you a hug,” Mom said with a mother’s tolerant smile.
As Mom moved to give Stormbreaker a hug, Satin urged, “If you want to win some bonus points, give her the full wing treatment too.”
“Really?” Stormbreaker said. “Some ponies think they’re too claustrophobic. Miss Study, would you like a wing hug or a regular one?”
Mom appeared to consider taking the offer. She glanced at Dad and then shook her head. “I believe I will stick to a regular one,” she told Stormbreaker.
“Dear, I know how much you enjoyed Nana’s wing hugs,” Dad said. “I’m sure Nana would have encouraged you to let him give one to you too.”
“While I enjoy them, I know how significant wing hugs are to pegasi and how special Nana was to me.” Mom looked towards Stormbreaker. “He and I met yesterday. I am not sure that I should ask him for such a thing so soon after meeting him.”
“I would be happy to give a wing hug to you,” Stormbreaker said. “Satin admires you and has told me she would not be the mare she is without you and Mister Insight. You are special to her, so you are special to me.”
Mom smiled. “Since you feel that way, I would like that hug.” She hugged Stormbreaker and allowed him to wrap his forelegs and wings around her.
“He gives the best hugs,” Satin said. “Don’t you think so, now that you’ve had one?”
“Satin,” Mom said.
“Yes, Mom?” Satin asked and tilted her head.
“You did very well with this one,” Mom complemented.
Stormbreaker released Mom from his wings and their hug.
Dad’s stomach growled. “Sorry,” he said.
“Your belly is right, though,” I said. “It’s time to eat.”
We made our way up to my apartment and I helped Dad serve the soup and sandwiches they had brought.
“The wedding will be in three months,” Satin said, as I sat down. “Things should have calmed down around here by then, right?”
“Right,” I told her.
“Berry will take care of the wine, Lemon Drops is catering, and Davenport will design and print the invitations,” Satin reported.
“You’re taking care of my suit,” Stormbreaker said. “Rarity is creating Satin’s dress and veil.”
“While I’m glad that everything is fitting together, things will be tight time wise,” I said.
“We will only be having a few guests, so it’s not that bad,” Satin said. “We checked with everypony who’s helping us set things up. They said they could do it with no problems.”
“I have this feeling that Rarity is going to stress out on the dress though,” Stormbreaker said.
I laughed. “She gets wound up about every wedding dress.”
“I wonder how wound up she will be when she does Coco’s,” Dad said and gave me a grin.
I looked down toward my plate and sighed. “That’s a little too far down the road to worry about, if it happens at all.”
“You gave her a heart’s desire,” Mom said as if that act had guaranteed that Coco and I were to be together.
I looked up at Mom and gave her the best smile I could muster. “I told her my feelings, and she’s told me hers, but that’s a long way from making everything come together with our jobs and everything else that could happen.”
Mom’s ears fell a little. “While I admire you for being practical and realistic, sometimes you are a bit too much so.”
“She’s practical too,” I said. “We’ve promised each other that we will work things through, but we realize that things could get complicated.”
“You love her right?” Stormbreaker asked.
I was caught flathooved by the bluntness of the question and did not provide a swift answer.
Stormbreaker seemed to ill pleased by my lack of response. “Look, not to be a jerk, but if you’re not sure you shouldn’t have given her a heart’s desire.”
“He is in love with her,” Dad assured. “However, my father and I taught him not to use the word ‘love’ in connection with a mare lightly.”
“That’s a good practice,” Stormbreaker said, turning back to me. “However, don’t overdo not saying it either. That can get you into as much, if not more, trouble.”
Mom and Satin both nodded and said, “true.”
Stormbreaker took Satin’s hoof with his. “When I realized I loved your sister, there was nothing practical about it. I decided right there and then, if she wanted me to stay with her, I would fly from Canterlot to Cloudsdale every day to be with her. She, being he more grounded of us, convinced me to fly in on certain days so I didn’t wear myself out.”
“I tried to anyway,” Satin said. “The plan lasted right until I told him I was expecting.” She gave Stormbreaker a light elbow. “That was a horrible pun.”
“If was hard enough not to fly in as it was with you being there alone,” Stormbreaker said and gave Satin a smile. “Knowing that the two most important ponies in my life were in Canterlot, while I wasn’t, the plan went right out the window and she invited me to stay with her.” Stormbreaker asked, with a sudden change in tone, “You want Coco here, right?”
“Right,” I said, wondering where he would take the conversation.
“Show her you have the more established nest and she’ll come this way.” Stormbreaker leaned till his shoulder touched Satin’s. “Satin had a home, friends, family, and a job in Canterlot. I had a small bachelor’s cloud in Cloudsdale.”
“That he made himself,” Satin interjected sounding proud of him.
“A good portion of it, not all of it,” he corrected and kissed Satin’s head. “I’m not a professional cloud sculptor and needed all the help I could get.”
“I’ve thought Coco moving here would make sense,” I said. “I have a workroom, supplies, and established business connections, but she will have to decide as far as leaving her family and friends.”
“A good relationship is built on more than business matters,” Mom said. “Has she ever mentioned her friends in Manehatten?”
I thought about it for a moment. “No, I don’t think she ever has. The only friend’s I think she’s ever mentioned live here in Ponyville.”
“What about her family?” Mom followed up.
“She’s talked about her brother and her parents, but I don’t know if they live in Manehatten or not.” I leaned back in my chair. “I had worried about her leaving her family and friends, but I don’t know about her life in Manehatten to fill a teacup.”
Dad chuckled. “You’re following the family tradition of thinking about business and practical things first, even in matters of the heart, which is good and bad.” He smiled at me. “Now for the second part of the tradition. You need to set that kind of thing aside and go after her with everything you’ve got, whether it’s practical or not.”
Satin smiled at me. “You gave her the heart’s desire after admitting to yourself you would move to Manehatten for her didn’t you?”
“If it came to it, yes,” I admitted.
Satin’s smile grew. “It won’t come to that, but you would do Grandfather and Nana proud if you did.”
I recognized Satin’s tone and could not keep the smile that came to my face away. “You know something, don’t you?”
“Mares talk when braiding manes and tails,” Mom said with a full smile of her own. “We have been sworn to secrecy on one level, but it I believe it is safe to encourage you to talk to her about things practical and otherwise.”
I smiled. “I take it if I advance things between her and me quick that nopony will be upset with me.”
“Not at all,” Dad said. “Coco is a wonderful mare, and we all adore her.”
Everypony else at the table agreed with nods and affirmative words.
Dad gave me a rascal’s smile. “I would like to advise that you and Coco don’t follow Satin’s and Stormbreaker’s example by putting certain events before others and then springing the news on us. You’ll drive your mother to fits.”
*****
My left ear turned, as hoofsteps came down the stairs.
“I’m telling you it will work,” Satin said. “It may take a minute or two to set in, but it will work.”
“Whether or not it does, it will be entertaining to test your hypothosis,” Mom told her.
The two of them stood near the edge of my worktable and stared at me.
I continued to work, acting as if they were not there. When I had finished the step I had been involved in, and they still had said nothing, I put my sewing materials down I turned to them.
Mom and Satin remained silent. Satin grinned at me while staring, while Mom seemed to study me with a hint of a smile.
“Can I help you?” I asked in my shop keeper’s tone, keeping a chuckle out of my voice.
“We were talking,” Satin said.
Her statement caused me an immediate concern.
“It won’t be long before Coco’s comes back.” Satin leaned over the worktable and made a show of looking at what I had been working on. “Do you think she will have eaten?”
“I’m not sure. This is the first night she’s come home like this.”
“What an interesting way to phrase it.” Mom smiled and, before I could say anything, continued, “We were wondering if we needed to make dinner plans for five or six ponies.”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted.
“Since Coco is coming, it would be rude of us not to at least consider her,” Mom said.
“What we can do, Mom, since Coco is coming, is plan to cook for six ponies.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What are you two up to?”
“An experiment,” Mom said. “I think I will try a different approach,” she said to Satin. Mom looked up at the workroom’s clock. “Pin, your shop should have been closed about fifteen minutes ago. Does Rarity close her shop around the same time?”
Swish.
“I believe so.”
Satin smiled. “It’s about a ten-minute walk from here to there, right?”
Swish.
“That’s about right.”
Swish. Swish.
“Which means Coco will come through the door any moment,” Mom said.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Satin pointed a hoof toward my rear. “I told you!”
“You are right. It worked, and his reaction is adorable.” Mom sighed and gave me a look. “I thought Satin was exaggerating when she said you wagged your tail on the train platform.”
I looked back at my tail, which continued to swish back and forth of its own accord. “Not again.”
“You just have to build up the anticipation,” Satin said.
A knock came on the backdoor.
Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish. “Behave,” I glanced back and told my tail.
My command went unheeded.
“I’ll get the door,” Satin said.
“Son, while I am glad you are so taken with Miss Coco, learn to control yourself,” Mom teased.
Satin opened the door and grinned. “Well, hello.”
“Aunt Satin!” Piña gave Satin a careful hug. “I thought Uncle Pin would open the door.”
Satin gave Piña a hug back. “He would have, except Mom and I were trying something on Pin.”
“Aunt Study!” Piña waved a hoof. “What are you two doing with Uncle Pin?”
“Seeing if we could get his tail wagging again.” Mom gestured towards me.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“We succeeded,” Mom said sounding accomplished and amused.
Pinch stepped just inside the workroom. “You got him thinking about Coco, didn’t you?”
“We did,” Satin confirmed.
“Does that mean we can braid his tail again too?” Pinch said.
“I want to see,” Berry said and prodded Pinch to move further into the workroom so she could enter.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
As she came in and saw my tail’s state, Berry laughed. “I thought the girls were kidding.”
“It’s not my fault!” I protested. “I can’t help my tail, and I can’t help that Coco’s the most attractive and charming mare I’ve ever met either.”
Coco chose that moment to walk into the workroom.
“Hello to you too,” she said blushing. She looked at my tail, smiled, and shook her head. “I’m not that exciting.”
“You are to him,” Mom said.
“Miss Coco!” Pinch gave Coco a hug. “Can Satin and I braid his tail, since he’s wagging it again?”
“I’m not wagging it,” I pointed out, “it’s wagging itself.”
“If he agrees, sure,” Coco said and hugged Pinch back. “But why are you asking me?”
“He’s your coltfriend,” Pinch explained.
“What about his mom?” Coco nodded towards Mom. “Don’t you have to ask her too then? She outranks me with Pin.”
“Do I now?” Mom asked. “I am not so sure. Let us get Pin’s opinion as to who ranks higher.”
The hairs on the back of my neck and all the way down my spine to my tail stood up at the look Mom gave me.
“Pin,” Berry said. “With a question like that your only good option is to run for it.”
“Who’s running where and why?” Dad asked as he stuck his head in the workshop’s back doorway. “Miss Berry! Girls! What good timing. We just got back from the market and the photo shop. The pictures are ready. We haven’t even gone through them yet.”
“We could help,” Pinch offered.
“We would like the help, but have you completed your schoolwork?” Dad asked.
“We did,” said Piña, who was still holding onto Satin. “We wanted to come see you again, before you left, so we got our stuff done and came to visit.”
Stormbreaker stood in the doorway, beside Dad, and smiled at Piña. “I take it I’ll have to wait my turn for a hug from my fiance.”
Piña nodded. “You will get to see her everyday.” Piña leaned her head against Satin’s chest. “I won’t be able to see her for a long time.”
“It’s not going to be nearly as long as last time,” Satin said and kissed the top of Piña’s head. “In fact, I need to ask you and Pinch both about something that’s coming up soon.”
Piña looked up at Satin. “What is it?”
“Would you two like to be my flower girls?”
Piña lit up. “We would!” With care, she snuggled into Satin. “Thank you!”
“Sounds great to me!” Pinch said. She looked to Berry. “Can we, Mom?”
“Of course you can,” Berry said. “They had already talked to me about it, but Satin wanted to ask you in person.”
“Speaking of asking things, we were just discussing dinner,” I said. “Would you three like to join us? Barrel’s invited too.”
“I’m sure Barrel could have loved to come, but he’s making a delivery to Appleloosa,” Berry said. “If you’re providing dinner for us, I will provide the wine and dessert for everypony.”
“You don’t have to,” I said.
“I would like to though,” Berry responded.
“Would you like some help?” Dad asked.
“I would,” Berry told him.
“Let me and Stormbreaker put what we have away, and I’ll be right with you.”
“Sounds like we have a plan,” Satin said.
*****
“I don’t think I’m going to get my fiance back,” Stormbreaker said.
“Eventually, you might,” Dad said, putting down the dish he had been drying. “You may have to wait for the right moment to squeeze yourself in there, though.”
I paused in my dish washing and followed Stormbreaker and Dad’s lines of sight to the couch. Satin was seated on the middle section of the couch. She was looking through the photographs that Dad and Stormbreaker had brought back on the coffee table flanked on either side by Berry and Piña. Berry maintained a close but comfortable distance from Satin. Piña, on the other hoof, was all but attached to Satin’s side.
“I don’t think they’ve ponynapped anyone before, but there is a first for everything,” I told him.
Berry looked towards us. “Ha. Ha.”
“I’m spending quality time with my aunt and my… niece or nephew,” Piña defended herself. “I’m not planning to ponynap anyone.”
Pinch, who was sitting on the floor on the other side of the coffee table beside Coco, started to giggle while looking at one photo.
“What is making you giggle like that?” Mom asked her.
“I can’t describe it well enough.” Pinch levitated the photo to Mom.
“Another nibbler!” Mom exclaimed. “Are there no stallions around that can control themselves anymore?”
Stormbreaker slapped a hoof to his forehead. “I should have remembered to look for that one.”
“Can I see?” Piña asked.
“I do not know if your mother would approve,” Mom said.
“What about my sister?” Piña asked. “Does she count?”
“I guess we could substitute her judgment for your mother’s,” Mom said and gave the picture to Berry so that only Berry could see it.
Berry grinned. “She can see it.” She passed the picture to Satin, who looked at it along with Piña.
“That looks so cute,” Piña said.
“Getting ideas for you and your ‘training’ buddy?” Pinch teased.
“That doesn’t look like any training to me,” Piña said, acting disinterested. Despite her denial, her eyes lingered on the photo.
“We know how much you like wing hugs, so it’s okay to admit that looks nice,” Pinch said.
“She like’s wing hugs?” Stormbreaker asked.
“She sure does,” Berry said.
I dried my hooves and declared, “And we’re done.” I nodded to Stormbreaker. “Thanks for the help.”
“No prob,” he responded.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re welcome,” Dad said and then took a seat by Mom on the loveseat.
“Now that they’re finished, Miss Coco, can I borrow you and your special somepony?” Pinch asked.
“Awww!” Berry interrupted. “Sorry, but this one is too cute!” she said.
Stormbreaker made his way to the back side of the couch and looked over Berry’s shoulder. “Pin must have taken that right before the other one. I always sleep the best when I’m holding my Satin doll.”
Satin leaned over the couch’s back and kissed the bottom of Stormbreaker’s chin.
Berry showed the photo to us all, getting coos and smiles from everypony.
“I knew the nest would be the right spot for you,” Piña said. “You both look so comfy and happy, even while you’re asleep.”
“Stormbreaker is a great blanket,” Satin said.
Piña looked over the back of the couch at Stormbreaker, at his wings in particular, and seemed to want to say something.
Satin grinned. “Would you like to try?”
“Yes, please!” Piña told her. She looked to Stormbreaker, blushing. “If you wouldn’t mind giving me a hug, I would like one, I mean.”
“I wouldn’t mind at all,” Stormbreaker said.
“I’ll move,” Satin offered.
“No, you will scoot over,” Berry said and got off the couch to sit beside Coco. “That way he can have his fiancé back too.”
Satin moved over, and Stormbreaker assumed her previous spot on the couch.
Stormbreaker wrapped Satin in a wing, with a practiced motion, and then looked to Piña. “How would you like to do this?”
Piña arranged herself on the couch and leaned against Stormbreaker. “Is this okay?”
“That’s fine,” Stormbreaker said and wrapped Piña in his wing.
“Satin’s right,” Piña said, as she cuddled against him, “you are a great blanket.”
“I give her ten minutes, tops,” Pinch said, shaking her head.
Coco smiling, asked, “What were you going to say?”
“Oh, right!” Pinch said. “I would like to learn the style you showed Piña last night, if you would teach me.”
“I would be glad to,” Coco said.
“Can I borrow you, Uncle Pin?” Pinch asked me with a less than innocent smile. “I need somepony I can work on.”
“Sure,” I said, putting up the last of the dishes. I made my way into the den and settled down on the floor between Coco and Pinch.
“Should we start with his mane or his tail?” Pinch asked.
“His tail,” Mom said. “Since he cannot seem to control it on his own.”
“I think that’s only an issue when Coco’s involved,” Satin said.
“It’s true,” I said and smiled at Coco. “She’s the only pony who has such an effect on me and my tail.”
“You silly pony,” Coco said and nuzzled me. “Let me go get a brush and comb.” She got to her hooves. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Coco left the room, Pinch asked, “Have you gotten her address?”
I looked up at Pinch and smirked. “Her current address is: Coco Pommel, care of Rarity, Element of Generosity, Carousel Boutique, 1 Glamour Lane, Ponyville, Equestria.”
“Her other address,” Pinch said, after giving a light snort.
“No, I haven’t,” I confessed.
Pinch sighed and gave me a disappointed look.
“She just got back yesterday,” I said to defend myself.
Berry leaned over and gave my nose a light tap with a hoof. “That’s no excuse.”
Coco returned to the room. She paused, tilted her head, making me smile, and asked, “What did I miss?”
“We were fussing at him for not knowing your address,” Pinch said.
“That’s funny,” Coco said, looking confused. “He should know it. I’ve been using Rarity’s.”
“Not Rarity’s address,” Pinch clarified, “your address in Manehattan.”
“Oh.” Coco said. She sat down beside Pinch and began brushing out my tail. “That’s a bit of a trick question there too, since I don’t have an address of my own.”
I could not keep my ears from rising in interest at her statement.
“But you live there,” Pinch said, sounding as intrigued as I was.
“I still live at my folk’s,” Coco explained. “While I was working for Suri, I couldn’t afford a place on my own. Mom and Dad let me stay with them to help me save my bits and so their apartment wouldn’t be empty when they had to take long trips.” She looked at me, one of her ears tilted. “I haven’t mentioned that to you?”
“Not that I remember,” I said.
Coco paused in her brushing and blinked. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I mentioned it to Rarity either.”
“Snerrk.”
Everypony paused at the odd sound.
“Snerrrrk.”
“What in Equestra?” Dad asked and looked around the room.
Stormbreaker held a hoof up to his mouth indicating we should keep quiet. He grinned and then pointed to Piña.
Everypony looked toward Piña as she let out another light snore: “Snerrk.”
Pinch giggled and glanced at the den’s clock. “Five minutes.”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said he was a good blanket,” Satin said in a low voice.
“She must have been worn out after school and her training,” Berry said, looking at Piña with a sister’s smile.
“She never had a chance, even with that,” Pinch said. “She’s always been able to fall asleep anywhere, but when Nana put us under her wings and read to us Piña couldn’t keep herself awake for fifteen minutes.”
“Should we let her sleep?” Mom asked. “While I am sure she is tired, and she is precious where she is, we do not want her sleep pattern thrown off.”
“I’ll sneak a picture and then pour the wine and sparkling juice,” Dad said, getting off the loveseat without making much noise. “We can wake her after I bring the drinks. That way she gets more of a nap and then she can have a drink too.”
Stormbreaker looked down at Piña. His eyes had a distant focus and his expression was thoughtful.
Satin looked up at him and asked, “Storm, you okay?”
Stormbreaker turned his head toward Satin and hugged her closer. “I was just thinking we will have our own little one to have these kinds of moments with before too long. I was imagining what it would be like if they would be a colt or filly, what tribe they would be, and how I could be a part of their life beyond the warm fuzzy moments.”
Satin rested her head on Stormbreaker’s shoulder. “We can still find out what our foal is going to be, if you really want.”
“No, thank you. When I meet them I want it to be like when I met you.”
Satin tilted an ear. “What do you mean?”
“It was a moment that I wasn't expecting and made my life so much better.” Stormbreaker leaned and kissed Satin’s nose. “I’m hoping that meeting our foal without knowing about who they will be that it will have just as much of a positive influence on us.”
“I’m sure it will be,” Satin assured and gave Stormbreaker a kiss.
Dad walked into the room again. He smiled as Satin and Stormbreaker leaned their heads together. “I hope there’s enough light.” Covering the flash with a hoof so it would not be too bright and wake Piña, Dad took pictures of the trio on the couch. “There we go,” he said and put the camera on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back with the drinks.”
Berry got up off the floor. “Let me help. I make the stuff but I don’t get to help serve it that often.”
I smiled and looked around the room. We’re feeling like a family again, I thought to myself. My smile disappeared and my ears fell a bit as part of me reminded, They will gone tomorrow.
A hoof rubbed up and down my back. “You’re thinking too much again.”
I turned to Coco, who smiled at me.
As I looked into Coco’s eyes, the same negative part of me turned the knife by adding, She might be going too, leaving you alone in your apartment and your shop again.
“Nope!” Pinch hugged me around the neck. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, stop it.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about them lea… Never mind.” I gave Pinch a hug with a foreleg. “I’ll stop.”
“I don’t want them to go either,” Pinch whispered. “It feels like when we used to get together when Granddad and Nana were here again.”
Satin giggled. “Pinch, that’s Coco’s coltfriend you’ve got hold of and whispering to.”
Pinch pulled back from me and looked at Satin. “It wasn’t like that!” she protested in a soft voice.
“Don’t worry, Satin, she’s not interested in me.” I grinned. “She’s said I’m too old for her.”
Pinch hid her face in her hooves. “I really am never going to live that down am I?”
“Not while I’m young enough to still remember it,” I teased. “I’m sure your sister will continue to remind you of thinking she’s too old now and then too.”
“What’s this about you two being too old?” Satin asked me, raising an eyebrow.
“Wellll,” I drew out.
“Please, don’t!” Pinch looked at me with pleading eyes.
“I would like to hear this too,” Mom said. “If Berry and Pin are ‘old,’ Insight and I have to be ancient.”
“What’s this about us being ancient?” Dad asked, as he and Berry walked back into the den carrying everypony’s drinks. “I missed it.”
“Pinch evidently thinks Pin is too old,” Satin said with a grin. “Pin was thinking about telling about what Pinch said.”
“I’m begging him not to,” Pinch said.
“I won’t,” I assured Pinch.
“I will though,” Berry said with a wicked grin. “If she thinks she can call me old and get away with it, she’s got another thing coming.”
Pinch groaned and returned to hiding her face in her hooves.