//------------------------------// // Chapter Six — Victory? // Story: Cradle of Dreams // by AterHut //------------------------------// After I got back home I somehow managed to overcome the temptation to start reading and went straight into bed and spent time resting. And resting… And resting… Insane amount of time later I checked the clock to find out that only twenty minutes had passed. “Even resting is hard now, huh?” But if I start reading then I won’t feel rested the next day. And sleeping isn’t a good idea either, since I’ll just wake up in the middle of the night. “How do I even rest then?” That’s a good question. Which I haven't found an answer to after an hour of thinking about it. Or after ten minutes, according to the clock. “I’m starting to suspect that you’re not doing your job properly, mister.” The clock gave off a "tick" in disagreement. “Fair. Sorry.” The clock gave off a "tac", it seems like it forgave me. Talking with a clock is a great thing, but it feels like the lack of company these days makes itself felt. And Black won’t come back that week either. “To think that I somehow miss that dude…” I yawned. “Hold on just a couple more days Rettie and we’ll move to work in a less deserted place.” Thinking that I’ll have to work after finishing with the library made me sad. Thankfully, the next second I fell asleep. . . . After waking up at 3AM and forcing myself to sleep at least till 5AM, I woke up at 7AM. “Great.” But I definitely didn’t feel any “great”. “That’s… eighteen hours of sleep! That's my two-day norm!” “Hold up. Two days?.. Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait! I didn’t sleep for a few days, right!?” Barely awake, I ran out of my room, thankfully Dad was here, filling some papers again, so I didn’t have to run around the mansion in order to find somepony. He noticed me and I ran to him. “Good morning, prince-” “What day is it?!” I must have looked too worried because he twitched and got a complicated expression on his face. But the very next second he got something and giggled. “It’s July 15th. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss a day dear.” He ruffled my mane to calm me down. “Clean yourself up, I'll get you something to eat.” At the last word my stomach growled loudly. “Uh oh, thanks. Ha-ha.” He laughed back and went off. Come to think of it, I slept during lunch, dinner, and breakfast. No wonder I’m so hungry and… sleepy. “How in the world does it even work?” I had no clue. I’ve cleaned myself up and had a healthy late breakfast with a little chit-chat with Dad. After successfully dodging the question about cleaning progress with the phrase "You will see it yourself." I went off to the library. . . . Still feeling sleepy (or just not woken up?) I’ve entered the library, just to find out that I forgot to grab any tools to clean the windows. I believe I saw some in that shed Black shoved me, so I went there. “Closed.” I checked under the entrance mat and actually found a key there. “Ha-ha, classic.” Thankfully, my memory wasn’t wrong and I’ve found those rubber windows-cleaning things. “How was it called… Squeebee?.. Squirrel?.. Squeegee!” First time in my life I’ve actually had to remember that word. I closed the shed, got myself some rags and a bucket of water. “Today is your last day, Mr Dirt!” Sadly, even those silly jokes don’t seem to help me to wake up. “I wish I had some hot coffee in the library…” Tea during breakfast had no effect on me. Yawning for Celesita knows what time for today, I got to work. . . . I don’t remember what I was doing all that time. All I saw for the last four hours were endless lines of glass that I had to clean. From two sides. Midday. Again. I must have gotten cursed or something. Everything is done now. All I have left to do is floor. “I’m already tired a lot, so whatever.” I took the broom and the rag and continued cleaning. . . . July. 15th. 16:43. The exact time when that damn library was considered clean. “Shouldn’t I feel happy or something?” I wasn’t even sure because, to be honest, I barely was able to think at the moment. “Ouchie.” Headache, my beloved. Haven’t felt you for a while. “Food and sleep.” I put everything back in its place and went home. Got myself a fair amount of lunch leftovers and closed in my room. I ate everything that I could fit in my stomach and fell asleep again. . . . I woke up at seven again, but this time in the evening. “I don’t even care if it’s the same day this time.” I ate everything I’ve left since last time and went to the kitchen to wash and give back the dishes. On my way back I met Mr Wavers, probably welcoming Black back. “Oh, Hello Miss Rettie. How’s your progress in the library?” Of course that will be the first thing he will ask me. “Hi. Come and see yourself.” I feel like it sounded a little rude but I was way too tired to think. “That’s a good idea. I haven’t been there since you’ve started cleaning, so might as well give it a look while I have some time.” Judging by his intonation, Mr Wavers expects to see a barely cleaned library. Half-done at best. “Sure, follow me.” Being tired helped me to hide my emotions, but deep inside, I was excited to see his dumbfounded face. On the way there we met Mom and Dad coming back to their room and they followed us as well. Well, better for me, I won't have to show it multiple times now. I got my keys and shook my head to focus. “Don’t worry so much, Sweetie. It’s okay if you didn’t manage to do much in that time! Experience you’ve gained during those days is more important than-” Thankfully, Dad silenced her with a wing over her and “shh” sound. “We’re with you, Dear.” Way more cheering words, Thanks Dad. I took a deep breath in again in order to regain focus and open the door. The very same moment I entered the library, stopped in the middle, turned back to see their faces and slowly started to ignite sparkling-clean chandeliers. One by one. While doing so, I enjoyed myself watching their faces (well, except Black’s one) getting more and more shocked. Couple seconds after I lit the last chandelier and managed to give off my tired yet extremely proud smile. My smile grew even wider when I saw Mr Waver's face actually turning dumbfounded. I believe for a second I saw his jaw slowly sliding down. Flawless victory. I tilted my head a little and gave off the cutest and most innocent smile I could. “I think I’m done here. But please, feel free to double-check everything. As Mom mentioned earlier, I still have a couple days to fix if something is wrong.” Even if I said so, I knew that everything was perfectly clean. I double and triple-checked everything before going home. I just can’t help myself but want to watch Mr Wavers desperately trying to find some dust in here to scold me. “You’ve done an amazing job here, young lady!” But, to my surprise, it didn’t happen. Hey! That’s against the rules, you were supposed to look in every corner to find some dust I missed! Let me enjoy my victory for a little longer! But that never happened. Instead of looking under each object in here, they just came in, sat down, and started discussing how well I’ve done. Huh? Hello? Trust but verify? Being an annoying old stallion? Anything? All I got were compliments and happy smiles. Mom even cried from happiness and Dad again had to calm her down. Everything goes exactly as it is supposed to go, but I didn't feel happy about it because it’s just way too boring and expected. “You definitely deserve a reward and a couple days of good rest, Rettie!” Mr Wavers all went from a strict and boring stallion to happy and generous old stallion. Only took me twelve days of hard work to get here. “Thank you, Mr Wavers! Then, if you don't mind me, I’ll get back to my room!” “Sure thing! Make sure to rest well, I may need your help tomorrow!” Ugh, more work?! Could you give me at least ONE free day?! I was supposed to keep cleaning tomorrow! “At your service!” I agreed. Can’t say “No” to an elder. It shouldn’t be anything hard anyways. I left him keys from the library and, after checking if I forgot anything, went back home. “Well, not bad, not great.” “You're wrong here Miss Rettie. You’ve actually done quite great this time.” Black stopped me a few seconds after I left the library. “I was talking more about their reaction, not the job I’ve done… Anyways, do you want something? I was about to get back to my room.” After taking a long hot bath, of course. “Just since you’ve done so well here, I wanted to share with you a little secret about a new maid coming to our mansion in a week. Also I’d like to suggest you take this into account before making any important decisions on a very special day that comes pretty soon.” I believe he just tried to wink at me, but it looked so fake, like he'd just acted out some weird memorised skit in here. “Trust old good Black, Mrs Wavers will support your decisions there!” He swung his hoof! That boring stallion just swung his damn hoof! Now I’m sure that he just plays some weird scene in front of me! Did Mrs Wavers make him do that or something?! “That’s all I had to say, have a good rest, Miss Rettie.” “Uh, thanks? I guess?” “You’re welcome. Now, if you excuse me.” He bowed down and flew away. And I believe he did it faster than usual. “I… will just forget that, I guess.” Better to not ruin my ruined mood even further and just get that hot bath to relax my tired body and get ready for tomorrow “help” for Mr Wavers. . . . As I expected, Mr Wavers yet again had some kind of important meeting at noon and wanted me to show off my growth there. It was no longer a challenge for me, I just needed to stay focused. Fortunately, a good night's sleep was enough for me to mostly recover. I placed three trays of snacks in front of the guests. At the same time. From the look on their faces, they were surprised. Mr Wavers looked proud and pleased while bragging about the benefits of investing in their trades. I didn’t feel like listening to them, so I just stood there and kept pouring wine into rapidly emptying glasses. An hour later, the deal was made and Black came to see the guests off. Mr Wavers was delighted to get a good deal and praised my work here. Well, compared to the first days it truly was an insane progress. As I was clearing the table, I caught a glimpse of a bird flying through the window. “Heh, that bird has the same colour as my coat does.” I wanted to come to the window to give it a closer look, but forgot that I had a lot of stuff in my magic field. More distance means more stress on the horn, which combined with weariness leads to... *pop* “Ouch!” Not good. The very next second I heard the sound of shattering glass. Not good. I turned my head there. Of course, Mr Wavers just absolutely had to stand there. Stand there, all doused in wine. I’ve got a strong deja vu. “Ha-ha, oopsie?” “Rettieeeeeee!” Here we go again. . . . I sat in Mr. Waver's office again, waiting for another lecture and punishment. He returned a few minutes later without his drenched jacket and with Black holding some sort of odd-looking first aid kit. Ah. Right. I probably was supposed to be worried about my horn at this moment. “Why in the world didn't you tell me that your horn was so worn-off?! You looked so fine and happy yesterday that I couldn’t even think that something was wrong with it!” “Uh, I kind of didn’t know about it either?” That was true. I mean, how can I know if something is wrong if it happens for the first time? "You should learn to take care of your horn, young lady! It is your most important tool! At this rate, you're in danger of losing or heavily damaging it! Just look at how it looks now! It even hit your hair! I took a look at my horn while Mr Wavers were preparing something from the med kit. . . . . . . “Oh.” My horn got burnt a little and the hair at its base has lost its colour now. “Oh? And that’s all you have to say?!” Seriously, Mr Wavers was even more worried about it than I was. “Uh, I’m sorry?” Both Mr Wavers and Black shook their heads in unison and gave off heavy sighs. “Those kids nowadays…”