CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TYLLAE
It didn’t take all that long, Sunny is a true artiste… she’d be the first to admit it! Or maybe I was more stressed out than I realized. In any event, some little time later I was trying to catch my breath while Sunny was setting me up for another, somewhat less urgent repeat. I sprawled flat on my back, wriggling under her ministrations and had opened my eyes lazily with every intent of watching her work. My gaze wandered around the clothing-littered room until it was caught by an unfamiliar sight on the bookshelf that ran across the head of our bed. There, crouched next a collection of Sunny’s old-fashioned bound books, sat a tiny figure clad in yellow-brown fur with a rose-pink mane and tail. Pink and yellow butterfly wings were folded to its side and two antennae tipped with glowing pink balls nodded from the top of its little head. It was startling because of its familiarity and its strangeness. With a shock I recognized the little figurine from the Soul of Cimarron! What made me gasp a non-Sunny induced gasp was not the fact that it was no longer a shiny white, rather, it was the fact that it was smiling benignly and waving one little fore hoof!
“Hi-hiii!” It caroled in a high-pitched warble. “Don’t stop, Tyllae will wait! Tyllae does not mind!” She tucked her foreleg back into place and smiled benignly.
I gave out a whoop and covered myself with my hooves while clapping my legs shut, I was only peripherally aware of Sunny’s head being in the way as I scrambled of to the side, trying to sit up!
“Owowoww! What’re ye at, ye great nit?” Sunny demanded, wrenching her head free and feeling her jaw. “Ah didna even use ma teeth! Struth! . S’prised ma eyes didna pop out o’ me head! What in bloody blue blazes is wi’ ye?”
I just pointed to my pillow, too stunned to talk! For the little mite had fled under it while I was flailing around. I might have been scared, but not scared enough to lose track of the thing!
Sunny, worked at making her eyes focus, and looked just in time to see part of a little muzzle, a shock of pink mane, and a round, alarmed, all-black eye peer out!
“Don’t swat! Don’t swat!” A reedy voice clamored. “Tyllae did not do anything! Tyllae just said ‘Hi-hiii’! Honest! Pleasepleaseplease do not hurt Tyllae!” The entire little head emerged slowly and looked at us warily. “Pretty, pretty, pretty please?” She essayed a tentative smile.
Sunny sat back and carefully felt her neck with both hooves as if to see if anything was out of place. “Starry, ma Dear, I‘ll fergive ye fer nearly breakin‘ me bloody neck if ye’d take a wee look by yer pillow n’ tell me what ye see.”
By then I was perched on the edge of the bed, my hooves concealing what I could and my hips closed resolutely and pointing away from the intruder. I took a calming breath, in control of myself once again.
“It’s the little figure from the Cimarron. Or at least it looks very much like it, only very much alive and in our bed!” I stopped to suppress the urge to start yelling, Augmented self-control or not! I would have felt bad if I had done so for the little tyke had emerged from under the pillow and crouched, cringing, on the bed.
“Aye, I thought as much.” Sunny nodded cautiously as if she were afraid her head would fall off. “Just wondered if I were seein’ summat… other’n stars!” She shot me an accusing look before settling her gaze on the little being again. “Well, Missy, ye’ve got a mort o’ explain’ t’ do, d’ ye not?”
“This one is named Tyllae, not ‘Missy‘.” The little one pointed out, sitting on her hindquarters and pointing to herself with a tiny fore hoof. “Tyllae was not trying to be mean and scare anypony. Honest!” That same fore hoof made an ‘x’ in front of her chest. “Tyllae just wanted to talk to Sunny and Starry. Tyllae is sorry to scare Starry.” Her fear seemingly forgotten, she giggled like tiny, tinkling silver bells. “Starry is so big Tyllae did not think a little thing like Tyllae would be scary!”
“For the record.” I stated. “I wasn’t scared, I was just startled, there’s a difference!”
“Oh, aye! Th’ difference is in th’ involuntary muscle movements, no doubt!” Sunny worked her mouth and tugged at one ear. “Damn it, Lass! Ye nearly pinched off th’ end o’ me tongue n’ boxed me ears wi’ yer ‘startle’! Startle, forsooth! If ye were really scared I’d be th’ Headless Horse ‘bout now!” She made a show of working the stiffness out of her neck, glaring at me all the while.
“Oh! No, no, no!” Tyllae piped. “Tyllae has seen the Headless Horse before and Sunny is too pretty to be that scurry!” She giggled. “ ‘Sides, the Headless Horse is a stallion! Silly Sunny!”
“Aye well Ah stand corrected on that point then, doncha know?”
“All right!” I snapped, trying to get some control of the situation. “Just what the Hell are you and why are you in our cabin?”
The little mite drooped her ears and cowered. One teeny hoof pointed to Sunny. “Sunny knows! Sunny said so! Tyllae is here ‘cause Starry brought Tyllae here. Tyllae did not break rules! Tyllae was not able to talk then!”
“Squirt, you’ve got five seconds to start making sense or I’m going…”
“Oh, fiddle ye are!” Sunny reached over and punched my shoulder. “Stop throwin’ yer weight around! D’ ye’ really ken ye need t’ intimidate sich a wee, little tyke as this? And take yer hooves down, fer Luna’s sake! Hard t’ look stern coverin’ yer boobies like a gigglin’ schoolfilly!” She turned her attention to the diminutive figure. “Pay her no mind, Lassie!” She mock-whispered behind a hoof. “She’s just a mickle bit over-modest is all!”
I dropped my hooves with an effort, my muzzle blushing hard enough for me to feel it! “Sunny!” I hissed. “You’re not helping! There. Is. An. Intruder. In. Our. Room!” I pointed an accusing finger at the Peeping… Tomisina!
“Pifflesticks!” Sunny snorted. “Use yer noggin, Lass! If she meant us any harm she’dve done so long ago. She’s been here since we brought her into our room days ago. Och fer the celebrated Science Officer! This wee one is th’ one who’s been raidin’ yon Kitchen all this time, ye great straw-head!”
“Galley!” I corrected automatically. “On a ship it’s called a galley.”
Sunny stuck an orange tongue out at me! “Whatever ‘tis called! Quit pickin’ on me grammar and this little Fairy!”
“A ‘Fairy’ is a mythological creature about as real as Celes-..” I bit my tongue.
“Go ahead n’ say it!” Sunny glared. “Ye have no problem a-blasphemin’ Her any other time!”
“Look-”
A tiny figure, wings blurring like a hummingbird, flitted between us. “No no no! Starry and Sunny should not fight because of Tyllae!” The little mite turned toward me. “It is true! Tyllae is a Faery! (Somehow, the difference in the spelling became apparent when she said it!) Really, really, really! …And Tyllae did take food from food place. But Tyllae was sooo hungry an’ there was sooo much yummy, yummy, yummy food there! Tyllae did not think Big Ponies would miss what Tyllae took. But Tyllae heard Bob say that Big Ponies were going to run out because of what Tyllae ate up. Tyllae has starved too many Winters to make other Ponies starve, too! Tyllae is very very very sorry an’ Tyllae wants to help make right!” She nodded so eagerly that she nearly did a somersault! “…An’ Tyllae does not mind that Starry does not believe in Faeries. Starry can call Tyllae whatever Starry wants, Tyllae does not care.” She shrugged comically. “Tyllae does not know what an Awg-Mint is either, but Tyllae still likes Starry. Starry saved Tyllae! Tyllae will never forget, no, no, no!” She shook her head violently back and forth, nearly going into a spin. She darted over to Sunny suddenly, making her blink in surprise. Tyllae patted Sunny’s nose companionably. “Tyllae likes Sunny, too! Yes, yes, yes! …Even if Sunny talks funny! Tyllae thinks the Zeeba talks even funnier, if that makes Sunny feel better! But Tyllae could listen to both all day so is all goody-good!”
She zipped back to hover right in front of my muzzle in an eye blink! “But Starry should not say bad things about Celestia! Celestia is very, very, very nice! But Faeries did not see Celestia much. Faeries were special friends of Luna since Faeries come out at night. Luna used to come an’ play with Faeries… ‘til Nightmare Moon came!” Tyllae shuddered, shutting her eyes on some terrible memory for just a moment. “Faeries all run an’ hide, screaming! All except poor, poor, poor Tyllae.” The mercurial mite sniffled and did a whole-body droop. “Tyllae was turned to cold, cold, cold stone and forgotten.” She covered her eyes and whimpered, nearly falling out of the air in her grief.
It’s really hard to be hard when faced with such a pitiable sight. At the moment I couldn’t believe her story… but her pain was real enough! Without a thought, I reached out and cupped her in my palm, and snuggled her to my breast. “Hey, hey!” I soothed. “It’s all right now. You’re with us and we won’t let anything happen to you! Hush now!”
For the poor little thing wailed and clutched at me, burying her face and crying. “What did Tyllae do? Tyllae does not know! Oh, it was so bad, bad, BAD! Tyllae could not move, could not cry, could not speak! Nightmare Moon did such bad things! Tyllae lay onna ground ‘til dirt covered poor, little Tyllae up. Tyllae could not see any more! Long, long, long time an’ Tyllae was sooo cold! Then Big Ponies came an dug Tyllae outa dirt. Big Ponies did something that made Tyllae feel sick an alla sudden Tyllae was in new place! Then Green Peoples came an killed everypony an everything got so very, very, very cold an dark again!” She broke off and just cried and cried. I could feel the hot tears soaking me. All I could think to do was to stroke the little head with the forefinger of my free hoof while she wailed and trembled. My heart both broke and burned for the poor Fairy and the horrible thing that had been done to her. Sunny edged over and draped a wing around me, hugging me with the same-side arm. She added her free hoof to mine, cupping the weeping ‘Faery’ in a snug, warm embrace against me. Sunny laid her head on my shoulder. When I turned to look her eyes were bright with tears. So were mine, I suddenly realized.
“Sunny…” I gulped the lump in my throat away. “I’ve been wrong about some very fundamental things, haven’t I? Uh, I’ve truly been a Very Silly Pony.”
Sunny smiled, the tears beginning to leak from her eyes. “Aye, but yer my Silly Pony, aren’t ye?” She buried her face in my neck, adding to the general level of moisture I was collecting. “Ah’ll always love ye, but there are times Ah love ye even more!” Her bright eyes reappeared when she tucked her head underneath my chin. “Little lessons teach the best, do they no?”
“What lesson did she have to learn… like this?” I cuddled the weeping form closer as she cried away years, centuries, maybe more, of fear and despair.
Sunny stroked the little head. “Tha’ there is Love in th’ end no matter how bad things get, maybe. That’s th’ real trick though, innit?” She mused. “To know just when th’ lessons are a-bein’ taught.” She wriggled her way in to kiss the hoof that cradled the Fairy. “But it plucks me raw t’ think there’d be any justification fer a-doin’ evil t’ such a harmless, wee creature! …An’ dinnae ye dare say ‘Th’ Universe Doesna care’! Good n’ Evil are no forces o’ Nature, they’re conscious acts done by somepony or something! Och! I’m no snappin’ at ye, Love!” She kissed my hand again. “I’m just… me emotions are just all over th’ place right now. I dinna hae th’ Augment or Vulcan trick o’ sortin’ me glands from me mind, ye ken!”
“Yeah.” I gave her a nuzzle. “I’ve noticed.” She fetched me a smirk and gave the un-Fairyed breast a tweak. I winced more for effect than from any real discomfort dished out by the Old Fraud. “But you’re still my ‘suboptimal’ Alicorn!”
She buried her head in my shoulder and hugged me. When she released me she straightened up and sniffed. “Right, then!” She wiped her eyes and stood, stretching. “It’s me very own Medical opinion tha’ wee little ‘un’ll cry herself t’ sleep, poor thing. But she’ll be hungry when she wakes. I’ll drop by th’ Galley or whatever n’ see about sweet-talkin’ yon Bob out o’ some leftovers seein’ tha’ ye just solved th’ problem o’ Phantom Snacker! Dinna fash yerself’!” She raised an admonishing hoof. “I’ll no go into details. But…” She paused. “Have ye no given thought t’ just how we’re gwin’ t’ spring this on everypony? We canna just turn her loose on the Ship!”
“We’ll take her to Caper in the morning. He’ll have to make the call.” I sighed. “After I tell him how I brought a stowaway onboard.”
“More like a refugee, I’d say! Well… ‘tis th’ proper way t’ do it, I ken.” She added, doubtfully. She popped into the washroom to freshen up and put her mane back into order before slipping back into her uniform, sans underwear. She caught the look I gave her and she made an impatient gesture. “Oh, I’ll just be gone fer a few ticks! Dinna be such a prude!” She administered a quick kiss and was gone.
Tyllae by then had subsided into quiet whimpering punctuated by the occasional hiccough, exhausted and on the verge of sleep. I prayed that, for a change, her dreams would be pleasant now that she was safe and warm. …I wondered how I would have coped with what seemed to be a never-ending cold… unsleep? Such a tiny, fragile-looking thing to have endured it all!
I keep our room at a compromise between Equestris and Terrestrial standard, as if Sunny’s predilection for near-to-full nudity needed an excuse! Still, my shoulders were feeling just a bit chilly after a little while so I tugged the blanket around me. The motion nearly brought the traumatized tyke to consciousness. She stirred and began to sob softly…
It’s true, I never had a doll growing up. Or a pet. We didn’t do such things on Equestris. But Tyllae was neither. Consciously or not, maybe the little Fey had been deliberately playing on my Maternal instincts. The Mare in my head frowned when that thought came across her board and deleted it with a sniff. Yeah, we’re pragmatic. Some Ponies even go so far to call us hard. We had a different cultural experience than the Ponies on benign Terra. But we’re still Ponies and no Equestrin likes to hear a foal cry in the night. I remember Mommy and, later, Daddy singing to me when I was afraid…
I struggled to recall the words. I remembered the tone and the love rather than the lyrics. A very old song, most of it anyway, came to me…
I have a passable singing voice, as long as I keep it low. I tucked the blanket ‘round us and cleared my throat quietly. I rocked slowly as I stumbled over the half-remembered words from so long ago.
“When I was just a little Filly,
And the Sun was going dowwwn.
The darkness and the shadows,
Would always make me frowwwn…”
By the time I made it to ‘crack up at the creepy’, the little tyke was fast asleep. I think she was actually smiling, though I didn’t dare disturb her to verify that. I crooned the song a couple more times, reliving dear memories and weeping just a little for the hardness of the worlds…