//------------------------------// // Chapter 31 - Conversations // Story: Married to Her Job, Single in Her Heart // by Revenant Wings //------------------------------// 31. The next morning, Redheart awoke to an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. For a moment, confusion overtook her until she saw Twilight still sleeping peacefully down the hall. Redheart could see her chest rise and fall as she slept in her bed, the covers slightly wrinkling as she adjusted her position. Redheart wondered how even after everything that had happened to her recently she could sleep in peace and act like nothing was wrong with her or that she hadn’t just survived an ordeal not many other ponies came out of as well as she had. Redheart looked outside the window. It was still early enough that the sun had just barely risen, casting warm gold shades of light into the hallway. Redheart yawned and got out of bed and headed for the kitchen to cook a simple breakfast. The kitchen was quiet and the house seemed to hardly have any activity even from down below, the only sounds being the hissing of the gas stove as Redheart cooked or her hooves clopping lightly against the wood floors. Twilight was still asleep when Redheart had finished cooking. Redheart arranged two plates of food on a tray with a few glasses of orange juice and a cup of coffee for herself and brought them into the bedroom before gently poking Twilight until the purple mare had opened her eyes. “Breakfast is ready,” Redheart said. “Eggs, country-style potatoes, lightly buttered toast with jam and some fruit.” Twilight straightened herself up in the bed with a yawn. “Have I overslept? I usually only sleep until about eight.” “You slept in by fifteen minutes, then,” Redheart said. “I wouldn’t worry too much about your old schedules for now. Spike’s still in Canterlot and you have to stay in bed most of the day anyways. I figured we could have a little breakfast, let you sit for a while, then once you have the energy have our first little walk of the day. If you’re feeling good, we can exercise twice a day.” “I’m not letting you forget the other part of the deal, though,” Twilight said as she levitated her tray over to in front of her. “You’re still going to be telling me a piece of information every time we exercise.” Redheart nodded. “Since we’ll try and do it after breakfast, do you want me to start now?” “If you’re comfortable with it,” Twilight said. Redheart nodded and tried to come up with a decent starting point of information for Twilight. “Well, I suppose I can start with the fact that I went to Trotsworth Academy for five years. That’s where I got my degree.” “I’ve heard the campus is absolutely beautiful,” Twilight said. “Canterlot has the royal elegance, but Trotsworth is supposedly like a little northern country village.” “It sort of is,” Redheart said. “It rained a lot up there, but the days were often cooler and the weather never got real hot.” “What did you think of the Academy?” “It was nice. Certainly wasn’t the Canterlot colleges, but it’s a respectable one.” Twilight nodded. When breakfast was finished, Redheart picked up the plates and washed them and put them away. With Twilight having a little more time to wake up, Redheart went over to her and helped Twilight out of the bed. “We’ll start simple,” Redheart said. “We’re just going to walk back and forth down the hallway five times under your own weight just to get you moving.” Twilight nodded and started walking. Initially, her feet were nice and sturdy, but by the end of the fifth time coming back down the hallway, Twilight’s legs were shaking so much Redheart had to practically lift her into the bed. Twilight was left to rest for a minute while Redheart got her some water and brought it back to her. “All that time unconscious certainly did a number on my leg muscles,” Twilight asked. “This is why I’m staying here,” Redheart said. “You go down the stairs to the library and you might not make it back up without help. Don’t worry. We’ll keep doing this route until your legs aren’t shaking anymore before we even think about trying the stairs.” Twilight took a long drink of water and nearly finished the glass. “So now I get to tell you something about me,” she said. “I’ll confess I actually got a C in one of my college courses.” “You?” Redheart said. “The smartest pony in Ponyville and student to the Princess, got a bad grade in a course? Do tell which.” “Art. I was lucky the teacher was going for improvement and not skill. I’ve always been more of a reading and writing sort, while art was horrible. I started the class doing stick figures and managed to just draw a simple pig by the time class was over. Dancing was bad, too, so I was lucky I never had to take a class in it.” Redheart giggled at the information. “I never would have guessed,” she said through her giggles. After that, Redheart left Twilight to sleep while Redheart did some housekeeping, like picking up the mail and making sure Written Script was down below to take care of the library. The dishes were put away and Redheart did some dusting in the library before Twilight woke up for lunch. Redheart made sandwiches and they had leftover soup from the previous night’s dinner. “Since there’s not exactly much we can do,” Twilight said in between bites, “we could pass the time talking.” Redheart shrugged. “I could dust or wash some windows.” “You can do that after lunch,” Twilight said. “Come on! I wanted to know more about you before, so you can help me out by talking with me.” Redheart realized that Twilight had a point; it was, after all, what she had been invited for to the picnic they both missed out on. “Well, I got my cutie mark after taking care of my mother when she got sick. I was probably about Apple Bloom’s age at that point.” “What does your mother do?” “She works at a school in Whitewater Ridge as the nurse. We’re originally from Whitewater Ridge, so we have a home there. Mother has a summer home in Ponyville, though, so for college I went to the academy in Trotsworth and coming home meant coming back to Ponyville.” “So, what about your father?” “My original father was a teacher. He stopped, though, when he had an accident while working on the house that made one of his legs unusable and the doctor ordered him to stay home. It drained the life out of him, not being able to teach. Eventually he grew so weak he just passed away in his sleep. Mom’s remarrying soon to a stallion by the name of Double Eagle, a semi-professional golfer who ranks high in tournaments. He’s just what mom needed; someone who was more active and more upbeat.” “Was it hard losing your father?” “I’ve only cried three times in my life. The first was at his passing soon before I entered college. Double Eagle has made the passing easier. I trust him and he’s nice to mom and helps her around the house. And mom likes to go watch his tournaments.” “I’ve never known a professional golfer before,” Twilight said with awe. “He’s not in the big leagues,” Redheart replied. “Sure, he competes and earns money for it, but he’s not alongside the big names.” Twilight shrugged. “It’s something,” she said. Redheart nodded. “What about your family?” “Mom’s a published author. She’s the one who wrote the six Daring Do novels, in addition to the younger children’s novel Escape from Castle Midnight. I never liked that one much, but the Daring Do series are some of my favorites from her.” “I’ve never met a published author before, and I love the Daring Do series,” Redheart said eagerly. “I should meet your mom and tell her how I used to be at the Whitewater Ridge bookstore for the midnight releases for all six books.” “And I should meet your stepfather and tell him my dad idolizes him,” Twilight giggled in reply. “He’s always talking about how he thinks Double Eagle should go professional.” Redheart went from giggling to laughing, and heard Twilight laughing along with her. It felt good to laugh like that, something she hadn’t done for a long time. She felt lighter, happier. It was the same sort of feeling she had when she first met Caramel long ago on the train to Ponyville back from Trotsworth Academy. But Twilight didn’t have to know that yet. There was still time to learn more about this mare, something which Redheart found herself eager to do.