Tears of a Foal

by Rocinante


Sleep for the Weary

- - - ch 10 Day 3 pt 3 - - -

Merry Hearth woke from her mid-day nap with a slow stretch. She let the fireplace warm her old bones a moment before standing. The mail needed to be checked, but first a cup of tea was in order.

Putting a kettle on the burner, she rummaged through the icebox and pantry. She’d have extra mouths to feed tonight; she needed to start thinking about what she would be serving. Rarity was a bit of a picky eater, but not that bad. Twilight hated alfalfa and lima beans, but past that she would eat most anything. Pulling a few things out, she started planning dinner while the water came to boil.

A soft knock on the front door interrupted her, but she heard it open without waiting for an answer. “Hello?” Twilight’s voice called.

Sticking her head around the corner, she saw movement in the vestibule. “I’m in the kitchen. Luna is still asleep.” Returning to the stove, she picked up the kettle, and added more water to it.

“I’ll drag this stuff to the library,” Spike said in the other room. A heavy scratching sound told her she might be calling Wood Wright to sand the floors again.

“Hello Ms. Hearth,” Rarity said, walking into the kitchen, and giving her a little bow. Her magic floated a few letters and a small box onto the dining table. “I brought the mail in for you.”

Merry nodded to the young mare. “Thank you, dear. Care for some tea?”

“I would love some. Let me put my bags in the room, I’ll be right back.” Rarity turned and headed towards her regular room with her luggage. She was traveling light today. Only one large suitcase, and what Merry was pretty sure was an old-style travel sewing machine.

From the other room, Merry could hear Twilight and Spike fussing over something. The dragon sounded tired, while Twilight’s voice was harsh and strained. Merry had known Twilight since she was a little filly, and knew that tone meant she was on the verge of one of her manic attacks. Unfortunately, Celestia wouldn't be home for at least two hours. Celestia had a way of grounding Twilight that no other pony had.

She would have to do what she could. Grandmothers had their own kind of magic, and it worked on honorary grandfoals just as well as blood relatives. Reaching up, she pulled Twilight’s favorite spiced tea from the cupboard. Opening the can, she breathed in the aromatic spices. They burned her nose, and brought tears to her eyes, but it was a wonderful smell. Sprinkling some into the pot, she resealed the can, and pulled the kettle off the heat to steep.

Hooves on hardwood warned her that Twilight was walking through the great room. Opening the icebox, she took out the cream, set it on the table, and pulled out a cushion.

Twilight trotted into the room with a twitch in her eye. She looked around for something, then paused. “Merry, where-”

Merry smiled at the twitch in Twilight’s nose that interrupted her. The lines of stress in her neck faded as she turned to sniff at the smell. “That smells good. Is that the Seven Spice?”

Picking up her favorite tea cup, Merry looked back at Twilight. “Just made a pot. Want some?” she asked, hovering a hoof over the cup Twilight always liked.

“Please,” Twilight said, sitting down on the cushion Merry had pulled out. “It’s my favorite.”

“It always has been.” Taking a seat next to Twilight, she poured them both a cup. Twilight in turn, added a healthy splash of cream to each cup.

Merry didn’t have Celestia’s ability to set thousand year plans into motion, but she knew the comforts of home, and what would set ponies at ease. Sipping her tea, she watched Twilight drink hers. She let silence hang for a moment, till Rarity’s hoofsteps again echoed in the hall.

“Join us for tea,” Merry said as soon as Rarity was close enough to hear her. “Clover’s foalsitter should be bringing him home in about an hour.”

“Why, thank you.” Fetching a cup with her magic, Rarity sat across from them. “I take it Clover is the one I’m making a coat for?”

“It is. He’s about this tall,” she said, holding a hoof off the ground to show where his withers came to. “Olive brown coat, chocolate mane, eyes like emeralds.”

“Hmm…” Rarity scratched her head, trying to assemble a color scheme to match. “Rather dark tones.”

“Do you know what Celestia and Luna need me to do?” Twilight asked.

Merry shrugged. “I’m afraid not, dear.”

“It is something very dear to Celestia, and I would prefer if she told you herself,” Luna said from the hallway.

“Sorry,” Twilight shrank in her seat a bit. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

Luna patted her on the back with a wing as she passed. “Do not worry. I have been awake for an hour. I was merely reading.” Filling the pot with water, Luna set the coffee machine to brew.

“Sleep well?” Merry asked.

“I did, thank you.” Looking to the clock, Luna calculated something in her head. “It is yet early. I think I shall go out shopping. I have yet to finish my gift shopping. Care to join me?”

Rarity polished off her tea and stood. “I would like to see what the haberdashers have in their windows. Anypony else?” she asked Twilight and Merry.

Merry waved a hoof. “Somepony needs to be here when the guard brings Clover back.”

“No, you go if you want,” Twilight said. “Spike will probably want to nap once he’s finished unpacking for me, and I should really finish the reading I started.”

“You sure?” Merry asked.

“I’m sure. Go have fun.”

 

- - -

Clover was dead asleep on Green Bean’s back as he carried him home from the community center. It turned out Clover swam far better than he ran.

Still, Green wished he could have gotten Clover to play with some of the other foals, but at least he got him around a few ponies, and some good exercise.

Nodding to his fellow guards, he climbed the stairs to the royal suites. His momentum died at the top of the stairs. Green Bean hesitated to knock on the wooden doors. This was the line that separated the princesses of Equestria from just two sisters that live together. Stepping past that line was stepping into their personal lives. He looked back to the foal napping on his back, then knocked on the door.

The door cracked open far too fast. “Who is it?” a strange voice asked.

“Sergeant Green Bean, volunteer guard,” he said, snapping to attention.

Princess Twilight Sparkle opened the door wide, and gave him a confused look. Craning her neck, she spotted the foal on his back, and smiled. “That must be Clover. Come on in.” Waving for him to follow, she turned around and walked back into the house, leaving the door open for him to follow her.

Green took a moment to stare blankly into the vestibule. There was a colorful little Hearth’s Warming tree against the far wall. Not much taller than eye level, it was the common type found in offices, or homes large enough to have more than one tree. Next to it stood a bench, and a coat rack not unlike the one in his own home. Except he was pretty sure that Princess Luna’s regalia was hanging on it.

Not wanting to be asked twice, Green took a breath and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He followed the sound of Princess Twilight’s hoofsteps into a formal parlor. Rounding the corner, he found himself uncomfortably close to the princess who had stopped just inside the room.

“Where do you want me to put him?” he asked taking a step further into the room, giving the princess her personal space back. “He wore himself out swimming.”

“I’ll get him,” she said, facing him with a warm smile. Green started to bend down so she could reach him, but stopped as her magic took Clover from his back. He was surprised how casual but caring she was with the foal. She moved with a mother’s confidence, not a young pony awkwardly holding a stranger’s foal.

He watched her carry the colt over to the cushion by the fireplace, and set him down next to the baby dragon sleeping there. He’d forgotten about that.

“Thank you for your time, Sergeant,” she said with a hushed voice, careful not to wake the sleeping little ones. “Sit and relax a bit before you go. Are you thirsty?”

“No, thank you. I think I’ll be heading home to the wife now.”

“You’re married?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.

“Yes, your highness,” Green said, trying not to look confused.

“Sorry... I didn’t mean-” The princess fidgeted a bit. “My foalsitter wasn’t. I don’t know why I expected you to not be. Big herd?” Princess Twilight hung her head. “Sorry. I’m asking personal questions again. I didn't even ask you your name.”

Green stifled a laugh. “No, it’s okay. My name is Green Bean, my wife is Lily. And It’s just the two of us, and our three foals. We don’t really have the land for a second mare. Though, my wife has been talking with the neighbor a lot lately.” He shrugged at that last bit. With Tea Leaf looking to retire from the fields, the old grudge could be forgotten. Tea's granddaughter had always had an eye for him, and as the new Tea family matriarch, Camellia could join with any family that wanted her.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of each other in the future,” The princess said, standing to walk him back to the door.

After a formal goodbye, she waited for him to disappear down the stairway before closing the door. She started to go back to her reading, but paused to watch Spike and Clover sleep. Spike shivered, curling in on himself; while Clover pressed against him for every bit of warmth the little dragon could produce.

Twilight smiled. Floating another log into the fireplace, and a blanket over the two little ones, she returned to the study.