With her sleepy looking eyes, Maud Pie looked down at Tarnished Teapot’s new cast. She gave a slight nod of approval, blinked, and then with an almost mechanical slowness, she turned to look at the doctor. “I take it that everything is okay?”
“Yes, you did a good job of setting the bone. He’s already healing up. I gave him an injection that will speed up the healing process a bit, should cut the time almost in half. He’ll be fine,” Doctor Hedge replied.
“Thank you, doctor.”
“Don’t mention it. Everything is on your bill, but don’t worry about it right now, I know that you are good for it. Say hello to your family for me when you head home,” Doctor Hedge said in a pleasant and somewhat cheerful voice.
“Well, Tarnish, I’m going home, and you are coming with me.” Maud looked Tarnish in the eye. “Daddy can be a little stern. Don’t worry though.”
“Um, Maud, I don’t know that I feel right about this… going to meet your parents. It feels off to me for some reason.” Tarnish cleared his throat and his gaze dropped down to his cast.
“You are bound to meet my parents sooner or later. Plus, you need a place to get your head together and heal up a bit before we take off for further field research.” Maud’s expressionless face revealed nothing of her emotions.
“Maud, I do believe the colt is worried about meeting your parents for other reasons,” Doctor Hedge said, trying to be helpful. “Usually a mare or a filly brings home a colt or a stallion to meet her parents with the intent of showing her parents that she’s serious about a relationship.”
Maud turned and looked at the doctor. “But that’s what I’m doing.” Maud blinked and her ears perked forwards as her tail swished around her hind legs. “I’ve even shown him my cave. Everything beyond this point is a foregone conclusion. He liked my poems.”
Doctor Hedge coughed, his eyes went wide, but he said nothing. He looked at Tarnished Teapot and saw a rather worried look on the colt’s face. The doctor realised that Maud took the same approach to romance that she had taken for every other thing she had done in her life. The practical and straightforward approach. For an instant, the doctor felt a moment of pity for Tarnish, but after a brief instant of consideration, where the doctor thought about the long talk he and Tarnish had shared, Doctor Hedge reached the conclusion that the colt needed something to straighten him out a bit. He needed a firm pony to keep him on the straight and narrow. And Maud was a firm pony, of this, there was no doubt.
“Son, good luck… you’re gonna need it.”
Ahead was the dreariest place that Tarnished Teapot had ever seen. He had roamed the badlands, been on the alkali flats, and he had explored the desert. The Pie Family Rock Farm had all of those places beat. Everything was grey or brown. The windmill water pump creaked and squeaked as it turned. A well made and sturdy looking house stood near the windmill water pump. A somewhat rusty silo stood guard over the property. There were some dead trees, some brown scrub grass, and the entire farm was down in a valley, surrounded on three sides by hills.
“It sits on a ley line intersection. Not much grows here because of that. I placed a marker where the lines intersect, and we’ve started placing rocks directly upon the lines. It has increased our yield several hundred fold, but the extra money hasn’t changed us, so don’t worry. We’re still very simple ponies,” Maud said as she pulled the wagon over the bumpy, rutted road. “We have diversified… mama has started selling her blue ribbon rock hard fudge and peanut brittle nuggets.”
“Rock hard fudge?” Tarnish asked. Without realising it, he licked his lips.
“Secret family recipe. Only mama and Pinkie Pie know it. Super dense and made with dark, dark chocolate,” Maud replied. “I hardly ever eat it. I don’t care much for sweets.”
Peering ahead, Tarnish saw a purplish-grey figure approaching them on the road.
“This is my little sister, Marble Pie. She is the hide and seek champion in these parts. If she hides, she is very, very hard to find. Almost as hard to find as Boulder when we play camouflage.” Maud Pie came to a halt and she watched as her sister drew ever closer.
Marble Pie, a filly that was on the verge of being a mare approached, saying nothing, and when she reached Maud, she kissed her sister on the cheek. After stepping away from Maud, her eyes narrowed and she began to study Tarnish, who was sitting in the wagon.
“Marble, this is Tarnished Teapot.” Maud turned to look at Tarnish. “Tarnished Teapot, this is Marble Pie, my little sister. She doesn’t say much. She’s quiet.” Maud resumed walking, pulling the wagon behind her home.
Marble, who started walking beside her sister, craned her head around to look at Tarnish, who gave her a nervous wave.
“Hello, Marble,” Tarnish said. He saw Marble give him a nod of acknowledgement.
“Limestone Pie, Marble Pie’s twin, she will talk your ear off. And she can be a little loud. I think you’ll like her.” Maud’s head was high as she headed home, and her mane bounced around her neck as she trotted.
Feeling the first hints of apprehension and anxiety, Tarnished Teapot remained silent as the wagon rolled up the road. He saw more ponies gathering together up ahead, standing in front of the door to the house. The trio stood watching, waiting as Maud pulled up towards the house.
Feeling nervous, Tarnish felt his stomach doing flip flops. He looked around, taking in the sights of the farm. There was another wagon, this one had a broken wheel and was in the middle of being repaired. The house looked clean and tidy. There were simple, plain looking drapes in the windows. A wooden rocking chair sat in the dust near the front steps. There was a pile of rocks sitting in a two wheeled cart parked near the windmill water pump.
And then, the wagon came to a sudden halt. Tarnished Teapot swallowed and his throat felt dry. He removed his pith helmet, setting it down in the wagon, and then with great care, he hopped down and landed on three legs as Maud unhitched herself from the wagon.
“Igneous, Maud has brought home a colt,” the middle aged mare said in a low voice.
“I see that, Cloudy,” the stallion replied.
“Hi Maud!” Limestone threw herself at her sister while Maud stood there as still as a statue. “Who’s your fellah?” she asked in the nosy manner of little sisters everywhere.
Maud sighed. “Mom, Dad, Limestone, this is my friend, Tarnished Teapot. He’s going to help me do some research.” Maud made a sweeping gesture towards Tarnish. “Tarnish, this is my father, Igneous Rock, my mother, Cloudy Quartz, and my other little sister, Limestone Pie.”
“Welcome.” Cloudy Quartz stood still, eyeing Tarnish. She then turned and looked at her husband. “Igneous,” she said in a low voice. “Maud has never brought home a colt before. What do we do?”
The sideburned stallion shrugged. “Welcome.” Igneous reached up with his hoof and tilted his hat back so he could stare at Tarnished Teapot with no obstructions.
Unsure of what to do, Tarnish waved, wiggling his cast covered leg around in his sling. There was, without a doubt, an awkward silence brewing, and there was no cover to be had from this storm. There were five ponies staring, including Maud. Igneous was stern looking, Cloudy looked confused, Marble looked wary, and Limestone had a crazy grin that went from ear to ear.
“HI! You look thirsty. Would you like some water? We have good water here, it has a nice mineral flavour that is kinda pleasant and not bitter because we had the well dug down really, really deep. It does taste a little coppery but it isn’t as bad as one might think. We’re about to eat. Would you like to eat with us? Do you like my sister? Maud, how old is he? Are you both good friends yet? Have you kissed? Are you going to kiss? Do you mind if I watch? Even if you tell me no, I’m probably just going to sneak around and watch anyway, so you might as well just say yes. How did you break your leg? What sort of flower is that? How does a colt get a flower for a cutie mark? What is it like being a unicorn? We had a unicorn stay with us for a while… her name was Trixie. She smelled like cheese. She was kinda rude and she didn’t like wheels. She was too soft to stay here and chores almost killed her and—”
“Limestone, dearie, please, give our guest a chance to settle in before you talk his ear off,” Cloudy said, giving Limestone a gentle prod. “Tarnished Teapot, would you like to come inside and have a bite to eat with us?”
“Yes ma’am,” Tarnish replied, remembering his manners. “I would like that a lot.”
“Oh, mom, dad, Doctor Hedge told me to tell all of you hello…”