When Tarnish awoke, there was something warm pressed up against him. It took his brain several seconds to process that there should not be something warm pressing up against him. He had fallen asleep alone, wrapped up in a folded over woollen blanket.
It was still dark out, quite chilly, and the blanket was covered with dew droplets. The fire was nothing more than a bed of coals and the smouldering remains of a half burned log. Tarnish realised it was Maud beside him. She was sleeping on her stomach and her head was resting upon her forelegs. At some point, she had crawled inside of his folded over blanket to be with him.
Trapped inside of his blankets, Tarnish didn’t know what to do. He needed to do things. Important things. He needed a drink and he needed to find a quiet place to let a little liquid out. He lay there, trying to be very still, not wanting to disturb Maud. Or wake anypony up and get caught in this compromising position.
Not far away, Igneous was wrapped up in a blanket with Cloudy. Pinkie Pie was wrapped up with Marble and Limestone. A few legs of different colours peeked out from beneath their blanket.
More than anything, Tarnish hoped that he could figure out a way of extricating himself from this situation before Igneous woke up. Igneous seemed okay with Tarnish taking a liking to Maud for the most part, and Igneous had been very, very kind. All of this could change though if Igneous woke up and saw that Tarnish had been sleeping with one of his prized daughters.
There was a pickaxe in the wagon. Tarnish gulped. Vivid images of the horror movie he had just watched began to replay in his mind. Maud was sleeping on the side that opened, leaving Tarnish wedged up in the folded edge.
With no other option, Tarnish began to wiggle forward on his belly, determined to crawl out. Using his good front leg, he braced his elbow down, pressing through the blanket and into the soft earth, and then he extended his cast covered leg. He pulled himself forward over the woollen blanket, which was a terrible idea. The blanket rubbed all of the wrong places and began to produce static electricity as well.
“What are you doing?”
Tarnish turned his head and his snoot bumped into something soft and rather fuzzy. He gulped. “I was trying to escape what is certain to be my own death.”
“Always so dramatic. I like that about you,” Maud said. She yawned, but her yawn was not like other ponies. Her mouth opened only a little and it sounded as though she was heaving a bored sigh. “It got cold last night. You were warm.”
“I suppose I was.” Tarnish licked his dry lips.
“They’re all asleep,” Maud said in a bored sounding matter-of-fact way, as if she was perhaps announcing a shopping list.
Tarnish nodded.
“I’ll be blunt. Do you want to kiss me?”
Tarnish nodded again.
“So why haven’t you?”
Tarnish’s ears perked straight up and he looked Maud in the eye.
“You’ve been trying to be good, haven’t you? Tired of making mistakes and screwing your life up?” Maud asked. She blinked in a sleepy way and then yawned once more.
Once more, the colt nodded. Tarnish blinked and realised that there was no better moment than right now. Her muzzle was inches away from his. He tilted his head, lifted his muzzle at an angle, and then pressed forwards after summoning all of his courage.
Maud was as still as a statue when Tarnish’s lips met hers. He almost panicked, fearing that he had made a horrible mistake and Maud was disgusted, but then, Maud thawed. Her lips moved against his and a clumsy kiss took place. He felt Maud pressing into him, she was responding to him, and he had her attention. He tilted his head a little more and kneaded his lips against hers in a closed-mouth kiss.
The moment became heated and steamy. Tarnish continued to press both his advantage and his lips against Maud. It was like Maud was an oasis and Tarnish had once again crossed the alkali salt flats. He drank deep from the kiss.
With a wet pop, the pair pulled apart and Tarnish realised that he was dead. He had just kissed the love of his life and he was dead. There was something wrong with Maud’s mane. Something had gone wrong in the most horrendous way possible. Maud’s mane was now Pinkie Pie-a-fied, it had exploded into a riotous seething mass of curls and was sticking out in all directions. Maud herself was still, except for her eyes, which blinked as she stared at Tarnish.
“Maud, your mane,” Tarnish whispered.
“I feel light headed. Dizzy. I’ve never felt this way before. Is there something wrong with me?” Maud shook her head in a glacial manner and her tight, springy curls bounced around her face.
There would be no hiding this. There were bound to be questions. And this would have to be explained. Realising that he was dead anyway gave Tarnished Teapot an unprecedented level of courage. He pressed his muzzle against Maud’s once more and gave her another wet, clumsy kiss. With this one, Maud’s mouth opened a bit and he could feel her breath and his intermingling. When he pulled away, he could see the damage done. Maud’s mane now rivaled Pinkie Pie’s for frizzy, curly mass.
“I feel warm. And light headed.” Maud smacked her lips and looked Tarnish in the eye. “What did you do to me?”
“Maud, I don’t know how to explain what just happened, but your mane… you look like your sister, Pinkie,” Tarnish replied.
The fire flared to life, sending sparks flying. Tarnish turned his head, a newfound sense of terror welling up inside of him. Standing beside the fire was Cloudy Quartz. Her foreleg was still raised from kicking the remains of the log in the fire over. The flames framed her face and her mane hung down, no longer confined in a bun.
Igneous was still in his blankets, his eyes wide and staring.
Tarnish heard an all too familiar giggle-snort and he did not need to turn his head any further to know that Pinkie Pie was staring. He closed his eyes and allowed his head to sink down to the ground.
“Maud, dear, your mane… your mane looks very nice, darling,” Cloudy said in a low voice. “You look a lot like Pinkie Pie after she had her… her… her change.”
“I feel really happy,” Maud said to her mother. “I just had my first kiss.”
“And it shows, dear.” Cloudy cleared her throat. “And I am very, very happy for you.”
“Maud, you look silly!” Pinkie Pie bounced out of her blanket and then stood beside her mother. “That must have been some kiss!”
“I woke up to what sounded like Marble stomping in a mud puddle,” Limestone said. She yawned and then continued in a sleepy voice. “I look over and in the faint light of the coals, I see my sister and her colt friend smooching. And then her mane exploded.” Limestone began to chortle, which turned into a full belly laugh and she slapped her hoof against the ground.
Tarnish groaned and began to wish that Igneous would just kill him. This was somehow worse.
“All of you need to show some respect.” Marble’s soft voice silenced the camp. “Tarnish is over there dying of embarrassment and just because Maud isn’t showing it doesn’t mean she isn’t suffering from this awkward moment as well. Leave them be.”
Limestone, now silent, turned and looked at her twin.
“Thank you, Marble,” Maud said. She reached up with her hoof, grabbed the blanket, and then pulled it down over both herself and Tarnish.
From beneath the blanket, Tarnish’s voice could be heard. “I never did get up and get to go pee…”