“I’m nervous,” Tarnished Teapot said when he saw Twilight Sparkle approaching. “My mouth keeps going dry. What if everything goes wrong?”
“Tarnish, this is everything in your life finally going right.” Maud turned and looked at the colt sitting in the grass at her side.
“That’s what worries me… now that I know how good it feels when everything is right, it is going to hurt more when all of this crashes and burns.” Tarnish let out a worried whimper, closed his eyes, and was unable to watch Twilight’s approach.
“We have the means to fix stuff if it goes wrong. We just need to remain calm and approach this situation in a rational, methodical sort of way. Twilight Sparkle is a rational, methodical sort of pony. It will be okay,” Maud said to Tarnish, trying to reassure him.
“Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!” Twilight Sparkle said as she drew closer. A broad smile was visible upon her face even at a distance. “Hello, all of you, I hope that you are well. Are you comfortable?”
Tarnish opened his eyes and looked at Twilight, feeling nervous. It was different seeing her in the sunlight. She was wearing a crown… a crown. That meant that she was here on official business. Serious business. Tarnish could not remember if Twilight Sparkle was wearing a crown when she had banished him. Twilight Sparkle was here in all of her princessly glory, and Tarnish felt his guts flooding with fear.
“Tarnished Teapot, stop being a fraidy-pony.” Pinny Lane moved a little closer to her son, sitting on his right. “Don’t be a big baby.”
“Um, not in front of the princess?” Tarnish whispered, feeling a growing sense of humiliation. “My mouth is all dry.”
“I don’t wish to interrupt valuable family time, so I plan to keep this short.” Twilight Sparkle sat down in the grass just a few yards away and smiled while she was looking at Tarnish. “Maud Pie, your efforts are admirable. You have gone through extraordinary lengths to help a fellow pony. The gathered Crowns of Equestria feel that this goodwill should be rewarded. I’ll be addressing this point in a moment.”
There was a gentle pressure against Tarnish’s left side as Maud leaned up against him. He could feel her ribs expanding and contracting. Was Maud excited? Emotional? Happy? Overcome? There was no way of knowing.
“Tarnished Teapot, as of this moment, your state of banishment has ended. Instead, you are classified as a type five thaumaturgical biohazard, just like actual poison joke. It falls upon your shoulders to be responsible about this.” Twilight Sparkle began to pull scroll tubes out of her saddlebags and set them down in the grass in front of her.
“My little colt is a type five… whatever it was she said hazard,” Pinny whispered in a worried-mother voice. She found herself leaning against Tarnish, who was already being leaned on by Maud.
“If you fail to be responsible with your magic now that we are finding a means to deal with it, you will be held financially and physically responsible.” Twilight Sparkle’s smile faded and she became quite serious looking. “I am confident that you are smart enough to combat this problem. You have already exceeded my expectations and you have shown more than sufficient intellect. Tarnished Teapot, you have a valuable gift, an asset to magical research, and you have an obligation to both yourself as well as the greater good to manage your magic and find new ways to utilise it for the benefit of all.”
“Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, for giving me a chance and trusting me with this responsibility,” Tarnish said to Twilight in a low, raspy voice that cracked a few times.
With her magic, Twilight Sparkle pulled out a long silver chain with a pendent hanging from it. She held it up in the air in front of her and her eyes narrowed as the sunlight glinted from the shining silver surface. A bright blue gemstone was embedded in the silver disc hanging from the chain. “This is something I worked up in a hurry not long after Maud showed up and made everything clear. My friend Rarity generously donated the sapphire needed for its construction. It’s blue right now and that’s good. That means it is working, and that the tea you have been drinking is suppressing your dangerous nature.” Twilight levitated the amulet over to Tarnished Teapot and then hung it around his neck. She then took a deep breath before she continued:
“This has been enchanted to detect magical irregularities and unstable magic. It should always glow as it is right now, with a faint blue light. As magic becomes unstable, it will grow darker and darker, becoming indigo, then purple, then very dark purple, and then finally, black. I suspect that if it goes black, it will be because of the worst sort of magic being nearby. Zecora and I have tested this, and I personally have exposed it to a few ley lines that I know are unstable. It changed colour. When exposed to poison joke, it turned purple. When exposed to Discord, it turned dark purple, then flashed, and then blinked between indigo and dark purple.”
“So, if this thing turns purple around my neck, I need to drink some tea,” Tarnish said, cottoning on to how it worked. “Or, if Maud and I are in a particularly dangerous place, we’ll know because of how this thing changes colour.”
“Exactly.” Twilight nodded. “Your magic should be safe so long as the sapphire remains blue. If it turns a darker shade of blue, or purple, and you do not have access to your tea, you should flee populated areas immediately and avoid using your magic at all costs.”
“What about accidental exposure?” Maud asked. “I mean, accidents happen. How do we avoid Tarnish getting in trouble?”
“If Tarnish does exactly what he is supposed to do and something still happens because of an accident, contact me. You have the mirror. Tarnish, you will not be held accountable for genuine accidents outside of your control. Princess Celestia and I have spoken about this issue a great deal, trying to determine your personal accountability,” Twilight replied.
Tarnished Teapot let out a huge sigh of relief.
“There are some conditions,” Twilight Sparkle said, looking first at Tarnish and then at Maud. “We need Tarnish to be gainfully employed so he can care for himself. We would like for Tarnish to remain as far away from civilised areas as possible to minimise exposure risks.” Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat. “Maud Pie, the Crown recognises the value of your research and we see that Tarnished Teapot has a unique talent that is beneficial to your work. The Crown wishes to aid you in your efforts. Princess Luna, in the interest of science and magical research, has offered to fund ten percent of your research costs, which will be returned to you after you submit receipts and requisition forms. To keep receiving this funding, you will need to keep Tarnished Teapot as your research assitant. Once a year he will undergo educational assessment as well, a stipulation demanded by Princess Luna, who is having some issues with the current state of affairs with our education system. In time, the ten percent funding may increase depending upon a variety of factors.”
“So Maud is being paid to foalsit Tarnish?” Pinny asked.
Twilight Sparkle’s head turned and she looked at Pinny. “I suppose that is one way of putting it.”
“That isn’t such a bad thing,” Maud interjected. “Looking at this from an objective point of view, everypony is getting something they want. The Crown is getting peace of mind knowing that everypony is safe and that knowledge is increasing. I am getting help with my life’s work. Everypony gets to be happy.”
“But what is Tarnish getting?” Pinny asked, glancing at her son, then at Maud, and then, lastly, Twilight Sparkle.
“Tarnish is getting me. Which I suspect is something he wants.” Maud, looking even sleepier than usual, reached up and stroked Tarnish’s neck. “Have anything to say, Tarnish?”
“I am perfectly content with what I am getting and I have no objections.” Tarnish looked at Maud, then angled his head downwards to look at the sapphire hanging from his neck that glowed with a faint blue light. “I have what I want and I got my mother back and I’m pretty happy about everything.”
“Well good… all that is left to do now is sign a bunch of papers. There are contracts that need to be gone over. I’m going to need your signatures about two hundred times or so. Sorry… I really am sorry…”