Potato salad. It was smooth and creamy. Chilled. Delicious. Tarnished Teapot chewed and tried to see. He could see dark blue shapes against the light blue haze that filled his vision. He could not see that rainbow coloured hail was falling outside, but he could sort of make out the shape of Maud sitting beside him.
Magic, dangerous, unpredictable, and fickle, seeped up from the ley line intersections, was drawn up into the clouds, formed natural storms, spread out over a wide area, and then the diluted magic was distributed everywhere the storm reached, giving life sustaining magic to the land, the magical creatures, and nourishing the many magical plants. Tarnish had stood in the middle of such magic as it was drawn up from the earth, and had emerged unscathed.
“Tarnish, can you hear anything?” Maud asked.
“I’M NOT DEAF,” Tarnish replied in what he thought was a low voice.
“Well, he’s getting his hearing back,” Cloudy said as she looked over at Tarnish, concern evident upon her face. She turned to look at Pinny, both mares exchanged a worried look, and then Cloudy resumed eating her food.
This was supposed to have been a cheerful meal together to celebrate the wedding. Maud was Maud, Cloudy and Pinny were both worried, as was evidenced by their constant exchange of concerned looks at one another. The only ponies that seemed to be enjoying themselves were Limestone, Marble, and Tarnish.
“Mother?”
“Yes Limestone, what is it?” Cloudy replied.
Limestone leaned over her half-emptied plate. “I have a lot of money saved up and I think I know what I am going to do with it. Daddy remains a problem though, and I am going to need his permission.”
“And what do you plan to do?” Cloudy cut off a bite of vegetable pot pie with the side of her fork and studied her daughter’s face.
“I want to buy a cave full of bat guano,” Limestone replied as she set down her fork.
Cloudy’s eyes narrowed. “You are a smart filly, so you must have your reasons for buying a cave full of bat guano. I suppose that it is valuable somehow?”
Limestone nodded with great enthusiasm. “Bat guano is where we get things like sodium nitrates, nitrogen, and it is rich in phosphates. It is used to make fertiliser, various chemicals, and preservatives for food.”
“They make preservatives for food out of bat guano?” Cloudy peered at her filly through her glasses, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.
“Yep. It’s delicious. Provides a smoky, salty goodness. It is how they flavour hayburgers and haybacon.” Limestone grinned and then looked at Marble. “My sister is thinking about investing as well. There is already a mining operation in place, but it lacks resources to be profitable and the owner took out a bunch of loans to pay everything off. He gambled a lot and wasted his money. The bank took over the mine and now it is for sale so the bank can recoup their losses.”
“I see.” Cloudy took a bite of potato salad and began chewing, looking thoughtful.
“Mother, this is a sound investment,” Marble said, joining the conversation. “Limestone and I could make a considerable amount of money from this. Buying the mine would eat up most of our funds, but we should have enough leftover to expand operations… that is if I invest in this mine and go into business with my sister.”
“I HAVE MONEY THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH!” Tarnish said.
“Limestone, you really are serious about this, aren’t you?” Cloudy looked at her daughter, wondering when Limestone had grown up. “What do you plan to do with the money you make?”
“Well, to start, invest it back into the mine so we can get more out of it. A steam powered pump to suck guano out would be a good investment… I think.” Limestone began to tap the edge of her hoof upon the table. “After that, I’m thinking that I should pay for some business classes for myself, so I’ll know what I’m doing. Eventually, the bat guano will run dry… so I’m thinking that the money I make from the guano mine should be invested in buying other mines, because mines will be something I am familiar with and know how to run. I don’t want to be a miner, but I want to own the mine.”
“Limestone Pie, I will help you convince Igneous that this is a good idea,” Cloudy said to her daughter. Hearing the sound of smacking lips, Cloudy turned her head just in time to see Maud giving Tarnish a kiss.
“You learn something new every day. I had no idea that bat guano was valuable.” Pinny turned her head, perked her ears, and she watched as Maud and Tarnish loved on one another, feeling a blossoming warmth in her heart as she did so.
Feeling both happy and sad, as well as sentimental, Cloudy sighed. She watched her daughter and her son in law as they shared a moment of affection. She sighed again in contentment, feeling a proud sense of accomplishment. “Both of you are going to leave me, aren’t you?”
Maud, hearing her mother’s voice, pulled away from Tarnish, inhaled, turned towards her mother, and then nodded. “Yes.”
“How soon?” Cloudy asked.
Shrugging, Maud just stared at her mother through sleepy looking half-closed eyes. “A few days maybe. There is a lot to do before summer is out.”
“I hope the two of you have a nice honeymoon,” Cloudy said.
“I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE HONEYMOON PART!”
“I’m in love with a silly pony,” Maud said as she tried to drag a brush through Tarnish’s static-filled mane. The earth pony heaved a sigh and then leaned her head a little closer to Tarnish, who was sitting on the floor in front of her chair. “I must confess, seeing you so bravely face the storm… I have some very mixed feelings about what you did.”
“I don’t even remember everything that happened.” Tarnished leaned back and felt the soft cushion of the chair against his spine. The soft tug of the brush against his scalp was just as mesmerising as the storm had been earlier. He closed his eyes and just sat there, enjoying the moment.
A short distance away, sitting in two high backed old fashioned parlour chairs, Cloudy Quartz and Pinny Lane sat together, having a cup of tea, talking to one another as if they had known each other their whole lives. Pinny was having to hold her teacup between her front hooves, her magic having failed completely since the erratic storm that had developed.
Pinny Lane’s tea had the helpful essence of poison joke; it was assumed that her magic would be returning at any time now. Maud, enjoying a moment of closeness with Tarnish, kept an eye on Pinny, watching and waiting. With Pinny having no magic at all, this was an ideal test, so the storm had been a lucky break.
“You know, this is all I ever wanted in life,” Tarnish said in a low voice.
His words caused the whole room to go silent. Cloudy, who had been saying something to Pinny in a subdued voice went quiet. Pinny Lane’s eyes became reflective with tears. Maud continued brushing but said nothing. For several long moments, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the mantle and the sound of wind against the timbers of the house.
“I never had big dreams or aspirations. I never thought about buying a mine filled with bat guano or planned out my life with some idea that involved a long term business plan. I couldn’t even finish school. I just wanted the loneliness to end. I wanted the hurting to stop,” Tarnish said, his eyes closed. His body wobbled a bit and his eyes opened. “Mother, please, don’t start saying that you’re sorry. I’ve given this some thought… I don’t blame you. I’ve chalked this up to being something that just happens in life.”
“Tarnished Teapot, I must say, you are being remarkably mature about this.” Cloudy Quartz peered at Tarnish through her reading glasses.
“What choice do I have? Be mean? Send my mother away?” Tarnish looked at Pinny. “She’s suffered enough… I will confess, there is a part of me that wants to be angry… that wants to be petty… there is a part of me that wants everypony to hurt like I have hurt… and I am ashamed that part of me even exists. I’d rather not have it.”
Tarnish shook his head as tears spilled down his mother’s cheeks.
“It wouldn’t accomplish anything. And if I became that petty, if I became that heartless and mean, I’d deserve spending the rest of my life alone… unlikable and unloved.” Tarnish’s mouth pressed into a straight line for a moment and he shook his head. “I’ve grown up a lot since that first day of hitting the road.”
Tarnish felt a hoof slide under his chin and then his head was tilted back. Looking up, he saw Maud looking down at him, her face upside down in comparison to his. He saw her blink, and then felt her lips brush up against his, a soft kiss.
“Later,” Maud said in a soft monotone as she pulled away.
“My son…” Pinny’s voice died in a strangled gasp and a quivering smile spread over her muzzle as she fought to hold back tears. She lifted her steaming teacup to her lips and took a sip.
“I am thankful for what I have,” Tarnish said as he tilted his head back downwards.
“I hear the creaking of wagon wheels. Igneous is back… I’ve been worried.” Cloudy put down her teacup and eased out of her high backed chair.
Rising up on all fours, Tarnish gave himself a shake and then looked at Cloudy. “I’ll see what I can do to help.”
“If it is all the same, I think I’ll stay here and keep Pinny company,” Maud said as she looked Tarnish’s mother in the eye. “Tarnish’s magic will make short work of moving the bed.”
Pinny nodded. “Thank you, Maud.”