“New bed,” Tarnish said as he stood there, not quite knowing what to say. He popped his lips, make a clicking sound with his tongue, then raised and lowered his eyebrows. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“One day, you’ll be buying a bed like this for your own foals when they grow up and marry,” Igneous replied, standing in Maud’s doorway. He peered around the room. “A bit of a tight fit, but it will have to do for now.”
“How did you escape the storm?” Tarnish asked, looking over at Igneous.
The old stallion grinned. “I stopped by a friend’s place. Put the wagon up in the barn. Got myself a chance to shoot the breeze and have a little fun.”
“Oh.” Tarnish looked at the bed. “I am surprised Rock Haven had a bed for sale.”
“I didn’t go to Rock Haven. I had to go all the way into Foalsom Springs to get this. Was hauling double time. I enjoyed stretching my legs.” Igneous looked at Maud. “I got new sheets too. I hope you like them.”
Maud, poking the bed, nodded. “The bedsprings are quiet.”
Igneous looked at his daughter, his expression every bit as blank as Maud’s. “Yes they are, Maudlin, yes they are.”
“I am glad that you also purchased a new bed for you and mother. Your bedsprings were creaky,” Maud said in a flat voice to her father. “Those bedsprings traumatised Pinkie Pie. Every Tuesday night, she’d come into my room and climb into my bed—”
“Maudie…” said Igneous in a gentle voice.
“—and she’d cover her ears with her front hooves. Once she found out what was going on, she was so very embarrassed by the sound of it,” Maud finished.
“This is the sort of conversation that every parent dreads.” Igneous cleared his throat, coughed, and then backed out of the room. He bumped into Limestone, who was standing in the hall.
“Hiya, Daddy!” Limestone grinned at her father. “Talking about Tuesdays?”
Groaning, Igneous continued to try and back away. He bumped into Marble, let out an incoherent mutter, and tried to avoid eye contact at all costs.
“Daddy, I’m sad.” Maud looked at her father standing in the hallway, blinked, and then looked around her room. Letting out a faint sigh, Maud sat down and began to look at the many photographs on the wall.
“Maud, why are you sad?” Igneous asked. Both Marble and Limestone were standing on either side of him now, and joined him as he looked at Maud.
“I don’t want to leave this place… I know I’m married, but this is my home. This is the place I return to when I am done adventuring,” Maud replied. She took a deep breath and looked at Tarnish. “This is his home as well… this is a good place for him.”
“Maudie, you don’t have to go… nopony is saying you have to leave.” Igneous stepped through the doorway, venturing back into Maud’s room. He looked around, glancing at the many photographs, he looked at the bed, and at last, his gaze fell upon Maud. “Maudlin Pie, if you want to stay here, we’ll find some way of making that happen. Just… don’t be sad. I can’t take knowing that you are sad.”
“You don’t get that bothered when I’m sad,” Marble said to her father.
Igneous turned and looked at his filly. “Marble, when you’re sad, I can see that you are sad. I can also see when your sadness ends and you are happy again. I can’t see that with Maud.”
Marble, abashed, kicked one front hoof into the other. “I didn’t think of that.”
“Come on Marble, let’s go outside and see if that weird storm did anything to the rocks.” Limestone stepped around her father, prodded her twin sister, and made a gesture by nodding her head at the end of the hallway.
“One moment Limestone…” Marble looked at Maud. “Don’t be sad Maud… Daddy always figures out something.” Smiling at her sister, Marble followed Limestone down the hall so they could go outside together.
“Daddy, you should go and get something to eat. There’s leftovers. I’ll come to the kitchen, sit with you, and keep you company.” Maud looked at her father, then at Tarnish, and then at the bed. “Thank you for the bed.”
Having a moment alone, all to himself, Tarnished Teapot decided to make the most of it. He pulled his magic mirror out from his saddlebags, lifted it up in front of his face, and then said the name, “Twilight Sparkle.”
He waited, not knowing if there would be a reply. After what felt like several minutes, he debated saying her name again, or if perhaps he should just put away his mirror and try again later. Much later. This wasn’t going to be easy to talk about.
“Tarnished Teapot?”
“Twilight… did I contact you at a bad time?” Tarnished asked.
“No… no, not at all… I’m really glad you did… I was just about to die from boredom and you saved me,” Twilight replied.
Tarnish listened as Twilight yawned and he thought about everything he wanted to say. He started off with what he thought was important. “I want to say thank you… for everything… there is so much I want to say but words seem so meaningless to say it, so I’ll just stick with thank you.”
“Okay Tarnish… you’re welcome…”
Twilight sounded a little hesitant, or so Tarnish thought. Maybe she was still recovering from being bored. “Twilight… I have some tough questions.”
“Oh good… a mental workout. I thought I was about to go brain dead.”
Taking a deep breath, Tarnish held it for a moment, his cheeks puffing out, and then he let it all out in a slow exhale. He took another deep breath. “How do I make friends with my mother?”
“What?!”
Wincing, Tarnished Teapot held the mirror away from him. “I dunno Twilight… it is like… it is like my mother is just picking up right where she left off, at least that is what it feels like, because I don’t actually know. But being around her is strange and awkward and I don’t feel like I know her that well and I’m trying to be a good son and be nice and act like I love her, but she still feels like a total stranger to me and I don’t want to say anything because it would hurt her and I don’t want her being hurt anymore because we’ve both been hurt enough.”
“Oh my gosh… I don’t even know what to say,” Twilight replied.
“I’m also having some troubles with forgiveness… I do forgive her, I do… but I still think about what happened. It still hurts. And I don’t want to take it out on her, I don’t. I just… I… I just want to put the past to rest, but it still hurts so much and I’m scared that it is going to show and she is going to think that I am lying to her or something and she’s going to be hurt again and this is all so much more complicated than I thought it was going to be and I’m so scared Twilight and I didn’t know who else to go to,” Tarnish said, pouring his heart out.
“Forgiveness is tough.” There was a long pause. “When Discord turned my friends against me, they all treated me badly. Fluttershy dumped a bucket of water over my head. They all acted like jerks. I’ve forgiven them, but I will confess, I’ve had trouble forgetting about what they did. I still get emotional about it.”
Tarnish took a moment to think about Twilight’s words. He sat down on the floor, kicking out his hind legs, and getting comfortable. He stared into the mirror, deep creases furrowed into his brow, and his muzzle was crinkled with concentration.
“And then there is Princess Celestia. I tried to tell her that Princess Cadance, a pony I know so very well because she was my foal sitter… my foal sitter... Cadance was acting funny and was not Cadance and well… some bad things happened and to be perfectly honest, I still get mad thinking about it. Like right now, I’m trembling just a little.” There was a pause and the sound of a deep breath came out of the mirror. “If only somepony had listened to me, but nooooooo… nopony did. Not even my friends. Jerks!”
“I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have brought this up, I can let you go—”
“No, Tarnish, it’s okay.” There was another deep breath that came out of the mirror. “You’re going to have to take some time for yourself and sort out all of these things. It’s not going to be easy. That is what friendship is… and to a greater extent, love as well—accepting that somepony has faults and will make mistakes, maybe even hurt you, and choosing to be their friend anyway. You take the good with the bad and when the bad happens, you try to sort it out with your friends and then you remain their friend even though you can still remember the bad and it hurts you. The good times that happen make up for those bad moments.”
“So I should focus on making good memories with my mother until there are more good memories than bad memories?” Tarnish asked.
“Um… yes,” Twilight replied.
“Thank you, Twilight. I’m going to let you go.”
“You’re welcome… and I could stay a little longer.” Twilight huffed and it could be heard through the mirror. “You know Tarnish, I worry if you will forgive me… I think about how long you might be angry over everything that’s happened.”
“I dunno Twilight… I’d say we’re already working on making better memories…”