“I don’t want to say goodbye… I just got you back,” Tarnish said as a painful lump in his throat made it difficult to say anything at all. He looked at his mother and did his best not to cry, but it was harder by the minute because his mother was crying.
“Tarnish, Baby, you gotta go out and make your way in the world. You gotta grow up now and look after Maud and there are things you need to do. We’ll talk. We’ll stay close. And if you are going to be somewhere for a few days that is safe, contact me on the mirror and I’ll try to come and see you,” Pinny Lane said. She coughed, trying to deal with the phlegm in her throat.
“All aboard! Final call! Express to Ponyville now leaving!”
“You look after Maud… I’m very proud of you, doing the right thing and settling down with a nice mare.” Pinny turned to look at Maud. “Maud, I can never thank you enough for what you’ve done. You gave me my son back… I love you for this.”
Maud, impassive, stood as silent as a stone.
“Tarnished Teapot, you be a good pony! And you think about what we talked about earlier. I love you!” Pinny turned and placed a hoof upon the step. “Goodbye, both of you!”
“Goodbye, be well! I’ll be in contact!” Tarnish shouted over the rumble of the locomotive as it began to build up pressure and steam.
“Pinny, before you go...”
“Maud?”
“Thank you for Tarnished Teapot.”
Pinny, now standing on the stairs, peering over her shoulder, tears streaming down her cheeks, gave Maud a watery smile. “You both are so perfect together… it makes me happy.”
“Goodbye!” Tarnish lifted up his bad foreleg and used it to wave. With a chug, the train started moving and Tarnish blinked away tears. “Maud, I’m losing my mother again—”
“No Tarnish, she’ll come back.”
Limping along, Tarnish followed after Maud as they returned home. There was a huge lump in his throat and it was difficult to breathe. The pressure behind his eyes made it difficult to see. It was getting harder and harder to hold it all in—more than anything else, Tarnish wanted to bawl so it could all be let out.
Maud, seeing that Tarnish was in pain, paused and stood in the road, blinking a few times, trying to figure out what to do. Saying nothing, she turned herself towards Tarnish, taking a step towards him, freezing for a moment, and then continuing her course of action. She bumped into him and began herding him to the side of the road.
Confused, Tarnish went along with what Maud was doing. As they stepped into the grass together, he felt Maud kiss him on the side of the mouth. He felt Maud’s hoof on his back, there was pressure, she was pushing him down. He flexed his knees and eased himself down into the soft grass on the side of the road. He watched as Maud kneeled down beside him. With a soft shove, Tarnish was pushed over onto his side and then Maud threw a foreleg over him, pinning him down in the grass.
“You’re going to let all of this out and then I’m going to see what I can do to make you feel better,” Maud said in a low whisper, her lips brushing up against Tarnish’s ear and causing it to twitch.
“What did I do to deserve you?” Tarnish asked as he pressed his muzzle into the hollow just below Maud’s jaw.
“You listened. You swallowed a bug. You said I was weird… but you also said I was pretty,” Maud replied as she rubbed her chin against Tarnish’s ear. Maud felt a growing dampness along her jaw, which was over Tarnish’s eye, and she could feel his snoot pressing into her neck as he began to tremble.
She pulled her head away, tilted her muzzle downwards, and then begin to kiss away the tears as they fell. They were salty on her lips. “You did a brave thing, forgiving your mother. I’m proud of you. That’s what I wanted in a husband. Now let it all out.”
Laying with her front half propped up on Tarnish’s barrel, Maud cradled Tarnish’s neck in her forelegs, holding him close, watching, feeling helpless as the floodgates disintegrated and Tarnish fell apart.
“I feel so guilty… I wanted to hate her… I was angry. I wanted her to hurt like I hurt… and I feel ashamed because of these thoughts… I feel so bad.” Tarnish went limp in Maud’s embrace, depending upon the mare to hold him up.
“But you did the right thing and that is why I love you…”
Breathless, feeling exhausted, depleted, and dehydrated, Tarnish clung to Maud as they lay in the tall grass together. A cool breeze blew as the evening began to creep over the land. Closing his eyes, he thought of the loving moments spent with Maud; Maud laying in the grass, Tarnish on her back, clinging to her like a drowning pony caught in a lethal undertow. His cheek had been pressed up against hers, they had lain neck to neck, it was an odd, quiet, fervent moment of love.
Their first coupling in the grass was over in a hurry, a problem that Tarnish felt embarrassed about, ashamed even, but Maud seemed to understand and had even told him it was okay. Sometimes, that first joining, especially if he was over-eager, would be over far too soon. But the second or third encounter was where Tarnish came into his own. Their final loving embrace, the one that had just exhausted both of them, felt as though it had lasted for hours. Maud had begged him to finish in a breathless monotone that was sexy in the most confusing sort of way.
A pleasant soreness lingered in Tarnish’s body. He pressed his nose against Maud’s neck, snorted, and took great pleasure in feeling Maud’s whole body twitch against him. Maud was sweaty, her pelt was damp with perspiration, both her own and his. The inside of Maud’s thigh, which was resting upon his hind leg, was wetter than the dewy grass that glistened in the dawn.
Overhead, as the darkness began to creep over the land, the first star twinkled into view, a courageous star that dared to be first, a lone star that dared to shine brightest when none shone at all.
Itchy from sweat, Tarnish wiggled in the grass, scratching his withers and his croup against the ground, snorting until he made himself sneeze. Beside him, Maud began doing the same, following Tarnish’s example, but her movements were slow, subdued, and lacked Tarnish’s enthusiasm. She gave a few half-hearted kicks, let out a snort, and then went still.
“I suppose that I should get dressed and we should head home.”
“Not yet Maud… just a little longer. I want to watch the stars come out.”