After what felt like an impossibly long journey, Tarnished Teapot stepped off of the train in Rock Haven and felt like he was home. It had been a while since he and Maud had left the rock farm together. It had been a long while. They had gone down the road together, full of hope, full of optimism, full of the flustered, heated, new love that newly wedded couples had for one another. It had been a honeymoon and so much more. Adventure, romance, exciting moments of daring and danger, followed by quiet moments of serene study.
During this trip, Tarnish had matured a good bit. He had grown up. His perspectives had changed. He had developed a worldview. He was developing a purpose in life. He was making a name for himself, becoming the pony that life seemed to want him to be.
Behind him, the train huffed and puffed as it began to build up more steam. The conductor called out for riders, but there were no passengers getting onto the train. Tarnish looked around, his eyes lingering on the various details of the stone building that was the train station. It was a bit of a landmark. The building was made of stone slabs and had a thatched roof, making it quite distinctive.
“Feels good to be home,” Cloudy said as she stretched her legs.
“It sure does,” Tarnish agreed.
“Is this home for you now?” Limestone asked.
Glancing at his mother, Tarnish nodded. He then looked at his extended family. “This is the place I want to come home to when I get weary of the road.” Taking a deep breath, Tarnish smiled and added, “Come on, let’s go home.”
The last few miles always seemed the longest when arriving at a long awaited destination. Tarnish trudged ahead, being led along by Marble, his eyes covered with a bright pink and burnt orange bandanna that his mother had in her travel bag. He had no idea why his mother had such a tacky, horrible thing, and he did not ask. Maud had her mother’s plaid neckerchief tied over her eyes and was being led along by Limestone.
As the herd walked together in a line, Igneous leading the way, coyotes howled in the distance, which made Igneous nervous. For the most part, ponies didn’t have too much to worry about from coyotes, all things considered, but if the pack was large enough, a lone pony might find themselves in trouble. Of course, out of all of the dangers out in the wilds, coyotes weren’t all that threatening; there were far worse things, like hydras, chimerae, and cockatrices. And those were just the things that a pony could see... there were worse things that lurked in the shadows, hid in closets, and secreted themselves away beneath the bed. As Igneous walked, he thought about the sword that Tarnish had strapped to his saddlebags. It was funny how something could bring a little peace of mind.
While Igneous thought of defense and protection, Cloudy Quartz thought of other things. She thought about the clattering of little hooves upon her kitchen floor. Her foals were either grown up or growing up. None of them were little anymore. Maud was married. Pinkie Pie had a suitor that she refused to talk about. Marble was interested in a nice colt. As for Limestone… Limestone was interested in business. Cloudy hoped that Limestone would find somepony that would make her happy. Cloudy, having raised her foals well, now desired the reward that mares her age sought after the most; watching her daughters be blessed with happiness, their own hearth, and foals of their own. Having a house full of foals was even more fun the second time around. Cloudy had a lot more free time now, the family was established, well off, there was less hard work to do, which meant that Cloudy had all of the time in the world to spoil her grandfoals, if only she had some.
With a click, the door shut and Tarnish peeled off his blindfold with his magic. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the light. Maud’s room was just as they had left it, the big bed taking up most of the available space. Maud was still standing there, blindfolded, her tail swishing from side to side.
“I’m blindfolded,” Maud said, sounding bored.
“Uh huh.” Tarnish blinked, still adjusting to the light.
“I can be the filly in distress and you can be the mustache twirling villain. You could tie me to a railroad track.” Maud stood there, still as a statue, showing absolutely no sign of enthusiasm as she spoke.
“Huh… I could, I could,” Tarnish agreed, regretting that he did not have a mustache.
“Hopefully, you are just a villain and not a pervert. A pervert would do bad things to a filly before tying her to a railroad track. You’re not a pervert, are you? Are you going to fondle me before you put me on the railroad track?”
“You are very weird,” Tarnish said, not quite sure what to make of everything that had just come out of Maud’s mouth. His ears twitched when he heard Maud inhale.
“The things you say,” Maud said in what Tarnish imagined was a very sultry monotone.
Stepping closer, Tarnish nuzzled Maud’s neck and he felt her lean into his touch. He breathed in, drawing in Maud’s scent through his nose. The floorboards creaked as they moved closer together.
“I don’t bore you, do I?” Maud asked.
“What? No...” Tarnish shook his head, confused. “Why this, and why now?”
“I just worry sometimes. I know that sometimes, I might not seem like the most exciting pony. I have a lingering fear that I will become boring. Right now, there is a lot of boiling passion between us, and I worry that it will become a low simmer with time. I have a lot of insecurities, Tarnish. Our physical relationship is quite satisfying, at least in my opinion, but I worry that our repetition will cause things to become boring. I have a lot of doubts and worries, and I’m no different than other mares. I want you to be happy. I’m afraid I’m plain. That’s why I came after you on the airship and that’s why I’m still wearing this silly blindfold. I don’t want our physical relationship to become routine, or just going through the motions. A dance becomes boring and stale if you don’t mix up the steps and change the music every once in awhile.”
“Maud, I… we… uh, we…” Tarnish very much wished that he could look into Maud’s eyes as he spoke, but she was blindfolded. He was tempted to remove the blindfold, but didn’t. She was trusting him to be honest and she could not see his face. “Maud, darling, we’ve been trying new things. Kinky things. We’ve been making the dance interesting.”
“I don’t ever want this to end,” Maud said as she leaned against Tarnish. “I don’t want our passion to ever become estranged. I want to know that I drive you wild and that you desire me. I have these nagging fears that one day, I’ll make advances towards you and you’ll give me the brush off because you have a book that is more interesting to you. I don’t want to become the thing you do when your bored and there is nothing else more interesting to keep your attention. It scares me, Tarnish.”
“You are so weird,” Tarnished whispered.
“Whisper that into my ear when you take me… I don’t ever want to become commonplace to you… if I am weird, at least I am interesting. You can’t get bored with weird things. There is always more mystery to sort out and understand.” Maud swished her tail against Tarnish’s hind legs and rubbed her hips against his, their cutie marks touching. “Never stop telling me that I’m weird, Tarnish, and I think we’ll be okay.”
Turning his head, Tarnish nuzzled Maud’s ear, and he could feel it twitching, quivering against his nose. He felt the muscles along Maud’s sides convulse. He kissed her, a soft kiss, closed his eyes, and inhaled. He gave her a little sidelong bump, trying to push her closer to the bed, but Maud was The Rock and it was difficult to move her.
“Get in the bed, Maud, and you keep that blindfold on. I’m going to have my way with you and I’m going to tell you how weird you are at length—”
“Hush up and go to bed!” Limestone shouted through the wall. “You’re both weird!”
There was a pony rapping on his skull. Tarnished Teapot opened his eyes and looked into the excited eyes of Limestone. He lay in a tangle with Maud, their bodies still entwined, and the bed was warm. He yawned and wished that Limestone would go away.
“Wake up, you two. It’s dawn. Time for a surprise.” Limestone stepped away from the bed and then made an impatient stomp with her right front hoof. “Get out of the bed, you no good sister spooner.”
“I don’t want to get out of bed, I’m busy spooning your sister,” Tarnish replied.
“Ugh, I know… Marble would not stop giggling last night… she just about died at ‘mustache twirling villain’ and stuffed her pillow into her mouth when Maud wanted you to fondle her.” Limestone rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Limestone, go away. Go away, Limestone. We need some privacy before we get out of the bed,” Maud said to her sister.
“No way I’m walking out of here so you two can lay in bed and make smoochy faces at one another.” Limestone gave her sister a defiant stare.
“Limestone, I will give you three guesses about what I’m squeezing between my thighs right now. You do not want to be in the room when Tarnish and I get out of the bed.” Maud, who always looked a little bit sleepy, looked even sleepier than normal with her head resting on the pillow and the blanket pulled up to her chin.
It took several seconds before Limestone closed her eyes and let out a whinny of disgust. She backed away from the bed, bumped into the wall, opened her eyes, shook her head, shuddered, then said, “The surprise is necessary… ugh… ew… ew… I’m gone. I am going to go throw myself down a well somewhere.”
Stumbling through the house, Tarnish was blindfolded once more. He was still half asleep, tired, and wishing he was back in bed. He could hear his mother’s laughter, Marble’s low giggling, Limestone was silent, and he didn’t even want to know what Igneous and Cloudy might be doing, or how they might be looking at him. He was both blind and oblivious.
“This way,” Pinny said.
Tarnish could hear the sound of the kitchen door being opened and the sound of birds chirping grew louder. He was being pulled along and he felt the warmth of the early morning sun upon him as he was led through the door. There was a breeze, a cool, wonderful breeze. He felt dirt and pebbles beneath his hooves. He felt his head being turned and then held in place with magic. He waited, almost breathless, wondering what was about to happen.
The blindfold was yanked off and Tarnish heard a gasp beside him, a sharp intake of breath from Maud, and he could see why. A little stone cottage was a short distance away. It was constructed of stones of every colour, heavy wooden beams, and had a tall chimney made of stone. Extending from one side there was a greenhouse. The cottage and the greenhouse were not yet finished.
“Still more work to do. The cottage needs a few more rooms… it isn’t very big, but it is a good home to start in and can be expanded later if you need more room. It doesn’t have a kitchen yet, Cloudy seems to think we can all share a kitchen.” Igneous stood near the front door of the cottage, looking proud. “The community has worked on this and a lot of love has gone into it.”
“The greenhouse was Marble and Sonneur's idea. They said a botanist needed a greenhouse, that it was a necessity.” Cloudy moved to stand beside her husband. “Sonneur’s mother, Azalée, designed the greenhouse and when it is finished, it will be spectacular.”
“It’s wonderful,” Maud said as she stood unmoving, unblinking, staring at the stone cottage. “It’s so beautiful… so many rocks.” Maud’s nostrils flared and her ears pitched forwards as movement returned to her body. “Tarnish, carry me over the threshold.”
Before Tarnish could say anything or even respond, Maud was climbing up onto his back. He blinked, looking around, hearing soft laughter, and then somehow, his vision focused on Igneous, who was standing next to the front door. He saw Igneous give him a nod.
The front door opened after Igneous popped the latch, the hinges were well oiled and silent. Peering inside, Tarnish could see the living room. It appeared to be unfurnished. Dumbstruck, Tarnish wanted to say something, but could not find the words. Maud’s hind legs squeezed tight around his middle and her forelegs clamped around his neck. Her embrace was firm, but also gentle.
Putting one hoof in front of the other, Tarnished Teapot stepped through the front door of his new home, carrying his bride upon his back…