Rest For The Weary

by Sweet Tale

Chapter 1

Absolute bliss.

For the first time in weeks, the both of us had never felt more relaxed. Even the red glow of the clock on my bedside table wasn’t disturbing me. The sound of the crickets and the nearby streams echoed quietly through the wooden halls of our cottage. My body was depleted of energy and my mind was drained. Sleep would come to us both early for a change.

“Unnng...”

Peace was broken.

“..aaanngg...Aaahh!”

The rapid lighting of the LED’s said it all, our sleep would have to wait. I felt a nudge on my back and groggily turned my head to see Sarah jabbing me with her elbow.

“...your turn...” she moaned without even opening her eyes.

I yawned loudly and stretched my aching limbs. “Alright...” I swiped the covers off myself and set my feet on the cold wooden floors. “We really do need to buy a rug...” The monitor continued to emit cries and gurgles as I exited the bedroom and made my way towards the next room.

I set the light to a dim setting and approached the cause of the noise and also the lack of sleep. There, in his cot, lay Glen, shuffling around making all manners of noises. “What are you doing up, eh?” I leant down and placed my arms around him, picking him up and holding him to my chest.

Yawning again, I began to pace up and down the room, rocking Glen gently as he continued to gurgle. I glanced at the clock on the wall which read 2:43 AM and groaned. Myself and Sarah both knew that there would be midnight feedings and such but with so many consecutive nights where our sleep was broken, it was starting to wear on us.

I walked out to the kitchen, feeling the cold touch of tiled floor as I opened up one of the cupboards. I reached in a pulled out a familiar bottle and a tub of formula powder. Sarah didn’t want to breastfeed so we resorted to this instead. Glen was starting to settle down a little as he rested his head on my left shoulder. Even through all of these countless nights of restless sleep, through all the stress both me and Sarah have been through, I can never get tired of seeing my son’s face.

After making some formula milk, I sat myself down in the armchair and gave Glen his feeding. Everytime he gets fed, I swear his eyes just scream happiness at me. He quietly suckled at the rubber nib of the bottle as I tried my best not to fall asleep. I smiled as my mind drifted back to that fateful day three months ago. It was a warm day near the end of July...well, it was warm before that bloody storm arrived. How Celestia arrived with Luna and helped us during probably the most important event in our lives. I also remembered being slightly scared at one point. Not of my family’s safety...it was how Haywick shouted at his team! Terrifying! Chuckling softly, I thought back to the conversation I had with Twilight about what was to come for us - Glen’s first steps, first words, school.

I leant down and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Love ya buddy.” Soon enough, Glen finished the bottle and slowly shut his eyes, letting the world of slumber take him. Grinning to myself, I rose from the leathery chair and made my way back to his room. Placing him down, I whispered goodnight to him and placed his blanket over him.

Returning to my bedroom, I climbed back into bed and looked at the clock - 3:17 AM. “He’s asleep again...should last the night...” I said with a yawn.

“...k...” Sarah sleepily responded. I was surprised she wasn’t asleep already...although I might have just woken her up. Didn’t matter anyway, tomorrow was Saturday. No set time to get up and no work at all. At least for once we could try and have a quiet day. Well, I say quiet day, our quiet days consist of normally doing housework and going shopping.

As I tried to sleep, the cool October air blew through the open window keeping the room’s scent fresh. The sounds of the river and nightlife were normally enough to send me to sleep in a split second...but not tonight. Something was wrong. After around another ten minutes, I got out of bed again and went to the bathroom.

Turning on the cabinet light, I looked at myself in the mirror. Hair all over the place, bags around the eyes and I looked half dead. Lack of sleep. These nights were taking a toll on both myself and Sarah and we were starting to show wear and tear. My boss mentioned to me once or twice that I looked ready to collapse on the spot. My excuse was the same as always - hard work looking after the family.

Over the past three months, I don’t think there has ever been two nights in a row of perfect sleep. The only time that happened was when Sarah’s mother took Glen for the night to give us some well needed rest. I splashed some cold water over my face and turned the light off walking back to my bedroom. Sitting back down on the bed, I thought about what we could do.

“I’m sure Mary will look after him for a day or two...no...she’s gone to Benidorm.” I rubbed my eyes and looked at a picture frame on my bedside cabinet. “Oh Mum...you would have been the best grandmother in the world...” Looking down at my drawers, I saw my mobile phone in there next to something else. An idea came to me. “Maybe she’ll give me some advice...”

---

Princess Luna’s moon reigned over the night sky as the residents of Equestria slept in their homes. The cool night air provided the much needed perfect environment for a good night’s sleep.

In the castle of Canterlot, Princess Luna sat upon her throne talking with one of her regular nightly visitors. Since her acceptance into society during Nightmare Night, more and more ponies have started visiting the Princess of the Night during her time on the throne. Most of the ponies were there to discuss matters as they would with Princess Celestia but there was one who was always there, every night, just for a chat.

“Surely your brother would pay you the bits...wouldn’t he?” Luna asked with a smile.

“Aw, I don’t know about that. He tends to spend them on chocolate!” answered her visitor. “Remember I told you about that cake at Hearth’s Warming with the chocolate glaze? I tell ya, he has a serious problem!” he said with a laugh.

The Princess joined in with the laughter. “Oh Streamer, I do enjoy our nightly talks. They seem to get better every time you visit.”

A sudden ringing noise sounded in the throne room, catching Luna’s attention. She breathed heavily and smiled. “Dawn.”

“Then I shall take my leave. See you tomorrow night Princess?” Streamer asked.

“Of course. Farewell!” She watched Streamer walk out of the throne room and watched the doors close. Focusing the magic to her horn, she teleported to her balcony and latched onto the large satellite, lowering it beyond the horizon. The night sky soon turned to a burnt orange as Celestia’s sun slowly rose, bringing daylight with it’s presence.

Teleporting back to the throne room, Luna awaited her sister’s arrival. Soon enough, Celestia appeared and greeted her sister.

“Good morning Luna. How was Night Court?” she asked.

“Very well, thank you.” She then noticed something held in Celestia’s magic. “What is that, a scroll?”

“Indeed. From our dear friends.” Celestia answered with a frown. “It seems they are in need of advice.” She unrolled the scroll, which Luna took from her elder sister’s grasp and read.

Celestia and Luna,

Forgive me for writing to you so early but I am seeking advice from you both. First off, allow me to apologise for not writing to you sooner but our lives have been non-stop since we returned back home with Glen.

And that’s the main problem. Over the past three months, our sleep pattern has been broken nearly every night due to our child waking up, needing to be fed. We knew this was going to happen but we were NOT prepared for it. And because of this, we’re starting to feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Myself and Sarah are being short with each other and I fear it may get worse.

We’ve been looking for advice everywhere on how to reduce stress or on anything to help us but it seems no matter what we try, nothing seems to change. This is where I ask you...do you have ANY advice for us on how we can better this situation?

All the best

Jason

Luna looked up from the letter and frowned like her sister did. “Sounds bad...I do feel for them.”

“As do I.” Celestia summoned a scroll and a quill. “I do believe I have some advice for them. Something I actually helped a couple in Ponyville with when they had twins.” She began to write on the scroll. “Dear Jason and Sarah. I am sorry to hear that you are both struggling. What it sounds like you need is a night off...”

Celestia stopped writing and smiled. She scrunched up the scroll and threw it behind her. “Sister? What is wrong?” Luna asked.

“Nothing. I believe I may have the best solution.” Celestia stomped her hoof and a guard immediately rushed to her side.

“Good morning my fellow guard. I request something of you.” she asked sweetly.

Celestia’s grin grew wider. “I need you to bring me Equestria’s finest foal-sitter.”

Author's Note:

And here we go again! Something new for you all!

Enjoy!

Comments

[chaoticevl]

Yay a continuation. I had thought you were done with this I'm glad I was wrong.

[Sweet Tale]

2964153 If you listen to my recent Q&A video, you'll learn something about this series

[GeodesicDragon]

Incoming Cadence!

I've been looking forward to this coming out, and now it's here! And I've already whored the bejeezus out of it!

Also this:

I also remembered being slightly scared at one point. Not of my family’s safety...it was how Haywick shouted at his team! Terrifying!

[Celestias Paladin]

Oh poor Cadence, this won't end well for her... then again she was Twilight's sitter, though Twilight wasn't a new born foal... could be worse they could bring in Pinkie.

[Sean Retro]

Oh this is going to be good.

[JackTheEpic]

Why, do I see Pinkie Pie in the human world, on a cold metal table, being dissected while she talks on and on and on...

[JackTheEpic]

2964267
Wrong sitter, I believe the BEST sitter is Pinkie Pie. How do I know? She references the Cake Twins. And who lives with the Cakes?

[Tangvaffel]

sleep has been scares and nights have been long and never ending.

Isn't that supposed to be scarce?

[Celestias Paladin]

2964521
Bah I say! Bah!

[JackTheEpic]

2964528
Oh? Does Cadence have the legendary Pinkie Powers of Pinkieness? No, no I think not.

[Celestias Paladin]

2964654
*bplith....*

[JackTheEpic]

2964664
I believe what you were trying to say is, " All hail Pinkie Pie, Master of babysitting!"

[Path_Finder]

I don't think I can ever tire of this series, and this one may prove to be the most interesting yet

[Magthere]

2964267

2964521

You are both wrong it is quite obviously Fluttershy, she who handled the Cutie Mark Crusaders!

Nah I have no idea.

[Celestias Paladin]

2965653
And we have no character tags to even guess off of, unless she sends in Twilight.

[Enderstorm]

i'm guessing either cadence or pinkie.

please not pinkie...

*gasp* NEW FOALS!!! OH AND THEY'RE ALIENS!!!

[ComatoseVEVO]

The Princess joined in with the laughter. “Oh Streamer, I do enjoy our nightly talks. They seem to get better every time you visit.”

I SHIP IT

[Kadigan]

“...your turn...” she moaned without even opening her eyes.

I hope they're alternating days... I mean, if you keep getting up every few hours, regardless if it's every 2 or every 4, you're going to be a zombie.