• Published 20th Dec 2014
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Tears of a Foal - Rocinante



In the winter snow, a lost foal cries.

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A Ceremony

- - - ch 12 Day 4 pt 1 - - -

Celestia took the throne for the noon court. The crowd murmured as Twilight and Luna each took their own daises. Clearing her throat, Celestia silenced the room.

“This court will be held by Princess Twilight Sparkle. She speaks as sovereign unto her own right. I will resume the throne after the next sunrise.”

“I second this,” Luna said, then rose from her place, and walked to a reserved seat in the crowd, Celestia following close behind her. To the crowd’s credit, they hardly reacted at all to the scene. Princess Cadence had been given similar opportunities to stand before the kingdom.

Twilight, however, was fidgeting under the attention. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then looked over to where Clover and Spike were sitting. They looked rather handsome in their matching jackets. While each jacket’s color was matched to complement its owner, the cut distinctly made them a set.

“First order of business,” Twilight said, trying to project her voice. “It has come to my attention that there is a colt, that has become a ward of the Crown.”

With a nod from Twilight, Green Bean led Clover before the court. The colt was uncomfortable in the strange setting, using his jacket's collar to hide behind as much as he could.

“Does anypony here know of this colt’s parents?” Twilight asked, sweeping her eyes over the crowd. A slight murmur echoed around the room with sounds of pity, but no answer was put forth.

“Then We declare this colt abandoned. Would anypony know somepony worthy of caring for him?”

“I do,” Luna answered. Silence fell over the room for her next words. Commoners and nobles alike were eager to hear whom Luna deemed trustworthy.

“I nominate Celestia, Princess of Equestria.”

Twilight’s ears rang in the silence. She was sure the crowd had actually stopped breathing. Confusion was riddled on every face. The commoners' expressions were a mix of warm smiles and idle amusement, while the nobles were colored with a tinge more shock. Clover would soon become a major cog in many families' plans. The one that added him to their ranks would get a boost for generations. She knew the pressure well. It would be something she would help him cope with in the coming years.

The next words out of her mouth already felt unnatural, and she hadn’t even spoken them yet.

“Celestia, Princess of Equestria, please stand before the ponies gathered here today.”

Stepping before the crowd, Celestia bowed to Twilight.

Part of Twilight wanted to laugh, and part of her was horrified at the role reversal, but she held her composure and continued the ancient script. “Is there anypony here that would object to Clover being taken into this home, family, and community?”

Silence again took the room.

Twilight took a breath to speak again, breaking the eerie silence. “It is the duty of all to protect our young, but the ones we take into our home, we must also take into our hearts. Will you give Clover a warm home, for both body and heart?”

Celestia looked to Clover. “I will.”

“Then the Crown hereby grants you provisional stewardship of this colt. If your stewardship is undisputed at the end of one year’s time, you will be completely and lawfully recognized as his mother.”

Celestia reached out a wing, and pulled Clover from Green’s custody to hers. She met his eyes with a proud, compassionate look on her face, which Clover returned with one of confusion, but also a steady calmness.

“Thank you,” she said, giving Twilight a little bow; she loved the little fluster it gave her—it would be a long time before that got old. “I will treat him as if he were my own.”

With Clover at her side, Celestia made her way to the door. The crowd parted, letting her and Luna leave the room without a word. As soon as the door closed, all eyes fell upon Princess Twilight.

Twilight couldn’t help but let out a nervous giggle. Picking up the ledger for the day, she only now realized that she was the only scheduled princess for the rest of today’s court. “Spike, would you come here and be my secretary for the day?”

Spike jumped to attention. “Sure thing, Princess Twilight,” he said with a crooked smile.

- - -

“Do you believe she will be alright?” Luna asked, looking back at the closed doors to the courtroom.

Celestia let herself laugh for a moment. “It will be good for her.”

“It has been a while since we have had a day off together to relax. I understand that Clover likes to swim; perhaps we should go to the hot springs?”

“That is a wonderful idea, sister,” Celestia said. “First, I would like to do a little window shopping. I am curious to see what catches Clover’s eye.”

Luna perked up as an idea sprang to mind. “It is early in the day. We could probably go to Otto’s store without too much commotion.”

“Mr. Otto’s toy bazaar? I cannot say I have ever been in there.”

“He is very nice,” Luna said with a smile. “I stop in to play with the foals every now and then.”

Celestia laughed, the image of Luna letting herself be chased around by a dozen foals filling her mind’s eye. “Then let’s go visit Mr. Otto. We can stop and get lunch at Bread Bowl’s afterwards.”

Celestia followed her sister through the palace, and into the city streets. She offered to let Clover ride on her back, but he seemed intent on exploring the shop windows as they passed. It was good to see him moving about with the curiosity and energy one would expect from a healthily-adjusted foal.

Turning off the main road, they made their way down one of the smaller arteries of the shopping district. Celestia found herself ogling the storefronts as much as Clover. It had been decades since she had walked this particular street. It was a rare time indeed that she did her own shopping anymore. With Luna back, and Twilight around to help, she was going to have to start doing more things herself. She needed to be a good example for Clover, anyway. Privilege should not mean laziness; quite the opposite, actually.

“We are here,” Luna said, snapping Celestia from her thoughts.

Turning about, she found her sister standing in front of a colorful building. A little wider than most on the street and two stories tall, the shop looked like it was made of blocks and discarded toys. Looking down, she was curious to see Clover’s reaction, but he wasn’t beside her. Panic stabbed at her as she spun to look for him, and she cursed herself for not having paid attention to where he was going for the last few minutes.

Thankfully she found him before she could truly work up a panic. His own laughter drew her attention to him as he looked in the window of the building behind them. Beautiful and Delicious - flowers and fruit was the shop’s name.

So that’s where those come from, Celestia thought, walking over to Clover. She had received several of their arrangements in the past few years. They were exactly as their name implied, made entirely of savory flowers and sweet fruit. Though she’d usually pick a few choice bits from them, then give the rest to the staff.

“What has struck him so funny?” Luna asked from behind her.

“I do not know.”

Stepping next to Clover, she looked into the display window, but saw only their typical offerings advertised. Still chuckling to himself, he looked up at her, and pointed to the window while chattering in his strange gibberish. Celestia could only shake her head in confusion at the colt, who sobered up at realizing she wasn’t understanding him. Clover paused, obviously mulling over his available vocabulary in his head, only to eventually shrug in resignation.

Celestia smiled, and gave him a nuzzle of reassurance. “Diction will get you talking soon.”

Clover seemed a bit embarrassed at the affection, but didn’t shrink away from it. He stayed closer to her heels, as they crossed the road. The playful building seemed to intimidate him, and it was only with reluctance, and a little encouragement from Celestia, that he entered the store.

Luna was already inside when her sister and Clover walked in. She smiled, anticipating their reactions to the place.

“Wow…” Celestia’s eyes went wide as she scanned the single massive room. Clover chirped a similar sound just behind her.

“Otto is in the back, I am sure he would like to meet you,” Luna said with a smile. “It is normally quite busy in here, but we are a bit early in the day.

Celestia nodded dumbly, her eyes scanning the pegasus toys hung from the high ceiling. One corner of the place seemed to be a shrine to stuffed toys: some were even bigger than her. A little voice from the filly she was long ago wanted badly to take the giant stuffed bunny home.

Looking to Clover, she watched him trot over and examine some unicorn toys. He had a dry, clinical expression as he paced around the displays.

“Where does all this come from?”

Luna used a wing to point towards the far back of the store. “Most of it is made here. Otto employs several crafts-ponies as resident artisans.”

“Greetings!” boomed a thick voice.

Celestia and Clover both startled at the sudden presence of the hulking minotaur. Celestia recovered from the startle in a breath, while Clover dashed beneath her, using her legs as cover from the massive horned biped.

“Apologies.” Otto bowed to the two alicorns with a quick, but polite, motion. “I did not mean to scare the little one.” Taking a knee, he brought his own eyes level with Clover’s.

The minotaur's bravado melted away in a breath, leaving the most harmless of creatures in its place. The smile on his face was contagious beyond words. Celestia found herself mirroring the expression reflexively. Looking down, she could see Clover’s worried scowl cracking.

“Mmm…” Otto mused to himself. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a tin whistle. Striking a very serious look, he took a breath and put the whistle to his lips. The tune that came out was silly, but the exaggerated motions of the minotaur were enough to make all three of the ponies snicker. A few seconds later, he concluded the ditty by offering the flute to the colt hiding behind Celestia’s legs.

Clover looked first to Celestia, then to Luna. After they both had given him nods of assurance, he stepped forward, and took the whistle in his magic. Celestia winced, expecting disaster, but Clover floated the toy instrument to his lips as if it were a practiced skill. All three adults watched in eager silence as Clover used breath and magic to form an off-tune melody.

“I will never know how you see into children like that,” Luna said, taking a step closer to Otto. Her voice and movement shook Clover from his focus. The realization of what he was doing seemed to shock him, as his magic flickered and died, letting the tin whistle drop to the floor.

Celestia smiled as Clover let out a nervous laugh, looking up from the flute to her. She tilted her head to check for the appearance of a cutie mark, and was a bit surprised to not find one. Levitating the tin flute into a pocket on his jacket, Celestia gave him a quick kiss between the ears.

“You have a unique talent, Mr. Otto,” Celestia said, giving him a respectful nod. “Could I impose a tour of your store from you? And I insist on paying you for the flute.” Celestia hated it when shop owners gave her things.

“Of course, my princesses!” the minotaur said, beaming a smile as he stood back up. “Please follow me.”

Leading the way through the maze of toys, Otto told them about his history, and how his shop came to be. He would pause mid sentence to pull a toy down, and show it to them at least once every aisle. In one breath, Otto would go from a proud minotaur bull, to an excitable child—eager to share a new discovery with friends or parents.

Celestia was surprised to see that dolls that pee were still popular among little fillies. She hadn’t understood them when she first saw them, and she still didn’t get the allure. A small section dedicated to griffons held strange toys. Among them were weapons made of rubber. Picking up a sword, Otto hit his own leg with it, showing that it could do no real harm, and explaining that beating the snot out of each other with such things was considered good fun among even adult griffons. Luna was apparently familiar with the toys, as she wasted no time in brandishing a spear and lunging at Otto with it; who parried and countered rather gracefully. Celestia had the distinct impression that this wasn’t the first time they had done this. Their impromptu sparring looked a bit choreographed, and more like a dance than a fight.

All the while, Clover watched them with the air of a tourist in a museum.

“He’s a quiet one,” Otto commented, catching his breath after Luna had won the fight by tagging him in the ribs with her spear.

Luna nodded, then gave Clover a playful nudge towards a display of scooters. “He does not speak Equestrian.”

Otto watched the colt trot back into Celestia’s shadow. He didn’t seem very comfortable being out of her wingspan. “Griffon?” he asked, leading on to where the older filly and colt’s toys were.

“We do not know what it is he speaks.” Celestia answered, watching Clover look around. She had an oddly considered look on her face.

“Hmm…” Otto studied Clover as they meandered their way back to the workshops. He didn’t think the alicorns noticed it, but the colt’s pace changed just a bit as they entered the educational section. He had tagged him as a musical pony by his gait, now he had to figure out what this new posture meant. Leaning forward, searching, braving to get just a bit further from his guardians. He was talking to himself, too. The cadence felt familiar, but the sounds were strange.

Rearing on his hind legs, Clover stopped his search to look at a visible pony anatomy model. They were far from a favorite toy. Otto had stopped selling them more than once, but for some reason parents expected to find it in this aisle. Clover seemed to be one of the few foals genuinely intrigued by the anatomical model: almost always a sure sign for a medicine-related mark.

Celestia watched Otto. Clover had him wrapped in his mystery. The way Otto’s ears had perked when Clover spoke had given her hope. She knew enough Minoan to know that it was not what Clover spoke, but Otto’s accent told her he had grown up far from here. Just maybe he had heard Clover’s language before.

Otto began grumbling something she couldn’t quite follow. A quick look to Luna got her the answer.

“He’s making small talk, asking about the toy, how he likes the snow,” Luna said.

Clover gave the minotaur a baffled look. Then chanted something back to him. The bull and the colt repeated sounds at each other for a few minutes. When Otto shifted into something Luna couldn’t translate, Celestia was hard pressed to not get her hopes up.

Finally after a pregnant pause, the two sighed in unison. Clover let himself drop back down to all fours, and Otto rubbed his face. “We share some words… prefixes, really. I tried Satyr and Cerynitis, too. Those had a bit more in common, but we cannot understand each other.”

Celestia wanted to stomp her hoof in frustration. “Thank you for trying.” She truly meant it, too. There were clues here. The Artiodactyla lands were mostly unknown to ponies. Perhaps Clover had stowed away on an airship? The docks were not far from where they had found him.

Giving Otto a bow of thanks, she walked over to see what new thing had captured Clover’s interest.