- - - day2 pt1- - -
A presence woke Celestia. The sun was not yet ready to rise, but it would have woken her up soon anyway. Lifting her head, she looked across the dark room. In the doorway, Luna stood, watching with that eerie serenity of hers.
Luna’s voice softly broke the morning silence. “Please be careful with your heart.”
Celestia smiled. “I will,” she whispered. She started to shift her weight to stand, but the foal wrapped around her foreleg stopped her: he was out cold. Slowly, carefully, she pulled herself free of his clutch, and floated a blanket over him before sitting up.
“I do not wish to see you heart broken.” Luna sat next to the futon, and watched the colt sleep. “Perhaps today we will find out where he came from.”
Running a hoof over his mane, Celestia sighed. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
“What are your intentions for the foal?” Luna asked.
Celestia walked in silence to the balcony doors. Motioning for Luna to follow, she eased the great doors open. Stepping out onto the balcony, Celestia looked over the dusky city. “I miss having a foal around.”
Luna snorted.
“What? I was never that bad,” Celestia said, defending herself from Luna’s laughter.
Looking her sister in the eye, Luna suppressed her chuckles. “You invented the ward to keep ponies, not five years past puberty’s start, out of rooms.”
“That spell keeps foals safe from wandering into dangerous places.”
“You put it on the front door.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Princess Platinum’s foals were a bunch of little shits.”
Luna laughed again. “They were not that bad. How you convinced them the spell was a curse, and that you could not undo it, I will never know.”
The old memory brought a snicker to Celestia. “I blamed it on Discord.”
“Do not let him know that, he would think 'twas funny.” Luna watched her night bleed from the city. When the familiar tingle of dawn nagged at her mind, she laid the moon to rest. She took a certain pride in the long nights of winter, but the cold sunrises always made her ache for the summer. “I can watch him for a while today. Perfect Diction owes me a favor. I shall call it in; to have him tutor the foal in the afternoons.”
Looking to her sister, Celestia raised an eyebrow. “What did you do to get him in your debt?”
“I have been teaching him Old Houyhnhnm.”
“Ahh, that would do it.”
Clover’s voice yelled out from the great room. It was a muffled, pitiful sort of sound, that made them look back into the room with curiosity, but little urgency. His cheeks streaked with tears, Clover sat mumbling to himself. He jumped at Celestia’s approach, not seeming to recognize her.
Curling into a ball, he closed his eyes and whimpered.
Celestia's eyes misted over as the approached the foal. “This is how they found him,” she said lying down next to Clover, letting her wing cover him completely. “What could have done this?” she asked, looking up to Luna.
The foal beneath her sister’s wing went quiet. He wiggled under the cover, until he was pressed against her as tight as he could. “I do not know; but he seems to find comfort in you.”
A clacking of pans in the kitchen drew Luna’s attention. “Merry is up. I will make us coffee.”
Humming a light tune, Celestia let the foal calm for a few minutes, before shifting her wing to reveal his head. Clover gave her a sheepish smile. He looked… embarrassed and defeated.
“It’s okay,” she cooed, pulling him into a wing hug. He stiffened at the affection, but after mumbling something, relaxed into it. She thought he had gone back to sleep, when his nose twitched. Perking his head up, he sniffed the air.
Following his lead, Celestia took in a breath. ‘Coffee.’
Clover wiggled free of her embrace, and stumbled to the floor. She watched him follow his nose towards the kitchen. His gait was better than the day before, but still looked awkward.
When the last drops of coffee fall into the carafe, Luna floated up the pot, and filled three mugs. Taking the mugs to the table, the clack of little hooves drew her attention. Clover half stumbled, half walked towards her. His entranced expression clashed with the tear-soaked fur on his cheeks. Setting by the counter, he looked from her to the coffee machine, and back. Raising his forelegs, he motioned as if he was holding a cup between his hooves.
Luna pointed to the carafe. “You want coffee?”
Clambering up on the booster stool, Clover rested his elbows on the table, and again mimicked a cup between his hooves.
Looking to Celestia as she came into the room, Luna shrugged. “He wants coffee,” she said, pouring a fourth cup.
Celestia watched as Luna slid the mug in front of him. All but sticking his muzzle into the cup, he breathed in the steam. An honest smile creased his lips. Normally she’d object to giving coffee to a foal, but she held silent. Luna hovered the cream and sugar by for him, but he held up a hoof, seeming to ask for a moment.
Carefully, slowly, he pressed a hoof the either side of the mug; working the tip of his hoof into the handle. With zen-like focus he lifted the mug to his lips, blew, then took a tiny sip. Setting the coffee back down, he held still for a moment. Finally nodding in approval, he waved away the floating cream and sugar.
Setting the cream and sugar by Celestia’s seat, Luna chuckled. “I am impressed. He knows not to ruin good coffee.”
Celestia smirked. "Little traitor,” she said, doctoring her coffee till it was the creamy sweet treat she loved so much.
This fic is unbelievably adorable, and at the same time has places and places to go. Clover behaving so much older than he is raises one of my eyebrows.
I don't normally fave a story right away ever since the bookshelves were implemented - normally it goes to 'Tracking' - but yours really deserves it. Please, write more of this if you can.
Hadn't had a chance to read it over again yet, between working retail during the holidays and getting ready for my brother-in-law to visit, but I'll be sure to catch up as soon as I get the time.
This is perfect. Now I remember why I follow you, you wonderful writer.
Adorable story...
I think I want more!!
“Princess Platinum’s foals were a bunch of little $#!ts.”
"Little Traitor."
Those two things just made me laugh tonight. You just never know whether little children can be a bunch of spoiled brats.
Tee hee. This was cute~
More please!!
5407058
More on the way! Expect updates every other day for a while.
I'm aww-ed, both because i'm really curious about Clover's background, and because i love reading mommy-lestia. It's such a change from tyannic/psychotic/other. And it's so cute. I don't see people writing enough momlestia :c
i really like this story hope to read more soon
5407470 then Check out my Flare of The Twilight
5409821 Real classy, advertising your work on someone else's story.
5410375 i was answering a question thank you very much. If people did it on my i don't mind. This story has my interest and i won't take anything away from it.
5410414 Just because you like/don't like something doesn't mean that other people automatically like/don't like it.
5410427 it is for them to decide. I answered a question as simple as that. you are the one making an issue out of it.
5410481
Where in here do you see a question mark? He simply made a statement saying that he liked this type of stories. You saw a cheap opportunity to whore your less popular work on a more popular author's story. Knighty recently made a nifty little feature called the Similar Stories box that's under the author's name, story count, blog post count, and follower count box so that people wouldn't have to resort to doing things like this.
I never said I wasn't making an issue out of it.
5410511 the fact you keep pointing it up yes. notice I haven't seen this stories author complain. just you. so just drop the issue.
5410529 He hasn't been online for nearly two hours at the time of this comment though. How can he say something if he's not here?
5410531 when he gets on he can.
5410653
Fixed.
Good catch sir.
5409821 Will do :)
Awesome story. Can't wait to read more about what happened to little clover
Hmmm. Abandoned changeling, maybe?
I'm just waiting for the Human Tag, this is looking like one. If it is I'm off this story.
5407102 Yes!! I can't wait
5406011 my gosh, that would nearly kill me with d'awws! Do it anyway though
5412888 Ditto! I really want that to be a development.
5412142 This is what I'm, well, hoping, to be honest, as I haven't seen a story like that before, but I'm under the impression that it's a human.
Until further notice, this is the best line in the story.
how the hell do you pronounce that!?
furthermore, what the hell is it!?
I'm going to be real disappointed if this turns out to be an adult 'you know what' stuck in a foal's body.
But until then, I'm loving this.
5416254 Apparently, it is pronounced "Whinim" and is a reference to Gulliver's Travels.
My dear Clover,
Smart colt.
~ARTL
5416792
This is strangely my first instinct upon seeing this. I mean that fits too well.
1. Language that Celestia, the diarch who has been around for over a thousand years and probably talked with uncountable number of diplomats from various countries with possibly their own unique languages.
2. Adult behavior mixed with very young behaviors
3. Lacking the ability to do the basic things a foal would learn as Celestia pointed out.
I think the author will keep the mystery and not reveal that but that seems like the only logical answer tbh.
5413890 Most likely. And, based on the reaction to waking up, one who has only been ponyfied for a single day. Presumably the guards found him almost immediately after his appearance. This narrows down the potential backstory a lot.
Of course, it could be a non-quadruped intelligent being, like a minotaur or seapony, who got zapped into a pony shape. That'd be an unexpected twist. I'd imagine Celestia and Luna would both speak or at least recognize/understand Minotaur language, though.
5409821 No thanks I'll pass on that offer.
Yup the kid is definitely human in the body of a pony.
Hehehe. I Re-read all chapters pretty much once every day and even a week later this still makes me chuckle.
Kid likes his coffee black. I love him already.
5436276 Black coffee is honest coffee.
The first time I had coffee I got sick but the second time I dident care and third I liked it
5416792
I'll let you fellows know that I know a girl who would read books and drink coffee sans nada at the age of seven
Bets on a child still around.
Now that's a reference I haven't seen in, like, ever.
That was really the original HIE fanfic.
5416254
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houyhnhnm
5940753 gosh darn it, the 'Old Houyhnhnm' part was what I was gonna ask about! why does every one think alike?
The more I see of this kid, the more I wonder if this is a HIE story. No hint about it in the tags. But then that might be considered a spoiler.
I like him though. He likes his coffee the same way I do.
Something about Celestia cussing is just so great
Hmm...
Loves coffe, only takes it black...
It must be LEROY JETHRO GIBBS
6338599 lol. Yup
6338599 lol. Yup