Gathering Pieces

by Random_User

Discussions and Permissions

Freight led Care, Cobalt, and Stone into the kitchen. “Before you sit down, Cobalt, get some of the gems you and Care fed.”

Cobalt nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

Starless stated with mock seriousness, “He seems nervous.”

“You’re intimidating,” Care said. “You and Mercy beat the stuffing out of Stone, so he fears you on that level too.”

“Mercy was the one that drew blood. Stone and I just rough housed with each other.” Windless’ ears fell a little. “The pup was right, though. I am getting old. If Stone pushed it, I doubt I could win against him.”

Care gave Starless a hug. “You will never have to.”

He hugged Care back and whispered in her ear, “Have you completed your mission?”

“The information I have gathered has been promising, but have not progressed as far as I would have liked in achieving my objective.”

Starless drew back from Care. “What kind of answer is that?”

“You didn’t want a sandwich did you?” Freight asked Starless.

“I’ll confess, I wanted a status update on a mission Care was undertaking.” Starless booped his daughter’s nose with a hoof. “So far, I am not overwhelmed by her response.”

Freight gave her husband an unamused look. “What kind of mission are you talking about?”

Cobalt came back into the kitchen and placed a pouch on the table. “What did he do to deserve that look?” he asked Freight. “That’s the same one you give to Windless, when he’s up to something.”

“Like Father like son,” Freight said. “I don’t know what he’s done, which is worrying me a little.”

Starless pointed to Care and Cobalt. “You two, opposite side of the table, sit.” While Care and Cobalt took their seats, Starless gave Freight a small bow. “Would you like to help me with the debriefing of our daughter and the subsequent interrogation of Cobalt?”

Freight sighed. “You’re up to something again.”

“Life would be dull if I didn’t spring things like this every now and then.”

Starless took Freight’s hoof, guided her to the table, helped her with her seat, and then sat beside her.

“How concerned should we be?” Cobalt whispered to care.

“Very concerned,” Care responded.

Starless looked at Care. “I would like a clearer answer than what you gave me, dear daughter of mine. Did you find the intelligence you needed?”

“I did. The pony of interest keeps the original bat pony plushie of me over his bed and nuzzles it often.”

“A good sign of what you were looking for.”

“To confuse the issue, he does the same for Windless’ plushie, but does not nuzzle it.”

Starless snorted a laugh. “Has he shown any other special treatment to you?”

“He allowed me to help him with the feeding of magic to his rockmoss, but he did the same with Windless so I am not sure if it counts.”

“Any physical displays of affection from the pony of interest?”

“He has given me hugs and held me as we slept together for two nights.”

Starless made a show of scrutinizing Cobalt, who swallowed and gave Starless a sheepish look.

Care giggled and added, “Windless was in the room both nights, and drooled on Cobalt in his sleep during the first.”

“During the pony pile I assume,” Starless said.

Care nodded. “The second night, I had him to myself, on the den floor, while Windless slept on the couch.”

“Have you two reached an agreement, since the signs are favorable, as you were hoping?”

“The pony of interest and I have reached a mutual understanding of sorts.”

Cobalt’s eyes widened and turned to look at Care.

“I think I see where this is going now,” Freight said, with a smile.

Starless smirked, but did not respond to Freight. “That concludes the debriefing. Now for the interrogation.” He turned to Cobalt. “I have learned that you have been taking my foals into the basement of this house.”

“I have,” Cobalt croaked.

“What did you and my daughter do in the basement?”

“We shared magic, sir.”

“Is that a euphemism of some sort?”

Cobalt blushed. “No, sir. We fed rockmoss our magic so it could grow gems.”

Starless looked to the pouch. “I assume that there are some of the gems in the bag.”

Cobalt gave a nod, opened the pouch, and poured the gems on the table. “They formed much faster than usual and are much higher quality than the ones I get working alone.”

Starless picked one of the purple gems up and smiled. “This is her favorite color.” He glanced back down at the gems. “I take it the green ones are from you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the others?”

“The gems are random in color, most of the time. I think our magic influenced the number of green and purple gems.”

“What happened with the gems you fed with Windless?”

“It’s early to tell, but they seem to be forming fast thanks to the amount of magic the three of us poured into it.”

Starless gave Cobalt a quizzical look. “Three of you?”

“Care was the one that got everything to work. She connected Windless and me so I could direct the magic.”

“So your connection to Care is stronger than with Windless?”

“Are magics are more compatible,” Cobalt said with caution.

Starless grunted. “That was a polite but pitiful answer. Let’s try another question. When you slept with our foals, who held who?”

“I held Care the first night. She held me the second.”

“That clarifies one thing.” Starless grinned. “I’ll admit, hearing some of the things Care and Freight have said, I thought you might be interested in both my foals.”

“Starless!” Freight gave her husband a teasing shove. She looked towards Cobalt and studied him. “You are interested in Care, right?”

“I am.”

Freight asked Care, “What was that you said about coming to a ‘mutual understanding?”

“We talked about what we felt for each other.”

“Now you’re giving pitiful answers. This won’t do.” Starless leaned towards Freight and whispered something in her ear. Freight nodded and left the kitchen. “Since you are both being difficult, we must use more advanced techniques.”

Care’s ear flicked. “Dad, this is going a little far.” She glanced at Cobalt, then back to her father. “We don’t need to bring anypony else into this.”

“Your mother and I disagree.”

Starless turned his head. A moment later, Mosaic stepped into the kitchen. “Thank you for taking care of everypony,” he told her.

Mosaic smiled. “It’s been fun. The house hasn’t been this lively in a while.”

“If you want things to stay so lively, Freight and I talked about what happened the other night and I agree with the arrangement.”

Mosaic tilted her head. “What arrangement?”

“A herd. I would hate for you two to be pulled apart after spending a night together.” He waggled his eyebrows. “We also agreed that she has to share.”

“Dad!” Care put a hoof to her face. “Behave!”

Mosaic laughed. “How about I make you two even? I only hugged her, so let me hug you.”

Starless accepted Mosaic’s offered hug and acted wounded, “So, no herding?”

“You’re both wonderful ponies, but,” she bopped his nose with a hoof, “no herding.”

Starless gave a theatrical sigh. “It’s for the best. Freight is all the mare I can handle. It would make things awkward for our children, considering what’s developed between them, if we formed a herd.”

Mosaic’s eyes lit up. She turned to Care and Cobalt.

A deep chuckle came from the doorway. “Dare I ask what drama unfolding here?” Field leaned against the kitchen’s door frame and crossed his forelegs over his chest.

“My daughter and husband are up to something, but I’m not sure what.” Freight moved past Field and returned to her seat beside Starless.

Starless explained: “Care came to me with some concerns she had about moving here and with one pony in particular. After hearing her concerns, I put her on a mission and promised her I would help if needed. She is being less that forthcoming about the outcome of her mission, and I would like assistance in pulling the information from her.”

Mosaic sat at the end of the table close to Care and Freight. “What was the mission?”

Care’s ears pinned back, and she looked towards Starless.

“When faced with something you’re worried about, confront it head on,” Starless encouraged.

Care nodded to Starless and then answered Mosaic, “I was to determine if Cobalt was interested in me as more than a friend.”

Mosaic gave a light snort of a laugh and then composed herself. “What did you find out?”

“That he does.”

“No surprise here.” Mosaic put a hoof on Care’s shoulder. “Was that was you wanted?”

Care smiled and nodded.

“What do you feel for my daughter?” Freight asked Cobalt.

“I love her,” Cobalt said with conviction.

Field laughed. “You never have lacked for boldness.”

“You love her?” Starless asked, with one ear cocked and a raised eyebrow. “You two have been friends since you were small, but what kind of connection could you have formed with her considering the distance between you?”

Cobalt swallowed. “Her letters have helped me through some of the roughest parts of my life. I’ve opened myself up to her in ways I have for no pony else.”

“Including your parents?”

“Especially my parents,” Cobalt said, which gained him a look from Field and Mosaic. “There are things I have talked about with her and shared in our letters I haven’t even talked with Stone and Puca about. I think her being away strengthened our bond, in a way. We connected on the emotional and mental levels without being close. Being apart also is what made each time we met and we able to spend time together so special and made her letters to me even more important.”

“That’s she’s cute as a button has nothing to do with it,” Field joked.

“I’ll admit that’s a plus.” Cobalt grinned at Care. “Her greetings have always been great too. The first time I got a full wing hug from her and the second time she tackled me. It’s kind of hard not to think about a filly after she does things like that to you.”

Care sighed and dropped her head. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Cobalt looked back to Starless. “I’m sure I have habits that will annoy her, and vise-verse, but as long as talk to each other and remain friends, I know we can work through things.”

“I have a question for you, Care,” Field said. “Why did you want to know whether Cobalt was interested in you as more than a friend before you got here?”

Care’s ears pinned back and she looked to the table.

“Tell him.” Starless said. “Tell them why. They should know.”

Cobalt leaned until his side touched Care’s. “If you’re not comfortable talking about it, you don’t have to answer. I’m sure Dad will understand.”

Care smiled and leaned into him. “I need to do this.” She raised her head and bumped his chin with her nose. “I’d like you to know what what going through my head too.” She turned to address Field. “I wanted to know so I could determine what the best way would be to make him my special somepony, if I had any chance.”

Field laughed as Cobalt stared at Care with his mouth hanging open.

Freight closed her eyes and rubbed her temple with a hoof. “I take it my advice of letting things play out at their own pace was a little too slow.”

Care gave Freight an impish smile. “I followed your advice, and we became special ponies. I asked Dad to help me with a back up strategy, in case I needed it.”

Mosaic rested her forelegs on the table. “Do I want to know what the back up strategy was?”

“It wasn’t anything sinister,” Care assured. “I would learn as much about Cobalt as I could from you, Field, Stone, Puca, and anyone else I could get information from. I would find what interests he and I shared in common and then get myself involved in those activities. I knew I couldn’t force him to have affection for me, but I wanted to provide as much opportunity for that to happen while doing something we both enjoyed.”

“You came prepared,” Field said.

“Your brother and mother talked to us about you thinking we would see you two as having foal’s crush for each other the other night,” Mosaic said. “What did you plan to do if Field and I didn’t approve of you two trying to become a couple?”

“I would work to show you it was more than a crush but not quite love yet and that I wanted to see if we could make a deeper bond.” Care paused and one of her ears fell. “I don’t have your official approval yet, though.”

Every eye turned towards Mosaic.

Mosaic glanced around at the others. “What?”

“They’re waiting for your response,” Field said.

Mosaic smirked and narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Wait a second; you’re supposed to be with me on this!”

Field moved and sat beside Mosaic. He hugged her to his side with a foreleg and nuzzled the top of her head. “Since you were the one she singled out I thought I would let you respond, but I guess I’ll go first.” He looked to Care. “It’s fine with me. I hope you know what you’re getting into. He wanders off on adventures from time to time.”

Care patted Cobalt’s shoulder. “I’ll do my best to help him.”

“You two have my approval,” Starless said, raising his hoof. He slumped and sighed. “Though, I am disappointed that I won’t be able to see you put our full plans into action.”

“That’s two of four,” Field said. He turned to Mosaic. “Your vote?”

“What was your backup plan, if Cobalt showed no interest in you?” Mosaic said, weighing Care with her eyes.

“I would remain friends with him and even see if he could help me find someone he trusted to have a relationship with.” Care gave Mosaic a sad smile. “If they were good friends with him, and had his approval, that I thought was as good as I would get in a partner other than him.”

“You’re putting him on a pedestal.” Mosaic leaned back. “I don’t know if I like that.”

“Mom-” Cobalt started.

Mosaic cut him off. “I don’t want you two to hurt each other.”

“I don’t know if I like the sound of it either,” Freight said.

“I’m not putting him on a pedestal, I’m valuing him for who he is. He puts himself into danger to help others, has brought a wonderful group of friends together, prodded Puca and Stone to get together, and has helped Labra and Pyrite live as normal a life as possible.” Care paused, seemed to decide something, and confessed, “To tell the truth, one reason I was worried that he wouldn’t be interested in me is that I felt inadequate compared to the heroes, mentors, and princesses he interacts with all the time.”

“What are you talking about? You’re my hero.” Cobalt touched his nose to Care’s, when she turned to him. “You got me get through the darkest parts of my recovery because you understood me and reached me. You gave me the hope and strength I needed to get back on my hooves and not give up on the thing I loved just because it had painful parts.”

Care smiled, keeping her nose against his. “I’m glad I could help.”

Cobalt looked to Freight. “If you’re worried she’s putting me on a pedestal, I’ve done more than that with her. I put her on my shelf. Every time I needed help, I wrote to Care. I lay on my bed and held Care’s plushie while I cried when thing got to be too much, like she told me to in her letters. She saved me and she wasn’t even here.”

Mosaic nodded to Freight in affirmation. “When I would check on him, I found him holding that doll against his chest several times.”

Cobalt returned to leaning against Care. “She will always be my friend and I will always love her, even if she decides I’m not the stallion for her.”

A smile came to Freight’s face, cracking her serious facade. “You’re both so sure.”

“Look at the gems we fed.” Cobalt slid a gem towards Freight. “This was our first time working together, and this is what we could do. We couldn’t have done this if there wasn’t a connection between us.”

Freight made raised her hoof. “Fine, you’ve convinced me. You two can give it a shot.”

Every eye turned to Mosaic again. She smiled and nodded. “You have my vote, but I have conditions. First, you two are to focus on getting through school and keeping up your training.”

“We can do that,” Care said. “The contest between the three of us on our grades is about to start back up, and we still have to beat Windless.”

“Second, there are to be no ‘deliveries’ soon.” Mosaic met Cobalt’s eye, and he blushed crimson. “As cute and wonderful as having a miniature combination of you two would be, having three little ones around for the next little bit will be wild enough.”

“I think it’s best we limit their shows of affection to short hugs, quick kisses, and limited nuzzles,” Freight said.

“Sounds like you can’t go pouncing Cobalt in public, Care,” Starless said.

Freight waved a dismissive hoof at Starless’ words. “No, she still can. Pouncing falls under the category of hugs.”

Starless grinned as he looked at Stone. “You seem to want to say something. Do you not like being pounced?”

“When she or the pups do it, it’s great.”

“So that’s what you were wanting to protest.”

“I would like to plead for one more activity we can do.”

Mosaic crossed her forelegs over her chest and asked, “That being?”

“Snuggling together or in pony piles.”

“Pony piles, I think we can agree on,” Field said through his efforts not to laugh. “It would break the pups’ hearts if we kept you two from getting in piles with them. I’m not too sure about snuggling. It leads to ‘deliveries,’ if you’re not careful.”

Freight looked over at him. “Speaking from the position of experience I take it.”

Field grinned. “Snuggling prompted the events that led up to both Stone and Cobalt.”

“What if someone supervises our snuggling?” Care offered.

“That seems like it would be awkward for you and the suprervisor,” Freight said.

Starless’ mouth showed a slight smile as Cobalt’s ears fell. “Why is snuggling with her so important to you?”

“He’s always loved to hug and snuggled,” Freight said. “This seems to have more weight to it.”

“Since we got back from Hound’s Run, I’ve had trouble sleeping. Unless I’m in a pony pile or holding Care’s plushie, I have horrible nightmares about what happened. The last couple of nights I’ve slept the best I have in a long time.”

“You think it was because of Care?” Starless asked.

Cobalt nodded. “The first night, I thought it was because Care and Windless were in a pile with me. After the second night, when it was her and me on the floor, I realized what was going on.”

Care looked up at him as if waiting for his words.

“Instead of me holding a substitute, she was there. With my head on her chest, I could hear her breathing and her wings around me made feel loved and safe.”

Starless raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re not asking to snuggle with her, you’re asking to sleep with her.”

Cobalt shook his head. “I want to hold her when we mix magic. Earth pony magic is channeled and enhanced through direct contact.” He gestured toward the gems. “This is what we can do without either of us touching each other. I’m sure that if I hold her, or she holds me, we can do so much more.”

“That was a poor way of phrasing that last bit, considering the whole of the situation you’re in,” Field said chuckling.

“I won’t lie; holding her would not be for magical purposes alone,” Cobalt said, “but I wasn’t planning on taking things any further than that.”

“You may not be.” Freight looked towards Care. “My daughter comes from a long line of stallion pouncers, and if she does to you what I did to Starless you won’t have a chance.”

Starless glanced towards Freight. “So you’re the one who taught her to pounce like that. I thought the form looked familiar.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Freight said, feigning ignorance. “It comes naturally to the mare’s in my family.”

“I know some of the tricks you used on me had to be taught. You’ve passed them down to our daughter haven’t you?”

Freight grinned. “I had to keep the tradition going.”

Starless shook his head. “Cobalt, she’s right, you wouldn’t have a chance.”

A knock on the front door drew everypony’s attention.

“That would be my summons, if I had to bet,” Starless said. “We must put on hold this discussion about who you two get to hold.”

“Dad, that was horrible.”

“I’ve got it,” Field announced so all could hear.

“I’ve never been through an inspection without being in armor or formal uniform. This will be interesting.”

“Mend is nothing but meticulous in her inspections," Freight warned him. "She gave me one the other day, and she checked things on me I didn’t even know I had.”

“Good evening everypony,” Edge greeted them as he stepped into the kitchen. He paused and looked at the gems on the table then raised his eyes to Cobalt and Care. He moved closer to the table. “May I?”

“Sure,” Cobalt said.

Edge picked up a small selection of the gems and studied them. “You two fed these?”

Care nodded. “We did.”

“Was this your first time sharing magic?”

Care nodded again.

“You two better be ready,” he told Care and Cobalt. “When certain parties see these, things will get interesting.”

“Edge, brace yourself!” Bonsmara called from the den. “You have incoming!”

Edge grinned and turned towards the door. “I’m ready!” As soon as he sat down, Labra and Pyrite raced into the kitchen and gave him an enthusiastic hug. “There are my pups.”

Labra nuzzled into him. “Uncle Edge, we missed you!”

“I’m glad to see you too.” He picked them both up. “Have you two been getting into trouble?”

“No sir,” Pyrite said.

Edge shook his head. “We must fix that. I’ll see what kind of trouble we can come up with soon.” He bumped his nose to each of theirs. “Tonight, however, we will need to be on our best behavior.”

The pups’ ears perked up.

“Why Uncle Edge?” Pyrite asked.

“Because we have been summoned to Princess Twilight’s castle.” He nodded towards Starless. “I have orders to escort him to the castle, along with everyone else that was here.”

“Did Mister Bat do something wrong?” Pyrite asked.

Edge chuckled. “Mister Bat did nothing wrong. Mend wanted to give him a physical and magical inspection.” He gave Labra a light nuzzle. “I felt you tense up. No, he’s not sick. She wants to know more about him.”

Edge looked up from the pups and smiled, as a figure stopped into the doorway. “Well now, how did you get mixed up in all of this, Scootaloo?”

“I ran into Miss Freight, Care, and, Stone, and Windless while they were at lunch. I wanted to see them again, so Miss Freight invited me over to visit.”

Edge made a show of looking towards Care, Stone, and Freight and then turning back to Scootaloo. “You were ‘visiting’ with only one, from what I can tell. Is there something we should know about?”

Scootaloo blinked. “What?”

“They moved into the kitchen to talk about things, and we stayed in the den.” Windless appeared and stood beside Scootaloo. “She watched me draw Labra and asked me about the kinds of training I did.”

“Gain any useful tidbits you could use?” Edge asked Scootaloo.

“A couple, but I’m not sure how well they will work with me.” She extended a wing. “Our wings are so different I don’t know if I’ll be able to mimic everything he described.”

“You’re welcome to come with us,” Edge told her. “I’m sure Twilight would be glad to see you.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “I’ve got a feeling I would be the fifth wheel on the cart. Besides, I’m supposed to be meeting up with Featherweight and the girls for dinner soon.”

“Miss Scootaloo?” Labra said, her ears down.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to say I’m sorry again, for thinking you were trying to steal Windless.”

Scootaloo smiled and held her hooves out. “Come here.”

Edge put Labra down, and she went to Scootaloo with her tail tucked.

Scootaloo hugged Labra and touched her nose to the pup’s nose. “I told you, no hard feelings. I don’t have them for you, so you shouldn’t have them for yourself.”

Labra tucked her head and put it against Scootaloo. “Thank you.”

Scootaloo rubbed Labra’s back with a hoof. “Besides, you’re too cute for him to leave you for me.”

“He’s supposed to leave me. We’re practice special somedoggy and somepony. I thought you might take him before we could even send letters like Cobalt and Care did and got upset.”

“Don’t worry; I won't steal him. He’s nice, but he’s no Featherweight.”

“I’m standing right here,” Windless reminded her.

“You better give this little guy a hug too, before you go.” Edge put Pyrite down. “He’s getting wiggly for one.”

“Come here.” As soon as he dashed to her, Scootaloo gave Pyrite a hug. “I’ll be there to pick you up the day after tomorrow. Same time as usual.”

Pyrite nodded and his tail wagged into a blur.

“What’s got you so happy?” Freight said.

Not letting go of Scootaloo, Pyrite turned his head towards Freight. “Scootaloo trains with Rainbow Dash in the afternoons. Scootaloo takes me, lets me watch, and lets me fly with her.”

“I can’t leave out my number one fan can I?” Scootaloo scratched Pyrite’s ear, and he leaned into the contact.

“Pyrite, you need to let her go,” Mosaic said. “If you need more cuddles, come here.”

Pyrite gave Scootaloo a parting squeeze and then went to Mosaic.

Mosaic scooped Pyrite up and nuzzled him. “You’re more than welcome here any time,” she said to Scootaloo.

“Thanks.” Scootaloo looked towards the gems on the table then towards Care and Cobalt. “You guys negotiating marriage terms or something? I didn’t know ponies outside the Crystal Empire still that.”

Cobalt stammered, as Care explained, “These are the gems that formed after we shared magic and gave it to the rockmoss he’s growing in the basement.”

Scootaloo grinned at Care. “Looks like you two ‘shared’ pretty well. From how flustered he is, I can tell there’s something else going on.”

“We were establishing ground rules for their courtship,” Starless said.

“That’s great!” Scootaloo grimaced. “I hate to bring it up, Cobalt, but have you told Diamond yet?”

“I haven’t had the chance,” Cobalt said.

“Be ready for water works, when you do. Then again, knowing her, she'll play it off and double her efforts.” She pointed a hoof towards Cobalt and told Care: “If he gives you any trouble, come see me. Between me and the girls we’ll set him straight.”

“I don’t think there will be a problem,” Care said.

As Scootaloo turned to go she paused smiled at Windless. “Thanks for inviting me. It was cool, getting to see you draw. Thanks for the training tips too.”

Windless gave her a bow. “You’re more than welcome.”

She examined the tufts on Windless’ ears, which were at her eye level. “Labra, do you mind if try one thing?”

Labra tilted her head. “What?”

“Are the tufts on his ears as soft as I think they are?”

Labra smiled and nodded. “If he’ll let you, try them!”

“Sure, go ahead.” Windless held still as Scootaloo ran a hoof over the tufts of his ears. “Are they up to your expectations?”

“They are soft.” Scootaloo ran her hoof over one of Windless’ ear tufts again and again.

“That’s enough!” Labra protested. “He’s blushing!”

“Sorry. It’s kinda addictive.” She booped Labra’s nose. “Thanks for sharing him with me this afternoon.”

“You’re welcome.” Labra scooted over to Windless and leaned against his side.

“Good night, everypony and thanks again,” Scootaloo said as she left them.

“What did you think of our future Wonderbolt?” Edged asked Windless.

“She’s nice.” Windless tucked Labra to his side and touched his nose to hers when she looked up at him. “She’s no Labra, though.”

Labra grinned and rubbed one of his ear tufts with a paw and hugged him around the neck.