• Published 28th Aug 2016
  • 8,035 Views, 233 Comments

Strange Gifts - Rocinante



Sometimes you're given what you wanted most, without ever knowing you wanted it.

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Questions

“Move the work, not your graver,” Gold said, nodding in approval to Lambert’s attempt at engraving a bit of brass.

I plucked at the stones in the tiara I’d just fixed, making sure everything was tight. When nothing moved, I stood from my bench. “How’s he doing?” I asked, dropping the tiara into the cleaner. The story of Lambert being a fairly talented wood carver had prompted Gold to sit him at the engraving station.

“Way better than you ever did,” Gold answered with a teasing grin.

“Obviously: he isn’t bleeding.” I swished the little crown around for a second, then rinsed it off.

“Huh?” Lambert paused to look back at me.

“I ran the graver into my thumb,” I said, giving the tiara one last inspection before setting it aside to dry.

Gold nodded. “Got blood everywhere. Refused to touch it after that.”

“Nope.” I walked back over to my bench and began to tidy up. “Gravers and me have an understanding. I only use them for stone-setting, and they don’t drink my blood.”

Lambert looked at the razor-sharp tool in his grip, seemingly confused.

“Oh hey, it’s time to go home. You ready, Lambert?”

Gold looked up at the clock, then back to me with a sly grin. “You, leaving work on time? I know your lawn doesn't need mowing again.”

“I need to return... something to Fluttershy.” He was right, of course. Part of me did want to nab up another stack of jobs and hide in the shop till I was sleepy, but going home sounded nicer today. “And besides, I read somewhere that eating at the same time every day was good for children.”

“That’s probably true,” Gold nodded, helping Lambert straighten up the engraving station.

“You’re welcome to join us, of course. About five?”

A smile stretched across Gold’s muzzle, but I pretended not to notice.

“Hmm...” Gold hummed, his smile fading to a false scowl. “Yeah. I think I could make it over.”

“Good. Bring cards. We’ll play after we eat.” I scruffed the old stallion’s mane, then motioned for Lambert to follow me.

Outside, we started making our way home in a comfortable silence. I used the quiet stroll as time to organise the next few days in my head. I’d have a big crowd for Sunday supper, I really needed to sit down and make a shopping list. Dinky was a bit of a picky eater, perhaps I should try that roasted barley recipe Derpy gave me.

I patted Lambert’s head as we neared the house. “I have to take that cage back to Fluttershy. Would you rather stay here, or come with me?”

“She’s another one of your friends?”

“More an acquaintance. A very close friend of Applejack’s though,” I answered, unlocking the front door.

Lambert followed me inside. “Acquaintance?”

“She’s a good pony, we just don’t have a lot to talk about, and I think I kinda rub her the wrong way. Plus I like horsing around with her boyfriend, and I don’t think she likes that.”

“What?” Lambert stared blankly at me. None of what I had said seemed to make any sense to him.

“Actually, you should probably stay home. Discord will scare you.”

Lambert puffed up in the most literal sense of the expression, his feathers sticking out to make him look twice his actual size. “I’ll be okay.”

I had to grin at the cocky bird. “He’s the god of chaos. He’s loud.”

“Bulk was loud, I got used to him,” Lambert said defensively.

“Okay,” I said, trying not to sound condescending. This was a bad idea, but if Lambert wanted to test himself, I wasn’t going to stop him. Stepping up onto the porch, I picked the collapsed cage up from where I’d left it. “Let’s go then. I’m sure Fluttershy would like to meet you.”

We made a lazy stroll of the walk, or so I thought. About halfway there, I got the nagging sense that Lambert was holding something back. I’d brushed it off as more bravado, but eventually I had to break the ice.

“You okay?” I asked, giving him a worried look.

Lambert’s wings rustled. I would have assumed it was from them being sore after yesterday's workout, but he also seemed uncomfortable looking my direction.

“Come on, what’s up? Don’t be scared to talk to me.” I said.

“Why’d you put that cage out?” he asked in a blurt.

And now I felt like an asshole.

I looked to the folded-up cage under my arm and sighed. “I thought an opossum or raccoon was getting in my trash. I was going to catch it and give it to Fluttershy. She finds homes for animals like that.”

“Oh...”

I moved a bit closer to rest a hand on Lambert’s head. “If I had known you were hungry like that—” No, that was blaming him. I wasn’t going to do that. “I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention. I’m just thankful I woke up.”

Lambert leaned into my touch. “It was scary.”

“I wish we could have met a better way, but I’m glad we met,” I said, looking down at him with a smile.

One of his wings extended, just enough to brush against my leg as we walked in comfortable silence. I was hoping to find Fluttershy out tending her crew, but instead I spotted Discord. I think he was trying to teach the bear to juggle, without his magic making him do it this time.

I tapped on Lambert’s wing, then gave him a wink. He was still holding a brave face, but a little reassurance wouldn’t hurt.

“Discord, does Fluttershy know you’re not in the kitchen?” I asked, looking back up.

“Har de har.” Hands on hips, he turned to face me. “Upgraded to verbal sparring too, I see.” With a snap, boxing gloves appeared on both our hands. Somewhere in the distance a bell rang, and the bear was wearing a striped shirt now.

I mirrored Discord’s grin as he squared up with me. “Maybe if you asked nice, she’d let you wear shoes too.”

Discord stepped in to jab at me, but he telegraphs all the way back from his tail. This time quite literally with morse code tapping out from the point of his tail.

Letting the cage fall to the ground, I countered the jab and followed it with a punch to the belly.

Discord wheezed and doubled over, hamming up the tap I’d given him. He staggered a bit away from us, then fell over. As he hit the ground, the bear threw a towel between us, before ringing the bell again.

“Is he okay?” Lambert asked.

Discord smiled, his theatrics forgotten as he popped back up: both our gloves faded to dust. “You must be the young griffon I’ve heard so much of.” He snapped his fingers, and the cage vanished in a flash. “Allow me to put that away. I’m being a dreadful host. Come inside for some tea.”

“You okay with that?” I asked Lambert. I couldn’t quite read his expression.

Lambert nodded. “He’s like that magic show we saw last year.”

I gave Lambert a smile, then looked back up to Discord. “Sure. Where is Fluttershy?” I asked as we walked towards the little cottage.

“She’ll be back shortly,” Discord answered, shrinking down to Lambert’s height as he walked past us.

Lambert slid close enough to touch me. “He gets way closer than Trixie did though.”

“He’s harmless,” I said, patting Lambert. “Fluttershy keeps his bal- teeth in a box by the bed.”

Discord gave me a dirty look that faltered into a grin. “You are in a mood today. Thunderlane help you finally break in that bed of yours?”

Lambert opened his beak to ask a question, but I closed it with two fingers. “No, and you win. Truce before I get stuck having, The Talk?”

I got a satisfied nod from Discord as he busied himself with tea. “You know, I could make things a bit similar between you and Lambert, if you wanted.”

The first rule of dealing with Discord is, don’t trust Discord. “How...” I asked.

“Umm,” Lambert hummed beside me. “Mary?”

Looking down, I found a very human boy standing next to me. A cute human boy wearing a pretty white sun dress.

“Discord, you’ve been reading way too many of Fluttershy’s comics.”

“Manega,” Discord corrected. As the teapot whistled, he busied himself with measuring out the tea leaves.

“Where’s my wings?” Lambert asked, frowning. Looking over his shoulder, he seemed far more concerned about the missing wings than his new form.

“How silly of me,” Discord said, snapping his fingers.

Snow white wings appeared on Lambert's back. “Pretty!” Lambert grinned ear to ear as he flexed the new wings, only to wince as he discovered he’d not escaped yesterday’s workout.

I stared for a moment, awed by the literal angel beside me. He was adorable, but he wasn’t Lambert. “Discord, turn him back to normal.”

“What really is normal?” Discord asked, pouring the boiling kettle into the teapot.

The room seemed to shift around me, and suddenly I found myself eye level with Lambert. The expression on his face was explanation enough; I didn’t need to look to know I was a griffon. I hadn't quite decided if I wanted to be mad, or have some fun with this, when the sound of the front door opening interrupted my thoughts.

“I’m home.” Fluttershy said from behind me.

A puff of smoke returned both Lambert and me to our natural forms as I turned to face the door.

“Fluttershy, Dear, Mary returned your cage, and brought her little griffon over to visit.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy walked into the kitchen with a confused expression, but it faded to a broad grin at seeing Lambert. “Aren’t you a cutie!” she said prancing forward.

Lambert sidestepped Fluttershy’s advance, using my legs as a barrier to preserve his personal space. “Umm... Thank you?”

“He’s a bit shy,” I said.

Fluttershy winced. “I’m sorry.”

It took a minute, but Lambert had warmed up to Fluttershy by the time Discord had tea served. As Fluttershy’s presence began to draw out the resident critters, Lambert became fascinated with hearing their stories and playing with any that were willing to come close enough.

Discord declared us all boring though, and rode off to who knows where, on a chicken.

“Hey, Fluttershy. Can I ask you something a little personal?” I asked as we watched Lambert roll around on the floor with a fox pup.

Fluttershy just answered with a nod. She seemed to enjoy watching Lambert play.

“Discord’s pretty different from a pony. How’s that work with your relationship?”

A blush creeped across Fluttershy’s muzzle. “Well... he’s very flexible.”

“No, no, no,” I said, waving off the mental image I didn’t want. “I meant in general. How do you share your life with someone so different? Thunderlane asked me out. I like him, but I just don’t know if we could build a life together.”

“Oh!” Fluttershy’s ears perked up. “It just happens,” she said with a shrug. “As long as you’re both happy, and willing to put effort into the relationship.”

“I guess that’s a universal rule.”

The fox pup having ran away, Lambert looked around for a new friend. “What about him?” he asked, trying to coax a little flying squirrel into coming close enough to pet.

“He fell out of the nest before he could glide,” Fluttershy said. “Got hurt pretty badly.”

“Aww...” Lambert cooed just as the little squirrel accepted his offer of petting.

Fluttershy and I giggled at the same time as the squirrel pressed into Lambert’s attention before deciding to run up his arm and perch on his head.

As Lambert played with the squirrel, Fluttershy’s expression turned oddly serious. “May I ask you something?” she said eventually.

“Sure,” I answered, not sure what was coming.

“What... do you think of being a mother?”

“I always wanted to be one.” I paused for a moment to consider my temporary role as surrogate. “Maybe in a couple years, I’ll be ready.”

“It scares the crap out of me.”

I blinked, not quite believing what I’d just heard. “Really? I mean... You’d be a great mother.”

“I get that a lot,” Fluttershy said with a sigh. “I started to think so too, but we... I was late last month. I thought I’d be happy, but I was terrified. I’ll be so glad when fall gets here, and I don’t have to think about heats for a few months.”

We watched in silence as Lambert and the squirrel played. Fluttershy’s thoughts seemed miles away.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said, breaking the gloom over Fluttershy.

“With what?” she asked.

“Not wanting foals.”

“But what if I regret not having them later?”

I shrugged. “It’s just something you’ll have to talk about with Discord.”

Lambert traipsed back over to us, the little squirrel happily riding between his wings. “Can I keep him?” he asked.

“Umm...” I looked to Fluttershy for an answer.

Fluttershy smiled. “Mary, what do you think?”

“I’m not opposed to it, but...”

“How about this,” Fluttershy said, talking as much to the squirrel as Lambert. “He’ll keep living with me for now, but you can come see him every day. After you’ve started school, we’ll talk about him coming to live with you. Sound good?”

All three of us nodded.

“We should probably get going though. I need to get dinner started.” I began to stand, but paused. “Hey Fluttershy, would you and Discord want to come over for dinner and cards tonight?”

Fluttershy seemed a bit surprised by the invitation, but nodded. “That sounds nice. Want me to bring anything?”

I grinned. “Get Discord to make that seven layer fruit dip of his.”