Of Hooves and History

by Ahmad J Charles

Regrouping

Haven took much longer than anticipated. By the time we had completed our final layout sketch and conducted five rehearsals, she had still not returned. And Zipp was getting restless – unlike her sister, who was rather pouty after I firmly declined to pick her up and cuddle on a livestream.

“Trust me, I know the power these arms and hands possess. If the Pippsqueaks see this act of love, everypony will want one. And they will stop at nothing to gain it, let alone ask for another and another. It will an impossible game of fairness.”

Pipp let out a long sigh, but her face brightened shortly. “At least it will be something special between the two of us.”

Sitting upright in the armchair, I side-eyed Zipp. “Come sit on me.”

“What… are you saying?” she interrogated, narrowing her eyes.

I bit back a giggle and tapped my thighs. Zipp trudged up to me and placed her forehooves on my legs. Reducing the cheekiness in my smile, I leaned forward without warning and gripped her shoulders, pulling her up onto my lap.

“Is big strong Zippy being tsundy-wundy?” Pipp teased, pressing her lips as I fired a sideways eyeshot.

“I believe we’ve known each other well enough,” I whispered softly, caressing her tapering quiff and passing smooth strokes over her back. Boy, was she fit compared to her sister! Underneath the soft, fine-packed white fuzz lay a set of solidly built muscle blocks. Somehow that made the affection experience even better. “This is fine, is it not?”

Zipp let out a thin exhalation as her defiant blushing barrier finally crumbled. “Yeah. It is fine.”

Her lips parted into a sliver of a content smile, and I playfully pulled her tight against my chest, resulting in a subtle giggle of comforted bliss. I heaved her up to my chest with all my might and gently pressed her head to my shoulder. From the corner of my eye, it looked like Izzy was on the verge of tears. Likely, she’d realized what I was attempting to do – give both sisters equal affectionate treatment.

After exactly four seconds, I eased out of the close hug, and just as I expected, Zipp gripped me firmly back, her fuzzy chin tickling my collarbone as she turned to look up into my eyes.

“Please hold and cuddle me.”

“Aw, Zipp,” I cooed, rubbing her neck and gently scratching behind her ears. Lo and behold, the same soft purr that Izzy made was emitted. I coaxed the base of her left wing, and she instinctively unfolded it. Softly pressing the leading edge between my finger and thumb, I ran it along the wing’s length. To my astonishment, Zipp curled her wingtip primary feathers around and cradled my forearm, playfully tickling the underside as she did so.

“You’re cooler than I originally thought,” she said, pressing a forehoof against my pec. “I know I’m not one for touchy affection, but, um…”

“He broke you, sis,” Pipp interrupted flatly, and Sunny held a hoof to her sniggering mouth. “Just admit it.”

Zipp’s eyes sloshed around. “Ok yeah.”

I gently stroked her chin and gave more ear scritches, before working to a gradual massage on her shoulder and rear wing muscles. Her face became nothing short of euphoric.

“Oh yes, that’s the spot… little more… please, up… yes! Awww, nice…”

And straight out of an anime, the door knocked and I auto-responded with approval. Haven walked in with two guards, and her face switched out like a light, from concern and urgency to awkwardly flustered. For all she could assume from her perspective and my physical posture, it might as well have looked like Zipp and I had just finished making out.

“It’s okay, Mom!” Pipp exclaimed quickly in a haphazard attempt to diffuse the tension in the air. “Zipp was just getting a nice massage.”

“Feel better, Z?” I asked endearingly, trying to play it cool.

“Comforted, relieved, and eased. Thank you.”

“Anytime. And feel free to use your wings in conversation with me. They look and feel amazing.”

Now the blush made a subtle comeback. “I sure will.”

Zipp slid off my lap and we all gathered around to listen to Haven’s important update.

“Hello everypony. My sincerest apologies for the extended wait, as there was a high concentration of vital questions and a few heated conversations with each attendee. Now I will spare the irrelevant details for a later discussion, and focus on the key points. First and foremost, six out of the eight total mining owners have agreed to extracting the rare minerals Aiden gave me. It will take roughly a week, but it can be done. As for the other two, they displayed a high level of suspicion and were adamant about not entrusting me with a share of their mining resources for the experiment.”

“Let me guess,” Zipp mused with a smirk. “One of them was Miss Ruby’s business partner.”

Haven smiled and nodded slowly. “Indeed. Blazor Maneoff. The unfortunate thing is that he has the only mine with one of the key elements. He did mention Phyllis Cloverleaf and how he was a loyal partner no matter what, in spite of a challenge I proposed to him regarding her criminal prosecution. The usual aggression bubbled up but I swept it aside like feathers in the wind. Pipp, please inform Hitch about this, as I would not put it past this bigshot to handle the situation on his own terms. I have already enacted an order to ban him from leaving the city, but he could easily just bribe an associate or something.”

Her eyes looked downcast, and for the first time I really felt bad for her – trying to manage troublesome elitists and mitigating the challenge of helping me return home safely. Almost instinctively, I put a hand on her shoulder and gave a deep look.

“I may not ever be the ruler of a city or a nation, but I know when a situation feels overwhelming due to the perceived dangers of people – er, ponies – that you know are beyond your control. You have been nothing but hospitable and welcoming as if I was one of your own family, but that should not be a reason to feel overburdened by royal responsibilities and governmental management. I request to speak with this guy.”

“No,” Haven replied firmly, and even in her stern gaze I could feel a motherly energy. “This has nothing to do with you. It’s between him and me. I mismanaged my cabinet about a decade ago and they dealt under the table with a few of my experimental projects. It was a wreck, and even after I cleaned things up, they still hold disdain and contention with me, especially since I started locating and targeting their unjust and unethical business dealings. Nowhere in the meeting did I bring up your name, Aiden. Let’s keep it that way. I…” Her face brightened a little. “I will run an audit and give him an irresistible offer. My end of the deal will simply be possession of the required element. He’s not the wisest businesspony when he’s mad. With all that said, how was your venture into the experiment lab?”

“We have a decent idea of how the spell will be cast,” Sunny replied brightly. “The next step is studying the historical document closely to work out the intricacies.”

“Perfect. That should be completed within the timeframe for mining. An arrest warrant has been issued for Miss Ruby, Sprout, and his mom, and their court case is due in a few months’ time. Not to worry, Aiden need not be present.”

“Well done,” I said with admiration. It felt honored to be this close to a leader who clearly had a full workload but still was fearless in taking an iron-hooved approach were deemed necessary and revealing only information deemed necessary. Overall, the situation felt like it was going all too easy. But two things still nagged the back of my brain; would Blazor pursue a manhunt? And where in Equestria was Sprout? Surely he would give up upon realizing his new scheme had crumbled? There was nothing to gain now.

Except… maybe a chance at changing his attitude towards the world around him. But that would require a little help.

“Haven, Your Majesty, do you happen to have any psychologists in Zephyr Heights?”

“Of course,” she responded immediately. “Why?”

“I was just thinking Sprout could benefit from a few sessions with one. He needs counselling as much as prosecution, in my humble opinion.”

Haven tilted her head and nodded slightly. “I will consider it in the case.”

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[StarzGecko]

Queen didn’t see nothing