My Little Fortress: Dawnpick

by Paaaad

49: Pen-father

Virtue is sitting quietly at the well, watching her two children play in the grass as she tries to enjoy a moment outside and away from her paperwork. Rose giggles as she chases an insect of some sort of another, while Valor prefers to stay near his mom and simply watch. As long as they didn't go anywhere near the well itself, she was content to just let them be foals and enjoy themselves.

Glyph walks over to Virtue chewing his lip. He hadn't really talked with her since the trade depot incident, and this was a big thing he was asking... Her foals playing nearby helped make his mind up though, and he stepped forward. "U-umm... baroness? I.. I had an idea that I wanted to share with you... hope I'm not interrupting anything..."

Virtue looks up from her playing children when Glyph addresses her. She gives him a warm smile and shakes her head. "No, you're not interrupting anything." She watches Rose to make sure she was still in sight and nowhere near the well before adding, " What's on your mind?"

"W-well... It's and idea from my old village." He looks over at Rose, smiling faintly. "Back home... none of the foals had parents... well none but the most lucky or important. Instead they all just lived in stables all together..." He shakes his head, snapping himself out of his remembrance. "N-not that I'm saying that we should take foals away from their families... that's not right... but.. I was thinking we could make one of our own, just to take care of the foals while their parents are working, or busy..."
Glyph cocks his head, trying to think his words through. "I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this well baroness... Mainly I just thought about captain Naginata, her foals would even come with her to training... I was always worried they'd get hurt... and it can be useful..."

She listens carefully as he speaks, cringing a bit mentally as he refers to her as baroness again. That still didn't feel right... "Glyph... there's no need for the formalities, I'm still the same pony I've always been."
She smiles to try and ease the atmosphere. "But I think that's a good idea actually. Now that I have two foals of my own I can see how much of a hoof full they can be." Valor huddles up next to her and makes a small noise, and she lays a hoof on him. "And I worry a lot about Naginata and her family. I've seen her foals watching the training too... and I'm concerned one day one of them might follow her into a fight..."
Her grip tightens a bit around Valor, who smiles and settles in next to her. "If Marbles can't look after them all of the time, somewhere she could leave them where somepony can... that sounds like a very good idea. I wonder who might could look after them though?"

He relaxes a little, she seemed to like the idea at least... now about the rest... "W-well b-... Virtue... I was thinking... I could? I don't have much to do when I'm off duty, so I would be happy to be the pen-father..." Glyph chews his lip a bit, thinking. "And... and I think Kat might enjoy it too... maybe some of the others..."

Glyph? He wasn't a father, but from what she knew, she couldn't think of any reason why it couldn't be him. She nods slowly, raising her free hoof to her chin. "Well, I don't see why not. If you think Kat would be up for helping out, she seems like a nice mare, so I don't see anything wrong with her helping."
Her eyes track to the various ponies milling around the various workshops. "I think it's a good idea, but I'd like to see what everypony else thinks about it too. And we'll have to think about where to set all of this up. I suppose we'd need a new building, maybe not too large though... we have... twenty or so foals I think? And you wouldn't need to watch but a few at a time I think..."

"Yeah we definitely would need a new building, but even without I could look after a few at a time easy enough." He looks over the grounds smiling softly. "Thanks for at least thinking about it though... and if you ever need anypony to look after your foals, I would be more than happy to. I... I hope the others agree..."

She looks down and smiles at Valor briefly before returning her eyes to Glyph. "Thank you for volunteering. I'd trust you to look after Rose and Valor if I ever needed it, and I'm sure Naginata at least would say the same." She looks over to the dining hall. "I think perhaps tonight I'll ask around a bit and see what everypony else thinks. We can probably get something started getting set up out behind the main housing area... I'll have to think about that for a bit..."

"T-thank you for that..." Glyph's heart swells at that, that both her and Naginata would trust him with their foals... that was the best complement they could give. "I suppose I'll let you think then... I think I have a patrol soon.... but thank you for listening."