“You wanted to see me, sir?” Nervous, Tarnished Teapot sat down in a plain looking chair in the living room of the Pie family farmhouse. Beside him, in another chair, sat Igneous. Tarnish looked at the small wooden table that sat between them and saw a bottle of sarsaparilla identical to the one that Igneous was drinking.

“I wanted to talk with you,” Igneous said in a soft voice. “Have a drink. It’s ice cold.”

Swallowing, Tarnish sat in his chair, too nervous to drink anything. A part of him wondered when Igneous might start yelling. Or asking him to leave. Or when the unpleasantness might start.

“Tarnished Teapot, I have to do the most difficult thing a stallion ever has to do in his whole life.” Igneous paused and took a sip from his bottle. “I have to ask you to look after the happiness of one of my daughters and care for something that I hold dear.”

“Sir?” Tarnish sat forward in his chair, not understanding what was going on.

“I have to step away and let you take over a job that I have done for two decades. Two decades Tarnish, that’s a long time. It started off with changing her diapers, then it was watching her grow, helping her with her hobbies, making certain she got the education she deserved, but overall, the job was just keeping her happy.” Igneous’ eyes narrowed. “You will keep her happy, won’t you?”

Tarnish tried to speak, but all that came out was a squeak. He nodded.

“You need to relax. You’re not in trouble. Trust me, if I was angry, you’d know.” Igneous paused. “Though I must say, there is a part of me that is pretty peeved with the whole idea that you were touching my little girl. But she’s grown up now. And this… this is just part of the job of keeping her happy. Knowing when to let go. I’ve done a good job at this task so far, and I’m not about to screw this up now.” The older stallion took a drink from his bottle.

His mouth dry, Tarnish lifted up the bottle of sarsaparilla on the table and took a sip. The cold liquid felt good on his parched throat. He took another swallow and then looked over at Igneous.

“I do need to know something though,” Igneous said as he leveled his stern gaze upon Tarnish.

“And that is?” Tarnish’s ears pinned back in submission.

“Are you serious about this? Do you love her? If this turns out to be a fling and you break her heart, so help me, I will—”

“Sir, Maud is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You have no idea how scared I am about screwing this up. I uh, well, have, uh, wanted to be closer to Maud for a while now but I held off because I was so scared that I would make a mess of things or that you’d be angry with me and I don’t want you angry with me because what you say, what you feel, and your approval of me matters to me a whole lot and right now I am about to piss myself because I’m so scared of messing this up somehow.”

His eyes narrowing, Igneous nodded. “You have this thing about seeking fatherly approval, or so Marble said.”

Feeling uncomfortable, Tarnish squirmed a bit and nodded. “I suppose I do. I don’t know who my father is and my mother refused to tell me. It bothers me.”

“Don’t do that to Maud…” Igneous shook his head. “I mean it, if you get her fat with foal, get cold hooves, and decide to scram, I really will hunt you down and plant you in an unmarked shallow grave. I want you to think about how much this hurts you and then I want you to think about Maud and a little foal wanting to know where their daddy is.”

Trembling, Tarnish almost dropped his sarsaparilla. “Igneous, will you help me?”

“Help you with what, son?” Igneous replied.

“I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m scared I’m going to make a terrible mistake. I lay awake at night and I think about all of the ways I could mess up the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I am so scared and I don’t know how to deal with it. I don’t know how to do what is expected of me. My mother was never married and my father was never around.” Tarnish gulped in a deep breath. “I don’t know what it means to be a good mate. A good husband. Or a good father. I don’t have any examples… and Maud deserves the very best.”

His eyes locked on Tarnish, Igneous took a sip from his bottle.

“I’m young and I’m stupid, but I also know that this is one of those once in a lifetime chances. I can’t blow this. I can’t make a mess out of this. It means too much. Help me… please?”

With a slow nod of his head, Igneous spoke in a soft and gentle voice. “I’ll do whatever I can, not just for her sake, but also for yours.”

“Daddy, are you scaring poor Tarnish to death?” Maud, her mane sticking out in all directions, stood in the doorway and stared at her father. “Mama says you’ve talked enough and it is time for lunch.”

“I wasn’t scaring Tarnish to death… we just had a talk and came to an understanding, that’s all.” Igneous took another sip from his bottle and looked at his daughter.

“Uh-huh.” Maud’s ears perked forwards.

“Really, Maud, it’s okay. I was just asking your father for help,” Tarnish said.

Turning her head, Maud looked at Tarnish and then she looked once more at her father. “Hmm. I could have swore that I heard the words ‘unmarked shallow grave’ being said.”

“I have… I have nothing to say in my own defense,” Igneous replied.

Author's Notes:

Soon, we return to Ponyville.