Pony Tales - Clover - Day 15

Sitting in her office filling out some paperwork was Aria. A record player sat in the corner filling the room with the sounds of soft classical music as she worked. She often had some sort of older music going while she worked. It helped her focus. She circled a few things on the farm's expenses report. The dentist had to make her rounds soon so that was a hefty chunk out of the farm's budget, but other than that the farm was in a good financial state.

A soft knock on the door of her office had Aria looking up from her papers. She set her pen down and pressed a button on a remote, turning the music down low, "Come in." She called.

In through the door stepped Hayley, her hair a bit windswept from the slight breeze outside but otherwise she looked well-put-together as usual. She walked up to the desk, offering Aria a polite curtsy, "Good afternoon Mistress Aria."

Aria offered the trainer a sideways smile and a nod, "Good afternoon dear. Have a report for me?"

Hayley nodded and offered a small set of papers from under her arm to Aria before taking a seat across from her.

Taking the papers and flipping through them, Aria would nod in approval, "She's doing well then."

"More than well Mistress Aria. She's taking to everything like a fish in water. She's already running the slalom in sub 18 seconds. She's made a great impression on everyone and I could see her doing very well here." Hayley spoke enthusiastically as she leaned back in her chair.

Aria chuckled softly, "Why am I not surprised? I did tell you I had a really good feeling from that one when we spent two months emailing back and forth. She reminds me of..."

"...you?" Hayley finished for her with a teasing smile.

With a chuckle, Aria nodded, "Indeed. A younger me." She fingered a small circular package on the corner of her desk for a moment and then turned her piercing gaze upon Hayley who squirmed slightly under her gaze. But Aria said nothing. She just smiled.

"Honestly Mistress Aria, I'd be surprised if she decided to leave at the end of her trial. She's a pony, that much is obvious."

Aria tapped the circular package, "Oh. I know. That much was made obvious to me before we ever met. We shall see what happens at the end of her trial. For now, keep an eye on her and keep me informed on how she is doing. The cameras can only tell me so much, unfortunately. And I can only be in so many places at once..." She sighed.

Hayley noted the depth of Aria's sigh. She leaned forwards, looking at her with Hazel eyes, "You know Mistress Aria. This place could stand on its own feet for a few days if you ever want--"

Aria cut her off suddenly, "Don't you have somewhere to be Hayley?"

The brunette frowned a little and stood up, offering another curtsy, "Yes Mistress Aria. I'll get back to it." She turned, casting one final glance over her shoulder at Aria who was back filling out paperwork. Hayley frowned, Some people just didn't belong behind a desk.

Once Hayley had vacated the room Aria leaned back in her chair and sighed. She knew Hayley was only trying to help. Trying to make her feel better about the path she'd chosen. But her responsibility was to the farm now, not to how well she walked in her hooves or pulled a cart. She eyed the package on her desk, perhaps she could live vicariously through the next generation of pony.

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Back down in the barn, Daydream and Clover had finished their food and water, and after Daydream had spat water at her the pair of them were chasing each other around the stall, kicking up hay in the process with Clover huffing grumpily at Daydream as water ran down her face and chest. Clover narrowed her eyes and Daydream darted back and forth in the corner trying to avoid the mouthful of water Clover was trying to spit at her.

The crack of a whip quickly ended their games though. At the entrance to the stall stood Hayley holding her whip and raising an eyebrow, "You know. You can eat with each other, but I'd rather not have you kicking your bedding all over the place! The grooms have to clean that up you know. Now get over here you two." Hayley huffed slightly as the two ponies quit their chase and came to stand at the front of the stall obediently.

Hayley looked at Daydream for a moment and smiled, "You want to come to sit and watch today instead of hiding?" Daydream snorted and trotted past her, disappearing down a side corridor.

"That one can be so confusing sometimes." Hayley said with a sigh as she hooked a lead to Clover's bridle and led her out of the stall.

"Let's go get some training in before the storm rolls in."

Clover tilted her head. Storm? She looked at the few windows in the barn and did notice that it was a little darker than usual with the clouds that were rolling in. She looked skyward as they slipped out the man door and onto the path outside. There was some sort of storm rolling in. Dark clouds were rolling in on the horizon and there were distant rumbles in the sky. Clover wondered what ponies did on a stormy day? Did they just hang out in their stalls? She wrinkled her nose, that sounded boring.

It was a rather uneventful bit of training with Hayley, but only because they never got to it. As soon as they arrived at the sand slalom, it began to spit and then quickly evolved into rain. Hayley groaned loudly and huffs, "Ugh! Hasn't Mistress Aria learned to control the weather yet?" She asked with a grumble as she tugged Clover's lead back towards the barn, it would seem their day was to be cut rather short today, and to Clover that was a bit disappointing. How dare nature cut into her trial period!

As they got into the barn out of the rain, Hayley looked to Clover, "So, you've got more or less free time to do as you please for now. Typically the grooms and trainers try to get their paperwork done on rainy days. I'm no exception. So if you need anything from the blacksmith, tack Mistress, or even the vet. Now's the time to do so." She nodded and pushed her hands into her pockets, looking Clover up and down and winking, "It's a shame. You were really rocking it today Clover." She said with a soft smile before reaching out to pat the blonde pony on the head.

"Alright. Enjoy your free time! Stay out of trouble. If the weather breaks up, I'll come to find you. Oh! And don't wander off, we need to be able to find you come the end of the day."

Clover offered a polite curtsy before Hayley turned and hurried off into the barn as thunder outside made the building shake. Clover looked up at the roof for a long moment. She was a bit of a weird one, she loved thunderstorms. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with her time though as she looked down the main aisle of the barn, a few ponies milled about. Some sat in their stalls relaxing and others even pulled carts up and down the aisle. How they'd hitched themselves was a mystery.

Maybe she'd explore the rest of the barn.

Taking off at a simple trot, moving comfortably in her hooves she'd make her way down the main aisle, turning down a side corridor she hadn't been down yet. She was stopped abruptly though as none other than Daydream's head poked out of a nearby doorway. The redhead nickered at her and then looked up the ceiling as she tilted her head.

Clover tilted her head back at the other pony.

Looking around quickly, Daydream would motion for Clover to follow with her hand before disappearing into the dark doorway. Clover huffed slightly and trotted over, peeking inside to find a spiral staircase winding itself upwards, the sound of Daydreams horseshoes clanging on the metal staircase could be heard above her.

Clover didn't have much experience with staircases at this point but she was at least comfortable enough in her hooves to take a few steps upwards, stumbling on the first step and realizing how much higher she had to raise her hoof. Then she was off at a fairly steady pace, thankful for the guard railing that spiraled upwards with the stairs. It felt like she was climbing forever until she came to the top which ended in a small platform with a lonely door and an oddly placed human-sized cat bed to the side. She tilted her head as she looked at the door. Her training poked her in the back of her head, telling her not to open the door.

Luckily Daydream solved that problem for her, opening the door from the outside which led to the odd platform that ran between the two towers on top of the barn. It looked like some sort of viewing platform with a spot in the middle where a platform extended towards the front of the barn with a pair of chairs on it. It was like some sort of security platform.

Daydream offered her a bright smile as she stood out on the steel platform in the rain, she motioned for Clover to follow.

Clover wrinkled her nose a little bit at the idea of getting soaked in the rain on a steel platform, on the roof of a barn 20 feet up off the ground. But against her better judgment, she stepped outside and followed the soaked redhead to the viewing platform which had similar matting to their stalls on it. Trotting out right to the end of the platform where there were no guard rails, Daydream sat down, her hooves hanging over the edge and barely skimming the roof below. She motioned Clover over.

Clover walked tentatively to the edge. Daydream patted the spot next to her, reaching up and grabbing Clover to stead her as she eased herself down onto her knees first and then hung each of her hooves over the edge of the platform. Daydream quickly shuffled over and leaned into her, pointing into the distance at the distant clouds which lit up with lightning every so often, the rumbles of thunder washing over the pair of them a few seconds later.

She couldn't help but smile. The view was incredible and the body heat from Daydream made it at least comfortable sitting in the rain getting soaked. It was moments like these that would stick with her for a long.

Clover let out a long and content sigh and just stared into the distance with dark green eyes.