Pony Tales - Clover - Day 23

Clover nudged open the door of the office and stepped inside. Aria was sitting behind her desk, a pen in one hand and a stack of papers laid out in front of her. She didn't look up immediately when Clover came in, instead of speaking as she wrote something on a complicated-looking paper, "Back so soon. Here I expected you to be hours..." Aria chuckled and looked up, her eyes falling on Clover as the girl laid the various pieces of tack out on the desk.

She'd expected some sort of a good job or even a pat. But none came as Aria sat her gaze fixed on the tack. Her lips tightened and she blinked a few times. There was a rather long, awkward silence. Clover tilted her head slightly and then stomped twice and tilted her head again.

Aria seemed to snap out of the silent trance and spoke, "Sorry sorry, just a lot on my mind" She said simply. Climbing to her feet, her fingers running ever-so-tenderly over the intricate harness laid out on her desk as she walked around to stand in front of Clover. She leaned back against the desk and smiled softly, "First off. Thank you, for bringing the tack back here."

Clover beamed proudly.

"Don't get too excited. You've... grabbed the wrong tack. This particular set belongs to another pony. I don't blame you for getting it wrong, it would seem that you have the same tastes as this particular pony. Your tack is to the right of this one..." She was idly running her fingers over the slightly frayed edge of one of the hooves as she spoke, then suddenly turned her eyes on Clover, "You would do well in the future to make sure you grab the right items. Some ponies are quite particular about how their tack is kept."

Aria stood up straight and lovingly picked up each piece of tack in turn, hanging it delicately over Clover's shoulder, running her hands down the straps closing her eyes as she did. Finally, she pressed the hooves into her hands but unexpectedly she left the collar sat out on her desk, "Please carefully return this to where you found it. And bring your set back."

Clover stomped quickly and turned. Heading out the door and back towards the barn.

~How could I have grabbed the wrong tack? I'm such an idiot. Hopefully, Miss Aria isn't too upset.~ Thought Clover as she headed out the back door, she took a moment to look at the clearly well-worn set of tack. It really was similar to her own but as she looked more closely, she saw specific differences. Little things that she should have picked up on the first time. How could she have missed that? She huffed slightly and hurried towards the barn at a quick pace.

Back in Aria's office, she had leaned back in her chair, tracing her fingers over the faded but well-tended collar. The silver stitched name 'Twilight' sparkling delicately in the light filtering in through the window behind her. She ran her thumb over the name and closed her eyes reminiscing about a pony she used to know well.

"You know. I miss you old girl. Too long has it been since we curled up nice and safe in a stall, since we felt the soft ground press beneath our hooves. Yielding to our steps reminding us that we are truly alive, knowing that we can take on anything. " A small tear traced Aria's cheek as she sat there "I'm sorry, I let you down".

Clearly, the tack set had been hers, she thanked herself for not breaking down in front of Clover. This was a life she'd left behind a long time ago in order to make sure the place she loved kept going. She'd never admit it even to herself, but she missed her days in tack. Her own collar, something she use to feel wrong being without was so familiar and also a stranger like a distant friend.

"You've been gone so long." She spoke again, to her empty office. A cough escaping her lips, this was just masking the fact that she was sniffling slightly and wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief she quickly pulled out of one of her drawers.

Just outside the slightly ajar office door, Hayley was leaning against the wall just to the left, staring at the ground and her shoes. She could hear the pained words on Aria's lips and she knew that she was hurting. Perhaps she should have stopped Clover from taking the tack in, but in Hayley's mind, it was about time that Aria had a reminder of who she really was. Of the past, she so desperately craved and went to great lengths to keep at a distance.

Hayley heard shuffling footsteps in the office and leaned over, peeking in to see Aria staring out her bay window, watching Clover trot down the cement path towards the barn, nearly bowling into a fast-moving cart that was using the footpath as a practice run.

Aria never heard Hayley come inside nor pick up the collar from the side of the desk, she jumped a little at the sudden pressure in her left hand, the feeling of softened leather being pushed into it. Soft hands closing her fingers around the object. She knew it could only be Hayley. Hayley said nothing instead wrapping her own hand around Aria's and stepping up beside her. "She... doesn't have to be a stranger you know." Was all she chose to say, leaning into Aria's side. Not daring to look up at the woman's face, quite sure she was tear-streaked and not wanting it to be seen.

The pair of them stood there in silence, Aria eventually wrapped an arm around Hayley's shoulders and giving her a squeeze, "Make no mistake, I know what you did. Letting her come in here with my tack..."

Aria paused for a moment and whispered to her, "...thank you. You sweet girl." She gave Hayley another soft squeeze.

Noting that Aria hadn't let go of the collar in the slightest she breathed in deeply and said, "Why don't you keep that here for a little while. You two should never have been separated."

Aria nodded and rubbed Hayley's shoulder, "Go prepare the tack room. I imagine Clover will be along shortly after I lock her collar on."

Hayley stepped to the side and turned, offering a polite curtsy. Aria had always been a woman of few words, and not one to allow her emotions to take control. Seeing her as she was now, Hayley was glad she had made the decision to allow Clover into the office, "Yes Mistress Aria." She said simply, hurrying off out the door without another word leaving Aria to wipe gently at her eyes and cheeks. She didn't need Clover seeing her all teary-eyed. Nor anyone else for that matter.

Down in the barn, Clover slipped through the front door and into the tack room, pausing only to look down the main aisle. There were very few ponies left inside, she was surprised she hadn't seen more of them off the main path, but then they were likely in the auxiliary training fields behind the barn. She slipped into the tack room which was also surprisingly empty and moved over to the opposite wall to the slot she'd pulled the pieces of tack from.

There it was, staring her in the face. The nameplate reading 'Twilight' in polished gold and silver sitting above the hook. The plate she'd so blatantly missed in her haste and excitement. She wondered who Twilight had been. Clearly, the pony had great tastes, very similar to her own. She moved up to the spot. As she was carefully hanging each piece of tack in place she noticed a picture tucked under the edge of the nameplate. This was one of a bright young pony receiving a trophy from a trainer she didn't recognize.

...The pony however she did recognize even in her younger state. She stared at the picture for a long moment as it dawned on her. She noticed many similar features to the very woman she'd just presented the set of tack to. The same eyes and a smile that could light up a room showing around her bit as she accepted the trophy in the photo. A trophy that currently sat on a shelf above the tack alongside several others and many different coloured ribbons. A tiny smile pulled at the edges of Clover's mouth as she connected the dots.

How obvious it should have been.

~Aria was, no, is Twilight. Was this why she was so hopeful that I returned? Why she resonated so much with me in our emails?~

Clover glanced at her own tack, decorated in an almost identical way to Aria's, though with a slightly lighter shade of green. Turning back to regard the picture again, she looked it over curiously.

~She has so many tattoos...~

Clover blinked a few times wondering if this really was the same person. She realized that she'd never seen Aria's tattoos or even considered she might have any. She was always wearing longer-sleeved outfits. But from what she could make out in the picture, they were beautiful. Showing intricate linework and beautifully decorative designs. She couldn't make out what any of the designs were, but it certainly put Aria in a different light in her mind. The strict woman, who ran the stable, had once been a pony, it seems a very happy one. She had once stood where Clover did. She wondered if Aria had always been the owner of Tall Tails?

Clover shuffled back to Twilight's tack and quickly made sure it was hanging perfectly. A different respect for it and the woman behind it settling into her mind. She had to wonder if she'd ever get to see Aria in tack? Or if she even did so anymore.