Sleepy's Night

Tri set the mugs of hot chocolate onto the table and sat on his flank, leaned over his mug, inhaled, then sighed. “Oh, this is gonna be so good. Hurry with that topping, Silly,” Tri said, looking behind him at the stallion with his muzzle in the fridge and his tail swaying in excitement at the prospect of another day with his closest friend.

Silly yawned loudly inside the fridge, getting a chuckle from Tri. A few seconds later Silly Sleeper was beside Tri with a long rectangular plate with several topping on it and a microplane shaver. Tri looked between the plate and Silly Sleeper. “Huh, what’s all this?”

Silly Sleeper giggled. “I found a recipe in the library, with help from Spike the Dragon, and today I’m gonna share it with you.”

Tri raised an eyebrow, not complaining at all as Silly Sleeper got to work on Tri’s first. First some fresh sweetened chocolate from Sugarcube Corner was grated into Tri’s mug, followed by a large scoop of whipped cream that made Tri’s eyes widen. Next was a vanilla wafer standing tall in the whipped cream, followed by more shaved chocolate.

Tri’s mouth was filling with saliva as the treat grew into an actual confection before his eyes. Silly Sleeper added more whipped cream, a small bunch of mini marshmallows, then finally finished with a shaving of fresh nutmeg. Looking at his confection, Tri felt a tear forming in his left eye. “It… it’s beautiful,” Tri said in a shaky voice. “It’s the most amazing cup of hot chocolate I’ve ever seen in my whole life,” Tri sniffed and didn’t see Silly Sleeper’s beaming grin because two reddish brown forelegs were reaching two trembling hooves towards the mug.

Whimpering quietly, Tri brought the treat to his lips and had to tip the mug a little further than usual to get the actual drink through the thick whipped cream. When it touched his tongue, the combination of all the flavors danced across his palate and he stopped drinking to inhale the aroma.

“Wow…” was all Tri could eventually say. Tri looked at Silly Sleeper and nodded, gesturing for Silly Sleeper to make his own.

“No, that’s okay, this is my gift to you for being such a great friend. I will have some whipped cream though… and a little nutmeg,” Silly Sleeper said topping his own drink. The plate rested between them on the table while they sipped in the quiet room. “So, Tri, what’ve you been up to since I last saw you?”

Tri exhaled and looked over the wafer. “Well, it’s only been two days; so not too much.”

“Not too much, as in…?” Silly Sleeper asked nibbling a wafer he grabbed because he wanted to.

“Well, there was a request from the town hall for me to clean up the school house. It was pretty easy, darn foals can’t wipe their hooves though. I was a little upset when I found the seat of a filly that had a bunch of gum under it, and there was a colt that was drawing snails under his desk. How they get so dexterous is beyond me, because I don’t think every one of them is a unicorn, and pegasi foals don’t have wings large enough to get under chairs, plus gum doesn’t come out with a simple preening.”

Silly Sleeper nodded between sips and placed his mug down. “True, I have a friend, a pegasus mare, that got maple syrup on her wing and it took two pegasi and warm water to get it cleaned off before she preened her wings herself.”

“I know what you mean,” Tri nodded biting into the wafer in his drink and moaning quietly. “Sorry, this is the most amazing drink… made by the most amazing friend a pony could have.”

Silly Sleeper looked away and blushed a little in a cute way Tri liked to see. “Awe, thank you, Tri, that means a lot to me.”

“No problem… oh yeah, um… so, I was saying that pegasi have this gland in the back of their throats that make a special lubrication for their wings that they don’t like to talk about because it’s embarrassing to them since no other tribe has anything like it, right?”

“Yeah, the secret spit nopony talks about,” Silly Sleeper winked.

“Yeah, so I guess a foal would have to learn the hard way, but not for as much gum I find under those desks. That and little flowers and hearts that have initials like ‘DT’ slash ‘SL’ slash ‘SS’.”

“Ha, fillies still do that? I remember doing that, but in my notebook, and only a couple times. Most of the time I’d doodle my bed and pillows,” Silly Sleeper yawned, “and maybe a few ‘z’s’.”

Tri shook his head in humor. “Oh, Silly, what am I gonna do with you? You definitely live up to your name and mark.”

“Just appreciate my uniqueness,” Silly Sleeper shrugged.

Tri changed the topic. “So, how was work at the Q and S?”

Silly Sleeper looked at his drink in thought. “Quills and Sofa’s is doing great, to be honest. It’s not too busy during winter so I get to nap on couches when customers aren’t around, and the stationary stock just got filled up again. The desks aren’t selling, though. I mean, with a name like Quills and Sofa’s, a lot of out of town ponies and new residents don’t know we’re actually a furniture store that sells professional stationary, not just what the name implies.”

“I see… So, wanna play a game while we chat and catch up with the latest gossip?” Tri asked a little hopefully.

Silly Sleeper’s eyes widened and he nodded. “I was hoping you’d ask. I borrowed a game from a friend that I wanna try, I’ll get the board and pieces,” Silly Sleeper said eagerly and trotted happily past Tri, unintentionally brushing his tail across his friend’s barrel and drawing a deep refreshing inhale from Tri.

A rustling, a clatter followed by a muffled swear, and finally a nicker in triumph, Silly Sleeper returned to the table and used the box to push the plate aside, setting the box down. The game was set up and rules were scrutinized and discussed before the first roll of the dice were made. Tri smirked at Silly Sleeper when the max number came up.

“Wait, that can’t be right,” Silly Sleeper said and moved the rules card in front of himself and used his hoof to keep his place as he read line by line, twice. “Fine, double spaces and two bits on the side,” Silly Sleeper said indignantly.

Tri collected his play bits and moved them to place beside a score card. “Hey, don’t be so glum, Silly, it’s just luck of the dice, right?”

“More like luck of your cutie mark,” Silly Sleeper grumbled and held his hoof out for the dice. “Darn it,” he tapped his forehooves together loudly.

“What’s that mean?” Tri asked looking at the dice.

“The rules say I give you a bit and go two spaces, but I don’t have any bits yet,” Silly Sleeper said looking at the rules.

“Here, I can loan you one.” Tri offered.

“No, I have to take a loan from the bank and repay it with ten percent interest at the end,” Silly Sleeper replied, taking a blue bit from the bunch of differently colored bit piles. “Just started and I’m already at a loss.”

“Speaking of losses,” Tri chuckled and took his mug to his lips with a loud slurp, “did you know Princess Twilight apparently lost a book somewhere in town?”

Silly Sleeper gasped and looked out the window to the snowy day. “No way.”

“Yes! She was reading a book and got tackled by,” Tri looked around, then under the table, and then glared at the cupboards before leaning closer to Silly Sleeper and covering both sides of his mouth with his hooves. Silly Sleeper leaned closer to hear better. “The pink one.”

There was a quiet squeak from the sink that scared them both into sitting back and placing their forehooves in their laps, their eyes on the sink, fearful the pink premier party planner and pain in the plot pony of Ponyville would pop out of the sink and invite them to a party, just by the mention of her name.

As seconds passed, nothing else happened and they breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, that was terrifying,” Tri said.

“I… think it was the pipes settling. Pipes make that sound once a winter just when we mention a certain name, right?” Silly Sleeper asked, finally looking back at Tri and both shrugged.

“Well, the Princess was yanked to somewhere by you-know-who and later couldn’t find the book,” Tri finally finished and took his mug again.

“Maybe somepony came along and took it?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t risk fate and just play the game I’m gonna win?” Tri said with a wink that made Silly Sleeper frown.

“Maybe we’ll do that, and I’ll have to make another hot chocolate wafer supreme for myself and take forever to make your next one,” Silly Sleeper replied with a cocky smirk.

Tri gasped and held a forehoof to his chest. “No… you wouldn’t dare? Why, dear Celestia, would such a curse be brought upon me in my time of victory? A wafer… my mark for a wafer,” Tri set his mug down and fell backward onto the floor, raising a forehoof above the table line for Silly Sleeper to see in his dramatic moment. “Chocolate and nutmeg, in the light, I see them with marshmallows, calling to me.”

Tri exhaled loudly and let his foreleg fall to the floor with a thump.

Silly Sleeper sipped his own mug and placed it on the table. “Well, since you’re not gonna be around anymore, I guess I’ll have to finish your turn and roll with my luck,” he grabbed the dice and tossed them. They clattered and stopped while Tri was smiling on the floor, lying on his back, listening for the result. “Darn it!”

“Even in death, you can’t beat my luck, can you?” Tri said sitting up with his forelegs crossed over his chest. “I am blessed by the holy wafers and milk with steamed chocolates, thy powers hold nothing over me; oh Silly one.”

A purple play bit bonked Tri on his snout.