Cream Heart couldn’t stop prancing around the kitchen. She was just so excited, she couldn’t help it! A few days ago she had been asked via letter if she would be willing to be the foster mother for an unfortunate colt. Between her love of foals and her love of caring for others, there was no way she could possibly say no. She already had a son named Button Mash, but that by no means meant she didn’t have room in her heart for another. She loved being a mother! It was even part of her special talent, aptly depicted by her heart and baby bottle cutie mark.
Today was the day the colt was set to arrive, and she hadn’t been able to sit still all morning. In an effort to stem the tide of excitement, she decided to put that extra energy to use by baking some chocolate chip cookies for the new arrival. They would also serve as a snack for when Button got out of school.
When Cream Heart had told her son about the letter, he seemed more excited than she was. He had always wanted a sibling, and the news that he was getting one had caused him to start hopping around his room, going on and on about what video games he wanted to share with the new colt. His good mood had been infectious, and soon Cream found herself hopping around too.
She was brought out of her daydreaming by the sound of a timer going off. She stopped the ringing timer before carefully removing the baking sheet from the oven and setting it on the stove to cool. She took a step back to bask in the scent of freshly baked cookies. Her sweets weren’t on the same level of those sold at Sugarcube Corner, but they could hold their own in a baking competition. She would know, because they had. The ribbon in her room was conformation of that. Besides, the Cakes had Pinkie Pie baking for them, and that was tantamount to cheating. Cream giggled at her own silly thoughts.
There was a knock on the door a few minutes later. A glance at the clock confirmed that it was too early for Button to be home, so that could only mean one thing! She nearly squealed in excitement as she made her way to the door. When she opened it she found Derpy, the mailmare, standing outside with her head deep within her mail bag. Cream deflated slightly in disappointment, but quickly perked back up.
“Good morning Derpy,” she said with a smile.
Derpy jerked her head out of the bag, letters gripped between her lips. The wall eyed mare tried to greet Cream Heart back, but found it slightly difficult with mail in her mouth. Cream giggled at her botched attempt and held out her hoof. Derpy spat the mail into the outstretched limb and gave a goofy salute before turning and flying off to continue her route.
Cream Heart closed the door and started sorting through her mail. Bill. Bill. Bill. Junk. Oh, someone sent her a bill, how thoughtful! She laid the letters on the kitchen table to be taken care of later when another knock came at the door.
Cream made sure to school her excitement this time. She couldn’t wait to meet the colt, but she didn’t want to scare the poor thing. This time, when she opened the door, two ponies stood outside. One was a royal guard in shining golden armor. The other was a colt with an off white coat and cobalt blue mane and tail. He had deep, golden eyes with slit pupils and sported a pair of wings with some out of place feathers. Cream noticed that he looked... fluffy. That was the best way she could describe it. His fur looked soft, particularly on his chest, and his ears had little tufts of fur on the tips. He had a small set of saddlebags hanging off his back, presumably to hold any personal affects.
Cream nearly squealed in delight at the sight of the foal. He was absolutely adorable! She managed to forego the squeal, but her mouth still acted before her brain did.
"Oh my gosh! You are just the cutest little thing!" she said, barely restraining herself from reaching out and squeezing the stuffing out of him.
"Uh, thanks?" the colt said, unsure what to make of the mare in front of him. It was plain to see just how excited she was. James didn’t mind the excitement as long as she didn't try and get all touchy-feely. He had come to terms with the fact that he couldn't reasonably wear pants anymore a long time ago, but he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the casual nudity that ponies thought nothing of. Things like hugging just served as a reminder of that nudity and made him feel indecent as a result. He was keenly aware of how soft he looked to others, and the public affection ponies liked so much meant hugs from strangers thinking that he was cute were less rare than he would have liked.
The guard gave a deep chuckle at the mare's outburst before speaking to the colt.
“You’ve got a lively one this time, James.” He turned back to Cream. “I assume you’re miss Cream Heart?”
“I am,” the excited mare said.
“Alright, I’m Summer Spring and this is James,” he said while gesturing to the colt. “Do you mind if we come in?”
“Oh, not at all. Please do, I made cookies!”
Cream stepped to the side and allowed the pair to come in, noticing that the colt had a slight limp in his step, before closing the door behind them. She led them to the kitchen, where the scent of freshly baked sweets washed over the pair of newcomers. She had them take a seat at the dining room table while she, much to James's relief, used a spatula to prepare the cookies for her guests, leaving some to the side for her little Button. She set the plate in the center of the table before taking a seat herself. “Go ahead, they’re fresh. Take as many as you like.” She noticed that James was looking around the room, almost nervously. This was a new place for him after all, so it was only natural to feel nervous.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Spring said as he reached over and took a cookie. He took a bite before letting out an impressed whistle. “That is delicious! You should enter these in a baking contest.” Cream Heart beamed at the praise, silently relishing the irony of the guard's statement. “James, you gotta try one of these.”
“I’m good, thanks. Maybe later.”
“Come on, don’t be such a stick in the mud. And would you stop looking around all shifty eyed? You’re not gonna find what you’re looking for in a place like Ponyville.” Spring had been watching the colt closely and had noticed that he’d been scanning every room he had been in so far, no doubt looking for certain paraphernalia or iconography.
“My paranoia is completely justified,” James snapped.
“Maybe it is, but you’re still being rude to miss Cream Heart.” The colt looked back and forth between the two adults for a moment before sighing and taking a cookie from the plate. Strangely enough, he used his wing to take a cookie instead of his hoof or mouth. his feathers flexed around the sweet and picked it up. He brought it to his mouth and took a bite.
“These are very good, thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, sweetie. What were you looking for, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“He was looking for-“
“Nothing important,” the colt interrupted the guard, shooting him a glare. “If there’s nothing here, it’s not worth worrying over.” Cream wasn’t sure what to make of the strange interaction between the two, but she didn’t think it was her place to pry.
“Well,” Spring said. “Now that that’s out of the way, we should probably get down to business.” He snagged another cookie from the plate. “As you’ve probably already figured out, James is the foal you’ll be taking care of for the foreseeable future. Don’t worry, he only bites if you hug him."
Cream Heart giggled at that. "Oh? I'll have to keep that in mind."
James frowned slightly at the harmless teasing, but said nothing. He knew that saying anything would just prolong this line of conversation and probably end up with him getting hugged as part of the joke. As an afterthought, James decided that if Summer Spring did hug him, he would bite just to spite him. It wouldn't do much with the armor in the way, but it was the thought that counted.
“You should have already gotten all the necessary paperwork. All that’s left is for you to sign this document confirming that you accept the transfer of custody over James.” James quietly munched on his cookie as Cream Heart gave the document a once over and signed it with little fanfare. Spring took the document, rolled it up, and placed it back in the saddlebags from whence it came. “Welcome home, James,” He said as he took another cookie before standing up.
“That line means less and less every time I hear it, Spring.”
“Oh come on, don’t be such a sourpuss. Miss Cream Heart, can I speak with you in the other room for a moment?”
“Oh, of course.” She stood and they both made to leave the room.
“Have fun talking behind my back,” James said as they left.
“We will!” Spring shouted back. “Eat your cookies and be good while we’re gone.” The colt didn’t respond.
When they were far enough from the doorway to speak without being heard, Cream Heart turned to the guard. “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong, per se. I just wanted to warn you about some things before I leave." That didn't bode well. Cream's expression shifted to slight concern.
"Warn me? About James?"
"Yes, but don't overthink this stuff too much, alright? I'm not telling you much that James himself wouldn't tell you. He's surprisingly open about a lot of things it you just ask him. I'm only going to say these things because it might explain why he acts the way he does sometimes, and I don't want you to judge him too harshly for it. Oh, and don't tell my superiors about this. I could get in serious trouble. Scratch that, I will get in serious trouble."
"Oh, okay?" This certainly wasn't swaying her concern. "What did you need to tell me?"
"First, we should talk about the way he talks. He's respectful around new ponies, so this might not happen for a few days, but when he gets comfortable James likes to curse. You can scold him all you want for it, but there's no stopping it. Personally, I think it's funny, but I know not everypony has the same sense of humor I do. I know you already have a foal, so I thought you might want to know that."
"That might be a problem if Button starts talking like that, but it's nothing I can't take care of." Cream reassured.
"That's good to hear. Speaking of humor, his sense of humor can get a little... dark."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I once heard him make a joke about suicide." Cream gasped and held a hoof to her mouth. "Don't worry about that too much, though," Spring quickly tried to amend. "I've asked him multiple times about it, and he's assured me that it's nothing more than bad humor. He is very aware that it makes others uncomfortable, so it doesn't happen often. He does slip sometimes, so I wanted you to know so you aren't totally blindsided by it if it happens. We think it's a product of where he comes from."
"Where is he from?" Cream asked.
The guard sighed. "See, that's the thing. We aren't sure. From what I understand, he was living alone on the streets of Canterlot before the foster system got him. One of my guard friends was in the group that brought him in, though he hasn't said much on how they met. Apparently James was in a really bad way, and he was stealing food from a vendor to survive." Cream gasped again.
"Oh, that poor dear."
"Yeah, but back to where he's from. Like I said, we don't know for sure, but based on the things he says and does, we think he may have been part of a traveling group that was made up of multiple species. We can't do anything but speculate though."
"Have you asked James about it?"
"A few of us have, but while he is open about lots of things, he doesn't like talking about himself personally. He gets really vague when you ask personal questions. It's kinda hard to explain, so I suggest you ask him how old he is when you get a chance. You'll see what I mean." Cream filed that away for later.
"Okay," Spring continued. "Now that the smaller stuff is out of the way, I should mention something else. James is... a difficult case, if that wasn't already apparent. In fact, he's the most difficult case I've seen in my eight year career. This is not the first foster home he's been put in."
"How many homes has he been put in?"
Spring's mood soured a bit. "This will be his fourth. The other three all ended up not wanting to keep him for various reasons, but I'm not going to go into that. If you're really curious, you can ask James about it."
"Okay, do you know what he was looking for earlier?" she asked.
"Yes, but he seems adamant not to talk about it, so I won't say much else on the matter. He's done that at pretty much every building I've seen him walk into, and he's even done it at my house." Spring's mood seemed to pick back up. "Though, you don't have any of what he's looking for, so if this was a test, you passed with flying colors."
"Well, that's good... I suppose."
"Well, that's pretty much everything I can think of. Again, don't overthink what I've told you. Most of what I've said probably won't ever come up, except the cursing. I just thought you should know in case any of that did come up. I'll let you figure out the rest yourself."
"Thank you for telling me these things. I'll try to be considerate of how James feels."
"That's all I can ask of you," Spring said. "He's a bit skittish, but I quite enjoy his company, and I hope you do too."
Before anything else could be said between the two adults, the sound of James's voice from the kitchen cut them off.
"Spring, are you done poisoning the well yet?" he shouted.
"There's that dark humor I mentioned," spring whispered before speaking up. "Yes James, we're done talking."
"Good." A moment later, James came into the room, looking uncomfortable. Attached to his back, hugging the stuffing out of him, was the form of Cream Heart's son, Button Mash. He looked rather pleased to be hauled around by the slightly larger colt.
"Miss Cream Heart, I believe this is yours?"
Spring immediately busted out in laughter at the sight. Cream Heart gasped.
"Button, get off of him!"
"But mom, he's so soft!" the brown colt whined as he nuzzled deeper into James's fuzzy back.
"Button, get off of him this instant, or you're grounded!"
"Fine," Button said. He made his way off the bigger colt, and James seemed all too eager to put distance between them.
After a moment, Spring managed to get his mirth under control. "Wow James, I'm jealous. This place seems like loads of fun."
"Shove it, Spring," James snapped. The blush on his face only helped highlight his discomfort, nearly causing Spring to laugh again.
"Well, I should probably get going," the guard told Cream Heart. He turned to James. "Try not to get in too much trouble. I like you little guy, but in my line of work seeing somepony's face too often is a bad thing. And I've seen yours plenty."
"So what you're saying is I'll see you sometime next week?" James shot back. The guard just chuckled.
"Yeah, let's not. Miss Cream Heart, it was a pleasure. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask for me. I'd be glad to help with whatever I can."
"It was nice to meet you as well, Mr. Spring. Have a safe trip." Spring left through the front door and flew in the direction of the train station, leaving James to his fate.
Author's Note
I've been holding onto this one for long enough, and I figure it's time to let it go. I've been gone for far too long, and I hope this will help me get back into writing. This is the 6th version of this chapter, and I finally have it to where I'm comfortable posting it.
Special thanks to D48 for prereading and giving me very much appreciated advice and criticism.
Thank you for reading and let me know what you think. Please point out any spelling errors and such.