Shame

Mintberry slipped out the door, going back to the house with a basket of eggs. This left Ruiz and Maria alone with the cow, as well as the pigs and chickens. "We should probably finish her chores," sighed Maria, grabbing a pail off the wall. "I'll go fetch the pig feed. Why don't you milk Bea?"

Ruiz took the pail, and as Maria disappeared, he turned to the cow. "You must be Bea?"

She nodded. "You must be new. I don't recognise you. Given the fact that Maria and Mint seem to trust you, at least to the point that you're walking around without a lot of security, I would guess that they don't think you're dangerous."

Ruiz moved the pail into position and pulled up a stool. "I think Jed's the only one who considers me a danger, señorita."

"Señora, por favor," chuckled the cow. "I appreciate the compliment, but I'm not that young."

Ruiz turned his face away in embarrassment. "Sorry. I'm not as familiar with cows, señora."

"It's alright," she smirked. "Whenever you're ready to begin."

Grabbing a teat in each hoof, Ruiz began to to milk Bea. She was content to just let it happen, as he was quite skilled at it. He, on the other hoof, was glad of the cease in conversation, considering the act to be just a task. The pail was half-filled when Maria returned with a second pail filled with slop for the pigs, with added corncobs, particularly those that were too damaged to still use. It was one way to be rid of them, anyway.

"This one's a keeper," smiled Bea to Maria. "He's a natural, considering he's unfamiliar with how cows work."

Maria looked over from the pig pen. "How long has it been since you milked a cow?" she asked Ruiz.

"I've never milked a cow before, señorita. Señora Bea is the first one I've ever met. If I'm being honest, and please, don't take offence, señora, I was unaware that they could speak before today."

"I do take some offense," huffed Bea, "but given the circumstances, I forgive you. You can't expect everyone to know everything about everyone else, and to be fair, I was unaware that goats could speak until you walked in. I suppose we're both inexperienced."

"So, if you bought all of your milk, how do you know how to milk a cow?" asked Maria. "That's an odd skill to be naturally gifted at with no experience."

"We didn't use cow's milk," shrugged Ruiz. "I didn't just work on my family's place. I helped out the neighbors for pay, too. They didn't have cows, either, and having it shipped in was expensive. We used goat's milk."

Maria nodded slowly. "I suppose that makes sense. Your skill in milking goats transferred over to milking a cow. So who'd you milk?"

For a few moments, the coop fell silent. Then, as if avoiding the question, Ruiz just went right back to milking.

"Your face is red as a beet," smiled Bea. "Was it someone special to you?"

"No comprende, señora," mumbled Ruiz, trying to hide his face with the sombrero he wasn't wearing. He quickly finished milking Bea and collected the pail.

"Well, whoever she is, she has great taste in men, señor. You take good care of her when you make it back home."

Maria very quickly moved over to Bea and whispered something to her while Ruiz poured the milk into something a bit more airtight to keep the dust and bugs out of it. When he turned back, they were both looking at him.

"I'm really sorry," said Bea, lowering her head. "I honestly had no idea about your home."

"Don't worry about it, señora" waved Ruiz. "You can't expect everyone to know everything about everyone else. If you'd said that to anyone else, it would have been completely harmless. It's like offering somepony a sandwich. You don't always know who's allergic to strawberries, especially when it's your first time meeting them, and such an odd quirk has yet to come up in conversation."

Bea smiled. "I'm glad you can forgive me. If you stick around, perhaps we'll be able to see more of each other. We'll earn a rapport soon enough."

With a nod, Ruiz and Maria slipped through the door and made their way back toward the house. It was the middle of the afternoon, and Jed was just starting to water the crops. A massive sprinkler was geared up and ready to walk its way across the field, drizzling a shower from the windmill pump.

"Usually, I'm watching the other end of that sprinkler," pointed out Maria. "I guess, due to the reshuffling, my mom took the other end. Mintberry's probably up front with the corn, so I guess I'm making dinner. Feel like helping?"

Ruiz nodded. He was actually feeling a bit strained, as it had been a month since he'd done so much work. He was operating on a full stomach, but that just made him feel even more tired. He would have to rebalance his workload against his current state, and right now, making dinner seemed easy enough.

Luckily, Maria was perfectly content to take the lead and assign him tasks that he was easily capable of doing. Chopping peppers, peeling and slicing carrots, stirring the batter while she went out back to collect wood for the stove for making cornbread. Given that they would be collecting a lot of corn meal shortly, and corn flour on top of that, a corn chowder and cornbread seemed a fitting way to spit in the face of the bandits. Perhaps not the most comfortable thing for the ponies who lived here, but still a show that even now, despite the attack the night prior, they were capable of turning it into a positive note.

After dinner, Ruiz opted out of any social interaction. Usually after dinner, the family would sit in the living room and chat, perhaps going over the day's events. They'd also engage in easier activity, such as reading , writing letters, sewing and other such activities. Perhaps someday, Ruiz would join them, but until then, all he wanted right now was some restful sleep. He made sure Jed would call for him if there was any trouble, and quietly made his way upstairs to his temporary bedroom.

He removed his belt and placed it on the nightstand. Ever since he'd left home, he'd slept with the belt on, ready to whip out his slingshot at the first sign of trouble. It had been a necessity twice on his journey. Finally, he had the opportunity to assess the situation before needing to fire. Perhaps that's what made the bed feel so good. The moment he lay down, before he could so much as cover himself with a sheet, he was out.