Conversation Works Wonders
"Yo, Pipp, is the link up?" Zipp asked, leaning over her sister's shoulder.
"It should be up in a few seconds," Pipp replied. "And... done! You should be able to talk now."
The feed switched on... to complete blackness. Zipp looked at Pipp in confusion. "Is it supposed to look like this?"
"Maybe there's a problem with the camera?" Pipp suggested.
"Hello, my dears!" said a familiar voice. "How are things in Maretime Bay?"
"Ah," Zipp said. "She thinks it's a normal call. Hey mom! Sorry to interrupt, but it's a video call."
"No wonder your voice was so faint," Haven replied, before the view suddenly shifted. After a few seconds they were looking at her face. "Good to see you both. As I was saying how are things in Maretime Bay?"
"Pretty good!" Pipp replied. "Just wanting to check if you're still good for Mare's Day tomorrow. After all, it only comes around once a year."
"And we did kinda make a mess of it last year," Zipp admitted, scratching her ear as she did so. The fiasco with trying to run the country with her friends was something she rather wanted to forget.
"Everything's good to go," Haven replied. "I've cleared my schedule specifically so I can spend time with you two. But it would be nice to have a copy of the day's itenerary so I know what we're doing. I've never been one for sudden surprises."
Pipp switched displays from the call to her email, and after attaching a document hit send. "There! It should be in your inbox in a few seconds. Everything we'll be doing for the entire day!"
"Thank you, dear. I look forward to seeing you both tomorrow. If that's all, I do need to get back to work. This stack won't sign itself!" She rotated the phone around to show a massive stack of paper.
"Err, she does know you can just flip the camera, right?" Zipp said.
"Zipp!" Pipp hissed. "Err, wow, that does look like a lot! We'll leave you to it! Bye!"
The call ended, and Zipp walked away. "See ya later. I'm gonna hit the gym."
"I'll do some streaming for a bit, probably outdoors," Pipp replied. "I wonder if Sunny's up for a smoothie chat? Those are always really good fun to do!"
The next morning, Mare's Day dawned, and the two sisters set off for Zephyr Heights on what would probably be a short flight. Seeing as they now lived so far away, days like this were valuable to the pair as it allowed them contact with a figure they otherwise didn't interact with very often. Haven had become something of a mother figure to the rest of their friends, especially seeing as two of them had no surviving family they knew of.
After flying for a while, the pair touched down at Zephyr Heights. Pipp was huffing in annoyance. "Why did we have to fly the whole way?" she complained.
"Because it's faster than walking," Zipp replied. "Did you have an alternate idea?"
"Take the Marestream?" Pipp suggested.
"Just the two of us? That'd be a waste of fuel."
The pair finally arrived at the doors to the palace and pushed them open to find Queen Haven already waiting on the other side. "Good morning, girls! It's good you made it."
"Hey mom!" Zipp said quickly.
"Don't worry, we don't have anything silly planned this time. No fireworks. And definititely no stunts from Mission Imponable!" Pipp added, with a smile.
Haven nodded. "Very good. Well, I suppose we should be getting ready to go. I contacted the Spa ahead of schedule, and unfortunately their harpist has fallen ill. But I imagine we can do withou a har-"
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Enter!"
To everypony's surprise, Alphabittle then entered... with flowers. "Flowers, as you requested," he said.
Pipp and Zipp's eyes widened to the point they took up most of their face. "Alphabittle?!" they said in unison. "What are you doing here?!"
Haven looked a bit confused. "Alphy, the meetup at the tea shop is next week, not today."
Alphabittle looked at his calender. "Oh. Oops. Guess I'll come back next week."
Zipp hopped over as the door closed. "How long has this been going on for?"
"How long has what been- oh, you mean Alphabittle!" Haven realised. "It's not what it looks like, if that's what you're wondering."
Pipp blinked. "So it's not romantic? Because what I just saw suggests otherwise."
Haven blinked, and looked slightly annoyed. "Pipp, what have I always said about jumping to conclusions?"
"Fair point."
Zipp spoke again. "Then what exactly is going on?"
"Alphabittle and I have been meeting up every now and then for the last few weeks. Not just as leaders of our respective nations, but as friends. In the same way you are friends with Sunny and the others. I just thought it would be something nice for him as he spends most of his time on his own."
"So, nothing romantic?"
"Not at all! Two adults of different genders can be friends, after all." Haven paused. "But I will admit I should probably have told you about it, and I'm sorry. I know how much you two still miss your father, and truth be told I do too. We all do, apart from some rotters who enjoy ruining everypony's fun."
"Glad to have that cleaned up," Zipp replied. "But what was that you said about a swan?"
"Swans mate for life."
Pipp had a look on her face. "You know... seeing as Alphabittle's here, how about we try incorporating him into what we had planned for the day?"
Haven's face lit up. "That's a splendid idea! Hold on a moment." She then disappeared through the door and after a short while she came back through. "He'd love to! He just asks if we can check with the spa about what chemicals they use, as he has some allergies, and what type of tea you two like."
Pipp and Zipp were more than happy to oblige. A shifting family dynamic is never easy, but at the same time all it takes to clear up misconceptions is a little bit of common sense.
Author's Note
Like many users on this site, the 51st Episode of Tell your Tale, Mare Family Mare Problems rubbed me the wrong way. My main issue with the story was its reliance on the characters acting like idiots to generate the conflict, and the fact everypony behaved immaturely in a situation where a few short conversations would have cleaned the mess up.
It also constituted a huge missed opportunity, hence this story. I don't know if this neccesarily fixed these issues, but this is how the episode would have gone had I been in the writing chair.
