A cup of warmth during wartime
Standing outside of his quaint little shop, Burnt Toast waved goodbye to another guest, leaning heavily onto his cane.
Not very many ponies visited his store anymore. The seasons had changed to winter, and since the building he worked in didn't have indoor seating, many ponies refused to wait outside.
It made sense. Nopony would want to stand outside in freezing temperatures for some breakfast.
Not even he would do that.
But, bringing himself back to reality, he saw a familiar face walk up to his window. Using his magic, he pulled open the sliding window and greeted the guest
"Morning Mrs. Stripes! Your usual today?" he asked the mare.
But instead of her normal, bubbly attitude that cheered up Toast's day, she wore a grim face, her usual, motherly smile didn't shine, and the smile she could muster felt fake.
"Hey, are you alright?" he worriedly asked Sewn Stripes
She simply replied "Yes... I am doing... Okay." she lied.
However, anypony that knew her as well as Toast did, also knew that her tail twitched whenever she tried to hide something.
Something which her tail was doing extensively at the moment.
Toast couldn't help but look at her disingenuously.
"Somethings going on, isn't it?" he asked
Shifting her hooves around she admitted
"They conscripted my son," she said bitterly
Toast stood there in shock. His hoof became shaky on his cane, forcing him to sit down.
"W-when?" he asked,
his heart breaking at another close friend leaving, maybe never to return.
"They came yesterday. I tried to hide him, I said he wasn't here, but...
But he found out this morning. No matter what I said, he insisted on going, saying that he should "serve the Princess" and "Protect Equestria" Why does this have to happen to me?" she said, becoming louder in her sorrow.
Toast was stuck there, listening to her pained cries.
He tried to speak at first, but his voice failed him. For a while, he listened to her mourn, until finally, his voice came back to him.
"Come inside. I will make you a pot of tea," he said to the mourning mare in front of him
She nodded her head and walked over to the door, which Toast quickly opened.
The building his business resided in was rather small. Only having space left over for two chairs and a small table.
Normally, Toast would sit in these chairs and chat with a friend. But, that was happening less and less.
They kept leaving, whilst he was stuck working at his small shop, his weak leg holding him from service.
He walked over to the kettle and started boiling some water on his wooden stove top.
Mrs. Stripes sat down and started flipping through an old magazine Toast kept from before the war, advertising products long gone since the war while Toast worked on the tea.
Toast reached down and opened a cabinet with his hoof, his tea supplies dwindling. He grabbed one of the less available teas. This one had stopped being shipped to him, instead being commandeered by the military, probably for the Officer's enjoyment.
Toast didn't mind, though. The thing that really hurt him, that almost put him onto the streets, was losing customers to the war.
Many in his small town were being conscripted. Before it was the most physically strong, but slowly more and more, ponies who would be considered too weak for service were being conscripted. He wondered when he was next.
At this moment, the kettle started whistling, and he had completely forgotten to prepare the teapot.
Rushing as fast as his cane would allow him, he grabbed a beautiful teapot from the shelf, and quickly put some tea leaves into the pot.
He poured in the now-boiling water and covered the teapot with its lid.
Then, he slowly walked back over to Mrs. Stripes and tried to start up a conversation with the older mare.
"How's Mismatched doing?" he asked, referring to one of her many children who had been conscripted
"He's doing well. He just finished boot camp, thank Celestia he got put into an artillery battery," she remarked
Toast breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good news at least. Are you still sending letters every day?"
"Yes, but now that I am alone, it's going to be so much harder...
Both to send letters and to work. I am getting too old and I think I might have to go into the city, to one of the sewing factories."
"You know those factories are dangerous. Accidents are too common, and the living quarters are abysmal, " Toast replied
"I can't live by myself. Even if the factories are terrible, it's better than starving here..." A grim tone escaped her voice.
"What if I take care of you and Mr. Stripes? I know he's sick, but I can help!" he tried to insist.
"I... I would like that, but with your leg, I don't think you would be able to take care of him."
"I was able to take care of my family after my parents passed away, I could take care of yours!"
"No... It's better this way. Without my children, there's not much here for me anyway.
It's probably better if I go anyway." she looked down in despair
"Stop acting like they're all dead! They are all healthy and fighting for Equestria.
Trust me, they will come home. I will take care of you and Mr. Stripes while they are gone.
It will be okay." Toast ended.
"Mr. Stripes is getting worse, you know? After the doctors were sent off as medics, without magical treatment, well, -
He can't even remember my name anymore..." her eyes started tearing up.
But, before she could start crying, he put a hoof on her shoulder from over the small table,
"Don't worry, the war will be over soon. They've taken back Bales; your sons will be okay.
If you let me take care of your family, maybe I could learn a spell or two to help Mr. Stripes with his dementia.
Mrs. Stripes sat there for awhile, and Toast figured he had said enough.
He then realized that his tea was about finished now. So, he excused himself, before grabbing some ceramic cups and pouring some out for each of them.
Though the tea was over-brewed, it was still enjoyable to drink.
Mrs. Stripes took a sip and remarked
"Isn't this that aged tea near Stableside you used to always get?" she asked, trying to put the previous conversation on hold for at least a moment.
"Yes, I figured we both needed something nice to cheer ourselves up," he replied to her.
Taking another sip, he asked her, "Will you let me take care of you and Mr. Stripes while your sons are gone?"
She sat there for a moment, drinking some more tea.
A few minutes passed by. When Mrs. Stripes eventually looked up from her tea, and with a faint smile said:
Yes. That would be delightful."
Author's Note
I wrote this at work in around 30 minutes after chatting with some customers.
Hopefully it is alright!
