Pony Tales - Clover - Day 13

As the night went on, Clover found herself not fully comfortable on her back and so she'd sat up with her back against the hard all and her butt on the cot. She groaned loudly, her feet sore and hanging down delicately over the edge and her breathing coming in soft bursts as she fell back to sleep. Maybe it was just her imagination, or perhaps it was an effect of the medicine but she found herself getting surprisingly warm throughout the night. Like she'd been wrapped in a warm blanket. It was curious. She didn't register the added pressure on her chest as she slept.

When morning came and the tiniest trickle of light filtered in through the window in her stall, Clover eased her eyes open very slowly. Her head was sore. The first thing she noticed was that the smell of vanilla was drifting around just below her nose. She tilted her head a bit and looked down. What she found was both a surprise and admittedly, a bit of comfort for her. Curled up on her bed with her head nestled tightly against Clover's chest was none other than Daydream. She looked peaceful as she lay there, breathing very slowly and nestled up against her. Clover blushed visibly but couldn't help but smile at the sight. Had the pony just come to cuddle for the sake of cuddling?

Maybe Clover should have been upset that her privacy was interrupted. But she found she couldn't be. Something about the redheaded female so utterly at peace and cuddling against her brought her both a sense of comfort and relaxation. Clover was careful not to move, settling back against the wall and looking out of the stall. Based on the sunlight barely peeking up over the horizon, she imagined she had at least a little more time to sleep and so she closed her eyes and let herself drift off, relaxed by Daydreams soft, Rhythmic, Breathing.

The true start of the day might have come a few hours later when none other than Miss Aria came to the front of her stall. Stopping and staring at the sight before her. Clover and Daydream cuddled up and sleeping peacefully together. The look on her face softened visibly as Aria pushed her hands into her pockets, "Seems you've found the one you like." Aria whispered softly to Daydream. It had been a long time since the small pony had been willing to get even remotely close to anypony else at the barn.

Aria flipped a small sign on the stall and wrote a time on it for wakeup and then walked away without a word. Who was she to interrupt the pair?

And so Clover and Daydream slept soundlessly for the first part of the morning. A knock on the stall door bringing them both back to reality as Eden stood at the door, "Alright you two cuddle bugs. Time to get up. Daydream, Mistress Aria wants to see you up at the house."

Daydream grumbled and stretched out widely, yawning a little and sitting up sleepily, she glanced over her shoulder at Clover who was clearly smiling behind the thick panel over her mouth. Daydream leaned in and nuzzled against Clover's cheek before heeding Eden's words and trotting off out of the stall and towards the barn exit.

Eden's eyes then fell upon Clover, "Seems you two were quite cozy last night..."

Clover blushed visibly. She had to wonder though, why Daydream was allowed to move about as she pleased, allowed to even open Clover's stall door and cuddle up with her. Was she not held to quite the same rules as the rest of them? She furrowed her brow a little bit.

Eden practically read Clover's questioning face, "Perhaps you'll hear the story sometime. For now, just enjoy her company. Daydream is wonderful."

Eden pushed a new container of mash into the holder in Clover's stall, "Breakfast, eat up so we can get you out into the field. You're already two hours later than everyone else thanks to Mistress Aria."

Clover stomped a foot down gently, surprised at how little it hurt this morning compared to the previous day. She tilted her head a little, standing herself up. There was still very visibly fatigue in her body but she was able to stand and walk over to the bottle, easing it past her gag and sipping at the contents within. Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs, and Syrup flavors filled her mouth as she sucked at it. She was incredibly thankful for such varied flavors. She could only imagine what the stuff would be like if it was unflavored.

After a quick bit of breakfast and an opportunity to drink, Eden opened her stall and lead her down the hall to the tack room. It was only upon entering today that Clover noticed each hook in the room had a nameplate above it and held different pieces of tack. Eden smiled lightly and pointed to the steel rack in the middle of the room, "Lean over it, as you did before."

Clover made her way over to the rack, leaning over on it to Eden's approval as she gathered the black and green tack belonging to Clover off of one of the hooks towards the back of the room. Each time, every set of tack was taken, cleaned, and sanitized so that they didn't degrade as quickly and more importantly so it didn't cause any sort of issues with any pony's skin. The last thing they needed was a bunch of ponies running around with skin infections from unclean tack.

Eden came over with a small clothing rack on wheels, all of Clover's tack hanging on it. She set about the task of readying her for the day. Eden took her time buckling each piece of tack into place and like most other grooms she finished with the bridle, sliding it easily over Clover's head, "Open up Pony." She said with a smile.

Clover eased her mouth open obediently and accepted the bit being buckled between her teeth, Eden tightened it just a little extra for the well-behaved pony. Clover huffed at her softly. Eden winked and chuckled, "Oh hush. You love it. Or you'll learn to.." She mumbled.

Once Clover was tacked up she clipped a lead to her bridle and gave it a tug, urging Clover to follow along as she headed towards the great outdoors where the other ponies of the barn were already hard at work. The sun was bright today, but it wasn't nearly as hot a sit had been the last few days, "Lucky for you Clover, I gave you my recommendation. So you're graduating to agility course training today. It's similar to what you did yesterday except it's not just a circle." She pointed off in the distance to a series of large obstacles, jumps, and platforms set up in kind of a 'ninja warrior' style course. They were surrounded by plush mats in case anyone fell and currently several ponies were lined up, waiting for their turn as a girl with sky blue hair waved a whip and yelled at them.

"Based on how you did yesterday, I think you'll be decent at Agility. Or at least you'll enjoy it..." She said with a reassuring nod.

Eden led Clover over to the blue-haired trainer, currently encouraging a blonde pony to jump a gap between two platforms ten feet up in the air. The woman sighed lightly and turned around to regard Eden and Clover standing obediently to her side.

The blue-haired female clipped her crop to her side and held up a hand to the four present ponies all standing obediently in line, "Arrêter, Ponies."

The woman walked over to Clover and Eden and offered a polite smile to Eden before turning her gaze on Clover. She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently.

Eden gave Clover a sharp elbow in the ribs, "Curtsy to the trainer."

Clover blinked, having forgotten that rule completely based on her interactions in the last day and a half. She placed a hoof forward and lowered herself into a polite curtsy, lowering her eyes to the ground beside Eden.

"Much better Pony. This is my plus one for the day?" The woman asked in her thick French accent.

Studying her with striking eyes the french woman would point to a nearby set of ramps on the ground. They weren't very high off the ground but there was a gap between the two sides to be jumped, "Alright pony. A small test. Run up, jump, land. Simple, non?" She cracked her whip once as Eden released her lead.

Clover trotted over to the set of ramps, looking at them hesitantly. The sound of the whip cracking against found her ears and she hurried forwards, breaking into an even trot. She hit the ramp at speed and at the top of it leapt across the gap. She looked like a not-so-graceful ballerina as she leapt and landed...in a heap. Her hooves crumpled beneath her and she rolled into a tumble, landing painfully on her backside.

The blue-haired woman shook her head and looked to Eden, "Confident or not. It would be dangerous to set her at this course before she can even land upon her own hooves. Put her on sand slalom with Hayley for the day, she needs to be able to navigate uneven surfaces confidently."

Eden frowned a little at Clover but nodded in understanding. Liana was the expert in the agility courses and if she felt it wasn't safe for Clover to try, then it wasn't safe for her to try.

"C'mon Clover. You're off to something else for the day. You're not quite ready for this."

Clover had just finished climbed to her hooves, stomping twice and huffing slightly.

Eden and Liana raised their eyebrows, "Confident and stubborn. Reminds me of a certain green-clad pony from many years ago." Liana said with a giggle.

With a nod of agreeance Eden walked over and hooked a lead to Clover's bridle, "I know you're confident, but we have to consider your safety. Do you want to break a hoof on your second day and lose out on the rest of your trial?"

Clover understood the logic. Stomping her foot twice and sighing lightly as she eyed the course. It looked incredibly unique and with how the other ponies were leaping and running their way through it, she was a bit jealous as she stared at them. A jerk from the lead line from Eden brought her back from her daydreams though as they headed off towards the area behind the barn.

It would seem the time to learn agility was another day.