New Moon (My Little Pony)

09 (2/4) A Loving Family

A white mare hummed to the sound of a guitar playing from her kitchen as she placed bowls across a dining table in her dining room. The steam emanating from the fresh casserole in each bowl warmed her face as she proudly smelled the aroma of her labor.

When she placed the last bowl on the table, she untied a green apron from around herself, folding and then draping it over her lifted forehoof. She looked through the window in the dining room and noticed it was getting dark out. Hopefully, her daughter would be coming in a few moments. She would hate for her cooking to get cold.

To her delight, the mare heard a pair of knocks from her door. "Oh," the mare tossed the apron atop a corner table in the room. "That must be my lovely little Bud," the mare said as she proceeded on her way to the front door.

"You can't back out of this now," the mare heard a voice from behind the door. "We're already here."

"I'm sure she'll be understanding Ms. Bud," she heard another voice say.

She looked through the scope of her door and saw Loving Bud with a grimacing face. She could also see two other ponies, one of them she recognized as Summer Lazuli and a young filly, pushing against Bud's back to stop her from retreating.

Confused, the mare opened the door and said, "Bud, what's the matter with you?"

Bud's eyes widened at the mare in front of her. Her mother, Loving Hope, hadn't changed at all from the few weeks she hadn't seen her. Her voice was still as caring as she remembered, but she was sure that would change the moment she noticed what her daughter was carrying.

"Oh my," Hope gasped when her eyes dawned upon the filly in Bud's hoof and the colt strapped to a baby carrier attached to Bud's pectoral. It was gift from Leaf Clip before she had left the hospital but mentioning that now would likely add more fuel to the fire. Bud closed her eyes nervously and waited for her mother's ire. "They're more wonderful than I could have ever envisioned."

Bud opened her eyes unexpectedly at her mother's reaction. Hope gleefully approached her daughter and examined the foals. Nebula squirmed closer to Bud as she cast her left wing defensively against the invasive mare. Her brother on the other hoof tried to nip Hope's snout when she got close. To his surprise, Hope nuzzled the colt, which left him faltering in awe.

"They're so adorable," Hope cooed. "Bud, please let me hold the filly." Nebula glared at Bud to reconsider that option, but sadly for the filly, Bud was raised too well so she respected her mother's wishes. Nebula put up a fruitless struggle as Bud passed her to the ardent mare.

Trapped with the clutch of the white mare, Nebula was pampered with streaks of kisses from Hope. The filly tried with no result to push away from the mare as she yelled, "Stop that! Cease your perverse harassment, you savage beast!" Of course, since Bud was the only one capable to understand her, the others only heard the foal cutely moan in complaint.

When Hope relented on her kisses, she announced to the filly observing from beside Bud, "And two is this sharp little filly here. Don't tell me you had another one."

"Of course not," Bud said defensively as her mother chuckled at her daughter's reddened face.

"Hello ma'am," Raved used this opportunity to finally introduce herself. "My name is Raven Inkwell. Ms. Bud is actually my teach from Manehattan Academy. It's a pleasure to have the chance to meet her mother." Raven then pulled out a card from her saddlebag and gave it to Hope.

"Wait, was that a business card?" Lazuli asked. "Why the heck would a filly need one of those?"

"My dad had them made for me," Raven answered. "He said that I should use this trip to network with ponies around Ms. Bud."

"Course he did," Bud mumbled to herself.

"Oh, well aren't you a respectful filly," Hope commented after briefly examining the card. "It's nice to know that my lovely Bud have such an admirable student."

"Mom," Bud couldn't stand it any longer. "What's going on here? Why are you so nonchalant about me having foals?"

"What do you mean nonchalant? Can't you see I'm showering this filly with so much love?"

"Get this molester away from me," Nebula shouted, but of course no pony but Bud understood her words. But she didn't care to bother with that right now.

"You know what I meant," Bud said.

"Well of course I would be excited to see my grandfoals," Hope said. "It was mentioned in the letter that you had twins."

"My letter never mentioned anything about foals."

"And for shame on you for that. Unless of course it was all supposed to be surprise, then sorry for ruining the moment."

"How did you find out?"

"I got another letter besides yours from a doctor. I think his name was Doctor Dime. Anyways, his letter was marked an emergency so I immediately got scared that something bad may have happened to you. I was so relieved that you were okay, but then I was surprised when he mentioned that you popped out these two little sun shines."

"When did this happen," Bud raised her voice. "I was never told about this."

"We can talk all about it inside," Hope said. "Come in, I already have dinner ready." Hope walked back into the house as Raven followed behind. Bud stood frozen, trying with no success to process all of this. her mind rebooted when she felt a tap on her shoulder from Lazuli.

"See," Lazuli grinned. "I told ya you it wasn't serious."