New Moon (My Little Pony)

13 (1/2) Sisters

Artemis had buried his mouth into Bud's coat as she carried him up the stairs to the attic. She wondered why in Equestria she hasn't bought her son a pacifier already until she heard a familiar voice, "I think it's supposed to go right here?"

"You think," Bud heard another voice. "Come now Pear, you have the picture right there."

"I'm sorry Chiffon, but this here is more difficult then it looks. I can barely make heads or tails of this bun."

"But it's so me. I have to have this for my wedding."

Bud stepped into the attic and before her stood two of the greatest friends a pony like her could have. A bond so deep that she considered them more like sisters than mere friends. Bud smiled and then announced her presence, "You two are as chummy as always."

The two ponies turned and the blue mare, Chiffon Swirl, said, "Bud is that you?" The mare widened when she noticed the colt in Bud's hoof. "Who is that foal in your hoof!?"

The other mare, Pear Butter, was quick to approach Bud and examined Artemis. Artemis stared at the ecstatic mare as she grinned, "Now ain't he a cutie. Is he yours?"

"Y-yeah," Bud awkwardly answered with a blush. Somehow the reaction from Pear was overwhelming to her. "His name is Artemis."

"Well hey there Artemis," Pear greeted the colt with a nuzzle. Pear chuckled when Artemis gnawed on her snout and then pulled back. "Now this has to be the biggest surprise of the year. Who'd think the both of us would be mothers."

"Hey," Chiffon voiced. "Don't you go downplaying my marriage! And I want to see Artemis too. Bud, could you be a dear and bring him over? I don't want to move around while my mane is unfinished."

Bud listened to Chiffon and placed her son on a desk her cousin sat before. "Oh," Chiffon cooed. "Pear was right. He is a cutie." Chiffon tugged on Artemis's cheek, prompting him to gnaw on Chiffon's hoof. "That's so adorable. Bud, how could you not tell me about this wonderful colt?"

"I don't see how I could," Bud said. "I've only had him for a few days."

"You mean you recently gave birth to him!?" Chiffon glanced incredulously at Bud. "Sweetie, you should still be resting in bed right now."

"Bud," Pear placed a hoof on Bud's shoulder. "I know you want to be here for Chiffon's wedding, but you shouldn't go pushing yourself. No pony will mind if ya take time to rest."

"It's okay guys," Bud moved Pear's hoof away. "I'm fine. Besides, I want to hear all the details about Chiffon's love story."

"Believe it or not," Chiffon started. "The two of us did not begin on the best of terms."

"Really? How bad was it?"

"Well, it all began many months ago when I went to Fillydelphia."

"You mean where Uncle Gossamer and Auntie Blue have their new bakery shop?"

"That part is not important." Chiffon picked up Artemis, who was still grinding his small teeth onto her hoof. "Anyways, there was a bakery contest being held there and I decided that it was a great opportunity to boost popularity for the Sugarcube Corner. If ponies from a big city learned how great my bakeries are, I was certain I would gain more traction back home."

"Wait," Bud tapped her chin. "If you were in a baking contest, does that mean Carrot Cake was also a participant?"

"No theories in between my story," Chiffon snapped. "But yes, Carrot also participated in the contest. And my goodness we could not stand each other."

"Well, that doesn't sound promising."

"Carrot was very proud of his creations and a bit of a braggart if I have to be honest. I don't know why, but that snide confidence of his really irked me, so I decided to give him a piece of my mind. And because of that, we ended up becoming fierce rivals, wanting to outshine the other."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit with the 'fierce' bit," Pear voiced. "I mean, it is a contest where two or three ponies judge a few cakes, right?"

"You'd be speaking a different tune if it involved apples," Chiffon countered.

"Fair point," Pear admitted.

"So which of you won the contest," Bud asked.

"Well sadly neither of us won," Chiffon answered. "It just so happened that my mother also entered the contest and I think we all know that her craft is an otherworldly kind of good."

"I'm surprised you didn't even realize your own mother was in the contest," Pear said.

"I was caught up in the rivalry," Chiffon defended herself. "And she made the trip back to her shop so overbearing when she kept teasing me about my strife with Carrot."

"What happened next?" Bud asked.

"Well, Carrot had seemed to follow me back to my parent's bakery shop and surprised me with an offer of a date. He caught me so off-guard I was barely able to make words."

"Did you take the offer?"

"Of course I did," Chiffon said matter-of-factly. "I wanted to learn the secrets of his baking and apparently he had the same idea. However, what ended up happening is that we developed a steady relationship and has flourished into what you see now. Isn't it the perfect love story?"

"I say it's a bit...odd. But still, I'm so happy for you."

"I honestly didn't think my opinion of him would change so much, but I guess love has its way of getting through to ponies."

Artemis voiced his attention the mares as he reached his hooves out for Bud. "You want to go back to your mommy?" Chiffon asked. "Don't you want to spend a little more time your Auntie?" Artemis continued to dangle his hooves out and so Chiffon resigned to returning him back to Bud.

"Little Mac will be so happy to have a friend his age," Pear said.

Bud perked her ears and then asked, "Who is Little Mac?"

"I did mention that both of us are mothers, did I?"

"You have a foal too!? Where is here?"

"Bright and I were preoccupied, so Granny Smith offered to babysit our son for us back at Sweet Apple Acre. You wanna see him?"

"Right now please!"

"Oh," Pear frowned. "I don't know about now. I should finish up Chiffon's mane before anything else."

"You won't be using me as an excuse," Chiffon voiced. "Just call my mom up here. She can finish it."

"You sure about that," Pear asked.

"Yes, yes. Go on now. You know how passionate our Bud is about foals."

"Well alright then. C'mon and follow me then Bud."