New Moon (My Little Pony)

20 Connection Between Light and Dark (2/4)

Nebula had cried herself to sleep before Hope swaddled her in a blanket she picked from the crib. Hope had caressed the Thestral filly in Bud's room while Grace awkwardly waited outside. Grace was worried that she may set the filly off again with her presence and chose to remove herself before any other incident could occur.

Just as Grace snuck out of the room, she noticed Artemis was peering into the room from the side of the entrance. Grace did not bother to interact with the colt since the sight of her struck fear into him. She simply widened the door for him in order to rush inside and then left the family alone to sort themselves out.

After Hope had swaddled her granddaughter, she placed her in the crib to rest in silence. She wished for Nebula's cry to be therapeutic for her, but the grimace Nebula displayed in her slumber did not show much promise. It saddened Hope that she couldn't soothe her grandchild. She can only hope that her daughter may fare a better chance.

Hope let out a disappointed sigh and then noticed her grandson was scratching his hooves upon the crib. Artemis had buried his warmth onto Nebula in his best attempt to alleviate his sister's pain. Such a sweet and caring brother he is. "Do you want to keep Nebula company?" Hope asked.

Hope grabbed another spare blanket in the crib and then swaddled Artemis within it. She then placed her grandson right by Nebula's side in the middle of the crib. Her grandson leaned his face upon Nebula's and then two began rubbing the cheeks amongst each other. Hope watched the two warm each other until she was certain Artemis fell asleep as well. When she was, she kissed the forehead of both of her grandfoals and exited the room.

Outside of the room, Hope found Tenure Grace patiently sitting in the living room. She was observing her hooves before she became aware of Hope's presence.

"Is she okay?" Grace asked.

"I think for now at least," Hope answered. "Hopefully, a good rest is all she needs."

"I must apologize," Grace grimaced. "I never intended for this to happen."

"Why are you apologizing," Hope wondered. "I didn't do anything bad. My grandchildren just reacted badly to you, that's all. You should just give them more time and I'm sure you'll grow on them."

"Still, I did not expect I would draw things to such extremes."

"Will you stop beating yourself over it already," Hope said. "We should really be worried about that bite mark of yours." Hope pointed at the bleeding wounds on both of Grace's hooves. Her blood had soaked and dried upon a portion of her coat. She didn't think a baby filly could make her lose so much blood. Just think about the damage she can do to a pony when she matures. "Follow me to the kitchen. My daughter has a first-aid kit we can use."

"My hooves do require attention," Grace relented as Hope guided her to the kitchen. Within a bottom cabinet, Hope withdrew a kit that held bandages. Grace at the meantime was washing the blood off of her hoof at a sink. "What about you? Did you get harmed in any way?"

"Nebby gave me a few bites," Hope answered as she selected a bandage out of the kit. "Don't worry though, my body is tougher than it looks." Hope showed her hoof to Grace, revealing not an ounce of blood dampened on her coat. "See?"

Grace simply nodded in confirmation as Hope continued, "I think that's good enough." Hope instructed Grace to hold out her hooves as she began to wrap the bandages around each of her hooves. Hope was careful to be delicate after noting how Grace was limping a slight on her way to the kitchen. Her granddaughter must have left a considerable pain on the mare.

"Ms. Hope," Grace started.

"Just call me Hope," she responded. "I'm not really a fan of formalities when it's not necessary."

"Okay," Grace relented. "Then Hope. What do you suppose we had just witnessed?"

"Well, I'm guessing it's a thing that thestrals can do. I still don't understand it myself, but I'm sure Bud and I will figure it out."

"I honestly didn't know what to expect from the filly," Grace confessed. "I figured the possibility that she was holding some other feats, but never to that extent. It just makes me wonder what else she is capable of."

"That's going to a fun and scary experience to find out," Hope said. "There's still so much we don't know about her, which means there's a lot to learn from her."

"In order to adapt; I understand that. I just did not predict those qualities to be so extraordinary."

"Well, it's not like I have normal grandfoals. They're one of a kind. It honestly makes me feel more excited."

"It does?" Grace questioned.

"Everypony needs a few spins in life. Despite some hardships it could bring, it offers chances for us to grow and joys we have never had before. That's how I see it at least."

If that's so, then I must have had the worst luck. When Hope finally finished wrapping the banding onto Grace's hooves, Grace placed small weight on them when returning to the floor.

"I'm no trained doctor," Hope said. "But I think it'll heal up after a few days. The wounds didn't look all that bad."

"Perhaps," Grace said. "But a visit to a doctor is still something to consider at the very least. It's not often a pony is bitten by a thestral."

"Well Lazuli got bitten by Nebula and she seemed okay," Hope pointed out. "So I'm sure you'll be as well."

"Precautions is never something to be ignored." Grace winched she applied more weight to hooves. Walking seems inevitable to be a strain for her for the rest of the day. "But I thank you for the assurance..."

"You look like you have something on your mind," Hope inquired. "I'm all ears if you like to share."

"I...," Grace started but couldn't find the right words start off with. "You appear to be very attentive...It kind of makes me wonder if you have any ulterior motives."

"Really?" Hope frowned at the claim. "What makes you say that?"

"That...that's not really important. You know what, forget I said that."

"But I really want to know," Hope gazed at Grace with puppy eyes. Grace didn't think old ponies could stoop to such underhanded tactics. "C'mon Grace, it's not healthy to bottle things up. Let it out, I won't tell any pony."

Grace sighed and said, "If it bothers you so much then fine." Grace took a deep breath and carefully decided upon the words she would speak next. "In nearly my entire life, I served as helping hoof to many ponies. Whatever issue that loomed over them, I had a way of resolving, be it domestic or financial. I think came to the clarity that after I earned my cutie mark. Sadly, I'm not particularly fond of it."

"You don't like your cutie mark?" Bud widened. "I don't think I've ever heard a pony say that before."

"Because my talent is helping ponies," Grace continued. "I am viewed as dependable or even as a sort of savior to some ponies. But rarely does the world return the same kindness in return. To me, I think ponies see me as a means to an end. But I can't complain too much about. I've come to realize that before I took this job."

"What about your family?" Hope asked. "Surely they have given you the love and care you deserve."

"What family?" Grace blurted. "As far as I know, I've survived this far because of my talent and perseveran—"

Hope suddenly surprised Grace with a hug and said, "I'm so sorry you had that kind of life. It hurts me to know that a pony struggled so much during their foalhood."

"I'm not telling you this for pity Ms...I mean Hope," Grace awkwardly pushed Hope off from her. A slight redness enveloped her face as she patted herself. "My point is to say that you seem different from other ponies I've met."

"Really? I would've assumed that many other ponies would be just as generous and kind."

"Then I have been misfortunate to not meet the ponies that fit that narrative. I'm not surprised however, given my talent."

"Hey," Hope laid a hoof on Grace's shoulder. "I may not know much about you, but I don't think you should carry that kind of hate of yourself."

"It's fine Hope," Grace assured. "I've—"

"No," Grace snapped. "It's not. But I can understand that if you're unwilling to share everything with me. That's okay. I just hope that you can be more comfortable around us to open up to. if no other pony will bother to give you the love you deserve, then we will."

"You do realize that I'm the one that's supposed to be helping you," Grace said. "Right?"

"I know," Hope said. "But maybe it's better that you don't think this as a job."

"What are you proposing?"

"Hmm," Hope tapped her chin she appeared to be thinking intently in her mind. Grace was about to demand what was on the mare's mind before Hope clapped her hooves. "Okay, then I guess a crash course is in order."

"Huh?" Grace nodded her head to the side.

"For the rest of this week, "I'm going to train you on how to be the best nanny possible for my grandfoals. First, we'll go over the basics of the necessities of a foal and work to apply and adjust them to both Artemis and Nebula."

"That will be unnecessary. I am a trained social worker."

"How about we toss away that title for the week then," Hope said.

"Toss it?"

"Right now, I see a mare that's determined to care for the two sweetest foals that ever existed. But doing so will require understanding the rule in approaching each and providing all of their necessary. I think we should start our first lessons with the fundamentals, don't you agree?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" Grace annoyingly asked.

"Of course you do," Hope smiled. "But I think you might enjoy this more than you think. Especially if you want to get along with Bud and my grandfoals."

Bud. "..." Grace sighed and said, "If you truly believe that this course will benefit me, then I don't see much reason to reject it."

"Oh, this will be so much fun," Hope cheered. "I've always thought of becoming a teacher in the past. From now on, you can call me Prof. Hope."

"That's not how that works!"