New Moon (My Little Pony)

20 Connection between Light and Dark (3/4)

You sure you don't want to move to a house," Lazuli asked as the two made their way up the stairs to the apartment room. "I mean, I get it's kind of early for us leave this place, but don't you think we should have someplace a bit bigger for them?"

"I'm not all that concerned about aesthetics Lazuli," Bud said. "Besides, I've already made the baby-proofed the house. Do you know how much it cost me to have super-soft carpet for the flooring?"

"I'm just saying that our place is not going to fit them forever. You know they're not going to be foals forever. At some point they're going to want their own rooms."

"Can we just worry about that later," Bud said. "I'm more concerned about my foals being left with that social worker." Bud and Lazuli entered the apartment and were greeted who emerged from Bud's room.

"You're back," Hope said. "So, how was your day?"

"The usual," Lazuli answered. "Where's the mare?"

"Her name is Grace," Hope corrected her. "You don't have to like her, but you can at least show some kindness in remembering her name."

"Is she in my room?' Bud wondered.

"No," Hope answered. "I sent her home early. Nebula happened to bite her and left a nasty mark on her. We agreed that it was probably best that she gets some rest and let her hooves recuperate."

"Nebula bit her," Lazuli voice. "Wished I could've seen it. Must've been a spectacle."

"You shouldn't wish for the harm of others Lazuli," Hope sighed. "Anyways, I need to talk to my daughter alone in her room. You don't mind giving us a moment, don't you?"

"Yeah, I got it," Lazuli said. "I got somewhere else to be anyways."

Bud entered her room as Hope closed the door behind her. Bud's sight immediately trailed to the crib where she saw her foals quietly sleeping beside each other. She was so relieved to see them again as she tossed her saddlebag off and made her way to the crib. "Thank you, mom," Bud said. "I knew I can always depend on you."

"Bud," Hope approached Bud from her side. "We need to talk about something, regarding Nebula."

"I know mom. We can't have Nebula going biting ponies to resolve her problems. But I think I can get to her to grow out of it."

"She did more than just bite a pony. She actually did something very extraordinary today, but not exactly in the good sense."

Bud perked her head from the crib and faced her mother. "What did she do?'

"Well," Hope rubbed the back of her head. "I don't really know any good way to put this, but in short, she transformed into some scary black creature."

"What!?" Bud widened at her mother's statement. "What does that mean?"

Hope shared the event that occurred in the morning and as her mother progressed, Bud became astounded at the feat of her daughter. She recalled her daughter mentioning that she served as a shadow of Princess Luna, but she didn't expect that would still bear any relevance now that she is a baby thestral. Why didn't Nebula share this with her? Bud thought she trusted her.

"I think it's one of her abilities as thestrals," Hope claimed. "We're going to have to be more careful with her around the darkness from now on. Though, I think that may be an impossible task if have to be honest."

The two perked their ears when they head movement form the crib. Within it, they saw Nebula shift about as her eyes gradually began to open. Bud faced her mother and said, "Let me handle this."