New Moon (My Little Pony)

25 One Nostalgic Night (2/2)

"Ready or not, here I come," Pear announced as she turned from the entrance door to the guest room she took shelter in. Her eyes peered across the astonishingly large room. It was certainly bigger than the bedroom that she shares with her husband.

Her ears perked at the muffled giggling of foals from underneath the bed. She decided to take a detour to prolong the game to take solace in the joyous sounds of the two colts. "Alright, where did you two run off to?" Pear grinned as she heard the giggling of the foals rise.

Pear walked softly to the bed and made steps around it to get another rise out of the foals. However, the giggling stopped and she no longer heard even a shuffle underneath the bed. "Oh, so now they're playing smart now," Pear thought. Regardless, they had already revealed themselves and Pear was ready to pounce down beneath the bed to give them a surprise.

Her descent was swift and the look of astonishment from the foals was a joy Pear took relish in. Except...Pear could only see Little Mac. "Huh?" Pear raised a brow and then grabbed her happy son from underneath the bed. Before she could rise to check her surroundings for the other colt, she immediately felt a small weight press upon the back of her neck. "Woah!" Pear jolted up to her hooves as she felt two hooves wrap around her neck. She quickly looks behind her and discovers Artemis giggling behind her.

"Didn't figure ya to be sneaky like your sis," Pear commented. "Guess being part thestral does have its quirks?...Uh, Artemis, don't nibble on my mane please." Despite Pear's request, Artemis continued to nibble happily upon Pear's curly mane.

Pear laid Little Mac on the bed and then grabbed Artemis, who put up a fight to not separate himself from Pear's mane. Inevitably, Pear managed to detach him, but the slobber left on her mane made her quiver when it oozed through her coat. "Alright, I think we've played long enough. Don't ya think?"

Pear laid Artemis on the bed and immediately he went to Little Mac and toppled on top of him. Artemis attempted to bite on Mac's ear, but the red colt easily reversed Arty's movements and misdirected him as Little Mac now held upon Arty from behind. "Yall two should stop playing rough like that," Pear said as she entered the bed and pulled them between her hooves. "I don't approve of no play fighting."

The two colts shifted about and then laid their body over Pear's stomach. The two chuckled at the rise and descent of Pear's breathing. "You two are so silly together," Pear smiled. "I sure wished Nebula could be more open to having fun."

The mention of the sickly filly robbed the smile looming on Pear. It's always so difficult to tell if that filly is ever happy, but it's vividly apparent to Pear when she's not. And it's likely to get more difficult the older she becomes...

"Artemis," Pear started. "Your sis is a spicy one, so she's likely to get herself in a fair bit of trouble. When that happens, I need you and Mac to be there for her, alright? She might act prideful, but don't let that fool ya."

Artemis and Little Mac looked at each other and voiced a sound. Whether they understood her or not didn't truly matter, however. Pear was confident they would watch over Nebula either way. She and Bud were set to raise them so.

Pear shifted her sights to the window when she noticed the dawning light of the sun beginning to disappear as the moon began to shower its presence upon the land. From across another wing of the castle, Pear can Princess Celestia at the highest balcony of the castle. Her horn illuminated bright as if it became a beacon light to the encroaching darkness.

Pear was utterly speechless of what she saw. She knew her Princess to be capable of such a feat, but to witness it so closely was an astonishment of its own kind. The moon now floated bare upon the lands of Equestria as the Princess's light dissipated and returned to her chamber.