New Moon (My Little Pony)

29 Let's Talk (3/4)

Moments passed as the mares and colt had their feast. Grace had quietly observed Lazuli and Artemis as they were the only ones to fill the silence in the room. Lazuli was flamboyant in her feeding of the colt, regaling the colt to comply with the food.

In mere minutes, the colt let out a yawn Grace was expecting. The colt leaned his body to Lazuli, goading the mare to pick the colt and lay him in between her hindlegs. Lazuli briefly brushed the colt's head as he buried his face into Lazuli's coat.

"Guess you won't be needing pineapples now, huh," Lazuli whispered to the colt.

"Summer Lazuli," Grace called for the mare's attention as she dropped her spoon into her bowl. "As I recall, you work as a coach for Manehattan Academy, correct?"

"Yeah," Lazuli raised her brow. "What about it?"

"The salary of a school coach in Equestria is commonly measured by the prestige of the school and the successes that coach achieves with their team. Seeing as you have only begun your career, I imagine that yours is more among the entry-level."

"Why the heck are you talking about bits?" Lazuli was getting annoyed. "Bud and I pay our fair share of the rent. The rest we combined together for savings and to buy things for the apartment."

"But you most likely have a larger store of savings than Bud, do you not? One that she may not be aware of."

"If you got something to say," Lazuli glared at the mare. "Then just come out with it."

"Alright then, I will," Grace shut her eyes briefly and then gave a serious gaze at Lazuli. "Some nights ago, I discovered that you happen to have a night job. Particularly one at a place where a foal doesn't belong. The Dove is what it's called, correct?"

Lazuli widened her eyes in surprise. "How the heck do you know about that?"

"Because you do not try hard enough to keep it a secret. But that's not what's important. My main concern is that you brought a baby colt inside a nightclub. Do you not realize how inappropriate that was of you?"

"Hey," Lazuli angrily voiced. "I have my reasons for doing what I did, so don't you dare chalk me off as the senseless one here."

"It is senseless, Lazuli," Grace retorted. "There was no need to bring a colt to a nightclub. You do remember that I'm his nanny, do you?"

"Not by Bud's choice. You've basically just barged in here and forced us to just tolerate you."

"How do you not understand that you're in the wrong here?" Grace's snout flared. "Under no circumstance should you have ever brought Artemis to that sinful place."

"Will you quit your hiss fit? I made sure he didn't see anything."

"Lazuli, I don't believe you understand the severity of this. This act of bringing a foal to a nightclub can warrant Bud losing custody of her foals."

"Is that a threat?" Lazuli glared at the mare as she laid Artemis aside.

"By Celestia," Grace gritted her teeth. "How can you be so single-minded? Bud does not need a mare that is this irresponsible. If you can't realize the harm you're causing for others, then perhaps you have no business raising her foals."

"Bud left me to watch Artemis," Lazuli raised to her hooves. "The only reason I went to the club that night is because I have a stallion baby as a boss there."

"Then you should have come to me before going to that club!" Grace raised on her hooves. "How is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Right, leave Artemis with a mare I know nothing about."