New Moon (My Little Pony)

30: Mother of Five (6/6)

After a rowdy dinner with the family, Bud and the others resigned to bed for the night. The darkness returned to the halls and room as Hope decided to leave her room. Down the hall, she peered into her daughter's room, where she found her sleeping with her foals burrowed between her legs.

Quietly walking into the living room, Hope found Grace and Lazuli sleeping on opposite ends of the couch. The two made such a fuss of who would sleep on the couch that Hope had to step in to make the final choice for them to share the couch together. If her camera didn't need to make a flash, she would have taken a picture of the two of them.

Hope strode through the front door of her house and settled on a rocking chair on her porch. A nice piece of mahogany that Granny Smith's late husband built for her as a kind gift on her way to Baltimare.

Hope only managed a few rocks before she heard a small knock on her door. Confused, Hope hopped off the chair and opened her door. From the other side, she discovered Artemis beaming his eyes at Hope's.

"Now what on Celestia are you doing up?" Hope wondered.

Artemis went up to Hope and crawled his hooves on her leg. Hope couldn't help but chuckle at her grandson's attempt and grabbed hold him so they can sit on the rocking chair together "Wanted to spend some more time with your granny, huh? You're such a sweet colt."

Hope rocked the chair and caressed Artemis's mane. There was a strange aura the moon rays aroused from Artemis. It nearly appeared like his body was glittering under its rays.

"You know," Hope started. "If some pony told me that this would be life many years ago, I would've scoffed at them." Hope rocked her chair a few more times as she noted her grandson's ears perking to her voice.

"This might come as a surprise," Hope continued. "But my past is filled with a lot of violence and secrecy. It came with the job I had, so it's not a surprise. But I tell ya, I can't tell you numbers of horrors I had to round up and lock into Tartarus. Some ponies mostly did it for just cause for the safety of everypony, but I did just to pay off bits for me and my sister."

Hope frowned at the memory that came to her, but she decided to continue on. But why? It's not like her grandson would understand any of this. "Our father was a heavy gambler. He promised he would one day win it big at Las Pegasus, but all he really did was bring more problems for himself. And then, it became ours when he passed. The many zeros we inherited as debt drove us nuts. There was no way I could let this burden, my sister. She had a dream to become a baker, and there was no way I was going to let my father's mistake get in the way of it."

Why? Why was she telling her grandson this? "I've...done things that I'm not really proud of and I was certain the life I chose for myself would one day lead me to a lonesome death. There are still days where I have asked if I really deserve all of this, but I'm pretty Gambi would say I most certainly do with all the flowery words no regular pony would say." A tear escaped Hope's eyes as she continued to rock her grandson. "I really miss that silly stallion. I hope he can see all the great things he's done for us, and for me."

Hope and Artemis continued to look upon the moon together that quiet night. When Artemis finally fell asleep, Hope took him back to his mother and she returned to her bedroom. After one more look at the framed picture on her dress, she went into her bed and slept through the remaining night.