Twilight heard a knock on the door and scooped Star Chaser up onto her back.
"Come on, lets go see who you get to win over with cuteness today." Twilight smiled.
Twilight opened the door to find the mare who worked at Colton's ice cream shop.
"Hello Princess Twilight, hello Star Chaser." Cinnamon Flower bowed. "I have something important I need to discuss with you, Princess."
"Oh, I'll just go put Star in his cri-" Twilight began.
"No, he needs to stay." Cinnamon Flower said firmly.
"Ooookay?" Twilight asked suspiciously.
"Princess, I'm his mother." She said.
"Begpardon?" Twilight asked, feeling an angry spark light in her heart.
"I am his mother, and I want to be in his life as well, please. Just, just visiting at the castle sometimes, that's all." She whispered.
"What?" Twilight asked flatly. "You-you-I you lied."
Twilight said the last words with a hiss and Cinnamon Flower stepped back.
"What, no, I'm not lying, you can do tests even if you want!" Cinnamon Flower responded quickly.
"Oh no, I'm not entirely doubting you about being Star Chasers birther." Twilight spat the last word with venom. "But you left him on my doorstep and might I add, with a note that said you were homeless and had no help, and now I find out, oop that's a lie! Turns out, you have a dad who apparently loves you, you run your own shop with him!"
Cinnamon Flower cowered in fear at the alicorn's explosion.
"I just...I... I don't." She whispered. "I'm too young for this."
"Nopony cares!" Twilight yelled. "If you'd taken him to the orphanage up in Canterlot nopony would have said a bucking word! It's what they do! They handle lost and abandoned foals!"
"I couldn't make i-"
"You're a Faust damned unicorn!" Twilight yelled and Star Chaser began to cry in fear. "Oh look, now you caused me to make my son cry."
"He's my son too." Cinnamon whispered.
"No, he is not." Twilight glared. "You may have birthed him, but he is not and never will be yours, do you understand?"
Cinnamon looked away, now refusing to meet Twilight's eyes.
"I'm sorry to have bothered you Princess Twilight, at the very least, you can tell him who I am someday. Even you wouldn't prevent a colt from finding his birth mother if he wanted to." She whispered and then turned and ran from the castle.
Twilight watched her go, glaring at the unicorn and shaking in anger.
"Trying to get into his life and take him from me!" She hissed. "You abandoned him!"
"She wasn't trying to take him." Spike mumbled.
"What? Yes she was!" Twilight yelled.
"No Twilight, she wasn't. She said she wanted to be a part of his life, not that she wanted to take him from you."
Twilight gave a defeated sigh and hung her head.
"I... I just messed up didn't I?" Twilight asked.
"Big time." Spike nodded.
Twilight screamed in frustration, Star Chaser screamed louder.
"Oh my poor little colt, I'm so sorry." Twilight whispered picking up the colt to rock him.
Star Chaser's crying soon became small sniffles, and he was shortly asleep.
"Spike, should I bring him with to talk to her, or should I leave him here?" She asked.
"I think he should go with. At least you'll have something to bond over, since ya know, he's her son, kinda."
Twilight glared again.
"Her son." She hissed then took in a deep breath. "No, no bad Twilight. She did the best she could, I hope."
Twilight sucked in a deep breath, and entered the ice cream shop.
A green stallion stood at the counter.
"Um, hello sir, are you Colton?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, what can I do for you Princess?"
"I actually, uh... I need to talk to Cinnamon Flower, please." Twilight said.
"What could you need to talk to her for?" He asked harshly. "What did she do something illegal again when she was staying out all night instead of watching the shop?"
Again? Twilight thought to herself.
"It's about St- just... something important. Please go get her for me." Twilight sighed. Perhaps this stallion was part of why Cinnamon had left Star Chaser on Twilight's doorstep.
The stallion sighed and threw down his rag.
"Cinnamon! Get yer flank down here, the princess needs a word with you!" He shouted up the stairs.
The red unicorn slowly walked down the steps, staring at Twilight and Star Chaser.
"Pri-Princess, what do you need from me?" Cinnamon asked.
Her eyes were bloodshot and her mane was a mess.
"What you cryin' for? It's a princess! Show some decency!" Colton barked.
Twilight glared at the stallion.
"Cinnamon, I would like for you to come for a walk with me, please." Twilight said gently. "Official Princess of Friendship duty."
"Okay." She nodded and quickly trotted out the door.
Cinnamon nearly tumbled several times as Twilight led her through Ponyville, too focused on Star Chaser to watch where she was going.
"Sit." Twilight sighed, pointing with a wing to a large tree, Cinnamon meekly walked forward and sat down, she refused to meet Twilight's eyes.
"Is your father abusing you?" Twilight asked firmly as she set Star Chaser on the ground.
"What? No! He's just... overbearing." Cinnamon sighed.
"Cinnamon, if he's hurting you, I can help." Twilight said gently, as Star Chaser rolled around in the grass.
Cinnamon remained silent and watched Star Chaser tumble around in glee.
"He's gotten so big." She said gently.
"Yes, he has, now you didn't answer my question." Twilight said firmly.
The mare simply shook her head.
"Who's Star Chaser's father?" Twilight asked, deciding to pursue her first question later.
"I don't know his name." She hung her head and began crying. "He was a black earth stallion, that's all I remember."
"Hey! Hey hey hey!" Twilight lifted the mares head and wiped the tears with her wing. "None of that now, no judgements, I just want to talk."
"Mama!" Star Chaser pushed against Twilight's side.
Cinnamon Flower flinched.
"Shhh Star, not now." Twilight gently scooped up the foal into her forelegs, attempting to quite him so he wouldn't upset Cinnamon.
"No, no, it's fine." Cinnamon sighed. "You're the one who's been raising him, of course you're his mother, I just had him, and then gave him away because I was scared."
"I'm sorry I acted like that Cinnamon. Just, this whole time, I assumed that his mother was some mare who just didn't want to take care of him, and I'm sorry I misjudged you." Twilight said softly, feeling so angry with herself for being yet another judgmental pony against a teen mother.
"Well, I didn't want him. I had the means, but, the ideal situation? No." She sighed. "I never expected you to keep him."
"He nuzzled me and doomed me." Twilight sighed. "You said you didn't have a home in the letter though?"
"You heard how my dad talked to me. I'm sixteen, I can't legally get my own home yet, and I refused to have Star Chaser in that home with him." Cinnamon Flower shook her head and tears fell from her muzzle. "I also thought I wouldn't be tracked down if I said I was homeless, and then he couldn't hurt me or my foal."
"Cinnamon, would you like to stay in the castle with me?"
Cinnamon shook her head.
"I couldn't, not with Star Chaser calling another mare his mom, it kills me every time I see you two together, I love him, I hate you, but I love you, you took him in, you've raised him, you care for him."
"Cinnamon, I want you away from your father." Twilight said firmly. "If he's hurting you, you shouldn't be anywhere near him."
"But, Star Chaser..." She whispered.
"He can have two moms, how complicated is that for a tiny foal anyway?" Twilight asked.
"You, you'd do that?" She asked and began to cry harder.
"Of course I would! He'll grow up knowing his birth mother, and knowing she cared enough for him to give him to somepony who wasn't in a bad situation,"
Cinnamon flung herself at Twilight, hugging her tightly and sobbing into Twilight's mane.
"There there, it'll be alright, everything will be alright." Twilight said gently and patted her back. "So, would you like to live in the castle? I can get you a room set up."
Cinnamon nodded through her tears against Twilight's mane.
"Thank you Princess, thank you." She sobbed.