//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: A Little Smarty Problem // by Sparknanator //------------------------------// A Little Smarty Problem By Sparknanator *** Twilight mentally cursed herself as she approached her home, stealing a glance back at the sleeping filly on her back. She smiled, thankful that Smarty had seemingly tuckered herself out after the day. "I didn’t realize how heavy this would all be," she whispered, noting the weight of the filly and her saddlebags. She decided to treat Smarty to a small trip to some different shops, and the gray filly, of course, found a stuffed platypus and almost refused to leave without it. Twilight understood the attachment one could have to a stuffed toy. After all, had it not been for her love and attachment to a toy, she wouldn’t be in this situation. But she didn’t hold any resentment towards Smarty. If anything, she could say she felt the same love for her that she felt for her surrogate son. "Guess I will get a bit of research done tonight," she whispered again. As she got closer to the tree that she called home, she noticed a few things off. One of them was all the lights on. And she couldn’t tell, but it looked like the front door was cracked. Suddenly, she heard it: "HEEEEELLLLLLP!" followed by a blood-curdling scream. Twilight felt herself go cold. Before she knew it, she found herself running with her horn glowing. "I’m on the way, Spike!" she shouted, bursting in the door and running up the stairs to where the screaming was coming from. Twilight, using her magic, lifted up a lamp, ready to fight if needed, kicking open the door. All she saw was the outline of a large stallion, and out of instinct, Twilight threw the lamp with all of her force and might. The large stallion hit the floor. "Who’s next?!" she snarled, looking around the room. “Twilight Sky Sparkle, you stop that right now, young lady!” Twilight’s blood ran cold when she heard that voice. It belonged to the one pony in all of Equestria who could strike fear into even a full-grown dragon, that tone that could cause a Manticorn to turn tail and hide. “M-Mom?” she asked nervously. “So that means…shit!.” *** “Ow.” “Ow.” “Owwwwwie!” Scootaloo whined. This had become a weekly routine, one that the filly hated but knew was necessary. Pluck. “Ouch!” Scootaloo yelped. Fluttershy gave her an empathetic smile. “I know, sweetie,” she said, plucking another feather. After another painfully failed attempt at flying that ended with a broken wing, black eye, and a broken leg, Fluttershy had had enough. She took Scootaloo to Manehatten to see a specialist. While it wasn’t uncommon for some pegasi to be late bloomers, it was beyond that point for the girl. Fluttershy couldn’t bear to see the girl hurt herself anymore with failed flying attempts, and that was where they learned she had a rare defect in her flight feathers. Over time, it would correct itself, but sadly for Scootaloo, it meant once a week pulling the ‘bad feathers,’ as Fluttershy had put it. Pluck. “Almost done,” Fluttershy said over the whining and squirming. “After this, we can have some snacks and relax before bed,” she smiled, rustling the girl's mane before sneakily pulling the last few feathers, much to Scootaloo’s dismay. “I know it isn’t fun, but I promise soon we won’t have to do this anymore, and you’ll be flying so fast you’ll put Rainbow Dash to shame!” she said, trying to cheer her up. *** “Daddy, I’m so sorry!” Twilight continued to apologize while she addressed the wound on her fathers head, one that she had admittedly caused. “Darn it,” she said after looking at the rag she was using to hopefully stop the bleeding. The stallion let out a chuckle. “Well, Twily, I always told you growing up that just because we are unicorns doesn’t mean we should shy away from blunt force,” he winced a bit, feeling the rag being removed and unceremoniously placed back on. “And I hate to say it, but I believe that rag isn’t working,” he chuckled again, his own horn lighting up with a cobalt blue. Night Light brought the first aid kit over, pulling out the suturing kit. “Besides, if I got mad every time I got hit in the head with a lamp, then your mother and I would have had a few fights,” he laughed again still unsure where his daughters panic came from, looking over at his wife who was busy ogling over the sleeping filly. “So that's the doll that Cadance made for you, huh?” he said, trying not to possibly offend his daughter, but at the same time, he felt a sense of pride. His daughter somehow managed to give life to an inanimate object. “Here, grandpa,” Spike said, handing the stallion an open bottle of cider. “I wish we knew you two were coming over,” he kicked the ground a bit, wanting to make sure to keep everything cleaned up and tidy. “I know how grandma is,” he mumbled, having heard multiple lectures on how to properly clean windows. “What was that, Spikey?” The trio heard the older mare ask. “Well, just for that, I think somebody earned his way out of some of grandma’s cookies,” she said with a smirk, watching the baby dragon come running up, spouting out apologies faster than anypony could hear or even understand. “And now back to you,” she said, glaring at Twilight. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a foal?” The tone she asked the question sent a shiver down the grown mare's spine. She knew she didn’t have to tell her mother, but the problem she had with that was her mom scared her. “Well, uh, you see,” they all paused, hearing the distinct sounds of Smarty waking up. The filly’s eyes cracked open, and she looked up, noticing a mare that looked a lot like her mother, but her coat was different. “Smarty!” Twilight said, thankful for the distraction and making it a point to run over to her daughter. “Good morning, sweet filly,” she said in a tone she typically saved for smaller ponies or even Spike when he was tired. Twilight moved Smarty’s mane from her eyes. “I have some ponies here I want you to meet,” she said gently, helping the filly sit up. “These are your grandparents,” Twilight said with a smile. Smarty, however, as they would all learn, was just like her aunt, at least when waking up. “Her breath smells bad,” the filly said, covering her nose and pointing to Velvet, getting a snort from Twilight and Night Light, but before any laughter could be had, they both received a look from the white mare. But none of it fazed the filly, for she was far too tired, and before anypony knew it, she was fast asleep and snoring despite sitting up. “Let me get this little lady to bed,” Night Light said, magically lifting Smarty and trotting off upstairs. “Spike, could you be a dear and get us some tea?” Velvet asked, getting a nod from the dragon before he ran off. Turning her attention back to her daughter, she spoke. “You have a lot of explaining to do.” Cursing under her breath again, Twilight knew that it was going to be a bit of a difficult situation to explain. “Would you believe me if I said I secretly got pregnant and had a filly years ago?” She was panicking for some unknown reason; her mother could strike a level of fear into her that even Nightmare Moon couldn’t achieve. “Well, where do I start?” she began, knowing it was going to be a long night. *** Big Mac stood outside of the Ponyville Library that doubled as the home of The Element of Magic, The Canterlot Conundrum, Twilight Sparkle or in Big Mac’s case. His baby momma. Having spent the entire day with Granny Smith he learned somethings. Things about himself and things about his parents. Including the rivalry his parents' families had. ‘If they can make it work then darn it so can y’all’ he remembered her saying. “Ah don’t know how to be a daddy,” he mumbled, knowing full well how untrue his statement was; after all, he helped raise his sisters. And he knew he had the qualities it took. But this was different for the stallion, back then it was just his little sisters, but now even if it was by magic this filly was his own flesh and blood. He continued his slow walk to the door, knowing he needed to talk to Twilight and preferably he’d like to do it alone. He had spent the entire walk practicing what he was going to say and he thought he knew now. And as the door got closer his words faded. ‘Just speak from yer’ heart Celestia knows ya' have a big one,’ he remembered his granny saying. The large red stallion took in a deep breath and knocked on the door and much to his surprise the door opened almost immediately. “Twilight ah’ think we need ta’ tal-” he stopped and looked at the unicorn stallion in front of him. “Mac?” He heard Twilight’s distinct voice, and when he looked behind the stallion, he could see the purple mare, and it looked like she had been crying. “Shoot, this is my fault,” he thought, knowing his behavior had not been the best, but the last thing he wanted was to make his friend cry. “Uh, daddy, can you let him in? This is Big Mac….this is Smarty’s father,” she said sheepishly, having already explained most of the situation. Before Big Mac could react, Night Light punched him in the face, causing him to fall onto his flanks. “Hurt my little girl will you?!”