//------------------------------// // What A Bucking Choice... // Story: The Child In Me // by Zamairiac //------------------------------// Now before you all go nutty about Cadance acting OOC. Please do remember what story you're reading. Begin! What A Bucking Choice… I never did see that hoofservant again… Not to worry though, I was told later on that she had only been condemned to sniffing the glue products for a week…with no breaks. On second thought that actually sounds quite dangerous, and painful, and…well, a bit over the top to be honest. But then again Mom is a pretty over the top pony. Stopping a train with your bare hooves sorta points to that. In any case, after doing something to the hoofservant before chucking her out the door, Mom promptly put me into that embarrassing baby pouch around her neck, smiling down at me all the while. "Art thou feeling any better min son?" she asked gently, her eyes lidded with concern. Okay, lie to her! Tell her you're feeling A-Oh-Bucking-K! Once she's lulled into a false sense of security, we can take the opportunity to get the hay outta this castle, if not the entire country. Just tell her you feel- "My head still hurts Mommy." OH FOR THE LOVE OF FAUST! Mom smiled warmly at my words, before promptly sticking out that ridiculously long tongue and licking my forehead lovingly. To my dismay, the moment I felt the cold yet soothing touch, I pretty much collapsed in the pouch and let her do her thing. It was so relaxing…and the maternal feeling behind it all but forced a lazy smile to worm its way onto my muzzle. Why am I speaking like a child? I was fine a day or so ago…Hmm, perhaps my ill state is the reason behind it; perhaps being unwell weakens my true senses. It's only a theory but…hmm, it could be so. I can't think of anything else at the moment… "Thou art so precious to us little one," Mom cooed happily, nuzzling my slightly damp forehead tenderly as she did so. "We cannot describe how jubilant we are to have found thee…we were so worried when we found thee in such a foul state." Mom's smiled seemed to waver for a moment, a shimmer of unhappiness flickering behind her eyes. But just as suddenly as it came, it was once again replaced with an exultant disposition. "But now Mommy has thee back!" she announced joyfully, peppering my tiny face in swift kisses, much to my mortification. "We will nurse thee back to health, sleep with thee under our wing, and never let thee out of our sight again!" Fan-Bucking-Tastic! "Now then," she chirped, her horn alight as the door swung open. "Thou must be hungry. So we shall take thou into the city and purchase thee a cream of ice!" "Don't you mean an 'Ice Cream'?" I corrected, only to be quickly quelled by a stubborn expression…and a book appearing out of nowhere. "Nay min son, it is called the cream of ice, the book say's so." Quirking an eyebrow as Mom happily skipped down a long hallway, I looked at the book hovering in front of us and read the title. How not to be an insane, clingy marefriend in need of some serious therapy! By Cairiamaz. "Oh, forgive us!" Mom spoke suddenly, the book disappearing quickly, only to be replaced by a similar looking one. "It was on offer, so we bought both...though why Tia suggested that one is beyond us." I have no idea what just happened… Choosing to ignore the random moment, I once again looked at the books title. How to be the most fabulously snuggly mother in Equestria By Big Pony Little Fabulously…snuggly…what in the world is this straw! I just about managed to read the first paragraph, before like the previous book, it vanished into nothing. Are you ready to be the most snuggly, cuddly, warm and oh so fluffy mother in Equestria? Then look no further than this book. For if you follow our instructions carefully, then your adorable little foal will be literally diving headfirst to put their tiny muzzles on your tummy. (Warning! The author of this book is not responsible for any stab wounds caused by an overeager unicorn diving horn first into your stomach! Common sense is advised!) That was…interesting. Mom used her weird power to open a set of great doors in front of us, before gracefully hopping in and smiling at…uh, Sunny Butt, who merely smiled back and left the room. I'm crap with names… Crap? I can say Crap! HOLY FAUST I CAN SAY CRAP! It was a good day! Unfortunately… I could quickly feel the air around me steadily becoming colder. Yet as I looked up at Mom, all I could see was a slightly strained, if not completely frustrated grin on her muzzle. "Good evening niece," Mom said stiffly. Evening? We're getting ice cream in the evening…Mom's weird. Oh, wait, she said niece. Who's… "Good evening to you as well Aunty Luna," replied a rather sweet sounding, if not younger voice. Shimmying around in the pouch, I forced myself to sit up as best I could so as to get a good look at her. Wow…she looks quite pretty to be honest. She, like Mom, was an alicorn. But rather than the dark coat Mom had, she had a light pink one. Her mane was a multitude of bright colors, most of which gave me a headache. The emblem on her flank was a teal heart made of what looked like crystal, which also appeared to be held within a gold lance. And finally, her wings seemed to have a sort of magenta hue towards their tips, which was in my opinion quite nice to look at. What was even nicer though, was the adoring smile she had adorning her muzzle. Her eyes were purple, bright and sparkling as they looked at me. I liked it, it made me feel warm and fuzzy. Unfortunately, I was brought out of my trance by two snorts of hot air tickling my hair. Looking up, I...well, saw the reason why. Mom was glaring daggers at the pink alicorn. Her wings were raised and ruffling in a...really weird way, something that my instincts seemed to recognize somewhat. She was displaying her dominance...why. Because of me? Then, to my surprise, the pink alicorn raised her wings as well, ruffling them ever so slightly as she gave Mom a really, really scary looking smile. I'm pretty sure if looks could kill, the both of them would already be buried six feet under. The pink mare seemed to ignore Mom as she made her way towards us, her attention and suddenly not creepy smile focused entirely on me. "Hello there," she said softly. "My name's Cadance, and you must be Arcturus, right?" "Uh…y-yes, I mean, n-no I'm Oliver, my name's Oliver Leaf." What in the world was that all about? Why am I stuttering like a…love struck…child…Oh boy. "Oliver Leaf?" she echoed slowly, as if testing the name on her tongue. "That's a peculiar name, though I admit I do prefer it to Arcturus." Hah, finally! Someone in this blasted world that'll actually listen to me! "Well WE prefer Arcturus!" Mom declared suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Tis his name now, one filled with charm and mystery. Tis quite befitting for a child of mine…" I'm fairly sure that the other mare didn't miss Mom's deliberate use of a possessive word. But if she didn't, she had a rather funny way of showing how much she cared. "Aunty, we don't change names upon adoption anymore," Cadance giggled…somewhat mockingly I think. "We haven't done that for well over several centuries. And nowadays it's considered quite rude to do so." Ahh, so that explains the name chance. It's quite similar to what we used to do a few centuries ago. Mom's expression at this point was quite thunderous, yet calm, yet also very frightening. It made me squirm uncomfortably… But then suddenly, a light pink glow enveloped my entire body warmly, before lifting me up and out of the pouch. Mom barely had time to comprehend what had just happened, and by the time she did…well, I was already nestled in…another pouch? A pink pouch, once that just so happened to be wrapped around Cadance's neck. "What dost thou think thee is doing with OUR son!" Mom demanded, her horn lighting up, a dark bluish colour slowly covering my form. But as it was about to do so…well, the glow spluttered and died. "An Anti-Magic Foal Pouch!" Mom gasped, her eyes wide with shock…before suddenly gleaming dangerously. "Enough of this Niece! Give us back our son before we do so ourselves!" … "No." "E-Excuse us?" Mom asked, stepping back as if stuck. "I said no," Cadance repeated. "Oliver is not a toy, Aunty. He's an innocent little colt that from what I heard, ran away from you in fear, and by his appearance got sick too." Mom seemed flabbergasted for all of a few seconds, but quickly regained her aggressive confidence and made to speak again. "Niece, we know he is not a toy, and we know that we were overeager beforehoof. But we wish to make amends, so give him back to-" "You still don't understand, do you?" Cadance interrupted, her face suddenly flushed with…anger? "Where's the sadness? Where's the shame. I'm not hearing any!" Mom once again backed away, her expression while once confident, was now upset and embarrassed. "Don't you get it, you frightened him so much that he ran away from you. He was so scared that he lied to get as far away from you as he could. And even when you found him, it was only because he was too ill to keep you at bay." "How dost thou-" "Aunt Celestia told me everything you told her," Cadance interrupted crossly. "You're so much older and wiser than I, Aunty. How can you act so childishly? How can you treat a colt barely out of his diapers with such negligence? He's not a toy to satiate your need to feel loved Aunty…he's not." Damn… I couldn't help the pang of sympathy that welled up within me, not when I saw the sheer look of anxiety on Mom's face. "W-We know that we were neglectful beforehoof Cadance," she whispered, her lower lip trembling slightly as she looked at me. "But we truly wish to make amends. We wish to take care of him, to love him as a mother would…We even bought a book, see!" The book from before materialized out of nowhere…but I didn't really look at it, I was too busy trying not to look at Mom's suddenly tear filled eyes. "A book, Aunty?" Cadance's tone was…unsatisfied, disappointed even. "Do you really think that a book can show you how to be a mother?" she asked sceptically. Mom looked down at the floor upon hearing this question, her eyes darting all over it as she apparently tried to find the correct answer. "Oliver," Cadance suddenly spoke, causing me to look up at her questioningly. "Do you want to come home with me?" "W-What?" I stammered, my eyes darting back and forth between her and Mom. Cadance merely smiled and nuzzled me warmly, before taking me out of the pouch with her hooves and placing me in front of her. "I promise you that you'll be well loved and looked after," she continued, her voice soft and affectionate…It made me feel all fuzzy again. "You'll have no need to be so frightened anymore. You don't even have to call me Mom if it makes you uncomfortable." … "I…" "Arcturus…" I didn't look at her, I didn't have too. I could hear the distress in her voice, I could feel the sheer desperation in its tone. "Arcturus, look at us sweetie," M..Lu…Mom pleaded, her voice gaining a higher pitch when I didn't. "Honey please…look at us." Sighing, I obeyed her request and turned around…though upon doing so I quickly wished I hadn't. The fur on Mom's face was matted with tears. Her eyes were as desperate as her tone, shining and wide with fear. Realizing I was looking at her, Mom smiled a trembling smile and held out her forehooves. "T-Thou dost not want to leave Mommy, doth thee?" she asked shakily. "W-We know that we s-scared thee beforehoof, and we a-are so s-sorry. But w-we wish to make it up to thee…and thou still loves us, no?" … My silence only served to worsen the situation. Cadance was shaking her head at Lu…Mo...Moms upsetting display. And Mom…well… "How about we g-go and purchase the cream of ice?" she declared, her iris's mere pinpricks filled with desperation and fear. "Thou art still sick, and would like that, no? Wouldn't thee like that?!" Damn Luna... "Then we can sleep together once more! Doesn't that sound delightful min son, no?!" … "Oliver…" Upon hearing her voice, I looked back up at Cadance and blinked confusedly at her open forehooves. I then looked back at Luna's request for an embrace… It was clear to me in that moment. I had to choose between the one that loved me, but frightened me slightly. Or the one who I knew not, yet made me feel so warm… Between Luna's pleading expression and Cadance's soft smile…the choice itself was actually rather difficult. Who do I choose…?