//------------------------------// // The Noblest of Trades // Story: To be her Mother... // by Mayhew Cullen //------------------------------// Celestia hated hospitals. She had no fear of doctors or loathing for the work done by the hospital staff. Quite simply she hated anything that forced her to think of the mortality of her little ponies. The patients would die, the visitors would die, the doctors and nurses would die, the potted plants would die, the little foals in the maternity ward would die... everypony would die. The pony beside her however, loved hospitals, though she was only five and for that reason her rational was quite childish. Getting checkups meant the nice nurse gave you candy if you behaved and there were always so many precious new foals to see. Crystal Dream had loved newborns ever since the first time she remembered being at the hospital. She had seen a new mother being pushed in a wheel chair and holding her foal close to her chest. Crystal had barely caught a glimpse but after following the mother and asking many questions she discovered that the little colt was not in fact a dolly but a very real and wonderful thing called a foal. The young filly at the time immediately asked her mother if she could have one of her own. Celestia had smiled and then she told her daughter that if she wanted a foal she had to be very patient and very good. Crystal of course soon found it quite difficult to be very patient and very good all the time. Oddly enough Celestia’s visit to the hospital had much to do with not one, but two foals. As the pair moved quietly Chrysie happily bounced through the halls, all the while staying close to her mother. First was a surprise visit to a pony she often called her niece. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza lay on her back clutching what might appear to an outside observer as a bundle of cloth. The goddess of the sun of course was no ignorant outside observer. As she entered the room, the princess of love stirred and saw her aunt and the little monstrosity approaching. Cadence glared at Crystal as she spoke, “I remember asking you to keep that thing away from me.” A heavy sigh and a slow shake of her head precluded Celestia’s response, “That is not an attitude I would expect from the princess of love. It has been over five years dearest niece how long can your grudge truly last?” “My grudge, as you put it, will only become stronger as long as that abomination lives.” In this she took her eyes off of the small filly and made eye contact with Celestia. The elder princess could see the seething hatred in Cadence’s eyes and it truly saddened her to see one of her precious ponies with such a powerful anger. Still she loved all her ponies, even the misguided ones. “Twilight loves her.” “Twilight loves you, Aunt Celestia. You could have brought home a dead fish as your daughter and Twilight would love it.” Celestia gave a warm chuckle at the idea of Princess Twilight Sparkle changing the diapers of a dead fish. She was about to reply to Cadence’s rather odd statement when the youthful voice of her daughter interrupted her thoughts. “She’s so pretty Aunty Cadence!” There on the bed on the other side of Cadence from Celestia sat a well behaved pink Pegasus. She was staring directly at the new born foal of Mi Amore Cadenza who was now staring directly at her. Cadence could not strike the filly, or push her off the bed out of fear of what her aunt would do to her. All she could do was simply reply, “Thank you.” The young princess hated the creature, but she was still civilized. She would not give the changeling spawn the satisfaction of seeing her act like the monster that its birth mother had been. Then she saw Crystal’s eyes... truly saw them. Full of wonder and excitement rather than the hungry predator’s eyes she had always imagined. No! Cadence screamed at herself. The worst kinds of monsters could easily hide their eyes. “Chrysie is right. She has your eyes.” Cadence nearly jumped out of her skin at Celestia’s voice as the elder alicorn now loomed over her quietly inspecting the newborn. The tiny filly had a striking three tone mane of deep blue, regal purple, and a streak with a soft buttercream quality. The pony’s soft coat was the same shade as her father’s but what surprised Celestia even more was the way the newborn seemed to reach out toward Crystal. The foal’s eyes were bright in excitement over the elder filly’s gentle gaze. “Hello. My name is Chrysie. What’s yours?” Crystal happily chirped only to be disappointed by the simple gurgling and coos customary of such a young pony. Instead Crystal’s question was answered by her mother, “Well let me think, Aunt Cadence sent me a list of names that she and Uncle Shiny were thinking of. I’d say this little foal looks like a Glimmer Strobe.” Cadence scoffed at Celestia’s guess. That name had not even been on the list. So without an ounce of unfamiliarity she replied, “That’s an awful name. Shining and I decided on Gleaming Shield. He said it was the name his mother always told him would be his if he had been born a filly.” In addition to crushing Celestia’s hopes of the two fillies forming a band called ‘Dream Strobe and the Herbal Remedy’ she felt it was time for her to move on to her other bit of business. “Well if you will excuse me I have another patient to visit. May I leave Chrysie here with you?” Cadence looked at the... ‘harmless’ filly before answering, “Fine. Just don’t take too long.” Of course she only spoke to empty air as if Celestia had already anticipated her response and left the room just after Cadence turned away. “Taking that Batmare thing a little far aren’t we Aunty?” “Aunty Cadence, can I call her Gleamy?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia moved with solemn purpose, quietly blending into the world as she assumed a form that she hated above all else. No pony saw it happen... nopony could ever see it happen... Celestia refused to allow it. Her coat turned dark gray and her radiant mane seemed to flatten into a sheet of black that wrapped around her body like a long cloak with a hood that obscured her face. Her horn and wings withdrew into her body and the Gray Mare strode easily between the pages of reality. It was a path she had only seen two others occupy, Discord and one of her faithful student’s friends. An odd coincidence, but still nothing more than a coincidence... or it would be if the princess of the sun believed in coincidence. The Gray Mare entered a nearly empty room, entirely unseen. Even as she approached the pregnant mare on the bed her hoof steps were soft as a spider’s whispers. A sound that was in fact only slightly louder than butterfly tears falling on fresh cut grass, but since no pony could hear either of those sounds it was enough. She felt her form shift into that of a nurse as she ran a hoof over the bedridden mare’s mane. “Oh hello Nurse Echo, how are you feeling today?” The Gray Mare giggled with the aforementioned nurse’s voice as she replied, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Not waiting for an answer the impostor nurse continued, “Just get some rest sweet heart... you have a big day ahead of you.” After murmuring her thanks, the tired mare drifted back to sleep and Celestia set about her work. She pressed her forehead against the swelled belly of the mare and began to concentrate allowing her powers to shift both her and her... client into a separate space where they would not be disturbed. “Hello my little pony. How do you feel?” Tears began to well up in Celestia’s eyes as she saw the unborn foal grow into a filly the same age as her own daughter. Even as the foal seemed to slumber, the little one managed a soft reply, “I’m really tired... can I go back to sleep?” “Soon dearest... soon you can rest...” Celestia had never once been able to take a foal from their mother without bursting into tears. Quiet sobs and invisible shudders rippled across her now ethereal form as she watched a future that could have been unfold before her eyes. Birthdays and school. Tears of joy and sorrow. Friends and family... all these things and more tore at Celestia’s heart. If things went unchanged... if things went the way of harmony, none of that would happen. Discord had asked her once what the value of a foal was. She had answered that to a mother, her child is priceless and there was nothing that could outweigh the value she placed on her child. She had gone on to say that to herself however a foal’s life was not valued as something so immaterial. To her, each and every foal she saved from stillbirth had torn a piece of her away. A sliver of destiny; given so that the foal would live and fulfill that purpose. It was a price she had paid in the past and a price she would pay in the future. The only uncertainty was if she would pay that price for this foal. “Tell me little one, what do you desire? More than anything, what do you wish for?” Celestia openly wept as she waited for the answer. “I want mommy to be happy. I know she tries but all this time inside her I felt how sad she was... am I making her sad?” “No little one. Your mother loves you more than you will ever know.” Another shift and she stood again before the pregnant pony fully revealed as the Gray Mare. A look of terror filled the mare’s eyes as she looked upon the face of Death, but she soon became even more frightened when the cloaked pony spoke, “fear not my little pony. I am not here for you.” “No!” the expecting mare cried out in fear, “No., you can’t take her away from me... I need her.” Sobs of anguish and intense physical pain erupted in the room as nurses and doctors swarmed around the unseen presence of the Gray Mare. As Celestia made to leave she heard a doctor cry out, “I don’t care if she’s still over a month early. We might lose the foal, but we can save the mother. We’ll be killing them both if we don’t do something.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cadence was motionless, holding her daughter and still staring at the filly as if Crystal would grow fangs and attempt to devour both Gleaming and herself. Crystal of course had no such aims and was happily coloring with supplies given to her by a passing nurse. She bounced with glee when her drawing was complete and wore a toothy grin when she moved back to her aunt while revealing the colorful art. Cadence couldn’t prevent herself from asking about the crude drawing, “and what is this supposed to be?” This only seemed to intensify the young pony’s exuberance as she happily replied as she indicated various parts of her drawing, “This is Mommy, giving you a hug. And this is me and I’m giving Gleamy a hug! And that’s a bad monster running away!” “Why is there a monster... and why are you and your... mother hugging my daughter and I?” Cadence was finished, she couldn’t help but give in to her curiosity now. “Because silly! Monsters are always mean to nice ponies. So me and Mommy are protecting Aunty Cadence and Gleamy from the monsters with our love. Monsters don’t like love so they are running away.” Cadence was truly ashamed. How could she have been blinded by anger for so long that she didn’t see what was right in front of her? She had only ever seen Crystal as the daughter of a monster, but now she realized that she had never let herself see her as the daughter of Celestia. “Crystal dear?” “Yes Aunty Cadence?” The small Pegasus chirped happily in reply, simply elated at the sound of her aunt’s voice. The princess of love smiled at the filly for the first time as she asked, “Gleamy sounds rather silly. Could you just call her Gleam? Oh and can I have a piece of paper and a crayon, I need to write a letter to your mommy.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia moved slowly through the vacuum of causality when she heard a voice that was steadily returning to familiarity. “Well, that was fun, you should be proud of the chaos you made in that little room. Though I should ask you, why? Why did you not simply save this foal? I’ve seen you do it plenty of times before, so why are you now holding so strong to you foolish ideals of order and balance?” “Because if there is one thing I’ve learned in my many years, it is that I can cheat fate. I can swindle the universe and I am more than happy to take something from the cosmos at no cost if I can manage it. With my powers inducing a bit of premature labor is easy.” “Then you’re frolicking with luck? Pure unhindered chance in the face of cruel destiny? My dearest Celestia, have you fallen so madly for me that you are willing to play with my toys again?” “Why do you think I let you out? You are useful to me and I know how to con you as much as the rest of the universe.” “Fair enough Celly, but I never did ask why you didn’t turn gray for the changeling.” “She asked for Celestia. I merely obliged her request.” “Really? Or was it because you wanted her to be able to picture your face better when she remembers what you did to her?” Fire erupted in the Gray Mare’s eyes as she stared down at Discord. Her rage filled voice overwhelming the minuscule Draconequus, “YOU DARE ASK ME THAT? WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU DID TO HER? WHAT MAKES YOUR ACTIONS SO DIFFERENT FROM MINE?” “Well for one little Miss Sunbottom, I don’t regret my decision. I never have and I never will.” Discord might have been lying through his teeth, but the angered sun goddess was not in the right frame of mind to detect his deceit. Instead she simply ignored him for the rest of her journey to return to her niece and filly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia smirked at the entrance of a highly out of breath doctor as he entered her niece’s room. However she nearly laughed aloud at her daughter’s words, “Shh! You have to be quiet. Aunty Cadence is sleeping.” “My apologies... your majesties... I should have come... to check on Princess... Cadenza a half... hour ago, but there were... complications... with another... patient.” The young doctor barely managed to squeak out between many gasps for air. Celestia donned a concerned expression as she quickly replied, Oh dear, what happened?” “Well,” The doctor was hesitant due to patient confidentiality, but then again this was his princess and he didn’t have to go into detail, “Well, there was a mare who went into labor, five weeks early. It was a bit touch and go, but it seems it was a blessing in disguise. It turns out the foal had twisted herself to have the umbilical cord around her neck. Poor little thing would have died if the mother hadn’t given birth right then and there.” “Then they are both fine?” “Healthy as can be Princess. Very tired, but healthy.” Celestia smiled as her own filly began bouncing up and down in front of her with an excited grin on her face, “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you mommy. Aunty Cadence sent you a letter.” The filly gleefully indicated a sheet of paper on the younger princess’s side table. With a heavy sigh Celestia magically moved the paper toward her and began reading the letter written in bright red crayon. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Princess Celesti Yeah, it makes me laugh knowing that’s how Twilight still addresses her letters to you... let’s try again. Dear Aunt Celestia, Gleam likes her... your daughter. Gleam has spent the last five minutes smiling and laughing while... Crystal was just sitting, quietly humming. I imagine the tune was some lullaby you sing to her, but I’m getting off topic. I am the princess of love. So I know a few things about love and... That filly... your filly... loves my daughter. She loves her without restriction or expectation of something in return... it’s like they’re sisters. Yes I know technically they are sisters... sort of. Sorry, off topic again. Basically, I would consider it cruel to completely separate my daughter from somepony who loves her and that she loves back. So here is my ultimatum, Crystal Dream shall be henceforth invited to visit the Crystal Empire at her mother’s discretion so that she may visit her cousin, Gleaming Shield. I guess Twilight had it right all along. I have claimed to love you for years, but if I can’t show that love by at least opening myself a little to somepony that you love then I am just fooling myself. I’m sorry for everything I’ve said about Crystal in the past. Please give me a chance to try again. Your incredibly sleepy niece, Princess Mi Amore “Cadence” Cadenza P.S. Sending Princess Twilight Sparkle along with Crystal, as a show of good faith, will certainly help build positive international relations between our countries.(Shiny misses his little sister and he won’t go visit her even when I tell him it’s fine. My husband the ever worrying workaholic.) P.P.S. Also please hide this letter, Shining should be back before lunch and I don't want to ruin the surprise. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be a mother. This is the noblest of trades. A mother’s love for her child is the sweetest chorus and is only eclipsed when that love is returned. The success of her child brings delight at her child’s joy and failure brings mourning for her child’s sorrow. Creator, doctor, teacher, counselor, and closest friend. All these things and more are what it means, To be a Mother. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author’s Notes Today we featured guest stars Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and a bottle of tooth paste. The answer is yes, if I do end up featuring a band in future additions it will be called “Dream Strobe and the Herbal Remedy.” Whether this will be by Celestia’s influence or by mad coincidence, I’m not sure yet. Dream Strobe will likely be one pony and the Herbal Remedy will be a quartet of zebras. As for Gleam, yes I am aware that Gleaming Shield is a common rule 63 name for Shiny... I even poked at that fact a little within the story. My readers probably noticed More insight into Discord and Tia as the Gray Mare was fun as well... also... Happy Mother’s Day.