//------------------------------// // Bella, Vinyl, & Lemon (post story) // Story: Silver Spoon on the Moon, and Other Short Stories // by ocalhoun //------------------------------// Bella shot up out of the water with a huge splash, nearly showering the shore of the pond in her exuberance. “Peek-a-boo!” Sitting safely on a towel out of the spray, her baby giggled. Lemon Hearts gasped. “Bella! How could you?” She leapt up from her plastic lounge chair and charged right up to the water – she stopped there, of course. The look on her face might have been appropriate if the baby had been screaming. Bella treaded water placidly. “How could I what?” “Just look at Crave!” She thrust a hoof toward the baby. “Just look at him!” She did – he rolled back and forth on the soft towel. “Um, mom, he looks fine.” Her mother threw both hooves into the air. “You could have splashed him!” “Um... Mom, I think that wouldn’t be–” “Are you ponies ready for this?” Vinyl's voice squeaked, accompanied by the clattering of hooves. Both Bella Rave and Lemon Hearts paused, looking up at the rock overhanging the pond with wide eyes. “CANNONBALL!” A bright ball of white unicorn flew from the top of the rock, trailing a soggy blue tail behind. She hit the surface before anypony else could react, sending an enormous splash outward through the small pond. Water splashed everywhere. A wave washed over Bella, Lemon ran for the illusionary safety of a nearby tree, and Heart Crave's beach-side towel was soaked. Both Bella and Lemon turned to stare at the baby, aghast. He sat entirely still, his red mane soaked, now laying slick against him. He blinked repeatedly, as if trying to process what had just happened to him. Vinyl' head popped out of the water. “So, kiddo, on a scale of five to ten, how cool was that?” Crave giggled and clapped his little hooves together. He squealed. “I'll take that to mean eleven!” Vinyl laughed at herself. “Ugh!” Lemon came stomping back to the shore, once again stopping short of getting her hooves wet. “The two of you! This is no way to behave in front of the baby!” “Five to ten?” Bella gave her 'other mother' a sidelong glance. Vinyl smirked. “I've never been under six before. No need to complicate things.” She shook some water out of her mane. “Maybe we should head back, though. Lemon might have a point.” “What?” Bella splashed backward noisily. “What's got into you?” She paused for a moment. “Oh, I know!” “Don't. You. Dare.” Vinyl's eyes narrowed menacingly. “Don't even think it!” “Grandma must be feeling tired!” With a squeal, Bella dodged a halfhearted punch. Vinyl's punch met only water. “You take that back right now!” “Only if you can catch me, Granny!” Bella laughed, already swimming hard for shore. Vinyl wasn't far behind. Her red eyes accentuated the rage in her face nicely. Lemon Hearts watched the two of them run off into the distance, once again narrowly avoiding being splashed when they burst out of the water. She shook her head. “And here I thought I'd be getting help taking care of the kids.” She glanced over at the baby. “Looks like I just ended up adopting more... What are we going to do with those two, Crave?” The baby just sat and sucked on his hoof, rocking back and forth slightly. He didn't have any advice. All four ponies, Crave included, sat on the wide blanket on the dry side of the pond's shore, finishing the last of Lemon's snickerdoodles. Bella sat, squeezed between her two mothers, across from her little baby. “You know,” she said lazily, “that's one lucky kid.” “Lucky?” Vinyl winced. “He basically doesn't even have a dad.” Bella studiously ignored the dirty look Lemon shot in Vinyl's direction. “Yeah.” She smiled. “But he's got two really bad-ass grandmas!” “Bella! Language!” Lemon gave Bella the dirty look this time. “There's a baby present!” “Oh, come on.” Bella waved a hoof dismissively and ran it through her mane. The blue roots were showing pretty strongly behind the red-dyed section now. “It's not like he's going to remember any of this when he grows up.” Vinyl laughed. “Still, wouldn't it be killer if his first words were–” “Bad-ass!” Everypony stared at Crave. Lemon looked as if she'd seen a particularly revolting ghost. Vinyl covered her mouth with her hooves, ineffectively suppressing a raucous laugh. Bella chomped down on another cookie and grinned. “My kid is gonna be awesome,” she said with her mouth still full.