Little Mare, Big Family

“Number FOUR! Your order’s ready!” a stallion bellowed from behind the counter. He placed a nondescript brown bag on the counter. “Kids meal! Number FOOOUUUR!”

“HERE!” called a raspy voice. “Right here! I got it!”

The stallion blanched. His eyes darted around before leaning over to see a small orange pegasus in front of the counter.

“Oh! There you are! Okay, so there weren’t any specifics from the sheet about whether to put in a filly’s toy or a colt’s, so I put both!” The stallion pointed to the side of the bag, some hard plastic bulging through the paper. “Don’t tell your mama I did, though. I could get in trouble!”

Scootaloo scowled up at the stallion. “I’m twenty-six.”

“Oh!” His expression faltered. “M-My mistake, miss! I thought you were… Erm, here you go!”

The stallion dropped the bag down to Scootaloo’s level. She snatched it with a light blush, turning and trotting briskly to the exit. Even in the din of weekend Hayburger lunch hours, she could hear ponies snickering.

The outdoor seating was barren of other ponies in the hot, humid day. The glare of the beating sun drained any poor sap that stayed out in it, but Scootaloo didn’t care. She didn’t mind the sun in her face, and a breeze was starting to pick up, anyways. She plopped herself down at a tiny table for two and unwrapped her meal, staring at it as if it’d insulted her mother. The two brightly colored plastic toys rattled onto the table next to her hayfries.

“Let it go…” Scootaloo took deep breaths, nice and slow in, long and gentle out. “It’s fine. He didn’t know any better.”

The warm breeze blew past. Scootaloo flared her little wings out to cool her body, but the heat she felt wasn’t entirely temperature-related. Many mares were in season right now, and some had worse self-control than others. That this year was being particularly intense for Scootaloo wasn’t helping things.

The toys listed in the breeze, rolling to the side of the table as she took her first bites. A kids meal was a small portion, meant for small ponies that couldn’t eat large meals in single sittings. Scootaloo couldn’t help but sigh.

A small family trotted out of the restaurant single file. A stallion, a heavyset mare, and three foals trailing behind like a boat pulling a string of life preservers. One of them, a light blue unicorn colt, drifted near Scootaloo’s table to inspect a bug on the ground. As if on cue, the breeze picked up again, dropping the green plastic toy in front of his nose.

“OOH!” The colt’s eyes lit up. He snatched the toy, holding it up in his magic. “Hey, can I have this for my brother?!”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. She stared at the plastic toy, now smudged by dirt. “Uh… sure? Yeah, you can have it.”

“Thanks!” The little colt stood and scampered off with a toothy smile.

“No problem,” she said, returning to her food.

“You should come play with me and my brother and sister by the playground!” he called over his shoulder. “We’ll be there for a bit!”

“Why would I—” Scootaloo cut herself short. Of course he’d mistaken her for a filly, too. She probably only had a few inches over him.

“Because it's fun!” The colt raced over to the park, where his parents were already settling down. “See you later!”

Scootaloo was confused. Minutes ago, she’d had to stop herself from chewing out a cashier, but now, she was waving goodbye at this colt, her grin mirroring his. She continued pecking at her food in silence, staring wistfully at the small family.

She hadn’t realized the mother was pregnant. Every couple of minutes or so she’d stroke or cradle her belly, swinging her legs on the park bench. The warm sunlight made her olive coat radiant compared to the stark black bench. She watched her three oldest with a fond smile, running around and having the time of their lives.

Scootaloo was reminded of her own adventures at that age. The sounds of laughing, screaming, tackling, clambering about called to her, reminiscent of times long past. She usually found the noises of children irritating, but something had been different lately. Occasionally she’d get lost in thought after seeing parents with children, an odd flood of thoughts and emotions washing over her.

The idea of watching over foals. Feeding them. Taking them to school. Bringing them presents and taking pic—

“MOMMYYY!”

Scootaloo jumped. The little filly of the family was clutching her leg, wailing from under the monkey bars. Her brothers were racing back to their parents. After some out of earshot chatter, the father and two boys cantered over back inside the restaurant while the mother levitated her daughter to the park bench.

Scootaloo forgot about her meal. She snagged the plastic pink toy and darted over to the park, mind entirely focused on the crying filly.

“Shush shush,” the mother tousled the filly’s curly red locks. “Don’t worry, daddy’s coming back with a bandage, and you’ll be allll better… Oh, hello!”

Scootaloo blinked. She suddenly felt like a zombie who’d just re-learned to speak. “Uh, hi! I’m Scootaloo.”

The crying filly hitched her breath a couple times in response.

Scootaloo realized she wasn’t gonna get much more than that, so she just held out the small toy. Instantly, the filly’s whole face changed.

“Th-Th-The stallion said th-they didn’t have any more...” She took the toy like it were a precious fragile treasure. The tears in her emerald eyes dried up.

“What do you say to the nice filly for sharing, Sweet Pea?” the mother said in a sing song voice.

Sweet Pea smiled, then surprised Scootaloo with a big, tight hug. “Thank you so so SO much, Scootaloo!”

The mother chuckled, excusing her daughter as a little serial hugger.

It didn’t make any sense. Scootaloo didn’t know or care about this filly until but minutes ago, and yet her heart was soaring. Scootaloo hugged the little girl right back, and despite the embrace only lasting seconds, it felt like an hour to her.

“You’ll be okay,” Scootaloo said, her voice soft. She waved her wing goodbye, then took to the air and flew home.

She finally recognized what she’d been feeling lately. What’d been lingering at the back of her mind for months. It’d boiled over to the forefront, everything falling into place.

She wanted to be a mom.