Anon stands before his mother’s door. The tears he shed have long since passed. The only remnants left behind are his reddened eyes and cheeks. School had been especially hard for him today. Anon is used to the kids making fun of him. Calling him weird, a freak, all sorts of mean names. Yet today was different. Today they said something that has been grating at his young mind for a long time now. So here he stands before his mother’s door unsure what to do.
He raises his hand and knocks on her door lightly.
“Come in.” Anon lets himself into his mother’s room. Anon can feel a certain warmth in his heart as he notices his mother smile once she realises who it is. “How was your day, Nonny?”
Anon wants to run to his mother's side. He wants to tell her all the things that happened today. He wants to ask her something that’s been bothering him for a long time. Yet how can he ask something that he too can’t understand? For so long he’s wondered about why he walks on two legs. Why he has hands and not hooves. Why he is taller than all the ponies at school. As everything becomes too much for him to handle, he simply asks.
“Mom, what am I?”
He doesn’t notice it, but Celestia’s fur is standing on end. She noticed as soon as he walked in the redness in his eyes. Another hard day at school, but there was nothing she could do about it and it makes her feel all the more useless because of it. She’s been dreading this day ever since she found Anon all those years ago. She doesn’t know what to say.
“W-What do you mean, Nonny?”
Anon can still hear the children in his head.
“The kids today said I was adopted.” Anon can feel the tears welling up again in his eyes. “I’ve always wondered, but why am I so different?” Celestia can feel her heart race the more she listens. “Why don’t ponies like me?” She wants so much for him to be happy. “Why am I not like you?”
There’s the question. Celestia hasn’t even realised that she stopped breathing a while ago. Her mind is racing. She knew this day would come, but she hoped that it never would have. Celestia gulps down as much of her emotions as she can swallow. She needs to be strong.
“Come here, Nonny.” Celestia waves for Anon to join her.
Anon can’t hold back anymore. He dashes into the wings of his mother as she hold him tight. The tears flowing from his eyes as she holds him tight. He’s always like this, always crying, always weak.
“Nonny.” Anon looks up at his mother. “I want you to listen to me, ok?”
Anon nods. “Ok.”
Celestia tries her best to give him a reassuring smile, but even she’s unsure on how she’s going to go about this.
“Nonny... I-I found you many, many years ago. It was just like any other day. Everypony was going about their lives and I walked the garden to clear my thoughts.” The memory is still so clear to Celestia, even after all this time. “I heard a child crying. I knew that no pony was allowed into the garden other than myself and a few select ponies, so I was concerned as to how a child got lost there.” Celestia pulls Anon to her chest as she embraces him.
“Imagine my surprise when I found you? A child the likes I have never seen before. You were so small and helpless. I knew I couldn’t leave you.” She nuzzles into him. “So I picked you up in my magic and brought you back into my room and took care of you.” She feels a frown grow on her face. “So many ponies told me to let you go. They told me that you didn’t belong. Yet I kept you and raised you as my own and do you know why?”
Anon looks up at his mother as he shakes his head.
“It’s because I loved you. Even back then, when I had no idea what you where or how to take care of you. I loved you with all my heart. I could feel it deep inside of me, Nonny.” She chuckles some. “Through those years my love for you continued to grow. Even as I ran myself up the walls trying to figure out how to feed you, bathe you, take care of you. There were so many countless nights where I didn’t sleep or eat because I worried about you. What others would think of you or how they’d treat you.”
Celestia can feel her own tears coming on. “I’m sad to say I’ve failed you in many ways. I cannot tell ponies to love you as I love you. I cannot make those children at school stop their hurtful words. I can move the sun and the moon and yet I cannot make my own child happy.”
Anon looks up at his mother as she looks away from him. Tears are falling from her eyes as she tries to compose herself. Anon is still crying, but not for the same reasons as before. Now he’s crying because he never wanted to see his mother sad.
“M-Mom, don’t be sad.”
Celestia looks down at her child. Yes, he may be different, but he’s still her child.
“Anon, I want you to listen closely to what I say next.” Anon nods his head, usually she only uses his name when she’s serious. “You are not a pony, I don’t know what you are...” Celestia uses a wing to pull Anon’s head towards her own, so that their foreheads are touching and eyes locked. “But none of that matters, Nonny. You’re my son and I will always love you, with all my heart.”
As Anon looks into his mother’s eyes. He gets the feeling that he can see into her soul. That every word she’s saying is the absolute truth. He moves his head away from her own as he rests it on her chest. She wraps him up into her wings and holds him tight. It’s a lot for Anon to take in, but there’s one thing that stands out in his young mind. His mother loves him and that’s something that’s never changed.
“Well if it isn’t the monkey boy.” A colt laughs as him and his friends trot up to Anon. “What are you smiling about?”
Anon looks down at the colt below him. The smile of his never wavering.
“Not much, just that I know what it’s like to have a loving parent.”
“W-What do you mean?” The colt asks shocked by Anon’s change of demeanor.
Anon gives the colt a look of pity.
“It makes sense now why you would pick on me. My mom loves me no matter what I am. It must be hard not having unconditional love from your parents.” Anon can see the tears welling up in the colts eyes, but he doesn’t want to hurt him or make fun of him. His mother taught him better. “Do you want to come over to the castle and play?”
Anon can see the confusion playing across the colt’s face. Anger, sadness and even an inkling of hope. The colt turns tail and runs off before saying anything. His friends closely following after him. It may not happen today, but Anon knows he’ll be back. After all, the best weapon is kindness and love. Anon looks back towards the castle. He doesn’t care what he is anymore, nor does he care what other’s think or say. All he knows is that his mother loves him and that’s all he needs.
Author's Note
Practicing to create stories under 2k words. Hope you enjoyed the read.
