The Flower of Hope

Leaving the old factory, Minty felt as if a great burden has been lifted off of her shoulders. Yet, she couldn't help but feel that something might go wrong. Though, after years of making wrong decisions via her gut, she ignored it. Right now, however, she needed to get groceries from the store, since she was running low on food and milk. The rain, once heavy, became lighter. This was good for Minty, she didn't need soaping wet groceries, she needed, well the opposite. She sighed, as she finally found her way into the small farmers market. Her motherly mission to get food for her kids had now begun.

An unknown amount of time later
Minty checked off the last thing needed on the shopping list and headed to the checkout. Her mind still wandering back to how the assassin reacted to her hug because she didn't expect the assassin to hug her back. The cashier told her what she owed and she went home, over thinking the events. She stopped in front of a two-story house, light shining through the windows. She smiled, her daughter was home from her little trip with her friends. She stepped forward and unlocked the door, opening it with a gentle push. As she entered she heard the TV in the living room, most likely her daughter, son, or both watching TV late at night. She normally would get onto them, but it was summer, so they rarely went to sleep at their bedtimes. She shut the door, locked it, and continued into the house. The door shutting didn't go unnoticed though. The sound of little hooves hitting the carpet, then wood echoed throughout the house.

"Mommy!" yelled a small colt. His name was Faint Glow, he had a dark grey mane and white fur. He took after Minty's ex-husband. The little colt, with a running leap, hugged his mother's leg, laughing at the action itself. Minty set the groceries down, and picked him up, nuzzling him when she did. The daughter soon walked in as well. Her name was Highlight, her hair was bright brown like her mothers, but she had a mix of lime and white for her fur color. She walked in wearing a tank top and sports pants.

"There you are! When I came home and you weren't here I began to worry!" she said sternly, before smiling," Until mister hugs-a-lot told me where you went."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave at such a random time, but when I saw that we were low on stuff, I needed to go and get something to make for breakfast at least," Minty said, an awkward smile on her muzzle. The daughter sighed, then walked over and gave her mother a hug.

"So, what were you two watching?" Minty asked her daughter, her duaghter hummed for a bit, trying to remember.

"Oh yeah, we were watching the news," Highlight said then continued," They were talkin about an attack on Canterlot and about a big ape thing named the Storm King." When the daughter concluded her sentence, her mom just gave a soft chuckle.

"It's like Equestria is attacked every other day, huh?" Minty said with a smirk, her daughter chuckled and began to put away the groceries. The two began to chat about Highlight's trip, and Minty being the mother she is asked one of the most embarrassing questions a mother could ask.

"Sooo... you find anyone you like?" Minty questioned with a smile on her face. Highlight tensed, before settling back down. She didn't find anyone, so she could end the conversation with a no.

"N-" she didn't get to speak, as the TV in the living room proudly announced.

"Princess Celestia is coming to visit Manehatten today to survey the damage at around noon, and after that want to invite all the locals to a fancy party held downtown!" Minty tensed up, she didn't want to admit to her daughter why at the time that she had gotten an assassin to kill her ex-husband. She thought about the so-called legend of the Red Assassin, raking her brain for anything to help her calm down. When she remembered the part she was looking for, she sighed, the Red Assassin killed ponies in big, small, fancy, and non-fancy parties, some even say she killed someone who was with Celestia herself. The daughter, however, was nervous because they liveded downtown. She knew she was going, her mother generally didn't care as long as nothing illegal happened there. Really, Faded glow could care less, he never really liked fancy parties. So he sat happily in the kitchen coloring in his coloring books and humming a soft tune that played whenever he had started up Pac-man.

When the items needed were laid out in front of Minty, she went to work to create a good, healthy but delicious, breakfast for her kids. She chopped up vegetables, cooked some eggs, and started heating up some hay bacon. She wouldn't say they are a rich family, but they get a lot of money from Minty's job as a custom blanket seller, and because of this, they could afford a microwave. When the microwave beeped she took out the hay bacon, then got three plates. Laying each plate down side-by-side she put hay bacon, eggs, and some vegetables on each one.

Her children watched as their mother made them breakfast. This was a normal occurrence, their mother did many things well or with expertise. She grabbed two plates and walked out to the kitchen table. Putting both plates in front of her kids, she nuzzled them and went to go fetcher her own plate. The kids began to eat, this was their favorite type of breakfast. Minty came back in with her plate and sat down. Faded Glow, looked up at the TV in the living room, the news was still on but today they were covering myths and legends. On the screen was a picture of a somepony wearing a purple cloak, this caught Glow's attention.

"Mommy, what is that legend the news pony is talking about?" Glow asked, both Highlight and Minty looked at the TV. Minty, knew exactly who that was. The two shared a hug, which right now, made Minty mentally chuckle. But, before she could answer, Highlight piped up,

"That's the Red Assassin, she is a deadly foe to those who she has on her hit list." Glow's eyes grew bigger and he asked,

"Does she hurt ponies randomly?" Highlight smiled kindly at her brother, then responded," No, she doesn't. She's somewhat of a hired assassin."

Minty sat there, listening to her kids talk about the Red Assassin.