The Rise of Passion

Starlight and Trixie walked out of the bathroom to Find Stellar Flare tapping her hoof. "I didn't hear the sound of hooves being washed. You're not tracking excrement all over my son's house. Go back and wash up."

"You didn't hear the sound of the toilet flushing, either," smirked Starlight. She couldn't wait to see Stellar Flare being made to lick Cozy's hooves. "Perhaps I soundproofed the door because we needed the privacy. How can you say with certainty that we didn't wash up, hm?"

Stellar Flare opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a loud whistling from the kitchen. Apparently, the girls had been in the lavatory for longer than they'd thought, at least time enough to allow a kettle of water to come to a boil. She walked in and turned off the water, pouring a dark green liquid into one of the cups, directly from the kettle. Starlight was suddenly aware of why Sunburst always had trouble making good tea.

"Would you girls care for some?" asked Stellar, glancing backward.

"Not at the moment," answered Starlight, lightly covering Trixie's mouth to protect her from the burnt flavour. "We'll wait for the next batch."

"Who says there'll be a next batch?"

"I'll make it myself, if I have to."

The lock on the front door, despite being unlocked, clicked and it swung open. In walked Sunburst, whose smile immediately faded seeing ponies in his house. "How'd you manage to pick the lock, Starlight?"

"I didn't," answered Starlight quickly. "I knocked on your door to see if you were home yet, as you said yesterday that you often come back earlier than usual, and who should open the door but your mother. She's just offered up some tea."

Sunburst stormed forward and poked his head into the kitchen. "Mom?!"

"Hi, Sweetie! How's my boy?"

"Very annoyed, mother. Did you break into my house while I was at work?"

Stellar waved her hoof. "Don't be silly, my boy! Your door was unlocked. I just walked right in because I thought you were home."

"And you didn't think to leave when you found out I wasn't home?" Sunburst was shouting now, having gone back to the living room/library. He was still wearing his saddlebags, but rather than just emptying his books onto the table, he was returning them to their shelves.

"But then who would make you tea and be a comfort to you?"

Sunburst sighed. "Look, I need to run to the market. I'm not going to be back until tonight, probably."

"Oh, don't worry," smiled Stellar Flare. "I'll be here when you come back."

Sunburst pouted. "No, Mom. This house is going to be empty. You can come back this weekend."

"We had hoped you would have more time," smiled Starlight, moving toward the exit. "We actually brought you a gift, but it can wait. Next Wednesday, perhaps?"

"Next Wednesday would be fine, but I really do need to go."

"Why don't you just sit back and relax?" smiled Stellar. "Mommy will handle your shopping for you."

"Mother, I swear to Celestia..."

"Come with us," blurted out Trixie, grabbing Stellar's shoulder. "Your son clearly has things handled on his end, you can return the day after tomorrow for this weekend visit you wanted, and we can show you the baby's room firsthoof!"

Stellar Flare was about to pull away and bark at Trixie for grabbing her, but at the mention of a baby, plus Trixie's need for privacy in the bathroom told her a tale that she was marginally interested in.

"Yes," concurred Starlight, catching on. "Come along, you can stay at my place for the time being. That way, you can be closer to your son for the weekend. Trixie, would you care to move ahead, I have one last thing to say to Sunburst before we go."

"What's going on?" he whispered. "Did you find a boyfriend, or something?"

"It's just a show for your mom. There's no baby for certain yet, but we can have a room made up for one quickly. I'll fill you in on Wednesday if your mom doesn't beat me to it, but if we don't work in tandem, she's not going to leave."

"Right, thanks."

They filed out the door, and Starlight helped him make sure it was locked by jiggling the handle. While Sunburst headed to the market with empty saddlebags, Starlight and Trixie dragged Stellar Flare to the train depot.

"So who's the father?" she asked, as soon as they were all situated on the train car. "That's the most important question."

"Sunburst, of course," answered Starlight. "He doesn't know it yet, so please, keep it to yourself."

"He deserves to know."

"You're right. Why do you think we were there today?"

"Well, if you'd told him right then and there, we could have stayed."

"He was busy. We've now made plans to talk to him again, long before the birth. He will know with plenty of time to spare. I will make sure of it."

"Like Hell you will!" Stellar pointed an accusative hoof at Trixie. "She is going to tell him!"

"That can be arranged," nodded Starlight.

"Why me?" asked Trixie.

"Because you're carrying my grandchild, of course," answered Stellar. "Sit up straight; I don't want him being crushed already."

"What makes you so sure it's a "he?""

"Because you dressed up in blue for the gender reveal party."

Trixie scoffed. "Do I look like I'm five months pregnant to you? We only just found out today. How can we possibly tell the gender this early, much less dress up?"

"So... you're blue because you're..."

"It's my pelt colour, yes."

Stellar shook her head. "Here and I was hoping for somepony a bit more important. I suppose I didn't specify who should mother my grandson." She sighed. "Oh, well. At least you'll have me there, hovering over you to make sure you're doing everything correctly."

"What makes you so sure you know what the correct way is?"

Stellar chuckled. "I'm sorry; does your son have the ear of multiple Princesses? I didn't think so."

Starlight furrowed her brow. "I have the ear of multiple princesses, and I run a school for one, and I was in charge of an entire town for several years."

"And how's that working out for you?" she smirked.

Trixie was starting to see why Starlight was so irked by Stellar Flare.