A few days after her daughter’s birth, Luna lowered the moon and went back to sleep until early afternoon, when she was awakened by Neoma’s cries.
"I'll get her, honey," Phoebus offered. "You had a hard day yesterday, and you need to rest."
"No." Luna shook her head. "I'll feel incredibly guilty if I don’t look after her. I never get tired of just looking at her sweet little face, Phoebus. I’m so in love with her.”
"I understand, my love, but you’ve hogged her since she was born, and you're probably pretty sore, aren't you?" Phoebus said. "Let me take care of her." He started to get up, but Luna stopped him.
"I have not gotten to change her yet," she protested, "and she is due for a feeding anyway." Before Phoebus could object, Luna trotted into the nursery. Her husband groaned and went back to sleep.
"Hello, my little one. Shhhh, it's alright, sweetie. Mommy has you," she cooed, picking up the foal and cuddling her close. Her diaper was heavy. Luna took the filly to the changing table and grabbed a new diaper. She quickly discarded Neoma’s wet diaper, wiped her clean, and secured a fresh one on her body.
"There we go, good as new," Luna said proudly, leaning down to blow raspberries on Neoma’s tummy, then gently squeezing the foal’s chubby little legs. The tiny thestral alicorn filly giggled as Luna tossed her wet onesie into the hamper and dressed her in a new one. "I bet you're hungry, aren't you, sweetie?" Luna sat down in the rocking chair, held the foal close, and smiled lovingly as Neoma started to nurse. I was born to be a mother, Luna thought as she watched her tiny daughter eat.
A few days later, Luna and Phoebus threw a party to introduce their daughter to extended family and close friends. Celestia arrived with Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, along with Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.
"Aunt Luna!" Cadance said, trotting into the nursery. She curtsied, hugged her aunt, and peered down at Neoma, who was napping in her bassinet. She was closely followed by Twilight. "Congratulations, she's adorable! How are you feeling?"
"Tired, but we have never been happier," Luna replied. "I still can’t get over how incredibly tiny she is! I’ve never loved anypony so much… so fiercely. I would die for her in an instant if I had to.” Phoebus kissed his wife's cheek and beamed proudly at Neoma.
"I wonder what kind of powers she'll have," Twilight said. "The only other naturally-born alicorn is Flurry Heart."
"We are not sure," Luna said, "but she will learn how to be a princess from the best teachers, including you, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight grinned, and Neoma stirred, stretching and whimpering. She opened her ice blue eyes and made the cutest little crying noise. Luna's heart melted, but at the same time a horrible smell wafted up from Neoma’s cradle.
"Oops, baby's first blowout! We will be right back," Luna said, carrying Neoma upstairs to the nursery. She lay the foal down on the changing table and unsnapped Neoma’s onesie. The sight and smell didn’t bother Luna in the slightest, but she knew that baby wipes alone would not get Neoma totally clean.
"Looks like it’s time for your very first bath, my lovely,” Luna told Neoma, trotting to the bathroom and starting to run the bath. The white porcelain bathtub was massive and deep, and its faucets were gold. As soon as the water was lukewarm, Luna placed Neoma into the tub and wet her body all over. Then, she took a new bottle of berry-scented foal shampoo and lathered it all over Neoma’s body. Neoma looked up at her mother with a bewildered expression on her face, but when she saw the bubbles, she gave Luna a big smile and gurgled at her, kicking, splashing, and waving her hooves excitedly as she tried to play with the bubbles.
"There's my little princess' smile," Luna cooed. "Want some more bubbles?" She scrubbed Neoma’s tummy, making her giggle. "Oh, does that tickle, my little one? I can do even better than that, watch this!" She lowered her head and blew raspberries on the foal's belly, and Neoma squealed with laughter.
"Okay, here comes the rinse!" Luna scooped some of the water into a cup and gently poured it over Neoma. The filly giggled loudly and kicked at the water with her front hooves, splashing Luna and soaking her mane in the process. Before Neoma’s birth, Luna would have panicked and ordered a servant to bring her a towel, as she had once done while babysitting, but now she could only laugh and smile as she gently splashed her daughter back and started to sing a stupid song about splish-splashing and taking a bath on a Saturday night while a party happened outside. She took the washcloth, put some more shampoo on it, scrubbed the foal’s wings and back, then poured some shampoo on Neoma’s head and began to work it through her long, thick mane. Neoma gurgled and leaned into her mother’s touch.
“Does that feel good, tiny one?” Luna cooed to her filly as she scrubbed. “I know it must, now that you’re all nice and clean.”
Luna felt herself relax from the warmth of the water on her forelegs, and she allowed herself to savor this time bonding with her foal. Neoma splashed Luna with her wings and kicked up suds and water with her little hooves, giving Luna a cheeky little smirk as she did so. Laughing, Luna tickled Neoma under her chin.
“You are the cutest princess in all of Equestria, my little one,” she told the foal. “You’re getting mommy’s mane all wet, are you not? Oh, but I don’t care one bit, Neoma. Go on! Have your fun, my darling little princess. Mommy loves to watch you play. Yes, she does.”
Neoma squealed with delight and started up again with her hooves, smiling triumphantly at Luna. Her eyes widened as she realized that she could splash with her hooves and wings at the same time, and she gave Luna a proud smile as she splashed so hard that the water frothed and smacked against the sides of the tub. Luna laughed as the water and fluffy white suds drenched her mane. Neoma giggled and splashed playfully as Luna scrubbed her body once more, still singing. She squealed excitedly when she saw the bubbles and continued to splash, covering Luna in water and bubbles and soaking the entire bathroom. Luna laughed harder and bent down to cover Neoma with kisses.
“That’s right, sweetie. You’re splishing and splashing just like the song says. What a smart little filly you are!” Luna cooed, tickling Neoma’s tummy again. The filly squealed with laughter and kicked her chubby little legs as hard as she could, sending up a mass of water and bubbles. Luna couldn’t stop smiling as she sang and played with Neoma. She magically conjured a speaker and music player, then she played the song through the speaker, singing at the top of her lungs. Neoma clapped her hooves with delight and started to splash harder. Luna danced and sang in her stupid baby voice as she watched Neoma discover how much fun bath time could be. As Luna poured water over Neoma to rinse her off for the last time, Neoma laughed and kicked at the water as hard as she could while simultaneously smacking the water with her wings, sending it in every direction. As the water and suds covered the entire front half of Luna’s body, Luna shook with laughter and splashed her daughter back.
“How are you so adorable?” she asked Neoma. “Look at you, little princess. You’re already trying to make sure you have every bit of mommy’s attention, are you not? Oh, but you are already proving to be so very skilled at accomplishing such a feat. I have a feeling that you’re going to be quite a little spitfire when you get older.” Luna chuckled and tickled the filly under her chin. She started to sing again and replayed the song, which made Neoma laugh loudly as she churned up the water with her wings and hooves. Neoma smiled at Luna once again, and the princess of dreams knew that that adorable little smile would become her greatest weakness. The little thestral alicorn looked straight at Luna and splashed her directly in the face. Luna chuckled and returned her daughter’s splash with a slightly stronger one of her own, which elicited another onslaught of bubbles and water from Neoma. Soon, both mother and daughter were drenched from their little splash fight, and every inch of the bathroom was soaked.
"Haha, the splashing has been doubled!" Luna proclaimed, tickling Neoma until the foal was squealing with laughter again and coating the bathroom floor and walls in more huge puddles of soapy water.
Long after Neoma was clean and she smelled fresh, Luna drained the water from the tub and scooped her daughter up in a warm, fluffy towel, then wrapped a towel around herself. After they were both dry, Luna dressed Neoma in a new diaper and onesie and took her back downstairs, where the other ponies were making small talk about Rarity’s new line of swimwear. Judging by the smirk on her sister’s face, Luna knew that Celestia and the others had definitely overheard her.
“We have returned, everypony," Luna announced, avoiding eye contact with Celestia. “We turned Neoma’s first bath into a little party of our own.” She patted her tousled mane and chuckled. Everypony stared at her, shocked at the dramatic change that had suddenly taken place in their princess.
Celestia reached out and tickled Neoma’s hoof, making the filly giggle, which broke the uncomfortable silence. Luna smiled and began sipping a glass of water and munching on a canapé in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. Everypony danced around the subject of what had just happened, though Celestia’s little smirk never left her face. Luna wanted to groan every time she looked over at her sister.
"Splish, splash, I was taking a bath," Celestia sang later, mocking Luna's baby voice as she ascended the stairs to her bedchamber. She and Twilight, who was just behind her, finally fell apart laughing.
"Shut up, you two," Luna hissed.
“But it’s so catchy!” Twilight insisted. “That song will be stuck in my head forever!” Luna began to consider banishing the purple alicorn. I think there’s a place called Iowa, isn’t there? It sounds worse than the moon. Maybe I could send her there, she thought
“Lulu, will you go raise the moon for me?” Celestia asked. “It’s been over an hour since I lowered the sun, and I know you weren’t planning on shrouding Equestria in eternal darkness again.”
"Absolutely," Luna replied. “Just let me put this little one to bed first.” She gently placed the sleeping Neoma into her crib and stroked her head lovingly, then shut the door of the nursery.
“Oh, Luna! I almost forgot to tell you something really important,” Twilight whispered, turning in the doorway of the nursery.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked as she followed Celestia.
“Splish, splash, I was taking a bath!” Twilight sang-screamed. Then she and Celestia exploded with giggles again as they turned and took off down the hallway at breakneck speeds. Luna sighed. Banishment for both ponies was looking better and better.
“Not a word about this!” Luna called after them in her royal Canterlot voice. “If either of you tell anypony about what just happened, I swear that I’ll show those pictures from our drinking contest in college to every single pony we know, Celestia! That includes everypony in Parliament, every royal correspondent, all of our staff, and the entirety of our citizenry. Am I understood?”
“No, you won’t,” Celestia replied, “because I already shared your adorable little bath time online!” She smirked devilishly, her hot pink eyes twinkling. “You can show it at Neoma’s wedding reception one day to embarrass her. I know I’ll definitely mention it in my speech. And if you show those beer drinking contest pictures to anypony,” she continued, leaning over to whisper in Luna’s ear, “then I’ll share those videos from that frat party.” Luna’s face turned white.
“Take. It. Down, Sister,” she growled. Celestia’s eyes watered as she covered her mouth with her hoof to stifle a laugh.
“The bath video has already gone viral, Moonbutt!” Twilight called from her bedchamber.
“I guess you could say it made a splash,” Celestia howled. Twilight snorted loudly enough for both sisters to hear, making Celestia laugh so hard that she fell over.
“You’re both going to have nightmares for a week,” Luna muttered under her breath, smirking as she began to plot her revenge.
