We're going to be sister-best-friends forever!
A young Celestia was sat on the stone floor of the castle's playroom, using her magic play with two stuffed dolls. She was kinda bored. Her Friend/Carer/Teacher had started an 'important project', and couldn't play with Celestia because of it. Despite being an only child, Celestia wasn't really used to playing by herself.
Suddenly, the door slammed open. Celestia had been right in the middle of lecturing her doll, and had most definitely not been expecting it. Her dolls fell to the floor, as the young filly sprang up, ready to give this intruder a piece of her mind.
"Stop right there, criminal scum!" She roared.
Well, she intended it to be a roar. It was more of a terrified squeak.
Someone laughed. A laugh Celestia recognized.
"Lauren! You scared me!" She yelled. She tried to sound angry, but she couldn't help but giggle a bit too.
"Shh! You'll wake her up!"
Celestia gasped.
"My new sister! Which design did you use? Was it mine, was it mine?!" Whispered Celestia excitedly, jumping up and down in a futile attempt to see her new sister and Lauren's new masterpiece.
"Well, I used the design that I made yesterday, but I used the colors in the one that you gave me." She said, as she levitated Celestia higher so that she could see the foal on her back, "See? Doesn't she look pretty?"
"Yeah," Celestia breathed, "You did a really good job."
"Heh, thanks, kid." said Lauren, as she put Celestia down and used her magic to put the foal into Celestia's arms.
"The only problem is," Said Lauren, "Is that none of the names that I came up with fit her design."
"Hmm...." Celestia stared at the foal in her hooves, "Misty?"
"Nah," Said Lauren.
"Sapphire?"
"Too vague."
"Starry Shimmer?
"I want to avoid two-part names for princesses."
"Luna!" Yelled Celestia. She would have jumped, but she remembered that she was holding a foal.
"Yes! That suits her role in Equestria perfectly! Luna means moon in Latin, and she is the Moon Princess!"
Celestia looked at the foal again.
"Luna, I swear that we'll always be sister-best-friends forever, even if we fight."
Luna opened her tiny eyes, to reveal that they were a bright turquoise.
"Well, Look at that, Tia," Said Lauren with a smile, "You're the first pony that she saw."
*
A few hundred years later, Luna had grown into an adorable young filly, and Celestia had grown to be the sort-of ruler of Equestria. The title also belonged to Luna, but Lauren had had to have spent several hours explaining to a perplexed Luna that until her and Celestia were a little older, they wouldn't be the proper rulers, and Lauren would have to help them.
She still didn't understand.
Lauren had also created some ponies that she called 'village ponies'. All Celestia and Luna knew about them was that they were under their command. Several of them looked older than the two fillies, but in truth they were much younger.
This was yet another thing that Luna did not understand.
The two sister's were playing in the castle garden, with their friend, Discord. Lauren had made him to help her make creations, but he didn't really enjoy doing it. He still lived in the castle with them, though.
Anyway, the three children were playing in the gardens. Celestia was in a bad mood though, because earlier Luna and Discord pranked her, and now they were playing a heated game of Chase, with Celestia being 'it'. And for some reason that was beyond Luna's young mind, Celestia was wielding a very thick book.
Celestia quickly caught up with Luna, and started yelling very loudly at her. This, of course, caused the young filly to cry, as she ran into the castle.
"LAUREEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!" Wailed the (very loud) filly.
"Yes, Luna?" Said Lauren, sounding very perplexed as she turned around. Her eyes had dark circles around them, and her mane was a tangled mess.
"Celestia doesn't like me anymore!" She said, and burst into a fresh flood of tears.
Lauren's expression immediately softened as she cuddled Luna.
"Of course she still likes you, Star. The very day you two met, do you know what she promised you?"
"N-no..." Said Luna, wiping her eyes.
"She said that you two would always be sister-best-friends. Those were her very words."
"Even if we fight?"
"Even if you fight. Why don't you go and apologize about what happened, Moon dust? Just like a proper princess!"
"You know I'm not a real princess, Lauren. Celestia's the one that does the important stuff." said Luna as she walked out the door.
Luna trotted outside, to find Celestia sitting on the fountain in the middle of the gardens.
"Celestia?"
"Yes?!" snapped Celestia, causing Luna to flinch a little.
"I'm really sorry that me and Discord messed with your book. We didn't mean for you to spend all morning looking for a Magical Jingly-Puff." apologized Luna
Celestia smiled a little a she pulled Luna in for a hug.
"Me too. I shouldn't have yelled at you. Forgivesies?"
"Yep. Hug it out!"
Luna hugged Celestia so violently that they both fell in the fountain.
"Ha! That's what you get for being all mushy!" Yelled Discord from a tree.
Luna looked at Celestia.
And Celestia looked at Luna.
And the both of them started laughing so hard that they toppled backwards into the water again.
Applejack was lying on her bed. She'd been lying there for the past three days. She just stared at the ceiling, without really seeing anything. The rare times she looked away was to look at the tattered hat across the room.
Her Pa had left it to her. But she couldn't bring herself to put it atop her head. It felt...
wrong.
Her Ma had died a few years ago, giving birth to Apple Bloom. She'd been sad then, too. But there was someone there to tell her not to cry, and would proceed to tell of her Ma's adventures in heaven.
But there was no such person now.
It was sudden. He'd been bucking trees, when all of a sudden he collapsed. He had always said, that when he died, Applejack could have his hat.
Funny. Now she positively hated the thing.
She felt totally alone in the world. Big Mac had stopped speaking quite so much after their Ma died, and she didn't really like her Granny. She looked like an old, shriveled up pea.
Applejack hated peas.
"Applejack?"
That was the unmistakable voice of the living pea.
"You got guests."
Applejack would have told her to tell them to go back to where they came from, but she didn't want to talk to the pea.
A pink filly walked- no, sorry, bounced, into Applejack's room, with the biggest smile on her face.
She sat next to Applejack's bed, looking at her.
"Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie!"
No answer.
"My sister's said that your Pa died. I got really sad about that. I really liked him! He always called me Bouncy whenever he came to visit my Pa."
"And your Granny told me that you were really sad, too. And that's why I'm here!"
The pink pony looked at Applejack expectantly.
"I want to cheer you up! I know that your Pa always like to see you smile. And now it shouldn't be any different!"
The Pink One cocked her head at Applejack.
"Hm, still no smile. That won't make your Pa very happy!"
Applejack couldn't contain it this time.
"Pinkie, mah Pa isdead." her voice was dry and croaky from lack of use. "He ain't ever gon' see anythin' again."
"But he will, Applejack! Didn't your Pa always say that he would be watching from heaven?"
"PINKIE! MAH PA IS DEAD. STOP MAKIN' IT YOUR PROBLEM!"
Tears poured down Applejack's heartbroken face as she yelled at Pinkie.
Surprisingly enough, Pinkie barely batted an eyelid.
"Tell me about the good times with your Pa, Applejack."
"Why would ah do that? You invaded mah private life, an' ah don't want ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"
More tears stained her young cheeks
"Please, Applejack. I want to know."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"If ah tell you 'bout mah Pa, will ya go away?"
"If that's what you want."
Applejack sighed.
"Fine. Ah can remember when ah bucked mah first tree. I was barely outta mah foal years. Pa told me 'actly how to do it. Course, ah was so excited ah barely heard a word he said. soon as he said go, ah bucked the very bottom of the tree. No apples, jus' a very sore leg. He said it was all 'bout technique. Every apple had a different way of doin' it."
"How do you do it now, Applejack? Do you still hit the bottom?"
This was Applejack's favorite subject.
"No, ah never did that again. You gotta hit the tree right in the middle, but not too hard. Tha' way, the apples come righ' of the tree."
Suddenly, Applejack realized what Pinkie was doing.
"An' instead of buckin' the bottom o' the tree, an' hurtin' everyone an' not accomplishin' anythin', ah gotta hit the sweet spot, an' let all of mah hurt fall away like the apples on a tree. Ah'm still gon' be sad, no doubt abou' it, but ah can't make everyone else sad as well."
She sat up and threw her arms around pinkie's neck.
"Thank-you, Pinkie. Hey, were ya goin'?"
She turned around and smiled.
"I made a promise, didn't I? I've got to go now."
"No, stay! You made everythin' better! Why don't ya stay for dinner?"
"Well, if you really want that more than me going..."
"Ah do, ah do!"
"Thanks for bringin' back Applejack, darlin'. I never thought that she would leave that room o' hers!" Said Granny Smith, coming into the sitting room with more cookies.
"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Smith! It's my job to cheer other ponies up!" She replied, as her and Applejack played with Apple Bloom.
"Well, you must know that you always welcome, Pinkie."
"Thank you Mrs. Smith! But I think I'd better go back home now."
"Well, make sure you visit often, Sugarcube."
"Oh, I will!" Said Pinkie, and with that, left the house.
Then, it dawned on Applejack.
"PINKIE!!" She yelled, running across the orchard.
"Yep?" She said, happy as ever.
"How did ya know exactly what to do? Ah can't imagine a pony like you workin' with death on a daily basis."
She looked at Applejack, a sad smile on her face.
"A few years ago, my Ma was going to have a foal. We were all super excited! But then, the foal died inside her. I was really sad, just like you were earlier. But I realized that me being sad was making everyone else sad. I had to cheer up, and be the big sister role model that my Ma had wanted me to be before the foal died. I soon realized that by making other ponies happy, I was making myself happy, which would have made the foal happy."
"Well, thank you, Pinkie."
"Any time, Applejack."
