I woke up to the smell of hay pancakes. My stomach gave a roar, it had been a great deal of time since I last smelled that delicious smell. All the food I had experienced in the other universes was very good. The human one was the most peculiar for sure, but I made a mental note to not talk about that to anypony…
I had made a lot of studies about all the parallel universes I could travel to. Some didn’t have magic, some were just alternate worlds for Equestria and some were completely fantastical, full of machines and things Equestria would only have in the future. I met several species, people, animals, ponies. But it was so nice to just go back to Canterlot and see my daughter, my son in law, my granddaughters and the rest of my family. I was surprised to know that I had two granddaughters now! Well, I’m not that surprised, I had spent six years researching the other universes in the mirror. Celestia was ten years old now!
I had arrived late at night here. No one had received me and I teleported myself directly to my room. No one was awake at that time, so just I slept.
But the next morning, I was excited to be able to tell them everything I saw and even teach my granddaughters!
I opened the door and went to the kitchen downstairs. Once there was a big poster saying "Welcome, Daddy!" made with blue ink and glitter. I smiled and turned my attention to who was in the kitchen. Nopony.
“Uh… Where is everypony?”
“Starswirl!” before I could see who it was, they took me into a hug, “You’re back!” our chef, Creamy Backer was a little older than before, already dressed in his usual white clothes and hat and squeezing me between his hooves.
“I know you are happy but… Can I go now? This is getting odd…”
“Sorry!” Creamy dropped me and gave me a huge smile, “Oh! I forgot! Here, Queen Faust and King Galaxy left you a message,” Creamy took something with his mouth in his back pocket and gave it to me.
“Let me see…” I took the small piece of paper with my magic and started reading:
Dear Father,
I haven’t seen you for many years! I missed you so much, daddy… Celestia always asked for you, I said you were doing your job. Everyone is happy to know you’re back. I heard you in the castle last night, so I made a little thing for you: Galaxy painted a poster and put it in the kitchen and I helped Creamy to make a chocolate cake (I know you love that type of cake). We made this quickly before going. You must be asking why I’m gone, right? I can’t be in the castle today. Me and Galaxy are going to Griffonia, we will be back later tonight.
Please daddy, could you take care of the girls for a day? This would give you a perfect chance for teaching them and getting to know Luna! They’re little angels, they will behave for sure.
Love you, daddy,
Little Faust.
I raised my eyebrow and then shrugged and smiled. “At least, she made something special for me! A cake and a welcome poster, and now an entire day with these little angels! And think of the cake! CHOCOLATE CAKE!”
Creamy laughed at me, “The queen said that you shouldn’t eat too much, just two slices. She and I know how you go crazy when you eat too much of that cake.”
My ears went down and I gave an embarrassed smile, “Ok, hehe…”
“Now, sir, I need to go and continue to bake the hay pancakes,” he sniffed the air and his eyes widened. “I FORGOT TO TURN OFF THE FIRE!” my eyes widened too and I could smell something burning.
Both ran to the oven, and we saw the burned hay pancakes. I quickly made a bucket and filled it with water, throwing it in the fire. I turned and looked at him with a face of disapproval, Creamy gave me an embarrassed smile this time.
“Heh, sorry…?”
“Pay attention next time, or you'll burn this castle down!” I said, but then I gave a smile, “Well, where’s my two little fillies?”
“They’re sleep-” he was interrupted by the sound of a cabinet opening. We turned to see a small purple filly. So this is Luna… “You’re trying to get the cookies again?” the foal laughed at Creamy and took one of the many cookies that had spread across the floor when she dropped the pot. He rolled his eyes and smiled, “C’mere…” he caught her in his mouth by the scruff of her neck as a mom would do with their foals, “You know that cookies aren’t a good thing to eat in the morning, c’mon Luna, your mother wouldn’t like to see you doing that!” Creamy lowered Luna to the ground slowly, giving her a disapproving look.
Luna looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes and I raised my eyebrows, then she looked at Creamy and, after a few seconds, began to cry.
“C’mon li'l Woona, stop crying… I… You can have all the cookies you want! Good?” she let out a little “weee!” after that, then walked clumsily to the cookies on the floor. “Look on the bright side old one, she will clean the floor for me!” Creamy said laughing.
I rolled my eyes, “Oh Creamy, always wanting things to be easy, huh?”
“Always, sir. Now let me get ready to work!” he went to the oven and set to work, so I turned my attention to the little foal eating the cookies.
I gave her a smile and sat next to her and watched her. After a while Luna looked at me and I smiled at her in response. She stuck her tongue out and then went back to eating the cookies.
I scowled but soon started to smile again, “Hello, Luna, I’m Starswirl the Bearded, but you can call me grandpa, little one.” She turned to me and looked up, looking for my hat. Then she looked at my beard.
“Beard!”
“What…?” I looked at the foal that now grabbed my beard, “No, my name is Starswirl I’m your-” I felt a strong pull. My eyes welled up in tears because of so much pain I felt. “OUCH!” I screamed so loud that even ponies in Coltalia could hear me. “That hurt!” I looked with a angry face to the purple filly who laugh at my pain while eating another cookie, “So you find that funny, huh?” Luna laughed a little more.
“Beard!” she exclaimed again, this time I distance myself a bit, not letting her do it again. That hurt like Tartarus, my good old beard could be plucked with only three tugs like that coming from a little filly. Luna was very strong. Ouch!
“Where’s your sister?”
“Celly!” Luna pointed to the hallway and turned her attention to the last two remaining cookies.
“You’re pretty intelligent for a little filly…” and pretty strong, for sure!
Before I could turn around to go to Celestia’s room, I felt something land on my back and I widened my eyes. “Grandpa!” It was Celestia exclaiming happily, rubbing her face in my cloak and and grabbing my sides.
“Little Celly! You grown up so much! And you have gained some weight… So… Could you get off of my back? I’m not the same young pony anymore, little one,” I said, trying to not fall in the ground because of backache.
She climbed off my back and stood in front of me with an excited smile “Did you have a lot of journeys?”
“And you've got wings and a little sister! You’re a true princess and you have a sister to play with! You don’t find this lucky?” I joked with her.
“Nah, Woona isn’t the only one, right, Woona?” the white filly turned to her sister and Luna agreed, trotting excitedly to us, “I’m going to show you them! They’re so awesome, grandpa. And one of them can do so many things, you wouldn’t believe it!”
“She love Discord!” Luna exclaimed.
“I don’t love him… I like him… Like a friend! Not a like a coltfriend…” Celestia blushed.
“Discord?”
“Yes, he’s… He does a lot of things! He can make chocolate rain!” Celestia said, “And he’s a prince from a far away land called… Draconequia! Discord is…” she let out a dreamy sigh and Luna rolled her eyes.
“See? She and Discord should be in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!”
“I said I don’t like him!”
“We don’t believe that!” Luna said, showing her tongue to her sister.
“Come on, you two don’t need to fight over that. You two could show me your new friends, no?” I asked.
“Okay… But…” she called Luna aside, whispering something then both smiled at each other and came to me again, “Only if you give us your chocolate cake! 90% is for me and 10% is for Luna, okay?”
“Wait… But…” Luna was interrupted by a white hoof in her mouth. Luna sat down and crossed her legs on her chest, with an angry face.
I sighed, “Okay, a little gift for you two. Just because I’m taking care of you two today, so don’t get used to it, little fillies.”
Celestia smiled and took my hoof, “C’mon! We’re going to the meadows!”
The day was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, just the sun and a nice wind shaking the golden grass in the meadow. Meanwhile I was dying from the heat and running, trying to keep up with the fillies. “Wait! Ugh… Wait…” they were sitting on top of the hill, looking at me.
“C’mon, old one! You can do it!”
So much later that the old narrator get tired of waiting and they had to hire a new one…
“Finally! They’re already here, c’mon!” we ran a little more and then stopped, “Here, look!” Celestia pointed at the sky. I looked up and saw a... pink cloud?
“What…? What’s that?” I asked.
“Wait for it… Now, Discord!” I heard a snap and the cloud began to drop... chocolate rain? The fillies opened their mouths and took some. “C’mon, take some, grandpa! You'll love it!”
“Ummm…” I opened my mouth and took a sip. “That’s good! It’s real chocolate! I've never seen anything like this!” I smiled.
“Maybe because you've never seen Discord! He’s a draconequus! And a prince!” Celestia said excited, smiling brightly.
“Right… I know what he is, I've just never seen this kind of magic.”
“Oh, you old pony,” the little draconequus came to the ground, snapping his fingers and making the cloud disappear, “My daddy said you're powerful, but I see that I, the Prince of Chaos, is more powerful than Starswirl the Bearded. Oh! Look at this giant beard!” Discord came to me and caught the edge of my beard in his paw, I just looked at him with a confused face. “I can do something with this…” he grew thoughtful and then snapped his fingers.
“What?” I looked and my beard was now made of flowers, “How… Transform it back!”
“Only if you let him come to the castle!”
“Mommy said that, for some reason, he can’t go there! But she’s not here, Giant Beard, and thou must let him come, pleaaaaase?” Luna said with shining eyes.
Not this again… “Okay…” they let out a “weee!” and Discord snapped his fingers again, my beard returned to normal. I caught it in my hoof and smiled, “My precious!” I stood for a moment, and then I realized something. “Girls? Discord?” no response, “Oh no…”
Later, in Canterlot castle…
“Celestia? Luna?”
“Hello, Starswirl, sir!” it was Creamy again, “If you’re looking for the princesses you need to go to the city. They said you wanted them to buy… Crystals, chocolate milkshakes and… Candies in forms of little hearts? I think…”
“Oh… You’re saying that I ran here for nothing?”
“I think so, sir.”
I sighed.
“Well, this will be… three hundred bits.”
“What… But how can you do this? C’mon, I can give you some chocolate cake!”
That was Celestia talking with somepony.
I was in the center of a small fair. I approached the tent with a sign which read "Crystals of All Kinds" where the princesses were accompanied by Discord and two little black ponies. Why they want to buy crystals?
“My sister can give her DS to you, then you can give us the crystal, how about it?”
“Hey! We are not giving any of our games to other ponies!” Luna exclaimed, I smiled at this.
“But my crystals!” the little black colt said in a sad voice, he was wearing a crown and a red cape.
“Girls?” I got close to them and I saw how Celestia and Luna stood still, gulping.
“Hey! It’s the Flower Beard!” Discord exclaimed and hugged me, “How have you been? Want some tea?” he snapped his fingers and was now dressed as the Mad Hatter, offering me some tea. “It’s one of the best, I promise, old one!”
I rolled my eyes, “Why do you want to buy crystals?”
“I don’t want to! Sombra does! Chryssy wanted something sooo simple, but he wants something so costly, we don’t have bits for that!”
“You two are princesses, do something! Right, Chryssy?” Sombra asked the black filly, she just shook her head while eating the candies. “Ugh… Now what can I do to get some crystals?”
“Can’t you just eat some normal candies?” I asked.
He snorted and went next to Chryssy, taking some candies from her. “When I grown up I’ll make a kingdom full of crystals and then I’ll rule over there and everypony will fear me and call me King Sombra!”
“Dreaming costs nothing, Sombra,” the black filly shrugged and laughed, joking about her friend while Sombra snorted, again.
“You two have to go to the castle, it’s almost night!”
“Already?”
“Yes, already. And your mother will be back soon, she said she would arrive overnight. And ... Wait a minute… You're dirty and… I am too! She’s going to kill me if she sees you two like that! Hurry up, we have a bath to take!” I took them by the hooves and started running.
“Grandpa?”
“What?”
“It would be much more simple if you used magic to take us there, don’t you think?”
“Oh yeah, heh…”
“Everything alright?”
“Yep! Just… My belly hurts from eating sooo much cake!” Celestia said and let out a belch, blushing after that.
“You ate the cake by yourself?” I asked and she nodded. “You said you were going to wait for Luna to take her bath and put on her dress!” I exclaimed.
“Ooops…?”
I face hoofed. “Thou traitor!” Luna said crossing her hooves in front of her chest. “You will have to give me something like the new Coltario game!”
“Okay, I will… Just, somepony take this pain from me!” I sighed and went to the table, Luna came with me and we sat there.
“Why can't Creamy make more cake for us?”
“Shh… We will say you, your sister and I ate the cake, okay?” they nodded.
“Father? Girls?”
“Mommy!” the two foals ran to their mother and gave her a hug.
“So is everything okay?” she asked, looking at me. I gulped. I don’t want to lie to her…
“Of course! They’re little angels!”
“So can you stay with them next week? I have to go to a place called Hive Kingdom, the two Queens from there want to negociate with Canterlot,” Faust said calmly.
“Then we can go to the Everfree Forest with you know who! And then we'll…”
I stood listening to Celestia saying everything we were going to do. And Luna was agreeing with everything.
“Oh no, here we go again…” I sighed.
