“Luna?” A teenaged unicorn walked up to the princess of the night.
“Yes Sweetie?” Luna asked her student.
“Can I talk to you about something? It’s my friends, I know I really should be talking to Princess Twilight about this because she’s the princess of friendship but I wanted to ask you because you know, you’re my teacher and all.” The young mare babbled.
“You can talk to me about anything, you know that.” Luna said, turning her full attention to the obviously nervous white mare.
“Ever since we got our cutie marks Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and I haven’t been seeing as much of each other. I feel like we aren’t really friends anymore. When we were younger all we ever wanted was our cutie marks but now, well, I don’t think they were such a good thing.” Sweetie said turning her head away, waiting for disapproval of such words and talk about destiny.
“Well Sweetie, change is a funny thing. Ponies change, lives change, all things must change. You and your friends are all at a new stage in your lives and your paths are taking you in different directions.” Luna said softly, Sweetie looked up in surprise at the alicorn’s gentle response.
“But I don’t want to change! I want my friends back!” The unicorn said, bursting into tears.
“It’s okay, but just because some things change doesn’t mean others do too. You can follow your destiny and still be friends with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.” Luna said, wrapping a comforting wing around her student.
“But it has changed! We aren’t friends any more, we used to send letters to each other but now we don’t. I haven’t received a letter for months!” Sweetie sobbed into Luna’s side.
“I understand.” Luna was prepared to say more when Sweetie Belle cut her off.
“No you don’t! How could you? You don’t even have friends!” Sweetie said, angry at how reasonable her mentor was being.
“I’m going to ignore your insult to my social life and the fact that you interrupted me.” Luna said with a small smile at her student’s not completely untrue jab at her. “But I assure you that I do understand, much better than you think. Let me tell you a story Sweetie, hopefully you’ll learn something from it.”
Sweetie Belle wiped her eyes and settled down under the alicorn’s wing.
“When my sister and I were young, when our mother still controlled the sun and moon, we were the best of friends.” Luna began, her voice taking on a soft sing-song quality.
Strained Bonds
“Tia! Tia! Wake up!” A squeaky voice woke the filly from slumber.
“What is it Luna?” She asked, sleepy.
“I want to go and see the other ponies!” Luna said, excitement making her voice even more high pitched.
“Noooooo. Not till the sun is up.” Celestia grumbled having opened her eyes just enough to see the darkness outside.
“But Tia! You said they only live for a day! I wanna spend as long as possible with them!” Luna said, ineffectively tugging at her older sister’s blankets. With one last tug her hoof slipped and she was sent sprawling to the floor.
Pouting, the blue alicorn sat up, trying to think of what to do. An idea came to her and she smiled. Trotting to the bed she slowly began to fly upwards, towards her sister's sleeping form. When she arrived at her destination the little filly landed, very carefully on the edge of the bed, making way over to her sister she sat down beside her head. Then summoning all her will she reached inside of her to harness the raw power the flowed through her, preparing herself to unleash it upon her sibling.
“Where are they all?” Luna asked bouncing through the streets of the quiet town.
“In bed asleep, like we should be.” A very grumpy Celestia responded.
Looking down at her sister then at the empty streets and the dark sky around them Celestia sighed and held back yet another yawn. Why hadn’t she recognized the signs? Why had she opened her eyes when she knew that there was no being that could resist her sister’s pleading face? The sheer concentrated cuteness was enough to halt armies, bring together tribes and wake the future princess of the sun before sunrise.
Strained Bonds
“Are you sure that last bit is true?” Sweetie asked, her voice breaking through the story.
“Yes, every single bit of this is absolutely true including the last part.” Luna said, straight faced. “May I please continue with my story?”
“Sure carry on.” Sweetie said, smirking.
“Where was I? Oh yes.” Luna cleared her throat.
Strained Bonds
“Tia! Tia!” Luna ran into her sister’s room crying.
“What’s wrong Lulu?” Celestia asked, setting aside her book and embracing her distressed sibling.
“They’re dead! Minty and Wisteria and Kimono and all the others are all dead!” Luna sobbed, hysterical.
“Oh Luna, I told you not to get attached. Remember how I said that they only live for a short while?” Celestia said, trying to comfort the wailing filly.
Strained Bonds
“Wait! You just skipped a whole bunch of the story!” Sweetie said accusingly, lifting her head from Luna’s fuzzy, blue foreleg.
“That bit was boring, you didn’t need to know it.” Luna said, defending her decision.
“Fine! Get on with it.”
“After that I gave up trying to make friends with the mortals and instead spent all my time with my sister who in turn was everything I wanted in a friend. She was my best friend, my only friend.”
“Okay so that explains your lack of a social life but I don’t see how this relates to me and my current predicament.” Sweetie said.
“Well maybe if you didn’t interrupt so much you would know by now, hmm?”
“Touché”
“After that we were happy and then a big change came in our lives.” Luna said, continuing on with her tale.
Strained Bonds
“I have come to the decision that it is time that the two of you take up my mantle and fulfill your destinies.” The red maned alicorn said, smiling down at her two daughters. “Celestia you shall raise the sun in the morning and lower it at night.”
Celestia nodded, excited to be face to face with her destiny.
“Luna, you shall watch over the moon, raising and lowering it each day.” Their mother told her younger child.
“I can do that! Yup yup yup!” Luna said, puffing out her chest.
“Good, now I place the care and keeping of this land and its inhabitants into your hooves. Care for it for many years and may your reign be one of peace and prosperity.” The white coated mare touched her horn to each of her children’s brows, smiling as she watched her power transfer to them.
“Goodbye. Remember I love you and always stay true to yourselves and each other.” The alicorn began to fade, becoming blurry until she was no longer there.
“Well Lulu, I guess it’s up to us now.” Celestia said turning to her sister.
“Indeed Tia, it is.”
The two young alicorns flew off into the sunrise of a new age.
Strained Bonds
“Whoa whoa whoa! What? Your mother just disappeared? Why weren’t you upset?” Sweetie asked, unable to comprehend the lack of emotion in her teacher.
“I’ll explain it to you someday, when you’re ready.”
“I hate when you say that.”
“Do you want me to finish or not?”
“Fine, go ahead.”
Strained Bonds
Celestia was disturbed by an eager knock on the door.
“Tia? Do you wanna come stargazing with me?” A very familiar voice asked, slightly muffled by the door between them.
“No Luna, I’m busy.” Celestia said turning back to her studies.
“You’re always busy! We never hang out anymore! I miss you!” Luna said, her voice trembling as she neared the end of the sentence.
“No! Go away!” Celestia yelled in an uncharacteristic fit of anger. To her satisfaction she heard soft hoof steps heading down the hall away from her room.
The little blue alicorn walked to her room head down, ears flat, tail dragging, the empty hallways rang with her solitary hoof steps as she made her way back to her room.
Upon reaching it she shut and locked the door before flitting up to her canopy bed and curling up on top of the canopy, hidden by the frills and bows that adorned it. It was only then, in the safety of her room, Luna allowed the tears to come and come they did.
Luna didn’t understand how she could have so many tears in her; it felt like she had cried enough water to fill an ocean. Lighting her horn Luna floated a doll, badly made and raggedy with age but still recognizable as a likeness of her sister, over to her clutching it to her with both hooves and wings.
That night the lunar princess slept cuddling with her toy as dreams of the two ponies she loved and lost danced through her head like butterflies.
Strained Bonds
“When my sister and I got our cutie marks it tore our friendship apart, I lost the pony I loved the most that day.” Luna concluded her story. “We’re closer now but we’ll never get back what we had before destiny came to call.”
“Luna, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean the things I said.” Sweetie whispered realizing just how well her teacher understood her plight.
“Let this be a lesson to you Sweetie Belle, that sometimes change happens but don’t give up without a fight. Tia and I were too wrapped up in duties and emotional turmoil to stop our bonds of friendship from fading but you and your friends can rekindle what you once had. You get out there and you get your friends back!” Luna said, raising her student to her feet.
“You know what Luna? That was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard but it was well meant and you’re right. I will go out and see my friends!” Sweetie disappeared in a flash of green light, presumably off to Rainbow Falls or Sweet Apple Acres to find her old friends.
Left alone in her room Luna smiled. “I should go talk to Tia, It would be nice to catch up.” She mused, the words addressed to a ragged doll with a white coat, pink mane and a badly embroidered sun cutie mark.
Author's Note
Just to explain Sweetie Belle's presence in the story, I don't have a reason I just needed a student for Luna and Sweetie seemed like a good idea.