Grandmare Celestia

The next morning, Celestia sat at the breakfast table, picking at the pancakes she had made. She had been tossing and turning all night, worrying about what might happen now that Sunrise knew of her heritage. Just then, Luna entered the dining room.

“Sister, what’s wrong?” Luna asked, “I noticed you did not sleep well last night.”

“I thought you might,” Celestia said with a sigh.

“Is it about your annual visit to Salt Lick City in two days?” Luna asked, “Are you worried about the reason you’ll give Sunrise for why you can’t attend her birthday party, yet again?”

“No,” Celestia said, “I’m going this year.”

“What?” Luna asked, “Why?”

“I have to,” Celestia said, “I gave Sunrise her birth certificate yesterday. Now that she knows I’m her mother, it would be remiss of me not to celebrate her birthday with her.”

“Perhaps I should come too, then,” Luna said, “I’ve always wanted to meet my niece. You could introduce me.”

“That sounds wonderful, Luna,” Celestia said, “I’m sure she’ll be glad to meet you too. I’m just a little anxious about coming clean to her after all these years. I bet she hates me now.”

“I don’t think she hates you,” Luna said, “Afterall, from what you told me, it sounds like you two really bonded while she was your student.”

“I guess we did,” Celestia said, “Still, I wouldn’t blame her for being mad at me for giving her away and keeping it a secret all these years. Honestly, I’m more worried about her reaction than about how the rest of Equestria will act. Do you think we should invite Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and Twilight to the party? After all, Sunrise and her children will have to get used to having Equestrian nobility and the Canterlot elite at a lot of major functions, as will her adoptive family.”

“Actually,” Luna said, “Inviting friends to their child’s birthday party is something a parent of a young child might do. Since your daughter is a fully grown mare, you don’t have any right to invite anyone to her birthday party. Instead, you can invite Sunrise to the palace to meet Twilight, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart at a later date.”

“Actually,” Celestia said, “I was thinking of giving Sunrise custody of her children, except her older son who is already a stallion, and inviting all of them to move into the palace with us.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Luna said, “I’ve wanted to get to know them for years. I especially feel a kinship towards Sweet Breeze, and I’ve been wanting to get her away from her stepmother for a while now. Did you know that, like I did intentionally, her mind subconsciously created its own tantabus to punish Sweet Breeze for her temper?”

“You mentioned it before,” Celestia said, “Though you never told me how you resolved it.”

“First,” Luna said, “I helped Sweet Breeze deal with the guilt of making her sister cry. I told her that she wasn’t a monster for getting angry and she didn’t need to punish herself for having a normal emotion. Then, I taught her some techniques that would help her manage her anger better.”

“Well,” Celestia said, “We better start preparing for travel to Salt Lick City. Do you want to take our chariots or the train?”

“Taking the train is an option?” Luna asked, “I’d love to take the train. I’ve always wanted to experience aspects of day to day pony life.”

“The train it is, then,” Celestia said, “Besides, taking the train will take some attention away from our visit.”

“Let’s start preparing,” Luna said, “I can’t wait to formally introduce myself to your progeny.”

“You might want to talk a bit more casually to them,” Celestia said, “We want this to feel as natural as possible.”

“True enough, sister,” Luna said.

“As I understand it,” Celestia said, “Sweet Breeze and Sequin might be more used to saying ‘sis’.”

“That’s good to know,” Luna said, “This is going to be so exciting.”

“I just hope Sunrise can forgive me for my actions,” Celestia said.