That Sweet Ol' Song
By: Slayerbroman
Twilight smiled contently as she read through her book like she did every night. Only difference was her wings on her back. Nothing to do, but read. She sighed happily and flipped the page. As she read through her book, she noticed something. There was something similar in this book that she couldn’t quite place. This book had a name in it that she remembered showed up quite frequently.
“Sweet ol’ Song.” She mumbled to herself. She tilted her head in wonder as she read the name again. The name was that of a supposed Diamond Dog that stood at thirteen hooves tall and completely hairless.
“Sweet would wander Equestria and help out small towns in need by telling tales of a, supposedly, old old old world called Earth with a strange inhabitants. These creatures he spoke of had not magic nor wings to help themselves in their times of need and yet they preserved and pursued to live on.” Twilight read aloud. “Some say Sweet ol’ Song even claimed to be one of the creatures. But whenever someone asked him he would just say ‘That was awhile ago’ and leave.”
She continued to read until she sighed and closed the book before shelving it and pulling out another one. She smiled at the cover of a history book and opened it up while instantly browsing it’s contents. Halfway through her reading that name came up again. “Sweet ol’ Song.”
“Who is this Sweet ol’ Song?” Twilight said a bit frustrated. “I swear it’s like he is everywhere in Equestrian history.”
She kept reading until she found a rather interesting detail. “Sweet ol’ Song claimed to have been as old as Celestia herself and even had the gall to claim that knew her when she was but a foal’.” She read aloud.
“Well that is preposterous! No pony can live that long other than the princesses!” Twilight said laughing. While she laughed, another pony walked in who of which was none other than Princess Celestia herself.
“Twilight Sparkle! How are you today? Enjoying the castle’s library I see.” Celestia said giggling.
“Hello Celestia!” Twilight said happily. Then she looked at the book then to the Princess. “Celestia, can I ask you a question?”
“Why of course Twilight! What is it?” Celestia inquired.
“Well... Did you ever know a Sweet ol’ Song?” Twilight asked causing Celestia to go completely stiff and her pupils to shrink to the size of pinpricks. “Celestia?”
“I... I am sorry Twilight. I just haven’t heard that name in a... Long long time.” Celestia said smiling again, only this wasn’t her usual happy smile. It was one of woe and sadness. “And yes Twilight. I have heard that name. Many many times.”
“Really?!” Twilight said not picking up on Celestia’s sudden change of mood. “Can you tell me who he was?”
“Well...” Celestia looked off for a moment before she sighed and closed her eyes. This Twilight picked up on.
“Celestia?” She asked slightly worried now. “Are you alright?”
“I... I am fine Twilight. Just hearing his name after so long...” Celestia let out a sad sigh. “It’s just a bit hard to remember right now. I will tell you what I know, but please. No questions just yet.”
“Alright, Princess.” Twilight said getting comfy. Celestia mimicked Twilight by laying down and resting herself onto a pillow.
“Now where to begin?” Celestia said smiling.
“Um.. How about what he looked like? I have seen his name in a lot of books but never anything more than he was a overly tall, hairless Diamond dog.” Twilight said smiling with Celestia.
“Alright then. Let’s see.” Celestia tapped her chin in thought before she looked to Twilight. “He was a tall fellow, Twilight. Very tall. Taller than me even!” This caused Twilight to give a small gasp. ‘No pony can be that tall!... Can they?’ She thought. “He was also mostly hairless. He did have a mane and a bit of facial hair upon his head. He wasn’t a Diamond Dog though. Far from it. He was... Oh what was his name? Ah yes! Human. He was a Human.”
“Human?” Twilight began before she sealed her lips remembering the ‘No questions yet’ rule.
“Yes. Blue eyes. Wonderful smile.” Celestia said staring off smiling.
“I am sorry about this princess, but was he your... You know. Coltfriend?” Twilight asked blushing a bit. Celestia gave a small chuckle and shook her head.
“Oh no Twilight. He was... Well you could say he was mine and Luna’s adoptive father.” Celestia said smiling again. Twilight’s jaw dropped like a ton of bricks. “It was long long ago. Before me and my sister raised the sun and moon. Back then it was our mother’s job. Our lives were happy and gleeful until one day... She had to leave.”
“Y-you mean?”
“No Twilight, not death, but a journey.” Celestia said. “She said should would be gone quite sometime and said that she would leave us with a... Nanny of sorts. The day before she left a creature appeared in a clearing west of our castle. When we went to go find it, we found our mother talking and laughing with the creature. Like they had been friends since the beginning of time.”
Twilight listened intently as she waited for Celestia to continue. Celestia took a deep breath and used a hoof to wipe one of her eyes. ‘Is this truly hitting Celestia this emotionally?’ Twilight thought. “Princess if you don’t want to tell me, you know you don’t have to.” Twilight said with a smile.
Celestia smiled back and sighed. “No no, Twilight. This needs to be said. The tale of Sweet Song must be told.” She answered with a bit of a choked up voice. “After they talked about this and that for a few minutes, my mother put a spell on him. That caused a small bit of turmoil between them before Sweet calmed down.”
“Princess, if I may ask just one question... Why is he called Sweet Ol’ Song?” Twilight asked no longer able to hold back her inner nerd.
“Well I guess that is a good enough question to ask.” Celestia said smiling. “Well to be honest, that isn’t his real name. His real name is.... Oh my sun, I believe I have forgotten it.... Oh dear mother how could I have forgotten his name!?”
Celestia hung her head in sadness before looking back up with slightly red eyes from holding back tears. Twilight was about to say something before Celestia continued. “But that doesn’t matter right now.” She took a deep breath and continued. “He was called Sweet Ol’ Song because of what he would do to help calms us down. He would sing to us. Oh he had such a amazing voice Twilight.”
Twilight smiled as she saw Celestia’s mood become brighter. “He would sing us songs from his world and play the flute, his guitar, sometimes the piano.”
“He was truly that musically talented?” Twilight asked.
“Well not at first mind you. He practiced almost every minute he got when he wasn’t taking care of us. Sometimes me and Luna would sneak out of bed to listen to him have small arguments with himself over how bad he was at the instrument he was playing.” Celestia chuckled slightly and paused before continuing. “But after a while when Luna finally began to talk, she was sitting in his lap while he practiced the piano. She started babbling and giggling whenever he would miss a note.”
Twilight chuckled at the thought of Luna as a foal. All small and fuzzy, giggling at every little thing. Celestia must have picked up on this because she also snickered. “But that was when she said her first words. She said ‘Sweet Ol’ Song’ by accident while Sweet was telling her of this old song by one of his favorite bands.”
“So from then on, he went by the name Sweet Ol’ Song?” Twilight asked again unable to contain her curiosity.
“Well not at first. This was about a year after mother left.” Celestia stopped as she remembered her mother. She sighed and held back a sniffle as she remembered a detail she had left out. “Anyway, he started to go by it when the staff of the castle began to call him that name. After a while is just stuck! He almost never used his normal name again.”
“Wow.” Was all Twilight could say. “But Princess what about when you first met him?”
“Oh yes! Sorry, I must have been sidetracked.” Celestia said giving Twilight a playful glare that made her slightly blush in embarrassment. “So where was I? Oh yes. After she casted the spell on him, she left for her journey. From then on he took care of us. The ponies in the castle began to warm up to him eventually and we grew up knowing him as practically our father.”
Celestia sighed again only this time it was a mournful sigh, not a sad one. Then the look in her eyes suggested that she was thinking of something that made her mournful. “It was fitting that we thought of him as such seeing how mother... Never came back.” Celestia said hanging her head and letting only a few tears fall.
“Oh... Celestia, I am so sorry.” Twilight said getting and hugging the distraught sun princess. Celestia simply hugged back and held her tight as she let a few more tears fall down her face.
“It’s... It’s alright Twilight. But thank you for your concern.” Celestia said letting go of Twilight. “I will be fine. Just old memories tend to sting a bit more than new ones.” Twilight nodded and smiled as Celestia stopped crying and cleared her face of any evidence of her doing so. “Well as I was saying. He grew up with us and even helped us out on anything we need, even if he had no idea what it was. Then... After Luna became corrupted by the nightmare... He left. Before he left, he said that he was going to find a way to help her. And only when he could help her would he come back.”
“That is why I was nowhere to be seen on the day of the summer sun celebration Twilight.” Celestia continued. “When I saw Luna leave the moon in that flash of light, I knew what it meant. I wasn’t Luna escaping her prison. It was her being released. I went to find Sweet Ol’ Song and when I did.... Oh dear mother, I couldn’t bear it.”
Celestia had covered her face with her hooves and let out a silent sob before continuing. “He had let Luna go by... By giving up what my mother had given him. He gave up his eternal life to release Luna from her prison. I found him laying down with a single book and a empty bottle next to him.”
Twilight looked off as the idea made sense. Nightmare would not have been strong enough to release herself in the constant weakened state the elements would have kept her in. ‘But if she had a burst of life...’ She thought.
“I am not going to lie to you Twilight. I cried. I cried for the first time in a millenia. But when I saw why he did what he did. I was so happy.” Celestia said with a smile. “Sweet Ol’ Song gave his life to give my sister another chance. And so once every year, I go back to that same spot I found Sweet. I sit down and sing. I would sing a old song that he would sing to us when we wouldn’t go to sleep by ourselves.”
Twilight was in tears by this point. She hugged Celestia again and cried into her coat as Celestia wrapped her wings around her and let her own tears fall. After a few minutes Twilight sniffled and looked up at Celestia before saying.
“Celestia. I have one last question. Why did he appear all over Equestrian history? Everywhere I read and looked, I found at least one reference to Sweet Ol’ Song.” Twilight said through a choked up sob.
“Well Twilight. While he was wandering, I can only assume he helped whoever he found that needed help. So I would not be surprised if you found something about him.” Celestia answered. “But my dear Twilight. That is who Sweet Ol’ Song was. He was a great friend. A great pony. And most importantly. He was a wonderful father to me and my sister.”
“That he was.” Luna said as she walked into the library. “Sweet gave his life to give me a chance to a better life. And for that I will never forget him.”
Celestia gestured Luna over and let her join into the group hug as she too let tears fall from her eyes.
(~~~~~~~~~/)
In the meadows of the Everfree forest, a half mile from the old castle of the old sisters. There is a large tombstone covered in roses and foliage with a golden plaque pinned to the stone. Upon this plaque rests the words.
Here lies Sweet Ol’ Song.
A amazing friend.
A wonderful companion.
And most importantly.
A great father.
May you rest in heaven and look over us with happiness.
We love you dad.
Once a year the sun goddess appears here to leave a bouquet of roses and sits and talks to this stone. And every year she leaves feeling as if she has had a great weight lifted off of her shoulders, but still leaves with the feeling that his death was her fault. However, before she leaves the meadow, one can faintly hear the words of a old song being sung through an angelic voice.
Hush little baby, Don't say a word
Papa's gonna buy you a mocking bird~
If she only knew the smile that shone upon her and her sister as a certain human watched from the heavens.
Author's Note
Thought I would give it a more professional approach. Also just this was a idea that was in my head and I wanted to get out.\
Tell me if I did good or not.
