//------------------------------// // S1E3: "Our weekend was fairly mundane and uneventful. What did you do?" // Story: There's a First Time for Everything... // by Majestic_Donut //------------------------------// It was the weekend now, but it wasn't just any weekend. On the last week of every 2 or so months, the king and queen would take the entire weekend off from royal duties to spend exclusive time with their daughters. They wish they could do it more often, but ruling a kingdom keeps one (or two) very busy. It was all the strings they could pull to get 2 days every 2 months! So when the two alicorn sisters awoke that morning, they awoke to their parents faces 6 inches from their face... It's tradition. "Surprise! Guess what day it is?" Cosmos boomed. "My birthday?" Luna asked. "No silly. It's pancake weekend! You girls get to spend all today and tomorrow with us," Ethereal said. "-GASP- YES!!! I LOVE PANCAKE WEEKEND!!! Can I make little faces with the fruit again?" Celestia asked. "Of course! That's the best part of any pancake," Cosmos exclaimed. "I just want pineapple and chocolate chips on my pancakes," Luna stated. "Alright, well let's get out of bed! Those pancakes won't make themselves!" Ethereal announced. So they got out of bed, brushed their manes and teeth (to get rid of that morning breath), and were ready to make and eat pancakes in a record time of about 60 seconds... They may still have a few tangles in those manes. "We're ready! Can I add the ingredients to the bowl?" Luna asked. "Sure sweetie. We need two cups of flour -Luna adds 2 cups flour-, some sugar -adds what may or may not have been a half a bag of sugar-, and several other ingredients," Cosmos said before lifting his head from the recipe to find Luna had added some of the ingredients already. "Oh, I didn't think you were doing that right now. I was gonna measure out the ingredients for you..." "Oh," Luna said as she stopped herself from next adding the entire baking powder container into the bowl. "Looks like these will be pretty sweet pancakes, but I think we'll be fine," Ethereal said as she noted the large amount of sugar in the bowl. "Heheh, oops..." Luna said. "Let me help you with the rest of the ingredients Luna," Cosmos said as he measured out the other ingredients and did his best to scoop out the extra sugar. After a decent sized mess in the kitchen was made, the royal family was left with varying sizes and shades of golden-brown/jet-black pancakes before them (they may have let Luna help pour and cook the pancakes too. Despite the seeming failures, it was still good to let her help anyways). "Hey look Luna! Say hi to Mr. Happy Pancake! 'I'm so happy to meet you! Too bad you must eat me soon...' hahaha!" Celestia said, equipping a silly voice for the pancake when talking to Luna. "Haha, hi Mr. Happy Pancake! Pleased to eat you!" Luna greeted. "Don't you mean pleased to meet you?" Mr. Happy Pancake asked. "No, I mean eat you," Luna said as she grabbed the plate and took a bite out of the pancake. "Hey wait a second, that was mine!" Celestia cried. "Luna, you need to ask before you grab something from someone else," Ethereal scolded. "Sorry Tia..." Luna said as she gave the plate back. "Here's your plate Luna," Cosmos said as he gave her a plate with a pancake and several pineapple slices piled on top. "Oh, one more thing." He then sprinkled the top with tiny chocolate chips. "Here you go!" "Thank you daddy!" Luna cried as she devoured her pancake. Once the girls had finished their pancakes, it was time to play off all those pancakes. So the family went outside to play in the garden. They began playtime with a game of what can only be described as volleyball without the net or boundary lines. There was a line drawn on the ground. If the ball fell on your side of the line, that was a point for the other team. There is no out field. Luna and Cosmos played against Celestia and Ethereal. At first, the game was pretty even with all four volleying the ball back to the other side. But then the parents got competitive. Very competitive. It slowly escalated until the parents were basically dominating the gameplay while the girls sat and watched, volleys getting more and more intense. The ball hadn't dropped yet, and it didn't seem like it would anytime soon with the way the ruling pair were playing (oh the things one can do when the pressures of maintaining a mask of perfection and regality are temporarily removed). Finally, the ball ended up flying out of Cosmos's range and that's when Luna took her chance to volley the ball! "I've got it!" Lune cried. But she too missed and it landed on one of the fence spikes and popped the ball... "... now what?" Celestia asked. "Did we win?" Luna asked. "No," Ethereal responded, "but perhaps now is a good time for lunch." "Sounds good to me!" Cosmos said. "We're still winners because your mom agreed to marry me." Cosmos continued as he gave his lovely wife a kiss. "You keep telling yourself that, but even then it's still Ethereal 972 and Cosmos 1," Ethereal quipped. "Pft, if you say so but I mean, who's counting?" Cosmos huffed. "Mom, apparently," Luna laughed. "Indeed..." Inside, Luna insisted she make her own sandwich. With her past track record, Luna was one-hundred percent qualified to make her own sandwich! Thank goodness sliced bread is a thing in this AU timeline! Otherwise, we may have some hemoglobin in that sandwich... To everypony's shock, Luna actually did a good job making her sandwich. Filly steps I guess. Her sandwich consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, and a single slice of cheese. Sure, it wasn't exactly all inside the bread slices, but it was an improvement. "Good job Luna!" Cosmos cheered. "Do we have bacon?" Luna asked. "Say what now?" Cosmos halted. "I want to make a BLT! A bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich. Some royals at school had one and let me have a bite. It tasted good!" Luna explained. "Um, bacon is meat sweetie..." Ethereal said. "And?" Luna asked, clearly missing the problem. "We're meat, Luna. More specifically, we don't eat meat either," Celestia stated more bluntly. "It's not like I would eat a pony! Besides, our pigs aren't exactly sapient and neither are the pigs in Enchancia," Luna explained with surprising authority. "So, you knew it was meat?" Cosmos asked. "Yes" "And you ate it anyways?" Ethereal asked. "Yes. It's good! How can you not like bacon?!" Luna started to whine. "Okay you know what? Fine, you can eat bacon. But, uh, not here. We do not have bacon..." Cosmos explained. "... okay..." Luna reluctantly accepted. "I guess it's just a LT then..." So bacon/meat crisis averted (and a secret that would be kept from the subjects for the time being), they decided to draw in the sunroom. As per usual, Luna drew a night sky scene while Celestia drew a green field with flowers, a blue sky, and that sun with sunglasses we've all drawn at least once in our lives. Also a castle that looked... close enough `\('~')/` "You'd think being older would make you a better drawer..." Luna quipped to Celestia. "Hey! It's good! It's just... um... I drew it and I like it ok? We can't all be artists you know," Celestia responded. "Be nice girls! I think you both have done a wonderful job with your drawings," Ethereal placated. Though I have to admit, Luna's art skills are quite impressive... Ethereal thought to herself. After drawing for awhile, they played hide and seek in the castle. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..." Cosmos started. Ethereal hid in the throne room, Celestia hid behind a curtain, and Luna was... uh, where was Luna? After searching for nearly 2 hours, they called out for Luna. "LUUUUNAAAAAA!!!!! YOU WOOOON!!!! COME OUT NOW PLEEEAAAASE!!!!!!" Celestia shouted just loud enough for the sun to hear. "Okay okay! You don't have to shout so loud! I wasn't deaf before, but I may be now..." Luna said, popping out of nowhere. "Gah! Where were you?" Celestia jumped. "Why would I tell you that? I have a winning hiding place now. I'll never give it away! Mwahahaha!!!" Luna beamed. "You were hiding in the secret passageways weren't you," Cosmos deadpanned. "... yes," Luna reluctantly admitted. "Oh goodness gracious you know you aren't allowed in those, right?" Ethereal asked. "Yes ma'am..." Luna said. "But I still won!" "Yes yes, you are the hide and seek champion, bravo! Anyways, why don't we play a nice simple board game?" Cosmos suggested. "Sure." "Fine with me." "What game?" -One fictitious game I made up just now later- "DON'T YOU EVEN TRY TO STEAL MY TOKENS!!!!" Celestia cried at Luna. "Hmm, mercy or no?" Luna murmured as she contemplated her next move. "Mercy, please!" Celestia begged. Luna didn't necessarily have to beat her parents, just Celestia... and she was beating her... by a lot. "Hmmmmmm... no," Luna said as she played her steal card on Celestia. "Noooooooo!" Celestia cried as she tossed her remaining cards in the air and knocked over "I win!" Luna triumphed. "Well, you still lost to your father and I, but yes, you won against Celestia," Ethereal noted. The family played one more round of the game (with Celestia coming dead last again) before it was time for dinner and then a movie. For dinner, somepony else cooked, but the Royal Family still had their quality time talking over dinner. "How is school going, Celestia?" Ethereal asked. "It's good! I've been making lots of new friends. I may even have them over sometime," Celestia said. "That's good," Ethereal responded. "How about you Luna?" Cosmos asked. "School has been interesting," Luna answered. "Make any more friends besides Sofia?" Ethereal asked. "Do I need more friends?" "Well, perhaps. Are you at least trying?" "I have Sofia and Tia. That's enough," Luna stately plainly while taking a bite of her salad. "Sofia won't always be with you Luna. Remember when you found out Celestia wouldn't be at school with you? It was nice having someone to be there for you where somepony else was unable to. I just think it would be wiser for you to branch out more and at least try to make more friends." Ethereal explained. "I suppose..." "What about any pony friends?" "I think Maximus is my friend, sort of..." Luna said. "I mean in Equestria. And don't say 'Tia', she doesn't count." Ethereal stated just as Luna was about to open her mouth. "Um, its... um..." "Luna..." "What your mom is trying to do is help you Luna," Cosmos intervened. "We just don't want you to grow up alone." "Why would I be alone? I have you guys," Luna stated. "Luna, you're not ready for this conversation yet," Ethereal said. "What conversation?!" Luna cried. "When you're older Luna, okay?" Cosmos pleaded. "... f-fine..." Luna sighed. "But I won't be alone!" "As long as you surround yourself with a good group of friends, you won't be. But you can't rely on one pony or person being there forever. Making friends isn't a one time deal, you always make new ones," Ethereal explained. "I'll always be there for you Luna, even if nopony else is!" Celestia promised. "Celestia dear, can we talk for a moment?" Ethereal asked. In the next room over, Ethereal spoke solemnly to Celestia. "You can't make a promise like that." "Why not? I'll never leave Luna!" "Not everything is within your control." "What does that have to do with anything?" "It means you may not always be able to be there for Luna. Other priorities can get in the way and make it very difficult for you to spend time with her." "Then I'll just cancel those and make time for her, like you guys do for us!" "Celestia, it's not as easy as we make it seem." "I'll never hurt Luna!" "-sigh- If you say so. Don't say I never warned you. You're old enough to know better..." When they returned to the dining room, the mood of the room was a little darker and quieter. A little bit later, the mood was lifted up again by a funny movie on a TV they "borrowed" from the human world (their counterparts wouldn't mind, right?). Finally it was bedtime, and the girls were tucked into bed. "Goodnight girls," Both parents said. "Goodnight momma, goodnight daddy!" both girls replied. The next day was about the same, minus the drama of yesterday. When the weekend was over, Luna met Sofia at school. "Hi Sofia!" "Hi Luna! How was your weekend?" Sofia asked. "Pretty normal," Luna replied. "My family played games and spent some quality time together. What about you?" "Well..."