Family
"Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth, a trusted friend is the best relative, Nibbana is the greatest bliss." - Gautama Buddha
Dhammapada, third century B.C.E book by Gautama Buddha followers to better interpret his teachings and that collect his sayings.
"And that was the first two episodes of Sailor Moon." Mag said after she, Celestia and Luna had watched said episodes in Mag's computer.
"Do you feel better about your car being gone?" Celestia have Mag a hug, she was in her "Mag mother" human like form instead of the "Disney like princess" one.
"A bit. Now let's see some of the Twilight zone episodes to change things."
"We should hunt those thieves and punish them." Luna sounded quite angry.
"Is okay my car is insured. I just... do you girls think the Eldest did this to me just because he could? Because really my car was locked and with the alarm on. I even left in a place were a policeman usually walks by. "
Celestia looked amused.
“Something funny, Sunny?”
“You look like a madwoman, arguing with yourself like that,” said Celestia.
“Then my true colors are showing. And is not like I ever said I was sane. And Luna knows all about that, right? She saw my dreams.”
"I have seen far worse.”
"Who is this Eldest you speak of? Luna asked using Mag's mouth.
"The Eldest is this world Regent... and he is not sane or complete." Celestia answered . "Now I really want to see this Twilight Zone movie serial you seem so fond of."
And so they did after that the the questions started.
“How does this computer operate?”
“'How dost this infernal machine operateth?'” said Mag in officious pseudo-British.
“I'm, like, so pointlessly obnoxious,” said Luna in bubblegum Californian.
“What light through yonder window breaks? Why, 'tis the east, and Luna shutting up is the sun!”
Silence followed.
“That's a wonderfully well-turned piece of verse, other than the break in meter in the second line,” said Celestia.
“Never mi-” Luna switched to use Mag's mouth. “Never mind our disagreement. Tell us where that line is from.”
“Shakespeare,” said Mag, “poet and playwright. Kind of a big deal, according to high school English teachers. I'll hook you guys up as soon as I can figure out a way to do it without having to sit through one of his plays myself. Oh maybe movie versions? Although it would be hard to find the good ones."
“You don't like his work?” said Celestia.
“His stuff is long, dense, archaic, and, well, the problem with inventing all the cliches is that now his work is cliched. Plus I saw like twenty different adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, one of his most famous plays, thanks to cartoons, movies and TV shows."
“But do you recall the rest of the poem? What about the part you replaced?” said Luna.
“'And Juliet is the sun.' It's a love story. I don't remember the rest of it."
"Very well. Shouldn't you do that call by now?" Celestia sounded just like the mother she wished she had.
"I don't wanna."
"Are you a coward Mag?"
"No I am not but my cell phone is dead. Let's go outside and find a pay phone. A miracle those still exist around here. Oh right, bathroom break first."
Mag went to her bathroom and locked the door then talked in a low voice hoping Celestia wouldn't her her.
“Okay, now that you're here, I have to ask,” Mag whispered to Luna. “How can she smile after what's happened? I saw her cry but then she pretends nothing happened. I don't know what to say to her. I just let her have my shoulder to cry on and tell lame jokes but... I don't think that's gonna be enough."
“Mag, I've known my sister since the beginning of our world, and even I am not always certain how to weigh the sincerity all of her smiles. So I decided long ago to not believe them. That horribly backfired so after... certain circumstances I decided to pretend I believe them all then talk to her in private when I could. Thank you for being there for my sister."
"No problem. So got any plan? Because I have been mostly winging it."
"Celestia has an honest personality, but also is more versed in being a politician that I am. So when she smiles she wishes us to believe she meant it. Tell me Mag, why do you think anypony err anybody hide their feelings?”
“Perhaps she smiles because she wishes us to smile. But that's horrible for her. By the way how are you doing?”
Luna shared head space with Mag and saw her dreams so why not let Mag know more about Luna?
“... I beg your pardon?”
“How are you doing? Everything that happened to her also happened to you, except you were stuck there. Don't answer if you don't feel like it.”
“I am in the light again with my sister. I do well enough for now. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?”
“Yeah, privacy,” said Mag. “Is that a thing anymore?”
“I do have good news on that front. I have been experimenting, and am finding ways to block out each of your senses.”
“Not sure how I feel about you putting yourself in a sensory deprivation chamber.” said Mag sounding worried.
“Worry not. As I experiment I glimpse certain possibilities. For each sense of yours I block, I find another sense of my own, ones you don't appear to have access to.”
“You mean like seeing magic?”
"That I already can without blocking your senses. I am referring to senses neither of the two of you have. I am a warden of the ways, the margrave of the dreamers of Equis, and princess of the night. I have certain unique advantages.”
"Like spying on people dreams?"
"I do not spy in the dreams of others, save yours because we share the same body. My work is to help guard the dreams of my little ponies. And if we stay here longer my sister will think that you are sick."
“All right, well sorry, work on it.” Mag flushed the toiled and washed her hands. Then went outside the bathroom and closed the door.
Celestia had changed back to her real form.
Mag blinked.
"Is that a saddle? And reins?"
"I had to transmute some some broken clothes and things you had and looked like they had not been used in years, but yes."
Mag feel she was still a tad too big to ride Celestia but... how she could refuse?
So they went outside and Mag had a short pony ride until the nearest pay phone. It was too short for Mag taste.
"Mag." said Luna. "How does a car work?"
Since Maggie had not bothered to answer how a computer worked before she decided to answer instead of making the dreaded phone call.
“Basically, the engine of a car compresses gasoline vapor and then sets it on fire with a spark of electricity, the explosion pushes a piston, the piston turns the wheels, and then it does it again, and it all happens over and over again really fast. Then there's all this other junk, like fan belts and carburetors. I don't know what any of that does. You have to put gas in the car regularly, and there is a meter that tells you how much gas you have left. The car also needs oil to keep all the metal from locking up, and you have to change that out every once in a while, and there are air filters for some reason. It needs coolant sometimes, and other fluids I can't remember right now. It shoots burnt gas vapors out of a tube in the back. Sometimes it breaks down and I don't know why. Then I pay some guys to fix it and hope they don't lie to me about what they did. Or I would, If I still had a car.”
“Why not learn more so they can't lie to you?” asked Celestia.
“Because it shouldn't be my job to stop them from lying to me, because if I wandered around wondering how every single thing works then I'd never get anything done, and because I doubt I can learn enough about cars to call their bluff effectively anyway.”
“Hmm,” said Celestia.
“A disappointing answer, but it makes sense.”
“I want to drop these baskets off at the store and then I want to go home,” said Mag. “Anyone want to stop anywhere first?”
“Are the works of Shakespeare available on your Googling machine?” asked Celestia.
“I'm not going to get through today without a poetry reading, am I? Yeah, they're probably somewhere out there on the Internet. Although I really prefer if we rented one of the movies instead."
"Mag did you forget about the phone call?" Celestia said.
Mag had not, in fact she had picked the baskets just to have an excuse to delay said phone call.
"Fine, you go to give back these baskets and I do the phone call."
"Fine. But if when I get back here you still haven't done it I will be disappointed."
Mag flinched, why did it feel like disappointing Celestia was like kicking a puppy? Celestia picked the bags with her magic and walked to the store, did she remember were the store was? Of course she did.
So Mag called her boss. His name was Amitabh Bachchan (no relation), and he was alright. He didn't raise his voice, though sometimes his voice could get very urgent, something Mag had had a problem with before because his Indian accent was as pure, thick and rich as the day he'd first stepped off the plane.
Mr. Bachchan was in his sixties but looked forty, and had a sheepish, scruffy smile that had probably gotten him out of a lot of trouble over the course of his life. He had no particularly terrible flaws and Mag had always felt a little bad for dreading the sound of his voice every day. This weekend's carelessness turned out to be, yes, the proverbial straw that broke the proverbial camel's proverbial back. Mag would never clean that store again. He thanked her. She thanked him back. He said goodbye. So did she. He hung up.
“Yep, I am done.” said Mag to herself.
“There, there,” said Luna in a kindly but unsure voice. In a moment of emotional vertigo Mag realized this must be what it was like to be on the receiving end of her own awkward attempts to comfort Celestia for a pain she couldn't even claim to understand. She didn't know how to feel about that, so she decided to deal with the next thing. One more thing, and then she could feel better about herself.
"I want to learn magic, please teach me Luna."
"Why?
"Consider it paying rent for sharing my body and because I think magic is cool."
"Very well that's fair. From now on you will smoke one cigarette less by day that you usually do. And if I think is an emergency I will be able to take control of your body without asking, is that acceptable as a trade for teaching you magic?"
"Define emergency."
"You or my sister being at risk of death."
"Yes, that's acceptable." Mag started to walk back home.
"'Your magic and you," said Luna in a bored tone. “'In this video, we'll discuss the basics of what you can expect as you grow into your unicorn magic.' You should have your cutie mark by now—”
“Cutie mark?” asked Mag, muttered Mag, opening the door and putting her jacket in the closet next to the door. "And in case you did not notice I am not seeing the video you are talking about, not I am a pony."
Luna went right back to it, ignoring Mag. “You should have your cutie mark by now, but even if you don't, you likely have some experiences with your own magic. Maybe in ways you couldn't control! Don't worry, because that's completely normal. This movie was made to help teach you all about your growing powers.”
Mag groaned and decided to ignore the crazy goddess in her head as much as she could.
Then Celestia came back, she looked down. Mag have the equine goddess a hug.
"What happened?"
"A little girl wanted to ride my back but of course her mother wouldn't believe her about the white unicorn with wings. She ended crying."
"Ouch. Know what? Distraction! Celestia, there's a thing next to my computer with a bunch of blank paper sticking out. Please please please show me what your ponies look like while I make lunch.”
"Okay, I will do that." Celestia walked off to get the paper.
"Were was I with the video?"
"I started to ignore you after you ignored my question about cutie marks."
Celestia walked back in and placed a few sheets of paper on the counter, then left the room without speaking. The couch springs creaked.
No other sound came from the living room and Luna went quiet as well. If it weren't for the silent music of Luna's aura, Mag could almost think the world hadn't gone mad. She finished tearing the lettuce, rinsed her hands, wiped them on a towel, and picked up the papers.
"Didn't you notice something just now?"
"What?"
"My magic aura, you feel it didn't you?"
Mag then focused on the drawings.
Celestia had gone for quantity rather than detail in her drawings. Every couple of square inches had its own pony, most of them minimalistic and fluidly illustrated, almost cartoony in places. Every pony had its own little scene. In one, a pony wearing a headscarf watered a pot of daisies on a table using a little watering can. In another, a young pony clung to the shoulders of an adult pegasus in flight. In yet another, an inquisitive, snouted face stared up at the viewer with opened mouth as if asking a question. There was a row of solemn guards with brush helmets, a nubby-horned unicorn eating a sandwich, a couple sharing a milkshake. They all had big bushy tails, almost like squirrels, but deliberately styled, just like their manes. It was a calm, kind world.
"Mag!"
"Uh? Oh right your aura... well I can tell is there. But I can't see or hear it... is like... a sixth sense?"
"Fine, just keep looking at the drawings."
The last page was a little different. This was where all the detail had gone. In the top-left corner was a picture of what could only be Luna. Her eyes were stern but caring, and fathoms deep. Beneath the sketch were the words “Princess Luna.” The sketch to the right was a “Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Baby Dragon.” There was something perennially young about the two, for lack of a better term. Twilight's stance, her expression, the little lizard guy on her back, the pile of books floating next to her, everything about her suggested someone who loved everything, wanted to know everything about everything, and never got tired of the world around her. Mag tried not to hate her.
And they were all gone, save for Luna and Celestia. And Mag felt like a monster for being so jealous. She continued looking.
Next were “Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.” Mag almost laughed. Now there was a power couple if Mag had ever seen one. Lord have mercy, were those two ever in love. They appeared to be getting married, which, considering they looks they were giving each other, was almost redundant.
“Pinkie Pie,” a cotton ball of joie de vivre. “Fluttershy,” wet kleenex with a rabbit. An arrogant “Rainbow Dash” that Mag immediately pegged as her favorite. “Applejack,” cowboy hat, lasso, named after an alcohol for some reason. And this “Rarity” obviously got up very early indeed every morning to get her hair like that.
Mag walked to the couch to find Celestia pretending to sleep, and leaned against the back of the couch to look down at Celestia.
“They seem fun,” said Mag.
Celestia didn't respond. Luna had nothing to say either.
“I like Rainbow Dash the best.” said Mag and started to scratch Celestia's ears.
Celestia didn't move.
“Did you get your samples?” Mag continued to scratch the pony goddess ears.
“There was almost nothing to sample,” said Celestia without opening her eyes and leaning against Mag hand. The woman continued her scratches.
“Oh. What were you planning to get?”
“A sliver of wood from a mirror frame on the inside, some sand from the walls, any ambient energy, and a wisp of aether.”
She held up a little corked bottle in her magic, not even looking at it.
“Here is that wisp. Equestria has an aether field, but it's as hollow as everything else there, now. No one has touched it since I left and it hasn't moved on its own. Nothing out of the ordinary for a dead world. As for the rest, they simply aren't there. No ambient energy, no sand, and all the mirror frames were gone.”
She smiled a nonsmile. “I'm glad you insisted on coming. After seeing all of that, I don't know if I would ever have bothered to leave.”
“That's a hell of a thing to say,” said Mag, keeping her voice conversational.
“'Hell.' Yes. A 'hell' of a thing to say.” She opened her eyes. “I've been wondering something. Should I really be so certain that a regent dies with her world? Books and my own experience tell me they do, but it's a hard thing to prove. Maybe we stay behind, like the mirrors. Maybe we count as mirrors ourselves. It makes a kind of metaphorical sense, wouldn't you say?”
Mag really wished Luna would say something, but she hadn't spoken since she told Mag to just keep looking at the drawings.
“What will you do now?” said Mag.
“I don't know,” said Celestia. “No, I do know. I'll rest until tomorrow. Then I'm going back to the lake, and then to the lake at the bottom of the valley. There are many books down there, and I'm sure there must be something useful there. It's dangerous, but what is danger to me now?”
“I'm coming, obviously,” said Mag.
“Oh.”
“Really don't like what I'm hearing from you right now, by the way.”
“No?” said Celestia.
“It doesn't help anyway,” said Mag. She walked around the couch and sat down in the same place she'd fallen asleep last night. “Nothing you say or think is going to make you feel any different. That's how it works, when you stop caring. You could get up and eat lunch or you could stay right where you are. They'll both feel pointless, so why not get up?”
“Eat lunch. I could do that. And then shall I move across the country to live in an empty house in the woods? Shall I hide my heart under the bed and reach out to no one for years on end, avoiding everything that matters to me and hoping to go numb?”
"No, because will be with you. And your sister will be there too. And we will give you hugs, and we will talk, and we will do everything we can to make you feel better, right Luna?"
Mag's mouth moved without her control "Sister, look, I got your nose!"
Mag left hand moved and touched Celestia's nose, there was a a weird sound.
BOOP!
Was... was that magic that made the sound? It was... was really stupid.
Celestia just... stared, then covered her eyes with a hoof. “I'm ashamed. That was cruel of me to say... and such a horrible joke that was Luna."
"That was the point. Now apologize to your human daughter."
Mag and Celestia stared at each other, not knowing what to say. Mag was nervous and mentality cursing Luna. Celestia seemed surprised and unsure what to do.
"Maggie... I know you felt what I said, and I'm sorry.”
"I... I can't help to look at you as my second mother. And... hugs?"
Mag have Celestia a hug, the sun goddess leaned over and hugged Mag back.
“I... I'll keep myself looking for a way to bring back mine. Thank you, Mag.”
Both of Celestia's wings were at her sides, and yet Mag felt a feather brush her shoulder.
“I don't have it in me to hope to see Equestria again, and I hold little hope for a happy ending between the three of us. But I do hope we'll grow to understand one another, human Mag... my daughter of heart. Even if I am confused how this happened.”
"Celestia... my mother of heart? How do adoptions work in Equestria." Mag face was not red as a tomato and she wasn't almost jumping out of happiness, really she wasn't.
"With lots of paperwork. But since I am one of the two rulers, just my word is enough in this case. Any objections Luna?"
Luna once more used Mag's mouth
"Not about this and congratulations on being a mother."
“For a species that needs all four legs to walk, you people are awfully huggy,” said Mag.
"Ask her about the assassin."
“Tell me about the assassin,” said Mag through a bite of sandwich.
“The what?”
"The one you talked down. Is a good story."
Emergency or not Luna was right that her taking control over Mag's body was getting annoying.
“In exchange for the sandwich and to avoid Luna jokes, I think I will.” Celestia dabbed her mouth with a cloth napkin. Mag didn't know where she'd gotten it, as the napkins on the table were paper, but there it was. Probably magic? She really wanted to learn how to use magic.
“Some few decades ago I got an unusual bit of mail. A death threat, actually, written shakily in black chalk on rough, yellowish paper. It was sealed with the crest of Canterlot University in undyed beeswax. The content of the letter went on for some time, but the core of the matter was that the anonymous author intended to kill me because he wanted to know what would happen if I died.
“The writer was clearly unwell. If nothing else, a saner stallion wouldn't have given me so many ways to identify him. It took me less than an hour and a half to find the perpetrator. He was one Professor Redwood, a stallion who taught history at Canterlot U. And to confirm that he was well known for his erratic behavior and morbid interests. Some days later he burst into my bedroom with a blunderbuss at least four times his age and demanded that I light a candle so he would know where to aim.
I refused; he might have hurt himself if I let him fire the weapon, and anyway, whatever he had loaded into the weapon was sure to damage my furniture. He said 'please,' and I offered to answer his question in exchange for his gun. He told me it wasn't a gun; it was an authentic griffin blunderbuss from the third griffo-minotauran war. I said I knew what it was, since I specifically recalled outlawing them.
He apologized for breaking the law and said he'd surrender the weapon to the guards as soon as he finished using it to kill me.
“I asked him what in the starless hells he thought he would accomplish with all this. He asked if I'd gotten the letter. I told him I had, and that I spent the day pondering his question. I told him again that I would answer his question if he gave me the authentic griffin blunderbuss from the third griffo-minotauran war.
'The one you made illegal?' 'The very same,' I said. He set the gun down next to my bed and went over to the window to sit in the yellow wicker chair I typically take my tea in, hunkering down to listen.
“I'd written down my thoughts on the matter over the past few days, then arranged the resulting collection by subject and chronology. Now I lit a candelabra and read him the highlights. First I went over the immediate concerns, such as the contents of my will and what the legal repercussions would likely be for Professor Redwood. The will didn't seem to interest him that much and he just cocked his head like a blue jay when I started to talk about criminal justice, so I skipped ahead to describe my theory that Equestria would industrialize and revert to being a full scarcity society, and to make a few remarks on how these economic circumstances would likely interact with Equestria's growing counterculture and inevitable militarization. He was enraptured, and I always enjoy an appreciative audience, so I ended up reading that entire part out loud.
After a few more pages I simply gave him the entire pile of papers and went back to sleep while he read them from the beginning. I never did get enough rest that night, though, because a maid came in a good hour before dawn and screamed for all she was worth.
Honey-Do was always very tightly wound. My door guards came in and were understandably confused, until I pointed out the fireplace in the antechamber, and, more to the point, the sooty hoofprints leading from there to my door.
The poor maid Honey-Do screamed a bit more, and the guards shouted and stomped, and eventually Redwood looked up from his reading and asked everyone to be quiet. They didn't.
Honey-Do scolded him for getting soot everywhere, which I'll confess I found cathartic, and the guards demanded to know what he was doing. The professor explained, once he could get a word in, that he'd come to kill me because he wanted to know what would happen. He apologized for the mess.
The rest of the week was thoroughly confusing for Professor Redwood, I'm afraid, but I arranged for a very comfortable and tastefully decorated padded room with plenty of reading material. We corresponded until his passing.”
“And he never tried to break out or send another threat? No hard feelings on either side?”
“Remember that we're discussing a stallion who could write endless reams of ingeniously insightful dissertations and academic papers within his field, but was incapable of buying groceries or having a lucid conversation. He was not a bad pony, just a confused one. I always enjoyed reading his letters. He understood my work in ways few others ever have, and I was one of the rare few who'd seen with her own eyes the ancient roads and battlefields that had always dominated his mind. We appreciated each other.”
“Enough chattering. What kind of barbarian doesn't own a table?”
“This barbarian, Mag the barbarian. What do I need a table for when I've got a lap?” said Mag in a mocking tone. "Okay... the truth is that my table broke years ago and I never replaced it, just threw it away. Think Celestia could make me one? We both owe each other lots of birthday presents."
"Oh and will you get me something too then?"
What do you give to a Goddess who lost everything then got a new daughter?
This was a terrible idea, a horrible idea. Mag was gonna do it anyway.
"Ever seen my baby pictures?"
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i too think of sunbutt as a second mother
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8580125
I got no beta reader or editor, sorry.
8611990
Mag got an adoptive mother who only little kids and the insane can see. Oh and a moon princess that lives in her head.
That doesn't sound so good when said out loud, right?
But yeah, both Mag and Celestia need each other.
8612026
You need to get one (and good that you have put up a note).
there are things written in time present and past at the same time
My magic aura, you felt it didn't you?
Oh and I think you copied without editing the part about mag explaining the car since she supposedly pointed (this does this) at the fuel meter while riding Celestia.
And you keep writing sence instead of sense.
Having a creative mind and problems with ortography is an ironic and terrible combo.
8612334
Well not really since in this rewrite Mag car was stolen. But yeah should give it another look.
Edit: I did, fixed.
Well then...
That happened.
Still a good read
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Oh this won't make things any easier for the two of them, different species, cultures and that. If anything it will complicate things even more.
And let's not forget Snarky aunt Luna!
I haven't read the original
But I can tell that this will be a good story to follow
Cheers and thanks for keeping the dream alive
8612026
I would offer to be a beta reader/editor, since I do that for several other stories, (Like My Life as a Bipedal Quadruped, Defect, and several others) but to be honest, my health isn't the most reliable.
Still, if you have nobody else willing, I'd be glad to do it. I enjoy editing in general.
Well finally got around to binge reading what’s here so far. Really enjoying the rewrite, and can’t wait to for more.
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Thank you, I am working on the next chapter right now.