It was a chilly rainy day, but the Faust home was full of laughter and bright cheery faces and smiles. Today Lauren told her daughters they should read from her bookshelf in the living room if they were so bored because of the rain. There were many, many, many books. Some were short and others were six hundred ninety-two thousand words long. There were happy silly books, sad tragic ones, romantic stories, stories crossing over into other worlds, stories with the girls' favorite fictional animals (humans) and so many more. The bottom two shelves were fine for the girls, if they wanted one on the third or fourth they had to ask, and shelves five and six were off limits. Celestia and Luna had fun picking out and reading books, and mommy even read a darker story to them herself.
“Can you read a chapter from your own book mommy?” It was the book this whole shelf was based on, or rather the world she created in her book. She could not write the whole thing alone, but the girls didn’t believe it.
“Actually, Metamophra invited me over for tea in five minutes so I should be going. Can I trust you girls to stay out of trouble while I’m gone?” No.
“Yes(yeth) mom,” they answered at once.
Lies. “Good then. I will leave you two here alone. Celestia, you’re in charge.”
“Whhaat!” Luna cried out.
“Ha ha!”
“Remember that you’re responsible if something goes wrong Celestia. I trust you two to stay safe. Make me proud.” With that she opened the door and walked out into the light rain.
Celestia immediately pulled a chair up to the bookshelf and told her sister to grab a box. “Why?” an annoying and high pitched voice asked.
“’Cause I wanna get a book off the top shelf.”
<gasp> “But mommy thaid we’re not allowed!”
“Mommy also said I’m in charge.” With that Luna started pushing the box that normally sat in the middle of the floor and the two hefted it on the chair. Celestia jumped from the couch onto the box and told Luna to do the same while she put her fore hooves against the wall. They had double teamed like this to get other things out of reach before: cookies, toys, cake, so Luna knew to climb onto her big sisters back and climbed higher so her hind legs stood on Celestia’s shoulders. And the top shelf was just out of reach.
“I can’t get it. What now?”
“If you jump you can reach one and land on the couch.”
“Whithh book?”
“Any!” Hurry up!”
Luna beat her wings as hard as she could, jumped and threw out her hooves to grab a book with a pink and red spine. With it in her hooves she started to tumble and wound up belly up on the couch safe and sound.
“I got it!” she cried triumphantly holding up the book she could have broken her neck for. As the sister in charge came over she wrapped it in her yellow aura of magic, set it on the coffee table and told her, “Good job.”
“Tia…” her eyes were wide with shock at what she just realized.
Celestia smirked and tilted her head to the side. She asked, “Problem?”
Luna calls out, “That wath tho fun! Did you thee? I wath like a ninja!” She looked at the cover of the book she risked her life for and lost some of her enthusiasm.
“Tia, I don’t know ‘bout thith.”
“Why not?” She sat next to her sister on the couch.
“The mare on the front thcareth me. Why are her eyeth tho wide?”
“Don’t be such a foal. We can take turns reading okay? How bad can it be? The mare on the cover is pink.”
That made sense but did not ease Luna too much. So they read out loud one paragraph at a time. At the first scene break Luna complained again.
“This is thuch a weird book. Why did Rainbow Dathh fall athleep?”
“Read it and we’ll find out.” Celestia tried to explain.
“Thith ith boring. I’m getting another book.” And so Luna climbed off the couch to grab another book, this time from the second shelf and saved a large portion of her innocence. Celestia went back to reading about Rainbow Dash waking up.
** ** **
“D’awww. That’th tho thweet. Are you finithhed Tia? Tia?”
Celsetia had not moved from her place on the couch the whole time Luna had read her story on the floor. All she had heard was the turning of a few pages.
“Did you find out why Dathh fell athleep?”
Tia nodded her head.
“Why?”
“She…uhh…”
“I really liked this one! I think Thootaloo is the betht! I wanna be like her!” Celestia just sat there and kept nodding. That’s when Luna looked out the window and gasped. “Look, it’s thtopped raining, and there’th a RAINBOW! Come look at thith Tia!”
She clambered over to the window sill and gazed outside at a most peculiar site. “What’th that? The rainbow’th broken? Why is the rainbow in pieceth?”
Celestia started whimpering, and then levitated the book she was reading back into its place on the shelf. She went back to the couch and stared at the wall.
Luna asked, “Do you wanna go outthide and play?”
“No.”
“You’re ac-ting weird today.”
The front door opened and Lauren walked through. She was pleasantly surprised that her daughters were getting along, and more so that they looked happy. At least Luna did. “Hi girls. Did you have a good time?”
“Uh ha! I read about how Thootaloo had a lonely Heart’th Warming latht year, but now she has friendth and made a new friend and thinks thomepony elthe needs her doll now.”
“I like that one too. What did you read Celestia?”
She remained silent and continued her staring contest with the wall.
“Thhe’s been thilly ever thince you left.”
Thinking it was nothing Lauren told them what she was told. “Okay. Since you both have been so good, Metamophra has invited you to help her and Chrysalis make some special cupcakes. Sound good?”
Celestia shrieked like a banshee and ran out of the living room as fast as her little hooves could carry her.
Lauren stepped into the Assistant Principals office and looked at her younger daughter. Luna was seated on her cushion starring at the floor in shame. The Assistant Principle Mr. Powers herself greeted her politely. “Good morning Mrs. Faust. Thank you for coming in on short notice.”
“I’m curious as to what exactly happened.”
“Luna, would you care to explain what happened between you and Sherry?”
Luna kept looking at her hooves and started mumbling. “You’ll have to speak up dear.”
She sighed and started over quietly. “I hit Therry because the made fun of my voithe.”
“But that’s not all you did is it?” Mr. Powers prodded her to continue.
“I knocked out one of her teeth and bruithed her ctheek.”
Lauren wasn't too surprised her young Luna had been fighting, but this was shocking. Yes she had always had a bit of a temper, and she was understandably sensitive about her lisp, but this was beyond anything she had done before.
“Sherry is in the nurse’s office now. Her parents told me her tooth was already loose but that changes nothing. Your daughter made quite a scene in the lunch line and I suggest she take the rest of the day off to cool down.”
“That sounds reasonable.” Lauren looked at Luna again who hid behind her mane and was still staring at the floor.
“Have you had trouble with Sherry before now?”
Mr. Powers stepped in. “Their teacher tells me Luna has been picked on before and she normally runs the other way. I believe this was the first time Luna’s disability has been mentioned. Is that true Luna?”
Luna nodded. Lauren sighed and looked at her own hooves. She had not been reminding Luna to do her speech exercises every day. “Mrs. Green knows not to let you two near each other for a while. If you would kindly go home with your mother and your sister will bring your homework tonight. Have a good weekend. A pleasure meeting you Ms. Faust, I wish it was under better circumstances.” He held out a hoof for her to shake.
“So do I.”
** ** **
Sitting in the the first stop-light on the short drive home, Lauren broke the silence.
“He said this happened in the lunch line. Did you eat lunch?”
Luna mumbled. “No.”
After turning left she asked, “Why did you hit her?”
“Thou made fun of my lithp! Lithththp. Li-thththsssp.”
“That’s no reason to knock her teeth out. If your life was not in danger there is no reason for what you did to Luna.”
“What about her?” Luna’s eyes were starting to fill with tears and Lauren could hear it in her voice.
“Sherry is not my daughter. You are. You live in MY home, and you will follow MY rules. My rules say ‘No fighting at school.’ Besides, I’m sure she will get punished for picking on you.”
“I wath wathh-I waththhhh- waa…”
Lauren reached out with her right wing and embraced her gently trying to pull her closer. Slowing down while pulling onto 108 she whispered soothingly. “Okay, okay Luna. Just calm down. Don’t struggle to say it. Just let it go. If you can’t, then you can’t today.”
Luna whimpered into and whipped her face Laurens’ wing. “I-I HATE IT! Why can’t I talk right? I don’t wanna be taken from clath and go to that little room in the library. I’m not a Thpecial Thtudent, so why do they do it?”
“I did not have this problem when I was your age so I can’t say I know exactly what you’re going through. It’s not because they think you can’t learn. It’s because you have more to learn than others. And they want to surround you with people who also have differences. Luna, it makes you different, and that’s not a bad thing. Okay, Chrysalis is different from you right?”
“Uh-hu.” Luna did not notice that they were home.
“And not just her body, she’s from a different town and has different friends and acts different. Celestia is your sister but you are very different from her. Every-one is different and that makes every-one interesting. You get to learn about them and they can shape you while you shape them. Your lisp is just one thing about you that many others don’t share. And do you know how it feels to hear you say a word right?”
“No,” as Lauren pulled into the driveway and shut the engine off.
“It’s like hearing you say your first words all over again. You struggle and practice and try and here you are, all your hard work paying off. I wish you could see it like I do. I love you, your sister loves you, and we want to see you conquer this. I know she picks on you, and you see me scold her when she does, but when she tells you to say ‘She sells sea shells down by the sea shore’ she really wants you to do it. You have nothing to feel ashamed or guilty about for having a lisp. And if Sherry can’t see that it’s an opportunity for you and even her, then it’s her loss.”
“I know mommy. I love you.”
“I love you too Luna.” She pulled her into a hug with her hooves. “Now, what do you want for lunch?”
“Tomato soup”
“Sounds good.”
Sitting at their table Lauren sipped her cranberry juice while Luna sipped her milk and soup. “Luna, there’s something I want you to practice. Say ‘He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists she sees the ghosts.’ Luna looked at her in disbelief. “Huh? Um, he thruththh, no. He thruthththth, no. I can’t do it mommy.”
“Who’s your favorite Cutie Mark Crusader? Slowly…”
“Thththssssscootaloo.”
“Very good. See, you can say it. Again.”
“Sssscootaloo.”
“Good. You can say her name because you practice. I want you to practice saying that too. Now I know it will be a challenge but if you keep trying you will get it. Do you believe me?”
“Uh-huh. You wouldn’t lie to me mommy.”
“I love you Luna.” She whispered taking a bite of her sandwich. Luna would be fine someday. This would not be the last time she lost patience, but they would deal with that when it came.
Celestia bellowed while she ran out the first exit she saw and dove into a corner in the back of the room. Trying to curl into a fetal position she shuddered and looked at her surroundings. She had dashed into the kitchen, with all the sharp knives, the oven, mommy’s slicer was sitting on the counter top above her…Nope!
She screamed even louder and ran back into the living room, past mommy and Luna, up the stairs into her bed room and leaped under the bed. There she prayed to whatever god watched over naughty fillies afraid for their lives.
** ** **
Luna watched most of her performance with looks ranging from shock at her initial reaction to utmost confusion at her instance to dart past them upstairs. Lauren was surprised at first too, then concerned and finally worried about her elder daughter. This was certainly a mommy issue, so she turned to Luna.
“It looks like Tia’s not going. You go to Chrysalis’s and have fun. I’m going to talk to your silly sister.” “Okay. Bye mommy!” She hugged her legs and trotted out the door looking at the rainbow she had admired seconds ago.
“Don’t trip into any puddles honey!” Lauren called before closing the door.
Walking into Celestia’s room the first thing you would notice was the cloud on blue backdrop wallpaper, then it’s usually the toys scattered across the floor if Lauren didn’t convince her to pick them up yesterday. The first thing she noticed was a little white rump and pink tail sticking out from under the bed. She leaned down next to them and heard crying. “Celestia? What’s wrong sweetie?”
An unintelligible string of sniffles and wails came from under the bed. “Celestia, are you going to come out from there?” She heard more sobbing and answered back, “Okay, I’ll just come down.” And she did climb onto her belly and poked her head under the pink throw cover to see her little girl’s hooves over her face. Celestia would never admit it but she was deathly afraid of the dark and always tried to spark her horn to give herself light. She was not doing it now, which made Lauren even more concerned. “Oh my baby.”
She wrapped her wing around Celestia from outside their hiding place and tried to draw her close. Normally both her girls willingly let themselves be pulled in like this but this time she remained stubbornly rooted in place. So she leaned closer and nuzzled her face and started humming a tune she had not sung in ages. It felt good to visit an old favorite like this, and after the second chorus Celestia had buried her muzzle into Lauren’s neck. By the time their song was done Celestia was still crying but stopped shaking.
“There, there. Mommy’s got you. Are you ready to come out from under here?”
“I-I don’t wanna make cupcakes!” Her cries were magnified much louder in an enclosed space like this. The sudden outburst caused Lauren to pull her head back and smack it against the bed frame.
“Okay.” Her ears rang and crown of head ached but she still smiled genuinely. “You won’t make cupcakes.”
“I don’t want Luna made into cupcakes either…” she explained breaking down again.
“What? Mommy didn’t understand you. What was that?”
“I’ll clean my room. I’ll stop picking on Luna. I’ll never read a book from your shelf again. Just don’t let Luna go make cupcakes.”
“Sweetie, Luna already left-“ she spoke utterly confused.
“NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Lauren bumped her head and her ears rang again. “I want her back! Don’t let her go! I don’t want Luna made into cupcakes. Waa haa haa…”
Lauren buried her into her neck again and tried to talk calmly. Her aches made that difficult. “What do you mean, ‘made into cupcakes’”?
Celestia poked her head out and slowly explained. “P-Pinkie Pie <sniff> told Rainbow Dash to help her make <shudder> cupcakes. Then she cut Rainbow up and made her into cupcakes. Like Gilda, and Silver Spoon! And I don’t want Luna made into cupcakes!” Her pitch raising the whole time.
Her eyes were overflowing with tears but she kept eye contact with her mom as she finally understood the situation. “Oh, my poor baby.” She nuzzled her again. “Listen, look at me. It’s just a story. It’s not real. No-one is going to be made into a cupcake. Chrysalis is your friend. She would never do that to you or Luna or any-one. Do you believe me?” Celstia just sniffed and held eye contact.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m very worried about what has you so upset. And now I’m scared that you will be hurt because of this. Celestia, it’s not real. I would never let something like that happen to you or your sister. Do you believe me now?” Celestia nodded and again buried her head into Lauren’s neck. “I know you wouldn’t let that happen mommy.” Lauren kissed her head again. “Good. There’s no reason to be scared now, is there?”
“But-but I still am.” Celestia cried.
Her mom thought a while then came up with an idea. “Would you like to help make cupcakes with me? Add whatever you want and we can call them Celestia Cupcakes and eat them all. Does that sound fun?” Tia looked scared but remained silent and still.
“Sunshine, you have to face your fears. You can’t let a silly story ruin cake for you. Right?” She whispered, “Okay.” Rising to her hooves timidly she backed up and finally climbed out from under her bed while mom had to wiggle a little bit. Finally pulling her head out into the open air she saw Celestia’s hair was full of cobwebs and hers must be too.
“Can I borrow one of your brushes?” She nodded then an aura of red magic embraced two brushes sitting on Tia’s bureau and floated to each of their heads. Celestia relaxed once knots and tangles started coming undone. She would need a bath tonight. Laruen thought about how she had not changed too much from when she was a young filly; two years old and all it took was hug to stop whatever ailment she had. She looked so peaceful right now…
With her mane looking new and free of cobwebs, she asked Celestia what she wanted on her cupcakes.
“Chocolate!”
“Sounds good. Mommy likes chocolate too.”
“And mmm…” she thought for a second. “Mmmmbananas!”
“Do you like bananas?”
“I want banana frosting!” She proclaimed as they walked down the stairs.
“How about banana cupcakes and chocolate frosting?”
“Yeah!” She darted into the kitchen and went straight for the fruit bowl where there were indeed bananas.
“Calm down kiddo. One step at a time.”
** ** **
“And now you add the cocoa powder. You could put it on them right now but with the cocoa powder the frosting becomes chocolate. And you mix it using a whip to put more air.”
“Uhh-hu.” Celestia leaned in close. The cupcakes with banana, dandelions from the yard and hot sauce were cooling on top of the hoof towels mom set out. They still needed frosting and the cherry on top, or pineapple pieces. The two of them whisked and spread the frosting across their cakes, giggled as they took turns stealing pineapple pieces and made silly faces when Celestia declared they needed pictures. Celestia never had so much fun in the kitchen; she was grinning like an addict getting their fix.
“Are they ready mommy?”
“Eat one and tell me.”
Celestia jumped onto the counter-top, light up her horn and levitated one to her mouth before biting into one. She laughed as she chewed and nearly spit it out.
“Eww. Why did you say hot sauce mommy!?”
“Why did you say yes?” They laughed again as Lauren took one for herself. Tia was right; too much hot sauce.
“Mommy, what was that song you were singing?” Celestia asked.
“What song sweetheart?”
“The song you were humming when we were under the bed. I don’t know it.”
“Hmm. Oh, do you mean this one?” She started humming the beautiful tune again.
“Yeah. What is it?”
“Well honey, it’s called ‘You are my sunshine.’ When you were born it had been raining for a week before, and it would keep raining afterwards. I flew myself to the hospital, there was no-one to hold my hoof.” She sighed. It’s always difficult to think about this time in her life. “There were a lot of things going wrong in mommy’s life. But…I had the most beautiful filly in the world in my hooves. She was the greatest thing to happen to me, and she was like the sun. It was dark, cold, lonely, but all it took was one little ray to change all that.
She hung her head, unable to look at her daughter. “No-one had made me feel so…loved and important. And a song just poured out of me. I rocked you to sleep for the first time singing it. Every-time you were hungry, crying, sleepy, or I needed a smile I would sing to you. And you have always been my sunshine ever since.” She leaned down and kissed Celestia on the forehead.
“Why don’t you sing it any-more?”
“One night you climbed into my bed because you had trouble sleeping. I tried singing it but YOU said you were too old for nursery rhymes. So I stopped. I also stopped calling you Sunshine.”
Celestia drew Lauren into a hug. “Mommy, can you teach me the song?”
She sniffled before answering, “Of course darling.”
Her soft docile tones filled the kitchen as she held her daughter close:
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away…
The other night dear, while I lay sleeping,
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
When I awoke dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and cried…
I'll always love you,
and make you happy.
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me,
to love another,
You'll regret it all someday.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away.
Please don’t take my sunshine away.
Please don’t take my sunshine away…
Holding each other, Celestia had never felt as close to her mother as she did now. And mom was reminded again of the first time she held a scared filly in her hooves. They both had tears running down their muzzles by the time the kitchen fell silent.
But they weren’t the only one’s crying: an even smaller midnight blue blank-flank filly was silently watching them from the door way from the moment mommy asked what song Tia had mentioned. Luna had watched them and had been left out. Now her mind was racing with possibilities.
Tia’s her only sunshine? What about me? Don’t I make her happy? She said Tia’s the most beautiful filly in the world. Not me? Don’t I tell her I love her enough? Wasn’t having me important to her? Why doesn’t she ever sing to me? What did I do wrong?
She nearly called out to confront her mother, but decided against it. Turning around Luna skulked away, her mother and sister still none the wiser to her presence. She snuck up to her bedroom and closed the door gently behind her. Crawling onto her bed she buried her head into the pillow and cried.
