//------------------------------// // Confronting Coarse Companions // Story: Me and My Daughters // by ArcaneDust //------------------------------// There was a saying in old Equestria regarding the influence of good food on one’s mental state. One cannot think well, love well, or sleep well if one hasn’t dined well. It’s only mostly true, sadly, Celestia thought absentmindedly while helping Twilight and Luna pick up the dishes with her magic. She had volunteered to do so against Applejack’s wishes, as it gave her plenty of time to think about her current situation. The food might have been delicious, yes. Still, that leaves us—well, me—in an extremely complex situation indeed.  “I’m carrying that bowl, Twilight! Leave it alone!” Luna’s complaint pulled Celestia out of her introspection. The alicorn fillies were currently disputing the aforementioned bowl in their various teal and light purple auras. It’s weird how quickly one can get used to this, Celestia pondered, not quite intervening in the little sisterly feud. Nonetheless, I’m still their mother… kind of. I should probably act the part.  Meanwhile, at her hooves, the argument continued. “You don’t have any focus, you’re gonna break it!” Twilight said, enveloping the bowl in her magic from its top as her aura snuffed out Luna’s at the bottom. Luna gasped loudly, fumbling with her own telekinesis as she tried and failed to get the dish back. “Nuh-uh! Give it back!” “Twilight,” Celestia called sternly, “give your sister a chance. I’m sure she can carry that on her own.”  “B-but, it was gonna fall! I saw it, Mom!” Twilight whined, letting her aura fall as the bowl dropped lightly back onto the table. “No it wasn’t! Shut up, Twilight!” Luna cried, once again trying to grasp her cargo. As her aura slowly appeared underneath the bowl, it gradually moved along its edges until it reached the very top and enveloped it completely. Holding her focus as best she could, Luna trudged towards the kitchen as if she held the weight of the world on her horn.  Apparently, in this universe, even as an alicorn, Luna had immense trouble with even the simplest of spells, including levitation. However, despite her current lack of a cutie mark, Twilight still had a familiarity with magic that most fillies her age did not.  Her musing was cut short when Luna let out a fearful gasp. Her aura around the bowl had weakened to the point that the dish wobbled back and forth, before winking out completely. Luckily for the filly, Celestia’s magic managed to catch the bowl before it hit the floor. “See? She can’t do it! I was only trying to help!” Twilight said with a triumphant grin at Luna’s struggle. “Twilight, everybody learns to use magic at their own pace. Luna is never going to learn if you don’t let her practice,” Celestia chastised, fixing the purple alicorn with a stern glare.  “Yeah, Twilight, not everyone can be an egghead like you. Plus, I keep on winning our magic duels,” Luna said with a sneer. Luna, it seemed, was a physical learner, content with learning through trial and error. But what kind of mother promotes magic duels between her daughters? The Celestia of this universe must have serious issues…  Twilight blushed immediately, fumbling for words. “Er… Well… Sh-shut up!” “Eggheaaad!” Luna sang, sticking her tongue at the flustered alicorn. Twilight huffed, turning her back at the annoying filly. “Well, at least I don’t suck at magic!” “You suck at everything!” Celestia really didn’t have the brainpower to deal with this right now. First Sunset’s friends interrogating her, and now her daughters fighting over a simple bowl—things were not looking so well. “Luna! Twilight! Enough!” she yelled, levitating the fillies in her magic and placing them next to each other. “I will not tolerate this petty arguing. You two are sisters, and I expect you to act like it!”  “She called me an egghead!” “You said I suck at magic!” “And you totally do!” “Enough! I did not raise you like this!” Celestia shouted. Technically, I didn’t raise them at all. “Apologize this inst—” “Is everything alright in here?” Sunset’s voice interrupted what could have been the first proper scolding Celestia had given in a purely motherly manner. Of course she’d reprimanded Luna and many of her students before, but this would have been something entirely different with entirely different consequences.  Unfortunately for Celestia, Sunset’s untimely arrival robbed her of the opportunity. Fortunately for two little fillies, it freed them of their punishment.  “Everything's a-okay!” Luna said, avoiding her mother’s ire as she ran past Sunset into the living room area, Twilight quickly trailing behind. Staring at the fillies’ retreating forms, Sunset asked, “What’s up with them?”  Celestia sighed. “Fillies,” she said, as if it explained the whole situation. “Did you only come to check on us?” she asked, turning towards the door and following Sunset out of the kitchen. The unicorn nodded. “You were taking an awful lot of time. I know you might be a little bit nervous, but the sooner we get this over with, the better,” she said with a faux cheeriness that oh-so-perfectly described their feelings about their predicament. “From what I can see, I’m not the only one who’s nervous,” Celestia added, bumping Sunset softly with her flank.  “You have no idea.” Eventually, but in less time that Celestia would have liked, they arrived at the farmhouse’s cozy living room, where Sunset’s friends, plus the Cutie Mark Crusaders and her daughters, would listen to her extravagant tale. What’s the worst they could say? Why am I so nervous? Celestia thought, placing herself on a couch that had apparently been saved for her. I could probably teleport to Canterlot right now and barricade myself inside my quarters. Nobody could question that! She took another look to the expectant frowns of the assembled ponies and calmed her breathing. You can do this. Just… spill the beans, as they say. Her eyes scanned the crowd again. Stopping briefly on Twilight’s and Luna’s concerned expressions, she suddenly realized the obvious. They can’t hear this. If a foal knew that an impostor was occupying their mother’s place, they’d be devastated, if not scarred for life. “Well, I reckon we’re all here. Whenever you’re ready, Princess,” Applejack said, straight to the point, once Celestia had made herself comfortable with Sunset Shimmer at her right. The alicorn fidgeted in her spot, before whispering to her student, “I… Um, Sunset, I don’t think this conversation will be… erm… foal-friendly.”  Sunset’s eyes widened in understanding, then she shot Applejack a discreet look, glancing in the fillies’ direction.  With years of friendship helping her identify her friends’ problems, Applejack nodded sagely, perceiving the cause of Celestia and Sunset’s reluctance to speak up. “C’mon,” she said, calling the five fillies’ attention. “Why don’t I teach y’all how to buck trees? Don’tcha want to have an applebucking cutie mark?” That seemed to do the trick for the Crusaders, as their ears instantly perked up at the mention of cutie marks. However, the two little alicorns weren’t so easily persuaded.  “B-but, we wanna hear! I wanna help mom!” Twilight whined, her older sister vigorously nodding in agreement.  It broke Sunset’s heart to see her favorite fillies in the world worried like this for their mother, but she also knew that it was better for them to be absent for this particular conversation. “Trust me, apple-bucking will be much more interesting,” she said, smiling widely, hoping that the girls would trust in her cheerful facade.  Sadly, she failed to account for a certain response. “You’d probably want to know yourself, too, huh?” Rainbow chimed in, her eyebrows waggling in a suggestive, yet unsettling manner.  Sunset’s eyes widened in a matter of seconds, while her cheeks turned a familiar shade of red that would probably stick with her the whole evening. “Wha—WHAT?”   With their concern suddenly forgotten by Rainbow’s comedic, if not crass, comment, the fillies cocked their heads in unison, confusion evident on their faces.  “I don’t think Sunset would be strong enough,” Twilight mentioned offhandedly, turning to Luna for confirmation.  “She’s not even an earth pony, she’d get tired in the first round.”  Rainbow snorted, barely able to contain her laughter. Sweetie Belle skipped excitedly, “Oh, oh, what if it’s a magic thing?” Rarity frowned, directing a glare in Rainbow’s direction. She wasn’t about to teach Sweetie about… that, yet. Apple Bloom frowned, looking confused. “Magic? You don’t use magic when you buck, Sweetie.”  Fluttershy blushed profusely, hiding behind her mane as she mumbled something about ‘special occasions’ and ‘rare books.’ “She can use magic to make herself stronger,” Scootaloo replied. “Ooooo,” Pinkie Pie helpfully added. Luna huffed, grabbing her Earth pony friend by her shoulders. “I bet AB could buck way better!” “OKAY, okay, okay, I’m stopping you right there!” Applejack broke in, covering her little sister’s ears with her hooves. “I think that’s enough.” “I agree, dearest Applejack,” Celestia said, covering her mouth with a hoof to prevent more errant giggles from escaping her. “I don’t think poor Sunset can handle more blushing if she doesn’t want to end up in the hospital for the night.”  The mare in question, for her part, sat unmoving with a thousand-mile stare. Her cheeks were long past the stage of what could be considered healthy, appearing more as if someone had dyed her face a deep crimson. Applejack shook her head, standing up. “Alright you five, come along. Apple buck—” She paused, glaring at Rainbow and Pinkie’s mischievous smiles. “—the trees await,” she finished lamely.  Suddenly, as if invoked by a mysterious force of destiny and causality, Big Macintosh walked through the threshold with his head hung low, bearing the look of a stallion that had had his hopes and dreams crushed by the cruel hoof of a mare.  Sadly, neither the reason for Macintosh’s sudden arrival nor his crestfallen attitude were of any importance for Applejack, who instead saw the perfect opportunity to relieve herself of her burden. “Hey, look, Big Mac’s here! He’ll teach y’all!” the farmer said, pulling the stallion out of his stupor. “Eeee-what?” “You heard me, Mac. Take them fillies to the orchards, teach ‘em how to buck trees, would ya?” Applejack said, with a look that promised vicious retribution should he not comply with his sister’s ‘request.’  “Eeeeyup,” he muttered, hurriedly dragging the five fillies with him. At the end, we’re always at the hooves of mares, ain’t we? he thought to himself as he walked towards the orchard. “Whew, glad that’s taken care of,” Applejack muttered, closing the door behind her. “Now, where were we?” “I think, Sunset was about to tell you our story,” Celestia supplied as she gently fanned Sunset with her wings, the aforementioned mare still dazed from her ordeal.  As if on cue, the unicorn jumped on the spot, her hooves flailing wildly. “Buh—WHAT! I-I’m not that kind of mare!”   “Surrrrrrre you’re not,” Rainbow Dash snickered. “Glad to have you back, Sunny.” Sunset glowered at the polychromatic pegasus, waving her hoof menacingly. “I’m going to get you back, Rainbow, I swear to Celesti-uhhh…” She shrank back, awkwardly smiling at the amused face of her mentor. “Will you please get on with it?” Rarity asked impatiently. No one had given her a straight answer to anything, and she was simply dying to know what could possibly be causing so much discomfort to her sovereign.  Pinkie Pie, mirroring Rarity’s impatience, shouted, “Yeah, what is going on?!”  “Alright, alright, geez!” Sunset took a deep breath, moving closer to Celestia for support. “You may want to hold onto your withers, though. This is some story…”  Some story indeed, Sunset, Celestia thought, wrapping a wing around her faithful student. What will her friends say when she tells them that the princess sitting beside her is not the Celestia they know? The Celestia they love? The Celestia that just this morning wanted to discuss her daughters’ father with her most faithful student? She paused as she realized what her own subconscious had just brought to light. Her daughters’ father… Was she married? A husband… A partner, a lover…  I don’t remember the last time I had one of those…  Well…  perhaps I do remember…