//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A New Friend // Story: Her Little Sunshine // by Teal //------------------------------// Placing the finishing touches on her creation, Celestia gently lowered the last of the blueberries onto the pancake. Levitating it down to the center of the pastry, she then smiled and looked down at the slightly crude smiley face she had made out of blueberries on the pancake’s surface. Nodding to herself, she knew that, despite the rough looking decorations on its top, the pancake itself was delicious and fulfilling. In fact, to make sure that this morning’s batch was indeed perfect, she had eaten an entire stack of pancakes, before making the one destined for Silver Wing. Thinking of Silver Wing, Celestia felt her smile waver a bit, as she remembered the devastated sight of the filly. She just hoped that this would at least make feel a bit better, even if it was just slight. Placing the plate of pancakes on a serving tray, she happily joined the breakfast with a glass of milk, and a small plate of toast. She had to admit it was a pretty big breakfast for a small filly, but after what she had gone through, Celestis knew that she needed it. Levitating the entire tray with her magic, the alicorn Princess gave a quick thanks to the kitchen staff for allowing her the use of the kitchen, before making her way along the Main Hallway and towards the Royal Tower. Celestia had hoped to personally serve the breakfast to Silver Wing, as she thought the filly would enjoy it. She had to admit though, this may come out to the filly as blatant and try-hard attempt to get her affection in an attempt to replace her mother, but Celestia knew that she still had to try. It wasn’t like she was trying to replace Sunflower in the filly’s memories, it was just that she knew that Silver Wing felt alone right now, and needed some care and comfort. With nopony else there for her, it was up to her to provide it. Making her way along the hallway, Celestia was just about to make the turn towards the staircase of the Royal Tower, when she suddenly heard somepony call out her name.  Responding quickly and turning her head towards its source, she gave a curious look when she saw Lieutenant Silver Arrow heading towards her at a rather fast pace. Stopping as she turned towards him, she patiently stood there as he got closer towards her. “Is there something wrong, Lieutenant?” She asked in a serious tone. “Has there been an attempt to breach the castle last night?” “No, Princess.” Silver Arrow said, as he finally stood in front of her. “No attempts to infiltrate the castle were detected last night. However, we do have a situation.” “Oh?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, mam.” Silver Arrow said with a nod. “One of the nobles, Prince Pureblood, demands to be allowed into the castle for the protection of himself and his family. He also wishes to see you and discuss matters of security for all the nobles.” Celestia had to fight back in order to suppress a groan as she heard this. Of course it just had to be Pureblood, her self-absorbed and arrogant relative. Like his father, and all the previous colts in the family line, he was greedy and exaggeratedly concerned for his own safety, whether it be physical, financial, or political. Sometimes she had to wonder if he and his family really were related to her, but she knew better than to question the countless number of genealogy spells she cast on each family generation.  Sighing, Celestia soon shook her head. Whatever his character was, family was family. Besides, if Pureblood brought his family, then that meant she would get to see her cute little nephew Blueblood, the young innocent colt who hadn’t been tainted yet by the family personality. He might even prove helpful in helping Silver Wing feel better. Knowing that she should deal with Pureblood soon before he caused too much of a scene in front of the castle, Celestia reluctantly called on one of the castle staff to deliver the breakfast to Silver Wing, before allowing Silver Arrow to escort her to the castle's main entrance so they could both greet Pureblood’s family and allow them to enter the safety of the castle. After some formalities and fake smiles, Celestia soon found herself in the royal dining room, with Pureblood and his family sitting around the table and helping themselves to a hastily prepared breakfast by kitchen staff. “I would like to thank you once more for hosting us and letting my family seek refuge within your castle, Aunty.” Pureblood said, using the title his family used on her for generations. “Of course, Pureblood.” Celestia said, trying her best to make her smile look genuine. “Family is always welcome here.” She had to suppress a groan of annoyance after saying that lie, as she felt tired at keeping up such acts in front of nobles like him. “Yes, yes, family is always important, especially in trying times like this.” The black haired and white furred unicorn said, his voice starting to sound more and more dramatic. “Tell me, Aunty, have you caught those responsible for the attempt?” “We have the one who made the attempt.” Celestia said, remembering that Golden Shield was still confined to his quarters. “However, the Guard believes that he may not have done it with his own free will. An investigation is still going on to find out the root of the conspiracy.” “That’s good to hear.” Pureblood said. “I’m glad that you managed to get out of it unscaved. From the news reports I heard, the assassin got distracted by that secretary of yours. Luck seems to smile upon you, Aunty.” Upon hearing this Celestia gave the noble unicorn a cold stare. Deep inside, she could feel a boiling rage rise inside of her. How dare he mention Sunflower in such a manner? How dare he mention Sunflower as if she was disposable? Feeling her hoof shake in anger, the white alicorn felt tempted to raise it and slap the disrespectful noble. Many times in the past, his family had shown her time and time and again that they were nothing but arrogant, selfish, and disrespectful. However, never before had she felt so angry at their nature than at that moment right there. Keeping her eyes fixated on Pureblood, she could see that he was beginning to worry about her constant staring and silence. Her usually strong self-control was giving way to the emotions that have been building up inside her. Despite knowing that what she wanted to do would ruin the Crown’s relationship with the nobility, her instincts were telling her that it was the right thing to do. She wanted to put him in place, to slam a hoof on his arrogant place. She wanted to do it. She was on the verge of doing it. However, a certain blonde maned and white furred young colt managed to distract her from the growing storm inside of her. “I’m sorry somepony tried to hurt you, Aunty.” The voice came from below her. Taken by surprise, Celestia gave a curious glance below to see the young Blueblood staring up at her with a sad and innocent look plastered upon his face. Upon seeing this, the alicorn felt her rage equal down by a bit, as he gave her genuine concern. Feeling her anger slowly disappear, Celestia briefly closed her eyes and decided to let the one insolent remark pass. She didn’t want to do something terrible in front of such a young colt afterall. Giving him a soft look, Celestia then made a small smile, before deciding to engulf him in her magic and lift him up. In one quick gesture, he then wrapped his hooves around her neck and gave her a quick hug, which Celestia returned by giving a short soft hug for the colt. ‘Oh, Blueblood, be better than your father and your ancestors. Always be kind and gentle’, Celestia thought, wishing that the young colt would always remain as caring as he was now. “Thank you, Blueblood, I really needed that hug.” Celestia eventually said after putting him down. “I’m always at your service, Aunty.” The colt said, giving a very formal bow. Celestia smiled at this and found it amusing. However, an idea soon formed into her mind. Smiling broadly now, Celestia looked down at Blueblood once more and said in a gentle voice: “You know, there's something you can do that will help me a lot.” Silver Wing was in no mood for food. Laying on the bed, head buried on a pillow, she kept on whimpering at the thought that she was alone now. There was no more mommy to be with her, no more mommy to comfort her, no more mommy to hug and kiss her. Silver Wing was alone and the thought both scared and devastated her. Time and time again, she tried to get up from bed and try to find a way home. However, each time she did so, her hooves suddenly became weak and shaky. Home was no longer home. There was nopony there to be with her. Each time she would be reminded that she no longer had a home and the thought of this broke her every time, forcing her to collapse on the bed once more and cry. It seemed like she had no capability of doing anything else but cry that day. The future just seemed so uncertain. Of course, the Princess was kind enough to offer her a new home and to be her new mommy, but Silver Wing can never accept that. There was no replacing her mommy, and the Princess can never fill the hole that appeared in her heart. She didn’t want to be alone, she was scared about that, but she also didn’t want somepony else to replace somepony important in her life. It was all confusing and she couldn’t help but feel sorrow for everything. It hurt, it hurt a lot for her. Desperately, she tried to close her eyes and open them to see if it was just all a nightmare. But instead of seeing her room, with her mother lying next to her, she instead saw the Princess’s bedroom, with only her alone on the bed. Feeling her tears form once more, she soon covered her face in the nearest pillow and cried. It was the only thing she felt capable of doing. Soon enough, her soft cries once more filled the room, as she felt lost in her world of sorrow.  Unable to focus on anything else, she failed to notice that the door to the room opened up slightly, as a certain alicorn urged a young unicorn colt to go inside. It was only when a sudden voice called out to her did she realize that there was somepony else in the room. “Are you okay?” The voice said with a concerned tone.  Shocked by this, Silver Wing let her instincts kick in, as pulled her head out of the pillow and began rolling away from the source of the sound. Heart racing in panic, she frantically looked around, to see who spoke to her. The voice had caught her by surprise and its unfamiliarity made her feel a bit frightened. Eventually, her eyes fell on a unicorn colt, who was standing on the edge of the bed and giving her a look of both worry and sadness. “Who…who are you?” She said, her voice shaky and tired. “I’m Blueblood.” The colt said, giving a small smile as he offered his hoof. Staring at him, Silver Wing was unsure how to respond. However, since the young pony in front of her kept his hoof extended, the pegasus filly decided to cautiously move towards him and tap his hoof with her own. This earned her a confused look from the other pony, but if he had something to say he merely kept it to himself. “I’m Silver Wing.” She eventually said, as she sat down and tried to regain some composure. But after hours of crying, that was easier said than done. With fur soaked in tears and her mane and feathers disheveled, the young pegasus looked like she was in a bad state. “So, Silver Wing, I want to ask again, are you okay?” Blueblood eventually said. The gray filly hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “No…I don’t think I am…” Looking down, she tried to hold her emotions back, but it felt harder and harder as each second passed. All that had happened so far flashed before her eyes, as her faith still remained so unsure to her. Fear, loneliness, sadness, and longing, all of those struck her heart all in one moment. She felt like she was on the edge of bursting into tears again. However, before the dam holding them all back could collapse, she suddenly felt a pair of hooves wrap around her and pull her into a warm hug. Once more caught by surprise, she felt paralyzed and unable to react. But it didn’t take long for her to accept the comfort of the hug, as her own hooves eventually returned it. Letting loose the hurt she felt, she couldn’t help but cry again as the other pony kept a close hold on her. Although not as intense as before, each tear still hurts very much. It seemed like she was lost in a loop of sorrow and she couldn’t do anything to stop. However, eventually the tears stopped falling and she managed to regain composure and calm herself down, as she broke away from the hug and wiped away her tears.  “Why are you doing this?” Silver Wing said, as she looked up towards Blueblood. “Doing what?” The colt asked as he tilted his head. “Comforting me. I don’t know you, you don’t know me, yet you’re being really kind to me.” “Because it's good to be kind.” He said innocently. “I want to be like my Aunty, the kindest pony out there.” “Your Aunty?” “Yea!” He said, nodding his head eagerly. “My Aunty, Princess Celestia!”  “Oh…” The pegasus filly remarked, before letting out a sigh and giving a frown. Then, looking back down, she once more became silent.  The thought of the Princess now returned to her head, as the idea of her replacing her mommy became a source of worry for her. She hated the idea that her mommy had to be replaced, but at the same time it felt inevitable. Her mother was gone and there was nothing that could be done to bring her back. Noticing her frown, Blueblood gave her a concerned look. “You don’t like Aunty Celestia?” “No…” Silver Wing remarked, before looking up and quickly changing her response. “I mean, no, it’s that I don’t like her.” Blueblood patiently nodded at this. “Then what’s wrong?” “I…just…” Silver Wing began, but she found it hard to translate her emotions to words. “I don’t want her to become my new mommy.” The colt was about to open his mouth to say something, but held it back as he thought over his words carefully. Based on his seeming understanding of what she said, the filly assumed that the Princess must have told him about her situation. “I don’t want my mommy to be replaced too, but Aunty Celestia is a good pony.” He simply said. “I know she is…but…I just miss my mommy so much.” The pegasus said, feeling herself tip over towards another wave of sadness.  “Hey, it’s okay, that’s perfectly understandable.” He said, offering another hug for comfort. Silver Wing did not hesitate to accept this. Once in his grasp, the unicorn did his best to comfort her. “It's okay now, don’t worry. Aunty Celestia may not be able to replace you mommy, but I promise that she’ll do her best to help you.” Silver Wing only nodded at this as she cried out the last reserves of sorrow within her. From the door, Celestia took a peek at the scene and gave a sad smile. Although she was happy her nephew had helped the young filly, she also knew that she would still have to do a lot in order to make her feel better.