//------------------------------// // Special: Mother's Day // Story: The Overworked Alicorn // by BreakDown //------------------------------// Not a part of the main story, not necessary to read, just something a little light hearted special for mothers day... Special: Mother's Day Lunar Glory awoke early, for today was to be a special day! Lulu, as she was called by those closest to her, tossed away her covers and hopped down from her bed. She knew jumping from a bunk-bed, when you have the upper bunk, wasn't exactly wise, but she didn't care. The little filly happily landed on her hooves and grinned to herself as she turned around to face her older sister. Her sister, who was known by the name Celestial Majesty though was sometimes called Celly or Tia, was still sleeping soundly. The older unicorn's eyes were lidded, she was bundled up tightly, and soft snores that were more like breathes passed rhythmically. Lulu frowned, little snout crinkled up in distaste at how lazy her sister was. The little unicorn often found her sister to be far too lazy, especially since today was a most special day indeed! "Wake up Tia!" the little unicorn shouted at her sister. The pink maned pony awoke suddenly and jumped up in bed. Her head bumped with the upper bunk and a grimace crossed her face. The older pony moaned in pain while rubbing her head, looked to her sister and frowned. "What is it Lulu," Tia grumbled irritably. She felt it was far too early in the morning for, well, whatever it was Lulu was up to. She often found Lulu's little adventures tiring, especially as she got older. She still on occasion would search for Dream Castle, but had more or less resigned herself that it was a fools errand. "Today's the day, Tia!" Lulu happily crowed. She hopped on her hooves as only an excited filly can, which brought an unbidden smile to Tia's face. Much as she hated to admit it, she wished she could share in Lulu's enthusiasm, but she was too old and mature for such antics. Instead she brushed a few strands of her straight pink hair out from her eyes and fixed the filly with a look. "And exactly what day would that be?" the older unicorn asked with a brow raised. Lulu stopped, then looked at Tia with a decidedly nasty expression. "You forgot didn't you!" she accused with an equally accusing hoof pointed at her older sister. The pink unicorn, who cursed her sweet tooth for the permanent pink tinge to her fur, grinned nervously. She didn't know what Lulu was talking about, which of course meant she had forgotten. Unless Lulu failed to tell her about whatever it was, which wasn't likely since Lulu was a bit of a chatterbox at times. "Of course not," she denied, her snout crinkled up into a look clearly stating she was lying. Lulu didn't miss it, her eyes narrowed onto her sister and made the older unicorn begin to fidget uncomfortably. "Err, but refresh my memory, what exactly is it that I haven't forgotten?" the older unicorn inquired. Lulu rolled her eyes and shook her head, she clearly didn't buy the older alicorn's excuse. "Tia! Today's the day we give mother a day off!" Lulu reminded and stomped her little hooves impatiently. "Oh," Tia responded less enthusiastically than her sister. The older unicorn wasn't exactly sure why they were going to give their caretaker a day off. "Must you call her mother?" Tia asked instead, she preferred to remind herself that they had an actual mother, even if she didn't exactly remember her too well. "Yes!" Lulu stated with a firm nod and seriousness belied by her youth. Tia sighed and slowly pulled herself from her sheets. "You do realize that we have an actual mother out there, Lulu," the older unicorn reminded. Lulu snorted and turned her nose up into the air. "Oh right, well how do we know that Faust isn't our real mother?" Lulu asked with a stubborn frown. Tia sighed mentally for a moment and climbed off her bed. She had begun to realize that Lulu was absurdly attached to Faust. She loved her as an actual mother regardless of blood, she acted more like her and tried to use magic like her, she even came up with crazy ideas to explain how they could be her real children. Tia wasn't as receptive to such ideas, though even she admitted that there had been times when she wished Faust was their real mother. "Maybe because I remember our real parents and the night Faust found us," the older unicorn replied. That was the one thing Lulu had trouble fighting against. Tia wasn't prone to making up tails, nor was she especially good at lying, as far as the younger sibling knew, her sister had seen what she described. But there was one thing Lulu could guess that could make the older unicorn believe that to be true and still not be. "Well, how do you know Discord didn't just make that up in your head!" Lulu responded. Tia actually froze, the idea that her real parents were just one of Discord's many tricks was jarring. To say the very least. The idea that he'd been inside her head just to mess with her memories? Not all that surprising if she was honest with herself. But it didn't really seem like the type of joke he'd play, especially on a filly. He was never overly cruel to fillies, he actually loved fillies and colts and especially playing games with them. He said it was something or other about them appreciating his work. "I... don't," Tia admitted and watched a grin cross Lulu's face. "However that is not in the here or the now, you wanted to do something for Faust?" Tia asked quickly, hoping desperately to avoid further delving into that particular topic. At least for now, she was too sleepy to come up with reasonable reasons Lulu was wrong. "Yeah! Today we should go tell her to rest and we'll make her breakfast and clean around the tower and such," Lulu replied with a nod of her head. Tia grimaced, she'd seen how much work Faust actually did day in and day out, and apparently it was a light load to her. Faust's routine was mind numbingly monotonous to Tia's young mind, even though she was far more mature than Lulu. She knew she was still young, she also knew she was still filled with youthful energy and that Faust's work was extremely boring. To start off, she brushed her mane and coat, after which she brushed her teeth, washed her hooves and woke them up. After that she made them breakfast and went to clean around the tower while leaving them to their fun. Once lunch time rolled around she called them back and made them lunch, then they had a few lessons on magic. Faust would then go about cleaning, again, until dinner time rolled around. Once dinner was finished the mare would take them up to the observatory and show them a new star or constellation, tell them a wonderful story, then take them to bed. What Faust did in the single hour she had all to herself, Tia had no idea. "I suppose she does deserve a break," Tia admitted with a grimace, and idly wondered how the mare could stand such monotony. If she had to do the same bucking thing every day for the rest of her life, she swore she would go insane! "Of course she does! She's the best mother ever!" Lulu stated with a nod of her head as if that was that. Tia smiled, she at least found Lulu's enthusiasm to be surprisingly infectious. She also admitted that Faust did so much for them, and asked for nothing in return. She really did deserve a break, even if she wasn't their real mother. "Alright, so what's first?" Tia questioned with a raised brow. The younger unicorn bounced over to their vanity and grabbed a brush with a wide grin. "We help brush mother's coat and mane!" She declared happily. Faust was dead to the world in the early hours of the day. Not literally of course, as she is technically immortal, just figuratively. She did not wish to be woken, she did not wish to wake, she did not wish to do anything. This was the time in which she simply relaxed. She enjoyed the peace and the quiet. She enjoyed her soft bed. She enjoyed the fact that her tower had no windows, and thus the sun couldn't annoy her. She loved taking care of Tia and Lulu, to be sure, but every pony needed a moment to themselves every now and again. "WAKE UP!" which is why Lulu's sudden scream scared her enough for her to literally shoot up to the roof. She literally stuck to the roof from shock, panting wildly with wide eyes. The pure white alicorn looked down to the ground to see what had shocked her from her sleep. Below she saw a confused Lulu, and a highly embarrassed Tia. "G-girls, w-what are you doing up so early?" the alicorn mare questioned tiredly. "We've decided that today is going to be your day off," Lulu stated with a nod of her head. Faust blinked, and looked at her 'daughters' as she thought about their response. Her brain was still addled by sleep, but the alicorn mare couldn't help but feel that their explanation didn't add up. "So on my day off, you come into my room and wake me up in order to tell me I have the day off?" Faust questioned with a confused stare. "Yep," Lulu responded with a smile. Tia had the decency to look embarrassed, but Faust felt her head start to ache. She glanced down at her hooves and remembered she was still upside down. She sighed and released the magic from her hooves and jumped from the ceiling. The mare opened her wings and gently floated down to the ground, a bemused look on her face. Between Lulu's bright smile and Tia's nervous grin, the older alicorn saw a few brushes raised in the girls magic. She raised a brow, silently asking her 'daughters' just what they had in mind now. "Um, we were also going to brush your mane and tail," Tia stated while shifting on her hooves nervously. Faust inhaled a breath for a moment, and then exhaled and smiled tiredly. "Alright fine it's too early to try and fight with you about this. So you can brush my mane and tail, just don't be too rough," Faust pleaded as she went to lay down. The alicorn allowed her wings to remain open so that the sisters could get at her coat that was usually hidden beneath them. It was unlikely that the two would attempt to preen her feathers, nor did she want them too. It'd taken her years to learn how to do that, and she had little doubt it'd take the girls far longer to learn how. Lulu grinned widely, clearly eager to begin, which really surprised Faust. She had to wonder why the little sister was so eager to brush her, it wasn't like it was a very exciting job after all. Regardless Tia soon followed, far more apprehensive as she shifted behind her. Lulu was at her front and brushing her coat with quick uneven strokes, Tia was far more slow and careful. The two sisters were like night and day, Faust idly wondered why that was and how it had come about. She was certain she'd raised them about the same, thus decided that maybe they were just different like that. "Mother your coat is so-ooo soft," Lulu murmured as she nuzzled her head into Faust's chest. The alicorn mare giggled and smiled as the little unicorn happily cuddled into her fur. Tia rolled her eyes from behind the alicorn, instead focusing on the task of brushing her tail. She focused on the task intently and drowned out her sisters giggles as she snuggled into the older pony's chest. 'Now I know why she was so happy to do this,' the unicorn noted to herself with a roll of her eyes. It figured that her sister would be interested in snuggling into the mare. Regardless, Tia continued her work and soon finished the alicorn's tail and moved to her coat. She used a different brush for the mare's coat, making certain not to leave any of it ruffled or messed up. When she finished with Faust's back she halted and looked at the mare's mane. The auburn crimson mane was in a mess of tangles from only being woken up a short time ago. The older sister frowned and retrieved her hair brush and began work on the older pony's mane, intent on taming it at long last. The chances of doing so were slim, she'd seen her mane on a regular basis and ten times out of ten it was messy. She soon became focused on the task of straightening out the mares mane. Her eyes narrowed and she frowned as she came to a knot. She used her magic to hold the mare's hair so it wouldn't yank on her head, then started to tug on the knot with the brush. She stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth and pulled once more and... riiiippp. "What was that?" Faust suddenly questioned. Tia felt her eyes widen as she stared at a length of Faust's mane, now hanging from the teeth of her brush. "Nothing!" She said a bit too quickly. Lulu glanced back at her and her own eyes widened. "Yes! It's uh, nothing at all!" The little unicorn declared with a nervous grin. Faust raised a brow, she wondered why the girls were acting so strange for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay, but are we done yet? I really should start breakfast soon," the ancient alicorn noted. However both siblings dashed in front of her, Faust frowning when she thought she saw a shock of crimson behind Tia's back. "No! You stay here, we're going to make breakfast today!" Lulu insisted, Tia silently nodding her head while she hid the length of hair behind her back. "Are you girls sure? I don't," Faust started but Lulu quickly interrupted her. "No no no no no no! Today is your day off, we're the ones who will do all the work!" Lulu insisted. Tia merely glanced around and rolled up Faust's missing length of hair around the base of her tail as a means of hiding it. "But girls, last time you tried to cook, I ended up with burnt pots," Faust reminded the two with a sigh. Both siblings blinked and winced as they remembered their attempt to cook. It had also been when they learned that Tia could literally burn water. Though how she actually managed to set fire to water was still a mystery to both sisters. "We'll be fine, have at least a little faith in us," Tia pleaded with her hooves brought together. The alicorn mare pouted and sighed, resigned to her fate. "Oh alright, don't shoot those big doe eyes at me," the mare grumbled out mock angrily. Lulu chuckled, grabbed her sister and then yanked her out of the room. Faust raised a brow, idly wondered why Tia was wearing a strangely frayed auburn ribbon around her tail. She also wondered why the girls were so insistent on doing everything for her today. Then again, she also wondered why she was thinking about this when she could get back to sleeping... "What did you do?" Lulu hissed at her sister. The two trotted through the tower, heading for the kitchen on the lower floor. While the halls always seemed to shift and change, the two had noticed that the stairs were set in stone, as were the basic four floors. This meant that while they couldn't find Dream Castle, or anything else of interest, finding the kitchen or other important rooms was rather simple. "I was just trying to pull a knot out of her mane!" Tia replied. She shifted uncomfortably as she looked at the length of mane she'd ripped from Faust's head. How the mare hadn't noticed the missing length was a struck of sheer luck she didn't expect to have ever again. "How do you rip out so much of a pony's hair while trying to pull out a knot!" Lulu demanded as they trotted into the kitchen. "I don't know! It just sort of happened!" Tia replied uncomfortably. The older sister wasn't sure what to do, she was used to Lulu causing problems. But even Lulu had never done something like this! "In any case I will work on breakfast, you go and do the cleaning," Lulu ordered as she trotted into the kitchen. "And why should I be the one cleaning?" Tia asked incredulously. Her sister stopped and turned to her with a flat look. "You can burn water, literally burn water," the younger sibling reminded pointedly. Tia winced and shuffled on her hooves. "Oh right, I forgot about that," the older sister mumbled quietly. It wasn't her fault the stupid water caught fire, at least she assumed it wasn't her fault. She'd put the pot on the fire and let it boil, she hadn't even added anything to it, it just sort of burst into flame when she went to check on it. Honest! "Yes, now go!" Lulu ordered and used her magic to eject Tia from the kitchen. The little pony released a breath and smiled to herself as she pranced into the kitchen. "Finally, now to make mother a most wondrous breakfast!" the filly declared happily, then galloped around and got to work. Tia made her way back up through the tower. She knew Faust's basic cleaning schedule, she started at the top and worked her way down. 'Why does she trot all the way down to wake us, then all the way back up to clean?' Tia wondered to herself. She then sighed and realized that it was just another reason that Faust deserved this day off. Regardless of how silly it seemed to her, the alicorn had been nothing but good to them for all these years. Even if she wasn't her real mother, she did deserve to be treated as one. "Now I suppose I should start off with," the older unicorn started only to stop when she realized something. "I have no idea where Faust keeps all her cleaning things," she realized and brought her hoof to her face with an audible groan. The off-pink unicorn then turned on her hoof and marched into the tower. "And so goes another day in Faust's tower," Tia muttered under her breath with a shake of her head. It seemed like no matter what she did she always ended up searching for something or other in the mare's enormous tower. Once she'd gone looking for a window and ended up in an arboretum, why Faust had one in her tower was still a mystery to the little off-pink unicorn. The unicorn sighed as she made her way down the stairs into the tower. The most likely place she would find cleaning things would be a storage room. Last time she had gone looking around she had found a storage room on the kitchen floor. Hopefully it was still there and she could avoid Lulu. Her sister was being unusually serious about their caretaker having the day off. "Is there something special about today besides Faust having the day off?" Tia questioned, then shrugged her shoulders. As she did she glanced down at her coat and frowned deeply. She'd never been pure-white like Faust, but her coat had once been far less pink than it was. She'd tried to use a spell to discover what her Symbol would be. Unfortunately it had turned her pink instead. For over a week Lulu had relentlessly teased her by calling her 'Pinklestia' a name she had come to hate. To add insult to injury, she had retrained a pink tinge to her coat even after the spell finally wore off. Since then, Tia had tried to scrub the pink out, she'd tried spell breakers, she'd even tried ancient cleansing rituals, but nothing could remove the pink tinge from her coat! Faust and Lulu still teased her over it too, it was just too funny for them not to laugh about. Admittedly it wasn't as annoying as it had been when it first happened, but it was still annoying. Ignoring that Tia started to check random rooms for the supply closet. She soon found herself wandering into room after room in search of the closet. She went through all kinds of random rooms, from simple bedrooms to outlandish throne rooms and everything in between. Tia honestly wondered if the tower was perhaps even more chaotic than Discord, especially given how crazy the place could be on even the best day. She didn't know how that could be possible, but at this point she was willing to believe anything. However a sudden and rather loud banging followed by her sister screaming alerted her that something was very wrong. Releasing a sigh the older unicorn rushed off to find her sister. When she finally did, she'd wished she was still looking for cleaning supplies. Faust sighed happily as she finally woke up and stretched out. Her 'nap' had been just what she needed to get her day back on track. "Well, I don't know about much else, but at least I was able to sleep in for a while," the mare decided with a yawn. Smacking her lips, the ancient alicorn got up to her hooves and began stretching out her wings and legs. That done Faust trotted across her room, only to stop at her vanity and turn around. She then stared at the missing section of her mane and brought a hoof to her face. "Tia, your symbol is definitely not in mane styling," the mare stated with a shake of her head. The ancient alicorn then sighed and focused her magic, her mane regrowing back an instant later. Making certain it was the correct length, the pure-white alicorn smiled with a nod of her head. "Much better," She decided and then trotted out of her room without further delay. "I wonder how breakfast..." she started to say, only to stop when an explosion suddenly shook the tower. She blinked for only a moment before releasing a tired sigh. "Never mind," the alicorn muttered under her breath. She trotted through the tower and down towards the kitchen. When she reached the kitchen, the mare stopped and widened her eyes at what she saw. Lulu was covered in some unnamed sticky substance and struggled to free herself of it's grasp. Meanwhile Tia was trying to fight back some form of food monster that actually seemed like living sludge. Faust actually blinked, then tilted her head and tried to reason out how the two had managed to make food so foul that it was actually attacking them. "This is one for the history books," Faust murmured and then tapped her chin. "I'll have to make a note of it and write it down later," she decided with a nod of her head. She then winked forward, she reappeared a second later to cast a quick burning charm on the food monster, and a cleaning charm on Lulu. The sisters blinked as Faust then watched the food monster burn away for a moment, before turning to look at them with a smirk. "Oatmeal?" She asked the two and Lulu silently nodded her head. The ancient alicorn shook her head and gave both girls a look. "So, who did it?" She asked flatly. Tia instantly pointed at Lulu, the younger sister glaring at her older sibling. "Alright, seems like Lulu needs a few more cooking lessons," Faust decided while her crimson magic quickly went about it's work and cleaned up the kitchen. Lulu's face fell and she looked down, idly scuffing her hoof against the floor. "Something wrong Lulu?" the ancient alicorn questioned curiously. Lulu sniffled and nodded her head. "I-I wanted to make your day special," She muttered sadly. Faust merely rolled her eyes and patted the little filly on her head. "Lulu I don't need a day off for it to be special, every day I have with you girls is special to me," Faust stated and frowned as Lulu sniffled again. "B-but it's your birthday!" The little filly shouted. Faust blinked, her eyes wide as she tilted her head and frowned deeply. A moment later she giggled. "Oh, I completely forgot about that," Faust admitted with a shrug. "And honestly, at my age the less birthdays I have the better," Faust added with a frown, not liking that she could literally be called older than the hills. Tia looked at the ancient alicorn with a bland look, then dragged her hoof down her face. The younger unicorn however lunged at Faust and hugged one of her long slender legs. "But it's supposed to be a special day!" Lulu cried. Faust frowned and looked down at the little unicorn unsurely as she sniffled and wiped away tears from her eyes. "I-I, I just wanted you to have the day off, cause you do so much for us all the time an-and," The little unicorn tried to explain passed her sniffles. Faust sighed and quickly scooped both unicorns into a hug, her eyes closed and a smile on her face. "Oh girls," Faust whispered warmly. Lulu sighed and snuggled into the mare while Tia blushed and shifted uncomfortably. "You both should know that the only thing I need for my birthday, is to know both of you are happy and well," the mare stated while nuzzling the unicorns, a strange look crossing Tia's face as she closed her eyes. For a moment, the pink tinged filly pretended. She wasn't just a unicorn being held by a mare taking care of her. She imagined for only a moment, Faust really was her mother, and she was really her daughter. The rest of the day was a blur to both Tia and Lulu, spent with the mare who cared for them. It was a day filled with fun and games, where Faust relaxed for once in her life. But like all things, the day gave way to night, and Faust carried both exhausted unicorns on her back. She trotted through the halls and soon came to their room, where she tucked both fillies in and kissed their foreheads. However, Tia stopped the mare as she made to leave. "W-would you mind singing?" the older unicorn asked timidly, and a smile found it's way across Faust's lips. "Alright," the pure-white mare replied and laid down, eyes closed for only a moment. Her horn gave a sudden crimson glow as a soft tune began to float hauntingly through the room. 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, when I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms. When I awoke dear, I was mistaken, and so I hung my head and cried. 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. 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. As Tia finally fell to sleep, Faust wiped a single tear away from her eye and nuzzled the pink tinged unicorn. She closed her eyes for only a moment and her mind took her back to all the years she'd cared for the fillies. She loved both girls, she knew that, they were probably the only thing she cared for anymore. Her work was pointless, her tower empty, her life more or less pointless. At least, until she found them. But, in her heart she knew that their time together would not last forever. She knew that someday, like all children they would leave. But it would still hurt so much when they did. Further, some day they would... "Please don't take my sunshine away." the ancient alicorn sung quietly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she prayed that Mort wouldn't take her children from her. As she closed her eyes her head beside the sleeping Tia, she fell to sleep alongside them both... Someday in the far future, after Equestria was founded, a day of celebration would be held for all mothers. It would be a good day, and though neither Celestia nor Luna would remember it as such, it was also the day which coincided with the birthday of Faust. Though it was called Mothers Day, Luna once mistakenly called it "Mother's Day". TBC...