A Sister’s Special Day
*Joshua’s P.O.V.*
I woke up one morning feeling very well rested. We were coming up on a very special day. Nyx’s Birthday! It’s going to be her second one, from what Pinkie Pie told me. I want to give her something special for that day, but I don’t know what.
Nyx had her hoof on me like she almost always does when I wake up. I moved a little bit to try and get out from under, but then I felt her other hoof pull me closer to her.
“No good morning hug, little brother?” she asked. I turned around to face her, and saw her giving me a pout and her cat eyes got rounder and started quivering. My heart started feeling funny when she made that face.
“Um, if I give you one, will you stop making that face, please?” I asked. Her eyes went back to normal, her mouth turned into a big smile, and I thought I heard a squeak noise. “How do you do that?” I asked her.
“It’s a gift,” Nyx said as we hugged each other. After we finished our hug, we went downstairs and had breakfast with Mommy and Spike. After breakfast, Nyx and I went to school. It was Friday, and Nyx’s birthday would be on a Sunday, which meant I had two more days to think of something for a present for Nyx. I really wanted to do something special, but I didn’t know what. During recess at school, I asked for help from Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Twist, since they knew Nyx longer than I did.
“Hey Joshua!” Sweetie Belle said as I came up to them.
“Hey girls,” I said, “I’ve got a little problem.”
“What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Nyx’s birthday is this Sunday, and I don’t know what to do for her present,” I explained to her, “Do you all know what she would like?”
The four of them each put one of their hooves to their chins and thought for a minute. After a little bit, they looked back up at me.
“Well, we could tell you some of the things Nyx likes,” Scootaloo said, “Maybe an idea will come to you while we tell you.”
“Thanks,” I said to them smiling.
For the rest of recess, they told me a lot of the things that Nyx liked. Some of them I knew. Others I didn’t. Then Sweetie Belle said something that gave me a little idea.
“She also likes songs,” she said.
“Songs?” I asked, “She’s only heard me sing once, and that was trying to help my Cousin Guard go to sleep.”
“Well, did she like your song?” Scootaloo asked.
“She did clop her hooves on the ground when I finished singing,” I said.
“You could give her a song for a present then,” Twist suggested, “I’m sure she’d love something like that.”
“Thanks, girls,” I said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Just then, the bell rang. Recess was over. We all went back into class and listened to another lesson from Miss Cheerilee. After school was done, Mommy came to pick us up and take us home. I got my homework done so I could try and think of a song to make for Nyx. I then remembered a song from my old world that I thought would fit with Nyx’s life story, and wrote it down on a piece of paper. I hoped Nyx would like it when I sang it to her, but I wanted to do it with music. Who in Ponyville could help me with that? I tried to think of the ponies that I knew, and there was only one who could help.
Vinyl Scratch.
I hadn’t seen her since my welcome party. She made songs almost all the time, and I listened to a few of them on her radio station. I then decided tomorrow, I would go to Vinyl’s place to ask for her help. Hopefully, she would make some good music for it.
The next day, I woke up and found Mom downstairs reading another book.
“Mommy?” I said. She looked up, saw me coming down, and smiled.
“Good morning, Joshua,” she said. She put down the book she was reading as I came over to her. She then picked me up, hugged me, and kissed me on the cheek. “Have a good night’s sleep?” she asked.
“Yeah, I did,” I said. We then pulled away and looked at each other, but she kept holding me in her hooves. “Mommy, I know what I want to give Nyx for her birthday, but I need somepony’s help with it.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I wrote a song from my world to sing to her,” I said holding up the words I wrote, “but I need Vinyl Scratch’s help to make music for it tomorrow. Can you take me down to Vinyl’s house so I can ask her, please?”
Mom looked at the words to the song I wrote, then looked back at me and smiled again.
“These words are perfect for a song for her, Joshua,” she said, “Of course I will.”
“Thanks, mommy,” I said hugging her again. After Nyx and Spike woke up, and after we all had breakfast, Mommy and I left for Vinyl’s place. When we got up to her door, I stopped Mommy before we went in.
“Can I go in and ask her by myself?” I asked Mommy.
“Sure, sweetie,” she said, “I’ll be waiting out here for you when you’re done.”
Mommy then went around to the side of the house, looked back at me, and winked. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened up and I saw Vinyl at the door. She looked down and smiled when she saw me.
“Hey, J-man!” she said, “Long time, no see.”
“Hi Vinyl,” I said, “Can I come in? I want to ask you something.”
“Sure, dude,” she said nodding, “C’mon in.”
I walked in and sat down on one of the bean bag chairs she had. She then sat down in one next to me, and took off her big purple sunglasses. This was the first time I saw her eyes, and they looked a lot like Rainbow Dash’s.
“So, what’s shaking?” she asked.
“Well, Nyx’s birthday is coming up,” I said.
“Yeah, I know,” she said, “I got an invite from the Pinkster for it. Is there a problem about it?”
“Sort of,” I replied, “I know what I want to give her for a present, but I need your help with it.” I pulled out the words to the song I wrote. “I wrote a song from my world to sing to her, but I want some music to go with it. That’s why I came to you. If you can’t help me, I understand.”
Vinyl took the piece of paper in her magic and looked at the words. She then looked back at me.
“Think you could sing the first verse and the chorus of the song for me so I can get an idea of how the music will play?” she asked.
I nodded and did what she asked. After I finished, she smiled.
“I think I’ve got a good idea of what you want,” she said.
“You’ll do it?” I asked.
“Sure, bro-ski,” she said mussing my hair with a hoof, “I’ll have it ready for you before the party tomorrow night.”
“Thanks Vinyl,” I said standing up and giving her a hug. She wrapped one of her forelegs around me and returned it.
“No prob, man,” she said. After we finished the hug, I went to the door. “Stop by and visit again, ‘kay? You and I could make some rocking songs with that singing voice of yours.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said waving to her, “Bye Vinyl.”
“Later, J-man!” she said waving back. I stepped out of her house and went back over to Mommy.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“Great!” I said, “She said she’ll have it ready for me before the party tomorrow night.”
“That’s wonderful!” Mom said hugging me, “I’m sure Nyx will love it.”
The next day...
It was Nyx’s birthday today! Mom told me a plan to have Nyx out of the library so she, Pinkie, and their friends could help get the library set up for the party tonight. Mom said she got Mayor Mare to let Nyx show me her old castle today, and after lunch we would go play with our friends until dinner. I was looking forward to seeing the party tonight. I really hoped Nyx would like the song I wrote for her.
I was on Nyx’s back as she took me to her old castle.
“I want you to stay close to me at all times, Joshua,” she said as we got close, “It’s a lot bigger on the inside than it looks outside.”
“I will, Nyx,” I said. Soon, we were at the entrance.
“You ready?” she asked me.
“I’m ready,” I said. We then walked in.
*Twilight’s P.O.V.*
Now that Nyx and Joshua were gone, my friends and I could get started on getting the library ready for the party tonight. Just a few minutes after they left, Pinkie was the first to stop by.
“Hey, Twilight!” she chirped happily.
“Hey, Pinkie,” I said, “You ready to start decorating?”
“Does hot sauce taste good with a cupcake?!” she asked. I shivered remembering the drink I accidentally poured myself at my welcome party. Pinkie bounced in, rolling her party cannon along with her. I looked out the door and saw the rest of my friends trotting up. And I also saw Vinyl Scratch coming.
“Howdy, Twi!” Applejack said coming in.
“We’re ready to help!” Rainbow said.
“This place will look fabulous when we’re finished,” Rarity added.
“Yay!” Fluttershy cheered in her quiet manner. Vinyl stopped next to me. She had her DJ stand hitched up in a cart behind her.
“Hello Vinyl,” I said to her.
“’Sup, Princess?” she asked, “Hey, is the J-man around?”
“No, Nyx took him on a tour of her old castle,” I explained.
“Ah, I see,” Vinyl said, “Well, the music he asked me to make for the song is all set and ready to be played.”
“Wonderful!” I said, “I really want this birthday to be special for Nyx.”
“Oh it will be, Twilight,” Pinkie said, “Trust me.”
*Joshua’s P.O.V.*
Nyx showed me almost every room in the whole castle. The only room left was the throne room. Soon, we came up to two huge, closed doors.
“Is this the throne room?” I asked.
“Yep,” She said, “This is the room where Twilight and I spent those couple hours together before freeing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” She then tried to push open one of the doors, but it was too heavy, so I helped her a little bit. Soon, we got the door to open and walked in. Inside, there were some torn cloths, broken windows, and stone seat on the other end of the room.
“The broken windows are from when I freed Spell Nexus from the dark magic that brainwashed him,” Nyx explained, “It almost took me over at one point, but thanks to Spell Nexus’ sane half, I was able to beat back that dark magic.”
“It must’ve been hard if the windows broke like that,” I said.
“It was, believe me,” Nyx replied.
I then walked over to the seat and looked at it. I tapped it a couple times.
“That’s my old throne,” I heard Nyx say behind me, “You can sit on it if you want.”
I pulled myself up onto the seat and sat down on it. It felt a little hard on my bottom. After a few minutes, I got off the seat and walked back over to Nyx. She was standing in the middle of the room.
“This spot right here is where Twilight and I spent those couple of hours reading, eating, and resting with each other,” she said.
“It’s your favorite memory, huh?” I asked.
“My favorite memory with Twilight, yeah,” she replied.
“Do you have a favorite memory with others?” I asked again.
“Yeah,” she said, “I think I have a favorite memory of almost everypony I know.” She then looked at me, and frowned a little. “Everypony, except you,” she said sadly. I felt a little sad after hearing that. I then felt Nyx put a hoof on my shoulder. “Don’t worry though. I’m sure one will come soon. Come on, let’s go have some lunch.”
“Okay,” I said.
That evening...
*Twilight’s P.O.V.*
It took us all day to get the library decorated for Nyx’s birthday party, but we were able to do it. Now it was almost time for dinner, and Nyx and Joshua would be back soon. Spike was looking out a window keeping watch. Just then, he jumped down from the window.
“Here they come!” he said, “Everypony, hide!”
Everypony that had been invited came. Even Apple Bloom’s cousin Babs from Manehatten came to celebrate with us. Soon, the lights went out after everypony hid. Soon, the library door opened and we saw Nyx walk in with Joshua on her back. After the door closed, the light turned on and everypony jumped out.
“SURPRISE!!!”
Nyx jumped a little bit in surprise, but not so much to knock Joshua off her back.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NYX!!!” everypony said.
“Oh wow!” Nyx said amazed, “Thank you, everypony!”
The party had several games to play, refreshments and snacks to eat, and dinner was pizza. Soon after we all had our share of pizza, Pinkie pushed out a big cake that had “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NYX!!!” written in frosting on it. After eating the cake, it was time for Nyx to open up her presents.
While she was doing that, Joshua went up to Vinyl.
*Joshua’s P.O.V.*
While Nyx was opening up her presents, I walked up to Vinyl at her DJ stand.
“Vinyl?” I said. She looked down and smiled.
“Hey J-man!” she said, “You almost ready?”
“Almost,” I said, “I wanna wait until Nyx opens up everypony else’s presents.”
“Gotcha,” she said mussing my hair again, “You just let me know when she’s done, ‘kay?”
“Okay, Vinyl,” I said. I walked back over to Nyx and saw that she had opened up a lot of her presents. Apple Bloom then came up with a small piece of paper.
“Nyx,” she said, “This is actually from Granny Smith.”
“Granny Smith?” Nyx said nervously, “It’s nothing bad is it?”
“She didn’t say,” Apple Bloom replied, “She just asked me to give it to ya.”
Nyx took the piece of paper from Apple Bloom and opened it. As she read it, her eyes were their normal size at first, but then, they widened in surprise.
“Nyx?” I asked her, “What is it?”
“She’s...she’s...”
“What?” I asked.
“She’s made amends with me,” she said.
“Really?!” a lot of us said in surprise.
“Yeah, listen to this,” she said reading the letter out loud.
Dear Nyx,
I know you and I didn’t get started on the right hoof after you came back. After the “episode” you and I had at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Apple Bloom tried to convince me that you weren’t bad no more. I didn’t believe ‘em at first, but my Applejack almost never lies. So I decided to check on it myself. I’ve been watching you for a while, and during those times, I’ve never seen you do one bad thing. I wasn’t completely convinced, but after showing how much love you give that little human feller you call brother, I can see that my grandkids were right all along.
So I want to apologize for all the things I did wrong to you, and I want you to know that you’re welcome on my farm anytime now. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
See ya soon, and Happy Birthday.
Sincerely,
Granny Smith
We were all surprised. Granny Smith apologized and accepted Nyx now. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Spike went over to answer it and after opening it, Granny Smith was at the doorway. When Nyx saw her, she rushed over and nuzzled her forelegs.
“Of course I forgive you Granny Smith,” she said.
Granny Smith looked down at Nyx and smiled. She then wrapped a foreleg around Nyx’s back and hugged her.
“I forgive ya too,” Granny Smith said, “For what ya did to my grandkids.”
The two of them kept that hug for a while, and eventually stepped away from each other. Nyx then came back over to me.
“Hey, Joshua,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve gotten your gift yet. Do you have anything for me?”
“I do Nyx,” I said, “Be right back.” I then went back over to Vinyl.
*Nyx’s P.O.V.*
I began to wonder what it was that my little brother got for me. Why was he going over to Vinyl’s DJ stand? He stood up next to Vinyl and whispered in her ear. Vinyl nodded and placed a record down on one of her turntables. She then gave Joshua a microphone with her magic. Joshua took it in his hand and tapped it. The feedback screeched as we all folded our ears down on our heads at the loud noise.
“Sorry, everypony,” Joshua said sheepishly, “Um, I’ve got a really special present for Nyx.” He then nodded to Vinyl. She set the needle down on the record, and music began playing. “This is a song called You Are More. It’s from my world, and I think it goes with Nyx’s story. I hope you all like it, especially you, big sister,” Joshua finished. He then began singing.
As Joshua was singing the song, I felt tears stinging my eyes: tears of happiness. This song really fit with my life story. When he reached the bridge, I started to walk closer to the stand to get a closer look at him singing. I smiled at him warmly when he neared the end.
When he finished, I stepped up onto the stand and pulled Joshua into a big hug.
“That was beautiful, Joshua,” I said sniffling a little bit, “I loved it.” I then pulled back to look at him, “You remember how I said I didn't have a favorite memory of you yet?” He nodded. “I think this is it.” I hugged him again and nuzzled his cheek. He returned the hug. “I love you, little brother.”
“I love you too, big sister,” he said, “Happy Birthday, Nyx.”