Princestians

by Buob


Introductions

(One Year Earlier - Gemstone Valley)

Windy looked at her mother. Poor mom, she thought, looking at the bags under her mother’s eyes and the wrinkles in her skin. Her mother was skin and bones due to a rare equine sickness. It was old and apparently had no cure, so she was stuck knowing her mother would soon be lying in the ground, breathing life no more. But I’ll think of that later. I’m glad I still have mom here.

“Hey mom, how you feeling?”

“Tired.”

“I think we all are lately.”

Her mom chuckled and Windy smiled.

"And how are you doing, my little foal?"

"Mom, I'm no longer a foal, I'm a grown filly now."

Her mom chuckled.

"You're still a foal to me."

A small grin touched Windy's face.

"Anyway, I'm doing pretty well. Just doing my daily check up."

"And it's wonderful to see you."

“Thanks. Well, take care, mom. I’ll be back tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie. See you then.”

Wendy left the her mom’s house. Her mom had been mayor of the town a while back. That was before Windy was born, of course, but Windy was still proud of her mom.

“Hey Block, do you feel a breeze?

“Yeah, I think it’s a little windy,” The two troublemakers Stump and Block sauntered beside the tan pony.

“Very funny guys,” Windy said, clearly not amused and refusing to make eye contact.

“So Windy, tell us....are you full of hot air?”

Windy stopped and looked at Stump, the one who made that joke.

“Do you know why you’re named Stump? Because you’re as dumb as one.”

Block laughed at Windy’s remark. She turned to him.

“Oh, shut up you Blockhead!”

Stump laughed at his friend’s twisted face from the insult. Windy started walking again and the two didn’t follow.

Those guys...they’ve been calling me names since we were foals. It just drives me nuts. Windy entered her house and started a pot of water. She started to tidy up a bit. It was nice being a bachelorette; she didn’t need to keep things clean.

She stopped cleaning for a minute, thinking about her mom again. She was so old; they both knew her time in Equestria was limited. There was elephant in the room whenever they met; they both had plenty of things to say, but each knew that soon they would see each other no more. Windy knew that both she and her mother didn’t want that. But, life goes on.

~~~

The next day Windy went to her mother’s house again. She wasn’t joined by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum this time, which she was glad of. She hated when they came up to her.

As she approached, she saw some medical personnel standing outside. All were downcast and two were talking in hushed tones. Windy ran up to them.

“What happened?”

“I’m sorry miss, but who are you?”

“I’m Windy, the daughter of the lady who lives here. What happened?”

The two of the ponies looked at each other, then back at her.

“Miss Windy...I’m sorry, but your mother passed away last night.” The grey earth pony on the right said grimly.

“Wh-What?” She asked, shocked at the news.

“Your mother....is dead.” The other one, a brown unicorn stated bluntly.

“Oh my....”

“Do you want to spend a little time with her?” The unicorn pointed at the door in question.

Speechless, Windy nodded, a tear coming to her eye. She bit her trembling lip and slowly walked inside. On the bed lay her mother, her lifeless body looking whiter than yesterday. Even though she tried to hold them back, tears freely ran down her cheeks, dropping onto the floor below.

“Mom,” she sobbed, stumbling when she reached the bed. She lay her head down on her mother’s to say goodbye. “I love you mom,” she whispered.
She stayed that way until the medics came in. Then she watched as they took her out and loaded her into the cart. One of the staff came up to her.

“Don’t worry, she’s with Celestia now.”

“Who?”

“Princess Celestia.”

“Who’s that?”

“She’s this alicorn. She lives in Canterlot.”

“What’s an alicorn?”

“You know what, why don’t you come to our meetings? It’s at ten tomorrow morning at Brighty’s house.”

“Um...thanks.”

“Yep, Celestia be your guide,” he said as he started walking away with the cart her mother was on.

~~~

In the morning, Windy walked over to Brighty’s house. She was about half an hour early, but she wanted to know what was going on. To do that, she had to be early so that she could look at how everypony handled themselves.

She entered and stood in the back of the room. The medic who talked to her yesterday came up to her.

“Glad to see you made it.”

“Didn’t have a choice,” she replied, quietly and semi-defensively.

“‘Course you did. Everypony has a choice. C’mon, let me introduce you to everypony.”

“No, that’s quite alright.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll just watch. I know most of these ponies anyway.”

“Okay then.” He moved to another pony and greeted them warmly. It didn’t seem too bad. Then Dee and Dum showed up.

Block and Stump walked up to Windy.

“Hey, look who showed up.”

“It’s the little girl who lost her mommy. Boo hoo. You sad, girly?” Block taunted meanly.

“What do you want?” She asked them harshly.

“Nothing. We just saw you over here. Seriously, we’re sorry you lost your mom.” Stump’s voice seemed so sincere that Windy almost believed the two boys. But they had cried wolf too many times.

“Whatever.” Windy walked over to where it looked like they were starting the meeting.

“Welcome,” said a middle-aged pony, who was the leader. “In this week in our lessons of friendship, we will learn to be caring. But first, let us ask Celestia for guidance.” The ponies bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Windy, unsure of what was going on, only bowed her head, looking around at the others.

“Celestia, we ask that your words teach us. We thank you that you have not sent us into exile because of our ignorance, and that we are free to live here peacefully. In the name of you and your sister Luna, let it be so.”

All the ponies opened their eyes and looked at the lead pony.

“So, today’s lesson is in Inclusion. We need to welcome everypony with open arms. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they look like, how old they are, anything. We need to accept all ponies. I know it’s hard, but I know it can be done.”

He paused, scanning the audience. “I do see that someone has made progress.”

The lead pony was looking straight at Windy. She gulped.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you around.”

“Not here, no.”

“What’s your name?” The pony’s voice was calm and inviting, but she was in the spotlight.
“W-Windy.” She managed to get out, blushing due to the attention.

“That’s a nice name.”

Windy heard a snort near Block and Stump.

“Thank you.”

“So, Windy...”

“Yes?”

“How are you doing?”

Windy gulped again, then said, “I’m doing alright.”

The stallion who brought her spoke up.

“She lost her mom yesterday.”

The lead pony’s eyes got wide. “Oh my. I’m really sorry to hear that.”

A tear appeared in Windy’s eye. “It’s...it’s okay. It’s a part of life, you know?”

“But it’s still tough losing a loved one." He closed his eyes. "Celestia, please watch over Windy’s mother,” he said reverently.

“So, what’s up with this?” Windy asked, pointing out the room.

“I came back from Canterlot a couple weeks ago. While I was over there, I found this ponies who called themselves “Princestians.” Everypony over there knows about this alicorn in the sky named Princess Celestia and her sister Luna. I knew we didn’t have anything here in Gemstone Valley, so I decided to teach about it here. I even got a message from Celestia herself telling that this is what I should do.”

“You met her?”

“No, a message was delivered to me by a unicorn with a dragon.”

Right then, in Windy’s mind, his credibility dropped.

“A unicorn with a dragon delivered a message to you?” She asked, obviously dubious.

“Yes.”

“And how do you know that this Celestia is even real?” She looked around at the other people.

The room gasped at her question. The lead pony was unphased.

“I guess it comes down to personal belief. Also, most of the places there had a flag with a white alicorn across from a dark blue alicorn in a yin/yang type thing. The fact that everypony in the village believed Celestia existed was pretty convincing as well.”

“I see. Well, keep going with your lesson on...what was it...Inclusion? You certainly included me, so congratulations, you practice what you preach.” Her tone was curt and disrespectful. She hadn't asked to be included. The speaker ignored the tone and nodded.

“Thank you.” The lead pony took a breath then continued teaching. Windy liked him, but his story just wasn't believable. Why would he believe a messenger? Why didn’t Celestia just show herself to him? It was just too confusing.

I need more questions answered, and, well, I guess these guys are okay, aside from Dee and Dum of course...

End of Chapter

@Dozy Dreamer - I see what you're saying, but I did it that way for a reason. Also, 1500 words. Happy? ;)

@Inkarus & Dozy Dreamer - Fixed the problems.