Twilight Sparkle sat at a table with her five friends and Spike with a scroll and a quill in front of her. "I understand that all of us have been through some really tough stuff. I thought that I'd gather you all today for something different. Rather than having our study, I figured we could use this time to write to the Princess about how we have been growing and enduring." Twilight looked around at her friends. "So I guess I can start. Ready Spike?"
"Ready," Spike said as he grabbed the scroll and quill.
"Dear Princess Celestia, I thought that we'd do something different for a change and write to you from all of us on a single friendship note since we are united as one and we have all been going through so much. I learned that while helping others is something I don't ever want to give up doing, sometimes it's needed to take breaks and I can't allow myself to let everypony take my time away, especially when there are more urgent matters to take care of. The harvest is very plentiful, yet the workers are few. I can't do a good job teaching and helping others if I don't take care of myself. Thank you for choosing me for the debate and thank you for the kind words and encouragement before and after the debate. It's wonderful that you are willing to hold events like that so we can inform everypony and have intelligent discussions about religion as well as other matters. I've learned how valuable and unique my friends are and that they are always worth fighting for and helping." Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash to signify that it was her turn.
Rainbow Dash coughed before speaking. "Dear Princess Celestia, this is Dash speaking. A lot of stuff has happened in my life and I'm really happy to announce that I'm a mother because my husband and I decided to adopt. I have realized that so many of the bad and awful things that I have seen and experienced set me up for this idea to take in a new filly into our family and that filly's name is Scootaloo. I have always wanted to take her in as a family member and now it's perfect since she has both a father and mother in her life. We may be deciding to adopt more in the future and I realize that ponies should be more open to taking care of the less fortunate fillies and colts without a family before considering to have their own offspring. I'm reminded of how good it is to adopt when God has chosen to adopt us as His children through Jesus Christ and I often wonder how many of us wouldn't do the will of God if we were somehow able to see the hard stuff in our lives ahead of time." Rainbow Dash looked next to Applejack and waited for her to speak.
Applejack took off her hat. "Eh-hem. Dear Princess Celestia, this here be yer most favorite apple pickin' pony. I reckon that I didn't exactly go through a very fun time when I was homeless and had nothin' to eat 'cause I didn't want to worship Christ in the exact same way my Granny did. I chose to stay with my friends and give up my home and job fer my faith and friends. Thankfully, Twi was a doll and kept me safe and my belly full to the best of her ability, which was probably no easy task, but she managed well. Long story short, Granny accepted me back into the family and is more acceptin' of other denominations now. It feels real good to know that yer friends will always stick up fer ya in more than one way. I know that some denominations have to be more true than others and I'm sure ponies can sit there and knit pick over some things that really aren't that important 'til the cows come home, but what matters most is that Christ be the center focus of the church." Applejack put her hat back on her head and became silent.
Fluttershy put her head down and said, "Um, I don't have much to say, but I learned that sometimes it's really hard to control my critters, especially when I'm away. I had a rather traumatizing experience when one of my critters ate another critter that I thought was still pregnant. It hurt me very much, but I had to make sure that it wouldn't happen again. Sammy is one of my most favorite critters that I'm taking care of and I know it's his natural instinct to eat whatever is tempting to him, but there are still rules to abide by in my cottage. I'm reminded that no matter how wonderful my animal friends are, they still aren't perfect. They sometimes try to fight each other, become territorial and hog all the food I give to themselves. I guess I can't wait for the day when the lion will lay down with the lamb and be at peace with each other. The good news is that the critter that I thought was still pregnant had already given birth at Sweet Apple Acres and I'm now taking care of the babies together with my, um, my friend, Big Macintosh. It's helping me and Big Macintosh get together more often since we were kind of too shy to ever visit each other. Again, what happened wasn't good, but it led to nice things and Big Macintosh is becoming okay with my animal friends now. The incident helped us bond and maybe we will go further in our, um." Fluttershy paused for a moment. "In our relationship, I mean friendship." Fluttershy let out a soft squeak and put her head down.
Applejack raised an eyebrow and placed her hoof onto the table in a rather intimidating manner. "Goin' further in your relationship with my big brother in what way?"
Fluttershy picked her head back up and her face turned beet red. "Just as friends, just as friends was what I meant! I'm so sorry."
"I do believe Fluttershy, is still writing her letter," Spike said.
"No," Fluttershy replied. "I'm done, sorry. You can speak now, Pinkie."
Pinkie Pie put both her front hooves on the table. "Dear Princess Celestia, this is Pinkie. I went through some really crazy stuff and I truly believed that I wasn't a Christian any longer. Something happened to my mind and I kind of lost it. Twilight warned me that one day something like this might happen, but I never wanted to change since it felt so good to feel so high and energetic. She said that she saw certain signs in me and I don't know if maybe she has the spiritual gift or prophecy or not, but I foolishly rejected my friends and went along in life without them. It was about that time when I started to break down and refused to seek help which lead me to getting into big trouble at my job. I still can't explain what was going on with me, but at that time, I believed that I was the anti-Christ and that I would die soon. I spent as much time as I could trying to do things that in my mind would keep me alive longer because I was so fearful of so many things and death being the biggest one. Mister and Misses Cake sent me back to Twilight because they didn't want to send me to the hospital at first. They knew that they would lock me up and even though I hated the idea of going back to see my friends, I'm so glad that it happened because I needed it. I thought that perhaps I could get by in life on my own with prayer alone, but I learned that we are made to be in a community together and we can't isolate ourselves without the consequences of things getting worse and eventually leading to insanity. I can't even begin to tell you how messed up I was without writing a mini novel here, but because Twilight is such a smarty smart pants, she found something natural and safe for me to take and it's helping me so much! She also said that it will help me prevent brain cell death and will regenerate new brain cells so maybe I'll become super smart like her!" Pinkie Pie paused for a moment and added. "I'll also admit that I was super stuck up and obstinate to every single suggestion Twilight gave me at first, but she was very caring and patient with me. What she did for me during that terribly dark time was wonderful and she is still working on getting me happier again without letting me become super manic. I may have sinned greatly and I probably screw up more than any other pony in this group, but I have been shown very good reasons to not give up the faith or give up on myself. I'm so thankful that God put ponies like her and all of my friends in my life because I can be one super crazy bi Pie and not even realize it. Friendship should be magic, not tragic after all. You sometimes just have to be open to new ideas and continue to work on building our relationships with others." Pinkie put her hoof to her chin for a moment, thinking about what to say next. "Now that I think about what happened with my constant fear and desire to do things that might make me live as long as possible because I was terrified of God, death, and Hell even though so many times I wanted to die to end my suffering, I am also reminded of how Satan is desperately trying to grab every soul down into Hell with him because he knows his days are numbered here on earth just like mine and there will be a time when he will be sent into the lake of fire forever with all of his demon buddies. Thankfully, I have come to accept that my soul is safe and that death is not the end of everything but the beginning of a new adventure, one that is perfect and lasts an eternity. I know that Satan can't take me down to Hell because I have God on my side, but I know that he'll at least try to do everything in his power to try to make me lose focus on God in order to keep me from receiving my blessings. I have God as my helper and my Sisters in Christ as my support to make sure that I can live a life that is as pleasing to God as I possibly can regardless of what obstacles and temptations I might find along my path. For I was much like the parable of the lost sheep and have gone astray, but my Master has brought me back and that means it's party time!"
Spike jotted down what he thought was her last few words. He often struggled to keep up with how fast Pinkie spoke.
Pinkie Pie thought to herself for a moment. "Hmmm. There's one last thing I wanted to add." She perked up when she finally remembered. "Oh yeah! Twilight told me that it's okay to say naughty words. You should probably pray for her!"
"Wait, what!?" Twilight shouted as Pinkie's words registered through her mind a few seconds later. "Please tell me you didn't write that down, Spike."
Spike looked at the scroll and then back to Twilight. "Whoops."
Twilight put her hooves over her eyes. "Of course you had to use my spell eraser proof ink. I guess I'll have some explaining to do to Princess Celestia."
Pinkie Pie looked around for a bit and asked, "Should I tell her about a new recipe I learned about making zap jam cookies?"
"No!" Spike shouted. "Next time, I should think a little more ahead of time before I write down what you say."
"Okay, then I'm done," Pinkie said as she took her hooves off the table and smiled.
"It sounds like Pinkie Bi might be a good nickname fer ya," Applejack said.
"Oh? Well, I'm sure we can find a lot of fun nicknames for you too, A.J." Pinkie replied.
"I'd rather not know," Applejack said. "Ya just be quiet and listen to the brains of this group, Twilight." Applejack paused for a moment and added, "Pinkie and the brain. Has a nice ring to it, don't it?"
"Um, Rarity?" Spike asked. "Got anything to add?"
"Hmm?" Rarity asked. "I think I'll pass." Rarity felt bad that while all of her friends had gotten over their dilemmas, she was not satisfied with life at this moment.
"What?" Spike asked. You haven't gotten anything to say to the Princess after everypony else has written something? Come on, you've got to have something to write."
Rarity sighed. "Alright. Dear Princess Celestia, this is Rarity speaking. I don't know what to say or what I have learned because my own personal struggles haven't been resolved like my other friends, but I'm having a hard time taking care of my son and I feel really bad about it. I'm trying harder to be there for him but I didn't expect motherhood to be this time consuming. I'm grateful that my parents help me out, but I feel that they have done too much for me, yet at the same time I really am busy. I know I can do better, I just can't give up and after listening to my friend's struggles. I can only hope that I'll get through my struggles as well."
Spike jotted that down and was about to write something about what he learned, but his claw cramped up causing him to drop the quill on the table.
"Need a helping hoof with writing, Spike?" Twilight asked as she grabbed the quill and scroll with her magic.
Spike rubbed his claw and said, "Well, yeah. I wanted to write something special too, but I kind of wanted it to be private."
"You don't have to be ashamed or feel the need to hide anything from us Spike, we pretty much know everything about you," Twilight said.
"Well, okay," Spike said. "Dear Princess, Celestia. This is Spike and after hearing stories about motherhood, I couldn't help to say that I have learned that Twilight is very much a motherly figure to me and I'm so glad that she is. I make a lot of mistakes and I sometimes get in her way and ruin her work. She gets angry when I do careless things and I don't blame her, but she's so quick to forgive and tells me that when I make mistakes and do something wrong, it's very much so with good intent. I might be different because other dragons in my life have frowned upon the fact that I was raised by a pony, and even though it's something that's not supposed to happen or is normal among dragon culture, I couldn't be more thankful that I somehow ended up with Twilight taking care of me, even if it may ruin my reputation among other dragons. She's a great teacher, friend, and..." Spike paused for a moment and put his head down. "Mother. The things I have learned from her are countless and precious. I may not be a pony, but I am a person just like anyone else and Twilight has shown me this countless times."
Spike picked his head back up and looked at Twilight.
"Wow, Spike," Twilight said. "That was the sweetest compliment I have ever heard from you. I'm so glad that you decided to share that. Thank you, and don't ever be ashamed of how you feel."
"I just thought it was a little too personal, but yeah, that's how I feel and I don't feel ashamed about it. I never realized until today that you are very much my Mom."
"And Angel Bunny will always be my son to me," Fluttershy said.
"Aww, well, I guess that leaves me and A.J. as the only two ponies who aren't like moms," Pinkie said. "Except I do kind of play as a mom when I babysit the Cake's foals."
"Come to think of it, I'm basically the mother figure in Apple Bloom's life bein' that we don't have our parents with us," Applejack said. "We have some really interestin' stories together. One time, I was takin' a nap under a tree and I woke up when I felt water bein' poured out on my head. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was covered in soil and Apple Bloom was waterin' me in hopes that she could grow more of me since I made her so happy in her life. That's one of the cutest stories I can recall from our past. I'm sure you and Scootaloo have some funny stories together," Applejack said as she pointed her hoof at Rainbow.
Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. "Oh, boy, we sure do, and Scoots kind of puts me up a little bit too high in terms of me being her hero, but she's a good kid and means well. I know you don't talk much about your parents, but do you have any memories of them that you'd like to share?"
Applejack thought of some of the very powerful memories of her parent's short stay here on earth. "I reckon I can share my favorite story of my Pops." Applejack took off her hat and continued. "Whenever I was naughty, my Daddy would take me into the barn and he got out a large wooden board where there was a hammer and a bucket of nails. He told me that each time when I was misbehavin' that I should to go up to this large board, grab a nail from the bucket and use the hammer to hammer in a single nail fer each thing that I did wrong. In my mind, that actually sounded a lot more like fun rather than havin' my Momma get out the old cat O' nine tails on my flank and put me through a lil' somethin' that she liked to call Purgatory time, so I did just what he said and the board started to fill up with nails fast. Then I did somethin' really bad and I knew I was in deep trouble. I broke somethin' very special to my parents and I lied about it. That lie was short lived when my Momma found out and my Daddy took me back into the barn. I thought he was gonna kill me and I cried in front of him sayin' that I was sorry and feelin' real bad. Now my Pops was a lot more lovin' and forgivin' than my Mother and what he did to me there left an impact on me still to this day. He walked over to the board and told me to put in another nail. I didn't want to do it, but I obeyed and then he gave me a lecture on how important it is to be honest. After that lecture, he hugged me and told me that he forgave me. He took the board and the hammer and used the end of the hammer to remove each nail from the board until it was completely free of nails. I sat there and watched him the whole time wonderin' why he was doin' that. He put all the nails back into the bucket and I asked him what this was all about. He told me that he had me put a nail in the board because every time I did somethin' wrong, the nail represented my sin and the board represents Christ's body. The removal of the nails from the board represents my sins bein' forgiven and tossed away into the bucket, never to be seen again. The board still shows the holes from where my sins used to be. Still scarred and the damage done, but forgiven and a reminder of Christ's great work on the cross fer me. He also gave me his hat after that incident as a gift and reminder that he won't always be here fer me. From that day on, I stopped lyin' and would strive to always tell the truth." Applejack looked out the window and put her hat back on her head, "I miss my Pops. I don't have many memories of him." Applejack looked at her friends with a puzzled look when she saw there mouths were agape. "S'matter with ya'll?"
Twilight spoke up and said, "That was an awesome story! Wow, and what a great example your father set for you. Those are the kinds of things i love to hear."
The rest of Applejack's friends agreed.
"He was a good stallion and my Mother was a good mare, although she was just not as forgivin' and acceptin' like him. She was more like Granny Smith in many ways. I'm glad ya liked the story. Not long before they passed on, they had Granny come to the farm to take care of Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and myself."
"I hope you'll tell us some more stories about your parents. You tend to be a bit on the quiet side about that topic. Thank you for opening up," Twilight said.
"It just makes me sad," Applejack replied. "I never really got to say goodbye one last time before they passed on. I think Granny didn't want me to know that they were sufferin' right before their deaths since I was so young. I kind of just wished I could go back in time and say one last goodbye." Applejack suddenly smiled. "Well, accordin' to Granny, I got my crazy heretical gal pals that make me feel so much better." Applejack looked over to Twilight. "Ya still goin' to see Granny and Father Hay Scratch?"
"One thing at a time," Twilight said. "I'm sure we'll eventually get to that. I would simply like to take this day as a day to relax and celebrate my friendship and unity in Christ with you all." Twilight gave the letter to Spike. "Ready to do the honors and send it away?"
"Yeah, sure." Spike took the letter and inhaled the air, but before he sent it away with his magical dragon fire, he was startled by a loud bang followed by a crashing sound in the room.
Everyone turned to see a large brown box on the floor that must have crashed through the roof. A moment later, two eyes peered from above the box, each eye seemed to be fixated on two different objects in the room.
"Derpy?" Fluttershy asked. "Are you okay?"
Derpy sprung up from behind the box and opened it. She brought the box to the table. "I haven't seen my best friends in such a long time!" she said. "I spent all my money and bought this box of muffins to share with my Sisters in Christ. Thanks for making me your seventh member. I hope that someday we can have communion with muffins at church since you told me that Jesus likes muffins too."
"Gee, you're quite welcome, Derpy and thank you for thinking of us like this but you can use the door next time instead of crashing through my roof."
"I'm sorry, sometimes I just get so excited that I don't think ahead of time and get myself into trouble. If you didn't notice, I tend to be a bit on the clumsy side and I don't have much control over it. My parents swear that I became extra clumsy and my eyes became funny looking after they got me some kind of shot."
Twilight Sparkle knew from when she had first met Derpy that she must have had an adverse reaction to a vaccine just by looking at her face. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Derpy. How do you feel about that?"
"My Doctor swears that the shot didn't hurt me so I don't know what to believe anymore!" the cross eyed mare shouted. "Life is confusing enough as it is so I just thank God for muffins and try to be happy in life."
"That's a great attitude to have," Twilight said.
"Gettin' excited and not thinkin' ahead of time before ya git into trouble? Boy, we know somepony exactly like that right now, don't we?" Applejack asked as she looked at Pinkie.
Derpy looked over and noticed Pinkie. "Oh my goodness! Pinkie is here and she's always so much fun to be with." Derpy grabbed a muffin and pushed it over to Pinkie. The happy expression on her face changed when she noticed that Pinkie didn't seem like the Pinkie that Derpy seemed to always envision in her mind. "What's the matter? Did I do something wrong again?"
"No," Pinkie said. "It's kind of hard to explain. I went through something really, really bad and now I'm just going through the, um..." Pinkie Pie thought of the word she was trying to find. "Aftermath of it all?"
"Darn, I know what it feels like to go through something bad in life and then have to solve bad math problems afterwards too."
"I suppose math isn't much fun to do when things are not going well either unless you're Twilight," Pinkie said.
"But you can't be sad!" Derpy said. "You're Pinkie Pie! I thought you couldn't ever be sad!"
Pinkie Pie sighed. "You know, I used to believe that, but even I'm not immune to being sad or hurt. Everypony gets sad sometimes, even me."
Derpy pushed another muffin across the table with her nose to Pinkie. "Then have another muffin! Whenever I feel sad I just keep eating these until I get sick, but I feel so good that it's worth the belly ache."
"You are what you eat," Twilight said.
Derpy's eyes seemed to rotate around as her mind tried to comprehend what that statement meant. "Wow! Science is so cool!"
"Thanks, Derpy. Muffins are a fun food," Pinkie said as she ate one.
"About as fun as you," Derpy said as she brought her attention back to the pink pony. "Nopony puts a smile on my face like you do. It's why I became a Christian in the first place because you are one."
"I appreciate that and everything, but I think it's more important to become a Christian because of Jesus," Pinkie said.
"Yeah! That makes sense too!" Derpy added. The cross eyed mare looked around at the other ponies. "So because Pinkie has been sad, I bet you have all been sad as well."
"When one member suffers, we all suffer," Twilight said. "We all have also had our obstacles to climb over recently, but I think Pinkie had the hardest time by far."
"See? I knew that I needed to see my best friends today! Maybe Jesus gave me that feeling that you all needed to see me so that I could bring muffins and be that mare on a mission to cheer you all up since Pinkie is super sad!" Derpy said. She began taking muffins out of the box and putting them in front of everypony in the room. She threw her two front hooves up in the air in celebration. "Better?"
Twilight smirked. "Jesus loves a warm and giving pony." She bent down and took a bite and the taste of chocolate and almonds overcame her taste buds with delight. "I don't know where you got these muffins, but everything feels much better all of the sudden."
Derpy smiled, having felt that her mission had been completed. She looked around and noticed the scroll by Spike. "Hey! What's that scroll all about?"
"It's our friendship letters to the Princess," Spike said.
"Since I'm a part of your team, may I say something too!?" Derpy asked.
Spike looked at Twilight for a moment as if waiting for her approval because he thought this might not be a good idea.
"Write anything that's on your heart, Derpy," Twilight said before taking another bite of her muffin.
Derpy looked down at her chest and put her hoof over her heart since she was not quite sure what that expression meant. She always got a little bit frightened when she heard that somehow God could see her literal beating heart.
Spike got the quill out and coughed. "What do you want to say, Derpy?"
Derpy almost forgot about the letter and then perked up when she remembered again. "Dear Princess Celestia! I just wanted to say that I'm so happy to be a part of the best group ever and today, I was able to make everypony happy with a surprise visit to cheer everypony up with muffins, and who doesn't love muffins? Even Twilight Sparkle told me that Jesus likes muffins. And, um..." Derpy put her hoof to her chin in thought. "Oh yeah! Pinkie Pie is always the best pony but I learned that sometimes even she gets sad. Twilight Sparkle also used science and proved to me that I am made out of muffins because she told me that I am what I eat, therefore I am the muffin mare. That sounds so cool, but I need to be careful because others might find me tasty since that's what I am made out of. I might need to be careful so that I don't eat myself because that would be terrible! I also believe that you should change our currency from bits to muffins. Perhaps you should make me Princess for a day and I could show you how to make this world a better place. And, um, I think I'm missing something." Derpy perked up with a joyous look and added, "Oh Yeah! Jesus is cool! Yours truly, Derpy Hooves."
Spike jotted all that down and looked to Twilight with an unsure look.
"Go on, Spike. Send it away. Chances are I'll be talking again with her soon anyway," Twilight said. "I'm pretty sure I had at least one conversation with her about Derpy."
"Oh! What did you say about me?" Derpy asked with excitement.
"Oh, just that you're very unique and all kinds of special," Twilight said.
"Wow, Thanks!" Derpy said. "Mark my words, I will one day get to rule Equestria for a day! I really believe it!"
"If you say so, darling," Rarity said feeling a bit concerned about how Derpy thought.
"Yes! It's one of my dreams to get to rule Equestria for a day." Derpy flew over to Pinkie Pie and stood on top of her head. "So who is ready to party with Pinkie and I?"
Pinkie's tail and mane became just a bit more puffy again. "I do! Let's get out those old dance records and put on some music!"
Derpy looked down from her head into her eyes and giggled.
Pinkie looked over to Applejack, "Hey, A.J., are you going to party hard with us or are you going to say no like how you did to Granny Smith's request and have nun of that when it came to going to Mass? Get it? Nun?"
Applejack shook her head in disappointment. "I guess it ain't the normal Pinkie Pie without silly puns like that."
Pinkie Pie laughed and Derpy began laughing with her.
"I have no idea what I'm laughing at!" Derpy said as she couldn't stop laughing.
"I hope you're laughing at my Pinkie pun, but laughter and smiles are contagious as well!"
Twilight observed the two ponies and realized that perhaps these two could be a dangerous combination since they seemed to feed off of each other's personalities. At least Pinkie would need a little bit more Lithium when around Derpy. Twilight looked over at Applejack and felt that she needed to apologize to her, and now would be a good time since Derpy and Pinkie were distracted. "Psst! Applejack."
Applejack looked over. "Yes'm?"
"Could I have a word with you for a brief moment?"
Applejack got up and walked over to Twilight. "What's up?"
"I need to apologize for giving you that pill before. That was a horrible decision on my part and I only did that because I just wanted Pinkie to take her pill. Even though that pill was harmless, it still violates what I personally stand for when it comes to practicing medicine since I didn't have your consent; out of our group, you were the only one who clearly stated that you did not want to take that medicine, and I did not respect that. I did not sleep after that because I felt so horrible on the inside, yet when we were with Pinkie during that time, I did not want to show any signs of the regret I felt because it might scare Pinkie away from taking her medicine. After she had that incident with you, I was under so much pressure and knew that if she did not take that pill, then she'd end up in major trouble. It was wrong for me to control you like that. After all, the opposite of love is not hate, it's control."
"Aw, shucks. After I thought about it later on, I kind of figured that was your reasoning. I understand why ya did that, and even if it was wrong, don't ya feel bad 'bout it now. To be fair, I can be stubborn to the core and not think things out. I should have just trusted ya, but ya'll know how I can be sometimes."
"So do you forgive me? I'm supposed to be better than that, and even though I make many mistakes, that was one mistake that really hurt me on the inside, and I'm sure it hurt you too."
Applejack put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Twi, of course I forgive ya. Given the situation that ya were in with Pinkie, I probably would have done the same thing if I were in yer position. Yer a good pony that means well and wants the best for everypony. I absolutely love ya as my friend and my sister in Christ."
Hearing those words made Twilight tear up. "Thank you, Applejack. That means so much to me," Twilight said as she smiled warmly at her friend. The guilt and burden she felt was removed from her mind and she felt much better about herself."
"Say, what's with you and sleep problems anyway? Ya got a big noise machine in yer room and now ya lost sleep over feelin' bad. Why don't ya come up with some kind of sleep herbal tea and name it somethin' catchy like Twilight Sleep? Ya could make a lot of money sellin' something like that too."
Twilight giggled. "If I was going to make my own tea to sell to others, I'm pretty certain that I would not name it Twilight Sleep."
"Why not? That's, like, the perfect name I can think of."
"Because that was the name of one of the most awful drugs of all time; it was a combination of morphine and scopolamine. The drug was injected and provided pain relief and amnesia for mares who didn't want to experience the pains of giving birth. While they still responded somewhat to pain under the effects of the drug, they did not remember it after delivering their baby. This treatment was once very popular with obstetricians."
Applejack frowned. "Twilight, dear, you read way too many books."
Twilight smirked. "So I have been told. It's kind of what you do when you run a library. Learning is so important to me, and in the book of Hosea, it says that my ponies are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. I am reminded of that verse when I look at so many ponies today and see what ignorance has done to their lives, and the lives around them. It's very heartbreaking to me.
"Hey! What are you two silly fillies talking about over there?" Pinkie shouted. "Come on back over here and join the party!"
"We were just talkin' bout how interestin' ya are, Pinks, until Twi started geekin' out on me. Ya'll know how to make a party fun!" Applejack said. She glanced at Twilight and winked. "We're good, Sugar Cube, we're good. Don't ya feel bad 'bout what happened before," she whispered into Twilight's ear.
Pinkie Pie laughed along with Derpy and began to act silly again.
Rarity, feeling a bit down and guilty that she wasn't home, got up and walked over to the door. "Well, I suppose I should go. I do have an awful lot to do around the house."
Derpy looked a bit sad. "Going already? But I just got here."
"So sorry, dear, but maybe next time I'll stay a bit longer."
Derpy got off of Pinkie's head and flew over to Rarity with a muffin. "Don't forget to take this with you. It will protect you from all of the sad out there."
Rarity forced a smile on her face. "Thank you. Good bye everypony." She quickly left the house and shut the door. As she walked away, she could hear the loud dance music coming from behind her. She put her head down and walked back towards home. She felt bad for leaving the party, but she felt awkward there and wanted to go home. "Everyone overcame their struggles except for me. I had one simple task to achieve and it seems like it's never going to happen no matter how hard I try." Rarity took a bite of the muffin that was given to her and trotted on. "Everyone also had something good to say to the Princess except for me and all I'm doing is complaining right now as I talk to myself. I guess I can be quite good at that sadly. I hope for the same outcome every single day and even if I don't get what I want, I'm going to keep trying to be better."
Back at Carousal Boutique, Rarity walked into her room and put away her jewelry and dresses that were scattered about her room. She thought to herself a moment about spending more time with her foal which was her goal that she wished to fulfill. It was probably time to check on her son anyway and Sweetie Belle would be home soon. She had been trying much harder to spend more time with him even though she had so much to do lately. Rarity got up and walked out to the living room. Just as she turned the corner, she bumped into her mother. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just going to check on Strong Faith."
"Oh, That's exactly what I came in here to do as well. Aren't you busy with your clothing?" Cookie asked.
Rarity felt awkward. She put her head down and her eyes darted from left to right. "I'm fine. I just...." Rarity didn't know what to say at this point.
Cookie walked over and put her two front hooves on the crib. "I think it's just about time to feed him."
Rarity walked over and stood next to her Mother. She put her two front hooves on top of the crib as well.
"Momma!" The little baby colt shouted.
Rarity sighed and lowered her ears as she turned her head away. She had spent so much time trying to take better care of her son on her own and so many times her mother would be in her way and no matter how hard she tried to bond with her son, he would always go crawling to her mother. The depressive thoughts hit Rarity once again as she figured that he would go crawling after her mother or cry whenever she picked him up just like he always did. She was about to say something to her mother when she felt a tug at her hoof. Rarity opened her eyes wide and looked down at the little colt who was standing on his hind legs and had his tiny two front hooves on her one hoof.
"Momma!" The foal shouted.
Rarity was so surprised by this. She stared at him as if she thought she may be hearing and seeing things.
"That's right," Cookie said. "That is your momma!"
"The foal leaned his head against her hoof and said, "Momma!" once more.
Rarity smiled and scooped him up. She was so happy to finally hear this. "Yes! Yes, I am Momma! Me!" It felt so good to hear that word directed towards her for the first time. Rarity brought him close to her chest and walked over to the window in which she looked out of back to the trail that led to Twilight's house. She thought about the stories of her friend's struggles and focused on how they had all been through difficult times, but they had all made it through and now she felt that she had made it through a difficult moment in her life. All of that regretting and sorrow had instantly disappeared when she had picked him up and she finally felt good about herself again. Even though she felt like going back to the party, she knew that she had to be here for her son. She simply thought of her friends and celebrated with them in her heart as if she were with them all right now. Everything was okay again with herself and her friends and that's all that mattered to her now as well as forever.
The end.