Sparkler slid her tail through the handle of the suitcase, lifting it carefully off of the ground. It wasn't holding much, in fact, it only consisted of a few scarves, her collection of bows, and her teddy. Being the daughter of the Princess of Equestria meant that she could practically have anything she wanted for a small cost, but in truth, the filly really wasn't interested. Of course all young foals love receiving toys and gadgets, but Sparkler was more interested in things she could find rather than what could be given to her. With Ponyville being a land of neat items and creatures she hasn't seen before in Canterlot, Sparkler steadily became more excited.
"Mommy!? Daddy!? I'm reaaaddy!" The filly called out, hopping down the large stairs. Nervousness clawed her on the inside of her belly, but she was determined to push that aside and try to enjoy the new experience. The thought of going to a school without Precious Tiara around sounded more than wonderful, but at the same time, she wouldn't be able to see her parents everyday.
Celestia trotted in to the room to meet her daughter at the bottom of the steps and put on a smile. The thought of her dear child being separated from her made her heart ache, but deep down she knew she was making the right choice. She wasn't going to let her emotions ruin Sparkler's excitement, so the alicorn did her best to push back the pain she was feeling.
"Did you pack everything?" Celestia asked as Sparkler hopped joyfully off of the last step.
"Yeah!" Sparkler gave a small look of concern. "Where's daddy?"
Celestia coughed and drew her gaze away from her daughter's. "He's busy... He won't be able to say goodbye..."
Sparkler's heart dropped, and her eyes quickly began to water. After years of living in royalty, the filly had developed a strong understanding to when her parents are busy. Despite that, it didn't make the news any less bearable. What if he was mad at her for punching him too hard two days ago?
"But..."
"Oh come on, you didn't think I'd actually do that you, did you?"
Sparkler couldn't help but laugh as she saw her daddy emerge from thin air, and her tears were quickly wiped away with his paw and claw.
"You're a poo-head!" Sparkle giggled before leaping in to her father's arms. This earned a chuckle from him as well, and he ruffled her dark mane. He did that a lot, and frankly, Sparkler didn't understand why.
Celestia trotted closer to get by her husband's side.
"Yes, he is. But he's my poo-head."
With that, Celestia used her telekinetic magic to pull his beard towards her face. Before he could react, she kissed him with a loud smack, making Sparkler gave out a groan.
"Gross!"
Celestia released his beard, and he started giggling giddily like a little school filly once the kiss broke. Celestia winked at her daughter, acknowledging her comment.
"Don't worry Sparkler, when you're older, you'll fall in love with how giddy some stallions can get after a simple kiss."
Discord rolled his eyes while smirking, his eyes not leaving Celestia.
"Like how giddy you get when we...?"
Celestia quickly whacked Discord with her wing to cut him off, and Sparkler watched with a confused look on her face. When they what?
Mommy and Daddy had a tendency to get caught up with each other, and in most cases, Sparkler would give even more sickening groans. However, at the current moment, they were delaying the departure, and the filly was more than okay with that. She loved Mommy and Daddy very much, and they loved each other, too. She dreadfully realized that eventually she'd start to miss their icky kissing and cuddling.
Celestia bent her neck to nuzzle the filly being held in Discord's arms. She'd have a talk with what's okay and what's not okay to talk about when a filly's in the room later. As much as she hated to face it, she knew it was about time they headed out. Somepony was awaiting their arrival in Ponyville.
"Are you ready to go?"
Discord looked down at his daughter, trying hard to not let his smile falter as she nodded her head. He leaned down to place her back on the ground, but she cuddled closer to his chest, refusing to let him let go of her. This small act made his heart long to hold his daughter in his arms forever. However, he knew that soon it would be time to put her down.
Celestia realized this too, and looked sadly at Discord. After years of being together, she could easily tell a true, genuine smile from one that was just masking his true feelings.
"The carriage is outside... Are you two ready?"
Sparkler and Discord both nodded, and in attempt to ease the tension, Discord used his paw to tickle his daughter as they both followed Celestia towards the chariot.
The family walked in to the chariot together and sat very close together.
"S-So..." Sparkler tried her best to catch her breath once Discord's paw was removed from her ticklish belly.
"You two will come when ever I cast that spell?"
Celestia nodded with a smile. "Without a doubt."
"That's just for emergencies, like if you have a nightmare and you need daddy to come and tuck you in." Discord said, nuzzling his daughter. "We'll be visiting more often than that."
Sparkler actually felt herself smile a true smile. There was quite a bit of comfort in knowing that her parents were always going to be there for her, no matter what.
***
The chariot ride was short, which made sense considering Ponyville wasn't exactly a far trip, but at least it was longer than it would've took if they were to simply teleport there. Sparkler felt excitement building up again, and she giggled as she hopped down on to the dirt path. Discord and Celestia followed her out, and watched her as she began trotting around in the grass.
Sparkler began to spin around in circles, but didn't quite know why. Giggles were bubbling out from her mouth, and her tail wagged wildly from side to side. Her parents watched her with amusement.
"She seems as happy as she was in the beginning of the story." Discord commented with a chuckle.
"Story? What story?" Celestia looked at her husband with an odd look. He was always talking such nonsense. He ignored her question and continued to watch his daughter enjoy herself.
The young filly began to feel dizzy, and her hooves began to move in a less swift motion. The world spun around her, and she was sure that she would fall in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, something pink completely blocked her view, and Sparkle tumbled to her side. Still giggling, Sparkler looked up.
A pink mare quickly booped her nose against hers, and she began talking in a high-pitched voice.
"Hiya, Sparkler! I don't think you know me, well, you do know me because I'm pretty sure you read our friendship journal but a the same time you DO NOT know me because we never met, which is hard to believe because I kept planning to visit, but stuff just kept happening and happening and happening and then eventually I forgot! Well, I didn't forget about you, I just forgot to visit!"
The mare began giggling, which caused Sparkler to giggle with her. Her voice was funny, and she talked so fast Sparkler didn't understand a single word that flew from her mouth. Slowly the dizziness began to fade, and the world became clear. The mare before her had blue eyes, and a super messy pink mane held in a sloppy looking bun with a few strands of gray showing. Wrinkles formed mostly around her mouth, while the rest of her face seemed to be clear.
"Hello, Pinkie!" Celestia and Discord both said at once. The pink pony ran quickly to the couple and hugged them.
"You two have such an adorable baby!"
Sparkler scrunched up her muzzle. She was not a baby.
"Why thank you! And how's yours doing?" Celestia asked, happy to be catching up with her old friend.
Pinkie giggled before responding. "Oh, he's not a baby anymore, that's for sure! Him and Cheese just went out for a party emergency! Hopefully they'll be back later tonight to meet Sparkler!"
"Tell Cheese I said hi!" Discord laughed. It was so nice to see Pinkie was still as bubbly as ever, despite her age.
Sparkler liked Pinkie, and was happy that she was the pony she was going to be staying with. The filly watched her parents talk with her, and suddenly began to feel sadness sink in. She was going to miss them so much.
Almost as if she could sense Sparkler's mood, Pinkie turned to look at her while carrying her suitcase.
"I'll let you three say goodbye... I'll wait at the fountain straight ahead. See it, Sparkler?"
The filly nodded, and looked at the large fountain in the center of several buildings.
Pinkie gave the largest smile Sparkler has ever seen before she bounced off towards the direction of the town.
"Okie Dokie Lokie!"
Sparkler, Discord, and Celestia all watched Pinkie bounce away. They stayed silent for several moments, hoping to stay away from goodbye for as long as possible. Once Pinkie reached the fountain, Sparkler turned around to face her parents. She wasn't sure what to say, and it seemed they didn't either. They just stood and stared.
Discord knelt down and opened his arms, allowing Sparkler to run towards him and hug him tightly. Celestia did the same, wrapping one arm around her husband and left the other free to stroke her daughter's mane. They were still lost for words. For they were as close as a family could be, and though they'd be visiting often, things just wouldn't be the same until she returned.
"I love you, mommy..." Sparkler said, her eyes threatening to release tears. She kissed Celestia's nose before turning to Discord's face.
"I love you, daddy..." The filly felt a single tear break free as she saw her daddy sobbing much more than she was. She kissed his cheek, and he wiped away his own tears to show her a trembling smile.
"You be good for Pinkie Pie, okay? But not too good, of course."
Sparkler nodded and cuddled closer to him. "I will, I promise..." She whimpered quietly.
Discord felt himself slowly breaking, and so he had to let go before he allowed his daughter to see him cry even more than he already was. Sparkler stepped a few steps back to take a look at her parents, and was surprised to see them even more upset than she was. Her daddy was still wearing a frail smile, his eyes occasionally dripping tears from his watering eyes. Celestia sat beside him, but could hardly even look at Sparkler. Her parents seemed to need more comfort than she did.
"I'll be extra good, and I'll tell you about every single day every time I see you two. You won't miss a single day of my life, and I'll miss you two soooooo much..."
Celestia nodded, finally making eye contact with her daughter.
"We'll miss you, two..."
"Take care of daddy, mommy... Make sure he eats his veggies...".
Celestia couldn't help but give a weak laugh despite her tears.
"I will."
Discord finally turned away, no longer able to handle seeing his daughter. He couldn't breakdown in front of her, it would only make things harder. He turned towards the carriage, and took a seat. Celestia nuzzled her daughter one last time and pulled away.
"Your father isn't very good with goodbyes, sweetie... But we both love you very, very much."
Sparkler nodded her head with a slight smile. She was sad to be leaving them, but there was a small comfort in knowing how much she meant to them.
"Bye, mommy..."
"Goodbye, dear..."
With that, Sparkler turned around and trotted towards the fountain where Pinkie was waiting for her. Celestia watched until both of them were out of sight, trying to calm her breathing before entering the carriage with Discord. He had a lot more trouble emotionally and she knew that he'd need all the comfort she was able to give him. Eventually, she turned towards the carriage and opened the door.
Discord had curled himself up, and was blocking his face with his wing. He was trying to sob quietly, but in such a small carriage, she could easily hear each trembling breath. The stallion who was pulling the carriage turned and looked through the small window, basically asking permission to start flying back to Canterlot. Celestia shook her head and held up a hoof, implying to let Discord calm down before flying back. It was a short trip, after all. Once the stallion nodded his head in understanding, Celestia closed the carriage door and cuddled closely to Discord.
He still tried to hide his face from her, but she slowly pulled his wing away with the work of her magic. His eyes were closed tightly, but tears were continuously dripping from his cheeks.
Celestia kissed his muzzle, and wrapped her large white wings around him.
"Discord, listen..."
He tried to control his breathing, wanting to stop crying like a baby (especially in front of Celestia). He managed to make his sobbing a more quiet, but he returned his wing back to the position where he could cover his face.
"I know things weren't always exactly... Easy..." She was extremely careful as she chose her words, and she felt more tears threatening to drip as she went on.
"You don't say..?" Discord managed to say between his gasping breaths.
"The point is, we aren't loosing her... She's just... Well... Let's say it's like a summer camp, or something..." Celestia suddenly began to loose her once organized thoughts, unsure of how to tackle the subject.
"What if she gets bullied here too, Celestia? What then? Are we going to send her off to Cloudsdale? Appaloosa? Just keep pushing her further and further away from us?"
Celestia was unsure of how to reply, and took a moment to think through.
"I trust that she won't... Ponyville is a much more friendly area than Canterlot..."
Discord didn't reply, but still attempted to calm himself.
"I just.... I just can't help but worry...." Discord whimpered quietly, almost completely inaudible.
Celestia took a deep breath, and cuddled even closer to him. She allowed her tears to fall on to his soft neck as she closed her eyes, wanting to block out the entire world. She tried to leave out a certain subject that they've been avoiding for years, but right now, she was absolutely sure that both of their minds were thinking of the same events.
"Discord, things are a lot, lot different now..."
The draconequus interrupted her.
"How different..? Ponies are as cruel as ever." He said doubtfully, feeling a knot form from deep within his stomach. His throat felt like it had a lump in it, and it was almost too painful to swallow.
"... I mean... Us... We're different..."
Discord listened to his wife's attempts to comfort him. Her words were shaky, and he realized that he should be trying to comfort her as well.
He moved his wing away from his face, and leaned in close to hers. His eagle talon was quick to hold up her chin, and he kissed her before she could let another word escape her lips.
He stroked her cheek gently with his paw, wiping the tears from her face. Their lips were pressed together for what seemed like and eternity, and neither of them wanted to pull away. When they finally did, Discord pulled her head close to his chest.
Celestia let out a quiet sigh, her eyes closed as she listened to his heartbeat. It was calming, and it always seemed to help her when she was down.
"I love you, Discord..."
"I love you too, Celestia..."
The princess took a deep breath, knowing that though the next few words could bring hurt, but also had a chance of soothing what was on the draconequus's mind.
"I promise we will not lose another foal..."