//------------------------------// // Special: Mother's Day 2 // 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 2 Faust slept soundly in her bed. Albeit she was sprawled out across it from haphazardly jumping in the night before. She didn't snore though, so at least no one could accuse her of that. However her ear flicked to the side at the sound of the door opening. Despite it she remained asleep, quietly breathing. A familiar, yet older, blue filly tip-hooved towards her. She then grinned and jumped onto her bed. "Wake up!" the filly exclaimed. Faust woke with a start, she yelped and then fell off of the bed. Little Luna watched her and giggled. "L-lulu," Faust began as she climbed up her bed. Her mane was a tangled mess and her eye twitching. "Why did you scream like that?" she demanded. The older-filly grinned and raised her hooves high. "Cause today is your birthday silly!" she declared. Faust fixed a stare on the pony and then leaned into one hoof with a sigh. "Is it wrong that I long for the days you would actually let me sleep in on my birthday?" she quipped dryly. Lulu's eyes sparkled as she hopped from the bed and then pranced over to the ancient alicorn. "C'mon Mother! Me and Celly made presents for you!" she declared happily. Faust paused and fixed a deadpan look on her home raised bundle of chaos. "I'm going back to sleep," she stated as she tried to crawl back into bed. However her daughter hopped back onto the bed and then pointed a hoof at her. "No!" she declared. "You shall not sleep!" she exclaimed and brought a hoof down. Faust brought her own hoof to her cheek and leaned into it with a raised brow. "And how, pray tell, do you plan to stop me?" she questioned. Lulu answered by taking a breath and then opening her now shimmering eyes pleadingly... Faust stared at her daughter and then sighed miserably. "You're too cute for your own good," she remarked with a pout. Lulu whooped in joy and hopped off of the bed once more. Faust sighed but smiled as she looked down at the excited filly. "Right so presents then..." she paused for a moment and looked at the filly warily. "Please tell me it isn't breakfast again," she pleaded desperately. The last few attempts had been horrific. Between oatmeal monsters and self-aware hay she'd had more than enough of their cooking, thank you very much. "No!" Lulu chirped. She then fixed a look on her mother. "And stop bringing that up! Our cooking is loads better now!" the filly reminded. Faust paused and then shuddered violently. "I seem to recall your last meal made me sick for a month," she reminded. Lulu tried to speak but was interrupted, "I'm immortal Lulu, or close to it, anything that makes me sick is likely toxic in the extreme," she remarked dryly. Lulu pouted and then huffed. "We have told thee once, and we shall speak of it no more!" Lulu ordered. Faust smirked and arched a brow. "Oh so now it's princess Lulu is it?" Faust remarked teasingly. "Indeed!" the filly stated with a stiff nod. Faust fought to hold back laughter as she looked down at her. "Alright then princess, do you really think you can order me around?" she questioned. Lulu made to respond, only for Faust to interrupt her yet again, "I mean it's not like I was already a princess long before you. Or had a kingdom, a castle, a tower, knights, adventures," she left hanging with a smirk. Her surrogate daughter was silent for a moment and then huffed. "No fair," she pouted with her ears folded back. "All is fair in love and war," Faust quipped. She then stood up and stretched for a moment. Lulu halted and stared at her wings longingly. "I wish I had wings too," she murmured. Faust glanced at the filly from the corner of her eyes and frowned. "Nah, you're better off without 'em, they're really hard to take care of," she remarked casually. "But then I could fly," Lulu reminded. Faust smiled and rolled her eyes. "True, but then you'd also have to learn how to fly and take care of your new wings. And that would take time away from being able to look for your Symbol," she reminded. Lulu stopped and then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I can get wings after I find my Symbol," she remarked. Faust just chuckled and wandered over to her vanity to get her brush. It was time to get her mane under control. "Now Lulu," she began as her magic grasped her brush, "You know we can't always have everything we want," she stated pointedly. Lulu just huffed and crossed her forearms. Faust giggled and picked the filly up with her magic. She quickly nuzzled her before she put her on her back. The filly smiled and sighed happily as her mother carried her out of the room. "So what did you girls make for me?" the ancient alicorn questioned curiously. Lulu grinned in response. "It's a secret! Celly said we should give our gifts to you together," the filly stated. Faust arched a brow and glanced back at the filly. "Can I have a clue at least?" she pleaded. Luna smiled and nodded her head. "Me and Celly decided to make you enchanted items since you've been teaching us about it," she offered. Faust paused for a moment and her eye started to twitch. She then continued to walk out of her room and looked around for anything that might be amiss. "Err, you mean Celly went and tried to enchant something on her own then?" she questioned warily. Lulu actually took to enchantment quite well, Faust had barely had to teach her anything beyond the basics. Celly on the other hoof... well... she had a few hangups. Namely she tended to cause disaster when she tried to enchant anything. "Uh-Huh," Luna replied animatedly. Faust's eye twitched once more and she mentally started to count down. She only got to three when a flood of water spilled from a nearby staircase. Despite the water heading for her, she could only sigh. Somehow she felt she should've seen this coming. "Why do I bother to teach you little terrors magic?" she idly wondered just as the flood of water slammed into her. She was then washed away with Lulu still riding on her back. The Ancient Alicorn eventually opened her wings to help her stay afloat. Lulu giggled and whooped as they soon approached another staircase. "Hang on Lulu!" she ordered. A second later they were sent careening down a long spiraling staircase. Lulu whooped and cheered as they went, Faust just tried to keep from heaving. Eventually they were thrown out of the staircase and into the library. Unfortunately the Library now appeared to be a pool... "Oh Celly what did you do?" Faust wondered to herself. Lulu giggled and whooped from her back. "Woo! Let's go again!" she crowed cheerfully. Faust smiled at her young ward's enthusiasm. She then frowned and set about the task of looking for her other ward. Mostly to find out what kind of insanity she'd unleashed on her tower this time. Last time she'd started screaming about spiders and torched a room into cinders with a burn-away charm the size of a small sun. She was probably going to love whatever it was that caused this newest bit of insanity to befall her home... note sarcasm. Finally she spotted the pale pink pony on one of the upper levels of the library and let out a snort. She flapped her wings once and shot into the air. Once there she held Lulu down with magic and shook the water out of her coat. She blew a breath into her bangs before she shot forward and landed next to the young pony. Presently, it appeared she was trying to hold a mop back with her magic. Unfortunately she was also failing at it spectacularly. Faust idly raised a brow as the mop tried to 'walk' away with its bristles, while Celly tried to hold it back. "Get back here you crazy mop! You have to stop this right now!" the young pony snarled. Unfortunately the mop didn't listen. Faust idly noted that there were more mops darting all around the library. Most of which were trying to mop the floor and somehow flooding them as a result. 'I am so glad I put water repellent charms on the bookshelves on the off chance of flooding,' the ancient alicorn thought to herself. "Wow, how did you get all this water up here Celly?" Lulu questioned. Celly just waved behind her back distractedly. "Not now Lulu, I'm trying to stop this mop from making things even worse!" she stated, "go distract Faust! I just need a little more time to stop this thing before she finds out!" she ordered. Faust idly arched a brow and sat down behind the older filly with a plunk. "But Celly," Lulu tried to say. Celestial Majesty let out a snort and rounded on Lulu, only to go pale when she saw Faust as well. The pale pink pony chuckled nervously and looked around the water sodden library. "Oh... Umm... surprise, I made you a self-cleaning self-ringing mop that's enchanted to never dry out... or a few dozen of them anyways," she offered lamely. Faust silently arched a brow and then brought a hoof to her face. She inhaled for a moment then breathed out a tired sigh. "Really?" she questioned as she lowered her hoof. "That's what you're going with?" she questioned incredulously. Celly's ears folded back and she nodded her head unsurely. Faust shook her head and then looked around at the flooded library. "What am I going to do with you girls?" she wondered to herself. She then looked at several mops that were still trying to clean the floors and sighed. "Are these all linked by the same enchantment?" she questioned. Celly nodded her head. "Good, I'm also going to hazard a guess that you used conjured water," she noted. Again, Celly nodded her head. "Right then, easy enough to fix," the mare stated. She pulled Lulu from her back and plopped her down next to Celly. She then hopped into the air and turned to the fillies, "I'll be done in a sec," she offered. With that she zipped down into the water and started to quickly cast spells against the many animated mops. As soon as she had left Lulu regarded her sister with a flat look. "Conjured water and a never drying enchantment... really Celly?" Lulu questioned. "It seemed like a good idea at the time! I mean she wouldn't have to constantly carry buckets or anything, the mops even wring themselves and clean stuff for her," the pale pink pony reminded. "Then why make a dozen of them?" Lulu questioned. Celly looked to the water and then blushed brightly. "Uh... lets just say I didn't and not go into why there are so many of them," she stated shiftily. She then touched Lulu on the nose with narrowed eyes, "Ever," she finished. She then looked at the level of water that had somehow been created and groaned. "I am in so much trouble for this, aren't I?" she questioned. Lulu just nodded her head. "Yep!" she chirped. Celly shot her sister a look. "Aren't you supposed to tell me it's all going to be fine?" she grumbled. "Mother told me its bad to lie," the filly remarked. Celly groaned pitifully. She then yelped as Faust returned, the splintered remains of her mops carried in the elder-pony's magic. She dropped the enchanted wood down and then looked at Celestia sternly. "Next time, just clean the library for me," she pleaded. However she then took note of a look on Celly's face. Her eyes were drawn to the splintered mops which were actually twitching now. Faust was silent for a moment before she face hoofed once more. Although she had to wonder why she could hear some kind of music. 'I'll figure that out later,' she decided with a breath. "You put a self replicating enchantment on them too," she stated flatly. Celly's ears folded back and she pawed at the ground. "It was only supposed to be a self restoring enchantment so it wouldn't wear out," she mumbled in reply. Faust internally felt like she needed to cry or scream as the mass of splinters started to grow into a veritable army of mops. The mops quickly set to work, however all they managed to do was make more water that spilled over into the library and caused the water level to rise. She looked to the army for a moment and then let out a breath through her nose. "Right then, time to burn them," she decided. "Fire repellent," Celly stated. Faust paused and then wondered why the buck the filly did all this. 'She has way too much time on her hooves,' she mused to herself. She then inhaled and exhaled slowly. She needed to calm down and consider her options. Most of which were out of the question since Celly had apparently made the original mop to survive the bucking apocalypse! However she did have at least one idea for what she could do to stop this madness. However before she began she turned and looked at her eldest warn with a deep frown. "Celly, no more magic from you for a week," she stated flatly. The pale pink pony's ears flattened back in response. However she didn't argue which Faust was thankful for. So with that in mind she closed her eyes, concentrated and then let loose a magical burst. The burst instantly caused the mops to straighten and then fall over. Most of them even turned into dust with only a few stray splinters lift of the army. The water vanished soon after and Celly looked around with wide eyes. "What did you do?" she breathed in awe. Faust fluffed her wings and frowned. "Just a basic magic dissolution charm," she replied casually. She then blew a breath into her mane and regarded Lulu. "Alright Lulu, lets have it. What did you make me? A fire breathing dragon statue that moves? A pot that boils for eternity? A lamp that blinds whoever looks at it?" she questioned exasperatedly. However Lulu just grinned and pulled a rock out from somewhere... "A rock. You got me a rock?" she questioned. "Well at least that's safe," Faust murmured to herself. Though she also hoped it wasn't an explosive rock... "Neigh! Tis the greatest rock of them all!" the pony declared. She then offered the rock to Faust, who watched it cautiously. "Take it silly," the little pony ordered. Faust warily took the stone, only to stop as it changed color and texture in her hoof. Rather than a simple rock it was now a crimson crystal. It also gave off a very slight, albeit very soothing, song. "Behold, the song-shifting mood-stone!" the little pony declared. Faust idly arched a brow, the stone turned yellow and played a new song when she did. 'That also explains the music from before,' she noted to herself. That was one mystery solved at least. "This is incredibly impressive Lulu. It takes most ponies decades to make something like this," she admitted. She sat down and held the stone in her hooves. Celly approached and looked at the stone as well. She then turned to her sister with an incredulous look. "You mean to tell me that all you made in the passed month was a glorified musical rock?" she demanded. Faust frowned and shot a look at the older filly, only to look down as the stone changed, becoming rough and jagged. The song also turned harsh. 'Anger,' she noted to herself as it returned to its prior shape when she calmed down. 'I'm really going to have to study this thoroughly when I get a chance to,' she noted to herself. She then glanced at Lulu as she threw her forelimbs out to her sides. "Neigh I say! This be not some simple meager rock! Once more I declare it to be the greatest rock of them all!" Lulu declared. She then hopped in front of Faust and grabbed the rock out of her hooves. It turned into a large pearl in her hooves and gave off a pale silver light almost like the moon. They also noticed that it now played a new song, one which Faust idly listened too. 'Is that Moonlight Sonata?' she internally questioned. She then paid attention to Lulu once more as she held the rock out to Celly. "My rock changes its appearance and song based on mood! It is the greatest rock of them all!" Celly frowned and took the rook in her hooves. Almost instantly it formed into an shape they couldn't see passed the brilliant yellow orange glow it gave off. The tune to 'you are my sunshine' idly coming from it. "See, I knew that mother would enjoy it," Lulu stated with a nod. She then looked at Faust with shimmering eyes, "You do like it, right?" she questioned hopefully. Faust smiled and patted the filly on the head. "It's wonderful Lulu," she told the filly graciously. She then blinked as Celly's 'sun' turned a sickly shade of green and an irritating song began to play. Judging by the look on her face she could tell what she was feeling. 'So jealousy really is green?' she noted to herself. She then grasped the stone with her magic and held it aloft at her side. It turned bright red once more, with a song like a military march playing. "So why don't we go dry off, and then you can go play, I think me and Celly have to have a talk about," Faust noted with a look. She didn't need Celly to be holding the stone to know that she was worried. "Yeah!" Lulu declared happily, she trotted in place for a moment then frowned in thought. She then brightened and looked to Faust curiously, "May I bring my rock friends?" she questioned. Faust would have answered only to halt and then stare at the little pony. Celly had also noticed the wording and promptly face-hoofed. "You brought rocks to life, didn't you?" she questioned flatly.Her new stone turned purple and a bouncy comical tune started to play. Lulu smiled widely. "Neigh!" she began, both Faust and Celly breathed sighs of relief, that relief was promptly smashed, "We made tiny rock ponies to be our subjects!" she declared boisterously. Faust had a feeling that this was going to be a very long day... TBC...