Varia Visive

by journcy

An Old Tale (Slice of Life)

Prompt #503: "Four Foal Family"

"The fourth child."

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"That one, Grandpa, that one!" Lily Blossom, my sister, cried. I scrambled up behind her, looking over her shoulder at the book Grandpa Pine held. It was his book of stories, I knew; we were all gathered around our campfire, and Grandpa was about to read to us.

Finally managing to catch a glimpse of the title of the story Lily wanted, I was intrigued to learn it was one we hadn't heard before. Lily was five years younger than me, and she liked hearing the same few stories over and over. Not that I didn't like Grandpa's storytelling, but a pony can only hear "The Bunny and the Alligator" so many times before it gets old.

We didn't let Lily choose the stories often.

But anyway, the story she wanted was called "The Princesses." I could tell why she might want to hear it; the picture at the top of the page showed four beautiful Princesses all standing in a line.

Grandpa chuckled, and put down the book so he could lift Lily off his lap. I grabbed her hoof, and together we sat down next to Grandpa on one of the logs.

The stars twinkled above us, and I heard a faint murmur of insects coming from the forest surrounding us. Our parents laid next to each other a few ponylengths from the ring of the fire, sleeping. They had claimed they were tired from walking all day, and that we should also come to bed. Grandpa had managed to talk them into letting us have at least one story before we went to bed, and they had grumbled off together.

Grandpa cleared his throat, and I looked up at him.

"All right, all right, now, let's see..." he said. Lily and I leaned forward in anticipation.

"Once upon a time, before Equestria even existed," he began, "the mysterious Goddess Nintu created two very special ponies. First of all, they were the first ponies to ever exist! Second of all, they, as the very first ponies, were all three kinds of ponies at once. They both had the long horn of a Unicorn, and the beautiful wings of a Pegasus, and the sturdiness of an Earth Pony. Finally, they were sisters. The very first pair of sisters there ever was. She named the older one Sun, and the younger one Moon.

"Now, the Goddess's daughters were very lonely, for while they had each other and their mother for company, they had nothing to do--remember, there was no Equestria yet. So Nintu made for them a wonderful world, and called it Equestria. And she filled it with all sorts of wondrous things for her daughters to play with--forests, and mountains, and birds, and fish, and everything else. But no other ponies.

"Sun and Moon were happy for a while, but eventually they returned to their mother, asking for others like them to play with. So Nintu made ponies for her daughters to play with. But, as mothers can be, she wanted her daughters to be unique, so instead of giving all the ponies wings and horns and strength, she divided everything up into three races of pony, and sent all the new creatures out into the world. And Sun and Moon played and were happy.

"A long time passed, and Sun and Moon had many adventures. The ponies they spent time with they called friends, and they all were happy. But eventually Sun and Moon became tired. They wanted to rest. So their mother made them a special home to sleep in, and sleep they did. By the time they woke up, they found that all the ponies they had once known were gone, and that nopony even remembered them! In fact, without their presence, ponies had become angry and distrustful, and the three races were terribly mean to each other.

"Sun and Moon knew this wouldn't do at all, so they asked their mother for another favor. They wanted another sister, one who could help them bring all the races of ponies back together again. Their mother said that if they went out into the world and looked hard enough, they would find who they were looking for. So Sun and Moon did as their mother said, and sure enough, after many years of searching, they found a pony who could help them. They cast many spells, and they made her their sister, and they made Nintu her mother. And her name was Love.

"The three sisters went off now, and they brought all the races of pony back together. In fact, the ponies were so happy that they didn't have to fight each other any more, and they were so grateful to the sisters, that they made them their Princesses, and said that the sisters should be their new rules.

"And it was so. Sun and Moon and Love ruled over Equestria for many years, and they saw many different kinds of pony come and go, and they were happy. They had many adventures as before, and fought many foes.

"But eventually, Love became tired, just as Sun and Moon had before her. Despite her sisters' pleading, Love went to the same house where Sun and Moon had slept, and she took a long respite. And Sun and Moon were two again, if just for a time. However, it was a time too long. Moon started to notice that the ponies seemed to love Sun more than they loved her. This made Moon very angry, and eventually, she became wicked, and tried to take the throne away from her sister. Sun had no choice but to lock Moon away, and then Sun was alone.

"Sun cried many long days and nights, but she knew she had a responsibility for her ponies. So she became the sole Princess of Equestria, and she ruled over her ponies for many long years, and the world was happy once again.

[Time]

"Eventually, Love awoke, and wept alongside Sun when she heard of Moon's fate. But it was not long after that Moon escaped her prison, and returned. But a courageous pony that Sun knew and loved rose to stop her. The pony and her friends turned Moon to good, and Equestria's Princesses were restored. The pony and her friends fought many foes for the Princesses over the years, until eventually, Sun and Moon knew what had to be done. They brought her to them, and wrought a great magic--the same one they had wrought over Love so many years ago--and made the pony their sister, and Nintu her mother. And the pony's name was Magic, and she was just as great a Princess as her sisters.

"The four Princesses ruled for many more years over Equestria. Magic slept, and awoke again, and time passed, and the world was happy. And then one day, when the four looked upon their ponies and knew that they were truly good, they returned to the embrace of their mother, and left Equestria behind. And then we come to today.

"The Princesses smile over us, their mother with them, for they know that we need them no longer. The world is a happy place now, and they are tired."

Grandpa shut the book.

"Now, I think, it's time for bed after all."