Foalhood Days

by KayeStar

Fillies Make Mistakes Too

The flight home seemed longer than the flight away, but Eos and Astraios attributed that feeling to their exhaustion. Adrenaline and anxiety temporarily put their tiredness to the side, but since the whole ordeal was now over, the exhaustion crashed into them like they slammed into a wall.

Eos put Luna back to bed and gave her a soft kiss. "Good night, our little hero."

Astraios was tucking Celestia into bed, but despite the night's earlier events, Celestia was having a hard time sleeping. A genius wasn't needed to know why. Eos joined them, sitting herself near the opposite side of the bed, across from Astraios.

"What would our dear Celestia like before she goes to bed?" Eos asked gently before nuzzling her a bit.

A story, a lullaby, snuggles, or a snack were the answers they expected to hear. Instead, Celestia replied:

"I'm sorry."

Astraios caressed her cheek as Eos nuzzled her again. "Sweetie, it's alright now," Eos assured her. "You're home again. You're safe."

"You're not mad?" Celestia asked timidly.

"We know what happened," Astraios answered. "You ran away because you were jealous of your baby sister. Weren't you?"

"Y-yes..."

"Celestia," Eos said as she turned her daughter's head to face her, "I told you before you went to bed. Sometimes, Luna needs both of us just like you do. It doesn't mean we love her more than you."

"But you're always tired," Celestia said.

They nodded. "That's true. We are," Astraios agreed. "But you were the same when you were Luna's age. We were tired all the time. That's what babies do. What all foals do." He hid a small chuckle from Celestia.

"But guess who's the reason we found you?" Eos asked.

"Lu... Luna?"

Again, her parents nodded. "That's right," Eos confirmed. "Luna woke us up. She knew something happened to you. We don't know how she knew or how she was able to do it, but she led us right to you."

"But you said Luna is too young to use magic!"

"That's what we thought," Astraios told her. "You didn't use your magic that young, so we thought it wasn't possible. We wouldn't have known you were gone until morning."

"We cried when we realized you were missing," Eos continued. "We cried because we were scared about what could be happening to you. We searched where Luna led us. We didn't stop until we found you. We were furious with that pony for taking you and trying to hurt you. We flew away with you and Luna as fast as we could. We did all of that because we love you. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, Mother." Celestia was getting tearful again.

"Shhhh," Eos soothed. "There now. It's all over. We'll always love you. Nothing can change that."

"And Luna loves you too," Astraios added. "She's a baby. She doesn't know much, but she knew her big sister was in trouble."

"I love Luna too," Celestia mumbled.

"We're glad to hear that." Astraios sat on the bed and held Celestia close with one hoof. "Don't ever run away from us again. We can always fix what's wrong."

"Except if we lose you," Eos added. "If we lose you, there is no fix for that." Her parents kissed her and, finally, she smiled. "Luna's asleep. When we leave your room, we're going to sleep. If you want something, tell us now."

"Can I have... can I have a bedtime story?" Celestia asked softly.

"Of course," Eos replied. "Any special ones on your mind?" Celestia shook her head. "Hmm. I think I have one." She stared playfully at Astraios, who shared the idea and winked. "How about a tale of two sisters?"

"What are the two sisters' names?" Celestia asked.

"There's a little sister named Selena," Eos answered.

"And," Astraios added, "a big sister named..."

"Sunny?"

Her parents shrugged. "Sure."