Three Sisters

by Cryohawk

Flashback 4: A Sweet Summer Day

Twilight was focused on the log sitting in front of her, she glared at it as her horn glowed with purple magic. As magic began to build up in her horn she recited the spell in her head. Twilight was so focused on her spell and stance that she barely heard two ponies cheering her on beside her.

“Come on, Twilly! I know you can do it!” her sister, Luna, yelled as she used her nickname.

“Just focus, Twilight. Remember to breathe,” another voice that she grew to love, their caretaker Onyx.

But even with their support Twilight began to feel herself lose her grip on the spell. She tried to reign in the spell but she could feel herself lose control so with a heavy heart she released the spell before it could hurt her and collapsed to the ground.

Before she hit the ground she heard those her two companions run up to her. Once she was able to open her eyes she was able to see the worried faces of Luna and Onyx looking at her.

“Twilight! Are you alright!” Twilight felt her sister grab her and pull her closer, shortly after Luna began to look her over for any injuries

“Luna! Stop, I'm fine. Your starting to act like Tia! Besides, I stopped the spell before it was dangerous. *sigh* Again,” Twilight dejectedly said as she pulled away from her sister’s grip.

“Twilight,” she heard Onyx say as she looked over at him. “Don’t be sad. You're only twelve and you were nearly able to cast a spell designed for twice your age. I’d say that’s mighty impressive,” Onyx praised with a warm smile.

Twilight blushed as she looked down at herself, both giddy and embarrassed at Onyx’s praise. She had turned twelve about a month ago.

She, at least in her opinion, hasn't really changed much in that time. Of course, she’s a little taller, her hair’s grown out, and her horn grew a bit longer. The only area that had substantial growth was her magic, which is now greater than Luna’s. All thanks to the help of Onyx, who managed to get some non-destroyed spell books for them, she was also able to develop a more efficient training routine. Which she has eagerly followed after the last few years, with Luna of course.

As she looked up she saw that Onyx had offered a hoof for her which she gladly took.

As she got back on her hooves Onyx let out a sigh, “Well I think that’s enough practice for today. Let’s head back home,” this caught both Luna and Twilight off guard as they began to pout.

They were stopped by Onyx, “Now, now you two. I think that’s enough magic training for today. Let’s get back to the hou-” Onyx stopped as he began to cough suddenly which caused both sisters to begin to grow worried.

“Onyx! Are you alright!” both of the sisters yelled out as they moved to either side of him.

It took a moment for Onyx to stop before he looked at them, “Y-yes I’m fine, don’t worry. Something… just got stuck in my throat,” even with Onyx’s explanation Twilight still looked worried

“Are you sure?” Twilight innocently asked as Onyx smiled at her and rubbed her head.

“Yes, Twilight. I’m ok. Let’s go home shall we?” both of the sisters eventually agreed and made their way home.

Twilight looked worryingly at Onyx for a moment more before she shook her head and pushed on. He said he’s fine, Twilight. Trust him. She thought before she followed Onyx and Luna to the house but as they walked she looked at their training field.

They were walking through a dirt field with a plethora of different equipment of training equipment that Onyx uses to train them in body and magic. Different objects are strewn around the field from logs, shards of metal, training gear, and stones which are used to target their magic, she always loved that part of her training. Onyx also made them do a ton of exercises like athletics, weights, and even some self-defense tricks. Which Celestia seemed very focused on.

Included with this were a few benches and other outlined areas, she even winced when she saw two small craters from when she and Luna flared when Celestia taught them some advanced magic.

Twilight looked over at her sister. Like her, Luna only grew a bit since they began to live with Onyx. She had grown a bit taller, her mane and tail had grown out some more, and even her horn grew longer, though not as long as hers.

Twilight honestly felt a little bad, her magic had continuously grown on an amazing scale since she learned her first spell, but Luna and even Celestia had only grown a little. She really wanted Luna’s magic to be on par with hers. She can only imagine all the sort of spells and pranks they could pull on Celestia and Onyx, imagine the magic! She even began to laugh a little at the idea before she sighed when she realized that more than likely that was a dream, a truly tempting dream.

Even still she still smiled because no matter what she and Luna would always be together, even if it was just to prank their older sister for the rest of their lives! This caused Twilight’s laughter to grow louder.

As they left the field, Twilight's gaze moved to Onyx as her smile grew. She and her sisters had been living with Onyx for a little over four years now and these had been some of the best years in her life, not that she never enjoyed her time with her sisters before; not one bit. But a part of her was so happy they stopped having to go from one town to another just to get bits. She didn’t know how she lived without a bed for so long.

She is and will always be so grateful for what Onyx did for her and her sisters, in her mind he’s the greatest stallion ever.

Twilight suddenly felt herself being prodded on the shoulder. Surprised, she looked over and saw her smirking sister.

“Welcome back to Equis, sister,” Luna said before she began to laugh.

Twilight’s cheeks began to turn red before she heard a deep laugh and her eyes shrunk as she turned around and her fears were realized. Onyx had joined in on her sisters’s horrendous laughter. Twilight’s cheeks grew a bit redder as she looked at the ground.

Luckily Twilight’s torment ended when the three ponies reached home, both Luna and Twilight saw Celestia working in a fenced garden attached to the house, now more organized than several years ago.

The moment the sisters saw Celestia they called out to her and made a beeline.

“Celestia!” Luna and Twilight called out.

Celestia turned around and smiled as she saw them. On top of Celestia’s head was a simple tan sun hat with a beautiful sunflower attached to it. In her yellow aura was a big basket filled with multiple different vegetables.

Celestia was a little bigger than the average mare; she also kept her beautiful pure white fur, excluding a few dirk marks at the moment, her pink mane and tail had also grown out a bit more. She always wished she would become as beautiful as Celestia.

After they began to live with Onyx more permanently her sister had started to take on more responsibilities like shopping in the nearby villages, which her sister always seemed nervous to do. Checking the perimeter every morning and night and gardening, which her sister seemed to have happily taken up considering her sister does this nearly every day. Twilight grew sad as she was reminded of Celestia’s treatment of Onyx.

Even though they've lived with Onyx for the past few years her sister still treats him like a stranger and no matter what she or Luna do Celestia makes excuses or outright refuses to spend time with him. Twilight couldn't understand why her sister treated Onyx like he was a threat, it always hurt her to see them so distant.

Twilight was so lost in her thoughts that she realized that she and Luna were about to give their sister an impromptu hug. Shortly after she and Luna practically crashed into Celestia which caused her to drop all of the veggies. Twilight began to feel her sister's soft fur as all her thoughts disappeared at that moment.

As she layed in haven she heard her pillow laugh as she looked at her and Luna with a surprised but happy look, “Twilight! Lulu! It’s so good to see you two! If I may ask, why the sudden need for a hug?” Celestia asked with a warm smile.

They both tightened their hug as Twilight replied, “Because we love you of course. We both missed you,” her response got a grin from Tia.

“I suppose that's as good of a reason as any. So how’s your lessons going?” Celestia asked as she grabbed her basket from the ground and Twilight and Luna got off her.

Twilight began to get a tad embarrassed as she looked away, “Oh! Uh, well I… wasn't able to cast the spell,” Twilight said quite downtrodden.

She then felt a pair of legs wrap around her, “Twilight, don’t worry. We knew the spell was going to be hard. Especially, for a filly your age. The fact you got so close was impressive in itself. I and everypony is very proud of you,” that lifted Twilight’s spirits as she hugged Celestia again.

After a few moments they separated and Twilight looked over and saw both Onyx and Luna giving her a supportive look, which helped soothe her concerns.

Luna seemed to have realized something as she began to jump up and down and blurt out, “Oh! Tia, I was finally able to cast that frost spell!” Luna said excitedly, Twilight smiled, she knew Luna had been stuck on that spell for the last few weeks, and she was so happy she was finally able to master it.

Celestia almost squealed as she clapped her hooves, “Oh, Luna! I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it,” Luna puffed out her chest in pride at Celestia’s praise.

Twilight smirked, she knew that Luna always loved getting praise from Celestia.

Unfortunately, Celestia’s happy expression disappeared as she looked over at Onyx and she gained a familiar neutral look, “Oh… Hello, Onyx,” she said in a dull tone as she began picking up her veggies and putting them back in her basket.

Tension grew in the air as Luna and Twilight saw Onyx look away from their sister, “Yes uh… Hello to you too, Celestia. I see you’ve gathered the vegetables. Thanks,” Onyx tried to finish with a sincere smile.

Celestia only responded with a slight nod which caused the three ponies to feel the tension grow before Onyx decided to speak up.

“Good. Well let’s head inside, shall we? I need to start making dinner,” he said as he made his way inside, which the three sisters followed, Celestia was trailing from behind.

As they entered Twilight looked around the now familiar place she now called home. The house truthfully was quite small, especially for the four of them. The entire building was made out of plaster with wood beam supports, excluding a few areas such as parts of the kitchen and the outdoor smithery that Onyx loved to work at, it was represented by his cutie mark after all.

The first floor was not that big with a very small entrance room that led to the living room, kitchen/dining room, and stairway that led to the second floor, there was also a hatch around back which was where Onyx stored the food and extra storage. Calling the living room a “room” was generous, it was more of a small extension of the original building with some chairs, benches, and tables. Even still what made the room special was the many different memorabilia that Onyx had collected during their time together such as small portraits of the three of them, metal figures she and Luna had tried to forge with Onyx’s help, and even some past presents that she and Luna were able to make.

Twilight looked over at the kitchen, which took up most of the first floor. Connected to one of the walls was the stove with multiple different cupboards and drawers filled with a plethora of different herbs, utensils, dishes, and the like. In front of the stove was a large and long stone block that Onyx would use to cut food and prepare food, connected to the stone was a table with a few chairs around it. Finally next to the stove was a small window that showed a perfect view of the clearing.

Once Twilight finished she saw Onyx make his way to the stove before he pulled out a few utensils. Twilight and Luna then ran over to Onyx while Celestia put down her basket of vegetables on the stone and sat in one of the chairs.

After a moment, Onyx looked at them, “So, have you three done your chores?” Onyx asked as he began to take the vegetables out of the basket.

Luna responded, “Yes, me and Twilight cleaned our rooms and washed all of the dishes. As you asked,” she replied with a big smile.

Onyx smiled, “Wonderful. I knew I could count on you two,” he said before his smile dropped a little when he looked at Celestia, “So… what about you, Celestia?”

Celestia continued to look at Onyx with indifference as she responded, “Done,” they all sat in silence for a moment before Onyx continued.

“Um, well. Thank you, Celestia. So, Twilight, Luna, have you been able to get your self-defense training finished? Were you able to cast that flash stun spell?” Onyx asked as he started to cut up the vegetables.

This time Twilight spoke first as she began to hop in place with a large smile, “Oh! Yes, we did! In my opinion, Luna was able to cast it wonderfully. The flash was bright enough that it made it hard for me to see but at the same time was low enough that she was able to get away. I’m so proud of her!” Twilight said before she gave Luna a hug which caused her to blush profusely.

Onyx meanwhile laughed at the display as he pulled out a pot and put it on the table before he walked over to grab a water jug. As he returned he looked over at Twilight and Luna with a smile.

“Well Luna, it’s good to hear you were able to cast the stun spell. It looks like I’ll have to find another spell for you two to study,” Onyx said before he looked over at Celestia with a more serious expression.

“Celestia, I need to talk to you about something serious for a moment,” Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked as if she were going to disregard Onyx before she sighed and got up.

“What is it?” Celestia said as she walked over to him.

Twilight suddenly felt Luna tap her shoulder and as she looked over she saw Luna wave her over. Twilight knew what Luna meant and huddled up.

“Ok Twilly I’ll distract them. You get the thing,” Twilight smirked and nodded as she began to make her way upstairs while Luna walked over to distract the two adults.

Celestia and Onyx looked confused as they saw Twilight run upstairs, Celestia then looked at Luna, “Um… sister, where's Twilight off to?” Luna smiled a little nervously but waved off her worries.

“Oh nowhere sister, she just forgot something. Oh! Hey what are you making Onyx,” Luna tried to change the subject as both of the adults still looked confused but ignored it.

Meanwhile Twilight ran past all the portraits of her, her sisters, and Onyx. When she reached her and Luna’s room she excitedly opened the door and as she looked around for the thing. But as she looked around she was flooded by many memories of their time with Onyx.

The room she shared with Luna was the same room the three of them had stayed in when they first arrived at Onyx’s house, though Celestia now had her own room. She and Luna had done some redecorating since then, the room was now divided in half between her and Luna’s side. The walls were now half, blue starry sky for Luna and purple with swirling magic for her, Onyx painted it for them. On her side, she had shelves full of a plethora of different types of books, a few paintings of her that Celestia made, and magical trinkets they were able to find. Her bed was also covered by simple purple sheets underneath which definitely DIDN’T have some of her favorite books… which she absolutely doesn’t read late at night, nope. On Luna’s side she had a few books on stars, and a few fighting manuals, and next to her bed was a crude telescope that she and Celestia had been working on. Her bed was covered in deep blue sheets on top of which was the grey item.

Twilight grabbed it in her telekinesis and ran out the door where she shortly joined her sisters. As she reached the bottom she saw Onyx start up the stove and boiling the pot, he was currently cutting the veggies as Luna distracted both of them.

“And that’s why-” Luna was interrupted when Twilight jumped down the last few steps and ran toward them.

“I got it!” Twilight yelled out as the three ponies looked at her, Luna who began to grin widely.

Twilight and Luna moved beside each other and hid the object behind them as both Celestia and Onyx looked confused.

Twilight cleared her throat before she looked at them, “Onyx… we are all really happy that you took us in, especially since you didn’t need to… and since Celestia almost stole your crops-” Twilight grimaced for a moment and Celestia gave a hint of a blush, “- So that’s why me and Luna decided that we wanted to give you something as our… thanks for everything. We hope you like it.”

In that moment Twilight revealed the gift which was a rough black Onyx crystal with the words “We love you, Dad!” etched into it.

Onyx was shocked for a moment as he stared at the gift and even began to shed a few tears before he gave a massive smile and hugged Twilight and Luna, both of whom were happy.

“Of course. Thank you both… I love you too, so much. I’m so glad to have two beautiful, smart, and amazing daughters. You both make this old stallion so happy,” As Onyx finished he began to openly cry which Luna and Twilight quickly joined in as they declared their love to him.

Unseen by the three was Celestia who was shocked but unlike the others held a slight frown and for a moment a grimise before she gave a neutral expression with a look of contempt.

After a few minutes, after Onyx cleared his tears, “Where did you two get this beautiful rock anyways?”

Luna blurted out, “We found it in the forest when we were studying,” Onyx looked worried.

“You two shouldn’t go that deep in the forest alone,” his worry quickly changed to one of happiness, “But for today, I’ll let it go… what do you think of helping your old stallion with dinner.”

Both Luna and Twilight happily agreed as the three got ready to make dinner. During this Celestia silently left the house and returned to her garden with conflicted feelings.

-{<()>}-

For the rest of the day and later night, Luna and Twilight helped Onyx cook food which they later all ate together where they played many different games for the next few hours until late that night. Onyx forced a very tired Twilight and Luna to bed which a silent Celestia helped with.

-{<()>}-

“Good night you two… I love you both so much,” Onyx closed the door as he heard Twilight and Luna reply with ”Love you too”. After he closed the door he heard hoofsteps go down the stairs and as he looked over he saw Celestia walk down them. After a moment he followed her downstairs and out onto the porch where he saw her sitting down and looking up at the stars.

He hesitated for a moment but walked up behind her and sat down before he too looked up at the stars. A few moments passed as the silence became dominating until Celestia sharply stated.

“What do you want,” Celestia didn’t look at him.

Onyx frowned slightly for a moment, “Just wondering… how you’re feeling right now,” he said as gently as he could.

She quickly replied,” I’m fine.”

After her reply, the silence returned until Onyx sighed, “I’m sorry… I know how much you hate them calling me Dad. I wasn’t trying to replace them,” Celestia’s silence continued until.

“... I know,” Onyx barely heard her as she sighed and finally looked at him with a tired and hurt look, which instantly caused Onyx’s heart to hurt.

Before he could say anything Celestia continued, “I remember when it was just us three before we met you, before we had to live off the streets, before our village was destroyed by that monster… I… I wanted them to meet Mom and Dad so, so bad-” at this point Celestia was tearing up, “-but it seems that fate had other plans,” she let out a spiteful laugh.

Onyx looked guilty and looked away for a moment, Celestia continued, “But… no matter my feelings… they both love you. I can’t deny that and I won’t take that away from them. They need you right now,” She suddenly looks intensely straight at him, “But if you do anything to them.”

Onyx meets her eyes with certainty, “I would never.”

There stare goes on for what feels like forever before her eyes soften, “I know,” Celestia then got up and began to walk back inside, Onyx moved out of the way for her. Before she looked back at him, “I assume you already know but you’ll never replace him… no matter what.”

Onyx got up and quickly replied, “I would never… I never wanted to replace him. Just know Celestia… that you three make me so happy and no matter what happens… remember I… I, love you too.”

Celestia gives an unreadable look but he swore he saw a shadow of a smile. After a few moments, she sighed and said, “Goodnight," but after a few steps she stopped and continued. “... Thank you, Onyx. For everything… you're a good stallion,” she then makes her way inside to her room.

Onyx smiled as she left before he looked back up at the night sky, I promise you, Celestia. I’ll protect them and you… No matter what. Perhaps, I should dust off my old adventuring gear. As he finished a peaceful silence enveloped the night.

The silence broke when Onyx started to cough quite violently for a good few minutes until he was able to regain his composure as he breathed deeply, "That… was worse… than usual… Buck,” He caught his breath as he looked at his hoof and saw crimson.
He pushed his worries aside and walked back inside… Even if it kills me.

Author's Note:

Hello All... so it's been a bit.
Honestly, I'm going to keep this short but for the most part, I have definitely diminished my interest in this show as I've gotten into other things (Like Dnd for instance) so that's why it's been a bit

But even still a part of me still wants to work on this story. So I give no promises on updates but if I have the time and want to I'll try to work on this story.
Anyway even with all of this, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you think.

Comments

[Yogiboy]

I'm so happy for a new chapter, I can't wait for the next.

[Max Stroberger]

No way it's alive Im so happy 😌

[SecretService]

Glad you're still updating, although I was a bit sad since I was expecting some drama with Luna coming back in the current time.

[Cryohawk]

11708301
Hey, glad to have this out too. Though a bit confused by you mentioning Luna being back. Do you mean in this chapter because it's a flashback chapter, so this is way before the current story.

[SecretService]

11708307
No, just in the current time (ie, chapter 11). I was commenting on the most recent chap after I caught up.