A Promise.

by StuffBuddy

A Promise.

The sun inched past the horizon at a glacial pace. It was a chilly evening tonight in Everfree Castle. Anon wore his thickest robe over his expensively embroidered cloth tunic. Being the guardian of the two most important ponies in the realm didn't come without luxury.

The rug running along the length of the castle hallway muffled the clacking of his new boots. The wood underneath him didn't creak or bend. It was solid carpentry, something he had found rare in his journeys. Rarer even than a friendly face had been.

He found what he was looking for behind one of the many doors in Everfree Castle. The walls inside were plastered and the entire floor was carpeted for the comfort of its occupants. Two beds sat with their heads against the far wall. A hearth - the mouth of which was furnished with a barred gate to prevent access - was to Anon's right. The fire had gone out, leaving only small embers in its place.

"Anoooon!" came a whiny squeal. A small, alabaster white unicorn filly with a candy-pink mane ran up to him. Chasing her was an even smaller, dark blue pegasus filly with a fake beak stuck to her snout, a red wattle on her chin, and a similarly coloured comb atop her sky-blue mane. The unicorn filly rounded his legs, putting Anon between her and the pegasus. Anon met Celestia's frightened eyes, tears welling up at the sides. "Luna won't stop chasing meeee!"

For her part, Luna giggled, seemingly only being encouraged by the little unicorn's fear. She continued to stalk towards her target. As she got closer, Luna made aggressive little clucking noises, eliciting terrified squeals from Celestia.

"Luna," Anon said sternly, "You know your sister doesn't like that."

Luna giggled again, ignoring him. Celestia began to cry.

Sighing, Anon crouched. He reached over and plucked the various parts of Luna's chicken costume off her head. Behind him, he could hear Celestia's sniffles as she saw the props confiscated from her sister.

"Luna," Anon warned, "If you don't apologise now, I'm taking Flappy."

At that, Luna's eyes widened and she scampered over to the room's toy corner. But with a few long strides, Anon overtook her. He scooped up a small, crudely made bat plush from the floor. Luna unsuccessfully dived for it, landing on her belly as Anon pulled it out of her reach.

The little Luna screeched in fury, drumming her hooves against the carpet. She got up and charged his legs, beating against them. "Give. Him. Back!"

With a single hand, Anon plucked the filly off of him by the scruff of her neck. Her wings flapped with futility by her sides. She continued to wail as he held her up in front of him, choosing to wait out her tantrum. Before long, she began to quiet. Her yelling evolved to tears, and she stopped struggling, instead choosing to hang limp and helpless in the air.

"Pwease…" she sobbed. "…don't take him…"

"There are consequences if you're mean to your sister, Luna. I've told you this before. And you also haven't apologised."

Luna tried to glare at Anon. She even shifted her gaze at Celestia who stood by the open doorway. The unicorn held her head high as she had been taught, tears dried against her cheeks and having mostly regained her composure. Yet, she gave one more sniffle.

"Luna…"

Luna was conflicted. She watched as Celestia gave her an almost condescending look, one that Luna repaid by sticking her tongue out at her. But she also saw the soft toy dangling in Anon's other hand. Choosing between her pride and her Flappy was always a tough choice. But this time, she must have decided that the former wasn't worth it, as she relented. Luna grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" said Anon, gesturing towards Celestia. "Say that again so your sister can hear."

"I said, sowwy," said Luna, frustrated.

"For…?"

"For pwaying chicken with Cewestia."

Anon looked to Celestia, raising a brow.

"I…" she cleared her throat, using the regal voice her tutors had shown her to use, "I accept your apology."

Again, there was that near-condescension. They could address that issue another time in private. For now, it would do. Anon also considered addressing Luna's speech impediment with her tutors.

Anon set the pegasus filly down and handed her back her Flappy. She gripped it tightly with a foreleg and ran to her bed, retreating underneath the sheets. Just as well. It was bedtime. He closed the door, then urged Celestia into her own bed. Bringing over a chair, he sat it in the gap between her and Luna.

"Lulu?" called Anon. When she didn't respond he peeled back her blanket, uncovering her head. She was turned away from him and Celestia. "Luna…"

She gave an annoyed grunt.

"Luna, I want you to look at me," Anon said. Luna did, chagrined. "Listen, I understand you're mad at me and Celestia. And Celly, I know that even though she apologised, you're still mad at your sister."

Celestia nodded.

Anon cupped both of their cheeks. "Fights happen. You might not understand now, but you will when you grow up. I understand what it's like to be angry at your sister because you got into an argument - because they did something to you or because you blame them for getting you in trouble. I was young too, believe it or not." Anon leaned closer to them both. "What's important is that at the end of the day, you're still siblings. And you'll still love each other. Even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment."

"You had a sister, Anon?" Celly asked him with curious eyes.

Anon smiled. "Yeah. I did, once."

"Whewe is she?" asked Luna.

"Far away. So far, you could probably spend a lifetime trying to get to her and never come close." He tried not to show how he felt as he said it. Anon had long accepted he would never return home - he had done that even before he had journeyed to get Celestia and Luna to Everfree. But a part of him still hurt whenever he thought about what he had once known.

"Do you still love her?" Celestia asked.

"Of course," Anon said. "I still love my family. Just because I can't see them anymore, doesn't mean I've forgotten about them."

That wasn’t entirely true. He had found himself thinking of his parents and his siblings less and less nowadays. He felt glad about the fact, even though he knew he shouldn't.

"I can tell you about them another time. When we have more time, not tonight."

Anon kissed Luna on the forehead. He did the same with Celestia, adeptly dodging her horn. He stopped, and the two precious fillies wiggled under their blankets, making themselves comfortable. "Promise me this," he said, looking them both in the eyes. "You'll always be there to support each other, and that you'll do everything in your power to protect one another from other ponies who might want to hurt you. Can you do that?"

"I promise."

"I pwomise."

"Thank you," Anon said. He tickled the two fillies under their chins, causing them to laugh and squeal. That means more to me that you could know. Now, you two need to catch some shut-eye. Goodnight."

"Night, Anon."

"Night."

Anon stood and made his way around the room, blowing out the flames in the few lanterns hanging around the room. He left one alight by the entrance, keeping the room from being completely shrouded. He opened the door, stepping into the hallway.

"I love you, Dad."

"Me, too."

Anon stopped in his tracks, his heart skipping a beat. He saw Lulu and Celly watching him in the dim light. He searched for the right words to say, and only after too long of a pause did he find them.

"I… I love you, too, girls," he smiled. "Sweet dreams."

He shut the door softly behind him, leaving the two fillies to sleep.

---

"Hi, Dad," Celestia said among the ruins of the Everfree Castle. Nopony called it that anymore. They hadn't for centuries.

"It's that night of the year, again," She chuckled nervously, "I know it feels like such a short time since we last talked."

Around Celestia's hooves, the grass was freshly cut. The white marble statue in front of her was free of vines, clean from the grime of the forest.

"It's so strange. Some days fly by and I don't even notice. Other times, it's as if they don't want to end. I'm just stuck there waiting. It's terrible."

"I don't dream about it as much anymore. Only five times, this past year. Wait, no. six. Still. It's getting easier to deal with."

Celestia sniffed. It was getting easier, but it wasn't easy. Not by a long shot.

Her eyes were wet and, despite her best efforts, she couldn't hold back the tears. Well, that was why she was here, wasn't it?

"Dad…"

She sat down, unable to hold herself up any longer by her shaking legs.

"I'm sorry… I know I promised… But I couldn't do it. I'm sorry…"

"I keep wishing you were there. Maybe… maybe you could have sorted things out. Like you always did between us when we were young…"

Celestia sobbed. On the same night every year for twenty years, she had come here. To talk to her Dad, confess her sins, and seek comfort. She had to. There wasn't anyone else she could turn to. Not for another nine hundred and eighty years, at least.

"I've b-been thinking about that recently. I-I understand what you mean n-now, when you said you loved Auntie even when you knew you would never s-see her anymore." Celestia tried to smile through the tears, but only managed to cry again. "I g-guess I should count myself lucky that I'll get Luna back. I just have to w-wait."

The tears didn't last as long this year. The worst had been the very first anniversary of her banishment of her sister. She had cried until she ran out of tears, and then she continued to cry even after that. Celestia had fallen asleep clutching the base of Anon's statue, lying on the ground where he had been buried after his death many decades before. She had been designated missing for almost an entire day until she showed up in the newly built Canterlot Castle the next night, dirty and dishevelled.

Celestia wiped her tears away with a slender, white foreleg.

"I-I should go now. The staff are holding a dinner at the castle after I gave them the night off. I should probably show up at least once tonight. Say hello."

Taking flight with her alicorn wings, Celestia hovered up to the statue's neck and gave it a tight hug. It was uncomfortable, yet she did it anyways. It felt… right.

"Goodnight, Dad. I love you." Celestia craned her neck up towards the moon. "And sweet dreams, Lulu."

Celestia flew off into the night, bound for the young city of Canterlot. Behind her, she left the old castle.

She would be back again next year.

Comments

[HarpyYoshi]

This...this is beautiful.

...why am I crying?!

[Oofinator]

;-;

[TR4red4imp]

You know what would be a good followup of this one shot?
Where luna is back and the 2 sister reconcile and they both visit anons grave.
You can also add a part where celestia and luna tells twilight about anon and how much he meant to them how they became the mares they are now because of him.
That would be beautiful.

[rendomstranger]

This story needs a sequel or a bonus chapter. It is too emotional of a story not to get one.

[Zack Catcher]

ok this was good I will give you that, it's one of the better one-off stories and what I am about to say has nothing to do with your story

I did not cry when reading this story, barely felt any sadness, this is mostly because I have blocked myself from feeling emotions in the past, yes you can do that when you are young, but it sucks not being able to feel the emotions that other's can feel if it is based on something that I can relate to then yes, and well I did feel a ping of sadness but nothing more,

either way, it's a good story, I wish it was longer, adding up more so there is more weight to the line "I Love You Dad" I think that would have made the story better but aside from that good job

[AvoidingFever17]

Promises do break at times
However never let that stop you
A broken promise is only broken if you dont learn to accept that it happened

[Dharkstaar]

11771302
I agree. Though if the author doesn't want to do a sequel, maybe just add another scene where, after Luna returns, we see her approaching the statue just as Celestia did here. I would love to see Luna's perspective.

[Born-From-Black-Lightnin]

Now I’m sad. But it’s a bitter sweet type of sad. Nice little short story you got here.

Like others have said it’d be nice to have a bonus chapter with a a follow up or something like it.

But to me at least it’s also fine as is too.

[iconicgg]

I would love a squeal

[StuffBuddy]

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11771396
I've thought about writing a follow up story, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice. The idea I have currently is a prequel story of Anon meeting/finding Celestia and Luna to get them to the Everfree and that would have to be much longer (likely more than 20k words). The problem is, I've already got another fic I've been working on throughout the year and I have been horrendous when it comes to publishing chapters. I also would want to improve my writing quality first, because I don't want to deliver a subpar sequel to this.

If anyone wants to use this fic and write their own sequel/prequel, I'd be more than happy for them to have a crack at it. If not, then maybe I'll get around to writing my ideas one day, but also maybe not.

11771302
Yeah, that line probably would've been more impactful if I had put more before it. It was just late at night/very early in the morning for me when I finished this and I really didn't think this story was going to do as well as it did. If I had put more dedication to this, I might've been able to squeeze out more from my squishy thinker bits. This was just a quick thing I decided to write one night, finish the next, then edit and publish the next next night at the same time I very tardily published the most recent chapter of my main story.

11771452
Here you go
i.ibb.co/6vK4zV5/1105200.png

[HopeForTheFew]

11771503
I love the mystery of it all. badass story man, I'd leave it be.

[blinix2]

11771503
Dude, with that comment ya gave me a flashback. Theres a story that in teory could be a prequel to this one, in that story Anon is a mercenary Isekai'd from earth and he had the job to transport baby celestia from the lands that got frozen (before the three tribes unification) to the lands now know as equestria, is a story in progress. In that one Anon is bitter and rude, living day to day in the dangerous lands before Harmony. But if we think of one of the potential conclutions, with Anon's cold hearth melted by Luna and Celestia after arriving at equestria... well we can have this one.
The story is Preunification Anon

[Napalm monster]

"You had a sister, Anon?" Celly asked him with curious eyes.

Oh yeah I had imaginary sister cause I’m an ONLY child. Unrelatable protagonist

[Skyblazer9]

A very cute and sad story.

[StuffBuddy]

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Preunification Anon was a big inspiration for this story. That, and I'm having a go at learning Lullaby for a Princess on piano. So the Sisters have been kind of on my mind recently.

It's a shame that Preunification Anon is on hiatus. I loved that fic and I read every chapter as soon as it came out. But I understand that sometimes you lose interest in what you're writing, have other things that use your energy instead, or you just don't have the motivation to write.

It would be nice to see more stories set in Ancient Equestria, even if they had a larger focus on OC's or had very little mention of Celestia or Luna in them. I'm a sucker for reading stories set in unfamiliar settings, and I don't know how many or how few Ancient Equestria stories there actually are out there.

You might have read it already, but another story set in an unfamiliar setting that I really loved was Seaborn. That one's rated M though, so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link it.

[dov]

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Seaborn is a bit too much on the M side of the spectrum for my taste, but Preunification Anon still is one my favorites on this site.

[blinix2]

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Seaborn, that one is on my watchlist, just waiting for another chapter. A good one too even if a little too much into M, but well, can always skips those parts xd

[HarpyYoshi]

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You know what kind of vibes I'm getting from this? When Unus Annus ended, and the annual video upload tradition of them revisiting the coffin goes on. This past year especially was heartbreaking, since they uploaded it awhile after the date. The story of it lives on, even after death....
This could be an idea to write about.

But, again, I loved reading this story, and I would accept this if it were just a one-shot. It's incredible.

[TheHumanWriter]

Author, this was fantastic! I have to say, good work on writing Luna and Celestia’s characters. The detail about the small bat plushy was also pretty cute, to be honest!

11771503
LOL! The last message you responded to was hilarious! That was one good “squeal,” amiright?
11772798
I checked it out. I’m now traumatized… ik it was rated M, but still… I wish I can erase it from my mind.

-Davidtin, user of Fimfiction since 2021

[Majestic_Donut]

Love it! I also want more Tia/Woona fics!!! At this point, it might even be a good idea to make character tags for them since they’re usually very different characters from their grown-up counterparts.

Great one shot (and just great in general)

[The Mystery Fluttershy Fan]

Recorded for the audiobook version to come soon!

[The Mystery Fluttershy Fan]

[StuffBuddy]

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I love it!!! Especially the foley (heh) work and the music. You gotta tell me what music you used, cause it's the exact kind of stuff I really like to just sit down and listen to.

Yeah nah honestly, I'm honoured someone would take the time to do a reading of something I wrote. Never did I think that would happen, and that's awesome. Maybe one day I can scrounge something together that again gets me on your list, lol. Once again, I loved the reading, and wonderful job putting it together!

[TunaAbolisher]

I don't cry much reading stories. I almost did reading this one. Absolutely beautiful. I wish we could have a follow up of Luna going to see Anon's statue after she's back, Celestia going to see him the year Luna got back, or even Twilight and the main six finding the statue and wondering what it meant. But that one chapter was still enough, it was pure beauty to read.