First Half
“Mommy, where do ponies go when they die?”
“Well, Sweet Summer, it depends on if they’ve been a good pony or not. The good ponies go see Faust in the sky, and dance among the stars for all of eternity.”
“And the bad ponies?”
“The bad ponies stay forever trapped in Sombra’s mists, never able to find anypony else, doomed to encounter endless nightmares.”
“Where will you go when you die, Mommy?”
Haute Couture’s eye twitched, but she kept up her fake smile anyways. “To the good place, of course.”
Sweet Summer nodded in fascination. That made sense to her, of course. Mommy was beautiful and merciful, like the angels.
***
Packed Briefcase came home late that night, like he usually did, disheveled and tired. Sweet Summer snuck a peek at him kissing Couture, before she was shooed away and told to go to bed. Before turning off her night light, she decided to make a quick prayer to Faust.
“Dear Faust, Mommy and Daddy seemed really happy today together. I hope you can make it last forever, so that one day we can all be in the good place together, too.”
She felt good after that prayer, so it only took her an additional half hour to go to sleep after the plates started breaking and the shouting began.
***
As the dawn caressed the sky in pink and orange, Sweet Summer began to stir. It was a weekend, meaning there was no school in session. That meant she could go outside and practice to join the local junior buckball team! She practically skipped out of her room, quickly brushed her teeth, and thumped down the stairs, before almost running into her mother.
“Good morning, pumpkin,” Haute Couture sang, sporting a broom and a dustpan. “Breakfast is on the table already! I’m just getting a small… accident cleaned up.”
Sweet Summer needed no further invitation, dashing into a chair and heaping her plate with food as Haute Couture swept away the mess. Packed Briefcase was gone, as usual. It was quiet, and Sweet Summer relaxed into her chair, feeling proud of herself. It was raspberry pancakes, her favorite. That meant she’d been a good filly yesterday.
Just before Sweet Summer finished her breakfast, Haute Couture spoke up again. “Before you go, dear,” she said sweetly. “There’s something very important I have to tell you. This might come as a huge shock, so I need you to be prepared, okay?”
Sweet Summer straightened in her seat, eagerly awaiting the news. Did she get a good grade? Was the buckball team finally willing to take her in?
Haute Couture took a deep breath before continuing. “Briefcase and I talked over this last night, and we finally decided that the time was right. We’ve decided to adopt a filly, and give you a sibling and friend!”
Sweet Summer’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t been consulted about this!
“I — I’m… but… I’m so excited! I’m gonna go prepare!”
Haute Couture watched as Sweet Summer sprinted back up to her room, buckball forgotten. Soon, she also heard the shuffle of papers and imagined Summer was writing a long list, like she did about most things. It was too easy.
***
By the end of the night, the list had three items on it.
The first, written at the top in dainty black ink, gave a brief introduction of Sweet Summer, her age, her hobbies, and her friends.
The second, written in the middle with slightly more intensity, read, “Do not disturb Daddy when he’s busy with work.”
The third, written at the bottom in bold red ink, read, “ALWAYS LISTEN TO MOMMY, NO MATTER WHAT.”
Sweet Summer felt rather proud of that list, but she couldn’t sleep that night. Her forelegs couldn’t stop jittering, and she felt like she’d just won a buckball tournament. She knew Couture slept very early, but that Briefcase worked very late at night. She decided to make an exception to her second rule, since it seemed to be an exceptional night.
***
The next morning, rubbing her sore eye, Sweet Summer made sure to double underline that second rule.
It was okay, since it was the big day. Packed Briefcase had taken a day off work just to visit the orphanage, and Haute Couture was wearing her Sunday best.
“Can I go, can I go, please?” begged Sweet Summer.
Haute Couture felt her fake smile returning again. “You can go take your… spastic energy with you to buckball today, okay? Daddy and I will be home as soon as we can, so no mud in the house, and complete your list of chores. Remember, good ponies always listen to their parents!” She kissed Sweet Summer goodbye, and left.
Sweet Summer wanted to be a good pony, so she could go to the good place, so she decided to make the adult decision and finish the chores first. When that was done, she packed her sports equipment and headed outside. When she opened the door, Princess Luna was there.
Princess Luna gave an earnest smile. “Good afternoon, child. I take it you are Sweet Summer?”
Sweet Summer’s jaw dropped again, and she couldn’t let out much more than a squeak.
Princess Luna took the opportunity to let herself in the house, gently closing the door. She smiled again. “I presume that’s a yes, then. Normally I’m not awake during such hours, but I just had business in the town and decided to visit around.” Suddenly, her face grew intent, and she peered into Sweet Summer’s eyes. “As you know, my job is to visit ponies in their dreams, and guard them from their nightmares. Pray tell, how have your dreams been recently, Sweet Summer?”
Sweet Summer had stopped hyperventilating, for the most part. “P-Princess Luna, wow, it’s such an honor to meet you! I always thought that you were such a cool princess, and now — ”
“Thank you, but there’s no need,” interrupted Luna. “I’d just like to know about your dreams.”
Sweet Summer beamed. “Well, Princess Luna, they’ve been fantastic! Last night I dreamed about a field longer than the size of Ponyville, and it was filled with happy sunflowers, and I was playing buckball on it. I kicked the ball so hard that it flew all the way across the field, and I scored the winning goal for my team! Everyone cheered, and it felt really good.”
Luna’s smile faded. “You don’t remember the, uh, first part of your dream? The nightmares?”
Sweet Summer kept up her sunny smile. “Not a bit! Mommy always tells me to forget the first half, and I always listen to Mommy.”
All of a sudden, the room dropped ten degrees, as pitch black magic began to ooze from Luna’s horn. Sweet Summer shivered intensely, but it was over as quickly as it started. Luna retracted her magic, took a deep breath, and looked around the room.
Without a word, she grabbed Sweet Summer in her magic and teleported her far away, all the way back to Canterlot.
When Sweet Summer came to, there was a damp cloth on her forehead, and she could barely make out yelling in the background.
“Princess Luna, do you know the risks of teleporting a filly with absolutely no prior teleportation exposure hundreds of miles away? And of taking her away from her family without permission?” a muffled voice shouted in the background.
“It had to be done,” Luna responded. “I’ll let Celestia deal with the legality later, but I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. I couldn’t let this poor filly get trapped inside a hole like this.” She turned her head backwards, noticing that Sweet Summer had regained consciousness.
“Good evening, Sweet Summer!” Luna exclaimed. “I hope that wasn’t too rough of a trip. I have much to explain in the morning, but now you are in need of some rest. I’ve taken the liberty of preparing a room in the castle for you, and you can request as many buckballs as you’d like.”
“A room in the castle? Wow!” Sweet Summer shouted. “Oh my Celestia, thank you so much, this is so cool! But why did you bring me here, and — ” she gasped. “And wait! I have to go see Mommy and Daddy right now; they were gonna bring home a filly today!”
Luna’s face visibly blanched.
“Forgive me, Celestia,” she said to herself. “But it looks like I’ll be having to commit a few more crimes today.”
She popped out of existence, leaving Summer behind.