I snuggled deeper within the embrace of my sister, trying to escape the blasted sunlight streaming in through the window. I had no idea how the physics behind it worked out, but having two suns greet me every morning was worse than the one I woke up to on Earth.

Seriously, how did the orbit of this solar system look like? As far as I can tell with my limited understanding, the two suns up in the sky were impossible. That’s it. They couldn’t possibly maintain their position in the center of the solar system like that and not crash into each other. Both of them never seemed to change positions even remotely each time I observed them. Always exactly the same distance from each other. There wasn’t even a change in perspective as I observed them over multiple months. Impossible, I declared defiantly in my mind. Utterly impossible.

Unless they were orbiting the planet, which was such a ludicrous idea to even consider, they were not possible. End of discussion.

Celestia glomped down on my ear, making me giggle and shriek at the same time. I struggled to get out of her grasp as she continued to happily gnaw on my appendage without a care in the world. I whined as she began to lick the inside of it, subjecting me to this disgustingly wet torture early in the morning. Like the hundreds of times that she had done so in the past.

“My, my, already up, huh? What are my little fillies doing?” the voice of our mother reached us and I squinted up at her frame, silhouetted by the suns’ rays. She looked like an angel coming to save me. I turned my big pale magenta eyes up at her in a pout, but all she did was smile at our antics.

“Honey? The foals awake?” the sleepy voice of our father asked, making Mom turn her head around. I continued my struggles futilely against my sister who held on to me effortlessly.

“Sure are, sugar,” she grinned. “And you really need to see this.”

“Oh?” Argent Star said, coming up to her side. I gave him the same pout and the only thing he did was chuckle at my misfortune.

“Tia!” I whined, as now my other ear got the same treatment. My parents stared down at me in what I could only place as awe. Well, the secret was out, I guess.

“Her first word!” Mom bounced up and down. “And it took only nine months! Oh, look at you, my little cutie!”

I continued to glower as now my horn was subjected to the abuse.

“Now I’m sad. Here I hoped to hear her say ‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’,” Argent commented lightheartedly.

“Just wait until Celestia says her first word. I’m sure she won’t disappoint you, dear,” Sky giggled, resting her head against his as they watched on as my own sister molested me. Damn you, horn! Why won’t you work when I wanted you to!

My pleas fell on deaf ears as my horn continued to be stubborn. Okay, then no levitation... Struggling against my sister was just as futile as getting my horn to work and my parents were jerks today. Why wouldn’t anypony help me?

I let out a dejected sigh, venting out my frustration. I swear to everything I hold dear if Celestia wasn’t this cute... Grumbling noises aside, even she wasn’t in the mood to let me go today, it seemed. Normally I would be free by now, whether it was because I broke out of her grasp or she decided to let me go after having had her fill of molesting me.

Damn you, Catherine, for making me like it. Damn you, Celestia, for continuing where my wife couldn’t. And damn my parents for watching me squirm in her forelegs.

It took a while, but our parents finally decided to have mercy upon me and lifted us out of our bed. Celestia was already running around as soon as Dad set her down while Mom wiped away all the slobber my sister left on me.

“There we go, squeaky clean again,” mother said, smiling softly as I rubbed my muzzle against her leg gratefully. “My little Summer Sun, let’s get you something to eat, hmm?”

With a quick use of telekinesis, I was sitting atop her withers admiring the view. Celestia soon joined me as we rode out towards the terrace, our mother heating up some milk in our bottles with her magic.

I valiantly defended my bottle against my twin. Although, as Celestia stared sadly at her empty bottle, I felt bad. So, being the good sister that I am, I gave her my half-empty one. It was worth the look of happiness on her face and our mother shook her head in mock despair.

“You have too big of a heart, my little one,” Sky said, taking away the bottles before Celestia decided they could be thrown around. She sometimes did that, I had no idea why. My sister really had a short temper at times. At least I was able to calm her down most of the time by letting her chew on my ear, to my discomfort.

I think it was a ploy on her part, to be honest. Catherine also used all kinds of tricks so she could have her way with me. Little deviant that she was. It left me feeling slightly empty, remembering her. Perhaps that was why I was giving Celestia all these things because she was so similar to my wife.

“Tia,” I simply answered and she rolled her eyes at me.

“Yes, you love your sister very much,” my mother tittered. “But that shouldn’t mean that you have to give her everything she wants.”

“Tia!” I shot back, trying to convey how I would do everything for her. Mom nuzzled me affectionately in response. “Tia?”

“Of course, my little Summer,” Sky giggled and turned and gave my sister also a nuzzle. Said sister giggled happily at the display of love and I felt satisfied. “Now why don’t you play a little with your sister while I get myself something to eat, hmm?”

Once more we had the pleasure of taking a ride on the back of our mother as she brought us back to our bedroom. Celestia immediately set upon playing with the blocks of wood while I sat beside her and pushed the blocks back her way as one crude tower after another lost stability.

She seemed to be having a lot of fun with that, it was quite adorable. So, I helped her try and build a more stable construction that wouldn’t fall apart after a few seconds, feeling the joyful buzz of my golden magic help us at our task

It wasn’t long before my sister lost interest in the blocks and instead tried to get the ball from the shelf. Our father had put it away and out of our reach after the last time we had demolished parts of the kitchen with it. Too bad we couldn’t fly in our room anymore after Mom had put up some kind of magic ward to prevent us from the more riskier shenanigans we could think of.

I tried to get it to come loose with my magic while my horn still complied with me. That was a mistake, as it turns out. As I poured more mana into the quickly flaring aura of my horn, the formerly stuck ball shot out like a cannonball and broke through the wall with a loud cracking noise.

The noise surprised me so much that I didn’t notice my magic getting out of control before it was too late. The commotion attracted the attention of our parents and the eyes of my mother shrank to pinpricks as she saw what was about to happen.

“Quick, Argent! Get Celestia out of here!” she shouted, powered up her own magic as the first bolts of wild magic jumped away from me as I let out a frightened squeak. “Summer is about to have a surge!”

Tears streamed down my face as the build-up of magic made my head pound painfully as if someone had decided to crack it open like an egg... from the inside. I shrieked as I felt myself become weightless and then everything got even worse.

Magic exploded away from me and I was just lucid enough through the pain to notice that my dad and sister were a safe distance away. My mom was doing her best at containing the surging power being unleashed from my body. It almost felt like the blood in my veins had been replaced with rampaging magma as the out of control mana rushed through every part of myself.

Like the frightened child I now was, I cried out for my mommy to come and save me. The entirety of my body crackled with magical lightning as parts of the walls got scorched, toys seemingly came to life, unused diapers flew around in a hurricane around me, and stuffed animals exploded into fluffy bits and pieces.

“It’s too dangerous, Sky! Get away from her!” Argent shouted, fearing for the life of his wife. One of the magic bolts impacted the doorframe, scorching it a deep black while smoke rose away from it.

“I’m not going to let Summer die from this, Argent! I’m not losing another foal!” she snarled back at him. I felt the tears on my cheek vaporize as unbearable scorching heat began to emit from the core of my being. The font of my very power was drawing in more arcane energy from the world around us than it could safely hold, threatening to rip itself apart.

“Mommy!” I croaked out, feeling like throwing up any second now. Everything was swimming around in my vision and I had to concentrate to stop myself from seeing two of Lunar Sky. Or of anything else, for that matter.

“I’m here, my little Summer. I’m here,” her voice reached out to me and a hoof made contact with one of my forelegs.

“Ow,” I said, the sounds my mouth was able to make still limited to very simple things. It was all I could say to convey the anguish I was feeling right now and it seemed my mother got the meaning behind my word.

“I know, sweetheart. I know,” she said, her smiling face coming into focus right in front of me. All over her body were scorch marks and I felt bad for having hurt her so much. “Now, don’t fight my magic when I reach out to yours, okay? I know, you might understand very little of what I’m saying to you, but I know you’re a smart little filly.”

Oh, Mom, if you just knew. I tried so many times to tell you that I was perfectly capable of understanding you, but all you ever did was smile and think me a prodigy. I really love you, you know? You’re always there when I need you, just like now.

I gave her a nod and she looked surprised and relieved at me. And as I felt her magic prod at mine, I gave her the utmost trust I could and let her manipulate my out of control magic.

Slowly, the unbearable fire in my chest dimmed down to an ember of its former power and everything in the room returned to relative normalcy. There was a lot that would need to be replaced or repaired, but the house was still in one piece thankfully.

“No more magic without supervision,” Sky muttered to herself as I gave her a very grateful and teary-eyed hug. She returned my gratitude with motherly compassion and I felt Celestia nudge my side that, in a way, asked if I was okay now. So, I glomped her and did what she normally did to me.

It was slightly disgusting to my tongue, but I did it anyway to cheer her up. The taste of her ear wasn’t anything that I could wash out of my mouth anytime soon. I couldn’t understand what my sister found so great about it, or even my wife once upon a time. It felt great making her laugh and squeal, though.

Mom and Dad watched our sisterly bonding time with fond smiles and for once I wasn’t bothered in the slightest by Celestia returning the favor. It was her particular way to show affection and how could I hold that against her?

And so the days continued on and seasons changed from one to another. Celestia said her first word not long after I managed to do so, which left our father feeling quite happy that she said ‘Dadda’ to him. I could already tell she would have him wrapped around her little hooves in no time.

Not unlike how I managed to wrap our mother around my hoof. What can I say, I was irresistible. Ponies, in general, had the great advantage of looking cute no matter what and I learned how to weaponize that.

Our parents managed to repair the house with no difficulties at all, even adding on to it. One of the new rooms would be used for magic practice and was, therefore, especially reinforced with wards and runes. I tried my best to understand what each rune meant that Mom set up, but it wasn’t an easy task that I set for myself. The only one I figured out was a force negation rune and that was only due to seeing the piece it was on fall down to the ground and not make a dent in the floor.

Our first birthday was a great and momentous occasion. Celestia absolutely loved the cake, practically devouring almost all of it were it not for Mom and Dad. I had no idea where she put all of that, she wasn’t even getting the slightest bit pudgy from overindulging in her eating habits.

For a birthday present, we both got matching armbands with sun motives. It was my most cherished treasure now, and Celestia never left our bed without it. Mom even enchanted it so it wouldn’t ever get destroyed and always fit around our fetlock, no matter how much larger we grew.

Then, weeks started to blur more together as our routine barely differed between days. Dad was out working our own little garden that could generously be called a small field. Mom took care of us most of the time when she wasn’t busy weaving new pieces of cloth, enchanting them while she did so. Tia still molested my ears and I continued to learn by observing my parents work.

Mother oftentimes let us watch from the porch as our dad did his work on the small field. We were cut off from any kind of civilization by quite the distance as I learned and lived a quiet and humble life without having to bother with what little I caught between our parents about the rising tensions between the pony tribes.

Apparently, even in this world, there was racism. Or tribalism, whatever it was actually called here. I just hoped it would stay far away from us. My parents shared my view of it being a stupid thing to get riled up over, especially as we found out that my sister and I were a mix between all three tribes and not as we originally thought a hybrid between unicorn and pegasus.

It was a shocking surprise to see my sister make a sizable dent in one of Dad’s tools with no effort at all. That brought out the scientist in our mom and we found out where our limits currently were. Suffice to say, we had the stamina of a fully grown pegasus mare, the strength of an earthpony stallion, and as we learned from my surge, the magical capacity to set the forest aflame if we really wanted to.

That brought about a frenzied redesign of our training room to make it more sturdy in case we got even stronger as we grew up.

Tia and I were playing around in the snow as winter arrived. Or so I thought, but my parents seemed to think that the snow shouldn’t have been possible. I wasn’t entirely sure why they thought it unnatural that it began to snow by itself.

By now we were old enough to actually speak coherent sentences and I noticed our mother gaining a little bit of weight. While I wanted to chalk it up for preparation for winter, I noticed the warm smiles she directed at her belly every once in a while.

I didn’t know how to feel about getting a little sibling and Celestia was, as it seemed, oblivious to what was going on. On the one hoof, I felt a little bit excited about getting a little sister or brother as I only had a big brother in my previous life. On the other hoof, though, I was getting a bit anxious with what I felt was a civil war looming on the horizon.

And as the months continued on unhindered, we noticed the winter didn’t want to go away. All the while our stored food reserves were slowly beginning to dwindle away.

“Mom, what’s going on? When will the snow be gone?” I asked her one day, by now a sizable bump was unmistakably showing on her, indicating that she was due any day now.

“I don’t know, my little Summer,” Mom smiled reassuringly down at me and my sister. We had grown a lot over the last few years and we were learning all kinds of things from our parents now. While the farm work had practically come to a stop, we still learned things from our dad about our pegasus heritage.

As it turns out, pegasi can control the weather. Which kinda clued me in on the reason why my parents thought this winter was unnatural. Everything in this world needed to be micromanaged, even the heavens as it turns out.

“When will Dad be back?” Celestia asked, staring longingly out the window. We had actually gotten around to trading for some of the glass panes with the distant village so we didn’t have to worry about the snowstorm getting into the house.

“Soon, dear,” Mom answered, also a bit worried by how long Dad was already out there getting firewood.

“Should we go look for him? What if he is lost?” I asked as panic set in and I hopped up beside my sister at the window sill, trying to look out for the lantern he took with him.

“Dear, I don’t think that is such a great idea,” Mom said, grunting slightly as she felt a kick in her womb. “Oh, dear, the little rascal is quite active today, huh?”

“Are you alright, Mom?” my sister and I asked at the same time. Celestia shot me a playful grin and I returned it with a smaller, concerned one.

“Yes, I’m good, my little Sunshines,” she said, although judging by the grimace, it was a lie. My ears splayed back in worry. If our little sibling came to the world now, all she would ever know is this little house and an eternal winter.

I didn’t want that at all, I thought grimly.

A thud at the door caught our attention as it opened up with our snow-covered dad stumbling in, chattering with his teeth as a small puffy cloud of air escaped his lungs. Tia and I ran up to him, asking him if he was okay and why it took him so long to return.

“No worries, my little fillies,” he answered us, shaking the snow from his body. “I was merely held up by some ponies getting close to our home.”

Mom looked at him in alarm hearing that little bit of news and even I felt like he wasn’t telling us the whole truth about that. That was something we really didn’t have the time to worry about, and who knew what their intentions were. I could tell that Dad hadn’t really talked with them, he was more of a silent observer if it came down to it.

“Dear, I... I think the water broke,” Mom suddenly interjected and I turned around in surprise seeing a puddle forming under her. I wanted to feel happy about this, but the looming threat of what I felt could only be raiders of some kind wasn’t easing my feelings about this.

“We will get through this,” Dad said, helping our mother to her hooves. “Girls, could you be so kind as to get some towels and a bowl of warm water?”

“On it, Dad!” we shouted, already scrambling to get the requested things as he led our mom to somewhere a bit more comfortable than the floor.

I filled the bowl with as much water as I thought we would need and heated it up with one of the charms my mother taught me. Turning, I saw Tia already with a veritable mountain of towels in her grip.

“Come on, Tia!” I said, galloping towards where I heard our mother scream at our dad that he was at fault for ‘knocking her up’ again and I could tell that my sister understood what she meant, her cheeks lighting up. Sadly, I also knew what that phrase meant and it left my white muzzle a deep cherry red.

Way to go, Mom, giving me these disgusting images. I wanted to gag at the thought of them, well, doing it, but I suppressed the urge. Now wasn’t the time for that, anyway.

Dad wanted to shoo us out of the room after we brought him the requested items, but I was insistent on staying with Mom and help keep her calm. Tia was a little bit scared, just as much as I was, although she stayed with us after seeing me not budge from our mother’s side.

And, as the hours passed well into midnight, pained screams turned into relieved laughs as our little sister finally came to the world. She had the hair color of our mother and a slightly lighter fur color, twinkling turquoise eyes stared out of the bundle of clothes Dad had wrapped her up in and babbling noises greeted us with a quiet fascination at what she saw around her.

“Celestia, Summer, meet your little sister, Luna Nocturnis,” my mom said, a proud smile looking down at the small filly.

“She looks just like you, Mom!” I giggled, as little Luna took the tip of my hoof in her mouth as I held it to her. Celestia also giggled at the sight, also wanting to greet her little sister.

“Continuing the trend of the family name, huh?” Dad chuckled, smiling just as bright as we did. “She certainly fits the name quite well, dear.”

“Oh, hush,” Mom shot back. “She is a Luna through and through, don’t tell me otherwise. How can I not name her like that when she looks almost exactly like my granny?”

“I didn’t say anything!” he countered, giving her a small pout that didn’t remotely work like he wanted it to. Mom, Celestia, and I snorted at his pathetic attempt to give us the puppy look.

“You’re hopeless, you know that?” Mom giggled and Dad just sulked a little bit more. “Stallions just can’t pull off a good pout.”

“You’re being mean to me,” he grumbled. “I can pout. My brother, for example, can’t resist it.”

“Yeah, but he is a pansy,” Mom shot back and Dad scowled before letting out a disgruntled sigh. “And don’t try denying it.”

“This argument is totally unfair in my opinion, though,” Dad muttered. “I can’t insult any of your siblings because somepony refuses to introduce me to their side of the family...”

“I’m... sorry, Argent,” Mom sighed, grimacing slightly. “I just... haven’t found the opportunity for that, yet?”

“It’s okay, Sky. You don’t have to introduce me to them if you don’t want to. Regardless of that, it seems our little Luna is also a combination of all three tribes, my dear,” Dad said. “It seems our little fillies are destined to live no ordinary lives.”

“I would have chalked it up to luck, but three cute little fillies like this? We must be blessed,” Mom commented, nuzzling both me and my sisters. I happily nuzzled my mother back, as did my sister.

The following days were wrought with chaos as little Luna had quite the pair of lungs. Celestia got a little bit jealous at all the attention going towards our newborn sister, but that was the least of our concerns right now.

The ponies our dad saw a few days ago had found our residence at the most inconvenient time possible. Father told us to hide with our mom, telling us to pack up as much food and fabrics as we could muster.

I had a bad feeling about this. Celestia and I were reluctantly doing what he told us, raiding the pantry and getting the thick blankets from our bedrooms. We stuffed them into the saddlebags we had lying around in one of the cabinets Dad had built over the years.

Tia and I tried to ignore the sounds from the front of the house as Mom ushered us out through the back. Luna was getting fitful in her sleep and I feared that if she were to awaken, she would give us away before we could make it to our storage shack to get the last saddlebag filled with the rest of the food.

The metallic sound of a sword being drawn made my heart stop. There was a brief sound of struggle and then... silence.

“Find the food and get back to camp,” a muffled voice said and my heart sunk further. He didn’t do what I thought he did, did he? Was... was Dad gone? Just like that? How... how could they be so mean and heartless and... and... cruel! This was not fair!

Daddy... why?!

My magic began to erect a tall barrier out of my blue magefire flames, the crackling spell taking on a mind of its own, and they slowly began to crawl up the outside wall of our house to slow our pursuers down. Tears streamed down all of our faces, even Celestia’s as I suspected she knew perfectly well Dad wouldn’t be coming with us.

Six years and I was already robbed of one of my parents because somepony thought it would be okay to take that which wasn’t theirs to take. Had they asked, I would have been happy to offer them something, but this was despicable. They were nothing but thieves and murderers, blinded by hatred and greed.

I didn’t pity the ones that tried coming after us as Mom wasn’t as kind with her magic as I was. Where I only created a barrier that would slowly consume the rest of the house, she activated one of the runes remotely and blew the entire building apart in vengeance.

She wasn’t the same afterward. She continued to retreat more and more into herself, a former shell of her loving self. It was hard getting her to move as we traveled further down south to hopefully find a place that wasn’t perpetually set in winter. Weren’t it for me and my sisters, I don’t think she would have had the will to live on for much longer.

It wasn’t like she stopped taking care of us, though. Mom’s behavior started to resemble that of a mindless zombie at most times, it was almost entirely mechanical in nature. It took me about a year to get her to talk once more and another one for us to find a place where the plant life wasn’t entirely covered in snow.

We slowly rebuild, Luna constantly asking where our dad was. I couldn’t get it over my heart to tell her the truth, honestly. Mom and Celestia couldn’t either. How did you tell your little sister that no, your dad hadn’t abandoned you and gave his life for your protection, instead? I certainly didn’t know how, so I just told her he would be back one day, not wanting to break her little heart so soon in her life.

I didn’t know whether this was a kindness or cruelty. Was it so bad of me for wanting to give her a little hope? I had no idea. Sometimes I just wanted to tell her the truth, but then I thought about how crushed she would be.

Never knowing your dad, that must be a hard thing for her.

As Luna turned four, she found out the truth as she listened in to one of our hushed conversations about how to tell her, if ever. She wasn’t pleased in the slightest by the news and ran away from our new home. It took all of my stamina and will to not lose her in the wilderness and as I found her, I saw some weird wooden wolf about to eat my little sister.

“Get away from her, you foul beast!” I shouted angrily, standing protectively over the small huddled form of my sister in a flash of teleportation. I didn’t know how I accomplished such a feat, but I was glad that my sister was still in one piece.

The same couldn’t be said about me.

The abomination managed to bite down on one of my outstretched forelegs as we struggled against each other. More howls could be heard in the distance and the frightened sobbing of my sister spurned on my magic as golden lances of arcane energy ripped the monster apart in front of me.

“Are you okay, Luna?” I asked, the adrenalin I was currently experiencing a rush from suppressed the agony of my wound somewhat.

“Summer, you’re hurt!” she cried, feeling guilty that she had been the cause of that. I didn’t hold it against her, though. She was upset and we had lied to her for so long, it should be me that was apologizing to her.

“Oh, my little Luna,” I smiled gently. “This is nothing I can’t recover from. More importantly, are you able to walk? Show me that leg, please.”

“I stumbled,” she whispered, holding her sprained ankle towards me so I could inspect it. I grimaced slightly at the bruise swelling on it. I don’t think she managed to break it, but better safe than sorry.

“Come on, climb atop of my back,” I told her, lowering myself to her side. “We have to get out of here before more of these things find us.”

“Sister, look out!” Luna shouted frightened and I turned to see the thing I had ripped apart mere seconds ago reassemble itself like nothing happened to it in the first place. My eyelid twitched at the bullshit in front of me. What were those things?!

The thing let out a deep howl and others of its kind answered in return. Soon after that, we were surrounded by a whole hunting pack of these... timberwolves. I don’t think I could fight them in the conventional way and if I were to set them on fire, it would cause more harm than good. If the whole forest were to be set ablaze we would be as good as dead.

“This is bad...” I muttered, trying to keep these abominations away with my magic. Luna was hiding behind my front legs as I felt my energy dwindle more and more with each prod from our adversaries. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold them off without a solution to our problem.

“I’m so sorry, Summer,” Luna mumbled between hiccups. “If I hadn’t ran...”

“Don’t feel sorry for that,” I grunted, the adrenalin slowly beginning to lose its effect. I had to throw up a full bubble shield as one of the things managed to somehow climb a tree to ambush us. I swear, if they were part cat, I’m gonna light them on fire regardless of the risks. “It’s my fault for leading you on that Dad would come back one day. I should have been honest with you, I’m sorry.”

“What are we going to do now?” Luna asked me, shrinking back as she saw one of their snapping faces break through a part of the shield. “We’re trapped!”

“Let me think for a minute or two,” I told her, still coming up with blanks. If I just knew how I did that teleportation in the first place! Although, I had no idea if I could take anypony with me... I couldn’t leave Luna here like this. I wouldn’t leave another member of my family behind like my dad!

A pulse of my mana heard my determination, tugging at my horn like I had never felt before. Instinctively, my magic reached out to one of the wolves and raging flames disintegrated it into dust. That little feat of destruction left me wheezing afterward, though.

“I don’t think we have a minute,” Luna quietly commented and I saw another timberwolf claw away at the gap the other one made. I bit my lip, feeling that my mana pool would only be able to support two more of those spells from before.

“When I tell you to run, you run,” I said to Luna, my voice dead serious. “And don’t look back.”

“I’m not going to leave you!” she stubbornly shot back.

“And I’m not asking you. I’m ordering you as your big sister. Do as I say!”

In the next moment, I let the barrier fall, shot two of the bastards between the eyes with the spell, and threw Luna in the direction of our home, telling her to go as fast as she could.

I tried to kick the remaining three away as best as I could, but the exhaustion was already getting to me. One of them managed to throw me against one of the trees, knocking the wind out of me. My vision swam and I saw the little figure of Luna stand protectively in front of me.

My heart sank as my ears picked up on the sound of their approaching figures.

No. Not like this. Not my little Luna, anypony but her!

The last dredges of my mana reached out to my sister, hoping beyond hope that a miracle would happen. I didn’t want it to end like this. My sweet Luna can’t die here, I refuse to let that happen!

A flickering light answered my call and little Luna was whisked away in a brief flash, bringing her towards safety. So, that was how it worked... I feel so dumb now. Passion was the key opening the way, determination was the link between here and there, and desire the trigger to cast the spell. A teleport spell of my very own design. Too bad it was the last thing I could do before my vision began to darken.

Before everything went black on me, I saw was a figure that looked so much like Luna, I almost forgot that it was my mother.

And she looked furious, a storm of mana following her wake.

The next moments I remembered were a blur, but they were all back at home with my family safe and sound. Luna played the little nurse as my feverish self was confined to bed rest. Whatever was in that saliva from the timberwolves really didn’t agree with my body, at all.

Celestia constantly made me soup, spoon-feeding me on every occasion she got. It was kinda cute how my sisters fought over who would do what to help me recover from this sickness. I just wished they would stop being so loud about it, and judging by the irritated expression of our mother, she agreed with me on that.

“Say ‘Ah!’,” Luna said, the spoon held aloft in her light blue magic aura while one of her hooves was shoved into the muzzle of my twin. They had wrestled for control of the spoon, Luna having used a dirty trick to win against her. Flicking one’s horn while casting magic was not a pleasant experience. I rolled my eyes tiredly and opened my mouth, swallowing the rest of the soup with a little bit of difficulty.

“Now, let her rest, Luna. She needs the quiet just as much as I,” our mother said, taking the bowl and spoon from my little sister. Luna pouted, although she did hop reluctantly off the bed as a stern stare from our mother told her to do what she said or there would be no cookies come the next morning. Mom made the best cookies, so whenever we felt like she threatened us with not making more of them we quickly became obedient. The power of sugar, it cannot be underestimated. “Sleep well, my little Summer.”

I nodded tiredly, absentmindedly noting that Celestia stayed at my bedside watching over me with a small smile. Sleep overtook me not soon after and it wasn’t a very restful experience. Sweat poured from my body in rivers and the few moments that I found myself slightly awake I felt the eyes of my twin staring at me as I shivered a lot from the fever. Her strong legs held me tightly against her chest and the aura of her magic stroked slowly through my mane in a calming effect.

The mornings blended into each other as I sometimes felt better and on other days even worse than before. I was lucky to have such doting sisters and a loving mother, even though sometimes their concern felt a little bit over the top, in my opinion. I don’t know why both of my sisters felt like they needed to compete over who took care of me, so I just silently bore with it to keep them happy.

It was getting weird, though. They continued to act like this even as my fever went away and we got older. Both of them offered to do the most menial tasks for me so I wouldn’t ‘strain myself’ as if I was unable to do those things myself. That certainly managed to make me feel useless at times. Thankfully, Mom helped me beat that mindset out of them by the time Celestia and I turned thirteen.

Our education picked up after that. After we had managed to reconstruct our little training chamber, Mom taught us how to fight for real. I had no idea where she had learned most of this stuff from, as some of it seemed eerily efficient in subduing, or rather, killing other beings with the least amount of movements needed.

The past of our mother was shrouded in mysteries and after Dad died, she didn’t seem particularly keen on opening up about it. And she knew a whole plethora of spells that could be repurposed for going to war with a small nation. She even taught us how to use anything as a makeshift weapon.

I was concerned about why she knew so many ways to incapacitate somepony. The only ponies, or rather people, that I knew of that had such a particular skill set didn’t use it for good. Although Mom never seemed like the type to be an assassin, I also never thought that she would have been so well versed in the craft.

Dad’s passing made her rethink having kept that side from her family for so long. And as it turns out, our family wasn’t some super-secret spy family or any other such nonsense. No, on one particular evening I learned the truth from her as she had partaken in a little bit too much alcohol.

“You know, I ran away from home to be with your dad,” Mom slurred, not turning from her seat at the window as I entered her room to check up on her. Every year on the same day she would lock herself away in her own room.

Today was the day Dad sacrificed himself to buy us enough time to escape the raiders on that fateful day. Would I have been old enough, I’m sure I would be sitting beside her. But seeing my mother stare out forlornly into the distance changed my mind over the usefulness of alcohol.

This wasn’t her, this drunken mare wallowing in self-pity. This was a broken mare that put on a brave face for her daughters for the rest of the year. Somepony that blamed herself for not having stood beside her husband when he needed her most. I didn’t blame her, I sometimes felt just as bad as she felt now. Especially today.

“Why would you need to do that?” I asked her gently. My mother gave out a scoff, snorting in amusement at whatever she found so funny about what I said.

“Come on, my smart little filly, you can figure it out,” she grinned, but her eyes looked so empty in contrast that it sent shivers down my spine. “Why would somepony run away from home?”

“Your parents...” I whispered, narrowing my eyes in thought. “They didn’t approve? No... that is just part of the reason. If they didn’t approve you didn’t have to run away...”

“Getting there, warmer and warmer,” Mom commented, taking another swig of whatever poison she decided would make this day more bearable for her. To my nostrils, it smelled quite strong and sweet. “Go on, little Summer.”

“I... always found it strange that you never told us you were so skilled in the art of war, scarily good even...” I muttered, thinking back on all the times we had spent in the new training room by now. Luna was already getting curious about what we did in there for so long. A few years and I’m sure she will find out firsthoof. “Normally I would attribute this to someone having been trained as an assassin.”

“Ah, getting colder again, my dear,” my mother told me. “I’m no assassin if that is what you were wondering.”

“Then... what else could it be?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, dear Summer... My little Sunshine...” Mom giggled, nudging my horn with a hoof. “Think a bit harder, I know you can.”

“It has something to do with that tribalism going on up north, hasn’t it?” I stated, not asking for confirmation. “That could explain the running away, but what about the combat knowledge?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” she slurred, drinking once more from her beverage. “That is part of the answer, so what is the rest?”

“I don’t think any ordinary pony is just able to learn what you have learned, what you’re teaching us...” I said, connecting a few more dots in my mind. I had a working theory, but that would mean...

“Go on...” Mom prodded, smiling wistfully now. I gulped at the thought of voicing my theory. She waited patiently for me to continue as I thought of more possibilities, but I knew those were just half-baked attempts at avoiding the truth.

“You... are part of the nobility, aren’t you?” I asked, not enjoying the bitter taste it left in my mouth. Earth was a great teacher in that those of ‘noble’ descent couldn’t be trusted with power and the ongoing conflict up north was just further proof to that. The first few generations of nobility might still uphold the ideals that got them their position in the first place, but the longer they held such a position the greedier they always got.

Not that all of the nobility was like that on Earth and possibly here, those were sadly in the minority, though. Arrogance was like a disease that plagued those with wealth and power, lacking the kindness and generosity I held so dear to my heart. Perhaps the saying of those reluctant to rule being the best at it is true after all. Someone of humble origins lacking the drive to subjugate their peers was a better fit for the position as the one that got everything handed to them, feeling no compassion with those around them.

“But... why the excessive need to know how to,” I had to gulp at the thought, not liking it one bit. “...kill somepony? In what way is that needed for somepony of the nobility?”

“The crux of the matter, isn’t it?” my mother commented. “Why, oh why, would mother dearest know how to kill anything that stands in her way?”

“I...” stuttering, I looked upon her with horror. “I don’t believe this... There is no way that could be...”

“Oh, it is as you think, my dear,” she answered, voice darkened with spite and vengefulness. “I never told your father because I thought he would hate me. And I never wanted to tell you, but here we are.”

“... but why would your own family?”

“You see, my little Summer,” she began. “My family was a poisonous bunch, the only one with a lack of greed had been my grandmother, Lunaria Solitas. She was the rock I desperately clung to as my own mother and father fashioned me into a weapon to take the throne with.”

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” I whispered, embracing her in a tearful hug.

“There, there,” Mom said, patting my back as I fought with my breath to not start sobbing like the not so little child I still was. “It’s in the past now and your grandparents learned their lesson, I’m sure.”

“So, you named Luna after your grandmother?” I asked after we stayed like this for a while.

“Well, yes. But also after me, or have you forgotten the name of your own mother, my little Sunshine?” she answered, a little mischievous glint in her eyes. A moment later I was on my back laughing uncontrollably as she tickled me with the help of her magic. “Whatever shall I do for your punishment?”

“St-Stop! Please! I-I beg you!” I continued to laugh, my breathing coming in gasps and wheezes.

“What does one say when they apologize?” she teased me and I begged on, trying to crawl away from her. “I’m certain it was along the lines of ‘I am sorry’, or am I wrong?”

“N-no! Please!” I giggled, feeling some of my discarded feathers join in on the assault. “Tia! Tia, help me!”

“Oh, no calling for help, my dear. I taught you better than that,” Mom told me, booping me on the muzzle with a hoof. The door to her bedroom opened and the inquisitive head of my twin sister appeared in the doorway.

“What is going on?” Celestia asked us, confused. I sent her a pleading gaze as my mother continued the feathery torture, hoping that she would come to my rescue.

“Oh? Another one for the tickle goddess?” our mother cackled and quickly captured my struggling sister with her magic.

“No! Summer, why!?” my sister sent me a glare before she, too, was at the unmerciful touch of our captor. “I’m never, *snerk*, coming to help you again!”

“I-I’m sorry!” I whined, exhausted from all the laughing. At least Luna was spared from this embarrassment.

It took a bit of time but eventually, mother got bored of hearing us plead for mercy. Our foalhood days were coming to a close and with that came the most embarrassing and confusing time in all of my life.

Being a teenager again going through puberty, ugh.

Author's Notes:

Poor daddy...