Familia 4: Beaches and Shores.


                                            =Familia 4=


                                            >You wiggle your toes in the soft sand as you walk along the simple path up the dune hill.

                                            >Between your legs is a blur of action, your girls barely able to contain themselves. At least, one of them was.

                                            >”IthinkIhearitraceyou!” Celestia shouts, bolting off to the top of the hill.

                                            >”Tiiiaaaaaa!” Luna cries as she gallops after.

                                            “Girls! Stay where I can see you!” you shout.

                                            >”Okaaaay!”

                                            >”Yes daddy!”

                                            >You hike your bag up further on your back and hurry along. The top of the dune offers a spectacular view of the gentle waves of the ocean crashing gently along the shore. Down the miles of untouched beach and around to a small peninsula, you spotted rock formations and caves along easy cliff sides.

                                            >The girls, even little Luna who’d grown more restrained than her sister in the years, stood in awe.

                                            >”It’s so big!” Celestia exclaims.

                                            >”We did not think it t’would be so…wow…” Luna says.

                                            >You chuckle to yourself and walk past them, unwedging the umbrella you’d made from your pack and digging it into the ground.

                                            >”What’s that for, daddy?” Celestia asks as she looks the device over. You expand the umbrella from the pole with a FWUMP. Celestia jumps back in shock and kicks her forelegs before she falls on her butt.

                                            >Luna and you both share a laugh while Celestia puffs her cheeks up and pouts.

                                            “Hehe…sorry sweetheart.” You say kneeling down to her level. “As for your question, can you tell me what the temperature is?”

                                            >Celestia blinks once. “Hot?”

                                            “Very, and you know why, don’t you?”

                                            >Celestia points up at the sun in the sky.

                                            “You got it.”

                                            >Your partner’d been telling you via letter what the girls were meant to do, so you’d started basic astrology with them.

                                            >You unfurl a towel along the sand and take a seat on it with your bag.

                                            “So this umbrella is to make shade to keep us cool, understand?

                                            >Celestia and Luna both look up at the shape of the umbrella itself, you see Luna mouthing out the word and chewing it over


                                            “But the other way is right over there.” You say.

                                            >The girls turn and look to the ocean and at least one of their faces lights up like the sun on a snowy mountain.

                                            >”CAN WE FOR REAL?!” Celestia asks.

                                            >”Is it safe…?” Luna asks.

                                            “You can play in it as long as you want and yes, it is perfectly safe. Just don’t go out too far and stay where I can see you, okay?”

                                            >Celestia zips over to you faster than you can blink and hugs you. “Thisisthebestdaddythankyou!” she gets out before rushing off in her little pink swimsuit to the water.

                                            >Luna backs away from the cloud of sand her sister kicked up and nervously rubs her hooves together against her little blue suit. She sometimes got nervous when she was being looked at.

                                            >”I’m uhm…I sh-shall-“

                                            “Have fun, sweetheart.”

                                            >She blinks in surprise and hides her face behind her hair. “Yes, thank you papa…”

                                            >You lean back onto your hands and watch the girls in the water. Celestia was having the time of her life, leaping over the small shin-high waves and bucking the ones that came up to her. A particularly large wave approached her and the little filly quickly learned how to brace herself for a wave crash, albeit only after she was thoroughly soaked by it and spitting water out.

                                            >”It tastes like snot!” she cried.

                                            “That’s the salt-water, hun!”

                                            >”You would know that if you read papa’s books.” Luna said letting the water roll over her fetlocks.

                                            >”I ready!” Celestia shouts.

                                            >Oh no.

                                            “Girls. No fighting.” You say.

                                            >”Yes sir…” the two fillies say in unison.

                                            >Celestia leaves the water and rushes over to you, tugging your arm and giving you her sparkling eyes. “Daddy! Come on! Let’s play!”

                                            >You laugh and let yourself get pulled up, grabbing a toy ball from your bag.

                                            “Alright, alright…watch for jellyfish!”


                                            “Up high!” you say.

                                            >You fling your arm up and toss the ball high into the sky so it frames perfectly in the sun.

                                            >Celestia shoots up from your legs into the air and snatches the ball out of the air in her mouth. She extends her wings and rides along the costal air currents, drifting down to the water slowly and safely.

                                            “Ooop!”

                                            >You sidestep a bit and position yourself to catch Celestia in your arms. The little filly giggles as you hug her to you and pet her mane.

                                            >In the time since you took the girls in, you had faced many tough days, but you always enjoyed your time with Celestia. Perhaps it was due to her slight advantage in age or simply her sunny disposition, but the two of you simply connected.

                                            >That wasn’t to say you didn’t love Luna as well, but you were personally fearful you didn’t know how to handle her. In the years as she grew, she had become more reserved and inquisitive as time had gone on. You were never the cleverest sort and sometimes you felt you were talking to someone twice your age, not nearly a third it. You had snuck into her room at night sometimes to read from her books just so you could engage with her, but Luna seemed content to manage herself most times, it seemed, and you wanted to give her space.

                                            >Speaking of, you look away from Celestia for a moment to keep your eye on Lu-

                                            >No.

                                            >You whip your head back to your umbrella and all along the beach as the icy grip of terror wraps itself around your stomach.

                                            “No…no!”

                                            >You run onto the beach and set Celestia down near the umbrella, looking over the dunes.

                                            “Luna!...LUNA!”

                                            >Celestia pulls her wings close and steps back a bit. “Daddy, you’re scaring me…”

                                            “Honey, stay at the umbrella and DON’T MOVE from it, okay? Don’t leave the shade.”

                                            >”O-okay!”

                                            >You kiss her on the head and then run off down the beach, calling Luna’s name.


                                            “Luna…LUNA!” You shout with your hands cupped around your mouth.

                                            “COME ON, BLUEBERRY! ANSWER ME!”

                                            >You turn your head back towards your campsite silhouetted against the setting sun for the tenth time to make sure it was still there. Celestia’s shadow is stretched against the sand and you see her give a tentative wave.

                                            >How could you lose her?

                                            >She was more than your charge or your ward by now, she was one of your little girls. She was the one who you had to coax out of and into bed each night but loved her baths and called you papa. Her favorite food was spaghetti and her favorite color was purple. She was your littlest girl and if she was hurt you’d-

                                            “LUUUUUNNNNNNAAAAAA!” you cry out again until your voice gives out.

                                            >You pant on the top of the rock you stood on, nothing but the sound of your breath, the ocean, and seagulls in your ears.

                                            >Along with a faint, echo-y “Whaaaaaat?” from below.

                                            >Your head jerks up and you run to the edge of the cliff. You lay on the grass and look into the mouth of the cave who’s ceiling made the hill you stood on.

                                            “LUNA?!”

                                            >”Papa?” you head from the cave.


                                            “LUNA WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

                                            >”I am fine, Papa. Is something the matter?”

                                            “STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!”

                                            >You push yourself to your feet and haul ass down the hill in record time. The cave mouth was about as tall as your house and the bottom of its lip was partially submerged in water, you dash through it and onto the rocks inside, descending deeper into the cave. Over the tongue of the cave mouth, you spot a cobalt glow along a flat portion of rock.

                                            “LUNA!”

                                            >”Papa! Come look what I have found!”

                                            >You run up to her and begin looking her over. No cuts or bruises or scuffmarks anywhere while she illuminated the ponds in the floor.

                                            >”These tidal pools create a small ecosystem in this cave totally devoid of sunlight! Look at the little fishies with their big eyes to see in the dark!”

                                            >Science could wait. You kneel down and scoop her up.

                                            “Luna I was worried sick!”

                                            >”Papa! The fieshes!”

                                            “Where WERE you, little filly? You can’t just go wandering off like that!”

                                            >”But papa-!”

                                            “No buts! You can’t go out of my sight like that Luna, not ever.”

                                            >Luna hangs her head and casts her eyes down. “Yes papa…”


                                            >Once you got back to the umbrella, you decided it was time to head home.

                                            >Celestia was exhausted from all the commotion, so she took refuge in your backpack and nodded off.

                                            >Luna meanwhile trots alongside you, still looking down at the ground.

                                            >The silence as you walked home was deafening.

                                            >You sigh.

                                            “Luna, I’m not mad at you…”

                                            >”Thou certainly sounded it…” she whines.

                                            “Papa was scared, Lulu. You weren’t there when I looked over and that scared me a lot.”

                                            >”We were only in the cave…you could have seen us go in…”

                                            “But I didn’t, Luna.”

                                            >”Because though were busy playing with Celestia.”

                                            >That stung you more than you thought. You barely noticed the time melt away when you were playing with Celestia. How much time was there between when you looked at Luna? How early did she even leave? What did you miss with one daughter because you were so engrossed with the other?

                                            “…I’m sorry, sweety. Papa messed up.”

                                            >Luna kicks a rock at her feet. “…We are sorry for worrying you. Next time we will tell your with all due haste.”

                                            “Just promise me you’ll ask for permission, Lulu. And I promise that I’ll never let Celestia have so much of my attention that I miss something as important as you again, okay?”

                                            >Luna nod.

                                            “I love you, little moon.”

                                            >”I love you, too, papa…” she says, nuzzling along your leg.

                                            >You bend down and pick her up, holding her under one arm as you begin to reach the trees by your home.

                                            “Celestia is asleep, how about we have our time and you tell me about the fishes?”

                                            >Luna beams a smile to rival her sisters’ “They were so interesting! They have bigger eyes to see in the dark, and the plants produce their own light in the shadows…”

                                            >You smile and walk along the path home, giving Luna her special kind of attention.