Luna and Celestia moved into the former's room, trying to deduce what to take with them to their new retirement home. The Princess of the Day moved about her sister's belongings, attempting to locate one of Luna's beloved books. She loved reading, even more than Celestia did. Her personal library was filled with thousands of tomes, and she had read every single one of them. She was one of the smartest ponies in all Equestria, and sometimes Celestia harbored a great deal of disappointment that Luna had never taught in her school. But Luna was not the teaching type, and she had to sleep during the day.

Celestia nosed her way through some dusty knickknacks before finally coming up with the correct paperback. She floated it out of its hiding place and set it down in front of Luna. "Oh, thank you, Tia!" Her sister said happily as she hugged her. "I don't know what I would've done if this little beauty had been lost forever."

"What's so special about 'The Extensive Etymology of the Term 'Horn?'" Celestia asked. She really was puzzled. While learning about the origin of the word 'horn' could be a fascinating pastime, she found it odd that somepony would have gone to the trouble of publishing an exhaustive concordance on the subject. Moreover, she found it even more odd that her sister was in such a panic over something so monotonous.

"It's not the book itself that I'm concerned with," Luna said, "it's what's inside that I couldn't lose." She used her hoof to pry open the volume and there, sitting amongst the pages, was a certain picture. Celestia immediately recognized it and her eyes filled with happy tears as millions of memories flooded her mind. "Luna…this is-"

"A picture of you and I when we were nothing more than fillies."

Celestia sighed, "I remember those happy days."

"Me too," Luna nodded, "I was thinking over them while I was packing this stuff and I remembered that I had stashed this portrait in this book. When I couldn't find it, I became frantic. I don't want to lose that part of our lives, Celestia. We were never closer to each other than we were as fillies. I miss those days so much."

"As do I," Celestia said, "and that's part of the reason why we're retiring. I want to feel close to you again, my sister. I want that same bond we had when we were kids."

Luna chuckled, "do you remember what it was like to be a filly? I remember most of it, but it's been so long that the finer details have slipped from my grasp."

"Yes, I do remember. I remember being there the minute you were born, Luna…"

"…Push! Push!" Dr. Hoof Set ordered. The young mare in front of him was about to give birth to her second filly in two years. The pregnancy had been rough, and there had been numerous times where she had nearly miscarried. But the foal had survived and was now ready to make its grand entrance into the world.

"You've got to push, Heather Hoof! Push! Please, push!"

Heather screamed and grunted. She had felt a lot of pain during her first delivery, but this second one was murderous. Her mind felt like it was in a pool of agony as she cried aloud. Against her better judgment, and without complete control of her faculties, she began cursing the pain. The doctor understood her mental state and didn't judge her for it.

"Heather, think of your foal! You've got to push! Push! Push!"

With one final scream, the foal finally popped out and she sat back in relief, but still in a good deal of pain. The doctor took the foal over to the midwife, who began administering aid to it. He then returned to the young mother. "You did it, Heather Hoof. Congratulations!"

Heather breathed hard as she tried to regain control of herself. "Is it a colt…or a filly?" She asked between breaths. She already had one filly, and she was dying to know if she had another one. "It's a filly!" The midwife announced after a thorough examination. Heather gave a tired smile. She would have been happy with either gender, but a small part of her wanted another filly.

The midwife brought the small one over to where Heather lay and gently placed her in her hooves. She cradled her new daughter close and took note of her color pattern. She was a deep, dark blue. Her tiny horn peeked out from a bundle of light blue hair. She sneezed and opened her eyes. Her mother gasped at just how pretty her bright blue eyes were. Just like your father… She told herself.

"So, Heather, do we get to know who the father of this one is?" Hoof Set asked.

"No," she said, "it's not for you to know. The filly's here and that's all that matters. My little one…"

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open and another filly zoomed in, anxious to meet the new pony. This pony had a snow white coat and a pretty pink mane. She also had eyes of the brightest fuchsia. "Mommy! Mommy!" The young one squeaked, "I wanna see her! I wanna see her!"

"Shh!" Heather softly, yet sternly commanded her other daughter, "in a moment, Sunbeam. She's resting right now."

Sunbeam Bright Hoof the Third, better known by her nickname of Beam, stood aside and tried to patiently wait. But the waiting was hard, and the 2-year-old filly felt like time slowed to a trickle. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she was allowed to peer into the small bundle and see her sister for the first time.

"Wow…" Beam said, "she has Daddy's eyes." She knew the importance of keeping her father's identity a secret from everypony, but she still didn't understand why. After all, her father was one of the most important ponies in all of Equestria. She didn't know that, were other ponies to find out her father's identity, they might never respect him again. He had sworn himself to Equestria, and that meant never getting married. Other ponies looked to him to lead them instead of having a familial life of his own. "Equestria is my family," he'd very often say, "and they are enough for me."

But Beam didn't know all of this, so she just thought her parents didn't want to be together. That thought often caused her to break down in tears. Her young emotions didn't know how to deal with this idea. She thought pony parents were supposed to love each other, enough to get married and stay together forever. She loved the idea of marriage, and she hoped to find her own stallion one day.

"Yes, she does have a lot of your father's features," Heather said, "but we must keep it quiet. Remember, it's nopony's business who your father is. All they need to know is that-"

"-we are good and friendly fillies," Beam finished. "Mommy, I know that. I just wish you and Daddy would get married and stay together."

"You know very well that isn't an option," her mother said, "I know you love marriage, sweetie, and I do, too. I wish I could be in a position to marry your father. But, sometimes these things just don't fall into place. Rest assured that your father and I love each other and you, too. We don't need a piece of paper from the Equestrian government to prove that."

She gently bent down and kissed her beloved daughter on the top of her head. Beam giggled as her mother's kiss filled her with warmth. She was surrounded by Heather's love and devotion, and she knew that she would never, ever lose it.