“Rise an’ shine, sleepy 'ead!” The familiar chipper voice of Aria’s older sister violently wrenches her from the pleasant dream she had been having, just before her eyes are pried open by Roisin Sunshine’s hooves, leaving her to have her vision overwhelmed by the beaming face of the older bicorn staring into her own eyes, far too close.
Such a scene would probably have been rather startling, if she wasn’t entirely too used to being woken in such a manner. Even so, didn’t Sunshine seem particularly energized this morning?
“C'mon, ya'll don't wanna be late ta yer own namin' ceremony, do ya?” Sunshine asks, grinning ear to ear.
“Oh, of course!” The lightbulb clicks on in Aria’s head as she leaps clean into the air and bolts over to the window. The sun is still below the horizon, she hadn’t missed it. With the fog of sleep dissipated by excitement, memory of what today was for quickly returns. “C’mon, when do we start?” The excited green eyes of the filly find her sister again, who giggles in response.
“Ah sure am glad t'see somepony around ‘ere is jus’ as excited as ah am! Ah Already got Torri up, so we’re jus’ waiting on you now, lil sis!” Sunshine jerks with her head towards the door.
Aria scarcely needs any more urging, all thought of sleep utterly wiped from her mind as the excitement of the day overcomes her. She’d had years to look forward to this; her tenth birthday, when she would finally get to choose her second name! Racing from her bedroom on the second floor, Aria bounces down the stairs after her big sister, closer to a bounding hop like a bunny than any kind of proper canter or gallop.
Waiting for her downstairs, despite the early hour, is the third sibling; Torrent Oakleaf Rhodi, or affectionately, just ‘Torri’.. Smiling warmly, he trots on over to Aria, gently ruffling her forest green mane with one hoof. “G'mornin', lil sis! Ah sure hope yer as excited fer taday as ah am! Mah little sister, all grown up an' gettin' her very own chosen name. Ah'm Sure Sunny is jus' as excited as me, ta 'ear what ya come up with. But sit down an' have breakfast with us firs'. Don't want a hungry stomach interruptin' the ceremony, now do ya”
Aria beams up at him, hopping from hoof to hoof excitedly. She knows the name she would pick, of course, but by tradition it was a secret until the ceremony itself. Ordinarily a ponies parents had veto rights, in case a colt or filly chose a name that they’d find embarrassing when older, but Aria didn’t particularly need to worry about that possibility.
Hopping into her seat, Aria scoots it forwards, peering up onto the counter to see what was for breakfast. Rather than a normal meal of oatmeal-not that Aria had anything against oatmeal, but it was very standard-Torrent Oakleaf had made her waffles drizzled in rhubarb jam made with honey, and slices of strawberry. The filly grins broadly at the sight and happily dives in to munch on her meal.
All the while, Roisin Sunshine had not stopped bouncing around the table, until finally Torrent reaches out one hoof in her path to stop here. “Alrighty now sis, ah think it’s high time you settled down. You need yer food jus’ as much as the birthday girl here.”
Sunshine squeals. “Ah know, ah know, ahm just so excited! Mah baby sis ain’t a little filly no more.” Sunshine wipes a tear from her eye as she finally stills herself enough to sit down at the table, and dig in with just as much gusto as Aria if not more.
With food devoured, and the sun on the way up, Torrent ushers both of his younger sisters to wash their faces off so that they can look appropriate for the ceremony, before leaving to take his proper place, far on the other side of the barn, at the makeshift shrine the siblings had erected.
“Are ya ready, Aria?” Sunshine asks, smiling delicately at her little sister while she places the traditional wreath of bound daisies onto her head. Aria glances up at the flowers at the edge of her vision.
“You Betchya!” She chirps, before giving a sheepish look. “...Ah hope that you an’ Torri like what I’ve picked out…” She paws at the ground a little, anxiously.
Sunshine giggles and leans forward to nuzzle the fillies cheek. “Ahm sure it’ll be jus’ amazing, sis, just like you.” Gently, she places a kiss on Aria’s forehead, and the filly blushes, eyes darting this way and that as if worried somepony had seen.
Finally, as the sun crests above the horizon, the time has come. Sunshine slowly walks Aria out, to the tiny little shrine the family had erected out in the backyard, near a pair of grave-sites. Torrent is standing sentinel off to the side, smiling wistfully at the approaching ponies. It seems almost like a miracle that Sunshine had managed to slow down enough to keep pace with her younger sister, considering how apparently bursting with energy she is, bouncing almost in place as she goes, eyes dilated and eager.
Stopping on the dirt path heading up towards the shrine, Aria pauses between the two gravesites, turning to each one for a quiet prayer. “Hey, Mom. Hey, pops. Ah’m sorry ya didn’t git to see me growin’ up, but Torri an’ Sunny ‘ave been takin’ real good care o’ me. Sos... You can rest easy. Ah wish you could be ‘ere.” Aria tears up a little, bowing her head by the two gravesites. “Ah wish I got to meetcha. Bro an’ sis dun like talking about it much, ah think it makes ‘em sad. ...Well, ah’d better go an’ do this here thing, huh? Ah shouldn keep tha great seedling in suspense. Ah hope yer watchin’ me, too, wherever you are.”
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Caught up in her monologue, Aria misses the knowing, ominous gazes that her siblings give eachother, or the shadows that pass over even the normally indefatigable Roisin Sunshine’s face. By the time she’s looked up again and opened her eyes, both of them are back to normal, waiting for her to continue.
Taking a deep breath, Aria takes the final steps up onto the makeshift shrine, little more than an arch interwoven with vines and a pedestal underneath it. Normally, a filly would perform the ritual naming in a more public space surrounded by friends, extended family, and whatever strangers happened to be in the town square on that day. But, with how far the Rhodi siblings lived from the nearest village, as well as Torrent’s general preference for privacy, it was just the three of them.
Resting upon the pedestal, is an official-looking piece of aged paper, with some kind of floral design around the sides. Lifting the quill left for her, Aria pauses for a long moment before finally inscribing her name upon it.
Aria Everbloom Rhodi.
Smiling and taking the document in her mouth, Aria turns around to look at her two older siblings. “Hi! Nice to meetcha, ahm Aria Everbloom Rhodi!” She reintroduces herself, presenting the paper to the two of them.
Torrent smiles warmly, and pulls Aria in for a hug. “Ah couldn’t think of a mor perfect name for you, lil sis. Everbloom indeed.”
"You betchya! A pleasure to meetcha, Everbloom!" Sunshine giggles, joining the hug. "Ahm Sunshine!" She gives a characteristic goofy, coy smile to the filly. "Ahm sure we'll get along jus' dandy."
The newly-christened Everbloom closes her eyes, basking in the affectionate embrace for a long moment before Torrent finally steps back, and withdraws a small pendant- A stone disk, connected to a hoof-smithed chain long enough to drape around the neck. One of only a tiny hooffull of magical items still available to the peasantry, a makeshift artificial Seal made in imitation of the magical artifacts manifested by the nobility upon their Ascension.
Unlike those true seals, this hoof-carved pendant, constructed with care by her very own older brother, possesses no real power. But the very process of crafting one for a pony you cared for did bestow one magical property upon it; Although nopony had written or carved the letters in, the disk is inscribed with her new name. Lowering her head, she closes her eyes and feels the chain link settle around her neck as Torrent hangs the pendant.
Aria feels a tension she didn’t realize she was holding in her chest release, as she raises her head once more just in time to feel Sunshine running a hoof through her mane, giggling.
Smirking, Sunshine lowers herself to eye level with the filly, eyes darting back towards their residence invitingly. “Now, what d’you say we go an’ open some presents? Ah think you’ll be mighty pleased with what we’ve got for ya this year.”
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Rooting through the darkness of the barn, another pony, not far off from Aria’s age, was already searching for a present for himself.
But to him, the presents, however nice they might be, are nothing more than junk. The only sound emitting from him is the growling of his stomach, as he frowns intensely. Just where did they keep the food?
Moonshadow scrunches up his face, staggering on his feet as a feeling of wooziness comes over him, a more than familiar sensation. It was a feeling that had followed him his entire life, the one thing that drove him on and on; endless hunger.
The door behind him creaks open, shedding morning sunlight into the room. Moonshadow looks back, freezing up in place as he finds himself looking directly into the eyes of a much older pony, with a dusty brown coat, pale dappling and two S-curved horns stretching upwards.
The other pony moves first, scowling and charging at him. Moonshadow tries to run, but he barely gets two steps before that feeling of faintness resurges and he stumbles over his own hooves, his vision going blurry. The next thing he knows, he’s locked in a headlock, pinned down against the ground.
“Just wot d’you think yer doing with mah sisters presents?” The hostile voice of the stallion barks out, eyes narrowed in suspicious anger.
Moonshadow loosely flails his split hooves at his assailant. “Lemme go! I-I didn’t do anything!” he shouts out, despite the fact that he had been caught red hoofed trying to steal from the farmers.
“Torri? Wot in tarnation is goin’ on in there?” A concerned voice calls from outside, and Moonshadow finds himself dragged out into the sunlight.
“Ah caught this rascal up to no good in the barn!” The older pony, Torri apparently, replies, as Moonshadow squints, eyes struggling to adjust to the bright light. Just barely, he can make out the form of another pony; Another with a blonde mane, but more of a pale orange coat, though it shared the same dappling as Torri.
This new pony peers down at him, curiously, as Moonshadow looks up at her with fear. What should he do? He wasn’t strong enough to escape. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it!” Moonshadow stammers out, not really knowing what that even meant other than he had to say something in his defense. “P-please, I won’t cause you any more trouble, I promise!”
The orange pony, surprisingly, smiles at him and lowers herself to his eye level. “Aw, c’mon Torri, he’s jus' a lil colt! Ah think he’s no older than our Everbloom. An’ look at ‘im, he’s all skin and bones! He was prolly jus’ lookin’ for somewhere safe to hunker down.”
The older pony glares down at Moonshadow, who tries to give his most endearing and pitiable expression in return, though his focus was waning as his vision went blurry again. “He’s a stranger, in our barn! You don’t want ‘im finding you-know-what, do ya?” Torri belts out, tightening his grip on Moonshadow. The colt tries to speak up in his defense, but he is currently unable to breathe in order to speak. His vision leaves him, leaving the world around him black and imperceptible.
“Ah, for pities sake, bro! ‘ave some pity. What if that there was our precious Aria, hungry an’ cold? ‘e doesn’t look like he’s ‘ad a bath in a year, ‘an that scraggly coat of 'is don’t look at all sufficient for the winter.” Moonshadow is not able to process the feelings of gratitude he probably should be feeling for that vote of confidence from the younger of the two ponies, feeling his limbs go limp beneath him.
“Hey you two, cut it out! Yer chokin' the poor thing!” A third voice pipes up, the last thing Moonshadow hears before what little is left of his consciousness leaves him, and he blacks out.