Once again, Sun needed money. This is a chapter where she does get paid for doing a job, but this chapter isn't about her. This is about an anthropomorphic parrot named Aello. She is the younger sister of another parrot called Captain Celaeno. They had been separated for years, and they thought each other to be dead. But today, they were finally going to meet again. However, in order for you to actually care about this, we're going to have to rewind to the day that Aello abandoned Celaeno.
Years ago, on Captain Celaeno's airship
It was a miserable day for Aello, and it seemed the weather empathized with her, being equally as dark and gloomy. It wasn't like she wanted to be moody, but she couldn't feel any other way because she knew her older sister was going to come back to her and Aello's room on the ship with handfuls of stolen goods. Aello hated stealing, and hated that her sister was a pirate, but she could never bring herself to leave her. There were two major reasons: because they were sisters, and because Aello knew she wouldn't make it on her own, due to her younger age. But every time Celaeno came back to their room with a new hanful of things, Aello got a little closer to literally walking out on her.
"I'm back, sis!" Aello heard Celaeno's voice say from the other side of the room's door.
["Kinschicho Underground Shopping Center" from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse]
Just as Aello expected, when her sister entered her and Aello's room, the parrot was carrying a wooden box overflowing with freshly stolen gold coins. She laughed in tired triumph as she wiped some sweat off of her forehead.
"That was a close one!" she said, before looking at Aello, who was not happy with her.
"You stole those." Aello glared. She then sat on her bed, crossing her arms as she stared at her sister with a stern glare. Celaeno, in response, shrugged.
"Well, yeah. How else do you think I got 'em?" Her sister didn't respond, continuing to glare at her. Celaeno's mildly joyful expression quickly shifted into a sad one. She walked over to Aello's bed, and sat down on it with her, placing the wooden box in between them. Celaeno had been used to her sister's black and white view of morality for a long time, but it was starting to get unbearable to deal with. Every time Celaeno successfully stole, Aello would try to scold her for her lack of morals, but after a while, it only elicited an eye-roll from the older sister. She'd moved on from trying to justify her actions long ago, since Aello just couldn't understand. So now, she was simply trying to excuse her actions instead.
"Listen to me," she said, looking at her sister, "this won't be what we do forever. We just need enough money to get our own place, and then..." She put her hand on her sister's shoulder, and continued, "...no more pirate stuff. Ever. I promise you that." She grinned as she looked into her eyes to ensure that she was honest... But it didn't work. Aello had always been more immature than Celaeno, but to her, the line between good and bad had no shades of grey, only black and white. Because of that, it was always hard to accept that someone so close to her would steal even once, let alone make a living from it. She couldn't comprehend that it was, in Celaeno's words, the only way the two could survive. Despite how their fancy clothes made them appear like highly-paid professionals with equally high standards, each time they robbed, stole, and took... it was a all just a fight for their survival.
They started out as petty thieves, stealing food and little objects because they couldn't afford them. In fact, Celaeno was the one who started doing it first, because she found she had a knack for stealing things, and tried to get Aello into it along with her, since they were all on their own. But as Celaeno stole, she got more and more things, and eventually, she had more than enough to make a living... and yet, she didn't stop. She could, but it was just so fun to her, and she had the skills to ensure she'd never get caught. And she never did. So, she kept on stealing, even when the both of them knew they had way more than enough to return to regular society.
Years of pent-up frustration with her sister's lack of morals culminated in this moment. "You won't keep that promise, will you?" Aello scowled. And, just like her, Celaeno's frustration had reached a boiling point, too.
"Why would you say that? When have I ever br–" She tried to counter her sister's claim, but she was quickly interrupted by her.
"You haven't, but how can I be sure that you won't this time?! You love doing this, and you're just gonna stop doing it all of a sudden?!" Celaeno's patience had run almost completely empty at this point, because she knew that Aello wouldn't listen, even if she came up with the greatest counter-argument in the world. Despite this, she tried to bargain with her.
"Hey, if you don't want to help me, that's okay. I'm fine with being the only one doing this." Aello stood up, and looked down at her.
"You don't understand me at all! I'm..." she paused, taking a second to breathe before she continued, "I'M LEAVING YOU BEHIND!" However, Celaeno didn't take her seriously, and facepalmed in response.
"No, Aello... Stop it." she sighed, not even wanting to look at her sister throwing a temper tantrum when she was just a few years younger than herself. She was met only with the sound of a door closing, and then shutting, followed by complete silence. She thought she would come back at any moment, if even just to come and get her belongings... But she never came back. She still expected her to come back as the days went on, but then the days turned into weeks, and then into months, and then into years.
And Aello may have actually tried to return, but Celaeno would never have known for sure, because she was captured and forced into joining the Storm King's army as it continued to grow across the world. Hopefully you know what happened afterwards, because I don't want to have to tell you about things that you might already have seen in the actual MLP show (or, in this case, the movie), but I digress.
That was the story of how they split apart, and now, here is the story of how they mended the tear.
Ponyville, the present
Sun sighed. Another rainy day. The rain was incredibly light in comparison to the last time it rained, and it was actually quite pleasant. But Sun still telekinetically carried an umbrella with her as she left the house, going out on another noble crusade to get groceries. The rain droplets fell gently on the ground in an almost rhythmic way. Sun began to wonder if this was happening because Rainbow Dash slept in today, or if it was deliberately rainy. That itself made her wonder why that would be, since it seemed to be flipping between rain and sun almost everyday now.
"E-excuse me! Mr. Unicorn? Can you help me, please?" an unfamiliar voice began to call out to her. Sun was initially annoyed with the fact that this was probably the third time someone has mistaken her for a stallion, but shrugged it off quickly, looking towards the voice that called out to her. The voice belonged to something Sun had never saw before, an anthropomorphic parrot wearing a vaguely pirate-esque outfit.
"Can you help me find someone? H-her name is Celaeno, but she's usually called Captain Celaeno, if that helps..." the parrot continued, showing a photograph of the captain as she spoke. "Please help me find her! I've been looking for her for years, a-and she'll be here today, so I need you to help me find where she is!"
Sun didn't take much time to think about her answer, since she couldn't help but immediately feel bad for this parrot upon hearing her sob story.
"Sure. Where is she?" Sun replied.
["Conduct Record" from Devil Summoner]
Almost even before she could finish, the parrot suddenly rushed at her, wrapping her arms around her in a hug from sheer happiness that she finally had a chance to see her sister again. Almost as soon as she hugged the unicorn, she snapped out of her fit of joy, throwing her hands off of her as she apologized profusely,
"Sorry, sorry! I got a bit excited... Uh, Celaeno is s-supposed to be delivering some things down at the town market."
"Huh. That's convenient. I was going there anyway."
Aello began to look nervous all of a sudden, but it didn't seem to be a reaction to what Sun said. The unicorn was confused why she suddenly shifted expressions, and Aello expressed what caused the look of concern on her face.
"Um, I may need your help with a bit more than just directions... You ponies are all about friendship and kindness and forgiveness, right? Well... me and my sister don't have the best relationship. I think she hates me now, so I need you to help me get the courage to finally talk to her again... i-if it wouldn't be too much." Even after all these years, Aello still felt like a child who needed her older sister to do everything for her, even though she obviously wasn't there as of right now. Although her reliance on others was a bit of a detriment, she thought it was appropriate for the situation.
"S-sure..." Sun replied, a little annoyed realizing she was in for a bit more than she was initially asked for. But sharing kindness - in this case, helping out - is an easy feat, after all, so it wouldn't be too hard... right?
A little bit later, at the market
Finding Celaeno was easy. It was actually walking up to her and talking that was the hard part. Celaeno was standing right outside her airship, which was parked on the ground so her crewmates could carry boxes of supplies out of it to the people in the market who ordered said supplies.
"I can't believe that's her." Aello said, looking at her sister from afar. It was actually a little hard to see her, since the younger sister's eyes were starting to fill with tears of joy. Her happiness was palpable, and Sun felt her happiness so much, she began to question if she was actually there when the two sisters separated. "How do I even talk to her?"
"Uhh... Well, in my not-too-professional opinion, I think the best thing to do is just walk up; force yourself to do it so that part can be over."
"But what if she still hates me?"
"Didn't you say it's been years since you two last saw each other? I don't think hate lasts that long, especially since... y'know... you're her sister. Siblings get into lots of arguments. And also, if you don't talk to her now, are you sure you'll ever get that chance again?"
"N-no... You're right. Me and her are sisters, and it was my fault that any of this happened in the first place, so I have to be the one to apologize, even if she hates me!"
"Wait, I never said it was your fault--" But before Sun's words could reach her ears (if she even had any), the parrot ran from them, and towards where her sister stood. She couldn't stop herself from her excitement, calling out Celaeno's name as she sprinted towards her, her robe flying behind her as she ran, smiling ear-to-ear.
"Cel! Cel, it's me! It's me, your sister, Aello!"
Celaeno was confused at first, hearing her nickname being said from someone she couldn't see. But when she saw a parrot like her running towards her, it all made sense. She gasped, and just before Aello could tackle her in a hug, she simply uttered, "...Aello."
["Asahi" from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse]
Everyone around them was staring. Celaeno's reaction to being hugged by someone who just came up to her wasn't very obvious at first, but it didn't take long for it to show through tears that began to stream down her face.
"Aello...? You're... alive." she gasped softly, beginning to hug Aello back... although it was with much, much more strength. Aello thought she was hugging her tightly, but Celaeno's strength was borderline Herculean. Aello knew this wouldn't be done by someone who hated her. "I thought I'd lost you forever."
"And I thought someone caught you!" Aello laughed softly. "I wanted to tell you this for years now... I'm sorry for how I acted! I know I was being really immature, and I don't know if you'll forgive me..." She didn't want to beat around the bush - she was sorry, and she wanted to make that crystal clear as soon as they reunited. Celaeno was as tearful as she was, and smiled at her.
"Of course I do. You were young then... We both were. We both made mistakes... but all I care about is that you're here with me right now." she said, wiping a tear from her eyes. Aello smiled warmly, and the two hugged each other even tighter.
"Wait," she said, suddenly snapping out of her fit of wholesome enrapturement. "what's with your leg?" She pointed to one of her sister's legs, which was an artificial leg made of a green crystal. Celaeno laughed nervously, and and scratched her neck.
"Well... I'm... kinda still doing pirate stuff..." she explained, expecting another scolding from her younger sister... which never came. "...I know you're mad, but I'm delivering things, too. I only occasionally--"
Aello interrupted her, "I don't care about that right now. I still have a little bit of an issue with it, but I can think about it later. I just wanna be your sister again." Celaeno was overjoyed, and smiled even brighter.
"Aello, you were always my sister. We never stopped being sisters, and we never will."
Sun and Avalonia's hearts were warmed, even though they might've been a little too invested when they only just met these two. Later, after much more saccharine reuniting, Aello walked up to Sun as she was about to go home.
"Hey, wait! Don't leave yet!" the parrot barked, stopping Sun in place. "Can I maybe give you something since you helped me? I-I can't thank you enough for giving me the confidence to actually talk to Celaeno, so maybe I can give you some bits or something as thanks."
Sun grinned, "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." The parrot hastily handed her some bits before hurrying back to her sister. Sun was a bit disappointed when she saw she'd been paid only 5 bits, but she wasn't going to complain about getting paid when she didn't need to be in the first place. She didn't know if she'd ever see Aello again after this, but she knew she'd made a new friend... probably. And even if she didn't, she was just happy to help anyways.