Thanksephine

 "Can you picture it, sis? Just close your eyes and imagine it."
"Sarah, please-"
"A feast for the eyes, nose, AND mouth! Mom's world-famous Thanksgiving dinner!"
"She's not world-famous."
"Not yet!"
"Sarah, can you please calm down, you're going to make me-"
"C'monnnn, sis! It's Thanksgiving! The one day of the year completely and totally devoted to food! Stop being a wet blanket and imagine with me!"
"Fiiiiiine."

Josephine sighed and closed her eyes.

"Can you smell it?"
"Smell what, exactly?"
"The turkey. Smell the turkey, sis."
"Sarah this is stupid-"
"Smell it!"

Josephine scrunched up her face, and old memories of their mom's Thanksgiving dinner began to resurface.

Every year, the whole family looked forward to Celestia's Thanksgiving meal. She always prepared top-quality meals no matter her resources, but on Thanksgiving she truly brought her A game. Celestia loved to cook for her family, and this was where it truly showed. Turkey roasted to perfection. Potatoes whipped into a heaping fluffy cloud. Homegrown vegetables. And, Sarah's favorite part of all, the pies.

Yes, pies. She'd come up with an idea for a family tradition: Every year, they would vote on what kind of pie would follow the meal. However, while Sarah and Josephine voted for chocolate pie, Gloria and their father supported pumpkin pie and Ariel wanted apple.

Most mothers would have them flip a coin or draw straws. Celestia instead made all three. And it had never mattered how much any of them had eaten - when those pies came out, there was no leaving the table until at least one slice from one pie had been conquered. Of course, Sarah's preferred method was nabbing a slice from each of the three pies, and Josephine had pulled off that stunt more than once in her childhood.

It had been so long, it felt like. For obvious reasons, the tradition came to an end when Celestia left to provide for her family under Tiamat. And while Celestia had considered bringing it back last year, she had ultimately felt too much heartbreak at the thought of a Thanksgiving dinner without her husband at the table. But this year would be different. It was Sarah who'd floated the idea to her mother in private during a quiet night at the hospital. Celestia, newly empowered by the fall of Garland, had agreed almost immediately, and the other girls eagerly signed on, ready to experience a down-home holiday tradition they'd been unable to celebrate for a full decade.

And so it would all come back. The turkey, the potatoes, the side dishes, the pies. The hot, sweet, steaming pies. The pies filled with rich, indulgent filling made with love...

"Josephine?"
"...Chocolate fudge with chocolate chip cookie crust..."
"Josephine!"
"GAH!"
"So it worked! You imagined it!"
"Yeah, I sure did, and thanks to you I'm starving! And I just got up an hour ago, too!"
"Don't worry, we can watch the parade to pass the time!"
"But I was gonna shop for- Ugh, I can't go shopping now, I'll wind up buying a bunch of food."
"Oh well! Don't worry, you can shop later!"
Sarah plopped down on her couch, patting the seat next to her. "Hurry, it's gonna be on soon!"
"...Sarah."
"Mmyes?"
"Did you seriously do this just because you wanted someone to watch the parade with you?"
"No! That's ridiculous!"
Sarah hopped back up and gave Josephine a hug.
"I did it because I wanted you to watch it with me."

Josephine blinked.

And returned the hug.