When the light faded Luna was welcomed by a familiar sight, the city of Canterlot. She recognized it more clearly than when she had returned from her banishment. The city she saw was the city of Canterlot from more than a thousand years ago, before Nightmare Moon and even before the war with Sombra.
The memory grew more clear and Luna found herself standing in White Chapel Hills, the place of rest for those passed away. She was standing in front of an ordinary grave between many, the only difference was a fresh bouquet of flowers and a flickering candle on it.
She turned her head and saw two ponies standing in front of said grave, a sky blue pegasus mare with a lilac mane and tail, next to her a small earth pony filly. The filly could not have been older than three or four years and had a spring green coat with a bright orange mane woven into a short pigtail.
The filly sat close to the pegasus with a pained look on her face, leaning against the mare's hoof. The pegasus radiated out a practiced calmness and had her eyes closed. Luna now noticed the was singing and as she paid attention to the words, she recognized the old song.
She bowed her head in respect as the mare sung the finishing words
Just like the stars that shine above
May this small flame light up your path
To guide you home, safe and secure
Into the sacred fields of green.
And like the flame in darkest night
your light shines on, inside my heart
So I may never walk astray
Guided by you through night and day.
The tiny filly was staring intensely at the tombstone, but when Luna checked it there was no inscription to be seen. It was surprising since the memory was very detailed otherwise, though the name that should have been there was gone. If this was either the influence of a spell or simply a natural flaw in the memory, Luna could not tell.
The two ponies stood up and after a gentle nudge from the pegasus started walking back towards town. The tiny filly kept her eyes on the ground but whispered
"Why did Mommy leave?"
The pegasus sighed and replied in a calm voice
"I don't know, sweetie. It happened so suddenly, not even the doctors noticed before it was too late."
The tiny filly sniffled and Luna could tell she was struggling with tears
"Daddy says it's my fault she's gone."
Before the mare could interfere, the tears won and the filly curled up on the ground weeping
"Why would she leave when she had daddy and me?"
The mare's calmness shattered at those words and she sat next to the filly, circling her larger body around the tiny pony who just kept on crying desperately.
Eventually, words tumbled out of the filly's mouth
"Didn't she love me?"
At that, the look on the pegasus face was flooded with motherly concern and she scooped the tiny filly into her hooves, pressing her against her heart. Her wings unfurled from her flanks and wrapped all around the tiny filly who just buried her muzzle into the pegasus coat and kept crying. Luna felt a tug of sadness inside herself as she watched the blue pegasus hold and cradle the filly like she was her own, with the love of a mother. Should she even be fortunate enough to receive a foal of her own, Luna knew this would be the way she'd hug her child everyday.
The filly kept crying for a while until the mare spoke up with a voice brimmed with emotion
"Sweetie, listen to me. Your mommy loved you more than anypony else. If anything, she loved you too much. And she still loves you, every day."
The filly clung on the mare and her words but her tears wouldn't stop running
"Then why am I always sad when I think of her?"
The mare kept the filly close and gently nuzzled her head
"Of course you're sad, sweetie. I know you miss her so much. But there's more to it than that. You see, when there's too much love inside your heart, that love finds other places to stay with you. Sometimes, it feels like a knot in your chest. Or a lump in your throat. And sometimes, it fills up your eyes like tears. But that's not sadness. That's all the love your mommy sends to you."
The tiny filly looked up and her voice wavered between sadness and hope
"Really?"
"I promise. As long as you keep her in your heart, you mommy will always love you."
The filly clung onto that hope and buried herself back against the mare. She sniffled and whispered
"I'll never forget my Mommy. I promise."
The memory changed unexpectedly quick and Luna stood inside a house. She was peeking through a door into a study and from the angle she could tell that this time, she was seeing things through the eyes of the filly.
Inside the room, she saw the pegasus mare from before, standing in the middle of the room with the same calm demeanour she showed earlier. She could also see a unicorn stallion pacing up and down the room. Although his coat was a slightly darker green, his bright orange mane made it easy to identify the stallion as the father of the filly.
The unicorn looked angry and annoyed as he paced through the room and picked up things with his magic and stored them into boxes. Luna got a view on his face and his cutie mark at some point and blinked surprised, but she decided to focus on the conversation that went on instead
"Sir, please reconsider your decision. Your daughter still suffers from her loss and ripping her out of her familiar surrounding won't do her any good."
The stallion glared at the pegasus and continued packing things
"There are more important things than that. This is a chance of a lifetime and I'm not going to waste it. It'll be impossible to raise in the favour of the Princesses, but in the Crystal Empire, I'll be a royal advisor and at the top of society."
The pegasus mare took a step forward to stand in his way, forcing him to look at her
"Sir, please. Just forget your social rank for a single minute and think about your daughter. I'm begging you."
The stallion only grew more angry, his horn flared up and his voice grew so loud it hurt the filly's ears.
"I'm only thinking of my daughter. Because of my daughter, the other nobles begin to doubt the purity of my blood line. Because of her it's impossible for me to achieve anything in Canterlot because of all the rumours about my marriage. I can't stop thinking about my daughter who took my wife from me. My daughter who is nothing but a mud kicker!"
He spat out those last words and the pegasus mare backed away, shocked to her core. Luna felt a dangerous anger boil up inside her. 'Mud kicker' was one of the most disparaging expressions for any earth pony, but sadly it had been far too common within the tight knitted unicorn society, especially in Canterlot. Those unicorns who thought of themselves as better because of their 'pure blood' or 'old blood' and their demands for important positions within the society of Canterlot had always angered Luna. But hearing a father speak in such a insulting way of his own daughter was almost too much for her.
She missed the response of the pegasus mare while she tried to calm herself again, but the loud yell from the unicorn reached her again
"That won't be any more of your concern. You're no longer working for me. You have half an hour to gather your things and leave. By the end of the week, I will be in the Crystal Empire and Harmony will leave with me. Now get out of my sight!"
The memory faded and Luna was back in the dark hallway. She heard a sobbing next to her, but instead of the mare she had lead here, a small filly sat on the ground crying.
Luna was aware that accessing early memories could sometimes regress the mind back into a younger state, but it was very rare for a pony to actually change their appearance accordingly as well. Since Crystal Note was a musician, an artist, with a vivid imagination, maybe she shouldn't have been surprised though.
She sat down next to the grey filly and carefully wrapped her wing around the tiny body. Crystal Note began to speak between sobs
"I can't remember their names. And I don't even know what my mommy looked like. I forgot all about it. I've lost them, and I lost their love forever."
Luna flexed her wing to gently pull Crystal Note closer to her
"I disagree. Love like this cannot be lost. Neither the love of your mother, nor your caretaker. You still carry it inside you and it shines through in the way you treat the ponies around you."
Crystal Note looked up at her with a puzzled expression, so Luna continued
"From what I've heard and seen, you treat everypony with respect and kindness. Even those who wronged you at first. As your caretaker said, love finds other places to be when needed. Like a smile you give a sad filly so she'll be happy again. Or a song you sing for your people so they don't have to be afraid anymore."
Luna closed her eyes and summoned a familiar face into her mind
"My sister's love reached me even when I was trapped inside the moon. I've also forgotten about it for a while. But when I returned, it was still there. Her love is what keeps me sane during dark days of doubt and guilt."
The grey crystal filly looked back at the floor but Luna could see she was trying to comprehend. She stood up and turned towards the hallway
"It will become clearer to you, given time. Meanwhile, there are more memories to explore when you're ready."
The filly nodded and rose back to her hooves. As she did, she regained her adult form again. Together, Luna and Crystal Note walked further down the hallway towards the next set of lights.
Crystal Note looked around and saw small wisps of light flittering just out of her reach. Some were bright and colourful, but most only glowed faintly and seemed almost grey. Luna followed the mare's gaze and nodded
"These are fragments of memories. Single thoughts or impressions that lasted only for moments in the past. Normally they fade away quickly, but sometimes they linger in the depths of your subconscious."
"There's so many of them?"
Luna let her gaze wander around and nodded once more
"Even if you don't remember them consciously, these fragments will have an influence on you."
Crystal Note kept watching the wisps as they passed by, but soon they reached some larger balls of light again. Unlike before, these memories seemed to be connected in some way, probably because they weren't as old as the first one she'd seen.
After a nod from Luna, she found one that seemed to stand out from the rest. She reached out with her hoof and another flash of light filled her vision.