The library’s interior was unsurprisingly peaceful, much like any old library the group had been in. Floor was built under some woollen carpet to add coziness. This was Princess Stella’s home archive that she was glad to share with her new guests. Rainbow Dash had been lingering here happily reading Daring Do when the rest of the Mane 6 were invited. They were here because the princess wanted to share the storybook she’s written herself.
“We’re here, Princess.”
“Well, I'm glad you all came.”
“You’re gonna read us a story? I love stories.”
“I’m sure your book is a gem but is this important in the middle of a mission?”
“You’ll understand soon enough.”
Questions were building even before all the Mane 6 accumulated in the room where it happened. However, according to the guardian of the galaxies, their queries will gain answers. Nonetheless, they’ll pay attention and wait for it. How about the pegasus occupied by her book?
“Rainbow, you’re gonna miss it.”
“I won’t, ‘cause I’m listening. If I’m interested, maybe I’ll close my book.”
Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Spike and the CMC lowered their flanks and tummies to the ground. Stella sat on a stool with her bedtime story next to her, she used her alicorn magic to float it in front of her and flipped the cover.
“Sit comfortably and Luma will occasionally serve you dinner. Let’s begin.”
Chapter 1: The Celestial Duo
Several years ago, there once was a young filly with a unicorn horn and pegasus wings. She was trotting away from home on the hills at night when the stars were visible in the sky. She always loved seeing them from below and wondered what they looked like up close.
Just then, the filly saw something falling from the sky like an asteroid. She heard a muffled explosion when it reached the ground. She felt the need to investigate.
“Oh dear, what was that? What happened there?”
When the filly approached the smoking phenomenon, she found a crashed star-shaped UFO and met a baby, star-like creature. The creature seemed to be the spaceship’s pilot, but it also seemed a bit confused.
“Who are you? Are you looking for something?”
“I’m Luma and Mama is coming for me on a comet.”
Luma was lonely that it shed a tear. The little alicorn thought it was adorable, so her heart shattered when she heard the issue. Gladly, she was willing to stay and wait with it.
“I’ll be right beside you as you wait.”
Luma and the filly sat on the hill waiting for possibly the guardian or the comet. Trying to search for it in the sky, they had no luck in catching a falling star. A couple of hours passed and Mama still hadn’t arrived yet.
Then the alicorn suggested the watchtower of her town which was nearby. Using the telescope, she looked and looked, but nothing. Where is this comet?
“How far is the comet? I’d be a taller mare by the time your mother arrives.”
It appeared as if she’d never come and pick up Luma, so it’d sadly fly away without a parent. But then she had an idea.
“I know. We can go out there and find her ourselves.”
“But my spaceship crashed, how are we gonna fix it?”
“I bet I can fix it with my magic.”
So they headed back to the five-pointed spaceship to try and fix it themselves. The horn of the filly ignited as she concentrated on channelling her magic. Using her strength, the UFO was repaired and recharged ready for take-off.
“We’ll find your mother, Luma, whether it takes months or years.”
It could take several months or several years, so she had to pack necessities from home as many as they could bring before sailing away into space. Her mission was to find Luma’s Mama and so it began. The comet had to be found up there somewhere.
Chapter 2: Star Bits
It turned out this was a very long journey. Miles away, they outdistanced numerous asteroids for endless nights, but the search for ice in space seemed less trivial than at first glance. Luckily, the little mare packed enough stuff to energise their stomachs during the mornings, afternoons and evenings.
“I told you we’re gonna need all these items. But even so, I never thought finding Mama would take this long.”
But Luma wouldn’t give up because, for three whole days, they had fun playing together. Occasionally, the filly told it some motivational lessons not to worry if Mama wasn’t found.
The alicorn scoured her saddlebag wanting a snack to relish when its contents felt minimal compared to how much she packed. She pulled a candy bar out of it and then buried her face in the space only to find some lacking space.
“Oh, I’ve just realised my supplies are so limited.”
That didn’t seem to be a problem for Luma as it giggled. A cluster of multicoloured chunks appeared in front of them, they flew closer to them so that Luma can collect them.
“Star bits are my favourite snacks and they’re everywhere. You want some?”
Luma giggled again and so did the filly. There was no reason not to have a bite.
“Sure, Luma.”
Having never tasted stars before, this interested her. She stored away her wrapped snack and took a juicy munch on one star bit strongly flavoured with mango. It was delicious enough that she wouldn’t stop if she couldn’t control herself. In went five of them before the pony stopped nibbling.
“Come on, let’s find some more!”
Luma cutely proposed. So along with chasing a comet, they had fun driving past star bits and trying to catch lots of them. They managed to contain a pile of them in their UFO.
Chapter 3: The Comet
The sky released endless falling sugar, so they sailed for just a year without seeing a comet. Meanwhile, they were occupied by playing games, chatting about topics, singing melodies, telling stories or jokes and viewing the vast void of vacuum.
One day, she was woken from her slumber by bright cyan rays and groaned because of it. She peered from the awning and spotted a shimmering ice sphere that was the comet. The little filly tapped on Luma to prompt it awake.
“Luma, I think we found it.”
“What a relief! We should walk on it.”
“Could this be the comet your mother is living on?”
The duo decided to dissect, so they descended from their drivable to discover a parent. Unluckily, the two ran around and found not even one attraction on the surface, not even Mama. The pony was so exhausted from this trip that one year isn’t taking them home. She plopped on the moderately cold ground, possibly resting for a bit.
“Look!”
Luma called her and gestured to the ground behind her. A group of star bits were noticed while being buried in the ice. Luma giggled.
“I’m good at finding star bits.”
The filly also giggled as the pair mined them out and threw them into their pile. She could sense vibrations below their hooves because the comet was moving with her. The two decided to ride the comet and let it take them where it was going.
“We’ll find your Mama, I’ll make sure of it.”
Chapter 4: The Dream
One night, the mare slept peacefully within the starship snug as a bug in a rug. So snug she was able to dream about her mother. Endless white and a towering alicorn with her ponytail facing toward her daughter.
“Mother, can you hear me?”
“Of course, I can, my little filly.”
The little filly rushed over to embrace her parent. After a full year and a few months later, a real welcome back from a family member was what she needed. Bitterly, it was just a vision that she wished it was not.
“I left without saying goodbye, can you forgive me?”
“I forgive you, but I’m afraid we won’t see each other any time soon.”
When her face separated from mum’s chest, it was displayed with horror.
“Why not? We’re still alicorns, I can get back to you someday.”
“But we might have forgotten about your existence since you went missing for a while.”
After that message, drops began to flow from the young mare knowing there’s a chance that she’s forgotten if she returns. Her mother walked backwards away from her daughter slowly fading away through the fog.
The daughter watched this and when she realised, she cried for her to stay before the dream ended. Back in the real world, her tears flooded the starship as she howled through her sobs.
“Oh, mother! Please come back, take me home with you.”
Luma beside her heard her and that made it think about its mother, so it wept too.
“Mama, oh, Mama!”
The young alicorn desisted her dismay and nestled Luma in her hooves. Despite a dream denoting her absence from home, she knew there was a memory. For now, it’s hers to keep, but she can’t keep reliving it and neither can Luma protest her mother to reappearance, they had to accept. The best thing both can do is wish upon a star.
“Your mother is watching from that comet, my mother is watching from the sun and maybe my aunt is watching from the moon. They’ll watch over us until the end.”
The filly lied to calm Luma and herself down. May one day they have a way to reunite their families once more and more.
Chapter 5: Home
For the following few fortnights, the filly and Luma found fortification materials from beneath the frost, about enough to construct a home out of them. So they got to work long and hard while pretending to enjoy devising different landmarks for different spaces.
“Maybe we can build the library there. Definitely a garage, but where should it go?”
After weeks over weeks of planning and grinding and an exhausted couple, their fort was finally fully furnished, completed with six rooms, an additional library and an entrance. The builders stood proud of the vastness of their creation, but it was barren for a population of two.
“I wish my family were here, then it wouldn’t feel as lonely.”
Luma and the filly immediately fell asleep in the UFO that night. The comet was still surfing in a direction and taking their home with it.
Chapter 6: Friends
Gladly, the young alicorn brought a whole tea set to set a tea party one day. They were able to craft it on a comet's surface that doesn’t touch their build. The mare sat while Luma floated and sipped their teacups together like friends.
Just then, a tiny sapphire planet came from a distance about to be passed possessing another star-like creature like Luma but blue. They seemed to be relatives.
“Oh, is that your cousin by any chance?”
The sign of a united family was simply too much to believe, but at least two individuals found and more importantly, recognised each other. She watched as the Lumas delightedly danced like a mum seeing their baby for the first time in forever. Once blue Luma noticed the alicorn, suddenly, it began repeating:
“My Mama! My Mama!”
Yellow Luma suddenly realised something and echoed back:
“My Mama! My Mama!”
While the filly couldn’t quite figure out what was going on, momentarily, more Lumas emerged from hiding behind the sapphire planet in all sorts of colours. They all cheerily continued the echo.
“My Mama! My Mama!”
While it amazed her that there are tens of Lumas out there, it finally occurred to her what was happening: She is their Mama on a comet and these are her children. This was their quest finished, the question now is how is she going to care for them?
“I guess I should assign each of you a duty.”
Luckily, she’s familiar with this job to give jobs. Until tomorrow, she established and distributed all 100 baby stars for every available work and schedule evenly.
Chapter 7: The Telescope
The astral community survived until their fifth anniversary with the mare as healthy and harmonious as the universe. Upon celebrating that day, she remembered the memory of her world and has been wondering how it’s enduring. Fortunately, her star folks crafted a telescope for her to play with, so this was a perfect time to put it to good utility.
The telescope was supported on a tripod in a generic position. The young filly searched for a certain bearing that had a small blue globe which she found. With some adjustments to expand its view range, she could make out and focus on a scene: A castle upheld by the side of a mountain. It seemed so familiar to her.
“Is that where I lived? I guess I’ve never been to that village below or anywhere else, really, so I’ve never seen my town from far away.”
Then memories began to form, remembering the hill she saw constellations from, the aromatic bedroom that showered in golden nightlight, she even remembered the day she found Luma and sailed off to find its Mama without leaving her Mama her whereabouts… And…
“I want to go home right now! I want to see my mother once more!”
The poor alicorn was blubbering, sad that she was away from her mother for five years without a visit. She couldn’t believe what her destined future was: becoming a mother raising star children. Sure, that’s good, but if only she told mum about it.
“But I can’t see her now, because I’m afraid she forgot about me!”
Lumas around her didn’t know what to do. They wanted her better, but how? The filly would continue mourning if they don’t come up with something.
Chapter 8: The Wish
Luma, who’s been with her the longest, tried persuading her to stop crying and worrying, but they couldn’t come through.
“Mama, don’t cry, I’m still here. Your mama will always be remembered. Hey, do you know why I love star bits? Because they remind me of Mama.”
She just wouldn’t budge, the filly was letting all of her tears flow free of force and flood the floor. However, Luma didn’t let go until an idea came.
“I know! I will transform into a travelling comet that’ll take you through this journey!”
Within seconds, Luma glowed in blinding white light and plummeted through a vacant area. That quaked the ground as it beamed out a comet tail and all could feel their ground accelerated, but bringing the young pony with it.
“Wow! Can all you Lumas do that?”
“Us Lumas are gonna be reborn into new stars, comets, planets and even galaxies.”
Blue Luma taught her. The possibilities of her children’s transformations sound like miracles, even though it’s a sacrifice. Knowing that they have destinies to become space bodies, she should be proud for them.
“Don’t cry again, Mama!”
Every Luma told the filly in unison and gathered closer to embrace her like a parent. For the following years, she will never let any drops drop from her eyes.
“You are my children, this is my family and my family is still within me.”
Final Chapter: Family
The entire star family lived for another five years, the mare is young in alicorn years. Frequently, new Lumas climb aboard the comet and add one to its population total, but subtract one for every Luma’s time to turn. Yet for each star who climbed on, it’s a schedule to throw a welcoming party for them. While they worked in the kitchen, the pony instructed the star staff to whip up a party treat.
“Prepare the ingredients, everypony! We’re going to bake a star cake made with star bits.”
She becomes busy one day, then entertained the next. This back-and-forth process became what she desired, it appeared as if her cutie mark appeared as stars to symbolise this. As the filly enjoyed the party with the constellation, she made a promise to herself.
“Yes, this is my family. I will forever cherish them until they’re educated enough to flee the coup. When that happens, I’ll show a farewell with a smile.”
The filly looked up through the skylight where her original home planet is located.
“Maybe I’ll visit my home planet every 100 years or so? Just to refresh the memory of my memories.”
Everything that happened in this journey then was still happening until today. Once every century, this home of theirs disguised as a comet would have been seen above that planet’s skies. This was the story of a young alicorn’s journey to find one Luma’s family.
The End
Everypony that listened held smiles at that happy ending, even Rainbow Dash pulled away from her graphic novel and the other girls wiped their cheeks as the story was over. As a Luma pushed a dish trolley away from the scene, the feedbacks sent were tolerable.
“That was simply beautiful, darling. I went through an emotional rollercoaster.”
“It was kind of her to nurture all the Lumas.”
“The young young’un found her real family with ‘em.”
Princess Stella rose from her bench and left her book on top of it. She stood by the library’s doorway, she asked Pinkie if she could continue her adventure.
“Do you think you’re able to continue today, Pinkie?”
“Actually, after that bedtime story, I could really use a rest.”
“Well, lucky for you. You just unlocked our Bedroom, so we’re glad to let all of you use our pillows.”
“Wow, really? Last one there’s sleeping on the floor!”
Pinkie zipped through and bumped into the princess in the way, but came back to apologise for doing so.
“Heh heh, sorry for being rude.”
“Looks like I’m first!”
Rainbow Dash asserted as she dashed off past the pink pony, and then the others followed except for Twilight. She became inquisitive about the story, couldn’t help but think there’s more to the princess herself. To not be rude, she asked permission from one of the Lumas first.
“She wouldn’t mind if I borrow this, right?”
“Sure, just return it when you leaving the observatory someday. This is the only copy we have.”
“I promise I’ll take good care of it.”
She placed the book on the carpet not to read it, but to study it. Perhaps there’s some context in it that’ll discover Stella’s identity.