Luna paused outside the alleyway and followed the tiny, weak cries that came from a discarded shoebox. The night was frigid, and snow blew in the icy wind. Luna bit back a surge of anger and pain when she heard the crying filly, who was clearly no more than a few hours old. She gently cradled the tiny pink unicorn foal, then closed her eyes and entered the dream realm, where the newborn foal still lay on the ground, crying in fear, confusion, and discomfort.
"Ooohhhhhh, shhhhhhh, there, there, little one," the princess cooed, tenderly lifting the little filly and cuddling her close to her chest. "You're all right. You are safe now, sweetheart." The foal immediately quieted and opened her light pink eyes, cooing up at Luna and reaching up to try to touch the stars in the alicorn's mane. Luna's throat tightened, but she stifled her sadness and giggled as the filly chewed on her mane. The unbelievably small foal trembled from the cold, and Luna gave her a little half-smile.
"Now," she cooed to the foal, forcing herself to keep her tone of voice happy as she swaddled the filly in a warm, fluffy blanket, "what shall we call you?" The filly tilted her head and cooed a reply, reaching her tiny hooves up to touch Luna's face.
"Hmm," Luna continued as she rocked the foal, "I think a little one as beautiful as you deserves a beautiful name, don't you? Hmmm, let me think. How about... Dahlia?" The foal squeaked and giggled at Luna in response, and the princess of the night smiled.
"All right, Dahlia," Luna said with a nod, "why don't we get you all cleaned up and make you nice and comfortable? Then I can sing you a little song if you like." Dahlia gurgled, smiled, and booped Luna's nose, still mesmerized by the stars in her mane. Luna giggled a little to hide any trace of the fact that this was absolutely destroying her; she needed to stay strong for the tiny one in her care. She charged her horn and surrounded Dahlia with a sparkly pink aura, which cleaned every bit of filth from the foal's body. Dahlia's eyes widened when she saw the pink glitter swirling around her, and she giggled. After Dahlia was perfectly clean, she began to whimper, and Luna cuddled the foal against her chest, rocking her as she sang a soothing lullaby.
Luna conjured a huge mahogany wardrobe full of tiny white dresses and searched through the nearest rack until she found a beautiful smocked dress embroidered with an overlay of dahlias. With another ragged sigh, she dressed the little foal in her gown, rubbing noses with Dahlia after she did so. Luna always chose an "angel gown" for each foal under the age of ten that she cared for so that they would enter Heaven in a beautiful white garment, dressed as both the pure souls that they were on Earth and as the angels that they had become.
The princess conjured a sterling silver rattle and freed Dahlia's front hooves from her swaddling blanket so that the filly could play with it, which she did for a few moments, until the dreamscape was slightly altered by an all-too-familiar lapse. Luna sucked in a ragged breath and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting like hell against the scorching tears that threatened to cloud her field of vision. Stay strong for this precious little soul, she silently reminded herself. Dahlia whimpered nervously and began to fuss.
"Ssssshhh, sweet Dahlia," Luna whispered, cuddling the filly up against her shoulder to burp her. The princess paid no mind to the bit of spit-up that appeared on her coat as Dahlia burped; she was far more confident with babies than her older sister was. Luna's heart shattered once again as she looked into the foal's beautiful pink eyes and reminded herself, as she did every time she had to perform these tasks, that this little one was already beyond help; she was too pure for the harshness and cruelty of the world she had been thrust into. Another lapse told Luna that there was no more time, so she walked over to the magnificent gold and white gates that had just appeared, gave Dahlia a final kiss on her head, and reluctantly passed the filly to a waiting pegasus, who lovingly covered Dahlia with her wing.
Powerful and immortal though she was, Luna was not immune to exhaustion due to the intense physical, mental, psychological, and emotional strain of the role to which she dedicated her life. For the trillionth time in thousands of years, Luna felt a pang of jealousy toward her sister, but not for the reasons that one might expect. Celestia had absolutely no idea of what it was like to perform such an important job, nor did she possess a modicum of the empathy or emotional fortitude that she was so good at feigning--the empathy that was required of a pony who assisted transitioning souls. As the citizens of Equestria fawned over Celestia, Luna performed the most emotionally taxing work imaginable, rewarded only with the satisfaction of knowing that she had granted eternal peace to countless departing ponies. Nightmare Moon had preyed on Luna's resentment toward Celestia, yes, but that resentment did not spawn solely from her jealousy of the endless attention and praise that Celestia received; actually, Luna had hated Celestia because she knew that the older alicorn would never, ever be able to comprehend the soul-destroying pain of not only knowing that she could not save the life of a dying infant, but also having to carry said infant into the afterlife.
Luna exited the dream realm, hung her head, and began to cry. The simplicity of the filly's three wishes, like that of those made by so many others before her, broke Luna's heart; she had wished only for food, warmth, and love--all three of which she had been denied during her short life. Luna had a unique way of looking after the abandoned newborns in her care. She had never allowed a single one to die without a name, since so many of them were only identified with a number on Earth. Luna always spoke each one's new name out loud with love before and after returning to the waking world so that each and every little life would be remembered. No foal in Equestria had ever died without knowing Luna's love for them. Luna dried her tears and stepped out onto her balcony. She heaved a tired sigh and silently lamented the fact that though it was only ten o'clock in the evening, this night was still older than the little life that she had just assisted in crossing over. Looking out at her beautiful night, Luna took a deep breath and spoke the word that would seal the work that she had just completed.
"Dahlia."