//------------------------------//
// Chapter I 
// Story: Blizzards of the Morning Eclipse 
// by MindilsaBreeze 
//------------------------------//

	I always feel as if a spears stabs me in the stomach whenever I think about my father- he died when I was only eight. Luna was three.  But that was seven years ago, and I’ve learned to cope with it after all these years.
Luna never suffered any lost from it, really- she was too young to remember any of it, and though I felt a little guilty for it, I was a bit glad he died a bit early. Better for her to suffer as little as possible, especially with the pain I had over a lost father.
But Luna is known to be a bit of a chatterbox, so during the hours of the harshest storms, and a crackling fire flickered and danced in our fireplace, cracked wooden bowls carved by yours truly steaming with tea, Luna asked about our father before his death.
Fortunately for Luna (and me, too) our mother, Laurel, was a strong mare. When Luna let her mouth spill, I let out a little high-pitched squeak, covering my mouth with a hoof (as if it would have helped at all) and covered Luna’s with the other. I felt ready to strangle her with my bare hooves for asking such a stupid question, and I must’ve looked that way because our mother gave me a look of love mixed with some compassion, empathy, and understanding.
I blinked, confused, as she turned to Luna with a grin, a few strands of her long red mane flipping over her eyes.
“Well, Luna,” she said, a dreamy expression painted onto her face, speaking with a soft whisper of a voice and her head cocked to the left, “Your father was an amazing stallion, possibly the best pegasus to ever fly the skies. The sky was his home, despite all of the wind, snow, and hail from the blizzards and all.” She chuckled to herself, levitating some tea to her lips. “He was so proud of his two beautiful daughters...” 
For a moment, I saw that Laurel was in the past, her face momentarily shot with both joy and mourning. But she came out of it as quickly as she had come, and looked back at us with a smile.
Luna jumped in her seat in front of the fireplace, her face illuminated by the flaming red coals.
“But what did he look like?” she chirped. “What did Daddy look like?”
“You really want to know?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“He wasn’t a superstar or anything, but, ha ha, he was quite a hunk. You should have seen us, all those years ago, when we were about your older sister Celestia’s age...”
I decided to tune out of their conversation, because it seemed as if it wasn't going to end until a while, and I already knew what he looked like- I may have been only four then, which is a pretty young age, but I have a strong memory.
Besides, how can you ever forget your own father?
Every single memory I can conjure of him is crystal clear to every last detail, almost as if he were standing right in front of my hooves. Squeezing my eyes, I concentrated, feeling my horn vibrate with raw, yellow magic, and then after a few moments I snapped them open.
It almost as if he were standing right in front of my muzzle, and it took most of my willpower not to race forwards and bury my muzzle into his mane.
He was much of a contrast to my mother- while my mother’s snow white coat and ruby red mane gave her the appearance of an angel, our father’s brown coat and messy darker brown mane gave him the appearance of a humble, muscular Earth pony, even though he was in fact, a pegasus.
I remember how he used to joke that that was exactly what Laurel thought he was until he unfurled his wings. While my mother’s cheeks flushed as red as her mane, he explained how shocked she was after finding out and how she wouldn’t speak to him for the next few days.
Nonetheless, the loved each other just the same.
I stared at the wall, imagining my father, trying to burn his image permanently into my mind so that no matter what happened, I would never forget him. I thought about all the fun times we had in the short eight years we had together, and I was so immersed in my thoughts I jumped in surprise when Luna spoke.
“Celestia? What are you looking at?” Luna gasped. “Is-is there a ghost here? MOMMY!” she shrieked, ducking behind Laurel, who giggled and stroked Luna’s gray-blue mane.
“Shh, shh,” she soothed, “it’s alright, sweetie. There are no ghosts here. You’re safe right here with me, Luna.”
I frowned. “Not from the Windigos,” I said softly under my breath, but Laurel shot me a warning look. I quickly shut my jaw, and watched silently with my mother as Luna slowly closed her eyes, her small belly rising and falling with every deep sigh.
Slowly getting up, careful not to disturb Luna, Laurel levitated the sleeping body to the bed closest to the fireplace, watching lovingly as a smile formed on Luna’s face in her sleep as she cuddled and soaked in the sweet warmth of the glowing fire.
Together, we left the room, wary of every silent step and quietly closing the door behind us without a sound. As we headed to the door, getting ready to outside, my mother let out a long, loud sigh, and I gave her a questioning look.
“What’s wrong, mother?” I heaved a breath. “I’m sorry I said that in front Luna, Mom. I promise, it will never happen again.” I looked back up at her, and I saw her bowing her head in defeat. I opened my mouth to apologize again, but she stopped me.
“It’s okay, Celestia,” she said with a small, weary smile, “you don’t have to apologize.” 
I nodded, but it didn't stop me from worrying about her. We quickly put on our coats, and we adjusted the hoods on each others heads, grinning at each other from underneath the black cloth. She opened the door with a small slow creak, and I braced myself as a wave of snow and a mass of hard cold wind blasted into the room.
I was glad I was sheltered safety underneath the warmth of my cloak, or I was sure I would have been swept away with the wind and snow that battered sharply at our doors.
We tenderly stepped outside, watching our hooves, and from behind Laurel I stole a glance upwards toward the clouds, as if the Windigos had magically disappeared and there would be no more snow and this terrible blizzard that had been raging nonstop since forever, I believe.
But, as always, I found the Windigos thrashing about, flying on their wispy hooves, blowing snow all over the place and growing with the clouds they controlled. I shivered, and automatically I felt the warmth of a hoof around my neck. I turned around and saw Laurel smiling tenderly at me and said, “Come on- we need to gather some berries.”
We turned around, and together, walked towards the woods as mother and daughter. Still, I couldn’t help but take one last look at the sky before it disappeared behind the snarl of branches, and wonder if they would ever stop.