//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Animals // Story: I wish, I hope, I dream, I pray // by TNBi //------------------------------// Snowdrop’s ears lifted: she heard somepony’s hoofsteps approaching — something particularly familiar to her. She opened her eyes, but there were only darkness like before. She then heard that pony pushed open the door, so she tried to sit up, and only to fall back to her pillow with her swimming head. “Whoa, hang in there! Don’t get up yet; you still need more rest.” What she heard confirmed her speculation. “Cirrus? What are you doing here?” “I’m here to see you, of course! The doctors finally allowed us to visit you, and gosh, we were so worried when we heard you were in the hospital!” Cirrus answered as he put something to her side. It smelled like the scent of flowers and fruit. “I’m sorry for making you feel worried,” apologized Snowdrop. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure what had happened to her either — all she could remember was that she had fallen unconscious, and when she awoke, she was already in the hospital. Her mother Primrose told her that she had bled a lot from her nose and mouth, and the blood had stained her bedsheet in patches of scarlet. Even now, the doctors couldn’t determine what the cause could be, but there was one thing sure: her status had turned stable and she was recovering from it, despite the dizziness caused by anemia. “Snowdrop? I… I have something to tell you,” Cirrus said a little nervously. The little cerulean one turned her head towards him to listen. “You do remember that incident when your snowflakes were mistaken for waste product and discarded, don’t you? Actually, it was an accident caused by Cumulo Nimbus, who put your bucket too near the recycling area when she didn’t notice. She felt very guilty when she saw you running away heartbroken. That was why we stayed after working hours; we were trying to compensate you by secretly refining the snowflakes you made. But it only made you upset… and we’re truly sorry.” Snowdrop didn’t answer right away. After a while, she turned toward the door, and said, “Did Cumulo Nimbus asked you to tell me this… who happens to be standing outside?” “What?? How did you know she—“ “I could tell it was you two from afar — even before you enter my room, thanks to your hoofsteps. And I don’t blame you for that accident, Cumulo Nimbus, for if my snowflakes were indeed so perfect, even if you had put them there, other ponies would be able tell them from the trash.” As Snowdrop answered, she heard Cumulo walking out from behind the door.  “Snowdrop…” her voice was shaky, “I’m really sorry…” “It’s okay. Besides, I’ve also troubled you two very much… Still friends, are we?” Snowdrop showed them a smile. Though she couldn’t see their faces, she heard their anxious breathing turned easier. “Yeah! Best of friends!” Cumulo smiled broadly through her tears. “Me too!” Cirrus said happily. Snowdrop laughed and raised a hoof, and the other two bumped theirs with her. “Oh, by the way, Snowdrop, she was there! Princess Luna was in my dream!” Cumulo excitedly mentioned the dream she had had, and told them of how Luna helped her conquer her nightmare. The other two listened intently with smiles on their faces. “Oh, that was awesome! I wanna meet Princess Luna in my dreams too!” said Cirrus enviously, “Could you invite her to my dreams, Snowdrop? Pleeeease — I’ll prepare lots of games for her to play!” “Don’t be silly — Princess Luna is too busy for your games! She still has lots of ponies to help and lots of nightmares to kick,” Cumulo said sarcastically — finally, the Cumulo Nimbus everypony knew had returned. The three of them went on talking for a while until the end of visiting hours, and they bid each other goodbye somewhat reluctantly. Cumulo promised that she’d come to visit again, and Snowdrop promised she would get well soon, and then work with them together to make the world’s most beautiful snowflake, to bring joy to anypony who sees it. As the night fell, Snowdrop felt sleepy. Even though having talked a lot with her friends again cheered her up very much, her body was still recovering, and she found it hard to keep her eyes open with the feeling of exhaustion. After taking her dose following supper, she soon fell asleep. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Princess Luna standing right before her. “Are you all right??” The Night Princess asked before the little filly could say a proper greeting — obviously she tried to stay calm and collected, but Snowdrop still felt the anxiety she concealed inside. “Yes, I’m fine right now. The doctors say I’m steadily recovering, and I can move out in a couple of days. I was often ill since I was small, and it’s not my first time to be in here. I’ll get well soon, so please take it easy.” “Okay, I get it.” Luna’s tone sounded a little relieved. “So… what are you showing me today, Princess Luna?” “What to show you? Alas, I totally forgot about it! After I learned you were in hospital, I couldn’t get my mind off it for the whole day… Sorry about that.” Luna seemed a little awkward at the question, and she scratched her head. “Oh, it’s okay!” Snowdrop answered and blushed a little — that a Princess engaged in national affairs would care for her so much, it made her feel both honored and overwhelmed. “Then what would you like to see today?” asked Luna, “Although I had no preparation, I can still manage if it’s not too complicated.” “What I want to see? Hmm… I’ve already seen Light and Shadow, the Sky, the Earth and the Sea, the changing seasons and the plants, the Sun, the Moon and the Stars…” Snowdrop hung her head in consideration. Finally, she raised her head to say her decision — “I want to see the animals.” “Animals?” repeated Luna. “Yes. I heard from Cirrus that besides ponies, there also live many many animals on the ground: there are butterflies as beautiful as flowers, rabbits as white as snow, dangerous wolves and lions, and giant bears as big as several ponies added together. There are dragons too… but no, no dragons for the moment, ‘cause Cirrus said they are dreadful and dangerous.” “Okay,” Princess Luna nodded. “It’s true that besides the beautiful scenery, the animals are an essential part that makes the world so brilliant too. It’ll be tonight’s subject.” “Thank you, Princess Luna!” Snowdrop beamed. Luna raised her head, and a faint glow surrounded her horn. Snowdrop first heard some little rustling sounds below her hoof, then she saw many little living things moving out of the soil beneath her: some of them looked just like thick strings, some had hard shells on their body which made them look like moving pebbles, and some had color patches making them hard to distinguish from the plants beside them, as if they were some newgrown plants that just sprouted out of nowhere. “These are called ‘insects’, and they are the most common living things in nature,” explained Luna to the little filly, who was watching some worms moving up tree trunks or other plants. After they settled, they spit out white threads out of their mouth, and started to spin a shell that covered their bodies entirely inside, making them look like a part grown out of those plants. “They’re making cocoons — it’s how a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly.” “Morph?” the word puzzled the little filly at first, until cracks suddenly appeared on those cocoons, and some winged insects crept out from inside. Their wings seemed still wet, so they hung themselves on the cocoons to wait for drying. Those dull yellow wings slowly developed all kinds of beautiful colors as Snowdrop watched, and when they finally flapped their wings, she couldn’t help but say “wow” at the amazingly beautiful patterns on them. One after another, the butterflies left their cocoons and flew into the air; as if they were many flowers that had taken flight. As she adored these beautiful creatures, something suddenly dived from high above — they had feathered wings like hers, only brighter; they had no limbs but two claws. They opened their long and pointy beaks, caught some of those insects she just saw inside and swallowed. The little filly was frightened for a moment, until Princess Luna explained to her that this was called the Food Chain, that all living things are connected in this cycle of eating and being eaten. It sounded sort of intimidating to her — could she herself be seen as food by some other predator? She wondered and swallowed. Then she saw Luna inhaled deeply. The Night Princess seemed to be in a weary condition, possibly from having worried about her for all day long; still, her horn kept on to glow. Some little critters appeared by Snowdrop’s hooves when she didn’t notice: their fur was white like snow, and they all had long ears and red eyes. These must be the “rabbits” Cirrus had talked about before! She couldn’t help but reached out her hoof to fondle them, and the softness of their skin returned her a feeling even softer than snow, only second to touching a piece of cloud. “Woof! Woof!” “Growl! Growl!” Some other noises caught her attention. When she turned away from the rabbits, she saw a long-haired creature smaller than her size barking upwards from under the tree with its tongue sticking out, the noise it made sounded rather fierce. She looked at the treetop; there was a flat-faced creature with a long tail jumping agilely between branches, and baring its teeth and claws once in a while toward that barking animal from below. Dog and Cat, it must be them! She had read about them in her books — Bang!! She was intently watching the animals when she suddenly felt something exploded inside her head, bringing a storm of unbearable, burning pain! “AAAAAGH!” she couldn’t help screaming, and fell to the ground in a loud thud. The sudden turn of events startled Luna, who instantly stopped her casting and rushed to the squirming child. “What’s wrong?! What happened?!” “It hurts!! My head… it’s gonna explode!! Aaaaagh!!” Snowdrop was rolling on the ground, with her forehooves holding her head tightly. As her rolling became intense, the whole dreamscape rocked and twisted with her — the dream had come to its inevitable end. “Snowdrop?! Snowdrop!!” The last images of her dream were Princess Luna’s anxiety-written face and her flustered calling.