Just under a week had passed since she had placed Star Swirl amongst the stars, and already the light clouds of the season were blocking it out. This didn’t bother Luna too much. No, tonight she had a different mission in mind. This mission was her reason for travelling so very far from Canterlot. She wanted to be without guards for this. Besides, the clouds provided her with an excuse to let the moon sit still every so often without anypony but a stray pegasus or two to notice.
Luna was flying as fast as she could through the night in order to reach her destination in time. She had been very lucky that it hadn’t started yet. She hoped the pegasi would hold off until she was there. The event that was about to occur was one that she hadn’t seen in just over 1000 years. As always, her actions before her banishment had been most regrettable. They had caused her to miss out on so very much.
Now though, given a second chance by the Elements, she would do whatever she could to right the wrongs she had committed. Though much of what she did could never be fixed…the faces of ponies who had marched away from their families, only to die in a civil war that she had started haunted her daily. Luna wanted to wash away everything, go back in time, and never turn down that path. The tears started to well up, but she refused to allow them to fall, not yet at least.
Luna finally reached her destination after a few hours of flight. What she was doing had been agreed upon before she had turned into Nightmare Moon. She never thought that, after her change, this agreement would have been honored. Especially after 1000 years of imprisonment upon the moon. But, looking upon the main square of Cloudsdale, she saw them; the descendants of the only pony to understand all of the intricacies of Princess Luna’s stars, little Snowdrop.
“Princess!” Snowdrop exclaimed upon Luna’s arrival. It always amused Luna how she could tell Luna’s wing beats, walk, and landing from those of other ponies. Even if that was the only skill this pegasus possessed, it would have made her unique. However, she had more skills than that, and these skills were what had brought her to the attention of both Celestia and Luna.
Ever since that Spring Sunrise a decade prior, Luna had taken a very special interest in this young, blind, pegasus. Luna had taken her under her wing, making Snowdrop her own personal student, even though she was still taking her own lessons with Star Swirl, and despite the fact that Snowdrop was not a unicorn. Luna forced herself to stop thinking of Star Swirl. She would not go back down that road, not after what happened the previous week. His betrayal was too fresh.
Snowdrop had grown into such a beautiful young mare before the Princess’s eyes. Her physical growth was not the only one that this young one had gone through. Luna had watched as the quiet little Snowdrop grew into a mare that could socialize as easily as any other pony, though she tended to remain withdrawn at times. Not unlike the way the Princess had matured, and so Luna saw much of herself in Snowdrop.
The snowflakes that Snowdrop made…they fascinated Luna so. She could spend hours sitting with Snowflake, just talking with her as she worked. The many conversations they had together influenced both of their works. Luna reminded her student often that hearing isn’t the only sense that she could rely upon to create her art, and Snowdrop consistently showed that hearing and listening were very different things.
“Princess, I’ve been listening to your stars tonight. They sound beautiful as always,” The little pegasus said as Luna sat next to her. This one comment, oft repeated by Snowdrop during their meetings, brightened Luna’s day every time she heard it.
“Thank you Snowdrop. We take it you are nearly ready for your big event?” Luna asked, happiness piercing through the sadness that had, until that point, consumed Luna for days, but it could not completely drive it from her heart. Nothing could, because it had anchored itself there like some parasite, feeding off her jealousy. The question caused Snowdrop to respond animatedly.
“Oh! I’m so close! I’m already done! I’m just making extra for later! I’m hoping to make enough snowflakes to last a thousand years!” Her enthusiasm was clear, and her dedication to the position she had been appointed to could not be matched. However, Luna, despite being happy for her student, couldn’t help but wonder why ponies enjoyed Snowdrop’s snowflakes so much more than Luna’s own star-filled nights. It just didn’t seem fair that ponies should like something based off her stars more than her stars themselves. Luna’s thoughts were interrupted by Snowdrop’s voice, “Princess? Why are you sad? And, why do you sound so tired?”
Luna should have known that such a perceptive little pony would pick up on things such as this. It had only been a few days, the wounds ran deep, and they were fresh, and so, even though she expected the question, she was not ready for it.
“I…We do not wish to speak of it Snowdrop. It hurts us too much,” the Night Princess responded, hoping that Snowdrop would let the issue go. Her student had learned much from her though, and she turned her lessons against her.
“But…didn’t you say that the best way to make another feel better was just to listen to their problems, and that the best way to feel better about your own issues was to speak to someone you trust?” Snowdrop asked with the innocence of freshly fallen snow. Luna couldn’t believe that her own words were being used against her, but she knew she had no choice.
“I am sorry my friend. We did not mean to snap at you. I…someone we trusted dearly has hurt us, and our relationship is irretrievably ruined. He told us things…things that were simply untrue, and we could not stand to hear him, someone we had held so close, lie to us. We have not returned to Canterlot since that day. Instead, we have been living where we please, building our own place in the Everfree Forest,” Luna told her student. As she watched Snowdrop, Luna could see her trying her best to formulate the question. The pegasus clearly did not want to upset Luna, and this tip-hooving around made Luna feel even more helpless.
“Wha…um…What could he have possibly said to hurt you? I’ve never felt you this upset.” Snowdrop’s question, though well thought out, caused that pit in Luna to grow, ever so slightly. Luna, however, held herself back from lashing out.
“He tried to convince us of many things. He said that many ponies enjoy the glow of my stars, the art of the night. ‘Tis a lie! Nopony truly loves the night! They are all too busy basking the glow of my sister’s radiant sunlight!” Luna’s thoughts turned to jealousy as she remembered the conversation from a few days before. Snowdrop tried to convince her that Star Swirl had not lied.
“But Princess! I love your night! Your night is as beautiful as any sunrise! Your star-,” Snowdrop tried to salvage her mentor’s relationship with her close ‘friend’, but Luna had already lost what little hold she had over her emotions.
“No! Do not patronize us! We will not stand by and let you say things you do not mean in order to try and calm us! We are not to be treated like a little filly, consoled at the loss of someone who would betray us! Just because all ponies relish the chance to see your snowflakes does not mean you may treat us as if we are below you!” Luna’s instability grew by the moment, and with her final words she took off from the cloud. Tears were already streaming down Snowdrop’s face before Luna tore into her again, “Someday soon, you will remember these things you have said to me, and you will beg my forgiveness! But you will never receive it!” The princess spat out the words like poison, and Snowdrop recoiled from each, as if they physically hurt her.
The Princess of the Night flew off, down to the palace she was slowly building in the Everfree, turning her back on the student she had loved as her own child for little over a decade. For hours did she work, her mind consumed by hatred and jealousy. If anypony had been there to notice, they would have noticed her coat slowly darkening.
Hours later, after Luna had calmed, and as the sun rose in the East, Luna noticed that a large cloud drifted overhead. It swooped particularly low once it reached her castle grounds. Only one pony in all of Equestria knew where Luna was building her palace. Only those she told could find it, otherwise it was undetectable because of one of her spells. The cloud, which stayed overhead for a short time, suddenly let loose with a plethora of snowflakes. This was the first snow of the year, Snowdrop’s big event.
Luna watched in disgust as the snow fell, buy when it got to her, she could not help but put a hoof up and catch a flake or two. What she saw surprised her. The only snowflake she caught, an extremely large one, happened to be shaped just like her cutie mark and Snowdrop’s entwined together. How could a blind pegasus do this? This made it even harder on Luna, who felt that the snow flake maker was mocking her, and so, she crushed the flake, relishing in its destruction. Little did she know that Snowdrop was listening, and the sound of that snowflake being broken to pieces was enough to finish breaking her heart.
Once again, the memories of what Luna had done during her transformation from the Nightmare parasite haunted her. Each of them were painful lessons, reminding her that, though she be a goddess and a princess, she was far from perfect. They were costly lessons, each and every one of them.
With that thought, Luna looked on at the gathered descendants of her faithful student. Luna, knowing the great honor that was being given to her, stood tall in front of her subjects, and they looked on, wondering what a princess could say after so long.
“Thank you all for upholding that agreement made so very long ago. I wish that I could have seen Snowdrop grow old with such a family as this. She would have made me proud, and indeed she has made me proud,” Luna spoke. Her voice, though loud, was gentle and full of emotion, and it faltered at times. “Snowdrop was ever the faithful and caring student, always wishing for my approval, and always knowing when I needed a friendly ear, or a kind word. If only the teacher had remained as faithful and true, so many unneeded events could have been avoided. I hope that you all will find it in your hearts to forgive me for leaving your beloved Snowdrop, though I understand if you do not. However, tonight, Snowdrop receives her final release, as she wished.”
As Luna finished, a pegasus bearing a vase stepped forward. Her long march was a silent one, as even the night seemed to hush in anticipation for the coming event. Right before the filly reached Luna, the princess heard a pony in the crowd cough. At the sound of the cough, the little filly’s eyes widened, and she came to a screeching halt, bowing before the princess and presenting her with the vase. Luna was quite taken aback by her eyes, but she did not speak on it. She would wait until after the ceremony to do so.
Luna took the vase in her magic, floating it up to eye level before she turned and walked to the edge of the cloud. Snowdrop’s family members followed, and all stood silent once again, waiting for Princess Luna to act.
“Thus do we give you release dear Snowdrop!” Luna cried, and she tipped the vase with her magic. Right as she did so, a curious wind picked up, blowing the ashes outward, mixing in with the snowflakes that were just beginning to fall. The first snowfall of the year.
“Goodbye my student…my friend,” Luna whispered her final goodbye. After several minutes of standing there and watching the snow fall, Luna felt somepony’s hoof touch her own hind hoof. Luna smiled softly. It was the young pegasus filly that had brought Snowdrop’s ashes forward. She was a beautiful white coated filly, with a matching white mane that was accented with a blue strip down the middle. However, her eyes were the most important. Those pale-blue, unseeing eyes. Snowdrop’s eyes.
“Yes little one?” Luna asked. The filly shied a bit, but stood fast and eventually, after a little encouragement from her mother, spoke.
“Um…Princess? My name…is Crystal Frost. I was…uh…I meant to ask…well, if you were willing…would you…would you take me as a student? I…well, if you look at my cutiemark…” The little filly spoke very softly, and it was almost overwhelming to Luna. Looking at the young one’s cutie mark, Luna could see an embellished snowflake. It was extremely ornate, a far cry from Snowdrop’s simple flake, but there was no denying what this young filly was destined to do.
One time, not to long ago, Luna had believed there were no second chances. Now though, she knew better. She’d already been given a second chance at living with her sister, and now she was being given another chance at mentoring a pony. She only hoped that she would be able truly deserve these second chances someday.
With tears in her eyes, Luna swept up the apprehensive Crystal Frost, giving her a hug as she answered, “Oh little one, I would love nothing more than to take you under my wing!”
It was abundantly clear to Luna now that her slate had been wiped clean by the ponies in front of her, just like the falling snow wiped clean the face of the earth.