"Come Little Children"
By: Blue Eyed Melloon
Chapter Seven
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Once upon a time, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony throughout the land.
To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon at night. Thus the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all with different types of ponies.
But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful.
The headlines spoke of the new Captain of the Guard. He was promoted after negotiating with the Griffon nation to prevent a war from breaking out. The picture of him receiving his captain’s helmet took up a large portion of the front page. On the second page of the Canterlot News, a column dedicated to the foal-napping incident a month prior told readers that so far, no leads had proven fruitful in the case. The average pony would scan the column and sigh. Some would shake their heads and a few might even engage the pony next to them or across the table about the update. What precious information had been released was hashed and re-hashed among the population of Canterlot until more rumors than facts were being circulated. And now even those were wilting away as other news was reported. Life went back to normal.
Except for Celestia. The reports of missing foals on the night of her visions troubled the princess the more that she thought about it. The usual measures were taken; search parties were sent out, the parents (if any were present) were questioned, and a substantial reward was offered for any leads toward the foals’ location. But nopony had anything to offer. The foals had simply vanished from their beds. Celestia poured over the paperwork, wrote out connections and spent many nights sleeplessly counting and recounting the accounts by the ponies questioned.
One possibility teased the back of Celestia’s mind. It was a scenario that she did her best to avoid, yet as she went over the information again and again, it dogged her thoughts. Why had Luna come into her dream that night? Why was her sleep so deep? And what were the visions that she had experienced before waking in a panic?
Luna saw that Celestia was investigating the missing foals with more than just idle interest or royal duty, and began to worry that her colony may now be safe. That night, she returned to the garden, landing just outside the clearing and walking forward. The foals were growing to like their new home with each passing night. The most difficulty came with adjusting to sleeping during the day instead of taking to their beds when the moon rose.
When Luna became visible, there were shouts of excitement and the thundering of hooves as the foals rushed forward. They were shaggy and dirty, but looked happier than they had ever been in their lives. Luna smiled, running a shoed hoof over a couple ruffled manes and said “Dear children, how art thee? Dost thy have any news?”
These are your children Luna. Celestia has no hold here. They cherish you as they have never cherished your sister.
“Princess, we found the flowers that you said were nearby.” Piped a filly, interrupting the voice in the princess's head while indicating freshly dug earth off to the right. “We planted them just like you asked.”
“Will they grow fast?” wondered another out loud, waving her hoof in the air wildly.
“If they are cared for, they will grow. And it is these flowers that thy gardening skills will be practiced on. When thee has proven that plants will be cared for, we shall bring you seeds to grow for food.”
There was excited chatter, and Luna let it go for a minute or two before raising a hoof. “Come pray thee, is there anything else? Has anypony come that was not welcome?”
The crowd went silent as they all shook their heads. Luna let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding, and her smile widened. Celestia had not found her secret. “Good. Well then let us go inside. We have brought food to replenish thy stocks and it is time for lessons.” There was a collective groan. Many of the foals assumed that without proper schools, there would be no need for learning. But Luna proved to be an eager teacher and brought them books from the Canterlot Library to study.
Once the food had been put away in its proper places, Luna gathered her classroom around her for their lesson. There had been a fireplace inside all of the trees for when the weather turned cold, and now it crackled with warmth and light to push away the outside gloom. Foals were sprawled out on the floor, some with pillows and others with notebooks crudely made out of parchment Luna brought with her on one of her many trips between the two places.
She opened the book, holding it aloft with magic, and began “Long ago, when Equestria was still new, a troop of Griffons scouted their location, and sent emissaries to talk to the three rulers….”
Back in Canterlot, Celestia watched her sister fly away as she so often did nowadays. Her brow furrowed, and she lifted her wings as if to follow. But something held her back. Sneaking and spying was not the way to gather the truth. She would have to confront her younger sister. She turned her back to the window, sighing sadly. Something inside Luna was causing her to be sneaky and deceitful. Celestia quietly dreaded Luna's return, for it meant that their relationship was going to change.