"Are you awake?"
The young alicorn filly moaned as she shifted on the bed, leaving the world of dreams. Her eyelids flickered several times before they eventually lifted, revealing clouded sapphire-blue eyes.
At first, her surroundings were nothing more than blotched shapes and colors, but in time, her eyes adjusted, dispelling the clouds and showing her she was in a sort of bedchamber. The main color-theme was purple, though in several different hues, clouds painted at different angles around the edges. A tapestry depicting the night sky and shooting stars hung on one side of the room, a grand fireplace not too far away, a fire of reds, yellows, and oranges lit within, sending warmth and the slightest hint of pine throughout the room. Two doors were at opposite sides, the one of glass leading to a balcony that overlooked the quickly changing city from summer to fall, and the other of grand white that the filly could not figure out.
The filly stifled a yawn, covering her mouth with her front right turquoise hoof, then pushed a stray strand of pale-white mane out of her face and behind her right ear.
"It's good to see you awake, little one," the voice from before stated.
The filly flinched and gasped upon hearing the voice before quickly spinning around to see the source. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the tall and majestic alicorn mare before her. She had a gorgeous white coat with the very slightest tint of pink. Her indigo eyes shined in the light given off by the fire, a loving look in them.
The tiny filly stared at the older alicorn, shivering in fright.
The mare smiled softly. "Do not be scared, my little pony. No harm will come to you; I promise."
The smaller stopped her quivering, but continued to hold her gaze of uneasiness.
"That's good." The mare stepped closer ever so slowly. "May I sit with you?"
The younger hesitated, but eventually nodded her head.
"Thank you." The older sat on the edge of the bed. "My name is Celestia. Do you have a name?"
The filly looked down, as if thinking. "... I... don't know."
Celestia smiled, glad to see that the filly had not lost her voice. "That's perfectly fine. How about where you live, or who your parents are?"
A shake of the head was her reply.
"Is there anything at all that you can remember that might help in finding your family?"
She shook her head once more before looking back up at Celestia, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I...I'm sorry. I just... can't remember." She released her tears and began sobbing.
Sympathy taking over, Celestia pulled the weeping filly into her embrace. She hushed her in a motherly way, running her hoof along the smaller's pale-white mane. "It's alright, little one. I promise I'll do everything in my power to help you."
The filly nodded against Celestia's chest as she continued to cry.
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As the days passed, news of the discovery of an alicorn filly in Canterlot quickly spread across the four corners of Equestria. Princess Celestia hoped that the young filly's family would eventually hear that their daughter had been found and hurry to Canterlot to reunite with her.
However, days soon became weeks, and Celestia began to wonder if the young alicorn even had any living relatives to speak of. When a month had passed after the arrival of the filly and still no word of her family came, Celestia declared the alicorn an orphan.
Though under normal circumstances Celestia would have sent an abandoned colt or filly to the orphanage, she found herself unable to give the filly up. She feared the environment would only further harm the young alicorn, and the need to surpervise the growing filly would be mandatory, for young alicorn magic could be unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. Though more privately, Celestia had grown attached to the filly, seeing her as the child she never had.
The filly was named Lovely Feathers after her wings that seemed to glisten in any form of light when fully extended. In her spare time, Celestia educated Lovely Feathers in the art of magic and proper princess etiquette. However, when she had royal duties of her own to perform, private foal-sitters and tutors came in to watch over the development of Lovely.
As time went on, Lovely Feathers slowly came out of her shell, speaking to those besides Celestia and playing with her caretakers, though she would rather spend time with her adoptive mother.
Three months later...
In Celestia's throne room, the sun goddess sat in her throne as she listened to a unicorn stallion who was in the middle of a proposal for trade-rearangements between Canterlot and Manehatten.
The brown stallion pushed the spectacles that rested on the bridge of his nose closer to his face as he continued to read off of a piece of parchment paper that levitated in his magic. "And so, Your Highness, I believe that these set of changes will-"
"Mother! Mother!" A shrilled voice interrupted.
The unicorn flinched and lost his concentration on the paper, causing him to drop it. However, he was more interested to see who had cut into his conversation and spun his head around, only for a flash of turquoise to fly by him, an after-gust sending his spectacles flying off his nose. He managed to catch his glasses with his magic a second before they would have fallen to the ground, then placed them back in place and looked to Celestia, finding a small alicorn filly floating beside his princess.
"Look, Mother. I learned a new trick from a book in the library." Lovely Feathers' horn glowed white and seemed to begin to form a figure.
The stallion stared in disbelief as the light shifted to create the illusion of a full-grown alicorn. The casted spell reared playfully as it pranced around the throne room. The unicorn could only watch in utter amazement as the illusion danced to a fro, mesmerized by the detail put into it. Though the fake alicorn had no specific characteristics such as a cutie mark or actual face, it still seemed to give off the presence similar to that of Celestia herself. The visitor looked back at Lovely Feathers- who was giggling the entire time- dumb-struck when he noticed just how young the filly actually was.
Eventually, the illusion began to fade before vanishing altogether, leaving Lovely sighing in exhaustion. However, when she regained her composure, she landed on the ground and looked up at Celestia with hopeful eyes, as if asking for approval.
She was rewarded by Celestia's smile and a small laugh, surprising the stallion. The princess turned back to her guest and stated "I hope you can forgive Lovely Feathers for her sudden interruption. She is quite gifted in her magic and wishes to show me something new at any given moment. You are not the first to witness such strange occurrences done by her."
The unicorn seemed to snap his senses back as he shook his head and bowed. "It is no trouble at all, Your Highness. Though if I may ask," he added, lifting his head up, "Is she a pupil of yours?"
"Yes," Celestia replied. "She is currently living here in the castle so her powers can be properly watched."
"I can tell she will grow to be a fine mare under your guidance, Your Highness," the stallion commented.
Lovely Feathers giggled. "You're really nice, mister. Mommy makes a good choice in friends."