Sundays were much quieter than most days of the week. The Everfree castle was closed for business, official or otherwise, which meant the princesses were free to do whatever they saw fit. And naturally, Luna spent every moment of it with Snowdrop.
“Come on, mommy, I want to play with the ducks!”
“Don’t you worry, my little snow princess,” said Luna. “Those ducks aren’t going anywhere.”
The little snow-blue pegasus giggled as her mother nuzzled her gently, then picked her up with her magic and placed her on back. They then made their way towards the royal garden. As they entered the grassy fields, Snowdrop was greeted by the sounds of birds and squirrels, the fresh breeze flowing through her mane, and the warmth of Celestia’s sun.
“It’s a really nice day today, isn’t it, mommy?”
“It is,” said Luna. “It looks so beautiful.”
“It does?” said Snowdrop. “I wish I could see it.”
Luna smiled sympathetically at her daughter’s wishes.
“You don’t need to see it. You can hear and feel and smell it, can’t you?”
“Well, I guess I can.”
“That’s all you need to enjoy this. Now why don’t you go chase some ducks?”
Snowdrop smiled and nodded, and then ran off in the direction of the quacking. As she ran, she listened to how they got louder as they got closer, and then began to shriek as they noticed her running in their direction. She then stopped for a brief moment as the ducks went silent.
Luna watched in fascination as the ducks regarded the white-maned pegasus filly which had interrupted their day of quacking and waddling around. She in turn was turning her head around, trying to figure out where they might have gone. Then, one of the ducks quacked at her, as if it was asking her politely to leave them alone.
“Ah! There you are!”
The ducks quacked out loud as Snowdrop started chasing them again. They then scattered in all directions, leaving her temporarily confused as the cacophony of quacks spread out, making it difficult to pinpoint any specific directions. Seeing that their pony pursuer had stopped, the ducks stopped as well, becoming silent once again and turning to stare at her in what seemed like a mix of curiosity and caution.
“Okay,” said Snowdrop. She closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds that surrounded her: the wind running through the trees, the ground crunching beneath her feet, the waves in the water, and the beating of her own heart.
“Where are you, duckies?”
As the wind flowed past her, she could hear something else. It was like her breathing, but it sounded somewhat different, more like some sort of animal. In addition, she could also smell mud and wet feathers.
“Gotcha!”
Snowdrop smiled as she began to run towards the closest duck she could find. It, in turn, began to waddle and flap its wings as fast as it could to avoid the incoming filly tackle. However, the filly in question opened her wings as well, pushing herself even faster to catch up to the duck. No matter how fast it moved, it couldn’t escape her, as she was getting closer and closer with each breath.
“Snowdrop!”
Luna could only watch as the duck made a mad dash straight into the pond, splashing down and swimming as hard as it could. Hearing the splash in front of her, Snowdrop panicked and tried to stop. Before she could do so, however, she tripped over a patch of loose grass, tumbling forth into the muddiest patch of pond possible.
As she emerged, she felt the dirty mud sticking all over her, and attempted to remove some of it off of her face. As she did so, she heard the ducks quacking all around her. Unlike before, when they had seemed shocked and alarmed, their quacking now sounded like laughter. A kind of laughter she was all too familiar with.
“Stop it.”
The quacking continued, becoming even louder and more mocking with every second.
“I said stop it,” said Snowdrop, her voice showing signs of anger.
If the ducks heard her, they paid her no heed.
“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”
An explosion of sound rumbled through the garden, which was followed by several scared quacks which became more distant as the sources moved farther and farther away. Snowdrop then felt her body being lifted out of the mud and into her mother’s warm embrace.
“Snowdrop!”
The blind filly gasped at the tone of Luna’s voice. She seemed angry, yet mostly worried.
“Why did you do that?”
Snowdrop bit her lip.
“They were laughing at me, mommy. I don’t like it when they laugh at me.”
Snowdrop closed her eyes and turned away. She was worried about what her mother would say. To her surprise, however, Luna did not scold her.
“Come, Snowdrop. You need a bath.”
While it was technically a bathtub, the royal tub was large enough to qualify as a small pool. Each handle and faucet was made of gold or diamond, and the edges were coated in silver. When completely full, the water level was deep enough that most ponies had to stand up on their hind legs for their heads to come above the water level. And unlike most bathtubs, it had much more than merely hot and cold water: it carried a variety of scented soaps, including strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon, mint, and Snowdrop’s favorite, primrose. In addition, there were bubbles in all sorts of colors, although for the purpose of bathing her daughter, Luna chose simple white bubbles.
Usually the little pegasus greatly enjoyed her baths; Luna’s delicate scrubbing helped her relax while she took in the warmth of the water and the sweetness of the primrose. Today, however, she had much on her mind. The incident with the ducks had reminded her of her first few days at her school and how everypony had laughed at her for being a useless blind foal. At the time she had simply sat in silence, listening to the way they mocked her. Even though her mother had instructed her teacher (Snowdrop was tempted to say threatened) to deal with the bullies, they continued to speak ill about her behind her back. And yet Snowdrop never attempted to get even with them.
“Mommy?” she said finally. “Are you mad with me?”
For a moment, Luna said nothing. However, as she rubbed shampoo into her daughter’s mane, she considered how much she could say without causing any sort of problems.
“I’m not angry,” she said finally. “I am merely worried. You seem to be… troubled.”
Snowdrop considered what her mother had said.
“When those ducks were quacking, it sounded like they were laughing at me,” she said. “It was like when I first went to school.”
“I understand,” said Luna. “What I don’t understand is why you lost your temper. You have always been such a sweet filly, Snowdrop. I would never imagine you yelling at anypony, much less in the Royal Voice.”
Snowdrop paused as she let her mother’s words sink in. She had often thought about getting even with the ponies who mocked her, yet she never did. But today she had yelled at a group of ducks who hadn’t even been trying to anger her, in the Royal Voice no less. She was actually surprised that she had even managed to shout in the voice at all, having long believed only her mother and aunt could use it.
How much harder would it be to yell at your stupid classmates, Snowdrop?
The white-maned filly pushed back the little voice in her head as Luna scrubbed her tail.
“I try not to, but it’s really hard sometimes,” said Snowdrop.
“I know it’s hard,” said Luna. “I often find myself wanting to take out my frustrations on Celestia, even though she holds no responsibility for any of my woes.”
“But if Celestia wasn’t there to raise the sun every day, wouldn’t ponies look up to you?” said Snowdrop. “Wouldn’t they adore you like they adore her?”
Once more, Luna chose not to answer. However, as she began to wash Snowdrop’s wings, she thought about how much Celestia was loved by her subjects, even though she took a mostly passive role in protecting Equestria. On the other hoof, the princess of the night actively protected the dreams of her little ponies, and created beautiful nights for her subjects to enjoy. And yet, because nopony was awake during the night, nopony could ever appreciate her work.
“We’re done,” she said finally, doing her best to forget any feelings of animosity she may have felt towards her sister or her subjects. “Now close your eyes, Snowdrop.”
Snowdrop obediently shut her eyes, and listened to the gentle hum of Luna’s magic. The next thing she knew, her body was splashed by water, and she felt the soap and suds being washed out of her mane, tail, and body.
Luna smiled and lifted her now clean filly out of the tub as she levitated a towel from the towel hangers and passed it over Snowdrop. First, she carefully dried out her body, and then moved on to her head and mane, making sure to get out as much water out as possible. Finally, she moved on to her tail, making sure not to pull too hard.
“How do you feel now, my little snow princess?”
Snowdrop shook her tail, then her hooves, and finally her head. She then turned towards her mother and smiled.
“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Luna said with a smile. “Now, why don’t we do our little dance?”
Snowdrop gasped in excitement and nodded. Then, she and Luna began to carry out their favorite little game.
“Moonlight, moonlight,
fireflies awake,
make a wish,
and do a little shake!”
The first verse had the two ponies bounce up and down while alternating between their left and right hooves. In the second verse, they held their heads next to the floor, covered their eyes with their hooves, then lifted their hooves, as if opening their eyes. Then, for the third verse, they closed their eyes and held their front hoof (Luna’s right, Snowdrop’s left) against their hearts, as if swearing to the stars above. Finally, they moved their bodies so that their flanks were just about facing each other and shook them.
Having finished their dance, both mother and child fell to the floor laughing.
As they both sat at the royal dining table, Luna watched as Snowdrop ate her ice cream. The little pegasus loved ice cream, whether it was vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, or any other flavor. While she never quite said it, Luna believed that it had something to do with the fact that it was as cold as winter, which both she and her daughter greatly enjoyed unlike the many other ponies of Equestria.
Luna's mind briefly wandered to winter. It was the part of the year when the earth ponies let the earth rest, and so the pegasi created snow to enable the process. In spite of its vital importance, few ponies liked it, as it was cold and dark, and so they spent most of their time indoors around their fires. It also reminded ponies of the windigos, which had nearly frozen all of Equestria while feeding on the hatred they felt.
Thus, while spring, summer, and fall were all considered to be special in one way or another, winter was seen as a nuisance which was only tolerated due to its importance in restoring the earth. It was similar to the night in that regard, which was regarded as nothing more than the time for ponies to rest to prepare them for the day. Because of this, Luna felt a special affinity for winter.
That, and the fact that Snowdrop had been born on the night of the Winter Solstice.
Today, the royal dessert chef was serving salted caramel ice cream with some freshly baked chocolate cake. The ice cream was half-melted due to the heat of the cake, soaking the cake in delicious cream. The result was one of the most delicious desserts either Luna or Snowdrop had ever tasted.
“It is excellent, Chocolate Cake,” said Luna.
“It's so amazing!” said Snowdrop.
“I appreciate your compliments,” said Chef Chocolate Cake. He was a rather tall and slender unicorn stallion with a beige coat and brown mane, and a chocolate bar for a cutie mark. His face was full of joy at being told that his newest creation was a success.
“Of course, I must ask why you are eating sweets right now. Not that it bothers me, your highness, but most ponies would be telling their foals not to spoil their appetites.”
“Well,” said Luna, “Snowdrop and I have been dealing with a few issues recently, and we needed something to lift our spirits.”
“I see,” said Chef Cake. “Does it have anything to do with your sister?”
Luna put her spoon down and sighed.
“It is nothing that you must concern yourself with, Chocolate Cake. I assure you I can resolve these issues on my own.”
“Well, if you insist,” said Chef Cake. “Of course while I am merely a chef, if you wish for advice, I’m always here to help.”
Luna smiled, then thought about Snowdrop’s problems.
“I don’t suppose you have any advice for my daughter?”
“What’s eating her?”
“Nothing!” Snowdrop said quickly. “I’m just fine!”
Chef Cake stared at her, attempting to get her to say something else. Meanwhile, Luna groaned.