• Published 7th Aug 2013
  • 2,212 Views, 22 Comments

Snow Sparkle - Inkyarn



This is a sequel to SillyFillyStudio's Snowdrop

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Prologue

A pony sat atop a cloud, gazing out over the city. Her long white and blue hair flowed gently in the wind, streaked with grey in the moonlight. Her eyes were half-lidded, as though unhappy with what she saw. Not that she could see the beautiful city stretched out around her. She gave a sigh, her body shrugging with the sound. Her wings reshuffled, individual feathers unclipping and drifting about her. The cloud was now littered with them. She could feel the discarded plume when she moved. They fluttered about her, either whisking away in the wind or settling against her body, warm and soft.

Energy was failing her. Soon, her wings could no longer prop themselves on her sides. They slipped away to join the lost feathers and soft curls of the cloud. Her eyes soon fell shut and her unseeing eyes entered a fuller blackness that she recognized as such. Her weary, drooping head finally dipped and rested on her outstretched hooves. Another sigh stretched her creaking torso and pushed her onto her side. It was immediately followed by a gaping yawn and her jaw popped several times, hollow, lonely sounds in the stillness of night.

She laid back against her cloud and opened her eyes once more. A sea of blackness met her but she was accustomed to that. It was the sounds that she was truly searching for. The whisper of wind across the sky, the faint sounds trickling toward her from the city below… The slight disturbance of wings across the breeze.

A pair of hooves descended against the plush cloud, rocking the old pony lying tiredly across it. Snowdrop wearily lifted her head in the direction of the shift and put on a feeble smile.

“Hello, Luna.” She inclined her head ever so slightly.

Like shifting across a bed, the cloud ruffled and bounced. Snowdrop waited patiently for the princess to settle before shifting herself. She placed her hooves beneath her and groaned, picking herself up into a more respectful position.

“How can you tell it was me?” Luna’s voice was careful and quiet, a mere breath in the night. Thankfully, Snowdrop’s ears were talented. She barely caught the words and felt her smile become a grin.

“I didn’t, I greet everypony this way. Just in case it’s you.” She reached over shakily and nudged her friend, breaking into a cracking laughter. It pulled at her body and thrust her forward into a short cough. Luna’s hooves appeared at her sides and helped her sit up. Snow’s body went rigid and jolted from each thrust, her throat clawing with each cough. The two sat there for a moment, silent and worried.

Snowdrop warded the princess away and settled back down, doing her best to reshuffle her wings. “Today is a beautiful day, isn’t it?” She cast her face up, drinking in the cool moonlight across her fur. Luna followed the gaze and found herself staring up at the white majesty before her. Full and bright, sunk low across the sky, its belly just touching the distant horizon. The two shared a smile. Snowdrop at the lovely feel and Luna at the beautiful sight.

It was not long before Snow found herself leaning against the alicorn. The realization was acknowledged and passed silently and the two passed into a comfortable moment of embrace. Luna wished with all her might that the moment could stretch on into infinity, but even good things had to pass at some moment.

“I’m leaving.” The words were short and so delicate in Drop’s tiny voice but they resonated so deeply within the alicorn. Shock nearly made her cry out. Her body stiffened and she bit her lip to keep from doing so, her midnight fur standing on end. Comprehension dawned on her and she turned to look at her friend. The wind howled again, blowing the pegasus’ mane away from her drawn, weary face. Everything about the pony was fragile, stretched, thin. Luna’s expression became complicated, and her words choked.

“Where are you going?”

Snowdrop smiled despite herself, barely holding back a soft chuckle. She shook her head, almost imperceptibly, and raised her head again to the moon. “I’m old, princess.” She sighed deeply, eyes fluttering shut. She again rested upon her friend and felt her body sag toward her. “You know I have to go.”

Luna’s breathing quickened. She desperately clawed for control but it was out of her reach. She began to pant softly and her eyes fluttered, her eyes stung. She unfurled and furled her wings quickly. “Snowdrop,” Her voice broke.

The mare in question nuzzled affectionately into her friend. “It’s alright Luna,” She cooed softly. “I won’t be gone forever. I’ll return.”

“But…”

She shushed Luna gently and snuggled into the princess’ warmth. “You’ve taught me so much, Luna. Let me teach you something now.” Her head began to droop once more and she let it, resting her chin at Luna’s hooves. “A snowflake can’t die. It’ll fall year after year, but it won’t die away. A new one will rise and fall in its place. I may have been the first to fall,” She opened her eyes and focused on Luna’s uneven breaths. The alicorn gazed back into those cloudy blue eyes, her expression contorting, her eyes crinkling as a single drop escaped them.

“Snowdrop…”

“I won’t be the last.” She reached blindly forward and found Luna’s jaw. She pressed her hoof into it, steadying her friend’s gaze and keeping it locked on her. “I won’t be the last to fall, either.” Her seriousness drifted away with the wind and her head dropped down again. Her grip was lost and her hoof hit the cloud.

Luna reached forward, her own quake in her hoof, and brushed Snow’s mane back. She sniffed silently. “You never even got to see your own snow flake. You never got to see that little sparkle.” Her other hoof came up to brush a tear from her furry cheek.

Snowdrop sighed again, a look of blissful peace spreading across her face. “A sparkle isn’t just seen, my friend. It’s felt. In the heart,” She whispered. Her muscles uncoiled, her wings dropped. Her body relaxed. “Follow your heart, Luna,” Her sweet, gentle voice was barely audible over the still wind, “And you’ll find your sparkle.”

Luna wrapped her hooves around her friend, passion filling her. She buried her midnight muzzle into the pegasus’ blue fur and wept openly.

Author's Note:

If I'm making a mistake with this rewrite, please, stop me here