Mother Moon, Daughter Snow

by keaton-furman-prower

Stargazing

As the sun fell below the horizon, Luna focused on elevating the moon into the sky. She felt her magic grip the moon, pulling it across the now dark Equestrian sky. Soon, the moon cast its light on the world, signaling the beginning of the night and sending the ponies of Equestria off to bed.

Luna observed the night sky, smiling at the stars as they twinkled in the sky, and the moon as it illuminated the night sky. Never as brilliant as the sun, but far more subtle and gentle in its shine, the moon's light shined beautifully for everypony to see. The stars were less bright than the moon, but they were beautiful all the same. The night sky was one of the most amazing things Luna had ever known.

Yet ponies slept right through them, only coming out to work and play during the day. Their complete ignorance of the beauty of the night always filled Luna with sorrow. It was occasionally accompanied by other emotions: despair at forever being ignored, jealousy at the ease with which Celestia could make ponies fall to her feet, and anger at the ponies who slept through her night and lived alongside the sun.

However, there was one pony who truly knew how to appreciate Luna’s night. And as far as she was concerned, it was the only pony who mattered.

“Mommy?”

Luna turned around. She was a light blue pegasus filly with a white curly mane and a pair of cloudy eyes. She was Snowdrop, Luna’s daughter.

Snowdrop had grown quite a bit since Luna had taken her in, and she was now a happy filly who was always eager to please and comfort her mother. They were rarely ever seen apart from each other, unless Snowdrop was at school or Luna was busy in one of her royal meetings. Indeed, they could not imagine living without each other.

“Hello, Snowdrop,” said Luna as Snowdrop walked onto the balcony. “I just finished raising the moon.”

“How does the moon look tonight, mommy?”

“It is quite beautiful,” Luna said with a smile. She then quietly added “I just wish more ponies would say that to me.”

“I wish I could see you raise the moon,” Snowdrop said, slowly turning her head towards the ground sadly.

“I know,” Luna said as she knelt down and wrapped her wing around her daughter. “But you don’t need to see to do great things, Snowdrop.”

“You always say that.”

The blue alicorn bit her lip. She knew her daughter’s blindness had always been a great obstacle for her, no matter how much she tried to help her. Indeed, Luna often felt guilty for not being able to heal her filly’s eyes even when she could raise the moon with ease.

Even so, she knew the risks of telling Snowdrop everything she knew, and so had to be very careful with the words she chose.

“I'm... sorry I cannot tell you more,” Luna said finally. “But I do know that you will be able to find your path one day.”

“Do you think so?”

“I know so,” said Luna. “You're a very special filly, my little snow princess, and you are strong enough to find your way in this world, even without your eyes to help you.”

Snowdrop smiled and wrapped her hooves around her mother, who gladly returned the filly’s embrace with her wing.

“Do you want to go visit the stars now?” asked Luna.

“Yes, please!” Snowdrop said excitedly as she released her grip on her mother. She in turn grabbed Snowdrop with her wings and lifted her onto her back. Once she was secure, Luna opened her wings and took off into the night sky.

As Luna flew across the sky, she could hear the dreams of the many ponies in Equestria. Many of them dreamed of serving Princess Celestia, becoming royalty themselves, or playing in the company of Celestia. All in the brilliant glory of the day.

Dreams about the night were much rarer, and they were always bad. They included monsters which chased fillies and colts, mares and stallions who were captured by evildoers and forced into slavery, and many other ghastly scenarios. No matter what happened, a dream could be guaranteed to be bad when the night was included.

Even worse, nopony ever dreamed about Luna.

“Are we there yet, mommy?”

Luna shook herself from her thoughts.

“We are almost there, Snowdrop,” she stammered. In the distance, she could see a white fluffy cloud awaiting them. She began to slow down as she approached it, delicately landing on top of it.

“Here we are,” she said as she gently lifted Snowdrop off her back with her wings and deposited her on the surface of the cloud next to her. The two ponies then turned towards the night sky and the many stars it held.

While Luna stared at the sky with her eyes wide open, Snowdrop closed her eyes. As she did so, she remembered the first time she had been taken out to gaze at the stars.

---

“Mommy, what are stars?” asked Snowdrop.

“They are tiny points of light that shine alongside the moon and help it illuminate the sky at night,” said Luna. “That's why they are the moon's friends.”

Snowdrop turned her head towards the sky.

“That’s nice,” she said sullenly. “They probably look very pretty right now, don’t they?”

“I… suppose so,” Luna said uncomfortably. “But can you not hear them?”

“What do you mean?”

The Princess of the night extended her wing over her filly, holding her close as she explained the magic of the stars.

“Not many ponies can hear it, but when the stars shine in the night sky, they twinkle very quietly. But you have the best ears I’ve ever seen, my little snow princess. I know you’ll be able to hear them.”

As her mother finished her explanation, Snowdrop closed her eyes. There was a soft breeze blowing through the clouds around them, and slow breaths taken in by both ponies. But she couldn't hear a thing.

“All I hear is quiet,” she said sadly. “I’d rather see them.”

Luna sighed as she watched her daughter's sadness. She knew that there was nothing she could do to heal Snowdrop’s eyes, but it always pained her to see the little pegasus’ unhappiness.

“You don’t need to see them to wish on them.”

Snowdrop turned towards Luna in surprise.

“What do you mean by wish?” she asked. “You can wish on them?”

“Indeed,” said Luna. “A long time ago, before Celestia and I came, the stars were rare, and ponies couldn’t wish on them. But then, I took over, and I made sure that the night sky was always full of many stars so that ponies could have their wishes come true.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

The dark blue alicorn smiled. The awe and amazement in her daughter’s voice never failed to fill her with joy.

“Yes, it certainly is,” she said.

“Do you think if I wished hard enough they would let me see them?”

There it was. The inevitable question.

“I... suppose they might,” she said. “However, the truth is I’m not sure.”

“Why?” asked Snowdrop. “Didn't you say that my wishes could come true if I wished on them?”

“I did,” said Luna. “But not always. There are some wishes that not even stars can make true. And there are other wishes that stars don’t like to grant.”

“What do you mean?” Snowdrop asked worriedly. “What kinds of wishes?”

“Most of them are selfish wishes,” said Luna. “The kind you make only for yourself, and not for others.”

“Oh,” said Snowdrop, her head dropping in sadness. “I guess that means they won’t let me see, since I’ll only be asking for something for myself, rather than something to help other ponies.”

“Oh, of course not,” Luna said reassuringly. “Don’t you think that you could do great things for other ponies if you could see?”

The little filly stopped for a moment as she considered her mother’s words. As she did so, she felt Luna nuzzling her tenderly.

“As long as you wish to help others, your wishes shall never be selfish, my little snow princess. And who knows? Perhaps one day the stars shall grant your wish.”

---

Snowdrop yawned contentedly as she thought about the stars. To her tired surprise, she could hear a very quiet sound, like a pin dropping from half a castle away.

“Mommy?” said Snowdrop. “I think I hear the twinkles.”

Luna smiled happily as the tired filly spoke to her.

“I’m glad you can,” she said happily. “Now why don’t you make your wish, like you always do?”

Upon seeing the little filly nod, Luna lifted her onto her shoulders, sitting up as high as she could. Snowdrop, meanwhile, pointed her head towards the stars.

“Hello stars. I know you have a lot of wishes to listen to, and I don’t know if you can make them all come true. And maybe you think my wish is too selfish. My mother says it isn't, but maybe you think so. But if you don’t think so…”

Snowdrop paused for a brief moment. She had made that very wish many times. Maybe the stars really thought her wish was selfish. Maybe her mother was wrong, and they didn't have the power to grant her wishes. Maybe she was destined to be unable to see for the rest of her life.

However, she pushed her fears aside. She would not allow herself to be defeated by her fears.

I've never been able to see anything. There are so many things that ponies talk about that I can’t understand, and I wish I could. Worse, everypony thinks that I can’t do anything. They never say it because my mother is a princess, but I know that they think it. And… I want to show them that I’m not useless.

“I wish that I could see.”

As she finished, she gave out a big yawn. Sensing that she was losing her balance, Luna caught her in her magic, then placed her down on the cloud and blanketed her with her wing.

“Tell me about the stars like you always do, mommy.”

“Of course, my little snow princess,” said Luna. “Close your eyes and I will tell you everything.”

Snowdrop smiled as she closed her eyes, and nodded slowly. Satisfied, Luna looked up into the night sky and began to speak.

“There are many different kinds of stars, in many different shapes and sizes,” said Luna. “However, they all have little points at their edges, and when they sparkle, their shapes shift, and they leave little glowing spaces, but only for a moment. Many stars shine alone, but there are others who join together with other stars to form drawing in the sky, which we call constellations. Those stars remind us of the past, and tell us stories. Then there are stars which always point in the same direction, so ponies can use them to find their way when they're lost. And the few that streak across the sky and fall down to the earth, the shooting stars, are the ones you make your strongest wishes on, because they can carry them through.”

Snowdrop yawned as her mother finished her lesson. Sleepy though she was, she was still excited to hear every word her mother was saying.

“That's so nice,” she said quietly.

“Of course it is,” said Luna. Having said that, she looked up towards the stars, observing them with a melancholy gaze. In her mind, she wondered if it would be bad to remain like this forever, with her daughter in her loving embrace under the light of the moon and the stars.

She didn't know how long she sat on her cloud. For all she knew, it could have been hours, though it was much more likely it was only a few minutes. However, when she turned back to look at her daughter, she saw her fast asleep under her wing.

Luna couldn't help but feel sad at the sight. It meant that her favorite ritual, stargazing with Snowdrop, was now over. However, she was also happy, as she knew that she had spent valuable time doing what she loved the most. But more importantly, she knew that, no matter how many ponies rejected her night, there would always be one little filly who spent them with her.

As gently as possible, she lifted Snowdrop off the cloud and onto her back. Once she was certain that her filly was secure on her back, she took off into the sky, flying back towards Everfree City.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone!

So, this is a little story I've been playing with for more than a year. Basically, I began to toy with the idea that Snowdrop would have been orphaned, leading her to be adopted by Luna. After some discussion with my proofreader, the idea started to evolve, eventually forming a story which I hope I will be able to write into something good.

My proofreader and I have been busy as of late, though, so neither of us have had as much time to work on this or anything else as we would have liked. Hopefully that will change soon.

With that said, I really hope that you guys enjoy this. And I also hope that I can work on this (and my other stories) without much trouble.

Comments

[Diokno44]

That was....amazing, the feels miles. Cheers

[Diespitris]

"How does the moon look tonight, mommy?"

"It definitely is," said Luna with a smile.

I think you accidentally this conversation a bit. Other than that, cute story. Looking forward to more.
:3

[keaton-furman-prower]

4437868 Fixed.

[Ghostfriendly]

Really like this story, it's very sweet. Luna thinking of Snowdrop as the 'only one that mattered' says a lot about her relations to other ponies as well.