Princess Pinkamena

by PersephoneSleeps

Prologue: In the Everfree Forest

The moon rose bright above the frosty night. Princess Luna, who at last had a night to spend away from the courtiers of her palace, found herself walking along the path that led to her old castle. Her head ached from a long day of negotiations between several elite families, apparently nopony knew how to share anymore. It wasn't as if that old well was useful or anything...

She rolled her eyes, and tried to clear these thoughts. "Never take your work home with you," she reminded herself, forgetting for a moment that the Everfree Forest was not really home. Not anymore.

Brambles had grown over the disused path, and they pulled unpleasantly at her fur- but she hardly noticed. Her mind was becoming lost in memory. Some nights it seemed like all she need do was close her eyes, and she was a filly again. Basking in the sunshine, playing with her favorite person in the whole world. Echoes of laughter haunted her ears, and it felt as if she could look behind her and see Cel-

No! Luna shook her head vigorously, as if to shake away the name and face that crept through her dreams. It had been night for nearly a thousand years, only a few remembered the true name of her sister- and those few chose to whisper it sparingly behind closed doors- lest they enrage their ruler.

Her hooves finally reached the cool stone that signaled she had reached the old bridge. Across the river, rising up out of the mists, was her old home. It was little more than a ruin now, but with a little care (and copious amounts of magic) she felt as if she could bring it back to it’s former glory.

Not that she ever would. No matter how often she returned to the castle, she could never find herself to cross the bride and actually enter it. Instead, she sat on the path and gazed mournfully across the river-eyes glazed over in thought.

Again, the memories spilled into her mind. She felt utterly alone and cold as she played out the first birthday she had after their parents had died. Her sister, determined to distract her from her misery, had spent the evening pranking every servant in their castle, all for the purpose of making her smile.

“Never stop laughing Luna,” she had said once she coaxed out the first laugh they had shared since their parent’s death, “it’s the only thing that makes life bearable.”

Luna’s eyes teared up, You didn’t think about that before you tried to become an evil dictator, did you, she thought bitterly.

Then, every hair on end stood on end. Her head whipped up, and aqua eyes scanned the trees. Ears pricked, she waited for the sound again.

There! Luna leapt to her feet. Her breath came in quick puffs as she hurtled through the forest.
Somepony was crying. Wailing, to be precise. Although she was too far away to be certain, she felt sure that the pony was very young.

Who would let a foal wander around the Everfree forest? She thought angrily, jumping easily over a fallen tree. It was dangerous for a full-grown pony, let alone a colt or filly. She- being an alicorn- was more than capable of handling herself, but an innocent foal? She shuddered at the thought of what could happen, and redoubled her efforts.

She burst into a clearing, and paused in confusion. It was empty, but she was certain that this was where the sound had come from.

Then, the noise came again, a high, piercing cry from the hollow of a nearby tree.

Luna scrambled over to the tree. Using the tip of her horn as a light, she poked her head into the hollow, and gasped.

Staring up at her with tearful turquoise eyes, was the youngest filly she had ever seen. Luna guessed the foal to be only a few hours old- if that.

“Hello little one,” whispered Luna, noting that the foal was still whimpering. “What are you doing here?” There was a scrap of paper lying next to the filly, and she pulled it into the light. In crudely formed letters someone had written the words:

We giv a lyfe, to sav a lyfe- In the nam of the Wynter Stallion

Anger burned hot in her belly, and she used her magic to tear the paper into strips. The Winter Stallion was an archaic god- one that had not been openly worshiped since her own fillyhood. Those who worshipped him felt that if they were too poor to support their families they could sacrifice newborn foals in exchange for the survival of the rest of their children. It was a stupid superstition- one that she thought had died out centuries ago.

Gingerly, she pulled the little filly out. Her magic suspended the foal in midair as she scanned it for any obvious injuries. Before she could finish her examination, a low growl sounded from behind her.

The smell hit her first, acrid and earthy. Whipping her head around, she was confronted with three timber wolves, their green eyes fixed on the still crying foal.

“Stay back!” she roared, gently guiding the filly back into the hollow.

Timber wolves were not generally known for their cooperation, and so it was no surprise when, with a snap of it’s wooden jaws, the nearest wolf sprang towards her.

She turned, and kicked out her back legs, catching him straight in the jaw. He fell with a yelp, his snout cracked down the middle. The other two took this opportunity to jump into the fray, and they fell on her.

Wooden claws were much worse than they seems, she noticed as a searing pain raked across her shoulder. She lashed out, breaking down the nearest wolf, and turning on the others with vengeance.

Between her hooves and her magic, the fight was over quickly. Leaving the scraps of wood, Luna turned back to the hollow, and pulled out the foal once more.

“There we go, little one,” she sighed. Her magic pulled the filly close, and for the first time the foal’s squalling ceased. A tiny smile crossed the filly’s face, and she reached a tiny hoof up to touch Luna’s nose.

In that moment, Luna knew she was lost. Her chest filled with warmth, and she found an answering smile spreading across her face.

The moment was broken by the rattle of wood behind them.

“We must go,” sighed Luna, “before the timber wolves reassemble themselves.”

She pulled the filly closer, and wrapped a foreleg around her for good measure. Then, in a puff of purple smoke, she disappeared.

A second later they appeared in her sitting room. The room was empty, save for a single maid who jumped in fright at the sight of them.

“P-P-Princess! Forgive me,” cried the grey mare, who sank into a bow.

Luna waved her horn dismissively, “There’s no time for formalities,” she snapped, “I need you to go find Honey Crisp and send her to me at once.” The maid blinked in surprise, prompting the impatient princess to stamp her hoof and shout “What are you waiting for? Go!”

The maid scuttled off, forgetting the bundle of firewood she had been hauling. For this, Luna was grateful, and she made quick work of building up a roaring fire.

“Princess, you sent for me?”

Luna smiled warmly at the amber-colored pony. Honey had been the closest thing she had to a friend. As head cook, she often fussed over Luna, making sure that the alicorn ate properly, and slept enough. Though much younger than the Princess, most of her interactions with the ruler resulted in what Luna referred to as “mothering.”

“Yes, I- I need some oatmeal, I think. You see, I found her in the Everfree Forest-“

As soon as Honey registered what Luna was holding, she let out a squeal of delight. “A foal! Oh my, she’s so young! We need milk, not oatmeal! She won’t be able to have that for a while yet, but goodness, look at that smile! I’ve never seen a foal so young smile like that. How did you come across her?”

As Luna launched into the story, Honey bustled about summoning all of the items she needed to warm the milk, and then assembled a bottle.

“May I?” Luna asked, as Honey made to take the foal. “I’ve always wanted to, but I’ve never had the chance.”

The bottle was happily passed over, and Luna grinned in delight as the little filly latched on with gusto.

“Well, what are you planning to do with her?” asked Honey over the noise of the bottle.

A faint blush crossed over Luna’s cheeks. “I- I thought I might keep her,” she said, suddenly feeling a little shy. “It wouldn’t be the first time a royal foal was born in secret- and she’s young enough… I’ve been wearing my regalia during court meetings, so nopony would really be able to contest…” Her aqua eyes met Honey’s butterscotch ones fearfully, “Do you think we could pull it off?”

For a long moment, Honey said nothing. Then she grinned, and pulled the blanket down just enough to look at the filly’s fur. “Just as I thought.” She nodded, “She’s the same color as your grand-niece Pinkamena. She’s not a unicorn of course, but I think that will be overlooked given the circumstances.”

“Then you think I should keep her?”

Honey laughed good naturedly, “I think you’ve already made up your mind- but yes. I do. There’s lots to do though. We’ll need to send out an announcement, and plan a welcoming party- and oh! We’ll need to foal-proof everything!”

Luna found herself giggling helplessly as the matronly mare prattled on about everything they needed to do. Already she was redecorating her private rooms in her head. As she looked around it became abundantly clear to her that this was not the right atmosphere to raise a foal.

The sitting room was lavishly decorated in sapphire silk and amethyst velvet. The furniture was gilded in gold and the perfect size for the alicorn. But for all it’s beauty it was cold. Her entire palace was cold. Her life, though privileged, was lonelier than she had ever imagined.

But as she peered back down into the filly’s tiny face, she felt something she had not in years…

Hope.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought. Any constructive criticism is welcome! This is my first mlp story, so I'm still finding my footing.

Comments

[Kyturoz]

You've peaked my interest. To best sum up my thoughts on this: "Huh."

[punzil504]

Hm... there are lots of "Good Luna, Bad Celestia" AUs now, but one where Luna adopts Pinkie Pie? This could get interesting.

[Creed Alborn]

I'll keep my eye on this, keep it up.

[DiscordFan]

Moar?

[Draco Dei]

In the description you asked for corrections I believe?

she could never find herself to cross the bride and actually enter it.
-bridge

Wooden claws were much worse than they seems,
-"seemed" Alternatively, since this is an ongoing truth, rather than belonging strictly to the past you might go with "Wooden clawsare much worse than they seem,"