Princess Luna’s Anthology of Final Wishes

by Drunk Luna

Ponyville Daycare Center

Author's Note:

MAJOR TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING: School shooting; many, many dead foals, lots of death. I just had this idea while wondering how Luna would handle a mass casualty situation, especially one that involved very young foals. I did my best to approach this extremely sensitive topic as respectfully as I possibly could. My heart goes out to any and all survivors of such unbelievably traumatic situations. Thank you guys so much for all the love you've shown for this anthology. I am nowhere near finished! I plan to write many, many more stories for this collection. As always, I am open to any and all suggestions and constructive feedback. Thank you all so much for your continued support.

With love,

Drunk Luna

Princess Luna gasped in horror as the Sacred Hall suddenly began to rapidly fill with terrified foals from Ponyville Daycare Center, all of whom were between two and five years old. The youngest ones clung to Luna, wailing in terror as the older foals huddled together, trembling. Some just stood wide-eyed and shocked. More and more foals appeared, each one screaming and crying in fear. Many of them ran aimlessly, as if they were trying to get away from something. Luna stifled a cry; she had never received so many foals in such a short timespan before. Confused, Luna began to sift through each foal's recent memory. What she saw shook her to her core. Worse, she knew she could do nothing to stop the carnage. She knew that even more victims of this senseless massacre would enter her care over the next few days and weeks. Setting her jaw, Luna got to work organizing the foals in a line that started with the ones who had the least amount of time left. The first foal was a little blue two-year-old unicorn filly named Moonlight Wishes, whose name alone nearly destroyed Luna.

“All right, little one,” Luna said, “make a wish.” The scared little filly looked up at Luna for a second, then began to cry.

“Mommy!” she wailed. Luna took a deep breath and nodded, tears filling her eyes.

“All right, Moonlight Wishes,” the princess whispered, “I’ll be your mommy.” She cast a spell that soothed the filly’s cries, and Moonlight leapt into Luna’s hooves. Usually, Luna would have allowed Moonlight to see her mother one last time, but the manner of the filly’s death had been so sudden and violent that Luna decided against exposing Moonlight’s mother to such trauma and worsening her already unimaginable suffering. Loving each foal in her care as if he or she were her own flesh and blood was of paramount importance to Luna, especially when those foals cried for their mothers. She considered herself to be their “final mother.” Like these foals’ earthly mothers, who ushered them into the world and had loved them above all others during the foals’ time on Earth, Luna ushered them out with all the love, care, and comfort that she could give them. Moonlight Wishes settled into a peaceful sleep, and Luna kissed the filly on the forehead before passing her to the waiting pony on the other side of the gates. Then, Luna turned back to the other waiting foals and bent down to the next one in line, a little black Earth pony named Onyx Bolt, who appeared to be about four years old. Like Moonlight Wishes, the colt was utterly terrified, disoriented, and confused.

“I heard a ‘pop-pop-pop,’ and then I ended up here. Why am I here? What is this? I wanna go home! I want my mommy and daddy!” Onyx Bolt quickly became hostile. “Let me go home! I won’t go with you! No! No!” Luna stood back and allowed the foal to rant, then, when he stopped, she spoke.

“Onyx Bolt,” the princess said slowly, “would you like some ice cream? What’s your favorite flavor?”

“Chocolate chip cookie dough!” the foal replied right away, all fear instantly forgotten. Luna gave him a giant bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which Onyx Bolt devoured eagerly.

“Onyx Bolt,” Luna said after he had finished his ice cream, “what are the three things you want to do more than anything else in the world?” The colt furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

“I only have one wish: I wanna join the Wonderbolts, but I can’t, because I’m not a pegasus,” Onyx Bolt said sadly. Luna smiled, gave Onyx Bolt a pair of wings and a uniform, then summoned four Wonderbolts to his side. The four pegasi surrounded the ecstatic foal, and together they performed several tricky maneuvers, then they escorted Onyx Bolt through the gates of heaven.

The next few fillies in line, who were all around three years old, asked to be princesses, and Luna granted their wishes by turning them into alicorns, giving them their very own crowns and necklaces, letting them each play in a huge castle, and putting a stained-glass window decorated with each one's cutie mark into the hallway that led to Luna's chambers at Canterlot Castle. Then, a four-year-old thestral colt named Night Wing, who looked so much like Luna's husband, Phoebus, trotted up to Luna.

"I wanna be a Royal Lunar Guard like Prince Phoebus, and I wanna protect you, Princess Luna!" the colt announced. Luna smiled at Night Wing's request; many had asked her for the exact same thing before. Thestrals were creatures of the night, and Luna's Royal Lunar Guards consisted solely of the bat-like ponies, including Luna's own husband, Prince Phoebus, who was a captain in the Royal Lunar Guards, so most young thestrals aspired to be part of her elite group of soldiers. Luna swallowed the lump in her throat and gave the colt her most stoic, stony expression.

"Well, Night Wing," she said, lifting her chin, "I don't just let anypony become a Royal Lunar Guard. Are you brave enough? Are you strong? How fast are you? How tough are you? Show me your skills, young cadet, and I shall decide whether or not you deserve the honor of joining the forces of the night!" She hid a little smile as Night Wing shot into the air and soared as fast as he could in a circle, then landed at Luna's hooves.

"Hmm," Luna said, pretending to ponder what she had just seen, "I think I might need a second opinion." She summoned her husband, Prince Phoebus, into the realm. The thestral stallion greeted Luna with a soft kiss, which Luna returned. Phoebus then directed his attention to Night Wing.

"I have heard much about your exceptional skills, Night Wing," Phoebus said, his voice clipped and commanding. "So, Private... attention!" The colt immediately snapped to attention.

"Excellent," Phoebus praised him. "Private Night Wing, do you solemnly promise and swear to be faithful, and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Princess Luna, her heirs and successors, and that you will as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity, against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and the generals and officers set over you?"

"I do," Night Wing replied eagerly. Phoebus exchanged a loving glance with Luna, then looked back at Night Wing.

"Welcome to the Royal Lunar Guards, Private Night Wing," Phoebus said, shaking the colt's hoof. Luna charged her horn, then magically turned Night Wing into a Royal Lunar Guard, giving him a uniform. The dream realm began to lapse, and Phoebus walked Night Wing to the gates.

"Private," Phoebus commanded, "present arms!" The two soldiers raised their hooves in a final salute, then Night Wing turned and strode bravely through the gates. As Phoebus returned to Luna's side, Luna noticed the tears streaming down her husband's face. She pulled him close, kissing his tears away.

"Shhhh, my love," Luna whispered. "I know that must have been incredibly difficult for you, but that little one will never forget what you did for him. I love you." She kissed her husband gently, then touched her forehead to his.

"H-how do you do it?" Phoebus sobbed. "How do you--?"

"I cannot explain now, my dearest," Luna told him, nuzzling the stallion lovingly. "I must escort the rest of these little ones to peace." She kissed Phoebus a final time, then sent him back to the waking world.

Suddenly, another pony appeared: A brown unicorn stallion with eyes full of hatred and evil. Luna immediately took a defensive stance, using her wing to shield him from the foals' sight.

"You are the bastard who did this," Luna growled. "What is your name, foul demon? SPEAK!" The stallion smirked devilishly and narrowed his eyes at the princess. Luna's blood boiled as she realized that this pony was responsible for the deaths of all of these innocent little foals, and he had just killed himself after murdering the young ones. He refused to speak, smirking at Luna.

"You may have expedited your death sentence," Luna bellowed, "but you have not saved yourself from any of the excruciating pain that I will personally inflict upon you! I will deal with you later. Get out of my sight." She tied the stallion to a stake and burned him to a crisp, then sent him to the deepest, darkest pits of Hell.

A five-year-old unicorn colt named Inferno was next in line. Like Onyx Bolt, Inferno entered the Sacred Hall fighting his fate, kicking, bucking, screaming, and thrashing violently.

"No!" he yelled in Luna's face. "No, Princess Luna, I won't go with you! I have to fight! I want to live! I'm going to live!" Inferno's screams quickly turned higher as he became more and more agitated. Luna stood quietly and allowed the foal to cry for a few moments before she spoke.

"It is useless to try to fight, little one," Luna gently told him. "You are still lying on the floor at school, and you are bleeding out. You have lost far too much blood because a bullet pierced one of your arteries; the doctors cannot save you. I also wish you had not ended up here, but, alas, you are here, and in a few minutes' time, you will be dead. I admire your fighting spirit, young Inferno, and I am so very sorry that this happened to you. You were much, much too young to die, and I know you're afraid, but fear not, young one; if you will just cooperate with me and trust me, I will give you peace and comfort, and you will go on to a place full of happiness beyond your wildest dreams. I promise that you will feel no pain. Would you like some ice cream? What's your favorite flavor?"

"Ch-chocolate," Inferno stuttered, trembling like a leaf. Luna gave him a giant bowl of chocolate ice cream, which he devoured greedily. After he had finished eating, Inferno only wished for one thing: His mother. Once again, in order to avoid upsetting Inferno's actual mother, Luna became the foal's mom and rocked him until the dreamscape lapsed. She led Inferno to the gates, gave him a final hug, told him she loved him, and ushered him to heaven.

A little turquoise unicorn filly named Diamond Blossom, who looked eerily similar to Luna's own daughter, Princess Neoma, when she was a foal, was last in line. Luna actually had to remind herself that Neoma was safe and healthy, with a husband and daughter of her own now; the thestral alicorn was Princess of the Northern Lights, responsible for creating beautiful light shows over the frigid arctic. Luna sucked in a deep breath and looked at Diamond Blossom.

"Hello, Diamond Blossom. Tell me, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

Luna attended each foal's funeral, comforting every family. The first funeral she attended was that of little Night Wing, where Luna posthumously commissioned the thestral colt as a colonel of the Royal Lunar Guards and had him buried accordingly, in a custom foal-sized uniform, with full military honors befitting one of her soldiers. Luna bit back her tears as the soldiers fired three volleys and the Equestrian flag over the foal's tiny casket was folded and given to his grief-stricken parents. Then, Phoebus, Luna, and her entire Royal Lunar Guard regiment saluted as a bagpiper played a lament and the casket was slowly lowered into the ground. Not a dry eye could be found anywhere in the huge crowd that had gathered.

After the funeral, Luna trudged into the castle, past Celestia, who was irritatingly cheerful. Luna tried to remind herself that her sister would never understand the full extent of Luna's duties, but it became too much for her to bear when Celestia spoke to her.

"Hi, Lulu! How was your night?" Luna gritted her teeth as she turned to face the older alicorn.

"I don't know, sister," she snapped. "I just attended the funeral of a little four-year-old colt who died in a mass shooting. His last wish was to be a Royal Lunar Guard. I granted his wish before escorting him to heaven the day he died. I still have nineteen other funerals to attend--nineteen tiny caskets I have to watch being put into the ground. How do you think my night went?" Celestia's eyes widened, and tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Is that... part of your job?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded silently, then fell into Celestia's hooves, crying uncontrollably.

"You will never understand," Luna sobbed. "Mine is the most precious, most sacred, most heartbreaking, most difficult duty a pony can imagine. Don't ever complain about your role again. You have absolutely no idea about what my job requires. After my banishment, ponies had to take their last journeys all by themselves for a thousand years. The old, the sick, the little ones--" she cried harder, "--they were all left to die alone. I grant three of everypony's final wishes, then I take them all to heaven. Never complain about your job again. I don't want to hear it." Celestia cried with Luna, holding her little sister.

"I can't imagine the weight of the burden you must carry, little sister," Celestia sobbed. "You handle your duty with so much grace. You are billions of times stronger than I will ever be. I had no idea." She sniffled and hugged Luna tightly. The two sisters held each other until Celestia was due to raise the sun.