When Fillies Fly
Sunsets are a beautiful thing in the land of Equestria. They paint the sky in beautiful reds, oranges, and purples, giving a unique spectacle every day. For more than a thousand years, ponies from all corners of the land have cherished these wonderful moments before the cold night arrives and they seek refuge in their homes.
Celestia once loved such sunsets, she even wished to have a little one of her own, but that was a long time ago. Now, each sunset brought with it a difficult task. Raising the moon, and seeing the face of her biggest failure as ruler… and sister.
Even after centuries, the deepest wounds of that night remain open, being scratched every day by the image of the fallen alicorn plastered on the surface of the night-bringer. Celestia often wonders if they would ever heal, even if her sister returns.
“When she returns,” the princess reminds herself each time. “There’s still a chance to save her.”
That small chance, requiring the right ponies with the right virtues, was her hope for a better future. For the kingdom, for herself, but mainly, for Luna.
“Luna...” the princess says as she stares longingly at the mesh of day and night in the sunset. The closest either sister has been to each other in centuries. “How dost thou fare in thy prison? Dost thou suffer hunger? Dost thou suffer from cold? Hast thy darkness grown? Hast thou manage to purge thyself from it?” Celestia sighs wistfully, knowing the moon would never respond.
The princess prepares to finish the transition to night, but when she looks at the horizon once more, she witnesses something that even in all the centuries she has lived, she has never seen before.
A green filly, held aloft by four heart-shaped balloons tied to her torso, slowly ascending in the sky.
“Hast we finally lost it?” the monarch asks herself as she blinks and focuses on the gravity-defying kid soaring the skies. Shaking the surprise away, Celestia finishes raising the moon and extends her wings before taking off, quickly catching up with the green filly.
Now closer, the alicorn notices a few more things about the improvised flyer. She was a light green earth pony with dark green mane, had a cutie mark of a dying potted plant, a freckled face and back, light brown eyes, and for some reason, she was holding her breath.
Celestia’s first question to the filly was instinctually going to be ‘are you real?’, but she manages to change it to a more friendly “Hello there.” The filly, who somehow had failed to notice the alicorn’s arrival until now, turns her head towards her and waves a greeting. “Are you on an adventure?” the monarch asks, her voice friendly and maintaining an expression of curiosity, not wanting to make the filly think she was in trouble.
The earth pony takes a second to think before answering with a muffled, “Fomfing life faf.”
The princess lights her horn discreetly, and her magic takes hold of the balloons to keep the filly from moving further up. “And where are you trying to go so far up?”
The green filly finally opens her mouth, taking a much-needed breath of air before pointing up. “I’m going to the moon.”
Celestia blinks slowly. “Going to the… moon?”
“Can you take me there?” the filly asks with a hopeful plea in her brown eyes.
Celestia taps her chin with a hoof. “I can't, buuuut, how about a companion for this little journey of yours?”
Despite her denied request, the filly’s excited by the proposal. “That’s great! The more the merrier!”
Celestia couldn’t help but giggle at the response. “What's your name, brave traveler?”
The filly’s smile widens at being called ‘brave’. “I’m Wallflower Blush! Happy to meet you!”
“That’s a… curious choice of name,” Celestia thought. “I’m happy to meet you too, my little pony. I’m Celestia.”
“I knew that” the filly says with a few giggles. “Mom and dad are always talking about you with their friends.”
“Oh really?” Celestia asks, pretending to be surprised. "And what do they say?"
The filly scrunches up her nose, trying to remember. "Something about laws, and money. Sorry for not knowing. I have to be in my room when they visit, so I don't hear much."
"Don't worry, it's all boring adult stuff. I'm sure you like to do more interesting things."
"Not really," the filly answers, looking away from the princess while scratching one of her forelegs with her hoof. "I just play with dirt."
The sudden shift in emotion is quickly noted by the alicorn. "There are many things you can do with dirt."
"I just put stuff in it," the filly mumbles, hiding her face with her long, messy mane.
"Stuff like flowers?" Celestia asks, glancing at Wallflower's cutie mark.
The kid nods. "I like caring for them and watching them grow. They look so pretty when they bloom, and you can plant them together and mix the colors. Also-"
Celestia listens intently as the filly talks about what was obviously her passion. A passion that clearly hasn't been able to grow in her home. Which gave her an idea.
"Now that you mention it," she says to get the filly's attention. "I was thinking of adding some flowers to the royal gardens, but I couldn't decide on the right color. Could you maybe help me decide?"
"A-are you sure?" The filly questions, her body tensing with familiar doubts.
Celestia moves closer to Wallflower and brushes the green mane away from the filly's face, giving her a warm, calming smile. "You clearly have an eye for colors and flowers. I can tell that your heart longs for a big garden just like the one in the castle. And once you see all the wonders hidden there, you'll know that you can do much more than 'playing with dirt'."
"You really think so?" The filly asks, a tiny spark of hope in her eyes.
"I'm sure of it. You'll make many beautiful things, Wallflower." The princess boops the filly's nose, making her giggle and smile, her joy fully restored. "Shall we go then?"
"But we haven't visited the mare on the moon yet," Wallflower protested.
Celestia’s pleasant smile drops for a moment, the filly’s words taking her by surprise. "W-what do you mean?"
"She's trapped there, right?" Wallflower asks, pointing at the moon. “By the elements her sister used.”
The princess took a deep breath to compose herself. “You’ve read the story?”
The filly nods. “It was really sad. I felt bad for the younger sister.”
“You do?” Celestia can’t help but question. It had been a very long time since somepony other than her lamented her sister.
Wallflower starts scratching one of her forelegs again. “Well, she was just trying to make the night pretty for others, but every pony hated the night. She must have felt lonely and unsure of what to do to make ponies like her. And at the end, it just got worse for her.” The little filly looks up at the moon once again. “She has been trapped there with no pony to talk to for years. So, I want to visit her and keep her company.”
“Yes... She was alone. Because I wasn't there for her. She thought ponies didn't like her. Because their praises were for me. She was desperate. Because we failed her. She's beyond reason. Because I let her be claimed by bitterness.” Celestia struggled to bring her mind back to the present. “I’m afraid that she won’t treat you kindly, even if you mean well.”
“You mean the Nightmare thing? That’s okay.” The filly dug into her mane and pulled out a small bag full of multicolored jellybeans. “I have candy!”
A chuckle escapes Celestia’s lips. “You came prepared. Do you have a plan for when you reach space?”
“Yep!” the filly answered pridefully. “I’ll just hold my breath.”
Celestia lifted an amused eyebrow. “Oh really?”
“Yes. Watch.” Wallflower took in as much air as she could till her cheeks puffed out. “Tere. Peffecfsy seald."
Celestia slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid it isn't that simple, my little pony. Not even I can reach the moon." "I would've visited her many times if I could."
"What?" Wallflower exclaims, letting the air escape. "But… there has to be a way! We can't just leave her alone!" The filly begs, tears threatening to escape from her eyes, until two large, white wings surround her in a hug, calming her.
"I won't leave her alone, Wallflower." "Not again." "In just a few years, she'll return, and I'll have ponies ready to cure her from the darkness that took her."
"Darkness?" The filly questions, slowly easing into the alicorn's embrace.
"It wasn't only bitterness and loneliness that transformed her into Nightmare Moon." "She thought she had lost her closest friend."
"And what will cure her?"
"The thing she wanted the most." "Friendship."
"I can be her friend!" Wallflower immediately volunteers, and Celestia can't help but smile at the childish determination in the little one's eyes.
"I'm sure she'll love a friend like you." "The garden was Luna's passion project after all." "But you'll need to wait till she returns."
The filly looked up at the moon one more time. "Are you sure we can't reach her now?"
"I've tried many times," the princess assures her.
Wallflower keeps looking at the face on the moon, until an idea strikes her. "If we can't reach her, maybe we can send a message!"
"A message?" the alicorn questions, letting go of the little filly. "How?"
"You said you wanted to rearrange the garden, right? Maybe we can make a message that she can read from the moon. Let her know that we're still thinking of her. That she's not alone!"
Celestia takes a few moments to think about it, her smile becoming brighter with each second. A foolish, innocent little idea, but one she loves anyway. A slim hope worth pursuing. "Let's go do it right now then."
"Yes!" The filly exclaims, brimming with joy. "I already have some ideas."
The princess offers her back for Wallflower to ride on, which the filly accepts with excitement, and as they fly towards the gardens, Celestia wonders if she may have found the Kindness that her sister needs.