Snow flurries danced on the frigid wind, collecting on the nearly six inches of white fluff that covered the ground. Ice coated the bare branches of the trees, turning the forest into a cold, silent cathedral. Princess Celestia shivered as she stepped outside. Vapor flowed from her nostrils in soft puffs as she inhaled the wind’s distinct, smoky scent that held the promise of more snowfall. Celestia’s younger sister, Princess Luna, led her out into the woods.
“It’s far too cold to go for a walk, sister,” Celestia griped. “Why are you forcing me to come with you?” She huffed in frustration and hung her head slightly. Hazy memories still haunted her: Waking up and feeling no kicks from the foal inside her, and an ultrasound screen that showed no sign of life. Faraway words rang in her ears: “No movement…no heartbeat…thirty-eight weeks…so sorry.”
“I barely get to spend any time with you anymore,” the lunar princess said, smiling as they started their usual route through the forest. “I thought you liked the snow, Tia. You’ve not left your room in weeks. It is good for you to get some fresh air.”
“It should be a crime to be outside in such awful weather,” Celestia groaned as she thought about the welcoming call of the fireplace in her bedchamber. “We should be asleep at this hour, Luna, not gallivanting through the forest.”
Suddenly, the distinctive cries of a newborn foal sliced through the unforgiving cold like a knife through a stick of butter. Celestia’s ears perked up, and she felt as if somepony were twisting a dagger into her chest. She only became more aware of the agonizing emptiness within her. My mind is playing tricks on me, she thought. Then, she heard the small cries again, and she became overwhelmed by her instincts. Trusting her gut, she took off in the direction of the sound with Luna following her closely. As the two alicorns stopped in a small clearing from whence the cries came, Celestia’s heart began to sink. A trail of blood stained the snow in front of her. She followed the ominous trail until she saw a light blue Pegasus mare who lay motionless on her side, clearly deceased. The sinking feeling grew in the solar princess’ chest. As Celestia came closer, she caught sight of the source of the cries: A tiny pink newborn Pegasus filly, no more than a few hours old, with a pink coat and a pink, purple, and yellow mane and tail. The foal lay helplessly in the snow, shivering as she cried. Celestia scooped the filly up in her hooves, cradling the foal against her chest to keep her warm. The little filly’s coat was covered in frost, and Celestia marveled at the fact that she was still alive. A lump formed in her throat as she looked at the lifeless body of the foal’s mother. Pegasi had a staggeringly high maternal mortality rate, but they were also known to mate for life, which was why Celestia was surprised at the father’s absence. This little filly was all alone, definitely an orphan.
“Ssshhh,” Celestia whispered, cuddling the filly close to her chest to keep her warm. “You’re going to be all right.”
“Tia?” Luna called, trotting up to Celestia. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the tragic scene before her and the foal in her sister’s hooves. Luna nuzzled the filly gently, and her heart melted when the tiny foal opened her dark purple eyes to look up at her.
“Hello there, little one,” Luna cooed, taking the foal from Celestia and instinctively licking her clean. The filly cuddled further into Luna’s chest, whimpering. Tears filled the blue alicorn’s eyes as she realized what had happened. “We can’t just leave her here to freeze to death,” the Princess of the Night said firmly. “She will come back to the castle and stay there with us until we can find a suitable home for her.” Celestia nodded in agreement and levitated the filly onto her back, swaddling her in her wings. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the beautiful stillborn colt she had delivered just two weeks earlier. At least the large supply of milk she had would be useful. Maybe this little foal was a gift.
Once they returned home, Celestia and Luna bathed the foal and put her in one of the countless diapers that Celestia had saved. The nursery that Celestia and her husband Sombra had so lovingly prepared for their son who had been born sleeping would finally have a purpose apart from destroying Celestia from the inside whenever she passed it.
“Sombra,” Celestia called to her husband, “come say hello to our new little guest.” Sombra looked down into the bassinet, where the filly slept peacefully. Celestia explained what had happened, and Sombra sighed.
“We’ll keep her,” he said firmly. “I don’t think either of us has the heart to send her to an orphanage, and I think raising her will help us heal, Tia.” His eyes watered, but he blinked away the tears. “Of course, nopony will ever replace our Sirius, but I think this little one just might be the answer to our prayers. She has made everything fall into place, like a cadence.”
“And she will become the embodiment of love… my love,” Celestia declared. “Mi Amore Cadenza; that will be her name. We can call her Cadance for short.”
“Cadance is a beautiful name, sister,” Luna said, kissing the foal’s forehead. “Does this mean that I now have a little niece to spoil?”
“Indeed, it does,” Celestia said. “Welcome home, little Princess Cadance.”
The next morning, Celestia was awakened by Cadance’s cries. She trotted into the nursery and picked up the unbelievably tiny filly, who immediately began to nurse greedily. Luna joined her sister, peering over Celestia’s shoulder at the foal.
“You’re hungry this morning, aren’t you, Cady?” Luna said, smiling at the suckling filly. Cadance unlatched from Celestia’s teat and let out a cute little burp, then giggled at Luna, who smiled and tickled the filly’s tummy with one of her feathers. The younger alicorn had never been particularly nurturing nor maternal, but the newborn foal’s presence was beginning to unravel primal protective instincts that Luna never knew she possessed. The moon princess took Cadance back to the nursery, changed the filly’s diaper, and blew raspberries on Cadance’s tummy, making the tiny foal wiggle and squeal with laughter. Celestia grinned as the filly squirmed and giggled. She levitated one of the many rattles she had saved and shook it in front of Cadance. The pink foal reached out her front hooves and tried to grab it, then let out a little sneeze from focusing so intensely on the toy. Luna chuckled and tossed Cadance into the air, catching the foal in her magic. Cadance gurgled and chewed on some of Luna’s mane.
“She is impossibly cute,” Luna marveled. “I wish we could just stay here and cuddle her for the rest of the day.”
“So do I, but work calls,” Celestia sighed. “Sister, you must rest now, and I must resume my duties. Courgette,” she called to the nanny she had hired before she had tragically delivered her stillborn colt, “you will watch Cadance today.”
“Yes, Princess,” the green Pegasus said, curtsying and picking up Cadance. Celestia nodded and trotted off for morning court, while Luna headed to her bedchamber.
That night, Luna confronted Celestia in one of the dark, empty ballrooms of the castle. Anger boiled within her.
“You allowed parliament to pass a law without first asking for my approval!” the smaller alicorn yelled. “That is a massive overreach of your power, Tia. What were you thinking?”
“I won’t do it again, little sister,” Celestia promised. “Don’t overreact like this.” Luna shook with rage but held her tongue. This was one battle she knew she couldn’t win. Cadance’s cries echoed down the castle hallway, and Celestia glowered at Luna.
“I just got her to sleep. Your yelling woke her up, so go handle her,” the white alicorn snapped. Luna recoiled as if she had just been smacked across the face.
“Fine,” she retorted, walking towards the nursery. “You probably couldn’t do it without taking your irritation out on her.” With that, Luna tossed her head and opened the nursery door, ignoring the wounded expression on Celestia’s face.
“Hello, little Cady Bug,” the moon princess cooed, picking Cadance up. “What’s the matter, sweetie?” Cadance cried louder, and Luna cuddled the filly against her chest. The foal’s cries sounded different this time, as if she were in pain. She had just been fed and didn’t need a diaper change, so Luna was perplexed. She tried to burp Cadance, but the foal only cried harder. Soon, Cadance’s cries had crescendoed to screams.
“Ssshhhh, I know you’re in pain, sweetheart. I wish I knew how to fix it,” Luna said desperately. The foal’s stomach gurgled, and suddenly Luna remembered something she had read about once: Colic. Trusting her instincts, she lay Cadance on the changing table and began to gently massage the filly’s tummy. Soon, Cadance passed gas, sighed, giggled, and began to suck on her hoof, as if nothing had happened.
“You scared me, Cady Bug,” the night princess cooed, snuggling Cadance in her forelegs. Cadance yawned, cuddled into Luna’s chest, and fell asleep.
The following night, Luna filled the bathtub, then placed a very giggly Cadance in the water. She had recently discovered that the filly loved bath time, so Luna enjoyed the activity, too. As Luna began to lather shampoo into Cadance’s body and mane, Celestia walked into the spacious bathroom.
“You’re doing it wrong,” the white alicorn said in a deadpan voice.
“I’m quite sure I have figured out how to bathe a foal, haven’t I, little one?” Luna replied shortly but still in high-pitched baby talk, keeping her attention on Cadance. The little filly giggled and splashed Luna playfully, and Luna grinned.
“You’re going to get shampoo in her eyes if you don’t hold her head back a little more when you rinse,” Celestia said, crouching next to Luna and reaching over to reposition Cadance. Luna scowled and sighed.
“I’m not ready to rinse her off,” Luna snapped, maintaining her baby talk so she wouldn’t upset Cadance. “Look at her. I haven’t even washed half of her body yet. Besides, Cady loves to play with the bubbles, don’t you, cutie? Yes, you do!” She tickled the foal under her chin, and Cadance squirmed and giggled, splashing with her little hooves and flecking Luna with water and suds. The dark blue alicorn laughed and nuzzled Cadance lovingly, then continued to scrub the filly down. When it was time to rinse Cadance off, Luna filled a small cup with water and magically levitated it over the foal’s head. Cadance squealed with excitement when she saw the cup floating above her; this little game had become an essential part of bath time, and Cadance clearly loved it. The filly’s giggles grew louder in anticipation as she smiled up at the cup.
“Hmmm,” the Princess of the Night mused, momentarily setting the cup down. “I wonder where Cadance is.” She feigned concern, covering her eyes with both hooves. “Where’s Cady?” she asked. “There she is!” Luna revealed her eyes, and Cadance laughed harder and louder than ever, bringing her own little hooves up to her eyes. The navy blue alicorn repeated the game as Cadance squealed happily and splashed her, drenching Luna’s mane. Finally, Luna gently poured the water over Cadance’s head as the foal kicked and splashed excitedly.
When Cadance was clean, Luna wrapped the little foal in a light blue towel, dried her off, and put a new diaper on her. Luna tickled Cadance and began to blow raspberries on the foal’s tummy, making her squeal and wiggle. Then, the princess of the night covered Cadance in kisses, receiving a huge smile, giggles, and adorable, happy coos in return. Ignoring Celestia’s subtle irritation, the navy blue alicorn tenderly kissed the filly’s forehead and turned out the light. After the two sisters had left the nursery, Luna scowled at Celestia.
“Why do you always criticize me?” Luna hissed. “I am so tired of your constant unsolicited advice! Why did you feel like you had to monitor me? We agreed that I would handle bath time and bedtime, and you would take over in the morning. Stop breathing down my neck and being such a control freak all the bucking time!”
“I was just trying to help, Lulu,” Celestia said softly. “Why do you have such a huge chip on your shoulder?”
“I don’t,” Luna replied. “I’m just incredibly tired of being treated like an idiot every time I do something on my own. I don’t need your help, Tia! I’ll ask for it if I ever do; until then, please just leave me alone.”
“‘Leave you alone’?” Celestia recoiled as if she had just been smacked across the face. “I can’t just leave you alone, Luna; you’re my little sister, and I’m always going to want to help you.”
“But I don’t need your help anymore, Tia,” Luna said coldly, “and you definitely don’t need me. Look at yourself; everypony adores you, they play in your sunshine and praise you for simply existing. Meanwhile, I’m just your invisible sister, destined to forever be eclipsed by your brilliance. Nopony admires my beautiful moonlight, the constellations that I worked so hard on, the magnificent northern lights that are arguably more breathtaking than your sunlight. Everypony is so blinded when they see you that I simply cease to exist in their minds. Have you ever tried to direct their attention towards me or my beautiful night? Have you ever publicly praised me for my work in the dream realm? No, you have never once acknowledged me, because in your mind, I am the lesser princess.” Celestia’s eyes filled with tears, and she reached out to her younger sister, but the blue alicorn shrunk back.
“Luna,” Celestia whispered, “I’m so—“
“Save it, Tia,” Luna spat, turning her back to Celestia. “I have no desire whatsoever to discuss this with you at the moment. I have duties to perform, though you probably just think I handle the moon and enjoy the wonderful dreams of our subjects. This conversation is over. Do not speak to me again.” As she said those last six words, the blue alicorn felt a strange, satisfying new feeling that spread like wildfire from the pit of her stomach to her chest: Courage, maybe? Pride in herself for finally standing up to her sister? Confidence? Regret? No, Luna thought, it definitely wasn’t regret. Regardless, she knew that a new force had just entered her life, and this force had caused an untapped resource within her to make its presence known. Only time would reveal the true nature of this new entity, so Luna decided to approach it with caution; however, she was unable to ignore the thundering voice in her head, which constantly said, “Take what is rightfully yours. Do not waste any more time. You have far too much potential to allow yourself to be treated this way.”
