The snow crunched softly underneath her hooves; the swirling wind ripped at her jacket and hood, seemingly trying to pry it away from her and steal what little warmth she had left.

She was cold. Colder than she’d ever been before. But none of that mattered anymore.

Flurry Heart was on a mission that night.

She was running away from home and little could stop her.

Halting in her tracks, she pulled down her hood until it covered most of her face. Then, gently, she lit the tip of her horn until it filled both her entire hood and jacket up with some much-needed warmth. Over the last half-year, Sunburst had been teaching her as many low-level spells as she could soak up. And thus far, she could soak up quite a bit.

He was teaching her astronomy, as well. One of her favorite subjects.

Flurry Heart sighed contently from the heat. She took a hurried glance behind her, to view just how far she had come. Already, it felt as if she’d been marching in the freezing snow for hours. She must’ve been miles away from the Crystal Empire by now. Right?

“Darn it!” she spat, as she regretfully realized she was no more than a half-mile away from home. “Who knew running away from home would be so hard?”

A sudden crunch of snow made her flinch. She soon lowered her head in disappointment. “Darn it…” she repeated, this time hardly a whisper.

“A little late for a nighttime stroll,” Princess Luna greeted casually, clad in her own puffy blue jacket and boots. “And here I thought only I ever stayed up this late.”

Flurry Heart didn’t bother raising her head. Instead, she kept her sights locked on her boots deep in the snow. “Hi, Princess Luna,” she said flatly.

Silence for a moment; until Flurry Heart visibly shivered in the wind.

“Let me take care of that.” Luna lit up her horn and shot out a clear bubble that quickly expanded until it swallowed them both. Inside the bubble, it was warm and quiet; snowflakes softly pattered against its sides and fell away. “Better?” she asked.

Flurry Heart only nodded. She still couldn’t meet Luna’s eyes.

That was when the bubble shifted and half of Flurry Heart slipped out of it; she had to scramble after Luna to stay inside. The odd part, she found, was that they weren’t actually headed back toward the Empire. They were still headed in the direction Flurry Heart had been going.

“I hope you packed a bit before you decided to leave home.”

Luna let the sentence out as normally as if chatting over tea. Flurry Heart couldn’t quite see her face while she trailed behind her, but she thought she might be smiling.

“Well… I, umm… you see…”

Flurry Heart was so caught off-guard by the plainness of it all. Should she try to fib? Make up an excuse? Hide-and-go-seek gone wrong, perhaps? But, no, she thought. Luna deserved better than that.

“I thought I brought enough,” Flurry Heart eventually answered.

She set the small saddlebag she’d brought along down onto the snow and unbuckled it, displaying its contents. Luna stopped and turned, cocking a single brow.

“Let’s see,” Flurry Heart explained, as she pulled out each item. “I brought along an extra toque. Some mittens. A few coloring books in case I get bored. A compass. Some bits I took out of my piggybank—”

“Your piggybank?” Luna asked in a hushed tone. “You mean you had to actually smash that poor porcelain figure?”

Flurry Heart nodded gravely. “Yes. But I made sure to apologize to Sir Porkins before I did. I told him it was for an emergency.”

Luna hovered over her saddlebag. “No food for such a long trek?”

Flurry Heart brought out a small yellow box, and then another, and then another. “But I got Pony Crackers! Like ten whole boxes of them!” She blushed as a thought came to her. “Whenever I eat Pony Crackers, I always bite the wings and horns off first.”

“That’s concerning,” Luna replied, “but I will ignore that for now. So, tell me, young one, what ever would you do to quench your thirst?”

Kneeling down, Flurry Heart took a mouthful of snow into her mouth and let it melt.

Luna got the picture. She smiled. “Just no yellow snow.”

Flurry Heart smiled in return. “Of course! Everypony knows that!”

For a brief moment, Flurry Heart had almost forgotten just why she was out there in the first place. Perhaps the same had happened to Luna, as well, as both their smiles faded.

“Is this the part where you take me back to the castle?” Flurry Heart asked nervously. “Tell my parents what I did?”

Luna shook her head. “I will do no such thing, as long as you walk with me for a bit. There is something I want to show you. A secret, close by.”

Without further explanation, Luna strolled ahead, as did her wide heated bubble.

This time Flurry Heart stuck close by her side.

“If you want to run away, Flurry Heart,” Luna continued gamely, “that is your business and your business only. I only want to offer some advice, if I may.”

Flurry Heart had to keep a hurried pace in order to keep up with Luna’s long strides. “Okay. I guess that’s fair.” She paused, hesitating. “And you’re really not mad at me? Like really?”

“Never,” Luna said. “Besides, you’ve only just begun your quest away from home. The closest town to here is still one-hundred-and-ten miles away. So, mathematically, you’re still less than one percentage point towards your goal.”

Awkwardly, Flurry Heart chewed on the tip of her tongue. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Every journey starts with a single step.”

Flurry Heart giggled. “I read that on a poster once. In the library.”

“Doesn’t mean it is not true.” A tight grin hit Luna suddenly. “So, how much of this ‘leaving home’ business have you planned out, exactly? Where does Princess Flurry Heart end up at the end of all this? What does she do? How is she not recognized, being so widely known?”

Unbeknownst to Luna, Flurry Heart was plain tickled pink by the inquiry. She had in fact been pondering such things already.

“You mean like my horn and wings?” Flurry Heart asked. “That’s why I brought along my favorite buckball hat, to help cover my horn. Or I could always wear a shirt or sweater at all times, to help hide my wings. Depends if I want to be a unicorn or a pegasus wherever I settle down.”

“It is mighty handy having both, though,” Luna added, flexing out a wing underneath her coat.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Of course, you will need a job to support yourself…” Luna began, letting the sentence dangle.

“I thought of that, too!” Flurry Heart chirped. She’d given this topic more thought than the others. “Now, because I wouldn’t want to get noticed too much, I’d settle for a much simpler job… like the mayor of a small town.”

“You’d consider town mayor a small job?”

“I figure as long as my town doesn’t blow up or anything, I should be fine. Either that… or scientist.”

“Scientist?” Again, Luna raised a brow. “Has Twilight Sparkle been helping you with such activities?”

“Yep,” Flurry Heart said happily. “Her and Sunburst are great teachers. But so are my parents. You know the first thing I would invent as a super cool scientist?”

“What?”

“A second flavor of Jell-O!” Flurry Heart rubbed two hooves together like a tiny mad inventor. “Everyone would just love it! I know it!”

Luna furrowed her brows, glaring down at Flurry Heart. “And just what is so wrong with lime? I thought ponies were content with lime-flavored Jell-O and lime alone. Why go meddling with sheer perfection?”

Flurry Heart glanced away. “It was just a thought…”

To help clear the air, Flurry Heart asked, “Is this place you wanted to show me close?”

Luna nodded. “Very.” Then she exhaled bitterly. “You mentioned Twilight and Sunburst, and your parents, too. You do realize if you ran away, you would not be able to see them again, right?”

“Well… I…”

Truth be told, Flurry Heart had thought of this. Just as little as possible so it wouldn’t hurt so much.

“Couldn’t I still visit them sometimes? Like on the weekends?”

Luna sighed. “You truly don’t understand the concept of ‘running away’, do you?”

“I thought I did.”

“So, if it is not the ponies at home that are making you run away, then what is?”

Flurry Heart’s next sentence was so quiet, she hardly heard it herself.

Luna stopped on the spot and knelt down to her, resting a hoof on her shoulder. “One more time, Flurry Heart?”

“I’m… I’m afraid… of failing,” Flurry Heart croaked. “Of doing something wrong… of being a disappointment.”

Luna asked her softly, “And what makes you think anyone would ever be disappointed in you?”

Flurry Heart’s eyes shimmered. “Because everyone I know is just so perfect! You! Twilight! My parents! I’m basically related to every alicorn in Equestria!” She stopped as her pupils shrunk, as if the very notion just came to her then and there. “And even if that’s not enough, I’m an alicorn, too! So that means I can’t screw up! Not ever! Not even once! Otherwise everyone will be so mad at me and think I don’t know what I’m doing!”

Her shoulders slumped; she sniffled miserably.

“Being a Princess just doesn’t sound like all that much fun anymore. I’d rather be a pony. A regular pony like everyone else in Equestria.”

Luna added more weight to the hoof on Flurry Heart’s shoulder. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Flurry Heart, but you are just a regular pony. Same as me. Same as my sister. Do we have more responsibilities than most? Perhaps. Do we live longer than others? Maybe. But we are still ponies, through and through. We live and love and die and bleed just like everyone else.”

She lifted Flurry Heart’s chin so that she was looking right at her.

She continued, “And this may come as a surprise but, eventually, you will fail.”

Although Flurry Heart was about to say something, Luna placed a hoof over her lips.

“Failure is a natural part of life, same as success. And sometimes, failure teaches us much more than success ever could. It drives us to try harder, or to think differently. It forces us to change or to improve ourselves. Imagine if we never dusted ourselves off after failing even a single time? Imagine if we gave up after one attempt? I know the world would be a far less wondrous place if everyone thought like that. And, although some might never admit it, there is not a single pony alive that has not failed at least once in their lives.”

“But… but…” Flurry Heart stammered out, a single tear trickling down her cheek. “But what about Twilight? She always saves the day! She’s never failed!”

Luna shook her head. “Although Twilight Sparkle may usually succeed over evil in the end, it takes her many hardships and failures before she does. Time and time again, she has relied on both her family and friends; my sister and I included. Rest assured, Twilight Sparkle is not without imperfections, Flurry Heart.”

“Celestia?” Flurry Heart asked timidly.

That made Luna snort. “I could fill a whole book about my sister’s struggles. And ten whole books about her successes.”

“But what about you? You’ve never failed!”

Luna frowned. “You have started history lessons, have you not?”

“Okay,” Flurry Heart admitted. “There was that one time… but, technically, you weren’t even Nightmare Moon for a single night! Not even a half-hour!”

“Twenty-seven-and-a-half minutes, to be precise.”

Luna took a moment to wipe the tears off Flurry Heart’s cheeks.

“See?” she told her. “I may have failed worse than anyone, but I still came back. I still returned and gave it my all. Everyone may have abandoned me in the end, but I—” She stopped suddenly, smiling daintily down at her. “You still want to see that secret place of mine?”

Flurry Heart rubbed at her eyes, clearing her tears. “I guess so. If it’s close.” She sniffled and wiped at her nose. “I think I might go back home after this. I don’t think I packed enough Pony Crackers. I might need to talk with mom and dad, too.”

“Of course,” Luna said, leading the way into a wooded area well off the beaten path. “Glad to hear it.”

By this point in the night, the stars up above had arrived, beautifully twinkling in the black expanse of sky. Flurry Heart cocked her head back to study them, soon spotting a constellation she recognized well.

She grinned. If there was a single pony that knew more about astrology than the pony she was currently with…

“Carina looks really nice tonight,” Flurry Heart said.

Luna barely gave the sky a second glance. “Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”

A block of ice dropped in Flurry Heart’s belly. How had she not realized the stars moving before now? She stopped walking, but only for a moment. A plan hurriedly formed inside her head. “You want to see a new spell I learned last week?”

“Sure,” Luna replied, without turning back.

Grunting from the effort, Flurry Heart shot out a red ring of sparks from her horn, a good mile into the sky. It bloomed outward before disappearing ten seconds later.

“That sure was bright,” Luna said, before coming to a halt at the entrance to a wide clearing of trees. “And here we are.”

Flurry Heart followed Luna’s eyeline toward the center of the field.

Was she saw there caused her ears to drop.

“Your secret was an old, spooky shack in the middle of the woods?”

Luna waved a hoof in the air, nonchalantly. “Not just any ol’ shack. A secret shack. All Princesses have one. Did your mother never tell you of hers? A place to meditate and think; a place to ponder all of life’s big mysteries—”

Flurry Heart starred at her boots once again. “I’m sorry, Queen Chrysalis, but I know it’s you.”

Luna’s mouth hung open. “I beg your pardon?”

“I said the constellation above us was Carina. It’s actually Capricornus.”

Luna tried to laugh it off. “Oh, I must not have been paying attention.”

“And that spell I just performed? That was actually a signal flare. Guards should be here within a couple of minutes.” She absently kicked at the snow with a boot. “You can still run away, you know. Or we could still talk for a bit… because I kinda enjoyed talking to you.”

Reluctantly, Queen Chrysalis did away with her Luna guise. She rolled her eyes, perturbed. “I guess there’s little point now in trying to convince you to come along with me, is there? Plot against your parents? Take over Equestria as mother and daughter?”

Flurry Heart looked up and shook her head. “I think I’ll pass. Being a Princess is one thing, but being a villainous Princess that goes against her very own parents? That’s a lot of pressure. But thank you for the offer, though.”

A moment of silence. An afterthought.

“Why didn’t you show your true self earlier?” Flurry Heart asked. “If you knew I was alone?”

Chrysalis played with a bit of her mane, seemingly over all this already. “Well, for starters, you were still a bit too close to the castle to try and grab, and for another… I was simply curious as to why you were out there to begin with. You might not know this, but…”

She stopped playing with her mane to glance away from the filly.

“I know an awful lot about failure, myself,” she continued. “More than I’d like. Much more. But that also means I know a lot about strength, too. And about trying again. And again. And again. Until I succeed.”

Flurry Heart’s eyes expanded. “So that means I actually might see you again? Talk sometime?”

Chrysalis chuckled. “You really don’t understand what ‘trying again’ means. But, yes, perhaps one day we may speak again.”

Another moment of silence. Before the beating of dozens of wings filled the air.

“Could I call you Auntie Chrysalis next time we talk?” Flurry Heart ventured. “Instead of Queen?”

“Let’s not make this any more awkward than it needs to be.”

“How about Anty Chrysalis? Get it? Because ants are bugs and you’re sort of a—”

Chrysalis grumbled and rolled her eyes again. “Yes, I get it. Very clever. We done with the names? I think those guards of yours are almost here.”

Flurry Heart hesitated, before holding out both forelegs. “Want a hug for the road?”

And it seemed that, reluctantly, Queen Chrysalis did.

Author's Notes:

This is the second time I've written this story. The first time, it was deleted when my old computer died and I still wasn't happy with it. And, truth be told, I'm still not happy with it.

But at least it's done and off my list. Flurry Heart's cute, too.