Since beginning her work at Twilight’s school, Starlight Glimmer hadn’t had much to do as far as being the resident guidance counselor. Since her first real job concerning a little filly by the name of Cozy Glow not too long back, she’d gotten several students in every now and again with minor grievances. It was nice knowing she was needed in some capacity. But that said, her days as school counselor still passed rather slowly and none too eventfully. Silver lining though, if no one was coming to her, that meant every-creature was pretty content with their lives and education. Which was of course, something to be glad about. Starlight watched the clock on the wall tick as she spaced out and drifted to mindless autopilot.

The unicorn sighed, her eyes focused on nothing in particular. Just the other day an earth pony colt stopped in for a quick piece of advice. Sandbar had said something or another about not being sure which of his classes to prioritize when studying. Starlight gave him a schedule to follow and sent him on his merry way. Seeing as how he hasn’t come back, that issue seemed to have been resolved without much effort. Which again, was cause for happiness. It meant that morale at the School of Friendship was high and Starlight was an effective counselor. But as she blinked in sync with the ticking of her wall clock, Starlight couldn’t help but wish there could be something, anything for her to do.

“Um.. E-excuse me, Ms. Glimmer?” Her prayers had been answered in the form of a shy young filly’s voice.

Suddenly hearing her name startled Starlight ever so slightly causing her to make a small yelp of surprise. After switching off of auto-pilot and giving her brain a second to restart, she was able to look down and find the tiny little pegasus filly that wanted her attention. “Oh um-Yes! How may I help you?” Starlight’s cheeks reddened a tint having just been caught zoning out.

“Ms. Glimmer, I um… I was told you could give me some advice?”

Starlight was never going to get used to hearing others addressing her by her last name. “Of course, I’m happy to help.” The mare cleared her throat and got herself in proper listening order. To effectively provide input to the situations of others, you need to be ready to give your complete and undivided attention to whomever you were listening. “What seems to be the problem?” She purposely put on the most silky smooth and comforting voice she could muster. Though after several moments of silence from the filly, confusion began to take over Starlight’s features. She waited a little longer for the pegasus to speak, but was met with nothing. “Erm... Did you… wanna tell me what you’re having trouble with or…?”

The little one had seemed lost in thought. She quickly shook her head and looked up at Starlight with sorry eyes. “O-oh my bad. Sorry, this is the first time I’ve ever asked anypony about this…” She took a deep breath and with the straightest face she could make asked, “How do I make mommy love me?”

Starlight blinked. “Pardon?” She asked, wanting confirmation.

“How do I make mommy love me?” The young filly repeated. This time, with more strength and emotion behind the question.

Starlight nodded her head. “Ok… Um… first, may I ask what your name is?”

“Water Lily.” The filly answered. Her name certainly fit her appearance to a T. Her coat was a gentle water blue. Her mane and tail a soft red, reminiscent of the color sometimes seen highlighting the petals of water lilies. Her cutie mark was of course, the very flower she was named after.

“Right, well okay then Water Lily.” Starlight started. “What makes you think your mother doesn’t love you? I’m sure that’s not the case.”

Water Lily wore an extremely disheartening expression. Her eyes downcast and her lips pulled into a frown. “But… that’s not what she tells me…”

“What’s not what she tells you?” Starlight asked.

“That she loves me…”

Starlight put on a frown to match Water Lily’s own. “She… doesn’t tell you that she loves you? Like ever?” Now that was something the unicorn couldn't at all relate to. Her parents, especially her dad, had constantly doted on her growing up. There wasn’t a moment either had let Starlight feel she wasn’t loved.

Water Lily shook her head. “S-sometimes… Sometimes she says.. She says that m-maybe she’d have been better off not having me… And she says other stuff too. I don’t really understand a lot of it but… It makes me feel sad. How can I make her love me?”

A pit dropped in Starlight’s stomach. She didn’t have any confirmation, but something in her gut told her this wasn’t a conflict as simple as many of the others she'd dealt with in the past few months. The unicorn was nearly afraid to ask, but she managed to push through her apprehension. “Water Lily, can you tell me about some of the other stuff she says? Even if you don’t understand all of it. If you can remember anything else I’d like to hear it. As long as you're comfortable.”

Water Lily looked down at the floor. She seemed to be studying the blue carpets of Starlight’s office with unbridled intensity. “U-um well… The other day she said something about ‘using protection.’ And uh… She complained about bills and about daddy. But I haven’t seen daddy in a long time. I don’t know why she’s mad at him.”

The little pegasus looked as if she were going to cry. Starlight couldn’t have blamed her. Confusion was now being replaced with concern. She took a deep breath and got up out of her seat. She walked over and sat next to little Water Lily. With an undying urge to comfort the child, Starlight reached a hoof out to place lovingly on the filly’s shoulder. The moment contact was made however, Water Lily flinched away.

Like she was afraid…

Starlight felt a knot tying itself in her throat when the poor thing recoiled at her touch. That was absolutely a bad sign. No jumping to conclusions though. Starlight knew it was best not to assume the worst of the situation laid before her. She needed all the facts. She didn’t need to point hooves.

Water Lily looked to Starlight apologetically. “Oops… S-sorry Mr. Glimmer. I don’t know why I did that.” She fluffed her wings uncomfortably and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.

Starlight offered a warm smile down at her guest. “No, don’t be sorry Water Lily. You have nothing to apologize for.” Starlight thought for a moment. Touching her without warning had proved to be inadvisable. But maybe… “Hey Water Lily?” Starlight outstretched her hooves and made an inviting gesture. “Would you like a hug?”

She seemed taken aback at first. Not sure how to respond. But after a few moments of pondering it, the pegasus seemed like she really wanted to take the invitation. “Are you sure?”

Starlight simply nodded.

Water Lily crept forward gingerly. Her nerves were apparent to Starlight. Even seemingly wanting the hug, it took the filly forever to make her way into the embrace. But being a guidance counselor meant exercising patience. So she held out her hooves, gentle smile unwavering, until finally Water Lily made her way over.

When Water Lily buried her nose in Starlight’s chest fluff, she made a content sigh of relief. The young pony relaxed in Starlight’s hold and let herself feel the warmth of Starlight’s body. Once settled and once a moment had passed, Water Lily whispered to Starlight “It’s been a long time since anypony has hugged me.”

Starlight’s eyebrows creased and her frown returned. Without breaking the hug, she quietly asked “How long…?”

Water Lily shrugged. “Last time I saw daddy. Which was many moons ago.” Her voice then began to waver. “I… can’t remember how long it’s been. I barely remember what his voice sounds like.”

“That’s…” Starlight stopped herself just short of saying ‘that’s awful.’ Once again, she reminded herself that there could be anything going on here. She wouldn’t assume anything. “I’m sorry,” was what the unicorn opted to instead say.

After minutes had passed, finally Starlight began to pull out of the hug. Water Lily didn’t look as if she wanted it to end. But unfortunately they couldn’t have remained like that forever.

The pegasus looked up at Starlight with pleading eyes, realizing her question still hadn’t been answered. “So… how do I make mommy love me again?”

Starlight did her best to show a reassuring smile. “I need to talk to Head-mare Twilight first, okay? I just need to speak with her and think about some stuff. I promise I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

Water Lily only barely managed to keep the complete extent of her disappointment from showing. She nodded a confirmation and sighed. “O-okay… If you say so Ms. Glimmer.” She turned to exit the office. Her slow and careful steps carried her to the door, but she stopped before leaving the room. “Thank you for the hug.” She looked back at Starlight with a small smile. Then she left.

Starlight stared off into nothing once Water Lily was gone. She’d wished for something to do, and something had certainly presented itself. But suddenly she was starting to wish she hadn’t hoped for something to happen. All that had just transpired was setting off a myriad of red flags in Starlight’s mind. She could only hope that nothing serious was going on.

Author's Notes:

Oki doki, I'm gonna try my hand at a multi chapter story. Almost any time I try to do these, I lose interest before I'm able to finish and end up discontinuing the story. But hopefully that won't happen this time.

I'll add new tags as I go to better fit the story. I don't know for 100% as of now that Starlight, Water Lily and Twily are gonna be the only main characters. If that turns out not the case, I'll change the tags.