Heart's Desire

Chapter 2

Pain, she had felt it before, on countless occasions, but, that morning topped it all. From the tip of her horn, to the very end of her tail, she somehow ached. As she stirred, she would whimper in agony. It wasn't the first time she had woken up in this kind of pain, but it was by far one of the worst instances of it. It had gone from a dull headache, to a full blown migraine as she rolled over, thankfully catching herself just before she fell off the bed. Slowly, she lifted herself, the aches and pains in her body only growing far worse, to the point where there were visible tears in her eyes.

She forced them back however as she slowly climbed off the bed. As she set foot onto the carpet, a jolt of pain shot up her leg, causing her to pull it back for a moment. She would hesitate from here, carefully setting foot onto the carpet again, this time, the pain wasn't present. She sighed in relief as she climbed out of bed, before sluggishly crossing the room, to the balcony door. It amazed her, that even through the pain, she actually made it, but what came next, was an entirely different story.

Next, came the arduous task of actually bringing forth the morning. With a heavy sigh, she set foot onto the balcony, her eyes closing as she did. 'You can do this Tia...just focus!' she inhaled, knowing what would come next. It began from the tip, a very fine golden glow spread across her horn. Right when it began to spread, she felt a tremendous jolt of pain shoot through her spine, once again, this wasn't the first time this had occurred, however, it was still the worst she had experienced.

The pain was crippling, making her cringe and almost want to curl up into a ball on the balcony. However, she knew this was something she had to do, every morning, no matter what it did to her. She had done it countless times before, yet, it seemed especially difficult this morning as she held back a cry in sheer agony. Finally, through sheer force of will, her entire horn had become enveloped with the familiar spell, as it would, she felt the very power of light filling her being, warming her right down to the bone. As it enveloped her, she could feel the pain beginning to die down.

Had it not been for the warmth and light of the new day she was bringing forth, she might not have noticed where the pain actually was. While most of the agonizing pain was in her head, she could a lesser, dull pain in her neck and back. Even more surprising, she could feel it on the very tips of her wings. How was it she let the pain escalate to this level? How was it she hadn't felt it before? It astonished her just how bad it had gotten. As her thoughts wandered, the spell she had active began to fade, as the light and warmth left her, she would snap back to her senses.

'Concentrate, Tia!' she screamed in her own mind, forcing herself to focus on what was important right now. Bringing forth the new day for her ponies. She strained, tears returned to her eyes as she felt the pain in her horn return. Even dulled by the sun's warmth, it was still agonizing having to force herself to do this. “Nngh!” she winced, cracking a single eye at the horizon. The familiar orb of light and fire just began to peek over the horizon, as it would, the pain reached its most severe point.

Celestia's legs began to buckle beneath the pain she felt throughout her body, the tears began to stream. The pain had never been this bad before! She had never failed in raising the sun before! She had done this spell more times than she could recall, not once had she failed in performing it. Except for maybe when she was a little filly, but that was irrelevant at this time. She wasn't about to let down her kingdom!

“Tia,” a familiar voice called out to her, “I'm here for you.” It was a soft voice, yet a very strong one. It was one that brought her comfort even through this horn-splitting agony. It was then she would feel a hoof on her shoulder, which in turn caused her to gaze up, in her teary, blurred vision, she saw what she thought was a true gift. All she saw was a blurry, dark sapphire blue figure, one that only made her smile. “Now dry your tears...”

Celestia took ahold of the hoof presented to her immediately, allowing herself to be helped up from not only the ground, but from the dreadful state she was in. As she would be pulled up to her hooves, she felt herself being reinvigorated, magic once again flowed through every fiber of her being. She felt the drive again, the will to bring forth the new day. She leapt from the balcony, flying high into the sky. With her wings fully extended, the sun followed her very movements. She slowly rose into the sky and from the darkness of the night, the rays of light spread across the land, the orb pulling itself over the horizon as gloriously as it did every other day before it.

She would smile once again as she gazed upon her work. While not as artistic as her sister's night, it was still one of the things she enjoyed, one of the things she took pride in doing. She took one final gaze upon the beautiful orangish-red horizon before descending back onto the balcony, exhausted. Greeted by the embrace of the dark sapphire blue alicorn was the highlight of the morning. Although it couldn't be considered much of an embrace as she virtually fell into her arms instead.

“Thank you, Lulu,” she sighed, resting her head on the smaller alicorn's shoulder, “but...how did you know?”

Luna's cyan eyes would lock with Celestia's at this point, before a smile spread across her face. “Do you think I wouldn't watch out for my big sister when she needed it?” she replied, the smile never vanishing.

“But...!”

“Ivy informed me last night that you might struggle,” she explained,

“How did she...?!” Celestia stuttered,

“She said, it was in your eyes,” Luna continued, “Something about...being empty and unfulfilled.”

“W-why would she say something like that?” argued Celestia immediately, “I'm not unfulfilled!” she outright lied in this case, if not by her eyes, it would be by the tone of her voice that would give her away. If not that, it would then be the simple fact that she pulled away from the embrace to turn her back on Luna.

It was a common thing for Celestia to do something like this. When it came to lying, she was fair at it, at least, to those who didn't know her personally. Luna however, knew her sister very well and her very reaction is what told the tale. While it didn't give away why exactly she was unfulfilled, she could tell already that it was a very true statement. Yet, what also befuddled her was the simple nature of the reaction too, even if she was lying, she would rarely turn her back.

“I understand if you don't want to talk about it...” Luna sighed, lowering her ears. “But, please, do your sister a favor and take today off.” This quickly struck a few nerves, having to be told to relax by her little sister. Not only did she turn around with a hint of aggravation on her face, but her ears had perked up as well.

“But, what about the mess Blueblood caused yesterday?!” she snapped, “Isn't the Griffin King upset about that?” Here is where it began to grow interesting, where Luna broke out into a fit of laughter as she recalled the whole thing. Not only laughing at Celestia's assumptions, but just at the incident in general.

“No need, it was taken care of last night,” the younger alicorn commented, “The Griffin King will uphold the treaty still.”

“What? What happened?!” Celestia cried out, “How did you...?” Luna rose her hoof, as if telling her sister to relax. It worked too, with her curiosity burning as intense as the sun she calmed herself, taking a very deep breath to do as such.

“Well...” Luna began, “It was actually thanks to Emerald that we saved the treaty. I don't believe I've ever seen the Griffin King laugh that hard since my return.” Had Emerald made a joke? This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing, taking Luna's husband as one of the most serious unicorns she had ever seen. Just this alone was enough to make her curiosity burn even hotter.

“What did he do? Did he tell a joke or something?”

Luna tilted her head from left to right as if to internally debate the question, all the while a grin growing on her face. “Ehh...You could say that,” she replied, “But, let me tell you what happened...you see...we were all enjoying the dinner the chefs had prepared when Prince Pompus walked in.”

Celestia simply laughed at the nickname, it was new and one that was very fitting for their nephew, considering his arrogant attitude. “Who came up with that one?” she asked,

“Emerald did, last night,” Luna added, giggling softly, “As I was saying though...he walked into the room and joined us, at first, he was relatively calm and quiet, but...I had a bad feeling about his arrival, so I sent Starlight to you. It was perfect timing too, because just as she was leaving...he ended up making a remark about the Griffin King's eating habits...” Celestia gulped, she knew what they were like, griffins were not exactly the most well-mannered of eaters when it involved meat. It was sometimes tough to be at the same table as one on occasion. Some were polite, but the Griffin King, well, he just had a rather...brutal way of eating. One that was considered well-mannered for his race, but not for ponies. No one ever complained about it though, to be polite.

“You mean, he...?”

Luna nodded, “Yes...he insulted the King's table manners,” Celestia could only imagine where just a single comment about it would lead. As she thought about it, she could only roll her eyes. This was followed by the strongest of desires to hit her head against the nearby railing.

“Please tell me he's still alive...” she muttered,

“Oh, he's just fine, rather beaten up, but just fine,” Luna continued,

“You mean, the King attacked him?” This is where the night princess' grin grew even wider than it had been over the past couple of minutes.

“Oh no, the King didn't attack Blueblood...he just ignored him the best he could,” Celestia gasped at this, out of everything to hear in the story so far it was by far the most impressive, especially considering she had recalled the Griffin King had quite the issue with his temper the last few times they met. “I know, I was surprised too, Tia, but apparently he had been working on it.”

“Then how did Blueblood end up getting beat up?” she asked, curiosity still growing.

“I was getting to that!” Luna snapped, pausing to clear her throat. “He went on...and said various rude things to the King...a few did annoy him, but Emerald warned not to say a word...that is when everything took a surprising turn....”

“Oh, please don't tell me...” Celestia assumed, “Did...Blueblood attack Emerald?”

“He wouldn't dare...he actually insulted Emerald, Starlight and I in a single sentence...and his tone was rather threatening,” This is where Celestia gulped, now knowing exactly what road it was about to take. Granted she could've assumed that this would've happened sooner or later, as Emerald couldn't stand Blueblood in the least, but then again, few actually could. “The rest happened so fast...the look on his face changed in less than a second, probably realizing the stupidity that just flowed right out of his mouth...but...Emerald was just too fast for him.”

“Out of everypony that might've wanted to whip his flank...Emerald was the first on the list to actually do it,” Celestia remarked, but instead of laughing at her nephew's misfortune, she only sighed.

“But, boy you should have seen it!” Luna exclaimed, “Blueblood was screaming like a little filly half the time! I didn't think any stallion could actually scream that high! He tried to run, but Emerald was just too strong for him...eventually it resulted in the Griffin King and I having to pry them apart and having the guards take Blueblood away.”

“House arrest?” Celestia enquired on the punishment, aside from having his flank whipped.

“Along with two weeks of nasty nightmares,” Luna added, “No one threatens my little filly. Family or not.”

“What about Emerald?”

“He is unhurt,” she said, “But, I'm going to...reward...him a little later for giving us such a show.” Both princesses blushed here, while Luna's coat hid hers, Celestia didn't have the same luxury. This was also something she didn't even want to know about either, but once something has been said between them, that's how it would remain.

“Ivy had said it was rather bad last night though,” Celestia pointed out, quickly changing the subject. “She said the Griffin King attacked Blueblood!”

“She probably assumed that, from what she heard in the dining hall,” her sister replied, “But it was Emerald, I can assure you...and on a positive note, the Griffin King seems to have taken a shine to him as well, having gained a bit of his respect for actually striking Prince Pompus countless times.”

“Wish I had been there...” her entire body slumped a bit, in this time she began to realize just how much she was slipping. Not only had her nephew caused a bit of trouble, but she also lost a chance to strengthen the treaty with the Griffin Kingdom. Once again, she was filled with a desire, but this time, it was one to simply just go back to bed. Today hadn't been quite her day starting off, perhaps Ivy and her sister were both right? Perhaps she needed to take some time off. It was then an idea sparked in her mind and her face lit up.

Luna recognized that face, it was one of the many faces she often saw her sister gain when an idea came to mind. It made her worry, as it had been known that this grin was often followed by a rather....complicated prank that she often fell for on every occasion. “What is it, Tia?” Luna asked hesitantly.

“I...think I actually will go on that vacation!”

Luna stepped back in shock. “Vacation? What happened to just taking a day off?”

“Luna...I am taking a day off...to plan a vacation!” This was the first time she had ever heard such a thing from her sister, but, as they both stood there, it was evident she wasn't going to budge on the subject.

“W-Where in Equestria did you get such an idea?”

“Ivy suggested I take one,” Celestia stated as she dashed into the room, “But...I decided against it last night, because I thought Equestria needed me...”

'Curse that green mage,' Luna thought, “But, Equestria does need you, Tia! You raise the sun everyday!” she would argue, only to have a scroll tossed right at her from her sister.

“That scroll contains the spell I use to raise the sun every morning...”

“But...Tia!” Luna tried to argue, only to watch her sister slowly turn to her.

“Lulu...for one thousand years, I brought up both the sun and the moon...” she argued back, “I thought I couldn't handle it at first...but, you know...lifting both wasn't as difficult as I thought...same went for the stars...it just took me a few years to get it right.” Luna grew relatively quiet as her sister began to explain this, it was almost agonizing to listen to, but it was true as well, she could see the honesty in her eyes. “I...ran Equestria for a thousand years, without once taking a single day off...if I can handle that...then surely you can handle taking my place for a couple months.”

“But...sis!”

“No buts this time Lulu...you have Emerald by your side...I'm certain you can handle this,” Celestia added, as she dashed around the room, as if pondering what she should bring. “Plus...you can always send a letter my way if you get stuck in a tight situation.”

Luna was at a loss for words, to be honest, she was actually terrified at the prospect of this. Not only that, but she was also rather nervous as to how the staff---and Equestria---would take this news. The news that Princess Celestia was going on a vacation, leaving her sister to actually take care of Equestria. Luna simply gulped at the prospect.

The entire time Celestia had been dashing about her room, Luna had been frozen, just glaring at the scroll she had received from her elder sister. After a few moments she was able to regain her mental focus, her glare returning to the white blur that was now galloping all over the room mindlessly. This only seemed to last for a good fifteen minutes before she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

“You'd best go get prepared! I'm leaving tomorrow!” Celestia announced, now virtually pushing her sister right out the door.

“H-Hey! Don't I get a say in this!” Luna argued, spinning around to meet her sister's gaze.

“Lulu...I--”

Luna didn't give her sister the chance this time. She wasn't going to allow herself to be manipulated, she wasn't going to allow this to happen again. It was here she did something that she had never done. With a loud smack, Celestia took a few steps back. It was the first time she had ever struck her sister, leaving her frozen in place, just gazing at the sapphire blue alicorn.

“Tia...I'm sorry,” she whispered, “But...you need to take a moment to relax and think...”

Celestia was left in shock by not only the slap, but by the fact that it actually happened. While she felt a bit angry that it had actually happened, she knew it hadn't without good reason. This in fact actually did work into her advantage as she took a very deep breath, finally able to calm down.

“No...I needed that and deserved it,” Celestia added, as she slowly closed her eyes. The thoughts that once rushed through her head had come to a grinding halt in the very instant she was smacked and for the first time in quite a while, she actually had a bit of clarity to them.

“Now...please, reconsider about taking a vacation! I can't do this without you!” Luna snapped, much to Celestia's dismay.

“No, Lulu...I'm not changing my mind this time, I need this...”

“But this isn't about--”

“Luna! Listen to yourself! You're acting like a child!” Celestia snapped, this time acting like the older sister. “You have a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter...since your return, you've not only grown stronger and wiser, but...you've...” she paused, a lump forming in her throat as she tried to bring the words out. “You've...found something that...I wish I had!”

It was Luna's turn to be shocked as she was forced to take a step back. “Are you...?”

“Yes!” she cried out, “I'm jealous of you!”