Cat's in the Cradle

by pixarprincess

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Sad, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 3770

Following the banishment of her former student, Celestia recalls their past together- and discovers a shocking revelation.

Princess Celestia is still reeling from the loss of Sunset Shimmer. She'd done what she had to, but somehow she feels like it wasn't just a student she's lost.

Special Thanks to my editor and proofreader, Princess Rarity and Elric of Melnipony. :)

Published 2014-01-21 09:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-21 09:10:02 UTC

Full Story

He was holding her, and staring deep into her eyes. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he intended to seduce her. She didn’t fight it. She didn’t want to fight it. She wanted nothing more than to keep looking into his lovely yellow and red eyes. He kissed her then, and for this she didn’t mind closing her eyes, so long as she felt him on her body. When they were together, she didn’t think about or care about her sister or the country, and when she did, the dizziness in her mind simply vanished when she looked at his face. At no point did she ever feel like there was anything wrong. The world was peaceful, why wouldn’t it be…

Celestia woke suddenly, blinking. How could she have thought such things, especially about… him? It was the fifteenth time this month.

She got out of bed, using her magic to make the sheets neat again. How long had she been plagued by these nightmares? Not just of Discord, but the other figure from her life - the one who’d disappeared no less than three months ago. Sunset Shimmer, her former pupil.

Pupil. It was then she remembered - Twilight would be coming early today.

Celestia entered the classroom, and found it wasn’t empty like she’d thought it would be.

“Twilight,” she began, as the young filly in front of her sat patiently with a grin, “I knew you wanted us to meet early, but-”

“I couldn’t wait. I just had to come in and start prepping. Not too many unicorns can master the memory spells. How can I not be excited enough to get a head start?” Twilight spoke with unabashed glee.

“I understand,” said Celestia. “But how did you get in?”

“You taught me the unlocking spell, remember?”

Of course, thought Celestia.

“So…” began Twilight. “Can we start?”

Her teacher smiled. “Sure. But first let’s go over your last week’s assignment.”

“Way ahead of you,” said Twilight as she emptied her bag revealing multiple scrolls of spells and exercises.

Celestia looked at her, and thought of how nervous (but talented) Twilight had seemed just a month ago at her entrance exam. She had been - and in some ways still was - very bright and innocent.

Sunset started off the same way, she remembered.

“What is your name?” asked the administrator.

“Sunset,” replied the filly brought before him. “Sunset Shimmer.”

“Very well. You may begin the assessment.”

Sunset stared at the plant in front of her. The task was simple: use magic to help it grow to a minimum of six feet. With a confident smile, she closed her eyes and held her horn close to the plant, her horn glowing as she concentrated.

Celestia stood near the back of the room with another professor, observing the test. There was something special about this one - she could feel it.

Professor Lorax turned to her. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t she the same filly who was found frozen a few years back?”

“She is, I believe,” said the Princess.

There had been such a huge fuss made over the girl at the time, who’d been crying over her lost parents. Fortunately, she’d been placed within a foster home and lived like any normal, modern filly here in Canterlot. Celestia had felt sorry for the child, and hoped that she’d turn out okay. She’d been happy, then, when she learned she was applying to such a high-level education school like this one.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a bright flash of light out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw that the plant was now seven feet tall - and on fire.

“My tree!” Professor Lorax rushed to the front of the room, only to become a potted plant in the process.

Meanwhile, Sunset was about two feet from the floor, her eyes glowing white and raw magic emanating from her horn in all directions. The other teachers were either floating in the air or, like Professor Lorax, turned into their cutie marks.

Celestia calmly walked towards the floating filly, seeing a look of pain and fear on her face, as though Sunset were trying to fight something within herself. The Princess reached out and placed one hoof on the filly’s shoulder; Sunset turned to see Celestia’s face and began to regain her composure. She floated back down to the floor, her eyes now back to their natural teal color.

The examiners were returned to normal, including an unhinged-looking Professor Lorax, who immediately brought in a rain cloud to put out the flames on her beloved plant.

“Alright, I admit, she’s good,” said Lorax. “But please tell me I won’t be the one taking her into a class - I don’t trust her around my children…” She placed a hoof on a branch. The rest of the teachers looked just as worried that they’d be stuck watching over this gifted student.

“It’s okay,” Celestia assured the crowd. “You won’t have to worry about her.” She turned to Sunset.

The filly looked up with wide eyes full of shame. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I-I only wanted to add a little flair by making it grow flowers. Then I panicked that it wouldn’t even grow, and…”

“You did fine,” said Celestia. “In fact, you’ve just shown you’re capable of great magic, probably more than the average unicorn.” She grinned at Sunset. “How would you like to become my personal student?”

And with that, Sunset began to smile.

“You’re doing great, Sunset,” Celestia assured.

“I know I am,” Sunset replied. And with this, her horn blasted a teal beam at an apple. About a second later, an orange sat in its place.

Sunset panted a few times. “Ten,” she finally spurted out. “I bet I can go for fifteen!”

Celestia chucked. “Ten is fine.” She looked at the clock. “I believe it’s time for somepony to go back to her dorm.”

“Aww, come on, just a few more!” pleaded Sunset. “Or maybe we can try that levitation spell for animals, or-”

“Sunset, you should go and get some rest,” said Celestia.

Sunset bit her lip. “I don’t want to go,” she said softly.

“Well, why not?” asked Celestia. “You always want to stay longer after practice. Either you’re really into practice, or… do you not want to go back to your dorm for some reason?”

“I just like spending time with you.” Sunset gave her a nuzzle. “Almost makes up for lost time.”

“Lost time - Sunset, what are you talking about?”

“I guess now’s as good a time as ever,” said Sunset. “The truth is… I’m your daughter.”

Celestia stared at her. “Excuse me?”

“I know you are,” Sunset continued. “Dad talked about you all the time.”

“And who is your father?”

“Do you remember Discord?”

Celestia shook her head. “I… I do, actually. But we were never - we couldn’t have… He was…” She looked back at Sunset. “I never had children. Least of all with that creature.”

Sunset looked up at her. “Don’t you remember giving birth or something? I know it would have been nearly a thousand years ago, but-”

“But nothing. Look, I’ll be happy to become the mother figure you wanted, but there isn’t any way to prove that we’re related biologically.”

“All I want is to be with you, Mom,” said Sunset. “And for you to acknowledge that we’re family.”

This poor girl, Celestia thought as she hugged the filly. “You’ve been through a lot,” she said to her. “Listen, maybe we’re related, maybe not. But understand that we can’t spend our time together twenty-four/seven. You need to get some sleep now.”

Celestia let go. Sunset had a look of disappointment on her face. “Fine,” she said, defeated.

“But maybe one day you’ll figure out the truth. In the meantime, I still want to call you Mom. Can I call you that? It just… feels right.”

Celestia patted her head. “I guess there isn’t much harm in that for now.”

They were inside the sewing lab. One of the professors from the biology lab was considering opening his own research facility just outside Canterlot, and Celestia was discussing the terms with him.

Sunset sat near one of the machines. She was fixing up her favorite toy - a Prince Zuko doll that she treasured very much and had carried around when she had first started at the school as a filly.

“Look, Mom!” she said, looking towards the part of the room where the Princess and her colleague were. “I fixed him all by myself! Isn’t he handsome?”

Celestia turned to her. “In a minute, Sunset. This is important.” She loved her as though she were her own daughter, but there were times when Sunset seemed a bit too… aggravating when it came to getting her attention.

“I’m sure you filled out the paperwork?” she asked Gene Pool.

“Not yet,” he answered. “I thought we should talk first.”

“By all means, you have my respect, and you’re a brilliant-”

“Mom, look! I want you to see!” came a cry from Sunset’s side of the room.

“Not now,” said Celestia. “Anyways, as I was saying-”

“Please, Mom!”

“-I’m not seeing why you felt you had to come to me first.”

“Your Majesty,” said Gene Pool. “I know it seems trivial, but better safe than sorry, when it comes to these things.”

“I suppose so,” said Celestia.

“I guess that just leaves the matter of funds,” continued the professor. “I’ve been looking at one property-”

A wail of pain pierced the air right then.

The adult ponies turned to see Sunset crying, her doll dropped on the floor, and a needle poked into her hoof.

Celestia immediately came over to her side. “Oh, Sunset, be careful…” She pulled the needle out of Sunset’s hoof and hugged her. Sunset returned it without hesitation, burying her face in Celestia’s neck.

That’s when the Princess noticed the odd color of the liquid substance flowing out of Sunset’s hoof.

It was orange.

“How in-?” She lifted the hoof to her face to examine it. “I haven’t seen this in any other ponies.”

Sunset looked like she was going to say something - however, nothing but sobs came out of her mouth.

Gene Pool looked over at the hoof. “You know-” he started. “We could use some DNA and blood samples to test out for the lab. Would you mind, young lady?”

Sunset bobbed her head sideways, and watched as the scientist pulled out a small measuring cylinder, trying to catch the falling blood. She, meanwhile, continued to rest her head on her teacher’s body, who stroked her mane to calm her down as her crying began to slow down. She then placed on the pricked hoof a bandage given to them from Gene Pool, and there was no more talk of science for the rest of that day.

It was a quiet afternoon at Canterlot Castle, and the Princess and her student were together as always. Today was a day nicer than the rest, so the two had decided to take their studies and conversations outside, in the Palace Gardens.

“Sunset, it’s been three years since-” She looked at the filly, who was already beginning to look like a beautiful young mare. If only she acted like one. “-since you’ve become my personal student,” she finished. “Every day you’ve acted like you were my child, and now-”

“You’re finally ready to admit it? Or at least let me take a DNA test so I can prove-”

“I need you to stop,” said Celestia, sternly. “Now.”

Sunset’s face fell. “What?”

“I let you address me as your mother when you were younger because I knew things were hard for you, and you needed the comfort. But you’re nearly a mare now, and I don’t want you always living in your little fantasy world.” Celestia took a deep breath. “Accept the fact that we are not, and never will be, related. It’s time to come back to reality.”

“I’m not pretending, if that’s what you’re implying,” Sunset said, her teeth gritted.

“Sunset, you can’t hold onto these delusions-”

“I’m not deluded!” Sunset suddenly screamed. “You are my mother, I know it! If you’d just let me prove it…” She began to cry.

Celestia placed a hoof on her student’s shoulder. “Please, Sunset. We need to keep our relationship professional. If you can’t admit you’ve been living a filly’s fantasy, I may have no choice but to have you get professional help.”

Sunset looked down; her tears were still spilling. For a long time she stared at the floor, contemplating something. Celestia hoped she’d let go of the matter. She still cared about her student, and couldn’t bear the thought of having her sent away.

Finally Sunset looked up, seemingly defeated but less angry and upset. “Okay,” she said. “I hated my foster home so much that I attached myself to you, and kinda got carried away. I’m sorry.”

The Princess looked at her, concerned. Did she mean it, or was she only complying in order to avoid losing her position?

“Are you sure?” she asked Sunset.

The young pony looked at her, her eyes looking as though they were holding back more tears. “Yes.”

To Celestia’s surprise, Sunset kept her word. Not once did she hound the Princess with her insistences, nor did she beg for attention as much as usual. She was acting like a student, and nothing more.

At the same time, Sunset was no longer the sweet, eager student Celestia had originally taken in. She was proud, impolite, and bossy to almost everypony in the academy. Celestia finally decided to talk to her during their studies.

“Sunset Shimmer,” began Celestia. “I have heard that you’re not getting along well with the other students. We’ve talked about the fact that personal relationships-”

“Personal relationships?” scoffed Sunset. “Who needs anypony? The most important thing in life is to be the best.”

“We’ve talked about friendships and its importance before, and we’ve discussed that you need to start opening yourself up to new friends,” said Celestia. “And remember that talk we had about humility?

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I remember how boring it was.”

Celestia brought her student through the castle to an unfamiliar room, the center of which held what she’d hoped to find: the Destiny Mirror. “Look into this mirror and tell me what you see.”

Sunset walked over to the crystal mirror and admired herself. “A beautiful pony that has nothing but power and potential,” she said.

This statement caused Celestia to roll her eyes. “Care to try that again with our talk about humility taken into account?”

Sunset looked again. “I see a pony who isn’t powerful enough.” Something formed in the reflection as her expression grew more grim and smug. “Somepony who could be great, powerful…” Celestia saw the mirror depict Sunset with a set of wings and an angelic, yet eerie glow. “Somepony that could rule Equestria.”

“Maybe we’d better move on…” Celestia told her.

Without warning, the image in the mirror rapidly transformed into a brighter one - something that depicted a flame-like creature.

“Wait, what was that?” Sunset cried, who remained fixated on the mirror’s depiction. “I thought I saw-”

“Oh, it was probably a trick of the light.” said Celestia as she guided Sunset away. “Our lesson is over for today. For tomorrow, I want you to reflect on the discussion we’ve just had.” She turned to look at her student, who just kept looking in the general direction of the mirror.

“Princess Celestia?”

She turned. An old colleague met her gaze.

“Gene Pool,” she greeted him. “How have you been?”

“All right. My research lab has been quite profitable.”

“I’ve heard.”

There was a brief pause. “Princess, do you remember when I took a blood sample of your personal student?”

Celestia remembered it all too well. “Yes, what about it?”

“I forgot about it myself for a while, I apologize,” said Gene Pool. “But recently one of our students decided to look at our collection of various DNA samples, and when he came across Sunset’s, well, he found some interesting results that you might want to see.”

“...what kind of results?”

“How dare you keep this kind of magic from me!” shouted Sunset. “You know that I’m ready for this, that I can be great!”

“Great,” scoffed Celestia. “I thought I sensed compassion and sincerity in you, but it was nothing but ambition. You’re being selfish, you need to step back and reflect-”

“I’m selfish?” Sunset screamed. “That book right there says I could become as powerful as an Alicorn Princess. I could rule here! It’s selfish of you to keep me from my rightful place!” Sunset looked up and glared at her. “I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal… if not your better. Make me a Princess.”

Celestia gave her a stern look. “No, being a Princess must be earned. I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you’ve turned from it. Every time you say you ‘deserve’ to get something without the effort, it just proves to me that you are not ready.”

She took a breath. She hated having to do this, but now she could see she had no other options at this point. “Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle.” Celestia looked at Sunset, hoping maybe she’d apologize like she’d always done before. Maybe there was a chance that she wasn’t too far gone.

Instead, Sunset continued to give her a nasty look. “We’ll never get past this because you aren’t seeing how great I deserve to be. Is that really all you have to say to me?”

Celestia kept her composure, hiding back all hurt feelings. “No,” she said calmly. “The guards will escort you out.”

Her guards came to Sunset’s side and began to guide her towards the door.

“This is the biggest mistake you’ll make in your entire life.” Celestia heard Sunset grumble.

Her attention turned to the painting of the battle between herself and Luna. Twice now, she had sent away a pony she loved, and she found herself agreeing with Sunset’s words. “One of many…”

“What do you mean, she had Alicorn blood?”

“It’s in the results,” the doctor said. “A mix of your blood type, along with draconequus blood. Now, I don’t know how this may have happened, unless of course… do you or your sister have any history with the creature possessing this blood type?”

Celestia gulped. How could it be possible that Sunset possessed that kind of powerful DNA? Who knew what she would be capable of? And was it possible that her father was…? She shuddered.

Still, it made some sense. Sunset had been from another time… as were Discord, Luna, and Celestia herself.

Suddenly, it all came together. Her nightmares, that brief time in her life she couldn’t - or thought she couldn’t - remember, between Discord staring at her as she drank her tea, and him being the ruler of Equestria, her and Luna cast away from civilization.

How much Sunset had wanted nothing more than to be with her. Somehow, she had known. And Celestia had denied the truth.

Celestia walked through the halls past the room that held the mirror. The door had been left wide open. “Oh, Sunset Shimmer,” she whispered. “No!”

She entered the room, where the guards she’d sent to escort the mare lay defeated on the floor. Her head turned to the mirror, fearing the worst.

“She took us by surprise and just… just… jumped in the mirror,” said one guard, confirming her fears.

He and the other guard got up and headed for the mirror. “Shouldn’t we hide the mirror, Princess?” the other guard asked.

Celestia kept her stoic expression despite her instinctive reaction to cry. “No, I want it here, to remind me.” she told them. “Also, maybe she’ll come back… someday.”

“So I’ve completed spells twenty through thirty-five, and - Princess? Are you okay?”

Celestia snapped out of her thoughts. Twilight looked at her with concern.

“You seem to be acting strange right now,” commented the little filly. “Is it something about me? Or my progress? Because I can do more-”

“I’m… fine, thank you,” Celestia told her. She felt a tiny shiver from having to lie to a young filly. But she didn’t want Twilight involved in her troubles.

Twilight looked as though she didn’t buy it, but didn’t press the issue. “Alright, so what else are we doing today?”

“Um-” Suddenly, Celestia felt that she could no longer hold in what she felt now. How she’s felt since the revelation. “That’s all for today,” she said finally, holding back her tears as much as possible. “You can go home.”

“But it’s so early!” said Twilight. “I didn’t even get homework yet.”

“Page 135, all the odd-numbered exercises. You can get extra credit for doing the even-numbered ones, if you like.”

“Extra credit? Yes!” And with that, Twilight quickly gathered her things and headed out the door.

Celestia stood watching her go, hot tears flowing down her cheeks. Finally, when she was ready, she left the room.

The Princess had no trouble finding the spot in the gardens. She’d had it placed here precisely so she could see it from the castle in case of an emergency. And right now she was glad she had access to it for what needed to be done.

Celestia looked up at the statue, and with every second she became a little more furious. Somehow, even when she and Luna had trapped him and saved Equestria, he’d still managed to beat her in some way. It was unfair.

“You knew she was ours, didn’t you?” she asked the statue. “You held her back from learning how to love. Did you plan this? Did you intend to use my own flesh and blood against me? You knew I wouldn’t accept her, and it would trigger something. But if I’d only listened to her, maybe-” she mused. “If I was the mother she needed me to be… she’d still be around. And you would’ve lost.”

She glared up at Discord. “I won’t forgive you for this, ever. Just know that.”