Chapter 3: Memories and Misfortune

Hayuary 17, 1504 A.D.

Canterlot Castle

Celestia was distressed.

She and Luna had been pouring over the Canterlot Archives, searching for a solution to the growing tensions with the Celestial Territories and the Crystal Empire.  They were also trying to find any manuscripts detailing events that had happened between the two.

Nothing could be found.

Celestia could not believe that not a single codex, not even a torn fragment of anything could be found on the Crystal Empire or the Celestial Territories before Discord happened.  The Canterlot Archives were supposed to safeguard the oldest, most valuable, and sometimes most secretive works ever to be found.  Ponies had brought in all sorts of different types of written records from all the nations and territories.

It just wasn’t there.

After five days of scrambling over the entire archives, translating ancient materials, and flipping through books, Celestia and Luna decided to call a respite and have dinner in their private dining room.

Because of the impending crisis, they had canceled all their normal duties involving different appearances and the Day and Night courts had been suspended in order to get a grasp on the source of the problem.

‘I wish Twilight was here, she would love helping us search.’

But Twilight wasn’t here, she and her friends had returned to Ponyville after the reception was over.  Leaving Celestia and Luna in Canterlot.

It wasn’t that Twilight didn’t want to help, but the sisters had insisted she go home and relax.   They thought she had been through quite enough for one session of Parliament.  She was a new princess after all and was slowly being integrated into the government.

Of course Celestia’s conscience wouldn’t leave her alone.

‘That’s not why you sent her back to Ponyville and you know it.  You just don’t know how she would react to the truth.’

Celestia loved Twilight, like a daughter.  And she hated how she had kept information from her in the past such as Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the Crystal Empire.

‘But that had been necessary.  Just like this time.  Right?’

Celestia sighed, she couldn’t even give a good excuse this time.

Her conscience nagged her again.

‘You just didn’t want to admit to her that you had no idea WHY the Celestial Territories despised Cadence so much.  Despite you and Luna possibly knowing more than anypony in Equestria about the Territories.’

Celestia hated not knowing.  And she also didn’t like telling others that she didn’t have all the facts.

The tall white alicorn put these thoughts aside as the entered the private dining room.

Luna was already there, sulking and looking depressed.  She had probably been brooding over the exact same thing Celestia was.  Her normally vibrant starry mane had somewhat slowed and looked darker, matching her foul mood.

Celestia pulled up a nice, fat cushion and sank happily onto it, waiting for the servants to ask what they wanted for dinner.

“What would your highnesses liked for dinner?”

“A nice thick book stuffed with answers.”

Luna’s reply didn’t faze the servant and he turned expectantly towards the older sister.

“I think we’ll both have some hay and lettuce.  Sunflowers for me and some nightshade flowers for her on the side.  To drink I’ll have my favorite tea and Luna will have her nightly coffee.  For dessert give me a large helping of the cake leftover from the reception and for her a slice of moon pie with dark chocolate.  It’s been one of those days for us, we could use the sweets.  Thank you.”

Celestia watched the servant leave the room before turning back to Luna.

“I know we have hit some roadblocks but that’s no reason to be short with the staff.  They could still spit in our food.”

Luna didn’t laugh at Celestia’s joke.  Instead she looked back at her sister with a deep and bitter frown.

“You’re just as angry and frustrated as I am.  I just haven’t had a millennia to practice hiding my emotions.”

That hurt.

As Celestia turned away, trying to think of something else, Luna’s expression softened into one of regret.

“I’m sorry Tia, I’m just tired and frustrated.  The Territories have always been deeply loyal to us, and I hate not knowing why they distrust Cadence and the Crystal Empire so much.  If the Territories leave Equestria, then does that mean we……..failed?”

Luna looked to be on the edge of tears.  She sniffled and tried to hold it in.

Celestia felt her heart pang and she got up from her side of the table and joined her little sister, wrapping a swan-like wing around the smaller alicorn in the process.

“No.  Never think that, no matter what.  We tried our best after…. what happened and we then banished Sombra.   The world is finally rid of him thanks to Twilight and her friends.”

Luna leaned into Celestia’s warm embrace and began talking in a pain filled voice.

“I know.  It’s just that you have had a millennia to deal with the grief.  It wasn’t even a decade ago for me.  I was trapped inside Nightmare Moon for that millennia, the pain is just so much.  Is it because of me?  Do the Territories want to leave because of Nightmare Moon?”

Celestia clung to Luna tighter and held back her own tears.

“**No!* It is not your fault!  Don’t you even think that!”*

Regaining control her voice she continued.

“Besides, nothing’s happened yet.  We’ll be able to solve this and the Territories won’t leave us.”

Celestia held Luna until the darker alicorn left her embrace.  Celestia noticed that she seemed a bit calmer than before.

“Thank’s Tia, I needed that.”

Luna nuzzled Celestia affectionately before continuing, a confused frown on her face.

“I just don’t understand.  Why now?  What changed?  And why have we never heard of this ‘Broken Heart’?  I could understand why the Territories are cautious of Cadence and the Crystal Ponies if it dealt with Sombra, I might even join their caution.  But this ‘Broken Heart’ is unknown to me.  Who was she?  Did she even exist?  Why does the territories hate her so much?  And above all, why do we not know?”

Luna stiffened and turned to Celestia with a panicked expression filled with a child’s fear.

“Tia…….you don’t think it was….her do you?  You told me Cadence is a distant relative of ours.  And Tejas said that Cadence is Broken Heart’s descendant.  You don’t think that’s why we were never told, to protect us from the Territories wrath?”

“No.  It wasn’t her.  I know he kept many things from us, included where he buried her, but he would have told us if she was a monster.  That I know.  It just wouldn’t fit his personality.  I’m not sure how Cadence is related to us, I just know that her magic carries a trace similar to ours, marking her as a distant relative.”

Luna wilted in relief, her fears put to rest at Celestia’s explanation.  The serving staff chose that moment to come in and serve them their food.  They corrected the dining arrangements so that Celestia could sit next to Luna.  When they finished, they moved silently through the door, closing it with their magic.

Celestia decided she didn’t have an appetite after walking down memory lane, but she needed to eat.  She and Luna had eaten sporadically over the past few days at uneven intervals and she was hungry, so she dug in.

The cake was too good to ignore anyway.

Luna was three-fourths the way through her meal when she tapped her fork on the plate in thought.  She turned to Celestia with a question on her lips.

“I know I haven’t had the chance to go back much since my return.  And I didn’t before my banishment for obvious reasons.  But did you go back to Eclipse City at all during my exile?”

Celestia shook her head sadly and sighed again before answering.

“No I did not.  It would have been just too painful without you there with me.  All our childhood memories are there and I could not face making a trip knowing you were not there with me.  Perhaps if I had, the Territories would be more familiar with us and this situation wouldn’t have even arisen.”

Luna continued chewing her food and asked another.

“Why didn’t you tell Twilight anything about Eclipse City?  I know she's like a daughter to you, like a little sister to me.  Why would you have not told her?  She seemed to know of the Territories but she didn’t have many details like you and I do.”

Celestia nodded at her sister’s inquiry, this one was a little easier for her to answer.

“It never really came up.  She never really asked about my past in general, let alone my childhood.  The Territories are very isolationist, as you know, and hoarded much of the knowledge on their culture and history.  And as we have seen these past few days, the archives doesn’t have much on them anyway, so she wouldn’t really know anything other than that they're a territory of Equestria and that they joined shortly after Sombra was banished.”

Luna nodded her head in agreement and snorted.

“The Territories have always had their secrets, even when you and I lived there.  I don’t know whether it's comforting or silly that they have changed so little since I’ve been gone.”

Celestia was about to say more but stopped.  Her ears flicked as she caught the sound of thundering hooves getting louder as they approached the dining hall.

Luna also picked it up and looked curiously in the direction of the sound.  It sounded like a herd of ponies running at full gallop.

The doors burst open suddenly, and Wheeler, a male unicorn and Captain of the Day Guard, along with Night Wing, a female thestral that was both Captain of the Night Guard and Head of Equestrian Intelligence, burst in and both began checking the room along with the guards that joined them.

Celestia was alarmed.  To see her guards so frantic was disturbing.  A sudden feeling of dread overcame her and the table clattered as she and Luna both leapt to their hooves.

“Captain Wheeler, what is it? What has happened?”

Wheeler turned to his princesses and said in a panicked voice,

“Princess Twilight has been attacked!”