All At Once

by TorontoFCBrony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Romance
Length: 3159

The sad story of Princess Celestia's youth, where she loses her first love, Discord, and her parents, as well as banishing her sister to the moon.

Twilight Sparkle is on her way to visit Princess Celestia for the first time since the two leaders were freed from Discord's vines. As Twilight talks about Discord's progress, it spawns Celestia telling the backstory of when she had dated Discord when they were young, as well as far more from the sun princess' past that she never told before. Twilight learns the story of how Celestia's life seemed to have crashed down almost all at once.

Rated everyone. However, it will have some really sad parts. It takes place after the Three's a Crowd episode. There are nine parts to Celestia's story to go along with the prologue and epilogue. It could be anywhere from 40,000-100,000 words. It has been in the works for about a year and may just be my best story yet!

Edited by GemstoneTheUnicorn.

Inspired by a few things:
-When We Were Young by: FlimFlamBros. A great story that was actually updated the same day this story was uploaded, by chance. I was inspired by it to write this one, so there are some similar themes and ideas, but I characterized the characters differently, and this story's storyline goes along with what we learned in the season 4 premier and is totally different.
-All at Once by: The Airborne Toxic Event. One of my favourite albums. It has a sad message in quite a few songs to deal with the lead singer losing all four of his grandparents in a short period of time. It inspired the name, as well as the most important chapter of this story.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-14 02:50:07 UTC

Prologue

The whole world went dark and silent.  The only thing that could be heard was the speeding train's chugs and squealing of the wheels on the metal rails.  But Twilight Sparkle knew that the darkness was only temporary.

The new alicorn princess was on her way to visit her beloved mentor, Princess Celestia.  This time, however, the young mare was alone in her journey.  Spike wholeheartedly agreed to spend the weekend at Rarity's Carousel Boutique, allowing Twilight to have some alone time with the leader of Equestria.  Celestia meant so much to Twilight.  The sun princess, after all, helped the former unicorn to become the mare she was today.  Celestia was almost like a second mother to Twilight.

It had been a while since Twilight Sparkle saw Princess Celestia last.  The last time they were together was when Twilight and her five friends gave their elements back to the Tree of Harmony, saving Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from the dreaded vines that Discord had planted.  Since then, the young mare had spent her new time as a princess still living her busy life in Ponyville.

This weekend was not only a time for Twilight to visit her mentor, it was a time that the two of them agreed on so that Celestia could start training Twilight more for her royal duties.  Twilight knew that there was a lot that she would have to do as princess, but so far nothing was too much to ask.  Even so, Celestia's last letter to Twilight showed that there was still a lot to learn, and the new princess' journey had just begun.

What new things would come her way?  Twilight didn't know.  Yet, she was eager to find out.

The light from the end of the tunnel became brighter as the train made its way from inside the tunnel, until eventually they were outside and in the home stretch to the capital city.

Twilight watched from her window as the city on the side of the mountain shined, reflecting the sun's light.  The city of Canterlot was always a stunning sight.  It was Twilight's hometown, and she always had the memories of her foalhood rush back to her mind every time she saw the beautiful architecture.

The train came to a stop in the station.  The young princess was given her bags and she was on her way to visit her mentor.

"Careful, my sister.  Any false move and the entire castle can come crashing down on us," Luna called out.

"I know Luna.  I'm trying," Celestia replied as she held up the final piece with her telekinesis.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight Sparkle shouted out as she whipped open the door to the princesses' lounge, causing the house of cards that the other two alicorns were building to fall down.

"Darn it," Luna said as their Saturday afternoon's work had been wrecked.

"Twilight Sparkle, my dearest student," Celestia said as she reached her left hoof out, receiving Twilight for a hug.

"It's been too long," Twilight said while in her mentor's grasp.

"It really has.  We have a lot to catch up on and a lot of learning to do this weekend," Celestia replied as she let go of Twilight.

"Good afternoon, Luna," Twilight said while approaching the moon princess.  "I didn't expect to see you up this late."

"Yes, yes it is late," Luna said as she let out a huge yawn.  "We just wanted to finish up this project," she continued saying as she pointed to the pile of cards on the ground.

"Oh, sorry about that," Twilight said, realising her loud entrance was what caused the catastrophic collapse of the card castle.

"It's all right, Twilight.  Don't get me wrong, I am pleased to see you.  But I really must go to bed," Luna replied while yawning once again.

"Not to worry, Princess Luna.  I have some catching up to do with your sister."

"Good night, Twilight.  Good night, my sister," Luna said as she slowly trotted her way out.

"Good night, dear sister," Celestia said while patting her younger sister on the head.  Turning to the much shorter princess, Celestia continued, "We have a lot to catch up on, and a full weekend ahead of us."

"We sure do!" Twilight said excitedly.  "When do we start?"

"Patience, my dear," Celestia said while sticking out her hoof to calm the young alicorn down.  "First you have to tell me how things are going.  How has Discord been?  Has he been creating much trouble in Ponyville?"

"Um, yeah, a little," Twilight said while looking away and kicking her front hoof along the ground awkwardly.

"'A little'?  What does that mean?"

"Well, he tried to distract me when Cadence came to visit, but we still had a good time in the end.  I don't know.  I sort of feel bad for him, I guess.  He doesn't have many friends.  He's not evil anymore, but he's still sort of a nuisance sometimes.  He started singing out of nowhere and forced me to dance with him and he always wants to spend time with me lately.  If I didn't know any better I'd almost think he was interested in me."

"That actually sounds just like him," Celestia replied.  "He's never really changed, actually.  Sure, maybe he's not creating chaos as much, but he's still his quirky self.  So, you think he likes you?"

"Well, I don't know," Twilight responded after pondering for a second.  "He likes teasing and frustrating me, but he also always seems to want to spend time with me more as of late."

"Interesting," Celestia said while turning away, thinking to herself.  "You know, this wouldn't be the first time he fell for a princess."

"Really?" Twilight asked, intrigued.

"Yes.  In fact, he was my first crush."

Twilight's straight face then turned to a more peculiar look.  "Um, why is it that you've never told me this before, Princess Celestia?"

"Well, it was during a very hard time in my life.  I try not to remember it much."

"Oh," Twilight responded with a quiet voice.  "I'm sorry I reminded you of it, then."

"That's okay, Twilight," Celestia said as she turned around and smiled.  "You didn't know.  In fact, Luna is the only other pony still alive that knows."

"Well, I think that's an honour that I know, then."

"I think it's good for me to talk about.  After all, you will go through the same things too one day."

"What?  Dating Discord?"

"Not quite.  You'll love somepony one day, and you'll also have to go through loss.  That's one of the problems with living longer than most ponies."  Celestia trotted over to one of the bookcases in the room as Twilight watched.  She picked up a picture frame from on the top of the bookcase, looking at it intently.  While holding it, she continued, "There's a lot for me to explain for you, but I think I should tell you the story of my past first.  Things will make more sense to you in the end."

The Story, Part 1

Celestia tossed and turned as she tried to fall asleep through all the noise.  Her eyes and body were tired, but she just couldn't drift off into dreamland.  The sun had just gone down on this early spring day, so it wasn't that late, but the seventeen-year-old Princess Celestia knew she had the most important lesson of her life coming up early in the morning.  The next day would be the first time she'd raise the sun on her own as her beloved mother and mentor would watch.

Young Princess Celestia didn't necessarily want to become the raiser of the sun yet.  She did like being a member of her beloved royal family, and she liked the lessons she was learning.  However, she dreaded the reason why she was learning how to become the new sun princess of Equestria.

Celestia moved the blankets from off of her as she decided to get up and tell Luna to keep the noise down.  As she moved the blankets, it revealed her sun-shaped cutie mark; her destiny.  It was her destiny that she was going to become the co-leader of Equestria with her younger sister of three years.  It was her destiny that she was to control the sun, and she didn't fight that.  She didn't dread it.  In fact, she loved knowing that.  But she also knew of the consequences that would come before she'd become the sole sun goddess, and that was why she dreaded the day that it would happen.

The young princess went over to the mirror of her private bathroom to make sure that she was presentable to go into the hallway.  There were always castle guards roaming the hallways at night, protecting the royal family.  As a teenage mare, Celestia didn't feel too fondly about having grown stallions see her looking her worst.  Celestia looked in the mirror, admiring her striking pink, flowing mane.  Since she wasn't in bed very long, however, she didn't have a bad case of bedhead yet.

She quickly threw on a robe and made her way into the quiet hallway, heading down towards her younger sister's room.  As she approached young Princess Luna's room, she could hear the noise getting louder and louder.  The walls and floor were shaking from the noise.

Celestia pushed open her sister's bedroom door slightly.  The sound was almost unbearable at that point.

"Psst.  Hey, Luna," Celestia said.  She crept open the door a little more, revealing Luna dancing around her room to her newest New Colts on the Block album.  Her younger sister danced around like a maniac, her light blue mane being thrown around, and she had the biggest smile on her face.  "Luna!"

Luna let out a scream and jumped behind her bed.  She used her horn to turn off the music as she hid her face from the intruder.  "Halt!  Wh-who goes there?" Luna asked timidly, peeping her head from behind the side of her bed.  "Oh, Tia.  What's up?"

"Luna, I have my most important lesson tomorrow.  Can you please keep it down a little bit so I can sleep?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Luna said while getting up and trotting over to her record player, turning the volume down before turning it on again.  "Better?" she asked as the music played at a more reasonable noise level.

"Yes, thank you," Celestia responded as she turned around to leave.

"Hey, Sun Butt?" Luna called out, causing Celestia to turn around.

"Yeah, Lulu?"

"You know I hate it when you call me that," Luna replied with a snarl.

"Yeah, well I hate 'Sun Butt'," Celestia rebutted.

"Fiiiiine," Luna said while rolling her eyes.  "Celestia, my dearest sister.  Are you excited about finally raising the sun alone tomorrow?"

"I don't know, Luna.  I'll see.  I'll ask you in the morning what you thought about raising the moon alone tonight," Celestia said.  She let out a yawn, starting to feel tiredness come to her.

"Yeah, I'll tell you in the morning.  Dad's gonna come get me soon.  Get some sleep.  I won't play my music for too much longer."

"Thanks.  Good night, Luna," Celestia said with a smile as she looked to Luna with one hoof out the door.

"Nighty-night, Tia," Luna replied while turning around.

As Celestia closed the door, she couldn't hear the music as loudly as before.  It was a pleasant difference.  As she started to trot her way back to her room, she could see her father, King Midnight, turn the corner and come down the hallway towards her.  She watched as he made his way closer with his tall figure, black mane, and dark blue fur.

"Hey, Daddy," Celestia said as she hugged her father tightly while raising one back hoof in the air.  Even though she was almost an adult herself, she loved her parents with all her heart and couldn't live without them.

"Hey, Tia.  Daddy's just going to go train Luna for when she has to raise the moon alone.  I'll come by with Mom in the morning to wake you up.  Okay, sweetheart?"

"Okay Dad," Celestia replied joyfully as she pulled away and looked up at her father, who was the tallest pony in the land.  "Good night."

"Good night, sweetheart," King Midnight said as he kissed his eldest daughter on the top of her head.

Celestia made it back to her room and flopped down on her head like a sack of potatoes.  She was able to fall asleep much easier with peace and quiet instead of the loud colt-band music shaking the castle.

"-tia... estia... Celestia!"

"What?  Huh?" Celestia asked as she was awoken from her slumber.

"Hey Tia," Luna said as she stood beside her older sister's bed.  "Mom wants to meet you on the highest balcony in a few minutes.  Dad's gonna lower the moon soon."

Celestia looked at her excited younger sister.  "So it's my time to go raise the sun," Celestia flatly said while pulling herself up.

"Celestia, aren't you excited?" Luna asked, hardly even able to contain her own excitement.

"Uh, yeah, of course I am!" Celestia responded with a grin.  "Thanks for waking me up, squirt," she continued as she continued to move to get out of her bed.  "How was it?  Raising the moon, I mean."

Luna's face beamed with light.  "Tia, it.  Was.  Amazing!  I've never felt power like that before.  I'm not powerful enough yet to do it on my own, so Dad helped.  But it felt amazing!  I can't wait to start doing it on my own!"

"That's great, sis," Celestia replied while putting her robe on.  "You'll be a great moon princess.  After all, your butt says so," she said while pointing to her younger sister's cutie mark.

"Yeah, I would've wanted to be a video game designer or a singer, but following in Dad's footsteps is an honour."

"It sure is.  Well, I'll see you later.  I've got to go meet Mom."

"See ya, sis.  Tell me all about it!"

"I will."

Celestia made her way through the still dark hallways of the castle, waving hello to the few guards she passed, who were always glad to see the young princess.

The young alicorn made her way to the top balcony of the castle.  Her mother was standing on the balcony, leaning her forelegs on the parapet wall and looking out at the stars.  Celestia quickly gazed at the sleeping town that went as far as the eye could see to the left side.  To the right side was the rest of the Everfree Forest.  The ancient town was always a pleasant sight.

"Hey, ma," Celestia said, capturing her mother's attention.

"Hey, Tia.  Thanks so much for getting up so early," Queen Luminaire said as she reached out to hug her daughter, which was gladly received.

Celestia hugged her beloved mother and idol, leaning her head on her mother's chest, feeling the warmth of her body coming through her grey fur.  When Celestia was very young, her mother had white fur, just as she did.  But as of late, her mother's fur had faded to a light shade of grey.  But as Celestia leaned her head back, still in her mother's grasp, she looked up at her mother's beaming eyes.  The queen's irises were the same brilliant shade of pink, just like Celestia had herself.  But eyes were the thing that Celestia liked best of her mother's features.  Ever since Celestia was a newborn filly, she felt comfort when she looked into her mother's eye.  They always sparkled and were full of life.

"No problem, Momma.  Are you ready for me?" Celestia asked eagerly.

"Almost," the queen replied while looking down to her daughter, her eyes sparkling as usual.  "Your father's coming in a second to lower the moon."

Just as she said that, King Midnight came out and joined them on the balcony.

"Hey, sweetie," the king said as he came over and pecked his mother on the lips.  Celestia stuck her tongue out a little in embarrassment, but also still watched the kiss.  The one thing she always admired about her parents was their unbreakable bond of love.  She had never seen a couple more in love than they were, even after 2,000 years of marriage.  Luna also saw it occasionally, but she would get far more embarrassed at their public displays of affection.

The king turned to Celestia and said with a grin, "Well, it's time."

Celestia watched with intrigue as her father spread his wings in the air, taking flight.  He flew up about five metres in the air and pointed his horn straight to the full moon, which was about one-third of the way up in the sky.  His horn lit up light blue, just like the colour of his eyes.  The couple's eldest daughter watched as her father pointed his head down and flew slowly back down to the balcony, the moon lowering in the distance.  Even after seeing her father do that hundreds of times, it never got old.

With that, Celestia knew that it was her turn to go.  But she still looked to her mother to make sure, and when the queen grinned and nodded her head, Celestia spread her wings and took flight.  Her father watched proudly from the balcony as Celestia's horn lit up the brilliant yellow colour that it always did.  She tilted her head down and stuck her long horn horizontally towards the mountains on the horizon to the east.  She frowned as she tried to gather enough power.  She could feel the weight of the sun as her whole body jolted from the feeling.  Celestia had not attempted something this difficult before, but all of her mother's training would go to waste if she couldn't do it.  She groaned as she could see light coming from the horizon.  Celestia tilted her head up, continuing to pull.  Eventually a sliver of the sun was visible on the horizon.  With another loud groan, she pulled as fast as she could.

Queen Luminaire watched as her daughter struggled.  The sun was not even half-way visible, and Celestia was sweating, red, and panting.  The queen lit up her horn, helping Celestia raise the sun so that it came fully on the horizon.

Celestia let out a loud breath as she fluttered back down to the ground.  Sweating profusely and trying to catch her breath, she asked, "How did- how did I do?"

"Sweetheart, you did great," Luminaire said as she and her husband came and hugged their tired daughter.

"I-I know you helped me," Celestia said.  "Don't deny it, Mom."

"I'm sorry, Tia," her mother responded while brushing her hoof through her daughter's pink mane.  "I had to help you a little.  You were doing great, but you're just not strong enough.  Do you think you can get up with me every morning to help?  Eventually it will get easier for you."

"Yeah, I'll do that," she said while turning around to go back, a little disappointed with herself.

"Hey Tia," her father called out, stopping her in her tracks.  As his daughter turned around, Midnight said, "You did fine.  You're only seventeen.  You still have centuries to get better."

"I know, Dad," she responded with a smile at her father's comforting words.  "I'll try my best."

The king and queen watched as Celestia went inside.

"She's still not good enough yet.  She needs a little more time," Luminaire said to her husband.

"Well, I hope she gets a little better sooner, rather than later.  We may not have much time."

"I know, dear, I know," the mare responded.  "But I think that what's more important right now is spending more time with our daughters.  We need them to feel loved and appreciated before it's too late."

"Don't worry.  We still have some time left for that."