Waning Sunset

by Impurity

Rating: teen
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1367

Celestia has woken up to see a hooded figure in tears, speaking the words "I'm sorry" repeatedly. The question is who and what does the pony want?

Celestia is woken up from her slumber. When she opens her eyes all she see's is darkness and then hears crying. When her eyes finally adjust she finds a hooded pony on the ground, against the wall in tears saying "I'm sorry."

What will she do?

Second contest entry for the Everfree NorthWest writing competition

Published 2014-03-02 16:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-02 16:10:02 UTC

Attempt

“Good night Cadence, have a wonderful rest.” Celestia whispered, giving her a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast okay?”

“Okay auntie, I love you.” The young filly replied, smiling as she closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep and restore her energy for the next day.

“I love you too.” Celestial spoke happily, walking past the doors and closed them slowly, as to not disturb the young sleeper. On the other side stood two guards, whom she knew quite well. “Thank you both for standing watch on such short notice.”

“Think nothing of it princess, it was our pleasure.” The first guard who she knew as Lily spoke with pride. “Isn’t that right Temperance?”

“She needs time to adjust to things here in Canterlot. I assume it wasn’t the best experience for her to witness what happened to her parents, so it’s the least we can do to reassure her that not all ponies are brutal and evil.” The other guard assured her before turning to Lily. “And stop talking to Temperance around other ponies Lily, you’re probably scaring princess Celestia right now.”

“It’s quite fine Rezmine. I know full well who Temperance is and their relationship.” The princess of the sun ensured him. “Have a peaceful evening you two. I hope to see you two soon.”

“When you’re posted with Lily, there is no peace.” Rezmine joked, throwing a few playful words into the conversation.

“Hey! I can be peaceful if I want to.” The unicorn mare argued, “I just choose to be more exciting, more fun. Not boring like you.”

“Now now, settle down you two.” Celestia stifled a laugh, and wore her usual smile. “I should get going, royal duties and all."

“Yes princess, have a good night rest.” Lily said, standing valiantly in her position.

“I will thank you.” Celestia walked off and left the two at their placement as she walked back to her room. The walk was no different from normal, just the portraits and various sculptures lined the walls with a few tapestries in every hallway. She had seen it all though, many, many times but the sight was still something special.

After a few minutes she arrived at her chambers and slowly made her way to the balcony. It gave her the perfect view to watch over the city, and the best place for her to watch the sun set. The process of replacing the sun with the moon was often an easy job for her but tonight she felt somewhat tired after doing so. Thankfully I can rest now. She thought to herself, as she went back inside her room, locking the balcony window before making the final short trip to her bed.

Another day another satisfied nation. She lifted the covers off of her bed and slipped underneath, feeling the cool sensation of an untouched bed, and resting her head atop the cool pillow. After a few short seconds she fell prey to exhaustion and slept.

Her eyes snapped open as her ears were met with a large clash. Her heart felt as though it had stopped, then beat more furiously as a result of the startle. Her mind, momentarily fogged as the remnants of her sleep left her, immediately became keen and sharpened as she attempted to listen further.

"Who's there?" Celestia spoke, rubbing her eyes trying to see past the thick darkness, her heart beat slowly returning to its resting rate.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to." The same voice whispered, crying. As the princesses eyes started to adapt to the darkness, her vision became clearer and clearer until finally she could see the mysterious pony being illuminated by the moonlight. Or at least the cloak that covered it. The hooded character had his or her back to the wall and was crying quite profusely, as if it had witnessed the death of its mother.

"May I help you?" Celestia questioned, wanting to know who it was but knew that it would be better to have the pony calmed and relaxed. The pony in question merely continued like before, whispering the words sorry and crying. Celestia decided that it was more than likely a she by her voice and needed comfort of some sort. So slowly she moved her blanket and stepped down off of her bed.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me." The mare swiftly changed her position to one of bowing and her voice changed to one who was begging forgiveness, distraught with absolute fear, tears landing onto the floor in quick succession. Celestia was confused at the moment, unsure what the mare in front of her was apologizing for. She took one step forward and she stepped on something hard and cold but smooth. When the princess looked at her hoof, she saw a thin line of red on an iridium blade, one of the strongest blades in in world.

The weapon was banned over a century ago because of its misuse, but some still circulated the black market. It had been years since she last saw one.

Celestia slowly put one of her hooves to her neck and felt a small area of her fur slightly wet. She brought it up to her eyes and saw it was coming from her. The skin had barely been touched, a small cut no worse than a small kitchen accident. She couldn't even feel it. Looking back down at her assailant she knew what she was apologizing for. Attempted assassination was what the mare in front of her was guilty of but something was off.

“Why did you stop?" The princess asked, hoping for some sort of reply. The intruder winced at the question, with tears still leaving her eyes. “You stopped before doing any real damage to me. I was completely at your mercy, there was nothing physical stopping you, so why?” Celestia took another step forward, but that incited even more fear into the mare. Without giving the princess a chance, she galloped towards the doors trying to escape, not wanting her identity to be revealed. “Wait!” She called out. Without thinking, Celestia lit up her horn and locked the set of doors that led to the hallways. The hooded mare tried to open the doors but failed, she quickly flashed up her horn to teleport. Princess Celestia ran up to her and tried to stop her but already her body was lighting up. The princess was a foot away and took off the hood mere seconds before the spell was completed. Underneath the hood lay the mane of the mare who had attacked her, two colours, red and yellow that envisioned a sunset. “S-sunset Shimmer?” Of all ponies she had expected it to be, she would have been one of the last few ponies on the list. Her student had left her when she thought she was being limited and decided to leave without warning to the other realm.

“I’m sorry,” She heard one last time before her former student left the room, now more than likely somewhere she could not be found with ease.

The princess could think of nothing at the moment, shocked that her former student was about to do her in. She knew that Shimmer hated her, but enough for her to want to kill her was something she hadn’t expected. The shock however only lasted a few seconds as a smile grew upon her muzzle, a few tears falling down her snout. She had just realized something more important than that. I’m glad you weren’t completely corrupted by him. Celestia thought to herself. You were and always will be my subject and student, stay safe no matter where you go.

Author's Note

I understand that this story has a lot of extra writing in the beginning that isn't exactly necessary but it was somewhat of a better idea than going straight to the main part.
Temperance is not a living being. It is Lily's companion that exists only as a soul. I'm currently messing around with different story ideas so I like to include them in most of my stories as secondary characters.

~SS