Viva la Vida

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Epilogue

Chapter 1

Celestia paced back and forth across the cold stone beneath her hooves, her face contorted with concern. In the void of still air surrounding her, she glanced at the mirror; its polished surface gleamed with a flawless shine, and the purple frame that housed it glittered as light caught the amethysts embedded within. Her throat dry, she gulped before resuming her pacing, staring at the floor.

“Sister, we know thou art concerned for thy student, but we can plainly see it is not the sole cause of thy distress,” Luna said, her sapphire eyes following every step.

“Yeah, Auntie,” Cadance said, taking a small step forward. “I’m worried about Twilight as well, but you look like you’re about to start crying.”

Celestia stopped, her eyes wide. Slowly, she turned to face her sister and niece, but found herself peeking to them from behind her flowing mane. It was a small miracle that all of Twilight’s friends had departed to sleep briefly, otherwise she was sure she wouldn’t be able to explain her concerns. As calculating and collected as she normally was, she felt small and exposed, like a filly caught doing something wrong.

“I… I can’t say for sure,” she squeaked. “But I fear for Twilight’s safety.”

Luna’s gaze hardened as Cadance put a hoof over her mouth.

“Pray tell why thou hast sent her on this journey then,” Luna demanded. “If thou knew of the danger, why wouldst thou allow thy most prized pupil to undertake such peril?”

“Because, Luna,” Celestia said. “Sunset Shimmer is a crafty, intelligent pony, and Twilight needed to gather the Element of Magic herself since I can no longer even hold it!”

Luna flinched at the sudden shift in Celestia’s tone, but she maintained eye contact. Realizing her folly, Celestia turned away and frowned.

“What doth thou imply?” she growled.

“Nothing, sister,” Celestia whispered. “Forgive me—I meant nothing by it.”

“Then tell us what’s wrong, Auntie!” Cadance cried. “We all care about Twilight as much as you do!”

Celestia closed her eyes, forcing herself to remain standing in place. The sheer concern in Cadance’s voice was enough to make the weight on her chest almost unbearable.

“Sunset…” she began. “Sunset is bent on her desires. She is crafty, yes, but she has resorted to violence in the past. I fear that she and Twilight are fighting right now, and the battle is going poorly for Twilight.”

A stern silence filled the room as Celestia breathed deeply. Despite what most ponies had said, voicing her concerns didn’t alleviate them. In fact, she felt the weight double and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Dost ye not have faith thy pupil can defeat the former?” Luna asked.

Celestia lowered her head, straining to hold back the wave of emotions running through her. Fear, anger, concern and bitterness all mixed inside, creating the weight that pressed down on her mind and body.

“I believe she can, Luna, but…” She sighed. “I don’t believe Sunset will allow Twilight to simply walk away from this easily.”

At that moment, a white light poured from the mirror, causing all three mares to yelp.

“The portal’s opening!” Cadance shouted. “I’ll get the others!”

As Cadance galloped out the doorway, Celestia trotted over to Luna, both of them staring at the mirror. The uneasy concoction of emotions in Celestia’s chest began to evaporate, leaving her with a sense of elation and dread.

“Luna, promise me something,” Celestia said, her throat tight. “If Sunset steps through the mirror and I cannot act, force her back through for me.”

“Surely,” Luna said before spreading a wing over her sister’s back. “We shall, but answer us this before we do so: why?”

“Because,” Celestia breathed, “it means Twilight will not be coming back.”

As Luna turned to face her sister, the light shined brighter. Both of them flinched and backed away, covering their eyes as a high-pitched hiss filled the silence.

Celestia opened one eye to see the flawless surface of the mirror ripple. The mirror flashed one last time before the light faded, causing both sisters to rub their eyes to rid the spots. The hissing faded away... replaced by the sounds of a pony sobbing.

Celestia snapped her eyes open and her ears stuck straight up; she knew that voice anywhere.

“Twilight!” she cried, turning to the mirror as a large grin broke upon her face.

Sitting at the foot of the mirror, the familiar form of Twilight Sparkle sat hunched over, Spike gently rubbing her back with a morose frown on his face. Her mane covered her face, and her wings drooped around her like a wet blanket. Celestia’s smile immediately fell as she saw her, the dread returning to her chest.

“What is it?”

She took a step forward. Her gold slipper clinked against the stone pedestal and Twilight recoiled, throwing her wings up to protect herself.

“Twilight, it’s me. It’s Celestia,” the princess cooed, taking another cautious step.

A few more sobs escaped Twilight as Celestia stopped, her blood turning to ice. Twilight didn’t seem hurt in any physical way, but Celestia had rarely seen her old student cry. For Twilight to ever break down like she had now heralded something that truly upset her. The dread continuing to build, Celestia chanced one more step forward.

“Twilight?” she asked. “Are you all right? Did you recover the Element of Magic?”

“I… I couldn’t…” Twilight whispered back, her voice as shaky as her body. “I… I didn’t m-mean to…”

The dread became terror in Celestia’s chest as she felt her heart skip a beat. “You didn’t mean to do what?”

Twilight lowered her wings and looked up at Celestia. Her bottom lip quivered, and her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Glistening trails ran down her cheeks as she struggled to speak, her words coming out as squeaks and moans.

“What happened, Twilight?” Celestia asked, looking her straight in the eyes.

“I-I-I…” Twilight began before burying her face into her hooves.

Celestia’s eyes widened as Spike forced his shut.

“I killed her!”

Celestia’s eyes widened as Twilight began sobbing again. Her hooves quivered inside her slippers. “Y-you what?”

“I was j-just trying to get m-my Element back!” Twilight stammered. “I-I didn’t w-want to hurt her! Sunset fought back a-and the m-m-magic just… augh!”

Renewed crying filled the emptiness as her words echoed in Celestia’s ears. A cold emptiness filled the void as the pieces fell into place. She heard Luna gasp behind her, and she took a step back.

“No…” she whispered. “No. Magic can’t… it can’t…”

Her stomach tightened and twisted violently as the final piece clicked into place. Immediately, tears filled her eyes as she brought her hooves up to her mouth, trying to stop the urge to puke. She squeezed her eyes shut to dam the tears, but they flowed regardless.

“I-I’m so sorry, Princess,” Twilight whimpered. “I swear I d-didn’t want to hurt—”

“N-No, Twilight,” Celestia said with a pained smile. “I-It’s all right.”

Celestia opened her wing to Twilight, who immediately ran to her, tears streaming down her face like a little filly. She threw her hooves around Celestia as she closed her wings, trying to fight back her own tears.

“It’s all right,” she whispered to Twilight, her own eyes misting. She leaned forward and clutched Twilight tight to her chest. “It’s all right. Everything is all right."

“Everything will be all right…”

Celestia woke with a start as she thrashed about in her silk sheets. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, causing her to slow down and take a few deep breaths. Closing her eyes, a shiver ran through her body as she recalled the dream with vivid clarity.

Or rather, the memory.

The replay ran through her mind, bringing up the uncomfortable puking sensation in her stomach again. She rolled over, hoping to alleviate her twisting gut, and stared out at the full moon hanging in the sky. While Sunset had left her and used the knowledge she had learned to manipulate things in the other world, she was still Celestia’s student—same as Twilight. Before all the anger and self-centeredness, Sunset was a kind and sweet little unicorn who had the same wide grin as Twilight when she learned something new.

From the other side of the room, Celestia heard a small bump. Her ear instantly turned to it as she leaned over on her back, raising an eyebrow at the darkness. Her sharp ruler’s instincts told her she was alone in the room, but she cast a quick spell to confirm it anyway. Satisfied, she placed her head back onto her satin pillow and snuggled in before another bump rang out, this one louder than the last.

Craning her neck around once more, she knit her brow as hushed commands came through her door. She cast another spell—this time to amplify the noises—and listened in as she cast her sheets off.

“—if it finds Her Highness, who knows what will happen?”

“But, sir, that aura isn’t natural! Not even our best spellcasters can clarify what is making that thing appear!”

“It is our duty to protect Her Highness while she sleeps! Even if we don’t know what we’re facing, protecting her is our top priority. Do I make myself clear, soldier?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Good, and keep your voices down. We don’t want to wake her if we can—”

Celestia had just put her slippers on when a much louder bump rang out in her room, causing her to look around and the guards to grow silent for a few moments.

“It came from the Archives, didn’t it?” one of the guards asked.

“Right where the aura is appearing,” a third added.

“Be ready for anything. If somepony even so much as approaches this door without proper authorization, blast them on—”

Celestia lit her horn and the doors swung open in a magnificent arc, revealing the few guards standing at attention around it. They all looked behind and then up to her, their faces pale.

“That will be quite unnecessary, Commander,” Celestia said calmly as she stepped out of the room. “I would like you to escort me to the Archives immediately so I can ascertain what is making this dreadful disturbance.”

They all turned to each other, confused and terrified expressions on their faces. “Y-Yes, Your Highness,” the one in front said before bowing his head.

Together, they proceeded down the hallway. The guards fanned out around her, forming a perfect diamond as they pressed on. Celestia marched forward, pondering who or what could be causing the disturbance in the Archives. Sure, there was a vast amount of ancient tomes and artifacts that still eluded the comprehension of some of Equestria’s best scholars, but so far all the violent ones were locked away deep in the Royal Vaults of Mysterious Objects, which made Celestia grimace. It was a rather poorly named hiding spot for them, especially since some of them could explode or cause inexplicable conditions to occur in unsuspecting passer-bys.

There were a number of things that caused strange auras and sightings to appear without any real explanation. There was a shard of the Crystal Empire that Celestia housed in the normal Royal Vault that could make a diorama of the Empire appear, as well as the Stone of Infinity that could warp space around it with an eerie purple aura. Then there was the original tome of Clover the Clever that self-illuminated and scared the wits out of anypony near it, as well as Star Swirl’s book on the study of the sun, which would occasionally form a miniature version of Celestia’s charge in midair.

Despite the series of thoughts and possible culprits whirling about in her mind, Celestia did not fail to notice the vast number of guards and staff dashing about through the halls. Each one had a look of concern on their face, which only worsened each time more thuds echoed through the stone halls.

Eventually, the troupe stopped at the doorway to the Archives, a set of regal brown hardwood doors inlaid with gilded carvings of books and scenes of magic. Around it stood a line of Royal Guardsponies, each flinching nervously as the bangs grew more frequent.

“Stand aside, my little ponies,” Celestia commanded as she walked to the door, head held high.

Immediately, they all nodded and parted as she strode up to the door, examining it with a suspicious look. “Commander, when did this aura you speak of appear?”

“Just after eleven o’clock, Your Highness,” the leader said in a stoic yet shaky tone. “Right after Princess Luna left to make her nightly rounds.”

Celestia eyed the door even closer, trying to decipher it. The gilded seals upon the door did much more than add a tasteful amount of decor to a drab hallway, especially after the first few artifacts began to act up. She studied each glyph, looking for the telltale signs of where the danger was. Each one of the scenes of magic glittered back normally, from teleportation to transformation.

“Odd,” she murmured.

“My Princess?” the closest guard asked.

“Which wing is the aura manifesting in?” she asked as another loud boom echoed from the Archive.

“I, uh, I believe it’s in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing,” the commander said.

Scanning over the glyphs on the door, Celestia passed through the section devoted to Star Swirl, noting the sections looked normal as she did so. The tomes of his adventures, the concept spell shelves, even—

She paused as her eye caught an abnormal glint in the gilded seal representing the section devoted to his incomplete or darker works. While hardly any of those recordings and scribblings acted up, they were known for being full of powerful magic. Most were for beneficial purposes—like the incomplete friendship spell that Twilight had solved—but a select few contained spells had been deemed too dangerous for use outside of controlled conditions.

Narrowing her eyes, she remembered her dream of Sunset’s demise and frowned. Shortly after discovering the mirror, her student had embarked on a binge of this section to find more information on it. Thankfully, all knowledge regarding the mirror was passed down verbally, so there would be no chance of anypony learning what it was truly capable of. Still, Sunset had been perusing this wing before disappearing through the mirror, and her dream earlier made this seem too close to be coincidence.

Celestia let out a sigh before turning to the guards, each staring at her with a concerned look.

“My loyal guards,” she said in an even voice, “I do admire your dedication, but I will need to see this for myself, alone. If I do not return in less than one hour, send for my sister and my pupil.”

“But, Your Highness!” the commander shouted. “Whatever is causing this ruckus is dangerous and—”

“And should be dealt with by the pony with the most knowledge about these strange phenomena,” Celestia finished. “Namely, Star Swirl’s own pupil and the owner of such dangerous artifacts.”

The commander opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, looking like a fish trying to breathe. A small chuckle came to Celestia and she strode by him with a comforting smile.

“Of what use am I if I do not confront the dangers of my kingdom and subjects directly, commander?” she asked. “I know the Archives well and can, at minimum, contain whatever is in there.”

At her words, the commander straightened up with a pained look. “Allow Her Highness in and barricade the doors afterward,” he ordered the others. “If she has not returned in one hour, we will send for Princess Luna and enter the Archives ourselves!”

Wordlessly, each guard nodded and stepped aside, allowing Celestia full access to the doors. Her horn lit and they creaked open as another boom came from within, this one the loudest yet. Steeling her nerves, Celestia strode in and made her way to the Starswirl section as the doors shut with a solid thud.

Gulping hard, she strode between the towering shelves of ancient books and scrolls, her eyes locked on an invisible spot in front of her nose. She made her way through several rows when another boom rang out, shaking the dust from the shelves. She blinked as she realized how close it sounded, and shook herself from her stupor. Turning to the right, she peered down a smaller aisle and swallowed; the aura lit up the whole rear section of the Archives, dispelling shadows as far up as the ceiling.

Steeling her nerves, she marched toward the light, hearing two more booms echo throughout the room. She quickened her pace as her inner fears got the better of her imagination, filling it with images of monsters trying to break their way out of the castle. Her graceful gait became a trot of concern.

She closed the gap quickly and paused behind a bookshelf as she caught her breath. Shivering slightly, she put on her best confident face and rounded the corner, ready for anything. What she saw, however, caused her to freeze in terror.

Glowing like the sun itself stood a familiar pony with yellow and red locks in her mane and tail, both swaying in the ethereal wind like Celestia’s own. Her back was turned, but Celestia briefly felt her heart stop.

“Sunset?”

Immediately, the radiant form of Sunset Shimmer cast a glance back at her, her once stunning blue eyes replaced by a harsh white light. A sneer crept along her muzzle as she turned to face Celestia.

“My dearest teacher,” she said a distorted voice. “How nice of you to come back.”

“S-Sunset,” Celestia replied, her eyes wide. “H-How?”

“How am I here when I was killed by that stupid new student of yours?”

Sunset’s sneer grew larger as she took a step to spin around. “That mirror wasn’t the only secret Star Swirl detailed in his tomes,” she hissed with a playful edge.

“B-But… but…” Celestia said, fumbling for the words.

“Ha!” Sunset shouted before throwing her nose into the air. “And here you told me you were Star Swirl’s pupil. Didn’t pay too much attention to his works and spells, did you?”

Celestia’s shock evaporated; her gaze hardened into a glare.

“Star Swirl was a brilliant pony—the most gifted spellcaster to have ever lived,” she replied. “Yet even he knew what was worth teaching to his students and what should be kept hidden.”

“Oh, do you mean like how a mirror exists that could grant me the powers of an alicorn princess?”

Sunset sneered. “That was just the tip of the spells and knowledge he wrote. He gave you his life’s work and you repaid him by keeping his knowledge under lock and key.”

Celestia felt a twinge in her chest.

“He taught me knowledge is a gift and how to use it to better others, not to cheat one’s way to power and to evade death.”

Celestia broke eye contact as Sunset threw her head back and cackled. Glancing about the floor, she spied a ring of books lying behind Sunset and what looked like an old Gala mask.

“Then why did he write it down?” Sunset shouted back. “Why place such—as you put it—dangerous knowledge in writing if it was not meant to benefit those who could use it? Explain that!”

Celestia forced herself to stand taller. Her caring leader eyes were gone; only fury burned in those pink irises.

“I need not explain myself to you, Sunset,” she declared, her voice bouncing off the shelves and walls around them. “I did what I had to do for the safety of my ponies, not for your gain.”

“My gain? Star Swirl already assured my gain with his wonderful writings!” Sunset shrieked. “Not only the secrets of the mirror, but the way to implant memories into objects and live forever!”

Celestia’s piercing gaze broke at that, her eyes widening into shock again as she gasped.

“What? Where did you find that spell?”

“Your chambers are not nearly as well guarded as you think they are!” Sunset replied, her grin turning from a sneer into one of triumph.

Celestia’s blood ran cold. While most of Star Swirl’s writings were housed here in the Archives, she had remembered his final instructions to her regarding his works: the request to keep his darkest magical writings away from everypony at all costs.

“His greatest works of magic, all housed in a single tome and rotting away in your private bookshelf! How dare you claim to be protecting your subjects and honoring his legacy by locking away spells that can change our world!” Sunset bellowed.

She pointed a hoof at Celestia. “I will honor his legacy like no other pony can! I have used the mirror in ways he only tested, and I have performed the spell to cheat death itself! I will be reborn into a new body and cease to be a mere memory, and nothing you can do will stop it!”

Celestia’s stomach fell as the words rang throughout the room. Squeezing her eyes shut, she grimaced as Sunset began to cackle again. She hadn’t changed at all; all the time she had spent in the mirror world—not even Twilight’s obliteration of her— had failed to alter her arrogance.

“No…” Celestia whispered. “No…”

Tears began to burn her eyes as she looked back up at Sunset, watching the sneer morph into a maniacal grin. “You are not worthy of his teachings, Sunset!”

The glowing form froze as the words cut the air.

“You were never worthy!” Celestia continued as tears began to stream down her cheeks. “All your arrogance, all your selfish tendencies—everything you have shown me proves Star Swirl was right in asking me to hide his works! You are exactly the kind of pony he feared would abuse his spells, and look at where it got you!”

Sunset’s grin hardened into a snarl, but Celestia pressed on.

“You died, Sunset! Your arrogance led to your death, just like it did to Sombra! Star Swirl crafted that spell to help those who died wrongfully!”

“I did die wrongfully!” Sunset bellowed. “You sent your wretched new student to kill me!”

A bright light burst from Sunset, releasing the familiar boom as Celestia turned away to shield her eyes. Glancing back, she noticed Sunset was glowing less and her irises had returned.

“I don’t care if you think I’m not worthy of his spells,” Sunset growled. “I will recover my body and then show the world what a real princess can do!”

Sunset stomped her hoof into the stone floor and Celestia decided to act. Focusing her energy, she felt a small tugging sensation as she teleported behind Sunset and immediately made for the book at the center. Sunset yelled as she dove for it as well, but Celestia’s forelegs were longer. Kicking the book away, she braced herself for Sunset’s hooves to hit her, but blinked when nothing happened. She looking around.

Sunset was frozen in place, her face contorted into one of anger and shock. Without warning, an earsplitting scream came from her as her body began to glow again, this time with a harsher glare.

“What have you done to me?”

As Sunset’s body began convulsing, Celestia glanced over to the book, casting blue sparks from its pages. She bolted over to it without hesitation and stood over it, her eyes wide with terror. Several more booms rang out from behind her.

Grasping the book with her aura, Celestia turned back to Sunset and watched as she forced herself to stand upright, also pressing a hoof to her forehead. With a frown, Celestia looked back at the book and lifted one of the pages.

“Sunset, I cannot allow you to desecrate the work Star Swirl spent his life on,” she said in a shaking voice as her eyes focused on the pages.

“Don’t!” Sunset screamed.

“Goodbye,” Celestia whispered as she closed her eyes.

A tearing sound filled the room shortly before Sunset let loose the loudest scream Celestia had ever heard. Tears cascaded down Celestia’s cheeks as she ripped more and more pages from the book, keeping her eyes shut, unwilling to watch Sunset’s second demise. More booms rang out as Sunset continued to scream, her pitch ever increasing.

With the last page finally torn from the book, one last blast pressed on Celestia with a pulsing shockwave. She remained rooted in place, her eyelids still crushing together. Bookcases creaked and fell over, spilling all of Star Swirl’s legacy onto the floor with a series of mighty crashes. Seconds passed in a thundering ruckus, and she kept her eyes closed, a wing up to shield her face.

As the crashing finally ended, Celestia lowered her wing and peeked through her thinly parted pinions. The air shone, thick with freshly disturbed particles of dust.

“Mommy!”

Celestia’s eyes flew open in shock as she spun to where Sunset had been standing. There was a perfectly rounded indent in the floor where she had been, but sitting in the middle was not the mare Celestia expected to see. Instead, a small filly with a radiant gold mane and coat sat there, crying as she gingerly rubbed her eyes.

“Mommy! Where are you?” she wailed.

Celestia blinked once as her mouth dropped open. She took a shaky step toward the filly, her mind racing with confusion. Her golden slipper clacked on the stone below and the filly peeked up through her hooves.

“M-Mommy?” she asked.

“Uh, I-I…”

The filly frowned as she unsteadily rose to her hooves. She looked at Celestia again. “Help me, Mommy.”

Before Celestia could respond, the thunder of hooves echoed in the Archives. The filly’s eyes filled with terror as she tried to take a step to Celestia, but her leg gave in and she fell to the floor, looking up at her with watery eyes.

“Mommy, I can’t walk right!” she cried.

Celestia’s heart panged, but before she could act, two Guardsponies placed themselves between her and the filly.

“Stay back, Your Highness!” one of them roared as he glared at the filly. “We’ll escort you to safety!”

The guards began to back up, forcing Celestia to take an uneasy step backward. The filly sobbed again.

“Don’t leave me, Mommy! Don’t leave me!”

The filly’s pleas shook something loose in Celestia’s mind. She turned back to the filly and shoved her way past her guards. In a few graceful strides, she stood tall as the filly trembled before her. Her horn alight, she sat down next to the filly, who leapt into Celestia’s chest and buried her face into it. Young tears darkened her white coat.

“P-Princess?” one of the guards asked.

Celestia, however, was enraptured by the tiny golden body huddling against her chest. She looked like Sunset, but did not have the same red streaks in her mane and tail. When the filly finally glanced up at her, she saw the purest sky blue eyes staring back at her. In shock, Celestia nearly dropped the filly, who shrieked and hugged closer to Celestia.

“Mommy, that’s scary,” she whined as she shivered against her.

“Your Highness?” the guard asked again.

Craning her neck to see them, she saw them stare at the filly in her hooves. She glanced down at her before looking back at them.

“You two,” she said. “You are hereby sworn to absolute secrecy of this. Not a single word of what you just saw to anypony—not your superiors, not Princess Luna. You will report directly to me now. Is that clear?”

The Guardponies blinked and looked at each other; the filly huddled tighter against her.

“Is that clear?”

Immediately, they both saluted crisply. “Yes, Your Highness!”

“Good.”

Celestia’s aura enveloped both her and the filly. “Meet me in my chambers in one hour. We will discuss your new assignments there.”

Princess and filly disappeared in a flash of golden light.

Chapter 2

Princess Celestia paced on her rug, muttering quietly to herself. Across the room, the small gold filly sat on her bed, watching her with a sad yet curious look.

“Oh, no. This is not good,” Celestia said in a louder voice. “I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve just let them handle it. Oh, why am I such a fool?”

“Mommy? What’s wrong?”

Celestia cringed at the voice before looking over to her bed. “Please stop calling me that,” she asked in a strained voice. “I am not your mother.”

“But...” The filly’s face contorted in confusion. “You are my mommy.”

Celestia groaned as she resumed her pacing. A filly thinking she was her mother would surely end poorly for both of them. Her image among her subjects would be tarnished, being known as an unwed Princess with her own heir. The filly, of course, would be looked down on her whole life, constantly interrogated about who her father was and if she had tricked Celestia into adopting her.

A sharp rapping at her door caused Celestia to flinch and the filly to yip. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Celestia regained her composure and cleared her throat.

“Who is there?” she asked sharply as a spell formed on the tip of her horn.

“Princess, we are here as you commanded earlier!” came the voice of a guard.

A deep sigh escaped Celestia as she allowed the magic to fade from her horn. “Come in,” she ordered in a much more even voice.

As soon as the words left her lips, the door swung open and two guards marched in. They both stood in front of the door as it closed, staring at her with stoic faces. Once the door sealed, Celestia quickly cast a spell to deafen the noise from the room. Glancing back, Celestia saw the filly cower, shrinking back into one of the pillows.

“Ma’am,” one of them spoke. “We were—”

“I take it you kept your silence?” she asked.

“Yes, Your Highness. We did, but—”

“Good,” Celestia said, her worried thoughts easing themselves. “I think it is prudent, then, that we discuss your, er... new assignment.”

“Of course, Your Highness, but we must inform you that—”

Before anypony else could speak further, a loud banging rattled the door.

“Sister! We know thou art in there!” came Luna’s unmistakable voice, adding to the rattling.

Celestia’s eyes shrank as her jaw fell open. The banging resumed; the filly whimpered behind her.

“We demand to know what has transpired in the Royal Archives and why thou disappeared without informing our guards! What didst thou see and why art thou hiding?” Luna demanded.

“Just... just give me one minute, Luna!” Celestia replied, her voice shaking.

Glancing about the room, she winced as the guards looked at her with concerned faces and the filly poked her head out from the pillow. Celestia immediately shook her head and put a hoof up to her mouth.

“Mommy, that voice is really scary. Make it go away,” she said despite Celestia’s protests.

“What was that? Art thou not alone in there—and why hast thou placed a charm upon the door?”

“Oh no,” Celestia murmured as she pressed a hoof to her forehead. How could she have been so careless? She glanced about the room. If it was just the two guards, she could play it off that they were discussing earlier events in private, but the filly was a major problem; Luna was still a symbol of terror of Equestria’s foals, if her reports on her dreamscape walks were anything to go by.

Celestia trotted up to the bed, brushed the filly’s mane out of her eyes, and placed a couple more pillows around her. “Little one, it’s very important to mo—er, me that you stay very still—and very quiet—while the grown-ups talk, okay?” she cooed, noting the fear in the foal’s eyes.

Wordlessly, the foal nodded and curled into a ball inside the makeshift fortress of pillows, allowing Celestia to breathe much easier. Returning her attention to the door, she quickly disabled the spell and cleared her throat.

“Luna, please come—”

The door flew open with a bang before she could even finish speaking; on the other side of it stood a fuming Luna. Celestia took an involuntary step back at the sight and her tail swept over the pile behind her, which gave off soft whimpers.

“Sister!”

Luna stormed into the room, the door immediately slamming behind her. The lock clicked back into place, leaving her guards on the other side.

“Why be’est thou trying to hide here?” she said, scanning the room with her icy gaze. “We have had to calm thy Guardsponies’ fears for the last fifteen minutes and offer empty explanations about thy whereabouts! Now explain—what in the name of our mother art thou doing?”

Celestia took a hasty breath, trying to calm her racing heart before attempting a response. It would take a very long and solid excuse to get Luna to back away, more time than she had until the filly poked her head out of the pillows. Still, she had to do something before the worst came to pass.

Celestia steeled her resolve. “Luna,” she said, “there is no need to tie yourself up in this. One of the tomes in Star Swirl’s section of the Archives acted up and I am discussing what happened with these two—” she waved a hoof over to the guards “—who were the first to see and respond to it.”

Luna narrowed her eyes at the two before turning back to Celestia. “What kind of fool dost thou take me for? We have spoken with the commanders and those who first saw the aura! These two were mentioned by their superior as being the first to storm the Archives when screaming could be heard. Tell us what happened, sister, or we shall be forced to take measures to find out!”

When Luna’s rant came to an end, Celestia stood a little taller and hardened her gaze. “My business is my own, Luna. You have neither the right nor the will to try and subject me to an interrogation.”

Luna bared her teeth at Celestia. “Thou thinkest thyself above the law? Nay, Celestia, you foal!” she shouted. “Explain now before we remind you of our power!”

Immediately, both guards ran in front of Celestia and hunkered low. At the same time, the air around Celestia turned to ice as a little voice spoke up.

“Leave my mommy alone, you big meanie!”

Spinning in place, Celestia looked down in horror at the small golden filly standing amid the pillows, one somehow perfectly balanced atop her head. The filly glanced up at Celestia and frowned as she started to curl into a ball again. Flicking one eye back to Luna, Celestia gulped as Luna’s eyes widened.

“Sister,” she spoke slowly. “What was that, pray tell?”

Celestia’s tongue caught in her throat as she tried to work up the courage to respond. She closed her eyes as she cast a strong silencing spell on the room. Once she was assured of privacy, she stood aside, allowing Luna to sight the filly. A chuckle tickled her throat when she saw how small Luna’s eyes had shrunk, but remained stalwart.

“This, Luna—” she swept a wing over the filly “—is what was causing the disturbance in the Archives.”

Luna raised an eyebrow as she eyed the filly over. “A single foal… left our most powerful spellcasters and guards… at complete loss of an explanation?” She closed her eyes. “Excuse us as we attempt to wrap our mind around the concept.”

“It should be unsurprising, dear sister, that a single filly put the Guard on alert,” Celestia said calmly. “My own protégé did the same when she took her test to enter my school.”

She turned back to the filly, noting how tight of a ball she had managed to curl herself into. Her tail covered most of her body, but her eyes peeked between the hairs like it would shield her from Luna’s gaze. In the silence, Celestia heard a small groan and raised her eyebrows.

“Are you hungry, little one?” she asked.

The filly raised her head and stared directly into her eyes.

“Yes, Mommy,” she said in a pleading tone.

Celestia shut her eyes at that, moments before the words sunk in for everyone else. Three, two, one—

“Mother?” Luna roared. “Celestia! Have you been hiding an illegitimate heir this whole time?”

Celestia shook off her annoyance like a mere fly and turned to the guards, staring deep into their confused faces.

“Guards, your new assignment is to—”

“We are not done yet, sister!”

Blinking slowly, Celestia turned to Luna and opened her mouth to say something when a much smaller voice spoke up.

“Stop it, meanie-head!” the filly cried. “Why are you mad at my mommy?”

“Silence, young one!” Luna yelled back. “This is none of your—”

“Luna!” Celestia roared over both of them. “Still your tongue or begone until you can!” She snorted as she glared at Luna, and unwittingly spread her wing to partially shield the filly from her; Luna took a step back, her face contorted in a confused and angry stare.

Rounding on the filly, Celestia cast an icy stare down at her before baring her teeth. "What did I tell you about keeping quiet?"

As soon as the words left her lips, however, Celestia wished she could bite them back. Immediately, the filly fell backwards on the bed and scurried away from her, whimpering the whole way. With all the effort she could muster, Celestia took a couple deep breaths, watching the filly erect a wall consisting of a single pillow between them. Once she was behind it, a faint crying could be heard around the room.

Celestia sighed and turned back to the guards. “Please head down to the kitchens and fetch some sweets—enough for three ponies.”

They saluted crisply and marched to the door, disappearing as Celestia turned back to Luna and then looked at the floor.

“I apologize for that, sister,” Celestia said, hanging her head. “This whole ordeal has been rather stressful.”

“Duly noted,” Luna replied, her tone bitter. “Now, canst thou please explain why there art a small filly on thy bed calling thou ‘Mother’?”

Celestia sighed heavily before lighting her horn and teleporting two pillows from her personal stash onto the floor. Planting her rump onto it, she told Luna of the events of the night, starting with her nightmare about the day Twilight returned from the mirror. Once she began, the words spilled out, detailing her emotions at seeing her former student standing in the Archives, taunting her with the knowledge she had sought to conceal. She explained the pain she had felt ripping the pages loose from the diary, and her shock at seeing the small filly standing amid the chaos.

Luna listened the whole time, only asking a question every other minute or so. When Celestia had finished speaking, Luna scratched her chin with a hoof as she pondered the words.

“So, thy former student was obliterated and tried to revive herself through magic of a most arcane means…”

“It would seem so, sister,” Celestia said, nodding to the filly.

She blinked as she realized the filly had stuck her head out from behind the pillow and was now watching her with a concerned look. She still had a trail of tears down her face, but they seemed to have dried, leaving her face shining. Pity rose in Celestia’s chest as she stood up and walked to the bed.

“I’m sorry for being angry earlier,” she whispered as she sat and spread her forelegs wide. “Will you forgive me?”

Immediately, the filly bolted to her and threw herself onto Celestia’s chest, gripping her in a surprisingly strong hug. “Uh huh, Mommy,” she said as she rubbed her head into Celestia’s chest.

Closing her hooves around her, Celestia hugged her back and turned to Luna, who seemed lost in thought.

“I presume you interrupted this spell, meaning it should have failed,” Luna said, glancing up to Celestia. “However, this was a regeneration spell, was it not?”

“I believe so, yes,” Celestia said as she rubbed the filly’s back. “A modified one Star Swirl never actually cast.”

“Then… it would stand to reason that perhaps thy former pupil was attempting to—erm—perhaps grow back into her body?”

Celestia looked up at Luna, her face twisted in confusion. “Luna, you know as well as I do that no such regeneration spell can grow back a body from complete nothing. She would need—”

She froze as she recalled the scene.

“She would need something from her original body to grow back from, correct?” Luna asked.

“Her mask…” Celestia whispered.

“Excuse me?” Luna said.

“Her mask!” Celestia shouted, her throat dry. “It had to have had something on it! A hair, or eyelash—anything!”

“Mask?”

Celestia groaned. “A Gala mask, from before she entered the mirror.” She closed her eyes and mentally bucked herself. “Star Swirl claimed it was possible for a pony to recover from fatal wounds or maimings if there was an imprint of their consciousness somewhere and a piece of their former body. He never got to test the theory once it began to delve into chaos magic, but he still wrote about it in one of his workbooks!”

Luna arched an eyebrow. “And thou thinkest thy former student somehow was able to not only cast this spell, but seal part of her body from before she leapt into the mirror on hoof?” she asked, her tone derisive.

“Luna, she taunted me about Star Swirl’s writings,” Celestia said, looking down at the filly. “She claimed to have placed a memory of herself into the book. She must’ve placed more than just that in there for her to be able to cast spells from beyond.”

Luna looked down at the bridge of her nose with a frown. “What did Star Swirl claim would happen should this spell ever be successfully cast?” she asked, her tone thoughtful.

Celestia shook her head. “He never did say. All I heard about it was that a pony would regenerate from the remnants of their body. There was never any mention of how it would occur.”

“Perhaps,” Luna said slowly. “Perhaps the pony would regrow their body from a foal to the age they were at the time of their passing?” She looked up to see Celestia staring at her with wide eyes. “What? ’Tis a mere hypothesis.”

Glancing down at the foal, Celestia had a horrible realization as the filly looked back up with her. Apart from an absence of scarlet in her mane, she was the spitting image of Sunset, down to the eyes and tail. Forcing herself not to drop the filly in shock, she instead hugged it closer as it purred into her chest, nuzzling her with her tiny nose.

“What am I going to do, Luna?” Celestia asked, looking back up.

Luna leaned back a bit as she saw the terror in Celestia’s eyes. She had not seen her sister look so upset in a long time—since before her banishment.

“What dost thou mean?” she replied.

“I-I can’t just get rid of her!” Celestia said, looking back down at the filly.

Luna watched as Celestia cuddled the filly, hugging her closer. From this vantage point, the answer to that question was clear.

“We think thou knowest the clear choice: thou shalt raise her as thine own daughter,” she said with a small smile.

Celestia looked back up, a frightened look on her face. “That idea is just… I can’t raise her! Your reaction alone is but a fraction of what we shall both face from our subjects! I can’t… I can’t put her through that.”

“Who sayeth thou must?” Luna said. “’Tis not as if the world need know about her existence right away.”

Celestia was quiet as she looked down at the filly, who stared back up at her with pleading eyes.

“I don’t wanna leave you, Mommy,” she said. “Don’t leave me. Please?”

Celestia ground her teeth as she hugged the filly tighter, her chest tightening in tandem with the hug.

“No, no. Mommy won’t leave you,” she said, glancing back to Luna, the corner of her mouth curling up beneath her twinkling eyes.

“We shall take that as thine answer then,” Luna said. “Now, what be thy filly’s name?”

Celestia looked back down at the filly to see her smiling for the first time, tears still streaming down her small cheeks.

“The logical choice would be to call her Sunset, if she is truly what thou propose she is,” Luna said, rising to her hooves and walking over.

“No,” Celestia said. “Sunset denotes the end of the day and the coming of night.”

“Ah. We understand.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “It appears we were indeed mistaken to believe you loved our night as much as us.”

“Oh, no, Luna! That’s not what it is at all! Just…” Celestia stared at the filly, glancing over her coat and mane of gold, as well as her beautiful sky blue eyes. There was only one name that popped into her head at that moment.

“Dawn,” she said, her voice shaking. “Her n-name is Dawn.”

“Interesting,” Luna commented. She leaned in to examine the filly. “We see thy intent.”

“Sunset grew selfish because of me,” Celestia said. “I could have stopped her descent, but I foolishly believed she would outgrow it. And then… then...”

Celestia scrunched her eyelids together, opening them once the burning subsided. She watched the filly.

“Not this time. I won’t make that same mistake again,” she said through her irregular breaths. “I will start anew with her, just as she is starting over. Sunset brings forth the night, and her name would only remind me of the darkness in my former student's heart. But Dawn brings a new hope—new light for a shining future."

Luna snorted at that, causing Celestia and Dawn to look at her.

“What is so amusing?” Celestia asked.

“Thou canst be quite poetic when thou wish to be,” Luna said.

“Mommy talks beautifully, meanie,” Dawn chirped.

Luna narrowed her eyes at the filly while her smile dropped into a frown, but Celestia spoke up before she could utter another word.

“Dawn, that is your aunt Luna, not ‘meanie.’ She is always right unless I say so, okay?”

Dawn looked down at her hooves. “Yes, Mommy,” she mumbled.

“And apologize to your aunt, too,” Celestia added.

“Sorry, aunt Loo-na,” she said, her voice muffled.

Before either Princess could react, a sharp rapping came from the door. Both of them looked over as the two guards marched back in, one levitating a small platter of brightly colored cupcakes, and the other grasping three bowls of chocolate mousse.

“Your Highnesses,” they each said before bowing.

“Not a moment too late,” Luna said, beaming. “We have a new princess for you to welcome with us.”

Immediately, both guards turned to the filly and threw themselves on the ground as Luna’s magic enveloped the sweets.

“Your Highness, we were not aware!” one of them cried.

“It’s all right,” Celestia said, relaxing her grip on Dawn. “In fact, she is your new assignment.”

“Princess?” Both guards poked their heads up from the carpet as Luna passed a slice of cake to Celestia and a bowl of mousse to Dawn, who wore the widest smile she could.

“Your new position is official bodyguards of my daughter, Solisia Specia, or Dawn for short.”

Dawn looked up at Celestia with a confused look.

“So-lee-sea-ah?” she mumbled, tripping over her own tongue.

“No, sweetie,” Celestia replied with a smile. “You just say Dawn when anypony asks you your name, okay?”

“Dawn!” she said with an excited squeal before planting her face into the chocolate mousse.

Luna broke out into a loud fit of laughter as she watched Dawn eat while Celestia hid her chuckling behind a hoof.

“D-Dawn!” she said, a hoof to her mouth as she tried to contain her splutters. “That’s n-not the way you eat that!”

Dawn looked back up at her, chocolate completely covering her nose and mouth, as well as her swollen cheeks and some of her mane.

“But, Mommy!” she whined. “It’s so good!”

Celestia broke into laughter as Luna wiped a tear away from her eye.

“We can think of no other filly best suited for thou, sister,” she said with a wide grin.

Days passed without much incident after Dawn arrived. Granted, the shock the staff received after learning there was another Princess was cause for much speculation and many rumors, but thankfully none of them escaped the castle’s walls. Dawn herself was especially pleased to be among other ponies, though she was never far from her bodyguards.

Celestia tried to maintain the professionalism expected of her position, but she soon learned having her own filly added an immense amount of stress to her job. Regular reports of missing sweets, mysterious hoofpaintings on the walls, rogue wildlife in the castle and so much more poured in every time she turned around. Of course, Dawn would deny everything, even when she had dried paint on her hooves, but Celestia would only smile and spend some time with her.

Time marched on, and life grew far more complicated. Not only were foreign diplomats most curious about Dawn, but the pressure to educate her intensified with every passing day. Celestia had discovered Dawn knew nothing about the alphabet or even numbers, meaning she had to spend even more time with her that she didn’t have. Solutions to this presented themselves in the form of volunteer tutors, respected professors and even her own bodyguards, but Celestia’s protectiveness knew no bounds when it came to Dawn. She needed somepony she trusted absolutely to be around her daughter.

Thankfully, an answer slowly presented itself.

Eventually, the time for the annual Crystal Fair had arrived and Celestia felt burned out. Sleep was a precious commodity, especially after Dawn had learned a very repetitive and annoying song from her dear aunt Luna that stuck in her head whenever she tried to sleep. She sipped on a cup of strong herbal tea as Dawn played with a set of paper cut-out ponies on the rug.

Celestia started at the unexpected knock on her chamber door.

“Come in,” she called, stifling a yawn.

The door opened slowly and a guard stuck his head in, smiling at Dawn who waved at him before clearing his throat.

“Your Highness, Princess Twilight has arrived,” he said quickly.

Celestia raised an eyebrow as she took another drink and set the porcelain cup back down.

“Ah, good. Send her in, please,” she said sweetly.

The guard nodded sharply before the door swung open fully, revealing his entire form and a very familiar mare. Celestia smiled widely as Twilight trotted into the room, her smile matching Celestia’s.

“Princess Celestia!” she said. “It’s been a while and…”

Twilight trailed off as she noticed a messy gold mane and two sky blue eyes staring back at her from across the floor. Her eyes widened as a small filly pushed herself up and trotted up to her, eyes twinkling with wonder.

“You’re really pretty,” she said.

Twilight tilted her head at the filly, but offered a smile. “Thank you. You’re very pretty, too,” she replied.

The filly smiled wide before turning tail and running over to Celestia. “Mommy, Mommy! That nice mare said I was pretty!” she squealed.

Twilight blinked as Celestia reached out and patted the filly’s head.

“I heard, sweetie. Now don’t forget to introduce yourself,” she said.

Without warning, the filly bolted back to Twilight and curtsied quickly. “Nice to meet you. My name is Dawn, and that’s my mommy. Want to play something?” she said.

Twilight’s eyes shrunk as she and Dawn locked gazes. She glanced up to Celestia, who nodded approvingly, before returning her gaze back to Dawn. “Uh, sure,” she said in a cautious tone. “We can play something after I speak with your—er—‘Mommy’.”

“Okay!” Dawn said before she planted herself back onto the carpet and resumed playing with her paper ponies.

Twilight stared at Dawn with her mouth hanging open before she slowly turned to Celestia, who nodded once more. Twilight obliged and trotted up to the table, placing her rump onto a squishy pillow.

“I suppose you want to know how I came to have a daughter?” Celestia asked before Twilight could utter a word.

Twilight nodded as a fresh cup of tea materialized in front of her.

“It’s a rather interesting story, actually,” Celestia mused, looking deep into her cup. “I know you are quite smitten with the works of Star Swirl the Bearded.”

“Yes,” Twilight answered. “But how—?”

“You’re not the first to express deep interest in his scribbles, Twilight. I know of several ponies who have tried to emulate his creative and curious spirit, but I am only aware of one who tried to actually cast spells even he would not,” Celestia said in an even tone.

She set her teacup down and glanced over to Dawn, who was happily having her imaginary ponies racing in circles around her.

“I also know you are quite familiar with this pony as well,” she continued, turning back to Twilight.

“Uh, I am?” Twilight asked with a slight blush as she began to sip on her tea.

Princess Celestia smiled softly. “You met her at a place called Canterlot High, I believe it’s called.”

Twilight’s eyes shrunk as she gasped into her tea, sucking some up through her nose. She coughed loudly, spraying the contents across the table as she tried to recover her breath.

“B-But,” she stammered as she wiped her snout. “That means—”

“Yes, Twilight. I am referring to my former student, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said in a neutral tone.

Twilight spun back to Dawn, eyeing her in a more critical way. Despite the messy mane and wide smile, she bore an uncanny resemblance to Sunset. The way her eyes were tilted, the smile that was both friendly and yet sinister—everything about her reminded Twilight of the arrogant pony who had tormented her.

“Princess,” she said slowly as she turned back to Celestia. “D-Did you—?”

“No, I did not,” Celestia answered flatly. “Sunset did that to herself.”

“But I—I killed her.” Twilight looked down at the table.

“Again, no, Twilight,” Celestia said, her tone firmer. “Whatever happened on the other side of the mirror was of Sunset’s own doing and the blame is hers alone. You did nothing wrong by saving a world from the clutches of a pony bent on enslaving it.”

“B-But, Sunset,” Twilight continued. “I shouldn’t have used that magic on her. Sure, it worked for Nightmare Moon and Discord, but they were more powerful than an average unicorn like Sunset.”

“They also were able to be reformed,” Celestia said, tilting her head. “The Nightmare that controlled my sister was purged, yes, but Luna was willing to be cleansed—I could sense her fighting the Nightmare from within. Discord is another case entirely, but I do believe that, deep down, he was never truly maniacal or evil the way Sunset was.”

“But still—”

“Twilight!” Celestia rose to her hooves. “Nopony is accusing you!”

Twilight leaned back on her rump, her eyes wide and glossy.

Celestia took a deep breath before she looked her straight in the eyes. “If anypony is to blame for Sunset’s demise, it is me. I drove her out by not stopping her descent into jealousy and then sent you to fight my battle, knowing full well the possible outcome. There is no need to feel guilty about what happened and I don’t want to see you fall into despair because of it!”

Celestia lowered her head, allowing her mane to cover her face. Her eyes stung as fresh tears tried to force their way from her. Taking a few deep breaths, she willed herself to look up at Twilight, who was watching Dawn play. Her eyes were red, but she was smiling.

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight murmured before glancing back at Celestia. “But who is she now?”

“I am calling her Dawn,” Celestia said, her sadness beginning to wash away. “And as to how she became my daughter, I’m afraid the answer is rather elusive. You see, Sunset had tampered with some experimental spells of Star Swirl’s before she entered into the mirror and apparently tried to use a regeneration spell. Dawn is, well, the result of the spell when interrupted.”

“She tried to regenerate?” Twilight asked, her ears perking up.

“I will elaborate more later, but time is pressing on us to head to the Empire,” Celestia said. “Before we go, though, I have a request of you.” She stood tall as her teacup vanished. “You see, I am having some—er—difficulty balancing my schedule with Dawn. She is still very young and immature, necessitating that I devote more time to her than I can spare. She does not retain the knowledge Sunset once had and is need of a tutor and friend.”

Twilight’s eyes nearly popped from her head once she saw Celestia smile at her.

“And you want… me?” she asked quietly.

“I can think of nopony better suited to educating my daughter,” Celestia said. “Would you like to become her—”

“Yes!” Twilight shouted.

Celestia’s smile broadened as Twilight leapt to her hooves, rambling on about books for Dawn to read and magic lessons for her to master.

“All in due time,” Celestia said. “But for now, we must depart or we will be most unfashionably late.”

Twilight immediately clammed up and blushed as Dawn trotted over, a curious look on her face. She glanced from Celestia to Twilight and back before asking, “What’s going on?”

“This is your new teacher and best friend, Dawn,” Celestia said. “Her name is Miss Sparkle.”

Dawn beamed up at Twilight as the trio left the room, Celestia smiling just as widely at the two of them.

A second chance… for the three of us. We’re all students now.

Chapter 3

Celestia’s slippers echoed in the chamber as she paced around the mirror, examining it from top to bottom. Dust and small cobwebs clung to the legs and around the frame, but the polished surface of the mirror remained unblemished. She gulped as she saw her own reflection in it. She had seen it a thousand times before in other mirrors, but the twisted magic in this one made her look sad; the sun rose on a graveyard behind her, each headstone depicting the names of the ponies closest to her.

Shaking her head, Celestia gave her reflection a last inquisitive glance before turning around. The blasted thing hadn’t changed since she and Star Swirl ventured through the many worlds it led to. Star Swirl himself had considered breaking the mirror once it began to twist his own reflection into that of a tyrant, but it was through Celestia’s own folly that the mirror remained intact.

She sighed as she paced the floor again, scanning the stones below as she had done when Twilight had entered the mirror. Countless years of hiding the wretched thing in the Royal Vault of Mysterious Objects had served her well, but it needed to be kept in constant isolation to prevent its corrupting powers from taking hold of the nearest pony. The secret, ever-locked room in the Crystal Palace had seemed appropriate, but then Sunset returning to Equestria had broken that illusion.

“What am I going to do with this thing?” she mumbled to herself.

She pondered the options she had before her. Star Swirl had theorized that breaking the mirror would do more harm than good to anypony near it, but it would also destroy the magic of the mirror forever. Her other option was to bury the mirror deep underground and wait for the dirt to corrode it away, but again she knew it was as temporary a solution as the room was. Somepony would find it eventually and when they did, there would be no telling what the mirror would do.

“You read all of that?” Twilight asked, her jaw hanging slack.

“Uh huh!” Dawn said as she smiled back.

“B-But that book is six hundred and forty pages long! It took me three weekends to finish it!”

“It was really cool,” Dawn said, placing her hoof on the worn brown cover and rubbing it gently. “Lots of big words I didn’t understand, but I want to turn dirt into flowers now!”

Twilight blinked in shock as Dawn returned her gaze to her, beaming from ear to ear. In a single ride from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire, she had finished ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Advanced Transfiguration’ and was even ready to attempt one of the more complicated spells in the book. Squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head, Twilight smiled back and flipped open the book with her magic.

“Okay, but let’s start with something a little more basic,” she said, scanning the page for an easier spell. “How about how to change the color of an apple?”

Dawn’s eyes lit up as she ran over to her.

“Can it be pink?” she nearly shouted. “Just like in Mommy’s mane?”

Twilight tilted her head, but kept her smile.

“Sure!” she said, ruffling Dawn’s mane.

“Auntie?”

Celestia snapped her head up, glancing about the room before seeing Cadance standing in the doorway.

“Oh, Cadance!” she said, a smile covering her face. “I thought you’d be down at the Fair.”

Cadance walked into the room, scanning the mirror briefly before returning her gaze. “Shining Armor is presiding over the jousting tournament, so I came to see how you and Dawn were,” she said with her own smile. “She reminds me a lot of Twilight when she was younger.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Celestia replied.

The two of them smiled at one another before they both turned to the mirror.

“You know, you never did tell me where this came from,” Cadance said.

Celestia shook her head and said, “I doubt even Star Swirl knew when he acquired it. It just… appeared one day in an auction house in Canterlot. He bought it under the notion it was cursed, but he eventually found out it was something else entirely.”

“What if it really is cursed?” Cadance asked.

“I have spent enough time with it to know it’s not cursed, Cadance,” Celestia said, taking a step forward. “But I do know it is imbued with magic that defies explanation. You see, the mirror’s reflection shows more than just what you look like. The magic allows you to see your inner potential, whether good or bad.”

Cadance tilted her head and walked up to it. Before she could approach the reflective side, Celestia raised a hoof and stopped her.

“I recommend against looking if you have not already,” she said in a serious tone.

“Why?” Cadance asked.

“Because it becomes an obsession to see the you in the reflection,” Celestia replied, lowering her hoof. “Sunset looked into it and became obsessed with wanting to become the princess she saw herself as. I admit I underestimated the mirror’s power then, but I will not see the same happen to you or anypony else.”

“Well, what do you see when you look into it?” Cadance said, narrowing her eyes at Celestia.

Celestia closed her eyes and turned to the mirror before opening them. In the slightest bit of silver, she saw the headstones again.

“That is a discussion best left for another time,” she said, smiling as she looked back at Cadance. “I believe Dawn is quite anxious to spend some time with you.”

Cadance nodded and made to leave, but she paused with her aura coating the door.

“You will tell me what you see in there one day, won’t you?” she asked, glancing back to Celestia.

“Of course,” Celestia said without hesitation.

Cadance smiled as she left, leaving Celestia alone with the mirror once more. Turning to it, she glared at the purple frame before walking to the reflective surface.

“I don’t know if there is anything living within you, but I will never let anypony succumb to you again, no matter how hard you try to tempt them,” she hissed at her own angry expression.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Cadance and Twilight cried as Dawn watched with a big smile.

She clapped her tiny hooves as Twilight wrapped Cadance in a large hug.

“It’s been too long, Twilight,” Cadance said.

“I know! And now we have a new member to our group!” Twilight responded, releasing Cadance and nodding to Dawn.

“Hi, Princess Ca-dee!” Dawn said, waving a hoof at her; Twilight suppressed a chuckle.

Cadance flinched. “Cadie? Nopony’s called me that since you were little, Twilight,” she said, smirking as she turned to her sister-in-law. “You’re teaching her all your bad habits, aren’t you?”

“I just thought you’d enjoy that little bit,” Twilight said, snorting at her own amusement.

“Oh? How about I use your old nickname, Twily?” Cadance jibbed.

“Twi-lee!” Dawn shouted with glee.

Cadance let out a small laugh as Twilight raised an eyebrow to her.

“Oh, it’s so on now,” she said.

“And how’re we going to settle it with Dawn here?” Cadance replied.

“Like we always used to,” Twilight said, puffing her chest out. “With Hide and Seek!”

Cadance’s jaw dropped as Dawn stood up and jumped in place excitedly.

“Hide ’n Seek! Hide ’n Seek!” she cried.

“All right then,” Cadance replied. “Standard or house rules?”

Twilight glanced over to Dawn and smiled. “House,” she replied. “No magic until five minutes have passed and count is to fifty.”

“I presume House also means I’m the Seeker again?” Cadance asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Well, Dawn can’t count to fifty yet,” Twilight said. “And I also know I’m not it!”

Cadance’s eyes went wide before she placed a hoof on her forehead.

“How did I not see that coming?” she mumbled.

“Start counting!” Twilight called as she ran out the door. “Come on, Dawn!”

Dawn squealed as Cadance placed a leg over her eyes and began a monotonous countdown from fifty. She followed Twilight through the twisting corridors before losing sight of her around a couple corners. She stopped for a quick few breaths—

“Hey, little one,” a voice said in a hushed tone.

Dawn’s ears perked up. “Who’s that?” She turned around in circles. “Where are you?”

“Never mind that,” the voice whispered. “Do you want to know where the best hiding spot in the palace is?”

Dawn’s eyes widened and a huge smile broke out across her face. “Yeah!” she shouted.

“Good,” the voice continued, growing a little louder. “Listen to me and I’ll show you. Here’s what you have to do…”

“We looked everywhere, Auntie, but Dawn’s really good at this game,” Cadance said as Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I even used a spell to find her, but it came back empty.”

“You mean to tell me that in the half-hour I took to enjoy the Fair, my ex-personal student and her professional ex-foalsitter managed to lose my daughter... in your own castle?” Celestia asked.

Cadance and Twilight both cringed.

“But we checked all the rooms around where she was last seen,” Twilight said. “She might as well be in another castle, for how good she is at hiding.”

Celestia groaned as she pressed her hoof to her forehead. “Well, let’s hope she isn’t, or you two will have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Dawn!” Celestia shouted into the hallway, her heart pounding in her chest. “Dawn! Where are you?”

Fifteen minutes she, Twilight, and Cadance had been searching, with fruitless yield. Inexplicably, Dawn seemed to have vanished from the castle. Every room, closet and chest searched turned up nothing and even their tracer spells were coming back without any results. Together, the three of them began to push deeper into the castle, scanning rooms that would have taken Dawn much longer than fifty seconds to reach.

With Cadance on the lower floors and balconies and Twilight searching through the kitchens and dining halls, Celestia had taken the upper portion of the castle. Each step she took and each empty room heightened her fear to new levels. The absence of Dawn’s presence from the Observatory, ramparts and tallest spire evidently meant she was somewhere else below her, possibly in the storage chambers or even…

A sickening sensation hit Celestia as her eyes went wide, terror causing her heart to skip a beat. There was no way Dawn could have found it… was there? It was sealed by powerful magic, the likes of which Dawn had no hope in being shown by anyone yet.

But Dawn is no ordinary filly, came the unwelcome thought.

“Auntie!”

Celestia faced Cadance down the hall as the clop of her hooves on the floor grew louder. “The guards said she hasn’t left the castle alone or with anypony! Have you found her yet?”

Celestia’s eyes shrunk at that.

“N-No,” she replied.

“Okay, I’ll check with Twilight and head down to the cellars. She might be hiding in the food stores!”

Celestia’s gut twisted as she held back the puking sensation that followed. Dawn was still in the castle, unsupervised and alone with that mirror left in the locked room. Blinking, she felt her stomach calm down as she recalled clicking the lock into place as she left. Still, she had to know the room was empty. Taking a deep breath, Celestia let her magic envelop her and a small ‘pop’ rang in her ears.

Looking around, she saw the familiar stone hallway and the heavy wooden door that sealed the mirror’s chamber. Celestia quickly cast a spell to see if anypony was in the room; the area’s silence reassured her that this place was deserted, but her smile froze once the silhouette of a small pony blinked through the wall.

“Dawn!” Celestia screamed as she charged forward.

Her aura coated the door; it was ripped from its hinges as Celestia stormed in, flinging it to the far corner of the room. Much to her horror, Dawn sat with her back to her, staring into the polished mirror. Gentle ripples coated the surface like a breeze across a plain.

“Dawn, get away from that thing!” Celestia roared, taking a step to her.

As if waking from a trance, Dawn slowly turned to face Celestia, her eyes half-lidded. A stabbing chill ran through Celestia’s body as she saw her daughter’s eyes: one was the same beautiful sky blue, but the other had turned pitch black with a green iris.

“M-Mommy?” Dawn asked. “I feel fu-uh-uh-ny.” She swayed in place, her eyes rolling.

Celestia made a mad dash to catch Dawn, but as she surged forward, she suddenly found herself facing the room’s exit. Shaking her head, she looked over her shoulder. There was Dawn in the same state. She tried again; within three feet of Dawn, she found herself facing the wrong way again. Frantically, she swiped at the air with her hooves and cast several disarming spells, to no avail.

“Dawn, get away from that mirror!” Celestia cried. “It’s dangerous!”

Dawn blinked slowly before she smiled back.

“DaNGerOus foR wHOm, MOmmY?”

Celestia screamed as a blood-red stain snaked its way through Dawn’s mane.

“MoMmy, dOn’t YoU wAnt mE To LOok pRetTy?” Dawn asked. “DidN’t yOU alWaYs tEll ME my maNe waS SO unIQuE?”

“Who are you?” Celestia boomed back. “And what have you done to my daughter?”

“NOthiNG,” Dawn responded, her woozy smile becoming more smug. “I JusT shOweD heR THe bEst hIDing SpOt in tHe whOLE cAStle!”

Dawn’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward, her face planting itself into the stone. Celestia shrieked and fought harder to disarm the enchantments when she heard somepony rush into the room behind her.

“Princess!” Twilight cried. “What’s going on?” A choked cry escaped her as she ran over; she, too, ended up at the exit.

Celestia ignored her and continued to fight against the spells surrounding Dawn as smokey black tendrils came out of the mirror, each weaving their way over to Dawn’s limp form.

Celestia watched in horror as the smoke began to wrap around Dawn’s tiny hooves, leading up to her mane and ears before they came down to her face. Dawn gasped as she suddenly stood up, pushing herself back onto her rump as she pounded her hooves into her forehead.

“Make it stop, Mommy!” she cried in her normal voice. “Make the bad voice stop!”

“Dawn!” Celestia shouted. “I’m right over here! Come to me and it will all go away!”

Dawn opened her one sky blue eye and looked around as a steady trail of tears escaped it, locking onto Celestia. She placed both of her hooves on the ground and tried to stand, but her legs shook like they did when Celestia had first seen her. Dawn moved one leg, but she fell back onto her rump and stuffed her hooves into her ears.

“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” she screamed.

Looking on in abject horror, both Celestia and Twilight watched as more red streaks filled Dawn’s mane, and she grew slightly larger—more akin to a school-aged filly. Dawn cried out again as her flank glowed with a soft light. A dual-colored sun began to faintly appear where her cutie mark would be.

“Oh my gosh!” Twilight screamed as she scurried back to the wall. “Sh-she’s… It can’t be…”

Dawn continued to grow as more of Sunset’s features shimmered into existence. Her tail grew longer with wider red streaks as more appeared in her mane. On the tips of her hooves, her magnificent golden fur began to turn cinder red.

With much groaning, Dawn managed to lift her head from her hooves and stared at them before looking back up at Celestia. The sky blue of her eyes were gone, replaced with an aquamarine and the same horrific black and neon green iris.

“M-Mommy?” she asked in a slightly deeper voice.

“Twilight! Auntie! Did you find her?”

Spinning around, Celestia watched as Cadance tore into the room before skidding to a halt next to her. Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as she raised a hoof to her mouth. She shook slightly, but held her ground. Celestia rounded back to Dawn and felt her own tears spill out.

“Mommy,” Dawn whimpered as she pressed a hoof to her forehead. “W-Who am I?”

Celestia gulped hard as she risked taking a step forward. “You’re Dawn! You’re my daughter!”

“T-Then...” Dawn looked at the floor in confusion. “Who i-is Sunset?”

Celestia’s legs shook at the mention of her name.

“M-Mommy... sh-she’s really angry with you.”

“That’s because Sunset is a monster!” came Twilight’s voice. “A monster who tried to hurt her!”

Dawn hissed as more of the red travelled up her hooves. “T-Then why d-does she say M-Mommy hurt her? Sh-She says Mommy… stopped her f-from coming back—” Celestia let her jaw fall open as a sob escaped her “—b-because M-M-Mommy said sh-she would h-hurt a lot of p-ponies like T-Twilight and C-Cadie.”

Dawn pushed her mane out of her face, which now closely resembled Sunset’s own angry snarl.

“Y-You made that up!” she shouted, her voice mixing with Sunset’s.

“No!” Celestia shouted back. “I would never lie to you, Dawn!”

“I-I’m not Dawn! I’m-m-m Sunse—”

Dawn froze as she spoke, her body starting to shake. She squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered before opening one again, this time with the sky blue iris.

“M-Mommy?” Dawn squeaked.

“Yes! Yes, Dawn! I’m right here!” Celestia shouted.

“I c-can barely hear you,” Dawn said. “S-Sunset’s so loud…”

“Dawn, stay with me!” Celestia shouted, risking taking another step.

“S-She’s so mad,” Dawn whispered. “S-She wants t-to hurt you, M-Mommy. She wants me to hurt you.”

Celestia’s breath caught in her throat. All she could let out was a choked cry.

“Tell her she’s wrong!” Cadance yelled, causing Dawn to look at her. “Your mommy is the best mommy there is and she would never hurt you or anypony else!”

Dawn blinked slowly as she watched Twilight walk up next to Cadance.

“Y-Yeah!” Twilight cried. “Sunset is nothing more than… a big, fat meanie-head! She was mean to everypony and tried to hurt them!”

“You can tell her to go away, Dawn! I know you can!” Cadance continued.

Dawn squeezed her eye shut and whined. “S-Sunset’s telling me you’re all lying.”

“She’s the liar! She’s the one who wanted to enslave everypony. She wanted to be a princess, no matter what the cost!” Twilight yelled louder.

“A… A princess?” Dawn asked.

“Yes!” Cadance shouted. “She stole from and hurt other ponies to become one! She wasn’t a nice filly like you!”

Dawn’s eye sparkled for a second as her ears perked up. “I-I’m a nice pony?”

“You’re the best!” Cadance shouted. “You love everypony and want to be their friends. Sunset didn’t want to do any of that!”

Dawn smiled and dropped her hoof, revealing the black eye. “You mean it?”

Celestia gulped as she saw the red creeping up Dawn’s hooves slow its ascent.

“Yes, we mean it!” Twilight shouted. “You’re a real princess, not like Sunset!”

Dawn’s eyes twinkled as she set both hooves on the ground, the red slowly receding. “M-Mommy? Are they right? Am I a real princess?”

Celestia took a deep breath before she looked Dawn straight in the eyes. “Yes, Dawn. You are indeed a princess, my daughter.” She spread her hooves wide, like she did when she had first yelled at her. “Dawn, please come back to us,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Sunset, but you’re not her. You’re my Dawn and nopony else.”

Dawn squealed, tears spilling down her cheeks. Pushing herself upright, she wobbled as she took careful steps, but managed to keep herself upright. Cadance and Twilight moved behind Celestia as Dawn approached, her frame growing smaller and the red disappearing from her mane as the smokey tendrils withdrew back into the mirror. Once Dawn was within reach, Celestia swept her hooves around her and pulled her into a tight hug, her tears flowing down into Dawn’s mane as Dawn wiped her own into her mommy’s neck. Two more pairs of legs joined in as both Twilight and Cadance hugged them.

“You’re my Dawn,” Celestia whispered. “My very own little princess.”

“I love you, Mommy,” Dawn whimpered to her.

Celestia smiled wider than ever before and nuzzled her back. “I love you too. No matter who you used to be.”

Epilogue

Celestia sighed as she trotted through the palace corridors, a tired expression on her face. Around her, guardsponies snapped crisp salutes and maids curtsied quickly, offering a token acknowledgement of her presence. She closed her eyes—the lids weighing down with an unusual amount of sleepiness—before forcing them open again.

She followed a few more hallways before she found herself smiling at her golden chamber doors. Outside stood the same two guards she had assigned to protect Dawn, each one remaining stoic as false eyelashes and messy makeup adorned their faces. Celestia had to suppress a chuckle as they saluted, but she offered them a warm smile.

“How was Princess Dawn today?” she asked.

“Your Highness, her schedule was followed down to the minute,” the nearest one said. “Princess Twilight arrived several minutes late, but her lessons still followed as planned.”

“Good, good,” Celestia replied. “I must admit I am a bit surprised to see the two of you like this, but it’s reassuring to know that you two will subject yourselves to a filly’s whims for her amusement.”

“Permission to speak freely, Your Highness?” the other one asked.

“Granted.”

“I have a daughter of my own,” he said smoothly. “I couldn’t stand to think of disappointing Princess Dawn and not my own filly.”

Celestia smiled wider as a warm feeling flooded her chest. “I believe a raise is in order for the two of you,” she said as she trotted past them.

The doors swung open gently as she walked in, glancing about the room. She half-expected Dawn to have made a mess of the room with her dolls and craft projects, but she raised her eyebrows as she saw her laying on her belly, gently flipping the pages of a rather large book as a fire crackled in the background. Twilight sat on a pillow next to her, scanning through a tome like her life depended on it.

“Dawn?”

Dawn’s ears immediately shot up and she spun to face Celestia, a grin larger than her face gracing her.

“Mommy!” she squealed as she ran to Celestia.

Bracing herself, Celestia opened her foreleg as Dawn crashed into her, squeezing her with all her might. Celestia returned the hug, and the two of them cooed in contentment.

“Did you have fun today?” Celestia asked.

“Uh huh! Twi-lee and I read lots of books and she helped me learn to pick stuff up with my magic!” Dawn said, releasing her mother.

Celestia raised her eyebrows again, glancing over to Twilight before smiling. “She did? What did you pick up?”

“Watch me, Mommy!” Dawn shouted as she ran to the small table where a teacup sat.

Planting her rump into a pillow, Dawn stuck her tongue out as she concentrated on the cup, a cyan aura materializing around her horn and the cup. She gave a few grunts and nodded her head, but the cup shook a few times before levitating from the table. Dawn immediately sat up as straight as she could and brought the shaky cup to her lips. A loud slurping filled the room and Dawn smiled widely as her cup floated back to the table.

“Oh my,” Celestia said, trotting up to the table. “That was fancy!”

“We still need to work on it, but she’s a natural,” Twilight said, walking over to the table.

“Just like you, Mommy!” Dawn squealed again.

Celestia sat down at the table, smiling as widely as Dawn when another teacup and a pot appeared on the table. Lighting her horn, Celestia watched as the pot lifted and poured a perfect stream of tea into her cup before setting the pot down.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked in a fancy tone.

“Wow!” Dawn gasped.

Together, they both levitated their cups and sipped on their tea, Dawn filling the room with her slurping again. Once they had set down the cups, Dawn stared into it as Celestia tilted her head.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” she asked.

Dawn looked back up, a confused look on her face.

“Mommy, can you please tell me about Sunset?” she said.

Celestia’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as Dawn looked down into the cup again. Looking down at her own cup, she said, “I guess it is unavoidable that you would ask.”

She glanced over to Twilight, watching as she gained an interest in the table. Sighing, she returned her gaze and stared into Dawn’s eyes. “She was a former student of mine, like Twilight. I made a terrible mistake while she was with me and she became very angry at me.”

“Did the mirror make her mean?” Dawn asked.

Celestia shook her head. “No, she made herself mean. She was very greedy and thought I had lied to her, making her run away.”

Dawn looked down in confusion, studying her hooves.

“But that means she was lying to me,” she said slowly.

“Dawn,” Celestia said as she placed her unslippered hoof on Dawn’s. “Sunset was a very mean pony. She tried to hurt me, Twilight and Cadance when she was talking to you, but you’re better than her. You’re sweet and loving, things Sunset didn’t understand.”

Dawn looked up at Celestia, her eyes glossy.

“She said I was hurting her when you told me I was a princess,” Dawn whispered, her tone one of shame. “She said I was supposed to be like her and hurt you.”

“Dawn, you are you, no matter what Sunset told you,” Celestia stressed. “You didn’t hurt her more than she already hurt herself, so don’t think you’re a meanie. Sunset chose to be mean and use others, so you being happy and loving me, Twilight and Cadance made her go away, not you hurting her.”

Dawn looked down again, her golden mane falling over her eyes. Celestia leaned in and hugged Dawn again, holding her like she meant it. She felt Dawn shift before a small kiss was placed on her jaw.

“I love you, Mommy,” she whispered. “I don’t ever want to hurt you like Sunset.”

A small gasp came from Twilight as Celestia squeezed her eyes shut, her chest tightening.

“I love you too, sweetie,” she replied. “My little Solisia Specia.”