Winter had fallen upon Canterlot. The sun's dying light had sunk beneath the western horizon and the star-covered night had taken its place. Celestia Sol Invictus, Princess of Equestria, Queen of Canterlot and one-hundred other titles she didn't bother to remember stared out at the snow-blanketed city. She had just risen the moon. Turning her eyes away from the city she looked towards her sister's face. She was wondering how long she could bear the guilt and pain of knowing her sister was trapped in the moon and that was partly her fault. She turned away from the moon when the pain was too much to bear. All that was awaiting her tonight was a stack of paperwork. The highlight of her day was teaching her student Twilight. The little unicorn filly was full of excitement and enthusiasm, practically bouncing to lessons and always eager to learn something new. Today, they had practiced levitation and Celestia had taught her the fundamentals of a teleportation spell. She hadn't quite gotten it before lessons ended and she'd had to go on home, but she'd markedly improved her levitation. By this time she was no doubt about to sit down for dinner with her family.
Celestia wished she could sit down to dinner with her family. But her dad had departed the physical plain having lost interest in mortal affairs, her mother was dead, her niece was out on vacation and her sister...her sister was gone. Only a shadow remained.
Trying not to dwell on such thoughts the Solar Monarch looked at the stack of papers. It was a lot of papers, at least several inches high. She couldn't simply will them to cease to exist as much as she wanted to. Most of the papers in question were petitions from nobles who hadn't managed to get an audience with her. Many of them were flat out ridiculous. Prince Pompous had requested tax funds to build a new swimming pool. This was somehow important to national security. Realizing that there was simply no way out she sat down at her desk and began the work. Most of the requests were rejected out of hand, crumpled up and thrown in the trash bin. Many others got her stamp of approval, particularly petitions from town mayors requesting funds for repairing roads or other fundamental services. Any requests for genuinely needed aid or assistance got her approval. Others had been mistakenly sent to her and should have gone to Parliament or one of the innumerable Equestrian government services. She needed to streamline the government. It had simply gotten far too large. Finally, Celestia was finished. It had only taken two hours of her immortal life. Her dinner was awaiting her.
Just as she stood there was a knock on the door.
"Enter." She said.
A royal guard opened the door. "Your Highness, Twilight Sparkle is here to see you."
"Oh? Did she leave something here?"
"I'm not sure."
"Twilight is always welcome here. Send her in."
A little lavender unicorn peeked out from behind the guard's legs. Her mane was a mess and her eyes were red from crying. Her mane and tail were covered in snow and she was sniffling. She reached up a hoof and wiped her eyes.
"H-hello, Princess." She said, then sniffled again. She was trying to control it, but her bottom lip was trembling and her eyes were pooling with yet more tears.
"Twilight, what is the matter?" Celestia asked, approaching her.
"We found her crying at the castle gates."
Celestia placed a comforting wing over her. Twilight in response wrapped her hooves around her, buried herself in her chest fur and began to cry. Celestia stroked her mane until she'd calmed down.
"We tried to comfort her, Your Highness. But she demanded to see you and wouldn't tell us what was wrong."
Celestia wrapped Twilight in a hug, embracing her with both of her wings. Twilight deepened her own hug around her mentor, nestling into the feathery embrace.
"Th-there is no Santa Hooves!" She wept with the broken faith of a former fanatic.
'Uh-oh.' Celestia thought. "Twilight, what happened?"
Twilight sniffled again before letting go of her mentor and standing away. "I overheard my brother and one of his dumb friends talking. He asked Shiny if I still believed in Santa Hooves. I was like 'Santa Hooves is too real!' Then Shiny wouldn't say anything so I ran too my mom and...and..."
Celestia stroked Twilight's face with a feather, wiping away her tears. "Then she told you?"
Twilight nodded. "And I got really mad at her. So mad I kinda maybe threw the Hearth's Warming Tree at her-which was a total accident. Then she told me to go to my room, but I ran out the door then I came here. Then it started snowing and it was really cold."
Celestia levitated over a blanket and wrapped it around her student.
"Why don't we go sit by the fire? Iron Shield, you may leave."
The guard nodded and left. Teacher and student sat down on the cushion by the fire. Twilight, still wrapped in her blanket, snuggled up against Celestia. Soon all the snow and frost melted away. Twilight's eyes grew heavy. Celestia nuzzled her.
"I bet your mommy and daddy miss you."
Twilight didn't say anything.
"And your big brother. You should go back home."
"I want to live with you from now on. Mommy lied to me." Twilight said in a hard voice.
"No, not really. Santa Hooves did exist, a long time ago. He was still alive when I was a filly. He was a 'santa' which means holy one in Old Unicornian. He would bring gifts to children on Hearth's Warming. Nopony wanted to break it to the fillies and colts when he died. So, parents got gifts for their children and said it was from Santa Hooves."
"But it was a lie."
"His spirit lives on in the tradition of gift-giving."
Twilight pouted. "But that doesn't make any sense! If you're dead, you're dead."
"Your spirit can live on in your deeds."
"But you're still dead! I always did kinda think it was funny how Santa got to everypony's house on Hearth's Warming. I just assumed he was using a modified time dilation spell. It wouldn't be that difficult for a high level unicorn."
"He did come up with a dilation spell."
"So, I was right!" Twilight exclaimed. Her ears wilted. "But I'll never get to ask him how he did it."
"I can show you."
"Really?"
Celestia nodded.
"Yay!" Twilight jumped from the cushion and began hopping around Celestia. Celestia frowned and picked her up in her magic.
"No hopping near a fireplace."
"Oops." Twilight blushed.
"It's alright." Celestia said as she sat her down. "Are you hungry?"
The filly nodded.
"I'll have the cook bring up some sandwiches. You like daisy right?"
"Yes, please!"
Celestia walked out the door. Then she walked back in and cast a shield spell around the fire. Twilight would still feel the warmth, but the shield spell would keep her from falling into it. She hadn't walked three feet before another guard came up to her.
"Twilight Velvet and Night Light wish to see you. They're in in the throne room."
"I figured they'd be here. Have the chef prepare some sandwiches and bring them up would you?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Thank you, Silver Spear."
The guard trotted off to the kitchen. Celestia trotted towards her throne room. Both Twilight's parents were there. Velvet had clearly been crying. Night Light had a comforting hoof on her back. They bowed as she walked in.
"Is Twilight here?" Velvet asked, her voice choking up in a way that was reminiscent of her daughter when she was upset.
"Yes. She's in my chambers warming herself by the fire. She explained the situation."
"Please tell her we aren't mad at her." Velvet said.
"I'm just glad she's safe." Night Light. "That silly filly, running out into a snow storm. Will you tell her we're here or tell us where your chambers are so we can go get her?"
Celestia frowned. "She's rather annoyed with you."
"Yes, we noticed." Night Light said.
"She doesn't want to go home and I'm afraid if we force her she'll run away again. You may have noticed Twilight can be a br-er, has an indomitable spirit."
"That's probably true, Princess. Just let us see her." Velvet pleaded.
"You don't need my permission. Follow me."
The two parents followed Celestia till they got to the door to her private chambers. Celestia opened the door. Twilight was on the cushion eating a daisy sandwich.
"Twilight, your parents are here to see you."
Twilight turned her head. "I don't want to see them."
"Twilight. They are your parents. You owe them respect." Celestia said sternly.
"They lied to me. And Shiny lied to me too so I don't ever wanna see him again!"
"Twilight, you don't mean that." Velvet said, approaching her daughter. Twilight jumped up and threw her hooves around Celestia.
"No, I want Celestia to be my mommy from now on!"
"Twilight I'm flattered and I do love you, but I am not your mother!" Celestia protested. An idea suddenly came to her. "But if you do want to live here you'll have to follow the rules."
"Rules? I can follow rules! Like not telling lies."
"You'll have a nine o'clock bedtime, remember that? No staying up later."
Twilight looked a little uncertain. Celestia winked at Velvet and Night Light who slowly backed out of the room.
"Nine o'clock? That's so early. My bedtime's usually ten."
"My castle, my rules Twilight. I have to go to bed early so I can get up to raise the sun. Nopony wants to see a cranky princess. It's nine now so I'm past my bedtime anyway. I suppose I can let you stay up till nine-thirty so we can finish these sandwiches."
She levitated over a daffodil-and-carrot sandwich. It was delicious and she made a mental note to give the cook a raise. Twilight got another daisy sandwich and devoured it. Soon all the sandwiches were gone.
"Princess? Since I'm here can you teach me more of that teleportation spell?" Twilight looked to her with wide, pleading eyes. Celestia yawned. She wasn't kidding about needing sleep.
"We can do that tomorrow. Now, off to bed."
Twilight scuffed the ground with a hoof. "Can you read me a story?"
"Sure. Then we can get you to a guest bedroom."
Celestia picked up a book of fairy tales in her magic, got up on her bed and invited Twilight to get up with her. Twilight snuggled up to her.
When Celestia began to read "The Princess and the Pea' to her Twilight was wide awake. By the middle her eyes were drooping. By "they lived happily ever after" Twilight had rested her head on Celestia's shoulder and fallen asleep.
"Alright, you can sleep here tonight." Celestia said. She got off the bed and tucked her in. Velvet and Night Light were outside the door.
"She's asleep." Celestia explained. "I'll get her to you in the morning if I can't convince her to go willingly."
"Thank you, Princess." Night Light said.
"If all else fails mention that I'm making chocolate pancakes for breakfast." Velvet said.
"I'll keep that in mind."
The two went in and kissed Twilight good night before leaving.
Celestia trotted over to the bed after putting out the fire, got beneath the covers and soon she was asleep as well.
...
During the middle of the night Celestia awoke. Being a heavy sleeper this was quite unusual. There was a little bundle next to her that was shivering. Celestia used her magic to move away the blanket. Twilight was curled up in a ball, crying. Celestia placed a wing over her.
"Twilight?"
"I miss my mommy and daddy." Twilight softly confessed. "Mommy sings me to sleep. I forgot to ask you to do that and you might not know the song Mommy sings me."
"If you miss them you should go home."
"But-but..."
"Twilight, what's this really about? I don't think it's about Santa Hooves."
Twilight was quiet for a moment. "Every night they tell me they love me. What if it isn't true? What if that's also a lie? What if they're not even my real parents?"
"If you want to know if someone loves you, you should look at their deeds not their words. Does your mommy ever show you that she loves you?"
"Well...she reads me stories and she taught me how to read and she sings me to sleep. She helps me with my homework and she bought me Smarty Pants. When I'm sick she makes me tomato soup."
"Hmm, so do you think she loves you?"
"Yeah." Twilight admitted.
"How about your daddy?"
"Daddy works a lot, but he's never missed any of my birthdays. He always buys me books too. And that one time I tried to ride a scooter and fell off he bandaged up my foreleg."
"And your brother?"
"He's the best! He taught me how to fly a kite and he's always there for me!"
"It sounds like they love you."
"Yeah."
"Do you think you should go home?"
"Yeah." Twilight answered. "But they might be mad at me."
"Your mother told me they're not. They just want you to come home. Family is very important, Twilight. You do not want to lose it. Not everypony has one."
"Can we go back in the morning?" Twilight asked, laying her head on the pillow.
"Of course."
"Your wing feels nice."
Celestia wrapped her up in it. Twilight nuzzled her and went back to sleep.
...
Sunlight streamed through the room. Celestia stood upon her balcony, her horn glowing with power. The sun rose through the sky guided by her will. Morning had come to Equestria. The sun's rays gently fell upon Twilight who had taken refuge beneath the blanket's on her mentor's bed.
"Time to go home, Twilight." Celestia said.
"Can we have breakfast first?"
"We could, but your mother mentioned something about making chocolate pancakes."
Celestia had never seen anypony move that fast. Twilight zoomed out of the bed in a purple blur.
In a few minutes Twilight had washed, brushed her mane and was now ready to go home. Celestia went with her on the frozen streets. They walked up to Twilight's home and knocked. Velvet opened the door.
"Hi, Mommy." Twilight said. Velvet picked her up and embraced her. Night Light and Shining Armor came to the door and Twilight was soon encompassed in a family group hug. Celestia stood to the side, feeling awkward. Even from here she could smell the sweet scent of pancakes.
"Princess, would you like to come in?" Velvet asked.
"No, I wouldn't want to impose."
"Your Highness, you practically are family. It wouldn't be imposing."
Those pancakes smelt wonderful and Celestia didn't have anything important to do until Court opened at nine.
"Oh, what the hay? Sure."
She walked in. As "punishment" for last night's tantrum Twilight was assigned the not-at-all difficult task of helping to redecorate the Hearth's Warming Tree. It was great practice for her multiple objects levitation and Celestia watched in awe as her student demonstrated perfect mastery of a concept she'd learned only a few days ago. That done, they all sat down for a pancake breakfast.
For just a moment Night Light looked like her divine father, Velvet like her mortal mother. Twilight looked like a light blue alicorn filly and Celestia thought she was back home at another breakfast on another Hearth's Warming, back with a family that was no more.
The vision passed. Nopony saw her tears. Shining told a joke. They all laughed and Celestia felt happy.
Author's Note
In my headcanon, Celestia is a demigoddess as is Luna. Their dad is a God and their mother a mortal.