For the Good of Equestria: Shadows

Chapters

0: What Came Before
1: Nightmare Moon
3: The Sunset Rebellion
4: The Changeling Hive
5: Twilight Sparkle
6: Nightmare Moon Returns
7: Discord
8: The Canterlot Wedding
9: Queen Chrysalis
10: The Crystal Empire
11: Twilight Grows Up
Sidefic: "The Best Night Ever"
12: Flurry Heart
13: Mr. and Mrs. Sentry
15: Luna
Epilogue
Appendix: Side-Fics
2: Starswirl and Cadance
14: Et In Arcadia, Ego

0: What Came Before

It has been about forty years since the defeat of Nightmare Moon. Twilight Sparkle, the famous unicorn, has just passed away, devastating Princess Celestia. After attending the funeral, Celestia locks herself in her bedroom for several hours. Worried about her, three of her servants-- Posie, an earth pony housekeeper, Silver Lining (“Sill”), a pegasus chauffeur, and Corkscrew (“Corky”), a unicorn from the kitchens--go to check on her. Finding her door partially open, Posie sneaks in and finds Celestia lying on her bed, still in her dress from the funeral, openly weeping. When Posie tries to comfort her, Celestia looks her in the eye, and, says, in a horrible voice,“I want to die.”

Posie, stunned, tries to reassure her, and, at her prodding, Celestia opens up. She’s a failure and a fraud, she says, and Twilight is only the last in a long line of ponies who she’s let down. Posie convinces her to keep talking, and, for the first time, Celestia begins to tell her own life story.

When Discord first attacked Equestria, Celestia, then a small-town pegasus weatherpony, was one of the first bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She was Generosity; Luna, an unicorn that she’d barely met, was Kindness. Together, they defeated Discord, but were unable to fix the chaos that he had caused; they decided to use the Elements a second time, in an effort to keep something like this from ever happening again. This time, the Elements turned Luna and Celestia into alicorns, creatures straight out of myth, but the transformation was not without cost: the resulting explosion killed the rest of the group, including Celestia’s love interest, a stallion named Cinder. Luna and Celestia were able to get the sun and moon moving again, and were hailed as goddesses.

Over the next several years, Luna and Celestia worked hard to rebuild. They began to forge the Equestrian Alliance: a loose federation of states, led by their own kingdom of Old Equestria, and bound together by a bill of rights called the Equestrian Accords. It was a hard fight, but they were making good progress, and things were starting to come together.

Luna realized that neither she nor Celestia were aging, which surprised and dismayed her--what would happen to her friends now? Celestia comforted her, and the two of them pledged to be sisters--for they, rather literally, had no one else.

After two centuries of rebuilding and political wrangling, Celestia and Luna received a messenger from the Crystal Empire, expressing interest in joining the Alliance. The Sisters made the journey together, and the king of the Crystal Empire, His Brilliance Sombra IV, proved to be a gracious host. They presented him with the Equestrian Accords, and Sombra became furious: the provisions contained therein would destroy the culture and economic system of the Empire, he claimed. Celestia had to return home to keep the Alliance running, but Luna, ever the diplomat, volunteered to stay and negotiate.

Months later, Luna informed Celestia that the two of them had negotiated an acceptable treaty, and they were ready to sign. Celestia made the journey again--this time, in the dead of winter--and found, to her horror, that Sombra had negotiated a treaty that essentially nullified the Accords. Just as she was about to protest, Luna added one more item: she, as a gesture of goodwill between states, would offer Sombra her own hoof in marriage. Celestia, furious, refused to sign--but Sombra, ever crafty, confined her to her chambers until Spring.

Celestia managed to escape that night, and convinced Luna to come with her. Celestia, smelling a rat, had rallied the Alliance military weeks before, and they were now waiting at the Crystal border, ready to keep Sombra at bay if necessary. However, Sombra ambushed the army in the night, nearly routing them. Celestia, who had learned from Luna that Sombra got his immense power from a “crystal heart,” frantically flew back to the Crystal Spire. There, with the help of a guardspony named Flash Sentry, she located the Crystal Heart, now trapped in a column of dark crystal. Before she could attempt to free it, she was caught in one of Sombra’s magical nightmares--specifically, a vision where Celestia could no longer control the sun, condemning the world to the same fate it had almost suffered under Discord.

She was jolted awake when Sombra gored her deep in her side; sensing her attempt on the Heart, he had teleported the great distance to the Palace to protect his source of power. As Celestia lay dying on the floor, Sombra revealed his plan: during Luna’s months-long visit, he had sufficient time to woo her, and to convince her that he was a good stallion just trying to help his people. When they were married, she would bear him children--alicorn children--even if he had to force her. With a generation of gods at his command, Sombra would conquer the earth, using the fear of his subjects to supercharge the Crystal Heart, giving Sombra the powers of a god.

At that moment, Luna appeared. She, too, had teleported--and, after a moment of indecision, healed Celestia, then broke the crystal trapping the Heart. The newly-freed Heart disappeared, prompting a weakened Sombra to try and attack them. Together, the two sisters cast a spell on Sombra, which made him disappear in a flash of light.

Without warning, Luna turned on Celestia. She revealed that she still deeply loved Sombra, and had been trying to imprison him--not kill him, as Celestia had. As they argued, Celestia realized the Crystal Empire was vanishing before their eyes. The Crystal Palace, too, vanished, leaving the Sisters--Celestia injured, Luna furious--alone in the winter snows. Celestia began to weep--she had failed to save the Crystal Ponies from their enslavement; she had failed to save Luna from Sombra--or, at least her heart, at any rate; and, trapped in the snow, wounded and with no supplies, she couldn’t even save herself.

Celestia, now speaking directly to her servants, tells them that they were found within a week by their guards, and they made it safely back to the palace. After a pause, she adds that, two months later, Luna revealed that she was pregnant. Celestia hoped that the child would somehow draw them closer and heal the rift between them, but she only seemed to make Luna pull further into her shell. When the foal came, she was an alicorn, of course--an alicorn Luna named Mi Amore Cadenza.

1: Nightmare Moon

Corky, the unicorn chef who mysteriously disappeared during the previous section, suddenly arrives with a tray of snacks. Celestia, famished, tears into them, while Corky gets a quick recap from the others. He reveals he's actually terrified of Celestia, which is why he was stalling.

Celestia overhears Corky asking the others about her story, and asks him to speak up. Corky nervously asks her what it's like to move the sun and the moon, and Celestia actually smiles. She reveals that's actually an old misconception: she doesn't move the sun and the moon like everyone thinks she does. Instead, her responsibility is to keep their inherent magics going, and make sure nothing goes wrong (i.e., she "refuels" the sun and checks the cruise control, rather than actually driving it). She can move them directly if she wants, but she's only had to do so once--and that was when...

Celestia goes quiet, then, slowly, resumes her story.

[Excerpt: Introduction]

When Luna returned home from the Crystal Empire, things rapidly fell apart. The Equestrian Alliance, already on somewhat-shaky ground, begins to break up: from their perspective, they sent soldiers to help with a low-risk military engagement, mostly just posturing. However, they were ambushed by an enemy they weren't prepared for, and, when the fighting got tough, Celestia fled the battlefield. Further, when the enemy disappeared, which indicated they weren't that much of a trheat to begin with, the Equestrian forces had to mount a dangerous rescue mission to the middle of a desolate, snowy valley to save Celestia, which cost even more lives.

Even worse, Celestia's relationship with Luna is rapidly deteriorating. Luna, always passionate, for both good and ill, is still angry with Celestia for what she did to Sombra. True, Celestia was right--Sombra was bad news--but Luna, even though she knows his love wasn't genuine, still loves him in return (to say nothing of the fact that she's carrying his child). Further, Luna finds that she's been away from home for so long that she's no longer as important to Equestrian politics as she once was, which leaves her feeling powerless. Luna becomes increasingly cold to Celestia, eventually, after the birth of Mi Amore Cadenza, cutting her off entirely.

Over the course of the summer, when court is located at the Castle of the Two Sisters, things fall almost completely apart.

[Excerpt: "The Hard Summer"]

Celestia, like the rest of the palace, begins to call Mi Amore Cadenza simply "Cadance." Luna dislikes the name, and makes her displeasure known, but Celestia interacts with her so infrequently that she continues to do it anyways.

Celestia wakes up on the morning of the fall equinox--the day they're due to return to Canterlot--to find it still dark. She soon realizes that there's an eclipse happening, one she hadn't planned for, which makes her deeply uneasy. Celestia goes to find Luna to see if she knows what's going on--and realizes, to her horror, that Luna has secretly been studying forbidden, soul-cankering black magics, especially "Tantimancy"--fear-magic. Celestia realizes that Luna has created the eclipse intentionally: tantimancy, which draws its power from the moon, is more powerful on the equinox, and more powerful during an eclipse--and by combining the two, she's supercharged her own already-formidable magical power.

Celestia confronts Luna, and Luna snaps. Celestia has done so much to injure her already, and has so much political and magical power that, Luna says, she had to take this drastic step. And, now that she has all the power she needs, Luna is going to have her revenge. Celestia begs her to reconsider, pleading with her to "Think of your daughter," but Luna replies, with an evil laugh, that "I AM."

[Excerpt: "Think of your daughter"]

Luna begins to transform into a dark, evil shape, and Celestia flees. She tries to get the few remaining ponies to evacuate the palace, but, before she can, Luna, as Nightmare Moon, begins to destroy the castle. Celestia successfully hides from her, then goes looking for a way to escape--before she remembers the Tree of Harmony.

Celestia makes her way down to the tree-cavern, where she reveals that, after they had finished using the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord, they had returned them to the Tree. She also reveals that this is where they buried the remainder of their own group of Bearers--here, with the Elements they'd fought so hard to obtain.

Celestia pleads to the Tree to help her again, with no apparent effect. Just as she's about to leave, the star-shaped design on the trunk of the tree folds open, and something heavy drops out. Celestia's eyes widen.

Celestia emerges back into the castle, and finds many of her friends screaming in fear, often trying to drown themselves or claw out their own eyes. These, Celestia puts down as gently as she can. She makes her way back to the throne room, where Nightmare Moon is waiting. Nightmare Moon comments on the armor Celestia is wearing--golden, with a closed-face helm, decorated with six shining stones. Celestia realizes that Nightmare Moon doesn't recognize the Elements of Harmony, meaning, whoever she is, she isn't Luna--not anymore, at least. Celestia explains that the Elements are the power of Equestria itself--when the world is in danger, the Tree will surrender the Elements to help put an end to the threat. That is, they're not peace-makers--they're war-enders. Nightmare Moon scoffs at her explanation, and they fight.

Celestia, with the power of the Elements, withstands Nightmare Moon, then uses their power to banish her. As she does, she has a series of flashbacks to good times she had with Luna. She tries to stop the process, but the rainbow of magic fires from her armor before she can. Celestia and Nightmare Moon both scream in pain--Nightmare Moon, as the magic of Harmony slams into her, Celestia, as the magic arcs through her own body, turning her mane from pink to blue, and green, and purple.

The magic fades, and Celestia stands there, gasping. In the sudden silence, baby Cadance, somewhere in the castle, begins to cry. At the sound, Celestia freezes, then asks aloud "What have I done?"

Instantly, the elements turn to stone and fall off her body. Celestia, shaken, uses her Alicorn Magic to move the moon, and is shocked beyond words when she sees her sisters' face burned into it. Wordlessly, she collects the wailing Cadance from where Luna had hidden her, then leaves the palace. She refuses to answer the survivors' questions, and leads them silently back to Canterlot.

3: The Sunset Rebellion

Approximately 500 years later, Celestia has more-or-less got this whole "Princess" thing down. She's settled into a sort of a routine, and she's having fewer and fewer surprises. Celestia has amassed quite a stable of "Students," each of whom are fiercely loyal to her, and who she can trust almost completely--and she's actually founded a school, Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, in a dual attempt to keep herself distracted and to locate more capital-S Students. Further, many of Starswirl's predictions, both political and magical, have come true, which makes her all the more certain that her old enemies will return--but not for a while, at least.

However, there is one major problem. The Sunset Republic.

Though they officially disavowed the radical politician who kidnapped Cadance, the Republic has continued to be a thorn in her side ever since. Sunset lands are rich in minerals, but poor in water and good topsoil, so they've had to get clever to survive. Their current leader, "President Sunset," is an Earth Pony who values science over magic. In fact, he claims that magic is cheating--only cowards and weaklings force reality to bend to their wills, rather than work within the rules it has set. Accordingly, the Sunset Republic has advanced very rapidly: it is cris-crossed by rail lines (though all the trains are horse-drawn; steam power is a distant dream), and they have developed black-powder artillery, which they use to intimidate the border towns.

Celestia has been trying to ignore them for some time, but they continue to needle her. In particular, they're now claiming that a certain fertile valley, on the border between their two nations, should rightfully be theirs, though the citizens themselves heartily disagree. Celestia has tried to be conciliatory, but the messengers she sends to Saddlehorn City, the Sunset capitol, are able to do nothing. None of this is helped by President Sunset himself, who portrays Celestia as a harsh, commanding dictator, one who crushes the spirits of her subjects under her hooves.

Then, suddenly, Celestia receives reports that the Sunset troops have made a move. They have attacked the valley in question, and are now occupying it; they've killed and/or captured all the stallions in the area, with reports of looting, rape, and torture, especially against unicorns. Local Equestrian troops are trying to hold them back, but they are drastically outclassed, and are barely holding on.

Celestia hears all this, and her calm gives way to a quiet rage. It's time to put the Queen into play.

Celestia assembles the Great Flight, an enormous army of a hundred thousand pegasi, and, using her own magic, leads them across the world. They fly farther and faster than any pegasus should be able to, in a beeline for the Saddlehorn, leaving a trail of fire and destruction in their wake. They catch the Sunset armies completely off-guard, and destroy their ability to fight back, though with remarkably few casualties on both sides.

[Excerpt: "The Great Flight"]

A great part of Celestia's power comes from the fact that she has "networked" with everyone's minds. Using more magic than she's comfortable with, she's made herself aware of where everyone in the army is at all times, and what they're thinking, feeling, and so on. This allows her to coordinate the entire army very quickly, passing orders almost simultaneously, and receiving scouting reports almost as fast.

However, Celestia does this at great expense to herself. She has an almost-inexhaustible supply of magic, and more power than anyone else could hope for, but it's barely enough. She's holding herself together with the help of her Honor Guard, composed of sixteen of her hand-picked Students, in whom she has confided her fears.

They approach the Saddlehorn, and Celestia sees that it is fiercely fortified. She orders her troops to attack and overwhelm the defenses, and to do their best to get her to the palace at the center of the city. The fighting is fierce, and Celestia feels every death, but they make progress.

And then, suddenly, a snag. In front of the palace is an experimental cannon that shoots lightning instead of fire, which can take out dozens of pegasi at a time. Celestia orders everyone else to hang back, then attacks it on her own. The cannon fires, and the lightning strikes Celestia, horn-first, which super-powers her magic. In a surreal, stream-of-conciousness scene, Celestia, in slow motion, uses her new magical power to dismantle the cannon, then destroy the soldiers' weapons. As the cannon explodes in a flash of blinding, white light, Celestia becomes dimly aware that every member of her army, networked to her mind as they are, can see exactly what she's seeing--that is, they can see her scour the Sunset threat off the face of the earth.

Celestia, shaken, lands inside the palace and begins to search for President Sunset. As she does, she thinks back over all he has done--all his people have done--to hurt others. She gradually whips herself into a froth, and, in her blinding rage, she begins to transform: her mane turns to fire, and hot steam escapes her nostrils.

Celestia finds President Sunset in his office. He tries to escape, but she corners him."I am not here to fight," she says, "I am here to end the war."

And then, to his infinite astonishment, she lowers her head and asks him, "Will you accept my friendship?"

President Sunset looks at her like she's lost her mind, but she presses forward: she would prefer a peaceful settlement. She would prefer that they become quiet, friendly neighbors, if not allies. But, even if he refuses, it doesn't matter: the fighting is going to stop. Today.

President Sunset seems like he's going to give in, but, at the last moment, lashes out at her. Celestia sighs and lights her horn...

A few minutes later, Celestia steps out of the palace, carrying President Sunset in magical chains. She asks her nearby soldiers to round up as many citizens as they can and bring them to the square, and sends the rest to quell the fighting on the walls. After the citizenry are assembled, Celestia informs them that the war is over. The fighting will last until the Sunset troops stand down, but no longer. When that's done, she will allow them to choose--choose who they want to lead them, and what they want their relationship to Equestria to be. "We don't want to fight you," she says, "But you have left us no choice. We all want this to end as quickly as possible, so we can all go back to our homes, safe and sound."

In the middle of her speech, Celestia feels something go wrong in her magic. She turns to President Sunset to see that he has used a magical amulet to break his chains, and is now lunching at her with a magical blade, roaring a battle cry.

And, with a flash of lightning, Celestia strikes him dead.

She turns back to the stunned crowd and reiterates her message: "We won't hurt you, we want this over as much as you do; stand down and let's get this over with as quickly as we can." She steps down from the platform and passes through the silent, stunned crowd.

As soon as she leaves the plaza, Celestia feels her magic begin to fail. With the adrenaline wearing off, Celestia's impossibly deep exhaustion is starting to set in. She's an alicorn, but she has pushed herself too hard, for far too long, and it's starting to catch up to her. Her Honor Guard catches her as she falls, then leads her to a swanky hotel and frantically begins to argue with the manager before she passes out entirely.

Two weeks later, Celestia wakes up, frail and exhausted, in a room she doesn't recognize. She realizes her Students are there, and they help nurse her back to health while filling her in on the details:

Per her instructions, they've rented her a room in a nice hotel, rather than occupy a room in the palace--she wants to make it clear that, even in her exhaustion, they are not there as conquerors. Though management is charging them through the nose, the people appear to be picking up on the difference.

The fighting has mostly stopped, all across the Republic. There are a few pockets of resistance, but most soldiers stood down when they heard what happened at the Saddlehorn.

As instructed, the Equestrian pegasi used magical scrolls written by the unicorns to create a short-lived portal back to Canterlot, allowing an army of politicans and bureaucrats through. The diplomats have successfully negotiated with the Saddlehorn authorities, who are now pulling together an emergency election to replace President Sunset's government.

As for Sunset himself: after going through his papers, it turns out that this is what he wanted all along. He wanted Celestia to invade and capture him, all so he could have a chance to kill her in front of a crowd. If he succeeded, then he could march on Equestria unimpeded. If he didn't, however, all his lies and propaganda would turn the people against her even more--after all, she killed a beloved prisoner in public! What sort of monster would do that?

However, he hadn't planned for one thing: the people believed her.

Celestia had planned her invasion very carefully, and fought to protect the common people as much as possible. She wanted to "cut off the head," as it were, but not at expense of the body. Coupled with President Sunset's public use of magic--which, as you remember, he always claimed was "cheating"--public opinion was starting to swing in her favor.

In the years since, the Sunset Rebellion--later called the Sunset Revolution--became a watershed moment for Celestia. It was seen as a political coup, and a way to bring a substantial portion of the former Alliance back into the fold (as was eventually voted on). It didn't hurt that her display of awesome magical power--witnessed, first-hand, by nearly every soldier and citizen in the city--helped her reputation immensely. In fact, there was a short-lived cult that revered her as "The White War Goddess" (a cult which she, taking a leaf from Starswirl, did not discourage).

Further, the conflict helped to shape the Equestria to come: soldiers, who had rallied from all over the Alliance, began to think of themselves as fighting, not for their local provinces, but for Equestria as a whole, to the point where now, 500 years later, no one remembers that Equestria is still, technically, an Alliance.

Further, the close ties between the former Sunset Republic and Equestria changed both landscapes: some Pegasus soldiers, part of the short-lived occupation force, fell in love with and married local Sunset mares. These families tended to gather together, and a few of them founded the small settlement of Las Pegasus, which, with Equestrian magic and Sunset ingenuity, soon became a model for what international cooperation could accomplish. Rail lines, too, began to spread, not just across Sunset lands, but also Equestria, joining the two countries tighter than ever before.

The last major effect the Rebellion had was more of an ironic one than anything: President Sunset's granddaughter, Aurora Ray, was born a unicorn. Though she never really found acceptance in her own family, she became a famous politician during re-unification, and one of Celestia's most powerful Students. Through her line, many famous unicorns were born--including Sunbolt and Sunset Shimmer, brother and sister, both named for their heritage, who each inherited President' Sunset's pride; Starlight Glimmer, who got his ambition; and Twilight Sparkle, who got his mind for organization and invention (Celestia says this last one with some difficulty--perhaps she can't even say her name).

At this point in her story, Celestia falters. She admits that, though the Rebellion is probably her greatest success--it is the one that still haunts her dreams. Her inaction allowed so many to suffer, for so long, and she still has nightmares of President Sunset lunging at her, and of his wide, glassy-eyed stare after she killed him.

Try as she might, she cannot rid herself of the blood on her hooves. It had to be done. It had to. But Celestia, even now, would give anything to not be the one who had done it.

Author's Note

This chapter is the first time Celestia manifests an ability that becomes more important later--when Celestia becomes angry, she becomes "The White War Goddess," i.e., Nightmare Sun (but with more control than that description implies). As I'm continuing to type all this out, I'm noticing that this bears an uncomfortable resemblance to going Super-Saiyan in Dragonball Z (i.e., inarticulate rage allows one to unlock a hidden store of power).

I promise that this is unintentional. My only exposure to Dragonball is Team Four Star's DBZ Abridged, which has only recently started to get into the mechanics of Super-Saiyanism--long after I had already come up with these plot points.

(FWIW, my thinking is that "The White War Goddess" bears more similarity to Superman's "World of Cardboard" rather than going Super-Saiyan; that is, Celestia generally keeps a pretty tight rein on her power, but, when she becomes angry, her control begins to slip, she cares less and less about the collateral damage she might cause.)

4: The Changeling Hive

Hundreds of years later--about 50-60 years ago, ten or fifteen years before the return of Nightmare Moon--Celestia received a strange report. She had slowly been building up her monster hunting corps, and, though each hunter scared her a little with their ferocity and ruthlessness, they helped keep her ponies safe. When there were no pressing threats, she always sent them out to find and exterminate Changeling hives, due to her special, irrational, not-entirely-unwarranted hatred.

For months now, the hunters had been working on a unique hive, designated the Oriax hive [Hives are named like hurricanes--alphabetically, in the order of their discovery, and after demons, devils, and monsters from ancient mythology]. The Oriax all had dark green carapaces, and, unlike other Changelings, had both wings and a horn. They were very magically powerful, and excellent at disguise--it would often take weeks or months before their infiltration was discovered, by which point, the pony they were impersonating was long gone. The monster hunters had finally found the main hive, but it was putting up quite a fight, and, last she'd heard, they were finally starting to make progress.

And now, the hunters want Celestia to come join them. Immediately. They have something to show her.

Celestia arrives to a scene of carnage. Hundreds of Changeling corpses, piled high in the desert, burning, with several carefully-dug graves for brave pony soldiers beside them. The leader of the monster hunters leads Celestia inside the hive, to where lies another corpse--one that makes Celestia stop and stare. It is the Changeling Queen, apparently--but, rather than the bloated, insect-like being they have seen in every other hive, this Queen is tall and shapely. In fact, she appears almost like a full Alicorn, rather than an evil, buggy monster. Celestia is deeply disturbed, but doesn't know what to make of it.

Celestia explores the hive, and everything she sees makes her hate the place more. There's the nest, where ponies are often dragged to be eaten alive by the Queen... there's the combs, where new changeling eggs are laid and hatched... and there's the coocoons, where they keep their prisoners until they're ready for them...

Wait. Why is that cocoon still full?

Celestia runs forward and peers inside--and, to her shock and horror, finds, floating in a greenish fluid, Mi Amore Cadenza--asleep, and apparently alive and well.

Celestia calls for help, and soldiers come and break the cocoon open. Celestia examines Cadance carefully, and finds that she's grown: she was about three-and-a-half when kidnapped, but, given her size, she appears to be about eight years old now. And--Celestia swallows, then sits back on her haunches--she already has her cutie mark.

The Crystal Heart. Where on earth did she even hear about the thing...?

Celestia hurries home with Cadance, who, though weak and hungry, appears to be perfectly fine (and she is indeed the genuine article: Celestia is very careful to check for that). Celestia tries to ask her about her experience in the Hive, but Cadance only responds, cryptically, that "I saw her dreams." She says nothing more.

After making sure she's okay, Celestia begins to integrate Cadance back into Palace life. She gets her in school, takes her to the playground, and even, at her request, gets her enrolled in the Filly Adventurers. Celestia is, at first, worried that her experiences will have changed her, but Cadance appears to be perfectly fine: even after being away for nearly a thousand years, she adjusts very quickly to modern life. However, there's something strange about her--strange, but in a good way. She is especially kind and loving, moreso even than before, and unusually patient and wise. She also adjusts very quickly to new people and situations, in ways that don't seem quite right to Celestia. She feels silly, worrying about whether Cadance is too nice, but, in her fear that Cadance might be a Changeling after all, she is hyper-sensitive to these sort of small differences. In any case, Cadance makes a good effort to be a "normal pony," rather than a princess, and, in most cases, she fits right in. And, most importantly: though Celestia is worried that things might be different between them now, Cadance is just as much in love with her Auntie as she ever was.

One day, when she's about 12, Cadance proudly tells Celestia over breakfast that she's going to be a babysitter. Celestia, amused, asks who she'll be babysitting for, and Cadance announces that she met someone here in the Palace who could use her help--one of the staff. Celestia isn't sure what to make of this announcement, but Cadance insists that she should meet them, too.

That afternoon, after school lets out, Cadance takes Celestia by the hoof and leads her to meet her new friends, chattering non-stop. To her surprise, Cadance leads her outside the palace, then around to the side. There, she spots a small family, sitting down for an after-school picnic lunch. The father wears a window-washer's uniform and the mother a maid's dress. Both of them look tired and threadbare, but absolutely delighted to be around their children. Their son is an eleven-year-old colt, who tries to hide behind his mother when he sees Cadance approaching, and their daughter--

Celestia suddenly stops speaking, and starts to cry silently. Her three listeners look at each other uncertainly, and Posie, hazarding a guess, says "Their daughter... was Twilight Sparkle?"

Celestia only nods, and begins to weep openly. Sill watches for a moment, then steps out of the room. He goes and finds a guard, then asks him to go fetch Princess Luna. When they ask who he is, and why they should follow his orders, he ignores the first question and tells them that Celestia needs help--and this might not be the sort that the three of them, alone, can give her.

Author's Note

To be clear--in this fic, alicorns age normally until they grow into their full "Princess" body type, then stop. However, Cadance was basically in stasis while in the Changeling Hive. Over the course of the thousand-or-so years, she aged very slowly, but resumed normal growth as soon as she emerged from the cocoon.

Not trying to suggest that Alicorn childhood lasts a thousand years or anything :)

5: Twilight Sparkle

Sill slips back in the room, where Posie, with some difficulty, is managing to calm Celestia down again. Eventually, Celestia indicates she's ready to continue, despite the protests of her listeners.

Celestia picks up her story where she left off--the instant she laid eyes on Twilight.

Celestia freezes in place. She's suddenly and acutely aware that there's something undeniably special about Twilight, something that shakes her to her core. Somehow, she knows that Twilight can wield the Elements of Harmony--something that Celestia has not thought of for centuries.

Celestia allows herself to be introduced to the little family. Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle are poor, though not desperately so, and they're doing their best to do right by their family. This includes seeing them whenever they can--meaning, Night Light takes his lunch break right after school to spend a little time with the kids, and Twilight Velvet works a short shift so she can go home with them. Cadance actually met Twilight Velvet first, and befriended her, before coming to know the remainder of the family. And, Cadance being Cadance, she declared that she was going to help them by keeping an eye on the kids, letting Twilight Velvet work a few more hours. Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle wouldn't normally trust a kid her age to babysit, but one doesn't say no to a Princess...

This entire time, Twilight is hiding behind Night Light, sneaking glances at Princess Celestia. Celestia, who's only been listening with half an ear, interrupts and asks about Twilight. Night Light tells her that she's a rather shy eight-year-old, but very very smart. He says, with obvious pride, that they hope to send her to Canterlot Community College when she's older, to help her get a good job!

Celestia does not reply to his comment. Instead, she asks both Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle if they've considered having her apply for the School for Gifted Unicorns. Both look away, before Twilight Velvet turns back to her and says, with a smile, that they haven't, and give her a lame excuse for why not. Celestia, guessing the real reason they didn't apply, tells them there's a scholarship program for underpriveliged fillies (it's a lie, but Celestia decides she can spare some money from her personal allowance), which makes both of them brighten up immediately. Celestia tries to talk to Twilight directly, but she won't answer.

Celestia quickly realizes that Twilight has a bad habit, or a quirk of her personality, or whatever you want to call it, that she finds alternately endearing and worrisome: specifically, Twilight has incredibly high expectations of herself, which causes her to try and go above and beyond others' expectations.

Celestia first notices this tendency of hers during her School entrance exam. By the time it comes to the exam, the student has already been accepted (and, in this case, her funding secured); the purpose of the exam is not to see if they should let the given foal into the school, but to see what classes they should be placed in. To this end, the student is given one of several magical objects and instructed to perform some simple tasks with them; the exam committee watches carefully, and places them in one of several levels depending on their demonstrated level of magical power and skill.

However, for some reason--maybe someone forgot, or her parents misunderstood, or due to some jealous teasing from Shining Armor--this wasn't communicated to Twilight. Instead, she tries to hatch her dragon egg, with the results seen in the show. Celestia herself had to show up and try and calm down a hysterical Twilight, who had convinced herself that she had ruined everything (though, to be fair, there was a giant hole in the ceiling...). After another incident or two like this--Twilight expecting too much of herself, pushing the boundaries, and causing a dangerous accident--Celestia does something that she's never done for one of her Students before: she invites Twilight to weekly tea, where they can just chat about stuff. After Celestia begins these regular visits, Twilight's accident rate falls off sharply; Celestia likes to think that their visits help to keep Twilight grounded.

Over time, the two of them become good friends, though Celestia purposely keeps her at arms' distance. She feels that she can't allow herself to become too close to Twilight, given all the other ponies that she's already let down.

As time rolls on, Celestia becomes closer to the entire Sparkle family. She gives both Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle promotions, eventually recruiting them for clerical positions (which pay better and aren't so backbreaking). And, when it's time, she recruits Shining Armor for the Royal Guard, where he very quickly (and without her help) climbs the ranks until he is appointed Captain. She is on good terms with all of them, but her favorite is very clearly Twilight.

Author's Note

Just to head off any confusion: the relationship between Celestia and Twilight is purely platonic, on both sides. Celestia, after a thousand-plus years of celibacy, thinks of herself as a non-sexual being (EDIT: Ice Star tells me the correct term is "asexual heteroromantic"), and Twilight wants to impress her as an authority figure, not as a potential romantic partner. And, even if the situation was different, Celestia taking advantage of a pony so much younger than herself would just feel wrong. When Celestia talks about not letting herself get "too close" to Twilight, it's in the sense of how much she's willing to invest into the relationship; it's the difference between a "good friend" and a "best friend."

Celestia's been hurt before, very badly, when her close friends have died or fallen away; she is wary of letting anyone else get too close, out of fear what would happen when they have to end their friendship (MOAR FORESHADOWING)

Also, I know they're not "The Sparkles," but it's easier to refer to the family that way, and I'm gonna keep doing it in these notes.

6: Nightmare Moon Returns

Late one night, Cadance meets Celestia on the castle ramparts. The moon is full, and high in the sky, but Celestia is quiet and subdued. They chat a little, fondly referring to each other as "Auntie" and "Caydee," as they used to do. After a while, there's a lull in the conversation, and Celestia takes a deep breath.

Celestia reminds Cadance that, many many years ago, Cadance had asked who her mother was, and Celestia had told her that she was the mare-in-the-moon. Cadance gives her a strange look, but says she remembers. Celestia hesitates, but confesses that she wasn't lying. With Cadance looking more and more disturbed, Celestia tells her the true story of Nightmare Moon, including how she had to banish her to the moon for her crimes (though she can't bring herself to tell Cadance the name of her father).

When Cadance finally finds her voice again, she speaks in low, wounded tones. She asks why Celestia is telling her all this. Celestia responds that the 999th Summer Sun festival will be held in about a month--one thousand years since Luna's banishment--and that she's worried that she might return. And, if she does return, she's worried that she might have to banish her again--or, perhaps, do even worse.

Cadance, her voice hoarse, asks why Celestia is telling her all this now. The one thing she's ever wanted is family, and never knowing her mom or dad has been one of the great struggles of her life. It's been a thousand years--why keep it from her, all this time, only to spill the beans now?

Celestia hesitates, then, cautiously, confesses that she was--and still is--ashamed. She feels that her banishment of Luna was a failure on her part, and that she didn't have the courage to confess how badly she'd ruined everything--especially not to Luna's own daughter, the one pony most affected by all this.

Both of them are quiet for a long moment. Celestia tries to reassure Cadance how much she loves her, calling her "Caydee"--but, at that, Cadance turns, and, calling her "Aunt Celestia," asks her to stop.

Celestia is stunned. Cadance has only called her "Aunt Celestia" once or twice before, and now, in this quiet, intimate moment, calling her that stiff, formal name hurts worse than if she had slapped her.

Cadance realizes that Celestia is hurt, and looks guiltily away. After a moment, she says that she needs some time alone to think through this. Celestia, still stunned, asks if she still be attending the Festival this year, as she always does, but Cadance says that she's not sure. Celestia leaves, then goes to bed, but it takes her hours to fall asleep.

The next morning, she asks a servant to invite Cadance to join her for breakfast, only to be informed that Cadance has left suddenly on an extended vacation/goodwill tour, and is not expected back for approximately six weeks (And, possibly, that she brought the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, along to keep her safe).

Celestia, once again, is stunned. Cadance isn't the sort to be dramatic or pitch a fit; in fact, her first concern is usually helping ponies who need it. The fact that she has left town, even after Celestia made it clear that she needs her help, is a testament to just how worked up she is over the revelation of her parentage. Celestia, deeply hurt, remains quiet and sullen for several days.

But still, there are preparations to be made: the Summer Sun festival must be planned for, and it's going to be held this year in Ponyville. Starswirl didn't give an exact date for the return of Nightmare Moon, but predicted it would be on about the 1000th year of her banishment; for this reason, Celestia doesn't want to be anywhere near the Castle of the Two Sisters. However, she has to do what she has to do, so she rallies a number of her Students to be in Ponyville under various pretenses in case she needs the help, including a fourteen-year-old Twilight Sparkle (she briefly considers telling her about the Elements, but decides against it; no need to worry her if she doesn't have to).

The day of the ceremony, Celestia arrives early and wanders the still-sleeping town, deeply uneasy. She reports, just before dawn, to Mayor Mare, who takes her to the platform on which she will make her grand appearance. There, hidden by the curtains, Celestia tries in vain to calm herself.

And, seconds before the curtains roll back, Celestia realizes, suddenly, that she's not alone.

She turns, and, to her horror, sees Nightmare Moon standing beside her on the platform. Before she can so much as gasp, Nightmare Moon's horn glows bright, and Celestia finds herself trapped in an inky void. She tries to struggle, but she can barely move; as she tries to light her horn, the voice of Nightmare Moon comes to her and begins to taunt her, telling her that struggling is useless--she's already lost. Celestia, defeated, begins to cry.

For what feels like hours, Celestia has to put up with Nightmare Moon's taunting, along with her own futile efforts at breaking out of her prison. Suddenly, Celestia hears Nightmare Moon begin talking to someone else. CElestia tries to take advantage of her distraction, but, a short while later, Nightmare Moon screams, and the darkness fall away. Celestia is disoriented and has no idea what's going on, but calls on her thousand years of Princess-ing to quickly gather her composure. She looks around and sees Twilight, Spike, and five ponies she doesn't recognize--each, to her astonishment, wearing an Element of Harmony. And there, in a corner, trying to crawl away, Celestia sees someone she never thought she'd see again--she sees Luna.

Celestia gasps and runs after her. She pulls Luna into an embrace, even though she weakly tries to push Celestia away. Despite her struggling, Celestia begins to cry again.

Cut to: the Summer Sun Celebration. The ponies of Ponyville are throwing an impropmtu parade, and Celestia is practically glowing with happiness. Not only is she still alive, but, somehow, she has her sister back, something she'd barely even dreamed of. Since the parade is starting to wind down, she goes to take her leave of her Students, including Twilight, when she realizes that something is wrong.

Celestia approaches Twilight and finds that, though the prospect of returning to Canterlot to continue to study with Celestia is everything Twilight has ever wanted, the thought of leaving her new-found friends is tearing her apart. As Twilight begins to tear up, Celestia realizes, with an almighty shock, that Twilight is feeling the same thing that she, herself, has had to feel far too many times--the pain of having to say goodbye to a friend.

Celestia, shaken, gives Twilight permission to stay in Ponyville, but asks that she write regular "friendship reports" (terminology she makes up on the spot, and which makes her wince as soon as she says it) to keep her updated on her progress. Twilight gives her new friends a group hug and Celestia, slightly crestfallen, climbs back on the carriage. Celestia tries to talk to Luna, only to realize that something is still very wrong with her.

[Excerpt: "Why so glum?"]

For the first two weeks home, Luna does little but eat and sleep. When she does speak, it's in harsh, unnatural-sounding Elizabethan English, the sort that they actually spoke back in the day. Celestia remembers enough of her dialect to speak to her, but Luna is hyper-sensitive to light and noise, and barely responds.

Eventually, Celestia has her recurring nightmare again--the vision she first saw in Sombra's magical nightmare, the vision of her being unable to move the sun--and, just as Celestia is about to break down crying, the sun goes dark. Celestia looks up to see a vision of Luna, tall as a mountain, standing there. She looks contemptuously at Celestia, then, with a flick of her horn, banishes her phantoms and sets the sun moving again, before suddenly vanishing. Celestia, still trembling, climbs to her hooves.

Celestia storms into their usual salon and finds Luna calmly eating breakfast. Celestia begins to lay into her--how dare she use her dark magic again, especially on her--but Luna fires right back. "Thou wert suffering, and now thou art not. Why upbraidest thou me?" etc. They argue for a few minutes, before Celestia can bring herself to confess that she's frightened--she doesn't want anyone, least of all Luna, in her head, especially not in her present state. Luna softens a little, then tries to reassure her--the magic she's using is "Onieromancy," the good dream-magic--though that's little comfort to Celestia. Luna solemnly promises that she will never enter Celestia's dreams again, which gives Celestia a little relief.

The two of them eat their breakfast in silence for a few minutes. Luna clears her throat and gently asks Celestia where the dream came from, as she could tell it wasn't entirely a dream of her own making. Celestia is unwilling to respond, and Luna doesn't press the issue.

Cadance finally returns from her vacation, having already heard the news about Luna. Cadance and Luna avoid each other for several days, both terrified of their meeting, but finally, with Celestia's help, they reconnect. Though Luna, still stiff and awkward, fumbles the interaction a couple times, they leave the meeting on good, though not especially close, terms. (Cadance may admit, privately, that, though she's always wanted to meet her mother, be she Luna or no, she has no idea what such a relationship should look like, while Luna admits that she doesn't feel worthy of having a daughter again, not after all the evil she'd done in the name of "protecting" her).

Cadance continues to be distant and cool with Celestia, which drags Celestia down. even though she's not actually surprised. She hadn't realized just how much family had meant to Cadance, and didn't know how much the revelation of her mother's identity--and the revelation of her own role in keeping them apart--would break Cadance's heart. Again, Cadance is not the sort to be vindictive, etc., but the fact that she keeps Celestia at arms' distance shows just how angry and hurt she is. Celestia hears, eventually, that Cadance got engaged to Shining Armor on her trip--but she hears it second-hand, from a pair of servants who are discussing the gossip.

Luna still speaks in Elizabethan English and continues to butcher social interactions (due both to her outdated manners and her being out of practice), but she slowly improves. Celestia notices that she's profoundly changed: where Luna used to be bubbly, sociable, and optimistic, she is now withdrawn, sullen, and fearful. Celestia suspects that this change is almost certainly the result of being possessed by a demon for over a thousand years, and, though Celestia begins to beat herself up, once again, for her failures, she tries to remind herself that there was little else she could have done.

7: Discord

Gradually, things begin to settle down. Luna is still hard to deal with, but she's making obvious effort; Cadance continues to be distant, to both Luna and Celestia, though she spends more and more time with Shining Armor; while Celestia basically begins to live vicariously through Twilight's letters.

Though she hadn't assigned Twilight a specific schedule, Twilight sends her a new Friendship Report promptly each week, and it's always the highlight of Celestia's day. She reads and re-reads each one, coming to know her favorite Student much better, and laughing and crying along with each of her adventures. When she's done, she carefully files away Twilight's letter in a crate she keeps in her bedroom.

Twilight, of course, continues to try too hard. For example, when Celestia accidentally sent her two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, rather than the six she'd intended, Twilight interpreted it as a test and acted accordingly, and when Celestia sent Twilight on a scouting mission to a nearby dragon cave, Twilight took it upon herself to single-hoofedly scare the dragon away. And yet, Celestia can't help but smile at her efforts to please her, irritating though they may sometimes be.

Celestia also comes to know Twilight's friends through her letters, almost better than some of her current-day friends. They're all rather young, and within a couple years of each other; the oldest is Rarity, who is just starting her own business, while Twilight is tied with Pinkie for the youngest. [Link to my breakdown, which assumes a slightly older Twilight]. Nevertheless, Twilight comes to "lead" the group, if it can be said to have a leader: though she's still a little shy in many situations, she comes to speak for the group as a whole, and often finds herself mediating intra-group conflicts.

Things continue more-or-less in this vein for several months--until, without warning, a great many magical disturbances spring up all over Equestria, basically all at once. Often, these disturbances are, well, disturbing--unnatural weather patterns, sudden mutations of plants and animals, and unusual patterns in the stars and sky. Celestia summons several of her Students, including Twilight and friends, to try and figure things out. Just as Twilight and her friends arrive, though, things become completely clear--because Discord decides to finally make an appearance.

The image of Discord, god of chaos, appears in Canterlot's stained-glass windows, and taunts Celestia and, by extension, the mane 6. He tells them, that, this time, he won't underestimate them: he's hidden the Elements, the weapons that were used to defeat them last time, and drops cryptic hints about where they can be found. But then he drops another bombshell: Discord has broken open Tartarus, and unleashed the monsters inside on Equestria. He presents Celestia with the choice: protect her people, or try to defeat him again.

Discord disappears, and Celestia dismisses her Students, including Twilight and Co. They leave, but Twilight soon returns, and declares her intention to go find the Elements. However, Celestia cuts her off and orders her and her friends to go home. Discord is crafty, and wouldn't just give them a clue like that, not unless he had something up his sleeve. She tells her, from experience, that the only way to win against Discord is to not play his games--and, furthermore, Celestia doesn't want any of them to get hurt. Celestia again orders Twilight to leave, and she reluctantly does. Celestia goes to her chambers to prepare for war, but, before she leaves, she hesitates. Suddenly, she grabs the crate of letters, then throws the whole thing on the fire, and watches as they, one by one, turn to smoke and fly away. Though the letters are perhaps her dearest possession, she wants Twilight to know that she really, truly cares for her, and is sending her home to keep her safe, not because she thinks she's weak, or fragile, or otherwise doesn't want her help. Celestia doesn't have time for a personal note, but hopes that the letters will spark Twilight's memories of better times.

Celestia quickly rallies all the armed forces she can--the monster hunters, the palace guard, the Equestrian Militia--and brings them all to Fort Charon, the fortress that stands guard over Tartarus. As Discord said, the gates have been flung wide, and monsters are already laying siege to the fortress.

Celestia and the monsters fight a pitched battle, with enormous Equestrian casualties. Just as things are starting to get truly desperate, the monster lines break. Celestia has no idea what's happened, but isn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and, after several more hours, is able to push the monsters back and re-seal the prison.

Celestia returns home late at night, and, exhausted, just wants to fall into bed and go to sleep. However, a servant informs her that her guests are waiting in the throne room, and, confused, Celestia pokes her head in. There, she finds Twilight and her friends, still wearing their Elements of Harmony, dead asleep. Celestia accidentally wakes Twilight, who shrieks eagerly; her scream wakes the others, and all of them swarm Celestia, talking excitedly. Celestia is overwhelmed, and can't understand any one of them--until she suddenly catches Discord's name.

"What did you do?" she snarls--and all six of them fall silent.

Twilight sets her jaw, then steps forward and speaks for the six of them. She, in direct contradiction to Celestia's orders, had told her friends that Celestia asked them to follow Discord's clues, and to try and bring him down. Her friends, never questioning her, did. Though Discord was, in fact, cleverer than they could have imagined, they were able to defeat him through determination and dumb luck--at the exact moment that the battle at Fort Charon turned.

Twilight expects Celestia's approval, but Celestia is furious. She tells the six they're welcome to stay the night, but she will write their parents and have them come pick them up in the morning. And, when the Sparkles arrive, Celestia adds viciously, they're going to have a talk about Twilight's continued tutelage.

Celestia tries to get some work done that night, but finds that she can't concentrate. Her thoughts are filled with visions of what could have happened to those six little fillies--and, more than a little, by the image of the sorrow and betrayal on Twilight's face when she told her she would be speaking to her parents.

The next morning, Celestia watches through the palace window as the various groups of parents arrive to take their daughters home (though a few of them, especially Rarity and Applejack, are legal adults, and leave on their own). Just as Celestia spots Twilight's parents coming up the walk, the Cakes arrive. Twilight gives Pinkie a big hug, then turns away. Celestia sees that she's been weeping--and realizes, suddenly, that she has made a terrible mistake.

Celestia charges onto the front walk just as the Sparkles arrive. Celestia hesitates, then pulls Twilight in for a hug, which makes her break down completely. Celestia silently comforts her, then, when her crying has slackened a little, she apologizes, deeply and repeatedly. Celestia admits that she's scared of losing Twilight--that Twilight means so much to her [AS A FRIEND] that the thought of losing her was almost too much. Celestia asks her forgiveness (which she freely gives), then promises that she'll make it up to her and her friends, in a way they truly deserve. Twilight, sniffling, asks whether she can keep attending Celestia's school, to which Celestia responds that of course she can. Twilight squeals for joy, then pulls her Mom and Dad in for a group hug.

As the four of them break apart and go their separate ways, Celestia notices that Luna is watching her from a high window. She thinks nothing of it until later that night, when Luna approaches her. Luna (in her now-normal, rather forceful way) asks Celestia to follow her to the library. There, wandering among the bookshelves, Luna begins to ask Celestia about Starswirl, especially about his research. Celestia, confused, answers what she can, but admits that she never figured out what he was working on; Luna replies that she's spent a lot of time in the library lately, especially among Starswirl's writings (which are easier for her to read than modern-day literature), and says that she might have an answer.

Starswirl's research mostly involved time--especially the ability to reverse or to change it, perhaps in an effort to undo something he regretted (Celestia thinks, to herself, that he probably wanted to go back and save the Empire--if not from Sombra, then from herself). Apparently, he never really found what he was looking for... which is why he spent the last several years of his life working on this. Luna passes an ancient journal to Celestia, who begins to flip through it. His writings make little sense to her--until, suddenly, it all falls into place. He was trying to make himself immortal--by making himself an Alicorn.

Celestia lowers the book to find Luna staring at her. Luna says, quietly, that, with those notes, that an especially talented magical researcher might be able to complete the spell. That is, it might be possible for a clever, powerful unicorn to turn herself into an Alicorn. "That is," she says, "It's possible that you might never have to say goodbye to Twilight."

Celestia swallows, hard. She looks down at the book, both overjoyed beyond words, and terrified to the very marrow of her bones.

Author's Note

Spoiler: Discord ain't getting reformed in this fic. In this particular universe, Discord's personality is closer to Warhammer than Looney Toons, and, for that reason, Celestia sees no reason to ever let him out again. She might even destroy the statue herself; I never quite decided.

8: The Canterlot Wedding

Months later, Celestia still has Starswirl's journal locked up in a drawer in her bedroom. Luna occasionally asks her about it, but Celestia is never entirely sure how to respond. True, it would mean so much if she could somehow keep Twilight around... but, at the same time, the thought of subjecting her to the same sort of pain that Celestia herself has suffered...

And so, the journal remains in the drawer.

Celestia mentions something odd that has been happening about this time. Her monster hunters, as always, are seeking out and destroying Changeling hives--but, for some reason, they've been finding more and more empty caves, with no sign of the Changelings themselves. They take this as a good sign--the Changelings must be dying out on their own!--but Celestia isn't convinced.

In any case, Celestia prides herself on her Changeling-sniffing abilities. She's gotten very good at telling a Changeling from a regular pony, and has even begun to take notes of the tics she notices. However, she's still more than a little paranoid--and who wouldn't be, after all that has happened to her?

Eventually, Cadance formally announces her engagement to Shining Armor, and soon they've picked a wedding date. Preparations are soon underway, though Cadance seems determined to make them all on her own--she refuses the help of either Luna or Celestia, on multiple occasions. Celestia notices that she's beginning to behave a little oddly, but chalks it up to wedding-stress.

About two weeks before the wedding, Celestia is working in her office when there's a knock at the door. Without looking up, she tells the knocker to come in, and hears the door open and close. She glances up--then leaps from her chair.

Standing in front of her is none other than Starswirl the Bearded.

But--as she continues to look--she notices that something is odd. For one, the Starswirl in front of her is earth pony, not a unicorn. And his coat is a flat white, with crystal-like designs apparently painted on. Celestia begins to grow angry--until there's a flash of purple light, and Celestia is standing, face-to-face, with a Changeling.

The Changeling is a purple one, with neither horn nor wings. Before Celestia can react, the Changeling speaks, in broken English, saying it has a warning for her. Despite appearances, the Oriax hive (the one that captured Cadance) was not driven to extinction. Lately, they've been consolidating power, including attacking other Changeling hives (an inexcusable sin in Changeling culture). The various Queens believe that the Oriax are preparing to make a move against Equestria, though they can't say where or when.

Celestia recieves this information in silence. When the Changeling is finished, she asks why he is telling her this. The Changeling looks away, and reveals that Celestia has a reputation amongst Changelings--a reputation as an apocalyptic force, one that, if she had her way, would scour all the Changelings off the face of the earth. Though several hives are inclined to leave Equestria to its fate--thinking, perhaps, that the Oriax might even be able to bring down the Pony-Queen--this Changeling's Queen, over the objections of her hive, asked him to relay this message. She is doing so in the hope that Celestia will, perhaps, begin to see reason, and may, eventually, leave the Changelings alone.

Celestia is silent for several moments, before, quietly, telling the Changeling that she will not change her decrees: that Changelings are forbidden in Equestrian territory, and are to be killed on sight. The Changeling turns to go, but Celestia adds that, since he has done her a service, she will give him twelve hours to get him, and anyone he cares about, out of Canterlot. Beyond that time, there will be no mercy. The Changeling hurriedly bows and backs away--but not before Celestia commands him to choose a form other than Starswirl as he leaves.

Celestia immediately begins to make arrangements to keep Canterlot safe and Changeling-free, including recruiting Shining Armor to use his special talent to throw up a city-wide shield (though she begs him to let other unicorns help out). Four hours after meeting the Changeling, Celestia is urgently summoned to the courtyard, where she finds his mangled body surrounded by guards. He had been found, minutes before, hung from a palace spire by his lower jaw. Celestia thinks she should feel something--perhaps a sense of sadness at the savagery shown in the killing--but all she feels is a sort of vindication. Serves him right... though she's at a loss to explain what or why.

The day of the wedding approaches, and Celestia has been scanning the guests for signs of Changelings. Twilight and friends show up, though Celestia isn't able to pull herself away from the proceedings long enough to spend the time with them that she would like.

That night is the wedding rehearsal. Things are going smoothly, and Celestia is about to allow herself to relax, when Twilight bursts in. She is obviously hurt and angry, and accuses Cadance of being... something else. Everypony gets angry with her, with Cadance subtly egging them on with tales of how mean Twilight has been to her. Celestia watches the proceedings in silence.

Suddenly, Celestia steps forward, and, in a voice that silences the others, begins to tear Twilight apart. "How dare you try to bring your jealousy into their happiness." Twilight begins to cry, but Celestia persists: "I expect better of my students. I think it's time we have another chat about your continued enrollment in my school. Go to my office. Now." Everyone, except possibly Cadance, is horrified by this turn of events.

Celestia leads a weeping Twilight to her office in silence. As soon as they're inside, Celestia closes and locks the door, and Twilight begins to plead with her. However, Celestia spins around and hisses, urgently, for her to shut up.

Twilight is shocked into silence. Celestia calms herself, then asks Twilight a super-personal question ( :trollestia: "On your first day of school, you wandered into my office. Why?" :twilightsheepish: "I, um... what?" "Twilight, I mean it. Why?" "I, um... I h-had to go to the bathroom, and I got lost..." "Good."). Celestia asks her to ask a similarly-personal question, one that only the two of them would know. Twilight, nervous, flubs it, but Celestia lets it slide ( "Uh... w-what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?" :trollestia: *eyeroll* "Strawberry.")

Twilight, confused and afraid, starts to get emotional again, but Celestia shuts her up by revealing that she believes her. Twilight, eyes wide, watches as Celestia begins to poke around the corners of her office, looking for hidden lurkers. As she does, Celestia confesses that she expected something like this--though she never expected Cadance would be the infiltrator. Whoever is impersonating her is doing a very, very good job--very nearly good enough to fool her, in fact. When Twilight made her accusation, all the pieces fell into place, and, now that she knows who her enemy is, she can begin to fight her.

Celestia turns to Twilight and tells her that, first, she must go back and apologize to not-Cadance. If they're going to have a chance at all, she must believe that they don't suspect her in the slightest. After all that is done, she is to gather her friends and take the next train to Ponyville. When they get there, they are to go to the Tree of Harmony (where they have been storing the Elements since the fight with Discord), retrieve the Elements, and return here as soon as they can. Twilight does some quick math, and points out that, if they follow that schedule, they will make it back to Canterlot after the wedding itself has taken place. Celestia hesitates (admitting, to her listeners, that that was the entire point), but insists that Twilight do as she asks.

Twilight asks Celestia what she's going to do. Celestia is going to call in every favor she has--this Changeling has to be brought down, and she has no idea what tricks she might have up her sleeve. She's not going to make a move until she has all her ducks in a row--jumping the gun could result in even more deaths. Twilight asks, anxiously, about her brother, and Celestia swears to her that she will do everything in her power to protect him.

Celestia sends her off, then locks herself in her office and begins to frantically write letters, pitching them into the fire as quickly as she can get them out. A short while later, she sends a note, asking that Shining Armor stand guard outside her door, ostensibly to indulge her old-mare paranoia; in reality, she's doing what she can to keep him away from Not-Cadance.

Celestia stays up that entire night rallying her forces, kept awake by her fear and anxiety. However, part of her is able to rest easy, knowing that Twilight and her friends are safe.

The next morning, Celestia emerges from her office, feeling much better about things. However, she almost immediately runs into Pinkie Pie, prancing down the hallway. Stunned, she asks Pinkie why she's back so early; Pinkie reveals that they never left, and that she hasn't seen Twilight since the rehearsal last night.

Celestia is deeply frightened, but decides to press onward as if nothing is wrong. After all, help is coming, from all corners of Equestria, and all she needs to do is wait.

Celestia puts on a good face, and manages to make it to the wedding itself without, she thinks, not-Cadance suspecting a thing. She doesn't listen to the ceremony, preoccupied with other things. She has no idea who not-Cadance is, nor what she's planning--but, as soon as she finds out, she's going to annihilate her and everything she cares for. Celestia is also worried for Cadance herself, but convinces herself that she can only worry about one thing at a time, and the only logical thing for her to do is eliminate the threat. But not yet. She has to wait. If her time playing chess with Starswirl taught her anything, it was that patience is how you win the game. Wait, watch, and, when you have all your pieces in place, strike. That's the way--

At that moment, the doors to the chapel are flung wide. Celestia, with the rest of the crowd, turns to stare--and they all see a ragged Twilight Sparkle, at the side of a scrawny, dirty, and wounded Princess Cadance.

Celestia's eyes grow wide. Goddamn it, Twilight, she mouths.

9: Queen Chrysalis

Not-Cadance tries to play innocent, but it quickly becomes obvious that she's the impostor. She grins, and, in a flash of green light, reveals herself to be a Changeling--and, not just any changeling, but a tall, shapely, Alicorn-like Changeling Queen.

Celestia is initially shocked--"Didn't we kill you?"--but, before she can even ask the question, the sky goes dark. Outside, thousands--hundreds of thousands--millions of Changelings swarm Canterlot, in a scene out of a nightmare. Not-Cadance laughs, introduces herself as Queen Chrysalis, and orders the assembled ponies to submit before the might of the swarm.

And then, Celestia steps forward, her horn already glowing. Celestia challenges Chrysalis, and, though Chrysalis is surprised and frightened by this unexpected resistance, she accepts. Celestia fires a beam at her, she fires back, and they initiate a beam-struggle. Celestia is more powerful than her--she can feel it--and Celestia begins to push her back. However, just as she's about to destroy Chrysalis, Celestia catches a glimpse of Twilight out of the corner of her eye, and, for just a moment, is overwhelmed by fears for her safety. Chryslais notices the distraction, and, with a mighty effort, defeats Celestia and knocks her to the ground.

Ponies begin screaming and scattering in all directions. In the midst of the chaos, Chrysalis steps forward and, with a grin, is about to finish Celestia off--however, the Palace Guard, along with several of her Students, surrounds her and protects her. Someone helps her to her feet and they hurry off to a side-chamber, where they lock and bar the door.

Celestia staggers to her hooves and looks around. Outside, she can see more and more Changelings arriving, already in open battle with the Guard, rounding up screaming ponies, and beginning to build nests and hives on every flat surface. The sight of it all makes her sick, and steels her determination. She turns to the assembled ponies--a few guards, a monster hunter or two, and, somehow, Princess Luna--and puts each of them through the question ritual to confirm their identity (i.e., she asks them a question, then asks them to ask her a question). When Celestia gets to Luna, she, obviously frightened, blurts out "The last words you said to me were 'Think of your daughter.' " Celestia immediately knows that she's referring to her transformation into Nightmare Moon, and, shaken, turns back to the others.

Celestia holds an impromptu council of war. She gives everyone except Luna an assignment, then orders them out of the room to go carry them out. The general plan is to protect as many ponies as they can, evacuate as many as possible, and only strike back against the Changelings if they can catch them off-guard or in an especially vulnerable position. When they've all left, Celestia turns to Luna, who is now positively shaking.

Luna reveals that Nightmare Moon is not as banished as she might think: she is still locked within the recesses of Luna's mind, and, ever since her return, Luna has been struggling to keep her at bay. And now, Nightmare Moon, seeing the chaos, is frantically trying to claw her way out. Luna admits that Nightmare Moon could, almost certainly, help with the Changelings--but isn't sure if she will ever relinquish control again.

Celestia hesitates, but tells her that, if she thinks that this is what she has to do, she has her permission to allow Nightmare Moon out of her cage. Luna, with a bitter laugh, admits that it might not be her decision anymore. She bids Celestia a fond farewell, then begins the transformation.

With a cloud of dark smoke and the echoing of high, cruel laughter, Luna transforms into Nightmare Moon. As soon as the transformation is complete, Nightmare Moon pounces on Celestia, pinning her down. Nightmare Moon tells her that she's a fool; what's to stop her from killing Celestia right now, and taking the throne for herself? Celestia pleads with her, telling her that, somewhere, deep down, she is still Luna--and Luna loves Equestria beyond words. If they have to fight, so be it--but the two of them have to protect Equestria first.

Nightmare Moon grins wickedly, and is about to respond--but, suddenly, she hesitates, looks down for a moment, and then, slowly, backs away. Wordlessly, she walks to one of the big bay windows and throws it open, filing the room with the buzzing sound of thousands of Changeling wings. On the threshold, she pauses, and turns back. "She wants me to tell you," Nightmare Moon says quietly, "that, if we fight, and you have to--" she swallows nervously "--that she won't blame you for it."

Celestia, numb, nods.

Nightmare Moon turns back to the open window. "Thou monsters of the dark!" she roars to the swarm, "Bow to the Queen of Fear!" With an evil cackle, she dives, head-first, into the fray.

Celestia climbs to her hooves, pokes her head out of the room, then goes looking for Chrysalis. As she walks, she starts to think to herself how much damage Chrysalis has caused--how many ponies she's hurt--all the senseless violence she's caused--and, once again, begins to whip herself into a rage. Slowly, her mane begins to turn to fire, and the heat around her grows more and more intense, until, as she walks, she is cracking stone, burning rugs and tapestries, and melting her very royal regalia.

Celestia finds Chrysalis in the old throne room. As soon as Chrysalis spots her, her eyes grow wide, and she frantically backpedals. Celestia stalks after her--but, too late, sees the manic glee in her eyes.

At that moment, with a mighty buzzing of wings, Changelings burst through the windows and swarm Celestia. Many of them die instantly, roasted by the heat, and many more are crushed under the weight of their fellows, but Celestia is unable to stand against the tide of Changeling bodies. She collapses, then blacks out, just as Chrysalis, grinning wickedly, walks towards her...

Celestia wakes, hanging upside-down, in a fluid-filled Changeling cocoon. She feels weak and helpless, and, below her, she can see Chrysalis watching her intently, with a brain-dead Shining Armor standing in the corner. Celestia rages against her prison, but to no effect--and Chrysalis cackles as she watches her struggle.

Celestia asks her who she is--"Didn't we kill you?"--and Chrysalis snarls.

"That was my mother," she spits acidly.

Chrysalis begins to tell her story. She was a newly-hatched Oriax Queen when the Monster Hunters came, and she was smuggled out of the Hive just before the lines broke. However, even an infant Queen is imbued with the ancestral memories of her mothers and grandmothers, all the way back to the very beginning of Changelings, and she grew up with an intense hatred for the mere ponies that took her hive away from her.

But, more than that--Celestia had taken away the only thing that made them powerful. Oriax Changelings are unique and special in a number of ways--they are excellent infiltrators, and, with their horns and wings, can impersonate any pony they want, regardless of tribe. Both of these traits are due to the fact that they had captured Princess Cadance, who generations of Queens had leached power from. Changelings use positive emotions to fuel their magic; having the very princess of love in their midst allowed them to use her as an infinite wellspring of magical power.

But this exchange of power was not entirely one-sided: "I saw her dreams," Chrysalis hisses. Chrysalis was in the egg at the same time Cadance was in the cocoon, and, like with all her mothers before her, their minds touched. Chrysalis gained immense power, as well as an intimate knowledge of pony culture, history, and language (in particular, an impeccable knowledge of Celestia and her habits) while Cadance gained some sense of the Changeling's ancestral mind. This is why Cadance was able to gain her cutie mark of the Crystal Heart: she saw it in the Changeling Dreams while the Heart itself was still missing. And this is why Cadance is able to fit in and make people love her like she does--she has bits and pieces of hundreds of thousands of ponies inside her mind, by virtue of the Dreams.

Then, Chrysalis drops the bombshell: she is dying. Changelings don't live long, by pony standards: regular Changeling "drones" live to about four years old, and Queens no more than about twenty. Thus, in Changeling terms, Chrysalis is an ancient mare, and about to die. However, her Hive has no permanent home, no food supply, and lacks the magic that made them so powerful. Thus, as her last, great act, Chrysalis is going to give them all three: by recapturing Cadance and conquering the city of Canterlot.

Celestia asks her what happened to the other Changeling hives--the ones that mysteriously disappeared--and Chrysalis grins. "They were in the way," she says, "and Changeling protein is good enough for laying eggs, is it not?" (i.e., Chrysalis needed extra protein to breed an army of Changelings, and destroyed the other hives to get it). Celestia is disgusted.

Chrysalis quickly becomes bored of taunting Celestia and wanders off to do something else (perhaps, to start laying eggs in the throne room?). Celestia forces herself to calm down, then to think: she needs to find a way out of this, needs a way to ensure Cadance and Twilight are safe...

In the middle of her reflections, the doors to the throne room fly open. In runs Twilight and her friends, followed closely by Cadance. The friends manage to hold off the Changelings while Cadance makes a beeline for Shining Armor. Perhaps with the help of Celestia, who coordinates their efforts from her vantage point on the ceiling, Twilight & Co. are able to protect Cadance long enough for her to break Chrysalis's hold on Shining Armor, and then, with the force of their love, create the love-shield. As it explodes outward, it passes through Celestia, leaving behind a wonderful feeling she hasn't quite felt before; when it passes through Chrysalis, Celestia sees a look of deepest pleasure on her face before she suddenly disintegrates.

The Changelings are either banished or outright destroyed by the love-shield. The ponies manage to get Celestia out of her cocoon, and, as soon as she can stand again, Celestia throws herself into activity. She coordinates the survivors to begin the cleanup, patching up wounds, burning corpses, and so on. Hours later, they find an unconscious, badly wounded Luna, surrounded by thousands of dead and screaming Changelings; when she wakes, she has little memory of what happened, but tells Celestia that "she" won't be a problem anymore--at least, not for a long while.

It is only around sunset, as things are starting to calm down, that Celestia allows herself time to think. They got very lucky today; despite her own best efforts, Queen Chrysalis almost won. It was only due to the right ponies, in the right place, at the right time, that they even had a chance. If only she, herself, had tried a little harder--

Before Celestia can think herself too deep into a hole, there's a knock at her door, and Cadance pokes her head in. She shyly asks her aunt if they might still hold the wedding. The question infuriates Celestia--"How dare you talk about celebrating when there's been so much pain?"--but Cadance quickly cuts her off. She admits that this might not be the best time, not with so much suffering, but she thinks that, perhaps, a little joy might help to take everypony's mind off things. That, perhaps, a few smiles might help more than bandages. Celestia's mouth drops open; as much as she wants to deny it, she has to admit that Cadance has a point, and, somewhat reluctantly, gives her the go-ahead.

The wedding, such as it is, is beautiful. Luna, though badly wounded, is able to make it, as is Twilight and her friends. Celestia enjoys herself for a few minutes, but soon, is unable to see anything other than the empty chairs, and the shattered glass windows, and the bloodstains on the walls--that is, despite Cadance's attempt to make everyone happy, Celestia cannot forget the suffering. She cannot forget how close they all came to losing everything.

Celestia excuses herself, then goes to her bedchambers, where she lies down and begins to cry. She did everything she could--and yet, it wasn't enough. Chrysalis almost won, almost took everything she cared about, and there was nothing she could do about it. As much as she tries to convince herself and everyone else otherwise, she is a failure, and, even when the chips were down, she could do nothing to save those she loved.

Soon, Celestia hears her door creak open, and she looks up to see Twilight Sparkle (and her friends?) standing there. Twilight, unbidden, creeps up to Celestia and gives her a hug. This makes Celestia cry even harder, and confess how much she hates herself for her failures. Twilight listens attentively, but, when she's finished, gives her another hug. Twilight admits that she feels the same way, sometimes--that, sometimes, she hates herself for not getting a perfect test score, or for missing a deadline, or for hurting somepony's feelings. It's not exactly the same, she admits, but she knows at least a little of what Celestia is going through. And, though it doesn't necessarily make everything better, the best way to get out of that dark place is to try and learn from it. Unexpected things, things you can't prepare for, happen all the time--so, the only thing to do is to try and prepare for the next time it's going to happen.

Celestia sniffles, and asks where she heard that. Twilight admits that it's actually her own philosophy--a philosophy she's picked up from sending so many Friendship Reports.

With Twilight's encouragement, Celestia re-emerges from her bedroom and joins the wedding festivities. At first, she stays off to the side, but gradually joins in.

An hour or two later, right as she's in the middle of a fast-paced dance, Celestia has a revelation. She looks up, and sees how happy everyone is, and swallows, hard. She realizes that everyone is here, and everyone is happy, because of love. Celestia has worked hard to keep everyone safe, and to keep Equestria running, but one thing she's never been very good at is caring for the individual. Cadance is great at that, and everyone loves her for it, while Twilight is very good at it too--or, at least, is slowly improving, by virtue of her Friendship Reports. Celestia realizes that she needs to do better--after all, love is what makes life worth living. Despite her shortcomings, she's fairly good at keeping ponies safe--today being no exception, if she's honest with herself--but, without something to live for, can that really be called living at all?

Celestia spends a moment watching Twilight and her friends, Twilight, as always, just flailing her limbs rather than properly dancing. Celestia feels a faint stirring in her heart; Twilight has tried so hard to please her, and she has, more often than not, been distant, if not outright cruel, in return. She resolves, in particular, to make a little room in her heart for her favorite Student.

Celestia, talking to her listeners, tells them that, though caring about the individual is still something she struggles with, that was the night that everything began to change--the night that, for the first time in centuries, she could say that felt truly happy.

10: The Crystal Empire

Over the next few months, Celestia and Twilight grow even closer. Celestia tries to come down to Ponyville whenever she can, usually on some semblance of official business, to spend an afternoon or evening with Twilight and her friends. During this time, Celestia tries her best not just to read Twilight's Friendship Reports, but also to learn from them--and, though she continues to make mistakes, her heart slowly begins to thaw.

Throughout this process, Celestia tries to be happy around Twilight, but, every time she sees her, she's reminded of the journal locked in her drawer--the journal that, perhaps, might allow Twilight to become an Alicorn. As much as she wants to relax around her, she can never really allow herself to do so--not while she still has the journal.

Things begin to normalize again, more or less. Luna heals up, and Cadance and Shining Armor spend their honeymoon helping with reconstruction. Celestia keeps on gently pressuring Cadance to take an extended diplomatic visit so she and Shining Armor can get away and bond, but Cadance resists her; Celestia realizes, suddenly, that Cadance doesn't want to leave those that she loves, and those who still need her help.

[Perhaps: though Luna heals just fine, she's left with some notable scars--including a thin, pale scar that runs diagonally across the bridge of her snout. For some reason, I really like that image.]

Twilight and her friends continue to thrive. Celestia, perhaps a little greedily, asks that each friend write friendship reports for her, and, though she enjoys them all, she still likes Twilight's the best.

One clear spring day, without any warning whatsoever, a thin, ragged pegasus, wearing unfamiliar armor, stumbles into Celestia's throne room. After a moment of confusion, Celestia recognizes him as Flash Sentry, the polite guard with the country accent that helped her locate the Crystal Heart so long ago. She tries to help him--patch up his hurt, get him something to eat--but he resists, saying that the Crystal Empire has returned, and that it desperately needs the help of Equestria.

Luna, Celestia, and Cadance fly up to the Empire together, and find that the entire Empire, from the Crystal Spire to the furthest outlying village, has returned basically all at once. All the citizens are confused, disoriented, and hungry, and, with no food or supplies, things are only going to get worse.

The Princesses take over, and, with Celestia leading, begin to get things back under control. Emergency food supplies are imported from Equestria, and some semblance of order begins to return. As Celestia continues to coordinate, she realizes that Cadance is leading the ponies themselves, helping them to rebuild and repair what she can--that is, she has, very naturally, taken charge of the Crystal Ponies. When Celestia notices how comfortable she is ruling her people, she gently withdraws from her own efforts, allowing Cadance to take more responsibility, but stays nearby to help her with the transition into full Princesshood. No one ever really appoints Cadance as Princess, she just kinda takes over, but still, everyone in the Crystal Empire seems to recognize her as their rightful queen--regardless of the fact that no one, including Cadance herself, has guessed her true parentage.

Cadance tries to re-start the Crystal Empire's farms, but, as soon as the growing season begins, a new, vicious storm sweeps down out of the north. It threatens to bury the Crystal Empire again, but, with the three Princesses working together, they manage to throw up a shield. Celestia can tell that Cadance and Shining Armor both are struggling to protect their people, and calls for Twilight and her friends to come help out.

Celestia tries frantically to keep the shield up as long as she can, noting, with some frustration, how Twilight and her friends hold a party rather than attempting to help out. However, Twilight and her friends are able to locate the Crystal Heart just as the snowstorm is about to consume the Empire again, and are able to properly destroy the ghost of Sombra to boot.

After the battle, and after Cadance gets some food and sleep, Cadance examines the newly-returned Crystal Heart. She experiments with it, and finds that she can connect with it and instinctively use its power, marking her as true ruler of the Crystal Empire. She seems to notice the connection between the Crystal Heart and her own cutie mark, though what she suspects she keeps to herself.

Celestia tries to give Cadance advice on how to rule her new kingdom, but, despite everything, notices that Cadance still resists her help. Celestia leaves with an exhortation that Cadance write her if she needs anything--anything at all--but Cadance more-or-less ignores her. Celestia rides the train home (on the newly-laid rail line, quickly and shoddily laid to bring up emergency relief supplies), and, though she's initially pensive, ends up having a great time with Twilight and her friends. Luna, who has been quiet for the entire trip, keeps mostly to herself, but carefully watches Celestia and Twilight.

They make it back to Canterlot without incident. After Celestia fondly sees Twilight and her friends off, she returns to her bedroom. She takes Starswirl's journal out of her drawer and examines it, thinking over her old questions again--is it more important to her to never lose Twilight? Or to protect her from suffering the pains of immortality?

Suddenly, Luna asks what she's going to do with it. Celestia, who didn't realize she was there, jumps with fright. Luna asks her again what she's going to do with the book: it's been almost a year, and she hasn't made a decision yet. They begin to argue, with Celestia passionately pleading that she needs more time, but Luna pressuring her to make a decision anyways--the only thing she's doing in stalling is prolonging the suffering of herself and others.

Celestia, frustrated, angry, and frightened, cries out and flings the journal away. It flies, dramatically, end over end--and lands right in the middle of the lit fireplace. Luna watches in silence as the flames lick the book, and the pages begin to curl and burn.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Luna asked quietly.

"I know," Celestia said, her voice quiet and strained, as she leaned, heavily, on the fireplace.

"It means that, eventually, she's going to die," Luna said.

"I know," Celestia repeated.

"It means you're going to have to say goodbye--"

"I know," Celestia snarled.

Luna looked up sharply, and saw the tears already running down Celestia's cheeks. Celestia looked up at her.

"I know," she repeated, her voice thick.

She bowed her head and began to weep. Luna's eyes widened, and, after a moment, she stepped forward and took Celestia in her arms.

"I know," Celestia repeated again, through her tears. "I know, I know, I know..."

Author's Note

See? Toldja it wasn't a fix-fic. :pinkiehappy:

11: Twilight Grows Up

And so, the years roll on.

Cadance becomes a benevolent ruler of the Crystal Empire, which exists on friendly, though not particularly close, terms with Equestria. She visits every so often, and her letters are increasingly warm, but, by and large, Cadance is no longer a part of either Luna's or Celestia's lives.

Twilight and her friends begin to grow up. Twilight finally completes her correspondence courses, and graduates from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns with flying colors. Rainbow Dash applies for, and is accepted into, the Wonderbolts Reserve. Rarity has finally made it big, in no small part due to Celestia wearing a few of her dresses to important functions. Granny Smith passes away, but Applejack, who has basically been running the orchard herself for years, becomes a skilled apple farmer. Pinkie Pie opens her own shop in Canterlot, and leases the basement to Vinyl Scratch for her crazy parties. And Fluttershy is content just to stay at home, as always.

Twilight applies to several colleges, and is accepted to the Crystal University, in the Crystal Empire. Crystal U has had a bit of a hard time finding its feet after the return of the Crystals--and is still a little old-fashioned, with things like oral exams and frequent, formalized debates--but has an impressive reputation as a center of learning. Twilight enters with a double major in History and Magical Studies. Though everyone in Ponyville is sad to see her go, they couldn't be happier for her. Celestia, too, is pleased--in fact, she feels it may have been her letter of recommendation that helped her get in--but she is strangely melancholy at her sending-off party.

Though the friends have grown up and gone their separate ways, they are still rather close; they often meet for lunch, or birthdays, or other important occasions, and keep in close contact via letter. Celestia is still able to call on them in emergencies, and even begins to send them out, two or three at a time, to act as her agents in sensitive matters: for example, Celestia sends Twilight to retrieve a magical artifact from an old Student of hers in an alternate dimension, and sends the six of them to investigate disturbing rumors of a Cutie Mark-obsessed cult, out in the badlands.

But this is not to say that things are peaceful--far from it. Celestia still has to tangle with a number of threats to peace and safety, most notably Lord Tirek, an ancient enemy of hers. Celestia had hoped to bring in some of her Students to help, but the situation became severe enough that she had to take matters into her own hooves. Though the battle was fierce, and devastated huge swaths of Canterlot, Tirek, ultimately, could not stand against the combined powers of the White War Goddess, the Queen of Fear, and the Crystal Empress.

Celestia visits Twilight and her friends frequently, and they grow closer together. However, Celestia is most comfortable around Twilight, and finds herself able to open up more and more easily. She never really bares her soul to her, but she finds it easier to be genuine around her.

Author's Note

One thing I'll throw out there: I had considered bringing in bits and pieces of the other fics I've been working on, and integrating their lore(s) into this story. These would include things like Fluttershy reconnecting with her large, warm extended family, and Pinkie Pie's sudden and unexpected pregnancy, leading to a set of little hellions. I would also have loved to make Rainbow Dash the unwed teen mother of Scootaloo (and had her keep the kid), but, given her relatively young age in this fic, that would make things a little more difficult.

Also, I kinda wanna see some art of Nightmare Celestia, Luna, and Cadance working together. That would be fun :)

Sidefic: "The Best Night Ever"

Author's Note

At this point in the story, I had planned to interject a short side-fic, which would be canon to, and help explain, the events of the mainline "For the Good of Equestria" story. Here's how that would have gone:

Sidefic: "The Best Night Ever"

Princess Celestia visits Twilight at her small college apartment in the Crystal Empire. Twilight now wears her mane up in a Crystal Empire style, and sports a pair of square eyeglasses, which Celestia thinks make her look very refined.

Celestia asks Twilight if she's planning on inviting anyone to the Grand Galloping Gala this year. Twilight says that she's planning on going with a friend, as always, but Celestia presses her: she really should invite a nice stallion.

Twilight, hearing something more in her request, reluctantly agrees--but says that she doesn't know anyone. Celestia suggests that she invite Flash Sentry. Twilight rolls her eyes--"you're only saying that because I met him in the Other World"--but Celestia disagrees. She says that she's met him before, and he's a good stallion.

[Excerpt: Twilight and Celestia]

A few weeks later, Twilight arrives on the train from the Crystal Empire on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, with Flash Sentry in tow. She's already regretting the date, and finds both his country accent and his old-fashioned manners grating. However, this is important to Celestia, and Twilight is determined to put on a good face.

After greeting Celestia, the two of them move to the dance floor. As they talk, Flash casually quotes a famous poem (perhaps Shakespony?); Twilight, slightly confused and alarmed, asks him about it, and he mentions that, despite appearances, he's actually quite fond of poetry. Twilight watches him for a moment before something in her brain flips. She suddenly realizes that Flash isn't trying to be irritating--he's trying to take care of her, as best he knows how. That's why he won't let her open a door, or get her own food, or even stand up out of her own chair--he's doing his best, in his own way, to pamper her.

As Twilight continues to talk to him, she suddenly starts to feel inadequate. Here is a stallion that's doing his damnedest to give her a good time, and she's done nothing but judge at him for it. She's just a student, from a poor family, that happens to have made a few important friends. She has nothing to offer--and yet, here he is, the perfect gentlecolt, fawning all over her. He's so good to her--and she can't figure out why he even gives her the time of day...

Eventually, Flash prevails upon Twilight to dance. Twilight, who has never really been a good dancer, is more than a little nervous, but Flash does his best to guide her, and says nothing when she kicks him in the shins. As always, he's doing his best to make sure she's having a good time, and she starts to fall for him. Hard.

Just as Twilight is getting the hang of things, another stallion cuts in. The stallion tries to chat up Twilight, asking her about her famous friends, while Twilight herself is frantically looking for a way out, and Flash is standing off to the side, absolutely fuming.

"Pardon me, Sir," he says icily, "I believe this is my dance."

"Just a sec, dude."

"Excuse me, Sir, this is--"

"Hold your horses, man."

"Pardon me--"

"Hey, what's your problem?"

And then, without warning, Flash snaps and decks the guy.

The other stallion drops like a sack of potatoes. Twilight is unsure what to do, until she sees Flash running from the room. After a moment of indecision, she goes after him.

Twilight finds Flash on a balcony overlooking the rose gardens, deeply troubled. Twilight tries to get him to open up, but he resists--until, suddenly, he heaves a heavy sigh.

“I don’t know why you even give me the time of day,” he said sadly.

Twilight’s eyes went wide.

“I mean,” he said, still looking away, “you’re smart, an’ you’re pretty, an’ you’re funny, an’ you’re important--heck, you could have any stallion in there.” He glanced over at her. “And most of the mares, too, if you wanted ‘em.” He looked away again. “But you picked me. Dumb ol' buckethead me--the old country bumpkin who don’t know much and ain’t never really left his hometown. And I never would’a thought…” He swallowed. “And then… when he tried to cut in like that--he, with all the fame an’ money an’ all that he had goin’ for him, I just…”

Flash sighs again. "I'll take you back to your rooms," he says gloomily.

Twilight is quiet for most of the walk home. There's so much going on inside her that she doesn't know what to say, or even how to say it. Flash takes her to the foot of one of the Palace towers, where Celestia has set aside a room for her, and is about to leave her there--when Twilight licks her lips, kicks at the ground a little, and nervously invites Flash up to her chambers.

Flash shoots her an incredulous look--and Twilight begins to babble anxiously. "I mean, you're so nice, and good, and handsome, and I don't want this night to end, and--"

And suddenly, Flash leans in and kisses her full on the lips. Twilight suddenly goes silent, then absolutely melts at his touch.

Flash pulls away slightly, then tells her that this isn't how it's done. Twilight nods numbly as Flash tells her that there's a process--first, they have to get to know each other, and then court, and then--

Twilight cuts in gently. "Does this mean you don't want...?"

He shakes his head vigorously. "No," he says, "I want to--more than anything. But..." He swallows nervously and hesitates a moment--before he bows deeply. "Milady," he says, "May I have this dance?"

Twilight grins, and offers him her hoof.

Years later, Twilight would tell their children about this night. She would tell them about how much of a gentlecolt their father had been, and how careful he was to keep her happy and safe. She would tell them how they danced, and talked, and danced and talked again, until the sun began to rise--and how they ended the evening (or would that be started their morning?) with a visit to Doughnut Joe's. And how, before they had even finished their first doughnut, Flash had asked to court her, and how she'd said yes before he'd even finished the question.

Of course, she always left out the bit about her propositioning him--she didn't want them to get the wrong ideas--not to mention that the memory still made her cringe, even all those years later--but she would always tell them that, for the first time in her life, Flash Sentry had made her feel truly loved.

Author Note, Parte Deux:

One idea I had for this segment (which I dropped out of concern for how it would make Twilight look) was to give Twilight "voices." That is, Twilight's brain would operates a little differently than others--she can concentrate on a number of different things at once, and she refers to each separate train of thought as a "voice". Sometimes, she could even put problems on the back burner and come back later to find them solved. This ability of hers would have helped her tremendously in her academic pursuits, but, whenever she got nervous, worked up, etc., her voices would build on each other--with all of them focusing on how badly things were going, Twilight would quickly spiral into full-blown panic.

At the climax of the story--when Twilight propositions Flash--she would have seen the look he gave her, and all her voices would immediately go into full red-alert panic mode. However, when Flash kissed her, all of her voices would have gone quiet at once--the first time she could remember such a thing happening.

The Twilight in this story is a little more reclusive and a little more socially awkward than canon Twilight, and, though she is indeed the Element of Friendship, hers is a quieter, deeper, longer-lasting friendship than most. I kinda like the idea of Twilight having these "voices," if for no other reason that it would help explain her in-fic behavior--and perhaps even suggest that she fits somewhere on the autism spectrum. Plus, I love the imagery of all her "voices" going quiet at once--maybe even joining in a quiet "ooooooooh..."

However, I ultimately decided against this idea, since it runs up against some issues I don't feel skilled enough to address, and because I feel it would have been very difficult to make it clear that, no, Twilight isn't schizophrenic--her brain just works a little different than yours or mine.

Also, just to be clear, Flash is a hyper-polite Southern gentleman, which is the reason for his "Pardon me, Sir"s. I might have got the phrasing wrong, but, as I understand it, that sort of cold, aggressive politeness is about as close to an "OI, F*CKFACE" as you're likely to get south of the Mason-Dixon line.

12: Flurry Heart

Cadance announces--privately, at first--that she's pregnant, and neither Luna nor Celestia knows how to react. Though Celestia knows, intellectually, what's about to happen, her heart can't admit that little Caydee is about to be a mother. Luna withdraws even further, and keeps her thoughts to herself.

As the day draws closer, Luna and Celestia receive word that Cadance has gone into labor, and both board the next train north. They say "Hi" to Twilight (who is anxiously waiting for her friends at the station, worried they'll get lost if she's not there to meet them), then head to the Crystal Palace. They arrive a few minutes before everyone else, and are able to have a private moment with Cadance.

As soon as Cadance sees them, she greets them joyfully as "Auntie!" and "Grandma!", implying that, whatever problems they've had in the past, they are, at least from her end of things, water under the bridge.

In her arms, Cadance holds baby Flurry Heart. Celestia has no idea what to say--but Luna gently steps forward and takes Flurry Heart in her arms. She begins to coo and babytalk, and soon, her old, bubbly personality begins to shine through again.

Cadance watches, pleased, as her mother bonds with her daughter, then makes some small talk. Eventually, Flurry Heart wakes and begins to cry, and, though Cadance is able to shush her, she asks Celestia and Luna for parenting tips. Luna begins to answer confidently, but quickly stalls out. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Celestia steps in, and begins to fill in the blanks. "You were a good baby, all things considered, but I found that I had to have you fed every three hours, or else..." [She may even suggest the magic-dampening spells, which she, herself, had to use]

Luna listens carefully, but, as Celestia watches her out of the corner of her eye, sees that she's deeply hurt. The fact that she can't even answer the most basic questions for her daughter--because she simply wasn't there to learn in the first place--cuts her deep.

They make some more small talk, until Luna begins to warm up again, and, once again, takes baby Flurry Heart. She begins to coo and be grandmotherly again, adding that "you have your Grandma's eyes!"

Cadance hears this and swallows, hard. "Does she have any of her grandfather in her?" she asks. [i.e., she's asking the identity of her own father, which she has never got a firm answer on]

Luna lets out a pained gasp, and Celestia looks away. Cadance looks back and forth between them, and, seeing their reluctance to answer, is able to finally put the pieces together. Her eyes grow wide, and she trembles.

At that moment, Twilight and her friends burst into the room. Luna quickly hands Flurry Heart back to Cadance, then steps back as they all swarm Cadance and the baby.

Twilight is the first to notice Flurry Heart's wings, and cries, aloud, that she didn't know that ponies could be born Alicorns--she thought they all had to be made. Neither Celestia nor Luna know what to say--but Cadance herself steps in, telling them that Flurry Heart is the first Alicorn to be born in Equestria.

Twilight accepts this without question, and goes on babbling about how cute she is. Over her head, Cadance gives both Celestia and Luna a look, communicating that she knows exactly what she's done. Cadance wants a family more than anything--but, by publicly disowning her parentage, she is doing what she needs to to protect their privacy--and, more importantly, to keep others from forcing Luna or Celestia to answer questions about their past that they would rather keep buried. Celestia gives her a low, grateful bow, and Cadance returns it, all without the others noticing.

Luna eventually sidles up to the others, and joins in the admiration of Flurry Heart, while Celestia hangs back. As she watches them, she has a strange, almost out-of-body experience--and realizes that, now matter how much she wishes it, she will never have an experience like this of her own. Though it's been a long, hard road for all of them, Luna and Cadance both have what they've always wanted--a family. But Celestia, burdened with a thousand years of ghosts, a thousand years of heartache, never will. She will always be on the outside, looking in. She will never be in Cadance's place, holding a newborn babe in her arms, nor in Luna's, watching her child discover the wonder of new life.

Celestia excuses herself, then goes out on a balcony and begins to weep. She admits to herself, for the first time in far too long, how lonely she is, how desperately she wants to be loved, and how often she has allowed life to pass her by.

Celestia eventually hears the door behind her click open, and an urgent, whispered "Here she is!" Celestia tries to clean herself up before turning around, with mixed results. Standing behind her are Flash and Twilight, standing close side-by-side. Twilight sees immediately that Celestia's been having a hard time, and asks, hesitantly, if they should come back later. Celestia, once again putting her people before herself, tells her that, no, this is fine.

Twilight, nervous, tells her that the two of them have some news and a favor to ask. Celestia nods, prompting them to continue, and, though Twilight begins to speak, she blushes, giggles, and goes quiet. Flash leans over, kisses her on the cheek, drapes a wing over her, then proudly tells Celestia that they are going to be married.

Celestia takes a moment to contemplate their phenomenally bad timing, then gives them half-hearted congratulations. Twilight, immensely pleased, giggles again, then tries to speak, but can't. Flash watches her, nudges her, and teasingly tells her to go on--he had to do the hard part, after all.

Twilight takes a deep breath, then looks up at Celestia and asks if she would help them plan their rehearsal dinner. Celestia, deeply confused, asks why. Twilight hesitates, then tells her, quietly, that she's been doing some reading, and it's traditional for the mother of the groom to plan the rehearsal dinner. However, Flash doesn't have anybody, and, well...

Celestia stares at them in silence for several seconds before something clicks. Twilight is, in so many words, asking if she can bring Celestia into the family that she is starting with Flash--that is, she's asking if they could "adopt" Celestia as unofficial family. Celestia is stunned beyond words, and begins to cry. She brings both of them in for a hug, and promises that she will plan the dinner--she'll do anything for the two of them.

And, for just a moment, Celestia is happy.

Author's Note

Given that Flurry Heart doesn't almost snow-nuke the Crystal Empire in this story, I have no idea why she has the name she does.

Maybe--gasp--without the storm, etc., they actually name her "Skyla," after a famous Crystal Queen?

13: Mr. and Mrs. Sentry

The wedding happens relatively quickly, within a few months or so. True to her word, Celestia helps plan the rehearsal dinner, and goes absolutely overboard. At Twilight's and Flash's insistence, she sticks to their own, vanishingly-small budget, but her desk is thick with pamphlets for caterers and patissiers for weeks. In the end, Celestia is able to stretch their budget absolutely as far as it will go, and manages to furnish a legitimate three-course meal on just a few bits. Though Celestia is quite proud of what she's done, she's nervous as a schoolfilly to see what her adopted niece and nephew think; turns out, they're genuinely pleased as well, and both thank her seperately for all the effort she went to.

The ceremony itself is a relatively small, semi-private affair--Twilight's friends attend, as do the Sparkles, and Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, but very few others. Celestia can't help but notice just how much Twilight glows during the ceremony, and Celestia likes to think that, maybe, she's had a little something to do with it.

Twilight is still in school, but Flash works hard to support the two of them (with more than a little help from Cadance, who he still works for). All too soon, they add a child to the family, a tiny filly they name Aurora. Celestia comes as soon as she's able to get away, and, though she initially has that same sort of disconnect she had around Flurry Heart, she is able to force her way past it and become a smothery, blubbering, embarrassing mess. Depending on the timing, the two of them may even have another child before Twilight graduates from Crystal U.

(During this time, Flash reveals himself to be a rather private pony. He's rather quiet and humble, and tends to keep a tight lid on his feelings, which makes the few times he does get emotional [e.g., at the wedding, at the birth of his kids] all the more impressive. He comes to relax a little more around Celestia, but still prides himself on his stiff upper lip. However, he is a very good friend, and becomes close with Rarity in particular. The two of them often have friendly little spats over their different ideas of "refinement.")

Upon graduation, Celestia offers Twilight a position, but she's determined to make it on her own, at least as much as she can. She looks for a job for a while, until she suddenly hears that Cheerilee and Big Mac will be leaving Ponyville (perhaps to help out the schoolhouse in Appleoosa?). Despite Celestia's somewhat-desperate offers of similar positions at her own School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight insists on moving to Ponyville--she misses her friends, and wants to be close to them again. Nevertheless, Celestia is able to pull some strings, and Twilight is able to move back into the Golden Oak Library, and take the low-stress librarian job in what free time she has. Flash is quickly hired by Applejack, and he takes to the farmhand life rather well.

Twilight draws closer to her friends again, and, though all of them are busy, Twilight organizes little get-togethers whenever she can. As they each get married, they begin to bring their husbands and, sometimes, their babies--and Celestia is always invited, of course.

And then, to everyone's astonishment, Rainbow Dash suddenly and unexpectedly dies. Rainbow had gotten onto the Wonderbolts Performance Team--her life-long dream--but had been hiding a secret. Years ago, she had broken one of her wings, and, though it eventually healed, she flew on it again before it was completely better and re-injured it. During practice, especially during the more difficult maneuvers, that wing had started to hurt, but, fearing for her position, Rainbow said nothing.

No one knew about Rainbow's injury--until, in the middle of an important show in a packed stadium, right as she was in the middle of a complicated routine, her wing gave out and she plowed into the stands.

Celestia pauses, then tells her listeners that Rainbow Dash apparently died instantly. She was one of the very lucky, very few, who could say that she died, literally, doing what she loved.

Everyone attends Rainbow's funeral, and make a big ol' fuss about her, the kind that she would have loved in life. Each of the friends reacts differently to this, their first loss among them--but Twilight, especially, is deeply shaken. With Rainbow on the road so much, Twilight hadn't seen her in far too long, and, even more than the rest, wasn't ready to say goodbye.

After several weeks of deep thought, Twilight starts a mailing list. Her friends can send her letters, and she'll magically make copies, then send them out to everyone on the list again. Initially, the list is just for the five of them, but it soon expands to include others affected by Rainbow's death, including Scootaloo. Slowly, it grows until dozens of ponies are writing and receiving letters. Celestia is a frequent, though anonymous, contributor, and uses the name "Heliotrope" (i.e., "sun-turner," a pun she's rather proud of) when she writes.

(During this time, Twilight and her friends do a little experimentation, and realize that Flash Sentry can actually use Rainbow's Element of Loyalty. However, it's just not the same, and Flash, as always, is a little uncomfortable with the attention.)

One day, Twilight gets sick (kid #3 or 4?), and Flash ends up substitute teaching. Though he's reluctant (claiming, once again, that he's not smart enough for this sort of thing), he discovers a real talent for teaching history, in particular the Pre-Classical era (which he was actually alive for). From then on out, Flash eagerly subs for Twilight whenever he can, and, eventually, he's able to get a job team-teaching with Twilight--she handles math, science, and magic, he does P.E. and English, and they both split history. Twilight is an amazing teacher, kind, patient, and helpful, especially with the more difficult subjects, and Flash is very genuine and approachable (eventually, he buys a bowtie that both Twilight and Celestia absolutely adore on him).

Twilight also gains a reputation for being especially wise; whenever someone comes to her for help--especially for a problem between friends--she's known for sitting them down and working through the problem with them, and teaching them what they need to do to fix it. Twilight doesn't talk much about this aspect of her work, but, when Celestia accidentally catches her doing it, she is immensely proud of her--Twilight is putting her Friendship Reports to serious, practical use, and doing her best, as always, to help those around her.

Despite the distance, Celestia visits Ponyville as often as she can, at a minimum of once a month. She gets into the habit of leaving her regalia at home, and making the guards stay outside on the front porch--when she's with Twilight's--no, with her family--she is glad to be simply "Aunt Cece." She comes to spoil their many kids--and, eventually, grandkids--absolutely rotten. However, her favorite time of day is still after all the little ones have been sent to bed, and she, Twilight, and Flash can just talk.

Cadance, too, continues to have children. About a quarter of them, all girls, come out Alicorns--and, though they, like all kids, have their rough spots, Cadance proves to be an absolutely perfect mother, with kids to match. "Granny Luna" visits them fequently, perhaps even more than Celestia visits Twilight, until it becomes something of an open secret that their relationship is more than they let on.

Celestia continues to visit Twilight whenever she's able--but does her best to ignore the growing wrinkles on Twilight's face, and the little streaks of gray in her mane.

15: Luna

Celestia tries to continue her story, but breaks down weeping. Sill, Posie, and Corky are at a loss as to what to do next, until, suddenly, Princess Luna enters the room.

Luna walks to Celestia's bedside, and the servants back away. Luna takes Celestia in her arms and tries to comfort her, but Celestia just cries even harder.

"Tell me what I can do," Luna says gently.

"I want to die," Celestia repeats. "I want this all to be over. I don't want to hurt anymore..."

Luna, shaken, tries to calm her, but doesn't accomplish much. She leaves Celestia, crying, on the bed, then asks the servants what's going on. The three of them give Luna the highlights--everything Celestia regrets is catching up to her, all at once--and Luna nods her thanks. She tries to figure out what to do, but, at an absolute loss, excuses herself.

Luna walks the halls, thinking. She has no idea what to do or say, but she can't do nothing. As she walks, she, almost reflexively, asks herself the question: what should she do, for the good of Equestria? As soon as she does, she bites her lip, hard--Screw Equestria, she thinks. What's for the good of Celestia?

At that moment, she notices something out on the balcony, and, mystified, stops. Slowly, she pushes open the doors and steps outside.

There, pushing through the stone of the balcony, is a large, crystal flowerbud. Luna seems to recognize it, but can't immediately place it. As she stares, something triggers deep in her memory, and she gasps--this flower appears to be an extension of the Tree of Harmony, somehow, growing here in Canterlot Palace...

And, as she watches, the bud slowly folds open. Luna stares, then swallows hard, several times.

Celestia is still crying, and the servants are now standing around awkwardly. They debate among themselves what to do--perhaps asking if they even should, or even can, leave--when the doors open again. All four of them--the servants and Celestia--look up. And all of them stare.

Luna stands in the doorway, tall and beautiful, with a strange sort of gravity about her that none of them have seen before. On her head rests a crown, woven of intricate silver, and set with six colored stones. All of them recognize what she's wearing--the Elements of Harmony, given to her by the Tree for this great, final task.

Luna excuses the servants, who file from the room without speaking. Luna walks to Celestia, who begins to blubber helplessly again, but Luna shushes her. Celestia tries to protest--she can't actually go, Luna needs her, otherwise she'll end up in the same predicament, eventually--but Luna tells her that she'll be fine. With Cadance and her children there for her, Luna will be okay. Plus, she adds with a wry grin, she's got this whole Princess thing down pat--and all because she's had the best teacher anyone could ask for.

Celestia tries to protest again, but Luna cuts her off. Celestia has always worried about everyone else, she says, and has never really taken time for herself. "And now," she says kindly, "it's time for us to worry about you."

Celestia nods, then bows her head. Luna takes a deep breath and steels herself for what is about to happen. She summons all the beautiful memories about Celestia that she can, and the stones in her crown begin to glow bright...

Celestia reaches out and takes her by the hooves. "Don't forget me," she pleads.

Luna smiles. "I never could."

The room is filled with a sudden, blinding flash of light...

Epilogue

Timetable sat on the hard, wooden stool in the ticketbooth of the Ponyville train station, reading his newspaper. The sun was bright and warm, just enough to make you sleepy, and birds were singing. After a moment, Timetable glanced up at the clock and sighed. The nine o'clock from Canterlot was running late. Again. He'd have to have a word with the station manager, see what he could do...

Timetable turned back to his paper. The front-page story today focused on Princess Luna's sudden efforts to strengthen ties between nations, including, notably, the few remaining Changeling Hives. Timetable didn't have much of a head for politics, and he generally was content to leave well enough alone, but still--he wasn't fond of the idea of inviting those... those bugs into Equestria. All black and slimy... who knows what they're gonna do next...

But then again, he wasn't the Princess. And she had her reasons, of course... she had to...

Timetable turned the page and involuntarily shuddered. There, smack-dab between the Front Page and Sports, was the Social column. He generally made a point of skipping over that section--nothing good comes of digging in other people's business, after all--besides, it was always the same old stories: who's sleeping with who, who wore what to which... and...

Timetable paused, then peered carefully at a tiny, half-inch of print in the bottom corner. It wasn't even a full article--just a note--but it said that Princess Celestia had cancelled yet another engagement, this time, some sort of school function. The author, one Gabby Gums, added that the Princess had not been seen in two weeks, ever since she attended the funeral of a close friend, and suggested that, perhaps, she had gone on vacation... though, of course, the present author could not easily confirm such speculation...

As Timetable read, he was dimly aware of the sound of a train pulling into the station--of the hiss of steam brakes--of the sound of doors opening--of someone clip-clopping across the wood of the platform...

"Excuse me," said a voice.

Timetable glanced up over the top of the paper, then quickly folded it and set it aside. "Yes, miss," he said brightly, "What can I do for you?"

Standing in front of him, on the other side of the glass, was a mare. She was a pegasus, with a white coat and a pink mane, long and wavy. She was pretty, but not beautiful, tall, but not towering, and wore a straw hat with a sunflower in the brim. On her flank, he could see a simplified sun, shedding triangular rays. And, though he was terrible at guessing ages, he would have pegged her as being in her early twenties--though something about her seemed far older than that...

"I'm new here," she said with an uncertain smile, "and I wanted to check in at Town Hall. See if they might know if there's anyplace to stay, or anypony looking to hire. Could you give me directions?"

Timetable nodded eagerly. "Of course," he said. "Lemme just--"

He hopped down from the stool, then began to dig underneath the counter. After a moment's search, he glanced up at her, then back down at the papers.

"What's your name?" he asked.

If Timetable had been watching, he would have noticed something very strange happen. The mare across from him opened her mouth to answer--but then, her brow furrowed in confusion, and she closed it again. It seemed, almost, that she had the answer on the tip of her tongue, but, for some reason, it had suddenly slipped away. She remained quiet for a moment before she brightened again, remembering.

"Sunshine," she said. "But my friends call me Sunny."

This entire process took less than half a second, and was over before Timetable even had time to push the old mail directory out of the way.

"Sunny, eh?" he said. "Where you from, Sunny?"

Again, the same strange expressions--confidence, then confusion, then revelation.

"Lariat Fork," she said. "Up north of Canterlot a ways."

He nodded. "I know the place," he said. "Good folks."

"...It's been a while since I've been home," Sunny admitted. "I mean--"

Suddenly, Timetable gave a little cry of triumph. He slapped an old, wrinkled sheet of notepaper on the counter, and pulled a pencil from a chipped coffee mug with his teeth.

"City Hall, right?" he asked. Sunny nodded, and he began to frantically scribble. "We're here... and Main Street's this-a-way... and you walk down here, and--" He spun the map around, then pushed it across the counter to her. "That work?"

She peered at the map, then nodded. "I think so," she said.

Timetable smiled, and pushed the map through the little slot in the glass. Sunny tucked it under her wing, picked up her suitcase in her teeth, then nodded her thanks. She turned and walked away, and Timetable leaned forward to watch her go. When she rounded the corner of the building, he sighed, sat down in his stool again, and turned back to his paper, still open to the Social page.

Timetable stared at the paper for a moment, then leaned forward and looked where Sunny had gone. He glanced at the paper again, scoffed, shook his head, and turned to the funnies.

* * *

Mayor Diamond Tiara rubbed her eyes, then stared down at the stack of papers on her desk--a proposal for a new neighborhood to be built between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Next to it was a report, penned by Fluttershy, on the impact the neighborhood would have on the ecology of the forest, and, beside it, an analysis on the economic ramifications of such an expansion, by Applebloom.

Mayor Tiara groaned to herself, then took a sip of her coffee. She had campaigned as a Pony of the People, which was true; she loved being out there, shaking hooves and kissing babies, doing everything she could to actually help the citizens. But, the other half of the job--all the paperwork, all the reports, all the analysis--well, that's what she had hired Silver Spoon for, hadn't she? But still--

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. Mayor Tiara jerked her head up just as the door swung open a crack, and a pretty mare poked her head through. Her coat was white, her mane pink, and she wore a hesitant expression.

"Excuse me," she said, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I...?"

Mayor Tiara stared at her a moment, then pushed aside the papers on her desk. "Not at all," she said, standing. She walked to the door, threw it open, then took the mare's hoof in both of her own. "I'm Mayor Diamond Tiara, of Ponyville," she said. "And you are?"

"Sunshine, ma'am," she said, gently pulling her hoof away. "I'm new in town."

Mayor Tiara opened her mouth, then closed it again. She looked at Sunshine carefully, then frowned. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Because, for just a second, I thought you looked familiar..."

Sunshine shook her head. "I must have one of those faces," she said uneasily. "I just got off the train from Lariat Fork." She hesitated, then looked down. "I've heard good things about Ponyville," she said, "and thought it might be a good place to start over."

Mayor Tiara nodded. "Ponyville's the best town this side of Canterlot," she said. "I am a little biased, of course, but--" she shrugged. "Here, let me show you a map of the place. Excuse me?"

Sunny backed up, almost tripping over her bag in the hall. She turned and picked up the straw hat sitting on top and tucked it under her wing, then picked up the suitcase in her teeth and trotted after Mayor Tiara, who was now walking down the hall.

"So," Mayor Tiara said casually over her shoulder, "Starting over?"

Once again, that strange pause, and those strange expressions.

"I've been travelling for a while now," Sunny said. "Been all over Equestria. But now, I'm looking for someplace a little more permanent."

Mayor Tiara nodded. "Of course," she said. "Where was your favorite place to visit?"

Pause.

"Seaddle," Sunny said. "A little rainy, but the folks are nice."

Mayor Tiara nodded again. "I'll have to visit sometime..."

Mayor Tiara lead Sunny back to the lobby, where there hung a giant map of Ponyville. "So," she said, "What are you looking for today?"

Sunny set down her bag, then examined the map. "I was hoping that you might know of anyone who's hiring, or maybe looking to rent," she said. "I need a job and a place to stay."

Mayor Tiara frowned. "Of course," she murmured. "But, y'know, I'm not sure what jobs we have for a pegasus... the Weather Patrol is all full right now, and I don't think Postmaster Muffins needs any more help... But--"

For just a moment, Mayor Tiara brightened--but then, just as quickly, her face fell. Sunny peered at the map for another moment, then turned to look at her questioningly. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

Mayor Tiara shook her head. "No," she said. "It's..." she sighed. "I just remembered that we have an opening for a Librarian. At the Golden Oak library."

Sunny blinked. "Librarian," she repeated. "That might be nice. I like reading." Sunny watched Mayor Tiara for another moment, then bit her lip. "Is there something I need to know?" she asked gently.

Mayor Tiara glanced up, then shook her head and wiped away a tear. "No," she said. "It's just... we just lost our old librarian a few weeks ago. We were hoping that her husband might want to stick around and take the job, but he and his family moved to Canterlot to be closer to relatives..."

Sunny bowed her head. "I'm sorry," she said.

Mayor Tiara shook her head. "Not your fault," she said. "But still: thank you." She stared back down at the floor for a moment, then forced a smile and looked up. "Well," she said, "If you're interested, the job doesn't pay well, considering, but it comes with an apartment on the second floor."

Sunny raised her eyebrows. "Sounds good to me," she said.

Mayor Tiara nodded. "Good," she said. "Go and see Mrs. Cake at Sugarcube Corner, then--she has the keys. If you like it, come back and see me again."

Sunny bowed. "I will," she said. "And thank you."

Mayor Tiara watched Sunshine pick up her suitcase, then turn and walk out the front door. She continued to stare at the door, long after it had swung shut.

* * *

Mrs. Pumpkin Cake-Doughnut threw her shoulder against the door, and, reluctantly, it swung open. "I hope you like it," she said, as she stepped inside and lit the lanterns with a spark from her horn. "The apartment's a little small, but the last family was very happy here, and the kids would so love to check out books again..."

Sunshine stepped inside, set down her bag, and placed her hat carefully on top. "I hope so, too," she said quietly, looking around her with wide eyes.

Mrs. Cake was already yanking the sheets off the furniture. "Good memories here," she called. "The last librarian tried to make it a friendly place... storytimes, and games, and even dances for the teens..."

Sunny walked to one of the bookshelves, lifted the sheet with her wing, and read a few of the titles. "She sounds like a good person," she said.

"Oh," Mrs. Cake replied, straightening the wooden bust on the reading table, "she was. I think everyone in town liked her."

Mrs. Cake watched Sunny out of the corner of her eye as she slowly walked around the room, examining everything with a quiet, thoughtful air. She paused at the doorway leading to the basement, where someone had marked off a series of heights in pencil, with a name and date next to each.

"Y-you can paint over those, I'm sure," Mrs. Cake said nervously.

Sunny continued to stare. "I'm not sure I will," she murmured, half to herself.

Mrs. Cake watched her for a moment longer, then cleared her throat. "I'll go make tea," she volunteered.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Cake came downstairs, holding two steaming teacups in her magic. She looked around for Sunny--and, to her surprise, found her standing still, staring at something on the wall.

Mrs. Cake walked up to her and quietly passed her a teacup, Sunny wordlessly took it with a wing, then nodded at the wall. "Who's that?" she asked reverently.

Mrs. Cake looked up. On the wall was a portrait in a golden frame. In it, a lavender unicorn sat in an armchair, glasses perched on her nose, staring out at the viewer with a small, warm, smile.

"That," Mrs. Cake said, "was our last librarian--Twilight Sparkle was her name." She sighed. "She was a good pony--good as I ever knew--and I've known quite a few ponies in my time," she said with a chuckle. "She never really sought for fame or recognition--she was just content to stay in her own little sphere, and to help everypony that she could. Oh," she said, setting the teacup down, "there are more famous ponies--ponies who, have perhaps, done more to help--but Twilight was special. I think that everypony she ever touched is going to remember her as long as they live." Mrs. Cake sighed, then looked over at Sunny. "I think you would have liked her, too, if you had met her."

Sunny was quiet for a long moment. "I think," she said, her voice small and distant, "that I already have... though, for the life of me, I can't remember..."

Mrs. Cake looked into Twilight's big, loving eyes for a moment, then turned to Sunny. She frowned. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

Sunny seemed to start awake. She picked up a hoof, and dabbed at the tears on her cheek. "I think so," she said, mystified.

Mrs. Cake swallowed. "Then, uh... why are you crying?"

Sunny stared at her own hoof a moment longer. "I don't know," she said, in genuine confusion.

Sunny wiped her eyes with her hoof, then cleared her throat and looked up at the portrait. She stared at it for another moment, then turned to Mrs. Cake. "I'll take it," she said firmly.

Mrs. Cake smiled brightly. "Good," she said. "I hope you're happy here."

Sunny smiled. "I think I will be."

* * *

Sunny woke with the dawn.

She woke suddenly and completely, from a deep, dreamless sleep, refreshed and well-rested. She smiled to herself, rolled out of bed, and walked to the little kitchenette. She stifled a yawn, filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove, then cut herself a slice of her "Welcome to Ponyville!" cake that Mrs. Cake had brought by late the night before. She took a bite of the cake, then looked around the apartment and sighed happily. It looked a little lonely, true, with just her bed and her suitcase to fill the big room--but, while others might have found the sight depressing, for Sunny, it was inspiring. Empty space for her to do whatever she wanted.

When the teakettle began to sing, Sunny took it off the heat, filled a little teacup she'd found in the cupboard with steaming water, and set it on a plate next to the slice of cake. Sunny took the plate in her teeth, walked to the balcony, and threw the door open. Her eyes widened, and she gasped through her clenched teeth.

The sun was just beginning to peek over the hills, bathing the valley in warm, orange light. The trees in the apple orchard swayed gently in the breeze, filling the air with the scent of green, growing things. Below her, she could see the milkman pulling his cart, carefully putting bottles of milk on each doorstep, and, a few streets away, a paperboy making his rounds. Somewhere, a bird was singing. And there--the river that ran around all of Ponyville cut across the landscape, winding back and forth, a golden ribbon in the sunrise.

Sunny smiled. She walked to the edge of the balcony, set down her plate, then sat beside it and dangled her legs over the edge. She took a sip of her tea and a bite of cake, then chewed thoughtfully as she looked out over the town. Time and again, her eye was drawn to the river; the way it ran forward to meet the rising sun somehow filled her heart with joy.

Sunny set down her teacup, then leaned forward and put her elbows on the railing. To her, the river, like the room behind her, was possibility. It carved its own path, going wherever it wanted, racing with arms spread wide to embrace whatever destiny it pleased.

Sunny watched the flowing water for a moment before she giggled to herself. She was like the river, too--she could do whatever she wanted. True, Mayor Tiara had been very generous, and it would be wrong to leave her in a bind, but that didn't mean she needed to stay here forever. Maybe, after a few months or a year, she would go out adventuring. Explore the wide, beautiful world and see what was in it. Maybe she would go to school, and study something crazy and fun, like dance or poetry. Maybe she could get a job with the weather patrol, wrangling storms and fighting blizzards. Or maybe she would even find a nice stallion, settle down somewhere, and raise a family. After all, the last librarian seemed to have been quite happy here--maybe she could be, as well.

But--Sunny took a deep breath of early-morning air and smiled. Whatever it was she did, she was going to do her best to do her part. Try to help as many as she could. Do whatever she needed to make ponies happy.

She had to--for the good of Equestria.

Appendix: Side-Fics

Author's Note

While working on this story--which has been in development since, no joke, 2012--I've had a number of ideas for side-stories. The only one that would definitely had happened, and been completely canon, would have been "The Best Night Ever," given how important its content would be to the story as a whole. The remainder of these would be of questionable canonicity, of variable tone, and of differing degrees of development, but they're still stories that might be fun to tell.

Enjoy.

Appendix: Side-Fics

Equestria Girls: Class of '92

Somewhere during the thousand years of Nightmare Moon's banishment, Celestia finds the magic mirror from Equestria Girls. She experiments a bit, and accidentally falls inside--where she emerges, disoriented and scared, as a human. Celestia stumbles around until she is almost hit by a car. She makes eye contact with the driver and stares--behind the wheel is another her.

Pony-Celestia and Human-Celestia ("Cece") return to Cece's apartment. Cece is a college student in the "1990s", and is somewhere in her twenties. She lives alone; she actually used to live with Luna, until she left, suddenly and on bad terms, to study astronomy on the other side of the country. [Alternately: they're still roommates, and excellent friends, which makes Celestia both jealous and sad.]

Cece, unsure of what to do with Celestia, leaves her in apartment while she goes to classes, but not before introducing her to the basics of the microwave, the TV, etc. (Celestia: "But... they don't act like friends..."). That night, they both sit down and have a long talk.

It turns out that Cece is studying something complicated, like engineering or math. However, she doesn't actually like it, and is rather unhappy. Celestia, drawing on her own unhappy experiences, tells her to do what she really wants, and she'll have no regrets. Cece brightens, and reveals that she wants to be a teacher.

[Cece may also give Celestia some advice, though what that would be I have no idea.]

Years later, Cece, now Principal Celestia, brings pony-Twilight into her office. She tells her that she knows she's from another world, and asks her to relay a message back to the other Celestia. She would like her to tell Celestia a little about what she's seen here--and to tell her "Thank You."

AU Celestia x Shining Armor

As in the main fic: on the eve of the Canterlot Wedding, Celestia asks Shining Armor to stand guard outside her office, in an effort to keep her away from not-Cadance. However, not-Cadance, suspecting the gig is up, subtly casts a spell on Celestia. When Shiny and Celestia are alone, Not-Cadance magically manipulates Celestia's own desperate loneliness, along with her own near-total control of Shining Armor, to get the two of them to have sex (with a tasteful "fade to black," of course).

The next morning, Celestia is barely beginning to wake up next to Shiny, when there's a knock at the door. Before she can respond, Twilight, followed by Real Cadance, burst in, eager to go after not-Cadance. However, both of them spot Celestia in bed with Shining, and immediately know what she's done.

Hours later, just as rumors are starting to spread, the Changeling Invasion happens. Without Cadance and Shining's love-bond to stop them, the Changelings are able to take control of the entire city, and Cadance, Celestia, Shining, Twilight, and a few others are barely able to escape. Though Cadance and Shining make up, neither Cadance or Twilight can bring themselves forgive Celestia. Celestia herself realizes that this was Chrysalis's plot the whole time--to drive a wedge between her and her few remaining friends. And, though she feels horrible for everything that has happened, Celestia can never really bring herself to apologize--because, as much as she hates to admit it, she would give anything for another few hours of feeling loved.

And, just as things look like they finally might be on the mend, Celestia realizes she's pregnant.

[This idea, even more than the others, is poorly developed: I have no idea where to take it from here. Maybe Preggo Celestia has to make up with everyone, then take the fight to the Changelings? Maybe Cadance retreats with Shining to the Crystal Empire, establishing an unfriendly and/or hostile kingdom to rival Equestria? Maybe Celestia and her Alicorn daughter(?) are exiled, or leave intentionally?

Though this particular side-story is deader than most of "Equestria," I'd still be interested in hearing any suggestions you might have...]

The Lost Sentry--Suggested by Eruantalon

Shortly after the return of the Crystal Empire, Flash Sentry is feeling lonely and unfulfilled. He goes to the library at Crystal U, where, with the help of a pretty young librarian named Twilight Sparkle, he begins to research to see whether he has any living relatives remaining outside of the Crystal Empire. During their research, Flash begins to notice Twilight, and starts having vague feelings for her; she, however, is either more interested in the challenging research, views him as a customer rather than an individual, or finds him irritating (Perhaps: Flash insists on calling her "Miss." After the third or fourth time, Twilight asks that he call her "Twilight," to which he responds "Of course, Miss Twilight.")

To Flash's surprise, it turns out that, after all the thousand yeasrs of wars, plagues, deaths, disappearances, and "forgot-to-fill-out-a-change-of-address-form"s, he does have a living relative: a distant great-niece, an orphaned young filly named Scootaloo (who, like him, is an orange pegasus).

Filled with dreams of "saving" her from her life on the streets, Flash, with the permission of Princess Cadance, takes a week off work and goes to Ponyville to try and bring Scootaloo back to the Crystal Empire with him. At first, Scootaloo is ecstatic to find that she has family--but the two of them clash over Scootaloo's uncouth, tomboyish behavior and Flash's stuffy, old-fashioned insistence on propriety (and she lives in a very nice foster home, thank you very much).

Things go badly (Perhaps Flash tries to teach her how to fly, not realizing/believing she's legitimately disabled? Perhaps he accidentally breaks her scooter?), but the two of them eventually make up.

On the way back to the Empire, Flash's train makes a stop in Canterlot, where, to his surprise, Princess Celestia is waiting for him. Celestia has heard from Cadance about Flash's mission, and, guessing it was going to go badly, has come with something that will make him feel better: an envelope, which he is to deliver directly to Twilight Sparkle.

Flash returns to the Empire, and, after reporting to Cadance on his apparent failure, goes by Twilight's apartment. On his way, he can feel his heart getting lighter. He realizes, suddenly, that he went to Ponyville for selfish reasons--he was looking to fill his own need for happiness, fulfilment, and companionship, rather than doing good for Scootaloo. However, maybe he didn't have to go that far to find what he was looking for; maybe, there's a chance that Miss Twilight could help in that regard...

It's fairly late at night when Flash knocks on Twilight's door. She opens it reluctantly, and Flash gives her the envelope. Twilight opens it, peers inside, then looks suspiciously up at him--and pulls out two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.

[This story would be followed, relatively shortly, by "The Best Night Ever"--which would be set up, rather nicely, by these events]

Flash x Fluttershy

A few months after the funeral, Flash returns to Ponyville by himself. He wanders the town a bit, sorrowfully taking in the sights, before heading to the library. There, he's greeted by Sunshine, who is thriving at her new post: she's redecorated the place, has started some outreach efforts to bring in more visitors, and really hams it up at storytime. She's also taking correspondence courses in the evening, on a wide variety of odd subjects. Maybe she's even dating one of the Apple's sons? (Flash may almost recognize her, but she doesn't remember him at all)

Sunny's cheery disposition rubs off on Flash, and he smiles a little. However, looking around the room at how much she's changed his old home, his melancholy returns. Sunny, sensing the change in his mood, goes quiet as well. She goes upstairs and returns with a cardboard box of personal effects she's found while cleaning out the library--the reason why she asked him to come back. Flash takes them, and sadly leaves.

Flash wanders Ponyville for a while, remembering his life with Twilight. Each new sight depresses him more and more, until he just sits down and puts his face in his hooves. After a few moments, he hears a familiar voice, and looks up to find Fluttershy.

Fluttershy invites him back to her home, and they talk a little. Fluttershy can tell that Flash is hurting, but he, as always, is reluctant to open up, trying to claim that his problems don't matter all that much. Despite his protests, that evening, Flash does not take the train back home, instead opting to stay somewhere in Ponyville (maybe even that bed-and-breakfast from "The Lost Sentry?").

Over the next several days, Fluttershy and Flash spend more and more time together. Flash is still reluctant to open up, but he does begin to share more details about himself: he's gotten a job teaching history at a public school (maybe even the School for Gifted Unicorns?), though the school is too big, competitive, and unfriendly for his tastes. He still has a couple of underage children, who are staying with their sister Aurora and/or their grandparents, the Sparkles. For her part, Fluttershy either never married, or has been widowed for several years; either way, she has no children of her own.

Throughout their various visits, Flash seems on the verge of opening up several times, but battens down the hatches before any real feeling can leak out. However, after several days, Flash says he has a question: as one of Twilight's friends, did she--towards the end--ever say anything about... him?

Before Fluttershy can answer, Flash sobs, then breaks down completely. Fluttershy is startled, but quickly brings him in for a hug. Flash reveals, while blubbering like a little colt, that he blames himself for Twilight's death. He tried to protect her all his life, and, the one time it mattered, he could do nothing to help her. His kids are still struggling, too--they need him to be the pillar of strength he's always been--but, with his own grief, it's too much for him to manage. And, with all these burdens on his soul, he's not sure how he can carry on...

Fluttershy eventually calms him down. Flash, somewhat embarrassed, tells Fluttershy that this is the first the he's cried for Twilight. Fluttershy says that she's gotten very good at helping ponies over the years, and he's not the first pony that's cried on her shoulder before.

Flash goes home, but returns frequently to see Fluttershy. Eventually, they develop into close friends, and, a few years later, get married. Flash is deliriously happy with Fluttershy, though it's a different, and no less meaningful, happiness than what he shared with Twilight. Flash's kids are initially skeptical, but quickly adopt Fluttershy as one of their own.

2: Starswirl and Cadance

The Equestrian Alliance begins to fall apart. Before, things had been rough, but now, with Luna gone, her face burned into the moon, and Celestia unwilling to talk, ponies assume that Celestia murdered her to take her power. Though Luna hadn't really been a public figure for months, she was dearly beloved, and had personally brought a great deal of the Alliance into the fold; with her gone, there's nothing to keep them from leaving.

In the middle of the unraveling of her dream, Celestia retreats to her bedchambers--only to find a mysterious unicorn there. He wears a wide-brimmed hat low over his face, a dirty cloak covering most of his body, and sports a thick beard. He identifies himself as Starswirl, and says, cryptically, that he is a good friend of Luna's. Celestia wants him to go away, but Starswirl won't leave her alone. He constantly critiques her policy decisions, addresses her only as "Celestia," not "Princess," and is a general nuisance. Though Celestia begins to loathe him personally, she, eventually starts to see sense in his advice (though she still is reluctant to follow it).

During this time, Celestia basically adopts Cadance as her own daughter. After a rough start, they begin to bond, and "Caydee" and "Auntie" grow very close. The more Celestia hates Starswirl, the more she loves Cadance--though she is very, very careful to specify that she is not her mother, she is her aunt. However, that distinction doesn't seem to matter much to either of them.

Starswirl eventually begins to teach Celestia chess. In her time off, Celestia would rather take a long bath and a nap, but Starswirl insists she needs the instruction: chess will teach her how to more effectively rule. He explains the pieces to her: the pawns represent the "common" people, those with no particular skills, but who can be taught them. The Rooks, Bishops, and Knights represent her closest advisors, who each have different ways to tackle problems (he instructs her that she needs to figure out what those strengths are, and how to utilize them most effectively). And the King and Queen both represent Celestia herself: the king is her weaknesses, which she needs to be aware of and protect, while the Queen represents her limited, but still incredible, power to interfere directly. Celestia says, weakly, that she doesn't think the Queen will ever see much use, but Starswirl ignores her comment.

After a few months, Starswirl begins to pressure Celestia into throwing a festival. Celestia resists, but Starswirl insists that she needs to take control of her public image. She is seen by her people as capricious, vengeful, and frightened because she has given then nothing else to believe: if she wants to succeed as a monarch, she has to learn how to do PR. For this reason, Starswirl suggests she inaugurate the Summer Sun festival, to commemorate her yearly "refueling" of the sun. Such a festival would remind everyone of exactly how important she is in their lives, and imbue her with a little mysticism to boot. When she expresses reluctance, Starswirl points out that now might be a good time to find a "Pawn"--find someone who, with her help, could become great and powerful. The first thing she should do is give them a chance to prove themselves, by asking them to plan the Summer Sun festival. Celestia objects to the term "Pawn," to which Starswirl dismissively suggests the word "Student" instead.

Celestia's first Student is Firefly, the general she left in charge at the battle against the Crystal army. Firefly, with Celestia's help, establishes the EUP guard, and chooses the best fliers to become an elite performance squad.

The Festival is, of course, a hit, and, as soon as things die down a bit, Starswirl suggests she start planning a similar fall-time festival, for the anniversary of the banishment of Luna. This suggestion deeply offends Celestia, who is still very sore over the subject, but Starswirl says that she can't miss this opportunity to shape the narrative. If she turns Nightmare Moon into a cartoony villain rather than an actual, once-beloved public figure, then people will eventually forget her mistake entirely. This is doubly true of the children--all she needs to do is convince them, then wait. If she can raise them to believe that Nightmare Moon means candy and fun, rather than the end of all things, then, eventually, they will become the movers and shakers of the world, and teach their own children about the fun, not the horrors, of Nightmare Night. Eventually, no one will remember anything different. Starswirl, of course, is right, and Nightmare Night goes off without a hitch.

When Cadance is two or three, she asks Celestia, late one night, about her parents. Celestia, unsure of what to say, tells her that her father was mighty king, who loved his people very much. Cadance, pleased, asks about her mother. Celestia reluctantly tells her that her mother is the mare-in-the-moon; Cadance thinks she's joking, but Celestia quickly changes the subject.

Back in her bedroom, telling her story, Celestia's expression hardens. She tells her listeners that, next come the Changelings. One of the three listeners (Sill?) becomes excited, and says that he's always wanted to know more about Changelings--which enrages Celestia. She lays into him, saying, in no uncertain terms, that Changelings are monsters, violent and destructive, and are never to be trusted. They abduct ponies and eat them, taking their place to leach magic from their loved ones. And they would bring down all of Equestria, if they could.

(Celestia's hatred is admittedly extreme, and, though she's very insistent, one or two of the others may exchange looks--hinting that, though she sincerely believes what she's saying, it might not necessarily be the truth.)

Celestia calms down a bit, and explains further: despite what people think, Changelings are relatively rare. They live in small hives scattered across the map, with each hive having a different carapace color and distinguishing feature: some have wings, some have horns, but none have both ("Well... one did," she remarks cryptically). Changelings are largely vegetarian, but their Queens, who need protein to produce eggs, are carnivorous. Most often, Changelings hunt small prey to bring back to the Hive, but their preferred food is ponies. Agents from the various hives will occasionally strike out for a pony settlement, where they will capture a victim (of their same "type," i.e., horned changelings capture exclusively unicorns) and impersonate them. However, their disguises are not very good, and tend to be discovered within a few days or a week. As soon as the Changeling is discovered, a search needs to be mounted for the victim: they can usually be found relatively safe and sound, but oftentimes they will have already been dragged back to the Hive, or have died of thirst or hunger on the way. Again, despite popular opinion, Changelings don't "eat" love (at least not in the traditional sense), but it does appear to power their native magics.

Once that's cleared up, Celestia resumes her story:

When Cadance was three or four, a slick politician from the Sunset Republic arrived at the palace. The Sunset Republic, once the Desert Confederacy, was a nation composed of former Alliance territories, situated in the deserts to the west. They've been causing trouble, but nothing too bad; however, Celestia is still extremely wary (she views even the name itself as a threat--it's a "republic" [a democracy, in contrast to her own benevolent monarchy] that seeks Celestia's "sunset"). The politician stays in the Canterlot Palace for a day or two, and is generally slimy, but harmless.

Celestia wakes up in the middle of the night, feeling something is deeply wrong. She goes to check on Cadance--and finds her bed empty and the window open. Celestia sprints to the window, and sees the Sunset Politician, with a struggling bag thrown over his shoulder, making a beeline for the gates. Celestia, infuriated, rallies the Guard and goes after him.

The chase should have been over in fifteen minutes--but this guy is good. He continually jukes and dodges them, leading them ever westward. It becomes clear (perhaps via letter?) that the politician is a bit of a fanatic. He wants to raise Luna's daughter to try and challenge Celestia for the throne.

Eventually, the politician leads them to a thick jungle/forest--Changeling territory. Against her better judgment, Celestia and her guards go in after him... and, almost immediately, things go wrong. They stumble on the site of a great battle, with the broken corpse of the Politician in the center of the clearing, with blood, both pony and changeling, all around. They try to follow the trail of the retreating forces, but are set upon by Changelings taking the form of loved ones, dear friends, even other guards that have already been killed. Celestia's forces are decimated, and Celestia herself, following Cadance's screams, charges deeper into the jungle. When she loses the trail, she's surrounded by Changelings in the trees, mocking her cries and imitating Cadance. Celestia, angry and frightened, lights her horn and explodes.

When the dust clears, Celestia is standing in a fresh clearing, surrounded by piles of ash that used to be trees and brush. In the sudden silence, she calls out: "You have made an enemy."

Celestia, tired, injured, and broken, both physically and spiritually, returns home alone, already grieving for Cadance (who she believes to be dead). Almost as soon as she sets foot in the door, she is set upon by Starswirl, who begins to nitpick and harass her as he used to do. Celestia asks him to leave her alone--now is not the time--but he continues to needle her, even digging at her failure to rescue Cadance. At that, Celestia snaps.

Using her magic, she flings him across the room and bellows at him to leave her alone, to go away and never come back, and--

And she suddenly trails off.

Starswirl is now lying awkwardly on his back, allowing his robe to fall away. And, for the first time, Celestia sees his coat--his crystal coat. Starswirl is a white Crystal unicorn.

Celestia, awed, tries to help him up, but he refuses her help. He confirms that, yes, he is indeed a refugee from the Crystal Empire. He was Sombra's court magician, and actually served under him while Luna was there, which is how he came to know her. However, he saw the writing on the wall, and left the Empire before it vanished, finding a way to sever himself from the Crystal Heart. He has no idea what happened to the rest of the Empire, and, to his knowledge, only him and a very few others were able to escape (He knows the names of the other refugees, but he swore on his life he would never reveal them). This is why he's been so hard on Celestia, in fact--he wanted to keep her from making the same mistakes Sombra did.

And now, he says, her lessons are complete. Aside from everything else he was striving to teach her, he wanted her to learn, most of all, that, sometimes, rulers need to make the hard decisions. They need to be able to say what they want, clearly and forcefully enough for those around them to obey--and Celestia, afraid both of her own power and offending those around her, would not issue such commands. Though her most recent command came a little more force than he was hoping, she has now passed the test. He bows his head and, calling her "Princess," humbly takes leave of her as her mentor--and kindly asks if she would be willing to retain him as her advisor. Celestia, somewhat numbly, accepts.

As the years roll on, Celestia and Starswirl become good friends. They play chess together often, and Celestia actually starts to win a few games. Starswirl helps Celestia truly come into her role as Princess, and maybe even bring a few wayward provinces back to the Equestrian Alliance. With his help, Equestria constructs the prison of Tartarus in the caverns inside a high mountain, which they use to hold the various monsters that have been plaguing them. However, he is unable to stop the spread of dark magic within the forest that holds the Palace of the Two Sisters; whatever Luna had done had poisoned the land, and its stain was spreading. The forest, which rebelled against the natural order because of this magic, eventually comes to be known as the Everfree Forest.

Starswirl, to Celestia's consternation, suggests building a statuary garden and putting the statue of Discord inside it. He claims that would be the best way to hide such a potentially dangerous object--as a statue among statues, it would be much less conspicuous than if it was tucked away in a locked, guarded storage closet. Celestia reluctantly agrees.

Starswirl also studies Celestia's accounts of how she defeated Sombra, Discord, and Nightmare Moon, and (correctly) identifies what exactly happened: Sombra has been stripped of his physical body, but roams the snowy wastes as a wraith, and Discord and Nightmare Moon have been sealed away for (very roughly) 1000 years each. He advises her to prepare to deal with each of them again, though Celestia, still frightened by her last encounter with the Elements, is reluctant to find new Bearers.

As time goes on, Starswirl begins to throw himself into his magical research. It's clear to Celestia that he's desperately trying to find something, but he will never tell her what. Their relationship suffers, though Celestia still considers him a good friend--and, occasionally, she even fantasizes about inviting him up to her chambers...

Suddenly, Starswirl gets very sick, and it's clear he's about to die. Celestia visits his bedside, and, as his parting words to her, he begs her to remember that "It's not your fault. Sombra, the Empire, Luna, Cadance--me--none of it." He dies soon after, which devastates Celestia--she cries for days, more so than she has for anyone else, even Cadance. She tries to follow his advice to not blame herself, but she finds herself unable to do so.

Celestia eventually resolves to keep ponies at a distance. She wants to be a good person, but she does not trust herself to love again--not as the only immortal being in the entire world. She hates to think what would happen next time she loses someone (FORESHADOWING).

Author's Note

One of my goals in this fic was to explain several apparently-odd decisions of Celestia in a way that would make sense in-universe; for example, the fact that Celestia leaves the prison of an elder chaos god out in the open in a public park is explained by Starswirl's insistence that the best way to protect it is to not draw attention to it. If you look carefully, you'll notice more of this sort of thing throughout the fic, especially several of Celestia's stranger decisions from Season 1 and 2.

14: Et In Arcadia, Ego

Celestia visits regularly, up until Twilight is in her fifties or sixties--definitely aging, but still rather young. Celestia notices that she's starting to lose weight, and is developing a bit of a cough, and urges her to go see the doctor. Celestia makes a special visit to see her the day she's supposed to hear the results. She lets herself into the library, and finds Twilight sitting quietly in a window seat, staring out at the landscape. Twilight looks up as Celestia enters--and Celestia finds that she doesn't need to ask her what the doctor said.

Twilight knows her time is short, and her family quickly rallies around her. She tries to teach them what she can, in addition to writing her own memoirs and otherwise getting her affairs in order. She puts on a good face, but secretly admits she's scared: she's not afraid of whatever happens next, but doesn't want to leave her friends and family behind--not when there's still more to do. Flash keeps his own feelings buttoned up tight, but confides in Celestia that he's terrified.

In the meantime, Celestia is doing everything she can to save Twilight. The best doctors in Equestria are at her beck and call, and Celestia has opened the treasury to pay them. More importantly, Celestia tries to visit Twilight and lend support when she can--but, every time she sees her, Celestia can think of nothing but Starswirl's Journal, burning in her fireplace. The image comes to haunt her dreams.

Despite everything, Twilight wastes away far too quickly, and soon she's in the hospital. Celestia does everything she can to force the doctors to make her better--until Twilight herself gently asks Celestia to "Let me go." Celestia, stunned into silence, suddenly turns and leaves.

The next day, Celestia receives a thick packet of letters, postmarked from the hospital. As she examines them, she realizes that they're Friendship Reports, written by every member of Twilight's family, from the youngest granddaughter, up to Flash Sentry himself (who writes a somewhat-stiff, formal note in painfully-precise script).

The very last sheet in the stack was covered in thin, spidery letters, with ink in several different colors—as if the author had to stop and start again several times.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, a very good friend of mine gave up something that was very, very dear to her. I’m not sure if she entirely understands how much this means to me; wherever I go next, I hope to somehow repay her for her kindness.

She taught me the power of sacrifice. Giving up something dear to you is the purest form of love—it shows you care for your friends more than you care for yourself. I never really understood that until she showed it to me.

I thank you for all that you’ve done for me. It will never be forgotten—not by me, or by my family. I promise that.

Your faithful stu Love,

Twilight Sparkle

At that moment, a palace guard bursts into the room, followed closely by a doctor. Celestia looks up, then begins to cry.

[Excerpt: "Let me go"]

At the funeral, Celestia, wearing her dark dress and low, wide-brimmed hat, is seated in the front row, off to the side. All of Twilight's many friends and relatives are here, all of them touched in some way by her life. Celestia can tell just how much she meant to all of them--and how empty their lives are now that she's gone.

Celestia hears her name spoken, and looks up. Every pony present is looking at her. After a moment of silence, the priest repeats his request: he wants to know if, as her dearest friend, not to mention a Princess, if she has anything she'd like to say.

Celestia swallows. She knows what she would like to say: she'd like to tell everyone about how much of a failure and a fraud she is. She, the immortal princess of the sun, the ruler of Equestria for over a millenium, who has fought demons and dragons, who has challenged literal gods, and who has hammered the lifeless wasteland into a growing green garden fit for all ponies everywhere, cannot even save the one thing she truly cares about.

But she could have, once. Once upon a time, she could have saved Twilight. She held it in her hooves--the spell that would have fixed everything. The spell that would have kept her alive, and kept her from suffering, and prevented all this from happening. But she was too weak, and too scared. She didn't know how badly this would hurt--not just her, but those all around her. If she had known, then perhaps--perhaps she would have--and then, none of them would be here right now. None of them would be sad. And Twilight--Twilight would still be here. And nothing would be able to hurt her anymore.

Celestia opens her mouth to speak--but quickly closes her mouth again and shakes her head. Luna, sitting next to her, notices her distress, and quickly stands, gives a short speech for the two of them, and sits.

Later, at the reception, Celestia is sitting by herself, beating herself up for everything that she could have done, but didn't. All the mistakes she made. All her failures. How much everypony is hurting, all because of her.

In the midst of her reverie, Flash Sentry gently approaches her. He takes a seat beside her, then, without looking at her, begins to talk. At first, he talks about nothing in particular--all the ponies who have made it to the funeral, all the letters and cards and well-wishes they've recieved, and so on--but Celestia does not respond.

Flash glances at her, then sighs heavily. "I just wanted to say," he says finally, "thanks for everything."

Celestia does not react. Flash waits a moment, then continues: he wants to thank her for how much she's done over the years. And, especially, to thank her for how much she's meant. To all of them. Twilight's friendship with Celestia was one of the deepest and closest that she ever had. True, he and Twilght have led simple lives--but those lives have been full, and warm, and loving, and Flash can't think of any way they could have been happier. Their lives wouldn't have been the same without Celestia--none of theirs would.

Flash hesitates, then thanks her again, this time for how much she tried to help after Twilight got sick. She did everything she could, and, though, in the end, she couldn't be saved, it still meant so much to both of them that she'd tried.

Celestia takes a deep, shuddering breath, then looks up at Flash. I could have saved her, she thinks to herself. If I had been a little stronger, then she could have told me that herself.

Flash meets her eye, and, frightened by what he sees, gets up and walks away. Celestia watches him go, then turns her gaze to the floor again.