The halls of Canterlot Castle stood barren as the reception for the wedding died down. Not one soul wandered the many floors and room, not one that wandered that was. Soft clinks were heard as a set of four golden hoofshoes fell on the marble floors leading to the royal chambers. The owner of these walked with her gentle smile still on her lips, her regal purple eyes were half closed in blissful anticipation of the night’s rest that awaited her. The white alicorn rounded a corner and saw Bliss Rose, her personal maid, waiting outside the door to her room. As she approached the pink unicorn she bowed respectfully to her friend, and boss.
“Good evening Princess Celestia,” Bliss Rose’s smile widened as Celestia approached the sweet mare. “Shall I draw a bath for you?” As much as Celestia wanted to climb into a warm bath she felt the activities of the day catch up to her and longed for the sweet embrace of her bed.
“Not tonight Rose, but thank you. Right now my bed is what I long for.” Celestia’s voice gently flowed through the air with a melodic sound similar to a mother and her children. The mare just smiled sweetly and respectively, before bowing one last time and beginning in the direction Celestia just came from. The sound of her hooves falling on the floor reached the princesses ears as she also began to walk to the gold and oak door that led into her chambers. Just as Celestia began reaching out with her magic to grasp the door handle she heard Rose stop and her voice drifted across the hall.
“I nearly forgot,” a light chuckle carried itself as well before she continued. “Princess Luna came a few minutes ago, she's waiting for you in your room, princess.” Celestia’s smile flickered. She knew why Luna was waiting for her, but she didn't want to.
“Thank you,” her gentle smile solidified again before she turned to look at her maid. “Goodnight Rose.”
“Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning princess,” with those last few words Rose walked down the hall and around the corner. Celestia listened to her hoofsteps for a few more seconds before letting her smile fail. With a heavy sigh she reached out with her golden magic and opened the door.
The room was silent sat for the gentle breathes of the dark blue alicorn, who was standing on the open balcony, and the crackling fire nearby. The night was cold but not to an uncomfortable stage, Princess Luna looked out at her night sky, the stars unobstructed by any clouds and every one glistening as diamonds on dark purple velvet. Her turquoise eyes wandered to watch the ponies below, here and there, light streamed through a window into the street, in a few you could make out the shapes of ponies, playing, enjoying the night. A smile crept onto the princess’s lips. A new sound started. Voices, ponies, her sister. After a few moments she heard the door to the room slowly open.
Hoofsteps filled the room as Celestia walked through the door, sure enough Luna stood in the open door onto her balcony. She closed her eyes and walked in, closing the door behind her without a second thought. After, the sisters just stood in their respective places, neither moving or speaking. Finally Celestia chose to break the thick veil of silence that held the room.
“Good evening Luna,” she looked to the dark alicorn and watched as she turned to face her.
“Hello sister,” Luna’s voice was level in volume, yet her sister could tell that she rather would have been quite a bit louder. “I presume you know why I'm here.” Celestia closed her eyes again as fatigue grew over her.
“Yes,” Celestia responded without even looking at Luna. “However, I am tired and need some rest. How about we discuss this tomorr…”
“You and I both know that you would rather never speak of what transpired today,” Luna’s voice grew in volume as she spoke before she reigned it back in. “But, what happened must be talked about.” Her tone grew an underside of a much different intent. “Lest our subjects begin to talk in shadows about it.” The thick, dark veil of silence returned to the space between the alicorns, separating the sisters as the thought began to rise.
“Celestia,” Luna’s gentle voice banished the darkness and filled the room with peace, but the peace brought did nothing to help what Celestia herself was feeling. “No, Tia.” Luna only called her that when she was trying to comfort her big sis. “Why did you hold back?” Luna took a step forward.
“You and I know that you could have squashed that bug with ease, yet you chose not to act. Why sister?” her questions stung Celestia. The truth was painful to her, and reminded her of what she had seen. A visible shutter ran through her body. Her violet eyes met with her sister’s worried gaze, apparently she did shutter.
“Luna, I… I just…” scenes flashed in front of her eyes. The queen. She won. Canterlot… Celestia’s eyes squeezed shut and her head gently shook trying to banish the thought. No, the memory.
“What is it Tia?” Luna’s concern brought her back to the present.
“I just couldn't…”
“Couldn't what?” she took a few more steps forward.
“I couldn't risk it… I can't control it as well as I hoped. You know that,” her head lowered. Luna's brow furrowed some.
“Of course you can control your magic, why wouldn't you be able…” Celestia snapped at Luna's words.
“Because it's not my magic!” Her voice echoed around her room as she felt the fire burning brighter in her. Luna took a step back, a flicker of fear trickled into her bright turquoise eyes. “Luna, I'm sorry…” she felt the tiny bit of a twitch in her eyes, it was getting harder to control.
“Tia, its fine,” her voice didn't exactly match her words. “What do you mean it's not yours?” She regained a bit of ground.
“It's… not me,” Celestia lowered her voice to a whisper. “I feel, her, inside me. Like if I don't keep her under lock and key, I'll loose control over me, I won't be able to control what I do.” She felt her eyes begin to water, but she held back the tears. “I saw what would have happened, if I had won.” Luna seemed to take even more interest.
“Another vision? What happened?” Celestia heard a few more hoofsteps coming towards her. Her cheek felt a warm tear roll down it.
Her mind flashed back to the memory of the vision she had.
“And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love then any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power that we have ever dreamed of!” The crowd had a shocked expression on their faces. “… soon we will take Canterlot and then, all of Equestria!” The queen buzzed up and into the air, hovering with triumph.
“No, you won't,” Celestia stepped up, staring daggers at the bug in her kingdom. “You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to preform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self,” she ran towards the queen and they clashed horns. “I can protect my subjects,” her wings spread as she took to the air, above the pest. “From you!”
Her horn lit as did the queen’s, her golden magic shone as the bug shrieked as their magic clashed. The sickly green began to claim more ground, and Celestia realized just how much power the parasite had stolen from her captain of the guard. For a moment it looked as thought the queen would win, until Celestia gave her magic her all, her horn ceased glowing golden and instead glowed with an intense fire, bright as the sun. The air grew in temperature and the queen began to quickly fail, the force of the princess’s magic pressed down on the insect, her legs gave way as she crumbled to the floor painfully, but kept her horn pointed up, instead of trying to defeat the alicorn, she was trying to defend herself long enough for her changelings to break the barrier and come to her aid.
Celestia’s normally kind eyes now held only rage at the infestation in her home, and her face showed no mercy. She poured more and more power into the spell as her coat began turning an ashy color and her mane began to flow fiercely and began washing into a slight orange as if made of pure fire. Her magic pushed down on the pitifully weak magic that the bug hoped would defend itself, eventually a sound like glass breaking filled the air as the changeling queen’s magic cracked under the magic of the sun before shattering. The queen screamed briefly before Princess Celestia stopped her spell, looking down at the pitiful insect with no remorse, or mercy. The queen briefly lit her horn and aimed it at her again. “They never learn to give up, do they,” thought Celestia before lighting her horn and ridding Canterlot of its pest problem.
“How is that so bad Tia?” Luna asked as her sister stopped explaining what she had seen. “You would have stopped the queen.”
“Because I couldn't have kept a handle on how much magic I really used!” she had tears pouring from her eyes freely as she shouted, more memories bubbling back up.
As Celestia lowered herself to the ground she saw her coat burned to a pure black, her mane and tail were made of pure fire, burning as hot as the sun and they burned the plush carpet beneath her hooves. Her legs had cracks forming, out of which came magma as scorching as the core of the world, her hooves were melted completely, magic being the only thing keeping them from running over the floor but drops still fell here and there. Her eyes had shifted to red, dragon eyes and now widened and stared out at her home. The sky had shifted to browns and oranges, the sun was ten times as large and burning hotter then every before, Canterlot was burning from the immense heat pouring from the burning orb, ponies in the street weren't worried about the invasion so much as worrying about the fires all around them, shops and homes had ponies running out the doors into the streets, trying to flee from the destruction all around.
Sections of the palace had collapsed from the combination of heat and pure power the princess and the queen had traded. The few ponies who were still in the room looked at their princess, fear filling their eyes as they gazed at the alicorn before them. A chunk of the roof had caved in, showing the only the sun throught the large hole, under the chunks Celestia could see a few ponies trapped and a few unconscious, or worse. A group were gathered around one of the larger chunks and looked to be trying to lift it, the group consisted of five mares, a small dragon, Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor, peaking out from under the edge of the rock was a purple hoof. The hoof didn't move.
Celestia sobbed in a heap on the floor. Luna stood nearby, her eyes wide and unbelieving, with a hoof on her sister’s back trying to soothe her wails.
“But you didn't sister,” Luna whispered, desperately offering comfort to her. “Everypony’s okay, Twilight Sparkle is okay. Equestria is safe.”
“But is it safe with me still here?” Celestia’s words were choked out as her sobs quieted. Her mind was in a torrent, what she had seen, what she could have done…
“What do you mean Tia?” Luna interrupted her downward spiral. Celestia looked down in shame.
“Maybe Equestria would be safer without me in it,” her eyes fell on Luna, tears jerking at their corners. “I'm a danger to everypony! I can barely use simple spells without using too much! I've ruined at least twelve tea sets because I get just a little to distracted and I crush them with hardly any effort! The only time I can let myself go is when I leave to wander the Badlands! The Badlands for ponies sake!” Tears poured down her cheeks, splashing on her legs. Luna looked at her, realization dawning on her face.
“So that's where I see you sneaking off to,” her face was soft, comforting, yet it had a hint of fear still dwelling in the shadows. "Sister, you know as well as I, the ponies of Equestria would be lost without you here," she moved in closer. "I would be lost."
“But…” Celestia’a voice started cracking with sorrow. “How could I be sure that I wouldn't mess up like that, I could…”
“Tia, you won't. I…” Luna started only to be cut off.
”I could kill ponies with a single spell and it wouldn't even be that difficult! I could burn the entirety of Equestria just by changing one thing in my everyday routine!” her eyes flickered between her violet eyes to a bright red with pupils like a dragon. “I have more power in one hoof then half the unicorns in the world! Do you realize how easy it would be to loose my power for a moment!?” Her eyes flickered but the red lasted this time, she looked at her sister, wings raised to their full height as the feathers began to slightly smolder. Luna had taken several steps back and was looking at Celestia, fear evident in her eyes as she stared into the eyes of somepony else in her sister’s stead.
“Tia?” That one word seemed to cool the fire burning hotter in Celestia’s mind and after folding her wings and closing her eyes she sat back down. When her eyes opened they had returned to the eyes of a pony and faded back to purple.
“I don't know how long I can do this Luna,” her voice was quiet again, the gentleness returning to its rightful place. Luna was looking at her with fear still evident. She had never seen that side of her sister, the rage, the sorrow, the power, it scared her.
“Tia, if you never let this side grow it will only fester and grow,” Luna took a few steps back towards the white alicorn. “You need to show the ponies this side of you, they deserve to know.”
“I know,” Celestia was facing her balcony, her head still, the crown atop her head had fallen off and now laid on the floor. “I've already planned to slowly change, over several decades of course. I don't want my ponies to be terrified of me.”
“Very well Tia,” Luna walked towards the door, her eyes opened and worried. “I will see you for sunrise tomorrow.” She took one final glance back at Celestia, who still looked out at the night through the open doors. “Goodnight Celestia.”
“Goodnight Luna.” With that the door opened and the closed behind the princess of the night.
She sat in silence for a while, her only company being the wind that gently blew through the doors. The doors rattled a few times as they were hit with a strong wind. A second later they were slammed shut with a small burst of golden-red magic that faded as soon as it started. A tear rolled its way down her cheek and fell to the carpet. Her eyes opened to reveal bright red eyes, with dragon pupils. With a heavy sigh she closed them again before her mouth opened and a different voice emanated from her lips.
“Goodnight Solar Flare.” Her eyes did not open as she stood and stamped a hoof where the tear had landed. She then turned and walked off to remove her regalia and go to sleep. Where her tear had landed, now was a small patch of carpet gone, the edges burned and curling away from the center, the stone underneath had a small bit of lava settling into a small divot, where it cooled to form a small pool of black obsidian.