All Behind Celestial Rays

Chapters

The Beginning
Something To Notice
When Things Start To Change
Beware the Ones Yearning For Justice
What's Found in the Forest
A Trip Seemed Wasted
After Dawn, Was It?
The Cool-Down
Different Endings
Priorities
Expectation In Two Ways
Finally, But Don't Ever
I Think You Thought the Wrong Thing
I Can't Seem To Get It Through Your Thick Head
Broken
One Day

The Beginning

It was a clear, bright morning, and alicorns were flying or running around in a game of chase, or practicing magic in preparation for the coming Solar exams.

Celestia plodded along the path of solid lunar-like stone, which appeared blank and grey in the daytime, but glowed brightly with a white light during the night. There was a field of grass on the left of the path as well as the right, and on both sides of her were a group friends studying or playing around, or just talking and enjoying one another’s company.

She didn’t really have friends here - she realized that she didn’t quite fit into any group, but she was fine with it; All she needed was her one good friend, Starswirl.

His formal name was Sir Starswirl, because his father was a soldier of the royal guard - and usually it was customary for an alicorn to refer to a guard formally - but Celestia felt she had a special connection with Starswirl that allowed her to call him anything she liked.

At the end of the path she reached the entrance to the Central Castle, where every alicorn lived. The pillars and the entire structure didn’t seem to ever end; It seemed to reach far above the clouds, so that she couldn’t even dream to gaze at the very top.

She smiled as she stared at the magnificent castle for a few moments longer, and then started inside and made her way through the dark, marble-like, shiny corridor that welcomed her. There were tables on the far right of her for studying, with a few ferns lining the corners of the building, and dark blue pillars lined up on every side until the very end of the corridor. Chandeliers which glowed like the stars hung far above her, making it seem like she was looking up at the night sky.

This was what was known as the Lunar Corridor. Half of the building belonged to the night, and half belonged to the day. Despite this, the alicorns that lived inside had their own special thing to control.

She smiled, remembering the fact that Starswirl’s mom controlled the clouds and the weather. Her own mother and father reigned the entire building, and even the rest of the alicorns were their subjects. Her mother, Vibrant Sunrise, was ruler of the day and the sun - On the other hand, her father - Nebula - ruled the moon and everything of the night.

When Vibrant Sunrise’s light burned out, it would be Celestia’s turn to rule the day. Even though the idea of the responsibility was incredible to her, the thought of her mother not being around made her feel sick to her stomach.

I won’t think about that, she decided quickly, and shook her head to clear it. Feeling the need for a distraction from these thoughts, she decided to go look for Starswirl.

She began sprinting down the corridor, her hooves slippery on the marble floor, and burst into the next room which only led to another corridor. Sometimes she wondered what the point was for all these rooms. She made it into the next corridor and spotted Starswirl intently practicing on a spell to create a trio of lit candles from thin air.

Quietly stepping toward him, not wanting to disturb his training, she watched a white glow bubble from his lit horn, she began to admire how skilled he was in magic. Many alicorn professors marvelled on how advanced he was - but everypony knew that his mother, Princess Cloudwhisper, passed down to him her magic abilities - and not exactly in the way that many ponies would like.

It was frowned upon for an alicorn to marry a simple soldier, especially because of the fact that two alicorns produced children with the same abilities as they harbored in order that whatever they controlled would continue to stay in control and their unique magic would live on. Now that Princess Cloudwhisper and Sharp Sheath couldn’t have an alicorn child, the responsibility of her own magic to control the weather would have to weigh on her own shoulders, and everypony would have to hope that she lived for a long time. If anything were to… happen to her… perhaps it would be in the hooves of the pegasi to take on the task. Celestia knew though, that this was a tall order.

Would they ever really be able to fill Cloudwhisper’s horse-shoes?

Celestia shook her head, deciding that these thoughts were too negative to be reflecting over on a day like this. She decided to focus on her friend and his spell.

Starswirl’s eyes were squeezed shut, and a his face was scrunched up in intense concentration. Suddenly, a yellow spark fizzled into thin air, and exploded into three candles lit with flame, surrounded by his magic as he levitated it.

Celestia’s breath was taken away as she widened her eyes in pure awe, and breathed, “That… was… amazing!”

Starswirl had been so intent on his spell that he hadn’t even noticed her presence and flinched in surprise, his levitation spell dissipating immediately. He let out a squeak as the candles plummeted in what seemed like slow motion and shattered immediately as they hit the floor, chunks of wax spilling out on the shiny marble with the reflection of the flame resting in the sheen.

Starswirl was frozen, his face pale and his golden eyes locked on the broken candles before him. Celestia was about to apologize when she noticed that the flame on the trio of candles was growing a bit broader, spreading from the wick to the fractured shards of white solid material that was quickly melting and staining the marble floor. In spontaneous instinct she created a rain spell that dropped a shower of droplets onto the candles and instantly put out the blaze, leaving a large puddle of charred wax on the floor.

As she breathed a sigh of relief, Starswirl started, and snapped his gaze to meet hers, his piercing eyes filled with a combination of indignation and ire.

“You just destroyed the evidence I’d finally had for a spell that you know I’ve been working on for weeks!”

Celestia ducked her head and unraveled her wings, lifting them slowly to rest on her ears and cover half of her face, unease and embarrassment pulsing in her chest.

“I… um… s-sorry,” she whispered.

Starswirl growled and hauled himself to his hooves, turning toward the opening to the next corridor which led to the library.

Celestia guessed he was going to practice there alone, and her heart lurched.

I want to play! She thought, and quickly folded her wings and bounded in front of him.

“Do you want to go up the staircase and play in my father’s dorm?” She suggested.

“No, I’m going to go practice my magic. By myself.” He started toward the direction of the next corridor, but Celestia cut in front of him a second time, knowing this was her last chance to change his mind, and blurted,

“I can cast a better spell than you can!”

Starswirl froze and widened his eyes with indignation, his iris shrinking with shock.

“W-What… did you just say…?”

Celestia smiled slightly.

Got you.

“I can easily beat you in any contest of magic. I’m an alicorn. Unlike you, I don’t need to practice.”

Starswirl gaped, and his eyes glowed with rage.

“Oh,” Celestia murmured softly, “You think you could beat me?”

“I know I could beat you!” Starswirl exclaimed.

“Okay, then. Prove it.”

Starswirl immediately turned toward the puddle of wax and, igniting the magic of his horn, surrounded it in the yellow glow that his magic produced, white sparks shooting from his horn in the intensity of the spell.

The puddle of wax disappeared in a burst of white light, then reappeared after a second flash in the form of three new candles without flame.

Once he had carefully set it on a round table beside them he met her gaze and said smoothly, “Think you can do better than that?”

Celestia smiled and bounced over to the other side of the table, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the target that was the trio of candles.

She began to levitate the candles and squeezed her eyes shut. The yellow glow surrounding her horn - similar to the kind Starswirl produced - grew broader as she focused, the difficulty of the spell becoming apparent in her concentration. She opened her eyes slightly and saw that the candles were now a white silhouette. The barrier of her magic began to expand until it flashed in a sheet of white light, and both Starswirl and Celestia had to shield their eyes against the momentary glare. In the effect of the strength of her magic, gleaming rays shown off what Celestia had created out of the candles: A large bouquet of scarlet red roses.

With the object still levitated in her magic, Celestia moved it gently over to Starswirl and ceased her spell, and the bouquet of roses dropped at his hooves.

Without meeting her gaze Starswirl whispered,

“You win.”

Celestia plodded to his side and wrapped a hoof around his shoulders, and she felt him tense under her embrace.

“No,” Celestia said, “We win!”

Starswirl shrugged her off and stepped to the side, the expression of his eyes returning to the unreadable, emotionless yellow stones that they usually were.

“You tricked me,” He observed, and Celestia nodded, her eyes growing wide with her smile. Starswirl levitated a rose from the bouquet and placed it in a lock of Celestia’s hair beside her ear; Then walked away.

Something To Notice

Celestia was curled up in a plush, large pillow which was laid in the center of the Resting Room, which was where she and her family would gather to relax and talk about their day, and also served as a good place to talk or spend time with a friend if you didn’t want any other ponies intervening. Vibrant Sunrise was beside her, busy braiding her soft pink hair.

“How was your day, little one?”

Her mother murmured in that soothing voice that Celestia always cherished; It had always helped her feel safe and calm and at peace, like she and her mother were in their own little bubble apart from the rest of the large, stressful world.

“It was fine,” the filly answered, “I got into a magic contest with Starswirl.”

She could sense her mother’s disquiet at the mention of Starswirl’s name; Celestia knew that Vibrant always worried about what other alicorns would think of her being close to a unicorn that ponies weren’t quite generally fond of because of who his parents were.

Celestia knew her mother had nothing against her friend; It was only her natural motherly desire to protect Celestia from being the object of scorn.

Still, she continued to braid Celestia’s hair casually and maintain an unwavering expression of calm and nonchalance. Then Vibrant continued,

“How did that go?”

“It was fun. Starswirl said that I won, but I think we both did, because we’re friends.”

Vibrant nodded, and Celestia caught a flash of a smile.

Celestia continued,

“He put a rose in my hair and then went to the library, and then I watched the clouds and came back here.”

A spark of curiosity appeared in her mother’s eyes.

“Where’s the rose? I didn’t see it with you when you came in,” she said.

“Oh, it’s in my room,” Celestia explained, “I put it in a vase so that it would last longer.”

Vibrant nodded.

Once Vibrant finished braiding, Celestia laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, while her mother began to stroke her hair gently. Suddenly she felt her mother’s hoof tense slightly, and the vaguest grunt escaped her.

Celestia lifted her head and sat up, looking at her mother with large, concerned purple eyes.

Vibrant put a hoof to her stomach and her eyes softened a little, then she looked back at her daughter.

“It’s nothing to be worried about, sweetie,” she assured her quickly. Then after a short pause, she said, “but … mommy has a bit of a surprise that may make you very excited.”

Celestia’s eyes grew with curiosity, and playfully she flipped onto her back and looked at her mother upside-down, her hair splaying out onto the pillow.

“What is it?” She squealed.

“Well, Little One…” her mother began, “In a while... you’re going to have a little sister.”

Vibrant made a slight but visible wince, as if she expected the news to either be received very well, or very badly.

A long gasp escaped Celestia and her eyes widened even broader meanwhile. Once she could finally speak, she breathed,

“I’m… getting… a sister?!” The last words rose to a squeak with the absolute shock and excitement she was overwhelmed with.

Vibrant laughed and a glimmer of relief flashed in her eyes.

Celestia leapt to her hooves and, full of excitement, she bounced around the room saying,

“I’m getting a sister! I’m getting a sister!” then finally flopped back onto the pillow once the energy was spent and exclaimed,

“Does daddy know?!”

Vibrant snorted in amusement and then said warmly,

“He will pretty soon.”

Another chuckle escaped her and Celestia smiled; she enjoyed seeing her mother laugh. It was a bit of a rare sight since she had to maintain a very calm composure as the High Princess of Alicorns. Sighing, Celestia laid her head down again and held close to her this moment in her heart.

Once the excitement of the news had died down, the two decided to rest on their own separate pillows; It had been a long day and they both had felt the need to take a nap.

Celestia nuzzled the pillow and brought her hooves closer to her chin as she curled into a comfortable position, busy dreaming about what it would be like to have a sister of her own.

She envisioned her little sister as a tiny copy of herself, and pictured them playing together in a field or flying among the clouds during sunset, and then settling on a cloud to watch the sun fall until their father took over the night sky.

“Oh, look! Daddy is putting the stars in the sky!” The mini Celestia exclaimed.

“Yeah; Now he’s forming a constellation,” She imagined herself replying.

“Oh, wow, this is so amazing! I’m so glad I get to watch this with you,” Mini Celestia said.

“I’m glad too.”

“You’re the best big sister ever!”

Celestia smiled and rested the side of her head on her arm, curling up tighter.

Then suddenly three loud knocks erupted from the door.

Celestia’s eyes flew open and she woke up with a jolt, leaping to her hooves and instinctively sprinting over to her mother’s side.

Vibrant wrapped one wing reassuringly around Celestia and then calmly plodded over to the door, and then turned the knob with her magic and opened it slightly.

The worried eyes of a Royal Guard were on the other side; Curious, Vibrant opened it further so that he could enter the room.

“U-uh, er… your majesty…” The Guard stammered, bowed quickly, and then returned upright and began,

“There’s been an attack on the farthest sector of the kingdom.”

Vibrant’s eyes lit up in shock, and the Guard continued,

“It was within the area where Princess Cloudwhisper was stationed… We’ve lost several soldiers and civilians, and there have been a number of casualties.”

Celestia’s heart lurched. Dreading the answer, she queried,

“...What happened to Princess Cloudwhisper? Is she okay?”

The Guard ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut, gulped once, and answered,

“She’s… gone missing, your highness.”

When Things Start To Change

Celestia nearly tripped over her hooves as she hurried to catch up with her mother who was quickly walking down the hall toward the Solar Meeting Room, where all the captains of the royal guard from everywhere across the kingdom were meeting up.

She noticed grim anxiety stream like waves from every step Vibrant took, and Celestia’s heart clenched in fear; She’d never seen her mother so worried.

Before they’d reached the room, Vibrant turned to her daughter and murmured quickly,

“You can’t come inside with me. I need you to go into your father’s dorm and wait for me there. It’s nearly sunset and he’ll be with you soon.”

Celestia met her mother’s pale blue gaze. “But I want to go,” She complained, “I have to know what is going on too!”

Vibrant shook her head sternly and gently nudged her off in the opposite direction with her wing.

“Go,” Vibrant ordered, and then grudgingly Celestia nodded and walked back toward her father’s dorm.

Then after realizing how her mother wanted to send her away to ensure her safety, she felt a pang of fear and scampered quickly up the stairs, wondering if whatever attacked the sector where Starswirl’s mom had been stationed was sneaking around the palace, waiting to strike a terrified young alicorn.

Once she caught sight of the dorm straight ahead of her, she ran a little faster and, due to the speed of her pace, her vision blurred so that all she could see was the dorm. Then, out of nowhere, a shape flashed around the corner of her eye and she crashed into it head-on, afterwards toppling over onto the floor with the breath knocked out of her.

After taking a moment to regain her breath and calm herself from the shock of the event, she shook her head vigorously and looked up from where she was splayed on the floor to see that she’d bumped into Starswirl, who was crouched on the ground with an irritated glare in his golden eyes.

“Why are you so clumsy?” He growled, then scrambled back onto his hooves and heaved a long sigh while closing his eyes, as if trying to gain back energy from the hard impact of his encounter with Celestia.

Then finally he queried,

“Why were you running up here so fast? Don’t you know you should try to be a little less disruptive so that you don’t knock somepony over?”

Celestia ignored the vague sting she felt from his words and answered,

“There’s been an attack somewhere off in the kingdom… My mom wanted me to go back to Nebula’s room and I thought that maybe some evil ponies were hiding around in the castle, and I was kinda scared, so…-”

“Attack?”

Starswirl broke in, his voice full of dismay and a hint of disbelief.

“Where did this happen?”

Celestia’s heart dropped.

A gleam of worry appeared in Starswirl’s golden eyes at the sight of Celestia’s suddenly darkened expression.

Then he repeated himself more firmly,

“Where did the attack take place?”

Celestia gulped. How could she possibly tell him that whoever these evil ponies were had invaded where his mother was, and she still hadn’t been found?

“Oh… just… somewhere off in the farthest parts of the kingdom,”

She muttered vaguely.

Starswirl persisted,

“Have they attacked near wherever my mom is? Do you know if she’s safe?”

GAH!

Celestia thought frustratedly as Starswirl asked the very questions she’d hoped wouldn’t cross his mind. Her heart beat quickly with fear as she remained silent for several more moments, watching Starswirl’s face grow more and more with worry and irritation.

“Just spit it out!” Starswirl exclaimed.

Finally, realizing that there was no way she could maneuver around the question, Celestia took a deep breath and whispered,

“Okay.”

Starswirl tensed at the grimness in her voice but she continued,

“They attacked her station directly.”

Her chest tightened.

“She’s been reported missing.”

Glowing crystals shaped as stars were scattered all across the ceiling just like how the Lunar Corridor was designed, while dark purple and blue sheets hung and stretched across the room like a protective silk barrier. The floor was draped in a fuzzy, comfortable navy blue rug with the moon and the sun at the centre just beside each other. Stars surrounded the moon while dark, tinted blue clouds surrounded the sun, and swirls of gold bordered the edges of it, where each end of the rug met the dark violet walls.

At the very edge of the room was a large, plush bed. A silk blanket of darkened lavender cascaded from the edges of the bed and four cushy pillows lined the top against the wooden structure that was tinted dark blue, where two pillars outstretched from it; the right had a moon at the top, and the left had the sun.

Two black pillows on the right were covered in stars and the other two on the left were pale yellow with the image of the sun and it’s rays outstretching to every corner of the pillow. Settled on the bed were Starswirl and Celestia, plenty comfortable as they settled in the lavender blanket, but hardly at peace.

Celestia was leaned against Starswirl, her head rested on his neck; He didn’t even budge. That’s how she knew how badly he was shaken.

“It’ll be okay,” She soothed.

Starswirl’s eyes flashed with momentary fury, but then disappeared almost instantly, replaced with a crumpled expression of sorrow.

She wrapped a hoof around his shoulder and attempted a smile.

“Just because she’s missing doesn’t mean she’s not alive,” She assured in a voice as calm as her mother’s, “No matter what happens, everything will be okay.”

Starswirl shook his head and closed his eyes. “No,” He croaked, “I just want my momma…” he repeated himself, “I just want her here…”

Celestia closed her eyes as well and took a deep breath, trying to find a moment, even a sliver of peace.

Father will be here soon, she told herself.

As if he had been summoned by that single thought, the flap of deep blue wings appeared at the window and the large form of her father stepped inside, his eyes weary.

He ruled the night on the other side of the kingdom, and then when the sun began to rise and Vibrant took over, he returned to the side where the Alicorn palace resided and began his shift there.

Sometimes Celestia wondered if her parents ever got a full night of sleep.

“Honey,”

Nebula’s call broke her out of her thoughts and she lifted her head to meet his pale-purple gaze.

“What are you and …” He narrowed his eyes in surprise and continued, “...Starswirl doing in here?”

“Mom sent me in because she had a meeting with all the captains of the royal guard and Starswirl came in with me,” She explained.

Nebula’s eyes widened. “What… what’s going on?” He stammered, realizing the gravity of the situation as his wife had to meet with every captain of the royal guard.

“Someone attacked where Starswirl’s mom was. I don’t know what else has happened,” Celestia muttered, wishing she’d been allowed in the room where they were holding a conference on the issue.

Nebula folded his wings and plodded over to the left side of the bed and climbed on top to join the two young ponies.

“Then I guess we’ll have to wait until they’re done,” He murmured.

Wanting to change the subject, Celestia queried,

“Daddy, have you raised the moon yet?”

Her father’s eyes widened and a giant exclamation point seemed to appear just above his head.

“Oh, right,” He said, “Thanks Sweetie. Do you two want to watch?”

Celestia gazed at Starswirl and quietly she murmured his name.

He blinked opened his blank eyes and grunted.

“I’ll assume that’s a yes,” She said, and guided him off the bed towards the window with Nebula following just behind.

Igniting the glow of his horn, her father gripped the moon in a barrier of bright blue magic and slowly began to guide the bright sphere towards the centre of the sky.

Celestia watched in awe, then gently nudged Starswirl without moving her gaze from the moon and whispered in his ear,

“Isn’t this amazing?”

Starswirl watched the moon climb further into the sky, his gaze still blank but his eyes now widened with vague curiosity.

“Sure,” he muttered. “It’s cool.”

Then the full disk of pure white reached it’s peak and Nebula let go, and a burst of blue dissipated from the moon. The tiny sparkling remnants of Nebula’s magic spread across the night sky and each took their place beside the moon.

“Wow,” Celestia uttered with only a breath, taken by the marvel of her father’s magic.

Nebula then began to arrange the stars in gorgeous patterns that Celestia recognized as constellations. She snuck a glance at Starswirl and saw him watching the scene with new interest, a smile beginning to appear on his face.

She’d never seen him smile before.

Cautiously she reached a hoof around his shoulder in a small embrace, and laid her head on his neck. She watched him in surprise as he closed his eyes and welcomed the moment of peace.

The view of the beautiful combination of blue and purple shades that were lit with the shine of the moon and the gleam of the stars seemed to wrap them in a blanket of tranquility and offered the gift of feeling, for once, like they were together in harmony, without a single trouble in the world to take this rare comfort away.

Beware the Ones Yearning For Justice

Two days had passed since the news of the attack, and fretful, uneasy conversations buzzed all about the castle. Security had been doubled throughout the kingdom’s quarters, and every day Celestia watched a troop of soldiers going out on a daily commanded patrol to scout the immediate area; She’d overheard her mother state that the same had been instructed for every other sector.

She’d also learned that the invasion had occurred in a large town called ‘Weathervane’. Unusual storms had been going on in that area and Princess Cloudwhisper had been sent there to monitor it, being the princess of weather itself. Vibrant suspected that whoever had attacked the city had something to do with the odd frequent squalls. Meanwhile, Nebula and his own royal guard attempted to guess where the next incursion would take place.

No one knew enough to speculate who was behind it all. There were a few survivors who testified that a storm worse than the ones they’d witnessed before rolled in and a terrifying darkness fell on the city, and suddenly creatures draped in dark armour plunged like birds upon the citizens and plucked ponies one-by-one, and disappeared into the clouds. All they had heard were screams from the residents, peculiar roars like a lion would produce, and loud squawks that reminded them of an eagle’s.

The entire description of it shook Celestia with a great disturbance. She could feel that something big was behind this, something with terrible intention….

“Celestia,”

The firm call of her name broke her from her thoughts. It was Nebula, his eyes wide with an unreadable expression.
She reminded herself that she was within the Crystal Hallway, and looked outside of the various windows lining the hall and saw that it was night.

A dark tint was upon the place due to the purple shades outside, and a moon nearing crescent hung in the deep blanket.

“Honey,” her father repeated, sounding more sympathetic this time. Celestia turned to meet his warm blue eyes.

“Sorry,” She muttered, “I keep drifting off.”

A sympathetic smile broke upon Nebula’s face. “I know it’s scary,” he murmured, “but we’ll figure this out soon enough. Don’t worry.”

Celestia searched her father’s gaze and knew that he wasn’t entirely certain, but in her desire for reassurance she allowed herself to believe him.

Nebula then looked out into the darkened view outside the windows and murmured, “Why don’t you come with me to my dorm?” He offered, then put in, “You should be getting some rest; you’re only a filly and you’ve been put through quite a lot of stress the past couple of days.”

Celestia sighed.

“Okay.”

In silence they walked back to his room, the two of them equally enveloped in their thoughts. She tried not to fret over how they would figure out who had launched the attack, or if something were to happen to one of her parents - and in result her coming sister - or where Princess Cloudwhisper had gone and if Starswirl would remain stable meanwhile her disappearance. But the more she shoved away the thoughts, the more they seemed to attack her. She squeezed her eyes shut and closed off every thought from her mind, trying to allow silence to occupy it.
Her father laid a wing on her shoulders and gently guided her into his room as he held the door open with his magic.
She closed her eyes as she snuggled into the comfy sheets on the bed and watched the shaft of light from the outside shrink until the door closed with a faint thud.

Celestia began to run in the pitch-black halls of the castle, loud stomping echoing from directly behind her in pursuit. The thing behind her roared and Celestia squealed, quickening her pace and breaking through the breeze she created in her speed, the air thick with her fear.

She could sense the creature catching up on her.

Then it did.

To her immense dismay she felt it’s claws pierce into her shoulders and force her to the ground, it’s hot stinky breath hitting her face. Then it began to shake her violently, and she let out a horrified yelp.

Celestia woke with a start, her eyes wide and her chest heaving as she wheezed with short, terrified gasps, her lungs clenching tightly. The realization hit her that during the dream she’d been holding her breath. But she didn’t have much time to catch it.

As her eyes began to adjust she saw the shape of something just in front of her, and felt something gripping her shoulders, just as she’d experienced in her dream. She had no air left in her lungs to scream. Wriggling out of the grasp of the creature, she glared at it and slapped at what seemed to be its head.

“Oww!!” It squeaked, “watch it!”

Celestia widened her eyes, realizing that the voice sounded oddly familiar. Frustrated that she still hadn’t adjusted to the dark, she squinted to try to make out a clearer image of the creature.

“Starswirl?”

She breathed.

She only heard the reply of a grunt.

Yeah, that’s him.

“What are you doing here?” She whispered furiously.

“I’m going on a little adventure,” he replied, “I want you to come with me.”

“Adventure?” She echoed irritably, her voice raising a little, “In the middle of the night?!”

Her eyes had adjusted enough to see Starswirl’s own eyes grow with caution.

“Keep it down!” He growled, then added, “And yeah. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

She felt frustrated that Starswirl knew very well how hard it was for her to turn down the opportunity of an exciting experience and was using the weakness against her.
After a moment of hesitation she puffed,

“Fine.”

Starswirl nodded and lightly leapt off of the bed, nodding toward the door as a gesture for Celestia to follow. Grunting with reluctance, she crept down while cautiously trying not to make a sound as she landed and joined Starswirl just beside the door. He lit his horn and slowly cracked it open, then slunk through and entered the next room. Celestia followed and broke into a sprint as Starswirl began heading down towards the staircase and placed a hoof on the first step.

Finally once Celestia had caught up they took their time down the stairs to make sure their hooves made no sound and no one would detect them; She hadn’t even the slightest idea how long it had taken them, but it already felt like an hour.

Just as Celestia was ready to start into the first corridor, Starswirl stopped her with a hoof and murmured,

“There’s a quicker way we can get out of here without alerting any guards.”

Celestia lifted an eyebrow with interest.

“How can we do that?” She whispered.

Starswirl looked out into the corridor to see if any guards were near enough to hear them. “It’s a spell that’s going to have to take the combination of our magic,” He responded after a moment, and then took a step towards her and dipped his head to touch his horn to hers. Then his horn lit with a golden glow and he instructed, “Start thinking of the park outside of the castle, in the area just in front of the forest.”

Celestia lit her own horn and began to imagine the lush expanse of grass and several flowers, and then focused on the very far side of the park where undergrowth surrounded it, trees and shrub lined up against the grass to form an entrance into its woodland.

White sparks flew from their twined horns.

Suddenly she felt the spell envelope them and complete in an abrupt flash. Then seemingly a second later she could feel with certainty that they were in a completely different place.

She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings to see that they were just in front of the forest.

Her chest tightened with excitement once the realization hit her.
We teleported!

What's Found in the Forest

Celestia and Starswirl plodded through the forest side-by-side, but not a word was spoken between them. They had been wandering for hours and no explanation had been given as to why Starswirl had brought her out here, in the forest, in the middle of the night. Celestia’s mind was abuzz with an abundance of questions and, because she couldn’t bring herself to speak up, she continuously attempted to solve every little thought that came up in her mind on her own.

The more steps she took through the darkness with only the glow of their horns to see five feet ahead of them, the more her irritation and desire to quench her curiosity grew.

Finally, the words that had been sitting impatiently on her tongue for more than she could handle flew right out of her mouth, and at this point she didn’t know what would come out.

“Starswirl, why are we doing this?” She blurted. “You can’t just take me through a dark forest for who knows how long without even telling me what we’re doing or where we’re going! I’ve been literally blindly following you through this place and you haven’t said a word. If you don’t tell me what is going on in the next few seconds, I’m turning around right now.”

Starswirl’s eyes widened with surprise. Admittedly even she felt a spark of shock at how sharp her words had been.

But she didn’t feel like apologizing.

I have scarcely had any sleep these past few days and now i’m walking through the forest in the middle of the night without any reason, She thought in an attempt to justify herself, Why shouldn’t I be upset?

But yet she felt like the outburst had come out of nowhere, like the anger and the additional frustration hadn’t been her own.

Still she ignored the thought and stubbornly held Starswirl’s gaze as she waited for an answer.

Starswirl sighed.

“Fine,” he said.

For the first time Celestia noticed how his face seemed to sag with weariness. Her chest clenched faintly with momentary guilt, but then it disappeared, replaced again with the reminder that he had dragged her into something she didn’t understand.

Starswirl began, “This afternoon I was practicing a new spell and then I vaguely detected something unnatural… I sort of sensed an odd, different-feeling magic that seemed to be originating in this forest,”

He explained, his golden eyes darkening with an unreadable expression.

“Okay,” She muttered, “why are you so interested in this? Wouldn’t it just make more sense to send some guards to check it out?”

Starswirl’s eyes lit a little and he replied, “I did a little while afterwards and they plan to send out a few scouts in a couple days... but... Celestia, I can’t wait that long.”

His golden eyes suddenly glowed with a look of determination that scared Celestia a little.

“Why not?” She asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Along with the feeling of the odd magic, I could sense... I thought I found just the faintest hint of…”

His voice trailed off.

“Of what?” Celestia persisted.

“My… my mom,”

Starswirl replied, his tone so intense that Celestia wondered if she should try and talk him out of this belief. She felt as if his mind had conjured up the sense of his mother in its yearning for her return.

“Maybe we should go back and leave it to the guards to figure out,” She muttered.

Starswirl’s eyes grew with desperation.

“NO!” He exclaimed.

“Come on,” She sighed exasperatedly, “I’m sure that if you told the guards you felt that your mom had something to do with this, they’d send out a search much sooner!”

Starswirl shook his head.

“It’s too late now. We’re so close… if we wait any longer something could happen to her that we... may not want to find.”

Celestia let out a groan and Starswirl doggedly exclaimed,

“It’s my responsibility to find her!”

Celestia paused for a moment and met his distraught gaze, and her mind suddenly opened up to what he seemed to need her to understand.

“My dad is busy with all these guard duties now because of the attack. Nopony likes my mom because she married a sentry, so they aren’t going to find it as important to look for her. She is my mother, and now that I’ve made it this far, I cannot let her down!

“I am the only pony that is family and willing to find her right now, and I let my guard down enough to show you that I trust you to come with me. Please, just do me this one favor. If you do, I promise that I will never forget it.”

The irritation seemed to leave her in one breath as she heaved a sigh, replaced with the desire that rang in her heart to be a true friend to Starswirl in his time of need.

“Okay,”

She agreed, her gaze becoming firm with determination. She felt like herself again.

She met Starswirl’s gaze once more, but to her surprise she found for the first time a new look breaking through his icy golden eyes - like the door of his world had been opened up; the hard stone barrier that had protected his heart cracked a little.

“Thanks,” He muttered curtly despite the expression that his face gave away, and then began to walk again, sparking light from his horn once more in order to see ahead. The night was gradually growing darker and darker, but almost unnoticably, like an intruder of the sky.

Now that she was no longer focusing on trying to find answers and the unusual aggravation creeping into her thoughts like a virus had left, her mind was clear. The problem was that it was now open to a rising fear that quickly grew as they moved further into the woodland, her heart beating a little faster in her chest every second they moved further towards their destination.

“Starswirl?” She whispered quietly, almost coming off as a whimper, “Are we almo--”

“Shhhh!” Her grey-blue friend cut her off, “we’re nearing the area. I can see this orange-ish light up ahead.”

She squinted to see further in front of them. The light of their horns were making it difficult to see any other source of light in the deep darkness, but sure enough she spotted the appearance of an illumination in the distance, glinting with an odd orange color as Starswirl had affirmed.

“It must be fire,” She observed.

She looked up at the sky, feeling the fear surge through her once more, and thought urgently,

Please protect us, even from up there… please let us be okay.

“Come on,”

Starswirl nudged her with a hoof and together - now no longer using the light produced by their magic - they felt their way around the undergrowth and focused on the gleam, which became brighter as they moved closer towards the source of the odd magic that Starswirl had felt earlier.

She started to hear the echo of voices and quickly ducked behind a bush while Starswirl joined her, and strained her ears to make out the words of the creatures that were speaking around the fire. At first all she could detect was gibberish.

Finally she caught a few words from someone with a deep, raspy voice.

“W… a...we… fina… goi...to... ki..ther… so... ank..?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Wa we fina goito kither so ank?

Starswirl furrowed his brows and whispered, “We need to move a little closer.”

Celestia’s eyes widened with fear, but Starswirl stared back at her with urgence, and reluctantly she crept from the shelter of the bushes and followed her friend to the next nearest hiding spot.

Starswirl pointed out to her the shelter of a few brambles and slunk behind them. Celestia settled beside him and once again attempted to listen in on the conversation, trying to ignore the loud crackling of the fire.

“We shouldn’t have to wait until morning,”

One murmured, his voice dripping with anticipation.

“We must perfect the tantabus,” another one growled, his voice deep, but smooth and imposing.

That must be their leader, Celestia realized. Suddenly her fear grew even greater, and her heartbeat rang loudly in her ears, drowning out the discussion of the creatures.

He’s the one who influenced that attack that harmed so many and took down even an alicorn! There’s no way he won’t find us - we’re going to DIE!

But another voice popped up in her mind as she attempted to reason with herself and sooth her worry with rationality.

It’s not like he’ll just be able to tell that we’re here. We just have to be super careful and make sure we don’t make any sudden sounds.

Celestia let out a silent, slow breath.

Then her eyes widened as the leader spoke again after several impatient sighs from his companions.

“Alicorn magic takes time to completely filter into my own,” he murmured, “Once perfected it will be a powerful darkness that can overtake any alicorn. And then… once we pluck those royal pains one-by-one, we’ll take their magic to add to the tantabus. We mustn’t rush or haste… We must plan and execute with precision.”

She suppressed a terrified squeal when he added,

“And if any of you question me again, with absolute sincerity I will make you regret it with every ounce of your sorry little half-blooded bodies…”

A scream rang suddenly, then was cut off after an abrupt sound of an explosion that could have only been produced from magic.

Afterwards she only detected whimpers.

Starswirl gulped.

“You … just disintegrated him,” one of the creatures croaked.

There was a short moment of silence, then the leader’s smooth voice answered without emotion,

“I just gave you a warning.”

A Trip Seemed Wasted

What happened to Princess Cloudwhisper?

It was the only question that rang in Celestia's head. Everything about these creatures seemed so evil to her that she was starting to question her earlier confidence that the princess really was okay.

She looked warily at Starswirl for a moment, able to make out his grey-blue shape as night began to make way for morning. He didn’t meet her gaze. To her dismay, as she looked at him more closely, an expression of horror and realization glittered clearly in the pools of his yellow eyes, and emotions were coming off of him in anxious waves. Celestia bent over and whispered in his ear - so quietly that even she could barely hear it:

“Let’s go.”

At first Starswirl simply shook his head without meeting her gaze, but when he turned to face her and saw her look more urgently at him, he sighed.

“Same place,”

He breathed, and Celestia nodded, meeting her horn to her friend’s. Their magic lit in unison and the yellow barrier began to surround them.

Celestia hoped deeply within her heart that they weren’t so close to the campfire that the evil creatures would notice the spell.

A flash.

Familiar, lush grass soothed her tired hooves and she exhaled wearily. Her fear had emotionally exhausted her, but the hours of walking towards the campsite where the malicious gang were meeting had taken the additional toll on her young alicorn body.

“I’m so glad we’re out of there,” She uttered in a gasp.

After a few seconds of recovering from the mountain of anxiety she had retained, Celestia lifted her head to see Starswirl staring at her intently.

She panted for a moment longer and then muttered,

“What...?”

Starswirl narrowed his eyes to near slits.

“I think I know what happened to my mom.”

Celestia widened her eyes and then looked up at the expanse of sky, realizing that the shades of deep purple were quickly climbing into a pale pink as they made way for the sun, the time of day nearing dawn.

“Why don’t you tell me about this when we get inside the castle?" Celestia suggested, "we can teleport to the Resting Room… my dad never goes in there and my mom is busy working with her princess duties, so we’ll be left alone.”

Starswirl followed her gaze and the corners of his eyes crinkled with urgency.

“No… that’s not our priority right now," He said in a hushed voice, "we have to hurry and tell everyone that those evil things are going to attack the castle. They probably won’t attack at dawn because nopony will be awake. They’ll want everypony out in the open… so we have until it’s clearly morning, a little bit after sunrise.”

Celestia widened her eyes.

“How are we going to tell everypony without revealing that we’d snuck out at night?” She asked, attempting not to raise her voice and as a result ending her sentence in a squeak.

Just as Starswirl was about to answer, a distant voice rang throughout the whole field, and Celestia’s heart lurched.

“HEY, you!”

The voice of a guard.

“What are you two doing out here?!”

The hairs along Celestia’s neck raised.

“Well, that’s one way to let them know,”

Starswirl muttered.

A white guard with a purple-and-pale indigo mane walked firmly at the left of Celestia, and a blood-orange guard with a darker red mane stood at the right of her friend.

They were being guided towards the meeting room where her mother had been discussing the attack with the captains of the royal guard several days ago.

Well, at least i’ll get to see inside of the room like I wanted,

Celestia thought, attempting to bring the positive out of the situation.

The door was opened to Celestia’s mother sitting on the other side of a large, rectangular, wooden table with seats on every edge of it that she guessed all members of the royal guard were assigned to.

Celestia met Vibrant’s gaze and found nothing but a combination of sternness, relief, and the fury of a mother who had probably been pacing with anxiety as she wondered where her daughter could possibly be.

Celestia ducked her head and let her pink bangs cover part of her face, her wings unraveling and remaining in a position of guilty submission. She allowed her guard to gently herd her toward the chair directly opposite of the seat her mother was settled in, while Starswirl grudgingly flopped into the chair directly beside Celestia.

Vibrant folded her hooves and laid them on the table, her posture firm and professional. Celestia dared to try and meet her mother’s gaze once more to find at least a drip of reassurance, but was met with her mother's expression to be boiling with curiosity - not the kind that Celestia often experienced with an interest and eagerness to learn, but the kind that screamed the question, How could you do something so stupid?

She felt like covering her eyes with her hooves to hide her face from her mother’s fixed stare; Celestia had never seen Vibrant with such a look.

She wished she’d stop.

Then, Vibrant let out a long sigh, and took a brief moment of silence as if to search for the right words so that she wouldn’t yell at her daughter in front of Starswirl, as well as the two guards beside the closed door to the room.

Then she breathed out calmly and slowly,

“...What… happened…?”

That’s an awfully broad question,

Celestia thought, but remained silent. Vibrant then rephrased,

“Why did you to leave the castle?”

Celestia gulped, then prepared herself to answer.

“W-”

“I made her come with me,” Starswirl broke in, and Celestia stared at him, shocked. It was hardly like him to come to her defense.

“I couldn’t stand to wait for you to send out a troop to check out the weird magic I’d sensed earlier. I was blinded by how much I needed to see my mom, to know she was okay - so I had to go out and find it myself… or… with a little help.”

Vibrant’s firm blue gaze cooled down to a confused state.

“What… does this have anything to do with your mom?”

She asked.

Starswirl answered without hesitation,

“Along with the magic, I felt her as well - as if she was… near it.”

A brief period of silence fell upon the meeting room. Celestia had to admit that she was feeling mildly uncomfortable, but she didn’t dare speak up - she knew it was not her place right now.

Then a question that made Celestia’s heart clench with anxiety rang out clearly from her mother, who’s voice was tense, unsure of what to anticipate of the answer.

“...Was she?”

Starswirl nodded slowly.

Celestia gulped.

“We found the creatures that had attacked on Weathervane. They were working on creating a dark substance called the ‘tantabus’... formed from alicorn magic. Their leader revealed that they were working on contaminating the alicorn magic to turn it into his own, to turn it into a magic of darkness.”

Vibrant tipped her head slightly to one side.

“What… does that mean?” she breathed.

Starswirl answered,

“The leader must be an alicorn if he can contaminate the magic to be his own and absorb it. It also means that he had to use a certain alicorn’s magic to contaminate… and that magic... was my mother’s.”

He added,

“That’s why I felt her along with the presence of odd magic - because it was her own. But it felt odd because it was in the middle of being contaminated. I think I was able to sense it because of the connection I have with her, because of the magic we share.”

Celestia met Starswirl’s gaze.

“So then if the alicorn has taken her magic…” She began.

Starswirl nodded, his eyes glittering, and his face contorting a little. He looked as if he were about to cry.
“Yeah,” He said, his voice shaky, “She’s gone.”

After Dawn, Was It?

Vibrant’s eyes began to widen in dismay.

“If an alicorn is leading the attack, that means this gang is far more of a threat than we’d originally anticipated,” She murmured.

As Celestia climbed out from her own chair and sat beside Starswirl, wrapping her hooves around his shoulders, her friend muttered,

“Speaking of threats…”

Reading his mind, Celestia met her mother’s gaze and felt she should speak for Starswirl this time.

“They’re going to invade the castle very soon. We overheard them planning to take a few more alicorns to complete the tantabus so that it will be strong enough to take down all who live in the castle - then their leader will be the only alicorn remaining to rule over all of the kingdom.”

She informed bluntly, not even bothering to build up to the news; it was too important to waste any more time.

Vibrant staggered out of her seat, her wings lifting in alarm.

“You could have told me this first!” She gasped, then suddenly she stumbled a little and held a hoof to her stomach.

She’s so stressed and exhausted, Celestia realized, looking at her mother with concern.

Then it hit her.

…..And she’s expecting.

After everything that had happened, this vital fact had slipped her mind. Before her mother had told her the news, she hadn’t even noticed that there had been any change, but now that the reminder had rung clear in her mind, she could see how close she was to giving birth. She knew that alicorn’s expectancy lasted a much shorter time than regular ponies, but she wasn’t aware the baby came this early….

“Hurry, alert the soldiers and the rest of the alicorns in the castle,” Vibrant ordered the guards, and as Celestia hurried to her side she added, “Don’t leave anypony unguarded. We can’t let them take anypony else.”

Starswirl covered his face with his hooves.

“B-but princess-” one of the guards stammered.

“I’ll be fine!” Vibrant snapped, then faltered again, “just do as I say!”

The guard nodded and then burst out the door with the other following him hurriedly behind.

“Momma, are you okay?” Celestia squealed, her eyes wide and anxious.

Vibrant looked at her and managed a weak but warm smile.

“It looks like your sister will be coming a little sooner than we thought, honey,” She said.

Celestia stood with her father who paced outside the door to the delivery room. He had been informed about Vibrant and Starswirl’s news after the whole kingdom was put on high alert and the castle under strict shut-down, with nopony but the soldiers and a few of the most powerful alicorns designated as commanders allowed outside.

“Daddy?”

Celestia squeaked quietly as Nebula continued to pace, his eyes wide and frantic.

He didn’t notice her say his name.

“Um…. Daddy,”

She called out a little louder, and he stopped and bent down at eye-level to her.

“What is it, little one?” He asked, as if grateful for a small distraction.

“I was just wondering… um… why would they suddenly decide to aim for the castle of all places? Isn’t that kind of… well… dumb?”

Nebula tipped his head to one side.

“Well, sweetie, ever since the first attack, none of the alicorns have been allowed outside of the castle’s sector. So the only place they’d be able to snatch another alicorn would be here,” he added, “besides, they took down an entire city and an alicorn. Now that they have her magic, they’ll be much stronger. I figure now that they have enough power, they’ll want to subdue the castle long enough to take a couple more.”

Celestia nodded, her eyes widening enough to reveal how worried she was.

Nebula stroked her mane reassuringly and said,

“Don’t worry… we have several alicorns holding a force-field around the castle area. Everything will be fine.”

Celestia wrapped her hooves around her father’s legs and hugged him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. Nebula draped one wing around her for further reassurance and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

She never saw her father during the day, so to her this was a rare gift, like her mother’s laughter. She let herself smile for a moment.

Then the door to the delivery room opened and the doctor poked his head outside. Nebula broke away from his daughter as the doctor murmured quickly,

“She wants you inside, sir.”

Celestia looked up at Nebula.

“What about me?” She whispered.

“I suppose you can come in too,” The doctor agreed, then dipped his head and allowed them to walk inside.

Vibrant seemed to be in a lot of pain. She held out a hoof and pointed at Nebula and muttered curtly, “Here.”

Nebula plodded over and held his wife’s outstretched hoof gently.

“You’ve been through a whole lot lately,” He whispered, his eyes filled with warmth.

Vibrant pursed her lips.

“If I combined all the things that I’ve been stressed with for the last week or so, the amount wouldn’t even come close to how exhausting this is!”

“I know, honey,”

Nebula said, keeping his eyes locked on Vibrant’s strained expression.

As Celestia watched them, the doctor placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Maybe you should wait outside,” He suggested.

Celestia narrowed her eyes frustratedly and began to protest, “But I want-”

“Sweetest, why don’t you go find Starswirl? He’s staying with the librarian at the moment - I sure she wouldn’t mind you joining her,” Nebula cut in, smiling at her affectionately, though she could detect the slightest weariness around the corners of his eyes.

“Okay, Daddy,” Celestia said reluctantly, and began to walk out of the room as the doctor held the door open for her.

“Love you, little one - stay safe,” Vibrant called out.

* * *

A night climbs on the verge as the sun, at its fullest, gives it birth.

An eclipse draws near, the final crescent of the moon closing in darkness.

A night falls on the once brimming flame, at its weakest, needing hope.

A dying star shines on the brink of the end, and the hidden flame reaches for it in ardor.

A sunrise bursts out of the desperate collide. . .

The Cool-Down

Celestia found herself plodding through an empty Solar Hall, gazing around at the windows gleaming with the morning sunlight and the air filled with a perfect tinge of heat radiating from the sun, and the painted walls around every corner - blue with a golden line cutting through the middle with a much paler blue just below the line - were brightened by the rays sent off by the gleams in the windows.

She looked up at the ceiling, the image of the sun painted in gold completely dominating the entire, large space above.
The morning was near perfect, as if the day was blind to the looming threat of the alicorn and his minions, as well as the early soon-to-be arrival of her little sister.

I hope the magic barrier will hold those creatures off. Maybe they won’t be able to break through it and just give up.

She sighed and passed into a Mid-Day Room, which was the combination of night and day that opened to the Lunar half of the castle.

She was near the library.

The Mid-Day Room was a similar design to the previous corridor, with a thin golden line splitting through the middle of the wall and a plain dark blue painted just above, and a pale - almost cotton-candy like - shade of blue below.

The shades gradually dimmed into a dark, navy color as Celestia neared the end of the room, with the golden line reduced to gray which was patterned with stars, and just above the line was the midnight blue, and a dark violet-purple color residing on the opposite.

Then something caught her eye. Just in-between the representation of night and day, where the two intersected in a blurred color that began to shade from a bright blue to a darker, was where two symbols made their home.

A golden sun, just like the one on the ceiling in the former room, and a half-moon just below it. As Celestia closed toward the exit of the room, she kept her eyes locked on the two symbols - which was obviously dangerous considering she could bump into something while not paying attention to where she was headed, but she was far too interested to care - and felt that they had something to do with her and her little sister.

Maybe they were what the sun and the moon represented.

Finally, Celestia entered the hallway that retained the library, and was the prior to the room where Celestia had watched Starswirl practice his spell.

Somehow it felt like that important little moment in her life had happened a long time ago.

The interest in the scenery of the rooms around her having disappeared, Celestia picked up the pace and bolted half-way across the hall into the library and skidded to a halt, searching around for Starswirl and Skim Branbury, the librarian.

“Swirlie?”

She called out, immediately relishing the use of the nickname she’d only just come up with three seconds ago.

“Swirlie and Skim? Where are you?”

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard a reply.

“Would you not call me ‘Swirlie’?”

She sighed in relief at the familiar, irritated voice of her friend. She followed the direction it had come from into the corner of the ‘Fiction B15’ section, just behind a large section of teen fiction books.

She found Starswirl sitting with his arms crossed and his face twisted in a pout next to Skim Branbury, who was reassuringly patting his pale blonde mane with a dull orchid-colored hoof, her friendly smile wrinkled with age.

She was a simple earth-pony with fraying, white hair and pale, beige-colored eyes. Celestia figured she had been very pretty as a younger pony. For a moment she glanced at the kind old librarian’s cutie mark - a pale blue heart with the same-colored flame atop of it, with two wisps of flame rising above it, and a sheet-white book in the middle of the heart, another pink heart on its cover.

Celestia craned her neck to look back at her own flank, never really having payed attention to the blankness of it before. For a moment she felt a tinge of jealousy, but then reminded herself that the day she discovered her destiny was only another hoof-step closer to the day she’d take her mother’s place on the throne.

I still have a while yet, Celestia reassured herself, I want her to be around as long as possible.

“Cellie, dear,”

The librarian murmured, breaking Celestia out of her thoughts. Starswirl let out a quiet snort and muttered, “Who’s got the stupid nickname now?”

As Skim sternly glared at him for a moment, Celestia only blinked, unaffected, and met the gaze of the librarian who continued in a lilting voice,

“Not to be rude, but - why are you here? I would assume your parents would want you with them during …. such a time as this.”

A small smile broke upon Celestia’s face, the kindness of the old mare's tone proving to have a contagious effect. “Well, I guess they didn’t want me to watch Vibrant giving birth while she was in so much pain, so they told me to join you here,” Celestia shrugged and added, “I don’t know what the big deal is.”

A vaguely concerned look flashed on Skim’s face before being replaced with gentle amusement.

“Oh… I don’t think you’d want to see that,” She breathed.

Celestia pursed her lips and furrowed her brows, mimicking her mother’s indignant expression.

“But I’m excited to see my sister,” She huffed, “I don’t get why-”

“That’s enough of that now, deary,” Skim cut in, her eyes glinting with affection, “why don’t you come over here and sit by Starswirl while I read this….” She squinted and held the book closely to her face then continued, “‘The Flowerydale’s Expense’... Ah, yes. Where did we leave off, Starswirl?”

Starswirl’s eyes were still narrowed grumpily. He turned to look at Skim and growled, “We had just finished the first sentence,” Then added quietly, “Somehow.”

Celestia plodded over by her friend’s side and flopped onto the floor and booped his nose.

“Be nice,” Celestia said.

“No, no, it’s quite alright,” the librarian murmured, her eyes warm, “It's true, I tend to doze off when I read... besides, I’ve gotten used to this little one. He’s really grown on me.”

Celestia tipped her head to one side and smiled at Skim.

“Thanks again for looking after him while his dad’s out with the other soldiers.”

Skim nodded with understanding and replied, “It really is no problem.”

Celestia wrapped a hoof around Starswirl’s shoulders, grateful for the gift of the librarian’s warmth toward Starswirl. Celestia knew very well that with her own family occupied, Skim was the only one who would be willing to look after her friend.

For a moment she felt within her a flash of irritation.

I wish ponies could see past the fact that his mother married a soldier. Starswirl is probably going to be one of the greatest ponies that ever lived; just watch.

Different Endings

“Nightfall the Gloaming, your darkestness….”

A creature spreads out its wings as it speaks: a large, battered, pigeon-like creature with the lower body of a lion. A cardinal-horse hybrid beside it punches its companion’s wing and growls,

“That’s not a word, you dope!”

The pigeon hybrid screams and prepares to retaliate.

“Silence!”

A threatening, smooth voice booms from the far side of them. Both creatures freeze and turn to face an alicorn - presumably Nightfall the Gloaming - his coat a deep midnight blue, and his black mane - reminiscent of the night - short and flowing with a white outline, but no stars shine in it as Nebula’s would.

His cold, azure eyes are locked on the pigeon hybrid.

“Speak your request!”

He snaps.

The pigeon hybrid nervously ducks his head and bobs his neck, his uninjured wing fanned out submissively as the other hangs in an awkward position.

“I mean no disrespect, your highness… the alicorns have the castle guarded at the highest security possible, and are awaiting our attack.”

Nightfall’s eyes sharpen and become even colder.

“Who could have informed them?!” He shouts. The cardinal hybrid then steps forward, unable to meet the gaze of his leader as if he fears that if he were to meet their severity unblinkingly, he would burst into flame.

“If I may, your highness… We are unsure. But…” He lifts his head a little and speaks more boldly, but still keeps his eyes on his feet, “We must persist in our mission. I am sure with your improved magic, you could destroy the barrier and we could fly in to attack.”

A smile creeps upon Nightfall’s face.

The pigeon hybrid begins to shake in fear.

“Gather the others,” He orders in a low voice.

“We’re heading out now.”

Celestia woke up with a start, gasping for breath and then scrambling to her hooves. Starswirl fell over beside her and woke up as his head collided with the floor.

They had fallen asleep while Skim was reading a book and she hadn’t even realized it.

The old librarian looked up from the book she had been deep into reading and bore on her face blatant concern.

Starswirl poked her hoof as he remained on the ground, an eyebrow raised.

Celestia glanced down at him and looked back at Skim.

“I… I had some sort of dream,” She breathed wearily and gulped, “I think they’re coming soon…”

Skim widened her eyes.

Suddenly a loud bang erupted from what sounded like the outside of the castle, and the entire library shook violently.

“They’re trying to break through the forcefield!” Celestia exclaimed through the loud noise of the convulsion, stumbling to the ground while the book Skim was holding flew out of her hooves and she toppled over herself.

There was a moment of stillness, then came another loud bang followed by more violent shaking. A few pieces of debris fell from the wall and landed several feet in front of Celestia.

Several screams echoed from other parts of the castle.

Then the shaking stopped again.

Celestia was huddled on the ground with her face pressed to the floor and her hooves protectively covering the top of her head.

She lifted her face after she had recovered enough from the shock and shifted closer to her friend, who whispered,

“What are we going to do?”

Skim wrapped a trembling hoof around the two of them, unable to respond.

Celestia then broke the lingering moment of silence and murmured,

“Have they stopped attacking?”

Skim’s voice shook as she replied, “The alicorns and soldiers must be strengthening the shield.”

“Then we might be able to hold them off?” Starswirl asked in a quiet, croaky voice.

“Until they get too tired to keep it up.” Skim sounded unusually grim.

“But they’re alicorns,” Celestia protested with a hushed tone, “There’s a bunch of them. And we have a lot of soldiers ready too.”

“Dearest, those explosions were not the making of an ordinary pony,” The librarian whispered, “In my day I’ve only known one creature to produce that powerful of an attack.”

She wrapped her arm tighter around the young friends.

“He can never be underestimated…”

Celestia’s pupils shrank and she said softly,

“Nightfall the Gloaming…..”

Skim stared at the little alicorn, her gaze unreadable.

“You…” then her beige eyes flashed with realization, “...saw him in your dream.”

“He looked a lot like Nebula,” Celestia whispered, then paused, not knowing where the comment came from.

Immediately afterward the third attack struck. The image of her mother in the Delivery room and her father never leaving her side flashed in her mind.

As they all squeezed each other tightly in the midst of the shaking and falling debris, she said aloud,

“I have to go see my family!"

“Are you crazy?!” Starswirl exclaimed, his voice shuddering in unison with the library. Celestia shook her head. “I can’t leave them while the castle is under attack!” she shouted, then an idea struck her.

“We can use that teleporting spell like before!”

Starswirl, shrugging off his pride, grabbed the arm of the old librarian as the shaking became more violent, and yelled,

“But we can’t leave Skim!”

Celestia wrapped her hooves around the other arm of Skim as she also needed something to cling to.

“Maybe if we hold on to her as we do the spell, she’ll teleport with us…!” Her voice dragged as the tremble of the castle grew even more. She could sense that the force field would fail at any second now.

Starswirl, now simultaneously realizing what little time they had, nodded with his eyes wide and weary and crawled over to her side.

Skim seemed blind to the entire situation going on around her, unable to hear due to both the attack being made on the castle and her old age. She watched them with great confusion as Celestia linked her free arm to Starswirl’s, then met horns and began their spell.

“...Er, dearies?”

She uttered, and Celestia knew her confusion was only growing. Suddenly a bright yellow light formed a large circle around the ponies and exploded into a large flash, sparkles of yellow magic remnants fizzling to the shaking floor now covered in debris, where the trio had disappeared.

Priorities

When they reappeared, something seemed very off to Celestia. Maybe it was the fact that they looked to be nowhere near the delivery room. Instead they were in the midst of a small, narrow passage, dimly lit by an unknown source of light. Air echoed through the quiet of the place, its breezy whisper faintly soothing to Celestia’s augmenting dismay. The entire surrounding area seemed to be made up of dirt and very old rock, with a small piece of grit falling every now and then from the ceiling.

A fleck of dirt hit her muzzle and she recoiled, crossing her eyes as she focused on the dirt that had just landed there, an awkward expression on her face.

She caught a faint snicker from Starswirl, at about the same moment that she heard something odd.

“Hush!” She hissed, though she only wanted him to be quiet so that she could listen for the sound again.

She could sense the surprise from Starswirl and knew he’d taken her command the wrong way.

“Sorry,” She breathed, “but I need for us all to be quiet for a moment. I think I heard voices.”

“It may have just been the wind,”

Starswirl muttered, his voice giving off no hint of the hurt she’d felt from him a second before. She felt a small flash of relief and then focused intently on the silence amid the elderly passages, while being grateful that Starswirl was holding his tongue despite his protest.

Then soft, numerous murmurs bounced off the dusty walls, and her eyes widened.

Skim poked Celestia’s shoulder with a hoof and plodded ahead of her, motioning for the two young ponies to follow.

Shoving her uncertainty to the back of her mind, she trailed behind with Starswirl directly beside her, his expression revealing a slight interest in what lay ahead of them.

As they grew closer, she detected fear resonating from the source of the voices, and after a step further she was able to pick out a few sentences.

“I think someone’s coming!”

“They’ve found us!”

“We’re going to die!”

“Mamma, have the bad-guys come to get us?”

Confusion pulsed in her chest at the terrified mutters. Finally, they reached a large opening that widened out from their tunnel, where the voices were loudest. A spot of light poked out from the ceiling, and Celestia realized there must’ve been, amidst the dirt and regular mineral, a type of lunar-rock like the kind abundant on the paths separating the fields on the castle’s campus.

Celestia’s gaze followed the ray pouring from the lunar-rock and saw below it a large group of familiar-looking alicorns. As the illumination grew, the mutters of fear quickly transformed into relief and delight.

“It’s Celestia!” One exclaimed, and another added,

“With Skim Branbury and ….” his voice dropped slightly as he continued, “...Starswirl!”

Several alicorns quickly shuffled over to their visitors and welcomed them.

A female alicorn a few years older than Celestia known as Springtime Mist patted Celestia’s head and told her as the voices began to die down,

“Who led you here? The guards took us down to these passages once the attack on the castle started and then came back outside to aid the other soldiers. Everyone has been looking for you and Skim.”

“And Starswirl?”

Celestia asked.

“Er, Yeah,” Spring said, her tone of voice betraying her indifference, then repeated, “how did you find us?”

“Well…” Celestia said quietly, searching for an answer, “um, we kinda teleported and then ended up here.”

Spring’s red-violet eyes flashed with surprise.

“Teleported?” she echoed.

“Y-yeah…” Celestia stammered.

“How in the world…” The adolescent alicorn began, then shook her head and changed the subject as if figuring the previous question would have been useless, “Look… I bet you’re probably wanting to know where your parents are.”

Celestia nodded, lifting her head to meet Spring’s gaze, eyes filled with new energy and excitement.

Spring smiled.

“Well then, follow me!”

Celestia plodded beside Springtime Mist through a new passage, eager to see not only where her parents were, but - well, mostly - to meet her newborn sister. She began to bounce beside her companion, her overwhelming elation only able to be expressed in her childishness. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy.

Searching through her memories, the only things that came close - but not quite as much - were seeing her father when she rarely did, the little moments she spent with her mother (again rarely), and that time Starswirl put the rose in her hair (the rarest).

Spring stopped in her tracks and put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. At first she’d guessed it was to calm her jovial hopping, but then she realized they had reached a shady, small hole which led into a larger room that she figured must’ve been where her family was staying. She could only guess that the inside was several metres long. Celestia squinted inside to try and make out the form of her parents, the shape of an identical, smaller Celestia, and maybe a doctor. But she couldn’t see a thing.

Perhaps she needed glasses.

Then the teenager-reminiscent voice of Spring broke her out of her thoughts.

“It’s an illusion-portal,” she explained, “for privacy. We see the image of a long room without anyone in it, while in reality there’s something quite different. It’s a sort of door with a spell that tricks your eyes. Sound-proof too. The thing is that I’m not sure if your little sibling is even out in the world yet.”

Celestia tipped her head to one side.

“How do we get in then?” She asked, “if they don’t know we’re here because of the illusion thingy or if Momma’s … done with whatever it takes to have a baby….”

Springtime cut her off and winked warmly at her.

“Just watch,” She said.

Celestia obeyed the order as Spring trotted over to what appeared to be the entrance to the long, shadowy room and reached out a hoof.

Celestia’s head tipped even further, her curiosity growing.

What’s she going to do?

Answering her question, Springtime knocked onto thin air. Because of the illusion, it looked incredibly odd to Celestia, but she could clearly hear three loud noises resounding in time with Spring’s knocking.

“See? Like a door,” Spring smiled.

After a few moments the image became even stranger as the illusion seemed to open up to a new room, and the head of a doctor poked out behind it.

Celestia wondered if she’d ever see anything more odd.

“No kidding,” She whispered.

Expectation In Two Ways

“Oh, oh… o-o-oh,” The doctor stammered as he looked from Celestia to Spring and back again.

“Sincerest, deepest apologies, Miss Celestia…. I assume you’re here to see your sister? Yes, y-yes, well, I’m afraid you can’t come in yet,” He said, dipping his head regretfully.

“What? Again?!” Celestia wailed, unable to contain her disappointment.

“Y-y-yes, yes… sorry, Miss,” He said and quickly shuffled over to her, closing the “door” with great care behind him.

“Your mother is recovering at the moment, as well as your sister. You won’t be able to see them again for… for a while, Miss,” His short frame drooped slightly.

Celestia’s eyes widened, then she quickly put a hoof on his shoulder and reassured him, “No, it’s okay. Please alert me when they’re ready?” She added, inwardly wondering if she would be able to bear even a few more minutes of waiting.

The doctor brightened a little.

“Yes, yes, of course,” He nodded, a smile breaking upon his face, almost with relief.

I guess he just doesn’t want me to be upset that I can’t see Little-Me yet, Celestia reflected, I’m not sure why he’s taking it so hard though. It’s not his fault.

As if on cue, Spring - who had been standing quietly by them - broke her out of her thoughts and said,

“We’ll be looking out for you, then. Thanks for informing us… er… Mister…?”

For a second the doctor’s face appeared frantic, as if he had forgotten his name. Then he breathed,

“Oh, uh, Anty Tubbs, Ma’am,” He affirmed.

Celestia was slouched against the far wall of the main cavern where all the alicorns were gathered, but still a far way away from them. Starswirl was beside her, his face scrunched up with a combination of bemusement and mostly disdain.
He turned his head to look at her, his face still scrunched, and said incredulously,

“Anty Tubbs?”

“That’s what I told you,” Celestia said exasperatedly, gazing up at the ceiling and ready to crumble with the dust in impatience.

He turned his head forward once more, and as if taking a moment to think very hard, his face somehow crumpled even further, and he turned to look at her with the exact same movement as before and hissed,

“Anty Tubbs?!”

His voice rose on the last syllable, sounding almost like a quiet, unbelieving screech.

“Yes, I know it’s a really stupid name!” Celestia said, looking at him with widened eyes.

After a moment of staring at each other they broke into an abrupt snort of amusement and began to laugh quietly, not wanting to draw attention from the other alicorns.

After a few moments their laughter died down and they sat for a while in silence.

Then Starswirl broke it.

“But seriously,” he muttered, “It sounds as if he made the name up.”

“Well, his parents did,” Celestia pointed out.

“Do I even need to make that cliche statement?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, completely lost on what he meant.

“Don’t make me say it,” Starswirl grumbled, “You know how I hate cliches.”

She poked his shoulder with a hoof and smiled. Starswirl frowned at her, but she knew it was playful.

Then they both turned when the sound of approaching hoof-steps alerted them and looked up in unison to see Spring, her brows furrowed in thought. Her lips were pressed together and her eyes had a far-away look.

Then she met the two’s gaze and seemed to be brought back into reality. She plodded over to Celestia and settled down in front of her.

Celestia’s heart clenched with excitement.

“I went check up on Mr. Tubbs,” Spring began.

Starswirl snorted.

As if she hadn’t heard, Spring continued,

“But he wasn’t there. Another doctor was in his place. He seemed a little on-edge… He told me that he’d excused Mr. Tubbs... and when I asked him why, he told me very sternly that he didn’t want to talk anymore about the matter. Doctor’s business. But, on the bright side,”

Spring continued, stopping Celestia from asking any questions that had immediately sprung up in her head,

“Your mom is ready to show you your sister.”

Celestia’s heart filled once more with elation, but she still felt pressed to ask about Anty and the strange behaviour of the doctor.

“Why do you think the doctor excused Mr. Tubbs?” Celestia queried, “And where could he have gone? Any alicorn would have noticed him and he would be incredibly dragon-brained to go above-ground…”
Spring smiled at her reassuringly.

“We’ll think it over later, okay? Everypony has been so stressed out and in a terrible mood, and I know how badly you’ve wanted to see your new sibling. I just want us to focus more on what’s good right now. So are you coming with or not?”

Celestia scrambled to her hooves and bounced in place.

“Coming! Coming!” She exclaimed.

Finally, But Don't Ever

Celestia followed Spring to the cavern-room where her family was staying.

Finally, Spring knocked on the illusion-spelled door and the doctor Spring had mentioned earlier opened it. Celestia plodded in to find her mother laid in a makeshift bed, her eyes sagging with weariness. Vibrant mustered a weak smile as Celestia moved in, and in her mother’s pale blue eyes Celestia caught a glint of delight at the sight of her daughter.

Then Celestia turned to see the doctor carefully holding her baby sister with an arm.

Celestia smiled as she took in the appearance of her new sibling.

The little filly had flecks of purple-ish blue hair (looking basically bald) and a darker blue coat, and a tiny face that made Celestia’s heart stretch with joy.

“Well?” The doctor said, his eyes bright and lips curved into a broad smile at the sight of Celestia’s overjoyed expression.

“She looks nothing like me,”

Celestia breathed.

The doctor’s smile receded a little for a second, then he shrugged it off and carefully trotted over to Vibrant Sunrise, hoofing the baby over to her with the utmost gentleness.

“Hey there,”

Vibrant whispered, her voice laced with silky warmth, “I’m your mamma.”

Celestia hesitantly tiptoed toward the side of her mother’s bed.

“Hi, little me,” Celestia whispered, looking at the new arrival with immutable affection, “I’m your sister.”

Celestia lay in the back corner where her father was sleeping. Her head was rested lightly on his shoulder and she had twined her hoof around his arm. A small, happy smile was permanently set upon her face.

She looked up at the doctor who was silently pacing on the right of the room and said quietly,

“When did he fall asleep?”

“Oh, soon after your mother gave birth… I’m not surprised. They were both weary, especially with taking care of the kingdom. Neither of them seem to get a lick of rest.”

“He must be really tired,” Celestia murmured.

“Ah, yeah,” the doctor confirmed, “I don’t know how he does it… not to mention Princess Sunrise.”

“I wish they didn’t have to,” Celestia said even more quietly, almost not wanting the doctor to hear, “Maybe then I would see them more.”

She nuzzled her father’s cheek and curled her hoof more tightly around his arm.

Soon she fell asleep.

It was what felt like a moment later.

She could no longer feel her father’s presence beside her.

Celestia slowly opened her eyes and saw he was standing in front of her, but not facing. He was pointed towards the door, but looking up.

Suddenly the room shook violently.

Celestia toppled over and sprawled on her side.

“Gyyyaaaah!” She exclaimed.

“They’ve made it inside,” Nebula whispered after recovering from a stagger, “We have to go.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia wailed, her eyes filled with fear.

A moment later she felt herself being levitated. Nebula quickly placed her onto his back, in between his wings, which were unraveled and spread in a defensive position.

He seemed ready to fight something.

Suddenly she noticed she and Nebula were the only ones in the room.

“Where’s Momma?” She asked, wrapping her hooves around her father’s shoulders and clutching tightly, her fear rising.

“The doctor took her and your sister outside. Everypony is trying to figure out a way out of the castle without being caught before the tunnels topple on us.”

Celestia’s eyes widened.

“I … Well, I think I have an idea,” She stammered, “But I don’t know if it could work with so many ponies.”

Nebula’s eyes lit with surprise.

“At a time like this, anything will be useful. What do you got?”

“Teleportation,”

Celestia replied.

“Starswirl, I need you to show the alicorns how to perform that teleporting spell,”

Celestia said briskly, the room vibrating as the creatures above, having entered the castle, were attacking the floors in order to crush the alicorns below it.

Starswirl’s eyes were wide as harvest moons.

“But … but…” He stammered, “I don’t know how to… I mean… do you think they’ll even listen to me?”

“Look, even if you and the alicorns are not besties, they know how powerful your magic is. It’s super important and it depends on our lives - how willing are you to get us out of here and save us from being covered in dirt?”

Starswirl’s eyes narrowed.

That had pretty much convinced him.

Letting out a loud, nervous sigh, he stepped hesitantly toward the midst of the group of alicorns who were muttering anxiously, exchanging ideas and attempting to comfort one another.

“Um,”

Starswirl began. None of them heard.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Starswirl’s horn lit with a bright yellow and from it exploded large shards of magic residue which shot in every direction and contacted with the walls, bursting into a million tiny sparks and disappearing to the floor.

The buzz immediately disappeared from the room.

Everypony had his attention.

Starswirl cleared his throat and began,

“Listen up. We’re all in an awful situation right now, and I think it would be smart to take any idea we’ve got that has even the slightest chance of working - and I’ve got one. I’ve figured out a spell that allows a pony to teleport to any place they can picture in their minds. I can do my best to teach it to most of you. Some are gonna have to hold on tight to another if they want to get out of here safely. I’ll divide you up and give whom I’ve chosen some lessons on how to do this spell. Hopefully it won’t take too long. Are you all with me?”

Everypony nodded.

“Okay,” Starswirl said, “Let’s go!”

Soon after he was picking out alicorns to learn the spell. He sent the others in a corner to wait it out. He would be instructing the ponies he had chosen as one big group. There wasn’t time for individual lessons.

During all of this, all Celestia could do was gape. She could only think one thought:

I didn’t know Starswirl could deliver speeches…!

She’d been sorted to the group waiting for the others. She was fine with this - enough alicorns were in the learning group already.

Like Starswirl had said, it didn’t take long. The alicorns caught on and had teleported as per Starswirl’s instructions to the other side of the room.

Nebula walked over to Celestia as the group disbanded and everypony began to form a chain in the pattern of ‘alicorn aware of the spell, alicorn unaware’.

“Hi, daddy,” Celestia squealed as she looked up into her father’s purple eyes.

“Hey, Tia. Come here.”

He gestured closer towards himself as if he wanted to tell her something more private.

“Look, daddy’s not gonna be teleporting with everypony else,”

He whispered.

Celestia’s eyes widened, and quickly he continued,

“I’m going to go with a few of the alicorn commanders and some soldiers and try to talk it out with whoever is up there.”

Celestia wrapped her hooves around her father’s dark blue leg and clung tightly.

“No!” She said, “stay here… You might get hurt.”

Nebula stroked her mane affectionately with his free hoof and kissed her forehead.

“Trust me, Tia,” He murmured, “I’ll be back here. Look after your mamma and sister, alright?”

Celestia pressed her cheek against his leg and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

After a little pause of hesitation, she breathed,

“Okay…”

“Good. Don’t worry about me, sweetie. Everything will be alright.”

He smiled at her warmly, and she nodded, breaking away and plodding over to the long chain of alicorns. She linked her hoof with a dull, pale-teal coated stallion with a light tan mane and blood-orange eyes.

He nodded to her then turned his attention to Starswirl who had begun making instructions again.

“Alright,” He said, “All of you imagine that large forested area off in the Unnamed Land. I know we’ve all been there at least once. It’s just in between Bewildermist Gorge and Skyfall Mountain. Everypony got it pictured?”

Celestia looked along the line to see everypony nodding. She narrowed her eyes in frustration, trying to picture the thick patch of undergrowth. But all she could think about was her father, and as her worry plagued her more and more, soon images of him going to talk with Nightfall was all she could visualize.

“Okay!”

Starswirl called,

“Light your magic……”

He took a moment before everypony had done so.

“Aaand…. teleport!”

I Think You Thought the Wrong Thing

Celestia’s eyes were squeezed shut. She was too afraid to open them.

Despite this, she knew where she was.

Celestia was squeezed behind a pillar within a corridor of the castle, holding her breath as she heard the loud echo of claws scraping against marble and the hard plodding of a tall, angry alicorn.

She flinched as she heard him yowl,

“Cowards!”

She squirmed even more uncomfortably, terror rising in her throat, her heart pounding within her chest. She quickly snatched a fern nearby and placed it beside the pillar in order to hide herself more fully, just in case.

It was surely something Nightfall would barely notice if he came down this hallway, since he was likely unfamiliar with the usual decor of the castle.

Celestia listened once more as she curled even tighter against the pillar, making sure she was level beneath the fern’s leaves.

Slowly letting out a breath, she strained her ears attentively, recognizing the crawling, scratchy voice of one of Nightfall’s minions.

“I would have thought after all this time they’d have come out from their little underground refuge to make their cowardly surrender...”

“Yes,” Another chimed in, “Perhaps the Tantabus was wrong? Maybe they’ve run off somewhere else, and they’re long gone by now.”

Celestia heard a loud whack bouncing not too far off in the castle.

“Foolish gryphon,” Nightfall hissed, “the Tantabus would not lie. We sent him after the ponies to find where they were hiding out, and he discovered them. Of course they’re underground!”

Gryphon. Celestia recalled, So that’s what they are.

The cautious, strained voice of the same gryphon that Nightfall had previously slapped replied,

“But then why would they stay there to be covered in debris? We’ve been jumping up and down for a while now, not to mention you doing that laser-beam thing at the ground a bajillion times. The place should be filled. That’s what the Tantabus said.”

“You are not wise to question me,” Nightfall said in a very low voice, “but... perhaps they have somehow escaped. Maybe the tunnels lead outside of the castle. I want you to send out a search party of the area. They can’t have gone off too far.”

Then a new voice broke in.

“That won’t be necessary.”

Celestia’s heart lurched. She felt a tear form in the corner of her eyes.

No.

“Ah,” Nightfall breathed, “Nebula.”

“It’s been a while,” Her father replied.

Starswirl and the alicorns were all gathered up in a section of the forest, a nice clearing where they had visited on field trips for educational purposes, designed to scout other areas of the kingdom so that they could see what it was like beyond the large town that they lived in, the castle being at the very center.

They were so far off from the castle - even beyond the big patch of woods - that Starswirl was certain the evil alicorn would hardly be able to guess they’d set up refuge all the way up here.

“They should call this the Evergreen Forest,” he overheard one very young filly commenting, “everything is so lush and green.”

“It seems like it never changes,” The filly’s mother put in, “Last time I was here it was just as lively. Since my visit, all I’ve heard from ponies who’ve been - no matter what the season - always comment on how beautiful it is here.”

Upon hearing the praises of the woodland Starswirl had chosen, he thought of all the things Celestia would be blethering about, admiring the entire area without any restraint, her compliments surely endless.

Curious as to why he couldn’t see her leaping about and sniffing the flowers on that bush a couple feet from him, he decided to go look for her.

His eyes widened.

Hopefully she hasn’t run off to explore more of the place. She’ll definitely get lost.

Starswirl shook his head and sighed at the immaturity of his companion.

Then he began to navigate around the tangle of alicorns and a few of the royal guard and maybe a couple of doctors here and there, eyes narrowing in concern when he didn’t see her around.

“Celestia!” He called out, expecting her to come hopping over with curiosity lit in her wide purple eyes.
Instead, she mysteriously made no appearance.

“Celestia!” He repeated, and one alicorn caught on to his calls and began to look about the mess of alicorns to spot her little white shape.

When he saw no sign either, he began to call her name, and soon enough everypony was shouting for her.

Starswirl weaved around the crowd to find Vibrant Sunrise, who appeared very frantic.

“Ohhh, she had better not have wandered off….” She murmured to herself, reflecting Starswirl’s own worries.

Then her face took on a new shade of horror and she breathed,

“What if she didn’t make it with the rest of us? What if she was left behind? First Nebula going off to wherever his dragon-brained mind wants and now her! Oh, I can’t take it… Tia, sweetie! Where are you!?”

Starswirl poked Vibrant’s shoulder very cautiously.

The alicorn let out a breath and turned to him, her blue eyes filled with fear.

“Ah, Starswirl, you’re her friend, right?” She said, seemingly trying very hard to sound calm, “have you seen her anywhere?”

She began to subconsciously cradle her little baby as she held her breath, waiting expectantly for Starswirl’s explanation.

Starswirl glanced at the ground.

What do I say? He thought, at the state that she’s in, the next thing I tell her….

“Uh…” He croaked, “...not… really?”

Vibrant Sunrise looked down at her newborn, pupils dilated to a worrisome extent. She was still holding her breath.

It reminded Starswirl of a volcano holding in its smoke, on the verge of a dangerous explosion.

“...Don’t… worry, Mrs. Sunrise,” He stammered, “she’s… with us in spirit!”

He squeezed his eyes shut at his ridiculous attempt for reassurance.

Kaboom.

I Can't Seem To Get It Through Your Thick Head

Nightfall’s slow step echoed throughout the castle. Celestia could hear him edging toward Nebula very slowly, as if trying to build up her father’s fear in order to gain the upper-hand in this encounter.

“You’ve always been the hero,” He began, his voice filled with a menace that seemed to have decades of memories hidden behind it, “the light half of the moon. Let me guess… You’ve come here to talk?”

There was a brief pause, and the castle was filled with a silence tainted with Celestia’s terror.

“If you’ll let me,” Nebula responded.

“Go ahead. Do your best. It’s not like it’s ever worked before,” Nightfall growled.

There was another pause, as if her father was trying to find the patience he needed to effectively negotiate.

Then Nebula gave a deep breath and began very slowly,

“You’ve already pointed out that I’m one half of the moon… but you represent the other half. It takes two to make a whole, Nightfall. If one of us is missing, the moon cannot be a moon any longer… it can’t do its job because one half has chosen that the responsibilities assigned to it are not enough. Now the oceans won’t rise, and darkness threatens to overcome the night sky because the one half that is fulfilling his duty cannot shine brightly enough on his own.”

Celestia’s eyes widened.

What does he mean by all of this?

She thought,

Responsibilities and duties and being the other half… Who actually is Nightfall?

After a brief moment of hesitation, Celestia heard Nightfall spit in annoyance.

“What is it with you and metaphors?” He exclaimed, sounding almost too angry, as if he was trying to shrug off an actual impact that Nebula’s lecture had made on him,

“We’ve always been different. Why not try to think the way I do for once? Maybe then you can get through to me.”

A small sigh seeped through the castle.

Celestia had to perk her ears in order to hear Nebula’s quiet response:

“Ah,”

He whispered,

“My brother. After all this time… are you still bitter?”

Celestia drew in a shocked gasp.

“Crescent Moonlight, is this still why you’re doing these things?”

Immediately Nebula was cut off with a horrifyingly angry exclaim.

“NO!”

Nightfall screeched, slamming his hoof down on the castle floor, and making Celestia flinch at the loud sound created at such a furious reaction.

“NO! No, never call me by that name! I am Nightfall! I am NOT your brother! I only do ‘these things’ for my own plans, for my benefit, and not because of a petty, stupid jealousy that I’d once harbored for you of all ponies! Of course I’ve moved past such a disgusting phase! Why in the name of anything would you ever be worth my jealousy?”

Nightfall let out an enraged gasp, and then suddenly the sound of a strong sheet of magic rang in Celestia’s ears, followed by the explosion of some wooden object which was probably now stranded into a thousand withered, black pieces.

The young alicorn looked down at her hooves, her purple eyes flashing in surprise.

He didn’t hurt Nebula… he actually aimed at something else to destroy.

Now all that could be heard was Nightfall’s panting as he attempted to calm again and regain his composure. Celestia closed her eyes and, now having the opportunity in this minor time of recess, looked up at the ceiling and thought, Thank you!, a hundred times for the miracle that her father had actually remained in one piece for this amount of time. Then once that was out of her system, she allowed the awful fact to finally seep in.

Nightfall was Nebula’s brother.

Her uncle.

Her sister’s uncle.

Her mother’s brother-in-law.

Her future child’s second uncle.

Starswirl’s future uncle-in-law -- Wait, no, that was going too far.

Celestia slowly let out a breath, silenced her thoughts, and listened in once more.

Nightfall’s panting had stopped, and again silence reigned amongst the tenseness thickly filling the castle. Celestia sat upright behind the pillar, her head now visible above the fern.

“Well,”

She heard Nebula say, his tone giving away a hint of sarcasm,

“Obviously you’re not bitter at all.”

A hiss echoed after her father’s words, probably from the gryphons that had very wisely remained silent throughout the two alicorns’ conversation until now. They seemed threatened by the fact that her father had suddenly said something that wasn’t as nice-sounding as before.

“Quiet, you,” Nightfall muttered to his minions, “I can take care of this myself.”

Celestia hauled herself to her hooves as Nightfall’s words appeared to be tinged with more hostility than before.

I don’t want him to hurt Nebula, Celestia thought, sudden courage appearing within her heart, Perhaps I can talk to him instead. Maybe since I’m Nebula’s daughter, Nightfall won’t feel so bitter towards me… I haven’t done anything, after all…

She knew these hopes were far more than a stretch though, and these little ideas intended to reassure herself had less than the worth of one bit in being right.

But still, her father meant more to her than her own life. She had to do something.

Letting out a deep breath, Celestia very silently inched out from her hiding place and cautiously started to move along the large room, ever diligent not to make any sound. She figured by everything she’d heard at this point that the older alicorns were at least two rooms away, to the left.

“Ah, brother,” Nightfall spat, his voice low and menacing, “perhaps the time has come for us to realize that talking isn’t going to help our case in the slightest.”

Celestia’s heart lurched, but she kept moving, and made it into the next room, which was a Lunar Corridor.

Good, she thought, It’ll be easier to move along the shadows then.

She carefully inched along the wall to the very left side of the corridor and then pressed against that wall, making sure to keep inside the shaded area.

“I don’t want it to come to this, Crescent,”

Nebula whispered, his voice coming to a plea,

“I want us to be brothers, side-by-side again. Our power is stronger together… you know this. Do you have to have everything for yourself? I’m inviting you, Crescent! Please, you can be part of our family again!”

Another furious stomp sounded from the next corridor, even louder than the last time because of how near Celestia was drawing.

“Do not call me Crescent!” Nightfall exclaimed.

Finally Celestia had reached the end of the corridor, and then crawled towards the other side of the door to where Nightfall and Nebula were. She glued herself to the side, her heart beating fearfully, and then peered out to finally get a clear glimpse of what was happening.

Nightfall paced towards Nebula.

Nebula took a step back.

His eyes were wide with distress.

“I don’t want to fight you!” He exclaimed.

“Ah, I don’t think you have a choice,” Nightfall breathed, “it’s time to end this once and for all. Either you defeat me and save your family from ever being harmed, and your kingdom remains intact… or I destroy you and take over the kingdom, and well… the fate of your family will rest in my hooves. Oh, and just to be clear, I’m very much leaning for the latter.”

Nebula’s eyes darkened with a grim understanding that he hadn’t any other choice at this point.

He nodded as sadness grew on his face.

“Oh, and let’s make this fun,” Nightfall added, “We’ll go and fight in the place of my choice.”

“Whatever,” Nebula muttered, “Go ahead.”

A wide smirk broke upon Nightfall’s face and soon he lit his horn with a dark blue glow, and a white outline surrounded his magic.

“Remember this spell, brother?” Nightfall said, his smile growing with more malice, “We came up with this one together!”

“Yeah… the first spell that brought us close as brothers. Now it’ll be the last spell that leads to our demise,” Nebula whispered.

Nightfall snickered, then the blue glow around the evil alicorn’s horn grew, and Celestia knew that it was now or never to make her move.

She darted out from her hiding spot the exact moment that Nightfall grabbed her father’s hoof; Celestia hastily clung to Nebula’s tail, and in that sudden instant, they all disappeared in a burst.

Broken

A large burst of white magic appeared in the morning sky; its power was so incredible that it launched the young little white alicorn all the way into the forest several miles below, where she escaped the notice of the two nearly identical alicorns who had purposefully appeared there.

Celestia felt herself being hurled through the air, the forcing wind beating at her face and giving rise to the anxiety growing in her stomach, unknowing of whether this would be her final moment or if by some miracle something would break her terrible fall.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, but for a split second she took an ounce of courage and opened them again to see where she was heading, only to make immediate impact with a tree.

She smacked face-first into the trunk at the very top, and began tumbling through branches and leaves for a while until one branch around the bottom finally caught her, preventing her from suffering further injury by hitting the ground.

It was safe to say that at this point Celestia was very unconscious.

She slipped from the last branch and landed a couple inches from the ground.

A hazy darkness clouded Celestia’s vision as she began to blink open her eyes and awake from unconsciousness, and then immediately the soreness from the fall hit her like a gust of wind. She groaned louder and then took a moment to let her mind clear and the pain ebb, even slightly, before she attempted to open her eyes again. Finally after a pause she narrowly opened them once more. Her vision was still fuzzy, but as it began to readjust and the blackness lifted a little, she found she could see more clearly.

She could see a figure just above her.

There were droplets falling onto her face, and she wanted to react, but hadn’t any strength left. The first thought that came to her clouded mind was,

Timberwolf.

Yet, she couldn’t feel foul breath beating onto her face or the creaking of wooden limbs, or the spine-chilling growl it made just before it decided to capture its prey.

In fact, the droplets she felt weren’t sticky like saliva as she had first guessed it was. She knew she couldn’t rely on her mind right now for anything, so she croaked a little and then blinked one more time, and found her vision to be a lot clearer.

Starswirl.

Starswirl was bent over her splayed body, tears dripping down his cheeks and landing on her wounded face.

“You’re awake,” he spoke hushedly, “you’re alive.”

Celestia watched him plod to her side and sit down carelessly, then dip his head, his golden-and-brown mane falling and covering his face, the earth below his sagging head darkening with more tears.

“Y-you’re all I... h-have left,” he continued, hardly able to speak as his crying worsened, “...a-and I almost... lost you.”

Nebula followed Nightfall into the sky as if to his execution. As they reached the peak, where the sun gleamed brightly, shining all hope and and rays of warmth onto the forest below, Nightfall hissed furiously and exclaimed,

“What mocking sunlight! It basks in its day and the admiration of its beholders. Little does it know of the night that comes soon, the moon readily rising to take its place in the sky!” he turned to Nebula and added menacingly, a cruel smile on his face, “by the end of this, it’ll never rise again.”

Eyes widening with anger and shock, Nebula watched Nightfall surround the sun with the glow of his dark magic, now powerful enough due to the Tantabus, and begin to lower it with rather dangerous haste, as if he was betting on almost accidentally disrupting the gas star enough to do some damage to this world.

In the end it lowered without complication, but at the same time with defeat, and he watched as the entire forest fell under the gloom of the unnatural darkness.

Nightfall terminated his telekinesis and flew over to Nebula, meeting his gaze challengingly and powerfully, as if he knew the coming battle was over before it had started.

“I have a fun idea,” he whispered, “I won’t raise the moon. No light will shine in this eternal darkness. I will be the moon in its place.”

Nebula’s gaze darkened with the rest of the world, despair beginning to seep into the corners of his heart.

Nightfall continued in a nearly whimsical mockery of tone,

“Time to begin the moon’s ascent!”

Immediately he ignited his horn in preparation for attack and Nebula darted out of the way, hesitating to respond with his own magic.

“Don’t be too careful,” Nightfall jeered, sending a sheet of magic in his direction like a blast of lightning.

Nebula managed to dodge again, then, thinking of his family, he squeezed his eyes shut and with tears in his eyes, sent a shot back towards his brother.

Celestia felt mildly uncomfortable as she was carried with Starswirl’s magic toward where he had indicated the alicorns and the rest were hiding out. She’d never experienced a sensation like this one, to be surrounded by magic and thus fly without her control. She felt totally powerless. Inwardly she wished she could fly on her own, and suddenly realized how ponies without wings felt.

As she pondered this new revelation, a sudden thought came to her mind.

“Sta-sta…” She began, attempting to speak, “sta...rrr...swi...rrr...lll…”

Her heart lurched as she heard Starswirl’s wrenched reply, sounding as if it pained him to hear her in such a condition, and almost she felt regret for speaking:

“What is it, Celestia?”

The alicorn filly willed herself to talk more clearly, with all her heart, but still the result was only a little bit improved:

“H-h-hooww…. did... you…. find me?”

Starswirl, who was levitating Celestia behind him, kept his gaze on the incoming trees he weaved around, yet his head ducked a little. After a moment he said,

“We all noticed you were missing. Then I went to look for you so that everyone else could stay and be safe. I noticed a flash in the sky, then two alicorns. Then I saw you, all flung off into the trees… I came by and you were unconscious, but… I figured worse. It was a hard fall. I...I…” his voice began to break, then he swallowed and continued with a harder tone, “I waited for you to wake up, even though I thought you wouldn’t… I waited a long time…”

“Ssstaar...swirrl…”

Celestia murmured, and Starswirl stopped and turned his head weakly to look at her as he croaked,

“What?”

Celestia managed a tiny smile.

“Itt’ss…. okay.”

Author's Note

This chapter was a rough one to write. Lots of emotion. I honestly nearly cried while typing it.
If you're wondering why the brothers teleported to the same place as the alicorns, you'll find out. I assure you there's some significance; not just deus ex machina.

One Day

Dear Diary.

Nightfall cackled and his eyes flashed almost with excitement, returning another bolt of magic at his brother.

One day I went on an adventure with Nebula.

Nebula activated a magic shield and the bold bounced off, heading right back towards Nightfall.

We wanted to practice our magic and be the first to make up something new. We went to the forest and found these weird rocks.

Nightfall swerved to the side but ended up grazed on his left wing. Furious, he jetted towards Nebula and tackled him mid-air, launching the lighter blue alicorn several meters in the distance.

Nebula wanted to leave them be, thinking they were boring. But I touched one and it glowed. Suddenly I saw magic swirl around my horn, and an image of a place in my mind. But after a moment the magic burst and went away. I think I had been about to use a spell.

Nebula shook his head to clear it, his heart pained as well as his body, and without any further thought he charged after his brother and shot another bolt of magic.

I ran back to Nebbie and told him what had happened. I demonstrated, putting my horn to his. Then it was like we exploded… but ended up in a new place. It was crazy. I think we… teleported!

Nightfall caught the bold with his own shield and hurled it back towards Nebula more quickly than he could’ve seen it.

We promised not to tell anyone. Then because of what we’d discovered we began to make up new spells. I’ve been getting more tired practicing them, but Nebula seems stronger than ever. Because i’ve been so tired ponies keep yelling at me because I keep falling asleep when I’m not supposed to. Mom and dad noticed how me and Nebbie disappeared on our adventures and they got angry. Ever since Sister… well… now that she isn’t here… they’ve been a lot harder on us. Me and Nebula got close because we needed each other. But now mom and dad are angry at me more because I keep falling asleep. Nebula insists we keep practicing… I think he wants to impress that Sun alicorn. It feels like I don’t have anyone on my side because mom and dad aren’t so hard on Nebula and now he won’t defend me because he thinks I haven’t been so nice. I don’t know what he means. Recently I found a weird girl pony with holes in her hooves and she told me she’d be my friend. She told me she’d help me practice in a different way. I’ve been so tired… I feel different. I feel more upset. I don’t like it. But the girl pony is the only one who helps me feel better. Now I have her and Nebula has Sun girl. I do miss Nebbie though.

It’s been a couple days. Nebula told on me after he found out I’ve been meeting with this pony. He thinks she’s bad. She’s the only friend I have now! Why doesn’t he want me to be happy? I thought we were there for each other!
I’m so tired… I feel worse than before.

The bolt hit Nebula and he fell to the ground. Nightfall pursued him.

Maybe Nebbie’s not so bad. Maybe he feels different too, and that’s why he’s acting different. I miss him.
Maybe we’ll be best friends again…

Nebula landed harshly. Nightfall pinned him.

I do love him…

Nightfall grinned.

I’ll talk to you later, Diary.
Love, Crescent