Chapter 10: Thoughts of Present and Past

A few days after Sunset was adopted, what was Twilight's room had been rearranged into Twilight's and Sunset's room. Sunset now had her own bed and desk, and Twilight's dresser was enough to accommodate both of them. While Twilight's bed was lavender, Sunset's was amber, with red pillows.

Sunny had begun to adjust to having a new family, though it was still surreal to her. She kept thinking back through the past few days. How she was found out by Cadance, and how the Sparkle family had decided to adopt her. She also thought about the song they sang. She smiled when she thought of that. Did ponies normally just break into song, or was this just a special occasion? She then thought about what it was like shopping with her new parents, even though it was still weird calling them that. Happiness used to be a rare occasion in Sunset's life, and almost every time she smiled, it was forced or fake. But, just in the past few days, she was truly happy, and could hardly stop smiling. Not only had the Summer Sun Celebration been the start of a new season, in a way, it was also the start of a new season in her life.

Today was the day that her new parents went back to work, which meant that Cadance would be coming over to foalsit. Cadance wasn't really needed, since Shiny was home, and he was perfectly capable of handling both Twilight and Sunset himself, all of them enjoyed her company. Sunset was especially excited, due to the fact that it was Cadance who helped her out. She was sure that Cadance would give her a few more magic lessons as well, as the ponies here put it, Celestia knows she needed it.

Sunset smiled as she got out of bed. She looked over at her new sister, who was still asleep. Sunset left the room quietly, careful not to wake Twilight. She was able to do this with magic, what Cadance had shown her had helped, and it almost came naturally to her, even though she never had it before. She snuck downstairs to grab a bite to eat, only to find Shiny and Cadance in the living room.

"Sunny, you're up," Shining Armor said.

"Yes, as are you apparently. How are you up and not Twilight? I thought she would have wanted to continue her book from last night."

"Well, she may have finished it last night after you fell asleep," he responded with a smile.

Sunset rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face. "Of course she did. I told her that she should just finish the chapter, then go to sleep. Apparently she either didn't hear me or she couldn't resist."

Cadance giggled. "She probably didn't hear you, when she gets to reading like that, she gets in a zone, you gotta snap her out of it before talking to her. She almost missed dinner once because she was got pulled into a book. Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, I think."

Sunset chuckled. "Of course, I liked that one," she said, remembering reading it back when she was human. She wondered what the differences were now that she was a pony.

"Supposedly, A. K. Yearling is going to be coming out with another one soon. Twilight's excited, and so am I," Shining said.

"She's coming out with a new book?! I haven't heard about this! Do you know when it comes out?" Sunset exclaimed.

"Calm down, Sunny," Shining replied. "She hasn't released any details, just that there was going to be one. Apparently she's a really hard pony to get a hold of."

"Actually, it hasn't hit the papers yet," Cadance cut in. "I just know because, well, news comes to us faster."

Right after she said that, Twilight appeared at the top of the stairs. "What happened? I thought I heard yelling," she said groggily.

"Sorry, that was me. I just got excited," Sunset said.

"It's fine, I can..." Twilight's eyes shifted to Cadance. "Cadance! You're here?! But that means I'm behind schedule! Shiny, why didn't you wake me?!"

"Calm down Twily, she's only been here about half an hour. After you stayed up late reading last night, we figured you needed sleep," Shining said, calming her down.

"But my list!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure you don't need that list to get everything done, Twi. Besides, I have a feeling finishing The Life and Times of Morari the Maneless was on there, and you did that last night," Sunset said.

"It was, but I couldn't just put it down! It was so intriguing!"

"So now you have that done for today, which means your probably ahead of schedule now, right?" Sunset said with a smirk.

"I guess so," Twilight replied, before coming down the stairs. She and Cadance hugged before doing what they did every time.

"Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Twilight and Cadance sang together.

Shiny just smiled at them, while Sunset looked at them.

"Right, I still haven't taught you that," Cadance said to Sunset with a laugh.

"Nope, but I'm guessing I'm going to learn soon," Sunset said.

"Yup. But, right now, I think you two need something to eat," Cadance replied.

"Actually, that's what I came down here for in the first place," Sunset said.

"Okay! Maybe I can make sure my list is right while we're eating," Twilight said.

At that, Sunset facehoofed, while Shiny just smiled and shook his head.

"Well, today, I brought donuts from Donut Joe's," Cadance said.

Sunset's eyes widened. "You brought donuts? I haven't had donuts in forever!" she exclaimed.

"Well, you'll definitely be getting them more often," Shining said. "It's just down the road."

"And Donut Joe makes the absolute best donuts ever! I once did a study comparing different donuts. It took me a while to get it done, and a lot of talking to other ponies, but I got it done, with the help of my list," Twilight said.

"What is it with you and lists anyways?" Sunset asked.

"They are the most efficient form of scheduling. They can aid in getting things done," Twilight responded.

"You do know that lists don't solve everything, right?" Sunset said. Shining and Cadance backed up slowly at this, they had both made the mistake of asking her that same question.

"Maybe you're just not doing it right, or maybe you have the wrong sorts of things on your list, or maybe a separate list for other things, or..." Twilight started.

Before she could continue, Sunset cut in, "Or maybe we could go eat breakfast, I am famished."

Twilight lost her train of thought. "Um, sure, I actually am pretty hungry," she said.

Shining and Cadance breathed a sigh of relief. They both thought that going through that lecture of Twilight's once was enough for at least a thousand years. Then, they turned and made their way to the kitchen, followed by Twilight and Sunset.

Princess Celestia's court for the day did not start for another few hours. It was normally scheduled later in the day to give her time to do other things, such as checking up on her school, or teaching Sunset Shimmer. At least, it used to include that. Today she decided that she needed to get away from it all. She had flown out to her old castle, the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest. That was where she had last seen her sister, before she turned into Nightmare Moon.

The only pony that Celestia had told where she was going was her aide, Raven Inkwell, so that way no pony would worry.

As she entered the castle, she looked around at the ruins. She remembered the days she and Luna would play when they were younger. She remembered them being taught by Starswirl the bearded, and how he said that they needed to stay hidden away until the ponies in the newly formed Equestria were ready to accept them. She remembered when she met the Pillars of Equestria, who had saved it from the Sirens. She remembered Luna being more interested in the pony who brought them together, a young unicorn named Stygian. She thought back to how the Pillars and Stygian came up with a way to defend Equestria even after they all were gone, what would become the Tree of Harmony. She remembered that one day, Stygian was cast out, and returned with darkness in him. She thought about how she kept that from her sister, leading her to believe that Stygian had merely disappeared with the rest of the pillars, while instead she suspected that her teacher and the other Pillars had somehow led Stygian away, and they all disappeared together, though she could never confirm this. Before Starswirl left, he gave her an unfinished spell, one he could never complete, and was sure that if somehow he understood it, and was able to complete it, he and the Pillars might be able to stop the darkness.

Celestia thought back to the ten years of relative peace before Equestria was again in peril, and she and her sister were forced to reveal themselves. Luna was always so much more content than she was when they were in hiding. She assumed that Luna wanted to remain hidden away. After the defeat of Discord, they revealed that they had been raising the sun and moon for the past 12 years. The ponies of Equestria readily accepted them, but they still remained in their old castle.

Soon afterwards, they had even helped Princess Amore of the Crystal Empire to get the Crystal Heart back, and they met her daughter, a pegasus, named Cadere. Many other things happened since then, both good and bad times, until Sombra took the Crystal Empire. Celestia and Luna only found out through Cadere, who was now orphaned. Luna chose to take Cadere in, as her own.

"Sister, how did you do it? How did you raise her, even after the loss of her parents? I wish you were here," Celestia said, snapping out of her thoughts. "You always knew exactly what to say and do, up until..." Celestia couldn't finish her sentence. It was too hard on her.

A few years after the Crystal War, Cadere had finished growing up. At that time, Luna was still in the background, as Celestia had assumed that she wanted. One day, Luna decided to visit Stygian's old room. What Celestia didn't know was that some of the darkness that Stygian had obtained was still left in there. It infected Luna, causing her to become bitter and cold. In their final confrontation, Celestia could see Luna fighting against the darkness, shifting out of her Nightmare Moon state for a second, before turning back. Celestia used the Elements of Harmony as a last attempt to help save her sister. She had studied the elements, and learned that they also should be able to use healing magic. What she did not understand was that the seventh element was required to save her. As she later learned, the seventh element, what she understood was empathy, was never removed from the tree. Nor could it be used by just anypony. Celestia tried it once, and failed. Celestia had presumed that using the elements would help her sister, but instead, they, no, she banished her sister to the moon.

Afterwards, Cadere left, and Celestia never tracked her down. Celestia soon moved to Canterlot, her castle bringing back too many bad memories. And now, she was going back there, because there were too many reminders of her own daughter there.

"Luna, I wish you were her," Celestia said again. "If you were here, perhaps I would have understood her, and not drove her off. And now, there is another one, but it's not her. Sister, you're the only one I know who I would be able to truly talk to about being a mother, and losing her. You saw Cadere grow up and become her own mare. How did you handle it. I wish I knew."

Celestia looked around once more, and sent a message to Raven, to cancel court for the day. She then chose to walk around, and go through her memories, wishing for some sort of help.

Eventually, she came across her and her sister's journal. She looked at one of her sister's last entries.

Dear Journal,

Today was a hard day for me. Cadere has now become a mare. It has been hard on me. After raising her throughout the years, seeing her grown up is challenging. She is now making her own decisions, and even is going out into the world, exploring it.

However, earlier I talked to Celestia, and she said these encouraging words to me.

"No matter what happens, she will always be your daughter. You must learn to let go, but never forget, you must accept it, but still love her as you always have. Letting go doesn't mean leaving them, letting go means letting them find their own path to their own destiny, and to not force it upon them, or try to shield them from it. Continue loving, and never ever let go of those fond memories you have of them."

Yours,
Luna

"Even when away, you still encourage me," Celestia said. She smiled at the journal, as it somehow had said exactly what she needed to hear.

Author's Note

This chapter took me a while to complete, from trying to find the right slice of life mood in the first part, to making a history of Equestria, as well as changing the Lore. The Journal of the Two Sisters isn't canon anyways.

However, a lot of the problem lay in not being inspired earlier this week. On Sunday, my family and I found out our dog had bone cancer, and we had to put her to sleep. I am feeling better now, but it still hurts.

Today, writing was my escape, so I was able to write the second part of the chapter. I had no clue Tia would even be in this chapter. The Day with Cadance and the Sparkles will continue in the next chapter!

Luna having a daughter came to me so suddenly, and yet it felt so right.

I hope everyone enjoyed it, and I will see you all next time, or in the comments.

(Note, I am going to post when I feel like it, the Fridays just isn't working, whether it be me cranking out too much or too little.)