Celestia sat silently at her dinner table, eating by herself with the sound of the fire crackling. A plate of strawberry sponge cake left untouched as she was deep in thought, Silver was on the loose again and he just murdered 14 noble ponies not too long ago, for what reason she did not understand. These massacres were getting out of control and Silver had to be stopped but she didn’t know where to begin. She couldn’t just outright kill him, that rule was long abolished from Equestria's laws because of all the injustice it brought. The cold rain pattered against the window of the dining room where Luna was usually adjacent to her but instead, she would be eating breakfast. It was such a strange situation at first for both of them when they started seeing each other less and less but all in all; they learned to cherish those short moments together. Silver was peculiar, to say the least, she didn’t understand his motives, and the relation to why kill certain ponies, there was no gain from it for himself or to anyone else. Only darkness. Celestia believed strongly that it was morally wrong to kill overall and Silver had been killing like he was God. She had already sent far and wide the secret assignment to capture Silver with it now in the hooves of the E.U.P guards and whoever captured Silver would be paid handsomely for their deed. However, she felt skeptical at the task, capturing Silver won’t be easy and he wasn’t turning himself in without a fight. ‘He will kill his way out, and worst of all I might be next,’ Celestia thought, the dread of a metal blade close to her throat. It had been a long night for Celestia as she left her and strode to the nearest balcony and took flight. The cold wispy night brushed underneath her feathered pegasus wings with the moon still covered by thick dark clouds.

She landed at the medical wing of Canterlot and opened the massive wooden doors where apothecary and magic were used to heal the sick and wounded. The rain dripped from her now matted fur, when a clock chimed, ringing thrice before silence entered the room, it was around midnight and made Celestia look outside one last time. The strange weather had made her think, was something more sinister happening in the background. ‘A plot, an assassination, maybe that’s what Silver was doing?’

She entered through the door and found the dead bodies, well what remained of them. Charred, decapitated and stabbed, they had moved the bodies from the mansion to be examined more closely at, then in the morning be buried. She wished she had an answer for tomorrow; she had to address the issue of the sudden burning and she had no clue what to say. She may have to tell a small white lie, a misdirection truth. A secret that had been kept from everypony for over nearly a thousand years.

One particular pegasus, however, piqued her interest as she passed the tables. Metal winged, with an unneat red mane and a gaping hole in the cranium, laid on the table. Something was off though, never before had she seen a pegasus with perfect metal wings, usually if a pegasus had an accident with their wings, such as burns, or bones broken beyond repair they were unable to be fixed. But these feathers made of metal, were sealed onto burnt scar tissue with unicorn magic, and a different kind that she had never seen or felt before. ‘The feathers are razor sharp and can even pierce through magic’ She did not like it one bit, she had only felt this kind of power of magic since Nightmare Moon’s appearance as she stared at the lifeless body. There was something eerie about the familiarity of the pegasus but she had no name, no address and not one single evidence stated she ever existed. One pegasus came into mind but she dismissed the idea quickly ‘No...but that can’t be right, he said he had no family. It must be a coincidence, it can’t of been an assassination,’ Celestia didn’t want to think about it anymore, already looking the other way but still had dread creeping through her veins.

She moved past the room and to where all the patients were, most them sound sleep. Butlers, chefs, and house staff were the majority of the patients, but they were not the reason she came down. Some had severe burns while others had minor injuries but under the doctor's orders, everypony had to stay at least one night. ‘Some don’t have anywhere else to go…’ Celestia thought grimly. The darkroom was dimly lit with a lantern light that illuminated in the left corner of the room with a little filly in bed and a slumped stallion on the bed. The doctor was sleeping on a chair next to them and the news must have been dreadful as the blanket of the filly was still wet from what could only be tears of the father. It was all her fault, if only she stopped Silver when she had a chance. She nudged the doctor awake, who nearly jumped out of his fur however Celestia shushed him. She was here to know the condition of the little filly and the father's history. The father was familiar, but she couldn’t put a hoof on who.

“Princess Celestia, what brings you here on this terrible night,” The doctor said who was wiping the drool from his mouth.

“I have come to know the condition of this filly and father,” Celestia replied, she could see the doctor's strained face as if ready to deliver some bad news.

“I am sorry Princess, the father, Firelight, is with minor injuries and slight trauma but I’m afraid the condition of the filly is critical. The filly's name is Starlight Glimmer, she suffers from smoke inhalation, 2nd-degree burns and severe trauma and distress,” The doctor said calmly. Celestia was not though, the anger however subsided after a few moments and she masked her face with guilt.

“Firelight...”It brought back memories of the wealthy business pony who had helped with the trading agreement with neighbouring cities such as Manehattan and Appleloosa. Suddenly Firelight lifted his head from the bed to see who had called out his name. When he saw it was the Princess, he started kneeling at her hooves.

“I am so sorry you had to see my face like this Princess,” Firelight exclaimed, trying to hold himself together.

“Sssssh, it’s Celestia from now on, no need to hold back,” Celestia whispered as she wiped the tears away from the father.

“The filly won’t wake up, I believe that she’s been stuck in a state of reliving the horrors of the night over and over again, well it is a theory,” the doctor said when Firelight pointed at him.

“You’re a doctor, why can’t you help my daughter, I...just want her back,” Firelight sulked, Celestia glared at the doctor before looking at the filly. The filly’s face was scrunched in pain, a single drop of torment left her eye. Celestia was torn by this, she had to apprehend Silver and bring him to justice.

Celestia let go of the fragile father and placed her attention to the little filly. “Starlight Glimmer, what a cute name;” as she channelled her magic into the horn. In a dazzling display of magic, a mini ball of light was created. The rays of the sun, condensed together to create the orb but toned down to not destroy everything and everypony. The orb of magic flitted around before finally landing on top off Starlight. Then the filly woke up, her eyes opening up for the first time, but the eyes were not of the fillies. They were cloudy, forgotten, unclear of the whereabouts she was, Firelight, however, couldn’t hold back and hugged his daughter.

“Oh sweetie, are you alright?” Firelight asked the concern in his eyes lit up trying to find reassurance in his daughter only for silence to cut right through his thoughts. “Starlight?”

“I feared the worst...” The doctor immediately regretting saying that as Firelight turned towards him in anger. Celestia decided to speak next to clear the filly’s mind.

“Starlight, can you hear me?” Celestia asked with hope in her eyes but no response. This deeply saddened her, but she wouldn’t give up yet. The doctor coughed to get her attention and she walked out and closed the curtains while alerting Firelight that they would only be a minute.

“With all due respect Princess, the filly simply won’t truly wake up, trauma can only be cured by time, the doctor whispered. Celestia was not happy with that answer.

“There is nothing else you can do, to save the filly?” Celestia asked, her voice slightly raised. She wasn’t a doctor, but she knew magic should be able to do something. The doctor turned a bit pale at the sudden tone change and thought his next words carefully.

“I have only a theoretical cure, which involves tampering with the mind but there has not been a lot of research and testing on it and secondly we need a unicorn with enough magic to visualise at the microscopic level, and thirdly it is unethical to the recipient,” the doctor said anxiously. “One false move and the filly’s mind would be erased forever leaving a husk,”

“Then I will be that unicorn, just tell me what I must do,” Celestia said, about to open the curtains.

“It is not that simple, Princess, the filly’s memory will be, in a way, forgotten and locked away until something triggers the memory such as a place or sound,” the doctor said while holding Celestia's shoulder. All she could think of what would happen to Firelight and the little filly, the poor filly’s innocence taken and burned away with blood and carnage.

“They would have to move far from here or Starlight might remember everything.”

It was a lot to take in for Celestia and she wasn’t the one deciding as she relayed the decision for Firelight and that made him cry. To see the stallion, a father of one cry, was a harsh moment for Celestia, the memories made here in Canterlot from when Starlight was born had to be locked away and basically forgotten. The identity of Starlight stripped away and replaced with something empty, Firelight faced back to his Princess and the doctor.

“All I want is my little Starlight back, and if it means starting from the beginning then I shall,” Firelight said, stepping away from the bed to let Celestia do her magic. Celestia stood in front of the filly and channelled her magic, a delicate procedure no doubt.

“You must let your mind flow into Starlight and try to navigate and view her memories that must be forgotten,” the doctor said, as the yellow magic illuminated the room.

Celestia delved deep into the filly's mind, almost like it was swimming. Her surroundings had become black and only black, but her horn lit the way into the sudden darkness. It brought back so many memories hidden deep in her mind reminding herself of Nightmare Moon and the threat that she once was. She was suffocating, the more she travelled through the ink, the less her horn glowed bright and the more intense memories that started spiking her mind. She couldn’t control herself as she started to remember the battle. As they were locked in the magic blast, Nightmare Moon’s magic conjured so many scenes in her mind and were so horrifying that it took years to forget. Landscapes that had become nothing from the lack of sun, the dictatorship that Nightmare would rule over all of Equestria and the never ending torment of her little ponies. The shame of not being there to stop her and not being able to turn her sister back into who she once was. The greatest pain however was everypony turning their backs on her, following Nightmare Moon’s command and waging war on all of Equestria. Memories she kept hidden away from anypony. However she pushed through the milky memories, she had to think of today and the future and not stay in the past. She could see in the distance a light, a beacon of hope as she started swimming towards it. As she neared closer she felt the great power within the light. Loyalty, kindness, generosity, honesty, laughter and magic, reignited something inside of her, the feeling of the elements of harmony washing over her fear. She was not going to let the past dictate the present!

Celestia burst through the inky water and took a gasp of air, almost retching her insides out only to look at her surroundings and found herself in a very fancy bathtub. Celestia was confused, she shivered sitting in the black bathwater, those memories still burned in her mind. Standing up to Nightmare Moon was the hardest moment of her life, every other threat she always had Luna as support. She hugged herself, it was all she could do from the cold water when she realized she was in a house or more specifically a mansion, as by the lavish decorations. ‘A house...this must be the mansion where Starlight lives in’ She deduced and climbed out of the bathtub and followed a wisp of magic created from her horn which led her outside. She walked down the red-painted corridor only for it to start becoming more recognizable to her and several corridors later she found it. The double doors that Silver once walked through and left burning. She steeled herself, expecting to see carnage and death and walked through the double doors but only to find a crying Starlight where her dead mother would have been.

“Starlight...” Celestia whispered trying to get close only for the filly to scamper away and hide underneath the table. Instead, Celestia crept towards Starlight and sat underneath the table with Starlight, even with the uncomfortable spacing Celestia only wanted to nurture her. Celestia had to tuck in her wings and legs to be able to fit, which made Starlight giggle a little, it was then that Starlight spoke, a sweet little innocent voice with a little hoarseness from the sobbing.

“Where am I?” Starlight asked the hurt in her voice piercing Celestia's heart. Celestia couldn’t hear the doctor or Firelight to guide her on what to say and decided what was best in her heart, a friendship lesson she learned a while back.

“You are…lost my dear, I am here to take you to your father Firelight, would you like that,” Celestia said softly, hoping by following a motherly approach and kindness that Starlight would open up and let her free of the guilt that had latched onto her. The filly looked towards Celestia and nodded; her watery eyes clung on just as Starlight did with the Princess. The crying child, haunted by nightmares of unknown darkness, held on. A tight grip, so young, the hope for the filly was within Celestia’s hoof. Celestia then wiped the tears away from Starlight and then helped her onto her own back, the filly holding on tight to Celestia’s fur. Starlight was confused as to wondering why was she brought onto the back of the Princess but Celestia flexed her majestic white pegasus wings bedazzling and making her lose focus. Then taking off through the opened window, they elevated and ascended into the sky, and circled the mansion, where Celestia now had to think on a way of locking the memories away without Starlight from knowing. The only solution she could think was in a literal sense and believed that she had to chain the mansion up from the eyes of Starlight and that it would lock the memories. ‘But how do I achieve this when Starlight is always watching’ Celestia thought, as she stalled in the air thinking.

However, the answer came directly to her, as the clouds parted revealing the fireworks of colour as both Celestia and Starlight turned to face the night sky. This night made her stop her in her tracks to take in the wondrous sight of the mixture of stars, the moon, and colour. Luna's night sky was painted so vividly, and beautifully, a memory that somehow Starlight knew of, except there had been no recordings of it in any books or scrolls in full details. Celestia for the past century would always try to paint at sunset, the beautiful night sky like her sister would but could never get it right. There was always something missing from the sky or the colour combination didn’t match, and it always made her feel empty inside, with heart wrenched in not being able to do what her sister could.

Celestia realised it was her memories that were being played out, and it was there the mind of Starlight and herself had merged into each other and the memories were colliding. Celestia could tell it was her memories by looking towards the far hillside at Everfree forest overlooking the old kingdom laid her sister and herself. The time she had pink cotton candy hair and when her sister was still an adorable little filly. A touching memory of her sister’s newfound skill of controlling the moon and stars, they had snuck out of their castle through the various passages and tunnels hidden underneath and decided to turn the sky into a masterpiece. Luna had been asking suggestions about what to put into the sky as her signature to Celestia, and it was Celestia’s idea to use a crescent shape. Luna’s manipulation of the sky was breathtaking to Celestia, with the fluid movement of controlling the stars, and mashing the different colours to make a beautiful scene. One of the last things that Luna created that night was a portrait of her sister, smiling, the mixtures of stars, colours, and strokes formed the new constellation which astounded Celestia. “A late-night gift for being the bestest loving and caring sister in the WHOLE WIDE OF EQUESTRIA!” the last words of Luna rang in Celestia’s ear before she shook her head in pain. Realising she had a job to do Celestia started chaining the mansion. A blue hue of magic formed as massive chains and padlocks formed and locked itself around the estate. She had no idea if it would work and was already working on other ideas. What happened next confused and disorientated Celestia as the mansion right before her eyes started sinking. Magical glyphs covered the mansion as it crumbled beneath the surface leaving a barren landscape. The structural integrity collapsed and toppled itself, caving towards the centre and sucked up dry.

Starlight was too distracted to notice her home crumbling, looking at the night sky instead, the extravagant mixtures of colours blowing her mind away. Never before had she seen a beautiful night sky like this one and it was breath-taking and now wondered to herself why the sky was never like this.

In place of the mansion, there was nothing at first, it had become like empty farmland, desolate, but then a tree grew. Not just any tree, a flowering tree, with glittering gems aloft on the branches and a shining star in the middle. This shining glimmer caught the eyes of the filly, who was beyond amazed now but Celestia was done with memories. She knew what it meant now and left. The sun slowly rose in the distance and that was where Celestia started to head. The sun was guiding her to the father of Starlight as Celestia’s intuition told her that she was close by. She flew over the Everfree forest and out into the open plains, passing some hills when she saw a village with a certain purple and green maned unicorn, talking to other citizens. Celestia wracked through her brain to figure out the location when she found a sign.

‘Sire’s Hollow’

Starlight quickly leapt off Celestia’s back before even landing and rushed into the arms of Firelight, a hug so tight that it made Celestia’s heart clench. But it brought a smile to see the filly so happy to be with her father. Celestia knew it was time to go though. There was nothing else to do except watch. Celestia took flight towards the sun and looked back one final time to see the two of them waving. It was such a happy ending but in reality, it had only just begun and Celestia felt a cold feeling crawling up her spine, even with the sun in her face. Silver was going to do something even more drastic and what could be worse than mentally scarring a filly.

Into the sun, the blinding light made her close her eyes and when Celestia opened her eyes again she found herself back in the medical wing. The dark gloomy medical wing now shone with bright light meaning that it was morning. Celestia found herself at the side of the bed holding the filly’s hoof. On Starlight's forehead laid a circle of glyphs before fading into nothing and she mewled, eyes still closed and hugged the closest thing next to her which was Celestia's hoof, a tight squeeze. And she smiled. Celestia had to cough several times to awaken the doctor and Firelight but when they woke up, they bombarded her with several questions, too many she had no answer to. Firelight beamed with joy at the state of his daughter as he stared at her smiling daughter. The doctor wiped some sweat from his forehead and was relieved, but he took measurements and tests, just in case. When everything came out to be fine, they were all alleviated from the stress. However, Celestia had a burning question herself, a possible place to relocate for both Starlight and Firelight.

“Firelight, does Sire's Hollow mean anything to you?” Celestia asked.

“Why yes, yes it does, that is where I grew up and where Starlight was born before we moved to Canterlot in search of a better life. Why do you ask?” Firelight replied. Celestia recounted the details of rescuing Starlight but leaving the personal parts out.

“Well I suppose we could move back there,” Firelight said. “But it won’t be easy moving back there,”

“Do not worry about your expenses and belongings, you shall receive funds for your departure. And that goes to all of you,” Celestia pronounced facing the rest of the sick and wounded who had woken up and were eating breakfast. “For those that have no place to call home can reside here for the time being and be given work,”

Celestia, however, fainted on the floor, the exhaustion of using magic the whole night was finally succumbing to her. Everypony rushed forward to help her up but she shooed them away.

“It is alright, I just feel nauseous” Celestia stuttered, leaning on Starlight's bed for leverage. “I shall return,” as Celestia slowly trotted towards the door and back to bed.

Author's Note

I am really sorry for taking so long to write this, I could make a million excuses about why it took so long but in all honesty I lost interest in it. But I managed to bring myself back into it and now chapters should be coming out more frequently (Next 2 chapters for this story has been typed already), so expect a weekly update. So I hope you enjoy and I will see you in the next chapter

P.S I am currently in need for an editor, my english sucks a lot and there's probably loads of grammatical errors and general ways of improving my story, so please if you want this story to continue PM me and hopefully we can work something out. As of now been running through the text via grammarly and prowritingaid