A Thousand Years

by Lochees

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Science Fiction, Starswirl the Bearded, Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia
Length: 12240

Heroes can come from unlikely places and are not always what you think.

After Luna is banished to the moon, everypony has to deal with the aftermath. Celestia struggles to find a reason continue being a ruler after banishing her sister, Starswirl must crush rebel cells unhappy with Lunas banishment and keep the peace and security of the kingdom, and Luna explores the universe at large, learning to accept help from others and how to deal with failure. She finds things that put into question everything she knows and meets lots of colorful characters in her journey of a thousand years. This is the story of how everypony is a hero in their own right.

Published 2019-04-11 20:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-04-16 09:50:42 UTC

Realization

Luna groaned herself awake, slowly opening her eyes. Looking around in confusion she did not see her bedchamber that she normally woke up in, or the table of a tavern that she occasionally found herself sleeping on; waking up with a headache and a dry mouth, but on a bleak dark gray landscape. Shaking her head in confusion she lifted her weary bones off of the ground and stood up, looking around in an attempt to figure out where she was.

This was no place that she had ever seen, or heard of before either. Everything was dark gray and... fuzzy looking? Luna pawed at the ground a little, stirring up a small cloud of dust that hung and almost seemed to glitter in the air. Focusing a little more on the ground around her it wasn't just here but everywhere seemed to be covered with a good few inches of this strange dust. Looking up and around again Luna could just make out hills and even what looked like mountains in the dim twilight all fuzzy and soft around the edges from what she could only assume was this covering of dust.

What really shocked her was the sky. Devoid of both sun and moon it was covered with the thickest blanket of stars Luna had ever seen. She considered herself the leading expert on the little studied topic of Astrology and while she could easily pick out many constellations what surprised her was how clear it all was and how many stars there were to begin with. She could see at least a dozen times as many as she was used to and could see them even more clearly than if she was on a mountaintop in the clearest of winter nights. It truly appeared that the sky was dominated with a vast blanket of shining diamonds, ceaselessly twinkling and sparkling in a never ending dance of infinite size and complexity. Not seeing the moon was disconcerting though, without its familiar presence watching over her she felt a little naked. Raising the moon can wait till she figures out where she is though so Luna tried to remember the events leading up to her ending up where ever she was.

Her eyes widening in shock combined with a small gasp of realization she did indeed mostly remember what had happened in her immediate past. She remembered long night after lonely night keeping ponies safe from their nightmares and working on bettering themselves. She remembered standing alone against denizens of darkness while the rest of the kingdom slept peacefully. She remembered the countless battles and the thankless, ungrateful whispers and murmurs she got in return. The rumors started to spread that she didn't care about anyone but herself, that she obviously couldn't be bothered to help Celestia run the country when in reality she was usually healing from a long and deadly night of fighting demons and other ilk. At first Celestia offered to help and barely tried but tried nonetheless to quench the bad rumors surrounding her younger sister. Then she stopped altogether and Luna kept quiet about what she did at night, preferring to just do her job and go to bed without seeing anypony, rinse and repeat.

She remembered the love and adoration heaped and poured on Celestia, no one could find fault with their perfect Goddess of the sun. She remembered the loneliness she felt even from the one pony who she was stuck with for eternity. Celestia was soooo busy micromanaging the country and basking in their love she reciprocated none of that in Luna's direction. She remembered Celestia never helping her, always saying she was too tired to go on patrol and eventually Luna stopped asking for help altogether. She remembered the feelings of jealousy and bitterness towards her sister and her fellow ponies. Lastly she remembered in the midst of one particular lonely night sensing a soothing and friendly presence out there in the night, in the stars and she remembered reaching out to it, looking for anything really to side with her. She remembered the rushing feeling as something came into her filling her with validation and a sense of simply being wanted. Something she hadn't felt in a long time... longer than anypony had a right to bear with.

Luna shook her head again as if she was trying to clear up cobwebs that were lodged in that thick, uncooperative head of hers. Why couldn't she remember anything after that, it felt like a while ago but she could not fathom why that would be... maybe that was the last thing that happened? She did not feel that was the case but it still could be. Either way she first needs to find out where she is so with that desire planted firmly in her mind she took flight, high into the inky sky and off in a random direction leaving only a few hoofprints and a puff of dust in her wake.

Luna always had loved flying, loved the feel of the air running through her feathers, the wind in her mane and the feeling that she could do anything she set her heart on. The rushing sensation always invigorated her. Not so this time, this time there was no air in her feathers nor wind in her mane. In fact she had to keep periodically checking the ground to feel like she was moving at all. The stillness and quietness of this strange place she found herself on was unnerving to say the least. She did notice however early on in her flight that the ground seemed to be not only covered in dust but that it was pockmarked with small circular divots that looked like craters. The more Luna looked at them the more that seemed to be true but there were too many for that to be the case. This place was getting stranger and stranger by the minute, Luna even began to wonder if this was a dream after passing out drunk on a flour sack or something.

Since there was no real change in the landscape and with nothing better to do Luna idly wondered if she would be able to tell where she was or even what time it was. Maybe by the position of the stars? There was no clouds of any kind to block her sight, plus they were so much bigger and brighter than they normally were. She knew the stars appeared in different parts of the sky when she wasn't home, courtesy of her trips to other countries but strangely enough they were in the same spots that she last remembered them, it was as if she was right in the middle of Equestria. But that was impossible she thought as she shook her head, there was nowhere in Equestria that looked anything close to this. She did think she could tell rudimentary time by the position of the stars, but she would have to be in the same spot for the whole time and it would not be all that accurate so she quickly abandoned that idea since at best she could tell what month it was.

After flying for what felt like an entire day Luna began to see what appeared the predawn light coming up over the horizon, thankful for some possible daylight to better find her bearings she pressed on. All of a sudden the stars above her rapidly moved out of position. It was as if the whole sky rotated in just the space of a minute or so and Luna was presented with a new sky of stars that she had never seen before, new constellations that had never before been seen by ponykind just suddenly manifested themselves before Luna's wide eyed face. This new canvas of stars was so sudden and so breathtaking that Luna forgot to pay attention to where she was flying and flew face first into the side of a mountain.

With a nasty sounding thud Luna created a new cloud of dust from impact on the mountainside. She dug herself out of flank deep dust, sending a giant thick cloud of the stuff everywhere.

"Fuck me with the sun! There is a lot of dust here!" Luna exclaimed and very quickly realized that that was a terrible mistake.

Breathing in a lungful of the fine stuff from talking she started coughing dust from what felt like her very soul. Hacking and coughing like a plague mare she made her way to the top of the mountain and sat there composing herself.

When she finally got control of herself and had gotten most of the dust off of her Luna immediately looked back up at the sky amazed with the new stars that were everywhere and wished to the bottom of her heart that she had parchment or something to chart this out with. She did notice one constellation that she seemed to remember, it was always sitting at the bottom of the horizon and while it was still there it was weird looking with all these unfamiliar ones. Getting lost in the sky Luna sat there and stared at it for who knows how long but was probably hours.

Finally breaking her gaze from above her and looking to the side she saw again the predawn light coming from over the horizon, weirdly enough it had not gotten brighter at all and she still could not see her sisters sun. It looked like morning was coming and Luna knew she should have seen the sun come up by now, she had been looking at the new stars for far too long for day to not have come since she saw it before she stopped to look at the sky.

Stretching the stiffness from her wings Luna took flight again towards the light, hoping that once she could see better she could get some answers to what was going on. Even as a filly she never really stopped to think about stuff before she flew off to find answers, she just looked for them. As she flew closer and closer to the light it started getting brighter. After a while further she saw the Sun peeking over the horizon, what was strange though was it looked smaller than it normally did, about half its size really. Blinking away tears from the bright light Luna looked down and noticed something coming up ahead of her that made her have to stop and get a better look at at. While normally sunrises gradually turn the whole land brighter she saw an obvious and distinct line where the twilight grey of where she was now met with the brightness of over there. The difference was shocking, on one hoof everything was gray and subdued, on the other hoof the other side was as bright and blinding as noon on a snow covered mountain. Pure whiteness and stark shadows were all Luna could make out on the other side.

Coming down to land near the edge of the line, she was greeted once again by a large puff of dust that, once airborne it latched itself to her blue coat and stuck to her mane. Once again for more times than Luna could count, she cursed this horrendous place and its infernal dust! When she returned, she vowed would keep the entire castle dust free and sparkly clean. With a flash of her horn, the dust on her body fell off and with a vigorous shake of her head, her mane also dislodged the offending particles, sending them cascading to the ground in a brilliant shower of crystalline shower. Eyeing, well everything around her with contempt, Luna turned her attention back to the line between what appeared to be day and night in front of her.

With more care than she probably needed Luna took a few steps into the light and nervously laughed at her sheepishness. Looking around she noticed a few things, the stars were not nearly as visible as before, even though they were much closer now than she was normally used to seeing them in Equestria. She also saw a bright and burning spot in the sky, very much like the Sun she was used to, but only about one half the size was used to. She also saw what seemed to be a dark circle in the sky, twice the size of the moon she was used to seeing and blotting out the stars. She stood there looking dumbfounded at all the new things she hadn't ever seen before in the sky. Because though she was so transfixed by the sky and looking up, she didn't even see what was coming next.

Luna was hit in her side with enough force to knock the wind out of her and send her flying a few dozen meters. Choking trying to get suck some air back in her lungs she inhaled a bunch of the dust. Coughing and hacking, holding the side of her body with one of her wings Luna used her magic to to blow away the dust cloud and whipped her head around wondering what in Tartarus just hit her. All she saw was a large and very obvious and thick black cloud about three times her height that was constantly roiling around and wrapping back in on itself making it impossible to see what, if anything was inside. Watching it intently Luna finally got her breath back, sucking in air with ragged gasps that seemed to violate the still quietness of this foreign landscape.

“What are you!” Luna demanded of the cloud as soon as she was able to speak.

The cloud didn't reply, well that's a first Luna thought sarcastically, so far all her attempts to talk to clouds hadn't worked for some funny reason even though this is the first one that attacked her. Nursing her side she carefully stepped closer to it trying to see inside of it, if there was anything there. The moment she moved however the cloud blitzed to her with alarming speed, faster than Luna had seen anything move before and enveloped her. Her vision became clouded and she felt smothered by this repulsive fog that boiled and pressed around her. It felt alive as it started writhing in her nostrils and mouth trying to suffocate her and worm its way into her lungs. At least that was all she could feel before another powerful blow stuck her other side sending her flying again.

This time she was ready, as soon as she was enveloped she tensed her body on reflex to prepare for the inevitable blow. This time though she recognized the shape that hit her side, just before she hit the ground she knew that it was a hoof that had hit her, another pony. Getting back up quick as a thought she spread her legs apart and readied her horn, pointing it at the roiling blackness.

“I warn you that I will not go easy on you and I have fought demons and terrors for centuries!” Luna declared as she shot a powerful immobilizing spell right at its center. She had once stopped an Ursa Major in its tracks for a few minutes with this same spell. It would at least hold whatever it was steady so Luna could maybe get a closer look at it or put it down in some way. She heard the thud sound indicating that she hit something so she immediately threw a strong shock-wave its direction, attempting to dispel the cloud so she could get a good look at this thing.

The blast appeared to go straight through the cloud not affecting it at all, it was as if it was entirely unaffected by her powerful spell casting. Luna only got a moment of surprise in before the thing rushed at her again. With a quick and desperate push of her wings she managed to gain enough height that the thing went beneath her. Skidding to a halt it stopped while Luna hovered a dozen feet or so above the top of it. Opening her mouth to ask again of it what it was she didn't get the chance as a great darkness suddenly clouded her vision. She could still hear her ragged breathing, coming in short and heavy spurts but she could not see anything, it was as if she suddenly went completely and utterly blind.

Blinking her eyes rapidly in a reflex to try and clear them she tried shooting blast after blast of shock waves, when nothing happened she tried blasting light in every direction, as powerful as she could muster. Long ago she had accidentally and permanently blinded several ponies with this very spell so she normally never used it. She could see for the briefest of moments that it was working, the darkness around her was dimly, oh so dimly lit but then the light coming from her horn seemed to just get sucked into this void that surrounded her. With this suffocating void that Luna was so desperately trying and failing to dispel it is no wonder she didn't see or could comprehend what happened next.

With great crushing force Luna was in an instant forcefully pushed to the ground. She didn't feel anything on her back so it was not as if she was pushed down it just felt like she was so heavy that her wings simply would not keep her aloft anymore and with great speed she was dragged to the ground flapping her wings for all she was worth but it was futile, with rapid speed she kept getting sucked down to the ground. When she hit the ground she felt like a great weight was on every inch of her body pushing it down and grinding her into the dust. Planting her hooves solidly on the surface she pushed and strained with all her might. Well toned muscles flexed and sinew tensed as Luna pushed upward with a truly herculean effort. After a few moments she collapsed into a heap on the ground again, not able to surpass whatever this was that was holding her down.

It was at this time that the void that had stolen away her sight lifted, her eyes blinking rapidly from the contrast of the bright light and she could see that nothing was holding her down, she was just being crushed into the dust by a lot of empty nothing. Straining her neck she could see the thing just off to her side hovering there. Slowly and purposefully it started to float its way over to Luna in total silence. For the first time in a very very long time Luna felt something she had grown complete strangers with, terror. Her body started to quiver and even a small whimper snuck its way past her lips it was all she could do to shiver as she watched the thing make its way slowly over to her, her face unmoving as she stared at it with shrunken pupils.

The roiling cloud oozed its way over her body and when it covered her completely she felt an uncontrollable sense of claustrophobia. She felt like she was suffocating, her ragged gasps and shivering as she struggled even more desperately against the force holding her down as she felt like she was drowning and would never make it back to the light. Her vision robbed from her again she didn't see her attacker until she felt a hoof on each of her wings. She sensed more than heard or anything that the being leaned over and she felt its hot and sickly breath wash over the side of her face. It didn't say anything but a small puff of hot air made her think what ever it was, it was smiling. She felt it straighten back up and felt both the hooves holding her wings down lift off of her but before she could move an inch they came back down with titanic force right at the front joint of her wings. She cried out in pain as it lifted its hooves again and smashed them down. Over and over it smashed its hooves down and Luna's cries turned more into screams of agony, every fresh jab of pain lancing through her whole body until with a final stomp both of her wings were broken in half.

Luna shrieked until her throat tore and her mind could not think of anything else from the pain that held her entire existence captive. She shrieked never ending until her voice gave out and with a final gurgle, red froth dripping from her lips she passed out.

A sharp jab pervasively brought Luna back to the waking world. Her eyes snapping open from the new pain she was experiencing she tried to look around her but still could not see anything, the thick cloud roiling and choking swirled around her still. She was lying on her back her legs bent out at odd angles. Unnatural angles Luna thought briefly before trying to move one of them and moaning in pain as her voice still was gone, all of her legs were broken save for her back right leg and it was being gripped by the being that still had her surrounded, pinned to the ground with its strange magic and utterly held her at its mercy.

Luna whimpered knowing what was about to happen and tried to beg but with her throat torn as badly as it was there was no way she would be able to get the words out. With a mighty twist it snapped her last working leg completely backwards as Luna convulsed spastically and moaned again, her eyes bulging out and her pupils almost gone so lost was she in the pain. It let go of her mangled limb and Luna almost lost consciousness again as her leg hit the ground, a new wave of pain rolling over her body.

The void smoke cleared up just a little bit, enough so that Luna could just make the outline of her tormentor. It was pony shaped but a good two or three times larger than Luna. It had a horn as well but Luna could make out little else. It opened its eyes and Luna could easily see them even, harsh yellow orbs like miniature suns glowed and seemed to thrum with power. Following its eye movements she watched it lazily admire its handiwork and she shivered despite the pain, despite its hot eyes they only held cold hard malice. Leaning over its face mere inches from Luna's it fixed her in a stare that seemed like a cockatrice's as Luna found herself drowning in those eyes of power, unable to turn her head or even think about moving her broken and mangled body. It studied her face for a moment and then touched its horn to hers.

Luna felt something happen, like a surge of magic enter her head and change something in there but after a few ragged gasps and nothing happening she opened her eyes that she didn't realize she was squeezing shut a looked once again at the face of the monster.

He grinned at her, a lopsided sickening look and before Luna could unscramble her thoughts in between bouts of pain he picked her up in a field of levitation and without so much as a word threw her back over the line just barely into the dark side. She still couldn't get her mind to work properly amidst all her legs screaming at her and as such she did not prepare herself for when she hit the ground.

In the absolute stillness of this alien land a single shrieking note could be heard, a sound completely alien to ponies if there ever was one. For a moment it forced its way out of lunas already torn throat before the Princess of the Moon blacked out.

Luna dreamed fitfully, not one she was familiar with though and not one that could be considered a good dream by any stretch of the imagination. She saw herself standing on top of the staircase in the throne room of the castle looking at, well herself.

“Not... another step!” Luna declared strongly. Dream Luna stopped in her hoofsteps, and gazed sadly at herself. Realizing she was viewing somepony else dream from their perspective she idly wondered what was going on, usually she viewed dreams from a third party perspective it was pretty novel to get it from their point of view.

Looking imperiously at the host of this dream Luna said vehemently, “Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?” Ugh she thought, whomever dream this was they sure did have an active imagination. Sure she got angry from time to time just like everypony but this sounded way more hateful and venomous than she ever had been.

“There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be me!” Luna yelled and stomped the ground hard enough to crack the floor. Dream Luna only just snorted and rolled her eyes, sure she would have to check up on the mental health of whoever this was when she got everything sorted out but it was so wildly out of character for her that she could not help but to feel entertained by it. What happened next though was surprising to her but she felt like she should know what it was.

There was a rumbling and the weird acting Luna rose up in the air, eyes glowing with great and terrible power. The cracks on the floor extended to the window behind her and as it shattered, the sun was visible for just a few moments before Luna forcibly moved the moon in front of it blocking the sun off completely plunging the world into unnatural darkness. Luna began laughing like the maniacs in stage plays and her body transformed into someone else, something else. She grew taller, her coat grew much darker till it became black, her eyes became unnatural slits and her teeth elongated and sharpened much like those of predators. With an exhilarated laugh she gazed in utter contempt at the host of the dream. A voice so familiar to Dream Luna that her mind jerked sharply countered this monstrosity.

“Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!” Celestia declared righteously. Dream Luna just got way more confused and a little bit scared of this. Celestia knew her better than anyone why would she be having a nightmare about this? How could she be in Celestia's dream if she could not find her, the only thing she could think of was she somehow lost her powers or control of her magic or something, but that still does not explain what the hay this dream was even about. She was trying to unravel this latest bit that she almost missed out on what happened next.

“Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now, to destroy you!” With that Luna launched a magical attack at Celestia and took off into the air, attacking her. Dream Luna watched on with growing dread as this Nightmare and Celestia fought, even injuring her sister. When all hope seemed lost Celestia brought out the Elements of Harmony and using them blasted the deranged monster to the moon, shockwaves rippling through the air and whipping her hair around. The dream did not end there however and though Luna could only watch on with horror and wish it would end but there was just a small part left.

After the blast Celestia looked upwards to the moon which now was marred with the visage of the creature that was once her sister. Luna felt an almost unimaginable amount of guilt and the most soul-wracking sorrow wash over her and she heard Celestia whisper as her tears fell upon the uncaring stone... “What have I done?”

Luna painfully jerked awake and instinctively tried to get up. Agonizing pain shot through her entire body and she remembered belatedly that standing was probably the worst thing she could do right now. Slowly slumping down with a whimper she settled back down in the slowly swirling cloud of dust motes. Since her head was about the only thing that did not hurt she lifted her muzzle off of the ground and glanced around, trying to keep as still as possible.

Taking a mental category of what all felt wrong with her body without moving at all turned out to be too difficult and she gave up.

"Fuck me everything hurts" she tried to say but her torn throat prevented that too so she just settled for laying her head down gently and feeling like utter dragon shit, and dragon shits were some scary stuff.

Luna stopped feeling pitiful about herself. Her wounds would heal, eventually that is with a lot of magic helping it along although she would be very stiff in all of her broken joints for a while. What was that thing? Luna thought to herself. She knew she had never faced anything like that before. She guarded the kingdom during the waning hours from nightmares, both real and imagined. In all of her decades fighting the fight she had never even got close to being killed or injured that badly. Her even being alive was more due to whatever that thing wanted from her, or had in store for her. If it had wanted to kill her she would be dead already, that she knew.

Seeing as she was going nowhere anytime soon Luna pumped as much healing magic as she could into her broken body and wracked her brain trying to figure out where in Tartarus she was, what in Tartarus that thing was, and how in Tartarus she was going to get back. Luna knew that Alicorns healed at a much faster pace than any of the other ponies but seeing as she never was hurt that bad all she knew is that it would take some time before she would be able to walk again, let alone run or fight if need be.

Speaking of fighting Luna had been deliberately not thinking about her being destroyed that badly and she was keeping it that way. No way was she ready to revisit that terror anytime soon.

Not really thinking of anything on purpose other than the healing her stomach lurched like she was moving very very quickly and just as before the sky dramatically changed. The stars streaked their way across the dark sky and as Luna gave them a little bit of pondering she saw the familiar constellations she grew up with. Looking around hoping for something else similar but all she saw was the contrast between the light and dark side of wherever she was and those two strange orbs that were similar in feel to the moon and sun but seemed different than she was used to.

Thinking back to that strange dream she visited after the... thing. She thought about it too keep her mind occupied with something else and the more she thought about it the more she started to become uncertain that it was a dream at all. Dreams usually had this strange fuzziness about them. Even people that lucid dream don't have everything thought of, there's always sensible things missing but generally there is always going to be an inherit fuzz just in the corner of your eye the whole time. This was sharp, painful, even with how well Luna dreams she knew this had way more clarity than just any old dream. The more she thought about it the more she became sure until she had convinced herself that was a memory of her sisters.

“But how can that be a memory if I've never done that?” Luna thought, her voice not fully healed yet.

With the expected soft silence as her only answer she blew air out of her nose in idle frustration before returning to her thoughts. If I have never done that then how could she remember it? Luna's train of thought started. Maybe that thing put it in there to haunt me but that just doesn't feel like the right answer. She continued musing. If she remembered it, and assuming that its real and that it happened. Then at the end there where Sister used the elements against the monster that was me and sent us off to...

Lunas eye's shot open as wide as they would go and her mouth fell open with a gasp. All of a sudden it was as if everything made sense. Everything clicked together and Luna's mind lit up as everything made sense now... She was on the moon.

An Empty Headed Academic No More

Celestia jerked awake in a cold sweat, hooves all tangled up in her bed sheets. Breathing heavily she still could hear the sound of one of her guards trotting off to inform whoever he or she were going to that the Princess once again woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream.

No not A bad dream, THE bad dream. Celestia corrected herself. The one that had kept her awake nearly every night and was slowly wearing on even the legendary stamina of an immortal. The lone ruler all by herself atop her cold stone throne, ironically adorned with images of the hot sun, but cold it was nonetheless and even colder now that she had to sit on it alone. It had only been 6 months but Celestia still had nightmares of that fateful day when Luna, the only one she could count on to spend eternity with... the one who needed her the most, the one she had let down.

If only I had been there for her Celestia thought for perhaps the fifth time that day, and every day before that. Celestia knew from the bottom of her heart that she had failed her sister. The select few that knew the truth behind the truth behind her sister had taken it upon themselves like a personal mission to lift her spirits and start taking a lot more of a personal interest in helping to run the kingdom. Little did they know that Celestia had already given up on caring about the current generation of ponies. Soon enough everypony that knew the truth would be dead of old age; living for millennia makes everypony else's lifespan seem very short in comparison to her own. Celestia could wait them out and just mope all by herself like she wanted in 100 years give or take she kept telling herself. There was one pony however that she would miss, other than her sister he was her greatest friend and confidant. He was probably the same one the guard went to go tell too she thought with a snort.

She had done little else except raise the sun and moon and little else. Granted raising the moon was a little more work than she was used to but nowadays she just moped around in her bed chamber mostly. She even didn't stop the most successful ponies in the city band together to make a ruling council of sorts headed by a most capable pony. Skilled in logistics and very diplomatic, she didn't know what she would do without the enormously rich and clever Staggious Blueblood.

Her musings were cut short by a soft rap on the door, soft but forceful. Sighing to herself Celestia knew of only one pony that would be knocking at her bedchamber door this late at night.

“Come on in Starswirl.” Celestia sighed quietly, halfway hoping that he wouldn't hear her.

The door opened to reveal Starswirl the Bearded in all his hairy glory. He wasn't wearing his traditional mage robes that he wore to impress the less intelligent. It does not take a bunch of stars and bells to cast magic but it sure makes you look good while you do it. No, tonight he just wore fuzzy pajamas with big purple stars sewn into it, Starswirl really loved stars and stuff everywhere on his clothes, though then again that was one of his more tame eccentricities. It had almost taken the Princess a good month to convince him that bunny slippers were too offensive to be worn in court, she remembered almost with a smile.

“Celestia, how many times am I going to have to wipe your snot off the ground before you get a little fire in your belly?” Starswirl asked while busying himself around the room. He started tidying up a little and levitated a glass of water and a packet of sleeping medicine on the nightstand by the door, his own special recipe. Celestia just gave him a withering look while he meandered around the room which he pretended not to notice until he had puttered around long enough and finally looked over her way. Blatantly ignoring her disapproving stare he just gave her a flat look and said, “Well?”

Celestia broke her stare to roll her eyes at him.

“If you were more observant and less of a bumbling fool your eyes might chance across the obvious, there is no snot on me, around me or in my bedchamber!” She announced disdainfully, her nose turned up a hair and her muzzle like that of a pouty foal.

Starswirl just chuckled under his breath, a throaty sound that seemed to barely leave his throat. Looking right in the eye of the immortal goddess ruler of the whole kingdom he magicked a large, red and very hot looking pepper out of thin air and wafting it under Celestia's nose he said mischievously,

“I have a cure for that.”

I'm not in the mood for your games Starswirl.” Celestia remarked wryly as she batted the pepper away from her face and leaned back in the bed, she just wanted to be alone but this stallion was persistent if anything.

“You never are lately... but you know that is half the reason why I am such a pain in your ass, just trust me on this one, you aren't getting rid of me anytime soon and I'll even stake my magic on it.” Starswirl declared. He dangled the pepper a little closer to Celestia's muzzle, waving it back and forth as if she was a dog.

What a butthole she thought as she waved it aside again with her hoof Celestia got up and walked over to the door-stand where the wizard had put the medicine and water. Opening the packet and dumping the contents unceremoniously into her mouth she then washed it down with a grimace. Waiting a moment or two to compose herself Celestia craned her neck around to look at Starswirl.

“There I took your vile potion, now that your business is done go back to bed Starswirl.” She insisted. No pony disobeys when the Sun Goddess insists.

Starswirl just snorted and corrected the Princess.

“First off that is not a potion you ninny, it is an herbal compound. Potions have to be wet, which i'm starting to think whatever you have floating between your ears might be.” Celestia opened her mouth, probably to cry out in indignation but Starswirl cut her off. “Second my business here is not done, If i have to babysit the Princess in the middle of the night I'm not going anywhere until we talk about that nightmare that you so obviously had again.”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“Tough tits your Majesty I'm not giving you a choice.” he emphasized the word majesty with an exaggerated bow.

Celestia groaned in frustration and sat back down on the bed in defeat.

“I still don't want to talk about it.” She said in one last attempt.

Starswirl's eyes softened and he walked over to Celestia, putting a hoof on her shoulder encouragingly he said,

“I know but you need to talk about it. Without Luna here to talk to and get things off your chest I'm pretty much the only one that knows the both of you well enough. I know it's hard without her but you need to learn to lean on me. Bottling all this up is not only just keeping things as they are but it is not good for this kingdom. You lost your sister because of your subjects, but they are uncertain, they are still afraid and they need you more than ever to put on a brave face. The wild things in the night have become more bold and they haven't seen either of their rulers in months.”

Celestia brushed off Starswirl's hoof and got up and started pacing around the room.

“You have no idea how hard it is without her. I know we weren't that close lately and that is half the reason she did what she did, my subjects didn't help but i still wasn't there for her Starswirl... I. Wasn't. There.” Celestia accused. “I have lived for over a thousand years, ponies have come and gone by the thousands but throughout all that time I always had my sister. Just the two of us all through time, helping each other and fighting every foe imaginable, together." She looked down and her next words were a little choked up. "A-And even when we didn't talk she still existed, she was still there! Without her there to share my life with. Without knowing my little sister is ok... there is no point on even caring. If I wasn't immortal I would have ended it a months ago!” She cried out in finality.

Starswirl calmly walked over to her and looking her for a moment in her eyes he reached up and smacked her right across the muzzle. Celestia whipped her head back, her eyes burning with shock but she mostly looked hurt, tears streaming down her face but before she could say anything he continued.

"Luna is gone right now but knowing her she is trying to come back to you right now. I understand magic more than anyone including you.” He jabbed his hoof at her emphasizing his point. “That prison or banishment that the Elements of Harmony did will not last forever, even if the magic is perfect it will eventually degrade and she will be free. I cannot say how long that will be but I do know that it will happen. Would you let your sister down again by killing yourself or letting the kingdom that the two of you built with your own two hooves crumble until there is nothing left of your glorious kingdom but rotten huts and illiterate savages? You may want to mope around and be coddled but what you need is a big heaping cupful of shut the fuck up and think about tomorrow, not today.”

Celestia hung her head and murmured, “That was low.”

Starswirl softened up a bit and replied, “It was, I'm not sorry I said it though. If I thought there was anything else I could say to you I would have, I already have. At this point you have to start thinking of your subjects again and I'll be here to talk to when you are at your lowest. You feel like you are to blame for all this and that may partly be true but Luna also didn't indicate at all to you how she was feeling, truly.”

Celestia paused for a second, then her expression darkened. “To me? Did she confide in you?”

Starswirl eyes widened for just a split second and then his expression went back to normal. Celestia knew in that moment that if he tried to deny it that it would be a lie.

“Don't lie to me Starswirl, you may be the master of magic but I know how to read a pony. What did she tell you?” When he didn't say anything, she stomped her hoof on the ground hard. The sound of it was still ringing through her room when she demanded forcefully, “What did she tell you?!”

Starswirl looked back up at her, thinking to himself for a second before replying.

“She did tell me once that she was feeling unwanted and that no one seemed to like her. She also told me that apart from me no one liked to look at the night sky and its beauty. It was just once and she never brought it up again. I assumed she was just feeling melancholy and left it at that. I assumed you knew.” He finished, his head lowering in defeat. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier or even before the whole incident. The fault is partly with me as well, if I had told you, you might have asked her how she was and prevented the whole thing. You probably know what it's like, going through all the what-ifs and beating myself up every day for not noticing it sooner. The only reason I can function right now is because I don't deal with what-ifs in my work. I've put it in the past, learned from my mistakes and moved on resolving to never be so blind again. It sounds cold but this whole ordeal has been a possibly the biggest eye opener of our lives and now I'm trying to help you move on at least to the point that you can come out in public again.”

Celestia looked at Starswirl in a new light, obviously so wrapped up in her own guilt she never stopped to consider that the only one other than her that Luna looked at as an equal might feel the same way. Still.. maybe it was due to her age but she would not move on that easily or quickly, she resolved to keep this hurt in her heart until she saw her sister again. She owed Luna that much as a start to apologizing to her.

“You still should have told me Starswirl, even afterwards you still should have told me. I've been thinking this whole time that it was solely my fault and even now I still feel that way.” She held up her hoof to stop him from interjecting. “She might have told you but I have been with her and only her for these last thousand years, I should have known what she was going through. I am can read ponies like an open book but I was blind to what the one closest to me, the one I should have known better any anypony was feeling. Even though I barely saw her at all and she always seemed so tired I just kept thinking I would just let her rest, if I paused to stop thinking about the kingdom at all. Point is though that I should have known!” Celestia exclaimed at the end.

Starswirl hung his head, defeated and humbled after what Celestia just said. He knew she was right and nothing would change her perception in the near future.

Celestia paused for a long moment, and when the silence stretched she continued. “I appreciate you coming to talk to me though my dear friend. Your medicine is starting to take effect though, I shall go back to bed before i pass out and at least try to think about what you said tomorrow.”

Starswirl nodded, “That's all i'm asking for for right now, it's not much but it is a step in the right direction. I'll be here in a few hours to make sure that you are awake in time to raise the sun.” His eyes twinkled a bit as his old mischievous self resurfaced. “If you don't want to be greeted in the morning by a bucket of ice cold water fresh from the kitchens I suggest that you wake yourself up though.”

Celestia chuckled for the briefest of moments before returning to her new self, somber and with a permanent stare as if deep in thought. Climbing back onto her bed she flopped back onto it and started to drift off to sleep almost immediately. Right before she passed out though she could have sworn she noticed a silver aura grabbing her blankets and tucking her in.

After he had finished tucking Celestia in he made his way out of her room, the glass and paper pouch idly floating along behind him. Quietly closing the door he nodded to the guards standing by outside and started to make his way back to his section of the castle.

About halfway back he was turning a corner and almost ran smack into Staggious Blueblood.

“Gah!” Starswirl cursed, “Are you trying to send me to an early grave Staggious? Why are you even up at this hour with your sneaky skulduggery?”

Staggious was easily one of the more handsome ponies in the newly formed royal court. Tall, his square frame was made even more solid by his perfect stature. His mane was neatly and professionally trimmed, its color was almost spot on with the color of wheat ready to harvest. His cutie mark was a 4 pointed star and was the same color of his mane, hard to spot with his white coat actually. Everything about this stallion screamed perfection and Starswirl hated every bit of it.

Staggious had the decency to look apologetic before saying, “I am so sorry I startled you, if only i had known! Why I would never wish to send anypony to an early grave, especially such a good friend!”

Starswirl snorted out loud at being called a good friend by such a pompous windbag. “Staggious there’s no one nearby to impress by calling me your friend. What are you doing wandering the halls this time of night?”

“I know you do not have a high opinion of me Starswirl but I can assure you I hold you in the highest regard. As a mostly honest stallion who deliberately does not try to kiss anyponies flank and has achieved your status by your merits alone I think that is most impressive. Why I only hold Celestia in higher regard than you.” He had a hurt look on his face and Starswirl looked away sheepishly. Staggious correctly guessed what was going through Starswirl’s mind at that moment and continued.

“If you think I’m trying to kiss up to you then you are a bigger fool than I thought.. Maybe you aren’t such a breath of fresh air as I thought. I just enjoy a bit of honest back and forth.”

Starswirl looked up sharply at that all previous humility gone, he could tolerate a lot of things but not being called a fool.

“Staggious if you think I want to be liked by you then you are more of an egotistical ass than I thought. Quit trying to dodge the question and answer me before I lose my patience!” Starswirl hissed, if it had been during the day he might have not cared about yelling but he was not above making other ponies lose their sleep.

Staggious looked affronted at the verbal assault and after looking at Starswirl for a moment he looked at him for a moment and sighed.

“You know its not illegal to be walking around at night, but whatever. I was actually looking for you. I was wondering how Her Majesty was doing.”

“Why? Wondering how much longer you have before you’re not needed?” Starswirl accused, ignoring the first part.

Staggious audibly groaned and rubbed at his eyes with his hoof. He was visibly getting frustrated at the lack of trust from Starswirl.

“Trust works both ways Starswirl, if you refuse to answer anything I ask why should I be baited into pointless arguments with the stallion I need but will refuse to help me? You just don't like merchants and as the most successful one around that puts me on the top of your shit list and I'm growing tired of your unfounded distrust.”

Starswirl scoffed, “I would only trust a manipulator as far as I could throw them and I’m not exactly a strong pony.”

Staggious snapped, stomping his hoof down hard he glared at Starswirl, all the exasperation gone from his eyes it was replaced by the fires of anger and frustration.

“For fucks sake Starswirl just because you don’t happen to like me or what I do don’t think for a second I am not trying my damnedest to keep this kingdom from falling apart! Just because you think yourself so high and mighty that you know everything about me! I care just as much as you about Equestria, I’ve worked too hard and too long making a respectable and honest business here just to see it fall apart around me which is why I stepped up in the first place! I sure benefit from keeping the kingdom together but guess what? So does everypony else! I know you give a fuck and so do I about this kingdom, I just get stuck dealing with all the idiots and the tedious paperwork while you sit in your high tower and dote on the Princess. As the pony working until this uncelestial hour of the night trying to keep this ship afloat is it too fucking much to ask? How. Is. She. Doing?!” Staggious finished, panting a little and jabbing his hoof at Starswirl to exaggerate his point.

Starswirl was floored, slack jawed with his eyes so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Shaking his head he looked at Staggious in a new light.

“Sweet Celestia he’s not dead inside, and he has a spine to boot!” Starswirl exclaimed causing Staggious to get a little embarrassed, he never really lost it like that. Maybe the long nights are starting to get to him. Starswirl thought idly. Thinking back to the question though Starswirl grimaced and worked his mouth like he was trying to get something foul out of it.

“One chance.” He practically choked the words out as if just saying them would cause him to keel over and die. Starswirl paused, waiting for Staggious to reply but after a long awkward pause he replied.

“I guess I’ll work with you for now but I’m keeping a sharp eye on you... I can watch you even in my sleep.” Starswirl hinted mystically.

“For someone who has done so much for the people and saved the world almost as much as the Princesses in recent years, you really are one creepy fuck.”

Starswirl grinned at that. “Hey I can’t help it if people love the weird mysterious wizard thing. I guess I embrace the role too much when I’m around others.”

Staggious groaned, “Whatever, are you going to tell me what I came here for or what?”

Starswirl blinked a couple of times and looked around a bit as if to check if there was anypony around. “Oh that? Yea sure just follow me, I’d rather tell you in my lab.”

“Why your lab? Is it so you can "take care of me" when I freak out?” Staggious asked as he began to follow Starswirl down the corridor. Starswirl chuckled a bit but didn't reply.

“Now you’re thinking outside the box. There’s hope for you yet, but no… while the idea is enticing I’ll tell you why when we get there. In the meantime just be quiet, I need to think.”

Staggious just shrugged, not wanting to mess this up now that he is finally getting an update to Celestia’s status in nearly 4 months. Every time he tried to catch her at the raising of the sun and moon he was always made to sit it out while Celestia did it and then would be informed by the guards that she had teleported to her chambers and would not take any visitors. Maybe Starswirl bullied or bewitched the guards in someway to not let him talk to her. While possible he would never ask Starswirl directly or indirectly. It was a common secret that the mage was very protective of Celestia… aggressively too. No he would never ask him that unless he wanted to get thrown out of the closest window.

They walked in silence through the empty castle, a few torches scattered here and there provided a dim, flickering illumination to guide the way and with the exception of a couple of guards they didn't see anypony else. As they passed by as they went past the library one of the library guards gave Starswirl a nod, obviously familiar with the pony who spent the most time in there.

They eventually came before a large wooden double door, easily twice the height of a regular pony. Unlike all the other doors in the castle this one was completely covered in runes that if seen out of the corner of the eye they seemed to pulsate with a soft silvery glow. Mumbling to himself Starswirl idly bathed the entire door in his signature silver glow and with a slow creak, they opened.

Following Starswirl in Staggious looked around in confusion, this was his first time in Starswirl’s lab and it was a lot more… sparse than he imagined. A few chalkboards sat on their movable frames around the edges of the room and a few tables held an assortment of scrolls, bowls and beakers but for the most part the stone room was empty and devoid of any decoration.

That isn’t to say it was a small room though, it was massive, easily larger than the throne room and taller as well. The ceiling stretched up for a good dozen meters and the floor could easily hold a hundred ponies comfortably. In the center was a smooth bowl like depression about ten meters across, its glassy like surface gleamed in contrast to the rest of the room.

Catching his look Starswirl chuckled a little to himself and said, “I forgot you haven’t been in here before. Everyone gets that look their first time in here, they all expect there to be mounds of books, or clutter everywhere. Am I right?” Staggious nodded, still looking around the room and Starswirl continued. “This is my testing lab, I create spells in here. Wouldn’t want to accidentally destroy any notes or tomes left lying around right? So I keep this space clear for the most part while I experiment.”

Staggious nodded to himself, it made sense after all. Giving Starswirl a significant look he asked “So why bring me here to talk? It’s not as if nopony is awake right now anyways if all you’re worried about is privacy.”

“Nopony may be awake right now Staggious but that does not mean nopony is listening.” Starswirl said. Staggious perked his ears up at that. “Before I tell you how Celestia is doing it should be obvious that with her shutting herself away from the world and Luna being gone for an indeterminate amount of time that there is a power vacuum in Equestria right now despite your best efforts. I’d hate to think of any citizen that would be willing to... let’s say forcibly try to fill that vacuum but as I’m sure you know I do not have the most optimistic opinion of most ponies so therefore I avoid you like the plague and then you have to go ahead and press the issue. so I take you to the one place I know cannot be watched or listened in on, aka my lab.”

Staggious thought about that for a minute to himself. He hated to admit it but Starswirl had a point. He doubted that anypony would try to take over the country but he guessed it wouldn’t hurt to keep his ears open or at least keep an eye on goods shipments for anything suspicious. He nodded and gestured with his hoof for Starswirl to continue.

“As for how Celestia is doing. You didn’t know her or her sister like I did but I assume you knew they were close right?”

“As close as any siblings I always thought.” Staggious replied.

“I know they were closer than any two ponies in the history of this land I believe.” Starswirl said to Staggious’s surprise. “Imagine if you will living forever. Every friend, lover, companion and child growing old and dying whilst you endure, you just… continue. Now imagine that over the hundreds of years only one other pony lives like you do and they are the only one you can truly share your experiences and feelings with. Now last of all imagine having that pony that you care so deeply about all of a sudden go mad with jealousy and depression, try to kill you and take over the entire world that you two have fought to shape and protect with your own two hooves. Imagine that it was entirely preventable and it was partly your fault and that if you had paid better attention to the one you cared more about than the world itself you might have seen what was happening and showed the one you loved that they were loved. Imagine the crushing guilt you would feel and the apathy towards everypony else that unwittingly helped cause all this due to their grossly mismatched treatment between you and the one who felt alone and betrayed.” Starswirl got more animated with each sentence, eventually waving his hooves around frantically. Jabbing one hoof accusingly in Staggious’s direction he asked, “How do you think you would feel?”

Staggious’s ears folded back against his head at the animosity projected onto him. Processing what he was just told, it was an extraordinary and humbling speech. As if a light came on upstairs for him everything just made sense. Reading between the lines he realized why Luna had done what she had done and also not having to read between the lines he at least grasped why Celestia had hidden herself away.

“But it’s been six months!” Staggious blurted out.

Starswirl scoffed at that. “Six months? Six months to a being like her is a week to ponies like us. Long story short she needs more time to get over it and join us in the land of the living. Until then she has to essentially… mope it out I guess.” He absently scratched his beard. “Once she has come to terms with it all she will be back just like before.”

“I guess, but still as selfish as it sounds I would like to get back to the tedium of just managing my business. I do know however that the citizenry are starting to talk, they believe she is still alive at least seeing as the sun still rises and sets. But they worry Starswirl.. They worry and fret seeing as she has not made a single appearance since that night. They don't know what happened and unease is permeating every level of society. I’m won’t lie, I’m worried at what this could evolve into.” Staggious said.

Starswirl furrowed his brows thoughtfully, “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime just keep a sharp eye when you can and if it starts to become a problem we’ll take care of it. I guess the most immediate concern is coming up with an lie to tell those of the court that know and the general public. Now though if you’ll excuse me I have to get at least a little shut-eye before making sure shes up for the rising of the sun in a few hours.”

Staggious looked like he wanted to say something about Starswirl waking up Celestia but all he could do was yammer out a few words before Starswirl pushed him out the door and with a firm and familiar thud he sealed the doors behind Staggious.

Staggious just looked at the doors for a second, half debating if he should pound on them some more. There was still more he wanted to talk about but he decided to not push his luck. Shaking his head he made his way back to his room, embroiled in his thoughts as he processed all that he had learned tonight.

Grumbling to himself Starswirl reactivated the runes on the doors, sealing this room off from the rest of the castle to such a degree that nopony except an Alicorn could break through the doors or even spy inside. He had much work to do and as one that had little time and much to do he set about his tasks efficiently, expecting another sleepless night but that was fine. He had developed a spell to negate the need for sleep shortly after Luna was banished. He had too much to do without wasting time on something as frivolous as sleep.

Checking the soundproof, spell proof and vision spells to see the outside on the doors themselves he moved on to the knocking mechanisms. Crafty little spells that would let him know telepathically whenever somepony knocked. Additionally they would let him see who they were and hear what they had to say. Lastly he checked the teleportation tether that would allow him to teleport to the door to answer it no matter where he was.

A more sane pony would wonder why his door has such complex remote capabilities seeing how every time he is in his lab he would be there to answer. He chuckled to himself as he made his way to the glassy bowl in the center of the room. No one even bothered to ask why the surface was so glassy and even if somepony bothered he had some excuse about a rampaging fire spell that took too long to get under control melting the floor. No matter though as he was about to use the bowl for its intended purpose when he fashioned it. when this castle started to be built a few years ago as a better central hub to the kingdom. The construction was only finished 7 months ago, good timing on their part he mused since Celestia didn't want anything to do with her and her sisters old castle anyways.

Channeling his magic he filled the bowl level to the floor a silver liquid which rippled back and forth and then suddenly turned still and motionless, reflecting like a mirror. After a few moments it slowly became transparent from the middle outwards like some weird color removing ripple. Once he could see to the bottom of the pool Starswirl touched the surface with the tip of his horn.

Immediately it started frothing like a pot that had just come to a boil. It seethed and surged for a few moments before immediately turning clear as crystal and as still as a winter morning. Without any fanfare Starswirl jumped into the pool and was immediately teleported to a place where nopony could ever find, deep within the Canterlot mountain. He had gone to his real lab, the one he left behind was little more than a glorified entrance to where he really could stretch his legs figuratively speaking.

The darkness was cast aside as he lit the lanterns he had scattered around the walls. They had to be specially crafted to be smokeless and not consume air as that could easily spell out a death sentence this far underground.

As opposed to his previous “fake” lab this one looked nearly the polar opposite. Light softly lit the muted cavern and shadows danced on the walls, caused by the flickering lantern light. Massive bookshelves adorned the walls and thick rugs covered the floor. A few thick, solid wooden tables decorated the floor space, some with books on them and others with alchemical instruments of every kind imaginable. Several tunnels spaced evenly along the walls led off to other areas of his work space. Moving with a purpose Starswirl closed the portal behind him and set off towards one of the tunnels off to the side.

The long winding tunnel led to a much smaller room than before, probably only a dozen meters or so across. Every surface except the floor was covered in half meter wide plates of crystal roughly an inch or so thick spaced just a hair apart from each other creating a sort of kaleidoscope effect.

Entering the room he looked around, ensuring everything was in place and hadn’t shifted, underground placement was tricky as the natural movements of the rock sometimes moved things just ever so slightly out of place which could be disastrous, not so much in this particular room but it would give him a big headache and it was good to keep up the habit.

Walking into the center of the room he lit his horn and every plate, two hundred in total lit up softly. For a second or two they stayed lit and then with a soft whooshing sound they became images, as if they were windows to look out of. Nearly every plate showed the sleeping faces of various ponies, some in the government, some of the more rich and influential ponies, others still for those in the military. One showed Celestia, tossing and turning in her sleep, still troubled. Starswirl’s gaze lingered on that one for a moment longer. Sighing to himself he looked away and at the one he had dedicated to Staggious after confirming all the others were asleep.

As if he was perched in the rafters above the walking pony like some creeper bird he watched as Staggious made his way back to his room, not one of the best ones but a really good one considering they had to make room in a rather short order when he volunteered to start a pony council to help run the kingdom. Staggious just walked a normal pace back to his room as if he had just come back from a stroll through the gardens and immediately went to his bed and fell asleep shortly after. Starswirl keeping good on his promise to keep an eye on Staggious watched him for another hour or so, keeping an eye for any illusion magic or any trickery.

As he kept watch over the castle and the immediately surrounding land Starswirl sighed to himself. Stepping into Luna’s hooves was going to be a lot more work than he would rather deal with. He knew more about what she did at night probably more so than Celestia did. Fighting creatures in the middle of the night was hard work, he needed an elite force to help with the occasional incursion. Added to that he would need to continue to have a presence during the daylight hours to help stabilize the country and also not sleeping at night to keep an eye on everypony important, hence this room full of scrying mirrors and the rushed development of a sleepless spell.

Good thing he had just the thing whipped up for situations like this. Looking over all the mirrors to make sure everything seemed fine for the time being Starswirl got up off of his chair and walked through the main room of his sanctuary and into another tunnel, this one leading to plain looking room carved out of stone, no furniture to speak of. He had of and only one small candle providing just the most basic light needed to see. Running a quick spell to clean up any dust or other foreign particles that may have strayed in here since his last visit Starswirl was confident that there was nothing that would interfere with the spell this room was designed for. In truth even the one candle was the limit of light and physical interference that he could allow and still be within safe parameters.

Walking purposefully to the center of the room there was a small shallow depression, just larger than a pony and in the middle of it is where Starswirl stopped. His horn lighting up he let his magic almost drip from the tip of his horn into small grooves cut into the floor around him, turning around to get every last one of them. Lighting up they gave a small thrum as the magic activated and a bubble came into being around Starswirl. Outside the bubble the flickering candle stopped flickering and seemed to have been frozen.

Starswirl had built this bubble to stop time so he could sleep as long as he wanted inside and not even a millisecond would pass outside. Yes it shortened his lifespan but he was working on another spell to compensate for that, plus Celestia was not ready for him to die of old age anytime soon. So for now this room served it's purpose to allow him to get enough rest to be able to watch over the night and protect the country by night as well as by day. No longer was he an empty headed academic. He had a duty to Equestria and he would see it fulfilled, he would not let this country fall apart no matter the cost. Settling down he rested his head on his front hooves and closed his eyes, his long nap passing by in the blink of an eye to the rest of the world.