Celestia met the steel-hard slitted blue eyes across from her without blinking.

A slow breath drew in the familiar scents of her office; her uncapped inkwell, ready for her quill. Her favoured novellas and journals giving off a dusty, welcoming scent from their shelf. The sweet scent of her desk, hand-carved with love by her sister in their lonesome cottage. The paint of the only portrait of Luna she was ever satisfied with once it was finished. The chill night breeze of a new Winter, come to bathe Equestria in snow. The gentle lavender shampoo of her beloved student, who so often sat with her through long days of paperwork these last months.

A new, unwelcome smell joined the others now as she met those cruel slitted eyes; blood. It clung to the room like sickly tree-sap, sticky and viscous.

Celestia drew another sharp breath, feeling tears prick the edge of her eyes.

The sounds of the room were familiar, too. The wind circling the towers, the distant movement of a few citizens of Canterlot through night-time streets. She could hear the breathing of her guards outside the door, the shuffling of maids the floor below her in the Solar Tea Room, readying her midnight pot. The gentle ruffling of two cushions on her balcony.

A rasping breath was added to the familiar background. A hissing inhale, followed by the grated exhale - as if each breath was pain.

Around the chilly eyes, Celestia could see the face of her Nightmare. Its face was as sharp as when it had stolen her sister from her, not so much regal as domineering, all clean lines and razor cheekbones. Pointed teeth were bared in a cruel grin. Steel-blue fur was darker than Luna's had been, almost pure black. A mirror sat next to the door showed a mareless moon, the glowing silvery visage locked on Celestia.

Celestia's breath froze as the Nightmare drew a forked tongue over her teeth. Then, it spoke - a voice like breaking ice, whisper-loud but perfectly audible, like the voice came from her own head, "Mine. You will kill her..."

At this point, her reply was instinctual. "No," Celestia whispered, but her voice sounded huskier than it should have been, coming out like a low moan.

When the Nightmare spoke again, Celestia felt her own lips move, and heard her own voice speak - deeper, sensual, and almost vibrating in pleased satisfaction, "You are mine, Celestia. You will kill her."

Celestia struggled to move her lips to reply, but found they would not obey her command. She tried to jerk, to force her head to move and to bring herself back from reality - out of the realm of the Nightmare. It was like trying to push a mountain with bare hooves.

She felt her horn fill with a minute amount of energy. She could see the harsh orange light emanating from her horn, cast on the walls. The mirror on the wall moved slowly closer, its surface turning toward Celestia. Every degree felt like agony to Celestia, as inch by inch the mareless moon slid from its surface.

The mirror slowly moved between Celestia and the Nightmare across from her, revealing the Nightmare that now sat in her own skin. Golden, slitted eyes wreathed in fire gazed back at Celestia in the mirror, horn glowing orange above her head - her mane the very visage of the sun itself. Celestia watched herself smile, revealing razor-sharp teeth. She watched her own mouth open and the voice of the Nightmare came from it, "You will kill her, C-"

"-elestia, I brought the tea from the maids."

Cadance finished speaking as she closed the door to Celestia's office behind her, feeling the wards click into place. She had made her way onto the balcony, setting out the tea set between the two alicorn-sized cushions, before she realized that Celestia had not responded.

Casting her gaze to her auntie set a leaden weight in her stomach. Celestia was looking at Cadance, but her composure had been shattered. Her eyes were wide with panic, her shoulders were tense, and her wings fluttered.

Cadance had to take a moment to gather her own worry and fear and shove it down. Seeing Celestia like this unsettled her, despite how common it had grown over the last year. Despite knowing the elder Alicorn was as pony as the rest of them, seeing such raw suffering made her stomach churn. Cadance would never admit it, but there was a time she believed Celestia was immune to any issues that may plague a normal pony, absolved of weakness by her own power.

Cadance finished composing her face, hiding the pit of worry that was ever-growing in her mind. She met Celestia's vibrant pink eyes, "Auntie? Are you alright?"

In the next instant, Celestia's mask began to slide into place - a new crack present for Cadance to see. First her body language closed off, her shoulders relaxed and her wings sat against her back. Then her face lost much of its tension, falling into a simple, easy to repeat smile. But her eyes... Fear was in Celestia. A bone-deep terror of something. What would make Auntie so afraid?

When Celestia replied, starting to rise and made her way to the balcony, her voice was course - like she had been screaming and yelling. "Thank you, Cadance. I was lost in thought."

Cadance watched Celestia lower herself into the cushion. A golden aura took hold of the teapot and filled two of the cups with steaming amber coloured liquid. Next would come the dash of cream, then the slow stir. Always, without fail, exactly the same.

Watching Celestia go through the long-familiar motions of preparing the two of them tea without a further word of Cadance's concern filled her with a brief, but powerful, desire. She could break her sworn oath to Celestia. She could peel away the layers of masks and look at her, truly see Celestia. Auntie would never know, and Cadance could begin to help her. It would only take a moment, a glance. 'A moment, then you could help her,' her mind seemed to insist.

Cadance watched Celestia another moment, then took her place on the second cushion - dismissing the idea. Celestia trusted her, and she trusted Celestia. Auntie would speak when she was ready, and not a second sooner.

Instead, Cadance cast her gaze off of the balcony and toward the expanse of Equestria. She had seen the view from the tower many times, but it never failed to impress. Rolling hills, fields of apple trees, the small town of Ponyville buried in a broad dale. Beyond, the Everfree and the distant sight of the tall floating walls of Cloudsdale. The breeze brought the scents of the forest and open sky rather than the city, and other than the slight bustling of night ponies in Canterlot, all was quiet. The moon cast the world in shadow and mystery, allowing Cadance's thoughts to drift while Celestia completed the ages-old ritual.

She looked over when a slight clink announced that Celestia had completed the preparations. Celestia was looking at her, eyes clouded with thought and worry even if her tone was light, "I do not entertain sugared tea in my castle, you will have to do with simple cream, I'm afraid."

Cadance rolled her eyes, feeling a small smile spread over her muzzle as she levitates her own cup closer to her, the scent of sweet chocolate carried with the tea. "That article was pure hogwash, auntie. I enjoy a good time, but a whole hoofball team? Please."

One of Celestia's eyebrows arched slightly, the mild accusation in her eyes playful, her voice light and good-humoured, "No, I suppose the images must have been fabricated. After all, Smooth Mercury's fan club insists she prefers cheerleaders." Cadance poked out her tongue at Celestia as she continued, "But no, the picture they got for the article - of you looking surprised at that diner. There was a sugar cube in your tea. I thought I raised you better, Cadance."

Celestia always got copies of whatever tabloid or magazine Smooth Mercury was mentioned in, or any of Cadance's other personas. It was annoying, but only because it let her keep up on the juicy gossip and use it against her. Besides, she could see light entering Celestia's eyes, her smile becoming genuine and happy. That made any jokes more than worth it. Although the thought of Celestia seeing certain images of Smooth Mercury made her want to cringe.

Cadance grinned, shrugging off the thought and embracing her aunt's joy, "Well, it was either that or use cheap diner creamer. It probably had more sugar than the cubes."

Auntie tutted in faux disapproval, taking a sip from her tea and turning her eyes to the view. The moonlight reflected off of her eyes, but Celestia did not look to the moon as she spoke. She never did. Her eyes always turned to Ponyville. "You'll need to watch out, Cadance. I think Twilight has caught onto your use of personas. It's only a matter of time before she realizes the month-long gaps in coverage of Smooth Mercury's latest party or not-so-clandestine meetings align with your appearances here."

Cadance shrugged a wing, the slight fluttering making one of Celestia's ears visibly twitch. The thought discomforted her a bit. She did not want Twilight to follow in those footsteps. She tooks a sip of her own tea, the rich flavour was delicious, but not her usual fare. Give Cadance a good soda any day. "Twilight is certainly clever enough, if she read tabloids. Or went out."

The last words came out more pointed than Cadance had intended, frustration sharpening them. Celestia showed no outward sign of annoyance beyond a slight turning of her head, allowing one of those pink eyes to look at her. Cadance quickly continued, keeping her voice level and firm, "It's true. She never leaves the tower except to attend lessons or go to the library. And don't mention her parents or Shining. They come to see her now. It's the only place she feels safe."

Celestia looked away, back toward Ponyville. The elder alicorn took a breath before replying, tension in her voice, "She is safe in the tower, Cadance." There was a slight relaxing of her tone as she continued, "Besides, she moves around with the glamour you taught her. It is getting to become an amusing task for the guards to spot her misadventures, and the cook is convinced that I've begun letting a string of orphans move into the castle to take his pastries."

"That's not enough, Auntie," Cadance insisted. "She is enjoying herself, yes, but she cannot use the spell as a crutch. She needs to get out and at least go around the castle without one of us holding her hoof. Form real relationships. You do not even make her go to your school for lessons."

Celestia fully turned her head to Cadance now, "I do not think you should speak ill of using illusion spells as an escape, Cadance." Cadance felt a wave of guilt strike her, her jaw clenching as Celestia continued, "And besides, she does not need my school. She is, quite frankly, a genius. She is already far ahead of her grade level in all subjects, and in combination with her cutie mark she will outstrip a lecture on magic as it is being given. A purely private education will help her talents flourish."

Cadance's good mood had evaporated. She would have lashed out at Celestia, but thought made her pause. Celestia would not use an accusation like that against her, not normally. The realization hit her, and with it a new wave of grief for her mentor, "Celestia," she began, voice quiet and pleading. "You can't lock a filly in a tower to keep her safe from the world. She was raped," Saying it filled Cadance with a new wave of tension, a reminder of all she had learned - of the hole torn in Twilight's mind and heart - but she kept her voice low. Cadance reached out a wing, laying the end on the larger Alicorn's back, feeling the tension in her muscles. "She might feel safe, and may feel perfectly content to do nothing but read and study, but she will never recover fully if she only ever speaks to us or her family. Twilight needs more, and she needs our help to learn that there are wonderful ponies all around her to interact with, that the world is not as horrible a place as she believes."

Cadance could see and feel her words having an effect on Celestia. Her head lowered slowly, gazing into the stone floor of the balcony. Her back slowly relaxed, but Celestia did not speak. In truth, she did not need to.

Cadance drew a breath to steady herself for the next part. Celestia never liked to discuss Luna. "If you want her to be Magic in time, Auntie... She will need -"

Celestia's tension returned in an instant and her head raised, meeting Cadence's eyes with a burning golden gaze - the moon's light suddenly casting half her face in deep shadow, her intense expression of anger turned to something more sinister by the light and her shining, slitted eyes. Cadance flinched away from the sudden intensity, drawing her wing back to her, and a crack rang out as her teacup shattered in her magical grip.

The world grew quiet. Cadance felt suddenly shaky, even with her eyes closed she could not wipe away the image of the fury that had been on Celestia's face - sudden and unbidden. Pink eyes turned to golden flames. She let the shattered remains of her teacup clatter to the ground and tried to breathe, her instincts screaming at her, expecting a sudden blaze of heat. It never came.

"Cadance," Celestia's voice was a shaky, grief-stricken whisper - any anger gone from the tone.

Cadance had to force her eyes to open. Celestia looked diminished, drawn into herself - suddenly she did not project the image of the Princess that Cadance had always known. Her wings were pulled against her tightly, almost shaking, her mane seemed less lustrous. Worst of all was the face. Cadance was not sure how she had not ever noticed it, now that it was plain; Celestia looked drained. Her cheeks suddenly did not seem smooth and beautiful, the moonlight cast on them suddenly giving them a gaunt look. Her jaw was not set with determination, it was almost quivering. Her eyes were tired, empty of all energy and reserves of strength. Each blink of those pink eyes threatened to pull Celestia away from Cadance forever and leave something else in her place.

Cadance was on her hooves in an instant, moving the tea set aside and rushing to Celestia, lowering herself and pushing into Celestia's side, nuzzling into her neck. "Auntie? Auntie, please - I know something is wrong. Please. I'm sorry I spoke of Luna, but there..." She slowly stopped speaking, aware of Celestia shuffling a wing over her and embracing her, of the weariness she could feel from her auntie.

"Oh, Cadance," Celestia whispered, voice still quiet, but now it sounded tired, resigned and drawn. "I... I will not be able to stop Luna, when she comes back. I will not kill her. I will not."

Cadance tried to find some hidden meaning with these words, but none were apparent. She buried her face in Celestia's neck and replied, voice slightly muffled, "We won't have to kill her, Auntie."

Celestia was silent for a long while, so long that Cadance began to fear she had fallen asleep. But then she spoke, her voice somehow weaker than before, "How is banishing her to the moon for another thousand years any better, Cadance? I cannot do it again. Please," the word sent a shiver down Cadance's spine, the sheer desperation in the tone, "I cannot do this again. Not without her at my side."

Cadance felt suddenly cold at the words. The moonlight touching her face seemed to drain the warmth from her fur with each passing instant. "What will you do then, Auntie? She is coming back." A new thought shook Cadance, a sudden and terrible realization, "You're going to let her win, aren't you?"

The silence of Celestia and the quiet sizzling of tears was the only answer.

Neither of them spoke for a while, the moon continuing its slow journey across the sky. When Celestia spoke again, her voice was a bit stronger - more sure, "You will be there for her, Cadance. I... I do not know what I would do if I had not been blessed with you in my life, dearest niece. I know you can speak to my sister, give her a new chance, once I am gone - one way or the other."

Cadance raised her head so she could see Celestia's face, watch her stare into the Everfree. "Auntie..." Celestia's head turned partially to look down at her, "I can't. You know I can't raise the sun for more than a few days in a row. She..." Cadance swallows a lump in her throat, "Luna is not going to be herself. You know as well as I do. You told me what state she was in when you fought her. She is just as likely to kill me before I can speak to her."

Celestia looked away again, a full-body shiver striking the alicorn. "No," she whispered, voice desperate, "She would not. I... She was mad with grief, Cadance. Once she has slain or banished me she will be able to return to her normal self."

Another lump found its way into her throat at her auntie's words. The chasm in her stomach at the thought of Celestia not being there. Of how much she was trying to deceive herself. When Cadance spoke it came out as a quiet murmur, "It was not you who destroyed Everfree City, Auntie. Luna is not Luna anymore. If you... go," the word stuck in her throat as she said it, "what will we do against the Nightmare? What of Twilight? She is your student. She would be in danger."

Another full-body shiver wracked the older alicorn. With a start, Cadance realized that Celestia was crying. She adjusted herself, pulling Celestia closer and allowing her to bury a tear-streaked face against Cadance's body. Her aunt shook a few more times before she replied, voice uneven and shaking, "I cannot choose," she said, voice cracking. "It is my fault, Cadance. All of this. If I had... If I had just spent these years in isolation, it would no be so difficult. But you," her voice shakes again, this time with affection that drove off the chill that had taken ahold of Cadance, "I allowed you in, and now I cannot -" Celestia cut herself off, taking deep breaths as her trembling began to subside.

Cadance used this opportunity to speak, resting her head atop Celestia's, "I'll have you know, you didn't allow me into anywhere. I wormed my way in fair and square, Auntie."

A short, wet-sounding chuckle overcame Celestia for a moment. Cadance continued, "Celestia... I... I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there for me when Weld died. You don't have to suffer this alone. You never did. Please, remember what you told me, Auntie; 'You can lie to my face all you want, but never lie to yourself.' You..."

Cadance stopped as Celestia shifted and began to speak, an empty note in her voice as if the words she spoke pained her, "She will not be sane, no. I... I do not think she would mindlessly kill other alicorns, no matter her madness. I know you cannot raise the Sun consistently, should she force eternal night upon Equus. I know she... That she may do terrible things, but she is my sister."

Cadance ran a wing along Celestia's back as she spoke, but slowly the motion ceased as her mind focused on a single word. Her auntie never misspoke. "Alicorns? Auntie, you can't mean Twilight? She... She is powerful and has the potential, but in only eleven years? You..." Cadance paused again, piecing details together, a new realization striking her, "You mean for her to raise the Sun in your stead."

Celestia did not reply, but that was answer enough.

A fresh wave of horror shook her, the image of little Twilight Sparkle trying to fight Celestia's sister for the Sun. "That is not fair, Celestia - you know it. You can't... You can't just groom someone to become an Alicorn, to take up the mantle of the Guardian of the Sun. Even if she did ascend, unless she had the same cutie mark as you she would never be able to do it forever. She would be burned out, your descendent or not. She wouldn't have the power. She would die trying to rip the Sun from the Nightmare's control."

Cadance hesitated, and Celestia used this opportunity to cut in, voice quiet, "Unless she was the Alicorn of Magic."

The mere thought made Cadance pause. More details began to click into place. The desperation that poured off her aunt with every heartbeat made her resist the urge to lash out - Twilight was not a tool to use. Not a thing to be prepared. But Cadance knew Celestia knew that. "Celestia," she managed to get out, her own voice pleading now, "You can't force someone to ascend. You can't drive them to it. It's against Harmony."

"We were driven to it," there was a tone of bitterness in Celestia's voice. "Luna and I never had a choice. Never. I would not do such a thing to Twilight," Celestia took a breath and let it out in a sigh, "No. I am not driving her to it. I am teaching her everything I can, as I did to you. She has the potential. Her cutie mark is Magic, Cadance. You know as well as I that left to her own devices she would ascend, even if I had never taken her as a student, or if I kept her at a slower pace. What is the difference between eleven and twenty years?"

"Interference," Cadance hissed back, "You're using her, Celestia. Don't lie to yourself. What did you plan, exactly? To have Magic accept her and jumpstart the process as Kindness did for me? It was not easy ascending so young. My family died because of it, Celestia. I lost the element from the trauma." Cadance's voice shook during her protest, tense at the memory of venturing into the Everfree - into those ruins. Finding the stone that awoke for her. The pain.

That seemed to strike at something in Celestia and she lowered her head once more. There was silence for a while more before Celestia spoke, voice low, "What have I become, Cadance? I am... I am so tired. I cannot think. A voice whispers to me in the night, my nightmares haunt my waking hours. I... I feel sickened that I would conceive of such a plan, but I hear the logic so clearly. What else am I to do? I cannot fight Luna. I cannot banish her. If you and Twilight are alicorns, then... Then she would have to listen to you. She could not fight you both. I can see the path to this so clearly, it seems the only way forward, and I am a monster for wishing to hand this duty to you and her. I am so tired, Cadance - even now as I sit under the moonlight I can feel the darkness in my mind."

Cadance's heart had turned to ice as Celestia spoke, the desperate whispers of admission cutting through the pounding in her ears. Celestia continued, drawing herself closer to Cadance, now whispering in her ear as if they might be overheard, "I can feel it. At the edges of my dulling senses. It has been a slow defeat, Cadance, but it is absolute. I have the strength yet within me to keep myself until The Night comes, but no longer. If Luna is banished, I will not last another thousand years. I cannot fight to subdue Luna, I am too weak - the blade of my power worn away by a thousand years away from the respite of dreams. I would have to fight to kill her, and it knows I would rather die. The only way to win is not to play."

Cadance fought against the despair that had risen up in her against her will, attempting to drown the raging fire that had begun to burn in her chest. It was tempting to give in to the dark thought that nothing could be done further to convince Celestia, to run and hide away as Smooth Mercury for another eleven years. To accept this cruel plan. To abandon Celestia to the cruel machinations of the nightmare. To keep the oath that Celestia had asked of her three-hundred years ago.

She gathered will and clung to the inferno growing in her heart. "I'm sorry, Auntie."

Cadance rose to her hooves so she stood over Celestia. The white alicorn looked up to her, her expression raw with the agony of grief, as if Cadance had already turned and abandoned her.

Then, Cadance allowed the material to fade away, and the emotional to flood over her.

She almost screamed. Celestia was once a beacon of pure light, haunted by nothing more than passing shadows.

Cadance clamped her jaw and forced herself to behold the Nightmare. It clung to every inch of Celestia's blazing heart, slowly snuffing it out, oozing into every crack like tar - choking the life out of the most powerful being on the face of Equus. It twisted with every heartbeat, convoluting its surface into new thoughts and emotions to fill the mind of its host. She could see now, truly, the horror she had let grow because of her absence. Because she wished to hide from responsibility. To escape the death of Weld.

She shivered and looked around the room. She had never beheld Celestia's office, even at a young age she had been asked not to. Cadance wished she had seen it in more pleasant times, for surely every time she looked upon it now she would see nought but the crushing despair, the black depression, the years of hidden torment that coated every item, permeated every surface. It smelled like sickness now, years of vomit left to rot and fester whilst the sick hid their symptoms. There were only bare traces of the previous emotions that could be seen. Love clung to the desk like a cloak, enjoyment managed to show itself in some of the books on the shelves. The portrait of Luna gleamed with affection and desire. Desire? She felt like her heart may break a second time.

Cadance shook herself and tore her gaze away from the portrait and back to Celestia. She would not allow this.

The Nightmare that clung to Celestia had turned its surface into a thousand writhing black eyes, and stared back at her. Cadance could almost hear the whispers of paranoia, betrayal, and self-loathing it was whispering.

"No more," Cadance growled, voice low and tight.

She grasped the inferno of righteous anger in her chest and allowed it to flood forth, bathing the balcony in fire and light.

Author's Note

So I considered spending another while on this chapter but decided against it. It's not edited too much, I polished it off last night and glanced over it the last hour or so before I have to go to work. I hope it's satisfactory, and that you don't hate me for the cliffhanger too much.

I have alot more free time than I used to, despite being essential - I left a group of friends that was taking up far too much of my time and will have time for daily writing. The next chapter is already on the way, and was almost just part of this one.

Brings me to a big question, do you guys prefer larger chapters or shorter ones that come out more often? Short being 4k, and longer being up to 10k.

As always, have a great day - and remember;