Chapters The night was pitch black, storm clouds covering the moon and stars. Wind howled through the trees and the rustling of large creatures echoed through the trees. Two ponies stood at the edge of the forest, shaking as they peered inside.
“Why does she look like that???” A stallion's voice whispered.
“I don’t know!” A mare hissed back. “But we can’t take her back to the village, they’ll kick us out!”
The stallion shuddered. “They’ve never seen anything like her. Who knows how they would react.”
“Neither have we! Now put the note in the blankets and let’s go.” The mare set a bundle of cloth at the roots of a gnarled tree.
The stallion tucked a piece of paper just inside and they both rushed off into the night. It would be morning before anyone found the little filly, screaming and flailing, her commotion having knocked the paper from her swaddle.
A gray unicorn stood above her, studying and considering her. She was light gray, with striking yellow eyes. But most notably, she had both wings and a horn.
Starswirl the Bearded lifted the infant in his magic, and turned to leave before the piece of paper caught his eye. He levitated it too and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Wandering Winter Winds hm? I’m surprised your parents even had the decency to give you a name.”
He floated her through the forest, interested in how his other two alicorn pupils would respond.
oOo
“Where did you find her?” The white mare cocked her head and pulled down the blanket to get a better look.
The gray filly fidgeted and whined, flailing her hooves and starting to cry. Starswirl rocked her in his magic and sighed.
“At the edge of the forest. She just had a note with the name Wandering Winter Winds written on it.”
Celestia cocked her head as she looked up at the baby encased in Starswirl’s white magic. “Seems kinda mean to call her that.”
A blue alicorn filly blinked at her older sister. “Why?”
“Well if her parents just abandoned her, it just seems mean to call her by the name they gave her.”
Luna flew up to the whimpering filly. “We could call her Wandy.”
Starswirl allowed Luna to tuck the blankets tighter and bring her into her forelegs. He continued to support the filly with his magic, but let the younger sister dote on the baby.
“I think Wendy sounds better.” Celestia levitated a stuffed bear over to Luna and the baby.
Starswirl nodded and brought the filly down. “Wendy it is then. Now you two run along and get ready to go out. I’ll get this one tucked up and we’ll head into town for some milk and bottles.”
The two older alicorns ran up the stairs to brush their teeth and brush their hair to get ready for the day. Starswirl lifted the baby out of the soiled blanket. He examined her wings and horn, looked her over for injuries, and then wrapped her in a clean towel. She continued whimpering, and Starswirl rocked her in his magic again.
When Celestia and Luna came running down the stairs, wrapped in their usual wing-hiding cloaks, he set on his hat and directed all three alicorns towards the door. The two older fillies ran through the forest, laughing and jumping after one another. Occasionally one of them would fly slightly, only to land and glance guiltily back st Starswirl.
The wizard would give them stern looks and shake his head as they adjusted their cloaks and folded their wings away. Starswirl had decided moons ago that it was safer if the girls covered their wings when they went into town. After a pony had spotted them in the woods and ran off shrieking about demons, they had all become wary of letting the townsponies see their strange anatomy.
Starswirl still did not know why the two girls were alicorns, but he did know that their magic was off the charts. Both fillies refused to talk about their parents, and Starswirl suspected that they remembered less than they wanted to admit. He had found both girls in the forest, much like he had found Wendy. And although neither alicorn talked about their parents, Starswirl’s prevailing theory was that their parents had been alicorns and had been killed by something in the forest. Now where the lineage of alicorns came from, he didn't know, and he suspected that he never would.
As they neared the town, Celestia and Luna slowed down to a trot beside him, hanging back ever so slightly. The townsponies kept a wary eye on them as they walked to the stalls and Starswirl offered healing plants from the forest in trade for crops, milk, and other goods. None of the earth ponies there had seen many unicorns. Even though the three tribes lived in Harmony now, other types of ponies were still uncommon in this little unnamed town.
Celestia and Luna shrank under the judging gaze of the town but Starswirl nudged them up. “Go have a look around. See if there’s anything you want.”
Starswirl walked up to another stall, one selling fabric and rope. The purple pony behind the counter smiled warmly at him.
“Hey there Starswirl. Haven’t seen you in a while. Who’s this little cutie?” She gestured to the filly still held aloft in his magic.
Starswirl sighed but smiled softly. “Hi Berry Vines. She’s another to join my little family I suppose. Found her abandoned in the woods.”
The wizard pointed to a series of cloths and Berry started cutting and wrapping them in brown paper.
“How have your girls been?”
Starswirl gestured to the two fillies laughing at a candy stand where a baker pony was nervously showing them rows of hoof-made sweets and simple pastries.
“They’re still a bit nervous in town but their magic studies are coming along nicely.”
Berry smiled and handed him the cloth packages. “The ponies in this town aren’t exactly sure how to handle a trio - now quad - of unicorns who mysteriously live in the forest.”
Starswirl chuckled deeply and placed a bundle of Heart’s Desire on the counter. “Well we can’t very well live in town and practice magic. Here, these flowers should provide you with enough purple and pink dye until I come back.”
The seamstress smiled and thanked him as she set the flowers behind the counter. The unicorn tucked the cloth into his saddle bags along with the fresh crops and baby supplies that he had picked up. Celestia and Luna were much older than this when he found them, so this would be the first time in a long time that he had looked after an infant.
He found Celestia and Luna, traded some Zap apples for the sweets and pastries, and the group headed back into the forest. The townsponies watched after them, shaking their heads and murmuring to each other as the group of unicorns (or so they thought) disappeared back into the gloom.
Starswirl trudged back into the house, his cape scorched and torn. He slumped against the table as three bleary eyed young alicorns came down the stairs. Celestia yawned and brushed her mane out of her face.
“Why was the sunrise so weird this morning?”
Starswirl groaned and dropped his forehead to the table. “So it was noticeable?”
Wendy stared at him. “Well duh! The sun came halfway up, then disappeared, then wibbly wobbled back into the sky!”
Starswirl just groaned again. Luna started setting out ingredients for breakfast as Celestia walked over to take the ruined cloak. Wendy moved to set the table. The gray unicorn shrugged off his cloak and let Celestia take it in her hooves. She closed her eyes and ignited her golden magic. The cloak lifted into the air and began to glow. When the light faded, all the burn marks and tears had been fixed, and the garment was back in perfect shape. She gave it back to Starswirl with a triumphant look in her eyes.
“Well done Celestia. Your magic is really improving. Anyway, one of the unicorns this morning lost his magic halfway through. And we had to make do with only five of us.”
“Maybe you should pick the unicorns more carefully.” Luna called from under the counter. “Seems we’re running out of those powerful enough to help you.”
Celestia’s ears perked up and she turned back to her teacher with a pleading look. “Can I help? You said that my magic is improving!”
Starswirl looked his student up and down. “Celestia, I admire your drive and yes your skills are greatly improving, but you have no idea how much power it takes to raise the sun. Perhaps in time you can help me. For the time though, I think it is high time that the lot of you start joining me. Start to see what it takes to control the heavens.”
Luna grumbled from the counter. “I’ve always been more of a night pony.”
“Oh thank you Starswirl!” Celestia beamed at him and excitedly went to help her sister with breakfast.
The gray unicorn laughed and picked Wendy up on his knee. “So how are you little one?”
The filly buzzed her wings, excited to be the center of attention. “This morning I managed to hold my toothbrush in my magic the whole time !!”
“Oh is that so?” Starswirl chuckled.
Wendy continued to tell him about her morning and all the spells she had used to help get ready. Celestia and Luna made a wonderful breakfast of hay cakes and cut fruit, then the ponies started their long day of magic lessons.
oOo
“Okay Wendy. Just add the slightest bit of power and lift your chin a little higher.” Starswirl watched calmly as Wendy’s golden magic enveloped a rock about the size of her hoof.
The little alicorn filly licked her lips and strained, pouring a little more concentration and effort into her horn. The magic field glowed brighter and the rock lifted out of the ground just a few inches.
“I did it!” The moment she called out, her concentration wavered and the rock fell back to the ground. Undeterred, she bounded over to her teacher. “Did ya see Starswirl?? Did ya see??”
He smiled and directed her back to the rock. “Yes Wendy. Well done. Now try again”
As the filly worked on levitating heavy objects, Celestia and Luna were up in the air, practicing their flight patterns and combat magic. The sky flashed with beams of blue and gold light as the two sisters circled each other and shot spells back and forth. When they landed, they were panting heavily, laughing, and lightly shoving each other.
They were young teenagers now, still missing their cutie marks but loving their time with Starswirl. None of them knew why they hadn’t discovered their talents yet, but Starswirl had theorized that because they were alicorns, perhaps their talents were bigger than they had yet had the chance to discover.
“I pity the creature that ever has to fight you Sister,” Luna remarked as she wiped sweat off her brow.”
“Oh please. Who would I ever fight?” Celestia laughed as she playfully pushed her sister.
Wendy rushed over to show them her up and coming levitation magic. The sisters ooh’d and ahh’d over the little filly’s magic, then showed Starswirl the progress they had made on their combat spells. After a few stern words of correction, the group headed back to their home, everyone excited for the next day’s sunrise.
oOo
Celestia, Luna, and Wendy sat at the top of a hill, watching as Starswirl gathered five unicorns from the town below. It was still night and Starswirl had teleported them with him to the nearest majority-unicorn village to watch him raise the sun. Five very tired and haggard unicorns joined Starswirl to walk up the hill. One hung more towards the back, a small and terrified unicorn with a deep midnight blue coat and white hair. He trembled as they climbed the hill.
“Soon I am going to have to find a new town to help me raise the sun. The unicorns here are nearly spent.” Starswirl mumbled to Celestia as they passed.
“Please Starswirl, let me help! I’m ready!” Celestia begged him but the older unicorn simply shook his head.
“Keep on your cloaks and stay out of the way.”
Celestia grumbled and tapped her hoof on the ground nervously. The shaking blue unicorn gave her a sidelong glance. Starswirl moved everyone into position and gave them the instructions. He ignited his white magic, and the other unicorns followed suit. A bright yellow glow started to rise above the horizon.
“Wow!!!” Wendy’s young voice cut through the silence.
The blue unicorn’s eyes flew open and he stared wide eyed at all of them. “I-I can’t do this!”
His horn spluttered, sparked, and went out. He turned on his heel and dashed down the hill. The three alicorns stared as the sun started to drop back under the horizon. Starswirl gritted his teeth and tried desperately to hold it in the sky.
“Celestia!”
The white alicorn threw off her cloak and stared at the sky with a deep-set determined look. She ignited her horn, opened her wings, and flew up into the air. Luna and Wendy watched as she lifted the sun up into the sky slowly. Wendy’s eyes shone with admiration and awe as she squealed and watched her adoptive older sister.
Luna sighed and looked away. “Always in her shadow…” She mumbled to herself.
When Celestia landed back on the hill, a golden sun was shining on her flank. She cheered and threw her forelegs around Starswirl. He stood, dumbstruck as the young alicorn marveled over her new cutie mark. The villagers were frozen, eyes wide and unblinking.
“You...You have wings!” One mare was pointing a shaking hoof at Celestia, her eyes wild.
Celestia tucked her wings tight against her body. “Oh. Um. Yes?”
The unicorns continued to stare and Starswirl stepped in front of his students. “Yes well thank you for your services. It doesn not appear that I will have to return here for your help. Have a good day.”
With that, he sparked his horn and teleported himself and the girls back to the Everfree forest. As soon as they landed, Celestia pranced around them.
“I got my cutie mark!”
Starswirl beckoned her over and inspected the new mark, then had her run through a variety of magical tests to see if anything had changed.
“Perhaps this is your destiny...perhaps this is why you’re an alicorn…” Starswirl stroked his beard pensively.
Celestia and Luna gave each other sidelong glances and Luna slid her eyes to the ground. Celestia bit her lip then trotted quickly towards the cottage.
“Come on. Let’s get breakfast.”
If Starswirl noticed their odd behavior, he didn’t comment. He just followed his student into the house. Luna scooped Wendy up onto her back and followed the others into the house.
oOo
Luna watched as Celestia set the sun so Starswirl could raise the moon. They were at another unicorn village, and five more ponies stood next to the alicorns. Starswirl had always used different towns to raise the sun and moon so that he wouldn’t exhaust all the ponies in one place. Once the sun was set, Celestia tried to lend her magic to raising the moon, but she just went red in the face and her horn spluttered out.
“Not good at everything I see.” Luna mumbled.
Wendy looked at her. “Could you do it?”
Luna blinked down at the younger filly in her lap. “What?”
“If Celestia can raise the sun, can you raise the moon?” Wendy was staring up at her, innocence shining in her eyes.
It was such a simple question, just the kind that a kid making logical leaps would ask. But Luna found herself standing up, her hooves moving of their own accord. She stepped over to Starswirl as he prepared the unicorns. She lit her horn and closed her eyes, feeling a strong pull in her belly. She had always loved the night, always loved the darkness and the silver light of the moon. She tapped into that emotion, the calm, the serenity, the peace.
A Starswirl watched as the moon rose above the horizon seemingly of its own power. He turned to look behind him, and Celestia followed suit. Luna stood on the hill, her muzzle lifted to the sky and her eyes closed softly. Her horn glowed as the moon lifted further from the horizon.
Starswirl’s jaw dropped. Two alicorn sisters with magic well beyond their years, who were able to control the sun and moon on their own??? He really needed to figure out where these girls came from. He slid his eyes over to look at the smallest alicorn in his care. Wendy. She had shown no more magical prowess than any other normal unicorn, nothing like the power that Celestia and Luna had always shown.
What will your destiny be little one? He wondered silently as Luna lifted the moon to its peak in the sky, and a flash of silver light indicated the new cutie mark on her flank. She tilted her head back down and opened her eyes slowly, turning to look at her flank. With a smile she looked at Starswirl who stared back at her open-mouthed.
Celestia squealed and engulfed her sister in a hug. Starswirl dismissed the unicorns again and walked over to them, smiling warmly at the sisters.
“Well what do you know. Two alicorn sisters who control the sun and the moon. What a fascinating pair of connected destinies…”
Celestia and Luna shared another look just before Starswirl teleported them home. Wendy ran into the cottage, laughing and chattering on about the two new cutie marks. Starswirl trotted after her, but the two sisters stayed outside, looking up at the sky.
“Sister. Do you think Wendy is like us?” Luna asked quietly.
“I do not think so my sister. But I know that with talents like these,” They both glanced back at their flanks. “We are going to be very important in Equestria.”
“You think so?” Luna turned to look at her.
Celestia’s were trained on the sky. “We are not meant to fit into this land. There is no one else like us here, not even Wendy. We are not destined to simply fit in. And we both know that we are going to outlive these ponies by centuries. We are meant for something great.”
“I do not know if you are correct sister, but I can only wonder if this is why we are here? Why we were left here...” Luna turned back towards the warmly lit cottage. “For now though, I think it is time to get our little sister to bed.”
Celestia smiled. “Whatever our future is going to be, I am sure that Wendy will be an integral part of it. She may not be like us, but she is not like them either.”
Luna ruffled her feathers. “She’s caught somewhere in the middle.” She remarked, but managed to bite back the ‘like me ’ that almost followed. She was constantly in her older sister’s shadow, the lesser magic user, the weaker flyer, the less determined student. And she always got less attention than Wendy, who needed constant teaching and supervision from Starswirl in order to control her magic.
Celestia wrapped a wing around her sister. “Congratulations on your cutie mark. Seems we will be entwined for the rest of our lives.”
Luna glanced back at the dark splotch and the crescent moon on her flank. She heard a crash from the cottage and Wendy’s echoing giggles. She smiled, knowing that despite her complaints, she wouldn't trade her little family for anything in the world.
Author's Note
Thank you to everyone who is reading! If you would like a back story for your OC, feel free to message me or comment down below! My commissions are open
Luna sat grumbling at the little dining room table, a quill held aloft in her magic and spinning around in circles. Wendy sat across from her, her quill scratching furiously over her scroll. She licked her lips as she wrote.
“Why does celestia get to have private lessons in her magic while we have to write essays?”
Wendy looked up at her older sister. Luna was staring off into space, absentmindedly spinning her quill. Her scroll was still blank.
“Didn’t he say that he would take you out tonight to help you with your star placement and dream walking?” Wendy’s essay was half completed: a comprehensive breakdown of equestrian lore and the history of the three tribes.
Luna just grumbled again and finally set her quill to the paper. She and Wendy wrote in silence for a few more minutes before Wendy triumphantly held up her scroll and grinned.
“I’m done!!” Her horn sparked to life and a blazing gold light filled the room. It was blinding for half a second, then the light faded and Luna blinked rapidly. Wendy was staring, horrified, at a charred and smoldering scroll.
“Wendy!” Luna gasped. “You need to be more careful!”
Wendy dropped her head to the table and groaned. “Why does this always happen to me…”
Luna pointed her horn at the paper and zapped it with her dark blue magic. The burn marks repaired and it rolled into a nice neat scroll. “There. You need to stop letting your emotions control your magic, and you need to be less impulsive.”
Luna glanced up at the ceiling, where a burst of scorch marks marred the surface directly above her little adopted sister. The blue alicorn sighed and fixed those too while Wendy looked on with an embarrassed smile.
“At least Starswirl won’t know.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Little sister, Celestia and I cover for you all the time. You are a full grown filly now. You need to get control of your own horn.”
Wendy just smiled sheepishly and set her scroll in the center of the table. “I’m going to go play outside!”
Luna watched her scamper out of the cottage, then returned begrudgingly back to her own scroll. Wendy had always been a wild card, much more impulsive like her older sister. Luna was the reserved one, the voice of reason. And sometimes that meant reining in both a younger and older sister. The blue alicorn sighed and looked out the window at Wendy speeding by, chasing some birds through the air. Her horn sparked, there was a flash of light, then a distant “ow” from behind the cottage.
“Wendy, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I just teleported into a tree.”
Luna shook her head. “I told you, be careful!”
“But I wanted to catch Sir Flappington!”
Luna just rolled her eyes. Celestia and Starswirl walked into the cottage looking haggard but pleased. Just as they crossed the threshold, it started to pour.
“Good timing.” Luna mused as she heard Wendy whoop and laugh from outside.
Celestia started to brush out her mane with her magic. “Not really. The pegasi agreed to hold off the storm until we got home cause Starswirl taught them how to increase their cloud water capacity by 20%.”
Starswirl launched into a long explanation on how he used math and magic to maximize the efficiency of storm clouds. Celestia and Luna looked at one another and snickered while Celestia sat down with a quill and parchment to write her essay.
“How hard is it?” Celestia whispered out of the corner of her mouth to his sister.
“Not bad. Just boring. Wendy finished pretty quickly. I put it off.” Luna whispered back. She cast her eyes up the ceiling and Celestia covertly followed her gaze. “She got so excited that she burned the scroll and the ceiling. I did what I could to fix the scorch marks.”
Celestia shook her head slightly. “That filly has got to get control of her horn.”
The two mares suddenly realized that the cottage had gone quiet. They winced and turned sheepishly to Starswirl who was glaring at them.
“Did you two fillies hear a word I said??”
“Um…” Luna shot her sister a look as she snickered. “Math?”
Starswirl sighed. “Nevermind. When the rain passes this evening, Luna, we are going to go out and practice your moon and star raising.”
The blue alicorn perked up and grinned. “Awesome! I finished my essay. Wendy did too.” She slid both scrolls over to Starswirl while Celestia started on hers.
Starswirl took the scrolls and read them quickly, stroking his beard. “Where is our dear Wendy?”
There was a splash and a resounding chorus of giggles from outside the house Starswirl winced and rubbed his eyes. “Getting muddy I hear.”
The filly ran into the cottage, shrieking with laughter. She had leaves stuck in her mane and water dripping down her fur. Her legs and hooves were coated in mud, and she left a trail of muddy hoof prints in her wake.
“Starswirl!” She crushed the old unicorn in a hug, leaving mud marks on his cloak. Celestia and Luna smirked at the horrified look on their teacher’s face.
“Wendy! My robe!!”
The little alicorn pulled back and looked at the mud she had tracked into the house. “Whoops.”
“But I just love the rain!”
Starswirl just groaned and took off his sopping cloak. “That’s great Wendy. But can you wipe up the floor please?”
The little alicorn grinned and bounced off to get a wet rag. Starswirl walked up to the bathroom to get the mud off his robes, and the two celestial sisters helped Wendy clean up the mud. Luna wiped the rag across the flood with her magic while Wendy and Celestia stepped on the rags and skated around the room on them, wiping up the mud as they went. The two alicorns laughed as they ran into each other and struggled to maintain their balance.
“Whatever am I going to do with you two?” Luna chuckled.
Celestia fell on her rump and grabbed Wendy in her forelegs, ruffling her mane. “Well I wish we could go outside and practice out flying relay races.” She glanced out the window and pouted. “But the pegasi said this rain isn't supposed to stop until tonight.”
Wendy pushed out of Celestia’s grip and put her hooves up on the window sill. “I love the rain, but we just had a storm yesterday too.” She turned back to her older sisters. “Can plants get too much water?”
Luna tossed the dirty rags into a basket and joined Wendy at the window. “Too much of anything is a bad thing. Too much sun and the plants will dry out. Too much water and the soil will loosen and they might fall over. Nature exists in a delicate balance and it’s important not to have too much of any one thing.”
Celestia sighed and opened the door, standing in the frame and looking out at the howling wind and beating rain. “I prefer the sun.”
Luna rolled her eyes, but Wendy walked over to the oldest alicorn, her eyes wide and unblinking. She glanced at Celestia, then followed her gaze out into the storm. She wanted to make Celestia happy, and she didn’t want all her beautiful trees to fall over.
Wendy snorted defiantly, planted her hooves, and glared out at the storm. She licked her lips, then gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Celestia and Luna watched with trepidation as Wendy’s horn sparked to life and a golden glow began to fill the cabin. Wind started to whip around the room, mixed with streaks of gold magic. Scrolls and quills flew off the table and stray pieces of parchment were swept into the swirling air.
“Wendy!! What are you doing?!?!” Luna tried to walk forward against the wind, but she was swept sideways into a cabinet.
Celestia placed a hoof on Wendy’s shoulder and tried to get her attention, but the wind just howled louder and she too was pushed back against the cabinet.
“We must stop her!!!!” Celestia called to Luna, but despite their best efforts, they could not reach their little sister.
Wendy’s eyes glowed white as her wings unfurled and she was lifted off the ground by the wind. She hovered in mid air as the swirling golden magic began to pick up the winds outside the cottage. Trees rustled, leaves spun, and the rain raced by in sideways streams. Eventually, the swirling wings reached so high that they began to move the clouds, ripping the storm clouds from the sky and spinning them into the golden tornado.
Patches of sunlight began to break through. Then, in a flash, a golden light expanded from Wendy’s horn and raced outwards, stopping the winds, blowing away the rain, and clearing the clouds. It was all over in a matter of moments. Wendy landed safely back on the floor and gazed out of the doorway at the beautifully sunny sky.
“Look! I did it!” She spun excitedly to her sisters, who were both sitting dumbstruck against the kitchen cabinet.
“Wendy...what did you do…?” Starswirl was standing on the staircase, his hat quirked sideways on his ear and his cloak blown clear across the kitchen.
“I got rid of the storm!” Wendy beamed at her teacher.
“Starswirl…” Luna said slowly. “Her cutie mark…”
Wendy whipped around to inspect her flank. Sure enough, she had her cutie mark. It was a little white cloud with two deep purple lines coming out and looping once before straightening out at the ends. The little alicorn filly squealed and jumped around the house while the older ponies stared out the door in shock.
“One alicorn for the sun, one for the moon, and one for the weather?” Starswirl mumbled.
Celestia and Luna shared a look. “Wendy...Wendy didn’t come from where we did Starswirl.” Luna said hesitantly.
Celestia shot her a glare. “What Luna means to say is that we don’t know where Wendy came from. Clearly Luna’s and my destinies are connected. We have always known that. But Wendy…” She looked at their excited little sister, who was now flying in circles outside the cottage. “We do not know what she is destined for.”
Celestia and Luna stood next to their teacher, looking out on the little gray alicorn with a wisdom that far outmatched their years. Even as young mares, they both knew that their abilities meant they were destined for something great.
“She is impulsive and wild. Her magic is often unpredictable and she can have wild swings in ability and power.” Luna remarked.
“She is driven by what is fun and what is exciting. She has little regard for what might be for the greater good.” Celestia gestured slightly at the glistening trees. “Like this storm. She has no idea what purpose this storm may have held.”
Starswirl stroked his beard. “Perhaps. But she is still young. And I do recall the two of you having your wild years too.” He smiled down at them and the two alicorns blushed.
“We must hope that we can direct her spirit. Teach her to control her powers and how to understand the delicate balance of this world.”
Wendy continued to fly outside the cottage, laughing and cheering as she felt the sunlight warm her feathers. None of them knew just where she had come from. Celestia and Luna kept it a tight secret where they had been before finding Starswirl in the Everfree Forest. All they had let slip was that they had come from a long line of alicorns, but they would not reveal where their race had gone or if there were any left.
But Wendy was not like them. She was not a being of pure magic. She did not have the power of generations of celestial beings coursing through her body. She was not destined to rule over Equestria. So what did that mean for her? No pony knew.
Least of all Wendy, who was too busy enjoying each day to really think about her future. But Celestia and Luna often sat up late at night, pondering their three intertwined fates. For now though, they were all happy to live their simple life with Starswirl, raising the sun and moon and furthering their magical studies.
Little did they know that their entire world was soon to come crashing down.
Author's Note
Warnings for some light gore, angst, and trauma
Desperate
Wendy was lying on her back, looking up at the fading daylight as Celestia lowered the sun. It had been hundreds of years since their time in the cottage, but she still liked to join her sisters at dawn and dusk. Now that Celestia and Luna ruled Equestria during opposite times of day, these moments all together were rare.
Wendy watched as the sky darkened from a pale orange to a deep vibrant purple. She heard Celestia land on the grass and Luna’s wings open as she lifted the moon from the horizon. The stars soon joined the night sky as Luna sighed and joined her little sister on the castle lawn.
“I’m going to retire for the night.” Celestia yawned.
Luna scoffed. “Just like all your sun-loving subjects,” she muttered under breath.
Wendy placed a hoof on Luna’s, then turned to her oldest sister. “You’re not going to stay? We always go home on this day.”
Celestia sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I know Wendy, but I have an early meeting with dignitaries from the griffin kingdom tomorrow, and it’s very important that we don’t lose that alliance.”
Luna gritted her teeth and turned away from her sister. “Fine. Wendy and I will go home by ourselves then. I’m sure Starswirl would understand that you didn't have a single hour to devote to his memory.”
Celestia sighed again and shook her head. “It has been hundreds of years since he disappeared. I have to be up early tomorrow.” She turned on her heel and walked back to the castle.
Luna gritted her teeth and snarled as she walked away. “Turning your back on your family. Just like all your loving subjects turn their backs on the night.”
Celestia paused, turning her head slightly back towards them. “Not this again Luna.
Luna screamed and slammed her front hooves into the ground. Wendy watched as she growled and ignited her horn, flashing the two of them to the heart of the forest. Wendy blinked the light from her eyes as Luna stormed into the cottage and violently kicked a vase against the wall. It shattered into jagged pieces as the blue alicorn continued to scream and throw things, tears streaming down her face.
She raged for what seemed like hours, but once she ran out of things to break, she collapsed against the wall and slid down into a limp heap, her sobs still shaking her thin frame. Wendy walked tentatively over to her.
“Luna?”
The blue alicorn sniffed and buried her muzzle in her forelegs. “Why don’t I deserve to be loved too? I’m just as important as she is.”
Wendy placed a hoof on her sister’s, and when Luna looked up, she had crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out to the side. Luna just sighed and pushed herself up to sit properly against the wall.
“Your faces won’t work this time little sister.” She stared forlornly out the open door and into the night. “I’m not sure this problem can be solved.”
Wendy bit the inside of her cheek, considering her words. In all her years, she had always been able to cheer Luna up after a fight with Celestia, but lately those fights had been getting worse and worse. Her sisters were at an impasse, and she didn’t know how to make them smile and have fun again.
Luna looked slowly around the cottage. “Even here, he always favored her.” She closed her eyes and lit her horn, the room swirling with blue magic as the colors returned to the walls and ghosts of their younger selves ran through the room.
“Hey that’s me!” Wendy giggled and trotted after her filly self, who ran through the room with a star shaped flower held in her magic.
Luna watched as the figure of Starswirl the Bearded walked out of the house, a teenaged Celestia in tow. “Take care of Wendy, Luna” She said in time with his moving lips. “We will return later.”
Wendy turned and watched as younger Celestia and Starswirl walked out the door, leaving a longing Luna staring after them. She winced and turned to see a younger Wendy shaking stars out of her eyes after she had run headfirst into a cabinet. Wendy watched as the younger version of Luna sighed and plastered on a fake smile, walking over and rubbing her head soothingly.
“I could never compare to her. I was never good enough for them.” Luna snapped through gritted teeth. She let the spell dissolve and slumped tiredly back against the wall.
“I- I never really noticed…” Wendy laid her head on her adoptive sister’s shoulder. Luna just sighed and stood up, walking out to one of the trees outside the cottage.
“Do you remember these?” She floated a flower down from the tree.
Wendy followed her out and examined the flower. It had five tapered cream-colored petals, arranged around the center symmetrically like a star. The center had five smaller, bright red petals.
“Sure. We used to pick these as foals.”
Luna spun the flower in the air. “They’re the only flower in the forest that blooms in moonlight.” She looked around at the sleeping woods. “Every other plant here blooms in the sunlight, just like all the ponies of equestria. But this one…” She tucked the flower behind Wendy’s ear. “This flower loves my moonlight just like you do.”
Wendy smiled and scrunched up her nose. “Of course I love your nights! They are beautiful.”
Luna looked up to the sky, closing her eyes and feeling the breeze blow through her flowing hair. Wendy was the only pony who ever even stayed up to see her moon. All the ponies of equestria played in the sun that Celestia brought them, but they shunned and slept through her beautiful night. Luna felt the ugly jealousy inside her rear its head again. It was the same monster that had fueled her screaming at Celestia earlier that night. And it was the same bitter resentment that had been growing in her since all those years ago when Celestia first showed greater magical prowess and earned Starswirl’s favor.
Suddenly, she watched as the sky lightened and the sun rose slowly into the sky. They had been out in the forest all night, and Celestia hadn’t even tried to call her back to lower the moon. She had simply raised the sun anyway, taking control of the moon on her own. Luna growled deep in her throat as she watched the bright sunlight spread across the forest floor.
The blue alicorn stamped a hoof and turned definitely to glare at the castle, standing solemnly up on a hill in the distance. She would not let Celestia overshadow her anymore. Hers was not the lesser light, and she was a princess too. She deserved to be loved, appreciated, and respected. Her brow furrowed as she felt the bitterness inside her grow, threatening to break free.
Wendy reached out a hoof and touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Luna turned to her, her eyes unfocused and distant. “I love you.”
“Wha- I- I love you too…” Wendy took a nervous step back. “Luna, what’s going on?”
The blue alicorn turned back to the castle. “Whatever happens, swear to me that you will stay here until I return for you.”
“What?! What are you doing?!”
“Swear it Wendy.”
“No! Tell me what’s going on!”
Luna whipped her head around, eyes blazing and horn ignited. “YOU WILL STAY HERE!!!!” She bellowed, her voice echoing around the forest.
Wendy shrank back, heart racing. She watched helplessly as her sister sparked her horn and enveloped herself in swirling blue magic. Luna turned her head slightly back, just like Celestia had done hours before, not even making eye contact with her little sister.
“I’m sorry.”
And with that, she was gone, whisked away in a flash of light. Wendy stared anxiously at the spot where she had been standing, a single flower petal drifting down from the tree above her. She reached up and touched the flower in her hair, making sure it was still there. Wendy felt a horrible sense of dread settle in her stomach, somehow knowing that something had just gone terribly terribly wrong.
oOo
Celestia landed heavily on the ruined castle floor. Chunks of roof and wall debris were littered all around her. The Elements of Harmony clattered out of her magic and fell to the ground, clinking as they tumbled away from her. She felt the lump in her throat choking her as tears flowed down her cheeks.
“What-What did you do?!”
Celestia whipped her head around to see Wendy standing in the broken doorway. She was staring stricken up at the moon, where a unicorn’s silhouette now shone tauntingly. Clestia gritted her teeth and fought against the choking feeling in her throat.
“I- Luna...She-”
Wendy’s gaze slowly slid down to Celestia’s, her eyes hard and furious. “What did you do to her?!?!?!”
The older alicorn choked back a sob. “I had no choice…”
Wendy’s eyes flashed and her horn sparked to life, golden magic beginning to whip around the room. “NO CHOICE????”
Celestia struggled to her feet and tried to walk towards her youngest sister, but the building winds forced her back. “Wendy please! She tried to raise the moon over the sun!”
The gray alicorn’s eyes glowed as they turned completely white and she floated up into the air. The wind coming from her horn began to push out on the walls of the castle, straining the already broken foundations.
“HOW DARE YOU?!?!” Her voice echoed around the room, making Celestia wince.
The wind continued to pick up speed as storm clouds gathered above. A few drops fell on Celestia’s stricken face before a torrent of rain poured down over the castle. The storm expanded at its edges, spreading quickly over the entire Everfree Forest.
Celestia leaned into the wind, fighting to keep her eyes open and try to step forward. “Wendy!! You need to stop this!! You’ll destroy the entire forest!!!”
The younger alicorn screamed and flew wildy at her, diving straight for her oldest sister.
“HOW COULD YOU SEND HER AWAY?!?!?!”
Celestia dashed to the side, tripping on a piece of debris and skidding across the carpeted floor. She cried out in pain as feathers ripped from her wing and her side began to bleed. Shaking, she watched helplessly as Wendy’s hurricane grew larger and larger, the wind beginning to shriek and the clouds shrouding the land in almost complete darkness. The only light in the castle came from the glow of Wendy’s eyes and horn.
Her horn…
Celestia had come to a stop just next to the element of Magic, and its deep purple facets glinted in the faint light. She stared at her wavering reflection on its hard surface, and saw her tear soaked, horror stricken face staring back at her. Wendy wasn’t like her and Luna. She had been born an alicorn, but she wasn’t meant to be one. She had been a...mistake.
Celestia forced herself to her hooves, blood dripping from her cut flank and broken feathers. If Wendy wasn’t like her and Luna, maybe she could stop this without sending her away. Celestia clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes.
“I will not lose another sister today…”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, lifting the Elements of Harmony once again. She felt the lump in her throat return, and a new weight setted on her heart as she turned the magical stones onto her youngest sister.
Once again, the stones spun around her and then focused to the front, sending a golden rainbow beam of light across the pitch black castle. Wendy turned towards her sister just as the light hit her, and Celestia watched as the glow in her eyes vanished. For one horrible moment, she saw the terrified look of a much younger filly who had depended on her for everything.
Celestia started to shake as a feral scream ripped from her throat. She tried to run forward to catch the one pony left whom she had not failed. But the Elements of Harmony had already been activated, and they would not be stopped. The rainbow light enveloped Wendy as she screamed and reached a hoof out to Celestia, who wailed and felt hot tears fall faster down her cheeks.
It was all over in a moment.
The light faded, and the storm clouds disintegrated into wisps of mist. The winds died down, and Celestia galloped over to her youngest sister. Silence filled the castle, broken only by the sounds of the princess of the sun sobbing quietly.
Wendy laid almost motionless on the ground in front of her, the only sign of life being her shuddering breaths that lifted her chest every few moments. She stirred quietly, getting shakily to her hooves.
“I’m so sorry…” Celestia whispered.
“I- my head hurts…” Wendy rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes, staring at her reflection in a broken fragment of mirror that sat on the floor, marred by spiderweb cracks.
Wendy stared silently at her reflection. She was covered in bruises and scrapes. Her wings had some cracked and missing feathers. On the whole she was alright. But on her head, where her horn should be, she found only mane.
“My…my horn...”
Celestia let out a strangled sob. “I’m so sorry Wendy.”
She looked up at the moon, which still hung in the air with Luna’s silhouette etched on its surface. Her voice trembled, broken by gasps and desperation.
“I didn’t know what else to do…”
