OCT 31 Saturday.

Besides a blanket of snow, the old castle looks the same as the last time I was here.

I focus on that thought for a moment and realize a potential problem. I was here only a few weeks ago, and I wasn't trying to hide any traces of that visit. Before I can panic I try to remind myself that it will be ok, even if she finds out I can just say I was curious.

It's been a few weeks and even if I left traces then it would be hard to trace them to me, for all I know others could have been here in the last few weeks too. The only thing that might point to me is the magic I activated, and that was a small reaction so I find it unlikely.

With some form of reassurance in my mind, I refocus on what's important here, Celestia. She spent the last minute simply staring up at the decayed castle, so I decided to break the silence. "Where are we?" I ask gently. I've read some about the story of the two sisters, but what I learned is limited so I'll have to watch what I say.

She looks back at me with the saddest stare I've ever seen on her face. "This was once my home." Her voice is heavy. "I come here every few years." I'm curious about that second part, but keep silent for now. She uses her magic to push open the large doors and walks inside while I follow right behind her.

The inside is dark but the magical light she has cast brightens further to cut back the darkness even more. The last time I was here I didn't examine things closely, this time I had the opportunity to really look around. The hallway we're in is dark with a faded carpet forming a single path deeper in.

To be honest, there's not much to see beyond the stone and the empty hallway we're in, so I turn back to Celestia and decide to ask the first thing that comes to my mind. "Do you miss it?" She turns to me with a raised brow on her sad face, seeing the confusion I clarify. "Living here I mean. Do you miss living here?"

She turns back to look around and stops for a moment at an old shattered window. "No... I left because I couldn't bear the sight of this place. But, sometimes I do wish to see it like it once was. Always busy and lively, but that's all gone now." Seems my question didn't help.

"This place was a palace then, somewhere you ruled from once?" I play a little dumb and try to keep her from that dark train of thought that I set her on.

She continues walking and I continue to follow her. "Yes. Tell me, have you ever heard of the story of the two sisters?" I'm surprised by how quickly she brought that up, I'd expected that to take longer. I could say no, but that'd just be a useless lie.

I nod and answer honestly. "I've read everything I could find about alicorns, I didn't find much. And that story was one I came across, although it always seemed vague, more myth than anything." The story I read was like that, I just leave out that I know more than just that old story.

We reach another doorway, the same one I didn't open last time. "There is more truth to the myth than most remember." After a second I see some form of shield around the door fade into existence before disappearing again. "But I do remember, even if there are days I do not wish to."

The doors are opened to reveal a large open room. The room is much more preserved than the hallway and the red carpet retains most of its color. The tall windows on either side of the room show the night sky through their shattered glass, and at the far end, two tall thrones sit empty and alone.

Above them are two banners, one for the night and the other for the day. I turn back to Celestia once again. "So, how much is true?" I try not to be as blunt as I normally am, but I am me.

She shows a sad smile at my curiosity. "Once there were two sisters, one for the day and the other for the night. They lived long and eventually built a kingdom, there were problems like always, but with each other to rely on they built a lasting peace." I can't help but very slightly smile at the storytelling style she's using.

Then her tone takes an even deeper drop, even her ears fold back slightly. "But peace never lasts, and eventually the younger sister was consumed by their subject's praise for her older sister and the sun. They praised the day and forgot the night, over time it started to slowly pull them apart."

"Then one day it grew too much." I notice she doesn't use names, only titles. I wonder if that's a way to separate from this somewhat and be somewhat calm while telling the story. "The younger sister was consumed by darkness and... something took hold of her. It twisted her and she started a war against her older sister and eventually even the day itself."

Before-." Her words are cut off a little and I look up with sadness to see a tear on her face as she continues to stare at the thrones. That has to be the most heartbreaking thing I've seen. "Before the older sister took action. They fought a long battle, and the older sister was losing, so in an act of desperation she used a powerful artifact to-."

I have no idea how to help her right now as she lets a few small tears fall, but I refuse to do nothing. :Ahhh, FUCK IT! If I die for this it's worth it: I move closer and hug her as best I can with the size difference, a certain part of my brain tries to speak up at the close contact but I squash it in an instant.

Celestia doesn't say anything to reject my actions and even leans into my hug a little. "To seal her sister away in the night, something she would never stop regretting." At this point, she stops and seems to take a moment to regain control of herself.

I know she left a lot out of her story, but oddly I feel happy she's willing to share something like this with me, it shows a lot of trust. Plus, even with the vague story, I noticed a few details that answered some of my questions.

We stay like that for a while, watching the small moats of dust fall and settle in the moonlight. After a minute or so she calms down and seems to be doing a little better, no more tears and she even smiles in an odd way. After a moment I speak up while moving away from the hug. "I'm sorry, I can't imagine something like that," I say the only thing that comes to mind.

She shows a genuine tiny smile at my words. "You have nothing to apologize for, and I'd hope you never do. To you, this all should just be ancient history."

"No. To me, this is my friend crying, missing her sister." Her smile grew a little at that. "What was her name?"

"Luna." She says the name very softly while looking at the old weathered thrones.

"Fitting." Yet again we went silent, so I decided to try and uplift the mood slightly and change the subject in hopes it helps her. "So this is what you wanted the vine for? A... tribute?"

She keeps the odd smile. "Yes, of a sort. But not here, we still haven't reached that yet." Again more silence. "Thank you for this, I know it's not fair for me to burden you with my troubles." She sounds a little sad at that, and I won't allow her to be even sadder today because of me.

"Maybe it's not, but life is rarely fair to anypony. You've been there for me at my low points, and I should do the same. That's what friends are for, aren't they? So I'll tell you the same thing you told me. It's ok, and you're not alone." I try to be upbeat with a little encouragement.

She lets out a weak chuckle. "I suppose you're right, still thank you for doing this." At this point both Entropy and Philomena make themselves known, they've been staying out of the way and seem to understand the mood somewhat. Entropy more so as she actually tries to help back up my words, in her own unique way.

She moves in front of Celestia and stares her right in the eyes. "Good, beautiful." That gets a small laugh from her. Looks like Entropy's getting more treats after this.

"Thank you too. We still have places to be, and it's getting late, let's move on." Her mood is a tiny bit better so I take the small victory and nod my agreement.

We move to one of the doors near the thrones and open another door to head deeper into the castle. "What was this place like back then? I know it was busy, but was there a city here? Or just the castle?" I'm hesitant about bringing up the past more than needed but can't think of anything better to ask for the moment.

She's still saddened at my question, but not as much as before, maybe being outside that throne room helps. "Not a real city, more of a fortress city, smaller and less populated. This place has always been isolated, it made it a hard place to rule from, but came with advantages."

Asking questions seems to help in some small way so I keep at it. "Easy to defend and hard to attack?" I guess.

"Exactly, but it could also be easy to cut off. But despite that, it was always a lively place, small but bustling markets with trades from far and wide, diplomats of other nations, even the small things like the festivals felt so large back then." I can tell she's getting lost in some memories.

We reach another door that's only half standing, one side partly collapsed, I can see snowy grass beyond the cracks and rubble. In an instant, all of that rubble is moved out of the way by a force of magic and we enter a small enclosed courtyard. It's only a few dozen feet across with roofed paths around two sides of it.

I also noticed that all the glass windows that I see here are blue, it seems this was in Luna's part of the castle. Celestia stays silent for a moment while looking around. "This was Luna's garden, she spent many nights tending to plants that bloomed and glowed in the moonlight. It has seen better days it seems." She smiles a little at the overgrown plants and weeds that cover the courtyard.

We walk onto the lightly snow-covered grass and stop near a tree that has grown inside the courtyard. "She always told me it helped clear her mind. Even after she stopped using it and the plants withered." I won't comment on the second part and leave it be.

"So this is where you want to plant them? They should fit perfectly." She silently nods and pulls the bag of seeds from somewhere before passing them to me. "Is there any specific way you want me to grow them? I can make just about any shape or form?" I offer.

She seems to think for a moment before her smile grows slightly. "A crescent moon, beyond that... how about you decide?" That surprises me. I'm more than willing to do so, but it seems I've underestimated just how much she trusts me.

"If you're sure?" she nods immodestly. "Very well, I'll do my absolute best." I don't mince my words anymore and simply get right to work.

This courtyard has two roofed paths on the opposite sides and two stone walls in the other two opposite directions. I move out my life magic and start by decomposing anything that doesn't belong, I'm not going for accuracy so it doesn't take much magic to remove all of the shrubs and vines, leaving only the grass and a single tree near the middle.

Celestia looks intrigued by the plants becoming soil but doesn't interrupt me. I take the bag of seeds and spread seeds around the base of the tree and all four edges of the courtyard. Once they are in place I lay down and concentrate fully on my task.

The Moon Glow Vine doesn't take much life magic to grow, but I'm growing a lot of them so I'll need to be precise and not waste my magic. I start with the two pathed sides, growing the vines and letting them spread without direction or instruction. They climb the pillars holding the path's roof up and also spread them along the stone walls.

I make sure they bloom plenty of flowers along the way before moving onto the two walled sides and doing the same. The courtyard is now decently lit with only the Moon Glow Vines. I focus the rest of my dwindling magic on the seeds at the tree's base and will them to grow and climb the tree.

I have them wrap around the entire trunk and every branch before growing many flowers. When I'm done I only have a little magic left but it should be enough to finish. I have vines grow down from the branches to hand in the air, and bloom flowers before shaping them.

I create a curtain of vines on one side of the tree and bloom glowing flowers into the shape of a crescent moon just as asked. When I'm finally done I feel more tired, but it was more than worth it to see the look on Celestia's face. Even with all the sadness of tonight, I see a full smile on her face as she looks around and takes it all in.

After a moment she lies down next to me and pulls me close with a wing, I'm pinned in between her wing and body in a fluffy warm hug. "Thank you for this, it's more than I ever hoped for." Her tone is still low, but it has a happy undertone to it now. "It's beautiful."

"My pleasure. It might just be my best work." We both watch small snowflakes fall among the hanging vines and glowing flowers, it is beautiful. We stay like that for a while, while Entropy and Philomena entertain themselves by playing in the snow and glowing vines.

I nearly fall asleep from my earlier exertion before I feel her warm wing move away from me, I turn to look up at her. She smiled, "It's late, and you need rest." I catch the hint easily, so I stand up and stretch a little.

"You're right... thank you for sharing this, it means a lot that you trust me with it." I decide to voice something that's been on my mind for a while tonight.

Her renewed smile stays. "I thought it was time I show you more of myself, even this side. But enough of me, let's get you home." I get the feeling she has more to work through tonight, but I think that's best done alone. She whistles again and both our gremlins come flying over to us.

"You may want to brace yourself, it's worse if you're tired." She warns while her horn starts to glow brightly once again. I take her advice and try my best to keep a stable grounded stance as space rends itself apart again. A few seconds later we're once again inside my apartment.

Celestia turns out to be spot on as I feel like utter shit for a few moments before recovering somewhat. She actually chuckles a little. "I know that feeling well, I could say it gets easier with time, but I'd be lying." I'm surprised as she makes some form of joke, it seems I have helped in some small way then.

I chuckle at the dry joke and recover enough to stand up straight. "I'll stick with Entropy then, no offense but I would rather not feel like this more than absolutely needed." I joke back.

She smiles and nods. "None taken. Good night Shade, and thank you for tonight." A nice and simple goodbye, a good way as any to end this night.

But as I'm about to respond an idea strikes me. "Hold on a moment." She's confused as I hurriedly walk into my workroom and start looking through my notebooks. A while back I copied all of my star maps into an illusionary book, but I also kept the originals in two sketchbooks.

Celestia is obviously saddened by how ponies don't seem to appreciate her sister and the night she brings, I think it would be good to show her that her friend does care about it. After finding the books I walk back to the main room and hold out both sketchbooks to a confused Celestia. "Two years ago I started a small hobby one night."

She takes both books and opens one. "I always liked the stars, so I drew them and the things I saw in them. Those are the results." I see her face take on an odd mix of highly emotional sadness and happiness intertwined together. I give her my best smile. "And now they are yours."

She stops flipping through pages and looks back at me with an unreadable face of surprise. "I can't take these, there's your work and-" I cut her off right there.

"I have copies, and I wasn't asking you to take them. They aren't mine anymore, they are yours, and that's a demand as your friend." I try to take a slightly joking attitude but stop trying to convince her as I'm enveloped in a full double hug. She wraps both her forelegs and her wings around me in a full embrace.

"Thank you." It's almost a whisper this time, but I just hug her back and enjoy the comfortable feeling, we stay like that for a while, before everything slowly fades to back and sleep claims my tired mind.

POV shift Celestia

I slowly pull back from my hasty embrace and am about to apologize for being so abrupt, only to see he's asleep I smile as he doesn't respond to my gentle prodding with a hoof. Not knowing what to do with the sleeping colt I turn to Entropy as she preens Philomena.

"A little help, please?" She turns to me for a second and looks at her sleeping owner. She stares for a moment before flying down from her vibrant perch and flying over to the second door in the room. I lift Shade in my magic and gently carry him with me while opening the door.

Inside is a plain bedroom, I turn to the small bird that blends into the dark room. "Thank you." She really is a smart bird.

"Good, nice." She crows out while rubbing against me before flying back to her perch. I smile as she leaves, such a nice bird. I place Shade on his bed and stand there for a moment, I cover him in his blanket. walk to the door, I glance back at him. "Sleep well Shade, and thank you for listening to an old mare's troubles." I look at the books I've been gifted and feel my smile grow further. "I know she'll love meeting you." I close the door gently and leave him to his well-earned rest.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D
Current year is 993

I tried to make Celestia emotional but not a complete mess, not sure how well I did, but I tried. I hope you enjoyed it.