Second at Best

by Wages of Sin

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 12597

At her father's funeral Twilight snaps, finally showing how she feels about her so-called family and friends.

Twilight has always felt just a little uneasy about how others treat her, but after a tragedy befalls the Sparkle household, she reveals her greatest truth at the funeral.

Can her friends, family, and teacher comfort her this time?

No. 

...but when emotions are high and mistrust and confusion are rampant, is everything what it first appears?

Published 2013-01-30 07:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-03 04:53:01 UTC

Revelations I

"...Through it all, my father was a caring and dedicated stallion. I know he will be watching us from wherever he is now, but for his friends and family, he will be greatly missed." Twilight left the podium to allow Celestia to return.

"Thank you Twilight." She quietly said to her student as she passes before turning to face the audience. "As we have heard, he lived a great life. One that, to those he left behind, gives hope of reunion in the next life. It is with great sadness and undeniable joy that we commend his soul to the Creators." With those final words, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, and Twilight Velvet channeled their magic into a single magical fire that reduced the remains to naught but ash, as is Unicorn tradition.

Twilight Velvet was meant to collect the ashes, but the duty fell to Twilight Sparkle as her mother broke into sobs, consoled by her son.

Twilight took her father's remains off the alter on which they rested and deposited them in a burial urn, which she then sealed and passed over to her mother.

"No dear, you do it," resolve came to the old widows voice, "I know he would be proud to be finally laid to rest by you dear."

Twilight did not flinch at her mother's words but instead turned to the blank tombstone and deep void before it. She lowered the urn into the dirt, quickly covering it. Her horn glowed more brightly as seeds were distributed, watered, and sprouted with magic. By the time she had finished, the grave site appeared undisturbed. She looked up at the blank tombstone, to her mother and brother who both nodded, and began engraving the stone.

"Here lies Night Light, Duke of South Territorial Equestria. Loving husband, caring father, and dear friend. May he rest in peace."

She finished the grave with the image of his double-moons cutie mark.

She turned back to see a nod from her mentor. The funeral was complete, and just in time as the ceremonial rain shower was seconds away.

The congregation herded out of the graveyard into the castle.

Twilight was the last to remain outside at the grave as the rain started in earnest. She stared at the cutie mark she had just carved.

"Why... why... Why didn't you ever come visit? Ponyville isn't that far... Why didn't you ever write? I sent you letters... Why didn't you ever visit me back in the palace?

"Was I just a burden that you could write off to Celestia? Why did Shining get invited to Hearthwarmings at home, while I got nothing! You wouldn't even talk to me at his wedding!"

The sound of hooves sloshing through the rain behind her broke her focus.

"Twilight..."

She turned expecting to see her mother finally taking an interest in her life, but no.

"Twilight my faithful student, please come inside."

Celestia sat beside her student, projecting a shield above them to block the rain.

"Twilight, I know you want to pay your respects, but-"

"I don't want to pay my respects, I want answers!" She turned to her mentor and laid her soaking head into her barrel.

"What's wrong my student?"

"I'm just... Why did they never visit me? Even now, you are the only one who cares enough to come talk to me!" she buried her muzzle into Celestia's side. Celestia returned the gesture, reaching down to nuzzle her student.

"My most wonderful student, I'm sure all of your friends are worried about you." Celestia said, "They probably just thought you needed some alone time."

Instead of quiet acceptance, Celestia was surprised as her student pulled away from her.

"Some alone time? Some alone time! Like the last time I was crying all alone after Shining's wedding rehearsal? Like when I went insane with the thought you would punish me for not sending a friendship report? Yeah, they give me a lot of alone time! But that's not even what I'm talking about! I mean my parents! When was the last time they visited me, do you know?"

Celestia could see that it was time for damage control.

"I'm sure they have just been busy recently, the trip to Ponyville takes a whole day."

"Oh dear, a whole day! Where would they ever find the time!" sarcasm dripped from her words. This had taken a turn Celestia had not expected, she never heard her student like this.

Twilight continued, "It's not like they could schedule a visit to the palace or anything!"

"The palace?" Celestia asked quietly.

"The palace! They lived like twenty minutes away by hoof!"

"But you can't expect them to know when you are visiting."

"Visiting! Ha! You really don't know the last time I talked with them! Tell me, how many times do you remember them visiting me since becoming your student? Actually, make that visits, letters, or anything at all."

Celestia's eyes grew wide, "Are you saying..."

"Never. They never visited. They just dumped me off on you and never spoke to me again."

"What about at the wedding? They were there!" Celestia remembered, trying to disprove what she already knew to be true.

"After I called out the fake Cadence when you and Shining condemned me, I thought my friends would come to comfort me. Of course they didn't, mind you, but I still had the desperate hope that my parents would care enough to comfort their own foal, but of course they went with you, Shining, and my own friends to comfort Chrysalis."

Celestia could feel the cut of the comment edged towards her. She was becoming desperate. She opened her mouth to talk, but no words came out.

Twilight turned back to her mentor, "I loved you princess... I loved you like a mother. I even had a silly little dream as a filly that you were my real mother, and when you accepted me a your student you were taking me home. A silly thought, but as time went on it felt more and more real. My so called "real" family had abandoned me, and you were there to fill the void."

Twilight turned back to the grave, and her voice grew cold.

"...or at least you were. When my 'dusty old books' warned of catastrophe. I thought you would take me seriously. I was upset when you shrugged off my warning like it was meaningless. I got over it quickly though, only to later find out that you purposefully led me astray, throwing me headlong against a not-so-mythical ancient monster."

She turned to glare at her mentor, "I nearly died four times that night."

She looked back to the grave once again. "So I lived through that, and wanted to get back at you by leaving the castle for a few days, thinking you would miss me. That backfired spectacularly when you were fine with me abandoning my studies for the sake of 'friendship'. I honestly thought you wouldn't want me to leave, but it's not like I haven't felt that feeling before.

"So I make sure to keep in touch with you through weekly 'friendship reports' so I don't lose you like I did my 'real' parents, but lo and behold, 'it's not a big deal!' You even go as far as to take the only special connection I had with you anymore, and give it to a quarter of the population of Ponyville. My last special connection to you given out like cheap party favors."

Celestia was on the verge of tears herself now, "Twilight..."

"Oh, I'm not done yet! Next I had a great adventure combating the spirit of chaos, in which you played no significant role. Then we had Sombra who you sent me blindly to fight, under specific orders that it had to be 'me alone' that finished the job. You know what was great about that time? If it were not for Spike disobeying your order I would have gone insane at the Gate of Fear! And what's more, how about this: you know how I gave the Crystal Heart to Spike to take to Cadence? I nearly didn't! I thought your command had some deep meaning, like there was a specific reason 'it had to be me' but no! It was some kind of lesson about priorities! Priorities! You nearly had me condemn an entire empire to slavery and death to learn a lesson about priorities!

"You know who needs to learn about priorities? I'll give you a hint. She's big, white, and a monster."

Author's Note

This was the product of my mind going way off track during the writing my other story "Titles and Value".

Revelations II

"She's big, white, and a monster."

Twilight teleported all the way to her old room in the castle. It remained unchanged from how she left it so long ago, but she didn't notice past all the tears in her eyes.

She truly meant everything she said, and a small portion of her was happy to finally have revealed it. Another, larger, portion though was appalled that she would bear her soul out like that.

She knew that Celestia really wasn't her mother, so she knew she shouldn't have been so surprised when her mentor decided to side with Cadence, her own flesh and blood, as opposed to her student.

She knew that; but that thought only brought more pain via another thought: Why hadn't her parents done the same?

Celestia sided with her flesh-and-blood, and Shining had been under a spell, but why did her own parents rather side with the vicious false-bride over their own daughter! They had no pre-conceived notions of who Cadence was. She had met them before foal sitting appointments a few times, but they never spent the whole day with her or anything like she had!

Unless... They did…

Maybe they were looking to Cadence to replace their old and forgotten daughter? Maybe they decided that having a "perfect" princess as a daughter in law was much better than the old bookworm that they had been forced to raise? ...or at least drop off on someone else to raise.

Twilight cried, waiting for her mentor to come to her room to make up. Secretly she hoped Celestia would dismiss what she said and explain it away so Twilight could claim to herself that it was just nerves and lock those feelings away, never to come to bear again.

...but Celestia never came to make-up, she never came to put her fears to rest, she didn't even come to punish her.

She didn't come at all.

No one did.

Celestia was eating a salad in the royal dining room when she felt the tug of the sun warning her of its impending dismissal. She gave it the final nudge it needed, and waited until she felt the moon being pulled up by her sister's familiar aura.

"Twilight sure is taking a long time to come apologize." the thought crossed the monarch's mind as she continued to eat.

The stares of everyone at the table made her realized someone must have asked a question of her."I'm sorry, I was setting the sun, was there a question?"

"Ah' asked if you're sure Twi's alright, she's been gone an awful long time." Applejack looked to her from where she sat at the table, speaking a little louder this time out of concern.

"She's fine, it's nothing to be worried about. She just needs some time alone." Celestia thought back to her student's little spat.

From experience Twilight's little outbursts were as quick and short as they were violent. She continued to eat, "I'm sure that she'll be alright soon enough."

"Are you sure we shouldn't go to her? I mean she seemed awfully upset... If one of my mice friends lost a parent I know I'd want to be there to comfort them..." The shy pegasus squeaked just over the ambient noise.

"No, it's best we leave her alone for now. She's not thinking straight, you know how she gets when~ ...well, you know how she gets."

Everyone at the table gave a little nod.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, she always is." Rainbow Dash concluded.

After hours of sitting alone with nothing to do other than re-evaluating what she had said to her mentor, Twilight came to two startling realizations. The first being that when she had spoken the words they became more than an idea to her, now that she had finally said it, they were reality. She had been having those kind of thoughts for a while, always keeping them suppressed at the back of her mind, chalking up the seditious thoughts to one of her characteristic bouts of stress-induced paranoia. No longer could that be her claim. Now she had acted on the corrupting words, and it no longer felt like lies, the guilt she had expected to feel never came.

That led directly was the second revelation: She realized that with her secret revealed she no longer bore the oppressive guilt she had been feeling for so long. She felt good.

For the good or bad of it, Twilight Sparkle felt good to give up, to denounce everything she once strived so hard to gain, she felt like she no longer had to try to be the perfect daughter to the parents who forsook her, nor to the mentor who took her in.

She felt liberated. No longer would she have to sacrifice her happiness and time devoting herself to the pursuits that made those who did not appreciate her happy. With her "perfect student" mask now broken, maybe she could actually do what she wanted to for a change!

...which at this moment was to get some sleep. All that crying was a strain both on her body and her already exhausted mind.

Twilight fell asleep with one last thought assuring her conscience: If Celestia cared for her enough to apologize she would have done so already.

After a good portion of the evening and into the night with no sign of Twilight returning, the Elements of Harmony had decided to leave Twilight in Celestia's capable hooves and to leave Twilight to come back to Ponyville when she was ready.

Celestia, meanwhile, had gone to her office to finish some work that had been put on hold for the funeral. After some time, Celestia decided her duties should conclude for the night and began making her way to the royal chambers.

On the way she had intended to check in on her student, but didn't for fear Twilight might not have had enough time to sort herself out.

In her room Twilight had had enough of being left alone and ignored. Now that she was rested her mind was clear. Now that she had nothing to lose, she no longer feared the consequences. She was going to do something she should have done a long time ago…

Author's Note

Wrote this while waiting fanatically for "The Monster in the Twilight" by Georg to update.

Go check that out here! (If you haven't already)

Revelations III

Twilight walked the halls towards her mentor's room. She of course knew the route; she had walked it dozens of times as a young filly whenever she had nightmares, hundreds of times to show Celestia a new spell she had learned, and thousands of times just to see her mentor, either for lessons or just to spend time together.

This time, though, she was making this trip with something entirely different on her mind: Revenge.

Revenge for all those times as a filly when she thought her mentor cared.

Revenge for all the memories of her time with the solar princess now cast in the revealing lens of retrospect.

Did her life ever have meaning? Had Celestia ever truly cared whether her "student" succeeded or not?

Putting all the work on Twilight's shoulders and then reaping all the rewards?

In retrospect, Twilight could not think of a single time Celestia had actually helped her. Nothing that the monarch had ever done had been to Twilight's benefit. At best she had only helped her student when it was to her own benefit.

Even when she had almost been discorded and Celestia sent her letters back to her, what had her motive been? To save her? Or to simply repair the tool that would save Equestria? Was her entire life just a construct to shape her into Celestia's weapon?

The past ten years seems like a long time to one so young, but to Celestia? Ten years would seem like nothing! A hundred years would be the mere blink of an eye to an immortal alicorn!

The thoughts brought pain to her heart, was she really the princesses student, or just a weapon to keep close at hand? Was Celestia actually trying to raise Twilight to fulfill her potential, or was her potential now only to be Celestia's weapon?

Everything boiled down to one question in Twilight's mind: had Celestia only raised her because she was the element of magic?

Twilight needed to know and she needed to know now.

Celestia was sitting on her throne when she was approached by what appeared to be a petitioner.

"Princess," the petitioner gave a bow.

"Stand, my little pony, and tell me what your concern is."

The petitioner raised her head to look at the monarch. "Princess, far be it from me to question royalty, but I have a concern that has been raised for some time among the houses of nobility."

"It has been brought to my attention that there is a unicorn currently studying under your tutelage, is that correct?"

"Indeed it is. My personal student Twilight Sparkle. What is your inquiry about her?"

"I desire to know why she was chosen over the many children of nobility that applied. Surely there are more well-bred candidates for your personal instruction."

Celestia could feel the slightest hint of annoyance at being, once again asked this question. At least she had a good cover story that kept most nobles from coming back.

"As I have told the last hundred noble families who have inquired, My personal student was not chosen to express favor, it was merely a necessary step for finding the Element of Magic. Twilight Sparkle was chosen exclusively for her magical potential."

The petitioner grew stiff, but then calmed to look at her as if that was what she had expected to hear.

"Yes, I realize she had a... an eventful time taking up the element of magic, but why is she still your student? She has recovered Luna and saved the kingdom on several occasions, but why keep her as your student? It appears she has realized her potential and served her usefulness, so to speak. Do you have any further reason to have her as a student?"

Celestia hadn't thought about it before, there was no real reason to keep the title of 'student' anymore since Twilight now rivaled any professor in magic theory, and had proven herself the strongest unicorn since... likely ever actually.

"You raise a good point, a old mare knows when she's no longer needed" she chuckled at her own self-deprecating joke, "and I see no reason to continue to call her my student."

Twilight's mind shut down.

This had been the wrong path to take.

Asking Celestia up front was a bad idea.

She was "no longer needed."

She couldn't be the Princess’s student anymore.

That was all she had left. That one claim to anything.

Gone.

-AND CELESTIA HAD THE NERVE TO LAUGH ABOUT IT!!!

...

After the princess's joke the petitioner froze for a second before her face began to contort in anger.

"You!" the petitioner screamed as her eyes turned white, glowing with unrivaled magic.

"I- I- I trusted you!" the cry was agonized but no less powerful.

The guard leapt into action as the throne room exploded.

Author's Note

Here's where it gets good...

(as with all my stories, suggestions for story paths, jokes ect. are appreciated. Heck, take guesses at the ending!)

Revelations IV

Most of the present guard was thrown against the walls, a lucky few were tossed right back out the door they tried to enter, but even those who were able to stay on their feet quickly realized that their interaction would be more of a liability than an aid in the fight that had just erupted.

The petitioner had seemed on edge through most of the hearing, not an unusual reaction to being in the presence of the monarch, but this individual put every pony in the room on edge, and apparently with good reason.

The explosion in the throne room was accompanied by the petitioner's disguise burning away to reveal a white coat, blazing white eyes, and a fiery mane and tail.

The petitioner's change was instantaneous and all encompassing, but what truly made the guard decide to retreat was their monarch's transformation. Not as flashy or dramatic, Celestia's transformation was no less terrifying.

The Solar Alicorn stood up as the remaining guard looked on in horror. Her always positive expression was replaced by anger. The mask the princess wore for hundreds of years at a time was removed, and the guards that witnessed this once in a lifetime event wished they hadn't.

"Whoever you are, leave now. You are not welcome in the palace." the tone of the monarch's words left no room for misinterpretation. She was not requesting; she was demanding.

"Not until I have some answers!" the fiery mare screeched.

"You do not require nor deserve any answers, my word is law." Celestia rose into the air as she charged her horn with energy to the point electricity arced around it and the smell of ozone to fill the room.

A deep light began to surround the fiery mare's horn in turn.

Celestia loosed her spell at the same time as her opponent, but no shot came at her in return, instead the mare had summoned a scroll.

The realization struck her too late, as the magic impacted the vulnerable mare, knocking her hard enough to be sent right through the massive wooden throne room doors.

As Celestia attempted to fly over to the fallen mare, but another entered the room through one of the smashed windows and beat her to the struck mare.

It was Luna.

"The eruption woke me up. I came to see-" she spotted the fallen unicorn and the marks of Celestia's blow "What... You'd really... I..."

The dark alicorn looked to her sister, shock and pain in her features. She landed in between Twilight and Celestia.

The ivory alicorn, shocked by the revelation of the mare's identity, continued toward her student but was stopped by Luna's flared wings.

"Sister, what are you doing? Allow me to my student. "

"You would so quickly turn on even your student? I can't believe..."

"She was- I thought she was attacking me!" Celestia replied, recoiling from the accusation, "What would you have me do!" the words seemed fine in theory, but when spoken they were hollow.

"Yes sister, I would expect you to hear your student out!"

"She was disguised!"

"I could detect Twilight's aura from my room in the tower! Are you saying you couldn't tell this was your student!"

"She- She is obviously under a spell! Can't you see? There is dark magic and anger tinting her magic, that is why..." Celestia asked. She looked down at her student amongst the remains of the doors.

"Under a spell you say?" Luna asked.

"Of course! Why else would Twilight act this way!"

"Sister, before they left the castle, Twilight's friends expressed their concern about Twilight, they feared for her, but since you told them not to worry, they left it to you. Even though I bore a personal desire to help one whom I would call a friend, I left it to you and went to sleep. As I slept though, a dream of great urgency called upon me. ...But before I get to that, let me tell you a story:

"Upon my return from my banishment on the moon I was greatly saddened by your distance from me. You no longer looked at me the same way you used to, instead you looked to Twilight with the smile you once gave only to me.

"For a long while I was jealous, for I could see that you now shared a very special bond with your student. It looked like the bond we once shared all those many years ago. She was a capable mare, advanced beyond all compare in the ways of magic, and with power rival to our own.

"I was jealous, I thought Twilight had replaced me in your heart... I was so jealous... Until now that I see the truth...

"Your relationship with her is just like our relationship; she became the one that fought impossible odds saving Equestria while you sat on your flank. She became the one that worked so hard, and yet you got all the praise for. She became the one who felt so alone, so unappreciated while you continued to bask in the glory for accomplishments that were rightfully hers!

"She is the one who began to feel the disparity of the relationship, the same unhappiness I felt so long ago.

"When I entered her dream I saw and felt the same feelings I felt in my first days as Nightmare Moon, an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness and apathy towards life. She felt the same emotions that had caused me to fight you. I thought she would come to make up with you... But now I see how far this had progressed without my knowledge...

"In her dream I saw you brushing off her concerns and abandoning her to suffer alone... I thought she was just being unnecessarily worried. Now I realize that what I saw was not her pessimistic view of what might be, but her tormented memories of what already was! You abandoned her!

"I thought you regretted what you had done to me, but now I see you have learned nothing!"

Celestia recoiled.

"She came to you in her darkest hour, and once again you ignored the pleas of those closest to you!

"She did not replace me, SHE BECAME ME!

"History has repeated itself and you have not changed at all!"

"I- I-" the elder sister struggled for words.

"Save your excuses. Your hollow words only make our suffering worse." Luna glanced to the downed mare. "I pray for your sake, sister, that she doesn't follow my path, but I fear it may already be too late."

Luna touched a hoof to the body of the downed mare and teleported leaving Celestia alone in the ransacked throne room.

Celestia shook violently, to shocked to even move from her position. As she stood the scroll her student had teleported in caught her eye.

Author's Note

"MOAR!" finally! Sorry about the crazy long wait, but life is crazy and I've barely had time to write recently. More so, it doesn't help that I got in way over my head with my other stories, both published and unpublished. It's been little over a month since I've updated this story, and I apologize profusely. I will try my best to keep this updating as frequently as "Canine Complications" and "Just an Everyday Princess" (that's about bi-weekly for those who do not follow those. (Which if don't you should check out here and here respectively.))

Anyway, just to get a feel for the audience: what do you think should happen next? Post speculation, ideas, and suggestions in the comments!

Revelations v

"Twilight? Where are you?"

"..."

"I know this situation is bad, but you have to keep fighting! Let me help you!"

"..."

"Twilight! Twi- Oh, there you are..."

Luna sat next to the student of magic.

"Twilight... You've been in here for almost a week now, you have to go back out soon..."

Twilight did not respond. Not even looking back to acknowledge the moon princess's presence.

"Twilight... Your friends are worried about you..."

That got a twitch out of Twilight's ear.

She turned her head to face the night princess.

"I don't have any friends." she said resolutely.

"Don't say that Twilight! You know your friends love you. Don't think for a second-"

"Love me?" Twilight calmly responded, "They abandon me on a whim. Friends? I have none."

"Twilight-"

"No. Don't try Luna. You are the only one who hasn't yet betrayed me. Allow me to keep a little happiness."

"Twilight... You need to know that my sister has-"

"Don't you dare mention her!"

Luna was nearly blown back by the sudden burst of emotion.

"Twilight she-"

"I don't give a buck what she's done! That monster can't hurt me here. I'm free of her conniving and manipulation! She and my so-called friends can burn in Tartarus!"

"Twilight! She wants you back! Since you've been in here Celestia hasn't-"

"I told you not to say her name here!"

"Twilight...I- I didn't want it to come to this, but you give me no choice." Luna's horn flared, "If you won't listen to me willingly, I'll force you to listen to your friends!"

Rising from the ground with a great flap of her majestic wings Luna's horn flashed. Burning with the immense power of her celestial godhood, Luna worked to bend incomprehensible magic of the universe bending to her will.

When the flash cleared Luna descended and landed once again by Twilight.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but you needed to come out of there, you would not have lasted much longer without intervention." Luna lowered a wing around the shaking unicorn. "You will one day understand that this was necessary for-"

Twilight turned her head to the lunar princess, "You were the last one I trusted." She was shaking in anger, "and you just had to go and break that trust."

Luna's gaze stayed on Twilight's face, only flinching slightly in response to Twilight's unexpected rage. "I know you may not like it, but I'm doing this for you Twilight. To save you."

"Take a look around princess. What do you see?"

For the first time since using her magic Luna looked at their surroundings. Now she was shocked.

"How! How did you stop my magic? We should have been transported out of here! This is MY domain! There is nothing more powerful in here than myself!"

The shaking under Luna's wing increased. Twilight was laughing.

"You really think you can overpower me here? This isn't your domain! It's mine!" Twilight's laughter stopped abruptly, "And it's time for you to go."

Luna closed her eyes to hide from the bright flash of Twilight's horn. When she could see again, she could make out the form of the purple mare before her.

Still lying in the same hospital bed, and still shrouded in the shadows of the week long night.

Luna sat, listening to the beeping of the heart monitor, watching the almost imperceptible drain of the IV bags above the stu- former student of magic.

"Twilight..."

Revelations VI

The royal hall stood empty of its usual hustle and bustle. Only an occasional guard change marked the passing of hours, or the change of "day" and "night".

At this time on a normal day, it would have been the walk-ins portion of the solar court petitioning schedule.

...on a normal day.

In the wake of Celestia's self-imposed isolation, Luna had tried her best to fill in, but everything had quickly fallen apart without the millennial ruler.

Luna heaved a sigh as she thought back a week.

After she had taken Twilight to the hospital, the only thing on her mind was Celestia. As soon as she knew Twilight was in good hooves, she returned from the hospital to find that her sister had locked herself away in her room, door warded with powerful solar magic.

Luna had begged and pleaded for her sister to release the wards and let her in, not even knowing if her sister could hear her, but no response was to be heard. After a few hours of pleading, she gave up in hopes her sister only needed time.

That is what she thought all throughout the night until she sank the moon...

...but the sun never came.

She begged and begged her sister, pleading that if not for her, then for the world at large, to come out and raise the sun.

No response could be heard from within.

Begging gave way to anger. She yelled, threatening the possibilities if she did not raise the sun.

No response.

Anger led to force. She tried to break down the door and dispel the magic that sealed the room. Her attempts were valiant but ultimately futile. Powered by the very magic of the sun, Luna couldn't even touch the wards let alone challenge their purpose. Exhaustion forced her to give up.

She sought to retreat back to her room, but before she could make good on that intent she was met by a very distraught group of guards, from them she learned that a crowd had built up to see Celestia, she had gone to calm them. It had been initially difficult to speak over top the shouts and accusations of Nightmare Moon's return, but she had won out eventually, calming the ponies into an uneasy, peace.

She came up with her contingency plan immediately after court. It was no sun, but her brightest full moon would have to suffice until Celestia saw reason.

She fulfilled her sister's other duties too, working through the backlog of work and hosting day court in her sister's stead.

The day guard had been concerned when Luna's first day hosting had ended with not even a single visitor. They had been afraid of her potential reaction, but at the conclusion of court, the princess only sighed and trotted back to her chambers. By the end of the fifth day of still no visitors she had exhausted the backlog of work and had taken to painting starscapes on canvas to pass the time.

She sighed as she finished yet another beautiful night sky she might implement to add a little variation to the everlasting darkness. She was actually building up a cue of them off to the side of the room.

The princess set up another canvas as she checked her blue, black, and white paints, this time bringing green out of the paint set as well.

The twisted irony was not lost on the guards who watched the Lunar princess. A thousand years ago this was all she wanted; an everlasting night and sole rule over the nation. Now those that saw her pitied the sighing and moping princess. She had all that Nightmare had ever wanted, but now all Luna wanted was to have things back to normal.

Luna continued to work in the still room, adding a green aurora to the newest canvas, bringing new color to the sleeping skyscape.

She turned to watch as the guard shift began its ceremonial changing from day to night units. The changing was the only way to tell which form of court was in session at any given time. Only by looking to the guards to see if their armor was the bright gold of the day guard or the blued steel of the night guard could one determine the current phase.

As her lunar troops relieved the day guard, another empty session of day court concluded.

She got up to retreat to her chambers when a shout drew her attention.

"Princess!" Luna saw the speaker was a young mare, severely out of breath and decked in the slightly disheveled uniform of a hospital nurse. Luna recognized garb from the hospital that she had left Twilight in the care of.

"Has Twilight awoken? Did my visit today-"

The mare's expression at the question filled her heart with dread.

"No, she... She's gone..." the mare drew back fearfully, looking everywhere but at the dark princess.

Luna's mind raced frantically about the implications of such news. Trying her best to not even think about her own personal attachments to the Element of magic; her first friend...

"She's gone your majesty..." the mare repeated fearfully.

"When?" The question was all Luna could muster.

The mare shied away further "...we don't know..."

"Dont know! DON'T KNOW! How could you not know! Are you not meant to watch the patients in your care? How could you not-"

Now the mare was crying, "We don't know! This evening when the shift changed, the guards were found unconscious and she was just gone."

"Why were the guards- You mean to say she has not passed from this life but rather disappeared from your care?"

The mare nodded.

"Then we must work with absolute haste to find her! Do you know the cause for her abduction? Do you know what fiends would undertake such a bold-?"

"We asked some other ponies in the same hall..."

"Yes? And! Speak with haste!"

"She walked out! I mean, they didn't see what happened inside her room, but they say they saw her just walk out."

Luna pondered the possible meanings of such an action.

None were good, especially if Luna's encounter in her dreams was any indication.

"Quickly, we must see to this immediately." she turned to the newly shifted-in guards, "Guards! Quickly inform the Captain that Twilight Sparkle is to be found and brought to the castle immediately, be sure to inform him to be delicate she has just awoken from a coma and may be- confused."

Two of the guards saluted and briskly trotted away.

Luna turned back to the nurse, "We will travel to the hospital. There are some ponies I need to speak to."

The nurse nodded and followed Luna as she left the hall.

Author's Note

I have realized that the last iteration of chapter 6 did not appropriately fit and needed to be changed.

oh, and this story isn't dead...

sorry for the wait...

Revelations VII

"So as I said, when I came into her room she was just gone. No signs of struggle, no suspicious items, and after interviewing the guards, they truly seem to have no idea what happened. We are performing more in depth scanning spells on them now, but preliminary care shows that none of them appear concussed, so they were likely put under a sleep spell."

The doctor seemed to be telling the truth, but being sure was a matter of absolute importance.

"Thank you doctor, just one more thing before you may leave, I require you to accompany me to her room."

The stallion nodded without inquiring further and followed Luna to the room that had served to house Twilight for the past week.

The guards that had once stood outside the sealed room had been replaced by Luna's elite guard. Upon seeing the night princess, the pair saluted and turned to release the charm that sealed the room.

"No pony has been in or out since we relieved the injured unit." the right guard said as he opened the door for his princess.

"Continue to deter any who would try to enter, we are not to be disturbed."

The guards saluted once again as Luna continued inside with the doctor in tow.

Once inside the clean room, Luna turned to the doctor.

"You and your staff were the only ones permitted into this room. And amongst them you were the only unicorn to operate in this room, correct?"

The doctor once again nodded, "Yes princess, nurse Rosewood, nurse Camphor, and I were the only ponies permitted into this room. Rosewood and Camphor are earth ponies, so yes, the only unicorns that were in here were myself and the patient."

"Good." Luna lit her horn and began casting her spell.

The doctor watched the unmoving monarch for a moment. "Princess, uh...should I leave?"

Without opening her eyes, Luna turned to him. "No," she levitated a pen off of a nearby table, "Here, hold this with your magic."

Without question, he did as he was commanded.

Luna focused more deeply on the traces of magical signatures in the room.

Making sure to exclude her own and the aura that currently embraced the pen, she could sense only one more recent aura.

Her eyes shot open as she instantly recognized it.

The aura that she knew better than any other. The aura of the one who for a brief moment had held her very essence as she tore off the husk of her parasite.

Twilight's aura was to be expected within the room, and to any other observer it would be a good sign to find only her aura after excluding the doctor's and her own.

...but as one so intimately touched by Twilight's magic, she could see what others could not. She could see that Twilight's aura was different...

Changed...

She could tell that a foreign force had attached itself to the mare; another experience she was intimately familiar with...

"Princess?" The doctor squeaked.

Luna looked to the stallion, finding undisguised fear on his face. Only after a second did she realize the cause for his fear. Policing her own features she found an amalgam of intense fear and boiling rage.

Immediately returning her expression to a more neutral frown, she opened her mouth to calm his fears, but before she could, a lunar guardstallion kicked the door in on the two.

"Princess! We have news!"

Revelations VIII

Twilight stepped off the train in Ponyville, the darkness of the moonless night casting deep darkness that even the multitude of lanterns could only feebly combat. No pony braved the darkness, even those who would normally traverse the night. There was no reason for the ponies of such an agricultural hamlet to be awake, though more and more the same could be said for even urban centers. Lanterns and lights could provide illumination, but without the spheres in the sky, there was just an innate wrongness to the nights.

Twilight felt oddly calm despite any of this, a feeling that only served to solidify her resolve.

"Hey Twilight..."

Twilight wheeled laying her eyes upon the sole occupant of the nightly town.

"Pinkie."

And indeed it was, though the usually vibrant mare looked only a sight short of death. Her mane fell as if pulled taught by weights, her color was drained to the point that in the faint lantern light she almost looked like a ghost. Her body was slumped, and her face looked afraid, but also bore signs consistent with having been crying for hours.

"Twilight?" Pinkie said feebly, "I know you don't want to see me right now... but... just know that you can come to me, or Rarity, or Fluttershy if you need somepony to cry on..."

Twilight looked at the pink mare expressionlessly.

"My... My Pinkie sense says Somepony important to me is in for a doo... for some really bad news... and I..."

Pinkie looked up at her, cracking a pathetic smile that didn't spread to her teary eyes, "Just know that we're all here for you... We may not always be the best of friends, but we want to be..."

Twilight turned and began to walk away.

"We love you Twilight!" Pinkie called after her, "We'll always be here for you! I'll always be here for you! Pinkie promise!"

Twilight kept walking.

Twilight walked up to the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse, knocking on the door with its golden apple-shaped knob.

It wasn't long before the door opened and a large red muzzle peaked out.

The farm stallion simply opened the door, turning and going up stairs.

Twilight made her way into the foyer, not going towards the kitchen or den as most visits would typically involve.

After a short time a quick clatter of hooves was heard upstairs, and an orange mare tumbled down the stairs. Recovering, Applejack threw her hooves around the visitor.

"Twi, you don't know how happy I am to see you alright!" She said, squeezing almost painfully tight.

"Applejack." Twilight said firmly, devoid of inflection or emotion, "I'm not alright."

"Oh my! Is there a problem? Do ya need somethin'? When the Princess told us about-"

Applejack nearly missed hitting her head on splintered wood as her body shattered an end table.

"So, you didn't even bother to find out for yourself? For somepony so blindly obsessed with truth, I would have expected you to be a little more discerning about actually finding it." She said coldly.

"Twi? I don't..."

Applejack looked up to her friend, only to find her glare upon her.

"You should have been the first to know when something was wrong. But you weren't. You never were. Not any of the times I’ve needed you."

Without waiting for response, she then turned and walked back through the farmhouse door into the concealing night.

Rarity opened the door to her boutique after being fitfully awoken, if the disheveled sleeping mask and curlers were anything to go by.

"Twilight!" She cheered as she opened her door, "It's so good to see that you're..." her face fell upon seeing Twilight's expression, "What's wrong dear?"

"Now you care?" She snapped, "I guess you would."

"Twilight? I'm sorry if there's something I've done to-"

"To what? Upset me? No, I'm so far beyond that right now. Tell me, what was more important, me or my connection to Canterlot and royalty?"

"Dear I don't-"

"Just answer the question! Or rather I'll answer it for you. You wouldn't have given me the time of day had I not mentioned Canterlot. You would have listened to me, you would have feigned interest, all of those social pleasantries, but you wouldn't have actually cared. Not until you knew I was an 'in' to Canterlot."

Rarity looked stricken, "Dear, I have no idea what started this, but I assure you that given time-"

"But you didn't give it time! You didn’t listen to a word I said until you heard the word 'Canterlot' and suddenly I’m your ‘best friend’, otherwise you would have treated me like anypony else interrupting your work. Not worth your time."

"Twilight, I resent your implication." She said haughtily, "I treat everypony with the respect they deserve."

"Yeah, it's just that Canterlot ponies deserve more of it. Something you've decided on multiple occasions."

"Now see here! I was just interested! I never play favorites! I treat everypony equally! No pony is ever 'not worth my time!'"

"Except your sister when there's a job to do, or me when there's a princess to attend to."

"Now see here! That's just keeping good priorities!"

Twilight stared until Rarity recognized what she had said.

"No! I didn't mean-"

Twilight turned and walked out the door.

Fluttershy's cottage was more active than would normally be expected, but 'expected' was far from fitting anything as of late.

To drive that point further, it was Rainbow, not Fluttershy that opened the door to the caretaker's cottage.

"Twi! Good to see you're-"

"Twilight!" Fluttershy shouted, racing up from behind some crevice somewhere, "Are you alright to be out of bed? You probably shouldn't be-"

Just as before, greetings, smiles, and conversation ended as they saw her face.

"Twilight? What's-"

"Don't even ask."

"Oh..." Fluttershy squeaked, hiding behind her mane.

"Hey there Twi, she's just worried about you."

"I'm so glad to hear everyone's so worried about me now."

"What are you implying?" Rainbow asked accusingly.

"Nothing. I'm stating the fact that worrying about me now that I'm right up in your muzzle, rather than when I was off on my own really shows just how much you really care. Out of sight out of mind, right?"

Rainbow made to argue, but Twilight cut her off, glancing between both Fluttershy and Rainbow, "It was neither kind nor loyal to leave me alone, not when I was upset about being tardy, not at the wedding when you all rejected me, and not when I was left alone at the funeral. You two, just like the rest of my so called friends, only pretend to care about me when I'm around, otherwise you're too busy having fun."

"Hey! We didn't-" Rainbow tried to argue, before being cut off again by Twilight.

"Oh, it's 'ol crazy Twilight, coming to us with her concerns. She seems upset, should we help her? No let's laugh at her. She just stormed off, obviously distraught, and likely unbalanced, should we help her? and miss out on such a wonderful picnic?"

"Or how about at the wedding." Twilight sneered.

"Hey girls, Twilight just interrupted her own brother’s wedding to accuse one of her oldest friends of being a mind controlling witch, should we take her seriously? No, let's tell her she's crazy because we definitely know the bride better than her, I mean, she's only one of her oldest friends, and we've known her for this whole afternoon! Well should we at least go figure out why she would make such a claim? No, we know she's just has a jealous brother complex, there's no way she's genuinely concerned, let's tell her that to her face. She's running off crying, should we go comfort her? No, let’s comfort Cadence instead. You mean the one we barely know, who's been a jerk to us behind our back all day? Of course! She's a princess!"

Twilight finished her rant, both Fluttershy and Rainbow frozen in horror.

"Or my favorite:"

"Twilight just lost her father and is mysteriously missing from the funeral reception, should we go try to comfort her? No, I hear they're serving cake next."

"Loyalty and kindness. Good work."

Twilight left the pegasi sitting in silence, and began making her way back to town, after all, she had a train to catch, and her next visit was long overdue.

Just thinking about it made her spine tingle.

So preoccupied was she that she didn’t notice that anticipation wasn’t the only thing making her spine tingle.

Revelations IX

When Luna arrived at the castle she had hardly landed within the grounds before hurriedly approached by stallion of her bat-winged Lunar guard.

"Princess! She's at the front gate! But she's-"

Clarification was not needed, Luna knew exactly what the stallion was reporting just by his tone.

She teleported before the guardstallion had time to finish his report.

Luna reappeared among bedlam. Lunar guards were swarming like flies around a single figure. Any who charged or even strayed too close were swatted aside by quick lashes of magic.

At the core of the madness was a figure that brought bile into her throat.

It was certainly as the guardstallion had indicated, that much could be seen by all, but to those who know Twilight best it was all the worse. No, to those that knew the gentle unicorn, the image before her would have been a distorted mess, a twisted caricature of the unicorn. The mare's overall distinguishing characteristics were the same, cutie mark confirming her identity, but the distorting influence of foreign power was well in effect.

Long legs gave the mare what would have been gangly appearance had it not been for the proportional thickening of her barrel. In fact, her whole body appeared larger, even her formerly unassuming horn was now of a threatening length, but most distressing aspect of her change was the pair of dark wings tucked into her sides, not leaving the reason for the change much to the imagination.

Fear shook the alicorn. She had expected to see signs of corruption, but the manifestations of were far beyond what should have been possible for one so recently exposed. There was only one explanation.

"Fall back!" Luna commanded her guards.

The thestrals broke what little formation they had, falling back as commanded, but staying primed to re-engage.

"Nightmare! Release her! Your quarrel is with me! Leave her out of this!"

The mare's face grew dark, turning away. For a moment it appeared as if her words had some effect on the figure, but then as the being began shaking, the truth became clear.

She was laughing, not the confident, familiar laugh of the abomination, but one just as fearful.

"You're mistaken." The figure mocked, "Though I suppose you would know best."

"Twilight, if any of you remains aware in there, you must fight it! Fight it so that I may cleanse you of this darkness."

"Oh? Poor old Twilight grows a backbone and the only explanation is possession? I think we both know that is not how it works."

Luna recoiled at the accusation.

"No, I'm here because I have unfinished business. It's really too bad that it took all this to finally make me do what should have done long ago."

"Twilight, you must calm down, she is blinding you! Muddling your thoughts! You must not succumb to her! Her whisperings are not your own!"

Twilight broke the standoff, beginning to circle the lunar princess, "Still going on about that? Are you listening to me? I suppose not. None ever do!" The dark mare scoffed, "When you needed me, was I not there for you? But when I needed you, when I pleaded with you as a friend, what did you do? You betray me, caring only for your sister? Am I not one to be loved as well? No, always cast off after I've served my purpose, never accepted for who I am." the dark mare's glare narrowed "I would have expected you to understand. But no. Now here we are! You, standing in my way once again!"

"And I shall continue to do so! You need to let go of these feelings so that you may see the truth! We love you! I love you! You are our precious friend! That is why I act as I do now! Because I cannot stand to see you fall down the path I once tread. The Nightmare's words are lies! The nightmare's power will turn against you! Do not let her take you! I cannot bear it!"

Tears glazed the lunar princess's eyes, and the lavender mare's scowl seemed to waver, a visible knitting of her brow before it was just as quickly shaken off.

"I can see no progress will be made here." She growled, "Thankfully, you are not the one who has wronged me greatest. Nor why I have come." Turning away suddenly to face the hallway previously blocked by Luna, the mare darted.

The night guard who had remained in the rafters began to pounce down, attempting to flood down the hallway en masse.

"Nay!" She shouted, "I shall deal with her!"

Luna's recently placed charms upon the castle forbade teleportation, but Luna herself was under no such limitations. A flash brought her to where she knew Twilight was headed.

Before the flash had even faded, Twilight's voice greeted her, “Out of my way."

Luna turned to see Twilight already at the end of the hall leading to her sister's chambers.

"Twilight! You mustn't try to force your way in! Especially not now! Her door is warded with a spell drawing from the sun itself! Only she can open the door! Any attempts made will recoil!"

A scoff rebuked the warning.

"Please! Twilight you don't want this! It's all the Nightmare! She is controlling you!"

"You continue to lie!" She spat, switching her glare from the chamber door back to Luna, "I may have the Nightmare's power, but I have not been influenced at all! No dark whisperings! No possession! Just my realizations and rage! This power has only allowed me to express what I really am! And that's the truth isn't it? There is no 'nightmare', is there? It's just a scapegoat for your actions!"

Luna's expression was a muddled mix of confusion and fear, "No! The Nightmare was real! I was possessed, just as you are now! You need to see-"

"I am no fool!" She screamed, a charge building in her horn, "I am not just some weapon! I am more than just a machine to be put at a task and forgotten about!" She hollered, ignoring Luna once again for the door.

"And I'll prove it to you! I'll prove it to her! I'll prove it to everypony!"

She released the magic.

Luna turned away, fearing the intensity of a reaction of so much antithetical magic.

Contrary to her fears though, the door did not repel the attack. It simply fell inward.

Though confusion and shock were chief among her emotions upon the display, they were not for what occurred, but for what was revealed: an empty room and a single letter upon the neatly made bed.

Author's Note

I intend to finish this off before the end of this weekend.

Revelations X

~~To Twilight~~

I am so sorry.

I wished to leave you on better terms, but this is apparently the way it was meant to be.

Yes, I princess Celestia, at the ripe old age of I-can't-even-remember-how-old (ask Luna, she might know) have finally passed on from the mortal realm.

I wish it could have been under better circumstances, I truly do, but my passing had to be this way. My life has been long and arduous, but fulfilling. I have done much for my ponies over the millennia, but they have done so much more for me.

I write this now, to you, the single pony that gifted to me the happiest years of my life. Not only were you powerful enough to save my sister, you the kind of mare who would boldly and selflessly try to befriend her. Despite having knowledge and power that surpasses any mortal, you didn't let it corrupt you. You are a shining example of harmony.

It was this that brilliant perfection that led to my complacency when having you clean up my messes. You were the mare for the job, regardless of the situation you were an eager and perfect cure-all. Seeing you so proud of what you had done and so quick to jump to the next adventure made me blind to how I was treating you. You continued to do so well in everything I set before you that I became desensitized to any danger you may have actually found yourself in. In my mind you were always ~~my trump card.~~

I shouldn't say that. It makes it sound like I thought of you as a tool. ~~It was nothing like that~~ That is a lie, sometimes I did... You were my faithful student, the Element of Magic, a brilliant young mare, and by the stars one of the most powerful spell-casters in history. I tasked you with what I could not trust myself to contend with, to my undoing apparently.

I never meant to treat you like I did. Your eager little smile and your expectant eyes, how you were always so eager to take on my next "assignment". I eventually began to see the whole thing as a game. I couldn't present challenges to you fast enough.

I trained you for years. Nearly a decade of the most demanding and advanced studies of magical theory and practice, training in the arts and sciences, politics, sociology, ethics... I trained you for a lifetime....

And I am both proud and saddened to say that this is because I expected you to defeat Nightmare Moon over the course of a lifetime.

I expected you to devote your life to leading the discovery of the Elements of Harmony and slowly embracing your elements and each other over the course of your lives and experiences fighting Nightmare Moon as Luna and I did against Discord. It took Luna and myself half a century to build affinities to our elements. You led your friends to do it in less than twelve hours.

My greatest challenge, the endgame I had been grooming you to triumph over, had been beaten in less than a day. I didn't know what to do. Of course I intended to continue your studies, but at that point it was no longer a matter of time or necessity, you were free from the selfish shepherding I had directed your life with. You were free of the duty I had placed on you, and you were free to have friends and study more relaxedly in Ponyville. I fully expected it to last like that forever.

Then Discord returned.

I knew that there was no hope of defeating him. I was not strong enough to fight him, and even the Elements of Harmony were not immune to his magic, but I had to wager upon you or give up. I contemplated forfeiting the kingdom to him, to simply bow down to his rule. Truthfully, it was not the worst of fates that could befall the world, but then when you showed up in the castle eager to fight I knew that this was what fate had prepared you for. Not the Nightmare of a thousand years, but the god Chaos of all Eternity himself! Your culmination would be triumphing over the most powerful being ever.

And then you defeated him in twenty-four hours.

Life continued until Chrysalis attacked, in which case you not only handled the situation without any help on my part, but managed to show me how perceptive and resourceful you were.

And then there was the Crystal Empire... I suppose you had your doubts since the beginning, but here is where I truly failed.

Two major triumphs that would have secured your place in eternity and you were at the point that a full-scale invasion was an afternoon annoyance. My pride blinded me.

You say I purposely made your trials in the Crystal Empire more difficult than they had to be?

I did.

And it is likely the greatest mistake of my life.

I laid it out like pieces of a puzzle, a game! With only the vaguest of information and only the briefest exposure to dark magic I sent you off on an adventure. Sombra was meant to be a joke.

You were the slayer of Nightmares! Vanquisher of Chaos itself! "Banisher of Darkness" was meant to be a footnote.

I had fully expected you to engage him in single combat and crush him, and once that was through possibly leading the expedition for the Crystal Heart. Little did I know that you would learn of its existence and fixate on it.

I had meant for it to be "you and only you" when the plan was for you to simply defeat him as you were the only unicorn who was more powerful than him. It was your mission and I didn't want a weaker unicorn trying.

I am sorry.

It doesn't excuse my actions but I truly no longer felt there was reason to do any more for you when you could handle it yourself. You were just so powerful, so brilliant. I didn't stop to consider that you were still just a young mare underneath it all.

...and now I am sorry but now I have placed an even greater burden upon you.

As I said, I had expected your battle with Nightmare moon to be a lifetime event, maybe even one you passed on to the next generation, but before you came, my outlook had been even darker.

Right after the banishment of ~~Luna~~ Nightmare Moon, I had been left with a dying world. I had the Sun, but a moon that I could not move. As you may have suspected, no pony was meant to wield solar and lunar magics both at once. They are fundamentally opposite, like magnets that repel.

Left in the wake of the loss of my sister, with no hope, and with a dying society looking to me for relief, I forced myself onward and took within me Lunar magic at great expense to the world and myself. The relief I offered was meant to be temporary. The magic I had taken within me had truly been taken with dual purpose, first to grant relief to my ponies, but also selfishly to end my life. I had no hope of seeing my sister again, and knew that the force of the magics within me would one day tear me apart. I was content with this until the prophecy of Nightmare's return surfaced. I do not know when or from where the prophesy arose, but when it did I then swore to at least see the world on till then.

I did, you came into my life, and I managed to spend a few glorious years with my long lost sister.

~~From the bottom of my heart-~~~~Words cannot express-~~

Thank you.

Now I now must offer what will likely only sully further my image in your eyes...

I must beg of you one last thing.

This is my final plea.

Twilight, in my wrongdoing towards you I have now seen the error of my ways. I grew complacent in the way of the world and lost sight of everything.

I was blinded to just how ready you were to fulfill ~~your destiny~~ the task I had selfishly foisted onto your shoulders.

Just as I had intended for you to triumph over Nightmare Moon, so too did I expect you to fulfill the duties that came after, namely taking charge of the sun and leading ~~my little~~ the ponies in my stead.

You have had the potential to be a great leader all along, only my selfishness kept it from you.

Now I see the error of this old mare's ways, and I shall not hold you back any longer.

In my rage, the spell I mistakenly hit you with should have been powerful enough to incapacitate even the most powerful of spell casters, but now that you are infused with my magic you should not need much more than the night to recover. Upon your awakening this morning you have likely recognized my power within you. It is yours now.

However you may feel about me and what I have done, I must ask that you not let it affect the plea I make of you now:

Faithfully rule the sun. Bear it upon your back. Raise it every morning and lower it every night. Feed every plant and warm the brow of every hard working Plowright. Bathe Equestria in the life-giving glory of the Solar Sphere and never let it die.

It is the greatest regret of my life, what I have done to you, but I can only beg that you allow life to carry on, as only you can now do.

I am so sorry.

~~Forgive me.~~

Celestia

Revelations "Good" End

The letter fell to the floor as Twilight's now pure golden aura flickered out.

"Twili-"

"No"

"Twi-"

"NO! No! No! No! No! No!"

"Twilight, what does it-"

"It's all my fault!"

"Twilight, what are you-"

"It's all my fault!" she cried, falling to the ground, "Celestia's dead and the planet's dying and it's all my fault!"

"Twilight, you cannot be held responsible for-"

"But I am! Celestia died to save me!" her voice caught in her throat, but she managed to pitifully wail the worst part, "and I repaid her by hiding myself away! It's all my fault!"

"Twilight, explain what you have said. I cannot understand such a thing could be."

"I- I-" words failing, Twilight simply turned away, hoofing the letter over to the sister of its author.

Twilight's turmoil steeped as she took glances at Luna's expression while she read. She contemplated running, but decided that there was no point anymore.

Twilight watched as Luna's eyes drifted from the end of the page, signaling that it was over and Luna now knew everything.

"It's all my-"

"No," Luna said firmly, still staring off into space, "No, it isn't."

"I killed her! I killed Celestia!"

"You did no such thing. You said yourself that the transfer of power was performed with the intention of ending my sister's life. She knew what she was doing. She has been dying for a thousand years, you granted her release from a millennia of suffering. You achieved so much that she felt she could trust you with her sun, to carry on where she left off."

"And look where I've put us! If I hadn't confronted her! If I hadn't been disguised! If I had just woken up! I hid myself away like a child and now the whole planet is dieing because of it! If I had known..."

"'If you had known'-what? If you had known then you would have done something different? That in itself means the blame is not yours! You didn't know anything!"

"But I should have!"

"You were angry that my sister had orchestrated your life, puppeteering you into a fate that she picked out for you without your knowledge or consent. You were upset over her neglectful and even abusive acts towards you, and you very well should have been! My sister, though I wish her soul may now finally find rest, I would dare say did do all such things to you. She has no less than admitted her guilt. You show great force of will to know that you would have put that aside for the planet, but from how I see it, my sister is no less than wholly responsible for our current situation. Everything, from the effects of the loss of the sun, all the way back to my return from the moon, and even back to the time she made you her student. Looking back in light of this letter, it is now apparent she has made many mistakes over the years." she paused, "But do you truly regret what has been done?

"Can you truly say, that in light of all her misguided manipulation, that you truly would have had things gone differently? Change the past as we now see it? Would you trade the life you have lived, the experiences, the triumphs and all the good you have done, for any other path?" Luna looked her at her firmly.

"...no..." Twilight croaked between sobs.

"You may think less of her, but you must remember that even she was merely equine. Do you really believe that the special moments you shared were lies? That there was no truth to her love for you?"

Once again her eyes pierced the tearful mare's own. "No..."

"As well you shouldn't! This letter itself proves how much she loved you. She wrote it not to me, but to you, as not a command, but as a plea, as not another lesson, but as a whole-hearted cry for forgiveness, one that I would not say was even for her, but was instead penned to give you closure. She wanted you to not be plagued by doubts, but rather to know the truth, at the cost of her immortal image in your eyes."

"She loved you. She loved you so much and was so proud of you that she would trust the continuation of life itself to you."

"But I-"

"Twilight Sparkle." Luna said firmly, "Do you believe my sister's love for you was real?"

At first with frantic confusion, and then slowly with collected definitiveness, she cleared her eyes and answered. "Yes."

"Would you change anything about what she did? Knowing what you know now?"

This time the pause stretched much longer, a deep turmoil rising within her. "Well... yes... Yes I would!"

"Such as?"

"I would have trusted someone with this information!" she nearly shouted into Luna's face, only tuning down as eye contact reminded her of her only listener's proximity, "I mean, she... If I were in her shoes, and had... done... all this... Then I would have trusted if not me than at least you with all this! I mean I've nearly killed everypony by keeping this bottled up!"

Contrary to expectation, Luna was smiling broadly. "Perfect!"

"How is that-"

"First, you just said that "I", that is to say my sister, was responsible, not you Twilight Sparkle. Remember that. Second, it is good because it shows that you recognize the fundamental flaw in my sister's actions that led us to this point. Do you see it?

"I hope you recognize that despite our actions, we are only equine. That is the fate of all beings, mortal and immortal alike, we are all fallible. I fear my sister may have lost sight of something so fundamental, so base, that your answer reflects, but even you do not see it.

"She trusted nopony to bear her burden with her, not even so much as a shoulder to cry into. She had no support for fear of involving or harming the uninvolved, but that is precisely how she has hurt you. Not by her actions, as I have no doubt you would have done everything just the same, even knowing her intentions. No, she harmed you by trying not to harm you.

"The anger you feel is not for how she manipulated you, nor for how you feel she may not have trusted you. No, instead it is for how she didn't open up and share her pain, how she didn't allow you to bear more of her burden. The anger you now feel is betrayal, but no longer is it from her betrayal of you, but rather her betrayal of your friendship.

"She didn't follow a key tenant of friendship. One that was among the first that you yourself learned."

Luna began looking around the room, stopping to focus on Celestia's desk. The sound of a sliding drawer preceded the rise of a cluster of scrolls from behind the desk. She gave each a quick glance before pulling one aside.

"Twilight, do you remember this?" she said, levitating the scroll over to her.

Twilight caught it and unfurled it to reveal one of her friendship reports.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she's always there to help anypony. The only trouble is, when she needs help she finds it hard to accept it. So while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle"

"Twilight, she knew she was flawed. She knew that there was only so much she could teach you. Allowing you to go off on your own, away from her guidance, has only made you more fit to fulfill your new role. More fit than even she."

Luna prepared to counter any arguments, but as the silence drew on, none came.

"I will do better." Twilight said suddenly, quiet at first but growing firmer, "In honor of her sacrifice, I will do better. For her, and for everypony and everything that needs me."

Luna smiled. "Then you know what you have to do," She said as she placed a wing across the smaller alicorn's back and they proceeded out onto Celestia's balcony together.

Author's Note

This is why I should never commit to deadlines... well, I said by the end of the weekend and I've come in 7 minutes till, so...

Other endings of various complexity shall come as they do.