An Immortal Life

by Crazyjoe33

Chapters

• Chapter 1: Memories
• Chapter 2: The Beginning - Part 1
• Chapter 3: The Beginning - Part 2
• Chapter 4: Promises
• Chapter 5: Revelations

Chapter 1: Memories

Celestia woke up from the most relaxing sleep that she had experienced all week. She shifted her white, radiant body to get more comfortable. Though her mind was relaxed, the rest of her body was not so at ease. Celestia looked out her window and saw the horizon changing from black to dark shades of purple, indicating the sun was coming up soon.

'Mmmm... that is... interesting,' Celestia thought to herself. 'I think I had a dream that could have kept anypony up, but why do I feel so... content?' She curled up into a ball, remembering what had happened in her dream.

It had, like most nights, been about her most beloved Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight, who was just a filly in the dream, was sitting by Celestia's side as they were both sitting on the balcony outside her bedroom, staring in the distance, waiting for the sun to break the horizon. As the top of the sun started to peak over the distant mountains, Celestia looked down at Twilight, who was looking at the rising sun in awe. Celestia had noticed something was rather... odd, about the purple unicorn. Something that even the real Twilight had possessed, but always kept hidden when in public.

Twilight had wings protruding out of her sides.

The first of the light had touched them, warming their bodies from the cool night breeze. Then, the light had started to shine on the rest of the waking world, illuminating everything.

When the sun finally reached over the mountain, Twilight looked up at Celestia, smiling from the view she had received from her ‘mentor’. They both looked into each others' eyes, remembering all the times that they had spent together, when Twilight was as small as the one in her dream. Celestia remembered how Twilight played in the Royal Gardens, laughter filled the Summer air as Twilight ran around, imagining her own adventures with her favorite doll, Smartypants, bouncing on her back.

Then Twilight suddenly started to grow rapidly, and the balcony had disappeared into a swirl of colors, along with the scenery. Shocked by the sudden change, Celestia broke her eye contact and looked at the circling mixture of hues. Then, just like it started, Twilight had stopped growing, and she looked at the Princess. Dream Twilight now looked like the real Twilight. Her wings were missing, which led Celestia to believe that they were somewhere where there were other ponies around. Celestia stopped looking at the sickening motion of the tornado, and focused on Twilight, which made her heart break at the sight of her student.

Twilight's eyes were red, and her cheeks were glistening in the sunlight.

The colored tornado surrounding them began to slow, and the colors dispersed, revealing that they were now at the Canterlot Train Station. They were standing on the platform where the train that was leaving for Ponyville was waiting at. 'Are you okay, Twilight?' Celestia asked with a worried expression.

'W-Will you come to Ponyville often?' Twilight asked in a heavy tone.

'Twilight...' Celestia sighed and continued, 'You do remember that I am a Princess and I have a lot of duties to attend to on a daily basis?'

Twilight looked at the ground and sniffled, trying to hold back the new tears forming in her eyes. She sighed, 'I know, I was just hoping that I could spend time with you. I just thought that you could come to Ponyville a lot.'

'Well, planning on visiting other towns is rather more work than a pony would think for a Princess,' Celestia said with a frown, but then she smiled as she had an idea forming in her head, 'but that does not mean that you could not come up to visit me whenever you like.'

'Really?' Twilight looked up, eyes questioning, 'What about Day Court and the other things that you have to do?'

Celestia chuckled, 'Twilight, one of the perks of being a Princess is that you can change the schedule to fit your needs. Although taking a few days off from work is not really a good thing to do on a regular basis, taking off a few hours is much more acceptable for myself as well as for Equestria.'

'Well, why didn't I think of that!' Twilight beamed. 'I could come up on the weekends and spend time with you up here in Canterlot!'

'Now Twilight, you do remember your assignment that I gave to you since you're living in Ponyville now?' Celestia smiled as she watched the purple unicorn bouncing up and down in place with joy.

'Oh, right,' Twilight said as she stopped with the bouncing and gave a sheepish smile, 'Then... how about on some of the weekends?'

'You can visit me whenever you want, just be sure that you also take time for your new friends.' Celestia said.

The whistle on the train began to blow and a voice yelled, 'All aboard!'

'I will always be there for you, Twilight,' Celestia then brought Twilight into a heartfelt hug.

'I know you will be,' Twilight said as she returned the hug.

'I love you, Twilight, and I always will.'

'I love you too, Celestia.'

Celestia snapped out of the memory of her dream as she felt the sun nudging the horizon, patiently waiting to be raised. Celestia sighed, forgetting what time it was, stretched out her stiff body and got out of bed. She went out onto her balcony to tend with raising the sun for the new day. Once that was complete, Celestia took in the beauty of the view that was displayed before her. The valley was breathtaking as the colors of the land had lit up as the sunlight brushed over it. The Everfree Forest was a luscious green, while the mountains in the distance were a dark purple silhouette against the bright sun in the baby blue sky. It was a sight that anypony would gawk at, entranced by the wondrous sight. Celestia smiled almost as brightly as the sun at the beauty that has been laid before her.

Celestia breathed in the sweet air, soothing her mind from thinking about her dream. After all, dreams can be unpredictable, right? She turned and went into the bathroom, took a warm, quick bath, and put on her regal vestments. While standing in front of the mirror, making sure she looked presentable for the day, she heard a knock from the door and a familiar voice asking, "May I enter?"

Celestia smiled, knowing who it was, answered, "Yes, you may enter."

The doors were enveloped in a deep blue aura as they swung open, revealing Luna. "Good morning, Celestia," Luna said with a smile.

"Good morning, Luna. How was Night Court?" Celestia asked with a smile.

It had been three months since Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had been married, along with the defeat of the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, and her minions. Things had been stressful for both of the Princesses as many of the citizens of Canterlot were afraid that the Changelings would come back with another assault. What made it worse was that they were worried that they would succeed since they had seen and heard of Princess Celestia's fall to the dreaded Queen of the Changelings. But, after two months of long nights and days calming the ponies of Canterlot, the Princesses have reassured them that the Changelings will not come back. Also, they had promised that if the Changelings do come back, they will both fight together to ensure the defeat of Chrysalis. After that, the following weeks have been very peaceful, except a little economy crisis in Fillydelphia and Manehatten, which was quickly resolved.

"Ha! Nothing like sitting in a room full of Nobles asking petty questions for hours," Luna replied with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry, things are not very exciting at the moment."

"Well, at least things are at peace for once," Luna replied with a small shrug.

"Thank you for being at my side through all of that trouble," Celestia said with a small smile.

Luna frowned at the statement. "Sister, how many times are you going to thank me? It is getting rather old."

"I know, it is just nice to have you by my side again, after all that time being the only one making the decisions."

"Although I am still getting used to how things have changed, it's nice to be back," Luna replied with a smile.

Celestia smiled and walked up to Luna, pulling her into a gentle hug. "I will always love you Luna. No matter where you are or what has happened between us."

"I love you too, sister," Luna replied as she hugged Celestia back.

The two alicorns stayed in that position for a short amount of time until Celestia remembered what she had planned for that day. "Oh!" Celestia exclaimed, letting go of Luna and placing her hooves back on the ground.

"What is it?" Luna asked with a confused look.

"Today is Saturday, and Twilight has planned to come up to Canterlot for the weekend," Celestia replied, smiling at the thought of her Faithful Student coming up for the weekend.

"Oh, so do you need me to take over Day Court this weekend, while you and Twilight have the weekend to yourselves?" Luna asked with a hint of apprehension in her voice.

Celestia gave a light chuckle, then said, "No Luna, I will continue with my duties when I am needed. I cannot ask you to take on my responsibilities, especially since you need sleep during the day."

"Okay." Luna let go of the breath she was holding, relieved. She then turned and started out of the bedroom, "Well, I am feeling rather fatigued from the night, so I will be going to bed. I will see you and Twilight later in the evening."

"That sounds excellent. Have a good rest, Luna." Celestia smiled at Luna.

"You do not have to worry about that, Celestia," Luna smiled back at her sister. "After all, I am the one that has control over the dreams."

Twilight woke up to find that the bright sun was starting to rise up from behind the mountains. She smiled as she stretched out her hooves and back, wondering why she felt so rested from the little sleep. Twilight had stayed up until three in the morning since she was not able to rest from over excitement. 'I guess I have been staying up late more often than I should,' Twilight concluded. She began to feel the same excitement from last night returning, making her body shake as the thought of the weekend loomed in her mind.

The unicorn then looked around the room to find Spike still sleeping soundly in his bed. She silently got out of her covers and landed softly on the hardwood floor. She moved as quietly as she could across the room to the door and slipped out, leaving the dragon to his own peaceful sleep. Twilight went downstairs to the Library portion of the building and saw that it was quite a mess from her studying last night.

"I really need to clean up after myself," Twilight spoke softly to herself, still cautious about waking up Spike.

The purple unicorn went to work on cleaning up the Library, placing the books back on their designated shelves and doing other chores that needed to be taken care of. When she was satisfied with how the Library looked, she glanced at the clock and saw it was now nine in the morning. The train that left for Canterlot would be leaving at noon. The unicorn then went upstairs to check on Spike and found that he was still sleeping. 'Poor Spike. I shouldn't have kept him awake,' Twilight thought remorsefully. Slowly closing the bedroom door, she went downstairs and headed for the entrance door until her stomach grumbled loudly.

"I guess it's time for breakfast," Twilight said to herself, trotting towards the kitchen.

Twilight brought out two mixing bowls, two eggs, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and milk and started to get to work on making waffles. When she had finished and began to eat, she wondered what to do until she had to leave. Spike came into the room, rubbing his eyes from sleep, mumbling, "Morning Twi'."

"Good morning, Spike!" Twilight said cheerfully.

"Do you have enough waffles for me, or should I make some more?"

"Oh no, you just woke up. Here. Let me." Twilight then got up and got to work while Spike slowly reached the table and sat down.

"What's with being so happy? Aren't you tired?"

Twilight came back to the table with a fresh stack of waffles and set them down in front of Spike. "Why shouldn't I be? Remember what day it is?"

"Today's Saturday."

"And?"

"And... what? Is there something going on or- Oh! Yeah. Now I remember," Spike said with a shake of his head. "Sorry, I'm still kind of  tired."

"You shouldn't be sorry. I was the one that made you stay up. Now eat up! The waffles aren't good when they get cold."

Spike lifted his fork and stabbed into the pile, bringing out a huge piece of waffle with it. He then, somehow, managed to eat all of it in one bite and let out a long "Mmmmm..." afterwards. "Wow. That's good," Spike said as he went for another bite.

Twilight gave a small laugh and went back to her seat, joining Spike with the eating. The two finished and were sitting back in their chairs, enjoying the feeling of a full stomach. Twilight then got up from the table and headed towards the exit. "Where are you going?" Spike asked in surprise.

"I'm going to see if Applejack needs any help. I'd at least like to do something before I leave," Twilight said, keeping up the same speed.

"Yeah, like cleaning the Library wasn't enough," Spike mumbled to himself as he collected the dishes from the table and walked towards the sink.

Twilight went out into the sunlight and smiled to herself. She had always loved to be out in the sunlight, but not too much since it makes her sweat and leaves her coat feeling grimy. She turned towards the direction of where her friend would most likely be at and trotted off in the said direction. When the farm came into view, Twilight could see her friend in the field of apple trees carrying two buckets filled with apples on her back. "Hey! Applejack!" Twilight waved with a smile when she got close enough so that her friend could hear her.

"Well, howdy Twilight! How are yah?" Applejack responded in her heavy southern accent as she walked to the farm with two buckets filled with apples.

"I'm doing great! Do you need help with anything?" Twilight asked as she prepared herself for the upcoming response.

"Now why do yah think Ah need help?" Applejack asked, slightly irritated.

"Oh, I was just wanting to do something to pass the time before I leave for Canterlot," Twilight responded quickly.

"Hmm... Well, Ah guess yah can help me carry the apples back tah mah farm," Applejack said, with a little hesitation, and pointed to the buckets that are already filled to the brim with apples.

"Okay, I'll be happy to help out!" Twilight smiled as she trotted to a basket and levitated it unto her back.

"Okay, Twilight. Try not to overwork yourself."

Twilight shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that," She said as she began to trot down to the barn.

Halfway in with helping Applejack, Twilight was sweating and her hooves were sore from walking back and forth from the orchard to the barn with the extra weight of apples on her back. 'I'm definitely going to take a shower after this,' Twilight thought while frowning. When she had reached the barn for what felt like the hundredth time, she looked at the clock hanging on the wall and gasped.

"Oh my Celestia!"

"What is it, Twilight?" Applejack asked, following Twilight inside with a bucket of apples on her back.

"I only have ten minutes before the train leaves for Canterlot!" Exclaimed the now frantic unicorn.

"Whoa, now! Ah suggest yah better hurry and get to the train while you can," Applejack said as she wiped sweat off of her forehead.

"I'm sorry I can't help you finish with carrying the apples back to the barn," Twilight said apologetically as she placed the bucket next to the other hundreds of buckets.

"Don't sweat it! Yah have helped mah out a lot Twilight," Applejack said, smiling and shaking her head.

"Well, okay then. Bye Applejack!" Twilight yelled as she galloped back towards the Library.

"Bye Twilight!" Applejack waved to her friend, then went back out to the orchard to harvest the rest of the apples.

"No, the last of the tax money should go towards the remodeling of the schools. It has been quite some time since the buildings have been renovated," Celestia said with a small smile.

"Yes, your Highness." Scrollworth bowed and turned to leave the Royal Hall whilst rolling up a long piece of paper with numbers all over it.

As soon as the hall was empty, Celestia's smile faltered into a sigh and she rubbed her front hooves against the sides of her head to relax a little. Celestia's face grew into an expression of pain as the throbbing in her head grew worse. She looked at the large clock tower outside her window and smiled as she thought, 'Twilight should be here at any moment now. Then I can be done with this for the rest of the day.'

As if on cue, one of the big oak doors at the end of the hall opened and one of the Royal Guards outside poked his head inside. "Your Highness, your student, Twilight Sparkle, wishes to speak to you," he said with a monotonous voice and a stony expression.

Celestia smiled at the news that was brought before her. "Please, send her in. I have actually been expecting her for some time now."

At that, the Royal Guard nodded once and shut the door, leaving Celestia to herself in the Royal Hall. Celestia leaned back into the golden throne and made herself relax. Her headache was starting to dull away, until the oak doors slammed open. The booming sound made her wince as she looked down the hall to see who would burst in with such force.

Celestia saw that Twilight was galloping at full speed towards the Princess with a wide smile spread out across her face. Celestia smiled and made her body tense up, expecting to be knocked back by the impending force. But what had happened instead was that the purple unicorn came to a halt in front of the Princess and gave her a tight hug. Celestia gasped lightly in surprise, but hugged the unicorn back and asked, "I take it you missed me?"

"Heheh, you have no idea," Twilight said as she let go of Celestia and put her front hooves back on the ground. "After all, it has been a couple of months."

"That is true," chuckled the Princess. "How was the train ride here?"

"Oh you know, it took too long," Twilight smiled as she sat down on her haunches in front of the Princess.

"Well, I believe I'm done with Day Court for now, so now we have the rest of the evening to ourselves," Celestia smiled down at Twilight.

"Well, what would you like to do, then?" Twilight asked. Since they were alone, Twilight didn't feel the need to use formalities.

Celestia placed her front hoof up to her chin as she thought, smiling as an idea came across her mind, saying, "Hmm... How about we go up to my bedroom so that I can tend to my headache. Then we can plan as to what we can do, Twilight."

"Okay! Sounds good to me," Twilight said as she moved so that Celestia can get up from her throne.

As Celestia got up, she got a little light-headed from the sudden movement, which in turn made her stumble a little. She cursed at herself in her mind for sitting for too long as she attempted to regain her balance to no avail. Twilight quickly ran to Celestia and gave her support on her side so she wouldn't fall. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked in concerned tone.

"Yes. I'm fine," Celestia said with a smile, but then she grimaced in pain as her headache had gotten worse from when she recovered from the spinning sensation.

"Do you want me to teleport us to your bedroom so that you can take care of that headache quicker?" Twilight asked, stepping away so she could look at the Princess.

"If you don't mind. It's actually worse than I originally thought," Celestia said, managing a small smile through the pain in her head.

"Okay then, here goes."

Twilight stood in front of Celestia and made her horn glow in a purple aura. The horn grew brighter and brighter with each passing moment until then, in a flash, Twilight released her magic.

Celestia felt Twilight's powerful magic envelope her and let go instantly, leaving her in her bedroom with Twilight still standing in front of her. "Thank you, Twilight."

"Your welcome. Now to take care of myself," Twilight smiled.

With that, Twilight closed her eyes and focused on her magic, enveloping herself in a swirl of purple magic. Then, with a small pop, a pair of wings appeared on her sides. She stopped her focus when she heard the pop and let the magic fade away while she stretched out her wings, feeling the joints pop from not being used in a while. "Ah, much better," Twilight said, smiling.

"Now, Twilight, you do realize that you are going to have to hide your wings again soon, right?" Celestia asked as she had finished drinking down the painkillers while Twilight was returning to her former self.

"I do. It's just that it's nice to be able to feel them again after a while," Twilight responded with a small sigh.

"Hmm... Maybe when it gets dark we can fly together, along with Luna, if she doesn't have anything urgent to take care of first," Celestia said, smiling to the now purple alicorn.

"Ooh, now I have something to look forward to," said Twilight excitedly then quickly added, "You know, besides spending time with you, of course."

"Haha, oh Twilight. Can you still fly after all this time?" Celestia asked, though already knowing what the answer would be.

"Of course! Kind of hard to forget the thrill of flying through the air. After all, I was taught by the best," Twilight said as she walked up to Celestia and nuzzled her side.

Celestia leaned down her head and nuzzled Twilight's neck in return, smiling. "So what would you like to do to pass the last hours of the day?"

"Well, if we are going to spend some hours flying, I would like to get some rest. I didn't really get much sleep last night. Not to mention that I need a shower, too," Twilight said, looking up at Celestia.

Celestia chuckled and looked down at Twilight, noticing the small bags under her eyes. "Of course, Twilight. I believe I should get some sleep myself if we are going to stay up late in the evening."

"What about your other responsibilities, like making the sun go down?" Twilight asked with a questioning look.

"Don't worry about that. The sun usually lets me know when it's time to go down," Celestia said in return.

"Oh, right! I forgot that it reminds you," Twilight chuckled.

"Right. Now about the sleep..." Celestia hinted at Twilight.

Twilight laughed. "Of course. I'll see you when it gets dark."

Twilight then wrapped herself with her magic again and made her wings disappear, before heading towards the door to leave to her own bedroom, but Celestia reached out to Twilight and pulled her into a gentle hug. "Have a good rest, Twilight. I love you."

"I love you too, mom," Twilight said as she hugged her mother back.

Chapter 2: The Beginning - Part 1

"Luna, are you alright?"

"Huh? Wha-?" Luna's head shot up.

A light chuckle emanated seemingly from nowhere. "Have you been up late again?"

The dark alicorn sleepily looked around the room to see where the speaker was at, only to find her sister sitting at the far end of the table. She then looked around to fully absorb her surroundings and found that they were in a small room which consisted of a simple wooden table and two chairs for the Princesses. This was normally where the two would go to eat when they did not want to be disturbed, or so that they can be with each other, which they did often. She turned her gaze towards the table and found an imprint of her head in her meal. "Yeah, I kind of did," Luna said as she rubbed of the food that stuck to her face with a floating napkin.

This elicited another giggle from the white alicorn. "Oh Luna, why do you always stay up so late?"

"Well, I was thinking a lot last night and I got lost in my thoughts."

"Thinking is fine, Luna, but you should also be resting for the next night."

"I know, I was just thinking about something that has been bothering me for quite some time now," Luna said as she turned her gaze back at the ruined food.

Celestia slightly cocked her head to the side and gave a questioning look. "Do you mind sharing with me? You can tell me what is bothering you."

"Well, it is... I..." Luna thought for a minute. "I was thinking... do the ponies enjoy my night sky?"

Slightly surprised, Celestia responded, "Well, of course they do. Why would they not enjoy your night?"

"I have been watching how the ponies are like when my night comes out. It is as if they just... don't care for it."

This made Celestia frown. After a while, she finally broke the silence that has formed between the two. "Luna, what makes you say that? You do know that the ponies normally sleep when the night comes."

The dark alicorn's gaze turned to meet Celestia's as she said, "I know they do, but it feels like I have wasted my time making the night. I barely see anypony gaze at my night anymore." She gave a long sigh and continued, "It is as if they have forgotten the beauty of my work."

"Luna, a lot of the ponies rest when the night comes and you have not been bothered by it before. Why is it now that you care so much as to who sees the night?"

"Why should I not care?!," Luna snapped at Celestia. Soon realizing what had happened, Luna looked down to her outstretched hooves. She quickly pulled her hooves back and looked away ashamedly. "I am sorry. It is just that I have seen how the ponies enjoy your day, and I feel... jealous, that they do not enjoy my night in the same way."

Celestia had a shocked look on her face from the outburst, but quickly shook it away when Luna had finished speaking. "I am sorry, Luna. I did not know that that was how you're feeling. I wish that I could help you, but I do not truly know how to deal with this kind of situation. I did not expect you to become envious for something like this."

Luna gave another long sigh. "I know, sister. I really shouldn't be feeling like this, but, for some odd reason, I do. I will get over it with some time, though." She then looked up and gave Celestia a reassuring smile.

Celestia smiled in return and said, "I know you will, Luna. But please do not feel jealous for something that is actually not that very special. It actually would not bother me if the ponies cherished the night instead."

Luna got up from her chair and trotted around the table to Celestia, giving her a hug. "Thank you, sister. I will try to get rid of this feeling."

"You are welcome, Luna. I just do not wish to see you hurt by any unnecessary means," Celestia said as she returned her sister's hug.

"I must attend Night Court now. I will see you in the morning," Luna said, letting go of Celestia.

"Okay, Luna. Have a good night," Celestia said.

Luna gave a nod and left the room, and finally Celestia gave a sigh. 'I hope she does let go of the jealousy. I do not know what will happen if the feeling persists within her,' Celestia thought as she trotted out of the room and headed for her bedroom for the night.

The two Princesses were sitting in the castle's newest addition, called the Royal Garden, staring at the night sky that Luna had spent hours working on. The sky was bright with thousands, perhaps millions, of stars with the moon bringing forth a bright light that illuminated the land in a soft glow. "Luna, this is magnificent! May I ask why you decided to make the night like this?" Celestia asked in awe.

Luna turned to look at Celestia, smiling as she asked, "Do you really like it?"

Celestia turned her gaze to her younger sister, saying, "Of course! It is very beautiful, Luna. Did something special happen to make you decide to make the night this wonderful?"

Luna chuckled. "I believe you could say that."

The white alicorn gave a puzzled look. "What do you mean, sister?"

"I just wanted the ponies enjoy the night sky. After all, it is going to turn into a night that they will all remember," Luna said with a sly smile. Right as she said this, her horn began to glow in a deep blue.

Celestia's legs collapsed under her weight, making her fall to the ground. She gave a sharp gasp as her stomach hit the cool ground, leaving her breathless. The alicorn looked up to Luna, who was standing over her crippled body with a grin spreading on her face. "L-Luna, w-what is h-happening to me?" Celestia asked, forcing the words out of her mouth.

Luna gave a chuckle, but it didn't sound like the one Celestia once knew. "Oh, dear sister, I have grown tired of ponies shunning my night sky. For far too long have I waited for them to realize the beauty of my work that shines above them each night. But from now on, they will learn to love me and my night. So now, Celestia, I will be the one that is the most cherished Princess between the two of us."

"Luna, what d-do you mean? E-everypony loves your night sky," Celestia said, having difficulty trying to be coherent.

"Do not lie to me!" Luna yelled in a sudden fury. Her horn then began to darken as a dark but clear cloud formed around her. Her coat changed to a deep black and her eyes turned to the color of turquoise as the pupils turned into slits. Celestia gave a loud gasp at her sisters sudden change in appearance. What scared Celestia the most was the fury in her sister's eyes. "When the night comes, everypony locks themselves away inside their house and ignore what I have provided them. But not anymore. They shall love my night from now on. After all, this night is going to last forever," Luna gave a small, maniacal smile after saying the last line.

"L-Luna, you cannot do this. The ponies will not s-survive from the l-lack of the sunlight," Celestia gasped, trying to get up to her hooves, but to only fall back to the ground. She then gave up the struggle to stand up, gasping sharply from overexerting herself.

"I am no longer Luna, sister," the dark alicorn said, giving a mocking tone as she said the last word. "My name is Nightmare Moon. Your sister that you once knew is gone."

"W-why are you d-doing this?" Celestia asked, trying to grip onto the little consciousness that is left within her.

Her former sister gave an evil laugh. "Your reign of power is over, Celestia, for I am now in control of this land."

When she said that, Celestia felt the rest of her power drain from her body. The light from the moon began to fade away as she was lost in the depths of her mind. The image of her former sister was imprinted behind her eyelids as she went into a deep slumber.

The last thing that echoed through her mind was a triumphant, evil laughter.

Celestia opened her weary eyes, shivering from the cold night breeze that blew across her body. 'Why am I outside, laying on the grass?' The alicorn slowly got up unto her hooves as the events of last night rushed into her mind. 'How long have I been unconscious for? Where is my sister?' Celestia thought as she trotted weakly out of the Garden and towards the castle.

When she got to the entrance, she stopped and peered inside. It was dark, cold, and empty in the Main Hall, which felt strange for Celestia. It was usually bustling with activity. It didn't help that the place gave off a foreboding look to it either. Celestia then went inside and, without warning, felt apprehensive. She shivered at the unexpected feeling and cautiously made her way to the doors of the Royal Hall trying not to make any loud noises. When she drew near the door, the sudden feeling of dread then filled her mind. 'What is going on here?'

Celestia slowly opened the door and, once again, poked her head in to view her surroundings. There, in the far end of the Hall, was Nightmare Moon. The dark alicorn appeared to be viewing out of the window, absorbing the moon light that seeped through the window. Nightmare Moon then noticed that there was ragged breathing coming from the far end of the Hall. She turned her head and saw that Celestia was finally here. The alicorn began to smile, saying "It is a lovely night, is it not?"

Celestia was caught off-guard from quickly being noticed by Nightmare Moon, but quickly recovered and shakily stepped into the Royal Hall. Once she was in, she made herself look strong while saying, "What are you and what have you done to Luna?"

"Oh, I am actually a part of Luna, surprisingly enough. I am her jealousy," Nightmare Moon said with a chilling smile.

"How is it that you are controlling my sister?" Celestia asked.

"It all started when Luna began to feel envious for her sister's sunny day. That was where I had spawned and I began to feed off of her power, making me stronger until I can finally take full control of her body," Nightmare Moon smirked at the alicorn's reaction.

Celestia's weak legs gave out from beneath her and she gasped at the icy air. "What have you done to me?"

"You never stop asking questions, now do you? I have taken away your ability to use your magic. The side effects, however, also makes the unicorn physically weak, even for an alicorn, as you can see."

"I-I will stop you," Celestia said breathlessly, starting to feel the weakness spreading throughout her body her again.

"Oh? And how are you going to do that, Celestia? You are weak and helpless, like the rest of this land. Nopony can stop me!" The dark alicorn laughed. The sound reverberated off the walls and into Celestia's ears, which made her shudder.

Nightmare Moon's laughing slowly came to a stop as she watched Celestia slowly got up to her hooves, watching with admiration. "Are you going to try to fight? Even you know that it will be a lost cause. I suggest that you lay back on the ground, where you belong."

Celestia glared at the horrid entity that possess her sister's mind. "I will never give up on my ponies, nor my sister. No matter what I will have to do to protect them from monsters like you!" Celestia declared, regaining little, but not much, of her strength.

"And how, may I ask, are you going to do that?" Nightmare Moon spoke with a hint of amusement.

An idea sparked in the white alicorn's head, but it did not inspire any kind of hope. "I am going to do what my sister and I have done a long time ago. Something that I would have never even thought of doing again."

Celestia quickly turned and galloped as fast as she could out of the Royal Hall, out of the castle, and finally, out of Canterlot. The ponies that saw her run by regained hope, only to be quickly slashed away as they saw where she was running from. Even with the distance between her and the castle, Celestia could still hear the booming voice, saying, "You will never succeed, Celestia! I am much more powerful than you!"

Celestia then took off with her wings and changed her heading. She had never thought that she would return to her dreaded memory of the past. One that was well hidden deep in the nearby forest that everypony thought was a dangerous place to wander into. The ponies on the ground watched their beloved Princess in sorrow as she flew out of sight towards the Everfree Forest.

She had returned.

Celestia stumbled with her landing, panting from the long flight from Canterlot. After a few moments of laying on the cold grass, the alicorn looked up at the decaying castle she had once called home. Finally, after giving herself a little encouragement, Celestia rose from the now warm grass and trotted to the rotten oak door. She raised her front hooves and, to her astonishment, pushed the doors off their hinges. 'I feel weak, but how am I still able to break the doors? They are not even to the point to where a simple pony could break them that easily.' Pushing the thought to the side, Celestia gazed around the gloomy room and smiled as she found a tall pedestal at the far end of the room. Sitting on the five branches jutting out from the pedestal rested the five orbs that have been famously called the Elements of Harmony.

The Elements have been kept there for reasons unknown to anypony except Celestia and Luna themselves. After using the Elements to defeat Discord in the same room they are being kept at, a small presence resembling the draconequus still lingered. Back then, the Princesses didn't want the presence breaking out into the world and bring back chaos to the ponies,especially when they finally brought back order to it.. Even today, Celestia can still feel the presence of Discord looming all around the room. 'I hope the presence does not realize that the Elements will be missing.' That was a lie. Celestia knew that once the Elements left the room, the presence will take its chance for freedom.

But there are more important things at hoof to deal with at the moment than to be scared of a mere presence.

When Celestia got up to the pedestal, a shiver ran down her spine. 'Nightmare Moon says that she is Luna's jealousy. If I destroy her, I will be killing a part of Luna, which will have different outcomes as to how she will become.' Celestia pondered as to how tonight's events will play out while pacing around the pedestal.

'I should still take care of matters at hoof. There would no longer be an Equestria if I let this night continue.' Celestia concluded, stopping the never-ending questions running through her head and looking up to the Elements of Harmony. 'If I cannot rid Luna of Nightmare Moon, then I must...' Celestia didn't want to finish the thought. Shaking her head, Celestia spread out her wings and jumped into the air, hovering next to an Element. She reached out her hoof and touched the round orb.

The pain was nothing the alicorn had experienced before.

Celestia gave a sharp gasp and dropped out of the air, landing on her back. This, of course, made Celestia wince, but the pain in her back was dulled by the pain in her head. The pain was caused by a raging fire, engulfing everything and anything that could be burned. There was a scream that was barely audible beyond the flames, but it sounded oddly close and recognizable. But soon the sound was silenced by a piercing screech. An unknown entity screamed in the inferno as it writhed in pain. The flames quickly consumed the entity, silencing the frightening screeching along with the familiar scream. The flames stopped and the pain quickly faded away, leaving the alicorn in a heap on the ground, unconscious.

Sounds of coughing filled the near empty room as Celestia woke from the pain-induced sleep. Celestia coughed again, feeling her throat hurting as if she had been screaming. The alicorn opened her eyes to find herself on the ground. She slowly got up, hoping that she won't be excessively tired with the task. But, to her surprise, she didn't have any sign of struggle like earlier tonight.

'Did I regain my power?' To test her thought, Celestia focused on her magic and found it to be as good as new. A smile crept over her face when she found her magic and was able to use it once more. The alicorn looked up to the Eement that she touched and saw that it was the Element of Honesty. 'The Element of Honesty really does show the true nature of everything and abolishes the lies that cloud the truth,' Celestia thought as she remembered how the pain began.

The alicorn focused on the Elements of Harmony with her magic. The orbs shot up and came down towards Celestia, only to stop and hover in front of her. She gently placed the orbs in a circle in front of her as she thought of how to reach the castle in little time. She smiled as she remembered that she could us teleportation again. 'It is nice to have control of my magic again. Now to deal with Nightmare Moon and end this wretched night.'

When Celestia began to focus on her magic for teleportation, a flash filled the room. 'Strange, I do not think I released my magi-' "I thought you would be here, dear sister."

The white alicorn instantly stopped her focus on her magic and turned to where the voice had come from, already knowing who would be standing there. Nightmare Moon stood at the center of the room, her mane and tail swirling above her. "I should have taken care of you before you regained your power," she said with a growl.

"Nightmare Moon, I am giving you a chance for redemption. Raise the sun or you will be banished," Celestia said, regaining her lost courage.

"I will do no such thing!" Nightmare Moon snarled.

"I am only giving you one more chance to end this night and raise the sun. I do not wish to harm you, but I will if it is necessary," Celestia retorted, glaring at the dark figure, though she was feeling no signs of anger, but sorrow.

"And what makes you think I will do that? So you can have me end this beautiful night?" Nightmare asked, anger seething through her teeth.

"The ponies of this land need the sunlight. Without it, they will die from starvation, if not that, then from the cold."

"You want me to raise the sun before they love the night?" Nightmare Moon scoffed. "No. I will not do that until they adore me and my night!"

"They will not love your night if you force it upon them like this! They will grow to hate it!" Celestia shouted pleadingly, hoping that Nightmare Moon will realize her mistakes.

"Then they shall never have their sun if they do not love the night," the dark alicorn sneered, tensing her body to attack.

"Then you leave me with no choice," Celestia said reluctantly, tears forming around her eyes.

With that, Celestia lowered her head and focused on her magic once more. Her horn grew into a bright light as it shot out a magical spark at the closest Element. The spark then traveled to the rest of the Elements and they all began to glow brightly.

"NO!" Nightmare Moon shouted as she realized what was going to happen and quickly galloped towards the Elements, hoping that she could disrupt the forming magic.

She was too late. A trail of colors shot up from the Elements into the air and began to swirl around each other, forming into a rainbow. The rainbow then arched towards the dark alicorn in a threatening demeanor. Nightmare Moon froze in her place as she watched the rainbow come crashing down unto her.

Celestia heard a blood-curdling scream coming from Nightmare Moon right when the rainbow had touched her. Then Celestia froze when she heard a different scream, one that was scared. It was Luna. The scream quickly dissipated when the rainbow suddenly shot straight up and through the ceiling. Celestia regained her senses and galloped out of the old throne room looking up into the sky. She watched as the trail of the rainbow fly towards the moon until it had disappeared into the distance. Moments after, a dark silhouette of an alicorn formed on the face of the moon.

The moon then began to move towards the western horizon on its own and Celestia felt a hard pull coming from the eastern horizon. Out of instinct, Celestia focused on the sun and pushed it up and over the mountains. The sunlight quickly began to warm the air and the plants that began to wilt quickly sprung up with life. Celestia released her magic, but the sun kept gliding across the sky until it had reached its precipice.

Celestia sat on her haunches, letting the events soak in. She sat there for what felt like an eternity, thinking about what she had just done. The alicorn then broke down into tears and laid down in the grass. After a moment, the Princess finally breathed in deeply and let out a sigh, saying, "Luna... I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry."

Meanwhile, the ponies at Canterlot were out on the streets, cheering for the rising of the sun. They had all been drawn out of their homes to watch a rainbow shoot across the sky towards the moon and watched in awe as the moon began to move from its original place. When the sun came up, many ponies could not believe that the sun was finally rising and giving them their life back.

This was surely a day that they all would remember.

Everypony in the land had decided to turn that day into a holiday.

The holiday has been named the Summer Sun Celebration so that they can celebrate the rising of the sun by Celestia herself. They all had feared that the night would go on forever and that they wouldn't survive. But when Celestia had saved the land, they all cheered in pure joy and happiness.

Everyone but Celestia herself.

That day, for Celestia, marks the day of her thousand year torment. She had nopony in her life that had truly cared about her, except for her sister. But now that she was gone, she had nothing. Each day dragged on, having her wake up, attend Day, and now Night, Court, sleep, and pretty much repeat. The only thing that kept Celestia going each day was the well-being of her subjects that needed her rule. Other than that, nothing else mattered to the Princess. She still loved and cherished her subjects, but she felt completely empty. She had been deprived from something that made her life worthwhile. She had nopony to love her back.

Or so she thought.

Chapter 3: The Beginning - Part 2

Celestia shot up in her bed and looked frantically around her room, breathing in quick, ragged breaths. As she began to realize that it was just a dream, she started to relax a little. 'It felt so real' Celestia shuddered as she laid back into the comfort of her warm bed. The moon was still hanging high in the sky, but the alicorn could tell that she would not be able to go back to sleep. She doesn't have nightmares often, but when she does, it is always the same one. It wasn't really a nightmare, but a memory. A memory that she wished that she could forget, along with the feelings that accompany it. The Princess thought that she should have gotten used to these feelings, but every time she had this nightmare, it feels just like it was the first time.

The white alicorn wearily got out of bed and went to her balcony to get some cool night air. She looked up to the moon and saw the silhouette of an alicorn on the face of the moon. She sighed as the thought of the fateful night of her sister's banishment, and the torment that followed with it. Celestia shook her head lightly at the flashback. She hung her head and closed her eyes. 'I just wish that somepony can make me happy. I am tired of being treated like a Princess all the time. I just want to... be myself for once,' Celestia thought longingly.

Celestia opened her eyes and stared at the ground far below, taking note of how beautiful the Royal Garden was under the moonlight. But this time, something was different about the open area. There was a pony standing there - watching her - as if it were a large rock. The Princess would have thought it to be a new addition to the Garden, until it trotted towards the edge of the trees. It stopped, turned its head, and stared at the Princess. She couldn't identify who it was, but could tell that it was a stallion by the body shape, and how tall the pony stood. Celestia stared at the stallion for about a half a minute, trying to identify what he was doing out so late. The stallion turned his gaze back upon the path ahead of him and trotted off towards the gate of the garden, and disappeared from sight.

Celestia continued to stare at the gate, wondering as to who the stallion could have been and, better yet, what he was doing out there so late at night. The Princess went deep in thought, making her lose track of time. The night breeze had rudely, but subtly, brought her back to reality, making her shiver as it passed over her body. The alicorn turned and trotted back into her room, plopped down on her bed and relaxed. 'I guess it doesn't matter. He was probably enjoying the night sky. I am sure that if Luna was here, she would have been excited to see that somepony enjoyed her work,' Celestia thought, making her questions stop before it drove her crazy and kept her up for the rest of the night.

Though there was particularly nothing special about the event, it at least kept her nightmare at bay in her mind. Celestia, though knowing as to what will happen, fell back to sleep.

'I was thinking... do the ponies enjoy my night sky? ~~~ Do not lie to me! ~~~ I am no longer Luna, sister... I am her jealousy... ~~~ Then they shall never have their sun, if they do not love the night!

'NO!'

Celestia snapped out of her slumber when she felt the sun and moon tugging at the opposite horizons. She stretched out her body and once more trotted out onto the balcony. Instead of directly attending to the lowering of the moon, the alicorn looked down at the Royal Garden to see if the stallion had come back. But there was nothing there. Frowning, she turned her focus towards the moon and lowered it. She went back inside when the sun had been risen and got prepared for the day.

Celestia breathed in deep, held it in, and let out a deep sigh as she stepped in front of the mirror. She stared at her reflection for a long while, gazing into her own eyes. The nightmare nudged at her thoughts and caused a chain reaction. A tidal wave of thoughts rushed through her mind, though most were questions that can't be answered: What if Luna was never banished? What if she can't be saved? What if I can't find somepony to love? What if I can't find somepony that at least cares?

What if...?

Celestia shook her head to stop the never-ending thoughts. She levitated her golden tiara off the shelf and made it float down in front of her. The feeling of resentment slowly overcame her as she continued to stare at the piece, looking over the jewels embedded in the crown and the fine detail that blanketed the surface. The feeling was suppressed when Celestia thought of her duty as the Princess, and why she was still the ruler. She was the ruler because then she could help the land grow and prosper under her care. It was so that everypony would love her.

'Today is just another day,' Celestia thought grumpily as she rested her golden tiara upon her head.

Not very many ponies had come to seek an audience with the Princess that day, which was good because it means that there was nothing to be worried about for once. What bothered Celestia, though, was that she once again felt alone. She turned her thoughts to think about last night and the stallion that was watching her from the Garden. 'I wonder if he just likes to be outside. But why would he choose to be at the Garden? Was he-?' her thoughts were cut short when a Royal Guard opened the door and stoically said, "Your Highness, a stallion by the name of Phoenix Writer wishes to speak with you. He says that he has something that he would like to bring to your attention."

"Please, send him in," Celestia said calmly, though she was slightly curious as to why a pony would want to meet her when Day Court was close to ending.

The Guard gave a slight nod and closed the door behind him. A couple of minutes passed until the doors opened to reveal the aforementioned stallion.

The stallion had a crimson colored coat with a yellow, red tipped mane and tail and had deep blue eyes. He was wearing a black cloak, which was covering his cutie mark, and the bottom of his hooves were a very light red. The stallion was a unicorn, and was fairly large for his size. He trotted up to the Princess and knelt down before her, saying, "Your Highness."

"Please, arise." Celestia smiled down at him as he rose back up onto his hooves. "So, what's your name and what is it that you needed to tell me?"

"My name is Phoenix Writer, Your Highness," Phoenix said, slightly bowing again. "What I have is actually nothing of great importance to Equestria or anywhere else."

This piqued Celestia's curiosity even more. "Well, then who, or what, is it for?"

"It's actually for you," Phoenix said as he stood back up to his full height.

Celestia, raising an eyebrow, asked, "Oh? So what is it that you have brought for me, Phoenix Writer?"

"Your Highness, I have brought myself to you," Phoenix smiled widely up at Celestia, though his eyes showed something different.

Celestia was taken aback. Then, as her curiosity was bursting, Celestia asked, "I do not believe I quite understand as to what you are getting at, Phoenix."

Phoenix's smile slightly lowered and responded, "You feel afraid that you will be alone for the rest of your life, since nopony truly cares for their own Princess, Your Highness."

Celestia nearly broke her composed state. Trying to keep her anger toned down, she seethed, "Now who do you think you are to assume these kind of things?"

"It's my profession, actually. I observe how other ponies are like when they’re alone. I know it sounds a little odd, but I do it so I can try to help them out with problems in their lives. I help them by, well, writing to them to address their issues. It's surprising, really, to see how a simple letter can change their attitude towards themselves and others. I think it might be that they know that somepony understands what they're going through. But, for you, I thought it would be better to physically talk to you about your fears in person, since I believe it would make it more... memorable, Your Highness," Phoenix  said, never letting his smile falter.

There was a long pause between the two, until Celestia accidentally stammered, "H-how did you know?"

"This may sound a little debauch, but I have been watching you for a while now. I have seen how you long for somepony to be there for you," Phoenix said, finally breaking his constant smile into a look of pity.

Celestia looked to the ground as the familiar feeling of loneliness overcame her. Throughout the conversation, she was able to forget about her sorrow. "I am impressed. Your observations are correct." She looked up at Phoenix and stare at him until a thought came to the front of her mind. She asked, "Were you the pony in the Royal Garden last night?"

"Indeed I was, Your Highness."

"Why were you there? Was it so you could 'observe' me? The Garden is for Nobles and Royals, and I don't remember you asking for permission to be in there," Celestia said rather harshly, accidentally letting her controlled anger slip.

The alicorn closed her eyes and let her head sink to her chest. She wanted to scold him for reminding her that she was alone in this world, but a small part of her told her to stay quiet. Listening to the small voice, she decided to keep her mouth shut and tried to keep back the tears that were forming behind her eyelids. Celestia heard Phoenix slowly trot up to her and, to her surprise, felt him give her a hug. "What if I told you that I cared, Celestia?" He whispered in her ear.

Celestia finally broke. She had tears running down her cheeks as hugged Phoenix back, hiding her face in his shoulder. She cried for about thirty seconds, but to her, it felt like she had cried for a thousand years. Slowly regaining her breath, she almost whispered, "I am sorry you had to see this, Phoenix." Celestia pulled away, keeping her hooves on his shoulders and looked him in the eye.

Phoenix gave a small smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm sort of used to this kind of reaction, Your Highness."

Celestia returned his smile with her own. "Please, you don't have to use the formalities anymore. It's actual getting quite bothersome."

"Okay, but I do feel bad for, well, making you cry though," Phoenix said with a frown.

Celestia chuckled. "It's okay, Phoenix. Besides, I think I needed to let out my emotions to somepony, but there was nopony to let them out to. I hope you understand."

Phoenix waved a hoof at the statement and responded, "I understand completely. Believe it or not, that's how a lot of ponies feel."

"Thank you, Phoenix," Celestia smiled as she pulled Phoenix in for another hug, in which he returned without a second of hesitation.

"It was an honor. Well, kind of... Anyways, I think that I should be going now. You know, since it's almost time for Day Court to end." He let go of the alicorn and placed his hooves on the ground. "Goodbye, and good night, Celestia."

With that, Phoenix bowed turned to leave the Hall. Celestia sat there in her throne, the feeling of being alone starting to come back as she watched the stallion walk away. In fact, not just any stallion, this one has shown that he cares. One that actually cares for the Princess. For her. Then she heard her voice speak out, "Wait!"

Phoenix stopped in his tracks and turned to face Celestia, who had her hooves reaching out to him. "Yes?" he asked with a questioning tone.

Celestia looked down at her outstretched hoof and quickly brought it down, feeling a burning sensation in her cheeks. After contemplating what to say next, she heard her voice softly saying, "I was curious, do you have any plans for this evening?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "Not really. Why do you ask?"

"Well, would you mind staying for a while?" Celestia's voice asked with sincerity.

Phoenix gave a look of surprise as he thought of an answer. Finally, he smiled and said, "I don't see why not. It would be nice to get to know you better."

Celestia finally found control over her senses and smiled. "Thank you, Phoenix."

"The honor is all mine, Celestia," Phoenix replied, while giving another bow.

"So, what would you like to do for the evening?"

The stallion trotted up to Celestia and sat by her throne. He then answered, "Hmm... I do like spending time in the Royal Garden. But, now that I know that it's for the nobles, I guess that's not an option."

This made Celestia chuckle, one that was actually not forced, but had true feeling behind it. "Phoenix, I would love to be out in the Royal Garden. Besides that, anypony can be out there if they ask for permission. The nobles don't necessarily have to ask since they are well known amongst the others. But other than that, anypony is welcome there."

"Oh. Well, that's good to know. Shall we?" Phoenix asked, getting up to his hooves and gesturing towards the door of the hall.

Celestia stood up from her throne and began to trot down towards the oak doors with Phoenix by her side. She opened the oak doors with her magic and turned to Phoenix. She quickly poked him on the shoulder. "You're it."

The alicorn turned and galloped out of the castle, leaving Phoenix to stand there, wondering as to what had just happened. He turned and looked at one of the guards that was standing by the oak door who still held the same stoic look. The guard stared back and simply shrugged at the stallion, signifying that he was just as clueless as he was. The stallion shook his head and looked out of the castle. Celestia, with incredible speed, had already reached the gates to the garden. 'Might as well,' he thought.

The stallion raced towards the waiting alicorn, unbeknownst that this was what the Princess had wanted all these years. The one moment when she can finally let go and have fun.

When she can finally be herself.

Laughter.

Oh how Celestia had missed that feeling. After a thousand years of sorrow, she didn't realize at how good it felt to laugh again. Granted, she did laugh during other times when something was amusing, but she still didn't fully appreciate it. But this time, it was different. It was genuine.

Phoenix and Celestia were sitting at a table by themselves at a secluded area, enjoying each other’s company, while eating dinner. They were in a small room that consisted of a plain wooden table and two cushioned chairs placed in the middle. When Phoenix was about to lift his food, Celestia decided to ‘help’ him out, which, in turn, resulted in a disaster. Phoenix wiped off the contents of the sandwich with a napkin, and glared at the laughing alicorn. The glare on the stallion’s face made Celestia laugh even harder, making her lungs hurt. Then, after a while, his face finally grew soft and he started to laugh with Celestia. "You are a lot of fun to be with, Phoenix," Celestia gasped, catching her breath.

"I'm glad you think so," Phoenix replied with a smile.

Celestia chuckled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist doing it."

"Eh, no harm done. It just surprised me that you would do something like that," Phoenix said as he cleaned off the rest of the sandwich.

"Well, I do like to have fun with other ponies once in a while."

Phoenix laughed, "You do have an interesting way of having fun, Celestia."

"Everypony expects me to be serious all the time. It's nice to have a little bit of fun here and there."

"Good point." Phoenix then folded his arms and pouted. "Now I won't have anything to eat for dinner..."

"Oh, stop it," Celestia laughed. "I'll get the cook to make you another one."

Phoenix chuckled and unfolded his arms. "Thank you."

Celestia called in the servant and asked him to get another sandwich, to which he simply nodded and quickly left the room. In less than a minute, the servant came back with the sandwich and placed it on the table. Phoenix started to focus on his magic and abruptly stopped, giving a wary look towards Celestia. She laughed and said, "Don't worry. I've already had my little fun for today."

Satisfied with the answer, Phoenix began to eat. When he finished, he noticed that Celestia didn't even touch her food. In fact she was staring at him with a look that he didn't recognize. While visiting with the Princess during the evenings, he always observed what the Princess was doing, including her facial expressions. When he thought that he had seen practically all of the expressions, this one was different. In fact, nopony had ever looked at him like the way Celestia was. A little concerned, he asked, "Are you okay?"

The alicorn snapped out of the daze that she slipped into and looked away. "Yes, I am fine. I just got lost in my own thoughts, that’s all."

"Oh? Well, do you mind sharing?"

'What if I told you how happy you make me fe-?' Celestia shook her head to get the thought out, 'Ugh. Not now. Not ever. He's just a friend.' After a few minutes of silence, Celestia finally sighed he breath that she didn't realize that she was holding and said, "Well, I was just thinking... do you consider us as friends?" 'Wow. Good job.'

To her surprise, Phoenix chuckled. "I would like to think that we are. Besides, I did spend all of my evenings with you this past week."

Celestia smiled towards the red unicorn, though partly satisfied that he didn't see through her little lie. "Thank you, Phoenix. It is nice to know that I now have a friend."

"My pleasure. Now, are you going to eat or are you going to make yourself starve tonight?" Phoenix smirked while pointing a hoof at the sandwich.

Celestia, smiling, closed her eyes and shook her head at the crimson unicorn. She then ate her sandwich, which was delicious, and got up from her seat. She went around the table and gave her new friend a hug. "Thank you for giving me something that I thought I would never have again. It is, after all, the greatest gift that I have received in my life."

Smiling once again, Phoenix returned her hug and said, "That's what I'm here for. To make you happy."

Celestia was leaving the Royal Hall at a much later time than what she had expected. In fact, the whole evening was filled with unexpected surprises. A group of griffons came in to warn the Princess of an impending attack from the Griffon nation. They were all once part of the nation's military and they had received a notice saying that they needed all of the griffons in the military to take part in the assault. The rumor has it that the nation needed more land, but they believe that the real reason is simply a thirst for power. But since the group had actually been living in Equestria for quite some time now, they came to love the peaceful land and its residents and now want to try their best to protect it from a country which is even at war with itself. That is why they will try to convince the leader not to attack, and just talk to Celestia. But still the Princess should get ready in case they don't succeed.

Celestia had always thought that the griffons were a strange species. It seems that they are always trying to find reasons to fight other nations, whether it be a good reason or not. But the news was a little nerve wracking. The griffons are exceptionally strong for their size and have a natural sense of warfare. Traditionally, if they go to war with another nation, they won't stop until a complete conquest of the land. Since Equestria is mostly a land of peace, they will have a great chance of succeeding and make the ponies move to a different land. If that happens, it would mean she failed at her duty and nopony would ever trust her again. They would never love her again...

Celestia thanked them for the warning and told them that she will be ready for an assault, if there was to be one. Satisfied with the answer, the griffons left and were replaced with the captain of the Royal Guard. She told him about the situation and told him to train the Guards for the impending attack. The guard saluted the Princess and left the hall. 'This is going to be a long week.' Celestia thought as she trotted towards the Royal Garden, which has become their usual meeting place, to meet Phoenix. It seemed, though, that Phoenix was the one that was always waiting for the Princess in the evening.

The alicorn smiled as she spotted the crimson stallion waiting for her under a large tree. Phoenix was leaning against the trunk of the tree, eyes closed with a small smile creeping on his face when he heard the familiar hoofsteps nearing. He slightly cracked open his eyes and said, "Well, that took a while."

"I'm sorry Phoenix, but a group of griffons had come with some, well, unexpected news," Celestia said, sitting by the stallion.

"Oh?" Phoenix pushed himself off the tree and was now in a sitting position. "What happened?"

The white alicorn gazed off into the distance, contemplating if it would be wise to share what has happened. 'I guess it would not be too bad if I told him the truth. Besides, he's my friend,' Celestia thought. She then turned her gaze back to the waiting stallion, and sighed, "The griffon army is planning to attack Equestria. They say that they need more land, but I think that it's for something else."

Phoenix, was taken aback, but stood his ground, and gave a frown. "That's rather... unexpected, but why did they warn you about it? I thought that all of the griffons were pretty much the same, always wanting to fight something."

"These griffons that have warned me have been living in Equestria for some time now. They have grown to love this land. They have served in the griffon military in the past, because of that they have been notified, since they need all the troops they can get for the assault. I believe that the griffon military has been lacking in numbers for a multitude of reasons. They will try their best to make the leader see reason, but if they fail, the war will happen. I hope they succeed. I don't wish to see anypony, or griffon, harmed for something that we do not have to fight over."

Phoenix soaked in the information, giving a look that was both scared and amused. "That is rather stupid of them to think that they need to go to war for land that they can simply ask for. Knowing you, you would probably be willing to negotiate a good portion of it, too."

"That's the point. I do not mind if they have a place in Equestria. In fact, I was hoping that would happen. It's just that they are too prideful to live among other species. That is why nopony is allowed to live on their land unless they are just visiting or passing through. It's actually rare to see some griffons living in harmony with another species, so I was surprised to see the group of griffons warning me about the impending attack."

"True. I do hope that the griffons that came by talk some sense into their leader. I don't think I will be able to live with the fact that the ponies had gone through a war," Phoenix shuddered at the thought.

Celestia gave a sigh and said, "Now Phoenix, you do realize that most wars that occur do not affect the ponies. In fact, many do not realize that there is a war, unless it comes knocking at their front door. Besides, knowing the griffons, they will probably start at an unpopulated area so that they can build their own place. In fact, I don't see a reason for why they think the need to build an army for a place that is barren... unless they actually planned on taking over all of Equestria." 'Which is what they are probably planning to do.'

"I know, it is just the thought of the other ponies having to fight. I don't want to see them get hurt, or killed" Phoenix sighed gloomily.

Celestia turned her head towards the ground and closed her eyes. "You really do care about the other ponies. I understand how you feel, for I feel the same. War is never easy, Phoenix. I have been through too many in my lifetime. I have seen too much."

Phoenix got up and closed the distance between him and the alicorn, nuzzling her shoulder with his muzzle. "I think that, together, we could help avoid the unnecessary violence. I'm not sure how, but I think that it's possible."

"I think you are right, but it will be difficult."

Phoenix stepped back and gave a small smile. "You know, we can deal with this tomorrow. It's getting dark and I should probably head off to my house. I don't really want to be out after curfew."

Celestia looked up and saw that the sky was beginning to get darker and stars began to appear. "Do you mind staying for a little bit longer?" Celestia asked without thinking.

Phoenix slightly cocked his head to the side. "I don't mind staying... but may I ask why?"

Celestia thought for a moment before saying, "It's rather hard to cope with knowing that a possible war is looming in the future. I cannot explain why I feel this way, but for some reason I feel like I need somepony by my side. Maybe it's that I'm accustomed to having my sister help me through this kind of situation. But now that she's currently... not present... do you mind staying for the night?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Oh. In that case, I don't mind staying. I've always wondered what it was like to sleep in a castle."

"Thank you." Just as she said that, she felt the familiar tug from the moon and sun. "Hold on for a moment. I need to tend to the sun and moon."

Phoenix gave a quick nod and sat on his haunches. As he watched Celestia getting up he saw some things he never noticed before. He saw her coat emanating a soft, white glow while the light from the sun began to fade away in the distance and that her mane and tail began to have a more solid appearance, but somehow still waving as freely as before. But there was still another thing that he didn't notice about the Princess. She was lively, happy, as if she was missing a piece of her life and she found it. It made her beautiful. Perfect.

Celestia opened her eyes when she finished raising the moon and gave a confused look at the stallion while asking, "Are you alright?"

Phoenix was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face. He quickly came to and shook his head when he realized what he was doing. "Yeah, I'm fine. I... I didn't really think that your coat actually shined off its own light, that's all."

"Oh, well, now you know," Celestia said with a hint of a teasing tone.

"Heh, yeah..." Phoenix sighed with relief.

"Now that I am practically done for the day, what would you like to do?"

"Hmm..." Phoenix thought for a moment. "You know, I've always wanted to explore the castle, but I haven't been able to do it by myself since, well, I'm not a Noble or a Royal."

"Is that what you would like to do? If you insist, I could show you around."

"Really?"

"I will, only if you want to."

Phoenix gave the biggest grin he could muster, while screaming in his mind with excitement. "Great! I've always wanted to explore the castle. Even since I was a colt. I guess there are some things that you can't really grow out of."

Celestia gave a warm smile as she offered her hoof to Phoenix. He grabbed it with his own and got up from the ground. She asked him, "What, in particular, did you want to explore?"

He looked up to Celestia, happiness and nostalgia burning in his eyes as he gave his answer.

"Everything."

"Whew. This castle is bigger than I expected."

Phoenix and Celestia were in the alicorn's bedroom, Celestia laying on her bed as Phoenix was still looking around. Right when the pair had entered, Phoenix instantly spotted Celestia's pet phoenix, Philomena, and quickly trotted over to examine it. He joked that it reminded him of himself, except that the things being reborn were the other ponies. Celestia and Phoenix had explored everything, and that means almost every corner of every room in all of the halls that they walked through. Although they haven't been through the rest of the castle yet, even Celestia didn't realize at how many rooms there actually were. "That wasn't all of it. Those were only the places that any other noble ponies can visit. There's much more to this castle than that, you know," Celestia yawned, glad that they were at her room.

Phoenix stopped observing the bookcase and turned his head towards the resting alicorn, ears perked up. "Really? There's more?"

"Yes, we probably explored about a third of the castle."

"Interesting... It doesn't seem to be that big," Phoenix said as he trotted up to the side of Celestia's bed.

"That's because you have not been in the underground portion, nor in all of the towers."

"Huh, you have a point. But I don't think that I can do anymore exploring tonight. My hooves are sore from all the trotting we’ve done.”

"Then the rest of the exploring will wait until tomorrow. But for now, we should get some sleep. I still have my duties as the Princess."

"Okay then. That sounds fun. But... where should I sleep?"

Celestia's lonesome side of herself suddenly started to take control. 'Oh no, not now...' "I don't mind sharing my bed."

Phoenix gave a surprised look. "Um... I don't know. Isn't that a little bit weird?"

Celestia bit her lip. "I know it sounds strange, but my bed is fairly large. I promise that neither one of us will be uncomfortable."

Phoenix felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He stood there like a statue, as if a cocatrice had came out of nowhere and petrified him. Celestia started to wonder if she scared him and thought of ways to make it seem a little less obtrusive with his privacy, but before she could speak, Phoenix was the first to break the awkward silence. "Well, if you insist."

The alicorn gave a small smile, albeit she was shocked from the answer, and shifted her body to one side of the bed, leaving enough room for at least two ponies to be able to sleep comfortably. Phoenix climbed into the covers and made sure that his friend had enough room for herself, just in case she moves around a lot in her sleep. Celestia used her magic to shut off the lights, leaving them in almost complete darkness.

The moonlight slowly moved across the floor as the two were trying to sleep. After failing at that for what felt like an hour, Celestia finally broke the silence. "Are you awake?"

She heard a sigh emanating from the stallion, following with a response. "Yeah. I can't sleep."

"Do you think that this might be a little... awkward?"

Phoenix gave a small laugh. "Maybe a little, but it's alright. At least I'm okay with this." Phoenix then turned to face Celestia. "Is it awkward for you?"

"No, but I was just wondering why you wanted to help me back then. It didn't really bother me, but now the question keeps coming up in my head."

The unicorn brought a hoof up to is chin and rubbed it, considering what to tell the Princess. "Hm... Well, do you remember what I said when we first met?"

Celestia concentrated on her memories and focused on the day when they first met. Her memory was sharp, so she remembered exactly what happened and when it occurred. She remembered vividly at how the stallion gave her an unexpected hug and whispering the words in her ear, 'What if I told you I cared?' She stopped her focus and asked in a quiet voice, "Was it because you care about me?"

Though it is dark, the moonlight gave off enough light for the alicorn to see the stallion smiling. "Not 'was', I still care about you," he whispered back.

Celestia felt her eyes beginning to tear up a little, but it wasn't from feeling sadness. Phoenix watched as the alicorn's eyes began to reflect more moonlight and wondered if she might be crying. As he was about to ask if she was alright, something unexpected happened. Not in a million years did he think that this moment could even possibly be happening, but here it was, happening at this very moment.

Celestia was kissing him.

Even Celestia was surprised by her own actions. She quickly pulled away and gave a horrified look. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! I don't know why I did that! Please forgive me!"

To her utter surprise, Phoenix was smiling. He kept on smiling for about a minute until Celestia worriedly asked, "Um, Phoenix? Are you okay?"

Phoenix came back to reality with a shake of his head and responded with, "Yeah... I'm fine. It was just... I don't know how to describe it, but it was... I don't know. Words can't really describe at how, well, amazing that was."

"You... You didn't mind?"

"Of course not!" Phoenix quickly exclaimed. He gave his head another shake and looked down, continuing hesitantly, "I mean... well... I have some... Heh, it's hard to explain."

"Please, just say it," Celestia urged.

"Okay," Phoenix sighed, "I... I have some, well... feelings for you."

"Really?" the alicorn asked, taken aback, "That is interesting..."

"What do you mean?" Phoenix asked, looking back up to her eyes.

"How do I put this..." Celestia said, her cheeks beginning to get a tinge of red. "I... I believe I have some..." she trailed off.

"Feelings too?" Phoenix finished expectantly.

"Well, yes. These are feelings that I haven't felt towards anypony in a very, very long time."

"You know, I didn't think that I would ever... love somepony, let alone a Princess. Nor did I think that you would feel the same way."

Celestia chuckled, "Well, then the feelings are mutual. I never thought that I would love somepony again."

Phoenix gazed deeply into her eyes, letting the realization of what had been said between the two sink in. He finally asked in a small voice, "So, what now?"

"I know."

Celestia leaned in and kissed Phoenix, who then also returned her affection with his own. The two shared their love and passion to one another throughout the rest of the night until they both finally fell asleep, holding onto each other in their loving embrace. The two slept soundly throughout the rest of the night as the time slipped towards dawn. This was perhaps- no it was definitively- the greatest night that Celestia has had in her everlasting lifetime.

Little did she realize, though, that this night would also change her life forever.

Chapter 4: Promises

A few minutes after her daughter exited the bedroom, Celestia silently trotted up to the door and laid her ear against the cold oak, listening intently to the noises emanating from outside. She waited for a few moments, listening to the sound of hoofsteps dissipating into nothing, before opening her door and trotting out into the winding stairwell. The Princess descended the stairs to the ground level, unsurprisingly startling the Solar Guards standing at the entrance, and began to trot down the hall. A little later, the hall changed to the outside... then back to another hall... and back outside. On any other day, Celestia would be precise in where she was going. However, this wasn’t any other day.

The trotting continued, sending the Princess through some well used areas, as well as some that had not been used in quite some time. Her hooves connected to the marble floors and concrete in the same monotonous beat, never changing, never stopping. A few ponies that she passed did bow in respect, but she didn’t say anything in return. Not even a warm smile appeared on her face as she passed by. It continued for a while, always moving, never speaking. That was, until her hooves came to a sudden stop.

Celestia breathed deeply, though not from physical exhaustion, but from heavy meditation. She opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings with a clear mind, only to quickly close them again. The Princess cringed slightly as thoughts clambered back into her head, though this time most were filled with criticism and disappointment from the rational part of her mentality. After settling her thoughts again, she opened her eyes and gazed upon the cause of her grief standing before her.

The gate that led into the Royal Gardens.

Celestia began to wonder why she was standing there as reminiscent memories slowly began to surface into her conscious. She fidgeted, contemplating on whether to enter or just to get away and put as much distance between herself and the daunting place. The alicorn, though still thinking it was idiotic of herself, made her decision and finally opened the gates with her magic. The cool evening breeze greeted her, enticing her with its cool touch, tempting her to travel through the gates. She shivered slightly as she entered the seemingly peaceful forest, only for her body to suddenly go off the path into the trees. She trotted through them, taking wild turns to avoid the places where she couldn't get past. Celestia soon realized where she was going, but she didn't try to stop herself. Instead, she had a small feeling of nostalgia building up inside her chest as she continued to cut through the forest. When a break in the trees became visible, her body responded and quickened its pace, continuing towards the clearing.

Though it was nice to finally be out of the forest, where she stood now made her come to a complete standstill, making her feel like she had faced a cockatrice that turned her into stone. She hadn't been to the particular area for years, but it was in the same condition as it had been then. Celestia made a mental note to thank the gardeners for keeping the place well kept after all these years. The place was as colorful as it had always been, though maybe a little more colorful than before, especially the valley that spanned out from the edge. The forest and grasslands down below made the valley have a nice green color, while other prominent colors reflected off of other entities, making the view even more bedazzling.

A bench was conveniently placed close to the edge, letting the viewers observe the beauty down below in comfort. Memories clambered into Celestia's mind while looking at the bench, but she pushed them to the side and trotted towards it. She turned and slowly sat down, making sure that she was comfortable before relaxing under the warmth of the setting sun. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, making herself even more content. The alicorn, though indulged in the bench, felt that there was something missing. Unfortunately, the missing piece can't be replaced, nor is it even possible, but it didn't bother her enough to be worried about it. She slightly cracked open her eyelids and looked out over the edge, gazing at the masterpiece laid before her. The sunset made the valley even more mystical, turning every color into more luscious, solid colors. It was beautiful.

"You were right," Celestia whispered to herself.

She continued to gaze out in the distance as the sun slowly sank down behind the mountain, turning the sky into darker shades of pink and purple. She had always loved watching the sunset. It made everything seem calm, almost as if the world was, for a moment, at peace.

Yet, it was painful at the same time.

A tear rolled down the Princess' cheek as she continued to watch the sky turn into a beautiful twilight. The sun soon began to tug at her, letting her know that it was time for her to let it set. But she just sat there, unfazed by the sun's actions. Now a little irritated from the ignorance, the sun pulled harder. Still, Celestia did nothing. The sun, now realizing that its efforts were going to be futile, gave up and silently waited for the Princess to come back to reality.

Celestia let out a long, sorrowful sigh and slowly got up unto her hooves. She then turned her focus to the eager sun and lowered it, making the last of its light disappear. The moon then raised up in the opposite horizon soon and replaced the sun's light with its own, making things seem much more serene under its soft glow. The valley, though now that it had lost its colors, was still beautiful to look at. Reluctantly, the Princess turned and trotted out of the area from where she entered and, soon after, out of the Garden. It didn't take as long to get to her bedroom as it did to get down to the Garden, but part of that was due to her being lost in thought and wandering around the castle.

She went into her room and towards her bed, intending to go to sleep, until a knock stopped her in her tracks. She turned her head towards the door, slightly irritated, and asked, "Who is it?"

A cheerful voice sang through the door in response, "It's meee. Are you ready for our little get-together?"

Celestia smacked a hoof to her face. 'And I was about to go to bed...' She brought her hoof down and replied, "Just a moment. I'll be out shortly."

"Okay. Don't take too long!" the voice quickly replied before falling silent.

The alicorn then went into her bathroom, made some last minute check-ups, and exited. She opened her bedroom door to a beaming Twilight. "There you are! Good to go?"

Celestia smiled down to the ecstatic unicorn. "Of course. Did you let Luna know about our plans?"

“Yep! She's waiting in the Observatory," Twilight's smile then faltered a little as she continued, "Though she explicitly told me at how long she's been waiting to do this..."

The Princess rolled her eyes at the comment. That was what Luna would do, including to the people close to her. "I'm certain that she was only teasing you. She always would exaggerate about how we will punish her with the smallest things." Her daughter gave her dubious look. Apparently, this was the first time she had learned about the other part of Luna, at least the side that is kept well hidden. Celestia caught the look, and with a heartwarming smile said, "Trust me I've lived with her for countless years."

Apparently taking comfort in the reassurance, Twilight's smile once again covered her muzzle. "Thanks for letting me know she does that. I seriously thought that she was irritated at how long it took me to plan on coming up here."

The alicorn gave a chuckle. "She is exceptionally good at keeping a serious face." She then turned her head towards the door and continued, "Though I don't wish to keep her waiting any longer than necessary."

Twilight, taking the hint, jumped into the air with a grin. "Okay!"

The two trotted down the spiral staircase, Twilight in front with Celestia in tow. Celestia slowed her pace when the pair got to the bottom, letting her have some time to think. She was smiling as she watched Twilight trot happily down the corridor, noticing that she was trying her best not to gallop at full speed to their destination. The unicorn, however, wasn't paying heed to where she was going and crashed into a suit of armor, causing it crumble down on top of her. Twilight poked her head out of the mess and gazed dazedly around the room, only to stop when she saw that Celestia was watching her. She gave a sheepish smile when Celestia rolled her eyes and heaved herself out of the armor. The unicorn quickly reassembled the armor back to its former form and continued with her excited trotting, acting like nothing had happened.

The alicorn shook her head at her daughter, though a smile showed on her face. About ten minutes later, the pair reached the door of the Castle's observatory. Twilight turned her head back to her mother with a look of a child that was about to enter a candy store. Celestia, with the usual warm smile, nodded back in response. Seeming that she couldn't even be happier, Twilight turned her head towards the door and pushed it open with all of her strength. The door slammed against the wall, making the waiting Princess of the Night inside jump in surprise with a "gah!"

Celestia chuckled and trotted in after Twilight, addressing her sister, "Hello Luna. Did you sleep well?"

Recovering from the unexpected surprise, Luna looked over at her sister with a smile and replied, "I did. In fact, I believe that it was the best sleep I had in awhile."

The Princess of the Day then gave a simple nod and said, "I take it that you're ready for the evening?"

Luna gave a nod in return. "I believe I am."

Celestia looked towards Twilight, slightly cocking her head to the side and raising her eyebrow. Her staring continued for a few short minutes before the purple unicorn shifted uncomfortably, as if she was caught doing something that she knew she shouldn't have done. Finally, Twilight decided to ask, "Um... Did I do something wrong?"

The white alicorn continued with her somewhat vacant stare while asking in return, "How are you supposed to fly without wings?"

Luna snickered as Twilight's cheeks turned into a deep red. "Oh! Right." She then stood up straight and focused on her magic. "Hold on a sec."

Celestia broke from her staring with a small smirk and trotted up to Luna, standing by her side, as Twilight began to cast a spell upon herself. A small pop filled the room along with a flash, leaving Twilight standing there in her original regal form. "Okay, now I'm ready."

The Princesses simultaneously nodded in response and the three alicorns trotted out onto the balcony. Luna looked up to the sky and smiled, apparently taking comfort in her moonlight's embrace. Twilight trotted up to the edge and peered over the railing, which emanated a gulp of fear. Celestia heard the noise and trotted up to her daughter, asking, "Are you alright?"

The purple alicorn's fur was noticeably lighter in color and she was apparently having a hard time keeping her balance. Taking a breath, Twilight slowly nodded, "Yeah..." She then took her eyes of the ground below and looked up to her mother, attempting to give a reassuring smile as she said, "It's been a while, though."

"Indeed, it has been too long," Luna concurred, stretching her wings to prove her point.

Celestia shook her head at her sister and looked back to her daughter with a concerned expression. "You don't have to do this tonight. We can try for another evening," she said in a comforting tone.

Twilight looked between her mother and aunt, taking in her mom's expression of concern and her aunt's expression of slight annoyance. Finally, she shook her head at the offer and sighed, "No. I want to do this."

Luna smiled brightly at the answer. "Then I shall see you two in the sky."

The dark alicorn then leaped into the air and plummeted towards the earth in a nosedive, smiling from the adrenaline coursing through her body. She kept her wings to her sides for longer than what was considered safe and kept falling. When it seemed certain that she was intending to kill herself, she gave a powerful flap with her wings and pulled up sharply, brushing her stomach against the grass. Twilight gave a small scream while Celestia rolled her eyes. The white alicorn had learned that Luna would always find ways to show off, no matter who her audience was.

Celestia looked over to Twilight and gave a reassuring smile. "Go on. You'll do fine. I promise." Then she added, "just don't follow my sister's lead."

The purple alicorn turned her gaze to her mother with fear. The fear on her face slowly melted away as she took comfort in the white alicorn's smile. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and finally gave a hard nod. Twilight then opened her eyes and jumped over the railing, falling in the same form as Luna. She opened her wings when she was halfway down the mountain and soared after her waiting aunt, who was hovering in the air.

Celestia watched as her sister and daughter soared through the air in a grace that would have put any pegasus to shame. She smiled to herself as a thought came across her mind. 'Well Phoenix, I've kept my promise,' she thought, before leaping after the two alicorns that were waiting for her to join them in the night of flight.

"Phoenix?"

Celestia was standing in a dark void that expanded endlessly all around her. She couldn't even tell what she was standing on since the ground seemed to be nonexistent, but it was solid at the same time. Besides Celestia's coat, mane, and tail, there wasn't any kind of color present in the place, only a pure black that was neither comforting nor daunting. It was just there. But the odd feeling of familiarity emanated from beyond the darkness. The alicorn knew that this was usually how her memory of the Everfree castle started, but that was when she had nopony to be there for her. At least, before she met Phoenix. But she hadn't had the nightmare during the time that they had been friends. So, all Celestia could think was, ‘Why?’

As if on cue, the darkness quickly crept away from where Celestia was staring at, making a large hallway in front of her. Though slightly startled, the Princess began to trot down the newly formed hallway and, to her dismay, heard whispering. She stopped for a moment to try to decipher what was being said, but couldn't make out the individual words. With a small, deep breath, she continued on with her trotting. As she continued, the voices grew louder with each step, and she identified that both of the speakers were mares. One mare then began to produce a laugh that sent the alicorn into a full stop. A shiver ran down her spine as the laugh resonated down the dark hall, making it louder with each passing second. The laugh was dark, heartless.

A laugh that the alicorn knew all too well.

Shaking her head, Celestia slowly trotted down the hall, though trying not to make any noise from her hooves hitting the floor. The darkness around her, as expected, turned into a foreboding entity after the laugh receded, as if something was toying with its prey before it made the final attack. The end of the hallway came into view and the voices were perfectly audible to the Princess. Celestia approached the wall of the ethereal darkness. Then, a familiar sensation shot through her body, just like the feeling from nearly a thousand years ago. The alicorn felt her hooves shaking and her body weaken as she continued to approach the wall. When she finally arrived at her destination, the hallway and the walls surrounding her dissipated, leaving the trembling alicorn at a terribly familiar place.

She was at the castle ruins in the Everfree Forest.

She stood motionless for a couple of minutes as the shock from the revelation receded from her body. "I should have expected this. Especially with how many times I went through this," Celestia groaned to herself, shaking her head.

Celestia then trotted up to the castle and pushed herself towards the entrance. Right when she entered, the shadow of Luna, or Nightmare Moon, in this case, was galloping towards the opposite end of the hall where the shadow of Celestia herself was standing with the Elements of Harmony. The alicorn felt a tear run down her cheek as she watched the rainbow crash down onto Nightmare Moon and heard the screaming coming from where she once stood. The screaming... oh how she wished that she could stop the pain tormenting her former sister. But Celestia stood her ground, knowing that no matter what she did, she couldn't change the outcome. She had tried many times before.

She followed her shadow out into the open and watched as she looked up into the sky. Celestia knew all too well of what would happen next. She would cry for what she just did and from the realization that she had banished the one pony that cared for her. 'I don't understand. I found somepony that cares for me. Why am I still having this nightmare?' Celestia thought as she watched her shadow weep in the grass. Normally this was where the dream ended and she would wake up in her warm bed, but this one was different.

The dream world collapsed into billions of pieces, making the Princess fall into the dark void.

Celestia panicked and flailed her hooves in all kinds of directions while screaming and twirling into the emptiness that was waiting to consume her, but never did. While falling, the alicorn remembered the lessons she learned from her flying instructor about what to do if she was in a situation like this. So, while going through the steps, she turned over until she was upright and quickly stretched out her wings. The effects were instantaneous and she was now soaring through the dark void, with the pieces of the dream world still surrounding her. It only lasted for a few moments before the pieces of the dream world surrounding her swirled into a chaotic tornado of colors. The colors in the tornado began to shift into brighter, luscious colors that, to Celestia, were extremely familiar. Then, as the tornado spun faster, a force began to pull on the flying alicorn, making her go into a standstill in the air. The colors began to blur into each other, making the tornado look like it was forming solid walls. The bottom of the swirling mass began to close into the center and, unexpectedly, raise up to the seemingly floating Princess. Then everything instantly stopped spinning. She was back at the Canterlot Castle.

Except it didn't look like it once used to.

Instead of having just the one throne standing at the end of the room, there were three. One was a dark blue and Celestia recognized it as Luna's throne. The third one, however, had many colors that were constantly swirling around, as if the throne had captured the colors of the rainbow and was storing it inside itself. It was beautiful, but at the same time it made Celestia confused. She knew that there were only three alicorns in existence, which were Luna, Cadence, and herself. Cadence had no intentions of being a Princess at the  moment, so the extra throne just made the Princess of the Sun even more confused.

When she remembered that it's just a dream, Celestia sighed, turned, and trotted out of the Hall. Before she knew what was happening, the dream world sped into a blur and instantly stopped, leaving the alicorn outside her room. She stumbled from the sudden change of environment, but quickly recovered. She looked around to see if anything was different, but everything but her bedroom door had disappeared into the unearthly darkness. The Princess then turned her gaze back to the door and, to her surprise, it opened on its own, as if it was inviting her to come inside. Celestia cautiously trotted through the door, expecting something bad to happen due to the ominous feeling coming from inside her room. When she observed the bedroom, she took account of every detail, only to come across something that was completely unexpected. Her bedroom was almost exactly the same as the real one. The books and scrolls on the desk were in the same chaotic mess, her bed was properly made, the books on the shelves were still standing upright and dusted, and everything else was still left untouched. Everything. Except for one thing that wasn't there before, or ever was going to be there.

The multicolored cradle beside the bed.

Celestia shot out of her dream and, embarrassingly, out of her bed.

 "What the ha- Celestia! What's wrong?! Where are you?!" Phoenix sleepily exclaimed when he felt that Celestia was no longer beside him.

Phoenix heard a groan emanating from the side of the bed where his lover once was. He quickly crawled to the edge and poked his head over, to which he then asked, "What happened? Are you okay?"

The alicorn mumbled, but the unicorn couldn't tell as to what she said. "What was that?"

"I'm fine," Celestia said in a louder tone, making sure that she didn't have to repeat herself.

Phoenix climbed off the bed and helped her up to her hooves. "What happened?"

Celestia sighed at the question, remembering why she fell off the bed in the first place. She kept quiet for half a minute until she finally replied, "I had a nightmare."

Phoenix furrowed his eyebrows together. "Must've been a pretty bad nightmare. Do you mind sharing what happened?" Celestia looked up at Phoenix in confusion until he continued with a shrug, "I'm not sure if it's true, but I've heard that sharing your nightmares helps you feel better for the rest of the day."

Celestia nodded in slight understanding before looking away, contemplating at how she should share her dream. She turned her gaze back to the crimson unicorn, beginning her memory recall. "Well, it started off as a nightmare, but it then turned into something that... really surprised me. When it began..."

The alicorn told Phoenix about her dream, not leaving out any details, including the part of the extra throne and the cradle. He listened intently, nodding as he soaked in the spoken words. When she finished, Phoenix sat quietly on the floor, thinking over the details of the dream. After a few minutes, he looked over to the Princess, saying, "That's... interesting. But why would you wake up so abruptly for that?"

Celestia sighed in response. "I'm not as educated about the nature of dreams as my sister, but there was one thing that she always told me, which was 'Dreams don't occur for no reason. They always have a purpose, whether it be about your life or what will happen to you later on. It may be vague, but it actually contains a lot of information. It's just that we need to decipher its meaning.’"

"So... you're telling me that dreams happen for a reason?" Phoenix asked.

The alicorn nodded. "Yes, at least that's what my sister told me on countless occasions."

"And you woke up just because of the cradle?"

Again she nodded. "Yes, but it could be a symbol for a lot of things."

Phoenix thought for a moment, then asked, "Well, can you think of what your dream was trying to tell you?"

The Princess thought about the cradle and what it could possibly mean. But, just like the dark void in her dreams, her conclusions were empty. Celestia shook her head and said, "I can't think of what it could mean."

Phoenix let out a low hum as he, once again, went into deep thought. He thought over the analogy of dreams and tried to make connections with Celestia's dream, but he always came to one realization. The realization, as anypony would have stated, would be impossible. Or was it? He shook his head and sighed, "I can't think of one, either."

The alicorn gave another small smile, though slightly disappointed that neither of them could come up with something. "We'll figure this out when we have the time. For now, I must get ready for the day. It's going to be really busy for a while."

Phoenix cocked his eyebrow up in question. "Why's that?"

"Hmm... Well, we have to warn everypony in the castle about the upcoming attack. Also, while we're at it, we're going to arrange a meeting with the griffon leaders."

The unicorn brought a hoof to his face. "Oh! How could I forget?"

Celestia chuckled, "Don't worry about it." A couple of tugs came from the horizons, which made the Princess groan. To her, it was a reminder that she still had responsibilities as a Princess. She actually wanted to spend the day trying to analyzing the meaning of her dream with Phoenix, but she couldn't while there was a threat against her people. She sullenly got up and turned to the door of the balcony and, directing it to her lover, said, "Now if you'll excuse me."

Phoenix nodded in response as the alicorn went out unto the balcony and focused on her magic. He watched the dark mountains beginning to be more prominent as the sky began to have a tinge of orange. Finally, the sun appeared and bathed everything in it's bright, warm light. He gasped in awe. Though the land was beautiful, it wasn't what he was actually gasping at. Who knew that she glowed brightly when she was raising the sun?

When she finished, Celestia opened her eyes and turned to face her bed, only to find herself laughing. Phoenix had a look that was both dumbfounded and astonished at the same time. Not only that, but he was looking directly at her. The unicorn quickly closed his mouth and looked up to the ceiling, whistling a random tune. Celestia stifled her laughter, though wanting to laugh even harder, and said, "Phoenix, you don't have to do that."

Phoenix gazed back with a look of fake confusion. "Don't have to do what?"

The Princess rolled her eyes as she responded, "You don't have to be embarrassed for looking."

The unicorn gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm not used to being in a real relationship."

Celestia cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not your first marefriend?"

"W-what!? No! I mean, yes! Yes you are! I've never been with another mare!" Phoenix stammered, blushing deeply.

To his confusion, the alicorn was laying on the floor in hysterics. The stallion, now a little irritated, asked, "What's so funny?"

It took a few minutes for Celestia to calm herself down and respond with, "You're fun, Phoenix."

Phoenix gave a scowl in return and turned his attention to something else, though it was blatant that a small smile was playing at his lips. The alicorn shook her head and trotted into the bathroom. Before closing the door, Celestia turned to the stallion and stated, "I'll be in here for a few minutes."

Phoenix turned his gaze to the Princess and gave a nod. When the door closed, the unicorn got up from the bed and walked around the room, looking at the fine detail on the desk and going over the books in the book case. While inspecting one of the books, he heard a low humming coming from the bathroom door. Phoenix placed the book back in its original place and silently trotted to the door, placing his ear against the cool oak. Celestia was humming a tune that was beautiful, but had a hit of sadness intertwined within the notes. She then began to sing. He leaned in closer to listen to the lovely yet melancholy song and, to his surprise, heard what she was singing.

When Celestia fell silent, Phoenix felt a pang of sorrow in his chest as a tear rolled down his cheek. Part of him wanted her to keep singing, but he was already saddened by what he heard. "Celestia..." Phoenix sighed, lowering his head.

After a few moments, the alicorn exited the bathroom, wearing her regal vestments, and noticed that the stallion was standing a few feet before her. He had a glum look on his face as he stared at the floor. Also, to add to her shock, she noticed the streaks of wet marks on his cheeks. Worried, Celestia asked, "Phoenix?"

Phoenix shook his head sorrowfully. "I should have known..."

"Known? Known what?"

The unicorn swallowed and continued, "I should have known how... how much pain you were really in. You weren't just lonely, but saddened with how your life currently is, or was. I don't know how I missed it..." He fell silent.

Celestia went up to Phoenix and nuzzled his neck, trying to comfort him. "Shh... It's not your fault. I've been hiding it for years, so it doesn't surprise me that you just barely found out..." An idea came to her and she stepped back, asking, "How did you find out?"

The stallion looked up and replied, "I heard you singing."

The alicorn sighed and said, "I started to compose that song a long time ago. I was in so much pain back then that I didn't know what I'd do. It was so much that I wasn't a capable ruler." Celestia grimaced at the memory, but continued, "But when I started to write music, I began to feel... relieved. It felt like I was passing my sorrow to another object, hence how the song came into existence." She paused for a moment before saying, "It's actually still a work in progress."

"I still should have known," Phoenix countered.

Celestia shook her head and pulled Phoenix into a comforting hug. "It's okay, Phoenix. You've helped me in many ways more than just making sure that I wasn't feeling alone." She pulled him back so she could look at his face and smiled. "You helped remind me that I can find happiness again."

Phoenix smiled and, in return, gave her another hug, but in a more heartwarming way. "I'm glad that I can be of assistance."

This made the Princess laugh. "You are more than just a subject." She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I love you, Phoenix."

He leaned in and pecked her on the lips. "I love you too."

Celestia and Phoenix had arranged a meeting with the leaders of the Griffon Empire in a month. Also during the past two weeks, the Princess and her lover agreed to find ways to try to resolve the issues that spawned between the two nations with help from her ponies in the peace department. The weeks were going great since they had found a lot of solutions to most of the problems, but there was a drawback; Celestia was sick. And it wasn't just for a few days, either. Oddly, she would only get sick in the mornings and be fine for the rest of the day.

This morning, Celestia laid on her bed, not moving due to fear of having to rush to the bathroom. She was curled up in a ball, holding onto her stomach as it kept wrenching in anger. Phoenix sat beside her bed, looking at his beloved in concern and worry. He knew that he should keep quiet unless he wanted to experience the full wrath of the Royal Canterlot Voice for making inconvenient noises. It didn't help that her head was pounding to a constant beat, making her wince to every note. Finally, after a few minutes, the fire inside of her subsided as quickly as it had started. Celestia took in deep breaths, thankful that the few minutes of torment had passed. When she got up, Phoenix stated, "This has been happening each morning for the past two weeks." His tone then got stern, "You need to see a doctor."

Celestia went over to the bathroom and checked herself in the standing mirror, saying, "I agree. This sickness is getting tedious."

"Not only that, but I'm worried about you."

Phoenix trotted up beside Celestia and looked into the mirror with her. It was strange, really, to see a couple of the sort. Especially when one is taller and is the ruler of the sun and Equestria while the other is just some stallion. Phoenix smiled at the thought. 'Who knew?'

Celestia saw the smile and returned it with her own, before saying, "I'll arrange a check-up with the medical team in the castle."

The stallion was about to ask a question, but stopped himself before the words left his mouth, so he just gave a simple nod in approval.

The Princess then went back to go about her morning routine and got prepared for the day. Phoenix, on the other hand, just sat in a corner of the room, blatantly lost in his own thoughts. When she was ready, Celestia went up to the unicorn and asked, "What are you thinking about now?"

Phoenix shook his head and brought his mind back to reality while responding, "Oh you know, stuff."

The alicorn chuckled and said, "Well, I have to go to Day Court now, so I'll see you later on in the day when I'm finished. And I promise to see the doctors tonight."

"Alright then," Phoenix said, trotting up to Celestia and hugged her. "I love you. And I want to be sure that you're okay."

The Princess returned the hug and responded, "I love you too. And don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine."

Doctors were lined up in Celestia's room, where all of them were standing before Celestia with straight and confused faces. Phoenix was standing by the bed while the Princess was laying down, not moving, not even blinking, as she stared at the ceiling. Even though he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, Phoenix settled on the one that mattered the most, and whispered, "Are you okay?"

Celestia didn't move. She couldn't move. She stayed in that position for a few long moments before whispering, "How is this possible?"

One of the doctors coughed. "That’s a good question. Nopony, not even us doctors, knew that this was possible. How it has occurred, though, will remain a mystery."

"I can think of a few reasons," Phoenix whispered to himself.

The alicorn finally turned and looked over all of the doctors. There were seven in total, but they are capable of working the same amount of time as twenty doctors, which is why they were chosen to be a part of the castle's medical team. Not to mention that they are brilliant in the field of medical study, which comforted the Princess to know that their diagnostics are very accurate. But this time, she hoped that they had a slight chance of being wrong. Only time would tell. She looked at all of them before saying, "I don't want anypony to know about this."

The doctors gave each other a confused look as some shot a glance over towards Phoenix. Celestia saw this and continued, "Don't worry. He won't tell anypony."

A few doctors gave a sigh of relief while others still gave worried glances over at the stallion, but they all soon nodded in understanding. Celestia smiled and told them all that they may leave. When they all left, the alicorn turned her attention to Phoenix, who was still staring at her with a worried expression. He then got up, climbed into the bed, and laid down on it, facing up, and gave a deep sigh. He then chuckled and said, "Well, that's unexpected."

He looked over to his lover, who was staring at him, but was thinking of something else. Phoenix propped himself up onto his side and rested his head on his hoof, watching her think. When she blinked back to reality, he once again asked, "Are you okay?"

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, saying, "I'm okay. But I still don't understand how or why this happened."

Phoenix gave a frown and asked, "Could I have caused it?"

The alicorn gave a small laugh and answered, "Probably." She looked back up to the ceiling. "All we know at the moment is that I'm going to be a mother."

The change of seasons started about a week ago. Though the signs were miniscule, it soon became apparent as yellow, orange, and red spots appeared in the valley and grew, making the usual green disappear. Now the changes were becoming dominant, making the green seem like it was surrounded by a vast multi-colored ocean. The usual green was nice, but there was something about the different colors that appealed to Celestia, hence why Fall was her favorite time of the year.

The doctors have kept to their promise and kept quiet about the, well, 'unexpected occurrence', as they have come to call it. Nopony has come barging in, trying to ask questions about how she became pregnant or wanting to know who the father of the child was. At least the newspapers haven't found out about the truth.

The Princess and her lover were sitting on a bench at the edge of the Royal Garden, looking over the valley that was laid out before them. On occasion, the two would come to this particular area and relax, taking comfort in each others' presence. Phoenix was sitting in a peculiar fashion, letting his back hooves hang over the edge of the bench while he rested his forehooves on the back. Celestia was laying down beside him, resting her head on Phoenix's back legs, while watching the sunset. Phoenix brought down a hoof and stroked his lover's underside while watching the sun go behind the mountains.

Celestia closed her eyes and took comfort in the sensation. It was rare, but Celestia wondered what it would be like to be a mother. Her thoughts wandered to what it would be like to raise a foal and help it grow into a stallion or mare. It was a comforting thought, really, since now she had a chance to actually be a mother. A thought occurred and she couldn't keep herself from smiling. 'Cadence is going to love this.'

Phoenix stopped with the motion he was performing. "It's beautiful."

Celestia simply nodded in agreement, taking note that he was referring to the sunset. "I agree."

He turned his gaze to the alicorn laying beside him. "You know, I've always loved watching the sunset for one particular reason."

"Oh? And what is that one reason?"

"It's a reminder that opposite things can work together." He raised his hoof and pointed at the setting sun. "The sun brings light and warmth during the day," he then pointed at the opposite horizon while continuing, "and the moon brings its own light, but it doesn't warm us. It brings comfort so that we can sleep in peace." He lowered his hoof and looked down to his lover. "When the opposites work together," he raised his hooves and pointed in all directions, "something beautiful is created."

Celestia thought for a moment, thinking over the little analogy, and finally nodded. "That's an interesting way to put it."

Phoenix chuckled, "Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but it's how I think about the sun and moon working together."

The alicorn chuckled in return, "To each their own."

The stallion smiled down at his lover and asked, "Will you keep a promise?"

Celestia lifted her head and gazed up to the unicorn with a slightly confused look. After a moment, she answered, "Well, yes. What is it?"

Without missing a beat, he responded, "Will you promise to keep yourself happy?"

After a few long moments of thinking, Celestia broke the silence with, "I promise, but why do you ask such a question?"

Phoenix closed his eyes and sighed. He then looked back up towards the distance and said in a melancholy tone, "You and I both know that I'm not immortal." He looked down to the Princess and continued before she could interrupt, "So I don't want you to be depressed with your life when I'm gone. At least, try to keep it to a minimum. You see, I don't want you to go back into the depression that you've lived in for oh-so many years." He sighed and lowered his head. “Even one year is too much.”

Celestia locked gazes with her stallion, thinking over the promise. After a while, she finally said, "I promise."

Phoenix nodded and continued, "Also, be grateful for what you have lived for. Don't wallow in despair for what has come to pass, but be happy that you were able to experience it. It would've been meaningless if I even came up to you on the first day we met."

The alicorn kept quiet, thinking over the proposal, and finally nodded while, once again, saying, "I promise."

"And one last thing." Phoenix laid a hoof on Celestia's stomach as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Be there for our child, and I'll do the same until my time has come. I promise that I'll love him or her, no matter what. All I ask is for you to do the same."

Celestia felt her eyes tearing up as she repeated for the last time, "I promise." She then kissed Phoenix on the lips and said, "I love you."

The stallion returned her kiss and nuzzled her neck, whispering, "I love you too."

Chapter 5: Revelations

"Tia?"

"Yes, Luna?"

"What’s troubling you?"

Celestia stopped trotting and looked to her sister in her usual reassuring manner. "I'm fine."

Luna turned and shook her head. “I know when you’re lying. So please, tell me what is bothering you.”

There was a long pause as the younger alicorn waited for her sister’s response, though it never came. “Tia...?”

Finally, the white alicorn’s composure faltered as she sighed in defeat. “Today was the day he passed away.”

Luna’s expression slowly softened. “Oh... I’m sorry.”

Celestia simply looked at a wall while attempting to keep her face inscrutable, but her lips quivered as tears began to grow in her eyes. Luna quickly reacted by trotting up to her sister and nuzzling her neck. They stayed in that position for a few moments until the dark alicorn softly spoke, "Listen, it wasn't your fault. Nopony could’ve known that his time was going to be cut so short." She pulled back and looked at her sister's face, giving a small smile while continuing, "Besides, you have a part of him that will last forever."

The wave of tears were successfully held back, though mostly due to curiosity overwhelming her melancholy, as Celestia breathed, "What do you mean?"

"I mean your daughter, Twilight."

A few tears trickled down her cheeks as she smiled warmly. "Thank you."

The dark alicorn simply gave a small smile and backed away from her sister. She then turned and continued trotting towards the Royal Hall while saying, "Just remember that when you're thinking about him." She stopped and looked back, continuing, "Trust me, you have no idea how lucky you are."

Celestia stood there for a moment before coming out of her thoughts and trotting up to her sister. They continued down the hallway in silence before Luna stopped at a pair of great oak doors that lead into the Royal Hall. She once again turned to face her older sister and asked, "I presume I don’t have to ask if you remember the night I transformed into Nightmare Moon?"

Slightly taken aback, Celestia replied, "Why yes, I remember." Her face then contorted to a look of concern."But why are you bringing up this subject? I thought we agreed to not speak of it."

Luna grimaced. Celestia knew that Luna was the one that always hated breaking promises. "I know, but it's important."

The dark alicorn leaned towards her sister until their faces were inches apart and asked, "Have you ever wondered why I became Nightmare Moon?"

"Well, wasn't it because your jealousy took over your mind?” Celestia asked instantaneously.

Luna chuckled. "Well, partly. But that was mostly a ruse."

Surprised, Celestia took a step back. "Then... why?"

Her sister looked away as she answered, "Like you, I had a... what do ponies call it now? A ‘very special somepony'?” She shook her head. “Anyways, I too had a love of my life."

The dark alicorn turned her gaze back to her sister, though they were filled with the sorrow of the past. "We had been together for a few years, and I had fallen in love with him. We always met each other when night came. He told me that he always loved my night sky...” She looked away as her eyes welled up in tears. “He told me that before he passed away from fighting against some feral dragons. I was devastated. My mind became broken. Sorrow then took control of the way I thought and how I acted. That's how Nightmare Moon was truly born."

Flabbergasted, all Celestia could do was just stare at her sister. A few minutes went by before she broke the silence, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell you because..."

Celestia caught on. "It was because you were in so much pain that you didn't even want to remember it. You wanted to forget about the past, but it became the most important part of your life."

Luna kept quiet, but nodded in response. After a few moments, she whispered, "I tried, but it was futile. Every time I tried to suppress a memory, it only grew stronger." She gave a heavy sigh and looked up to her sister. "It drove me to the point of insanity. I lost myself to the depression.” She shook her head. “The memory where he told me his love for the night became the strongest. In fact, that's how I first became connected to him since nopony else has ever told me that." She cringed a little before adding, "Besides you, of course."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "And so you wanted to keep a part of him alive. But by attempting to do that, the only way you could achieve that goal was to make your night last forever, wasn't it?"

"It was all that I could do. All that I thought about. I was foalish enough to think that it could relieve myself of my pain" Luna shook her head sorrowfully. "I caused a lot of harm to Equestria with that elongated night. Not just to the land, but to the ponies as well." She closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Even to you."

Celestia nuzzled her neck. “Listen, I understand how it feels to lose a loved one.” She stepped back to gaze into her sister’s eyes. “I know the pain. If it wasn’t for the promise I’ve made to Phoenix, I probably would have made some decisions that would’ve caused more destruction than an extended night.”

"Oh?" Luna replied, then asked, "May I ask what the promise was? Or is?"

Celestia wore a warm smile as she answered, "I actually promised Phoenix three things." Luna cocked her head to the side at the response, but her sister continued, "One was that I will stay happy for the rest of, well... eternity. Next was that I will not grieve for what has come to pass, but instead appreciate what I had experienced it in the first place. The final..." She trailed off as she looked in the direction of where her daughter was usually placed during her visits. "The final was that I will always love my child." She turned her gaze back to her sister. "Those are the things that I have promised. And I will never break any of them."

Luna nodded. “Nor should you.” She turned her focus and magic to the doors as Celestia opened her mouth to say her goodbyes, but was interrupted before she got a word out. “Oh! I almost forgot.” Luna changed her attention back to her sister, saying, “Now that you know the reason for my transformation, I think it would be best if I tell you another thing.”

Celestia took a step forward. “What is it?”

At that time, the Lunar Guards arrived, bowed respectfully to the Princesses, and took their positions by the oak doors. Luna frowned slightly, berating herself for having a near-classified conversation where it could be easily be heard. She turned to the guard nearest her and said, “While my sister is in here with me, don’t let anypony come inside, no matter what information they may have. Instead, tell them that I will see to them as quickly as I can.”

“Yes, your Highness,” The guard replied with a salute.

Luna nodded in appreciation and turned to her sister. “Now, shall we?”

“Do you need my permission?”

Luna shook her head as the guards opened the doors. She trotted inside with her sister in tow and turned back to the doors. Once they were fully closed, Luna turned her gaze back to her sister and said, “I’ll skip to the chase. Cadence is my daughter.”

Appalled, the white alicorn sat on her haunches. She sat silently, mouth hanging open with wide eyes, as she tried to speak but couldn’t form coherent words. Her sister shook her head as she continued, “Before my lover passed, we... to put it bluntly, courted each other. During my banishment on the moon, I somehow felt that somepony, or something, was with me. I knew it wasn’t Nightmare Moon since she was still a part of me and that her presence was filled with pain. the other presence, however, was... comforting.” She smiled, “I could feel it growing in strength as time went on, but something else caught me offguard. It spoke to me.” She brought a hoof up to her chin. “Well, it wasn’t exactly speaking, but more of the noise that newborn fillies would make.

“At first I thought that you banished a filly to the moon, but I reasonably couldn’t believe that you could even do such an act. So I began to think back to my memories, remembering the time I spent in Equestria and the events that led up to my banishment, thinking about why there would be a filly with me. I didn’t realize it at the time but before I was exiled, but I remembered feeling nauseous in the mornings. It lasted for a few weeks before going away, so I didn’t think anything of it.” She chuckled as she continued, “I also remembered how I was changing moods for no explainable reason. Let’s just say that it made many ponies very nervous to be around me.

“So I put all of the evidence together and came to the only reasonable conclusion that was available. I was pregnant.” She shook her head as she sighed, “As much as I wanted to believe that it was impossible, it was the only thing that made sense at the time.”

After listening to her sister share her deepest secret, Celestia finally spoke up. “But Cadence came to Equestria years after your bani-” She stopped and thought for a moment. Luna could tell that she was thinking hard about why Cadence came to Equestria after almost a thousand years of Luna’s own banishment. Seeing that she was stuck, Luna replied, “The reason why she came to Equestria was that the moon always slows down the physical body’s aging. That means that every function in the body is slowed significantly so that the body will be preserved for the return of the banished pony. It even includes the production of the fetus had been delayed.”

She then thought a moment before adding, “Also the moon kept Cadence so she could grow a few years before coming to Equestria, but that too was elongated. You know how dangerous the land can be for a foal without its mother.”

The white alicorn gave a nod of acknowledgement and questioned, “But why did she come to Equestria before you? Since you’re her mother, wouldn’t she be released at the same time as you?”

Luna simply shrugged. “I wondered the same thing as well. A few weeks after I felt her disappear, I concluded that the moon only held the ponies that were there for a reason. Since Cadence had no reason to be there, the moon simply removed her from its prison and released her back to Equestria.” She shook her head again. “At least that’s what I assumed. But when I came back and was liberated of my sorrow, you told me about the unusual occurrence of the birth of an alicorn. Also, when you told me about the time it took place, it all made came together. You see, Cadence left the moon right at the same time when she came to Equestria.”

Celestia lowered her head, losing herself in her thoughts, until, “...That must also explain the cloud.”

Luna cocked her head to the side. “Cloud? What cloud?”

The white alicorn returned her gaze to her sister as she replied, “On the night of Cadence’s appearance, there was a large, pink cloud hovering over the Everfree Forest. More specifically, most of  it was above the Castle Ruins. Naturally everypony got curious as well as afraid since it originated from the forest, so I sent out a few scouts to search the forest to find the source of the cloud. But when they came back, they brought back a pink alicorn filly. They told me that she was found inside the Castle.” She shook her head as she continued, “After the news went out to the public, nearly everypony came up with their own speculations and answers on the question on how alicorns came to existence. Some were very persuasive and reasonable while others were, well, not as educated.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “I’ve noticed that when I was catching up on current events.”

Celestia smiled. “I shouldn’t keep you any longer. You know how our scribe gets whenever we are late for our planned appointments.”

The younger alicorn gave an apprehensive sigh. “You’re right, I shouldn’t deviate any longer. Though, I was the one who started the conversation.”

The older alicorn trotted to her sister and pulled her into the customary departing hug, softly saying, “Thank you for sharing the truth. It truly means a lot to me.”

Celestia felt Luna give a nod in response before saying, “Thank you for listening. It’s nice to have other ponies know about your secrets.”

They continued to hold each other, feeling a sense of calm. Wait a minute. Celestia snapped her eyes open and asked, “Does Cadence know?”

The white alicorn felt her sister tense at the question before a sigh reached her ears. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.”

The Night Princess released her sister and lowered her head ashamedly. “I know that it’s wrong of me to keep the truth from her, but...”

Usually Celestia would be able to finish her sentences, but this wasn’t the usual conversation that they would beget. Nor was it the type of conversation that she would have ever thought of having with her sister. In fact, the entire ‘Cadence is my daughter’ thing was still a bit of a shock and that it would take some time to recover from. So the white alicorn slowly asked, “But... what?”

Luna sighed softly. “I... I just don’t know how to tell her. Each time I try to tell her, I can’t help but think of what her reaction will be. Whether it will be anger, sadness, resentment... the list continues, but none of them are good things.”

Ah, the question of what your child will think of you. Sounds familiar. Celestia shook the thought out of her head. “I know how you feel. Believe me, the longer you keep Cadence from knowing the truth, the harder it will be to actually tell her.”

The dark alicorn lifted her head and questioned, “Well, how did you tell Twilight that you were her mother?”

“I’m not sure if my own experiences will help you with your predicament...”

“What do you mean that your experiences won’t help me? I’m practically going through the same thing that you had to go through at some point.”

Celestia shook her head. “First of all Twilight was still a filly when I told her, so that gave me a lot of leeway to ease the truth to her. The second reason is that she always looked up to me as her idol. So when I told her, it was a shock to her at first, but she then accepted the truth much faster than what I expected. It was as if it was her dream to be ‘the Princess’ daughter’.”

Luna groaned. “You’re right. That would make it easier, but I don’t have the same luck as you. Instead, Cadence has to be a fully grown mare that doesn’t have me as a role model.” She covered her face with her hooves. “What am I going to do?”

Celestia went up to her sister and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I would help if I could, but it’s not my place to tell Cadence about her true parentage.” A thought struck her. “But I can tell you that she has been wondering how and why she came into existence in Equestria. That should help you out a little.”

The younger alicorn lowered her hooves and wore a credulous look. “Do you really think that will help?”

“Though I can’t tell you exactly how she will react, but yes, I do believe so.”

Luna smiled. “Thank you for telling me.” She then pulled her sister into a quick a hug and began to trot up to her throne. “Believe me, it helps knowing that she has been questioning about her existence.” She paused in her tracks. She quickly turned to her sister and hurriedly said, “No! That’s not what I meant! I mean, kind of, but not in a bad way.”

The white alicorn raised her hoof. “No need to apologize, Luna. I understood what you meant.”

Luna smiled warmly. “Still, thank you.”

Celestia smiled in return. “Anything for you, dearest Sister.”

Ooh what am I going to do? In fact, what will my friends think of me when they find out? Why did I have to keep myself hidden for all these years? What was the point of all that?! I know that Celestia... well, my mom wanted me to experience what it was like to be a regular pony, but was it worth it? I mean, I’m going to outlive everypony, griffon, dragon, and any other sentient creature I meet, so why?

Twilight turned in her bed, trying to find the answers to her questions in her mind, but only to be rewarded with nothing. I’m sure that I have to let everypony know that I’m an alicorn sometime, but when? She grumbled as she hit her head against the pillow, disappointed with her lack of answers. She turned onto her stomach and looked at the headboard in front of her. Would I have to become a Princess? I don’t think that I’m even capable of ruling over a country, but does skill come into play? Or do the rules of Rulership state that ‘if you’re an alicorn, you have to be a Princess’? The disguised alicorn closed her eyes and turned onto her side. Hold on. Cadence isn’t a Princess, well, at least not until the Crystal Empire came back. But she still wasn’t a Princess before then. Maybe I could wait for a while and see if I change my mind. She shifted her body again to where she was staring at the ceiling. I’m sure that everypony will understand. After all, I’m still a pony. If they think that my personality changed somehow just because my physical appearance changed, then they will be highly mistaken. Besides, I will still have my friends. She exhaled a long sigh at the last thought. That is, if they will still be my friends.

Twilight gave another sigh and closed her eyes. What am I going to do? I can’t keep my friends from knowing the truth, but what will happen once they find out? The longer I keep them from knowing, the more that they will not like me for lying to them. Rainbow Dash won’t talk to me. Fluttershy will be mostly heartbroken. Rarity, well, Rarity will be jealous, but that won’t mean that keeping the truth from her won’t devastate her. Pinkie Pie... I honestly don’t know what Pinkie Pie will do, but I’m sure that she’ll be saddened. Applejack will take it the hardest. After all, she is the Element of Honesty, and I have been lying to her ever since we first met. A tear rolled down her cheek, imagining the possible outcomes of the future. None of them were happy. I need time to think about this. Maybe tomorrow will-

Twilight shot up from her bed. That’s it! If I tell them now, they will have time to recover! That way it won’t be too late for them to know! She made a small squeak and clapped her hooves together in excitement. But then reality pulled her mind back to the present. But when would be a good time for everypony to know? She plopped her head back down on her pillow. The unicorn, though still feeling giddy, felt like she hadn’t resolved anything. Ugh! All of this is driving me crazy! I can’t take this anymore. I hate feeling this guilt all the time. Before I could stand it, but now... now it’s too much. She rubbed her hooves against her temples, feeling a growing pain festering in her head. It’s time for everypony to know.

The unicorn turned her head to gaze out the window. Her eyes wandered around the stars and the constellations that they formed until they stopped on the moon. She felt her worries slowly slip away until it was as if she didn’t have anything to worry about. It was like she completely forgot about the reason that she was in distress in the first place. Even though it was a waning moon, the light coming from it just made everything... calm. Even a distressed mare can be made tranquil by the soothing light of the moon. She laughed at the thought.

In that moment of peace, the answer to her plight rushed through her mind and echoed along the walls of her head. Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head. Of course. The answer just had to be so simple. A smile covered her muzzle as she said her answer out loud, “Tomorrow.”

Knock. Knock.

“Hngph...”

Knock! Knock!

“Aurguh... What? Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

“Twilight... Do you know what time it is?”

“I know that this is early, but this is important. Can I come in?”

“Hng... Okay, come in.”

The door became enveloped with a lavender aura and swung open, revealing the intruder of the Princess’ desired sleep. Twilight trotted in, closed the door, and turned her attention back to her mom in seconds. “It’s time.”

Celestia raised a hoof while rubbing her eye with the other. “Hold on, I’m still waking up.”

The lavender unicorn nodded and waited, tapping her front hoof repeatedly against the floor. The Princess of the Day yawned and stretched her forelimbs. “Okay, now what is it that you wanted to tell me?”

“It’s time” Twilight repeated.

“‘It’s time’?” Celestia echoed. “Time for what?”

“It’s time to let everypony know what I truly am.”

“Hold on.” Celestia straightened herself up. “Did you said that you wanted to let everypony know that you’re an alicorn?”

Twilight simply nodded in response, though with vigor that her mother couldn’t show from the lingering fatigue. “That’s... a bit sudden. Have you thought about this?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for over a month,” the unicorn stated simply.

Celestia closed her eyes and gave a heavy sigh. “And I believe that you want everypony to know today, correct?”

Twilight nodded eagerly. “Yes! I mean, if it’s possible.”

The Princess opened her eyes and cocked her head to the side. “Oh, it’s possible, but why do you want to share the truth so soon?”

This time, the unicorn gave a heavy sigh before replying, “To put it shortly, it’s so that I have time.”

Celestia cocked an eyebrow in question as she asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Hold on.”

Twilight sat on the floor and brought a hoof up to her chin as she scrunched up her face in concentration. A few moments passed before the growing silence was broken with a “Okay, I got it now.”

The unicorn got up and returned to her former pose as she said, “What I mean is that ponies will... I don’t know, have time to accept the fact that I’m an alicorn. It doesn’t make sense, especially to me, but I learned that the more you keep a secret from somepony, the harder it will be to tell the truth and be forgiven. I’ve been keeping this a secret for years, and I can’t handle this guilt of living a lie anymore. I don’t even want to know what it will be like after another decade or two. Also, how can I continue to lie to my friends? As it turns out, I can’t stand holding a simple lie from them, but to hide my own identity from them? You will not believe at how hard it is to keep my mouth shut on that one.  I swear, this guilt is killing me and I can’t stand it any longer. I must get the truth out now.”

As she spoke, her voice grew to nearly a shout, but she quickly went out of breath and was panting when she finished. Celestia waited for her daughter to continue, but she felt that enough time passed to assume that she was done. She got out of her bed and trotted to her mirror. “Come. Stand with me.”

Twilight gave a surprised look, but she got up and joined her mother, looking into the mirror. She noticed that in her disguised form, she was shorter than her genuine state. Her mother spoke in a soft tone as she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

Hmm... one of those questions. “...I see a young mare that is guilt ridden and will probably snap at any moment if she doesn’t tell everypony that she is actually an alicorn.”

Celestia chuckled and nuzzled her daughter on the neck. “Well, that may be what you see, but I see something completely different.”

“Oh?”

“I see a very mature mare that is loyal and honest to her fellow ponies. She has an everlasting love for everypony, especially for the ones that are very dear to her. If any of them are harmed, she will be by their side to comfort and help them through their predicament. She hates telling lies, so instead she will always try to be honest with everypony. But, even though things may seem bleak and the odds are stacked against her, she will always have her friends standing by her side, no matter what the chances are.”

Twilight pawed at the ground as she asked, “So... what is it that you’re trying to tell me?”

“What I’m saying is that you should not be afraid. You have amazing friends in your life that will always be there for you. Though, once they find out that you’re an alicorn and my daughter, they will be hurt, but they will still be your friend. Overtime, the pain will be forgotten and you will live on like nothing has happened. That is what I’m trying to tell you, Twilight.”

“So you’re telling me that things will work out?”

“As long as your friends understand why you have been hiding this truth, then yes.”

Twilight facehooved and sighed, “You’re right, it will take some time for me to explain why I lived a lie.”

Celestia, once again, lowered her head and nuzzled Twilight’s neck, though with more enthusiasm than the last. “Now you understand. Tell me, are you still afraid?”

The unicorn closed her eyes and focused on her feelings. What she expected to feel and what she actually felt, however, were two completely different results. “No... I don’t feel any kind of fear at all.”

Celestia raised her head and wore a warm smile. “Now, do you think that you can do this?”

With fire shining brightly in her eyes, Twilight smiled and nodded. “Yes. I can.” She then closed her eyes and slowly let out a long breath.

“I will.”

“Tia?”

“Yes Phoenix?”

“Are you ready?”

Celestia poked her head around the bathroom door with a warm smile. “Just a minute. I have to do a few more things.”

Phoenix gave a nod with a smile of his own. “Okay, I’ll be waiting.”

As soon as she pulled her head back, the stallion shook his head. Earlier, his lover wore a hard look, to which the radiance of her coat accompanied her gloomy appearance. But now she seemed to be in the greatest mood of all day. At least I’ve read a few books about mares during pregnancy. But to actually experience it first hand is completely different, Phoenix thought as he stood there. I hope that she will stay like this while we meet the Griffon Leaders. Who knows what will happen when somepony catches her in a bad mood, especially if they have caused her enough stress already.

Celestia stepped out of the bathroom while wearing a gold-embroidered dress that sparkled along with matching shoes. At the crest of her collarbone laid a gold necklace with diamonds embedded in an intricate design that resembled her cutie mark. When it was in direct sunlight, it reflected all of the colors of the rainbow in all directions. Phoenix smiled. At least she still wants to make a good impression.

“What do you think?” Celestia asked as she twirled, making her dress flutter out and sparkle brightly in the sun.

“Beautiful,” Phoenix replied with a gasp. “It matches your personality perfectly.”

The alicorn giggled. "Thank you."

The unicorn smiled in return as he opened the door. “Now, time to go.”

Celestia shook her head as she exited the bedroom. “I like that you don’t want to be late, but sometimes you have to be a bit more subtle so you don’t ruin the mood.”

Phoenix shrugged. “Sorry,” he said as he moved up to his lover’s side.

The alicorn chuckled and continued towards the Main Entrance. They trotted in silence, Phoenix looking around at the walls and out at the world through the windows while Celestia simply looked ahead, though deep in thought. What will happen if we fail to reason with the Griffons? More importantly, what will happen to Equestria? She shuddered at the next thought. How many ponies will be harmed or killed? Somehow, a voice, though sounding sinister, answered her questions. Why are you so afraid? I thought you were the most powerful being in this world. Besides, you have lived through a war before. You know how to fight.

Shocked, Celestia quickly retaliated. Times have changed. I know that I can reason with the Griffons. She then mentally asked, Who are you?

The enigma chuckled, though somehow sounding familiar. Just think of me as a pony that has lived with you from the beginning.

“We’re here.”

Celestia shook her head and brought herself back to reality. A carriage that was guarded was in front of her and Phoenix was facing her. “Are you okay?”

No. “Yes, I’m fine.”

The unicorn eyed her before nodding to the guards. One of them magically opened the door to the carriage and they both bowed. Celestia thanked them and sat herself on one of the seats by the window. Phoenix followed inside and sat on the opposite side. A call cut through the silence and the carriage then jolted into motion. Once they were in the air, Phoenix got up and sat next to the thinking alicorn. He placed a hoof on her shoulder and asked, “Are you okay?”

Celestia kept quiet for a moment before sighing, “No.”

She then turned her gaze from the blurred ground to Phoenix and wore a warm smile. “But this time I know the reason for my distress.”

Phoenix cocked his head to the side. “Oh?”

She turned her head back to the window and asked, “Have you wondered how ponies came to existence?”

“Wasn’t it because of evolution? Or were we created by a higher, more powerful being?”

“No. But good guess.” She returned her gaze back to the unicorn and said, “Those were just theories, rumors, that have developed into strong arguments. But everything that you have heard is false.”

“Then... how?”

“A long time ago, long before Discord’s rule, there was no such thing as regular ponies. No pegasi, unicorns, or even earth ponies. Everypony was an alicorn.”

Phoenix gasped. “What!?”

Before he could continue, Celestia raised a hoof. “Hold on, I will explain.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. “During that time, everypony lived in harmony, like today, but now it’s between the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. We lived for so long that we forgot what the term ‘war’ was, or what even caused hate. It was perfect. But if there was one thing that I’ve learned over the years is that all great things must come to an end.”

“What happened?”

She opened her eyes and thought for a moment. Her horn then began to glow as she asked, “It will be hard to explain in words. Do you mind if I show you?”

Phoenix looked at her horn, then outside, then to the floor of the carriage. He closed his eyes and sighed, “Go ahead.”

Celestia moved forward and touched his forehead with her charged horn. The world around them broke, first in the distance where the rocky mountains were torn like paper, then the force closed in on them. It made a tornado of colors, though behind the tornado was the familiar color of black. Then the floor disappeared, making them weightless in the dark void of the dream world. For the first time in countless years, a pony will learn of the secrets of the past that was long forgotten.

He will also learn why it has been hidden for all this time.

“Celestia! What are you doing?”

“Sorry mom...”

Mom? Phoenix thought as he opened his eyes. He gazed upon the alicorns before him and gasped. Celestia was a filly with a pink mane and tail, though she still had the pristine white coat, but she didn’t have her cutie mark. Her mother, however, was almost the complete opposite of her daughter. At least in coat color. She had a slate-grey coat with the usual flowing mane and tail that Celestia had in the present, but they had different shades of blue running through them. She had golden eyes and her cutie mark... well, she didn’t have one. Is that even possible?

The grey alicorn sighed and went into the adjacent room, saying, “That’s why we keep telling you to not run through the house. Otherwise accidents like this will happen.”

Other than the broken item on the floor, the room that they were in looked like a living room. A couch was placed at one wall with a small table in front of it; a bookcase was on another wall, though it was next to a window; pictures were placed around the walls, making the room feel more at home; there was a fireplace, but it wasn’t being used other than storing various items and a few family photos. To Phoenix, it was like any other home in Equestria. But this is Celestia’s home.

Phoenix got up onto his hooves when the grey alicorn left the room and went to one of the photos on the wall. In the pictures, he could identify Celestia and her mother, but the other two alicorns were unfamiliar. One alicorn was a filly that seemed to be almost the same age as Celestia, but she didn’t look anything like Luna. The other alicorn was slightly taller than the mother and was easily identifiable as a stallion. Must be Celestia’s sister and father. But where’s Luna?

Before he could think of logical reasons, the mother came back in with a broom and a dust pan floating in her golden magic. “Please be careful next time. I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said as she swept the broken pieces into the pan. That was when Phoenix took note of how her voice sounded. Her tone was gentle, melodic to certain ears, but it also held a certain authority to it. It was almost like she could rule the world and nopony would question her authority. However, Celestia’s voice in the memory was small and uncertain, but, nonetheless, cute.

Celestia hung her head. “Okay...”

Celestia’s mother lifted the dust pan into the air and turned to Celestia. She trotted over to her daughter and nuzzled her neck. “Listen, I’m not mad at you. Besides, it’s replaceable. But you aren’t.”

The older alicorn then got up and trotted out of the room once more, while Celestia watched her until she disappeared from sight. She sighed as she trotted up to the couch and plopped down on it. Her horn glowed and a book floated from the bookshelf only to come to levitate in front of her. She placed the book back as another was lifted from a shelf to replace it. This continued for ten minutes as she browsed through the books on all of the shelves. When she was two books away from looking over all of them, her eyes lit up and she quickly sat up. She opened the book to a page that was folded on a corner and held it in the air as she laid on her side. Phoenix trotted over to the shadow of his lover and read the title. Magic 101: Useful Everyday Spells. Phoenix felt a hint of nostalgia as he thought, Heh, I've read that book before. Pretty useful to learn most of those spells.

He shook his head. Wait. What?! Is the book really that old?

Then, the room became noticeably darker, though it seemed that it was losing color as well. The filly lost some of her color as well, while also becoming frozen, as if time itself had been stopped on that particular moment. “As you can see, life was practically the same as it is now,” Celestia said as she walked up to Phoenix’s side. “Well, not in this memory, but in the current time.”

The unicorn jumped in surprise. “Gah!”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner, but I had to prepare the memories that I’m going to show you. The language isn’t the same in this period as it is currently, so I had to change the speaking patterns to at least have this make more sense. Also, a lot has happened in this time period, so I had to go through and shorten the time that it will take to show you the past. I would rather wake up on time for our meeting.”

“Wait, we’re sleeping?”

“Yes. In real time, we have only thirty minutes before we arrive to our destination. But, for some reason, our minds elongate our perception of time while we are dreaming.”

Phoenix cocked his head to the side. “So... you’re saying that it will seem like we will be sleeping for longer than thirty minutes?”

Celestia nodded. “We will be in the dream world for about 6 hours at the most. I know it seems like a long time, but I need you to understand the reasons why it has been erased from history.”

Phoenix closed his eyes and sighed, “You know, I’m not a big fan of censorship, especially with something that makes us who we are today.” He then opened his eyes and gazed into his lover’s with scrutiny and curiosity. “But I’ll keep an open mind and try to figure out the reason for the made actions.”

The alicorn wore a pained expression. “I know that this will be hard, but please be understanding about this.”

To her dismay, Phoenix laughed. “I have grown to be an understanding pony. I’m sure that I’ll figure this out.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “That you are. Now, shall we begin?”

Besides being greeted with determination, apprehension flooded Phoenix’s eyes. Worried, Celestia asked, “Do you want to do this?”

Phoenix looked around the room before sighing, “I have a feeling that this will probably not be very pleasant. Otherwise you wouldn’t have kept the past a secret for all these years.”

This time, Celestia felt the same fear, though not one out of premonition, but from how her stallion would fare after they woke up. “I promise that I won’t show anything too horrible, but you should still expect some bad things to happen.”

The unicorn sat on his haunches and breathed out heavily, “How bad?”

The alicorn flinched. Be honest. “There will be death. Some will be more gruesome than others, but that is all in the past. I don’t mind if you don’t want to do this, but it will be hard to explain all of this in a short time.” She sighed. “I also didn’t want to show you, but it will be quicker and easier to comprehend how things happened and why.”

Phoenix lowered his head and closed his eyes. At first, his face was calm, then it slowly changed to a grimace, then back to being calm. He sighed, “I’ll do it.” He opened his eyes and looked up to the Princess. “I want to know what happened, no matter the cost.” He closed his eyes again. “No matter how bad the truth hurts.”

“As you wish.”

Her horn glowed and Phoenix heard the turn of a page from the couch. He glanced around the room before asking, “So what’s so important about this time period?”

Celestia looked out the window. “Listen closely.”

Phoenix opened his mouth to ask why, but thought better than to do so and focused on his hearing. His ears swiveled around, trying to pick up any noises other than the pages turning and the clinking of glass in the next room. Then he heard it. “What was that?”

The noise happened again, this time louder than the last. He heard the book behind him drop to the floor, but that wasn’t the sound that caught his attention. The sound itself, however, made the unicorn’s eyes narrow to pinpoints.

It was screaming.

“What’s happening?” he whispered.

Celestia continued to gaze outside, looking at the place she once called home. She turned her focus to Phoenix with tears in her eyes as she answered, “It’s the beginning and the end, Phoenix.” She closed her eyes as she breathed, “The beginning of ponykind and the end of the alicorns.”