Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Celestia's Story Time Part 1

As the guests were safely evacuated from the Gala's ballroom, the injured tended to, and debris being cleaned up, Princess Celestia lead Sunny, Applejack, Twilight and the others into her study, ready to explained everything, believing that at the very least 'they' deserved to know the truth.

Once they all were safely inside her study, the room soundproffed with a silancing spell, then the princess of the sun began her explanation "Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria…"

"Why is she starting things off like that?" Thunderlane whispered to Sunny, slightly confused why the princess needs to start her story like some pony's tale.

"She used to tell me this story all the time when I was younger" Sunny whispered back, a huge smile on his muzzle. "And I loved it when she started like this…"

"There lived three pony tribes, unicorn, pegusi and earth pony, who were establishing peace between their tribes. But no pony knew how to keep the balance of power. That is, until a wise and powerful unicorn wizard, known as Star-Swirl the bearded, introduced my sister and I to the ponies who would later call us princesses….

It had been some time since Star-Swirl found my sister and I playing around atop the hills of what would later be called 'Cantetlot'. He had taken us under his wing and began training us to become princesses that would one day rule all of Equestria. To do this, he trained us in all sorts of magic, the proper edicut, pony law and history, so many things that made my sister and my head's spin. Being princesses wasn't going to be easy, but Star-Swirl believed my sister and I alone were the ones who could bring harmony to Equestria. Gifted not only with magic that easily overshadowed even Star-Swirl himself, as well as having the combined abilities of all three tribes of ponies, no pony else was suited to rule Equestria. We were both symbols of harmony and peace keepers. With myself to raise the sun and my sister to control the night, ponies easily recognized us with our great power. After many years, with Star-Swirl's help, my sister and I both became rulers that he had hoped we would be.

It was true that I got lost in the limelight, I enjoyed being the center of everypony's focus. I was the older sister who raised the sun to begin the day, so everypony assumed I was the wiser and more powerful of us. It built the foundation of Luna's resentment towards me, as well as add a great deal of stress to myself.

Being the pony everypony loved and looked up to was great, but behind closed doors I felt alone. Luna would hardly speak to me most of the time, Star-Swirl was always busy with his work or quests he went on to try and help keep peace in Equestria, and everypony else thought themselves below me and thought they could never be my 'friend'. At the end of the day, I would lower the sun and just retire to my room, possibly to read some of the books Star-Swirl assigned to me, untill I drifted off to sleep.

It was the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, my sister and I had started holding the yearly party to strengthen the ties of royalty, ponies in high positions, as well as the wealthy and powerful. Star-Swirl had spread the word of the Gala, reaching out to politicians and royals from all over Equestria. The first couple of Galas, those who showed up were rather stiff and a little stuck up, some even Questioned my sister and my rule. That is, until they witnessed us lowing the sun and bringing out the moon and stars. Those simple actions eurned their respect, or at least their silance. My sister would often keep to herself, in a corner or on the wide balcony, away from most ponies who gathered around me. Which left me all alone to deal with their comments, concerns and and worst of all, boasting.

It was a common thing for ponies who were wealthy to boast about what they spend their bits on to try and show off and impress one another. Whether it was some expensive item like a 50,000 bit vause, a large and fancy house, or using their wealth to travel and experience new and exotic vacations, it was all they ever talked about. The things they bought or payed for sounded nice, but the way they all talked about them it was easy to tell that those ponies were only trying to impress me, and degrade the others for not being able to experience or have what they had. It was all sickening to say the least, but I did my best to keep up a smile around them.

It was on the night of one Gala in particular that I met somepony different from them.

I had been surrounded by the usual group of Gala guests who couldn't wait to tell me all about their achievements or about their lands when 'he' entered the Gala floor. When his arrival was announced, his name called just as every guest had, no pony cared much to turn and look at him. Or if they did, it wasn't for very long.

He was dressed in a royal purple king's cloak that hung barely off his body, with dark silver horse shoes and matching chest plate. He had dark green eyes that sparkled like emeralds, his mane was slick black with a streak of calm blue running through it, he had a firm and solid look about his muzzle, yet there was a gentleness to his entirety. His crown was a simple band of dark silver,like his armor, but with just a yellow gem stone at the center. Traveling with him was a small but eager looking, purple unicorn mare, with a light blue mane. She had worn a night sky style dress I knew my sister would have loved. As he made his way to the floor, he and his guest were ignored. Almost as if they had some disease.

Interrupting a long winded mare who couldn't stop talking about her school for future wizards, I asked "Who are those ponies? And why are they being ignored?"

The mare was curtious for my interruption, but as she looked over at the guests in question she sneered in their direction. "I wouldn't bother talking to them if I were you, your majesty. It's the king and his friend from the Crystal Empire. It's gone down hill since princess Amore vanished and left that brute in charge. He's just some captain of their guard. What's even more obserd is his lack of a cutie Mark!"

"He doesn't have a cutie Mark?" I asked, amazed that anypony that age still hadn't discovered their special talent.

"An absolute abomination, isn't he?" Some other guest sneered. "What kind of a pony, much less a king, could not have his cutie Mark!?"

"Guess he really isn't good at anything!" The first guest said loudly enough for both Sombra and his guest to hear.

As everypony chuckled at Sombra's expense, the King of the Crystal Empire did the exact opposite of what most ponies would do. Instead of retreating, he marched right up to the group, his head held high as he forced himself into the group.

"I'm sorry, I guess I missed the joke, what, may I ask is so funny?" Sombra asked, then narrowed his eyes on the mare who initially made the rude remark.

Everypony went silent and looked either down or away from the boldly standing king Sombra, not in disgust, but more in nervous shame. All except myself. I watched as the cutie markless king of the Crystal Empire stood his ground and faced the ponies who made fun of him. Everypony there seemed to be ok with making fun of him behind his back, but with the noble looking king standing there, his eyes burning down on them, they were as silent as feild mice.

Then I spoke up.

"King Sombra of the Crystal Empire" I said with a small and sincere smile, pulling his attentive eyes to me. "I don't believe we've met."

"Never face to face" his hard look relaxed as our eyes met. He smiled at me and I felt something I hadn't in a long time. I felt relaxed. It was like his smilling face made the rest of the world around us vanish, drawing in my full attention to him. For a moment, I forget all about the stress I had being a princess. And once again I enjoyed being me. It was after a long moment that we snapped out of our endless gaze into each other's eyes when he offered "would you like some punch?"

"I would" I admitted. "I was starting to feel a little parched."

"I'll get you some punch, your highness!" One guest offered with great enthusiasm.

"No I will!" The mare who spoke up earlier offered as well, just as eager to be of service to the princess.

"Would you like a snack too!" A third guest chimed in, trying to out do the others by going an extra mile.

"I think I'll get it myself" I told them, much to their disappointed looks. "King Sombra, would you care to join me?"

"I would love to" Sombra smiled at me again, and it was as if the world melted away again.

I don't remember what the guests looked like, watching us leave them behind, but I didn't much care. There was something about Sombra that I liked, something that made me feel good, something that made me feel relaxed and at ease.

When we reached the balcony, he relaxed and released a held breath. "Those ponies are quite the hoof full, aren't they?"

"They are" I admitted to him. "But I don't think they are all that bad. They just try and look good for my sister and I. Everypony wants to impress 'the rulers of Equestria'."

We both laughed a little.

"I have to admit, I wouldn't want to be in your horse shoes" Sombra told me with a half smile.

"Oh? You wouldn't want to rule all of Equestria?" I jokingly asked.

His expression grew slightly somber as he looked over across the sea of trees that surrounded our castle. "Not really. If Princess Amore hadn't left me in charge, I would have been happy just serving as a royal guard the rest of my life. There are alot of responsibilities that come with ruling over ponies. I couldn't imagine what you must go through."

"It isn't easy" I admitted, my own gaze soon followed his as I looked out into the forest surrounding the castle. "It's nice to live in a castle, to eat the finest foods, to wear the finest dresses, to never have to worry about bits. But it's stressful and lonely."

"Lonely? Don't you have a sister? And that wizard who's always around?" Sombra sounded a little confused as he tore his eyes from the forest and looked back to me.

"My sister… we conflict alot. Sun and Moon are opposite and so are our personalities." Or so I thought as I explained my troubles to him. "She is always off alone, breuding in her room or somewhere else while I deal with the everypony. We used to face it all together, but she's so moody lately. I don't know why.

"As for Star-Swirl… he's nice and all, a little rough around the edges, but he's so busy all the time. I understand his work is important but…"

"You wish you had somepony to talk to who wasn't kissing the ground you walked on?" Sombra cracked a half smile at me again.

It was at that moment I think I finally connected with somepony other then my sister. It was like he knew what I was feeling. No, it's that he understood what I was dealing with, and was treating me like any other pony who carried weight of responsibility. I was lost in those emerald eyes of his again, for I don't even know how long. But that night, I felt the burden I carried and the loneliness I had began to lighten on my heart. I began to understand the magic of friendship.

Over the next few months to follow, we took every chance we could to spend time together, which wasn't easy. Our friendship, though, was strengthened by letters we began writing to one another. A spell he had shown me in a previous meeting had proven quite useful for keeping in touch, although burning letters and scrolls to send them off safely to who the letter was adressed to left me.a little unease. It wasn't until I received a letter back that I felt more comfortable with the method. He said if I had a dragon around that wouldn't mind burping up letters that they would be received much quicker, sadly I didn't know any dragons kind enough to not eat the letter they would spit up. I loved reading anything and everything he sent me. We talked about out pasts lightly, but mostly we wrote once or twice a week about experiences he or I had. He had told me about some of his more daring hunts for the Princess Amore, of conflicts he had to resolve, and battles that took place defending the Empire. I had shared with him similar stories of my earlier days as a princess. What we found we enjoyed the most, though, was simply hearing about were each other's day to day lives and the minor problems we faced. We began to write to each other more and more, until we found we were writing to each other everyday.

The more we wrote, the more we wanted to meet again in person. We even went as far as to make up reasons to visit each other's castles so no pony knew we were just trying to meet for fun. We both had alot of responsibility, but that also meant we needed to find ways to relax as well. And it was easiest to do when you were with a friend. We would write either stories, songs or poetry and share it with one another, we would sometimes play games, or even just listen to music and dance. He was a great dancer, light on his hooves with such fluid movement. On occasion my sister or Radiant Hope would join us, but my sister still felt rather bitter towards me most days. Radiant, on the other hoof, was very fun to be around. She was like another younger sister that was always so full of energy and made everything interesting.

It was on one night that Sombra graced Canterlot with a visit to 'talk about trade with the Yaks' that we both realized something had changed between us, or maybe, it was something that was always there.

It was late at night, almost late enough to be called the next day, when we both met on the balcony just outside my bedroom. He looked down and out onto the forest below, something was bothering him.

"Sombra, what troubles you?" I asked him, growing more and more worried.

He took several breaths as if trying to muster the courage to speak, only to lose that same courage when he exhaled.

"You can talk to me about anything" I reassured him, truly growing frightned by his stoic attitude.

"Celestia…." He finally answered, which worried me. He normally called me Tia when we were relaxed and not talking about official business. "I… I think I've fallen in love… with a friend…"

"Oh?…" Was all I could think to say. Out of all the different things I worried about that ran through my head in that instant, 'falling in love with a friend' wasn't really one of them. Knowing Sombra the way I did, I stepped forward, a little sorrow weighing down my chest for some unknown reason to me as I asked "Does she know?"

"She does now…" Sombra answered in a hushed tone that I mistook.

"Well… I want you to be happy" I started to answer as if I was losing him to somepony else, which I thought I was.

"I want 'us' to be happy" Sombra looked me in the eye, then shot me a gentle smile, like the kind he wore when he read his poety. "I just don't want to lose you… I feel so happy when I'm with you, I didn't know what I would do if you rejected me. But Radiants' been telling me that I needed to just talk to you."

Taking another deep breath myself, trying to gather my through, I looked to Sombra and spoke as honsely as I could while holding back the tears. "All I want is for you to be happy. I'll be your friend no matter what. I know that you may want more time with Radiant, though, and it would be awkward if you keep writing to me as much as you do-"

"Why would I want more then with Radiant? And I wouldn't even think ok…." Sombra started to inject then paused and put a hoof to his forehead as his smile grew a little. "Celestia… I think you're mistaken. I haven't fallen in love with Radiant Hope. I fell in love with 'you'."

At first I thought I didn't hear him correctly, and my stomach began to turn. In disbelief, I looked to him and asked "what did you say?"

His smile wavered, but he kept his eyes locked with mine as he took a step closer to me. "I said 'I'm in love with you…'"

The worry, sadness, heart ache and pain I had felt had been blown away by a wave of emotion I couldn't begin to describe. It was like when I raised the sun for the first time. My world now had new light to it, one that burned and filled me with a comforting warmth. As I looked deeper into his emerald green eyes, I saw a spark of life I had never seen before in any anypony but him. This was love, and it was happening to me. We didn't say much more that night, but we kissed and held one another until I raised the sun. Day and night meant very little to me anymore. My day and night were with him. He made my world shine like the sun.

We both decided it would be best to keep out love a secret for now. We were sure of our feelings for each other, but others might not share that same feeling. As rulers, we had to also take into account I our subjects and what 'they' needed. For now, the only ponies who knew about us were each other and Radiant, who was bursting with joy when we told her we confessed to eachother.

Sombra's time with me, though, had to come to an end for that visit. But we found other ways to see each other. Sending letters and the scattered 'meetings' weren't enough, and the Crystal Empire wasn't exactly close to the Everfree forest. But love finds a way. We created, with the help of Star-Swirl the bearded, mirrors that we can use to walk through and travel long distances. Similar mirrors were placed all across Equestria, for diplomatic use. Star-Swirl never guessed that the Mirror to the Crystal Empire was used so much. Every night practically, say for a time or two when the one of us wasn't in our repective castle.

We had even more wonderful times; we still played games and read poetry and stories, and fun times with Radiant or Luna (on rarer occasions) but we also shared romantic evenings, date nights, private times that only couple's shared. It would only have been better if we could be open to our subjects about our love, like most ponies were. But our positions would never allow it.

That bitter pain was thrown in my face one night when I asked Star-Swirl, my mentor and friend about if I ever one day wanted to marry.

"Everypony is entitled to love" Star-Swirl began his speech as he shuffled around some new books he brought back on his recent journey. I merely sat back and listened. "I myself had courted many wonderful mares in my prime. None of which ended in courtship, but that sometimes happens. But one thing you need to keep in mind, young filly…"

The old wizard slammed a book into place on his shelf before turning to me and looking me right in the eye "You can be with anypony, anypony at all, but you must never, ever, under any circumstances, be with a royal with a higher status then a prince."

I was surprised by his answer for more then one reason. I didn't think he would be so ok with me dating or being in a relationship, that took me off guard. But what really bothered me the most was his condition for me dating.

"Why nothing higher then a prince?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice from shaking nervously. Star-Swirl may have had some social awkwardness and may not have always picked up on social cues, but no pony was dense enough to mistake worry in my voice at that moment.

"Mind you, some titles are a grey area" Star-Swirl then levitated a book from a high shelf to land in his hooves. He cracked the book open and began flipping through to find a certain page. "Different regions have different levels and titles for their hierarchy, but you mustn't be in a relationship with anypony of a higher status then a prince simply because they will raise your own status higher then you are now.

"You see, dear Celestia, we're trying to establish a balance in Equestria, and it may take some time before it's stablized. That balance is represented by you and your sister. Two princesses, both with with the powers of all three pony tribes, and both on an equal level, despite how your sister feels. But if you or your sister entered into a committed relationship with somepony who was, say, a king, that would make that one of you who was a princess a Queen now. And if that happens, the other sister would easily be overpowered and the balance would be tipped."

This made my heart race. I was sure Star-Swirl wasn't aware of my and Sombra's relationship, but the fact that he used a 'king' made me nervous. I knew I needed to wrap the conversation us fast. "W-well that certainly is good to now. Should my sister or I ever consider a romantic relationship, we'll certainly keep that in mind."

"One thing, Celestia" Star-Swirl tore his eyes from his book and looked to his student. "I'm worried about your sister. She's been rather moody lately. Perhaps you two should take a day off together to relax. There's this nice little secluded island I think you two should check out."

"That's a good idea" I hastly agreed, then cleared my throat and tried to regain my composure. "I mean, I'll talk to her. She did seem quit upset at dinner last night. Maybe a little retreat would do her some good."

I took a map with directions to the island from Star-Swirl and left, planning to talk to my sister about the whole ordeal. It was true that at the time we had grown rather… distant, to say the least. I was ignorant to her feelings and didn't bother to see what she was becoming. But deep down, she was still my sister Luna, the pony I knew most of my life, who I felt I could trust, even with my deepest, darkest secrets.

Needless to say, she reacted as expected.

With her jaw dropped and eyes growing even larger then regular pony sized eyes, Luna staired at me in disbelieve when I told her of the relationship I had with King Sombra. "Sister… thou art playing a joke on me, aren't thee?"

"No dear sister, I'm very serious" I reassured her, my tone just as forlorn as I continued. "And now, Star-Swirl just informed me that it would he impossible for us to be together because Sombra is a king and if I were to merry him that would make me a Queen and ponies would think that there is no balance left in Equestria and that-"

Before I knew it I was rambling like a frightened old mare to such a point that Luna had to silance me, putting her hoof to my mouth. Realizing this after she silanced me, I nodded for her to remove her hoof, which she did slowly while watching me. Making sure that I want going to fall to pieces again.

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself, then looked back to her, feeling the great weight I had over my shoulders. "I just don't know what to do, Luna. I love him so much… it's like, when I'm with him, all my worried melt away, and I don't worry about all the pressures of a princess…"

"Yeah, how horrible it must be for everypony to love and adore you" Luna said under her breath, but I didn't see her deepseated jealousy at the time. "Well, dear sister, if thou ever wishes to marry, you simply need to find the lost princess of the Crystal Empire. Once she's returned, Sombra can go back to being a captain of the guard, and you two can have a perfect storybook wedding."

"I've thought about that alot" I told my sister. "But despite all the spells, skilled trackers, and other odd means I tried, no pony can find her. Even the great witch Baba yaga couldn't find her!" I felt hopeless once even the three wise sisters couldn't find her with all their abilities.

"Why doesn't he just become a prince?" Luna also suggested. "Would not a change in title rectify the situation?"

"I tried to look ok into that, too" I explained. "He was given the title of 'King' because it is a temporary title of command and athority. If he changes it himself to 'prince' ponies might not like him taking a more permanent possition of command. Lots of ponies don't like him being in charge, some even make fun of him behind his back for not having a cutie mark."

"What is with that anyway, dear sister?" Luna broke away from their train of thought to try and satisfy her own curiosity. "Did Sombra tell you why he never found his special talent? His destiny?"

"He has no idea himself" I admitted to my sister. "He's skilled in many things. Hoof to hoof combat, he's mastered more weapons then I ever thought existed, he's an excellent negotiator, he understands pony law better then you or I put together, he's a wonderful singer and dancer, he writes the most wonderful poems. He's even taught me some spells Star-Swirl never did!"

"Don't tell the old wizard that" Luna said with a half smiled. "He'll pack up again and leave for a few more months to find new spells to impress us."

"Luna" I leaned in close to my sister, about to share another dark secret, which really caught Luna's attention. " He tried to teach me Crystal magic, but something about never being there for the Crystal fair had something to do with my inability to form the crystals. But he was able to teach me Dark Magic-"

"DARK MAGIC!" Luna was rightfully shocked, but I put my hooves over her mouth. When she nodded for me to remove my hooves, Luna looked at me like I had grown a second head. "Dark Magic!? But Star-Swirl said we should never, ever, try and learn it! It corrupts ponies and drives them mad!"

"That's the thing, Luna" I began to explain. "He's mastered it! He can focus his magic into dark magic, cast a spell, then turn it off! He's shown me how the easiest way to break a spell cast by dark magic is with dark magic. He said the hardest thing to do is to flip it off. If a pony doesn't, that's what corrupts them. But Sombra mastered it, and he even thought me a little too!"

Thinking for a moment, Luna bit her lip, she was nervous to ask something then nervous to talk about the dark magic. "Do you think… do you think maybe, I could learn it too?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you" I went out on a limb, hoping this would spur Luna more into helping me. "I could ask. But not just anypony can learn to control it. We're getting off topic. He won't have time to teach you if all we do is sneak around behind everypony's backs."

Thinking for a moment, Luna half gave up and threw out there "why don't you two just have a relationship in secret until Princess Amore is found? Isn't that what you two were already doing?"

I hung my head reluctantly. "Sombra suggested the same thing… but I can't just keep sneaking around. It's not fair to him and it's not fair to me. Love shouldn't be kept a secret. Love should be shared."

Thinking more about the idea, Luna then offered "I could help you and Sombra sneak around and meet up, if you want. I know you two don't want to hide your feelings, but are you really ok with just letting him go?"

I knew Luna was right about me letting Sombra go, but I was more shocked that the sister I hesitated about confiding in, was now offering to go out of her way to help us. "You would do that for us, Sister? Oh! Thank you so much, little sister! It's not a permanent solution, but it's better then what we have now!"

I embrassed my sister with the biggest hug I had in years.

When she could catch her breath, Luna caught my attention by tapping on my forehoof and wheezing out "air…."

For some time, Sombra and I continued to meet in secret, which was made easier with the help of my sister. When I would disapear, she would make up an excuse for Star-Swirl, deligats, or guards as to where I was and why I couldn't be disturbed. I'll admit, some of her excused were a little less then charming…

"My sister ate some bad chilly" my sister told those who attended a meeting on constriction on the west coast of Equestria, the attendants wished to build a city where ponies could gamble, watch shows, and ride roller coasters.

"Bad mane day, even the royal hairdressers can't make it look better then a cotton ball" Luna told the prince from Trot when he saught to court me.

"Pony flu, you do not want to go in there, the doctor is taking care of her, but it's a mess" was what my sister told the military leaders who wanted a meeting to talk about armor for their pet hamsters.

"The princess spent all night taste testing the cakes for the royal bake off and has a stomach ache" Luna told the subjects who invited me to judge a cook out.

Or my favorite

"You don't want to know. Just let sleeping mares lie" was was my sister used whenever she felt less creative with her less then charming excuses.

I'll admit she did manage to keep ponies away from us, allowing my beloved Sombra and I to have time togeather. Combine that with the mirrors Star-Swirl created that linked our castles, we had more freedom then before. But it still wasn't enough. We didn't want to sneak around forever, and we knew the only way to free Sombra from the curse of being a king was to find Princess Amore.

Sombra approached me one night and told me he was going to go on a longer, more indepth search for the princess with a small rag tag team he managed to put togeather of who he believed was our best shot on finding the missing princess. Sombra would be gone a while, which is why for that one night, he wished to stay with me, holding me, until I had to raise the sun. That was one of the four times I wished I didn't have to raise the sun. But we knew what must be done, and as I raised the sun that next morning, Sombra with a heavy heart, left to start his most dangerous journey to find the missing Princess of the Crystal Empire. In his absence, I was fighting my own great battle, one that would change our lives forever.

His absence was hard on me, especially given my emotional state. I did my best to keep my regal composure, but some things were hard to hide, and a certain clever and insightful mare spotted it.

"Your majesty, may I have a word with you… alone" Clover the Clever muttered under her breath as she stood by my side while I read through another stack of scrolls.

I could see it in her eyes, she knew something wasn't right. Whether it was my slight mood swings, new found love for large frilly dresses, or odd eating habits, Clover had found out my secret.

I had taken her to my secret room to have the discussion. For extra privacy, Clover cast a silancing spell on the room before asking me in the calmest way. "How far along are you?"

I knew there was no way to lie to her, so I took in and held a breath for a moment before removing my frilly dress that covered most of my body to revel a good sized baby bump. "Almost due."

"Is Sombra the father?" Clover asked in a nutral tone.

"He is" I admitted. I had a feeling she knew about us. Star-Swirl may have been her teacher and had more experience in the magical arts, but Clover had more insight when it came to affairs with ponies. She wasn't called 'the Clever' for nothing. "Please, you must not tell anypony."

Clover simply smiled and nodded, "Can I feel?"

Seeing her support put me at ease, and I happily let her feel the child. I levitated up my large dress to expose my large belly.

As she ran her hoof over my stomach, her smile widened. "You weren't joking. You're ready to pop. Have you picked out names?"

"Yes, but I wanted to run them by the father first" In that moment I flopped from relaxed and joyed to a feeling of overwhelming depression and hopelessness, almost falling to tears. "I hope he makes it back soon. I want him with me…."

Looking me right in the eye, Clover took my hoof "I know some ponies I can trust to keep this a secret. They can help. But we can't let Star-Swirl know, at least not yet."

"Thank you, Clover" I managed to wipe the tears from my eyes. "I can't thank you enough "

"It's my honor, your majesty" She patted my hoof, still smiling at me. "We are all just ponies, and we need to work together if we ever hope for a brighter future. That's what I've learned."

I was greatful to all those who helped me during those harder times of my pregnancy. Luna delt with the royal duties I had to leave her and Clover and her friends helped me to keep up with the duties I could still do while pressing through my pregnancy. The days seemed to stretch longer, and every day I held onto hope that Sombra would return to see the birth of his child.

It was on night, when I couldn't sleep, I felt I couldn't stall the foal any longer. I was going to deliver the baby, with or without Sombra. Clover, who had stayed by my side at night, had summoned her trusted friends to my Chambers. Her friends helped me to my secret room to deliver the foal, Clover told me she would get a doctor who we could trust and would be back soon. Not long after her friends got me into my secret room did Clover return with another good friend of ours.

"I need you to start your breathing, and try and relax, you are in good hooves" Radiant Hope instructed me as she began to glove up.

As I began my breathing, I looked up at her and asked"Is… he he hoo… is he coming? He he hoo… he he hoo…"

"He's on his way" Radiant told me, preparing some warm towels. "He got back to the Crystal Empire not long before Clover got me. I sent him a scroll and told him in our code that you were pregnant and about to give birth. He'll be here any moment…"

That brought a smile to my muzzle, I wanted nothing more then to have him here for the wonderful, life changing moment.

As if on cue, King Sombra burst through the doors, eyes looking all around until he zoomed in on me. He practically flew across the room to my side, taking my hoof in his, running the other along the side of my face. "Celestia… when I heard the news, I rushed over as soon as I could. A foal. Our foal. Why didn't you tell me you were expecting?"

A little ashamed but wanting to stand by my decision,I looked my beloved in the eye and told him "I didn't want to distract you... He he hoo … from finding princess Amore...he he hoo…"

Appearing disappointed, Sombra spoke in a rather low and disheartening tone. "I… wasn't able to find her… I'm so sorry Tia."

"It's ok" I told him as I raised my own hoof to raise his low head,forcing his eyes to meet mine. "You're here now, that's all that matters"

"Keep breathing, Celestia" Radiant instructed, not wanting to ruin the tender moment, but a foal was on its way.

I did as she told me and continued my breathing, Sombra holding my hooves and encouraing me the whole way. The birth was so painless I almost didn't feel it. I just felt something move from within me to out into the world. When I looked over at Radiant Hope who had caught and cleaned up our foal, I could hardly believe it. Our child seemed so perfect so pure.

"Congratulations to you both, it's a colt" Radiant said as she passed the foal to me, wrapped up nicely in a soft blanket. He cried for only a moment until he was in my hooves.

"A colt…" I repeated her as I looked down at the little ball or yellow fur. Atop his big round head was a rounded horn that stood in front of a messy two toned orange mane. The little guy opened his eyes and looked up at me and did the first thing that melted our hearts. He smiled.

"He's so beautiful" Sombra softly said, holding me. "Just like his mother."

As Sombra reached down to touch our son with his hoof, the little yellow colt reached out and firmly grabbed his hoof.

"He's got a good grip" Sombra added, his smile growing.

"Strong, just like his father" I commented, eurning a smile from Sombra. "What shall we name him?"

"I have no idea" Sombra answered honestly with a slight laugh. "I wasn't expecting to be a father anytime soon."

"I have a few I thought about" I answered. "But none seem quite right for our big brave son."

"Son" Sombra repeated the word. "Son…Sun… how about Sunny? A name to match his bright spirit."

I looked down and saw the little colt was looking all around, smiling and laughing at everything. I could never forget such an innocent smile or pure hearted laughter.

"Sunny is perfect" I agreed. "But I want him to grow up and never forget how strong he is. How about…Knight?"

"Sunny Knight" Radiant repeated the name as she wrote it down on a birth certificate, wearing a smile of her own...

"I feel like we should have realized who your mother was, before hearing that" Twilight commented, interrupting the story and bringing everypony back to the present.

"It seems really obvious now that we hear it out loud" Rainbow Dash added.

"His cutie mark even looks like hers" Thunderlane popped in.

"Granted there are quite a few unicorn ponies who have sun based cutie marks, but theirs are very similar." Octavia noted, looking over at Sunny's glank, then to Celestia's, then back to Sunny's. "I don't know how we didn't see it sooner."

"I can't believe Princess Celestia was able to keep a Coltfriend a secret, much less a son" Rarity added.

"And one of the villains we had to defeat. I mean really, who could have guessed..." Spike piped up then put a claw to his mouth realizing that Sombra may have been a villain, but now he knew Sombra was also Sunny's father and Princess Celestia's special somepony. "Ugh, what I mean is…"

"Shhhh! You guys are interrupting!" Derpy popped in, then grabbed a hoof full of pop corn from the tub Pinkie had in her hooves, refocusing her attention back to Princess Celestia.

"Now, where was I... Oh yes" the regal princess of the sun started back up again with her story. "After Sunny's birth, I stayed in my secret room for a few days to recover and spend some personal time with my newborn son. Sombra had claimed he went back out on a search for Princess Amore on a new lead. During those few days, we had to make some very hard decitions that would effect all out lives….

"We can't tell anypony about us" I explained again to Sombra the issue with us even being together. I had relayed to him in the past what Star-Swirl had told me about a princess marrying or just being involved with a pony of status, such as a king, and what may come of it.

"How can we explain him then?" Sombra was growing frustrated, but more with worry then anger. "We can't just say he popped out of nowhere. How are we supposed to raise him?"

Reluctantly, I looked from our sleeping son back to my beloved. "He will have to stay with one of us, and the other parent will be kept a secret. At least until princess Amore is found and you can hang up your title as King."

This didn't sit well with Sombra, and I could tell. He got this hard, almost stone like face whenever he was thinking hard. He was trying to think of a way for us to be one big happy family, like the family we always wanted. But he couldn't figure out a way without causing trouble for our subjects.

"I'll take our son" Sombra finally broke the silance.

"Are you sure that is a wise decision?" I sounded hesitant, concern weighing heavily in my voice.

"If I take him, no pony will ask where he came from" Sombra began to explain. "At most, there might be more rumors spread about me, but that would be it."

"And 'he' might get bullied too, you know that" I added, knowing full well how mean some foal, especially the foals of rich parents could be. And if Sunny went with his father, he would definitely be exposed to those spoiled little foals.

"And what do you think would happen if he went with you and ponies began to look into who his father would be? You and Star-Swirl were worried about if ponies would start a world war over titles, what do you think they would do if you had a child with no father in the picture?" Sombra explained, having looked the situation over.

Sighing, I knew he was right. As much as I didn't what it, Sunny would have to stay with his father for the time being. Love okig down at our foal, I was able to forget my worries for a moment, "He has his father's wonderful eyes."

Sombra looked down at our son who was sucking on one of his front hooves the foal stopped and looked up at us with his bright green eyes. The colt smiled up at the both of us, giggled and reached out with his hooves, wanting to be held.

Sombra chuckled and reached down, picking up the foal. "He has his mother's smile and laugh…"

Looking at Sombra, I knew this wasn't going to be easy, but it was the only way to keep our family and uphold our duty.

"We're going to have to have to keep our family and our love a secret from the world" Sombra stated with a thick forlorn tone. "Until Princess Amore is found."

"When she is, we won't need to hide anything anymore" I concurred with Sombra's statement. "But until then, no pony can know I'm Sunny's mother, and those who know must be sworn into secrecy..."

To avoid suspicion, Radiant had suggested that we give Sunny the name 'Solggiato Cavalier' which meant Sunny Knight in an old language. It was popular for royalty in the Crystal Empire to have their named derived from the ancient language. Radiant also advised us to keep Sunny with me for several more weeks, as most foals should with their mother. During that time, I would sing him songs to help him sleep. He always loved one song in particular;

https://youtu.be/e2YF34XlfzU)

"Far away,
Cross the trees,
Hear my song and remember,

Soon you'll be
Home with me,
And we'll be a family…"

The melody soothed him instantly, becoming his main lullaby.

Those few weeks went by far too fast. It felt as if I had just given birth to him when I was forced to say goodbye. That first night I had cried from sundown to sun up. I had faught the next day with Star-Swirl the bearded about my attitude and absence recently, telling me how I needed to make more time and effort to leading the ponies of Equestria. If Luna wasn't there I might have said or done something I would later regret.

The next couple of years were hard, but also wonderful. Sombra would visit with Sunny, or Solggiato, who recognized me as his mother. When he learned to talk, we had to do the hardest thing and tell him I was simply his dad's friend. I always suspected that my foal knew better and recogized me as his actual mother, but he never said a thing. When Sunny was at an age that Sombra and I thought he would understand, we sat him down and explained it all to him. He was still quite young, but he understood the reason behind our secret, and was able to keep it.

One day, I made a mistake in trusting somepony with our secret who I felt deserved the right to know. My old teacher, the one who made my sister Luna and I princesses and taught us magic. Star-Swirl the bearded...

I had called my old teacher and friend, Star-Swirl the bearded, to my private study, wanting to ask him a favor that I thought wouldn't be too troublesome to him. He had been so caught up with his work recently that neither my sister or I have heard much from him in the past few weeks. I'm sure he would tell me all about it, but I had something more important to ask him first.

As he entered my study, I politely asked him to close the doors and lock them behind him. He could tell from my tone, and the silencing spell I cast on the room, that I had matters secret in nature to converse with him about. In those days, I was very, very protective of my secret, and didn't wish to risk anypony hearing me speak much of Sunny. If I spoke too much of him or on his accord, I feared ponies would grow suspicious and connect the dots.

"Greetings, your majesty" Star-Swirl greeted me in his formal way, despite my precautions for absolute privacy.

"Star-Swirl, there is no need for such airs here. Please, speak naturally" I spoke softly to the elderly stallion.

"As you wish, Celestia" the old wizard stroked his beard. "I'm sorry that I've been terribly busy as of recent, more magical creature research and what not. But I'm sure you can understand. Now, what is it you wish of me? Why have you summoned me?"

Stepping closer to my old teacher, I tried to speak in a more informal, sincere tone. "King Sombra has a son named Solggiato."

"Yes, so I've heard" Star-Swirl nodded, continuing to stroke his beard.

"He's a sweet colt, well behaved, lacking of friends, but always friendly" I started to lead up to my request.

"That's great, I'm glad to hear it" I could tell Star-Swirl was starting to grow impatient. "But what does this colt have to do with me?"

"You taught my sister and I everything we know about magic" I was drawing closer to my actual point. "I was hoping you could do the same for him."

I could tell right away that Star-Swirl wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea.

"Celestia" the old wizard started to say. "I taught you and your sister because you two would need to learn to bring balance to Equestria. I can't go teaching every filly or colt who you come across. If you want that, make a school for unicorns. Maybe I'll make a guest appearance on Friday. Friday's a good day. Start the weekend off with a bang."

"That's an idea" I stretched to say. "But a school like that could take some time to get started. And I was just wanting you to teach this one colt."

Rolling his eyes at me, I could tell Star-Swirl wasn't going to give in without a fight. "One colt here, a filly there. I. Am. A. Powerful. Wizard. Not a tutor. I'm sure the colt's father can find somepony to teach his son, or better yet, teach him himself."

Under any other circumstances I wouldn't push my teacher and friend too much, but this was really important to me. "King Sombra is talented at many things, but he doesn't feel he is the best to teach his son magic. I only ask you to do this, old friend, because I think Solggiato has great untapped magical power that only 'you' as a teacher can bring out."

I tried to play my best cards against Star-Swirl, knowing just how to peak his interest, playing on his own ego, but he didn't seem to budge, remaining uninterested. "Kind words won't sway me, Celestia. Have somepony else teach the brat."

Hearing him call Sunny that lit a fire deep down inside me, sparking it like a short fused stick of dinomite. My wings flung out as my muscles tensed, my mane flared up as it did when I was enraged, and my eyes hardened on the old unicorn. Luckily he noticed none of this, his back turned as he planed to casually make his way out. Once I calmed myself down, my muscles begining to relax, I spoke with a harshness I saved for my most vile of enemies. "Prince Solggiato is not a brat! Don't you dare ever call him that again!"

Star-Swirl didn't pick up on the anger coating my voice and casually continued. "I've been around young princess and princesses enough to know they all are the same. Spoiled, entitled, and bratty. You and your sister were different, Celestia, because you two were brought into being royalty. But those who are born into it grow up to be spoiled rotten. Just you wait and see. He's going to think the world revolves around him and that everypony should bend to his every wake and call."

Listening to Star-Swirl talk about my son like that made my blood boil. To think that he thought this about royal ponies was more then disheartening, but he was insinuating that Sunny would grow up to be the same way made me angrier then I ever had been before. "You have no right to judge him."

But the old wizard continued like I had said nothing. "Why, I'm willing to bet that he wined, pouted and threw a tantrum at his father, knowing Sombra was your friend and you could ask me to teach him. Brat thinks he should get whatever he wants-"

"I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH!" I yelled in the royal Canterlot voice, sending a wave of fear over Star-Swirl. The old wizard looked at me, wide eyes and afraid to even breath wrong. "I have had enough of you assuming the worst of somepony you have no idea about! You met Sunny once! Once! And you hardly said two words to him! If anypony is stuck up and thinks the world should bow to them, it's you! You old, arrogant, windbag! Sunny is a sweet, kind hearted, gentle caring young colt who just wants to make his father and I proud! I would have thought you of all ponies would have jumped at the opertunity to teach a colt as wonderful as Sunny, but I guess I was wrong! Not only that, I wouldn't want you teaching him knowing how bitter you've become, how cold your heart is towards ponies who are just of a different social class! Not only do I never want you to teach my son, you aren't even going to look in his direction! And if you say anything, ANYTHING, from here on out to him, it will be a heartfelt apology for how rude you were behind his back! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

My eyes remained locked, hard and burning onto Star-Swirl for a good long moment while everything I said was processed through his mind. After several moments, the old wizard was once again permitted to move and breath freely as I composed myself, cleared my throat, and relaxed.

"So it is true" were the words Star-Swirl spoke softly when the fire seemed to be dying down. Little did I know that the flame was about to be fanned into a raging inferno. "You weren't just sneaking around seeing somepony, but you had a foal with him!"

"My personal life is none of your business!" I spat out like a teenager to their parent.

"Your whole life 'is' my business!" The old wizard pulled himelf togeather, his shock melted away and gave way for his outrage. "How could you do this!? To me! To your sister! To Equestria! How could you be so selfish!"

"Selfish!?" That word hit me hard, and my own anger began to build up once more. "I'm selfish!? For months my sister and I don't see you, don't hear from you, we so everything we can to uphold peace, law and order in Equestria, taking on responsibly far beyond what any ponies' ever beared, and you have the gull to call 'me' selfish!?"

"You only have that responsibility because 'I' gave it to you!" Star-Swirl continued, his eyes sharpening as he glared into my own. "I entrusted you and your sister with all of Equestria, all the ponies who live in our world worship you two, jump any your every command, shower you with gifts, and what do you do to repay them!? You sneak around and plant the seeds of their downfall!"

"Having a foal isn't going to destroy all of Equestria!" I hissed at Star-Swirl.

"No, but having one with a King will!" The nasty old wizard began to pace back and forth as he normally did when he was thinking, but his eyes weren't glued to the floor as they normally would when he was trying to think up a solution, rather they were locked with my own anger filled gaze. "Do you realize that king's and queens who rule are only temporary. Short terms that last only so long!? I made you two princesses so you two could rule side by side, as equals, to bring balance to Equestria! Now you've gone and thrown off the entire balance!"

"Equestria is not doomed" I managed to pull back my feelings of anger and tried to show my old teacher and friend some logic. "There are only a hoof full of ponies who know about me being Sunny's, er, Solggiato's mother. Ponies I truest."

"So I assume your sister knows?" Star-Swirl's anger subsided for a moment.

"She does" I answered, calming down myself more. "She helped me to conceal my pregnancy as well as my maternal leave."

"Who else knows?" The old wizard asked, raising a brow.

"Radiant Hope, Sombra's oldest friend. She helped me to deliver and was my midwife. A few well trusted members of the royal guard, my trusted assistant, and Clover the Clever."

"My own student betrayed me!?" Star-Swirl snapped when he heard the last name I called. "Good to know 'every' student I taught has betrayed my trust."

I reached out at that point and put a hoof on my teacher and friend. "Star-Swirl, please. No pony has betrayed you. I couldn't deny my feelings for Sombra, and I don't regret us having a foal together. They both mean the world to me. Won't you accept an innocent foal? If you had to blame someone, blame me, not Sunny."

"And you had the nerve to try and ask me to teach him!?" Star-Swirl wasn't listening to my plea. He stood up tall, narrowing his eyes at me with a burning anger like I had never seen before. "Celestia, you have planted the seeds to Equestria's demise, you and your sister are both guilty! And to think I trusted you not only as my students, but I even let you call my 'friend'."

"Star-Swirl-" was all I could get out before he cut me off.

"Silence!" The old wizard bellowed. "I have heard enough! I have lost all my trust in my students all in one day! Not only will I not teach your 'son', but I will never again take up another student, no matter what!"

Before I could get another word in, Star-Swirl left my study, slamming the door behind him. The anger that had burned in my heart had been put out, the ashes of their sorrowful remanes lingered with me, stinging me at my core. I never felt that my relationship with Sombra was wrong, just that it needed to be kept a secret. But from that moment, the moment I lost my teacher as a friend, I began to question myself. I had no regrets, not about Sombra or our son. But I wish I had been more open with my teacher back when we were still friends. Maybe then things could have turned out different…

Years passed, and although Star-Swirl's bitterness never lessened, he remained in our castle as our most trusted advisor. But be never spoke to us outside of his royal duty, and kept to his room/workshop, working on something or another. He even kept Clover the Clever out of the loop. I had told her and my sister about his and my conversation, both understood and like myself, had to just grow to accept this bitter Star-Swirl.

Despite the hard feelings from Star-Swirl, Sombra and I still continued to meet, both in private and publicly. I loved to see my son and watch him grow up. It broke my heart to see how fast he was growing with out me there. It made me feel worse when I had to teach him about our secret, and how he could only refer to me as 'Princess Celestia' in public, never as 'mother', 'mom', or 'mommy'. I don't know what was worse, him having to refer to me by my title and name, or how easily he took to it. I felt so distant from my own son. Seeing this, Sombra asked if Sunny on occasion could stay with my sister and I at our castle. Like a weekend getaway. An excuse he told his subjects or other officials who asked was simply 'he's having trouble with school, and Princess Celestia thinks he shows promise in magic.' Some ponies might have questioned it but never out loud.

It wasn't long after we began his weekend getaways with his aunt and I that Sunny discovered his talent and gained his cutie mark. It was a glorious day on a Solar eclipse celebration, where he surprised both my sister and I, as well as everypony present. I knew he was a little upset that I had to announce he was Prince Solggiato from the Crystal Empire, having wanted to take this time to be just another pony in the crowd, but announcing who he was solidified his reason for visiting me in the eyes of everypony who questioned it before. I was able to see alot more of my son after that, which made he, Sombra and I all very happy. But our joy wasn't to last. Darkness was about to fall over all our lives, and separate us all for 1000 years…

Author's Note:

Now we all get to the missing piece of the story. I've been waiting years for this. Thank you all for hanging in this long. I hope it has been worth it. I've seen how Sunny has grown, as well as myself. It's been a long journey, and it's not over just yet, but we are closing in. Hope you all enjoy the story.