When Celestia went on sabbatical into the west, she promised Twilight it would be only a couple of months. A year and a half later, the sun resists control, the country is in ruins, and her teacher is lost in the wilds. Twilight has become the apostate, her faith in her teacher and her teachings waning. In the wake of tragedy, her resentment blossoms into fury and she vows that something must be done. Shadows gather around Canterlot, and old things that should not have been awakened are on the move. The Student goes west, her hope restored by friendship and righteous fury.

The night, at long last, is passing.

A terrible new day rises when a tragedy, foreseen only by Celestia but preventable by none, occurs right in the middle of Canterlot, turning Twilight Sparkle's world upside-down. Now, all of Equestria is looking to her to hold the broken nation together, all while she tries to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

Coverart used with permission from: metalpandora

Old coverart may be found here.

A/N: Yes, the title was based of the Dragonforce song of the same name, you may stop postulating about it now.

The past always comes back to haunt the present, there is no escaping the inevitable. For decades, Celestia has kept a secret from her student. A secret she made out of pain, and through pain will be revealed for all to see; for Twilight Sparkle is the secret daughter of the Sun.

Now, there will be consequences.

Consequences, they come in all shapes and sizes for every decision. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. These words are lessons that Princess Celestia should know, bits of wisdom she practices in her rule of Equestria. How is it then, that when faced with a decision, she chooses the one that would inevitably bring the most pain? How is it that she couldn’t bear being recognized as the mother of her child? And why? Twilight Sparkle is about to find out.

Disclaimer: (I do not own the picture; Title Picture owned and designed by KitsuneHino; Source: http://mel-rosey.deviantart.com/art/By-my-side-364777307) (I do not own any of the characters, places, events, etc. outlined in this fanfiction, MLP FiM does under Hasbro, give them the credit.)

This story is a sequel to Becoming One With the Night

It was supposed to be a good day. Twilight and Luna were sharing the news of their relationship with their closest friends and family. However, Celestia's largest secret yet finally came out. Now, relations are strained between Celestia and everypony else. After all, what's Twilight to do when she finds out her second mother is actually her birth mother?

On top of this massive bombshell, soon Twilight will be sporting a pair of wings of her own. If she thought things were complicated now, just wait until Canterlot gets wind of a new alicorn. Life is about to become one giant nightmare for Twilight. But hey, at least she has Luna, right?

As stated above, this is a sequel. I highly encourage you to read the first story (the writing is extremely rough early on, mind you), but it's not entirely required to understand most everything that will be going on here.

EDIT: Takes place during S3, when it was originally conceived, thus the Alt. Universe tag. There was no redemption of Discord. There was no ascension. Yes, the Crystal Empire is back, and Cadance and Shining Armor are the leaders there. This should cover the more critical aspects of the season in regards to the story.

Things are changing in Equestria, the ponies have decided they no longer need Princess Celestia to guide them. Celestia willingly stood down however and vanished. Unknown to Equestria she remains in disguise watching and wondering if her ponies are really ready... Oh, she's also experiencing what its like to care for a foal for the first time as well. Which will fail first Celestia's sanity or Equestrian Democracy?
*Part of Mother's Universe*

Celestia is feeling maternally nostalgic, Twilight accidentally turns her body into that of a filly, and Luna experiences the joy of being an aunt. Also; Trixie will eventually become a guard for a day, Discord will at some point have a few good laughs, and Spike will have to deal with his big sister suddenly being shorter than him when he's actually informed.

This is a Twilight/Celestia mother-figure/daughter-figure family fluff filled story stuck together with humor. Pretend this thing has a fluff tag. Also, there will most likely be no pairings in this story that aren't canon-compliant.

Note: Updates shall be erratic. Very erratic. I apologize in advance.

What if Twilight was orphaned before her acceptance into Celestia's school for gifted unicorns?
what if she and the princess of the sun became inseparable? What if Twilight starts calling Celestia mommy after their lessons?
What if Celestia loves it?
Inspired by the cover photo