//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: A New Day Dawns // by Diamond_Emblem //------------------------------// "Mama! Hey, mama! Look at the picture I drew for you!" Celestia looked down at her precious little daughter. She was just three years old, and already knew how to use her magic well. She levitated a crayon drawing of herself as a princess of Equestria, with glorious golden wings and a crown with her cutie mark. Truly the greatest imagination of a child. They were having a picnic at a park outside of Canterlot. Celestia didn't have to worry about being the princess of Equestria. There was no fear or anxiety in her heart. Only the love for her little girl. "Looks like you can be quite the artist when you grow up," Celestial said with a smile. "Is that you?" "Yes!" Her daughter was suddenly frowning. "But I don't wanna become an artist. I wanna be some pony who studies magic! You have a school for unicorns like me, mama. Can I go to your school?" "Of course," Celestia said, beaming. "Anything to make you happy." Her daughter suddenly frowned. Standing before Celestia was Sunset Shimmer, all grown up, the same age as Twilight. "Then why did you leave me?" she asked, tears filling her eyes. "If you really wanted to make me happy, why did you send me away?" Day suddenly turned to night. The ground began to shake violently. "I had no choice!" Celestia cried. "I needed to keep you safe from the public!" "You needed to keep yourself safe!" Sunset yelled. "You were scared the people would turn their backs to you for having an illegitimate royal child." "Everything I've done was for you," Celestia said. The ground began to crack, forces of wind pushing her back. "You have always been in my thoughts. A mother would do anything to protect her child, and that is what I did for you!" "Oh, please," Sunset said, rolling her eyes. "You don't know what motherly love is. You've never been a real mother! You may have given birth to me, but that doesn't mean we're family." She began to walk in the opposite direction. The ground fell apart and Celestia was suddenly falling, falling, falling into a black abyss. "Sister!" Celeste's eyes flew open. She was back in her own bed, back in the castle in Canterlot. Standing beside her bed was her sister, Luna, clearly distressed. "Another nightmare?" Luna asked. "I think it's best if I don't speak of it," Celestia said curtly. "Tia, you've been having these nightmares for weeks now," Luna said, not leaving Celestia's room. "I want to help you, if you'd just let me " "Luna, you can't possibly understand how these nightmares feel," Celestia said. "They feel like predictions of what'll happen." "Sunset Shimmer will not turn her back on you," Luna assured her. "And why won't she?" Tia asked. "I turned my back on my own daughter. What makes you think she won't turn her back on me?" "You both have been wanting a family for years," Luna replied. "I would like to think she'd be grateful for learning she never had to be alone." She pressed her lips together. "But as much as I want to reassure you, sister, I cannot. This meeting can go in thousands of directions. Sunset could run back into your embrace. She could shun you and return to the other world. She could accept you as her mother, but leave again. The best advice I could give you advice I should have given you some time ago is to prepare for the best and worst of this meeting." "You mean to tell me you've been giving me false hope all this time?" Celestia asked, glaring daggers at her sister. "I think I was giving you the wrong advice these past months," Luna replied firmly. "You need to accept that Sunset can take the news in several different ways. I presume accepting that will help you with your nightmares." Celestia stared at her sister in disbelief. "No, that can't be possible," she said. "It will only make them worse." "Trust me, sister," Luna said. "The best way to defeat our fears is to face them." Years before... "You can't possibly be serious, Your Higness," Twilight Velvet cried, following close behind Celestia. "You're going to give away your daughter inside of raising her?" "It's the only thing I can do to protect my daughter," Celestia said solemnly, her head hanging. "I want no pony to hurt her. If the paparazzi were to find out, then she will forever be haunted by the ghost of her father and her true sense of identity." "But she'll also be haunted by the ghost of her mother," Twilight said. "A mother she will never know." "What other plan do you have, Mrs. Velvet?" Celestia asked, stopping. "I hate do it, but I'm doing it for my daughter. I will truly miss her from the bottom of heart." "Will you tell her when she grows up?" Velvet asked softly. "If I have the courage to make her my daughter," Celestia replied. Before Luna knew it, Celestia was fast asleep. Luna sighed. "Waking up this early in the morning has certainly become a burden," she said to herself. She turned to leave Celestia's room. "I'm doing my part," Luna said. "It'll be your turn to do yours, Twilight Sparkle."