//------------------------------//
// Grief 
// Story: Lacrimis Solis Dea 
// by NovusStar123 
//------------------------------//

Luna banked hard as she approached the large building that was the Hospital. All the lights were on in the structure, and Luna thought to herself which one Cadence would be in. She quickly looked behind her to see any sign of Celestia, and breathed a sigh of relief as she spied the large winged form of her sister, closely followed by a fiery bird that could only be Philomena. As she descended, Luna could see groups of ponies muttering and raising hooves at her and her sister's passing. The sight made her smirk. Unlike her sister, Luna relished in the ruling powers she had. Landing gracefully at the hospital doors, Luna quickly cleared a path for her and her sister. The night goddess strided towards the reception desk with regal pride.
"WHERE SHALL WE FIND THE PRINCESS OF LOVE AND BEAUTY, LOWLY DESK KEEPER?!" Luna boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, a tool which was still extremely useful despite what Twilight Sparkle had said. The terrified mare trembled  before answering.
"S-s-she's in Ward Seven - m-Maternity Unit...that way", she raised a quivering hoof down a corridor to her left. Celestia strode past Luna and proceeded down the passage, ignoring the gasps and mutters of the ponies around her. Luna frowned, clearly her sister new something she didn't, and...Maternity Unit? Luna sighed as she realsied what this meant. Cadence's foal could be in danger. The dark alicorn caught up with her sister.
"What do you know of this?" Luna asked bluntly. Celestia sighed and closed her eyes before answering, Philomena preening herself on the sun goddess' back. 
"Cadence came into my chambers earlier this evening, not long before you arrived. I sensed the foal then, but thought nothing of it. I was too...distracted to pay that much attention".
"Why? What activity were you engaged in?"
"I had some dreamwine. I wasn't exactly at my most alert state, shall we say". Celestia began to trot quicker, leaving her sister behind. Luna could tell that Celestia wasn't telling her something, the question was...what? She and her sister always told one another their worries, concerns or secrets. It was a bond they had shared since foalhood, so why was she keeping this, whatever it was, from her? Choosing not to pursue any further for the time being, the night alicorn followed her sister to Ward Seven.

Shining didn't hear the hoofsteps as the two goddesses approached him. The night had been the worst of his life so far, and he wasn't sure if he felt comforted or angered by presence of the two alicorns. He looked up wearily from the floor and regarded Luna with a brief nod, before locking gazes with Celestia, who only a short hour ago, he had kissed while his currently unconcious wife looked on in heartbreaking horror.
"My Princesses..." he said in an exhausted tone. Luna peered into the door that was labelled 'Ward Seven' in large red letters. The blinds were shut, so Luna turned away from the door and turned back to the white unicorn. 
"What do the physiciens proclaim about her condition? What harm has befallen Mi Amore Cadenza?"
Shining sighed. Usually Luna's unique way of talking would make him smile. But not tonight. Tonight was a night of mourning...and heavy, heavy grief.
"W-we lost...we lost the foal..." Shining choked before turning away, tears fallen once again down his cheeks.

The silence that followed was almost tangeable. Everything seemed muted, even the colours of the world around her. Celestia closed her eyes, a single tear falling from her right eye. This was far too much, too much for any pony, even a goddess, to bear in a single night.
"How did it happen?" she asked, trying as best she could to keep a sympathetic tone without crumbling into a crying wreck. Her guard captain looked at her with cold eyes. His armour was propped up against the wall next to him, and his coat was damp with tears. His mane was dishevelled and unruly, with tail limp and barely moving.
"After she ran...I followed her down the hallway, and she j-just fell. She just fell...she..." Shining was overcome with another tide of sorrow and turned away. Celestia did the same as Philomena let out a mournful cry.

Luna lowered her head in sympathy. The loss of a foal was something that she had never experienced, but from what she had seen here tonight, it was not something she wished too. The stars in her mane of pure night dimmed very slightly, and her eyelids half closed. But one thing kept nagging at the corner of her mind. Why did she run, and from where? She dared not ask at such a fragile time, but she would find out what had transpired to lead up to this tragedy, that she vowed to herself. Her sister kept it from her, whatever this event was, and that hurt Luna deeply...

It was over three hours before the trio of ponies could see Cadence, and by that time she was awake, if a bit drowsy. She was dressed in a white hospital gown, but all Shining saw was her wedding dress. That was the happiest day of his life - Changelings aside - and he wanted to remember that as she walked over to his silent wife. She sat upright on the bed, tugging at the blankets, but when she saw the face of her husabnd, she couldn't help but raise her arms to embrace him. They stood motionless in that state for over a minute, with Cadence finally weeping into Shining shoulder before whispering two words that she shouldn't of.
"I'm sorry..."
"W-what for? You've done nothing wrong" Shining said as he held her tight and close, stroking her beautifully coloured mane with a forehoof. 
"Our baby...would have been so beautiful...", Cadence wept, "...and I lost it"
Shining bit his lower lip to stop himself from crying out, but tears streamed from his blue eyes all the same. 
"No you didn't, this is all my fault...if i hadn't of...", he shot a glance at Celestia, who watched the couple with anguished eyes, "...It's my fault, my love, not yours..."
"It was a colt..."
Shining's ear perked up at the last line. He cupped his wife's face in his hooves and locked gazes with her. "What?"
"Our baby, he was a colt..." she replied, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Shining let out a brief smile himself. A colt? He was going to have a little baby colt? Both ponies looked at eachother with teary smiles, thinking of what could have been if the evening hadn't taken the course it had. It was a strange thing to be smiling at a time like this, but Shining knew it was because their lost child now had an identity, some substance on which to base their mourning and dreams. They were going to have a colt, a little Prince. 

Celestia let her remorse and guilt wash over her again. It was brining back painful memeories that she had kept hidden and locked away for over a thousand years, and she wasn't sure if she could stand composed for very much longer. She turned to the mourning couple before her. "I'll leave you two in peace..." she muttered before turning to exit the room. She felt Luna's gaze on her as she stepped back into the hospital corridor, but her sister did not follow. Celestia rapidly exited the building, arriving once again into the cool night air. Once beyond the doors of the hospital she spread her wings and took to the skies, startling philomena, who was still perched on her back at the time. She ascended gracefully into the darkness, circling around the hospital plaza before arcing back round to the roof of the building. She landed gently and folded her angelic wings to her sides quickly. The memories were painful, all of them bringing grief.

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Tia looked at the ground as the muffled words of the doctor pony tumbled from his mouth. Dawn Fire's foreleg was draped over her withers, holding her tightly while his other forehoof clutched hers. Normally she would have felt safe and secure with her coltfirend by her side, but what the doctor said penetrated deep into her heart. 
It took a while to realise the doctor had finished speaking, only Dawn Fire's voice brought her back from her shock, and even then she did not move. She only spoke four painful words.
"I cannot have foals..."
The doctor pony sighed, "I'm afraid so princess, the result from the scans suggest that that is the case". A single tear trickled from Celestia's left eye as she began to shake. Dawn Fire hugged her firmly.
"Its okay Tia, we'll get through this. If we can't find any other way," he turned to the doctor, who gave him a sympathetic look, "then maybe we can adopt. I know it wouldn't be the same, but a least we can have the child that we wanted"
Celestia didn't know what to say
"But it wouldn't be OUR foal..." she muttered before collasping into her grief


It had been years since Celestia had returned to the Twin Peaks of Creation, but this was time that needed the type of comfort that only two loving parents can give. The white alicorn brushed the tops of the cream coloured clouds that she rode the wind above. The sun was setting below the cushion like clouds before her, guiding her way to the gardens were all life began. The home of the creator ponies, her parents.

Finally, Celestia spied the silhoettes of the two mighty mountains. The Twin Peaks of Creation were a sight that only immortals could see, and what a wondrous sight it was. The two mountains sat on top of the highest clouds, the setting sun creating a light that made the clouds look as if they were ablaze. Forests of every tree in the world covered the white rock of the two monolithic mountains, fed by dozens of sparkling waterfalls that cascaded from the two gardens of life at the summits. Celestia veered towards one of the two peaks, knowing that at least one of her royal parents would be their. She folded her seraphim like wings as she landed within a boundless and glorious forest. The leaves on the tall trees around her glistened like emeralds and green diamonds. The bark of every tree was inscribed with ancient swirls and patterns, much like the elegantly cured roots that sprung from the ground around her. Fairy lights flickered in the boughs of the taller trees, and despite the fact that the sun had almost completely disappeared, its glorious rays still shone through the verdant canopy. Celestia knew this as the peak of her mother judging by the surroundings, and so the alicorn trotted off in the direction she knew she would be.
After winding through a trail marked by glowing stones, Celestia arrived at the inner most sanctum of the true Sun Goddess. A vast lake streched before her, so vast it seemed impossible for it to be at the summit of a mountain. The crystal blue expanse mirrored the steadily darkening sky, but was still tempered with a golden white radiance that emanted from the small island at the centre of the lake. The princess stepped onto the water, and gasped as her hoof did not sink below the surface. She tentativelt took another step, and marvelled at the feeling of walking on water. The crystal clear liquid rippled at each hoofstep, but held her form above its surface. Before long, celestia arrived at the island, the white gold light still flaring brightly. The source was at the centre of a fertile glade of trees, bent inwards to form a dome of leaves and branches. Beneath the enchanted canopy stood Solairia, creator of Life, the Sun and the Day.

She stood far taller than Celestia, and her eyes held more wisdom and love than any other living thing. Her irises were of a deep durple tempered with sunlight, and she always wore a slight smile. Colossal radiant wings were streched behind her like a cape of shimmering white feathers, and her horn shone like a spike of burning gold. But by far the most impressive of her features were her mane and tail. Pure wildfire ran down her back and head, burning a thousand shades of gold and yellow, the tips keeping a constant shade of deep violet. Her beautiful, beautiful eyes found Celestia standing in awe at the edge of the glade.

"My child...you seem hollow" Solairia declared in a voice that commanded fear and respect, but sounded like the voices of songbirds at the same time. Celestia tossed her mane of green, pink and turquoise from her eyeline as she stepped timidly towards her mother. 
"Mother, I...". She couldn't do it. It was to much to bear. The fact that she was the daughter of the Queen of Life and Light, and she couldn't have children of her own...
"What is it child? Come to me" 
Celestia nuzzled up against her mother's side and folded her wings in close as Solairia's own draped over her daughter protectively.  "Me...me and Dawn Fire went to the p-physicens today, and they had s-some bad news...". Celstia breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and mustering the courage to utter the words. "I c-can't have foals..."
Surprisingly, her mother did not move or utter a sound. She remained perfectly still for over half a minute before lifting her head and looking to the twilight sky. 
"I'm so sorry, my dear Celestia...but no magic in this world or the next can give you the children you seek, not even mine..."
The Sun Goddess stood abruptly, rearing high and calling to the wind in the lost language of ponykind.

Less than a minute later, the tranquility of the glade was disturbed by the sound of beating wings. The light permeating the sacred grove began to dim sharply, until only a fraction of the illumination remained. Solairia no longer shone like the sun, as an even taller, stronger and equally impressive stallion marched towards her. 
"My love...", Stellarum whispered softly, and nuzzled Solairia's muzzle with his own. Celestia looked up at her regal father mournfully. 



To Be Continued....next chapter shall be almost entirely of the flashback scenes, continueing directs after this one. Feedback greatly encouraged :)