Darkness.
The thing was, contrary to most ponies' expectations, Celestia quite enjoyed the darkness. Which might seem quite an ironic preference, until you remembered that darkness was the realm of her sister. To be wrapped in the dark was the next best thing to giving her sister a hug. It was this thought, thought often and hard, that had been one of the few things to keep her sane during the thousand-year wait for her sister's return.
Out of the darkness came a glimmer of light, after some interminable time waiting in the nothingness. Celestia watched the light, unaware of her surroundings—if there were any at all besides the neverending darkness before her—as it slowly faded.
When the last bit of sunlight had slipped below the horizon, Celestia turned from the window of her office with a sigh.
Where had she left off when the sunset had began? She couldn't quite remember… then again, with the mountains of paperwork on her desk, it didn't really matter. Picking one, she got back to work.
Ah, yes, the manticores. Some of the outlying villages had been having issues with them. Nothing too bad so far, thankfully, but it was only a matter of time before somepony got seriously injured. Unfortunately, she herself couldn't be there to protect her ponies, as much as she'd like to. But finding a way for them to protect themselves was not only the more realistic solution, it helped them to grow and learn on their own, traits she sought to encourage. They would still need her to provide that first guiding push, though, and to keep things running smoothly, so… a guard force for Equestria, perhaps… with a set amount based on village size, adjusted based on where the village was located… funds would have to be set aside for the guards, too, and training schedules made up, requirements for recruitment set…
That last bit of sunlight had long passed, but Celestia remained at work. Equestria depended on her, after all. No one else could help her ponies. She had just started to finalize the first draft for the village guard force when she heard her door open.
"Who is interrupting me?" she asked testily, rising up from the walls of paper around her desk.
"Me, silly!"
Celestia froze, then blinked and shook her head.
In the doorway stood Luna, smiling eagerly.
But also in the doorway stood Twilight Sparkle, a beaming smile on her face.
They didn't stand side-by-side. There was one pony in the doorway. It was Luna, it was definitely Luna… but it was also Twilight. She couldn't seem to separate the two. Looking at one brought the other into focus, but then looking at that one just made the other come into the foreground. She swayed, trying to reconcile the fact that both ponies were one.
"I-I…"
"Did you forget? You said you were going to watch while I create a new constellation tonight!"
"Did you forget? You said we were going to go out for a romantic dinner tonight!"
"Oh… o-of course…"
Celestia pushed back from her desk, starting to slide off the chair onto the floor… then paused. There was a lot of paperwork to take care of still. Her kingdom, her ponies, they were all depending on her. She looked at the pony—ponies—in the doorway, then at the mounds of paper. After a moment, she dropped her head and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Lu—Twili—I'm sorry. But I don't think I can make it out tonight." She waved a hoof around the office. "I'm just so busy…"
Both ponies' ears drooped, disappointment clear on their faces, but they still smiled.
"That's okay. I understand. Another night, maybe?" With a smile at Celestia's nod, she/they departed.
This was the right choice, Celestia decided, pulling herself back up to her desk. When she needed to eat, she could just order food to be brought up to her here in her office. And when she had time, she could go and see Luna's new constellation. It was stars in the sky, it wasn't going anywhere. Neither was Twilight.
And, especially, neither was this paperwork, nor her duty to Equestria.
There were bills to sign into law, treaties to sign, diplomats to woo, parties and galas and balls to attend. And she'd have to do all of that year after year, as her kingdom grew around her and new ponies replaced the ones she had known. It was a never ending cycle, but it was one she was glad to be a part of, because she knew how much it meant to those she cared most about: her subjects, her little ponies.
Along with everything repeating itself came a kind of blurring, a loss of focus on exactly what she was doing at one time. When every day was the same, you tended to lose track of exactly which day was which and how many had passed. But, once again, she found herself behind her desk and in front of a mountain of papers, folders and binders.
With a sigh, she got to work. This time the subject was the amount of crops to plant. Bemusedly, Celestia recalled a time when she did not know about crop rotation, soil exhaustion, irrigation techniques, calorie density vs harvest yield, and so many of the other aspects of farming she had picked up over the centuries. At this point, she could be a farmer herself!
A knock came at her door again. She looked up, grimacing as her vision doubled once more. The pony that was both Twilight and Luna stood at the entrance to her office, looking at her expectantly.
"Oh, yes, hello…um... Hello. It's wonderful to see you."
"I'm surprised you can see me, with all this mess blocking the way." Twilight/Luna sauntered a few steps into the room, peeking at a bit of the paperwork. "How did you even get all of this up here? You should really let me handle some of it. It would give us more time to spend together."
"Yes, I know I'm overworked, but… I need to do this. It's my duty." She gave a sigh. "I know you could work on it as well, but this is for me to deal with."
"Well, not today!" declared the dual pony. "Come on, let's go do something fun! You need a break. We can walk in the gardens, or go see a play… or just sit in the library. We used to have so much fun discussing literature before… before all this happened."
"Well, a break would be nice…" Celestia started to move away from her desk, but then stopped. Something was tugging her back. For a moment, it felt like a chain attached to her peytral; she could almost hear its rattle. She looked at her desk, then back to Twilight/Luna. Already she could see the disapproval on those ponies' faces… she looked to her desk once more, and dropped her head.
"I-I'm sorry, but—"
"It's okay, Celestia." Twilight/Luna seemed disappointed, but not surprised. "I know how important Equestria is to you."
Celestia turned back to her desk, hearing the slow clopping as the ponies walked out, along with a last few words.
"Sometimes I think that's the only thing that's important to you."
She walked back to her seat slowly, jerkily. Part of her resisted the pull of her duty… but most of her welcomed it, settling into its cold, comforting embrace the same way she settled down into her well-worn chair and got back to work.
What had they meant by that? Of course Equestria was important to her. It was her kingdom! She was the Princess! What could possibly mean more to her than leading her people to prosperity and happiness?
Nothing. Nothing was more important than Equestria. Not her, not her happiness, not any one, or two, or three ponies. The kingdom and her duty mattered, and that was all. She would sacrifice herself, her very soul, for the good of Equestria. She would give everything she had and more for her duty.
And what was more of a sacrifice than working on the tax code? She dove into it, swimming through regulations so dense they could serve as building foundations, following webs of loopholes to their conclusion and closing them off. Taxi services could make money by not working? Not anymore! A bushel of apples being taxed so highly it was actually cheaper to import them from Griffonstone? Now there's a tax credit for growing apples instead!
That was just the tip of the iceberg, too. The marginal tax rate system in place for Equestria was so complex she was in the middle of calculating the derivative of a curve before she realized what a mess it was, and scrapped the whole thing to start over. The tax collection agency was a flaming disaster as well, rife with inefficiency and corruption, and that all had to be reformed before any meaningful progress could be made. And that led her to overhauling the postal system, along with the entire bureaucracy of the public services…
It was hard, grueling work. She'd said she would sacrifice her soul for Equestria, and working with the tax system made her feel like she was. But it was worth it. Because Equestria was better now.
She was haggard, eyes drooping, mane a mess, and still working at her desk when the door opened again.
"Why do you keep ignoring me?" growled/pled the pony who marched into her office.
"Luna? Twilight? W-what do you mean?" she asked blearily, pushing herself up with one hoof.
"I'm your sister! I'm a Princess too, and I deserve to rule Equestria as well!"
"I'm your marefriend! I know we're Princesses, but we're supposed to make time for each other!"
"I-I know, but…" Celestia trailed off, jaw clamped tight.
Didn't they understand? Celestia was the Princess! Yes, Luna was a Princess too, yes, Twilight was in a relationship with her, but Equestria was what mattered here. Celestia had to lead Equestria, had to be there for her ponies! As much as she might like to foist the responsibility off on her sister, as much as she might like to spend time with ponies she loved, she couldn't. Not while Equestria needed her.
"This is what's for the best," she said finally. An icy demeanor overtook her, and she stood, her earlier tiredness forgotten. "I know you want to do more, I know you want to spend more time together, but Equestria comes first. Period. And right now, that means I spend my time guiding it in the right direction. Maybe later…"
"Later when?!" demanded the superimposed ponies. "You've been the one in charge for centuries! There's always going to be more to do, so let me help!"
"I said I am what's best for Equestria!" declared Celestia, stamping a hoof. "Letting other ponies do my job would be shirking my duties! And you both have enough to do with ruling Equestria as it is. I would suggest you remember that."
Twilight/Luna glowered at her, anger and disappointment in their eyes. Finally, with a huff, they turned away.
"Fine," they said, and were gone.
Something was wrong. There was a hole in Celestia's chest, something missing, and she didn't know what it was. So she did the only thing she could do: she went back to work.
Late nights became a thing of the past, because when all nights are late they stop being late and start being the norm. Her hoof ached from holding her quill, so she switched to her horn, and when that started to hurt as well she switched back, alternating between the two every week or so. All her meals were taken at her desk, whatever they were; she'd stopped noticing what she was eating or how it tasted long ago, just fueling up so she could keep going.
And go she did. Bills flew off her desk, treaties were made, government departments forged, consolidated, merged and disbanded. Land ownership disputes in downtown Canterlot? She was on it. A museum opening in Baltimare? She attended it with a smile plastered on her face, and was back at her desk signing royal guard travel expense reports by that evening. Equestria flourished and grew like a beautiful flower, which she could only admire in passing as she worked to keep it healthy.
On and on and on it went, and then her door opened one more time.
"I think it's pretty clear things can't go on like this," Twilight/Luna said quietly/hissed angrily.
"W-what do you mean?" Celestia pushed herself away from her desk in… she didn't even know how long. Her steps were unsteady, like a newborn foal walking for the first time, as she tried to remember how her limbs worked.
"It's obvious there can only be one Princess in Equestria!" declared Luna.
"It's obvious you aren't committed to this relationship at all," sighed Twilight closing her eyes.
"No… no, wait…" Celestia held out one hoof imploringly.
"And that Princess shall be ME!"
"So I'm done. I'm leaving you, Celestia."
Luna disappeared into a sphere of darkness that burst, revealing Nightmare Moon. Twilight turned slowly and began to walk down the hall.
Celestia stumbled, body shaking, as she tried to back away from Nightmare Moon and follow after Twilight at the same time. Didn't they understand how important Equestria was? She'd thought they had… but it was clear Luna cared more about herself and her prestige than her duty. And Twilight seemed to think Celestia and romance came first. What a waste.
"Then you leave me no choice but to use these, sister," said Celestia, rearing up and summoning the Elements of Harmony to herself.
"If that's the way you feel, then there's no other choice," said Celestia, one hoof on the door frame as she watched Twilight walk away.
Nightmare Moon let out one last scream of defiance as the Elements blasted her into the sky and locked her into the moon, not to return for one thousand years.
The door slammed behind Twilight as she left the anteroom to Celestia's office, never to return again.
And Celestia…
Sat back down behind her desk. There was work to do, and it was clear she was the only pony up to the task. The others lacked her attentiveness, her dedication to duty. They thought only of themselves, and their own selfish desires for recognition and love. What fools. She was better than that, stronger than that. Because she did everything for one reason and one reason only.
For Equestria.
She got to work, papers flying, quills being worn down to nubs, ink being used by the gallon. Towering structures of paperwork formed government departments, which were torn down and reconstructed as better solutions provided themselves. Equestrian citizens prospered and grew happier, she just knew it, as their kingdom became more and more efficient and well run.
For Equestria.
The ponies needed to see their Princess as well, however. She made sure to go out among her citizens, asking them their needs, letting them know she was there for them. It took a toll on her, of course. Even an immortal alicorn needed to eat and sleep, and her work left little time for that. Slowly, she became more and more weary, though she never let that show.
For Equestria.
The paperwork never stopped. She went through reams of paper, entire forests being felled to feed the insatiable papervore that was Equestria's bureaucracy. It never mattered, though. She might move a mountain of paper from her office, but two mountains would just spring up after it. Still she worked, pushing that boulder of paper up the hill day after day.
For Equestria.
Her hooves… hurt?
Physical sensation had been dulled for her for so long that it took her days to simply register the pain. She put down her quill, a new throb of pain traveling up her foreleg as she released it, and looked at the bottom of her hoof. It was raw and red, an indentation marking where she had been holding the quill, and the sole was soft and dry.
She raised her head, gaze traveling around the room. Paperwork, as usual, lined every available surface. She had filled out so many forms, signed so many documents… and they still kept coming. No matter how hard she worked, no matter how many meals she skipped, it would never go away.
Was this all she had to show for working herself to the bone? More work, a never ending torrent beating her down day after day?
No more… no more. She just couldn't stand any more, she needed a break, even if it was only for the barest second. She pushed herself back from the desk, rising on sore hooves, and stepped away.
Then she turned back, as the sound of writing resumed.
In horror, she watched as her body continued to work on the bills and contracts and treaties piled up around it. Its hooves moved smoothly, mechanically. On its face was plastered a wide smile. And with every piece of paperwork it finished it said the same thing.
"For Equestria!"
Celestia held up a shaking hoof in front of her face. It was dim, faintly translucent. She swung it at a pile of papers, and watched with no surprise as it passed right through.
"For Equestria!"
She gritted her teeth as her body kept repeating that damn phrase over and over again. She marched up to it and tried to push it out of the chair, finding that it, at least, was actually solid to her touch. But it resisted her efforts to move it from its seat, staying in place like a rock and signing page after page.
Celestia sat back, staring at her body. Well, she'd always said she would do it, and it would seem she now had. She'd given up her soul for Equestria.
Her body got up eventually, and with nothing else to do, Celestia followed behind as it went about its day, meeting with all the various officials and important ponies Celestia always met with. It said nothing except "For Equestria!", but nopony seemed to mind. If anything, simply hearing those words from what they thought was Celestia seemed to solve all their problems.
"For Equestria! For Equestria! For Equestria!"
It was tireless, marching across Canterlot and back again, spouting that phrase nonstop, taking care of all the ponies it met along the way. It never stopped, moving on to the next problem as soon as one was solved without a break for food or sleep or entertainment. Even when there was nothing left to do it went to the throne room, climbing onto the seat and sitting there with the same vapid smile on its face, and waited for more work while Celestia paced back and forth in front of it.
"For Equestria! For Equestria! For Equestria! For Equestria! For Equestria! For Equestria! For Equestria! For—"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" Celestia screamed finally, grabbing her body by the shoulders, tears clouding her eyes as she shook it. "Just… just stop! For one second, please, please, just—"
Her shaking caused her body to overbalance, and it fell, striking the steps leading up to the throne and shattering like porcelain. Most of her body came to rest as unrecognizable chunks, aside from a hoof there and a wingtip there and over there—
Oh my, I've never seen that from this angle before. Celestia turned her head from side to side as she inspected the sight before her, reaching out with one hoof to touch it gently. I don't see why everyone makes such a big deal out of the size of the thing. It's perfectly shapely, after all. And plenty of stallions—and mare's—like it when it's big anyway.
She looked up from the broken-off horn at the sound of her own voice. The rest of her copy's head had stayed in one piece, rolling to the bottom of the stairs and landing upright to stare back at her.
"For Equestria," it said, voice hoarse. "For… Eques…"
It fell silent, and after a moment Celestia approached it, breath harsh and tight in her chest. She bent down to inspect it, and recoiled as she caught sight of her reflection in its eyes.
A crown more akin to a helmet sat upon her head, her eyes blood red and burning bright, and her mane was a wild stream of fire. In the bare second she had when she gasped, she caught sight of sharpened teeth.
After getting her breathing back under control, she cautiously bent down once more, turning her head this way and that to get a better look.
"Could be worse," she muttered. "I look better than Nightmare, at least."
"But is that truely the pony you wish to be?" boomed out a voice, and Celestia scrambled to her hooves before falling back onto the stairs.
The throne room doors had opened, letting a fog seep in that obscured the hall beyond. Deep in the fog, barely seen, a figure lurked, huge beyond measure.
"W-who are you? What do you mean?" asked Celestia.
"You've always said you would give up your soul for Equestria, give up everything you are. If you did that… what would be left of you but a monster?"
"That's not right!" Celestia protested. "I'd give it up for Equestria! For the good of everypony! Why would that make me a monster?!"
"Because you're forgetting about one very important pony: you. How can you take care of others if you can't take care of yourself? How can you lead your ponies properly if you work yourself to the bone? Equestria is important… but so are you."
"I have to do that! If I stop, if I don't make everything perfect, that means I've failed my ponies!"
A gentle chuckle drifted out of the fog. "Not everything can be perfect, Celestia. Taking a vacation every now and then won't cause Canterlot to fall off the mountain. Besides, don't you always say you'd rather teach your ponies to fend for themselves?"
"I do, but... but…" Celestia scuffed a hoof at the ground. "But they need me."
"Indeed they do. But they need you as a leader, as guidance. Not as the sole arbiter of every decision they have to make."
Celestia stared at the ground, head low, then looked up. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" she demanded. "I am Princess Celestia. I rule Equestria, I protect its citizens. I've defeated countless threats to their safety, and wielded the Elements of Harmony. In all the world, there is no one who represents peace and harmony more than I."
"That's funny."
The figure moved forward, out of the fog, and Celestia retreated up the stairs to her throne, mouth falling open. Standing in the doorway to the throne room was… herself. This Celestia was as tall as a building, her horn scraping the ceiling of the vaulted throne room, and she glowed with a gentle light. She took a few steps forward and stopped, raising her head to peer down at Celestia with an impish grin on her face.
"You know. Considering."
"I… I…" Celestia fell down onto her haunches. "You're… me?"
"I'm the you that touched the Elements of Harmony, and is still connected to them and the Tree by a thread. The you that you wish to be, and that your subjects see you as."
Celestia looked up at her towering doppelganger, who shone with perfection, grace, and all-around goodness.
"They… see me like you?" A thought struck her. "Is that how Twilight sees me too?"
Uber-Celestia chuckled. "If I showed you how she sees you, even you would go blind from how brightly you shine."
"Why are you doing this to me?" Celestia asked, after taking a moment to digest that bit of information. "I needed that Element to free my sister, Twilight, and the others. And I am harmonious! Look at everything I've done. I've brought peace and safety to a land that was once filled with monsters and demons. I've done my best to remove every bit of chaos from the lives of my people I can. And you're telling me that isn't enough harmony to be acceptable? How much more order do I need to bring to Equestria?!"
"Order is… a strange goal to strive for. Particularly if you want to make a world of complete order. Can you imagine anything more boring than that? Nothing ever changing, everything the same day after day? Sometimes, well, you just need to let things go and sit back to see what happens."
"This is ridiculous," declared Celestia. "You're claiming to be an actual living embodiment of harmony, and you're telling me to… to… to not seek safety and security and order for my ponies? To just shirk my duties and let whatever happens just… happen?"
"Exactly." Uber-Celestia smiled. "Maybe you've forgotten what harmony means. It's not about 'goodness' or 'order' or any such nonsense like that. It's about many things, with all kinds of different qualities, coming together to form something greater than their sum. For harmony, you need order and discord—"
"'Be a hell of a lot more harmony without at least one Discord I can think of," muttered Celestia, but was ignored.
"—and you need night and day. Something which you've already learned once."
"So, you're telling me… to be selfish?"
Uber-Celestia laughed and clapped her hooves excitedly. "You got it! Now, I'm not saying you need to take those bits you have stashed in that secret anonymous account and head off to the Bridle Islands like you always fantasize about, but there's nothing wrong with taking a bit of time for yourself every once in a while."
"How do you know about—! Oh, right."
Uber-Celestia motioned with her head, and the two moved forward side by side, the throne room dissolving around them until they were left walking in a featureless void.
"It's just such a foreign concept to me. I need to help my ponies, make their lives better. How can I do that if I'm being selfish?" wondered Celestia.
"Again, I'm not saying you should build yourself a palace of gold, have servants fanning you with palm fronds and feeding you grapes, and reopen the harem with a mandatory service of two years for every pony in Equestria when they turn eighteen. Nothing like that.
"But you can be a little bit selfish. Take some time for yourself! Be lazy every once in a while. You were making good progress after you finally noticed you had feelings for Twilight, but the simple realization that you were doing something for yourself rather than the good of Equestria started to make you decide to throw away what could be the best thing in your life. You were on the verge of losing yourself. That's why the Tree decided to intervene the way it did. And trust me, it was a whole mess—turning all those good ponies to stone, freeing Nightmare Moon, making sure you found all those vessels that were scattered around Equestria..."
"Just… take a day off?" Celestia chewed her lip in nervousness. "But what if something happens? What if my ponies need me? If I'm not there—"
"Someone else will be," soothed Uber-Celestia. "You have so many choices to take your place now. Twilight, Luna, Chrysalis, Cadance—"
"Hold up. Are you actually telling me to let Queen Chrysalis have sole control of Equestria while I'm off on a beach somewhere?"
"You might be surprised to find how she can act when she cares about something. She did invade Equestria and go one-on-one against you even when she didn't believe she could win, all for her hive."
Uber-Celestia gave a snort and rolled her eyes. "But, I mean… keep an eye on her, you know? Otherwise you're liable to come back from vacation and either find the locks to the palace have been changed, or else find that the Griffin Empire has become part of Equestria."
They walked in silence, covering quite some distance (as far as something like that could be measured in a featureless void) and finally Celestia sighed.
"Okay. I'll… I'll give it a shot."
"That's all I ask," replied Uber-Celestia, a warm smile on her face. "And as for our little Twilight Sparkle…?"
"Nothing will stop me from pursuing a relationship with her," said Celestia, raising her chin, determination in her eyes. "She means so much to me, and I want more."
"'You' want it." Uber-Celestia nodded approvingly. "Making progress already, I see."
"If anything will help me make progress on this, it's her." Celestia let her head drop. "You showed me what will happen if I don't."
"I only showed you what would probably happen," Uber-Celestia said gently, placing a hoof on Celestia that was probably meant to rest on her shoulder but instead lay across her entire back. "Even the Tree of Harmony can't see the future."
With a wave of her horn, Uber-Celestia opened a rectangular door in the nothing. Bright light flooded in, revealing the desert of the Badlands and Nightmare Moon fighting with Daybreaker in the sky.
"So she is real," said Celestia, then glanced down at herself to see that her usual regalia had reappeared.
"Yes, and she has the final Element vessel you need. I think you know how to deal with her, though."
Celestia stared out the doorway as an unseen force began to pull her towards it, then nodded. "Yes, I do. And I know exactly how I'm going to deal with Nightmare Moon after all this is over, too."
"You should be more lenient with her," Uber-Celestia admonished, with a disapproving cluck. "What she did was terrible beyond measure, but she's changing, even if she might not seem like it. Or even realize it herself. The Tree foresaw something like this could happen, and that's why it saw fit to give her a body of her own. Even she deserves forgiveness, and a second chance."
"Oh noooooo, I didn't hear what you just said because I'm being drawn back into the real world!" cried out Celestia from the doorway. "Goodbyyyyyee!"
Uber-Celestia sighed and shook her head as the door closed.
"Well. I guess that can be a lesson for another day."
Shining Armor gulped, looking up to where Daybreaker hovered above him.
"I was going to be kind, I was going to be merciful," she spat, face red with anger. "But now? After you threw my gracious offer back into my face? Oh, no. There's not going to be a single pony left after I'm done!"
Magic started to flare in her horn, the same blinding light as before. "So when they ask you why Equestria is nothing but a flat sheet of glass, you can tell them it was your fault. Because you couldn't accept my generosity and take the easy way out. And you can tell them—"
She cut off with a squawk as, once again, a beam of magic blasted her from the sky. The difference was, this time, the beam shone with a soft golden light.
Holding his breath, biting his lip, not daring to hope, Shining Armor slowly turned.
"I think you need to take a little break," said Princess Celestia, brushing the last bit of stone from her mane.
She trotted across the desert ground, checking Shining Armor over and making sure he was still all in one piece. Then she shifted her gaze, scanning the nearby area. Her lips tightened when she saw Nightmare still collapsed on the sand, but her eyes kept moving, finally coming back to rest on Shining Armor.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"A little tired, and a bit banged up, but nothing serious," he said with a nod.
"Good. And… Ka-klack…?"
Shining Armor lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry, Celestia, but… he's gone. He sacrificed himself trying to save us."
Celestia dropped her head, breath harsh and fast. Shining Armor stayed silent, and eventually she looked up again, her jaw tight and eyes hard.
"He was a good friend, in the end," she said gently. "I won't forget him. And… I think I've been misjudging the changelings. If they can produce someone as wonderful as him, then they're definitely worthy of being our allies. Once we've freed Chrysalis and the others, I'll welcome her and her hive into Equestria with open hooves. It's the least we can do to honor Ka-klack's memory."
They both bowed their heads, standing in silence. And then there was an explosion.
Daybreaker rocketed back into the sky on a trail of flame, seething and grinding her teeth, a large scorch mark on her chestplate.
"I am really not having a good day," she ground out between her clenched fangs. "Get up here, Celestia, so I can fix that by killing you."
"Ah." Celestia looked over at Shining Armor. "Would you excuse me? I have to take care of this real quick."
She burst off the ground in a cloud of feathers, meeting Daybreaker's attack halfway with one of her own. The two beams clashed in a massive flare, light and heat exploding outwards in a plume of excess power.
Shining Armor winced and shielded himself again as sparks poured down from above. Embers spun through the air as Celestia and Daybreaker fought for dominance, pushing the meeting point of their beams back and forth. The sheer power being put out caused fierce winds to spring up, whipping the embers about in a vortex.
Hearing a moan, Shining Armor looked over. Nightmare Moon lay on her side, twitching slightly as the embers rained down upon her. After staring at her for a moment, he moved over, bringing her under his shield.
"Thank… you…" came her voice faintly.
"Don't mention it," said Shining Armor quietly. "After everything you've done today…" He trailed off, not needing to finish that statement.
Up above, Daybreaker suddenly broke off her attack. She swept herself to the side, Celestia's beam nearly grazing her back, and exploded into a plume of fire. The flames rushed about, reforming into nearly a dozen copies of Daybreaker englobing Celestia. As one, they launched a volley of fireballs.
Celestia threw herself into a spin, flipping and twisting through the firestorm of attacks. Her horn began to fire in all directions as she spun, striking Daybreaker after Daybreaker. As they were hit, they burst apart, merging back into one. That one flapped in the air, panting and growling, as Celestia steadied herself and turned to face her once again.
"Above you!" Shining Armor called out, and Celestia jerked her head upwards.
The last Daybreaker copy was diving towards her, head lowered and one hoof out in front. With a snarl and a grin, the other Daybreaker turned into a torrent of fire and merged with the diving Daybreaker, who burst into flame and gave one last vicious flap of her wings.
Celestia looked up at the oncoming Daybreaker and simply tilted back, spreading her forelegs wide.
They crashed together in an explosion that knocked Shining Armor, even under his shield, off his hooves. Celestia caught Daybreaker, wrapping her hooves around the snarling alicorn, and together they plummeted to the ground as a fiery meteor.
The impact when they hit was almost anticlimactic compared to the rest of the fireworks of that day. Dirt and rock blasted up in a fountain of debris that rained back down, pinging off Shining Armor's shield. As the shower stopped, Shining Armor stepped forward hesitantly, trying to see through the fading cloud of dust that obscured the impact crater.
At its bottom lay Princess Celestia, on her back. On top of her was Daybreaker, with Celestia's hooves still wrapped around her. Daybreaker had her face buried in Celestia's chest, as she wept.
"I-I'm just so tired," Daybreaker sobbed, voice shaking.
"I know, I know," soothed Celestia, gently patting Daybreaker's back with one hoof. "I'm so, so sorry. I put Equestria over everything else in our lives. It's important, being Equestria's leader… but it can't be the only thing we are."
"T-There were… t-there were so many meetings, and they never accomplished anything. And we had to sign papers everyday, for hours, and make all that fluff talk with foreign dignitaries, and-and-and—"
"Shhhh." Celestia gave Daybreaker a squeeze. "There's going to be a lot less of that. We can let Luna, and Cadance and Twilight and even Chrysalis, take the load off us. We'll take vacations, too. Real, honest-to-goodness vacations. And… spend time with Twilight."
Daybreaker kept her face up against Celestia's chest, shaking, and then finally raised her head to meet Celestia's eyes with her tearstained ones. "Do you promise?" she asked, voice hoarse.
"I promise with all my heart."
Sniffing, Daybreaker held her gaze, then let her eyes close. "Okay," she said softly.
They embraced, a white glow enveloping their bodies. When it faded, Celestia was pushing herself off the ground. Daybreaker was gone, but the Element from her chestpiece remained, held in Celestia's hoof.
"You did it," breathed Shining Armor softly, as Celestia climbed the slope of the crater. "You actually did it!"
"Yes." Celestia bowed her head, closing her eyes. "I just wish… I'd realized some things sooner. Many, many things. There's so much trouble we could have avoided, and so much loss that could have been prevented. But, at least, we have what we came for. Now we can finally free the others."
"Hooraaaaaay," croaked Nightmare Moon, hobbling over. Her body was mostly back in one piece, though parts of it were still ethereal and misty.
Celestia shot her a glare, turning away to face Shining Armor.
"We should head for the Tree as fast as possible," she said, holding up the Element to inspect its nearly translucent surface. "It will lend us a portion of its power, enough to do what needs to be done.
"And then we can finally put all this behind us. It's been rough, and Ka-klack had to pay a high price—" there was an amused snort from Nightmare "—but we got through it. We'll save Luna, Twilight, Cadance, and Chrysalis, just like he would have wanted. We'll make sure no one ever forgets his sacrifice."
Nightmare Moon snickered, and Celestia turned on her in fury.
"Is there something funny about that?" she snarled, horn crackling with magic. "Ka-klack gave his life for us. For you. He died protecting everyone in Equestria, and you think that's funny?!"
"You-you mean you don't… you actually think…" Nightmare burst into laughter, parts of her body wavering as she lost her concentration and they started becoming less real. "Oh! Oh, yes, I think that's hilarious!"
Celestia seethed as Nightmare Moon laughed, clenching her teeth and tensing up her muscles, getting ready to charge the dark alicorn. But, with a deep, shuddering breath she managed to hold herself back, thanks to one thought.
"Well, laugh it up then," she said. "I hope you're enjoying yourself now, while you still can." Celestia held the Element up before her face, viewing Nightmare Moon through its surface, and smiled.
"In the meantime, let's go home."