88
Castle of the Two Sisters
Celestia and Luna’s Reading Room
11:02 a.m.
Celestia offered the cup of tea in her golden aura. Sunset Shimmer accepted it with her slow, cautious hooves, smelling the sweet aroma and sighing contently. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
Princess Celestia smiled at that, settling herself on her old pillows from a time long past. “I… do tend to find peace when tending to other ponies’ needs. Whether that be just making a cup of tea...”
Sunset sipped the tea, letting the mixture swirl on her tongue and fill her with much-needed warmth. She sighed heavenly, smiling to the Princess of the Sun. “It’s perfect.”
The morning sun was hidden behind the storm clouds, the smell of rain high in the air and the cold chill of the wind blowing against the reading room’s walls. The windows cast a ghostly white light that spilled into the room and filled it with enough light to keep the two together. No need for candles. The room was perfectly balanced between the light and the dark. Not too bright so the two ponies weren’t blinded by it, and not too dark so the two old friends could actually stare onto one another.
Celestia poured herself a cup of tea, breathing in the steam from her cup and sighing. A smile tried to sneak its way onto her lips, and while the grin did make headway, it was ultimately halted once Celestia brought the cup to her lips. Fond memories resurfaced to the time she and Luna hid away from their parents and read, played, and ate snacks and drank tea in the very room she remained in. The cup fell from her lips, landing rather shakily on her plate when Celestia’s aura finally vanished from it. She kept her eyes closed for a brief moment of silence, swallowing her tea and opening her eyes.
And there she was. Sunset Shimmer. Her old student staring at her with mixtures of worry, sadness… and strength in her eyes. She always was so strong.
Knowing she was causing quite the scene, Celestia cleared her throat and forced a smile. She adjusted the pillows beneath her, her wings unfurling and fluffing back neatly against her sides. “Can’t really recall the last time you and I shared a cup of tea, Sunset,” Celestia mentioned, Sunset’s ears perking high at that. She smiled, sighing softly, “But that is the past, yes. What is it you wished to speak with me about today?”
Taking a soft sip from her cup, Sunset lowered her plate to the small table set between her Celestia. She played with her free hooves, ears starting to droop but nonetheless holding strong. The mare herself holding strong with a deep breath and an exhale.
“I was wondering… about Twilight and the girls.”
“Mm,” Celestia murmured through closed lips, lifting the cup and bringing it to her lips. “Yes, you all have been quite busy it seems with the Elements of Harmony.”
Sunset cringed back. “You heard all that?”
“While these walls may be thick, the castle itself is falling apart. Quite a storm of emotions deep within the basement, it sounded like.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” Sunset muttered under her breath, looking away. Shaking her head, she brought her eyes back up and met Celestia’s. “But… I want to be more specific. Nothing held back, okay? I don’t want to hold anything back from you.”
Celestia was glad to hear that, proud once again to see Sunset learning from her past mistakes and building off of her new character. The new… her. It seemed almost surreal to see Sunset Shimmer sitting in front of her once again. It felt like a lifetime ago for the princess. Nonetheless, Celestia nodded her way, remaining patient and quiet for her to continue.
“Twilight and Rainbow Dash,” she said. “What really happened between them?”
Celestia almost coughed on her tea. “Twilight did not tell you herself?”
“Well, she did, but… she never really went into too much detail about what happened on Earth. She tried to make it sound sincere, but I could tell…” Sunset was saying, her voice starting to trail off. Her face contorted into numerous emotions, the most visible being uncertainty.
“You could tell what?” Celestia asked.
“I could tell she was holding something back,” Sunset replied. She stared onto her former mentor with wide, hopeful eyes. She asked, so very softly, “So… what is it?”
Celestia nodded. She nodded and dropped her cup of tea back onto the table softly. She took a deep breath and exhaled, wings slowly extending and making the light from the window shimmer behind her, against her coat, making her truly appear otherworldly. As her wings fell, Sunset was already fully engrossed. Not even a word and Celestia already had her complete attention. And despite it being difficult for Celestia herself, she took a few breaths of caution before beginning.
It never got any easier.
“It was a time… where we thought we could expand the reach of friendship to alien worlds,” Celestia began, flushing memories, some painful, some fond, all of them meaningful. “So much potential, far greater than anything we have known on Equus. An alien world with a race we had yet to fully know. What were they like, what was their culture, did they know friendship like we do? After the events of the Ultron Offensive, the world the Avengers came from sounded…”
“Dangerous?” Sunset offered.
Celestia chuckled softly, her eyes falling. “No… no, not dangerous. Exhilarating. Yes… that was the way Luna and I used to see it. An alien world filled with limitless possibilities, technology that overshadowed our own, and a hope… for a conjoined tomorrow. We never realized how wrong we were. We truly did realize what Earth was when Twilight and her friends returned. So, yes, Sunset… we realized it truly was dangerous in a way. In the end, that is.
“Acts of terrorism, of hatred, fear, other ghastly attributes that divides instead of builds. I never would have let Twilight or the others go themselves if I had known humanity was capable of such horrors. Not all of them, surely. Twilight made that specifically clear. Humanity’s capability for friendship, peace, everything we desired was there… but like every species, there is a darkness to it. A darkness that infects, like a sickness. Twilight and the girls experienced that sickness firsthoof. They became victims to it… especially Twilight.”
Sunset’s mouth refused to close, forming a tiny “o” of intrigue. Her eyes were wide, watching Celestia unfurl events like the great storyteller she was. It was no fairy tale that time around, unfortunately. Every word she uttered was the truth. Every painful word.
“That fear that infected her… it caused Twilight to try and control fate. She ignored her heart… who she was. That title as the Princess of Friendship had never been more skewed since the moment she decided to ignore Steve Rogers’ best friend. She chose to ignore his plight, his pain, his suffering… all in order to keep the peace. To prevent another disaster that she never recovered from.”
That caught her for a moment, Sunset gasping quietly. “Never?” Sunset asked.
The light made her shadow fall across the table and even Sunset herself. It hid her expression, the years of pain and turmoil etched in every wrinkle and scar. Celestia stared at nothing, but felt so much more burning in her heart. “I have trained Twilight since she was a filly. I know her favorite meal… her favorite book… her strongest spells… her greatest failures… her most triumphant feats. I never imagined there would be a day I had a child of my own to care for like her paren…” she caught herself on that, starting again, “… but Twilight was as close to me as any daughter could have been.”
Sunset’s ears fell at that last statement, but Celestia didn’t even seem to catch it. Lowering her eyes, her expression almost shattering, Sunset barely lifted her pupils to gaze back onto the princess’ face she never could have seen in the shadows. “She’s really close to you, huh?” she mumbled.
Celestia nodded, not even looking at her. Not having the strength. “Yes… but never once had I seen her so… like herself. Like nothing had damaged her. The moment she returned from Earth, I saw the pony that was damaged. She and Rainbow Dash. They stood on opposite sides and nearly destroyed a friendship… and for what? Politics… ignoring the pain of another. Neither should have fallen from that. Twilight and Rainbow were too strong for that. But even sickness makes us all weak… and Earth changed them just enough for neither to see the friend they fought against.”
It always hurt to remind herself of what Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash had become when they were on Earth. They would have arguments, certainly, but never a moment either raised a hoof to one another, threatened to fight one another, or even hurt one another. They returned to Canterlot with bruises, scars, pain etched on their faces and confliction in their hearts. Their souls. Some of it from Earth… but most of it from each other.
“Even when she and Rainbow made amends at long last, I always thought it seemed a little too… fast. Pain like the kind they endured while on Earth takes years to heal, and both ponies just shook it off in a couple of months. Whenever I saw the two together, they acted like nothing had happened. Almost as if their journey to Earth, the split with the Avengers… like it never even happened.”
“And that’s concerning,” Sunset said with a nod, levitating the tea to her lips.
“Very much so,” Celestia agreed with a nod and her word. “Yet after I heard of their victory over the Pony of Shadows, I didn’t think any longer on the subject. Their friendship had healed, the Elements of Harmony had saved us once again. All was well. Then again… I didn’t really take into account that the Pillars of Old Equestria were with them that day. Their connection with the Elements was still there, the very magic that created the seed to the Tree of Harmony finally reunited with their creators… Perhaps there was some external power that stopped the Pony of Shadows that fateful day… Perhaps…”
Celestia nearly collapsed, sighing with a near-existential crisis burning in tone. Her eyes shut, her head fell, and an agonized exhale left her lungs. Almost like her soul was being ripped right from her body. “Perhaps I should have never sent Twilight and the girls to Earth in the first place.”
Sunset gazed onto her, watched the princess of Equestria that had ruled for over a thousand years, brought about the longest moment of peace in all of their planet’s history, become the strongest most effective leader Sunset had ever known… crumble before her. She shivered, whimpered, cried, wept, broke down and showed the world who she truly was. Showed Sunset at least, the only soul capable of seeing her in that broken state. The unicorn sat uncomfortably as her former mentor cried, shutting her own eyes and placing the cup and plate back on the table. Rather firmly. Rather suddenly.
“Celestia,” she declared, her voice just as firm and sudden. It was enough to cease Celestia’s torment, the Alicorn lifting her gaze hidden in the shadows and turn it towards the pony shimmering under the light. “A wise pony once taught me that it’s never our fault for things fate puts into place. We can’t gaze into the future. We can’t change the past without causing irrecoverable damage in the present. Things happen… for a reason. We can sit here and blame ourselves for things we had no control over… or we can focus on today and try to create a better tomorrow. That’s how we become our strongest when we fall… That’s how we know who we truly are.”
A gasp from the other side of the table. Celestia sniffled rather hard, tears burning at the edges of her vision. “You still remembered the first lesson I taught you…”
Sunset shrugged with a tiny smirk to go with it. “Well, when you nearly burn down Canterlot Castle with a spell you wanted to impress your teacher with… that tends to stick with you,” Sunset chuckled, rubbing the back of her head nervously. “Gosh, I was a wreck after that spell. Haven’t cried that hard in my life…”
Her voice started to trail away, eyes widening when she saw the shadow cover her. Celestia arose from her pillows and proceeded forth. She stopped directly next to Sunset Shimmer, almost gazing wondrously onto the unicorn’s face and into her eyes. Sunset was frozen where she sat, gazing up like a child would. Celestia hadn’t seen that expression on her face in years. So much wonder. So much innocence. So much that was lost…
And then regained. Celestia smiled at that. “The lessons I’ve taught you have served you so well. Despite our difficult past… I always saw a pony who could be something more. Something greater. Beneath that proud exterior… there was a leader. There was somepony I was glad to have raised alongside your parents.”
She almost broke right there, closing her eyes tight and exhaling hard through her nostrils. Even Sunset was starting to show that raw emotion, Celestia’s words always so warming, so tenderly, so painful and true that they struck where it mattered the most. When Celestia opened her eyes again, they were beet red, tears freely flowing down her cheeks once again. No pain that time.
“I am glad to have been your teacher… just as I am proud that you were my first daughter.”
Sunset couldn’t hold it in anymore. She may have cried years ago when she nearly burned down Canterlot Castle trying to impress her teacher, but the hardest she ever wept was right then and there, embracing her mentor, her friend with a powerful and tearful hug. Celestia returned it with just as much strength, both wings wrapped tenderly around the golden unicorn. Together the two wept, cried, two broken ponies finally finding those pieces each held and mending them once again. Making each other whole again.
The hug ended but they still embraced each other, Celestia wiping Sunset’s tears away with the tip of her wing. Sunset gazed up to Celestia like she used to do when she was but a filly to her own mother, Sunset hardly seeing the difference anymore. Celestia felt the same exact way, smiling down to her and declaring proudly, “You have grown so much… yet have barely aged a day.”
Sunset chuckled at that, dropping her eyes. “Well, it’s only been four years after all.”
Celestia… froze at that.
Noticing the unnerving silence that settled in and replaced the warmth with a piercing coldness, Sunset emotionally shivered at that. She was so shaken that she turned back to Celestia rather rapidly, trying to meet her warming gaze yet again. Yet Celestia looked away from Sunset’s eyes, unable to meet them. Unable to find the strength or her voice that somehow… vanished.
A tad confused at her actions, Sunset leaned closer. Narrowed her eyes. Repeated the same statement, clearer and much firmer the second time around. “It’s only been four years after all… right?”
She didn’t answer.
It was Sunset who pushed Celestia away from her, the Alicorn almost hurt by that action. It was a weak push to separate the two of them, but it still felt harder than that. It hurt so much more than that, especially seeing the hardened expression grow ever more feverishly across Sunset’s face. The disregard for the bond the two just rebuilt, all of it just clouded by the horrid revelation Celestia prayed Sunset would never reach, Celestia saw all of that on Sunset’s face. It hurt so much. Hurt Celestia more than it ever could Sunset.
Standing her ground, hooves outstretched and firmly planted, Sunset stated, “I never saw Twilight when she was your pupil, and you said you’ve been training Twilight since she was a filly.”
Closer and closer. Celestia always pushed the revelation to the back of her mind, intending to tell her one day… but not today. Not in the times they were in. Neither needed that type of agony eating away at them, Celestia with it constantly plaguing her and Sunset desperately wishing to know it. It was a double-edged sword, something Celestia didn’t want Sunset to experience like she had. Like Sunset’s parents had…
“How long have I been gone?”
There it was. Princess Celestia physically flinched at that, turning aside and refusing to meet her friend’s eyes. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much it killed her. Sunset stamped her hoof into the solid stone beneath her, causing Celestia to flinch once again. “Celestia!” she shouted, fear in her voice, overshadowed by the pain. “How. Long. Have I been gone?!”
Her eyes hardened, her expression that of solid stone. Even with her trembling lips, Celestia held her ground and met Sunset’s fury with strength of her own. She finally turned away from the shadows and met the fire straight ahead, embraced it with everything that it was. It burned.
“Fifteen years,” Celestia admitted.
It burned so hot and so excruciating.
Sunset Shimmer stumbled backwards at that, stammered with her words, her breath, her very understanding of reality. “F… F-fifteen…?” she gasped. Celestia made no movement, no change of expression or of heart. Sunset could barely breathe. She had been gone from Equestria, her home, everything… for that long. She couldn’t even imagine the world changing in that amount of time. The world teetered and turned, Sunset feeling rather nauseous. She tried to calm her breathing, tried to grasp reality once again, but couldn’t…
Couldn’t because she left her parents alone for fifteen years.
Twilight Sparkle burst into the reading room, declaring to the two of them that the Avengers had arrived.