Celestia woke slowly.
The world outside was a pale blue, only just nearly morning and not night as the sun had some ways to go before it’s beaming rays would fall upon Canterlot. There was a deep chill in the air but that was expected, winter was in full force and they didn’t have the ponies to spare to change the weather. Canterlot was lucky enough to be spared a blizzard but with the chill this far up the mountain, it was dangerous to stay outside for long.
After a moment of laying in her warm bed, the princess of the sun rose up with little grace. Her hooves dragged on the plush rugs that covered her stone floor and her head hanged low. With a little magic as possible, she opened the door to the small platform that had been built for this very reason and straightened her neck and posture. She didn’t bother changing her dead-eyed stare, the group of ponies far down below couldn’t see it.
What they saw was the full glory of a princess of Equestria, the power of Celestia of the Ever Free, sole riser of the sun. They didn’t see the way her coat was unruly in places, the way the underside of her eyes were darkened or the deep cutting frown on her face.
As soon as the first light spilled over the horizon she turned inside, ignoring the ponies down below and laid back down with a grunt.
She didn’t return to sleep and instead laid there halfway between rest and dreams. Were there meetings the princess had to attend? No doubt. They would have to wait until she felt like moving again and if she were to judge it didn’t seem likely that she would leave her bed until noon, possibly later if she could get away with it.
“You are still asleep ?”
Celestia clenched her eyes shut even tighter, curling up as much as she could. This morning hadn’t seemed too good at the start but she thought she had at least passed this.
“Come on now, Tia,”said the low mocking voice. “You would try to pretend to somber in front of me of all ponies?”
What would her nightmare say today? How much she had failed as a ruler? As a sister? Would she hear of all the ways she had failed ever since they had left the Ever Free to fight Discord? There was nothing she could do but accept what the day had brought her, be it a day filled with meeting with nobles that feared her or a day where she was mocked by a shadow of the pony she loved most in this world.
With dread, she opened her eyes to see….
Luna.
Grinning down at her, her eyes bright and shining like they used too from well before her banishment. It jolted her up and it was only her sister’s quick reflexes that stopped their head and horns from smashing into each other. For a moment Celestia thought she could cry, she didn’t care how Luna had gotten out, all that mattered was that her sister, with her soft blue coat that wasn’t darkened with shadow magic, and staring at her in confusion but not in anger and-
With a slow blink, Celestia remembered that Luna had been back now for almost four years. “Luna?” She asked with a tilt of her head. With a soft shake, she tried to clear her clouded thoughts.
Luna looked at her in confusion and a small bit of worry. She leaned away from her, her wing tucked in close. “Are you well sister? I was not expecting such a reaction. Should I have not awoken you?”
Not wanting to cause her to worry, and not understanding why her mind had caused such a trick on her out of the blue, she extended a wing to draw her sister in close. “I’m alright, I had a….strange dream was all.”
“I see.” She looked down at her hooves with a frown. “ I must apologize, I was so busy tonight that I didn’t watch over your dreams like I should have.”
Celestia nuzzled her little sister with a reassuring smile, “It is not your fault. It wasn’t even a bad dream I suppose…. It was strange how real it felt, I’ve never had a dream with such realness.”
Luna nodded with a small frown as she moved away from her. After a moment, as she looked at her sister over to make sure this dream hadn’t upset her too much, she nodded to the doors to Celestia’s balcony. “I woke you because I wish to show the gift I’ve made for Canterlot on this Hearth’s Warming morning.”
“A Hearth’s Warming gift?” she asked with surprise. “I thought you didn’t want to partake in this holiday, I usually have to drag you to dinner!”
The dark mare shrugged, “ While I do have….unpleasant feelings about it I do enjoy the spirit. But come sister, you have to help me.”
The pair walked outside and Celestia was surprised to see that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Canterlot had enough weather Ponies to handle just about anything but winter was always a hard time for them so high above the ground, let alone during the holiday season. Hearth’s Warming was kept safe from blizzards but beyond that, it was left alone. Yet now the sky was clear, the early morning light casting Canterlot in a wonderful blue tint. There was a chill in the air yet it was warmer than it had been lately, cold enough that the snow would not melt into slush but her little ponies ears would not be in danger of freezing off.
She flared her wings, letting the feathers feel the morning air and felt the last bits of sleep fade away. “You cleared the sky,” Celestia smiled brightly. “I’m sure Canterlot will enjoy it.”
“I did not merely clear the sky. I had endeavored to make the best morning possible, I moved the winds myself. It took me some time to change the humidity and air pressures to bring it to level but I was not needed in the dreams of ponies who are so eager and happy for this morning.” Luna looked over Canterlot with a smile, “Normally few ponies would be awake but is it not tradition for foals to wake their parents early for presents?”
“It’s wonderful,” Celestia pulled her close with one of her wings as she lit her horn to bring forth the sun.
She remembered her dream as they watched the sunrise together. It had been so long ago when she had truly hated her duty. The sun hadn’t felt part of her then and every morning only reminded her that her sister had fallen to darkness.
That dark feeling she had felt in her dream….Truly she’d forgotten it. Perhaps on purpose. It had taken her so long to not blame her little ponies for what had happened. After all, had they not been together for a thousand years? Had they not saved this ver plane of existence from Discord? But because they didn’t have the sense to love her sister like she did, didn’t respect her like they should have, she’d lost Luna completely.
Of course, that had been foalish of her to believe.
“How did your dinner with Twilight fair?”
“Oh wonderful,” she said with a smile. Glad to be rid of her darker thoughts Celestia continued, “She accepted my offer for her to come to the Day Court. I think once she adjusts to the idea some more she’ll take to it just fine.”
“Twilight Sparkle is truly exceptional,” Luna said. “I will be glad to have her in Canterlot more often.”
“I will as well.”
“Were you truly worried that she would not want to? I do not know her as well as you do sister but she would never let you down.”
Oh how aware of that she was. She had no doubt that if she ordered it Twilight would march up to Canterlot and take over for as long as she asked. No matter if she wanted too or if it made her unhappy. Twilight was no longer her student and in fact, by all rights, she was her equal in legal matters yet that didn’t change the fact that there was still a wall between them. One that Celestia hated but one that she would, or maybe could never break down herself.
“I don’t want to order her if she is ever going to help us rule she needs to want to do so on her own. Coming to Day Court won’t be enough of course, not completely and I fully expect to come home to some disaster or another but she will be amazing, I’m sure of it.” She turned to nuzzle her sister once more. “Would you eat with me or will you be retiring now?”
“And let you all the best again?” Luna scoffed with a soft glare. “No I remain awake for now, perhaps I will rest in the afternoon. Our niece is due this evening is she not? I will be happy to see her.”
As they started back inside and towards the kitchen area, all free from ponies on this holiday, Celestia answered with a happy grin, “Cadence is coming yes. Twilight as well, I asked last night.”
“Wonderful! Does that mean Shining Armor will finally come? I wish to speak with him more but he keeps eluding me ....”
“I fear Cadence told him to stay away,” she admitted. “Which is my fault, I was a little...forward with my teasing.”
“You of all ponies, Tia?” Luna scoffed loudly with a roll of her eyes, “No I would never think you would go too far in your teasing.”
Celestia hung her head, “I couldn’t help it. You know how I get.”
Her sister laughed at her as they entered the small kitchen. This one was simply used by their guards most of the time during the short breaks in their shifts. It didn’t have as much food as the larger main one downstairs but it was stationed in between their rooms so when they were working they didn’t need to travel all the way down to the ground floor. That and it caused the ponies downstairs so much stress when they were visited by the royal guests without warning.
While smaller there was still plenty of food here of course. Flowers of all kinds, cakes, and treats piled high on all the counters. While the rest of the staff was due back tomorrow her chefs always worried that she, Princess Celestia, would starve one day without them.
She picked out the flowers that she wished to eat, leaving all the lavender for her sister, and more than one of the cupcakes. There was no one else here to stare at her about eating cupcakes for breakfast so she would do so with relish.
“How do you eat such things so early?” Luna scrunched her nose at the sight of her sister’s plate. She only had a few pieces of lavender and instead had started to pour herself a large cup of coffee. “Tis most….gross.”
“Cupcakes are good at any time and a lot of cupcakes are the best possible breakfast,” she said with her muzzle pointed up for emphasis.
“That is not what the health booketh say.”
“I’m the princess I can change the heath books.”
“One day without ponies around and you turned into a tarent!” Cadence said from the doorway. She walked in with her head turned low and let out a broken sob. “What will Twilight say when she hears that you would change a book for your own gain?”
“Cadence!,” Celestia blinked in surprise. She lowered her third cupcake as regally as possible, “I thought you would be with Shining and Twilight till this afternoon.”
“It would seem Twilight overslept,” her niece said with a soft smile. She picked up a muffin off the counter and started to eat it. “Shiny asked me to come get her since I would be able to snap her out of her freak out that she probably will about oversleeping.”
“Twilight Sparkle slept over ?” Luna asked with a smirk. “You did not tell me of this-”
Celestia froze, her smile and all her good humor gone. “Twilight didn’t return to her parents home last night?”
Now it was Cadence’s turn to blink in surprise. “She- no. No, she didn’t. Shining stayed up all night like he always does for Hearth’s Warming but when Twilight didn’t show up he thought she had decided to stay here at the castle.”
Her heart dropped. Twilight was a powerful alcorn, who or what would have stopped her in the middle of her city without any of Canterlot’s guards seeing and more importantly where was she?
“Twilight left my quarters late last night, I had offered her a room here but she told me that she would be fine since it is so close by.” She took a deep calming breath but her heart started to beat faster and faster. Worry gripped at her, Twilight had been in danger before and Celestia had sent her to it but this sudden disappearance spooked her.
“Luna go to the Night Guard,” Celestia commanded. “See if and when Twilight made it out of the castle. Cadence and I will search the path along the way from here and see if we can find anything of note.”
“Should I go to Ponyville for the rest of the Elements?” Luna asked her. Her smile was gone as well and her face was as stern as it had been when they had faced Discord so long ago. It saddened her to see her good mood ruined since she had so few of them but it lifted her heart to see that Luna cared for somepony so much.
“Not yet,” she answered slowly. “After our search. There is still hope that there was simply a miscommunication and we will find Twilight safe and sound.”
With a nod, Luna left, herself and Cadence not far behind. Instead of walking down the halls and down the many stairs Celestia simply opened the nearest window and flew out of it. She had asked, a long long time ago when this part of the castle was built, for such large openings for this reason. While normally she would worry over a pony seeing her jump out her own window Twilight was missing and that mattered more than her image.
They scared the poor guard at the front gate, one of the few ponies working at the castle at the moment, and he quickly bowed to the pair of them. “Princesses Celestia and Cadence,” his voice quivered as he knelt, “Can I serve you somehow?”
He was young, barely old then a colt and that was no doubt why he was on duty on Hearth’s Warming morning. “How long have you been at your station?” She asked as nicely as she could. Her worry still made it sound harsher than she meant it too but thankfully it wasn’t enough to scare the poor guard more.
“Just this past hour,” he answered. “The Night Guard pony left at first light.”
“Have you seen or heard anything strange at all?” Cadence asked him.
The young stallion blushed when he met her eyes but shook his head. “No, nothing at all. Everypony knows that the public parts of the castle are closed on Hearth’s Warming so nopony has been by.”
“Thank you,” Celestia told him quickly as they made their way away from the castle gate. “Please have a Merry Hearth’s Warming”
“Shouldn’t we tell Captain Golden Comet that she may have to call upon the guards?” her niece whispered in her ear. “If something attacked Twilight….”
“If somepony attacked Twilight and won then there is little the guard would be able to do,” she pointed out. “Until we know something it’s best if we don’t cause a panic.”
Normally it caused a great deal of excitement to see Celestia walkthrough Canterlot, let alone her and Cadance both. Even this early in the morning with the sun had risen in the sky but only barely she would have been stopped every five minutes by some pony or another. This morning the ponies of Canterlot were too busy opening gifts and being merry to stand and stare at their princesses.
They walked slowly, too afraid that they may miss some hint of a clue if they tried to fly above. “I hope she’s alright,” Cadence spoke suddenly. “I’m so worried.”
“Twilight is a tough pony,” she said with certainty that deep down was hollow. It was true that Twilight was as strong as her now neigh perhaps even stronger, but Celestia had a feeling deep down that something was wrong. The city around them felt off and as much as she wanted to say that her dream was still fogging her mind she didn’t think it was. “I’m sure we’ll find her safe and sound.”
They found nothing as they walked, no signs of a fight, and nothing of Twilight’s. It should have made them feel better but instead, it made Celestia’s heart drop lower and lower. When she looked at her niece she found the same look of deep worry.
As they turned on the street where Twilight’s parents' home was Celestia tried to have hope that her ex-student wasn’t in danger. Besides herself and her sister, Twilight was the most powerful pony in Equestria. Discord had been behaving ever since he had spent time in Ponyville and it didn’t seem his style to just take Twilight. At the least, he would have come to her first to taunt her. King Sombra was gone, shattered to pieces. Perhaps Queen Chrysalis? No, no, if the changeling queen wanted to attack Twilight she would have done the same thing she’d done to Cadence. She would have never made the mistake of having Twilight go missing if she had plans to impersonate her. Who else was there? She had faced so many-
Cadence gasped suddenly, tears started swelling in her eyes as she pointed at the ground with a shaking hoof.
There laying innocently on the sidewalk was a small golden inkpot, it’s black ink spilled out and dry. Celestia recognized it well if she remembered correctly it was given to Twilight by one of her friends for her birthday earlier in the year.
“Cadence, go back to the castle and get Luna,” Celestia said with a steady voice. She had to take control of this quickly because every moment she didn’t was another moment Twilight was in the hooves of who knows what kind of villain.
“I need to tell Shining,” Cadence said with a shaking breath. She steeled herself, pushing down on her fear and putting on the face of a princess. Celestia had taught her well. “Velvet and Night Light should know too….”
“After you get Luna,” she said softly. “It is important that she comes here as fast as possible. I must stay, no pony can touch anything around here. There may be a clue on what happened.”
Cadence nodded and took off towards the castle, faster than Celestia had ever seen her fly.
Anger wasn’t an emotion she had often, it was rather useless in her day to day life but as she stood out there on that empty street she felt it build inside her. Twilight had faced so many dangers but this seemed so….dishonorable. Attacking any pony on Hearth’s Warming would be. That she had been here, in Canterlot, in Celestia’s home where she should have been safe just dug at her.
“Princess?” Came Shining’s voice from down the street. She turned to see him walking down the sidewalk, free of his armor. Dark circles were under his eyes and his muzzle was turned into a deep frown. “Princess what are you doing here? Where is Twi-”
He stopped and blinked down at the ink pot, no doubt his lack of sleep made it take longer for him to realize what he was seeing and why she was standing guard. At once his face became stone and he became Captain Shining Armor. “Where is she?”
“We do not yet know,” she answered truthfully. “I hadn’t known she was missing until Cadence came to the castle to fetch her.”
“Do you have any leads?” He demanded. “Surely some pony had to have seen something!”
“We have only just begun, I sent Cadence to get Luna and they should be back any moment.”
For a moment he looked like he wished to argue but he stilled his tongue. They had never been too close, he had been in training when Twilight had started taking most of her classes in the castle and after he joined the guard he had always wanted to keep his professionalism at all times. A side effect of him and Cadence not being so professional.
“We will find her Captain,” she reassured him. And herself. “I will use all that I have to do it if I have too.”