Celestia’s hooves skidded upon the packed dirt as she rapidly changed direction to match the circle’s own shift. As she resumed running, she had to call up a shield once more to stop a quartet of balls of ice from striking her. She stopped three, the fourth smacking into her withers. For the barest moment, she was concerned that Luna might call off the trial – but no more than a moment, for Luna did not call it off, and Celestia didn’t have time to think beyond that as the circle once again changed direction.
Luna had stopped pacing, instead standing in the center of scoured Tambelon, moving only to keep following Celestia’s movements. Her horn glowed as she solidified moisture in the air and hurled it at the other alicorn, while simultaneously she continued to move the dome of light.
Celestia had no idea how long this had been going on for. She would have personally guessed that it had been scarce minutes, a half hour on the outside, but occasional glances at the moon overhead suggested otherwise – an hour at least, maybe more than one. But while she was still running, still defending herself, still had only felt the sting of ice striking her body only a few times, she also knew that whatever she was doing, it wasn’t satisfying Luna.
The Princess of the Night was not a sadist. She wasn’t doing this because she wanted to see Celestia struggle. She was looking for something, something beyond mere unicorn magic – Celestia’s telekinesis and shields were more than enough proof that she possessed that. Her thoughts turned to their race over Equestria – their struggle with wind and weather, their competition with crafted tornadoes and conjured gales. Luna had seemed far more satisfied with her showing in that contest, aside from the buck to the face, but then that had left her only disappointed, not –
Ah…capsico, Celestia thought as enlightenment struck. As the latest round of ice balls collided with her conjured shields, she reached out with her telekinesis, finding the edges of the circle, as cautiously as she could lest Luna see her, taking extra effort to hide the telltale, bright blue effervescence of her telekinetic aura. As Celestia’s aura crept over it, she was fairly certain that Luna didn’t notice, at least not until, once her encirclement was complete, Celestia dropped her conjured shields entirely. She ignored the pain of a few ice balls striking her as she stopped running and at the same time grabbed the edges of the circle, overpowering Luna’s own fairly loose telekinetic grab and bringing the circle to a halt as well.
“Finally!” she heard Luna exclaim. Celestia smiled brightly as she looked to Luna, expecting praise – but instead found the Princess of the Night standing with legs wide, as her horn glowed. Behind her and beside her, the earth rose up in a trio large, uneven chunks.
Celestia instantly realized where this was going just as one of the chunks – the largest of the three, four times Celestia’s height – was hurled at her. Without releasing her hold on the circle she’d claimed from Luna, she reached out telekinetically, not to the incoming rock, but to her own hooves as she leapt, taking the circle with her. Buoyed by her magic, she was able to plant her hooves on the top of the hurled earth, then leap from that higher into the air.
The smallest of the three chunks was thrown at her next, as she was falling back to the ground. Without thinking, she reached out telekinetically, imagining a long, thin plane of magic that would simply slice the chunk in half. There was a crack as it did so, and Celestia fell between the rent hunk of earth, landing evenly on the ground again.
She hadn’t even known she could do that, but she didn’t have time to feel pleased with herself as Luna telekinetically threw the last chunk of rock. This, Celestia caught with her own telekinesis, ducking even as she pushed the rock up and over her head, where it fell somewhere behind her. Even as she did, she realized three things – one, Luna was expecting her to do more than defend herself with the same shield spell over and over again; two, while no part of her body could pass beyond the limits of the circular dome, her magic was under no such restriction.
And three – now that she knew that, she realized that this wasn’t a magical test, so much as it was a magical duel. And duels weren’t won by staying purely on the defense. Of course, defensive spells were essentially all she knew – nopony in Cavallia had taught her any kind of offensive magic, and she’d possessed little desire to learn any. But on the other hoof, she’d previously been unaware that her telekinesis could be used to slice solid rock in half if focused correctly, but in the heat of the moment, without thinking and simply by doing, she’d been able to perform such a feat.
Start with what I know, she instructed herself, conjuring a pair of shields on either side of her. Blue and translucent, they were rectangular in shape, but she willed their lower halves to change in shape and length, changing them to become kite shields with sharp eddges. Even as she did this, Luna’s own horn glowed, and she conjured a pair of long steams of star-studded energy – whips, most likely.
Celestia charged. Luna was, by an order of magnitude, older and stronger than she was at present. She remembered fighting against Grogar, against Tirek, against Discord himself. The ruins of Tambelon were a testament to the power she could wield. If Celestia wanted any chance at winning, she would need to take and hold the initiative. She also reminded herself that, unlike her own wings, Luna’s wings were not bound – if Luna wanted to, she could fly, and Celestia knew enough of Luna now to know that she should not expect the Princess of the Night to play fair.
When she was within range, Luna’s right-hoof whip lashed out, straight forward. Celestia had expected it, using her conjured shield to block the incoming blow without slowing, then her other shield's sharp edge to slice Luna's whip in twain, destroying it. Luna’s second whip came in from the side, but Celestia stopped and destroyed that one as well – her shields were more than up to the task of protecting her. On seeing this, Luna didn't conjure more whips, and instead stamped both her front hooves onto the ground. She disappeared from view for a moment, and when she reappeared, there appeared to be six of her, each of which began spreading out and across the arena.
Celestia skidded to a halt, eyes wide for a moment as she took in the sight of each Luna. They had to be illusions, she knew, and fortunately illusion-dispelling magic formed a part of her existing repertoire of magic. She called up the spell, horn glowing bright blue as she hurled an orb of magic forward. It exploded in a burst of light, and all six Lunas disappeared – and one appeared from nowhere, charging straight at her.
Celestia’s eyes widened in shock, and she was barely able to move aside. Luna had anticipated the dodge, however, and adjusted her movement enough that she caught Celestia as she turned, knocking the wind from the smaller alicorn, although she was careful to knock into Celestia with her shoulder rather than her horn. That horn was instead driven into one of Cadance's shields, and a burst of magic along its length shattered it and reverberated into and destroyed the others, even as the two alicorns fell together in a heap.
Celestia had landed on her back and cried out, though more in surprise than pain, but got her legs under Luna and shoved, weaving magical enchantments into her legs as she did so that allowed her to toss Luna high into the air, then scrambled to her hooves. Celestia got her feet under her even as Luna landed easily, wings still tucked comfortably at her side, horn glowing and conjuring a dozen balls of ice. Celestia bit back a swear of exasperation as she was able to bring new conjured shields up in time to block the incoming ice balls. However, Luna conjured more and more, hurling a half-dozen each second.
Celestia dropped to the ground, calling on new, unfamiliar magic once more, acting purely on instinct now as she shaped her magic into the first direct counter to ice that she could think of. With a sweep of her front hooves, the air between Celestia and Luna ignited, creating a wide line of fire that almost instantly evaporated the ice Luna was throwing her way; what little reached Celestia’s shields was little more than harmless slush.
By the time Celestia dispelled the wall of fire, Luna had turned around, running away and grinning. Celestia, remembering the strength-enhancing enchantments she had woven into her hooves to get Luna off of her, leapt through the air and landed in front of the Princess of the Night, who skidded to a stop as Celestia’s horn glowed again and she conjured up five spheres eldritch energy – raw magic – and hurled them. Luna, surprise on her face at Celestia getting the drop on her, tried to avoid them, but magical attack was unerring and the five orbs hit home against her flank, neck, and legs. She stumbled slightly, but didn’t lose her balance, and winced at the slight pain.
“Impressive! But I’m not satisfied – not yet,” Luna called as she leapt backwards, spinning and horn glowing. Celestia threw more missiles, but Luna, prepared this time, stopped each of them with magic while still in the air. Celestia was already charging as the Princess of the Night landed, but as soon as she did the ground beneath Celestia suddenly became coated in a slippery substance, spreading out in a circle from Luna. She lost her balance and tumbled to the ground, though she continued gliding forward. Luna, meanwhile, had leapt, creating a gust of wind under her to carry her outside of the range of her grease spell, deliberately not using her wings. Once she landed on clean earth, she reared back onto her hind legs and shot a bolt of magic into the sky. Instantly, ice began to fall in large chunks – some as big as a pony’s head – over the greasy area.
Celestia gasped at the sight, willing herself to get out from under the magical ice storm. Her horn glowed of its own accord, and she suddenly had moved – changed positions entirely. She found herself standing an easy thirty feet from where she had been, covered in magical grease but no longer underneath the falling ice. She had teleported, she realized – something that only the most skilled unicorn mages were capable of.
Luna noticed, of course, and smiled, teleporting herself – disappearing from where she had been standing and appearing in front of Celestia and conjuring a blade of ice, swinging it telekinetically at Celestia. She barely avoided the initial swing and its follow-up jabs before centering herself enough to call up a blue-tinted, steel knife of her own (this was another new one, but by now Celestia had decided to stop marveling at her ability to create new spells on the fly), which was able to stop and shatter Luna’s. That gave her little time, however, as the shards of shattered ice were propelled forward telekinetically and into Celestia, stinging her.
Celestia felt a measure of exasperation by now. She threw a hoof forward as she directed her own conjured knife as Luna’s side, and nimble as Luna was, it still glided across her flank – though the blade was insufficiently sharp or magical enough to actually harm Luna. She nevertheless glanced at it in surprise – and took her eyes off of Celestia for a moment too long as the other alicorn reached out telekinetically and wrapped her magic around Luna, holding her in place.
Or trying to. Luna smiled wryly, horn glowing, and the brighter blue aura that surrounded her was pushed away and off of her. She cantered backwards several paces as her own midnight-hued magic enveloped Celestia’s own and snuffed it out, an action that sent a jolt of pain straight down Celestia’s horn and into her skull. By the time she recovered, Luna had created a quartet of whips, like the ones she had made before, and swung them in from all sides. Celestia brought her shields up on either side, stopping them, but then three more whips appeared from nothingness and lashed around Celestia’s front hooves and horn, pulling. She cried out as she lost her balance and fell forward, onto the dirt beneath her, while also losing her concentration, her shields disappearing and her magical grip on the dome failing.
Most of the whips disappeared, except for the ones around her legs. Luna pulled on them again, dragging Celestia forward, towards the edge of the circle. The pink alicorn panicked, conjuring up a blade again and driving it down into the whips, or trying to telekinetically destroy them, but failed as they tugged again, and her two front hooves came within an inch of the circle. Glancing up at Luna, she sent a telekinetic burst to the other alicorn’s horn again, but Luna expected it, stopping the burst easily. She tried to teleport again, but the whips held her in place, stopping her from popping out of reality. The whips tugged a third time, not hard, not much – but Celestia passed beyond the dome. Instantly, it disappeared, as did the strip around her wings, and the whips – and they took all of Celestia’s dreams for the past decade with them.
Celestia stared in shock at her own hooves, eyes wide. Slowly, she stood, looking to Luna and forcing the tears in her eyes back. “Th-thy terms were clear,” she said, slowly. “I – I f-failed, and s-s-so I shall f-forfeit – ”
“Still thy tongue,” Luna interrupted, though gently. “Thou hast met my expectations.”
Celestia had literally obeyed Luna’s command, mouth hanging open as she did. She closed it slowly, staring at the Princess of the Night in confusion. “B…but,” she said, tears still streaming from her eyes – tears of relief, which she was unable to keep at bay, unlike tears of despair. “But…thy terms – ”
Luna waved her concern away. “The only reason I made them,” she said, “was to put pressure on thee. The true test was of battle magic – and thy usage of it. Tell me: thou couldst cleave stone in half with telekinesis, or conjured fire. Why didst thou not attempt to do such to me?”
Celestia blinked in shock. “Cleave thee in half?” she demanded
“I admit that I was holding much back this entire duel, and I am certain that thou were aware of this. It almost certainly would not have worked.”
“But…but if it had?” Celestia demanded, her two front hooves shifting weight uncontrollably as her wings fluttered in agitation. “Not…I could never!”
“And that is what I needed to know,” Luna explained. “When thou faced true pressure, when everything thou holds dear was at risk, I needed to see how thou wouldst react.” She smiled. “I am pleased with the result.” Celestia shivered, wings folding tight against her body as she eyed Luna, who at last seemed to notice her discomfort and distress. “I…I am sorry, Cadenza,” she said. “It was cruel of me to act as I did. But I need to know how thou wouldst act.” She looked down at the ground. “I once before made the mistake of assuming that the pony I thought I knew, was all that there was to that pony. It is not a mistake I shall make again.”
Celestia nodded. “I understand,” she said softly. “I have much to repent for.”
Silence lingered between the two alicorns for several long moments after that, before Luna looked up, at the sky. The moon was about halfway down its descent by now, and soon it would need to set beyond the horizon, and the sun would need to rise. Luna spread her wings, taking to the air slowly. “Fly with me,” she said, “back to Equestria. Let us away from this place.”
---
The flight from Tambelon, over the Sea of Tranquility and the Everfree Forest, was done in silence. While the two alicorns flew at considerable speed compared to the cruising speed of a pegasus, neither were trying to race one another this time. Luna, whenever Celestia would look to her, was always staring ahead. At the beginning of the flight, she had managed to maintain a fairly neutral expression, but over the course it had gradually worn away to be a look of melancholy sadness, with perhaps a hint of determination to see things through, no matter the cost.
At length, about half of the distance between the Everfree Forest and Canterlot, Luna indicated the top of a large, grassy hill, the tallest for miles around in the broad fields that surrounded Canterlot. The two alicorns landed atop it, Luna squinting at the setting moon for several moments before looking behind her, at Celestia.
“How canst thou prove to me that thou contains within thee the abilities of an earth pony?” she asked, as she turned around and sat down on her haunches. “Earth pony magic is as great as any unicorn spell or pegasus squall, but it is slow, and it is subtle.” She laughed as she indicated the grasslands around them. “Perhaps I should have thee start a farm and inspect thy crop? It may take some time before I see results, however…”
Celestia bit her lip, thinking. “I…I have been proving it all night?” she asked. “When we raced to Tambelon. No pegasus could have kept going for as long as I did. Or, when I landed – crashed – into the island. Thy own words were that, were I a mere pegasus, my bones would have shattered.”
Luna’s head tilted to one side. “I have known pegasi capable of enduring great hardships and pain,” she noted.
Celestia blinked, even as Luna glanced to the east once more. Her horn began glowing, as in the far distance, the moon began its descent beyond the horizon. One by one, the stars in the night sky began to creep back from the east and head west as well, drifting across the dome of the sky and towards the horizon, joining the moon beyond it. At length, the only light across Equestria was the glow of Luna’s horn, casting both her and Celestia in a deep, midnight-blue glow.
“Raise the sun,” she instructed.
Celestia blinked. “Wh-what?” she demanded.
“Raise the sun,” Luna repeated. “If thou art Celestia, then it should be a simple enough task for thee. I have directed the course of the moon and the stars for as long as I can remember – and Celestia had done as much for the sun.” She took several steps forward, coming close to Celestia as she did so. “I will admit it, Cadenza: thou art an alicorn. I have known that thou art an alicorn from the moment I laid eyes upon thee. My inspection and trials have not been attempting to confirm that. They have been inspecting not what thou art, but who thou art.” She took several steps backwards, spreading her wings wide. “Equestria sits in darkness, Cadenza. Bring light to it, and thy claim shall be recognized. Thou shalt be my sister, reborn.”
Celestia stared at Luna, blinking. “But…I never…”
“Try.” Luna nodded towards the east. “It sits there, waiting for thee. If thou were only to look, thou wouldst find it.”
Celestia’s eyes fluttered rapidly several more times, before she let a look of determination pass over her face. She nodded once, looking to the east, and closing her eyes.
---
Celestia had tried to raise the sun in the past. On being told who she was, of course she had tried, several times, her magic reaching out far to the east and trying to grasp the burning orb of fire and light and magic that was the Sun. But there had always been a sort of blackness – a kind of curtain that seemed to stand in the way. This time, that curtain wasn’t there, and Celestia realized that the curtain must have been the influence of Luna – the Princess of the Night’s own perpetual grip on the Sun, controlling its actions, guiding it through the sky, an impenetrable wall of magic that likely had not even noticed Celestia’s own bumbling attempts. She had given up, settling on the fact that, once she was a Princess of Equestria again, the Sun would be returned to her.
Grasping the sun magically was completely unlike using telekinesis. It was a massive object, thousands of miles across, and further had no physical form to grasp at all, instead simply being an orb of fire and light and magic. Celestia at first attempting to grasp the whole thing anyway, but soon found that spreading her magic across its surface was simply beyond her abilities.
And then she noticed that she could go into it. In her mind’s eye, it was like she was floating in outer space, staring at the sun, and seeing a gap in the flames, a hole that would lead right down to its core. That was where she had to go – she was sure of it. Celestia cast her magic into that hole, travelling down the burning path…the image in her mind grew ever more vivid as she did. Soon, she was not simply imagining walking through the fires of the Sun. She was actually there, traveling into it, flying straight down towards the center. The fires were all around her, but they didn’t burn her. They warmed and caressed her, soothed her aching joints and bruised skin much as Luna’s own magic had done.
And at length, she passed beyond the fires, and arrived at the center of the sun. She saw fire everywhere, still, but it appeared transparent – and in the core of it all, she found herself standing on a surface, a solid sphere of some bright, scorching metal – gold, Celestia realized, gold that remained solid despite the extreme heat surrounding her. Like the fires all around her, the gold did not burn her in the slightest. The sphere was tens of thousands of feet across.
This is it, she thought, looking around. This is where…I have…
She saw her.
Celestia blinked, shaking her head. She knew that it was a pointless action – she wasn’t really within the Sun, she was back in Equestria. She had no true eyes to blink and no head to shake. But the actions came to her nevertheless as she saw, a hundred feet away, the smooth surface of the golden sphere broken by a wide throne of gold, its back made to look like the spreading wings and bowed head of an alicorn, reachable only by climbing a hundred wide steps.
And lying on the throne, asleep…
Celestia realized she was walking towards the throne, but couldn’t stop herself. She didn’t want to stop herself. She had to see her, had to…she spread her wings, taking flight and gliding the rest of the distance to the golden throne, setting down half-way up its steps.
She was large – half again the height of Luna, nearly twice as tall as Celestia. Her coat was the purest of white, its perfection marred only by the golden cutie mark on her flanks of the sun in full, blazing glory. Her mane and tail were flames as well, notably alight and standing out even in this place, where the very air itself was composed of flame. Clasped around her hooves were golden shoes, and a golden chest plate hung around her neck, while upon her head sat a crown of gold but for a regal purple gem set into its center.
Deep inside the burning heart of the Sun, Corona lay dreaming upon her golden throne.
But not for long. Celestia took one step away, her curiosity satisfied – and Corona’s eyes opened. For a moment, they looked like a normal pony’s, purple and with black pupiles, and for a bare moment, there was a look of surprise on her face. But then her lips curled back into a sneer, as the color in her eyes faded and they glowed brighter and brighter, gradually losing distinction entirely and becoming pure white orbs.
“Who art thou? How didst thou come here?” Corona demanded, rising, her voice shaking the Sun to its core, never mind the effect it was having on Celestia. The smaller alicorn let out a yelp of surprise as she beat her wings, gliding backwards and away from Corona. The white alicorn’s snarled, however, horn glowing bright white – and suddenly Celestia was forced to the ground, pressed to the golden sphere beneath her, then dragged forward as Corona descended her throne.
“Thou art not my sister,” Corona intoned as she walked. “Thou art nothing more than a trespasser upon my rightful domain!”
Celestia was in front of Corona now, Corona herself now standing at the foot of her throne, glaring down at Celestia’s prone form. “SPEAK!” The white alicorn demanded, in a voice that could have rattled apart stone. “What is thy name? What is thy purpose here? Answer me, or I shall visit such pain upon thee that thou shalt beg for death!”
“C-Celestia!” The smaller alicorn cried. “M-my name is Celestia!”
Corona recoiled at that, her snarl growing even more terrifying. “LIAR! IMPOSTER! I AM CELESTIA! I AM THE SUN!” She glared at Celestia, eyes narrowing as they flashed brighter, along with her horn. “Thou shalt suffer for thy presumption! I will visit such pain upon thee. I shall burn away all that thou art! There shall be NOTHING left! And I will crawl inside thy skull and use thee to see to my escape from this prison – ”
From nowhere, a dark blue orb of energy struck Corona, right at the base of her horn. The white alicorn recoiled, releasing Celestia. She scrambled away from the Tyrant Sun, turning around and spotting Luna, standing a scarce ten feet away. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Celestia ran behind Luna, ducking behind her, hiding behind her like a nervous foal hiding behind her mother.
Corona recovered quickly enough from Luna’s attack, and glared at her. “TRAITOR! RELEASE ME!” she cried, mane and tail flaring, horn glowing, as suddenly all the fires of the sun seemed to descend upon Luna. Celestia flinched, but Luna didn’t move a muscle. The fires passed harmlessly through her – and Celestia.
“She has no power here, Cadenza,” Luna said, as Corona screamed and stomped her hooves, conjuring more fire, lashing out at the two of them. “This would be a poor prison indeed if she had the run of the place. Even her grip upon you was born almost entirely from thy own belief of what she could do. Even still, thy own mind could never allow her to harm thee.”
“CONSORT OF TIREK! TRAITOR TO THY OWN BLOOD!” Corona spat, lunging at Luna. Celestia flinched again, but once more Luna stood still, and Corona seemed to come up against an invisible wall. She couldn’t touch Luna, nor even come close to it, though she railed against the barrier, slamming against it with her hooves, stabbing it with her horn. “I WILL BE FREE! EQUESTRIA BELONGS TO ME! IT IS MINE! EVERYTHING! MINE!”
Luna stared for several more moments, before her horn glowed. Gradually, all around Celestia, the fires of the Sun, the metallic sphere that she stood upon, the golden throne, the mad alicorn that was the Tyrant Sun, and the solid rock that was the Princess of the Night, faded from view, leaving Celestia crouched upon the grassy hill where she and Luna had alighted. Nearby, looking east, Luna’s horn was glowing, as she guided the sun over the horizon.
At length, she turned around, looking at Celestia, a sad look on her face as she did. “Every dawn, for twenty years, I have raised the sun. I have touched my sister’s soul, bound into the sun, banished there forevermore by the Elements of Harmony. I do not venture into the sun, as you did…I have learned how to project power into it, hoist it up as though using a lever, that I do not have to stand in her presence as I work.”
She trotted up to Celestia, who was sitting on her stomach, staring at her hooves. “But I always feel her,” Luna said softly. “I always feel her hate…her greed. Every morning. That is my punishment for not acting sooner, for not realizing what was happening to her…for not saving her. She is cast forevermore into the sun…and I am doomed forevermore to suffer her hate.
“And so, Cadenza, I can say this with absolute certainty: thou art not my sister.”
Celestia – Cadenza – looked up at Luna, as the other alicorn settled down next to her. She felt the warning signs a second before it happened – the stinging in her eyes, the trembling of her lip, the shivering in her breath…
And then a moment later, she was crying. Without thinking, she buried her head in Luna’s neck, sobbing openly – and Luna, with the same lack of thought, wrapped a wing over Cadenza’s bawling form, running a hoof through her mane, holding her tightly even as tears of her own slipped silently from her eyes, getting lost in the deluge of Cadenza’s own even as she whispered soft, comforting words into Cadenza’s ears.
The sun had already cleared the horizon by the time Cadenza was capable of conscious thought and intelligent words again. “B-but th-then…” Cadenza gasped out. “Then…I’ve spent so much o-of my life trying…who am I? Who am I, Princess?”
Luna drew away from Cadenza somewhat, looking the smaller alicorn in the eye for several long moments. “I don’t know,” she said at length. “I…I cannot answer that for thee. Nopony can. The course of thy life is thy own choice, Cadenza, but thou cannot follow in the hoof-steps of others. Thou must chart thy own course.” She drew Cadenza close again. “Thou art an alicorn. All of eternity stretches before thee. Each day, thou wakest up with thy whole life still ahead of thee. Thou art not Celestia – but thou art kind. Thou art courteous, and gracious. If all I see in thee is true, thou couldst still do much good in this world, if that is thy wish.”
Cadenza nodded, wiping her eyes, leaning closer into Luna’s embrace. She forgot, for a moment, that this was the Princess of the Night, the sovereign ruler of Equestria, the Shepherd of the Moon and the Vanquisher of the Sun. Instead, all she could think about was how warm Luna was with a wing wrapped over her…how surprisingly soft her pelt, how regular her heart’s beat within her chest, powerful and strong…
Within moments, the weight of the past day came crashing down on Cadenza, and she was asleep.