//------------------------------// // Fake It // Story: Afraid of the Light // by BiniBean //------------------------------// Chapter Six: Fake It Silence. The deafening silence was all that could be heard in the throne room of Canterlot as the only Alicorn of Equestria stared down at her student with utter disappointment. The Princess of the Sun, Celestia knew she had failed again as she kept her eyes glued to Sunset Shimmer, who was flanked by two guards and seething with pure anger. "You can't do this." The fact of the matter was that she very much could do that. She was doing that. She was the Princess, she had the authority. She was the teacher. She could expel. She was expelling her student from the school. She was banishing her citizen from the castle. Celestia flared her wings for the sake of being more imposing. Which made Sunset scowl more and lower slightly at her. "Sunset Shimmer, you have broken the rules. You went against my direct orders to NOT tamper, to go near, or 'research' that...dangerous object." Celestia stated, choosing not to mention the mirror leading to another world, which was the object in question and would certainly bring follow-up questions later. Sunset blushed because she knew what she had done was wrong, but Celestia knew that what she did was worse. "You...are...banished. I reject thee as my student." Sunset stammered, she opened her mouth to try to stumble to some sort of sentence that would either fix what she had done or magically change Celestia's decision but the fact of the matter was, nothing could fix what was already too broken. "Y-You...I-I...No...This...But- B-B...My studies! M-My...Destiny?" Her destiny. Celestia gave a deep sigh and her natural instincts told her to flee, to get away to a quiet area and just ponder what she was going to say. Frankly, Celestia the mighty alicorn, the perfect being had failed again. Somehow not learn from all her mistakes with Luna and pushed Sunset too far. Made her believe in the impossible, in the hope that she could be the key to bringing her sister back. But...That foolish idiotic Alicorn knew for months, if not years, that her student was not the key. She had fallen and became vengeful and nasty. She had started using her status to bully the other student when she was at school, to bark at the maids, cleaners, cooks and even a few Nobels if she was brave enough. She certainly thought she was the strongest unicorn of her time and didn't hesitate to argue with her teacher over magic and her idea that Celestia was keeping her from being an alicorn. "Sunset...I..." Celestia was at a loss for words. She wanted to apologize, she wanted to turn back time and fix how she had moulded Sunset's life. How she tried to make her something she wasn't. Celestia was now struggling to deal with the massive lump in her throat as it hit her like a ton of bricks. Sunset Shimmer was just like Celestia. The ponies, Starswirl, and the three tribe leaders all moulded Celestia to be how they wanted. They tried with Luna but she was much less willing to conform. Celestia eventually became exactly what they wanted to see. A smile hiding all the lies and torment. Celestia moulded Sunset to try to force her to be something she wasn't. Now she had ruined a once happy unicorn, to a bully. "Sunset Shimmer, I made a mistake. I gave you hope in a future that...is not going to happen. You are a wonderful unicorn, a very strong unicorn. I am sure your talents will be used to improve any area you choose to pursue in life. With that being said, you broke the rules. You broke laws. You disobeyed my direct orders." "You gave me impossible orders! You can't simply order me to make friends and just expect it to work! It didn't work! It never worked!" Sunset yelled, her voice echoing off the marble walls and ringing into Celestia's ears. The Guards on both sides of Sunset cringed and gave each other a quick glance, unsure what to do. The guards at the front doors and on either side of the throne gave slight glances to the Alicorn on the throne. "You threatened them. You bribed them. You don't think I know what you did? You were quite obvious about your actions. You tried to blackmail them. When you didn't get your way, you bullied them!" Celestia fought back, losing slight control of her temper as her mind reflected on all the reports from teachers and terrified students writing anonymous letters to her study. "Of course, it didn't work, Sunset. You didn't even truly try! You gave up the moment the first pony rejected you." Sunset gritted her teeth and pointed an accusing hoof at her former teacher. "You are just as bad as me, Princess! You are no better than me! You sit there and pretend to be perfect and know everything but in reality, you are just as awful as you believe I am! You are surrounded by ponies who are too afraid that you will wipe them from the face of Equestria if they question you. You are surrounded by ponies that will do whatever you say just to gain your favour so they can use it for their own means. Do you want to lecture me about friendship? What would you know about that? You have absolutely no friends. You don't even have anypony that actually loves you." She barely heard the gasp of her newest secretary beside her near the windows. Raven Inkwell. A young unicorn who had started the job less than two months ago and was already witnessing a fight that no normal pony would dare to pick with an immortal goddess. Now, she had her hoof shoved against her mouth, praying Her Highness didn't just hear her. Celestia motioned her wing, pointing to the giant double door leading out of the throne room. "I think enough has been said. Guards, escort Sunset Shimmer to her room. Allow her to pack her things for two hours and then escort her from the Castle grounds." Sunset began to yell out insults as the guards soon dragged her away with their own unicorn magic out of the room. Celestia's whole body drooped as soon as the doors closed. She took some deep breaths before giving a small smile to Raven, who was too stunned to tell her it was time for sunset. Not that she needed such a reminder. She knew it by heart. She could feel the sun pleading against the moon as the time grew closer. The sun did not want to set. Just as the moon did not want to be controlled by somepony it hated. Celestia teleported herself and Raven to the balcony of her study with a golden flash of her magic. Raven wabbled for a moment as Celestia sat at the railing, gazing at the Capital city of Canterlot with growing worry. "She was right, you know," Celestia admitted in barely a whisper. Raven's ears perked up and her jaw dropped slightly. Celestia didn't even have the energy to smile or to try to fake another few minutes of being fine. She wasn't. She hadn't been for years. For decades. For whole lifetimes. Her misery was taking everypony down with her. "P-Princess Celestia, do-don't say that! You did a wonderful job teaching her, she just wasn't willing to listen to your kno-" "I am not a fool, Raven." Celestia snapped in misdirected rage. "I am not some filly to be lied to. I severely mishandled Sunset. What she needs now is...somepony else to guide her. She needs to be far away from me and my influence. Perhaps then she can flourish. I have done nothing but corrupt her." Celestia's golden magic grabbed hold of her sun, forcing the inferno that she had grown to despise for what it was, what it represented to dip below the horizon. The sky changed colours as her assistant gulped and shifted uncomfortably beside her. "Princess? May...I be honest?" Raven asked. "It has been generations since somepony has been honest with me, Raven, so please, please do be honest." "Everypony makes mistakes. It's part of being...well...a pony. Not every student will be perfect. Not every teacher will be able to know what their students need all the time. You made a mistake, you made several mistakes in how you approached her life and her teachings. That can not be denied. What also can't be ignored is that she, also, actively chose to do what she did to those students. To actively and purposely hurt you. You are both in the wrong." Raven took a deep breath as she tried to gain more confidence in trying to speak with an alicorn as if she was some unicorn. Celestia respected her for that. "Beating yourself up over this will not change the outcome. All you can do is learn from it and accept that things will not always go how you plan them to go. You are an alicorn, but that does not mean you can control every aspect of our lives. Events happen, and things happen that can not be predicted and that is ok. That is alright." Celestia knew the logic to her words, she wanted to let go. She wanted to forgive herself for what she had done but she did not feel she was entitled to such a luxury. She hurt ponies, ponies long dead or... The moon was fighting against her, as if did each night. Sending a wave of pain through her horn, straight into her head as she yanked it as softly as she could above the horizon. Staring at the symbol of her torment. She chalked it up to Raven being a mortal, a mortal couldn't possibly understand how an immortal could deal with their pain. Deal with mistakes that affected more than just 100 years, but ten lifetimes. You do not just forget and forgive actions that affect ten generations onward. You don't just forgive destroying a mortal's life. "You don't believe me, do you?" Raven spoke up after a long moment of silence. Celestia began to wince from the pain as the moon rose higher, shaking slightly as her magic increased to fight it. "Sorry, I don't." She admitted. "Certain events can't be forgiven. Especially if they were never learned from." Raven gave her a confused look, one that had a million questions she wanted to ask. "Has...something like this happened before? To another student?" "Not...exactly." Raven wanted to ask questions, but she opened her mouth as soon as she closed it and chose to stare at the moon when Celestia finally released her hold. The pain subsided but not completely. She watched the stars as they slowly appeared. Never failing to notice that the sky was much more beautiful under Luna's control. It was full of life under her control. Celestia couldn't help tears welling in her eyes, they began to slowly fall down her face as she sucked in a painful breath. Raven didn't care to look away from the moon, she suspected her assistant had an idea how much she would hate Raven seeing her cry. They sat in silence, simply watching the sky, watching the pegasi, or the activity of the city as some went to sleep, some chose to stay awake. Celestia eventually managed to stop the silent tears and wiped them away softly with her wings before she broke the silence between the pair. "Cancel all my meetings tomorrow, Raven." She sadly. "I need a day off. The Nobels can be damned if they argue." Celestia never did get that day off, ten minutes later, her student jumped through the forbidden mirror portal to another world.