Celestia stretched casually as she entered her chambers, pleased that court was finally over for the day and she could give Twilight’s latest report on friendship a full read rather than a quick glance as it deserved. She missed having her student so close but she was better off being on her own with friends her own age than always buried in a book. As soon as she settled down on her body pillow, another scroll appeared and dropped to the floor. “So soon, my dear student?” She commented to no one, thinking back to when poor Twilight let her magic start a war among the Ponyville residents in an effort to write a friendship report. She put Twilight’s previous scroll to the side as she read the latest arrival, quickly frowning as she read the contents. “Guard!” She called, and a thunder of hooves came to her door as a stallion rushed to answer her call.
“Is something wrong, your highness?” He asked, doing his best to calm his beating heart and appear professional. He was flirting with a pretty maid and the princess’s sudden shout startled him as he quickly dashed to his monarch’s chamber. Did she somehow know he was fooling around on duty? He wouldn’t put it past her; an alicorn had abilities far beyond the greatest unicorn.
“Please tell Princess Luna I need to see her immediately. There is something she and I need to discuss.”
“Yes, your highness,” he bowed, pleased that she was ignorant of what he was up too, and dashed off to follow her command.
It wasn’t long before Luna teleported into the room, concerned for her sister’s safety as she took a fighting stance against an invisible foe. “What is wrong, dear sister? Is someone after you?”
“Old habits die hard,” Celestia chuckled as she shook her head. “We’re no longer under a constant threat from enemies, remember? We’ve established peaceful negotiations with the other creatures, and allowed them their own land in the Everfree Forest, letting the wild will of nature control everything so they would be free of any threat of our control.”
“Of course, naturally,” Luna said with some embarrassment as she stood straight. “The guard was frantic I see you; I thought you were in danger.”
“Nothing of the sort, I think he was just eager to please me, but we do need to talk. Do you remember Infernius?”
“The alicorn, our cousin from our esteemed father’s line, guardian of fire,” Luna immediately recited as she took a formal stance before relaxing slightly. “But the others never contacted us after we came here, has that changed since…?” she feared it would be forever painful to mention her banishment as her eyes momentarily darted away from her sister.
“This is the first correspondence I’ve ever received from the alicorns, and as you may have guessed, it isn’t a friendly social call. Word has reached them that Discord escaped his prison and that the Elements imprisoned him again in half a day. They fear that he will escape again when the Elements pass on to their new bearers, and wish to stop him once and for all.”
“Have they had a change of heart in the past millennium?” Luna asked coldly. “This doesn’t sound like their traditional motives at all.”
“Sadly, they haven’t changed. They only wish to get involved because they fear he will eventually turn his attention to home and wreak havoc and chaos there in addition to Equestria. His letter was terse and to the point; I fear they still look down on us for getting involved in the affairs of ‘inferior beings.’” She stifled a growl that lingered in her throat. How dare they treat the great ponies of Equestria like garbage just because they did not possess the abilities of the alicorn race? It was an honor to live among them and guide the ponies down the path of enlightenment.
Luna’s eyes narrowed. It was her admiration of how the tribes came together under one banner on their own that made her leave her homeland to follow Celestia in her attempt to protect others from Discord’s wrath. “How do they suggest we stop Discord forever then?”
“In the traditional manner,” Celestia said grimly, wondering how they could accuse her subjects of being inferior when peace and harmony was the cornerstone of all pony kind, when the enlightened alicorns still engaged in violence to solve their differences. “They wish to kill him.”
Luna fought to banish the dark grin from her face before Celestia saw, but the white alicorn noticed it immediately and looked hurt. “Forgive me, please. You know I prefer following the pony way, but we both know it was his fault I became a monster. I hate him for what he did, and I shall never stop hating him.”
“I understand,” she nodded. “I hate him too, and perhaps it is best if he dies. His hostility is growing, what’s stopping him from killing others rather than transforming the world for his own personal amusement?” The sisters shared a solemn nod and Celestia wrote back to Infernius, inviting him to the royal hall to better discuss his proposition. “Come, sister, we must greet our esteemed cousin.” The princesses casually walked to the hall, speaking with every guard and servant they passed, ordering all to stay away from the royal hall until further notice.
“Our guest is probably already there. Shouldn’t we hurry to meet him?” Luna whispered though nopony shared the hallway.
“He is on our land and we will show him who rules here,” Celestia replied. “We will not bow to his whim; he shall wait for us.”
After a thorough search, making sure nopony was spying, they entered the royal hall, where Infernius was stamping his hooves and snorting like a bucking bull. Where the princesses were sleek and slender, he was stocky and muscular with large feathered hooves. His body was white, his ethereal mane was a mix of red, orange, and yellow, and his cutie mark was a ball of fire. “Where have you been?” He demanded. “I have been waiting several minutes for you! You do not treat an alicorn this way, or have you forgotten your manners after spending millennia among the inferior beings?”
For a moment, Luna wished to hide behind her sister like a filly, but seeing Celestia stand bravely before him gave her the courage to do the same.
“On our land, you will follow our traditions,” Celestia haughtily informed him, “but since you have disregarded the formalities, we will speak plainly. How do you propose we go about the execution?”
“We shall take him to Poneiul Mountain; there is a massive cave system inside, a labyrinth of rooms stretching the entire base of the mountain. We have chosen a large cavern in the middle, where the walls are too thick for even alicorns to teleport out of, and there are many pathways out, impossible to navigate unless you know the way. I have hoof chosen nineteen of the finest warriors to join me in battle, where we shall overwhelm the beast with our numbers and our might. The creatures in the cave shall have a feast of his corpse!”
“And you are certain you will be able to control him so he won’t escape?” Celestia inquired, unshaken as Infernius’s short temper got the better of him and his body became covered in flames as he reared and cried out in anger.
“HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME? ALICORNS ARE THE STRONGEST CREATURES IN THE WORLD! TWENTY OF US WILL OVERWHELM HIM AND PUT AN END TO HIS MADNESS! IT SHALL BE A GLORIOUS SLAUGHTER!” His words echoed throughout the hall and Celestia stole a glance at the stained-glass window depicting the girls imprisoning Discord a second time.
“Nevertheless, I want the Elements of Harmony to accompany us as a backup plan, just as a precaution for the slight chance that things don’t go as planned.”
The alicorn snorted smoke as his body returned to its natural state. “Do what you will, but the draconequus shall die. You had your chance to preserve his life, but you’ve only made him worse. He has a personal vengeance against you; what will stop him from coming after us? We who had the intelligence to hate him from the very beginning? We warned you not to have anything to do with him. Could you not tell from his deformed body that he was a monster? How Universo, the greatest of us all, sired such an ignorant daughter is beyond—”
“When will the execution take place?” Luna boldly interrupted, seeing the anger in Celestia’s eyes. The only fighting she wanted to see was alicorns against Discord, not each other, no matter how well deserved.
“Tomorrow at dawn,” Infernius gruffly answered. “I wish to transport the statue as soon as possible and have everything ready for tomorrow. Our combined magic will be enough to free him from his prison and then we shall ambush him before he has a chance to retaliate. How convenient that your precious Elements prevent us from smashing the statue and ending his life so simply.”
“The Elements of Harmony have a will of their own that not even the bearers can override. You know that, Infernius,” Celestia snapped as he stamped her hoof. “Don’t you dare imply I have secret motives; I want Discord dead just as much as you do. I want to protect the ones I love from his chaos!”
“Very well then,” he consented. “Where is the statue now located?”
“Deep in the dungeon beneath the castle, the largest cell on the right,” she explained. “Do not let anypony see you or the others. I never told anyone about my past before I came here, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“As you wish,” he nodded. “We do not wish to be in the presence of inferior beings anymore then we have to. How you tolerate them is beyond me, beyond all of us. I shall come at first light, and the three of us should be able to teleport the Elements to the mountain.”
Celestia let the insult slide, though her fur bristled in anger. He would never apologize, believing it to be the truth. Not even time spent with Twilight and the others would leave an impact on him. His stubborn nature would deliberately ignore their great qualities. “They are not to join the battle. They shall be hidden away in a side-room until needed.”
“They would only get in the way and endanger us all if they joined us!” Infernius argued with a huff. “Consider yourself lucky I am tolerating their unnecessary presence among us.”
"It’s settled then. We will meet you here at first light.”
“Agreed,” and with a puff of smoke, he was gone.
“And may our time together be as brief as possible,” she added quietly.
“Homesick, sister?” Luna teased; hoping her attempt at humor would make Celestia feel better.
“Yes, quite,” she joking replied, allowing a smile. “Who wouldn’t want to spend time with an arrogant, short-tempered pony who judges you solely by your breed and familial history?”
Luna produced a scroll and quill and Celestia penned a quick letter instructing the girls to come as quick as possible. “Maybe this was fate,” the moon princess suggested. “Discord’s antics led us to our true home.”
“Fate wouldn’t decree him to die for it. His willful actions dictate that,” her sister argued, “and I will do whatever is necessary to protect those I love. You don’t have to be here when the girls arrive, you can leave if you’d like. I have no choice but to tell them our history, help them understand why I’m justifying something I’ve always taught to be wrong.”
“I won’t leave you,” Luna insisted. “We need to make a united stance, and perhaps my story will help ease their conscious.”
“Thank you, dear sister.” The two didn’t have to wait long before the girls galloped in with Twilight once again apologizing for their lateness and asking all kinds of questions at once.
“As the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, I fear I have no choice but to ask you for your help in a potentially dangerous mission to safeguard Equestria,” Celestia formally announced. “I dislike involving you girls, but I fear circumstances are beyond my control. To better explain, I must entrust you with state secrets that no one in Equestria, dead or alive, has ever known. Will you promise never to reveal what I am about to tell you?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” the six said in unison.
“You don’t ever go back on a Pinkie Promise,” Pinkie informed the confused princesses, “EVER!”
Twilight and Applejack nodded fervently, remembering how passionate Pinkie got in defense of breaking the promise.
“Very well,” the two nodded, taking the information to heart. “Luna and I are one of many alicorns in the universe; we originally hail from a land called Alicor, where the only ponies are alicorns. Being the strongest of all the pony races, they have developed quite the arrogant attitude toward others, referring to earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi as ‘inferior beings’ when they wish to be polite. We have not been in contact with them for over a thousand years as we have been banished from Alicor, giving up our right to our homeland to live among the ponies here in Equestria.”
“A right we happily relinquished,” Luna added. “The arrogance of the alicorns makes them unbearable to be around, and as daughters of Universo, the first alicorn and creator of all, and Tempus, the guardian of time, we were surrounded by the elite, and we bore the brunt of it all. It made our lives miserable, which is perhaps why—”
“One story at a time, Luna,” her sister interrupted. She would prefer to leave their personal history with Discord out of this, but she feared it was inevitable. Still she hoped there was some way Twilight wouldn’t push to learn more about a previously forbidden subject.
“It is common knowledge you and Princess Luna came to Equestria to save ponies from Discord’s tyranny,” Twilight pointed out. “You both took pity on the races and found the Elements of Harmony to banish Discord to his stone prison. The grateful ponies asked you two to be our monarchs, and the council of the three tribes happily stepped down to become the royal court. All ponies have been your loyal subjects ever since. Princess, forgive me for asking, but what is the purpose of your summons? Is it something to do with Discord? Has he escaped again? Have other alicorns contacted you?”
Celestia noted a twinge of fear in her student’s voice and hated herself for bringing her so close to her mortal enemy and endangering her life. “Our cousin Infernius has contacted me, but Discord has not escaped. In fact they wish to prevent him from escaping ever again, a permanent prison that does not depend on the Elements.”
“Such as, and why hasn’t this been done before?” Rainbow Dash boldly asked.
“Execution,” she said grimly, and based on the collective gasp, they knew why this option was never explored before. Crime was rare but still a threat in Equestria, but execution was never an option, legal or otherwise, no matter what the offense. Over the centuries, Celestia turned the ponies away from the idea of violence, even altering history to turn the great war that nearly decimated the tribes into an argument among the leaders in a cave. “Infernius will lead a group of nineteen alicorns, all trained warriors, against him. The statue was already taken to a cavern system in a mountain far from Equestria. The alicorns shall release him from his prison and kill him. I know I am asking a lot of all of you, but Luna and I would feel more comfortable if you were there, safe on the sidelines and far from battle, to turn him into stone once again in case things don’t go as planned. Infernius is confident he and the others will complete the mission as planned, but I still want the precautionary measures taken.”
“But why is killing him necessary?” Fluttershy bravely asked. “We possessed the Elements for months before Discord escaped. Can’t you banish him and then throw him in a dungeon in the place that you banish him to?”
“Ever since we came to Equestria, we’ve been negotiating treaties with the creatures to ensure ponies and others can co-exist peacefully, but I fear Discord is not someone to be reasoned with. He is capable of so much more then what he did to Ponyville: destruction, physical harm, mass murder, and more. He holds a grudge against all of us, especially you girls. He grossly underestimated your powers, and given the chance, he would attempt to hurt you, something I could never forgive myself for. I know this goes against everything Equestria stands for, but you have to trust me when I say there is no other way,” Celestia pleaded.
The girls still seemed uncertain, seeking advice from other. They were in no position to argue against it, but did they really want to be near such danger? Fighting for self-defense or to gain advantage over the opponent was one thing, but knowing ponies wished to kill another, it did not sit well with them.
“For the safety of Equestria, we will be there, ready for any and all orders,” Rarity said, speaking for the group. The others nodded solemnly, hoping that if nothing else, the execution was quick, clean, and far away from them.
“Thank you, thank you all,” the sun princess said with visible relief. “I give you my word that I shall do whatever it takes to protect you all from harm. “Tonight you will stay in a suite near my chambers, so I may sleep easier knowing you girls are safe. At dawn, we will travel to the site.”
“Since we’re here, why don’t you show us around, Twilight?” Applejack suggested, eager to find a distraction from the grim reality of tomorrow.
“I’m not going to spend all day getting an in-depth tour of the library,” Rainbow Dash argued.
Twilight smiled. “While I do know the library top to bottom, I do know my way around the castle. It’s a second home.”
“Go wherever you wish, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Just try to get enough sleep for tomorrow.”
“We will,” they promised, and left the room as Twilight shared personal experiences rather than the castle’s history, wishing to avoid any more playful arguments.
Celestia felt tears of pride well up in her eyes; her faithful student was growing up into quite the mare. Still, how she prayed she could protect her innocence and leave her ignorant of what was to happen tomorrow.
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“Is this a mattress or a trampoline?” Pinkie asked as she jumped on one of the two queen-sized beds, gaining height with every bounce. “Can I take it home with me? This makes bedtime so much fun!”
“I’m not sharing a bed with her,” Rarity grumbled, exhausted from running around the castle all day and engaging in filly mischief. “Did she sneak sugar when we weren’t looking or something?”
“Pinkie always has unlimited energy, you should know that by now,” Applejack reminded her. “She could applebuck all of Sweet Apple Acres and still have enough strength to buck one of my family’s farms.”
“Let’s just try and settle down,” Twilight suggested, jumping up onto Pinkie’s bed, who ceased her bouncing and slipped beneath the covers. “We have a long day ahead of us.”
“Don’t remind me,” Fluttershy said softly, shivering at the idea of murder.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes in disgust. “You have a zoo of animals living with you, many who are predators, who kill other animals for food. Why should tomorrow horrify you so?”
“Because they do it for food, not for pleasure or ‘justice,’” the shy pegasus pointed out, “and I teach them to hunt for themselves in the Everfree Forest, hiding the remains of their meal from me. I teach all my animals to be friends with each other.”
“You teach them manners too?” Rainbow asked curiously, remembering how surprised she was that the falcon acted so well when she decided Tank would be her pet.
“I do my best,” she said humbly. “Listen, Cheerliee said Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were fighting the day they went to the statue garden, the very same day Discord escaped. What if he fed off of their anger and that gave him the power to escape? So why can’t we go with my original plan and just put him in a cage far, far away from anyone so he can’t feed off of their negative emotions?”
“I’m confident the princesses and the alicorns discussed that option and found some flaw in that plan,” Twilight defended. “They are beyond us in everything we could ever be, so they must know something we don’t. Princess Celestia has never steered Equestria wrong before, and she always puts the safety of her subjects before everything; I think we should trust her decision and not worry about it. It’s not like we’re being asked to kill him ourselves, so our consciouses are clear.”
Ever the voice of reason, the five agreed and settled into bed. Fluttershy curled up next to Rainbow Dash for protection, making the cyan pegasus groan.
“Aww, how cute,” Applejack teased as she lay beside Twilight.
“Shut up,” Rainbow growled softly, trying to hide her wing as she wrapped it around Fluttershy’s body, holding her close. “Hey, it’s just to make her feel better, okay?” She snapped as Rarity looked at her so fondly. “She’s such a scaredypony, it’s unbelievable.”
“Thank you, Dashie,” Fluttershy mumbled in her sleep.
“And we wouldn’t have her any other way,” Rarity replied, pleased to see Rainbow Dash drop her gruff exterior and be soft, as the pegasus looked lovingly down at the pony at her side.
It wasn’t long before everyone was asleep, all except Twilight, her mind abuzz with racing thoughts. Fluttershy had a point; Celestia didn’t seem all that sorry about Discord’s fate, she seemed more concerned with how they would handle it. Was death really the only option? If Discord’s statue couldn’t be simply abandoned in the mountain because he could still escape, why couldn’t Celestia tell them why? She confided state secrets about the other alicorns, why couldn’t she entrust them with more? Early history books spoke of a great many of the creatures living in Equestria attacked the pony settlers in an attempt to chase them away, but no animal was ever murdered. There was only negotiation and compromise, allowing ponies and creatures to live in peace. Why must Discord be the first one to die because he couldn’t get along with ponykind?
She carefully slid down the middle of bed, not wanting to disturb the earth ponies. Sleep wouldn’t come until her mind was put to rest, and only her mentor could do that. The lavender unicorn crept carefully to the door, trying not to make a single sound. She thanked the old architects under her breath as the heavy door swung silently and she slipped out, making a short trip down the hallway, only to discover the princess’s door was already open. She peered inside to watch her mentor pace with uneasiness in her eyes. “Celestia?”
The white alicorn looked up in surprise and smiled, savoring the treat of hearing her faithful student say her name without the trappings of royalty attached. It was an unspoken agreement that such familiarity would only be observed when the two were alone, and it made their time together that much more special for both of them. “Come in, Twilight, please. Can’t sleep?”
Twilight eased the door behind her shut after she entered, not wanting anypony, not even Princess Luna, to overhear. “You’re my monarch, my mentor, my oldest and best friend. I know I should trust your decisions as you never led me or Equestria astray, but still, I need to know why we can’t just abandon him in that mountain. How could he escape being so far from contact with sentient beings when the Elements pass onto others?”
“Your loyalty is astounding as always, my most faithful student, as is your intelligence and reasoning. The truth is…” she sighed and she couldn’t hide the truth any longer, not when Twilight knew how to wear her down with a such a look of concern. “You’re right. If we do just abandon him there, there is barely any chance of him escaping. Infernius won’t hear of anything short of killing him however, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t want him dead as well.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she heard her student gasp in horror and prayed the unicorn didn’t hate her. “All the trouble he ever caused Equestria, I drove him to it. I was the reason he came to this land in the first place, and he focused his trickery on Ponyville because he wanted to get back at me. Now he hates you girls just as passionately. I want to protect you from him. If he hurts any of you, I could never forgive myself, and Twilight…” her mind suddenly brought up the horrifying image Discord described last time they met, where she murdered the mare in cold blood, and she violently shook her head, trying to banish the memory forever. “Twilight, if he killed you, I could never survive, I could never move on, and I fear he might make an attempt if your nightmare has a grain of truth in it.”
“There’s more to your history with Discord then turning him into stone, isn’t there?” Twilight prodded, hoping that her mentor would open up and share the thoughts that scared her so much.
“Luna and I met him when the three of us were children,” Celestia confessed. “Our parents advised us against it, hating him and his kind, warning us that draconequus were nothing but trouble. They did their best to separate us, but we always found a way to see each other. Our destinies were apparent from the very beginning; Luna and I were being trained to be monarchs and Discord always loved chaos and disorder, but we were able to put aside our differences and enjoy each other’s friendship. We were close, inseparable, but as we grew older, our destinies clashed with each other. Discord saw us as rigid, strict rule-abiders; we were no longer ‘fun.’ His antics used to be small and contained, just tricks to amuse us, but now he took pleasure pulling pranks on others, twisting reality to suit his sick sense of humor.”
“Like how Pinkie Pie adored his chocolate-filled cotton candy clouds, but he couldn’t be satisfied with that and altered all of Ponyville,” Twilight compared. “To be fair, Pinkie has a very bad weakness for chocolate above all other treats, which is why she was so quick to defend his reign of chaos.”
Celestia nodded. “What he did to Ponyville, he did to all of Alicor, and the alicorns rallied against him and banished him from being any near the country. He just disappeared, until months later, when word returned to us that Discord had found Equestria and was using his magic to make their lives miserable. Even the combined power of every unicorn available had no power against him, who deflected their power with a snap of his fingers. We couldn’t let them suffer, though my family ordered my sister and me to ignore their plight. We were not responsible for the affairs of ‘inferior beings.’ Discord wasn’t coming back to harm Alicor, so they saw no reason to care, but I couldn’t stand back and let others suffer because I was foolish enough to start a friendship with him. Two alicorns alone couldn’t stand up to his magic, so I researched any possible way to stop him, discovering the Elements of Harmony. Luna sympathized with the ponies’ plight but wasn’t certain if we should get involved. Finally she came with me because she didn’t want us to be separated. We fell in love with the great ponies we met and took their gracious offer of making us monarchs, never once considering the idea of going back home.
“I loved Discord, I thought the world of him, but after seeing what he did to helpless ponies, I had to accept the truth: my love was now a monster and I hated him for it, hated him with all my heart. Before the Elements turned him into stone, he planted the seeds that would drive Luna insane and turn her into Nightmare Moon, and in less than a year, I had to use the Elements against her as well. I lost two friends I loved so dearly in so short a time, both condemning me for going against their beliefs.”
Twilight threw herself at her monarch in a loving embrace. It nearly killed her when she thought her friends were lost to her forever, but she knew they were corrupted by Discord’s magic, it wasn’t their true selves. Discord however couldn’t escape his fate of letting chaos dictate his actions and rule his life. Their friendship was doomed from the very start, and to lose Luna so soon afterward, it was a bucket of salt being poured into the wound, something her beloved princess did not deserve. “I’m so sorry, Celestia. I could never live without my friends, and I could never have an idea of the pain you felt. I don’t think I could survive either if you lost your mind and became a monster, even with the support of my friends.”
The sun princess allowed herself to cry freely for her tormented past as she held the one she loved so dearly close to her as she wrapped her neck around Twilight’s. “He threatened to kill you in your nightmare and in mine…” she shuddered from the thought. Sometimes in her sleep, no matter how peaceful she was feeling, the images would suddenly appear, ruining her sleep for the entire night as she tried to bury them deep in her subconscious. “In mine, it was so much worse.”
“Please tell me,” Twilight asked, prepared for whatever horrors awaited her, but still the princess refused. “I’ve always confided everything in you, why can’t you do the same to me?”
“I don’t want you burdened with such knowledge. I don’t want your sleep to be ruined as mine has been.”
“Just being near you keeps me feeling safe and secure,” she argued, begging with wide eyes that always made the princess bend. “Please, let me take away some of your pain.”
The white alicorn gave up, her student was relentless. “In the nightmare, I…I attacked you, I wanted to kill you. I had no reasoning, no emotions; I was just mindlessly killing you. It terrified me; it terrifies me to this day. What if Discord turns it into a reality? What if he somehow gets control of me, or creates an illusion that is strong enough to hurt you? Twilight, how can you ask me to remain sane after that? That’s why he must die, why I do not wish to argue with Infernius. I won’t tolerate anyone who wishes to hurt those I love.”
Twilight’s whole body shook with fright, but she kept it together, finding strength in her mentor’s violet eyes. “Just promise me one thing, please,” she shyly requested.
“Anything, Twilight, you know I would do anything for you.”
“Don’t get involved tomorrow, don’t bloody your hooves, just let Infernius and the others do what they have to.”
“As you wish,” Celestia smiled, finding her request easy to obey, and nuzzled her student. “The hour is late, and we have an early wakeup. Please, stay with me tonight?”
“Of course,” Twilight agreed, honored that she could bring such peace to her monarch’s troubled mind. After the princess settled into her ample bed, the unicorn debated for half a second before lying next to her mentor, pressing herself against the alicorn’s warm body. “Deep down, I know what you have to do tomorrow is right, and I am grateful that you would go to such lengths to protect me and my friends. No matter what you do, I could never hate you, Celestia.”
“And I could never hate you, my most faithful student,” she replied, kissing her forehead. The two shared a deep and dreamless sleep for the entire night, only interrupted when Celestia’s cutie mark tingled, and she knew it was time to raise the sun. She carefully slipped out of bed, wanting to give Twilight a few more minutes of sleep, but the unicorn immediately noticed the princess’s absence, disturbing her from her rest. “Celestia…wha…” she mumbled before a yawn took over.
"Go back to sleep,” she advised, but Twilight shook her head as she clumsily tumbled out of bed, and attempted to stand up, but the peaceful hold of sleep refused to let go of her.
“It’s time to raise the sun, isn’t it? Take me with you, please.”
“Alright, Twilight,” she conceded, levitating the tired pony onto to her back. Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Celestia’s neck and nuzzled the base, murmuring how much she loved her, still trapped in a half-asleep state. The princess carried her to the grounds, thinking nothing of the stares the night guards gave as she passed. Twilight remained half-asleep until Celestia let her slide off onto the dew-covered grass, the cold sharply contrasting the warmth of her body, causing her to cry out in shock. “I’m awake, I’m awake,” she insisted as she stood up, beaming with joy as Celestia took her traditional stance.
Just for you, my most faithful student, I shall make this a sunrise to remember, she thought as he put all her effort into gripping the sun as it hovered around the curve of the planet. She took to the sky with careful concentration, bringing the sun with her, until suddenly the sky exploded with light and color, a distorted rainbow of soft colors spread all across the sky in shapeless blobs and random order. Twilight cheered with delight, how could any day possibly be bad when it started with a grand mastery of natural art?