Seven:
Half of Forever
“What does stargazing have to do with magic?” the unicorn filly asks.
Starswirl has brought her to a lookout point on a cliff near the city. She doesn’t want to be here, out of the safety of her new home. Not after dark. An old fear seeps like poison into her new life, spoiling what should be a happy moment with her teacher, but Celestia can’t help it.
She doesn’t like the night.
“The heavens hold many secrets,” says Starswirl. “And to those with the will to find them out, the stars themselves will give their aid.”
The old wizard shows her his brass telescope. It is the first time she has ever seen such a device. They pass an agreeable hour studying the night sky, and Celestia begins to learn the names of the stars.
“Does every star have a name?”
“Every one.”
“But there are so many! It would take a hundred years to learn them all!”
Starswirl chuckles. “More than a hundred, I’m afraid.”
The moon climbs over the horizon, spilling pale light over the landscape below the lookout. For the first time since they came out here, Celestia begins to feel at ease. Starswirl notices the change in his apprentice, and the fond way she glances at the moon as it ascends, throwing back the shadows.
“You don’t like the dark, do you?”
Celestia shakes her head slowly.
“But we cannot see the stars during the daytime. Even the moonlight will get in the way of our studies if it’s too bright. Without darkness we would never appreciate the light.”
Celestia doesn’t care. Her entire body drinks in the light and her shivering stops.
“Does the moon have a name too?” she asks. “Like the stars?”
Starswirl watches her carefully. “It does. An ancient name, and powerful.”
“Really? What is it?”
He tells her.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers.
* * *
The warm night wind blew through Princess Celestia’s mane. She stood on her balcony, looking out over the sleeping city. It was only a few hours until it was time for her to raise the sun, but she wasn’t tired. She didn’t seem to need much sleep anymore.
“Princess?” a voice called to her through her chambers.
“I’m here,” she called back.
“Sorry to disturb you, but there are two young ponies who claim you want to see them.”
Celestia walked into her chambers and magicked her door open. Brightmane, one of her royal guards, stood in the hallway. He wore a stoic non-expression on his face. Celestia had not seen him smile even once since she was crowned princess. At first she thought that he didn’t like her, but she was beginning to realize that he was that way with everypony.
“You didn’t disturb me,” she assured him. “Who wants to see me?”
“Page Sparkle and a young… earth pony.”
Her insides fluttered. “Show them in.”
Brightmane left the young princess standing in her doorway. Moments later, Page and her companion appeared.
“Princess Celestia, we found it!” said Page. She was beaming. A flat shape, wrapped in cloth, hovered in the air beside her. “And that’s not all…”
“Was it… undamaged?” inquired Celestia, hiding her worry behind a smile for the excited unicorn filly.
“It still… works,” said Page. Celestia noticed the uncertainty in her voice.
“You looked in the mirror, didn’t you?”
“We both did.”
Celestia looked at Page’s friend. The earth pony was the color of an autumn leaf, with a mane of amber and a healing herb for a cutie mark. For more than a minute she just stared at Celestia without blinking, her mouth hanging open.
“I see. And who’s your friend?”
“Oh!” Page blushed. “Princess, this is Victory Song. She’s the one I told you about, who saved me during the battle.”
“Hi there,” the young princess said to the earth pony.
Pleased to meet you, your highness, Victory meant to say, but what actually came out of her mouth was a long “Uuuuuuuuhhh…”
Celestia gave her a warm smile. Is she okay? she wondered. She was beginning to get used to the way her strangeness unnerved those around her, but she still did not realize the effect she could have on the ponies who admired her as deeply as Victory did.
Victory’s mouth snapped shut and she averted her eyes. She mumbled something Celestia couldn’t quite catch, though she thought she heard a highness in there somewhere.
“Did you have any trouble?” she asked them.
“No,” said Page. “I don’t think those rumors about magical traps on his house are even true. All we did was sift through the ashes. The hardest part was getting it to you without catching the attention of nosy magicians.”
“Thanks for that. I’d like to keep the Magic Academy out of this.”
“I can imagine,” said Page. She looked at the floor in front of her hooves. “Princess… I know it’s not my place to say anything… but I hope you know what you’re doing with that.”
I really don’t, thought Celestia. She looked from Page to Victory. Neither pony was looking her in the eye. Why would she think it isn’t her place to say something to me? I’m not going to be the kind of princess who doesn’t listen to her subjects.
Her subjects. That was the problem, wasn’t it? And that was why she needed to do this. It was selfish and dangerous and she had no idea what the consequences would be, but she needed more than subjects.
Her horn glowed with gentle golden light as she lifted the wrapped mirror out of Page’s magical grasp. “We’ll find out soon enough,” she said. “In the meantime, I should reward you both for doing this for me.”
“That won’t be necessary,” said Page. Victory echoed her friend’s sentiment, shaking her head urgently, but remained silent.
“I’m going to be hosting a celebration in a couple of months. A few of my royal decrees are starting to have an effect, and I want a big event for the rich and powerful of Canterlot to be able to rally around. My advisor assures me it is a sound plan if I want to inspire generosity in them.”
“That sounds fun.” said Page. Victory nodded.
“I want you both to come.”
“Oh, Princess, I really can’t…”
“We’ll be there,” blurted Victory. She and Page exchanged a glance.
“Wonderful!” said Celestia, delighted.
She bid both of them farewell and retreated into her chambers with the mirror. The door closed between them. Page and Victory left the castle. The night’s efforts were starting to catch up with them, and they headed to Page’s house to get a few hours of sleep.
“What was that about?” asked Page, once they were out of earshot of the royal guards.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I’m talking about. You were acting weird in front of the princess.”
“I was not.”
Victory couldn’t tell Page what had just happened, because she didn’t understand it herself. Standing in the princess’s presence, close enough to touch the one who had saved them all during the battle, she had felt a fierce and sudden loyalty toward her, which made no sense. Victory was an earth pony, and Princess Celestia was the ruler of the unicorn tribe. Being friends with Page might annoy the other earth ponies, but devotion to the unicorns’ princess, that would be treasonous. The chain of her thoughts frightened her.
“Oh no!” said Page suddenly.
“What is it?”
“I forgot to tell her about the books!”
* * *
Alone, Princess Celestia placed the looking glass on the wall, the cloth Page had wrapped it in still covering its face. She paced back and forth in her chambers, turning her decision over in her mind. Eventually she found herself back on her balcony, looking over her city.
Thousands of unicorns slept soundly in their homes below. As their princess, she was responsible for them. She couldn’t do something just because she wanted to anymore. And what she intended was dangerous.
But a princess who doesn’t know friendship will never be able to teach it to others, she thought. And if she could not show her subjects the magic of friendship, Starswirl would win. It did not matter that she was more powerful. Without Harmony on their side, Canterlot—all of Equestria, even—would fall. It was only a matter of time.
Anger stirred within her, and with it determination. She would show her subjects that Starswirl was wrong, that the kind of magic he wielded was not true magic, which was born in friendship. She would bring Harmony back to the unicorn tribe. All she needed was one friend, a single pony she could share real magic with, and she would wield a power Starswirl could never match.
The moon was drifting over the city, full and bright. Celestia looked into its light and smiled. Her teacher’s voice came to her from out of the past, like a ghost: “There’s no such thing as moonlight,” Starswirl had said. “What do you mean? Of course there’s moonlight.” “The moon has no light of its own. It reflects the light of the sun. Like a mirror…”
Celestia took her place before the fairy mirror and took a deep breath. Her horn glowed and the cloth was pulled away, revealing the dark surface of the looking glass. She saw her reflection staring back at her, no longer the helpless little unicorn who had last gazed into this glass, but a royal princess. Tonight, I make a friend, she thought. No matter the consequences.
“Are you there?” she asked out loud.
* * *
Beyond the looking glass, a nameless being heard the voice of the princess who would summon it. The one they say even Starswirl the Bearded fears… it thought. But it could not believe it. It had felt the old wizard’s power when he had gazed into the glass to seek out the secrets of magic. It knew the tide of dark magic that swelled within him. Generations had passed since it had reflected such a pony. It was certain that generations would pass again before it encountered Starswirl’s equal.
From out of the depths of a realm of pure magic, the nameless being answered the princess’s summons. As she gazed into its looking glass it took form, reflecting her beauty and her power. It became she… a dark blue filly… a unicorn… wait, but she had wings too… that was different…
Before she opened her eyes, the nameless pony gasped. Hundreds of creatures had stood before her glass at one time or another, but she had never felt such vast power reflected in her mirror before. All her doubts were shattered. The blue reflection was certain that this princess could turn the heavens by herself, that she could break the bonds of hundreds of unicorn spells, that even the great wizard Starswirl had fled from her presence.
“What are you?” the blue pony asked in awe, opening her aquamarine eyes.
“I’m not a what. I’m a who,” said the white pony, smiling. “Princess Celestia.”
Their gazes locked. Eyes that had beheld the world of wild magic on the other side of the glass met eyes that had looked upon the realms that lay beyond the gates of death itself. And then the blue pony knew her.
“It’s you!” she cried.
Celestia grinned. “Notice anything different about me?” she asked.
“What happened to you?”
“I died. Then Starswirl’s phoenix gave her life to bring me back. Now I’m… like this.”
The pony in the glass looked like she was about to cry. “I’ve been thinking about you.” This was an understatement. Since meeting her, she had thought of nothing else.
“I’ve decided on a name for you,” said Celestia.
The pony in the glass took a step backward. “No!” she wailed. “I told you never to say that again!”
“Things are different now. I’m different.”
“Listen to me, Princess. Nothing has changed. When I saw you in Starswirl’s study, I knew you were special. You were shining, like a torch in a world of shadows. I have been the reflection of so many ponies that were full of ambition and cruelty. Meeting you was like… coming up for air. And then you offered me a name, even after I told you what it would cost you. You will never know how much that meant to me.
“To have a name of my own, to be a single thing instead of the changing depending on who looks into my glass, I want this more than anything… except your life. I wouldn’t steal a single tomorrow from you. And that is the price. No matter how much life you have ahead of you, I would be cutting it in half. And I can’t do that. I won’t ever be able to do that. So please don’t ever offer it to me again, I beg you.”
Celestia felt a surge of emotion. She put a hoof against the glass. “Can you cut eternity in half?” she asked softly.
The blue pony stared. “What?”
“I don’t know what I am anymore. You don’t know. I don’t even think Starswirl knew. It’s like there’s this wall between me and every other pony in the world. And now that I’m a princess, there’s that between us too. I have subjects and servants and even enemies… but no friends. Not even one. If it cost half my life to gain a friend, I would pay it, even if I only had a single day left. Even if I had a single hour.
“But when the phoenix gave me her life, she gave me all of it. I am going to live forever. What is half of always?”
The pony in the glass staggered. “You mean…”
Celestia took her hoof off of the glass and stepped backward. She looked at the pony in the glass with hopeful eyes. “Will you accept my friendship?”
Nopony who has not felt the pain of an impossible wish devoured by the joy of a dream come true can know what the pony in the glass felt at that instant. Liquid tears shone silver in the moonlight and she all but threw herself against the glass. Life, real life beckoned from the other side of the glass, a world full of wonders that somepony from her realm could only ever dream of.
“I will!” she cried. “It’s all I want!”
Celestia called her by name. As soon as the name passed her lips, a crack appeared in the ancient mirror. In the heavens above the city, the stars flared brighter for an instant. The living constellations that walked the land, the great Ursas and their kin, turned their starry heads toward Canterlot. Far to the north, the great king Sombra shuddered on his throne as he felt the shadow of his fate stretch toward him. And all across the land of Equestria, ponies glimpsed in their dreams a blue filly with the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus and gentle eyes that looked at them as if they were the most precious thing in the world.
“Luna!”
As she heard her name for the first time, the blue filly’s heart broke, and with it, the looking glass that held her. The first crack split into a web of crooked lines, then shattered into a hundred spinning fragments as she came rushing into the world, shadow made flesh, barely registering the feeling of the night air on her coat, the wind in her feathers, the single clack of her hooves against the stone floor, before she crashed joyfully into Celestia, who was waiting with open arms, and they tumbled together in a flurry of wings and hooves and tangled manes, to land in a giggling heap together on her chamber floor.
“Nice to meet you,” said Luna.
“Y-You’re…” Celestia tried to say.
“Free. Thanks to you.” She spread her wings and leapt into the air and hovered. “Oh, is this what flying feels like? It’s wonderful!”
“Isn’t it?” said Celestia, getting to her hooves. She felt unsteady, as if a breath would knock her over. The pony in the glass… Luna… her friend had come to her. This was more than she had dared to hope for.
“I want to see the sky,” Luna declared.
Excited joy bubbling up within her, Celestia flapped her wings and shot past the blue pony. “Come with me. We’ll do more than see it.”
Together they flew out Celestia’s door, onto the balcony looking over the city, then over the railing and into the open air. The moonlit sky welcomed them and they ascended into the silvery clouds.
Celestia shivered with pleasure as her wings caught the air and she glided, circling Luna in wide loops. The pure joy at the freedom of flight was magnified a thousand times because she was sharing it with another. Laughing, Luna caught her and they fell spinning through a cloud. Then they separated, droplets of water flying from their wings, and climbed even higher.
Luna felt everything for the first time. Like a newborn, her eyes drank in the world around her. Each sensation was like a magic spell cast over her body. And every passing second made her think again, so that’s what that is like. The centuries she had spent as a reflection were drowned in the first moments of her new life. She did not lock her past behind a door in her soul that could not be opened, the way Celestia did with the memories of her life before Starswirl took her in. Everything before that night simply faded, every second making it less real.
Like a dream.
They did not talk much. They did not need to. The bond they shared was forged in magic. It was as if it had always been there, from before either of them had existed, waiting for them to meet. And now that they had, the circuit closed around the two of them, locking them in one another’s hearts.
Eventually they alighted upon a drifting cloud. It was almost morning, but not yet. For a few precious moments the city below, the castle, maybe everypony in the world was still asleep. Everypony except us, they both thought.
“I need to raise the sun,” said Celestia.
“Wait a moment more,” said Luna. They spent a few more minutes in the darkness. Then Luna sighed and her horn glowed sapphire. “I think I’m doing this right…”
Celestia felt the spell pull on the heavens and her eyes widened. The moon obeyed the wish of its young mistress and bowed under the horizon.
“You can move the heavens by yourself too!”
“Of course,” sniffed Luna proudly. “I can do everything you can do.”
“You can?”
“We are one.”
There was something solemn about the way she said that. It reminded Celestia of the way the phoenix had said to her, “life is one.” As if there was something connecting them that even she was scarcely aware of.
Nothing in Celestia’s past, from her time on the streets to her betrayal by Starswirl, had prepared her to understand the mystery called Family.
On Luna’s flank, the sign of a crescent moon appeared against inky clouds.
“Look at that!” said Celestia.
Luna looked, but instead of the joyful expression most fillies would have upon noticing that they finally got their cutie mark, her ears drooped and she frowned.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought I would have the same cutie mark as you.”
Celestia shook her head. “I don’t think it works like that. You aren’t going to have the same destiny as me. You’re not just a reflection anymore. You’re you.”
Luna’s ears perked up at that and she cocked her head and gave her cutie mark an appraising look. “Actually… it looks kind of cool.”
“It does,” Celestia agreed.
Then she summoned her magic and raised the sun. Something felt different. Luna had said that giving her a name would cost half of Celestia’s power. It did not feel any harder to raise the sun, but she felt a kind of weight to her magic that had not been there before. Half her magic now resided in the other pony.
What does that make us?
The horizon caught fire and light melted over the white city.
“Why is it still dark over there?” asked Luna afterward, pointing with her hoof.
In the distance, heavy gray clouds were gathering over the Everfree Forest, the only place in Equestria where the pegasi had no control over the weather. Celestia’s sunlight did nothing to brighten those clouds, which cast an impenetrable shadow over the forest. Beneath that shadow, sheets of silvery rain fell and crooked lightning flashed. She could hear the monstrous growl of faraway thunder.
“A storm,” said Celestia. “I don’t think we need to worry. It’s a long way off.”