//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: The Dusk of the Dawn // by Dusk775 //------------------------------// Princess Celestia could not believe what she was saw in front of her. Sitting on the bed, right next to Twilight, was her son. A son she had not seen for a thousand years. A son that, until the messenger came, she believed was dead. Her motor functions locked up, her breathing became uneven, her heart pounded, and tears flowed from her eyes. "Luna?" Celestia asked in a more serious tone. Surprised by the change in tone, Luna looked up from her tea at her sister's face, which held a serious expression. They had been talking into the day about things that had changed in Equestria since Luna's banishment, and this was the first time she had spoken with the tone she used. "I," she said before taking a long pause to line up her words. "I have to ask you about Dawn," she finished, her words faltering towards the end. Luna's expression also became serious. She looked down at her reflection in the tea. "I'm sorry I left him in that state, Celestia. It was probably a lot for you, seeing him like that." She said, avoiding eye contact with her sister. "If you would allow me, I want to pay respects at his grave." Celestia looked at her sister, seeing how inflicted she felt by her actions. "There is no grave." She said. Luna looked up at her sister. "What do you mean, sister?" "There is no grave, because there is no body." Celestia coldly repeated. Luna's expression turned to fear. "Sister, please tell me you didn't-" She was cut off by Celestia. "My sister, when I got to your study, there was no body. Just an outline in blood where a pony had lain." Luna looked at her big sister, confused. There was no way that anypony could have survived what she had done to Dawn. She then wondered. "I-is he, a-a-a-" She had trouble saying the last word, as her emotion had started taking over. She could see, from the corner of her eye, small splashes in the tea that she was holding as her tears flowed off of her face. She then felt a warm body around her. She looked over to see her sister holding her in a warm embrace. Luna's body stopped trembling, and her muscles relaxed. "A few nights ago, I was woken up." She started. "I opened my eyes to find a small mare who looked just like you. I was scared, because I thought you had escaped. The mare assured me that she was not you, but a messenger." Celestia paused for a few more moments, as she was trying to control her emotions as well. "She told me he was still alive, Luna." She said, tears of joy running down her face now. Looking down at Luna, her tears had began to flow as well. "H-he's still alive?" Luna asked through her tears. "Yes, yes he is." Celestia said. They sat there, sister wrapped around sister in warm embrace, tears still escaping from their eyes. "You don't know how much this news means to me, sister." Luna finally said. Celestia opened her eyes and looked down at her sister, who was looking back up at her. "During the time that I was up on the moon, every hour felt like a day. My mind had split into two factions, and they argued over everything. Eventually, the arguments turned to Dawn." Celestia's tears had stopped, and her eyes had widened. Had she really caused her sister that much grief? She stopped thinking to herself as Luna continued. "The mad faction justified that it was right, that it had finally put you in your place. The other faction, my mind, had said otherwise. He was your little brother, they said, why did you have to kill him?" She paused as she had another emotional wave. Celestia tightened her embrace, and it helped. Within a few moments, she started speaking again. "But now, now that you tell me that my brother is alive, my mind can finally shed the guilt it has been carrying for so many years." She looked up at Luna, and saw a warm smile beaming down at her. "Thank you, sister." "Your welcome, Luna." She returned. After recollecting the thought within her mind, Celestia's mind snapped back into focus. The first thing she had noticed was that Dawn was no longer on the bed. She looked left and right, hoping that he had not disappeared again. If he had left, again, she would be heartbroken. She then felt something warm at her forelegs. She looked down...and saw her son, cuddling against her hooves. Feeling that he had been noticed, he looked up at her. They stared into each other's eyes for a what seemed to either of them as an eternity, but as a moment as well, as they both wished for the moment to never end. "Mom." Dawn said. "Dawn." Celestia replied. Celestia moved her neck down, and cuddled Dawn between her cheek and neck. Nurse Redheart and Twilight, watching the embrace, couldn't help but let out a collective "daww" at the sight. Twilight looked over to see if Dusk was sharing their expressions that moment, but something was wrong. Dusk wasn't in the room, and the window was open. The sun had just set as well. The two mares of darkness walked through the park. Dusk was still wondering to herself why she had followed Luna. After all, the last time they had met, she had frozen in fear, and nearly wet herself. Yet she was walking alongside her now, as if they were friends. It might be her appearance, Dusk thought to herself. After all, Luna wasn't the large, intimidating witch of the night she had been a week prior. In fact, she didn't look like she was much older than Dusk in her current form. Dusk was actually a little taller than Luna. Once they had found a bench to rest on, they both sat down on it. They had not said a word to each other on the way there. Luna finally broke the ice. "Your name is Dusk, right?" She asked. "Uh, yes." Dusk said nervously. Although her current form made her easier to be around, Dusk was still nervous about what her personality was like. "Dusk." She pondered over the name for a moment. "Your name fits you like a glove." She concluded. "Thanks." Dusk responded, trying not to show her nervousness through her tone. An awkward silence fell between the two mares. Dusk looked around at her surroundings. Besides a few trees, the area around was pretty open. The only source of light came from a lamp a few meters away, which barely gave off any light. A hill was behind them, and there was fresh dirt laid down in the shape of a circle near the tree that was at the top. "I-i'm sorry." Dusk heard from Luna's direction. She turned her head, then proceeded to turn her body towards her. Luna shifted uneasily, and then continued. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I-i wasn't in control of myself. That was Nightmare Moon that scared you, but she was part of me, so I'm apologizing." Dusk looked at Luna for a few moments. Although she was blaming it on another persona, her apology still had a sincere air to it. "I accept your apology, Luna." She let the words sit in the air for a bit before continuing. "I'm curious about you and Nightmare Moon. Would you care to enlighten me?" "Sure." Luna responded. "...and when the Elements of Harmony were used on me, she just disappeared." Luna concluded. "Interesting," Dusk responded. The fact that her mind had split into two separate forces was amazing, but something still lingered in her head. "Luna," she started, "since your mind had already split between your two personas before you cast the spell on Dawn, do you think that Nightmare Moon was trying to do more than make an immortal pony that night?" Dusk asked. "Well, during that night, I did see that she had one line in her spell notes that I didn't understand. They did not relate to the spell of immortality." She thought for a moment, and continued. "Later that night, when she performed the spell on Dawn, it seemed that the spell was complete, but she did something after that. She rose Dawn's soul from his body, and split it. I then understood that she was trying to pour herself into a new soul, to take on a form where she could have a more concentrated form, and do things she could not do through me." She paused, letting everything that she had just said sink in with Dusk. Feeling that she had given her enough time, she continued. "I intervened, cutting her off from the soul. I tried to re-attach it to Dawn's soul, but I couldn't. So I did the next best thing; I put Dawn's soul back within his body, and poured part of myself into the soul." Dusk was in shock. Wait, she thought, if she had poured herself into my soul, then- Dusk then noticed that Luna had moved closer to her on the bench, and was nearly touching her. "Dusk," she said in a warm tone, "I was wondering if you would give me the honor of becoming your sister and mother." Although she had not known the mare for long, and barely knew her personality, something about the proposal made her feel content with herself. For once, she would have more ties to her family than just Dawn. She would also have a mom, someone that she could look up to in a time of need, like Dawn with Celestia. She embraced Luna, slightly surprising her with the sudden contact. "Yes." She said. She felt Luna's fore-hooves on her back, returning the embrace. Celestia and Dawn sat at a table outside the local cafe. The pair had noticed that Dusk was gone after their prolonged embrace, so they decided to go to the cafe. The cafe had been closing up when the two had arrived, but being given the honor of serving two ponies of the royal family (or one, since Dawn's existence had been stricken from history per Celestia's request after his death) was more than enough motivation to keep them open for a few more minutes, or hours if needed. Dawn had been telling the Princess about all of the places that he had went during the time he was on the move, and the adventures that he had had in the places. He was even surprised himself with all of the places that he had gone. As he spoke, Celestia intently listened to Dawn, and watched his hooves move around to emphasize whatever he was taking about. About twenty minutes after they had arrived, the food was served. Dawn had gone with the sandwich he ordered when he first arrived at Ponyville, and Celestia, not knowing what the food was like, had ordered what Dawn had gotten. The waiter filled the Princess's tea, and replaced Dawn's empty glass with one filled with water. After a few bites of her sandwich, Celestia turned to Dawn. "Dawn, I have a question." She asked. Finishing the bite that he had just taken, Dawn responded. "Yes, Celestia?" Celestia thought of whether or not to ask the question, and then asked it. "Why did you run away the night Luna cursed you?" Luna asked. The question catching him off guard, Dusk took another bite of his sandwich, and pondered over his response while he chewed. "I thought you wouldn't treat me the same after what Luna did to me." He responded. Celestia thought over the response, but could not come up with a way to answer it. "Well, that's behind us now. What matters is that we're together now." She said. The two ate finished their sandwiches, and continued light conversation for a while. Celestia paid the check when the waiter came up, and told the waiter that they would not need anything more for the night, and that they could leave. Happily taking the suggestion that the Princess gave them, the lights in the building were off within a matter of minutes, leaving the only ambient light in the area coming from the streetlamps scattered around the shopping district. As they walked through the district towards the inn, they met up with Dusk and Luna, who happily told them about the proposal. Dawn and Celestia congratulated them, and they continued to walk towards the inn. They paused at the front. "So, where does this leave me and Dusk?" Dawn asked Celestia and Luna. "Well," Celestia started, "I will leave you two to do what you want from this day forth, as long as you return to Canterlot occasionally. If you want, you two can handle domestic affairs around Equestria. Would you be interested?" Dawn turned to Dusk, who simply nodded to him. "Celestia, we accept." Dawn responded. "Excellent!" Celestia said cheerfully. "Erm, sister," Luna interjected uneasily, "most of Equestria doesn't know that Dawn and Dusk even exist, or even if some do, they don't know that they're part of the royal family." Celestia remembered this, and she put her hoof to her jaw as she thought of something. Her expression brightened as an idea came to her. "We will have a royal homecoming event for them!" She said with great enthusiasm. "We will have a ceremony to commemorate them as members of our family! Everyone in Canterlot will be there, as well as many ponies from throughout Equestria!" "That's brilliant, sis!" Luna responded ecstatically. "How long to you think the preparations will take?" "They shouldn't take more than a week." Celestia replied. "I will go to Canterlot tomorrow morning to begin the preparations. Luna, would you be able to come along with me and oversee the preparations for the event?" "That shouldn't be a problem." Luna responded. Celestia then turned to Dawn and Dusk. "Would you two be able to oversee getting your attire for the event?" "We should be able to. I saw a boutique in town while I was here, so I think we will be able to get them made here." "Splendid! I will send you mail frequently to update you on things as they are arranged. This will be a spectacular event!" Celestia probably had enough energy to set the sun on fire with the joy she had, but her body said otherwise, letting her slip a yawn. "I think it's time we retire for tonight. It is late." Dawn said. Everypony else nodded, and they walked into the inn. The inn-keeper was more than happy to get rooms for Celestia and Luna, and gave Dawn and Dusk the room that he had been given a week prior. They went up to their rooms quietly, trying their best not to wake the other guests. Dawn took the first bed, and Dusk took the one next to it. "Good night, Dusk." Dawn said. "Good night, Dawn." Dusk responded.