The sun gleamed through the castle’s windows, its shining light revealing the half-awake Princess Celestia laying over the bed, bedsheets covering her entire body.
As the golden glow faded from her horn, the solar alicorn lifted the sheets from her body with a hoof. Rising from her bed slowly, Celestia mentally prepared herself for the long line of duties that she had for the day.
Sometimes I wish that the night would last longer, Celestia thought, walking towards her room’s bathroom. She turned the lights on with her magic. Maybe I’ll convince Luna to make the night a little longer; that would cheer her up a little, she thought, looking herself over in the mirror, noticing the lack of her usual bed-mane that most ponies had in the mornings.
Celestia sighed softly, reminding herself of the duties that she had for the day. “Those little perks of being royalty,” she muttered under her breath, turning on the water for her tub. As she waited for the water to warm up, she thought about the events of the past weeks.
Her former student and her sister had spent a lot of time together the last couple of weeks, partly because of their renewed friendship, and also because Luna was teaching Twilight how to use her newly discovered Alicorn magic.
“Something that I should be doing,” Celestia mumbled, traces of jealousy present in her voice. She wasn’t mad at Luna because she was tutoring Twilight, but she was still a little sad. Celestia had been Twilight’s teacher for so long; letting someone else teach her felt odd, to say the least.
“I guess we all have to grow up someday,” she thought aloud, stepping into the lukewarm water of her tub. Celestia laid there for a few minutes, just thinking, as the warm steam of the water misted the bathroom’s mirrors.
We all have to grow up someday… she thought once again, her eyes closed in deep meditation. Celestia had taught a lot of ponies through the years, each one of them leaving a mark in the monarch’s heart. Yes, she had had many students, but none of them were like Twilight. Celestia had raised Twilight since she was a little filly, when her eyes sparkled with curiosity and innocence, and she had grown much more than anyone else.
Thinking about her moments with Twilight always brought a smile to Celestia’s face. She had acted as a surrogate mother towards Twilight, who in turn brightened her days in the last agonizing years of Luna’s banishment.
Reflecting on that as well, Twilight had always reminded her of Luna. They were so alike: they both sought approbation from others, and they were quite reserved in their relationships. Yes, they shared a lot of qualities. Celestia flashed a small smile; they had even shared the same caregiver.
Celestia chuckled a little, remembering simpler times, long before the responsibility of running a kingdom fell upon their hooves. At the time, the raising of the sun and the moon still depended on the ancient ponies of Unicornia. She and Luna were still children, growing under the watchful eye of their teacher, the great Starswirl the Bearded. Celestia had raised Luna when she was still a teenager, and they had shared many beautiful moments as they grew up.
Luna had been a very hyperactive filly; more than once, Starswirl had to punish her for being so troublesome. Always playing, always laughing, and always smiling, Luna had always brightened their lives, even in moments of strife, like when their teacher had died. That was partly the reason why she represented the Element of Laughter: she always faced her troubles with a smile. Always… until she came.
Nightmare Moon, the evil that managed something that not even hundreds of years on the Equestrian throne managed to, had broken her. If only Celestia had been more helpful, she could have avoided Luna’s twisted fate— a thousand years trapped in the moon, with no company besides that demon that festered upon her sadness. That once bright and cheerful smile had changed into a scarred, forever-suspicious frown. Celestia would give everything to see that innocent smile one more time.
She exhaled deeply, opening her eyes slowly. Rising from the now cold water, Celestia picked up a towel with her magic, drying the water from her body. Time heals all wounds, after all, Celestia thought, as she left the wet towel in the bathroom’s sink, and so time will heal Luna. Time, and a lot of help— and she, as Luna’s sister, would provide as much help as she could along the way.
Celestia exited the bathroom, looking for her golden regalia. When she heard giggling down the hallway, she raised her brow in confusion. “Hmm, the castle visitors usually arrive later, so who is that?” the alicorn wondered, approaching the door to listen to the voices.
“Do you think she’s awake already?” a voice, probably that of a filly, asked.
“Of course she is. She has to raise the sun, after all,” a second, slightly more mature-sounding voice replied.
They are talking about me, then, Celestia thought, a confused expression in her face. “A guard’s daughters perhaps? I wasn’t aware that today was Bring Your Daughter to Work Day,” Celestia said, lighting her magic to open her chamber’s doors. She always liked seeing the sparkling look in foals’ eyes when they saw her. Some of them were plain ado…ra—
“Good morning, Mom!” The couple of fillies standing outside Celestia’s room greeted her happily, excitement present in their violet and blue eyes. Meanwhile, the mare they just called ‘Mom’ widened her own eyes in complete shock.
“Bu— Wha— Luna? T-Twilight?” Celestia stammered, her mask of composure disappearing completely.
The two little alicorns nodded excitedly, Twilight answering first. “Uh-huh, we woke up early, see? Luna didn’t want to get up and I had to drag her to the bathroom!” Twilight explained cheerfully, as Luna frowned at the lavender filly’s accusations.
“Did NOT! I wasn’t asleep, I just wanted you to carry me,” Luna replied, pawing the ground softly with her hoof.
Twilight shrugged off the explanation as she looked up towards her ‘mother’ with hopeful eyes.
“Mooom, you said that as soon as we were ready, we would leave for Sunset’s. We’re ready, so can we go now?” Twilight asked, staring intensely at Celestia with big, puppy-dog eyes, Luna imitating her motions.
Princess Celestia breathed heavily, her gaze traveling from one filly to the other. Was this some kind of prank? No, this was too far-fetched to be one of Luna’s mostly harmless pranks. Had Twilight messed up an age spell? Celestia backed away from the little alicorns, shaking her head in negation.
Luna, noticing Celestia’s distress, walked towards her. “Mom… A-Are you alright? You look a little pale,” she said with worry.
Celestia shook her head in confusion once more, before sitting down in her bed, raising her head a little to look at her new ‘daughters.’ “I-I’m alright, Luna… just a little confused, that’s all,” she said, glad that she could keep her voice steady during the exchange.
Luna cocked her head, puzzled. “Confused? Why’s that, Mom?” she asked. Celestia shivered at the word ‘mom.’
“There are just some odd things about this morning,” the ivory mare responded, before Twilight walked towards her and jumped, fluttering her little wings into the bed.
“Can we help you with something?” Twilight asked, approaching Celestia and looking up at her with worried eyes.
Celestia fought the urge to hug Twilight with her wing as she thought of her answer. “Well… yes, Twilight, you can help me with something. Could you please tell me what we did last night?” she asked, hoping that Twilight’s answer would help her figure out what was happening here.
The lavender filly thought for a second, before Luna answered for her. “We did what we always do,” she answered, walking to Celestia’s nightstand, where she picked up an old-looking book with her magic. “We had dinner, you tucked us into bed, then you read us a story and we went to sleep,” she said, showing the book to her ‘mother.’ Celestia picked it up with her own golden telekinesis.
Celestia read the title out loud. “Myths and Legends of Equestria, by Clover the Clever.” She then looked closely at her nightstand, noticing a couple of things that were definitely out of the ordinary. The first was a little mug made out of clay that spelled the word ‘mom’ with macaroni. The second was a picture of her with a younger Sunset Shimmer, standing in front of the castle gardens. The last thing was another suspicious picture, this one of her with a younger Cadance, smiling; the only thing odd about this picture was her abnormally round stomach.
Celestia put the picture frame back on the nightstand, dizziness attempting to overtake her. She breathed heavily a couple of times before assessing the situation. Okay, so… I’m a mother, Twilight and Luna are my daughters, and my faithful student is Sunset Shimmer once again… She tried to regain her composure before exhaling one last time and fainting over her bed. The last thing she heard before falling unconscious was the frightened shouting of her ‘daughters.’
“Moooooom!”