Celestia alighted upon the balcony of her royal chambers, breathing out a sigh as she walked inside and felt a familiar presence somewhere deeper within. “Anthra?” she called, “where are you my dear?”
“In the baths love,” said a voice from further in the room, a voice which sounded like smooth silk to the old alicorns ears.
When she made it into the bathroom, she was immediately greeted by the site of her mate, the large and imposing mare resting comfortably in the tub as she scrubbed her own fur. “Would you like to join me my love, it has been forever I think since I last was able to wash you.”
Celestia nodded in simple assent, removing her regalia and then entering the bath, moving with her mate till she was seated comfortably in her lap, groaning as the larger mare began to work some soap into her coat.
“Your muscles are all knots again love, you know you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore, so why do you keep insisting on the attempt?”
“Because I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I lost that responsibility,” said Celestia honestly, groaning a bit as Antra hit a particularly dense group of knots. “I have grown so used to its weight; it has become part of me.”
“But it is not part of you,” said Anthra, “you are a mare, a mare who is in need of a good long break.”
“Maybe your right…” said Celestia thoughtfully, only to shake her head after a moment as she sighed. “But I can’t, there is still so much to do…”
Anthra stared at her a moment, then sighed, “That’s no excuse and you know it love. After all, you have your sister back, that young love goddess is now running the Crystal Empire, and you even have this new princess to take care of things.”
“She is so young though,” said Celestia, which caused her mate to arch an eyebrow.
“Young she may be, yet I have seen her handle more in her twenty years then most do in their entire lifetime, which brings me to a question I have long been dreading to ask. You are one of the most powerful creatures I have ever seen on this planet my love, and that is saying something considering how many ages I have lived on this planet. However, ever since this young mare has entered your life, you have been relegating tasks to her that no mortal should ever have to face. Facing Discord, fighting Sombra, and even confronting you own sister, all of these and more you have pushed onto her, when you could easily have handled all of them.”
“I had my reasons…”
“Well you better tell me of them then, because otherwise I will have to remain in ignorance of what you do.”
Celestia seemed to hesitate a moment, and then she spoke in a soft whisper. “Its…it’s complicated…”
“You can tell me anything love,” said Anthra, “you know that.”
Celestia hesitated, and then nodded her head, getting up out of the water before turning around. “There’s…there’s something I need to show you, but I need you to stay calm till…till I am done explaining.”
Anthra nodded her head, then grimaced as Celestia was suddenly bathed in light, blinding her a moment till it faded. When she was able to see her mate again, she had to suppress a scream, for her mate had changed drastically from the mare she had once known.
Heavy dark bags lay under her once bright eyes, and her coat, once bright as the day which she heralded, had darkened to a near light gray, making her look extremely old. Her mane and tail now hung limply from her body, its rich color darkened with streaks of silver, adding to her other aged features. Her wings to had also changed, the feathers looking molted and unkempt, and as if to add insult to injury, her once majestic horn showed many a sign of damage, its tip blackened from obvious signs of backfired spells.
“Love…what has…”
“I overestimated my own abilities,” said Celestia, her voice sounding tired as she smiled at her mate. “A thousand years of doing the duty of two alicorns, as well as feeding both my mate and my child the necessary love they needed to live, has taken a greater toll on my body then I thought it would, and the only thing that has kept me from perishing outright is my connection to the sun.”
“But why did you not say anything, we could have helped you, we could have…”
“Could have what love,” said Celestia, “starved yourself so that I would have a little more energy…No, I would never let you do that to yourself. I have done what I did because it was necessary, and it is still necessary, so I shall endure as I have always done, till I can’t endure any longer.”
“…No.”
Celestia stared at her mate as she got out of the water; the larger mare moving over to her and staring down at her, for she was easily a head taller than her mate, if not more. “I shall not stand by while you waste away like this, not after the centuries I spent alone waiting for one such as you to appear. You are going to show your sister what has happened to you, for if you are willing to hide this from me, I know you would be willing to hide this from her. After you show her what has happened to you, you will then take a leave of absence to recover your lost strength, where upon you will surrender yourself to my care till I deem you to be fully restored, am I clear!”
Celestia nodded her head quickly, feeling like a small foal who was being scolded by her mother, though knowing better about why her mate was doing what she was doing. “I…I guess you’ll want me to go now then?”
Anthra nodded, and then cast her magic, drying them both off before sending her mare out the door, sighing as it closed before turning back to the room at large. “Hm, now what to prepare for dinner?”
Luna waited patiently on the balcony where she and Celestia moved their charges, having received a letter telling her to wait there. She was a bit annoyed by the letter, for it had arrived when she was in the middle of talking to Twilight Sparkle, for the young mare was proving a difficult one to deal with when it came to following her orders, especially seeing as how her first order had been to bind her own brother.
She understood why she was resistant to her command, after all the bonds between siblings were strong, especially those between a brother and a sister. But those bonds could be cut, and Twilight needed to learn that even her own blood could betray her…as Luna herself had betrayed her sister, long ago.
She was brought out of her dark thoughts by the sound of a pony clearing their throat behind her, smiling in recognition but not turning around as she spoke. “I hope this was important sister, I was hoping to get started on Twilight’s lessons today, for she has a lot to learn.”
“It’s very important dear sister,” said Celestia behind her, her voice sounding so tired it sounded like she would pass out any moment.
This caused Luna to become concerned, so she finally turned, her eyes widening in shock as she got sight of her sister. “Celestia, dear sister what has happened to you, you look so…so…”
“Old?” asked Celestia with a sad grin, her wrinkled face showing more mirth in it then the mask she had been wearing since her sister had been banished. “I suppose I do dear sister, and as to what has happened to me, well…I guess you finally get to say I told you so.”
“What do you…?”
“You remember the day after you were returned to me, when you kept hounding for the answer as to how I could have survived a thousand years moving your moon unscathed.”
“I remember yes, and I also remember I…I never really believed you when you said you were fine.”
Celestia nodded, “well you were right to believe that, for I didn’t escape unscathed. As you can see, the magic of both the sun and the moon has worn on me, sapping at my strength and hampering the anti-aging effects all alicorns live with, causing me to slowly age. I have used many an illusion to mask this, but my mate says it’s…it’s time I take a break, but I don’t think I…”
“Sister stop!” said Luna, causing her sister to pause as she continued. “I know that ever since Mother and Father left us you have felt that you needed to take on all the responsibilities they left behind, but you need to let it go, you are not the only alicorn in the kingdom sister. I am just as capable of ruling the kingdom as you, even more so now, due to the fact that my strength is still at its most potent. As your fellow princess, I am enacting the right of substitution, which requires you surrender all your duties and responsibilities to me till such time as you are fit to have them returned.”
Celestia looked at her a moment, and then smiled brightly, walking over to her sister and hugging her as tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you sister mine, it means a lot to me that you are willing to do this, an awful lot.”
Luna nodded, then back up, smiling at her sister as she spoke. “We better get to work on what needs to be done; after all, it takes a lot of paperwork for either of us to have a vacation. But first, let’s get that disguise back on; we can’t have our dear ponies seeing you in such a state, not till its time.”
Twilight and the element bearers stood on the great balcony overlooking Canterlot city, their presence there being a request of Twilight’s former mentor Celestia, who apparently had something very important to announce to the ponies of Equestria.
After waiting a few minutes, the princesses finally appeared, Luna dressed in her regalia as always, and Celestia, much to the shock of her former student, had left her own regalia behind.
“Citizens of Equestria, I know you must be all wondering why it is I have called you all here for, as well as to the reason why I do not wear my regalia this day. The reason for both are one in the same, for as of today, I am temporarily stepping down as co-ruler for Equestria.”
Many of the citizens began to cry out, only to stop when she lifted a hoof for silence. “I know this must come as a shock to you all, but I have my reasons for doing so, reasons I have been hiding from all of you for over a thousand years. I know my words will never convince you of my need for this…departure, so I shall simply show you why.”
There was a bright flash of life, and then everypony gasped, for instead of their regal sovereign, they were greeted with the sight of an old and worn out looking alicorn.
“As you can now see,” said Celestia, her voice sounding tired like she had not slept in days. “The thousand years I ruled alone have taken far greater a toll then I was willing to tell you, but fear not, for I can recover. However, to recover from this, I must relinquish my responsibilities, so by the right of substitution, I now pass all my responsibilities over to my sister Luna, who will act as sole ruler of the land till I return.”
She then backed away from the edge of the balcony, allowing her sister to begin swaying the crowd, heading over to where her former student stood shock still, unable to find a voice.
“You know Twilight you could give Discord a run for his money in being statuesque.”
“Princess…wha…what’s…”
Celestia stayed her with a smile, “nothing that you could have fixed my dear student, though I know you would have tried. If you do seek to help however, then I would ask if I and my mate could stay at your castle for a time, for Luna believes it would be good for me to spend my rest away from the castle…away from the temptation of duty.”
Twilight stared dumbly at her for a long moment, then nodded her head, the princess leaning down to nuzzle her in gratitude before taking off, leaving them all in silence till Pinkie burst out.
“OMG, I’m going to have to throw a “hope you enjoy your get well vacation” party for Celestia, quick, end the chapter NOW!!!”
*Roll Credits*