//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Star-Cross Lovers // by CartoonNerd12 //------------------------------// The curtain came down and every pony in the audience applauded. Up in their royal balcony seats, two royal sisters were cheering on as the curtain calls were made. Then, it was all over. The sisters made their way out of the theatre as their royal escorts were right behind them. "Thank you for joining me, Sister." said Luna. "You're quite welcome." Celestia smiled. "I know how hard it must be to see theatrical productions involving that of which you know first-hoof." "As painful a reminder as it was, I am not upset…" Celestia said, but Luna could have sworn she had heard a hint of sadness in her sister's voice. "Still, seeing a play on Shakespony's famous play, 'Romeo and Juliet', must be hard…" "It would be hard for any pony due to its tragic ending." But Luna wasn't fooled. She knew the heartache her sister had to endure when repairing another universe. That universe had a unicorn king with whom her sister fell deeply in love with, only to lose him when their worlds were colliding and some pony needed to restore balance. The Good King Sombra bravely sacrificed himself just to save his dear sweet Celestia from being turned to crystal. Luna was quite grateful for the stallion because she needed her sister. They had been separated for over a thousand years due to her one and only horrible mistake. She vowed then that she would never again be separated from her beloved sister ever again. Still, she wanted her sister to have happiness and it was then she had thought of a strange but wonderful idea… She turned back to Celestia, "I must go now, my sister, for the night calls to me!" Celestia yawned, "Yes, little sister. And I must retire and be well-rested to raise the sun tomorrow." Luna nodded her head as she took off, "Good night." "Good night." Celestia replied as they took their separate ways. When Celestia got to her chambers, she saw her pet phoenix, Philomena, asleep on her perch. She then went across the room to a small plant that held a mirror shard and a piece of paper with the inscription 'Always' on it. She used her aura to lift the shard to her face, seeing part of her reflection. She could remember a time that the shard was part of a gateway to another world where she could meet with the stallion that deeply cared for her. She let go of the shard as she moved slowly towards her bed while still glimpsing at the plant carrying what little she had left to remember the one she had loved. She set herself in the bed and closed her eyes as memories came back to her. It was just a few months after Star Swirl's and her journey through the mirror and found a world much like their own Equestria, but with quite a few differences… The young Princess was growing weary of her duties during the day and needed a break. Star Swirl noticed this and suggested, "How would you like to go through the mirror and meet King Sombra again? Now would be a good time to learn more about his world and how different or similar it is to ours." Her heart jumped at the idea, but she contained her excitement by simply nodding and saying, "That is a wonderful idea." "Excellent! Race you down to the library!" he made like an earth pony and ran as fast he could. Celestia smirked and all thoughts went to the unicorn king who was kind and beloved by his ponies. Star Swirl performed the spell and a terrible thought went across Celestia's head, But what if he's forgotten all about me…? She would soon find out. King Sombra listened as Luna was giving the daily reports across Equestria. Everything had been peaceful and no threats had come from Celestia so far. Celestia… How he wished the Celestia of his world didn't share the same beautiful name as the Celestia he met from another world a few months ago. It was strange at first to be around a good Celestia, but the more he got to know her, the more he started liking this sweet Celestia. It made him think if the Celestia he had known to be a villain was good, then perhaps they would have been… But he knew that different worlds must remain what they were and if the Celestia he had met was a kind and wise ruler to her ponies, then he was perfectly happy with that. "Your Highness!" one of his guards rushed in, "Celestia was spotted in gardens!" Sombra rose from his seat with a serious expression on his face, "Thank you, Captain." He and Luna ran out. "I should have known my sister wouldn't have been able to stay away for long…" Luna said guiltily. "What matters is stopping what evil plan she has now…" They kept running until they made it out to the gardens. They braced themselves for battle, but stopped when they realized who it was… "Celestia…?" The Princess smiled, "You remember me…" "Of course I remembered you. How could I forget such a sweet and beautiful face…?" Celestia was blushing. Star Swirl came up, "Sorry if we caught you at a bad time." "Nonsense, your timing couldn't have been more perfect…" he was staring at Celestia when he said that. She stared back at him with a loving glance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She was sitting in his parlor as he was serving her tea, but she couldn't drink. She was still haunted by the face of the evil king who had cursed an entire empire to vanish. "Are you alright…?" His voice… so soft and gentle… not like the distorted voice she heard that sounded so evil… She couldn't hide it anymore and said, "No…" "What's wrong?" worry filled his voice. "I… I met your other half in my world…" "What…?" She nodded. Sombra was almost afraid to ask, but he had to know what he was like in Celestia's world… "How bad?" She faced him with tears in her eyes, "Evil… Pure evil…" He was taken aback at first, but knowing that if the Celestia of his world was capable of evil, his counterpart had to be just as evil in his sweet Celestia's world… "How do you handle it…?" "Handle…?" "My evil self… Surely, when you see her, that you see me… but acting so cruel and harsh… How do you keep reminding yourself to look the other way, seeing the good instead…?" He gave a small smile, and wrapped his hoof around her, "This is how… Whenever I see you again, I can feel the good and light radiating off of you that I can come close to touch you… When she's near, I feel the coldness and keep my distance. You may share the same looks and eyes, but it is your good heart that I love more… If the Celestia I had known as my enemy was as good as you, then there would have been a chance for us… I'm sure the same can be said of the Sombra of your world… If he was anything like me in your world, then you, too, would have a chance to be together…" "But it wasn't to be, was it…?" she said sadly. "I'm afraid so. It's just how our worlds were set… I am to rule this Equestria as you must rule your Equestria. But we were brought together for a reason, Celestia… to have this moment of happiness… I am not the monster you saw recently. I am a much better version of that Sombra, just as you are a much better version of Celestia. We are the best of each other…" She smiled as they touched horns and then shared a kiss… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She made it through the mirror and when she would open her eyes, it would be the same beautiful Equestria she always saw. But, no… When she opened them, she was shocked to see how the once-lush Equestria she visited was now in disarray and gloomy-looking. She started to fear the worst when she thought that something had happened to her Sombra. She rushed towards the castle, flew onto one of the balconies, and went to go find the throne room. As she got closer, she heard muffled yelling, so she took a peek through the door and saw Sombra at the table looking troubled. She heard him saying: "Calm down, everyone! I know Luna's betrayal is serious and that she joined forces with her sister, but we cannot let that get us down! We will find some way to stop them before all of Equestria is lost! Discord, I need you go the northern lands. Chrysalis, to the south. Trixie, Manehattan and other remaining cities will need your special talents." "But what about you? I can't just leave you here to defend Canterlot all by yourself!" "I'll be fine, and I wish the rest of you good luck…" They all started standing and were about to leave. Celestia knew she had to hide from the others. The doors opened and Sombra said goodbye to his trusted council and friends. "Stay safe, Your Majesty." "I will, Derpy…" Derpy adjusted her glasses and nodded her head before leaving. "Be careful, old boy." said Discord while putting on his Captain Goodguy mask. "You too, old friend…" "Don't give them the pleasure of getting to you…" said Chrysalis. "I won't. It takes a lot to get under my skin…" "Please… Isn't there any other way…? I could stay in Ponyville and keep an eye on them…" Trixie was pleading with her former mentor. "And let them have an advantage of seizing control? No, it's far too dangerous… I need you far away from them, Trixie." Trixie shed a tear as Sombra lifted her chin and smiled at her, "I am so proud of you, my faithful student. You have come so far. Ever since I had taken you in as my apprentice, you have grown into the princess you were meant to be…" "Just… don't let anything bad happen to you…" "I can't control what will happen, but I know I can count on you no matter what… Whatever happens, you can handle anything your mind is set to. You'll be fine, Princess Trixie…" Celestia beamed at Sombra's words. It was exactly how she felt about Twilight handling things on her own. Trixie was still upset and gave an unsure look to her longtime mentor. He, in turn, gave a reassuring smile, making her smile a little. Once she was gone with the others, Sombra gave a deep sigh, turned to sit on his throne, and looked out to see that the sky wasn't the same as before. "That was a wonderful thing to say…" He froze in his spot as he thought, That voice… I haven't heard that lovely voice in such a long time… He slowly turned around and there she was, with her long gorgeous flowing mane, her sweet violet eyes, her snowy white coat, and she was radiating as if she really was the sun. "Celestia…" he said in a near-whisper and gradually went to her. "Is it you…?" He had near tears in his eyes. "Yes…" she also had near tears in her eyes. They embraced each other for a long time until they faced each other. She gave a concerned look, "Tell me everything's that happened…" For the rest of the day, they told each other about what had been happening in both worlds. Like Sombra, Celestia also had a student she took under her wing and she became a princess, too. Discord's counterpart has been released from stone and was serving for good, but only in his best interests. The biggest change was that Luna of Celestia's world returned from being Nightmare Moon and the Luna of his world had gone to the dark side to join her sister. "Oh, Sombra… I should have known that once Luna returned to me, the Luna here would have also joined her sister…" "No, Celestia, it's great that you have your sister back. Our Luna at first was different from her sister, but she was still loyal to her. It wasn't until the time that your Luna was starting to act resentful that our Luna turn to our side and served to help go against her sister." "But things have gotten so bad here… I have the Elements of Harmony to help me through difficult times, but you have no such protection and defense… What can you do to stop this?" "I don't know, Celestia… but I will fight to my last breath to protect my subjects from evil Celestia's tyranny… Just as you had to stop the evil Sombra in your world…" "I shouldn't have come…" "Don't say that…" "But if someone sees me, they'll think of me as the one hurting them…" "Never…" he took her hoof. "You're good, pure, and true… You are the light that guides ponies out the dark… and if you're here now, then you are the key to how we can get out of this…" "Oh, Sombra…" "You being here is a miracle, so surely you must have some idea of defeating our foes." "Alas, I have nothing I can give…" "Take your time. We'll think of something… Now, tell me more of your student…" That was the last time she saw of him until their worlds were merging and that they were willingly to sacrifice themselves to save both worlds. Celestia released a small tear before she completely fell asleep. Luna then appeared in front of her sister as she performed her spell to enter Celestia's dreams. "Rest easy, my sister, for tonight, you shall have a dream that will bring much joy to you…" she smiled as she connected to her sister's thoughts and dreams.