For the Mare Who Has Everything

by Justice3442

Chapter 3

“I’m still not sure that’s enough…” Celestia said as she eyeballed a platter piled high with pancakes in front of her. The muffled, and hysterical laughter of her husband and maniacal laughter of her eldest daughter drifted into the kitchen from several rooms over.

Standing on top of a chair so she could see over the counter, Eventide examined the same pile. The pile was easily larger than the filly herself. “I’m pretty sure this is enough for everypony…”

“Are you sure?” Celestia said as she raised an eyebrow towards her daughter. “Did you remember Aunt Luna is joining us for breakfast?”

“Momma!” Eventide said in a protesting tone. “Auntie always joins us for breakfast! Of course I remembered.”

Celestia frowned and looked back at the pancake pile. “Perhaps we should make a couple dozen more just to be safe.”

Eventide shook her head causing her purple mane to flutter about. “I am certain this is the optimal amount of pancakes! I even factoring in the likeliness you’ll have ‘extra birthday helpings’.”

Celestia’s turned and smiled. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to see your work on that.”

Eventide jumped off the chair and onto exquisitely carved stone tiles. “I’ll go get my notebook!” she said excitedly.

Celestia’s eyes widened and her horn turned yellow as she quickly raised Eventide into the air before the filly could scamper off to her room and return with a book of notes and likely a chart or two. “N-never mind…” Celestia said as the same yellow aura that held her daughter afloat surrounded the tray of pancakes. “I should know better than to question you when it comes to calculations.”

“Awww…” Eventide said as her mother gently placed her in a chair at a round marble table. The table was large enough for eight ponies to sit at it comfortable and was shining white. What looked to be a simple, if perfectly carved etching of a sun was on the surface, however it was currently covered by several neat settings of plates, cloth napkins, and silverware. Additionally, oodles of optional pancake toppings, various carafes filled with colorful beverages, and cups of numerous shapes and sizes had already made their way to the table as well.

Celestia placed the tray of pancakes in the center of the table’s sun and smiled. “Well, I suppose if your father is still amongst the unliving, I’ll have to aid your sis—”

“HAHAHAHA—”

‘THUD!’

Eventide grimaced slightly as Celestia smiled at the not totally unfamiliar sound of hysterical laughter being cut off by a heavy thump. No doubt her husband hitting the floor as he finally rolled out of bed under a barrage of nearly inescapable magical tickles.

“Alright! I’m cured!” Sombra’s voice called out in a somewhat pleading tone. “Just… please, no more!”

“Never mind!” Celestia said cheerfully as she took a seat next to Eventide.

The sound of a door opening was soon followed by small quick taps and larger clops, hooves hitting stone as two ponies of different sizes walked towards the kitchen and dining area.

Celestia watched as Sunrise wordlessly trotted through a doorway, her head held high with a proud smile on her face. The young filly was soon followed by a tall, gray unicorn stallion with a slightly haggard look about his face and dark circles around his eyes.

“Sombra!” Celestia said with a smile. “I see you’re back to the land of the living.” Celestia glanced briefly at the tired-looking bags under Sombra’s eyes. “Mostly…”

Sombra give Celestia a heavy, if disingenuous looking frown. “Yes, it turns out ‘tickle torture’ is the cure for vamponism.” Sombra said as his horn flashed yellow and a chair pulled out from the table.

“I shall inform the royal guards at once so they can equip themselves with the finest feather dusters.”

Sombra chuckled to himself as he took a seat opposite his wife, his would be ‘vampire slayer’ daughter sat next to him. He stared down at the massive pile of pancakes in the center of the table. “I think you two may have overdone it.”

“But daddy,” Eventide interjected, “these are special pancakes!”

Sombra tilted his head and used his magic to lift one of the doughy disks and peered underneath it as if there was something he had missed. “Why? Because they’re ‘birthday’ pancakes?” he ventured.

Eventide shook her head. “Nope! These pancakes are shaped like flying saucers!”

Sombra looked down at his pancakes, looked back towards Eventide, and then over to Celestia. “This is my life now, isn’t it?”

Celestia favored her husband with a wide grin. “Oh come now, you know you love it.”

Sombra shook his head. “Oh it has its perks, but I could do with higher standard of humor.”

Sunrise looked across the table to her sister. “Puns aren’t funny, Eventide!”

Sombra motioned to the filly sitting next to him. “See! Somepony agrees with me!”

“It’s not a pun!” Eventide replied. “It’s a visual gag!”

Sunrise narrowed her eyes slightly. “But it’s a, and I use the word very loosely, ‘joke’ that still relies on a form of wordplay! Ipso Facto it’s a pun!”

Eventide leaned forward, her expression starting to match her sisters. “While a pun is a form of word play, not all forms of wordplay are puns! Stop trying to build an argument out of a false equivalency!”

 “Your sense of humor is the literal worst!” Sunrise declared. “And yes, I mean it’s literally the absolute worst possible sense of humor in the world and all possible worlds!”

“Stop using ad hominem attacks!” Eventide cried. “And I’m going to have to see conclusive data establishing my sense of humor against every other beings in all possible before I can accept your statement as documented fact!”

“… How old are our children again?” Sombra asked as he looked back and forth between the two small fillies sitting at the table.

Sunrise stared upwards as one corner of her mouth twisted upward into a silly smile. “Look at me! I’m Eventide! I think I’m soooooo… smart because I can rattle off entry level philosophical garbage!”

Eventide let out a goofy groan as she tilted her head and let her tongue loll out to one side. “I’m Sunrise Shine and I’m too lazy to support my opinions with facts or research!” 

“That’s slightly better,” Sombra said with a touch of relief in his voice. His features tightened slightly. “Girls! No making faces at the table!” Sombra decreed. He turned to Celestia, “Right, honey?”

Celestia quickly pulled in her tongue and uncrossed her eyes. “Right…”

Sunrise and Eventide both tittered to themselves.

Sombra sighed. “Why did I agree to children when I already married one?”

 “Ho, ho, hoooo!” Celestia raised a forehoof to her mouth.  “Don’t let the guards hear you talking like that! They’ll arrest you and throw you in the dungeon on the spot!”

Sombra rolled his eyes. “Pul-leeeees! Even if they did, I’d just get a pardon from your sister. I’m sure she knows exactly what I’m talking about.”

Celestia stuck her tongue out in response.

“Of course you realize, you’re only proving my point?” Sombra said with a smirk.

Sunrise puffed out her lower lip. “Daddy, are you saying I was a mistake?”

“What? No, I…”

Eventide leaned forward and mirrored her sister’s expression. “Am I… Am I just a burden to you?”

“Eventide?! No! Of course…”

Celestia leaned her head above her children, the same pout applied to her own countenance. “Are the children the reason you and I fight at night?”

“Tia?! What…? We don’t—” Sombra let out a heavy sigh and slumped forward, his head resting on the table. “I give up…”

Sunrise’s pout quickly changed to a devilish smirk. “So you’ll submit fully to the ‘Stary Triumvirate’?

Without bothering to lift his head, Sombra scrunched his brow slightly and glanced up. “I’m fairly certain such submission happened years ago, but ‘yes’.”

Celestia grinned. “I think I know what this calls for.”

Sombra groaned.

“Family pile?!” Eventide asked excitedly.

Sombra spoke up, “You know breakfast is getting cold, ri—Ah!” Sombra was cut off as the orange filly sitting next to him jumped him, knocking him off his chair and onto his back. Celestia and Eventide quickly rounded the table and also leapt on top of Sombra, smothering him with affectionate cuddles of family love… but mostly their own bodies.

“Okay, okay!” Sombra cried from under the mass of his family as his flailed his hooves ineffectually at the largest ‘celestial’ body on top of him. “I said I surrendered! Why, am I getting attacked if I already surrendered?!”

Sunrise grinned wickedly, “Use your magic on the spots behind his knees! He hates that!”

“Sunrise! No!” Sombra cried. “I already spent a good 20 minute being tortured by you this morning!”

“NO MERCY!” Celestia cried with a mad grin on her face.

“YEAH!” the children cried in agreement.

A desperate look quickly took root in Sombra’s eye’s growing into a massive tree. “Oh please, Luna save me.”

“Oh, but it is ever so much more fun to watch.”

The four ponies on the ground collectively paused and glanced over to notice golden metal ‘shoes’ that lead up to midnight blue legs. Attached to that was Princess Luna wearing a bright golden crown and matching neck regalia as she regarded the scene in front of her with a look of amusement.

Sombra looked up with a slightly embarrassed look at Princess Luna. “Please rescue me?” he pleaded. 

Celestia looked up with a devilish grin. “Or you can join the winning side and join the children in enjoying the spoils of our latest family conquest!”

Fear suddenly cascaded in Sombra’s eyes forcing his eyelids to open wide as it overflowed onto the rest of his face.

Luna let out a mirthful chuckle. “I am afraid I need my royal advisor as intact as possible if I expect him to help me run Equestria.”

Sunrise and Eventide let out disappointed “Awwwwwww”s as the fear quickly drained from Sombra’s features.

“Now fret not, children,” Luna said. “Come give your auntie a hug!”

Sunrise and Eventide quickly scampered off their father and practically threw themselves at Luna as she lowered her head and nuzzled each of them.

Smile still on her face, Celestia’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Traitor!” she said as she got onto her hooves and stood up.

Luna raised her head to look at her sister. “I beg your pardon, dear sister, but I owe your husband far too many favors to ever turn on him.”

Sombra rolled back onto his hooves and stood up. “Sorry honey, looks like your insidious plan to smother me with love has been foiled once again.”

Celestia thrust her muzzle into the air. “There’s always tomorrow!~” She sang out as she trotted back to her seat

Sombra sighed heavily and trudged back to the table. “Better enjoy my last breakfast, then.”

“Auntie Luna!” Sunrise said excitedly. “Did you bring any presents?!”

“Hey!” Eventide protested. “It’s momma’s birthday, not yours!”

Sunrise shot her sister a dirty look. “I can be excited by proxy!”

Luna chuckled once more and shook her head. “I’ll bring your mother her gifts at dinner time. Besides, I have already given your mother a gift by releasing your father from his duties for the day.”

Celestia rolled her eyes with a smirk as she floated a massive pile stack of pancakes onto her plate. “Yes, how generous of you.”

Sombra put on a faux hurt look as the rest of the group floated pancakes to their own plates. “Must you be sarcastic?”

Celestia shook her head as sounds of metal lightly hitting and scraping glass plates filled the room. “Oh, that wasn’t a dig at you, dear.” She turned back to her sister as Luna took a seat next to Sombra. “This gift is only because I agreed to meet some stuffy aristocrats later today.”

“Well,” Luna said in a remonstrating tone as she sat between Sombra and Eventide, “you may not have much in the way of official duties, but as a princess it’s good for you to make a few appearances every now and again.” With a dark glow of her horn, Luna poured herself a mug of coffee, brought it to her lips, and to a sip. “Besides, as it is your birthday I am certain they will shower you with exquisite gifts.”

A mischievous grin crossed Sunrise’s face as she rubbed her hooves together.

“My, my,” Celestia replied with a skyward glance, “expensive gifts. Oh however would I come across what I’m sure will be the veritable height of Equestria finery as a lowly Princess?” she said as her pupils completed a circuit around the edges of her eyes.

“But momma!” Eventide protested. “You should know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth!”

For a moment, the ‘tink’s of metal hitting plates ceased.

Sombra, Sunrise, and Celestia all gave out groans of protest as Luna favored her niece with a satisfied grin.

“Must you turn my own children against me?” Celestia said. “With puns no less…”

“Ha!” Sombra exclaimed as he pointed a forehoof at Celestia and used his magic to saw through a stack of pancakes with a knife. “That is basically double hypocrisy coming from you!”

“It’s my birthday,” Celestia insisted. “Double standards is one of the perks.”

 “Ugh…” Sombra replied. “Just wait until it’s my birthday.”

Luna took a small bite of pancake into her mouth and quickly followed that up by dabbing at the sides of her lips with a cloth napkin. “Come now sister, I am sure you will find the event much more entertaining than your protests warrant.”

Celestia chomped down on large bite of syrup soaked pancakes, chewed briefly, and then swallowed. “Oh yes, because if anyone knows fun, it’s my little sister.”

Luna give her sister a small smile. “I have found plenty of contentment in my days of running Equestria, thank you very much.”

“Hehe, sure… “Celestia replied. “Day after day of talking to stuffy old nobles and moving heavenly bodies around.” She smirked. “I can’t imagine how you fit any excitement into your life.”

An emerald beam of crackling energy zoomed past Luna as she flew about the stalactites of the cave ceiling.

‘ZorrrtPooochchw!’

Energy collided with stone, sending shower of rocks in all directions

“Hold still!” Chrysalis demanded as she let loose another barrage of green energy above her. The stalactites continually blocked her line of sight to Luna. She found herself bobbing her head all around as well as running amongst Starswirl the Bearded’s assorted artifacts just in attempt to keep the Princess of the Night in view.

‘ZorrrtPooochchw! ZorrrtPooochchw! ZorrrtPooochchw!’

The tapered rock formations cracked and fell about the subterranean study as Chrysalis’s deadly beams wreaked havoc on the cave’s ceiling. Luna lamented the damage that was no doubt being done to the artifacts below, however ‘preserving historical artifacts of one of Equestria’s greatest wizards’ was prioritized under ‘surviving’ and ‘making sure all of Equestria is not sucked dry of love by the Changeling Queen and her army.’

Chrysalis grit her teeth and paused momentarily, slowly moving her jagged horn to point in front of Luna as she continued to fly above her. She let loose a particularly large beam of sizzling energy.

‘ZZZZZORTBOOOOOOOM!’ 

“Ah!” cried Luna as one of the larger rock formation exploded in a fury of green energy and rocks in front of her. She tumbled downward towards the upper level of Starswirl’s book collection, a three story miniature library that lined one side of the cave. Luna tucked in her wings and legs before hitting the ground, allowing herself to roll amongst the large chunks of rocks before raising back to her hooves.

“Goodness, you are stalwart,” Chrysalis said. “Now be dear and sit tight for a moment,” she said as she took to the air with a buzzing of her gossamer wings.

Luna attempted to unfurl her wings once more but grimaced as she felt shooting sharp pain on her right wing. Smoldering blue feathers fell to the ground. Well buying time or wearing her out by forcing her to waste her energy missing me isn’t likely to work anymore… Luna’s horn began to glow a brilliant hue of midnight blue. Perhaps it’s time to go on the offensive.

‘PHOOOOM!’

Luna let loose a blast of energy which fizzled with an anti-climactic hiss as Chrysalis countered with a small blast of her own.  “Oh, too bad…” she said as she puffed out her lips into a fake pout. “Would you like to try again?”

‘PHOOOOM!’

‘Hiss’

“Nope, third time's the charm?” Chrysalis taunted as she continued her lazy flight across the cave.

Luna began to eye the books next to her, her eyes lingering for an extra moment on the larger ones as she continued to fire off blasts at the approaching Changeling Queen.

‘PHOOOOM!’

‘Hiss’

“Maybe a fourth?”

‘PHOOOOM!’

‘Hiss’

“I’m not sure this is your game…”

A complete guide to magical Equestrian jewels? Luna shook her head. Princess Twilight would never speak to me again.

‘PHOOOOM!’

‘Hiss’

“Oh… I might have felt that one! Try again.”

A complete guide to Equestrian pastries? SISTER would never speak to me again!

‘PHOOOOM!’

‘Hiss’

“Hey, you are getting better! I might have to start taking the serious in a moment…”

Luna’s eyes stopped on an absolute massive tomb of a book. The Wheel and the Butterfly Saga…?  What is this and how did Starswirl...  Luna heard the tap of thick carapace ‘hooves’ touch the stone in front of her.

“My turn already?” Chrysalis enquired.

‘PHOOOOM!’

‘Hiss’

“Tsk, tsk…” Chrysalis said. “Now you’re barely even—”

‘THUD!’

“OW!” Chrysalis cried as she was clocked in the head with a giant book quite unexpectedly. The book bounced off its target and twisted in the air, falling open Chrysalis’s face. “What is…” With a green glow, Chrysalis lifted the book away from her face far enough to read some of it. She pulled a face and magically ‘thumbed’ through a few more pages quickly. “Who even had this much time to write this drivel?” Chrysalis closed the book and floated it out of the way to stare at Luna. “If you were going to attack me with a book, the least you could have done was…” Chrysalis trailed off as her eyes drifted upwards, noticing the massive penny now suspended upright by a midnight blue glow in the air just a bit above and in front of her.

Luna gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep the massive metal item in the air. “Penny for your thoughts?!”

Chrysalis gave Luna a disgusted look. “I can’t believe you seriously just—”

‘SLAM!’

The penny fell downwards, quickly covering a green glow as it smashed into the ground. The loud sound of the crash flowed out in all directions, flooding the cave with it’s overwhelming volume. Books fell off the stone shelves and items collapsed to the floor as the entire cave shook from the massive impact. The stone floor cracked as the penny sank slightly into the solid rock, much of the floor crumbling into small chunks and pebbles.

Luna took a moment to catch her breath, her breathing heavy as she stared at cold metal item in front of her. I… I am victorious? I actually defeated that monster while she was power drunk on my sister’s love? The corners of Luna’s lips began to pull upwards. I almost cannot believe the Changeling Queen would be so foolish as to— Luna’s lips fell back into a choppy sea of concern and worry as she noticed the cave had suddenly gone from cool, to warm, and then blistering hot in a matter of moments. Waves of heat came off the penny as the item began to glow with a reddish hue. The center began to bubble as it turned liquid.

The sound of hooves clicking on the stone floor echoed as Luna took several steps back. The heat was beginning to become unbearable. Liquid copper oozed out of the cracks in the stone, quickly cooling and hardening as the center of the penny continued to liquefy. Luna watched as the fluid even began to dribble down from the top of the metal mass, a section in front of her suddenly sagging before giving way into  what seemed like a deluge of roasting hot molten metal. A large bubble of the stuff drifted forward from the penny. As the metal continued to drift downwards and cool, Luna noticed a green tint and could soon make out glowing emerald eyes with slits for irises over a demonic smile.

As the last bits of heated metal fell to the stone floor and hardened, Chrysalis dropped her spherical shield. “You didn’t really think it was going to be that easy, did you?” she asked as she cocked her head.

 “You know, for a second there…” Luna paused to take a deep breath, “I believe I did.”

Twilight and Cadence cringed as the sounds of violence from the cave deep below echoed back through stone hallways and up to Celestia’s bedroom.

Cadance shook her head as if to clear it and took another look at the catatonic alicorn in front of her. A shimmering translucent orb full of yellow particles still surrounded Celestia, the mass shifting ever so slightly with Celestia’s gentle breathing.

“Okay,” Twilight said as she stared at the orb with a calculating look on her face, “so you’re probably right in that I don’t have the magical energy to overwhelm Celestia’s shield on my own…”

Cadance sighed. Twilight was usually a bastion of level headedness and logical thinking, but the trace amounts of Heart’s Desire pollen in the air had turned the smaller alicorn Princess into a bit of an overly optimistic scatterbrain.

Twilight continued. “So! All we have to do is to simultaneously apply enough magic to take out Celestia’s protective shield and a little more to destroy the pollen before it spreads through the air. Piece of cake!”

Cadance gave Twilight a solemn look.  “Assuming neither of us overestimate the power needed and accidently blast auntie’s face off, or under estimate, scattering the pollen about and ending up in the same state as her after exposure, or Celestia’s subconscious responds by changing the barrier in any number of ways that also release the pollen into the air.”

Twilight frowned slightly. “Maybe I should do a few more mental calculations.”

Cadance shook her head. “No… I don’t think this will work. You’re being influenced by the pollen to the point where it’s affecting your judgement, and I don’t have the magical skill or raw power to do much on own.”

“We have to do something!” Twilight insisted. “Maybe we should help Luna!” she said with a smile. “Once we defeat Queen Chrysalis, we can solve the problem with the Heart’s Desire pollen at our leisure!”

Another explosion, much louder this time, echoed up in response.

Cadance sighed again. “Assuming Celestia remains in this state, I’m not sure if the three of us can beat Chrysalis with her feeding off Celestia’s love like this! As long as auntie is overflowing with love, Chrysalis might be near unstoppable!”

“Ugh…” Twilight groaned as she knocked on her head with a forehoof. “This is terrible, I can’t think straight at ALL! And every idea I seem to come up with seems like a good one no matter how many angles I try to look at it from.” Her eyes widened as realization hit her like a rainbow colored pegasus kicking a storm cloud. “This must be how Rainbow Dash feels all the time!”

Cadance allowed herself a small chuckle before another explosion from below brought her back to the life or death situation she was facing. She took another look at Celestia. “…Overflowing with love…” she murmured to herself. Her eyes widened. “I have an idea!”

Twilight shook her head as if coming out of a daze. “Was it for a magic powered barrier smasher with flame cannon attachment? Because I think I just figured out the schematics for one in my head.”

“Uh… No…” Cadance said. “Look, auntie’s love is palpable... as much for Chrysalis as it is to me. I should be able to use that to reach her somehow…” She frowned. “But there’s a catch. I’ll be in a state similar to Celestia’s while I attempt to contact her.” She turned towards Twilight, “You’ll have to keep both of us safe if Chrysalis… uh… gets away from Princess Luna and comes back up here to investigate.”

“Protect two catatonic ponies from a super-charged changeling queen while simultaneously making sure nopony comes in here and risks exposure to a massive dose of Heart’s Desire pollen?” Twilight smiled. “Piece of cake!” Twilight said in a chipper tone.

“… Was that sarcasm?” Cadance asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I honestly don’t think so…”

“Heh, alright,” Cadance said with a small smile. “I know you can do this, Twilight.”

“Heh, of course!” Twilight said. “Just another day of saving Equestria from complete destruction!”

“Right…” Cadance said as she turned to Celestia with a serious look on her face. “Just another boring day for Twilight Sparkle…” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Only focusing for a moment, she immediately felt as if she had just been dropped into an ocean of frigid water as Celestia’s love began to overwhelm her, almost drowning her even. Cadance kept her eyes closed shut as her breathing turned quick and shallow. She tried to calm herself. It’s alright… Breathe Cadance, breathe… You can do this… You HAVE to do this. Cadance began to slow her inhales and exhales and felt her heart’s beat slow down as she mentally stopped struggling in the vast sea of love.

Soon, everything seemed much warmer, and Cadance felt a sensation like slowly being lowered into warm, relaxing water. She let the feeling take her lower and lower, even covering her head. This time, her breathing remained calm, even as she felt herself sinking lower and lower and the world ‘above’ her grow more and more distant.

With on more gentle breath, Cadance sank low into that ocean of love and let the world around her slip away.