Celestia was happy once again. So so happy.
In her dreams, she was with her mother and father again. They were grown up and Solaris was teaching her how to properly wield the Sun while her sister learned how to wield the Moon and to dreamwalk. Celestia was always jealous that her sister got to dream walk while all she did was raise and lower the Sun, but it was a gift to do such things. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get through basic training for dreams.
Now, she was happy with her assignment.
Solaris stood by as Celestia raised the Sun for the first time. "Remember to breathe, Tia. You cannot hold in your breath, otherwise you'll pass out and the Sun will fall," her mother advised.
Celestia began to sweat. The Sun was a lot heavier than it looked. "Breathe Celestia. Don't focus on the screams and cheers of thousands of ponies, just focus on the task." Solaris' hoof made it under Celestia's chin and raised it up. "A little more. That's it."
The princess began to struggle. The Sun began to wobble in place and even began to lose altitude. Her magic began to fade as her hold on the Sun began to loosen. Finally, Celestia's magic gave out, and with it her control of the Sun.
For a moment, Celestia was filled with panic. The Sun was without somepony to wield it. She looked up into the sky to see the Sun firmly held high in the sky. She turned, expecting her mother to be wielding it, however her horn was not charged. "Good work Celestia. Technically that's a summer Sun since it's still close to the horizon. Be thankful it's the solstice today," she said.
Celestia sighed before plopping down on her rump. Her mother chuckled before sitting down next to her daughter. "What did you think?" she asked.
"It's-it's waaayyy too heavy mom," Celestia responded. Her breathing became labored as she found her gaze on the Sun. "You make it seem so easy."
Solaris chuckled. "Well, for one thing, we have a long way to go before you're ready to lower the Sun. It's not supposed to look easy at all, to be perfectly honest. Thankfully the population wasn't as grand when I first started. I accidentally created a desert just south of here because I sneezed on my first attempt," she said.
Celestia was dumbfounded. "You had trouble too?"
Solaris nodded. "I make it seem easy because I've had a lot of time to practice. Your father and I worked together to raise and lower our celestial bodies in the past. He spotted me as I spotted him. Together, we found a little trick in raising the Sun and Moon."
Solaris extended her wings as she began to hover slightly above the ground. "With the Sun or Moon in your grasp, use your body to hoist the celestial object. We represent the powers of unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies. Utilizing our combined magic will give us strength in our natural magical arsenals, and it makes the celestial body feel like its not as heavy," she advised. "Raising the head slightly with the celestial body in hold will do very little, unless you're trained. Since the summertime is upon us, it is good that the Sun is closer."
Celestia nodded in understanding. Solaris gently set her hooves on the ground and wrapped her daughter in a hug. "One day, my beautiful little Sunspot, you will carry on the legacy which is the Sun and Moon. You will continue where your father and I left off, and I guarantee you, the future will be bright for you and your sister."
The solar princess tightened the hug. "Take good care of Luna, Celestia. She needs you just as much as you need her," Solaris finished. "I love you both so much," she said.
Celestia began to feel tears rolling down her cheeks. In an instant, the warmth of her mother's body had vanished. Celestia opened her eyes to see the world around her, the castle, the rolling hills and the golden rays of the Sun vanish. Instead, she was somewhere else. For a second, she thought she was in the middle of the ocean. All around her was the endless abyss filled to the brim with bright clouds and what looked like stars.
She had heard of this place before. It was her happy place: the Nexus.
"S-sister?" a weak voice called out.
Celestia turned to see her younger sister, the always beaming Princess Luna with fear in her eyes. "How did you get here?" she asked as her curious eyes grew bigger.
"This place? It's my happy place," she responded. She looked around, sensing that they were the only two in there. "Is this your happy place too?"
The younger sister nodded. "I saw daddy here. He was showing me how to raise the Moon and control dreams." Luna giggled as a thought came to mind. "I guess I'm doing good since I'm here."
Celestia chuckled as she grabbed her sister and pulled her close for a hug. "Daddy said that I had to help you. Are we working together on something?" Luna asked.
Her older sister nodded. "We're the last ones, Luna. We gotta look out for each other," she said half-hearted. She had lost her parents, so now she had to protect Luna all by herself.
The younger sister began to tear up. "I'm gonna miss them," she whimpered.
Celestia tightened the hug. "Me too, little sis. Me too," she muttered.
The world around them began to rumble. Luna's tiny ears began to flicker, searching for the noise. "Somepony's moving us," she muttered.
Celestia began scanning the sky. The rumbling grew louder as somepony was fumbling with their unconscious bodies. They were asleep in the real world, and somepony had them. The elder alicorn smiled as she nuzzled her younger sister's head. "I think it's time to wake up, wouldn't you agree?" she asked her sister.
Luna nodded as the world around them grew brighter. They were bathed in a great light that separated the two of them from each other. Celestia's eyes burned as the light grew brighter and brighter before it finally began to fade.
Her eyesight had returned to her as she immediately recognized her own room. Her ceiling was decorated with the image of the Sun breaking over the horizon, lighting up the world in a magnificent array of orange, violet and yellow. Her bed, decorated with yellow sheets and a frame that resembled the Sun's shape, formed to hug her entire body.
Celestia did a quick scan of her room before resting her eyes on Applejack, who had Luna on her back and fast asleep. Applejack approached the bed and gently set the younger sister onto the covers. Once she was safe on the bed, the apple farmer looked up to discover the future princess of the Sun was staring at her. "Celestia? Y'all are awake already?" she asked.
The elder sister nodded, and as she did she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Before she could exclaim in pain, Applejack moved out of the way to reveal the Doctor standing behind her with his Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth. He came over and quickly scanned the Solar Princess before coming to a simple conclusion that her pain was the result of the magical overload earlier.
Upon returning to the TARDIS once Sea Crest had left, the Doctor discovered that the Alicornia Bible had more than just magic spells in it. Within the red leather book, there was also a short alicorn biology section which explained an alicorn's magical capabilities upon great moments of stress. While this reflex would be known to many as a 'Fight or Flight Response', Alicornia had another term for it: Magic Overload.
In the process of a Magic Overload, an alicorn's, or in some cases unicorn's, magical capabilities greatly exceed the normal capacity of the species in question. Magic Overload occurs when a spellcaster's magical Core, located at the base of the horn, begins to generate a greater surge of magical power. Once this process has started, however, the only way to revert back to normal magical energy levels is to fully expend the full amount of magic disposable at the given time, the book had briefly explained.
Celestia scanned the room. "Wh-where is Sea Crest?" she asked.
Applejack and the Doctor exchanged looks. "Um, Celestia, I'm afraid that Sea Crest had to leave for a period of time. It seems that some alicorns survived and are currently in hiding," the Doctor briefly explained. "He couldn't stay to see you wake up."
Luna, who had still been asleep, finally began to show signs of consciousness. Her eyes fluttered as she scanned the room she was in before meeting her sister's wide eyes and expanding smile. The two sisters hugged each other, elated to see each other alive and well.
After a while, the two sisters broke the hug and remembered what their victory cost them. "S-so mom and dad are really..." Luna began as tears began to form.
Applejack approached the younger sibling and began to wipe away her tears. "Don't cry there Sugarcube. Ah know what it feels like to not have 'em around, but don't ya worry," she began.
Luna's eyes began to produce more tears, and now Celestia was following suit. "We're the last ones, aren't we? Besides Sea Crest and a few others, we're the only ones left?" Celestia asked.
Applejack said nothing more as she grabbed the both of them and held them in a big hug. Her own eyes began leaking tears as she felt the two alicorns tremble. "Ah-ah know how y'all feel, but y-y'all ca-can't be..."
She couldn't finish her sentence. She watched Celestia and Luna lose their mother and father in a merciless attack that had nothing to do with them. About 10 years prior in Applejack's timeline, she had lost her mother and father in a similar scenario. As each year went by, Applejack kept trying to remain strong for her family.
Now, she was grieving along with the two alicorns.
The Doctor couldn't say much of anything here. Sure he had lost some of his family along the past 900 years he had been traveling through time, yet in all that time, he somehow became immune to the loss. At some point, he realized that his exploits were the product of every scenario where he had lost loved ones.
After a few moments of hugging, Applejack broke away from the two fillies. "Ah wanna tell y'all somethin', alright? Mah Granny Smith always told me that mah Ma and Pa are always lookin' out fer me and mah brother an sister. Ah want y'all to know that yer Ma and Pa are watchin' over ya and will always be there for ya," Applejack told them. "They love y'all so much. Ah know they ain't leaving all alone in the world."
The Doctor coughed. "Yes, well now that the world is safe, there is the matter of the disappearance of the alicorn and the Draconiqui. I am afraid that, as of this moment, the Alicorn Empire has fallen," he said.
The two sisters gave each other uneasy looks. "...but we're the princesses. We can rule," Celestia suggested.
"And risk the changelings coming back?" the Doctor asked.
Luna rolled her eyes. "For what they have done to our parents, the changeling king must answer for his crimes. Justice will be dealt to him and his armies," she said.
The Doctor sighed. "I cannot allow justice be delivered if it's just revenge for good intentions. The changelings, however guilty they are of assisting in the destruction of the empire, are living beings too with husbands and wives. They have lives outside the military that are just as important. We cannot have either of you declaring war," he argued. "Some changelings have already died in this castle because of the Magic Overload."
Celestia stomped the bed in an act to show strength. It did nothing but look cute. "We cannot allow those responsible for our parent's...passing to get away like this! This is war!"
The Doctor reached forward and grasped Celestia's head with his hooves. "Princess Celestia, listen to me. Acting on revenge will not bring them back, no matter what happens. If you followed through with what you are planning, you are no better than those changelings in the first place." He shut his eyes to keep himself from revealing Silverstar's fate. "It's not the right answer."
Celestia was now shedding tears of anger and sadness. "They've taken everything, dear Doctor. Please," she sobbed. "They are monsters, Doctor! Greedy monsters who will stop at nothing until they get what they want! For our parents! For the alicorns that tried to stop them! For everypony!"
Luna, who had remained quiet for the past moment, hugged her bigger sister. "Tia, please stop," she pleaded.
The tears continued to flow down Celestia's face. Both of the Doctor's hearts began to beat rapidly as he made a decision. "Celestia, please forgive me," he muttered.
Before she could say anything, the Doctor placed his forehead upon Celestia's. The elder alicorn gasped as her mind opened up and began draining her memories thanks to the Time Lord. Inside her mind, everything was going.
The earliest memories of Celestia's life began to erode. From being an only filly until young Solaris came to her bedroom one morning to announce she was going to be an older sister. The 9 months it took for Celestia to see her newborn baby sister, a mare called Luna for the moon. The memory of getting their first foalsitter, a white coated stallion named Silverstar.
His first day foalsitting was when Celestia learned of the war. Silverstar was a private in the Alicorn Army, but he wished to focus his time on caring for the young fillies when Cosmos was in war meetings and Solaris attending court. While she was the older sister, Silverstar was her older brother. He was her knight in shining armor.
Then came the first assassination attempt against Cosmos. Solaris had hidden the young fillies away before disappearing for a few hours. Each hour was Celestia's worst nightmare as she continued to fear for her parents.
Finally, the day Silverstar stopped being the older brother. Celestia knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what had happened. Silverstar's family and an entire village of innocent ponies had been destroyed by Draconiqui. Silverstar had left to help the survivors, however once he returned, he was darker. He was sad.
She didn't know it, but that was the day Silverstar took his first life.
The day came when he disappeared and never came back. The next day, she got two new foalsitters: the Doctor and Applejack. All the moments from then to that very moment when she pleaded for justice disappeared, and the last two faces that vanished were the faces of Queen Solaris and King Cosmos.
The memory wipe was complete as Celestia slumped onto the bed. In her state, many would think she was asleep, especially from far away. The Doctor immediately felt regret as Luna cried out in fear. Applejack turned to the Time Lord in horror and confusion.
Luna tried waking her up by shaking her elder sister, however she was unsuccessful. She turned to the stallion responsible and pounced at him with her horn charged. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" she shouted.
The Doctor dodged as Luna fired a magic shot. "Take it easy, Luna," he pleaded.
"WHAT HAST THOU DONE TO THY SISTER?!" she boomed in a language that was eons ahead of her.
The Doctor was quick to force his hooves on Luna's mouth, stopping any future outburst from the young filly. "Celestia is alright, Luna. She's only in a post-memorial trance. She's currently rewriting her brain to process the sudden lack of a long-term memory," the Doctor said. "I've erased her memory of ever being involved in the war with the Draconiqui and the changelings."
Luna moved away from the Doctor. "Wh-why would you do that? Did you make her forget everything?" she asked.
The Time Lord nodded. "For her protection, when she wakes up, she'll have no memory of anything that has happened in her life up until this exact moment. No alicorns, no changelings attacking, no us and even..."
"No parents?" Applejack finished.
Luna was horrified. "Bu-but wh-"
"So when the time comes, and it is your turn to rule, the pain and hatred from this day will not be felt. You and Celestia are destined to rule the world with grace and wisdom. Ponies will be looking up to you for guidance and peace. This world will know harmony from centuries of war and chaos," the Doctor said. "You will lead by example, and taking revenge or bottling up feelings of anger is not a way to rule."
Luna looked back on her sister, who had now taken a fetal position in her bed. She was drooling now but she was at peace. The lunar princess looked back at the Time Lord and sighed. "S-so we won't remember?" she asked. "A-anything?"
The Doctor nodded. Luna's heart raced before coming to a decision. "Okay, I understand. Will you do the same with me?" Luna asked.
Applejack eyed the Time Lord, who had nodded. "For your safety Luna. I hope you can forgive me," he said.
"I already do, Doctor," Luna said.
The Doctor sighed as he pressed his head onto Luna's forehead, and every memory she had began to turn to dust. The moment when she first learned how to perform a spell vanished as memories with her elder sister continued to flood her mind.
They were alone in the castle when Luna first learned teleportation. Celestia was watching her so she wouldn't get in trouble by the palace guards. Luna had fired the spell, but it had done nothing except give her a burn on her flank. It didn't hurt or anything, but she was scarred for life because of a simple miscalculation.
When Luna mastered teleportation, she secretly learned a shadow spell, which made her disappear into the night or in any shade. She always won at hide-and-seek when she was seeking. While hiding, however, Celestia had a way of finding her.
Memories of her parents and foalsitters faded into nothing, leaving the two sisters alone in the castle with royal guards to protect them from the outside world. Eventually they had all left for unexplained reasons, leaving the two sisters to fend for themselves. The last memory that had faded, however, was that of her mother and father's faces. For a moment, they smiled upon her, assuring her everything was going to be alright.
The memory wipe was complete. Luna's eyes rolled up the back of her head as she fell backward, landing on the plush bed next to her sister. The Doctor's two hearts began to race with the knowledge of what he had done. Applejack took a deep breath and approached the Time Lord. "Do-Doctor? W-why would ya do that to 'em like that?" she asked. "Ah wouldn't wanna ferget mah parents like that."
The Doctor turned to his companion with sad eyes. "Sometimes its better to forget the pain than remember it. I couldn't forget the end of the Time War, no matter how much I tried. They have it easy, especially with what they've seen," he said.
Applejack walked toward the bed and adjusted the two sisters so they were asleep next to each other. She drew a blanket over them and kissed each of them softly on their heads. She turned to the Time Lord, who was smiling at her. "You have the instincts of a mother," he said.
The apple farmer blushed as she looked down on the floor. "When mah parents passed, ah was worried about mah sister Applebloom. Granny Smith was werking overtime helping the farm with Big Mac, so ah was there helpin' Applebloom. Ah wanted what was best fer her an' all," she said. She stole a glance at the two sisters and gave a sad smile. "It's what a big sister is fer."
The Doctor nodded. He understood the importance of family, and with his family regenerating early in his life, he was on his own. No one stopped him from causing mischief with his old friend, now known as the Master. No one stopped him from stealing the TARDIS with his granddaughter. He smiled as he remembered it all.
The Time Lord looked out toward the Sun, which was setting on its own. The celestial bodies must've realized that their controllers were missing and decided to work themselves. The Doctor knew that soon, ponies would realize what had happened and chart a course that would lead to the Eternal Blizzard and finally, the return of the alicorns. The Doctor led Applejack out of the room, and before he switched off the light in the room, the Doctor sighed.
"Goodnight young ones. See you in 400 years," he muttered. He switched the light off and left.
Applejack sat in the corner of the Console Room back inside the TARDIS.
Ever since she first met Twilight, there was a sense that something incredible would happen and it did. They had banded together to defeat Nightmare Moon, stopped Discord in his tracks, reform Rarity from her Nightmare state and even traveled to an alternate dimension. All of those adventures and so many more, and Applejack never expected this: time traveling to the distant past, watched the fall of three empires and the hibernation of the two alicorns she knew in the future.
It's definitely something she wasn't expecting.
The doors of the TARDIS squeaked open before sealing themselves. "So, the walls of the throne room have been scrubbed clean off, the Hall of Statues are back in order and the changeling sentry points on the pillars of the castle have been scrubbed clean off! I'd say this was definitely something I wasn't expecting: watching the end of the Alicorn Empire," the Doctor said as he approached the console.
The Doctor stopped to see Applejack staring off into space. The Doctor flipped a switch before approaching his companion and sat next to her. "A bit for your thoughts?" he asked.
Applejack chuckled. "Sorry, ah'm just not used to this, is all," she said.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting you to be comfortable the first time around. Everypony that has ever trotted through those doors never experienced anything like this before in their lives. The TARDIS, time travel even, is a learning experience," he said. "It's a chance to learn outside history books and urban legends. It's a chance to watch history play out in front of you."
"But we ain't been watchin', we've been playin'!" Applejack said.
The Doctor nodded. "You never know what will happen. There are points in time, fixed points where an event must happen. Your friend creating the Rainboom is a fixed point in time, and I understand that somepony did something to that a while ago?" he asked.
Applejack nodded. "Well, fixed points can be altered, but there are consequences to altering those fixed points. If Cosmos and Solaris had not gone to the Draconiqui and died, where would Equestria be in your future?" the Doctor asked.
"Uhh, ah don't..."
"Equestria would still be called Alicornia and the new monarch would solely be Celestia and whoever she would marry. Luna would be a Mare of the Heavens and alicorns would still be the dominate race in Equestria. Celestia and Luna being left alone set forth a chain reaction, and somewhere deep in their mind, they know that their duty is to the ponies they love and care about," he said. "That would not have happened if we never came here."
Applejack thought for a moment before nodding. The Doctor smiled. "I can take you home if you want to. This was a new experience and I won't be surprised if-"
"Ah wanna stay," Applejack said.
The Doctor smiled and sighed. "I had the whole speech planned out and anything. Okay then, off we pop then?"
The apple farmer nodded and they both raced to the console. "Alright then, where to next?" the Doctor wondered.
He pressed buttons and threw switches, starting the TARDIS's engines. The magic machine whirled to life as the little blue box started to fade from the castle. The last words that ran through the castle hallways were the Doctor's own "ALLONS-Y!"
The TARDIS was there one moment and gone in the second.