Legacy of the Sun

by Alexstrazsa

3 - Luna

Chapter 3: Luna
Age: 500

Celestia paced around her room, looking down at the floor and lost in thought. Her pink mane flowed lightly behind her, floating lightly in the air. It was a change her parents were planning on, and they were enthralled to see it finally affecting her. Due to the latent magical power that alicorns’ possessed, it tended to spillover into their manes and give it a distinctive flowing property. This motion only grew more intense as the alicorn aged, and increased in magical expertise. While Celestia’s hair only gently moved as if it were laying in a small, trickling stream, Sonance and Rhapsody’s hair flowed freely like a river.

The nature of her hair was the least of her worries right now, though, as the sun princess walked back and forth, awaiting news from her father. She had been tarrying about for six hours now, and was beginning to get worried. Did it take this long when she was born? Was Rhapsody okay? What would her sister look like? All these questions ran through her mind as she idly walked around. As if fate itself was siding with her, she heard a solid knock at her door that pulled her from her thoughts. Celestia quickly opened the door to find Sonance standing there, smiling.

“Come with me, Celestia.”

She silently followed him, walking down a hallway and ascending up the large flight of stairs to the top of the tower. Looking out the window, she could see the thick forest that lay beyond the castle, with it’s trees and gnarled roots leading into darkness. In the recent years, it had sprung to life and rapidly grew - although Rhapsody and Sonance didn’t quite know why. They had searched the nearby forest on several occasions, but never found anything of peculiar interest. For now, it was a mystery left unsolved.

After a fairly short walk, the two were in the top chamber, where Rhapsody laid in bed. The signs of a struggle were evident on the mattress, where the sheets were ruffled. The smell of sweat was in the air, and Rhapsody looked as though she’d seen better days. Her mane was disheveled and weak looking, it’s luminous strands hanging limply in areas. Despite how she looked, though, there was a still a smile drawn across her face. In front of her laid a bundle of cloth, wrapped together. She held it within her forelegs, occasionally looking down at it. As Celestia approached her, she noticed that the bundle contained a tiny foal with a deep, blueish grey coat. Her mane was a light blue, which fell in such a way that it covered one of her teal eyes. For now, the foal was awake, her eyes curiously jumping from one thing in the room to the next.

“Celestia... meet your sister, Luna.” Rhapsody said.

The sun princess looked at her new sibling, with mixed feelings brewing inside of her. She enjoyed the fact that she now had a new sibling, but at the same time, wondered how it would affect her future as princess. Would Luna take over for her? Would she move on to a different country? Would they rule over Equestria as their mother and father did?

“I’m... still going to be princess, right?” Celestia asked, looking up at Rhapsody.

Both her mother and father chuckled at the question.

“Of course you will, dear.” Sonance said, running a hoof through Celestia’s mane. “You and Luna will simply rule together.”

“Like you and mom?”

“Exactly like us.” Rhapsody said, before giving Sonance a warm look. “Oh, and look...” She took some of the cloth away from Luna’s flank, revealing that she, too, had been born with her cutie mark. It depicted a bright white half moon on a dark patch of her fur.

Celestia look at the crescent moon, then looked back at her flank. “Oh, I get it. She’ll raise the moon.”

“Absolutely.” Sonance replied.

She brushed some loose strands of her light pink mane out of her hair before getting closer to Luna and giving her sister a good look. The little foal stretched out her foreleg, and lightly tapped Celestia on the nose, causing the sun princess to scrunch up her snout and back away suddenly. Luna giggled and pulled her hoof back, quickly losing her infantile train of thought. After Celestia fully comprehended what just happened, she couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“I like her.” she said, smiling at Luna.

“That’s excellent to hear.” Rhapsody replied, gently rocking the foal in her arms.

Sonance wrapped a hoof around Celestia and brought her closer to him, then softly touched small Luna’s cheek. “We have two beautiful daughters, and we couldn’t be any more proud.”

“Thanks, dad.” Celestia affectionately rubbed her head against Sonance’s leg.

“And we love you both, so much.” Rhapsody added, kissing Luna on the forehead.

Sonance approached Rhapsody and gave her a deep kiss. The two of them stood locked in the embrace for a moment, before Sonance parted. “I love you, dear.”

“I love you too, my dusky prince.”

The onyx alicorn looked down to Celestia. “Your mother is no doubt very tired. Shall we go prepare dinner?”

At the mentioning of food, Celestia realized just how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten in hours, and the anticipation for her sister had only made her hungrier. The faint gurgling in her stomach, heard even by Sonance, gave the ebony alicorn his answer. “Oh, yeah. I’m really hungry.”

“Come then. We’ll find something to make.” he looked back to Rhapsody. “Take care, dear.” Rhapsody silently nodded, then looked back down at Luna. Sonance leaned down and lightly kissed Luna on he forehead, then headed towards the exit, Celestia walking next to him, her pastel mane having the slightest wave to it. Today had been a long day for Sonance, and he was looking forward to a filling meal and his first daughter’s company. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Celestia, taking in just how fast his daughter was growing. She was taller now, and her head was up to his chest armor. Even as a young alicorn, she was the height of a full grown mare, and her magic ability was awakening every day, reflected both in her mane’s color, size, and movements. “Everything is coming together now. They are two sisters, both having the power to rule over Equestria. I can only hope they take care of each other.”

Time was fading for Sonance, as he could feel the universe beginning to grasp him. It wouldn’t be long now - one hundred years at the most. After that, all he would be able to do was silently watch his daughters from the stars, and pray that they lived out their lives. He would have to leave them soon, and the grim reality of the situation was quickly catching up with him.