Remembering to See

by IsabellaAmoreSirenix

Seeing Light at Midnight

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Canterlot, balls of fire sprayed into the air like deadly fireworks, illuminating the aftermath of a spectacle none of the survivors had wished to see. Nobles had been driven out of their luxurious homes only to languish on the frozen, unforgiving barrenness of earth that was their resting place. Unicorns had tried to erect magical shields only to be short-circuited by the enchanted fire, while pegasi had failed to bring a wall of storm clouds to surface level before being shot out of the sky. So finally, as a last resort, all three pony tribes were forced to stay huddled together in groups by earth pony fires, while they watched as far less benevolent ones rained from the turbulent skies.

But now, the bonfires had burned low, and weariness sagged from their eyes. One by one, the ponies inevitably drifted off to sleep, only to recalled from their nightmarish hell by a friend. By that point in the night, almost everyone had succumbed to sleep, and the terrified screams of waking had slowly died off to be replaced by a gentle sobbing and melancholic silence. From those who had not yet fallen, a quiet murmuring pervaded the shoddy encampment, only to all of a sudden be broken by a furious yell.

"What in the stars’ name do you think you're doing, Iron?!" The thundering ire of Shining Starlight blared across the field with an authority that rivaled the Royal Canterlot Voice itself. Then, like the raging storm she was, a bolt of purple lightning streaked through the now silent crowds with impossible speed to intercept Iron Strike at the gate.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he demanded, regarding her with none of his previous decorum and respect. "I'm going to reenter Canterlot."

“You can’t do that,” she told him sternly, like a governess reprimanding a child. “You know you can’t do it, and why you would ever want to do that is—“

“I know perfectly well what I’m doing. I’m going to open the doors as wide as they can go and then walk on in to save the princess like it’s a Sunday afternoon stroll.”

"That’s insane," she whispered before reverting back to screaming. "You're insane! Do you want us to get hit by the fire? Do you want to die?!

In terror, Shining grabbed his foreleg with her magic. Iron looked down for a moment in mild surprise, only to gently shake himself free. "Don't you understand?" he beseeched her quietly. "It's the only thing I can do."

"There's no need to be impulsive," she tried to rationalize, all the while growing more and more desperate. "You've just woken up from a nightmare. I understand your fear, but there's nothing to be afraid of. Please, stay here, until it's safe."

"But it will never be safe, not until we do something to make it safe. Hiding in the shadow of Canterlot’s outer wall isn’t going save us. Hiding from anything won’t save us. I only regret that it took a dark enchantment to make me realize it."

By now, all eyes in the encampment were trained on them, but she paid them no mind. "You’re not making any sense! You can’t desert us, not now!”

“On the contrary, I find it quite easy,” Iron snapped. “I’m done being your partner, your mascot, your puppet, whatever I am to you. For the first time in what feels like forever, I’ll be doing something without you. Nopony needs to follow me in. Nopony else needs to get hurt. There was a reason why I joined your cause, and that same reason is why I’m leaving it.”

Shining looked like she had been struck. “Then leave,” she ordered, her anger just enough to keep her voice from shaking. “Leave, and never come out! I hope you die in that Faust-forsaken city!”

Iron only looked on as she stomped her hooves on the ground. “You’re being a little emotional in public, aren’t you, Starlight?” he mocked while angry tears behind her mane were shielded from his gaze. “Stop throwing a temper tantrum; it’s unbecoming. Or are you just upset because you’ve lost a toy from your control?” Then in a lower voice that nopony else could hear, he added pointedly, “There, is that enough now? Are you angry enough to let me go?”

“Of course! Didn’t you hear what I just said?” she demanded through clenched teeth.

“Reverse psychology doesn’t count, Shining.”

A pause. Then: “You want to save her, don’t you?”

“I’ll say any lie you want to believe if it means you won’t stop me.”

In a shameful sign of weakness to her, she lifted gaze so Iron could see the tears weighing pregnant on her lower eyelids. “Why?” she asked forlornly, her voice trembling. “This isn’t courage; it’s recklessness. Why do you insist on dying anyway? You hate her for what her sister did to your daughter, so why are you choosing her now? Why… why do you want to leave your friend?”

Iron scoffed at the pathetic excuse of a lie for the relationship they had. A gasp tore from Shining’s throat as he kicked open the gates of Canterlot and turned back to look at her for the very last time.

“Because you don’t know what my worst nightmare is.”

---

“I swear… I’m going to sue this… blasted architect… once this… is over.”

“I think you’d have a hard time filing a lawsuit in Purgatory, especially if you’re demanding capital punishment,” Harvest replied, watching Sunshine curse between tired pants as she trailed behind. “And what would the crime even be?”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to be in Purgatory before we get to the top, so it’s murder by exhaustion, that’s what it is. Who even builds a staircase this high?”

“Perhaps somepony who wished to keep the princess safe,” Harvest answered quietly. “Personally, I’m fine with it.”

Sunshine made a tiny retching noise under her breath. “Yes, you would be fine with it,” she scorned in a quiet voice she thought he couldn’t hear. “You know, you’re not obligated to be alright with everything in the world. Maybe for once you could complain about a tall staircase, complain about something, instead of just nodding your head and pretending your life’s perfect and turning a blind eye to the things that bother you.”

That stung. Harvest wanted to defend himself, but instead he reasoned, It’s fine, she’s just tired from walking, that’s all. There’s no need to pay attention.

Then he sighed. Lying had never been his strong suit, even though he did it every day.

“I still don’t see how teleporting is supposed to cause a ‘magical disruption,’” Sunshine said louder for Starswirl to hear. “I think Celestia has bigger things to worry about up there than noticing three ponies sneaking up behind her.” When Starswirl didn’t react, she just shook her head. “When this is all over, I can’t wait to tell Celestia about this staircase she’s hopefully never had to endure walking up. I mean, I’ve been counting for a while, and does she realize she has 538 steps for a staircase she just teleports—?“

Stopping dead, Starswirl whirled around. “Say that again,” he ordered.

“Err… Does the princess realize she has 538 steps—“

“That’s impossible,” he interrupted curtly.

“You could let somepony finish a sentence once in a while,” she grumbled.

“There are approximately 240 steps in the Main Solar Spiral, no more and no less. We can’t have been walking that much, unless…”

Leaving Sunshine and Harvest standing utterly clueless, the Grand Mage began scrutinizing the steps, the walls, and the ceiling, until he pointed to a spot just to the side of a chandelier.

“There it is,” he said. “A rune stone is suspended there. And it seems…” He pressed a hoof to the wall, causing it to ripple ever so slightly, “…to be creating an illusion. It’s keeping us looped in space.”

Sunshine literally had to shove her dislocated jaw back in place. “Are you kidding me?!” she screeched. “All this time we thought we were making progress, and we’ve been wasting time walking in circles? How do you know notice something like that? I thought you deactivated all the Princess’ spells!”

“I was… preoccupied,” he admitted quietly, distantly. “That’s all. And this is Celestia’s doing. She has enough raw power to make an illusion ten times as strong. No, rune stones are only used by non-unicorns and very weak magic users.”

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Starswirl added at Sunshine’s grimace. “The spell is weak; it’s designed only to slow us down. We have been making progress, just very gradually, like taking two steps forward and one step back. In fact,” he said, craning his head to see up the spiral, “we’re right by Princess Celestia’s lower chambers. We’re almost at the top.”

“But what if the rune stone does not let us get to the top?” Apple Harvest asked. “Can you disable it?”

“Certainly. It will take some time to unlock and negate it, but once I get it down, I can.” Then turning away, he added, “Oh, and you two just stand there while I handle this.”

That was the last straw for Sunshine. “No,” she retorted, her eyes shrinking into icy slits. “I’m tired, and I’m going to sit down in Celestia’s chambers. Now excuse me, or I’m going to bowl you over, status be damned.”

Not even giving Starswirl a second to protest, she flounced past him, with her curls bouncing as she held her head high like a queen.

Unthinkingly, Harvest already began to follow her, only to be blocked by his unicorn superior. “Where do you think you’re going? I gave you an order, didn’t I? Let her go; she’s just a nuisance.”

Harvest looked up at Sunshine, biting her lip to hold back tears as she looked down with her hooves facing the door. Then, turning back to Starswirl, he blurted out without even thinking, “Oh, leave her alone, ya bleedin’ vermin. If that’s what you think of everypony who wants to help you, then I’ll leave you alone. That’s want you want from everypony, isn’t it?”

Sunshine had already gone in, but Harvest didn’t care as he stormed past the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, gave him one last disgusted glare, and then slammed the door shut, the force vibrating in his bones.

Once the slight ringing in his ears faded, he pressed his back to the wall and slid to the floor. I just insulted the Grand Mage of Equestria, he thought, horrified, staring listlessly with dilated eyes into the darkened room. Oh Faust, after all I worked for, I’m not going to last a minute once Princess Celestia finds out. She’ll fire me, imprison me, because I blew it, I blew it!

No sooner had he predicted his grim future that one by one, the lightning bug-powered lamps flickered on to reveal a strikingly diminutive-looking Sunshine, her head tilted to the side as she examined him with wide, beautiful, searching eyes.

“Are you alright?” she asked, her voice in a whisper but not afraid.

“Me? Oh, yes, I’m fine,” he said, picking himself off the floor with what little composure and dignity he could manage as he pushed those ominous thoughts out of his mind. “Just exhausted from walking so much.”

The mare nodded once before letting her eyes roam aimlessly around what could now be seen as Celestia’s bathroom before settling back on him. “Would you like to sit down?” she asked, awkwardly tapping a space next to her on the bathtub ledge.

“That’d be nice.” He walked over to her, all the while all too acutely aware of the silence echoing after every hoofstep. His eyes darted to the narrow ledge, with alarmingly few inches to separate them. Chickening out, he asked, “Err… you’re probably dehydrated, aren’t you? Do you want some water?”

She nodded once. “Sure,” was the distant reply, her eyes unfocused on the gleaming white tiles beneath her.

For a moment, the only sound was of Apple Harvest rummaging through the cabinets until he emerged triumphant with two clean washing basins. “I couldn’t find any glasses,” he apologized, “but I think these will work too. Here you go.” He held out a basin while giving her a shy, humble little smile.

Sunshine couldn’t help but feel that same smile tug at her own lips. Amazing it was, how much the littlest things counted during times like this. “Thank you,” she said. She turned on the faucet, held the basin underneath, and watched the water stream like tears into the bottom of the bowl. She swung her legs back and forth a bit, trying to work off some nervous energy, but eventually a sigh issued from her lips.

“Look, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to,” he started as he fixated his gaze on a candle placed conveniently across the room from Sunshine’s face, “but I hear that talking about problems helps, and you’ve hardly said ten words in the last five minutes, so I assume it’s something really big that’s on your mind.”

“It’s nothing really big… which I guess is exactly the point,” Sunshine admitted, still keeping her eyes determinedly on the rising water. “I just can’t help but keep thinking about how much bigger this situation is than me. I don’t even know why I’m here. At first I thought I could help, but I can’t attack her with bags of bits and pretty gems. And I don’t have your strength or Starswirl’s magic, so I’m just dead weight. I mean, I had to lie just to have him even consider taking me, and then it was only because you were going that he agreed. What is that supposed to say about me? Why am I even up here?”

“Simple,” Harvest answered kindly. “You’re her friend, and you want to save her.”

“Yeah, some friend I was,” she scoffed, turning to face him with loose strands of hair obscuring her eyes. “You know, I used to think I was on top of the world. I thought that I had made it in Everfree, that I could go nowhere but up, and that I could manipulate anypony into doing what I wanted because I knew the rules of the game. I even taught the princess the same twisted rules I learned and thought were true, and I actually believed I was doing her a favor!

“But then I realized that life isn’t a game. The night of the Lunar Rebellion, when I was fleeing with the other citizens, was the first time I had ever seen somepony get mortally injured. And it wasn’t just one: they all kept dropping, one after another like raindrops. It was so orderly, like two ponies would come forward, cut off the other’s head, and just be replaced by two more in the blink of an eye. I was certain that there were no other ponies alive after that. And… I could have been one of them. I could have been dead, and I wasn’t. That didn’t take hard work or talent; it was just dumb luck. I was alive, and I had no reason to be.

“That was when I realized how precious life is, and how powerless I am. I just watched all those ponies die, and I couldn’t do anything. And here I am alive, and… I’m blowing it.”

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes before continuing. “I don’t deserve to be this fortunate,” she confessed, the words tumbling out like a waterfall. “Here I am with everything I’ve ever wanted, but when somepony else has nothing, I can’t do anything about it. I can’t tell you how much I wish I could take away Celestia’s pain. I wish I could comfort her with the perfect words, bring Princess Luna back from the moon, or just stay by her side for the eternity she will live. I wish I could take on her suffering, let the greedy and prideful me get what I deserve while sparing her kind heart, but I can’t, and it’s not fair. Anything else I could do would be inadequate, like a drop of water trying to quench a forest fire. I can’t fix her problems, I can’t even relate to them, so what am I supposed to— oh!”

Sunshine pulled the basin away from the faucet as water began running over onto her hoof. Alarmed, she clumsily tilted it back and forth like it was burning on her hooves as she tried and failed to keep the water from sloshing all over the place.

“Here, let me help you,” said Harvest, placing a calming hoof on her shoulder just long enough for her to stay still. Then he quickly put his basin under hers and let the excess water trickle into his. Once it was no longer overflowing, he tipped a little more water into his bowl until hers was at a stable level that wouldn’t spill.

“See?” he asked, showing her the layer of water covering the bottom of his. “It may only be a few drops, but it kept you from overflowing.”

That was her epiphany. Sunshine looked up at Harvest with her eyes wide in understanding, as he perfectly iterated her thoughts.

“Pain is still pain, no matter what form it comes in,” he whispered, leaning down close until his breath tingled on the nape of her neck. “If you have room in your heart, you can take on some of the burden of others. Even if you can’t empathize with it, you can sympathize, no matter how great the pain. And… perhaps the last thing she needs is for you to make it a big deal. Maybe she just needs a break, a chance to let her feelings out or just push them aside for awhile, and you can be that release for her. And yes, there’s a lot of things you can’t do, but the last thing she needs is isolation.”

She blinked once, then twice, then three times, and even when he brushed the strands of her mane from her eyes and pulled away, the gears in her head were still whirling, until she finally met his gaze with the wondrous look of somepony seeing the sun for the first time.

“Thank thee,” she said quietly.

“It was nothing—“ he started to say before Sunshine roughly grabbed him by the foreleg.

“It was something,” she insisted, her gaze burning intensely. “Now say ‘you’re welcome.’”

Harvest smirked. “Thou are welcome. Now drink.”

“I can’t,” she told him with a sad little smile, her fluttering eyes not looking up from the steady ripples in the water. “There’s too much salt.”

Wordlessly, without any hesitation, he offered up his bowl, which Sunshine took gladly. She gave him a shy smile before taking a long, loud, unrefined slurp of water, much to Harvest’s surprise.

“What?” she demanded at the sight of his affronted stare. “We’re in private now, after all. I doubt the chamber pot will be offended by my horrid mannerisms. Besides, thou do it too, I’m certain. Oh, and by the way,” she added conspiratorially, her half-lidded eyes flaring suggestively, “as much as others would like to think differently, my standards aren’t too far above a chamber pot’s either. I could hear what you said to Starswirl. And while it is awfully nice that you try to make everypony happy, I’d personally like to hear you say things like ‘bleedin’ vermin’ more often; the stars know some nobles could benefit.” Then dropping to a more serious tone, “I’d like to see that part of thee, and if you think Celestia or I mind that part of thee, then thou are very much mistaken.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a polite smile.

“I’m serious about this,” she reprimanded. “I know you’re grateful and all that, but being content and happy aren’t the same thing. You shouldn’t… feel ashamed, or afraid, or however you’re justifying quietly staying in the background to not upset anypony. You don’t deserve that. You deserve to be just as happy as anypony else.”

Harvest was about to reply when the two of them froze at the sound of hoofsteps clunking up the stairs.

“That’s not Starswirl,” he breathed, his ears perked up to catch every creak of the floorboards.

“Is it an intruder?” Sunshine whispered. “Or perhaps the ponies outside have all turned into zombies and are bringing about the apocalypse.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he answered in a voice that didn’t carry quite the same confidence of his words. “But… I wouldn’t rule out that first option,” he added hesitantly.

Wrapping his tail around a clay jug, Harvest inched towards the door with Sunshine following close behind and brandishing a curtain rod. She curiously looked up at his calm, stoic eyes trained on the door until it broke when, with a loud battle cry she didn’t know he had, he kicked down the door and began mercilessly assaulting the intruder.

“Ah! Get off me, get off I said!” the figure cried out. “For the love of Elysium, I ain’t doin’ anything to you!”

“As if! I know who you are! You’re Iron Strike, the pony who’s leading a rebellion against the princess! I won’t let you get anywhere near her!”

Sunshine allowed herself a small smile. That’s the Harvest I know.

“What in the stars’ name is going on down here?” barked Starswirl, trotting down the staircase to join the group.

“We have an intruder!” Harvest called out.

“You don’t, you don’t! Just stop it, stop!”

Despite the stallion’s protests, it was Sunshine who made Harvest stop as she looked up and cried, “Philomena!”

All three looked up at the sight of that majestic bird swooping down from on high to settle comfortably on Iron’s shoulder.

“See?” he said, wiping blood from a cut on his cheek. “Now you believe me?”

At ease, do not be afraid, Philomena assured them, her voice ringing through the minds of each pony there. I have seen this pony’s heart, and he bears no ill will towards Celestia.

Ever so slowly, Harvest backed away, still keeping the jug raised. "Why are you here?" he questioned. "You despise the princess; everypony knows that."

“That’s what he does second,” Iron grumbled before saying in a quiet voice that softened as it progressed, "That's what I believed too. I acted out of anger and vengeance, believing that I was administering justice so that she wouldn't have died in vain. But then I realized that I wasn't honoring her memory, not when I was forgetting what was so special about her. She loved Princess Celestia more than she ever loved me; she never would have wanted me to go against her, not without a valid reason. I wanted to help the princess because this... this is the only way I can make her proud."

A second layer of silence permeated the air, weighing on everypony's shoulders. Iron looked down, not knowing what else to do, while the others let his words sink in. "That's all I have to say. I hope you'll take me with you, but if not, I understand."

Slowly, Harvest looked him in the eye and nodded. "It's alright, I believe you," he said, offering up a small peace smile before asking curiously, “So, how did you even get up here? All of Canterlot has fallen under the princess’ spell.”

“After I left the rebellion, I reentered Canterlot. My only plan was to reach the princess, so when those fireballs started raining down, I was dodging them left and right with a speed you wouldn’t even believe—“

They don’t believe it, she said with a hint of amusement. Tell them about me.

“I’m getting there,” he waved the comment aside impatiently. “Sheesh, somebird has an ego. Anyway, I made it about 3 quarters of the way there—“

More like an eighth.

“Same difference, when all of a sudden Philomena swoops down and repels all the fireballs with her magic. Then she tells me that there’s a way I can help save Princess Celestia, and that she’s taking me to the Solar Tower. I figured she was the best lead I had, so I followed after her until we reached the castle. She said there were some ponies already at the top that I needed to catch up to, and that the only way I could was to use… err, what did you call it again?”

A rune stone. It stores magical energy that is channeled through the thoughts and emotions of the owner, similar to the Elements of Harmony, though far weaker. I fastened it to the ceiling and programmed it to trigger a time loop in that area, which would keep you stationary until we were able to catch up. And now that we are here, it is time for it to be deactivated.

“I’ve tried every spell I know to get it loose,” Starswirl said, “but it won’t come free.”

With an almost mischievous twinkle in her eyes, Philomena flew up to the rune stone and flared her wings, which gave off a burst of sunlight that illuminated its ruby red facets. You know what to do, she told Sunshine.

With her keen, perceptive eyes, Sunshine examined the gemstone until she noticed a single spot at the base where the light was not reflected. A magic beam with the fine precision of a laser streamed from her horn, hit her target, and sent the rune stone tumbling down.

Reflexively, Harvest lunged forward and caught it seconds before it hit the ground. Not even looking, he tossed it behind him to Iron, who flattened it with a stomp of his hoof, rendering the magic obsolete.

The whole process had lasted mere seconds, with everypony’s movements so fluidly melting into the others that it looked pre-choreographed. All Starswirl could do was look on in wonder, at least until he felt an object being pressed in his hoof.

Iron offered him a small, knowing smile. “There doesn’t always need to be a powerful magical solution to everything. That’s just the power of teamwork, my friend.”

Starswirl looked down at his hoof where there lay the rune stone, now pressed into a perfect circle. He stared mesmerized into its ruby depths, illuminated by the magic of Philomena’s light. In his trembling hooves, it shone with the humble radiance of a warm hearth bundled into the single flame of a candle.

He kept it cradled in his hooves, never covering it once.

---

The spell having broken, the walls around the cluster of ponies began to ripple and warp into a much darker scene, though lit by a raging mare of fire. The doors and chamber walls had been obliterated, leaving them completely exposed to Celestia’s blazing wrath. The battered structure rocked precariously, supportive beams groaning from their injuries. Heat seared over the ponies’ bodies, already threatening to suck out all their water and leave dried husks. Explosions rang with the deafening force of bombs as fire rocketed higher and higher into the sky before they detonated and spilled light over the balcony.

Fire shone down on Celestia like a harsh spotlight, even though her candescent mane of violently raging fire and her glowing white-hot skin outdid any light that night. Tying the tip of her horn to the moon was a white strand of magic from which the fire rained down. However, Celestia paid no notice to this as she paced menacingly towards Rose Petal, crumpled in a heap at the rim of the balcony. She bore many yet minor burns on her face, torso, and legs. With a pained cry, she tried to stand, only to have her legs fold and collapse once more.

“There she is,” Harvest breathed in horror. “Starswirl, I assume you came up with a plan?”

Starswirl had come up with many plans and backup plans, yes, all the way to Plan R-39 version 2.1. But all of them flew out the window at the sight of Rose Petal lying defeated on the floor.

I did this to her, he thought as a numbing shock slowly chilled in his veins. I tried not to get involved, but I did, and it’s all my fault, all my fault…

“Starswirl, come back!” Sunshine screamed.

The words echoed through his sluggish mind in a fog, and yet he was more aware of his surroundings than ever before. He felt the sweltering heat wash over him, heard the steady rhythm of his heart matched by the pace of his hooves colliding with the marble floor. Was he running? He blinked and found himself on the opposite end of the room, just a few paces away from Celestia and Rose Petal.

Without even thinking, Starswirl threw himself between them and spread his forelegs wide. “Princess, stop! I won’t let you hurt her!”

“That idiot,” Iron said, half in scorn and half in awe before galloping after him, with Harvest and Sunshine following close behind. They too joined in the cacophony of pleas for reason, but Celestia only attacked them with fire. Starswirl quickly put up a shield, but the raw force sent them tumbling back to slam into the railing.

Starswirl tried to anticipate the next blow, but the light radiating from Celestia’s eyes proved too strong for his own. “Close your eyes, everypony!” he commanded just before another onslaught came.

Meanwhile, Philomena made a beeline straight for the discarded Elements of Harmony behind Celestia. Darting around, she hastily grabbed all six gemstones in her talons and flew over to the ponies. Take an Element, she ordered, dropping them one by one over each pony.

“Ow!” Sunshine complained as the Element of Generosity bonked her on the head.

“Can you stand?” Iron asked Rose Petal, holding a red gem in one hoof and stretching out his other for her to hold on to.

Here, take this, she told the just barely conscious mare as she presented her with the Element of Magic.

“The… the Elements of Harmony?” Harvest asked, cracking his eyelids open just enough to see the bright blue sapphire in his hooves. “We can’t use these; only the Princesses can!”

“Anypony has the ability to possess them,” Starswirl explained while he strained to maintain his forcefield around them, “but the Elements only respond to a chosen few Bearers. Celestia and Luna have broken their connection, so now they answer to us.”
There isn’t much time, Philomena warned. Everypony, form a circle.

This proved a much more difficult task with their eyes closed, but after a minute or two of groping around, they fell into formation.
Focus, she instructed them as the pink gem in her beak began to glow. Remember why you’re up here, what led you to this place. Whether or not you fully see it yet, every one of you gathered here deeply cares for Celestia. Focus on that, on the reasons why you’ve opened your hearts to her, and let her remember that about herself.

A hum of melodic cadences rose from the charged Elements to counteract the dissonance of explosions. One by one, they felt themselves being lifted off the ground, with Rose Petal raised to the helm. A current of magical energy swirled around her, tingled on her skin, flared to life in her very heart. She could feel the power from the other Elements surge through her own as she raised it over her head. It was like holding back a waterfall with flimsy cardboard, but her willpower kept the energy contained in the gem, letting it fill to the very brim.

I’m so sorry, Celestia. I promise, I’ll never leave you again.

With a loud cry, Rose Petal let the power fly like a bow to slice straight through the white strand of light connecting Celestia to Nightmare Moon. At once, it dispersed from the heavens like smoke, freeing Canterlot from the onslaught of hellfire.

Well, almost.

The wind was knocked out of her lungs as a ball of fire struck Rose straight in the chest and sent her plummeting like a fallen star back onto the balcony. Then, the power of the Elements drained, the other five slowly descended back down to join her, coming face-to-face with Solar Flare once again. The twisted princess cackled madly, just as evil as before.

“We can’t get through to her!” shouted Starswirl, eyes still firmly shut, to the others over the howling wind heralding Celestia’s power. “There’s no other way left! Everypony, get ready to attack!”

~~~

A blink.

Time seemed to stop for Rose Petal as she weakly lifted her head. Dazed, her eyes took in the sight of Starswirl, Sunshine, Harvest, Iron, and even Philomena assuming defensive stances as they prepared for battle, even as they stood with eyes shut in blindness against the sun’s light. Her dizzy head spun, tilting her vision, but even as she blinked back the darkness encroaching on the edges of her eyesight, it remained unchanged, even though her brain was dying to say otherwise. Why were they fighting? It didn’t make sense. Her eyes wide in confusion, she looked up at Celestia with nothing but pity. Why would they fight her?

Can’t they see she’s crying?

A breath.

Pulling up her last vestiges of strength from who knew where, Rose Petal fought to stand once more. Her chest heaved from exertion, but she managed to drag herself forward, one torturous step at a time. She brushed off the scalding heat that flayed her skin and forced herself to dive deeper into the core of the sun in more ways than one. None of her rescuers could see her out of fear of being blinded, even though that meant they already were.

Rose Petal looked up from her hooves to Celestia, who was watching her stumble about like a drunkard. She could literally feel the heat of her gaze linger on her burns and wounds. Her injuries cried out in protest, but they were nothing but background noise to her. She would not let them win. She had to win, or else she would lose everything.

A heartbeat.

For a single second of infinity, Rose Petal and Celestia locked gazes. At once, moisture was sapped from Rose’s eyes, but that didn’t matter. She had no need for tears. She merely stared in wonder at Celestia’s glowing white eyes from which a steady stream of tears poured forth. Of course, her fiery skin evaporated them almost instantaneously, but for the fraction of a moment that they held life, the white light in her eyes fractured in her tears to birth a continuous rainbow woven between her eyelashes. Rose looked on in awe at the continuously dying and living tears being strung together to form immortality.

Then Rose tore away from the sight and looked directly into Celestia’s eyes. Even though her pupils were obscured by whiteness, Rose knew Celestia was looking directly at her.

Come on, Rose chastised herself as her gaze darted around that endless white space. She has to be in her somewhere. With her piercing green eyes, she slowly peeled away at the layers of anger, hurt, and grief to find the rose-colored eyes she recognized, those of benevolence and compassion dancing alongside pain and guilt like lovers. Those feelings couldn’t be pulled apart, not when they were so intrinsically entwined. Rose couldn’t believe she had thought she could separate them.

Unflinchingly, Rose Petal peered straight into her heart where fear resided, fear that nopony else had been able to see because of fear themselves. Well, she wouldn’t allow herself to be afraid, even as she felt the light of her princess start to burn away her irises.

She wanted to cry at the sight of the fear that kept the princess guarded and distant. Nopony deserved that kind of isolation, to have to cry all alone. She would make sure that tears would not be the last thing she saw.

~~~

When Rose Petal was little, her parents always told her never to look directly at the sun, lest it burn her eyes forever.
Well, maybe some things could only be seen when she was blind.

Then Rose Petal reached up and hugged Celestia.

Pain like a million needles stabbed her skin at Celestia’s scalding touch. It felt like her flesh had burned away, leaving her an explosion of blood and bone and spirit that would shatter like a dying star learning how to live for the first time. A single drawn-out scream clawed itself free from her throat to mingle with the stars above. And yet she still kept her eyes open, taking in all the fire and light that would carry her to Death’s arms in a cradle. A strange feeling not unlike joy burst forth in her chest like lava until it felt she had disintegrated into a dancing spirit of vibrant warmth. There was no more pain, for this heat was that of a glowing hearth, of a mother’s embrace, of a smiling sun, all intensified times a thousand hearts. She thought of how the universe would die like this, when its time was done and entropy had granted it peace, and she smiled. And at once, Rose Petal thought of all the ponies who wished to die in ice, in emptiness, in darkness, and she let out a whoop of exhilaration. Who would want to die like that!

You wanted to know the truth, Celestia? Rose thought as she clung to her for dear life. Well, here it is: I was wrong. I should have let you remember, and now, I hope you’ll remember me. If you like, remember me for how I used you, for how I went behind your back, for how I was a coward who only wanted an easy way out of the pain. When I did that, I tried to kill a part of who I was, so this is a fitting end for me. I won’t try to deny that. But please, remember that I loved you, and there are other ponies who love you too. Please, come back for them, because if that remains true, then you will never be alone.

Let me break the curse I put on you. Remember everything, both the joy and the sorrow, the hope and despair. This life isn’t worth living without them.

So rest easy now. Let me take on all the pain and suffering like I should have done before but was too weak to do so. I don’t want to see thee cry. There’s no need for tears, not when they're so cold. I want thee to smile with me.

Then Rose Petal felt the fire dim and knew that her job was done. She let her grip slacken and fell to the ground facing the sky. In the distance, she saw a willow tree with stars filling the gaps in between branches, and she smiled.

This is the best memory of my entire life.

---

“…Is she waking up? She better be waking up, because if not we’ll have an anarchy on our hooves!”

“I think so. Look, I think her left leg moved a bit.”

“What, where? I didn’t see it; I think you need to get your eyesight checked.”

Celestia, can you hear me?

Ever so slowly, the princess cracked open her eyes. Her soft rose-hued eyes filled with compassion once again, she looked up at Sunshine and Harvest sitting on either side of her, and Philomena hovering above her. Their expressions were anxious, relief curbed for the time being. There was concern there, and… fear as well?

Celestia craned her head and saw a smoking ring of ashes surrounding her. In the distance, a few fires still burned. With a weak groan, she raised a hoof to her throbbing temple. “Oh, Faust,” she cried softly, her eyes wide in horror. “Oh Faust, oh Elysium, what have I done?”

The same fear she had awoken to see was now reflected in her own eyes. If she had the strength to run, she would have. Now that she had nothing to lose, exile would be better than whatever torture they would put her through. Closing her eyes, her whole body trembled at the thought of chains and dungeons and iron bars and a pair of forelegs squeezing the air out of her lungs…

“Celestia, thank goodness you’re alright!” Sunshine cried in a hysterical laugh that bordered on wailing as she hugged the princess close. “I was… so scared that thou… wouldn’t… wouldn’t wake up,” she said between violent sobs that washed away the soot from Celestia’s shoulder. “Thou scared me… s-so much!”

“C-Celestia,” Apple Harvest stammered. Her bright eyes widened into oceans when he saw tears silently pouring down his cheeks. He couldn’t bring himself to say anymore than that; his lips just continued to shape her name like a reverent mantra. Even in his distress, not once did he look away. His eyes kept tracing over the contours of her face, as if to forever etch them in his sight.

A shudder of warmth poured into Celestia when Philomena perched on her shoulder and draped her wings like a snug blanket around the back of her head. Her wingtips brushed over her face like the touch of a mother as she searched for any sign of injury. Finding none, she sighed, saying, Thank the stars thou are safe, Celestia. I would scream at thee for so many things at this moment, but my joy is too overpowering. Oh Celestia, my dearest filly, how beautiful it is to see you returned from the flames.

The flames, she thought, the memories all rushing back. The Elements. Luna. Solar Flare. There was a fire in the city. Ponies were trapped in nightmares. I couldn’t stop myself. I was burning up, dying, crying, and then there was…

Her heart stood still.

…Rose Petal.

Panicked, Celestia bolted up from her place on the balcony floor, and ignoring the newly blossomed headache pounding, she searched for her savior. Her eyes locked on two figures leaning against the golden rim, just out of the moonlight’s reach. One was gesturing emphatically, with occasional bursts of magic spurting from the unicorn’s horn, while the other just stood and occasionally responded only with the shake of the head.

The two ponies and one phoenix next to her followed her gaze, and at once, their joy changed to pity. They each exchanged looks before Philomena took off with a slow flap of her wings and glided over to the pair. Celestia waited in absolute silence, not even aware of the quick pace of her heart. No thoughts, none of dread or hope, crossed her mind. She just watched as they processed into the moonlight. First came Philomena, who led Starswirl.

“Celestia,” he breathed, staring as if she were an apparition. “I’m sorry,” he cried as a single tear rolled down his cheek. “So very sorry, in more ways than you can understand right now.”

“Starswirl, what do you mean?”

He only shook his head, too ravaged by inner grief to speak, as he moved out of the way and let Rose Petal step into the light.

It was not the numerous white bandages crisscrossed over her body that made Celestia gasp. It was the eyes. Rose Petal’s once luminescent green eyes were no drained of almost all color, with only a pale and sickly olive tint remaining. Her pupil looked to be carved out a filled with an off-color white to match the rest of her eyes, bleached by the intensity of the sun.

Celestia’s quivering lips tried to frame a question, but Rose Petal answered it herself. “Is she there, Starswirl?” she asked in a hushed voice as she pointed to a spot a few inches above Celestia’s elbow. “How does she look? Is she alright?”

The princess’ stare only grew wider, as if to feebly try to contain the situation’s gravitas, as Starswirl answered in a cracking voice like breaking china, “S-She’s okay, Rose,” he choked out, fighting the tightness of his throat. “I th-think she’d l-like… to talk to thee.”

“Lead me to her,” she whispered in a strong yet gentle voice, holding out her forelegs. Still speechless, Celestia gasped as Rose smothered her in a hug.

“Oh good,” she said gratefully, smiling all the while. “I thought I’d never get the chance to do that again. Celestia, are thou alright? Please, please say something. I would give the world to hear thy voice.”

“Rose,” Celestia wept, “thine… thine eyes…”

“I know, Celestia, I know,” Rose murmured. “I am sorry, but I do not believe they can be restored. Not even Starswirl can.”

“How… how could I have done this to thee?” she cried out violently, ripping herself away. In anguish, she buried her face in her hooves and began screaming, lamenting horribly. “I am a thousand times more wretched than that which possessed my sister! I have hurt one of my only remaining friends! How can thou bear to be near me now? I… Thou cannot see!”

Rose Petal gently took Celestia’s hoof. “Now now, I never said anything about that.”

“How can you say that?” she said woefully, turning away. “Your eyes are blind.”

“Listen to me, Celestia,” she answered, still smiling. “Yes, you’re right. There are some things I won’t be able to see like I used to. I won’t get to see the seasons change, or the stars come out, or your sun rise. But there are things, things perhaps more important than a sunrise can ever be, that I can only see now. I can see how wrong it was to try to erase your memories and mine. Now that I am blind, those memories are all I have left with which to see in the way I used to. I won’t get to see the seasons change, or the stars come out, or your sun rise. But there are things, things perhaps more important than a sunrise can ever be, that I can only see now. I can see how wrong it was to try to erase your memories and mine. Now that I am blind, those memories are all I have left with which to see in the way I used to. I wouldn’t trade that realization for anything.”

“I mean that, Celestia,” she insisted, drawing lifting the princess’ face to meet hers. “This was not your fault. I only brought this upon myself. Functioning eyes are a small price for saving you.”

“Why?” the princess cried almost inaudibly. “What makes me so worth saving?”

Rose Petal smiled. “Did you really think Princess Luna was the only pony who cared for you? Look around you. We were all willing to give up everything for you, otherwise the Elements wouldn’t have worked. Luna may have been the source of your grief, but it only persisted because you let it. You held onto that grief, just like all of us clung to our fears and insecurities that kept us from helping you. The only ones we have to blame are ourselves, so we were the only ones who could save you. But I think all of us got more out of the bargain than we ever thought.”

By now, Celestia’s sobs had died down into quiet sniffles, yet she refused to lift her eyes. “I… I know what it’s like to lose somepony,” Rose continued, “but if this has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t find them in grief, when your eyes are filled with tears and you can’t see anything. You find her in the world, because the world is your memory of Luna, but memories aren’t stagnant. They grow and change just as the world changes, just as you change. Your memory of Luna will grow with you, live on in you. You can remember Luna in everything you see, and that shouldn’t be a cause for sadness. Shouldn’t you be happy that every sight, smell, and sound around you is a little piece of the pony you love? If you can find enough of those pieces to add on, you can keep linking new experiences to her until your whole world is an interconnected mesh of her all around you. But that can’t happen if you don’t look.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper that barely constrained her tears. “Even if we die, you will remember us as part of the mosaic that makes up Luna, and if Luna is your life and soul, then our mortal lives can all be strung together into immortality. We can all be little your pieces of Luna. If only you could let yourself see it.”

“I believe We can help with that.”

At once, an icy gust of wind sprang up and carried with it all the fire of the nightmares. It rose into the sky like a flames shot from a dragon, striking fear into the ponies’ hearts as they watched it fly higher and higher, making its way straight for the tower.

“Duck for cover!” Starswirl shouted, and not a second too soon. Just after Celestia shielded the ponies with her wings, the fire engulfed Philomena and lifted her into the sky.

“Philomena!” Celestia screamed.

“Princess, no!” shouted Harvest, but it was too late. With a running start, Celestia launched herself off the balcony.

Her burnt wings at once gave out, and her broken body began to plummet towards earth, though her eyes were trained on the skies.

It felt like he was falling through water, water that submerged her thoughts. No, she pleaded. She needs me. She can’t survive without me. I need to save her. Please, just let me save her!

The fire grew more distant; the whole world fell away. She was drowning in midnight, in Luna, but she had never felt so far. No, not again. Please, please don’t leave me. I… I don’t want to be alone.

Then she felt a hoof grasp hers.

More hooves joined in until their combined efforts had not only slowed her descent but lifted her upwards. Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw the faces of the Element Bearers – no, her friends – smile as they dragged her torso over the railing. Then with one last heave, she fell toppling over them, knocking everypony over into one big, tangled, messy heap.

Celestia laughed.

At first it was tentative as her muscles adjusted to the feeling, then bordering on hysterical in terror, until it finally settled into a real laugh, pure and genuine. The others joined in as they carefully untangled their limbs from one another. Seeing all those dignified ponies sharing giggles made Celestia feel lighter. She had forgotten how good it was to laugh.

She never wanted to forget.

Applause broke out from down below. Celestia and the others leaned over the rail in wonder as she saw a large group of ponies, the very same rebels of Canterlot who had fought against her, now cheering as she was brought to safety. Her mouth dropped into a dainty O, which was soon replaced by a gentle smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Celestia saw Iron wave to a certain purple mare in the crowd who gave him a soft, abashed smile.

Then she looked up in the sky at Philomena. She watched mesmerized as the fire she had once so feared be absorbed into the pheonix’s wings, setting them ablaze in radiant light. It turned her plumage an even brighter carmine, and it infused her eyes with gold. There was no pain, only glory. Like a beacon, her light cut through the darkness until she was led home to rest on Celestia’s shoulder.

This is what We give to you, resonated two twin voices in her head. Immortality. From this day forth, she will be an everlasting light to you. She will never dim, never waver at your side, and will exist for as long as you. However, her immortality must be renewed, and so she must continuously rise from the ashes of her tomb. She will die a million painful deaths, as numerous as the deaths you will witness with your own eyes as you wait for me for a thousand years. To take it as either a blessing or a curse is your choice.

In the luminescence of Philomena’s light, Celestia looked up into the eyes of the five ponies gathered around her. Aqua, navy, emerald, gold, and olive all swirled into one beautiful mess in her tearful joy, strengthened by the knowledge that they would be joined by a thousand more. She would never be alone, because those colors would always be in her heart.

Celestia smiled as she watched Philomena fly into the sky like a sun at midnight and bring forth a light that Luna would always be able to see.

It will always, always be a blessing.

~~~~~~~

As the vibrant hues of her sun swirled into the inky violets of twilight, Celestia sighed at the recollection. So much time had passed then, and yet it felt like it couldn’t have been a whole three hundred years since that day. How daunting that stretch of eternity had seemed, and now that it had been conquered, it felt… pretty hollow.

Sensing her despair, Philomena flew from her perch to nestle on her mistress’ shoulder. Her beak nudged her gently, a silent prod to speak her mind.

“Oh, it’s not much,” she answered, giving a reassuring smile. “I just feel… I don’t know, lost I suppose. I know I stopped believing that notion a long time ago, and the astronomers have predicted it’s going to be much longer than this. I just… I just can’t stop hanging onto that hope though,” she admitted, looking wistfully out into the empty sky. “I can just imagine her now, coming down from the moon with no vengeance, no anger, just as the little filly who deserved so much more than me for a big sister. I know it won’t come true, but I can’t help hoping for it.”

It is not a weakness to hope, princess.

Celestia smiled at the familiar words. “Yes, yes you’re right as always,” she laughed, nuzzling the phoenix affectionately. There’s always another day, another day for me to rediscover her once again.” With that in mind, she closed her eyes and drew from the wellspring of magic inside the spell that connected her to the heavens. Her consciousness slipped below the edge of the world where the moon rested in wait. No longer tormented, she reached out to the silver face like an old friend, and with a flap of Celestia’s wings, they rose together into the sky.

As she flew over the spires she had memorized so long ago, she kept her eyes closed the whole way, choosing to focus only on the soothing night breeze coursing through her fur. Then with the lightest touch, she landed on the balcony, with Philomena close beside as always.

Then Celestia looked up at the moon.

As always, the image of the Mare in the Moon sent a pang of grief resounding in her heart, but time had dulled the pain, turned sorrow into bittersweetness. She didn’t linger on it too long, but instead let her eyes slide up the image just above the curtains that led to the balcony.

Celestia had never been much of artist, which was the main reason why she put it so high up if she ever would admit it to herself. But even still, she liked to think she would keep it secluded at the top. That way, it could only be seen by those who were looking for it.

It was a simple image, really. Just the outline of the moon with an eye closed in peace within the circle. What made it special were the thousands of piles of mosaic tile along the eyelashes. The tiles were in all different shapes, cuts, and colors, but all were arranged together in a continuous rainbow.

Today, Celestia levitated a bright cherry-hued piece to the mosaic to represent her newest student Sunbeam Shower. She never left spaces for new pieces, but it still managed to fit itself snugly into the edge of the rainbow.

Her heart at peace, Celestia closed her eyes and whispered from the depths of her heart:

Sweet dreams, my sister. May we meet again at the rising of the sun.

Then Luna’s melody lulled her to sleep.

Comments

[birdyluv0]

That was a beautiful story and I am glad that I read it.

[Crimson Eclipse77]

Holy cow that was awesome!!
The nightmares were so detailed and terrifying. Amazing job,this is going on my favorites bookshelf!