Chapter 3
Celestia didn’t know she had been crying until Twilight came by her side and hugged her. She felt the warmth of the embrace flow through her as she let out years of anguish and regret. She had made many mistakes in her life, some that would haunt her to her grave, but letting go of Sunset was among the top on her list, right there with sister’s descent into madness.
“It couldn’t have been easy...” whispered Twilight as Celestia felt her student's tears strike her shoulder. “I don’t think... I could have ever done that...”
“I never got over it, Twilight. Not even when I met her years later,” muttered Celestia, wiping her own tears away. She could remember every sleepless night from the nightmares she had of her daughter, starving and cold, begging for her mommy to save her, but Celestia was powerless. “It took every inch of willpower I had not to get her back.” Celestia then smiled. “Then I saw her again. When she tried to take the entrance exam for my school. All at the age of five...”
“Five?!” shouted Twilight in shock. “I didn’t take take the entrance exam until I was nine! How did she manage to get in at such an early age?!”
Celestia chuckled at her reaction. “Twilight, you are a prodigy with magic, but so was Shimmer. The only reason she managed to get in at such a young age was because one of my professors and his wife were looking to adopt a foal for their family. They saw Sunset Shimmer, who already had her cutie mark at such an young age, and saw her talents first hoof. Believe me, it was a shock to find out myself...”
***
“I’m not to sure about this, Notebook,” said Celestia as she walked down the hall of her prestigious academy. Rarely had she gotten involved in the school unless she was needed in a major decision or is she was looking for a student to take under her wing; a feat she hadn’t done in a hundred years. It was quite a surprise when Professor Notebook had all but begged Celestia to see this talented unicorn he and his wife found while adopting their new colt. “Five years old is a really young age. The earliest age we accept for this school is nine. Shouldn’t she go to magic kindergarten first?”
“She’s an orphan, Princess. She can’t afford such a thing, not even public school,” said the young blue unicorn with a silvery mane and a notebook as a cutie mark. “Trust me, Princess. She’s talented. She even has her own cutie mark, a little sun believe it or not.”
Celestia almost paused in her steps when she heard him say “little sun” and quickly thought back to the daughter she had given up five years ago. She would be this little pony’s age. I wonder how she is doing? My lovely Sunset Shimmer...
“What can you tell me about this filly?” asked Celestia, shaking her head in an effort to clear her mind her daughter in fear of awaking old grief.
“She’s very smart, talented, and kind. She’s a little on the arrogant side, yet adorably so,” said Professor Notebook as he opened the doors revealing the testing room for all new applicants to the school. Already the three other judges were waiting, notepads ready. “As for her name...”
Celestia turned to the pony and immediately felt her heart stop. She did not need to see the color of the mane, nor the look in her eyes to know who this was. A mother never forgets, not even after years of separation, missing every moment of her child growing up. She knows, in her heart, what her child looks like. And Celestia was looking at the wide, amazed eyes of her daughter who was looking at her in both admiration and nervousness.
“... it’s Sunset Shimmer.”
Celestia didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe it. Was fate this cruel or was it this generous? Her daughter. Her lovely little sun, who even supported this nickname with a sun as a cutie mark, had returned to her. She looked so strong, so willful. Her eyes held a passion that Celestia herself once had years and years ago around her age. A passion for learning, adventure, and excitement. Celestia had slowly, but surely, resigned herself to the idea that she was never to see her daughter again. And yet she had been proven wrong.
“Um, P-p-princess Celestia?” asked Sunset Shimmer, nervously pawing the floor. Celestia snapped out of her trance and did her best to keep herself calm under the confused glances of her little subjects. “I-I want to know if I can start now, Princess?”
“Y-yes of course,” urged Celestia, forcing a smile. She didn’t call me, Mommy. My own daughter doesn’t know that her mother is standing before her. To Sunset, I am just a stranger.
Sunset smiled and walked towards a tiny potted plant. Celestia looked at it, it was a small seedling, barely bigger than a newborn’s tooth. Sunset Shimmer looked at the sprout with a flare of confidence as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Her horn illuminated as Celestia watched with growing anticipation. She was watching her own daughter perform magic for the first time and she was already on the edge of her seat.
The turquoise aura surrounded the plant and soon it began to move. Then, it started to grow. Celestia and the judges gasped as the small seedling began to grow much bigger, to the point where it bloomed into a beautiful flower, but it didn’t stop there. It started growing thicker vines, a stronger stem, and more flower buds spread and bloomed on their own. The pot exploded, its roots digging into the floor. Celestia had to back up just to make room as she watched it grow as high as the ceiling.
Finally, Sunset Shimmer stopped, taking deep breaths while looking at her work with a wide smirk. Celestia, as well as the judges by the look of their flabbergasted faces, not believing what they had seen. An orphaned filly, age five, had managed to turn one little plant into a giant, tree-sized version of it that covered half the room.
Sunset Shimmer pushed back some of her sweat-soaked mane as she panted. “So how did I do? Impressive, huh?”
The judges finally managed to find their voices and announced their agreement. Only Celestia as still silent, looking over the work that her secret daughter had done, while sensing the familiar magic that flowed through the plant. Turning to the tiny unicorn, she asked, “Sunset Shimmer, do you know what you have done?”
Sunset gulped, her s previous smile evaporating within an instant. “Um, I made a plant grow really big?”
“Yes, but do you know how you did it?” asked Celestia, earning a shake of the head. “What you used was solar magic. It’s borrowing magic from the sun itself to perform spells and enhance one’s abilities. You took the energy of the sun and used it to make this plant grow at an accelerated rate. Only a very few set of unicorns can do this, one of them being myself because of my connection with the sun. Tell me, how did you first discover this?”
“W-well,” said Sunset Shimmer, calming down,“One day, I was working in the garden when I noticed some of the plants dying. It had been cloudy for a week or so and they weren’t getting much sunlight. So I figured I could use my magic to make them look better, but then I felt some kind of force...”
“A force?” asked Celestia, who had a feeling she knew where it came from.
“Yeah, it was really warm and felt like it was made of pure energy. So I put it into the plants and it made them grow.” Sunset then looked at her flank. “That’s how I got my cutie mark.”
The sun. The sun was calling to her, as if knowing she was my foal, thought Celestia. It had taken even Starswirl the Bearded, arguably the greatest unicorn ever, years to master solar magic. And yet this filly had done it at the age of five. There was no mistake: some of her alicorn powers had transferred to Sunset. She was undoubtedly more powerful than any unicorn remotely close to her age, and would continue to grow stronger. Celestia fought to contain the growing smirk coming over her face.
But that all soon changed as Celestia quickly realized the great dilemma before her. Her daughter deserved to learn how to control such great power, but none of the teachers here would be able to help her when she really needed it. There was only one pony in all of Equestria who could teach Sunset how to use her powers and master them. It meant going against her promise to stay out of her daughter’s life, but she couldn’t hold back from this.
“Sunset Shimmer,” said Celestia with a warming smile, a smile she had not shown since the day of her daughter’s coming into the world. “You have great talent and have shown the possibilities of being a master of a magic that only I have truly ever mastered. Therefore, I wish to ask that, instead of being a student at the academy, would you like to be my personal apprentice and live with me?”
Everypony in the room gasped, no more so than Sunset Shimmer whose eyes widened larger than Celestia thought possible. “Y-you want me to live with you, and... and you want to teach me?” Celestia only managed to get a nod in before Sunset Shimmer nearly tackled her off her hooves, crying into her chest. “Thank you! Thank you! I’ll be the best student you ever had! I promise!”
Celestia let a single tear fall, this time of joy, as she embraced her daughter. No, my little sun. It’s me who is grateful that we have a chance to be reunited once again.
***
With all the paperwork done and the orphanage given notice on the recent developments, Celestia was quick to lead Sunset Shimmer into her castle and new home. The wide-eyed expression of the little filly was so cute that Celestia’s heart nearly flipped. Seeing her daughter happy made her happy, and it made Celestia wonder if she should tell her Sunset the truth about everything. When they learned that she took Sunset on as an apprentice, those she had trusted with the information of her daughter warned her not to take her on to do it, but Celestia didn’t care. She had thrown away her daughter once. She would not do so again. Relenting, they advised her to at least hold off on telling her new student the whole truth.
That’s what made Celestia’s stomach roil, she knew the reasonings why, as it was still dangerous for any announcement of her having a child. The Nightmare Cult was growing more and more dangerous, having killed her nephew’s parents. If they knew she had a daughter, there was no telling how far they would go just to strike at her beloved Sunset, and it would be a cold, dark day before she let a single hair on her coat be hurt. Not to mention that the Griffins were at civil war right now, the rebels being leaders of the military who were disapproving of the alliance they had with ponies, their oldest enemies. Celestia sent what aid she could for the king of the griffins, knowing that if the rebellion succeeded and the power was switched it would make it much harder to prepare Equestria for Nightmare Moon in the upcoming years.
There are still the Elements of Harmony, but the new wielders have not yet shown themselves, if they ever will, thought Celestia.
“Princess Celestia?” asked Sunset Shimmer, awakening the ruler from her worrisome thoughts. “Are you okay? You seem sad.”
Celestia smiled and nuzzled the little filly who giggled at the touch. “No, my dear Sunset; I am simply tired. It’s been a long day.”
Sunset Shimmer yawned and smacked her lips. “I’m getting tired too. How much more of the castle do we have to see?”
“Only your bedroom, my new student,” said Celestia, guiding a tired Sunset up a series of stairs. She soon saw how slow her daughter was getting, and levitated her up onto her back, where she thanked the alicorn with a nod before resting her head against her mane.
When they reached the top, Sunset Shimmer was already fast asleep. Celestia quietly opened the door to the room she always gave her apprentices. With great care, she tucked Sunset into bed and looked at her sleeping daughter with a warm smile. “My darling little sun. I promise to do everything I can to protect you,” she then kissed her on the forehead.
Celestia blew out the candles and made her way towards the door where she slowly closed it, whispering, “Goodnight…”
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yes indeed
If there was an Okamiden crossover, Sunset Shimmer would be Chibiterasu's pony counterpart.
I'm so happy this updated! Keep it up!
*Therefore
I like that we're steadily going through the backstory here. Not too fast and not too slow.
Excellent chapter! Can't wait for the next one!
one little grammar error.
arguably the great unicorn ever, should be arguably the greatest unicorn ever,
Dear Celestia, too much feelings here.
Another awesome story by you that I'll keep my eye on it.
But why you keep writing this kind of stories? You're starting to look like the "George R.R. Martin" of "My Little Pony" fanfics XD
Oh my god Ponystar, this story is just... Too much.
The feelings I get from this hurts my heart. I just wonder if Sunset will come back to Equestria in this story and there Celestia will tell Her the truth that she is Celestias daughter and is royalty.
...What?
That just doesn't make sense...
No offense, but, this is getting a bit boring.
Why are you doing this to me, Ponystar? I've heard of this headcanon before, and I thought it was bittersweet, but you're showing no mercy: you just took my heart and crushed it into tiny little bits.
5443213 Same here
5529094 WHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
