Night Reigns

by tursi

Chapter 12 - First Flame

Celestia woke slowly, stretching her legs out carefully, and stretching out the one wing that was not bound. Every joint still ached, but there was notable improvement now that she had finally rested. Slowly, she pushed herself to a standing position, and looked around for any sense of what time it was.

"How does anypony maintain a schedule when it's always night?" she wondered. It was true that she had maintained the routine herself for a thousand years, but she had had the assistance of time keepers and administrative staff. She doubted that she could have kept such a perfect schedule entirely on her own, despite how many ponies preferred to believe that she was infallible.

"Oh, if only they knew," she mused, making her way to the garden for water. "How impressed would they be to see me now?"

She reached the garden well and called up a stream of water, filling an ancient metal bucket that she had managed to locate. Then she elegantly stretched out her body as she soaked her makeshift cloth, wringing it out and running the cool water over her body. Gently she ran the cloth along her shoulders and around her wings and washed away the dust of her nap. The water caressed her body and she closed her eyes and allowed time to escape her, simply enjoying the coolness as it washed away not only dust but worries as well. She worked diligently but without hurry, giving attention to every part of her body and slowly restoring the glow of her regal white coat. The scrap of tapestry was not as pleasant as a proper sponge, but for her first bath in a decade, she felt that it was magnificent.

When she left the garden at last she felt not only stronger but more confident, and there was purpose in her step as she returned to the library. She approached the stack of books that she had left on her main work table, and was surprised to find that one was glowing and buzzing as she approached it.

"Sunset Shimmer?" she breathed. She carefully lifted the book with her magic. She brought it closer and flipped the pages open to the first blank one. She then watched quietly as the magical words formed themselves across the page.

"Six hours?" she wondered. "How oddly specific... and it must have already been at least that since I sent my message. But... at least now I know that she's all right."

Celestia read the message again, and nodded to herself. "It doesn't feel like a trap... but it would be wise to be prepared. I suppose the message was written while I was bathing, so I shall count on five hours."

She made her way to her map and studied it for a few minutes. There was a set of three large ink spots moving in a slow patrol-like motion outside the castle, and she watched them for a few minutes.

"Timberwolves," she decided, finally. "But they won't patrol one area for more than half an hour or so. Nothing to worry about there."

Timberwolves were one of the many enchanted species within the Everfree Forest. Literally formed of loose branches and leaves held together with ancient magic, a lone timberwolf was certainly cause for concern but no more serious than most wild creatures. But much like their namesakes they were cunning creatures and tended to hunt in packs, making them far more dangerous.

She was about to turn away when a new ink spot began to move towards the castle, and the three timberwolves rapidly changed their movements. Two hung back while one advanced, coming at the new dot from an oblique angle.

Celestia's breath caught in her chest. A spot that size had significant magic, and heading right for the castle, could it really just be another creature of the woods? The spot advanced steadily while the timberwolf stalked it. Before she had time to think any further the timberwolf rushed forward.

To her surprise, the ink spot vanished from the page. A thin line of ink rapidly traced upwards, and then the spot reappeared closer to the castle, right between the first two timberwolves. Both leapt forward, and seemed to merge with the first inkspot.

Celestia's heart raced. That was a teleport spell, and somepony was now in serious trouble. She summoned all her strength and blasted the wall of the library. Boulders flew as she created a hole in the ancient stone. She flung out both wings and threw herself into the air, lighting her entire body with the glow of a mini-sun. She summoned all the power that she could manage, her mane blazing into a multicolored plasma flowing behind her as she raced towards that ink spot on her map.

It took her mere seconds to reach that spot outside the ruins, and the glow from her body lit the forest as far as she could see. Two timberwolves were practically underneath her and cringed from the glow, while she saw the third approaching from across the clearing.

She frowned, levitating herself higher into the air and spreading out her wings, casting a bright beam of heat and light directly at the approaching timberwolf. It struck him square in the face, causing a yelp of surprise and pain. He took only one more glance at the sun princess, squinting his wooden features, then turned and ran. The two underneath her watched this and after glancing at each other, turned tail and followed.

Celestia held the glow until they had vanished into the trees, and then abruptly released the magic. She fell ungracefully to the ground and winced as her injured wing bitterly complained of the abuse. But she still had to check whether she had been in time, and started to push herself back to her hooves.

As her head came around she saw a hooded pony standing before her. The cloak was ripped and revealed an amber coat underneath. Celestia settled for a sitting position and opened her muzzle to ask whether she was okay, but the other pony spoke first.

"P… P… Princess… Celestia?"

Celestia dipped her head in a slow nod, and she smiled. "You're early," she said gently. The other pony lowered her hood, revealing her crimson striped mane and a shocked expression. Celestia continued. "I've missed you, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset Shimmer ran forward, uttering a little laugh of joy, and wrapped her hooves tight around Celestia's foreleg. Celestia responded in turn, wrapping her good wing around her former student, while Sunset cheered excitedly.

"Oh Princess! I've been so worried! I'm so relieved to see you! It's been so lo…"

Celestia hushed Sunset abruptly, and placed a wingtip over her muzzle. Her eyes went upwards, and this time they both heard the noises in the branches above.

"Somepony is coming," Celestia said quietly. "Stay low and don't move."

The two of them crouched lower, and Celestia's horn lit faintly. A cover of leaves and branches materialized above them. It wasn't a very good camouflage but Celestia was not sure that she could do any better after the exertion she had just made. "Not a sound," she warned Sunset.

After a moment, a blue pegasus dropped from the treetops, and landed quietly on the ground. Celestia was intrigued, studying the crescent moon symbol and light armor he wore, but Sunset stiffened beside her. She touched her student with a wingtip reassuringly as they watched.

He paced a little bit, and muttered to himself, but for the moment he did not seem to be aware of them. Celestia had just begun to relax when a dense cloud formed in front of the pegasus, and then condensed into a tall black mare with a flowing mane. Her blood ran cold and she had to bite back a tiny shriek - Nightmare Moon was only forty feet away. Her camouflage would not stand to even a cursory magic scan from her sister, and in her current state, Nightmare Moon could send her right back to the sun without so much as a struggle. She felt Sunset tense even more beside her and this time Celestia didn't dare to move to reassure her.

The pegasus bowed to Nightmare Moon, and they clearly heard her interrogating him for a status. His own responses were slurred and did not carry well through the dense air of the woods, but after a few questions Nightmare Moon turned and seemed to be staring right at them. Celestia shivered, but she met her sister's gaze and looked deep into those dragon-slit eyes. She hoped against hope to see some recognition, some hint of anything that might give her the courage to cast off the illusion and reveal herself.

She saw only confusion, and then a deep growing fear. Her heart sank as Nightmare Moon turned back to the pegasus, saying something that only he could hear. Then Nightmare Moon stood up tall, and shouted "No!" She gave a series of quick orders that did not carry across the clearing, and then the pegasus saluted and flew straight back up into the treetops.

"Please, sister…" begged Celestia silently. "Please see me. Please call out. Please tell me it's okay." But Nightmare Moon only stared past her, into the ruins behind them. All at once Nightmare Moon's expression fell into a grimace of anger and she dissolved back into a cloud of smoke, which then proceeded out of the clearing.

"No," whispered Celestia, slowly letting the illusion fade from around her.

"Princess?" asked Sunset Shimmer. "Are you all right?"

"I'm afraid our reunion will have to wait, my dear student," answered Celestia softly. "I think she knows I'm here. It's not safe to stay here any longer."

Sunset's eyes widened. "But… where will we go? I just got here! And that guard, he was looking for me! I cast a spell on him earlier."

"We will worry about him later, my dear." She pushed herself to her hooves, wincing again. Her injured wing drooped at her side, and it took her a moment to stand steady on her hooves.

"I have been making plans to move anyway," she said softly. "Please, help me into the ruins. There are a few things we need to collect, and then we will be off immediately."

"Your wing," gasped Sunset, leaning her much smaller body up against Celestia's side. Although Sunset was small, Celestia was able to put some weight against her, and it helped her a great deal as they began to walk.

"My wing will be fine," she reassured Sunset. "I hurt it coming through the trees, and broke the splints when I came out to frighten off the timberwolves. We can set it again tonight, it is not too bad."

She was lying, and she could see that Sunset knew it. Even with the magical assist, forcing her wing to take her weight had probably undone all the healing that had started. But Sunset did not call her out on it. They entered the ruins and began to walk down the ancient hall towards the library. Quietly, Sunset spoke at Celestia's side.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I'm so, so sorry!"

Celestia smiled gently. "It could not be helped, my dear. Everfree Forest has always been a dangerous place - even I had to be careful when I arrived here."

"Not that!" snapped Sunset, and she took a step away from Celestia's side, turning to face her. Celestia tilted her head in surprise, and turned as well. Sunset's face was a mixture of emotions: rage, pain, regret, frustration. She stamped her hoof on the stone floor.

"For EVERYTHING!" she shouted. "I didn't study properly! I couldn't stop Nightmare Moon! I never figured out the Elements of Harmony! Princess, I failed you in the worst way!"

Celestia winced at the undertones of anguish in Sunset's voice and she stepped forward, offering her wing to caress. Sunset stepped back, and she shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.

"Princess, I didn't trust you! This is ALL MY FAULT!"

Now the tears came in earnest, and Celestia pressed in close. She wrapped her wing and a foreleg around her student and pulled Sunset tightly into her breast. "Hush," she cooed softly. "Shh, shh. It's not your fault, I promise."

"It IS!" sobbed Sunset, pressing her face tight into Celestia's fur. "I was so selfish!"

Celestia held her even tighter. "No, dear heart," she comforted. "No. It was not your fault. It was mine."

"No…" Sunset rolled her face against Celestia's breast. "No, it couldn't be. You trusted me!"

Celestia shushed her again, as gently as she could. "Shhh, shhh. Listen… if not for me, there would never have been a Nightmare Moon to stop. If not for me, the Elements of Harmony would never have stopped working. If not for me, you never would have had to take on an impossible task, nor bear the guilt of failure."

Celestia gently took hold of Sunset and took a single step back, tilting the unicorn's face up to look into her own eyes. Her wing caressed Sunset's cheeks and collected the tears that still flowed. "I know how much it hurts," she confided. "But it is I who owe you an apology, and not the other way around. It is my responsibility to choose the best path forward for all of us. I failed at that and forced you to try to fix it. I had no right to ask that of you, do you understand?"

Sunset sniffed and shook her head, "No… I… you see…"

Celestia continued, gently interrupting. "And now, my dearest and most faithful student, I must ask another terrible thing of you. I must ask you to put your tears and your hurt away for just a little bit longer. If you are not ready to forgive me, then you must at least trust me."

Sunset reached up with a hoof and wiped her own cheek, shaking her head slowly as she sniffled again. "I… but I failed you."

Celestia leaned down, nuzzling her own cheek against Sunset's warmly. "I failed you," she corrected. "But now I need your help. It is not safe for either of us to stay here. We must pack quickly and we must move before Nightmare Moon returns to the Everfree Forest. I am not strong enough to face her yet."

Sunset took several deep breaths, and nodded slowly. "Where are we going?"

Celestia gave Sunset a mischievous smile, "Canterlot."

Sunset's eyes snapped wide so quickly that all remaining tears were instantly forgotten. "Canterlot!?"

Celestia managed a small giggle. "They'll never look for us there."

Comments

[tursi]

Added two chapters today, more due to working out the sequencing than anything else. Before I could get back to Celestia I had to finish setting up Nightmare Moon, that meant inserting another Stratosphere chapter. I'm not sure if the varying viewpoints is working for anyone else, but I have to say it's kind of fun to write! ;)

But, I've been waiting a long time to finally get the Celestia chapter down, and now it is. I hope you like it! We finally move on to Act 2 with the next chapter. ;)

[princessmercury]

yay celestia and sunset reunited!

[Obsidian Raindrop]

I honestly thought Suuny would blame Tia instead of taking personal responsibility. Also no Trixie.

[Scarheart]

6838460 indoorcycleinstructor.com/wp-content/uploads//2015/01/Please-stop-talking.jpeg

[The Pyropath]

Celestia managed a small giggle. "They'll never look for us there."

Nightmare Moon upon return to Canterlot: "Put Canterlot under lockdown, and have constant patrols searching every nook and cranny."

I'm calling it. My kitten, Jinx, is closeby.

[Warrior Kitten]

I only just realised. Sunset can't be Celestia's student. She ran away before the rainboom yet this story inplies that the rainboom happened while Celestia chose her.

[redmar]

8368970
I noticed the same thing but I guess the author simply didn't realize that.

[tursi]

8568477
Several pieces of canon support that Sunset was Celestia's student before she ran away. I juggled time a little bit to give myself a more leeway in using that, though (in particular, and I've mentioned this elsewhere, this story assumes that Sunset might have left because of Twilight's discovery, and since this universe did not discover Twilight, Sunset stayed. That part is clearly not in line with canon.) I know it's hard to track alt-u stories when it's not exactly clear which parts are from canon and which are not, but that was the only pre-rainboom situation I deliberately changed. Anything else you spot is an error on my part, which I will happily invent an excuse for. ;) The whole pre-chapter of diary entries is sort of meant to set the stage for the parts people know well which I changed, so you know what assumptions we're starting with (and to explain the lack of mane six ;) ). Thanks for reading!