A Long-Awaited Homecoming
"Oh, Sunset." Celestia whispered into her daughter's ears as the two them shared a loving embrace. "I thought that I would never see you again." Celestia said to her daughter as she allowed her tears to freely flow onto her daughter's shoulder. Celestia's tears matty Sunset's amber-colored coat.
"Nor did I." Sunset whispered back to her mother.
"Wait, I don't mean to ruin the beautiful moment, but..." Twilight's voice broke the beautiful moment between the mother and daughter.
"I'm might have heard wrong, but Princess did Sunset just call you... Mommy" Twilight asked Celestia. Sunset's teal eyes widening at Twilight's words. Sunset realizing her mistake and her heart began to beat faster than a freight train at full throttle. Sunset looking up at her mother for support.
But what Sunset saw when she looked at her mother wasn't what she expected. What Sunset saw in her mother eyes wasn't fear and sadness. Instead, it was hope and, stranger still, happiness.
"Yes Twilight, you heard currently." Celestia said to the youngest of the four alicorns present. Celestia turning to face Twilight while having her white hooves wrapping around the smaller frame of Sunset.
"I did!" Twilight said in complete shock. "Celestia, a mother, that's absurd!" Twilight's brain screamed in denial.
"Yes, I have never told anyone this before..." Celestia said to Twilight as she turned her head to look lovingly down at Sunset. The amber mare snuggling up closer into her mother soft white fur. "But it is true, Sunset is my daughter." Celestia said to Twilight, and to everyone else in the room, with complete certainty in her voice.
"I kept Sunset's birth a secret from the world. I believed that I was protecting her from the enemies of Equestria. But now, I have realized my mistake." Celestia explained to the ponies and dragons that were present. Celestia's smile growing ever larger as she continued.
"I now realize that I should've never kept Sunset a secret. It was a mistake, a mistake that I don't intend to repeat, ever again." Celestia finished as she lightly kissed her daughter on the top of her forehead.
"Are you telling me that I am..." Luna began to ask her older sister as her teal eyes, eyes that she shared almost identically to that of Sunset, widening at her older sister's words.
"An Auntie!" Luna exclaimed like a school filly as she rushed over to where Celestia and Sunset were standing and joined them in a big group hug. The smaller Sunset being almost completely lost in the larger frames of the two alicorns. The hug was a little uncomfortable for the younger unicorn mare, but she didn't care. This was her family, a family that she hadn't seen in years. She had never even met Luna before, only her darker persona.
"Hey!" Cadence exclaimed as watched her two adopted aunt hug the mare that had tried to kill her when she was younger.
"Oh, don't take it personality Cadence. You're great and all, but Sunset is my blood." Luna said with a small light-hearted laugh. The humor that Luna seemed to find with the return of Sunset only adding to the raging fire that was burning inside of Cadence at that very moment.
"Don't take it personality!" Cadence shouted angrily and bitterly back at Luna. All of the ponies in the room taking a reactionary step away from Cadence. Twilight more so than the rest, this being the first time in nearly a decade that she had seen her old foal sitter engulfed with rage.
"Cadence, honey, please." Shining Armor tried to calm his enraged wife. But Cadence wasn't having any of it. She was angry and she had planned revenge on Sunset since the day that she tried to kill her. And was going to get her revenge one way or the other.
"Don't honey please me, Shining!" Cadence spat at Shining Armor, the white unicorn holding up his hoofs in defense and as a sign of surrender. Shining wasn't stupid, he knew when it was to fight, to surrender, and when it was to retreat. Cadence was both surrender and retreat. She was angry and she had planned revenge on Sunset since the day that she tried to kill her. And was going to get her revenge one way or the other.
"That mare doesn't deserve any of your respect, she deserves to be locked up and have the key thrown away." Cadence said enraged, speaking directly at Sunset. Sunset's happy smile beginning to waver as she remembered what she had done to Cadence when she was younger, all of the evil deeds that she did the poor mare.
"What has Sunset done that would warrant her being arrested?" Luna asked Cadence as she pulled out of the hug that she was having with her newly required niece. Sunset being surprised at how fast Luna was to defend her. Sure she was her flesh and blood, but the time that the two had 'interacted' with each other was when Luna was Nightmare Moon. Luna showing no signs that the two different personas were connected and shared memories.
"Other than what you already know, her theft of Twilight's crown and Element of Harmony." Cadence said sarcastically to Luna.
"An Element of Harmony that she willing surrendered. With her saying that she had rejected her evil ways and has a new mission in doing good." Twilight said to Cadence, only adding to the pink alicorn's anger.
"That's not all that Sunset has done, that's nothing compared to what she has done to me." Cadence said to Twilight, directly her boiling anger at the youngest of the four alicorns.
"What did Sunset do to you, Cadence?" Twilight asked her former foal sitter.
"She tried to kill me!" Cadence shouted at Twilight and everyone in the room let out a gasp at Cadence's words. All of the eyes of the room shifting from the enraged alicorn and over to Sunset, who was hiding behind her mother. Most of the muzzles of the ponies and dragons present had shifted from those of happiness into ones of anger. Sunset feeling even smaller as she stared up at the Alpha above her. The gigantic dragon staring down at her with a look disapproval on his massive muzzle. Sunset feeling even worse having his disapproval of, then if it was her mother.
"Sunset, is this true?" Twilight asked Sunset wide eyes, the amber-colored mare smile vanishing and her body shrinking at Twilight's question.
"It is." Sunset said quietly. Luna's teal eyes widening at Sunset's words. The dark blue alicorn also taking a cautionary step away from her niece.
"How could you?" Luna asked Sunset in shock.
"It isn't something that I am proud of. I didn't know how powerful the darkness was when I allowed it to enter into me when I was younger." Sunset said speaking directly at Cadence. Luna's eyes widening at Sunset's words.
Sunset squirmed out of her mother's grasp and started slowly trotting toward the enraged Cadence. "And I'm sorry." Sunset said to Cadence, the pink alicorn's expression renaming unchanged as Sunset continued to slowly walk towards her.
"I'm sorry for all of the pain that I caused to you, all those years ago." Sunset said to Cadence, the pink alicorn's expression beginning to change from one of anger into one of just general indifference. Sunset could tell that her genuine apology to Cadence was working so she continued. She didn't expect for Cadence to forgive her complete, and she definitely didn't expect her to forget the bad blood that two had in their youth. But she hoped that now Cadence would be able to understand and accept her apology and the two would be able to move forward, and hopefully become true friends for the first time.
"Now, I don't expect you to forgive me for all of the terrible deeds that I have done to you, that would be me requesting too much from you and that's wrong." Sunset started her official apology to Cadence, the pink alicorn's rock hard expression beginning to crack as Sunset continued.
"But do hope that you would at least be able to accept my formal apology and that we would be able to look past all of the bad blood between us and just maybe we could become friends." Sunset said to Cadence as she extending her right hoof to the pink alicorn.
Cadence remained silent, the pink mare's eyes studying the amber-colored hoof that was in front of her. Cadence half expecting the hoof to jump out and attack her, but it didn't. Sunset sounded genuine, she sounded like she truly wanted to mend the bond between the two of them that had been scattered at all of those years ago.
But, then Cadence's emotional overpowered her logical and a thought popped into her head.
"So, did she when you first met. And look how that turned out." The emotional corner of Cadence brain said to her. Cadence wasn't like Sunset or even Twilight for that matter. She followed the emotional side of her brain more often than her logical, and she wasn't going to stop now.
"What do you know about friendship, you treated me like garbage the moment that you met me? Why should expect anything different?" Cadence asked Sunset, an unreadable expression returning to Cadence's muzzle.
"You're right, Cadence." Sunset said back to Cadence without missing a beat. A look of genuine surprise spreading across Cadence's muzzle at Sunset's words.
"What?" Cadence asked Sunset while raising one of her eyebrows.
"You're right, Cadence. You're right about me. I don't know anything about friendship, I never have." Sunset said as memories of all the times that she had driven both ponies and people apart for her own selfish reasons. Sunset wanted to be better. No, she needed to be better. And she knew just the mare, or mares to be technical that could help her.
"But, I am certain that with the help of Twilight Sparkle." Sunset said turning her head slightly to look at the purple alicorn that had certainly saved her life from a time of eternal anger and suffering.
Twilight's purple eyes widening and a pleasant spreading across her muzzle at Sunset's words. A smile that Sunset shared with the purple alicorn.
"My newly reunited and required family." Sunset said as she turned her head around to see her mother and aunt that were both staring approving back at her. Celestia even more so than Luna. Celestia being more proud of her daughter at that very moment more than she had been in years.
"But most importantly, you Cadence." Sunset said shifting her attention back to Cadence. Another look of both confusion and surprise appearing across Cadence's muzzle at Sunset's words.
"Me?!" Cadence said to Sunset in shock, pointing her pink hoof back at herself.
"Yes..." Sunset said to Cadence as she took a single step closer to Cadence. "I believe that not just with Twilight's and my mother's help, but also yours that I would be able to learn and understand the true meaning and value of friendship." Sunset said to Cadence with genuine meaning behind her words.
"So Cadence, do you accept my apology?" Sunset asked Cadence, holding out her right hoof out to Cadence. Sunset hoping that she was able to convince Cadence with her words.
Cadence remained silent for a few seconds as she just stared at the amber hoof that was in front of her. Cadence keeping a neutral expression on her muzzle as she silently stood in front of Sunset.
Sunset was about to retract her hoof away from Cadence, thinking that even with her genuine words of apology, she wasn't able to convince Cadence that she was sorry for all of the terrible things that she had done to her in her youth. That was until she saw Cadence's expression change.
Cadence's neutral expression shifting until a genuine smile on her muzzle.
"Sunset, I know that I might never forgive you for what you did to me." Cadence to Sunset as she began to raise her right hoof in a manner to accept Sunset's hoof shake and her included apology.
"And I don't expect you to, I just hope that you are able to accept my apology and just maybe that the two of us could become friends." Sunset added.
"I know Sunset, and yes. I do accept your apology." Cadence said as she accepted Sunset hoof shake and brought the amber mare in closer for a light hug. There being a round of stomping of hooves as the two mares hugged it out.
"Thank you." Sunset whispered into Cadence's ear as her teal eyes began to well up with tears.
"You're welcome, Sunset." Cadence whispered back as she pulled out the small hug that she was sharing with Sunset.
"Besides this wasn't the first time that I had forgiven someone for almost killing me." Cadence said to Sunset as she slightly looked off in the direction of where Zulu was standing. The changeling King standing at Twilight's side with the couple having their hooves interlocked. A pleasant smile spreading across Zulu's muzzle at the pink alicorn's words. Zulu also slightly lowering his head in gratitude.
"What is she talking about, Zulu?" Twilight asked her colt friend in a small whisper.
"I'll explain later, Twi." Zulu whispered back.
"Alright." Twilight whispered back to Zulu as she returned her attention back to Sunset and Cadence.
"In that case..." Celestia spoke up, returning to her standing as the ruler of Equestria. The white alicorn trotting forward and closer to Sunset. Celestia laying her large white feathered wings over Sunset's body in a light hug.
"I believe that it is the time that we all get some much-needed rest." Celestia said as she tightened her wings grip around Sunset's body. Sunset didn't mind, she didn't blame Celestia for wanting to make sure that she didn't leave her side. She would've done the same thing if she hadn't seen her own child for years.
"Now that is something that I can get behind Princess." Twilight said to Celestia as she let a yawn passing by her lips.
"I'd like to get behind you." Zulu whispered into Twilight's ear. The purple alicorn's muzzle flashing a bright shade of pink at her colt friend's words.
"Why you little..." Twilight whispered back to Zulu as she lightly kicked him in the shin. Zulu softly giggling at his marefriend's response.
"Alright then, we will all meet back up in the throne room tomorrow so that we can finally actually have what us all meeting here in the Crystal Empire was supposed to be about." Cadence said to the group. The ponies and dragons alike beginning to walk toward the door of the small room that held the mirror portal.
"Copy that, Cadence." Twilight said to her former foal sitter. The purple leading all of her friends back to where all of their respective rooms were located inside the large palace that was entirely made out of blue crystal. Zulu being at Twilight's side wherever she went.
The other two alicorns following Cadence's command, she was the ruler of the Crystal Empire and the technical host of the 'Princess Summit' after all. Celestia breaking the wing hug that she was having with her daughter and beginning to follow after the rest.
"Um... Mom." Sunset called out to Celestia. Sunset still feeling a little strange to calling her mother by 'mom'. Especially when it came to in public. But it was a brief un-comfortability that Sunset was willing to withstand. She knew that soon all discomfort that she might be feeling would fade away and quickly become nothing more than a part of her regular routine.
"Yes, Sunset?" Celestia said back to Sunset. The larger white alicorn turning around completely to face her daughter directly. Sunset having Celestia's complete and total focus. And both of them wanted it to stay that way for as long as they could possibly contain it.
"I am just wondering. Where is that I will be staying for the night?" Sunset asked her mother, a pleasant smile spreading across Celestia's muzzle at Sunset's question.
"Why my quarters, of course." Celestia said with a shrug, almost as if the question seemed to be obvious.
"Really?!" Sunset all but squealed in excitement.
"Thanks, mom." Sunset said to gratefully up to her Celestia as she accepted another short by loving hug from the larger white alicorn.
"You're welcome, my little Sunset." Celestia said back to Sunset as she lightly kissed her on the top of the forehead. Celestia looking past Sunset and her gaze meeting Theta. The white dragon not moved since he had returned to Equestria. The two locking eye contract for only a few seconds before Celestia had to look away. A small blush spreading across the white alicorn's muzzle as she looked down at the crystal
Celestia looking past Sunset and her gaze meeting Theta. The white dragon not moved since he had returned to Equestria. The two locking eye contract for only a few seconds before Celestia had to look away. A small blush spreading across the white alicorn's muzzle as she looked down at the crystal floor of the room. Her blush being more one of shame rather than of embarrassment. A blush that only lasted a few seconds before quickly evaporating. Celestia hoping that Theta hadn't noticed, he didn't.
That was when an idea popped into Celestia's head. She returned her attention back to that and her daughter and continued to speak to her. "In fact, there's is somepony that I want you to meet."
"Somepony, who?" Sunset asked her mother with genuine curiosity in her voice.
"Follow me, I am sure that you will enjoy meeting who I want you to meet. Somepony that you should've met a long time ago." Celestia said as she began to Sunset through the halls of the crystal palace. Celestia leading Sunset towards where her personal quarters were located.
"Alright, lead the way, mommy." Sunset said ecstatically as she followed in-step with her mother.
A happy smile spread Theta's muzzle as he continued to watch the adorableness that was currently happening between Celestia and her daughter Sunset. A thought that was a genuine surprise to Theta when he learned it. But now he had time to reflect and analyze it, it quickly began to make more and more sense. He also didn't doubt either of them when they said they were, in fact, mother and daughter.
Theta pushed off the growing reconnection between Princess Celestia and her daughter in the back of his mind as he began to follow after the rest of the ponies before his movements came to a halt when his master, the Alpha, called out to him.
"Theta!" Alpha's voice boomed in the small room. Theta didn't really expect anything less from him. He was a dragon that mountains crumble by running through them. There was nothing subtle about Alpha.
"Yes, Alpha." Theta said up to his master. The gigantic dragon's body being the only thing that Theta could see in his line of vision as he stared up at him.
"Do you have anything to report?" Alpha asked Theta, a look of confusion spreading across Theta's muzzle at Alpha's question.
"I beg your pardon, Alpha. I was not aware that I had to report to you about anything." Theta said up to this master. The gigantic dragon musing over Theta answer before giving his own back to the younger alpha.
"I see... all that I wanted to know if you had any contract with any other enemies of Equestria and the Empire?" Alpha asked Theta, the smaller alpha's expression changing from one of understandable confusion into one of anger.
"What kind of enemies?" Theta bitterly asked the larger dragon, his mind being flooded with memories of his two encounters with his twin brother. Both of them to desirous results.
"I believe you know of who I am speaking of." Alpha said down to Theta in a level of crypticness that would give Celestia a run for her money.
"Are you asking if I ran into him, master?" Theta asked Alpha.
"I guess so." Alpha said down to Theta, the larger dragon taking special note of the younger alpha's massive shift in mood from his questions. He didn't mean to harm his apprentices in any way. He just needed to know the current location and intentions of the only known remaining alpha in existence.
"Yes." Theta said, actually he more spat in anger, up to Alpha. The larger dragon's green eyes widening at Theta's words. "I saw him, I saw my traitorous brother, I saw Sigma." Theta said up to his master, only adding to the larger dragon's curiosity.
"You saw him, how?" Alpha asked his apprentice, curious as to how his former apprentice would've found himself in the human world. Despite the fact that Sigma didn't seem to have gone through the mirror portal beforehand.
"To tell you the truth Alpha, I honestly don't know how he found himself in the human world." Theta said to Alpha. The sudden and rather strange appearance of Sigma in the human world being a question he also had rattling around in the back of his mind since he had first encountered his brother while in the human world.
"Maybe, Sigma found a portal to that land after he escaped during the Destruction of Canterlot." Theta proposed his own theory to his master.
"Perhaps, anything is possible. There is still tons of magic in just not this world, but others, that are yet to be discovered. It is possible that there might be another, aside from this one, that leads to that land."
"Do know any of his plans for the future?" Alpha asked Theta. The younger alpha shaking his head no.
"No, I know nothing of my brother's plans. I was never with him long enough without the both of us fighting to ask. And even if I was, I highly doubt that he would share something of such importance with his enemy." "I just know that he won't stop until he finds me and kills me." Theta said to Alpha.
"You think so." Alpha said down to Theta, the larger dragon studying his apprentice's actions with eager interest.
"I know so, he told me." Theta spat back at his master, his irritation toward the massive dragon growing with each passing second.
"Did he now." Alpha said down to Theta, the larger dragon's words growing Theta's anger to its near tipping point.
"Yes, he could've killed me back in the human world. He had me within an inch of taking my life." Theta said to Alpha, the larger dragon's green eyes widening at Theta's words. Alpha couldn't lose another apprentice, especially one that he could never have the chance to see make a return to the Light.
"But he didn't." Theta continued, the dragon beginning his own small monolog as if the gigantic that was towering above him didn't even exist.
"He could've killed me. He had me right where he wanted me. I was bleeding, I had several broken bones, all he needed to do was finish the job that he made it his mission to accomplish." Theta said more to himself than to his master. The larger dragon silently listening to Theta's words with deep interest.
"But he didn't, he left me inches to death with the promise that he would return once he had completed his true mission, a mission that I don't have clue about, he would return and finally give his brotherly gift of death to me. He left me while bleeding and severely injured just with the promise that he would return so that he could properly 'safer the moment'." Theta said more to himself than to his master. Theta not even noticing his scales had changed from their usual snow white coloration and were now closer to a silvery-gray. While he might not have, his master certainly did.
His apprentice's distraught and anger pained Alpha to watch. Seeing both Theta and Sigma driving each other into mutual anger and almost assured hatred toward each other. The sight pained Alpha to his core. He had made it his mission to not repeat the dark history of him and Omega for future generations, a mission that he had already failed.
"Now, if all that answers your question. If you don't mind it has been a really long day for me and I would just like to get some rest." Theta angrily spat at Alpha.
"If that is what you wish."
"It is." Theta spat bitterly at Alpha as he began to turn away from the larger dragon. "Now, if you don't mind, it has been a long day and I would like to get some rest." Theta said to Alpha as he began to walk out of the room.
"Do you hate him?" Theta heard his master ask from behind him. The larger dragon's question making Theta's movements coming to an immediate halt.
"What?" Theta spat back at his master as he did a quick 180 to look back at the gigantic dragon.
"You heard me." Alpha said defiantly to Theta as he lowered his massive head so that it would be closer to Theta. The two dragon's similarly colored eyes meeting, both of them having stern expressions on their muzzle. Alpha seeing a lot of himself in Theta. The same, arguably misplaced, anger that had toward his brother, Omega. He didn't want to see his two apprentices fall down the same path of anger and hatred that both he and Omega did all of those centuries ago.
"Do you hate him?" Alpha asked Theta directly. The smaller alpha's stern expression beginning to crack as he began to weigh the true magnitude of what his master was asking.
"I don't know." Theta said up to Alpha as he looked away in both shame and denial.
"Do you?" Alpha pressed, not too much. He knew far too well how dangerous an angered alpha could be in combat. Even despite Theta not being full grown and his lack of wings, he was still a dragon. A young dragon at that, a dragon that could enter a mindless rage at any moment.
"Sigma may have done things that can be unforgiven, both to me and the ones that I love. But, despite everything that he has done, and all the terrible things that he is bound to commit in the future. He is still my brother, my twin brother." Theta said more to himself.
That was when something important popped into Theta's head.
"Alpha..." Theta said turning his attention over to that of his master.
"Yes, Theta." Alpha said down to Theta, the larger dragon already expecting what Theta was going to ask him.
"What about you and Omega. Did you hate your brother, for what he did?" Theta asked his master. The larger dragon looking away from his apprentice in shame. How could the Alpha give advice to his apprentice on how to forgive Sigma for what he has done when he couldn't do the same thing with Omega.
"Yes, Theta. Yes, I did." Alpha said to Omega, the white dragon's eyes widening at his master's words. "I hated him more than anything in this world. And I let my rage towards my brother cloud my judgment.
"Theta, I can't give you advice on how to forgive your brother for what he has done, and for what he is bound to do in the future." Alpha said down to Theta, the smaller dragon's eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"All I can hope for not just you Theta, but also myself. Is that you are stronger than I once was. Stronger than I still am." Alpha said down to Theta. The smaller dragon not believing what he was seeing. This was the Alpha, the most powerful creature that he had ever seen, and he was looking up to him. He wanted to be like him, to be as strong as he was. If anything, it should be Theta who should be looking up to Alpha, not the other way around.
"Me, stronger than you." Theta said up to the larger dragon, showing his disbelief to his master's words. "You're the Alpha, how can I be stronger than you. I'm just a child compared to you." Theta said to Alpha, the smaller dragon turning his head away from his master in shame.
"A child that has proven himself time and time again that he is more than ready to take my place as the next Alpha." Alpha said down to Theta, the smaller dragon's eyes widening in both shock and denial.
"No, I haven't Alpha. And I am insulted that you suggest such a horrid thing." Theta said to his master in denial. The younger alpha dragon beginning to walk toward the exit of the small room that held the portal to the human world.
"You have already proven that you deserve your wings, Theta. If it wasn't for you convincing me to return to Equestria and finally defeat Omega then well... we might still be living in a world controlled by my brother's iron claws." Alpha said to Theta, making the white dragon's movements come to a halt.
"Alpha, I appreciate the thought. And I am extremely humbled that you have so much faith in my abilities. But, you are wrong." Theta said, turning around to face his master completely.
"Now, if you don't mind Alpha. I would like to get some rest, it has been a long day. And I would like to have a few hours of rest before returning to learning from the greatest dragon that has ever lived." Theta said respectively up to his master. Theta not knowing, or just not understanding just how much his master has looked up to him.
"If that is what you wish." Alpha said down to Theta with a heavy sigh.
"It is, Alpha." Theta said up to the larger dragon, unmatched levels of respect lining his voice.
"Then you are excused for the rest of the night. Meet back up with me to continue your training in the morning."
"Thank you, Alpha, I won't be late."
"I trust that you won't, goodnight my apprentice." Alpha said to Theta as he watched his young apprentice slowly walk away.
"Goodnight, Alpha." Theta said back to his master as he exited the small room, closing the door behind him with his tail.
Then everything went silent, Alpha standing seemingly alone next to the window of the room that held the mirror portal to the human world. The Alpha being seemingly alone, he wasn't.
"Shouldn't you be with your sister and your new niece right now, Luna." Alpha said to the seemingly no one in the empty room. The dark blue alicorn walking out of the shadows of the corners of the room and moving over to where Alpha was standing at the window of the room.
"Probably, but I needed to talk to you before I properly introduced myself to my new niece."
"I see, what is it that you wanted to speak to me about?" Alpha asked Luna.
"What is it that you see in that young one, Delta?" Luna asked her oldest friend.
"Give Theta time, Luna." Alpha said to Luna with a warm smile. "It won't be long before he realizes his true potential." Alpha said down to Luna, the giant dragon pausing for a few seconds as he was overwhelmed with emotion before he continued.
"He will soon have to." Alpha said down to Luna.
"Delta, what do you mean?" Luna asked her oldest friend with concern and confusion in her voice.
"My time is coming to a close, I can sense it in my bones and my scales." Alpha said down to Luna, the dark blue alicorn's eyes widening at her oldest friend's words. "I don't know how much time I have left in me. All I know is that I will soon have to pass the torch of my legacy over to Theta."
"I see if you truly believe that your time has come. Then it has been a pleasure to know and call my friend, Delta." Luna said to Alpha as tears began to fill her eyes.
"I'm not dead yet Luna, I have just accepted my fate, and I surely hope that once I am gone my apprentice will be able to hold onto my legacy. And bring the traitorous Sigma to justice and have him be charged for his crimes.
"You trust Theta a lot, don't you?" Luna asked the gigantic dragon.
"I would trust my apprentice with my life." Alpha said down to Luna with absolute certainty in his voice.
"Now, you should go. It has been a long day for all of us and yours is just about to start." Alpha said down to Luna, changing the subject. "Besides, I would hate to take you away from some valuable time to get to your new niece." Alpha said down to Luna, talking about Sunset Shimmer.
"You're right, Delta. In that case, goodnight." Luna said to Alpha as she began to trot toward the exit of the room.
"And I hope that one day you will be able to say again that you have two apprentices again, and not just one." Luna said to Alpha just before she exited the room.
"I do too Luna, goodnight." Alpha said down to Luna. The blue alicorn giving Alpha an affirmative head nod before opening and closing the door of the small room. Luna trotting in the direction of where her older sister room was located.
Alpha let out a heavy as he walked away from the window of the room and returned to his sleeping area underneath the crystal palace.
"I just hope it isn't too late." Alpha said to himself as stared off into the distance. Alpha's giant green beginning to waver before completely closing for the night.
"I just hope it isn't too late." Alpha repeated as he let himself to be overtaken by his own exhaustion. Alpha gladly letting himself to be taken off into the land of dreams.
In another part of the castle, Sunset continued to follow her mother through the winding halls of the blue crystal palace.
"So, mom." Sunset spoke, trying to break the ice.
"Yes, my dear." Celestia said to her daughter, the white alicorn's voice sounding like freshly poured honey as she spoke.
"I was just wondering, who is it that you wanted me to meet?" Sunset asked her mother. Celestia letting out a heavy sigh at her daughter's question.
"You've technically already met him, you just don't know him how you should." Celestia said losing a little bit of the light in her face.
"What do you mean?" Sunset asked her mother.
"All of your questions will be explained soon, we're almost there." Celestia said as she continued to lead her daughter toward were her personal quarters were located.
"Alright, lead the way, mom." Sunset said as she continued to follow in-step with mother.
Sunset continued after her mother until the white alicorn stopped at the end of a long hallway that led down toward where Celestia's living quarters were located.
"Wait here Sunset, I just have to finish off a few things before you I can have you meet the pony that I want you to meet." Celestia said to Sunset.
"Ok mom, I'll wait here." Sunset said to her mother with a single nod of her head.
"Alright, I'll be right back." Celestia said to her daughter as she began to walk away and down the hallway that led to her room. Celestia walking down the hallway to her room and a happy smile spread across her face as she laid eyes on her personal royal guard, Sunbeam. Sunbeam also, just happening to be the biological father of Sunset and Celestia former lover.
The orange unicorn that was clad in golden armor leaning up against the wall with his head lowered as he was silently sleeping at his post. Celestia quietly laughing to herself as she watched one of the most senior, by age, of the royal guards silently sleeping on the job. Celestia remembering fondly when he would give the new recruits a pit of Tartarus whenever they would fall asleep on the job.
"Irony is amazing sometimes." Celestia thought to herself as she continued to giggle to herself.
The sound of Celestia's hooves making contact with the light blue crystal floor of the castle, along with her small giggles, disturbing Sunbeam's small power nap and waking him from his slumber.
Sunbeam's eyes opening and widening as he quickly noticed the white alicorn slowly trotting towards him. A pleasant and happy smile quickly spreading across his muzzle as he set eyes on his former lover.
"Celestia, you're back!" Sunbeam exclaimed to Celestia as he got up where he had been leaning up against the wall and saluting his Princess.
"Yes, Sunbeam, I'm back." Celestia said to her former lover with a pleasant smile.
"Did everything go well Celestia, was Princess Twilight Sparkle able to get her crown and Element of Harmony back?" Sunbeam asked Celestia, trying to make general small talk between the white alicorn.
"She was, I never lost faith that Twilight would be able to accomplish her task." Celestia said to Sunbeam with her happy smile still adorning her muzzle.
"That's good to here." Sunbeam said to Celestia as his facial expression seemed to change as he remembered something.
"Um... Celestia?" Sunbeam said to Celestia, striking the alicorn's attention even further.
"Yes, Sunbeam?" Celestia said to Sunbeam, expecting a question involving their shared daughter.
"What about... Sunset?" Sunbeam asked Celestia. The white alicorn's smile vanishing from her muzzle. "What happened to her." Sunbeam continued, Celestia's pink eyes drifting toward the ground at her former lover's question.
"That's the thing, you see." Celestia said as uncharacteristically skittish and shy all of a sudden.
"Yes, Celestia?" Sunbeam urged Celestia to continue.
"She's back." Celestia said to Sunbeam as tears began to form in her eyes.
"Come again."
"She came back, Sunbeam." Celestia whimpered, crying openly and freely, as she wrapped her forehooves around Sunbeam's neck in a tight hug. "Our Sunset is back."
"Where is she?" Sunbeam asked Celestia as he began to scan the area for his daughter. He didn't even know if she still looked like that same little filly that he guarded with his life all those years ago.
"She's just around the corner. I brought her so that she could meet you, truly, for the first time." Celestia said as she pulled out of her hug with Sunbeam.
"Are you saying that you want her to know that I am her father? What about your secret of her being your daughter."
"Everypony already knows that she is my daughter. My secret was, accidently, broken when Sunset returned to Equestria." Celestia explained to Sunbeam with a small smile and giggle.
"... And you are ok with your secret being out?" Sunbeam asked Celestia.
"Yes." Celestia said to Sunbeam with absolute certainty in her voice. "I had made the decision that if Twilight was able to bring my Twilight back to me that I would come clean and tell the world that she was indeed my daughter." Celestia continued to say to Sunbeam. Celestia stopping for a brief moment as seemed to remember something amusing.
"It only happened that my own daughter beat me to the punch." Celestia said to Sunbeam with a small laugh.
"Can I see her?" Sunbeam asked, actually more pleaded with Celestia. "I can understand if you don't let her know that I am your father, but..." Sunbeam began to ask Celestia, only to fall silent as Celestia put her hoof to Sunbeam's lips. Silencing the veteran guard. A small smile spreading across both of their muzzles as they stared into each others' eyes.
"That is why I brought her here. I wanted her to see you." Celestia whispered to Sunbeam as she kept her hoof on Sunbeam's lips. A small smirk spreading Sunbeam's muzzle as Celestia continued.
"I wanted her to meet you, the real you." Celestia said as she pulled her hoof away from Sunbeam's muzzle. That was when she looked away from Sunbeam and a small frown spread across her muzzle.
"Sunset deserves to have a family. A real one, a full one." Celestia said to Sunbeam while still looking at the floor. "She has been on her own for so long, even when I was if her. I still wasn't. I was never a true mother to her, and that is something that needs to change." Celestia began to ramble. Something that Sunbeam had become accustomed from his former lover. Fortunately, he knew actually how to put an end to her rambles.
"I understand Celestia." Sunbeam put a stop to the white alicorn's rambling and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. The guard's soft touch returning a smile to Celestia's muzzle.
"And I feel the same way. I have dreamed for the three of us to be a proper family since Sunset was born, and now it seems it has come time for that dream to come pass." Sunbeam said to Celestia as she two locked eyes once more.
"In that case, let's get this over with." Celestia said as she turned her head down to the corner of the hallway where Sunset had been waiting.
"Sunset!" Celestia called down the hallway.
"Yes, mother?" Sunset said as she poked her head around the corner.
"Come here, I have somepony that I would like you to meet." Celestia urged her daughter to come forward. Sunset heeding her mother's command. Sunset slowly trotting down the hallway toward where her mother and the royal guard were located.
"Commander... Sunbeam?" Sunset asked her mother as a look of confusion spread across her muzzle. "This is who you wanted me to meet mother? I already know the Commander." Sunset asked Celestia.
"I know, I know." Celestia said to her daughter with a small smile.
"Then why did you go through all the trouble to meet somepony that I already know, given I haven't seen him in years, but still?" Sunset followed up another question to her mother as her confusion only continued to grow.
"You remember when I told you that your father left not long after I had gotten pregnant with you?" Celestia asked her daughter.
"Yeah, what about him?" Sunset asked her mother, all but waving up being reintroduced to the guard from her filly-hood. Sunbeam was emotionally hurt by his daughter's words of rejection, but he was able to hide any signs of physical damage from Sunset. He had years of practice hiding his feelings towards Celestia from the rest of the world. So hiding intentional rejection from his daughter was nothing to him. Besides, soon it would all be over.
He didn't blame his daughter, of course, for her reaction to meeting him again for the first time in almost a decade. To her, Commander Sunbeam was just another standard Royal Guard that she would see when she was wondering around the castle in her youth. Sure he tended to be around both Celestia and herself a lot, but she just assumed that was because that was where he was usually assigned. And she didn't question anything further than that.
"Sunset, I brought you here in order for us to one big happy family, all of us." Celestia said to Sunset as she turned to look directly at Sunbeam. Sunset now quickly beginning to understand what was going on.
"Mother... are you saying that..." Sunset began to ask Celestia before falling strangely silent.
"Yes, Sunset. Sunbeam is indeed your father." Celestia said to Sunset, the white alicorn's pink eyes beginning to feel tears.
"You can't be serious?" Sunset said in complete shock. Her just now beginning to realize the similarities that she shared with the Royal Guard. Her coat, her eyes, for Tartarus sake her own name.
It seemed so obvious now, how had not been able to see it before.
She should've foreseen something like this before, but she didn't. Maybe she was just too young, maybe had believed the lies, unintentional or not, that Celestia and her adoptive parents told her. She honestly believed that her father was dead, or that he had just abandoned her when she was born. Celestia paying off her father to keep quiet in light of her birth.
Maybe that lie still had some truth to it. She had so many questions and a mountain-sized need for answers. Answers that she was going to demand the answer of.
"Sunset, your mother is telling the truth." Sunbeam said down to his daughter. Sunset's teal eyes widening as she began to completely comprehend the gravity of the situation.
"You mean... you... both... had me..." Sunset stammered as her brain continued to process the gravity of the current situation that she had found herself in.
"Yes..." Sunbeam said as he wrapped his foreleg around Celestia's neck. Celestia accepting the small hug from her former lover, a former lover that might just upgrade himself to becoming her current lover.
"For the same reason that I foolishly decided that it would be best to keep your birth a secret from the rest of the world." Celestia said down to Sunset.
"And what is that?" Sunset pressed while still trying not to sound like she was to force her mother to tell her the answer that she so desperately needed.
"Because..." Celestia began, pausing for a few seconds. Celestia turning her head to look at Sunbeam. The newly reformed couple getting lost in each other eyes for a few seconds before Celestia returned her attention back to her daughter. A daughter who was waiting, rather impatiently, for Celestia's answers.
"Because... because I was afraid." Celestia finally answered.
"I was afraid that if I let the world know of your existence..." Celestia said directly to Sunset. "Of both of your existence..." Celestia continued as she added Sunbeam to the discussion. "Then I would only end losing both of you in the end and I had lost too much at that point."
"And you only ended losing me anyway." Sunset added.
"Yes, my selfish actions almost made my greatest fear come true." Celestia said to Sunset as a small smile began to spread across her muzzle. "A selfish decision that I do not intend to make again.
"I understand mother, and thank you. I never knew how much I needed you, both of you." Sunset to both of her parents as her own smile spread across her muzzle.
"Thank you, Sunset." Celestia said to her daughter with her warm smile still plastered on her muzzle.
"Now..." Celestia said changing the subject. "It is late and I am sure that all of us need to get some rest." Celestia said to both Sunset and Sunbeam.
"We can arrange some kind of quarters for you for the time being tomorrow. Right now, we can all just share my private quarters." Celestia said to Sunset. The white alicorn trying to end the discussion without sounding to forceful.
Celestia already turning and beginning to walk toward her private quarters, her being followed closely behind by Sunbeam. Her golden magic wrapping the door knob to her room.
"What about Canterlot, why can't we just return home?" Sunset asked her mother. The amber mare completely unaware that her back in Equestria had already been destroyed.
Both Celestia and Sunbeam's movements coming to a halt at their daughter's question.
"Are you going to tell her, or am I?" Sunbeam whispered into Celestia's ear.
"Don't worry... I'll handle this." Celestia whispered back. The both of them turning almost simultaneously to face their daughter.
"Returning to Canterlot is... impossible, my dear." Celestia said to Sunset, an understandable look of confusion appearing on the amber unicorn's muzzle.
"What are you talking about mother?" Sunset asked her mother.
"We can all discuss Canterlot in greater detail later. But right now, we all need to get our rest. I believe that you can, at least, agree with me on that." Celestia said to Sunset, intentionally avoiding her daughter's question. She knew that she would have to tell her daughter eventually that her home was no more, but she didn't want to turn the return of her daughter from anything other than a happy occasion.
She would tell her the truth in time, it was just late and she didn't want to ruin a happy moment that she had been dreaming of for nearly a decade.
"I-I understand mother, I can wait. Until the morning." Sunset said a little disappointedly to her mother.
"Excellent, now follow me. I think I can grab a few things and make you a small bed to sleep on for the night." Celestia said to Sunset as she began to lead both Sunset and Sunbeam towards her personal quarters.
"That would be just fine, mother." Sunset said as she followed after her.
"That's good to hear Sunset..." Celestia said back to her daughter as she arrived at the closed doorway that led to her room. Celestia's long horn igniting with her golden magic as she turned the door knob to her room. The door slowly opening and allowing entrance into the white's alicorn personal quarters.
"And here we are!" Celestia exclaimed as she used her horn to ignited a few candles in the room, adding some much-needed light into the bedroom.
Celestia's horn ignited again with her golden magic as she gathered up a pile of assorted blankets and made a small makeshift bed for Sunset in the corner of the bedroom, close to the opened doorway.
"There, it's not much, I'll admit, but I believe that it will do quite nicely for the time being. Until we can get an actual bed in the meantime." Celestia said more to herself, admiring her handiwork. "What do you think, Sunset?" Celestia asked her daughter.
"Thank you, mother. I believe that this will do quite nicely.
"Celestia?" Sunbeam asked the white alicorn, catching her attention, as Sunset began to get comfortable in her makeshift bed.
"Yes, Sunbeam?"
"I was just wondering, I know it is still early, but I just wanted to ask..." Sunbeam began to say before his voice mysteriously dropped out. The royal guard suddenly becoming quite sheepish, something unbecoming of a royal guard.
"Yes, Sunbeam?" Celestia urged Sunbeam to continue, take a hoof step closer.
"I was just wanted to know if you won't mind in I spent the rest of the night here, with you?" Sunbeam asked Celestia, a suggestive smirk spreading across her muzzle. A smirk that Sunset acknowledged. The amber unicorn's heart beginning to beat faster as she watched her become newly acquainted with each other.
"I would be more than glad to enjoy your company tonight. It has been quite lonely sleeping by myself for the last few years.
"Um... mom." Sunset said to her mother with forcefulness, as while some hesitation, in her voice.
"Yes, my dear?" Celestia asked her daughter with genuine confusion and concern in her voice.
"Please don't do anything... clears throat... dirty while I'm sleeping. Please." Sunset said with a small amount of hesitation in her voice.
Celestia and Sunbeam both shared a brief glance with each other. Both of their muzzles taking on a slight shade of pink out of embarrassment. Then the couple broke into a small fit of laughter.
"Oh, don't worry honey, we wouldn't dream of doing anything of that nature in your presence, even more so if you sleeping only a few feet from the both of us." Celestia said to Sunset with absolute in her voice.
"I concur with your Mother. We might not have been with each other for over a decade, but we aren't that desperate." Sunbeam said to his daughter with a small laugh. A laugh that he shared, hesitatingly, with Sunset.
"Well, that being said. I believe that it is the time that we all finally go to bed." Celestia said, quickly changing the subject. Her words getting an expected yawn from Sunset.
"Agreed, well good night." Sunset said to her parent, through her yawn. Sunset wrapping one of the blankets around of her body and she slowly closed her eyes. The amber-colored mare quickly found her way into the land of dreams.
Celestia and Sunbeam both following the actions of their daughter and quickly climbed into bed, together. They both didn't cuddle, it was still a little too early for the both of them to go back to that kind of commitment.
The two of them sleeping in the same King-sized bed, but on separate sides of it. Both of them quickly joining their daughter in the land of dreams, all of them eager for the day that was to come.
Back in through the mirror portal to the human world, Sigma continued to wander through the streets of the city.
"I knew that I should've trusted her." Sigma bitterly spat to himself as he continued to walk through the backstreets of the city. The night still having young and a light breeze blowing slightly through his thick black coat.
Sigma wandering through the town via the backstreets and alleyways as a means of avoiding detection and suspicion. The thing he would want would be stuck any long than required in this accursed body in one of those inhumane places that he had seen the fellow dogs kept. He thought that they were called, pounds.
His fellow brethren kept in cages by an ungrateful inferior race, it disgusted him.
"Maybe if I had just..." Sigma began to continue, looking down at his right paw. The black husky stopping as he shook off the idea before it even had the required time to completely build in his mind.
"No, stop thinking like that. This was just a minor setback in a major operation." Sigma said to himself as he continued down his path. "You're just a little bit behind schedule, that's all." Sigma said reassuringly to himself.
"We are more than just 'a little bit' behind schedule." The voice of the gem that was attached to the collar around Sigma neck said to him.
"Silence, it is your fault that I even bothered working with Sunset, if you had just told me that she wasn't one that we needed then we wouldn't currently be behind schedule." Sigma snapped back at the gem, quickly silencing it.
"Are you sure Adagio?" Sigma heard a girl with a high pitched voice that disgustedly reminded him of the pink one of Twilight's lackeys ask another teenage girl that looked to be around her same age. The two girls also being accompanied by one more girl was about the same age. The teens all wearing differently colored hoodies.
"I am certain." Sigma heard another girl say in response. Sigma still continuing on his path without taking a second look or thought at the current conservation that was happening within earshot of his current location.
"Something like that could only be Equestrian magic, and if Equestrian magic as really come to this world than just maybe, we might be able to fully be able to feed for the first time in ages." Sigma heard the same girl say, this time the girl's words taking his attention.
"Equestria... there are more people from this world that are from home." Sigma thought out loud.
"There is only one way to find out." The voice of the gem around Sigma's neck said to the black husky.
"Silence, I can handle this." Sigma spat at the gem as he changed his path and started heading toward where the voices of the girls were coming from. Sigma turning down one alley and going down another. The black husky quickly finding himself face to face with three hooded teens. The three girls that he was looking for.
"But how could that even be..." The high-pitched teen from earlier began to ask the other two. Her only to quickly shift her attention from whatever the three had been talking about before and over to the black husky that was currently walking towards them at that very moment.
"Oh, a puppy!" The blue haired girl squealed as she ran up to Sigma. The wrapping her arms tightening around Sigma's neck as she stared wide-eyed at her two friends.
"Oh Adagio, can we keep him? You never let me have a puppy before!" The blue haired teen excitedly asked the other teen that seemed to be the leader of the group. The leader of the three face palming at the actions of the girl that was currently trying to choke Sigma.
Sigma sympathized with the leader of the teens, but with they were really from Equestria, then they just might be some use to him. But first, he needed to get out of this girl's death grip.
"I'm no puppy!" Sigma spat as he snapped his jaws at the blue haired girl. Missing her small nose by mere inches. The girl releasing the black husky from her grasp and retreated back behind the protection of the two other girls.
"You... you can talk?!" The girl that went by Aria asked Sigma. "A dog... that can talk?" Aria said, still in a state of understandable confusion.
"I'm not a dog either!" Sigma shouted at the three girls. Sigma's red eyes locked on the red gem that all of three girls had wrapped around their necks. The small gem around his collar glowing brighter the closer that he got to them. None of three teens noticing the glowing gems, but Sigma did.
"Then what are you?" The leader asked Sigma, Adagio was her name.
"A dragon." Sigma said honestly to the three teens.
"A dragon... then that would mean that you are from..." Adagio said to Sigma as realization began to set in.
"Yes, I am from Equestria." Sigma said to Adagio, the teen's eye widening at the black husky's words. Only for a devilish to spread across her face. A devilish smile that she shared with the likes of Sigma.
Both Sigma and Adagio going to be glad that they ran into each other.
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Yay! A update! That was a cute chapter, I can't wait to see what happens next.
8084433 Thank you, I already have a few plans for the next chapter. I am really looking to writing Sigma and the Sirens working together. More ZuluxTwilight shipping. Growing the relationship between Sunset and her parent, plus CelestiaxSunbeam shipping. Adding more to Theta so that he can become the successor to the Alpha, and of course some ThetaxMoon Dancer shipping.
8084581 Cool!