• Published 20th Mar 2016
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Raise You Like a Phoenix - Gapeagle



A young burglar tries to steal some of Princess Celestia's most prized jewels and artifacts. After she is caught, however, she catches the Princess's eye.

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Chapter 17: Unwanted Truths

"How could I leave that poor girl there alone?"

Celestia leaned on the balcony outside her chambers. The moon had recently escaped the coverage of the gray clouds to reveal Equestria once again in its moonlight. Unlike most nights, when Celestia would speak with the moon, tonight, she cast her eyes downward towards the Canterlot and refused to see the giant orb in the sky.

"It's happening again, Sister. A thousand years have not made me wiser. All the ages have done is let me forget any lessons I've learned."

Her eyes wandered around the east side of Canterlot. She, of course, could not see Wing Beat's home from that view, but she felt she could. She felt she could pinpoint the tiny dot in her perspective and say that that was the house that held the ill child. How many Dayshines were out in my grand city?

A knocking sounded from her chamber door. Her thoughts retreated back to the present and she turned around. With caution, she approached the door. Her brow raised, she took hold of the door with her magic and opened it only slightly.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Your Highness!" Corporal Armor said frantically. "Sunset's escaped!"

"Does not surprise me," Celestia said lowly, not a strain of emotion from her words.

"We believe she is in her study. Some of the servants said they heard talking in there."

"Then go get her."

Armor pestered her still. "Your Highness, you should have seen what she did to Private Jack in the dungeon. She is dangerous and we believe you're the only one that can talk sense into her."

"Shining Armor, I've tried to talk sense into her for all this time. I was about to give her one last chance in the morning. I'm not sure if I could even give her that chance. Every waking moment depletes any hope I have for her. She is your task now. She is not Sunset Shimmer, but a faceless criminal. Treat her as such. I wash my hooves clean of this issue."

"Your Highness-"

"I've given my orders. Carry them out."

Celestia shut the door with a heavy sigh. She did not even look at Shining Armor's shocked face before shutting him off from her. The interaction did not make her feel any better. Actually, she felt worse from her rude treatment of one of her stallions. A stallion who enlisted himself knowing full well he could die like Wing Beat's teammates. I am their leader, what am I if I do not show my appreciation?

She then opened the door and walked out. Shining Armor was down the hall, speaking with other Royal Guards. With a slight briskness to her step, she went down the hall. The corporal looked at her with a raised brow.

"Corporal, I want to apologize for my treatment of you," she said softly.

"Do not worry, Your Highness," he bowed. "I understand why you're upset."

"Good. I'm glad-" she stopped.

"What is it?" Shining asked.

"Did you hear that?" Celestia whispered.

The corporal looked around and then scratched his head. "Um, no."

The princess looked back and realized the door to her chambers was still open. My bedroom! The amulet! In a mad panic, she sprinted towards her room, making the guards jump in fright. When she reached her chambers, the door slammed shut in front of her.

"Sunset! Sunset Shimmer!" she cried.

She tried to open it with her magic, but it stayed put. She's boarding it with her magic. Celestia took a step back, her horn ignited into a bright light and she aimed her head at the door.

"Step back, guards!" she told the running group of stallions.

A great beam flew from her horn and blasted the door to pieces. With no hesitation, she leaped inside, ready to defend herself. However, no attack was on its way. The room was filled with flying papers, making a vortex that shrouded almost half of the room. She kept her horn lit and approached the paper vortex.

"Sunset?" she said cautiously.

"You're not good at hiding things, princess," was the response from within the vortex.

"Sunset, please don't do this."

"I made a promise..."

The whirlwind died and all the pages flew across the room. Sunset stood where the vortex once was, her leather jacket on and the Alicorn Amulet hanging on her chest. Red wisps of magic floated from the sides of her eyes. No devious smile was on her lips, only a solemn frown that accompanied her hateful eyes.

"Take that thing off, right now!" Celestia demanded without confidence.

"I can't do that, Celly," she returned. "I made a promise, I'm keeping it. I'm also tired of you and the Equestria you stand for. All you do is stay up in this palace and act like you're ruling. You don't care about ponies down there, like me and Dayshine. You've been ruling a thousand years and I doubt you have anything to do with our progress."

"I am not perfect, Sunset. I know this too well. Please, this is not the answer. You cannot save your sister with the amulet. I told you this. You are denying reality. Take it off and we can act like civilized ponies once more. There's no need for violence."

Flames danced around Sunset's hooves. "You're lying to me. I can cure her. You can too. You just refuse to. That's the kind of pony you are, princess."

The guards finally charged in the chambers, but were promptly thrown out by Sunset's magic. The doorway was then shut with a wall of red fire. Sunset and Celestia were now alone.

Sunset paced around the room. "All you've done is lie to me. Where is all your humor now? Huh? Where are your wisecracks and giggles? All you did was mock me, but now your mouth is shut since I'm now more powerful than you."

Celestia held her ground. "My former student, I can only advise you to end this quest. You do not have your sister's intentions at heart. You want power, you want authority. You never came here to get help, you came here to help yourself. You lied to your sister, you never cared for her. I'm sure even Wing Beat knows of your constant deceptions."

"You know nothing! All you do is make assumptions that fit your agenda! I love my sister. The world has not favor her and I. We've been outcasts, orphans, rejected kids on the streets. I did not steal because I wanted, but because I had to. Yeah, it was fun, but I didn't want my whole life to be that way. I need something more than that, for both of us. We are gonna have adventures together once she is healed. She'll be a new pony when I'm done curing her."

"You could have placed her in the hospital! You could have helped her!"

"And what will that do? Celestia, I've thought long and hard about what I'm about to do. They aren't gonna heal her, only keep her alive a few days longer. I am going to be her hero! I am going to be the sister she always thought I was! You don't understand what it's like being an older sister!"

"Sunset, stop!"

"They all look to somepony like you like you're a hero, but why not me? You have all the power, why not me? I'm shunned by ponies! I am thrown out into the streets and forgotten by my own parents! You get a palace! You get immortality! Why can't I get that? Why are you exalted when other ponies fall? They shun my night!"

Celestia blinked in shock upon hearing the last words. Sunset stepped forward, her horn glowing red with the amulet's magic. The princess's heart started racing as she began to hear a familiar voice cry from the thief.

"I am forgotten! Thrown away like trash! They enjoy you! Ponies from all over Equestria pay money just to see you! But I have to live in the shadows! I am forgotten while you are praised. You had every opportunity to fix this, my sister, but you didn't! You never fix anything, only make it worse. I sicken at your silliness, I cry at your lack of care, and I won't stand for it any longer."

"Luna please!" Celestia cried. "I don't want to do this, not again. Please..."

"You cry now because of your mistakes, Tia!" Luna pinned Celestia to the wall, a vile snarl upon the little sister's lips. "You cry now because you only now realize how poorly you've treated me. What kind of sister are you? Because of you and those awful ponies, the moon shall stay up in that forsaken sky for eternity. Because of you, I have to show the world why I am relevant in their pitiful lives."

"Do not do this again to me, dear Sister," Celestia uttered. "Do not lie to yourself. You are relevant. You are loved. Lower the moon, it is your duty."

"Do not force me to stand idly by while they all bask in your precious light! No, you've had your chance, Sister. Only one princess shall rule this land from here on, and that princess will be me!"

Luna jumped back from Celestia and her horn glowed with magic. Red flames sprouted from the air and whirled about the throne room of the Castle of the Two Sisters. The moon decorated drapes and the ceiling's windows watched the two sisters battle for the eternity of the world. Or did they? All the flames from the little sister were only deflected by the elder. Celestia kept backing away from the attacks. She grunted as each powerful hit struck her bubble shield, making cracking sounds much like the shattering of glass.

"Sister! Cease!" Celestia yelled.

"Enough talk!" Luna growled. "You had your chance, Celestia! You took your opportunities to help me and threw them away! You are nothing but a failure, and I, your consequence!"

Magic took hold of Celestia and she was thrown into a wall, making dust and bits of stone fly from it. Still now she did not retaliate against her assailant. She was thrown against another wall, cracking the ancient stone with the force alone. Luna took a breath before slamming her sister straight into the floor.

"Have you given up so easily, Tia?" she mocked.

Flames danced around the beat down. Blood fell from Celestia's lips and she struggled to even get to her feet. Her knees buckled, her voice kept echoing one distraught phrase after the other. It was a pitiful sight. So much so, that Luna herself pounced on her sister and pinned her down. The fires in her eyes, the red magic that surrounded her. Her small muzzle was close to Celestia's and her voice was filled with anger.

"Fight me!" Sunset screamed. "I've waited so long for this! To put you down, to free myself! Fight me!"

"Luna?" Celestia asked the young mare.

The chambers of the princess were now burning everywhere. Her bed, her books, just about anything of value was engulfed in a raging inferno caused by the thief. Sunset was on top of her, red tendrils coming from her eyes and the Alicorn Amulet glowing bright in its pleasure of being used so improperly. Celestia looked at her former student with regret and regret only.

"Who are you talking about?" Sunset demanded with a slight scoff.

"Sunset, it does not have to be this way. I am not your enemy..."

"Maybe."

Sunset jumped back and blasted a bolt at the princess. It struck Celestia and she tumbled across the floor and over burning bed. It was an agonizing hit and she barely stood from it.

"Maybe you aren't my enemy," Sunset said, "but I know you aren't my friend."

Sunset took Celestia in her magic grasp and threw her forcibly out onto the balcony. The cold wind swept around Celestia's damaged mane and the moon watched in silence. The princess pathetically pulled herself up on the balcony and looked at the thief with sorrowful eyes. No resistance was found in her being at all.

"I'm sorry, Sunset," Celestia spoke. "I never realized I hurt you this much. I've only tried to help you. I would be lying to say otherwise. I will never beg you to believe me, but I think you do already. You are in denial. You don't want to know what is true and what is logical. All that has happened to you has placed walls that cloud your judgment. I am not your enemy, Sunset. The enemy is yourself and I've only tried to save you from what you may become."

"Oh? So it's like you know everything, huh?" Sunset rolled her eyes.

"I don't know everything, but I certainly know more than you, young one. I am a failure; you are my consequence. You have taught your lesson to me, now I ask you to leave. Go. Save your sister if you can. When I spoke with her, I knew I was already too late."

Sunset scoffed. "No, you simply don't have the guts to help her. That's why I never asked you to do anything. I know you can't do it."

"Neither can you," Celestia then pointed at the city. "Go! Prove me right! Ponies who have walked your path do not end with happiness. I have seen it all too many times. You will be miserable. You will believe you are lost. You will be hopeless. You will have no friends."

"I'll tell you otherwise when I prove to all that even a pony like me can achieve greatness," Sunset stuffed a hoof into Celestia's bloodstained fur.

"I'd like to hear it," Celestia snarled.

"Next time, Celly, put up a fight."

Sunset was then surrounded by red flames and disappeared. The wall of fire that blocked the guards from entering was now lifted. The guards were caught standing there with buckets of water and other useless devices for extinguishing flames. Corporal Armor was the first to react and rushed over the burning room to Celestia.

"Your Highness! We must get you to a hospital. You're wounded!" he cried.

"I've been through worse, Shining..." Celestia pushed him away. "Sunset has the Alicorn Amulet; I shall do my best to keep her in check. The night is not over, far from it."

"Your Highness, please do not do anything you'll regret!" Armor begged.

The princess placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I already have, Corporal. I already have. It is time for me to give her that one chance."

Celestia kept the guards at a distance and spread her wide white wings. Her sides ached, some parts bled, and she was bruised all over, but she kept her solemn expression. With one hoof, she lifted herself onto the railing. Letting herself fall off, she glided down and away from the balcony, leaving the Royal Guards watching in bewilderment.

"Your Highness! Think about this!"

"Stop!"

"Come back!"

Their cries were not heard by the princess who flew across the skyline of Canterlot. Her wings took over farther and farther away from the palace. Whatever happens, even if is just as I predict, I shall not be ready for it. Her eyes looked up at the moon. The imprint of an alicorn that branded the surface of the moon for a thousand years stared back at her. The time was different, but the wounds were the same. It's too soon to feel this again. A thousand years too soon.

"I shall never let this happen again. Maybe it is not Sunset who needs a friend. Perhaps, it is I..."