The Heart of the Sun Princess

by keithsterling

chapter 2

It’s a week later; a train from the Crystal Empire arrives at the Canterlot station carrying Princess Cadance after stopping in Ponyville to visit Princess Twilight Sparkle her, sister-in-law, for few a days before she had to return to her duties as the ruler of the Crystal City in the north. Princess Cadance disembarks her train car and walks toward the Silverlight stable with a grin on her snout. When she gets the chance, she stops by the Silverlight stable to visit her adopted family in Canterlot.

“Hello grandmother, I have come for a visit!?” Cadance yells walking into the foyer of the Silverlight stable main house, her gold horseshoes click loudly in the empty room. Sitting on a small table in front of her was a letter addressed to her. She floats the letter up and tears the end off.

To: My adopted granddaughter Princess Cadance,

If you found this letter I left on the table addressed to you my granddaughter, then you have discovered that the stable is now deserted. We are sorry that you found out this way that we have left Canterlot, maybe forever. An unforeseen incident has come up between the Silverlight family and her highness Princess Celestia. We knew of your visit to Princess Twilight your sister-in-law in Ponyville and how you come to visit us when you get a chance. So I left this letter for you, dear Cadance.

As for the incident, your aunt Princess Celestia didn’t pass the test of forgiveness. Fearing something might happen to our family after she found out that we unleashed the nightmare force on Equestria and it attacked her sister, we decide to leave and return to our homeland of Dream Valley and begin to rebuild it. When everything is stable in the rebuilding, I’ll send you a letter with directions to my homeland of Dream Valley. Till that time, you will always be in my heart my adopted Granddaughter Princess Cadance.

Your grandmother,
Countess Ophelia Silverlight
Royal Minister of the Kingdom of Dream valley
Ex-noblemare of Equestria

Tears splash on the letter as Cadance rips up the letter with her magic. With resolve on her face, Cadance leaves the depressing Silverlight Stable and heads to the Canterlot Royal Palace to find out why her Aunt Celestia didn’t pass the Silverlight test of forgiveness. At the Royal Palace, Cadance finds an incurably sad Celestia with tears streaking down her face in the throne room alone without her royal advisors present.

“Auntie what happened to the Silverlight’s, their stable is empty?” Princess Cadance inquires as Celestia looks over her niece piercingly.

“What happened Cadance was another nightmare that I just awoke from (tears fell to the floor) and I must go.” Celestia answers Cadance more upset than angry as she walks into one of the empty side room beside the throne room of the palace.

As Princess Cadance watches Celestia leave the throne room and disappear into one of the side rooms, she spots a vexed Luna coming from the opposite side of the room. Something feels different about Luna but she can’t put her hoof on it. Then she realizes that Luna’s faithful guard Sir Keith Sterling is not with her. From talking with her adopted Sister Serena, she knows that Keith has started a relationship with Princess Luna like Justice and Celestia did. Something this Princess of love is very happy about.

“Greetings, your highness how are you?” Cadance said friendly as Luna takes no notice of her first question.

“Your highness, I am wondering do you know what happened to the Silverlight’s?…I went to their stable after arriving in Canterlot from Ponyville to visit…the stable was deserted with no sign of the family….Would you know any reason why the family would leave Canterlot ?” Cadance inquires wondering as the question caught Luna’s attention.

“That I do not know, Cadance.” Luna answers as she continues through the throne room toward the other side of the room.

“One minute…I am enjoying a dinner date with my special somepony….Then he gets up and leaves without telling me….then I receive a letter from him saying the outcome of a family meeting could change our relationship with him and my sister….this morning I walk over to the Sterling stable to talk to him and found it like you and the Silverlight stable, empty….his letter says it had to do with Celestia…..so I’m going to find out what she did to chase off my happiness.” Luna said bitterly as she goes from room to room searching for her sister Celestia.

She finds Celestia in the very last room lying on a rug. She’s weeping, looking at a picture of her and Justice at a beachside resort in Los Pegasus where he proposed to her.

“Sister! I demand to know what you did to the Sterling family! Why did they leave Canterlot?” Luna said bluntly as Celestia continues to cry before turning towards her and hugging her like she never did before.

“Oh sister, I’m so sorry….sorry for everything you’ve been through. If I had only known I would have never sent you to your moon.” Celestia apologizing as Luna looked a bit perplexed with the whole incident.

“What are thou talking about, sister?” Luna said irritated as Celestia let her go.

“Never sent me to the moon? So you would have allowed me to bring eternal night to Equestria and our ponies….What kind of Princess would allow that!....that’s beside the point…Why did the Sterling family leave Canterlot?….I finally found a pony that cared about me and he gets up and leaves without a word to me….he sent me a letter saying you have something to do with it….So what did you do to cause the Sterling’s to leave, sister?!” Luna said sharply pointing her hoof at Celestia.

‘The Sterling family left too. That’s easily answered that their loyalty is to the Silverlight royal family and would go if the royal family feels unwelcomed….but that still doesn’t answer why Celestia didn’t pass the test of forgiveness from everything Serena told me….Justice held high hopes to break his curse when he married Celestia.’ Cadance thought standing just outside the door leading into the room.

“The family did unspeakable things to us, Luna. Terrible things that I wished I had learned sooner! I will never forgive them for what they have done to us and to you, dear sister!” Celestia said dripping with spite, staring at the picture of Justice as she kissed Luna on her forehead and embraced her.

“Back then when you became Nightmare Moon I thought it was because you seek out the darkness on your own. But it was the Silverlight family who tried to use the power of darkness for their own selfish reason! If I had known that you were being manipulated I would have never banished you. I would have found another way. Can you forgive me little sister? I…I failed to protect you from the evil. You must understand why I could never marry into a family who lied and deceived me for centuries.” Celestia explains as her mouth crimps in annoyance. Luna and Cadance look at each other befuddle with what Celestia was saying, until they realized what she was talking about.

“Cadence, could Celestia be speaking of the Silverlight guilt….that one of their patriarch’s released the nightmare force upon Equestria transforming me into Nightmare Moon…?” Luna said at a complete loss looking at Cadence standing next to her.

“She must be talking about that Auntie.” Cadence commented at a complete loss too, looking back at Luna.

“Ok sister (pointing her hoof at Celestia)….What do you know about the Silverlight guilt, what did the family tell you?….I know a little about the guilt from Keith….tell me sister!?” Luna said sourly as she studies Celestia acutely.

“I was adopted by the Silverlight family as a daughter so I was told the full story by Grandmother herself, so I can fill in some of the details of the Silverlight guilt….” Cadence commented as she smiles.

“Start talking sister…!” Luna said gruffly still pointing her hoof at Celestia.

“I was told that the family made a pact with the darkness so they would have unlimited food stores at the cost of the rest of the village and their family would be protected. I also learned they were tricked by darkness and cursed by it. The family deserved it for making a pact with the darkness.” Celestia said self-righteously as her mood changed from angry to sadden upon running her hoof along the seam of her wonderful wedding gown that she will never wear.

“I really love Justice with all my heart, he always treats me like a regular mare and not an Alicorn or Princess of Equestria…..his family did the same. Everytime I set a hoof in the Silverlight stable I felt the love growing bigger and bigger toward me….I really wanted to marry him, not because I pity him, far from the truth, because he truly cares about me and I care about him….I don’t know why they came to my court in the first place and I don’t care….but ever since the Silverlight family appeared in my court out of nowhere I have never felt such joy anytime during my long life.” Celestia said confessing her true feeling about Sir Justice Silverlight, the stallion she truly loves with all her heart.

“I don’t know what to do, sister….have I made a huge mistake….did I just poison my one chance at true happiness ?” Celestia said wondering resting her forehead against the Alicorn form as tears ran down her snout and splash at her hoofs.

“But most importantly, have you forgiven what the Silverlight family did to us? Tell me?! Did I misunderstand the situation?” Celestia inquires keeping her forehead pressed against the alicorn form as tears continue to fall.

“Oh dear sister, you carry so many scars and most are self-inflicted….you did misunderstand what happened to the Silverlight family….Yes, the family did release the nightmare force on Equestria but not for the reasons you think….As for forgiving them, I have… along with forgiving myself….that family has done something wonderful to us, sister…Help us move on to a brighter future free of guilt and pain….If you just reach for it.” Luna said caring as she kisses Celestia on her cheek.

“As my knowledge of the Silverlight family’s past is a bit limited….would you please Cadence, tell Celestia what you know. (Cadence shakes her head)” Luna comments lying down on a second rug in the room, kicking her horseshoes off her hooves to be more comfortable.

“Let’s start with what the Silverlight’s are…..the Silverlight’s are the descendants of an ancient race of ponies known as dreamer ponies that lived in harmony in a small valley away from the fighting of the other three tribes….They could manipulate the forces of both Dream magic (AKA: light magic) and Nightmare magic (AKA: dark magic) with ease….this skill helps build their civilization…Over the years the dreamer started to become arrogant because no other ponies could manipulate the power of dream magic and nightmare magic like them, but with arrogance came control…A powerful dreamer unicorn used his magic to try to control the uncontrollable nightmare magic for his own deeds. This angered the nightmare magic which set in motion the fall of the dreamers.” Cadence explains taking a deep breath as she continued.

“War after war the dreamer ponies fell, till a lone dreamer unicorn mare was left. She used all her magic to seal the nightmare force in a cave deep in the valley. With that done, the unicorn mare turned and started to cry. Her Dream Valley and her home was no more. With nothing left in the valley for her, she left and found her way to a village. She lived out the rest of her life doing good as the only way to atone for what her ponies did. Soon, that same unicorn mare married a unicorn stallion that loved her and had many foals with him….So begins the Silverlight family line.” Cadence explains taking another deep breath as she continued.

“As each generation of Silverlight continued the work of their first matriarch, the family was happy and became known as the Paladins of light. Then, a second very bad winter hit…the cold killed all the food that the family grew on their land…..Because of the good nature of the patriarch and his family, they refused to take food from the other pony families that were suffering like them…After trying over and over again to grow food to feed his family, the patriarch became disheartened….Then the shadow appeared before the patriarch and offered to help him if he would break the magic seal their first matriarch placed on the cave.” Cadence explains taking a quick drink of water asked for by Celestia to a royal maid that enters the room.

“The first thing the shadow offered to the Patriarch was power to take what he wants….he said “no”….Next, he offer money to buy what he wants….he said “no” again…..Angered, the shadow offered him unlimited food. The patriarch thought about it and looked towards the village…If the food was unlimited, he could share it with the other pony families of the village to save not only his family, but their families as well…he said yes.” Cadence explains stopping all of sudden as Luna with a huge smile on her snout clicked her horseshoes back on.

“I promised the Silverlight’s that I would never tell anyone about the curse…If you want to know about the curse, you must become the wife to Justice for only his mate can face the curse together with him.” Cadence explains as Celestia’s face becomes a deepening shade of shame. Jumping to the wrong conclusion about the Silverlight unicorn family and most likely destroying her one chance of happiness.

“Now Celestia, you know about the Silverlight guilt….They made no pact with the darkness….the darkness was not going to protect them…..he did what we Princesses would gladly do, save not only his family, but all the families. You destroy not only my happiness …but yours as well….I would have been so proud of any foals that he gave you….because those foals would be the embodiment of what we Princesses stand for, hope for a better future in Equestria…..I hope you are happy….because I am not…..farewell sister.” Luna said indignantly as tears begin to stream down her cheeks.

“Luna! Wait!” Celestia called as Luna was already gone.

“Damn…this is the second time I hurt my sister….No more.” Celestia said mad at herself.

“Lieutenant!” Celestia yells as the royal guard appears, at the door.

“Yes, your highness!” the Lieutenant replies.

“Lieutenant, prepare my Chariot for flight! I need to catch up to my family before it’s too late…to fix what I broke!” Celestia commanding

“At once your highness.” The Lieutenant replies.