Thirteen Reasons

by canonkiller

Lights Out

The conversation had gone well enough.

Celestia curled up on her bed, running her front hooves through the warm magic of her mane and tail.

Enough.

Gruff had never really relaxed, maintaining his wariness and caution throughout the entire meal. Gwen, however, had opened up after the toast, informing Celestia of their plans in Equestria and being very polite while doing so. She complemented the architecture of the buildings, the intricacy of the artwork, the layered flavor of the meal, how pretty her mane looked; basically everything other than the way the dirt tasted.

Although she was pretty sure Gwen would have commented on that if Gruff had not loudly announced that he was taking leave to his chambers. Of course, she had stopped mid-sentence and sprinted after him, leaving Celestia with little more than a 'bye'.

The little orb flickered almost cheerfully in the dark. It had become a greeting, almost; seeing the crystal after a long day seemed to lift her spirits.

It scared her, and entranced her... almost like Chrysalis herself.

Celestia blushed and burrowed her head in her pillow.

-----

Darkness had fallen. The very outlines of the figures around her shimmered silver, another characteristic that must have been carried over from Cocoon's ancestry.

But she was completely alone.

Luna's ancient rage had one good point burrowed in her blind anger; ponies had a tendency to sleep through the night in these times. These were the times of monsters lurking in closets, shadows stealing away lost foals... and Changelings taking lives in the night.

She knew in her own time, ponies had evolved to look at the sky as another world, and dedicated their lives to exploring and understanding it.

But for now, she was alone.

A few lights glimmered down the road. Ponyville. Her home.

The place where her family lived now.

Her pace picked up, dust kicking up around her hooves. A flicker of fire blazed along her skin, replacing the dark shell with aquamarine fur. Her wings vanished, and her mane withdrew into a narrow blue and silver plume. She blinked once, and her narrow pupils turned round on their emerald bases.

She had admitted the time away from her family into her foalish guise. She was now a mature mare, her strides long and elegant compared to the clumsy meander she had upon leaving. She was almost at the edge of the town now, and could see the short, spiked wall set up to deter enemies.

There were two ponies at the gate; a young, pale green mare with a blond mane, and a stallion, with a caramel coat and brown mane. They met her gaze as she looked them over, and watched as she approached.

"What business do you have here in Ponyville?" The mare asked, her voice lilting with an accent Celestia vaguely remembered.

"I'm here to see my family...?" Celestia tilted her head, slowing to a stop a few paces in front of the gate and its' guards.

"And who might you be?" The mare continued. Celestia noticed a straining pot resting upside-down on her head, but did not point it out.

"I'm Magic Shimmer. I've lived here as long as I can remember."

The mare opened her mouth to ask another question, but the stallion interrupted. "Miss Smith, ah know the mare's father. She's allowed in."

Miss Smith frowned, but stepped aside to let the stallion open the gate. While the female looked quite young, she had the attitude of a pony who had worked hard for each of those years. On the other hoof, the stallion had an easygoing way of moving that had a slight lilt to it, as if the same work had been much easier for his stronger build.

"Thank you." Celestia dipped her head and kicked up her hooves, lurching straight to a trot. The ground passed quickly beneath her hooves, and the dim landscape blurred at the edges. Lamps flickered in windows, the shadowy figures of ponies stretched into the reach of the light.

She skidded to a stop, gracefully spinning to face her destination. All of the lights were out, and the drapes hung loosely behind windows propped open from the summer heat. It would have been stretching her towns' hospitality if she had clambered in a window, leaving one more option. She tapped on the door with a hoof, expecting to wait for a reply from upstairs.

The weathered slab of wood swung open silently on its hinges. It hadn't been locked.

Celestia 'hmm'ed softly and stepped inside, finding the nearest lamp from memory and lighting it with a spark from her horn.

The narrow hallways' floral wallpaper was faded slightly and peeling near the roof. The floorboards were solid and worn from years of traversing, and there were a few drink stains and crayon marks along the edges. Celestia found the stairs with ease, her fake fur starting to singe around the edges.

There were five doors in the upper hallway. She knew which ones led to the bathroom, and to her own room. Of the others, one was a spare room, one held her older brother - some part of her knew he had moved back between jobs - and the last held the shared quarters of her parents.

She blinked a few times as the last of her cloak burned away, returning to her darkened skin. There was a chance that snooping into the wrong rooms would awaken the rest of her family.

She closed her eyes, mentally choosing a door.

-----

She opened them to silk drapes and a dimmed lamp.

"Wha?" She muttered, sitting up. She slowly recognized her own room, the nervous tremors down her bones fading out. She leaned forward, resting her head in her hooves.

She felt tears running down her face, although she couldn't remember when she started crying. "W-what's real?" She sobbed. "What do y-you want me to f-f-feel..."

She sat like that for a long time, sobbing away the hours until dawn, until Luna's guard entered her chamber to wake her.

Is was the Changeling who had talked to her before, the pony hidden under the skin of a Pegasus long-gone. She did not speak when she grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, and he did not move to hinder or aid her. He simply waited for her tears to dry before helping her get ready to face the day.

As she left the chamber, Sky straightened the sheets on the bed with his teeth. As he moved the pillow, he saw a flicker of green from beneath.

He took a few steps backward, snorting in disbelief. The shock vanished quickly, overwhelmed by sadness and sympathy.

"Of all the ponies, you chose her?" His voice rasped around the empty room. His expression steeled quickly, and he spun, trotting stiffly towards the large doors. He paused, turning to look at the bed again. He smiled softly. "Goodbye, sister."

The doors swung once, and he was gone.

Comments

[Quantum_Shift]

the implications...

I can honestly say that I really can't wait for the next chapter, this story is wonderful.
I hope Celestia can work through what's going on, she really needs this...

[canonkiller]

1074253

This is honestly the hardest I have ever worked on a story. Autumn (that story that never happened) just kept going, with what I now believe was simply me testing the limits of what I could create while remaining in the genre. Hive Mind was almost a fan story for Changelings and my attempt to see what "Human in Equestria" stories could become. All my little one-shots are just that, practice stories within 2000 words. I may just scrap all of my other 'planned' stories into The Motivation Archive and work on impulse, like this one.

It's not my most popular story, definitely, and I'm happy that it fits in it's little niche on my page. But I'm writing for my own pleasure, and if this story makes you happy too, then it's a bonus.

TL;DR: Expect more emotionally layered stories in the future. I'm pretty sure what the next one will be, so I'll give you a clue: monochromatic.

[Quantum_Shift]

1074579
alrigt, seems legit.