Dreams of a Princess

by Feenkatze

Chapter 5: Dreams of Fate

Waking up, Celestia was panting as if she had just run a mare-a-thon.

“Tia?” she heard her sister say, voice filled with concern. “Sister, what is the matter?”

Looking around, she found herself under Luna’s wing, which she had draped over her like a blanket. They were lying in the shadow of the cave exit, the cave of dreams behind them, the mountains to their hooves.

Celestia pressed her face against her sister’s neck, forcing herself to exhale slowly. “I had a bad dream.”

Luna embraced her protectively, and Celestia felt tears escaping her, seeping into her sister’s coat.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Luna asked.

Pictures flashed across Celestia’s mind: her sister’s head sticking out of the lunette. The thirsty blade waiting above her.

“I … I was losing you.”

Luna squeezed her, holding her close. “Oh. Oh, Tia.”

They stayed like that for a while, Luna not letting go of her until she stopped shaking and her breath was slow and steady again. When the grip around her did loosen, Celestia was confronted with a pair of inquiring blue eyes.

“I’m alright, Lulu,” she said. “It was just a dream.”

Luna kissed her gently. “Do you think we can go on?”

Celestia nodded and got up, licking her lips. They shouldn’t waste any more time.

They followed the small path towards the crest, ducking their heads against the harsh wind that blew into their faces and tried to push them back. Luna, who was walking in front of Celestia, pulled her wings close to her body.

Where it got steeper, stairs were let into the ground. Celestia wondered who had build them – judging by the hoof-sized gouges in the steps, as well as the rounded edges and the missing bits, they must have been in place for quite a while.

On top of the crest, Luna stopped, and Celestia hurried up to see what awaited them. Coming to a halt next to her sister, she cast her gaze ahead, to find … nothing.

At first Celestia thought it was just the end of the mountains. The landscape before them fell off in a smooth downward slope for a few miles. Behind that point, though, it just ended in a bottomless abyss.

“We’re about to reach the end,” Luna remarked.

“The end of the world?”

“Yes.”

They stood and looked down the path, which continued through the border area, up to the very edge.

“Let’s take a look at this,” Luna said.

At first, Celestia hesitated to follow her. The thought that everything just gave way into eternal nothingness was unsettling. What if she fell down? Would she fall forever? Would she cease to exist? But she went on anyway, if just because she didn’t want to stay apart from Luna.

Huge, funnel-shaped craters gaped next to their path, some of them twenty feet deep. Big, round stones had collected on the bottom of most. Smaller pieces of rock were shattered across the ground, making it challenging to walk. They focused on their steps in silence, and only ever looked up to make sure they were still headed in the right direction.

The wind had vanished, and soon Celestia’s coat was soaking wet with sweat. Next to her, Luna had unfolded her wings, letting them hang off to her sides. Smears of white foam formed on her chest and around her wing joints.

Celestia was about to ask her about a break when a sudden movement appeared in the corner of her eye.

She didn’t have time to think, let alone yell a warning – all she could do was jump aside and tackle Luna out of the way. Mere inches from her ear, she heard something heavy fly past.

Turning around, she spotted a sleek form with sharp claws and pointy teeth crouching in front of them. Luna positioned herself front of Celestia to shield her from the aggressor, ears pressed flat against her head.

On light paws, the creature dashed towards them.

Luna shifted her weight onto her hindlegs, ready to kick at any time, but the cat-like animal dodged and got around her in a single swift motion, pouncing at her flank. Luna turned, but she was too slow to stop the attack.

Celestia had been stunned in shock the first second, but now she caught herself and jumped forwards, her hind legs catapulting her directly at the creature. She saw it turn its head and look at her, eyes growing wide in surprise. Then her hooves hit something squishy.

A sharp hiss tore the air as the impact threw the aggressor off Luna.

Celestia didn’t stop. She pounced onto the creature before it could roll back on its feet, holding it down. It was a feline, about the size of a small sheep, with a short muzzle and small, rounded ears. He writhed beneath Celestia’s hooves like an eel, trying to escape her grip, but she pinned him down with her full weight.

“Mercy!” he cried, giving up his resistance. “I admit defeat!”

“Who are you?” Luna growled. “Why did you attack us?”

“I am the Guardian. It is my task to patrol the Path to Eternity, to keep watch over the Peaks of Heaven and protect the Passage from intruders. I swear that I did not wish to harm you, oh mighty horses, but I am bound to my duty.”

Celestia kept holding on to him. “How do we know that you won’t turn against us as soon as we release you?”

“You have my word!”

Luna put a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “Let him go. Mountain lions might be cunning in battle, but they are true to their word.”

Reluctantly, Celestia let go. She remained wary, though, not letting her eyes off the creature as he bent to lick his wounds. Strong muscles showed through his fur. Celestia couldn’t deny that, despite his sleek build, he possessed a certain majesty, a sense of old wisdom that showed in the way he held himself.

“What is your name, cougar?” Luna asked.

“The name that I have been given once is forgotten, and has been for a long time. I am the Guardian. That is all you need to know about me, just as all I need to know about you is that you are two who seek for eternity.”

Celestia shook her head. “Actually, we are just trying to get to Unicornia.”

“Are you? Or is eternity calling upon you, similar to how you are calling upon eternity?”

Celestia looked to her sister for support, but Luna just said, “chance is a word that does not exist in these realms.”

“You need not understand yet, horse,” the cougar assured Celestia. “If you let me lead the way to the edge, you will find what you seek.”

Not giving her any time to reply, he jumped to his paws and started along the path. His motions were swift and elegant, even though a slight limp indicated that his right foreleg was hurting. Celestia and Luna hurried to follow him.

“Would you please to hear a story?” the cougar asked.

“Does it matter what I answer to that?”

She heard him chuckle. “In the end, no. But it is still polite to ask.”

He looked back at Celestia, his paws carrying him across the gravel with blind precision.

“The times in which we meet are difficult. I fulfilled my duty longer than any living creature could remember, but I struggle now. That you were able to defeat me is the final sign that the time has come to open the Twilight Passage.”

“What is the Twilight Passage?”

“I speak of a legend amongst my people. In ancient times, there was a pony who wanted to bring the heat of a neverending day to this world.”

“A pony, you say?” Celestia furrowed her brow. “Who?”

“Patience, horse. You have to understand that she who controls the Sun possesses a power not matched by any mortal.”

The cougar’s voice became low and raspy, almost a whisper.

“One is rising, one is falling, and the holy circle goes on. End is near, end is calling; the source is where the cure lies upon.”

He stopped in front of Celestia, looking her in the eye. She almost stumbled as she met the gaze of his slit-pupiled eyes.

“There is a place which lies beyond this world,” he said, “and which we call Solar Island. It is as old as the beginning of time. One thousand years ago, a young unicorn mare, much like you, came here. It is said that she was haunted by unrequited love, fleeing from it until she reached the end of the world. In her desperation, she took the power that no mortal being was meant to hold, seeking to burn and destroy the one who had rejected her, along with everything else she had once loved. Since then she is known as Nightmare Sun.”

“Nightmare Sun?”

“It is not known how she was stopped, just that the Unicorns then took upon themselves the task of controlling of the Sun. My people, on the other paw, chose one of their own to guard these lands, so that no mortal would be able to claim a power like hers again.”

They were close to the edge now. Celestia could see the world falling off, and to her surprise, deep inside her, she felt a desire to get closer to the abyss. As soon as she realized that, she involuntarily took a few steps forward, as if a physical force were pulling her. The Guardian shot her a knowing glance.

“Over the centuries, all kinds of creatures came here and tested my strength, and all of them I fought off. But I am old, and the heat tires me. Nightmare Sun has returned, and if you do not stop her, all things will come to an end.

”One is rising, one is falling,” Luna recited, “and the holy circle goes on. End is near, end is calling; the source is where the cure lies upon.”

“So,” Celestia mused, “if Solar Island is the source of this evil …”

“ … then it is where you need to go,” Luna finished the sentence for her.

The Guardian seemed pleased. “Now you understand.”

They proceeded to the end of the path, the strange pulling sensation inside Celestia only growing. She stared into the void. The sky arced downwards over the edge, where it turned orange and finally purple. Beneath them, in the shadow of the world, lay hidden a moonless night.

“Here it is,” the Guardian said. “The Twilight Passage. Let me show you the way.”

He jumped off the cliff. Celestia gasped, but instead of falling down, the cougar landed on invisible ground.

“The bridge is small, so be careful. One wrong step and you will fall off. Are you ready?”

Celestia looked down the abyss, which she regretted instantly. “I am not sure.”

But despite her words, she knew she had to go. Unable to control herself, she made a step forward. Her hoof slipped, and little stones fell over the edge.

“Tia!” Luna was at her side in an instant, holding her back. Celestia allowed for her sister to embrace her and pull her back from the edge.

“He is right,” Celestia said. “It is calling for me.”

“I wish I could go with you. I do not want to leave you alone.”

“Neither do I. But we don’t have a choice.”

Luna still held on to her. “I know. But before you go, I need to tell you that I …” She hesitated. “… that I wish you the best of luck.”

Celestia pressed her muzzle against Luna’s in a short yet passionate kiss. “I love you too. So long, my sister.”

Luna blushed. “I will await your return.”

Celestia started towards the edge again, reaching with her hoof where the Guardian was waiting. In what appeared to be thin air she found resistance, and carefully set her hoof on it.

The invisible material was cold. She took a few more steps, and a twinge of fear crept into her as she looked down, now completely hovering on top of the abyss. The cougar passed her and leaped back to the safety of the cliffs.

“Whatever happens,” he said, “never turn around. You have to keep going forwards. Once you have crossed the border, there will be no way back.”

Celestia understood. She did not plan on turning back. This was something she needed to do. For Luna. For herself. For Equestria.

She went down onto her haunches and crept forwards, careful not to leave the solid ground. Keeping balance was tricky without a focal point for her eyes, and a few times her legs wobbled beneath her when she had to shift her weight from one hoof to the next.

Even though she still felt the Sun shining on her back, it didn’t reach through to her. Celestia was cold, so cold, and became colder with every second.

The air around her changed. First a faint blur, fuzzy shapes of black and white manifested around her. She wanted to look back at Luna and the Guardian, but did not dare to, too scared of losing balance.

Her ears and nostrils froze, and her eyes burned.

Colors began to mix into her surroundings, stretching beneath her, turning from faint smudges into a diamond blue plane, like a lake, or a field of flowers. Lights danced around Celestia, but when she reached out with a hoof she couldn’t catch them.

Then it became warmer again, until reaching the temperature of a cozy late summer morning. In the distance she saw a light, brighter than everything around her. She knew without knowing that this light was her destination. Somewhere hidden in its glow lay Solar Island.

She wasn’t able to control herself anymore. She trotted forwards in blind confidence, pulled by a strange force. Her head was filled with white noise.

She was close. The light burned in her eyes, but it didn’t bother her.

She was almost in reach.

She –

“Your Highness”, a voice said, “sunrise is in ten minutes.”

After the years, Celestia knew the face of her servant, which hovered over her, far better than she liked. She grunted and turned in her bed, trying to escape its gaze, but that didn’t help.

“Your Highness, please,” he said, almost apologetic.

Celestia buried her head in a pile of pillows. “Yes, I’m awake.”

Before her inner eye she could still see the light of Solar Island. She wanted to go there. It was as if the call of her destiny had followed her from her dreams into the waking world.

She decided to lie in bed for just another couple of minutes. Just until she was more awake. If she could resist falling asleep again … just a few minutes … to get going …

She was almost in reach.

She kept going forwards, and the light embraced her, pulling at her limbs ever so gently. This was it. This was truth. This was power. This was –

“Y-Your Highness? Are you falling back asleep?”

Her servant winced as Celestia gave him a sinister eye, but didn’t move out of the way. “I am obliged to make sure you g-get up and raise the Sun …”

“I know, I know!” Celestia slipped out of her bed, her head swimming like a ship.

The Sun was calling for her. Celestia searched for its familiar touch, bringing the celestial body into her grip. Luna was already lowering the Moon, so she hurried to get it into position.

Had raising the Sun not been an ancient routine of hers, she doubted she had been able to do in her current state. She was barely able to keep her eyes open, let alone mess with primal forces of nature.

How tempting it was to just go back to bed. Back to Luna. Just hiding for a little longer from the hustle and the bustle of day, safe underneath her cozy blanket.

But she couldn’t. Princess Celestia of Equestria did not simply go back to sleep.

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[forrest yuchnitz]

Now I'm getting confused about everything