Rise and Shine

by Skijarama

Interlude II - What Fury Wrought

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“And, confronted by the one of those responsible, and driven to protect that she held dear, the elder sister committed an act she would never be able to take back…”

Celestia paused mid-speech, her words trailing off into silence. Her etes bored into the last remnants of the flames in Twilight’s hearth, which had died down somewhat over the course of the alicorn’s recounting of the past. The once bright flames were now a dull, smoldering red that cast an ominous shadow across Celestia's features. Twilight watched her, a lump forming in her throat. She glanced into the fire herself, and with a quick flick of her horn, restored it to a full, pleasant burn. The flames swelled and blossomed with a low rumble, and the crimson shifted into a gentle flickering yellow. Celestia blinked, drawn from her silence by the sudden shift in light. She turned to Twilight, her composure well intact. But there was something hiding in her eyes, now. Something grim.

Twilight did her best to swallow that stubborn lump. "What happened?" She asked. "What did you do?"

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. She closed her eyes and took in a long, deep breath. When she spoke next, her voice was thin. "...Do you recall what you felt the day you fought Tirek?" She asked at length.

Twilight made an effort not to remember that moment, truth be told. But the feeling had left an irrevocable mark on her mind, heart, and even soul. As such, her answer came with no hesitation, and no dishonesty. "At first? I was scared. I ran away the first chance I had. I just wanted to get away and protect what you, Luna, and Cadance trusted me with. But after he blew up the library? After he almost killed Owlowiscious?"

Twilight felt her hooves curling into the cushion beneath her at the memory. The horrific rush of panic, the frantic haze, and the flurry of activity before it was all turned to heat and fire. There was a tingle in the back of her head that she knew better than to deny. "I was angry. Furious, even. He'd done so much damage. He’d hurt so many ponies. And because of what he'd done, I had to carry so much responsibility. Everypony was depending on me to keep them safe from him. And after he destroyed my home…"

She paused, the last sentence refusing to escape her. But Celestia was not so reluctant.

"You fear that, had you been given the opportunity, you would have killed him."

It was not a question

Twilight lowered her head, a slight burn of shame creeping up her spine. "...Yes," she relented weakly.

Celestia was quiet for a few long seconds, her features tight and her eyes focusing on something only she could see. "We found one of the ponies responsible for what happened to that town. He was hiding in the basement of a large home, driven into madness by his own guilt, and the hatred of the Windigo's winter. He blamed us - Luna and I - for all that had happened. He held us responsible for the lives he had taken, and what the world had turned into.”

Twilight’s eyes flew wide. “What? Why in the world would he come to that conclusion?!” she asked in shock.

Celestia frowned. “As I said. The winter created many things in many ponies. Hatred. Malice. Madness. And in that state… he attacked us."

Twilight flinched, and all at once, she feared that she knew where this was going.

Celestia continued. "At first, I only wanted to run. I wanted to flee and bring my little sister as far away from that graveyard as I could. Every action I had taken up until then was done only in the name of protecting the only family I had left. But when I saw him put his hooves on her. When I heard her screaming in fear and pain…”

Celestia turned her eyes back to Twilight. "I was overcome with anger. Fury. My objective changed. I fought back… and I killed him. It was the first time I had ever taken somepony else's life."

Twilight had to fight the urge to flinch. She had seen her mentor fight before, yes, but there had always been a pristine grace to it. She had fought to defend her subjects out of love. But this…?

“I… I knew you probably had to kill ponies before,” she commented weakly, tracing circles into the floor with her hoof. “Equestria wasn’t always a nice place… But… I don’t know. I didn’t think it happened when you were so young.”

Celestia nodded. "I was forced to grow up far too quickly. And killing a pony like that? It changes you, Twilight. Much like any other forbidden act. There is a terrible liberation that comes with it. When you steal once, lie once, drink alcohol once. It feels as if your chains have been broken, and new possibilities appear to you. When you kill somepony - especially the way I did, it… if you let it, if you are not careful, it can - and it will - make a monster out of you."

"But you didn't let it," Twilight deduced quickly. "You reigned yourself in. The pony sitting in front of me is proof of that.”

Celestia said nothing, and a pit formed in Twilight's chest. She swallowed heavily.

"Right?"

After a prolonged and painful silence, Celestia shook her head. "No… I was a child, Twilight, and the world around me had changed so fast, and into something so impossibly awful. I was barely thirteen years of age, and already I had witnessed more deaths than most ponies ever do in their lifetimes. At every turn, it felt as if the world was out to get me. I was not prepared to carry the weight that was hoisted on my back. And as a result, I allowed my mind to wander roads best left to gather dust…"

Twilight nodded heavily. "I… I think I understand…" she said quietly. “But… you did overcome it, eventually.”

Celestia nodded. “I did… but at great cost.”

The two fell into silence for a few long moments after that, staring distantly into the flames. Over the faint crackling of the embers and the low rumble of the winter wind howling outside her window, a new sound reached their ears.

Children’s laughter.

Twilight turned, her attention pulled to the window, and she recalled the young ones she had seen playing in the streets of Canterlot before Celestia arrived. A tender smile graced her lips, then, and she leaned comfortingly into Celestia’s side. “What happened next?” she asked quietly.

Celestia hummed softly. As if on autopilot, her folded wing unfurled and draped comfortingly over Twilight’s withers, pulling the smaller alicorn closer to her side. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle quietly at the small gesture. She was reminded of when she was younger when her teacher and princess would tell her stories - or read the newest studies at Twilight’s insistence - before a warm flame. A distant memory, but a cherished one all the same. And if the smile on Celestia’s face was any indication, it was much the same for her.

Once more, her voice brought forth the story of her distant past.

“The elder sister fought to defend her sister. And in the end, she killed. The blood that marked her hooves also painted her mind, staining it. She allowed hatred into her heart, inviting upon them the howls of the storm and the hunger of the ice once more. Undeterred, she strode into the midst of the blizzard as if she were a raging wildfire. She became all-consuming… and indiscriminate.”

Author's Note:

Heya everyone!

I am so sorry for how long this particular chapter has taken to throw together. For one so short and simple you'd think I'd have been able to just pump it out in a few beats of a wing. But as of late, I've just been having a hard time focusing on writing for pony content. It's like, I sit down to write for this, or I sit down to write for Little Flashes, or hell, I even write down to write with Tom in Twilight over Thanalan, and my brain turns into a fruit punch brain slurpy. All slosh, no substance.

But I know it's not writer's block. I know where these stories are going, and I know how to get them there. I think ultimately what it boils down to is my mind is starting to slowly move on from pony content. Gen 4 has been over for a long time, now, and Gen 5, as fun as it is, has not had a consistent enough release schedule or substantial enough content to really keep me invested in where it's going anywhere near as much as Gen 4 did.

Add onto that the fact that I was able to pump out over 145k words in 4 months.

Wait, what-

Yeah, so, as it turns out, if I turn my attention toward original writing projects now, suddenly I become an absurdly productive little goblin. Some of you may know that I have been working on writing stories in an original fantasy setting, and those 145k words are for a novel I wrote in that setting that I plan on publishing once it's all tidied up. And again, I pumped those words out in only a few months. Most of them over the course of just TWO months, once I got my groove going.

Either way, here we are, Act 2 of Rise and Shine is now all wrapped up! On to Act 3. And for the curious, the goal is for there to be 4 acts, give or take.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

It is best to read this story with Night Mode turned on.

Why?

[Skijarama]

11598072
Because the chapter title text is bright white and so easier to see in night mode.

Also because night mode looks better.

[The Voice in the Water]

It's a terrible burden, taking a life.

[Amos Anon]

This chapter was a good reprieve. Gives the reader a chance to put the events into perspective.

[justheretoreadstories]

It's rare to see Owlowiscious mentioned in a story.

11598079

Also because night mode looks better.

I agree.

[TheHumanWriter]

Bro, after all of this time, I am an idiot for somehow not knowing that my favorite audio drama YouTuber for MLP fanfics wrote this piece of art. Man, my brain must've been filled with something back then or something. With that aside, this is an amazing story you are currently writing! This is probably the most interesting take on the Royal Sisters' past, in my opinion. I am looking forward to more chapters of this story.

By the way, when you are finished with this story in the future, will you make an audio drama of it and publish it on YouTube?

[Skijarama]

11611100

By the way, when you are finished with this story in the future, will you make an audio drama of it and publish it on YouTube?

It is very possible, but not a guarantee. As time moves on, I am slowly but surely moving more and more away from MLP content and on to original works and my professional career. If you saw my story 'Tika The Enchantress' in said YouTube page, that was kind of the first step. There is also the fact that I wrote an entire bloody fantasy novel (set in the same universe) that I plan on publishing once I have revised it enough.

That said, when I finish Rise and Shine, it's not out of the question I'll do a reading of it. It's a fun story to write, I like the premise of it, and from a purely monetary standpoint, I could get a pretty good block of content out of it. Especially when considering that we're only a littler over halfway through as of now, if my internal estimates are accurate.

[TheHumanWriter]

11611209
Ah, that's good to know. I am also looking forward to that non-MLP fantasy story, "Tika The Enchantress," on YouTube. As a person said once to me a while ago, "Happy writing!"