On the Road to '63

by niBBoi

Eve

It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, and flowers were blooming.

Celestia stared outside a large window in her new study and took another sip of her tea. Maybe it was the sunny weather after an entire month of dreary, rainy days, or maybe it was the parsnips and tomatoes finally showing signs of growth in her little garden outside, but either way, the retired princess felt at peace.

Peace.

Celestia put her tea down, and a forlorn look graced her face.

Four years. Four years of war. Four years of pain and suffering. Four years of bloodshed.

The day the changeling military crossed the border and declared war on Equestria, Celestia didn't sleep. She didn't sleep the next day either, and she wouldn't sleep for the next couple of weeks. Luna sometimes forced her to rest, but the very next day, Celestia would always already be up in the wee hours reviewing reports and drafting letters.

Celestia remembered throwing herself at her work like a mare possessed, and she remembered feeling an incredible sense of duty after failing her little ponies. It was all she could think about, her failures.

How many times had Celestia been caught off-guard in those past few decades? How many times had the effects of a thousand years of peace finally come back to bite her? How many times had she failed everything and everyone she had ever loved and cared for in her entire lifetime?

And so there in the dark halls and chambers of Canterlot Palace did a hate begin brewing inside of Celestia.

Celestia harbored hatred for the changelings for shattering a thousand years of peace and prosperity in a single stroke, and Celestia hated herself for even letting such a thing happen in the first place.

She, her sister, and the other princesses were supposed to be the guardians of Equestria. How could she be so blind as to think that Equestria could avoid war forever? How could she be so blind as to think that whatever preparations she had given her people for an industrializing world was ever enough?

Further and further did Celestia spiral down into her own despair until, one day, she finally snapped.

And there was another failure to add to her impressive list.

In the end, everything seemed to work itself out eventually, and after the dust had settled, Equestria stood victorious - bloodied but victorious.

Of course, not everything was truly alright, and the post-war reconstruction immediately came to mind. Alongside the millions of dead, entire towns had to be rebuilt, industries and businesses had to be revitalized, and the displaced all had to be provided for.

Then there was Celestia herself.

She was no longer a princess. After the questionable things she had done during the war, she no longer deserved the title. She actually agreed to it to everyone's surprise and willingly abdicated her throne. The process was not immediate though, and Equestria and her rulers still needed a bit of a helping hoof from Celestia to help start reconstruction efforts, but after a few weeks, Celestia was no longer a princess for all intents and purposes, and Twilight had taken her place alongside Luna.

Twilight...

Miraculously, they were still in good terms, but Celestia could not deny that her faithful student's view of her had most certainly changed. Her time as "Daybreaker" would forever taint Twilight's image of her beloved mentor.

There was also something to be said about Celestia's brief mental breakdown she had at the very end of the war, but Celestia felt like that was something to think about another time. Stars know she was already wrapped up in the various other implications of "Daybreaker". She didn't need to trouble herself more with the possible mental effects of being under a magical dark influence for a prolonged period of time.

Celestia sighed. She had a lot to think about, and luckily, her indefinite, effective house arrest while staying in her small manor in Trottingham gave her more than enough time. In fact, it was all she seemed to have at that moment. She could read books, paint, learn to play the piano... Celestia could probably even ask Applejack for some help setting up a farm with all the land Celestia still had since she seemed to be have rediscovered her love for growing things.

Thus on the eve of the end of the Great War, Lady Celestia had nothing but time.

Author's Note:

"She who gazed into the abyss.

She who turned back to the light."

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/equestriaatwar/comments/14m1ooe/eve/