• Published 16th Dec 2012
  • 25,191 Views, 966 Comments

Becoming One With the Night - Spacecowboy



[NOW COMPLETE][Sequel Published] Twilight and Luna uncover some of Celestia's hidden secrets as they explore their budding relationship

  • ...
52
 966
 25,191

Chapter 14 - The One Secret To End Them All!

Twilight and Luna found themselves immediately surrounded by their friends, her parents and Celestia hanging back for the moment. A cacophony of voices fought to be heard over each other.

Pinkie made herself heard above the rest first as she dropped from the ceiling by a banner. "CONGRATS TWILIGHT AND LUNA!" She dropped from the banner, which had the same words written across it. A cake appeared from behind Pinkie's back, Twilight's cutie mark nestled inside a crescent moon standing out from the chocolate frosting.

The rest of her friends were the next to come forward and speak their mind. Rainbow Dash looked between Twilight and Luna, her cheeks tinged red. "Well, took you two long enough, egghead!" Dash muttered what she had to say next rather loudly. "To think, I somehow mistook Twi's crush on Luna as being on me, yuck." She shot her head up at the snorting she heard around her.

"Well, if you weren’t always so derned focused on yerself, Dash, you probably would've noticed." Applejack mentioned before she gave the couple her focus. "Well, congrats Twi, but you got some splainin to do later, ah do think. Rares and I didn't even hide that we were together, so ah expect a good reason!" She stopped looking at them seriously and gave a warming smile. "You take care of Twi, Luna, ya hear?" Some snickering was heard as Applejack finished speaking, and Twilight faintly blushed.

Fluttershy, bolstered by liquid courage, encompassed the two in a hug as well as she could. "Yay!" She yelled, audible to everypony in sight. "You two are perfect for each other I think! No, I know you two are!"

Rarity simply smiled knowingly at Twilight and Luna, not feeling the need to lend her voice. As her friends gave them a little room, Twilight happily spoke up. "Thanks, everypony! It probably wouldn't have happened without you five, either. You're the best friends anypony could ask for!" She moved to hug her friends as she finished speaking.

Once his sister pulled away from the masses of her friends, Shining took the moment to speak. "Aww, look at Twily, seducing a princess of her own. Damn proud of you, Twily!" He grunted briefly at the end due to Cadance firmly nudging him in the ribs for his choice of words.

"Twilight, I'm happy for you and Luna. Although, this might be a little odd, once you think about it." Cadance said, thinking intently for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Good thing I'm not really related to Luna or Celestia, that'd be awkward." She ended her words with a giggle.

Shining and Cadance both brought Twilight and Luna together in a four pony hug, Cadance seeing the love flowing off each pony in the room as she looked over her sister's shoulder. She spotted Dash with a wistful smile on her face. I think I know who I can apply my skills to next!

"Thank you, Cadance. I'm sure this might be a little odd for us all, considering how for some reason Celestia has deigned to call you her niece, therefore technically making me your aunt as well, but... I think we can throw that out the window, I believe is how they say it." Luna mentioned, bringing up the proverbial elephant in the room.

Twilight stepped out of the hug, a weird look coming into her eyes. Shining noticed this and began to speak. "Twily, don't even think about trying to figure that out, trust me. Don't need you to have one of your episodes here!" He laughed a bit as she came out of her moment.

"Well, Twilight, you've snagged yourself a princess, much like Shining snagged me. shame you don't have another sibling, Celestia is probably going to get lonely!" As Twilight looked around, she noticed everypony laughing, although she saw something else from her parents. Is that... pain? Why?

Eventually the mass of ponies calmed down, leaving Celestia and Twilight's parents on the fringes still, yet to have voiced their opinions. "So, this is who your letter was referring to..." Crescent began, unsure of himself. "It's rather shocking, honey."

Twilight hesitated, seeing a look in her father she hadn't seen for years. Is that... disappointment? "But, you support me, right, dad?" She looked over to her mother, everypony else but her parents forgotten for the moment. "Mom?"

Velvet stepped in, raising Twilight's hopes. "Dear, we will always support you, you're our little filly, even if you aren't so little any more. However, I think I'm with your father on this one, we're aren't certain if this is the... best thing for you." Velvet looked around the room, noticing the growing look of concern on everypony's face around her.

"But..." Twilight stuttered as Luna raised a brow at Velvet and Crescent. The air in the room became heavier by the moment, all of it seemingly bearing down on Twilight.

"Twilight." Celestia stepped into the conversation, breaking the tension in the room. She walked up to her and rested a hoof on her shoulder. Addressing the rest of the ponies in the room, she spoke once more. "I need to borrow Twilight for a few, everypony. I'm not certain how long it will take, however do not let this wonderful party go to waste." She turned to Luna and spoke softly. "I'd like for you to come along too, sister, if you don't mind."

Luna looked into Celestia's eyes, discerning nothing but the sincerity of her words and a burning desire of, something, hidden within. "Very well." She gently nuzzled Twilight, further calming down the near panicking unicorn.

Celestia spoke into the minds of Velvet and Crescent before departing. Velvet Dawn, Crescent Dusk, tell them. You'll know when, I promise. With a quick summoning of her magic, Celestia, Luna and Twilight all disappeared from the library in a flash.

The sound of claws clicking against wood rang out on the stairs. "Hey, I got those records you wanted from Vinyl!" Spike called out as he walked into the still quiet room. He awkwardly looked around, noting the tension filling the air. "Uh, did I miss something?"

~{B}~{O}~{W}~{T}~{N}~

The trio of ponies reappeared deep in the confines of the Everfree forest in a quiet flash, briefly illuminating the dark surroundings. "W-Why..." Twilight stammered out as she regained her bearings from the long distance teleport. "Why did they say that?"

Luna softly nuzzled Twilight, ignoring her sister in favor of comforting her lover for the moment. "Don't worry, Twilight. Everything will turn out okay, I'm certain of it. They're probably just a little old fashioned and have some concerns about it, that's all."

Celestia stood by while Luna tried to calm Twilight down, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. As she noticed the two of them pulling apart, she decided that it was a good time to talk. "I am glad for you two, I truly am." She broadly smiled at her sister. "For you to find such happiness... I had expected something was the source of it, but I hadn't imagined this was it."

"And Twilight," Celestia addressed her next, "I am glad that you've brought such joy to Luna. Ever since you met her, I believe you've been adding onto her happiness." She paused, shifting her focus from Twilight to something in the environment. "I believe you will recall this structure, Twilight." She swept a hoof in the direction of a castle framed by the moon's light, its state of disrepair obvious.

"This is... the castle where we found the elements. Why are we here?" Twilight asked, still confused and off balance from her parent's reaction to her and Luna's relationship.

"I must ask the same, sister. Why have you brought us to our old home?"

Celestia looked around, spotting something she pointed a hoof once more. "I recently approved a personal project. Notice the tents over there?" She gave them a few moments to find them. "There's a road being built from both Canterlot and Ponyville that leads here. The castle is being renovated as well." She began walking to the castle, oddly melancholic, her head hanging down a little.

Twilight and Luna had no choice but to follow her to the castle, the walk to the entrance a short one. Twilight broke the silence on the trip there. "Celestia, why did you bring me here, though? Not that I don't appreciate being pulled from an awkward situation, but... you're not really acting... normal." She gently spoke, just loud enough to be heard over the noises of the forest. Concern tinged her voice, and the underlying question remained throughout her words.

Luna simply observed her sister, unsure what to say. I haven't seen her like this since I first returned to her... She's torn by guilt over something, but what is it? It must have something to do with Twilight, but I have no clue... Oh, Celestia. Why do you do this to yourself?

"Is the oh-so amazing Princess Celestia not allowed her moments of weakness, Twilight?" Her words were filled with a mixture of regret and sorrow, only adding to the concern Luna and Twilight held for her. "You know, I still recall that day I took you on as my student. You, just a scared filly being controlled by your wild magic. I knew, that day, that you would end up doing a lot of amazing things, stuff that even I could not accomplish."

The melancholy filling Celestia's words had Twilight and Luna on edge as they witnessed a side of her Twilight had never seen, and Luna had only witnessed once or twice herself. "Sister... is everything okay?" She moved to place a hoof on Celestia's shoulder, but the larger mare began to walk around the castle's courtyard.

"Twilight, you brought so much light into my life, do you know that? Trying to get Luna back, I spent days, weeks, months, years... decades even. And nothing I found, nothing at all, worked."

"Celestia..." Twilight walked up next to her, slightly fearful, yet wanting to comfort her in any way she could. Celestia made the first move, embracing her in a hug. "I only did what anypony would've done in my position. Nothing more."

Celestia continued to hold Twilight close as Luna came up alongside her, gently nuzzling her. "Twilight, you underestimate your importance. Another quality of you everypony should strive for... humbleness. As such, this project of mine..." She broke the hug while leaning into Luna's comforting nuzzling. "I want to bequeath this to you. It has sat idle, falling into ruin, for too long."

Twilight was left reeling from Celestia's words, and Luna's mouth was gaping like that of a fish. Both were extremely surprised, although for different reasons. "Sister, this forest is dangerous though, and this castle... there's a lot of bad memories. Why do you want to do such a thing?"

Celestia quickly addressed her sister, love and warmth filling her words, as Twilight's thoughts tried to sort themselves out of the jumbled mess they found themselves in currently. "Sister, there are just as many good memories here, are there not? And I believe it's high time we brought the Everfree to heel. I let it run rampant for far too long out of depression of your loss. It's time for it to be brought back to harmony." A faint glimmer of a smile graced her face. "Plus, I think it's time we put the last of that past behind us for good, and this is just the way to do so."

Twilight finally found some manner of cohesion to her thoughts and began to speak. "But, castle, Ponyville, library, friends?" She sputtered out, roughly forming a question to Celestia. It was met with a quick laugh, a brief glimpse of the Celestia that she had grown up under.

"Yes, Twilight, I want you to have this castle, and perhaps to even live in it. It's truly not that far from Ponyville, and at the rate the town is growing, I have no doubt that it could very well become part of the town one day in the future. Plus, you could always move the book from the library here and run things from here." She smiled at Twilight, a hopeful look in her eyes. "You're the only one I trust enough to do this, as we can't move here. If we did, it'd bring the nobles here within a few years, and well... I don't want them any closer to you than is necessary. Or Ponyville."

Twilight was flabbergasted, still not truly certain what exactly to say. "But... Ponyville is my home now..."

"I know, Twilight, I know... and I will never force you to decide between it and another place, I promise you that. Either way, you have plenty of time to think on it, as it will still be months at the very least before it is inhabitable and the roads are built." She paused a moment, as if trying to recall something. "Also... I would ask that, if you do accept, you allow myself and Luna to come here in our free time. It can act as our refuge from the nobles, an escape of sorts."

"And of course, you would be allowed to have whoever come and stay, on top of whatever staff we get for the castle. That means anypony could come and visit you for however long they'd like to." Celestia added on, trying to sell the idea to Twilight.

"I-I'll think about it..." Was all Twilight could say as she moved close to Luna, seeking comfort. Luna leaned down and gently kissed Twilight, calming her nerves slightly.

"Sister, is this why you wanted to bring Twilight and myself here? You could have simply pulled us aside at the library if so." Luna queried, still off balance from Celestia's revelation.

Celestia was slow to answer, turning to face the entrance to the interior. "...Note quite. Follow me." Without another word, or explanation, she began to walk inside, forcing Twilight and Luna to rush to catch up to her.

After wordlessly following Celestia through the interior of the castle, they came into a room that was still intact, a mural adorning the floor. The topaz and diamonds inlaid in the floor faintly glowed, their image reflecting a crescent moon nestled within a sun. Luna gasped, tears coming to her eyes unbidden, as Twilight began to examine the various gems and the magic contained within them. "Sister, this is our old room..."

"Indeed, it is. This is the best place I could think to do this." Celestia walked over to stand in the center of the mural, Twilight turning her attention from the mural to Celestia, even as questions began to assail her mind. Before she could ask any, however, she felt the familiar flare of magic.

Celestia's horn shone with such brilliance that, even with a raised hoof guarding her eyes, the light burned. Rolling waves of heat came off of her as well, as her voice began to boom, echoing throughout the room. "I, Celes Lightbringer, Alicorn of the Sun, hereby release the geas surrounding the birth of Twilight Lune Sparkle."

The raw magic sent an invisible shockwave that rippled outwards from Celestia as her horn flared before the light disappeared, leaving spots in Twilight's vision. As the ripple passed through her, a warmth filled her to her bones, a comforting feeling.

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia spoke gently, now face to face with Twilight as Luna stood to the side attempting to comprehend her sister's actions. "Do you recall when I last made mention that you were the most powerful unicorn I could recall?" Twilight mutely nodded, still stunned by the amount of magic that had been released in that spell. Geas... I've only read about them, in one source... Why was there one surrounding me? "Well, I was incorrect. Shining Armor is the strongest unicorn alive to date."

Twilight took in this information, disbelief drawing across her face. Luna looked on, fear mingling with a dawning comprehension as she looked to Celestia. "Sister, you don't–"

Twilight cut her off, unaware of Luna talking. "But, that's impossible! Shiny and I compared our magic levels just last year, and he only met sixty three point eight percent of my magical pool, so that's... impossible!

Celestia gently shook her head before responding. "Twilight, listen carefully. Yes, you are more powerful than him, but Shining Armor is the strongest unicorn alive to date." She paused a moment as Twilight grew even more confused.

~{B}~{O}~{W}~{T}~{N}~

Elsewhere, a pertinent pink party pony peered ponderingly at a patient pair of parents. She was interrupted by a massive shudder wracking her body, tail twitching, nose itching, hooves jittering. Everypony stared at her in shock.

"I-IT'S A-A D-DOOOOOOOOOOOOZY!"

~{B}~{O}~{W}~{T}~{N}~

"I'm your mother."

Author's Note:

Once you pick up your jaws, feel free to leave some feedback! This is the reveal that I began writing this story towards back in December.

Not much else to say. Still working on the next chapter for now. Hehehe, so, anyone saw that coming?