Celestia tells Twilight the truth behind her history with Sunset Shimmer.
After Twilight returns from the Human World, Celestia is desperate to know of her former student, Sunset Shimmer, and what happened to her. Upon learning of the horrible things her former student has done, Celestia breaks down in tears as Twilight asks why she was so important to Celestia and why she never told anypony. Celestia tells the story of her and Sunset. How they were so close, and how one secret ruined everything between them.
Celestia had never felt more relieved in her life than when she saw Twilight Sparkle return from the mirror world with the Element of Magic on her head. She had been gone for so long that it took all of Celestia’s will to not rush in herself, especially when the portal was beginning to close. She didn’t want to lose two precious ponies in her life to the mirror, not after what had happened with Sunset.
And now Twilight was safe in bed, sleeping after her long adventure. While she was overjoyed that Twilight was safe and sound, she couldn’t help but worry about her previous student, one who didn’t return as Celestia had hoped. Twilight had said that Sunset Shimmer was in “good hands”, but that wasn’t good enough for her, she needed to know more. She needed to know everything.
It hurt to know that after so many years of hoping and praying for her return, Sunset Shimmer chose not to come home. Perhaps she has yet to forgive me? Maybe she feels ashamed? Oh my little sun, I would forgive all your sins if it meant holding you in my embrace one more time.
She glanced at her clock and saw the late hour, but Celestia couldn’t find it in herself to fall asleep as thoughts of her former student continued to plague her mind. The talk she wanted to have with Twilight could wait until morning, but every second that passed drove her crazy. Is Sunset really alright? What had she been doing in that other world? Does she still hate me after so many years? Unable to take anymore, she ordered a guard to summon Twilight Sparkle at once. It was time to put this curiosity of hers to rest.
After she put up a powerful anti-sound barrier around her room, Celestia glanced over at one of the many pictures she brought with her whenever she traveled. Some were of family and friends long gone. Others were of those still alive like Twilight, Luna, and Cadance. But one stood out among all the rest. She levitated the picture to her face and smiled at a younger Sunset Shimmer right next to Celestia herself as they posed right next to her former student’s birthday cake. The Princess of the Sun had surprised her apprentice with a party so big it made her jaw drop all the way to the floor. Celestia could still remember the games, the fun, the love they once had for each other. It was one of the happiest moments in her life. Yet the photo also brought pain; pain because it was the last time they were happy together as student and teacher. All before the accident, revealing the big secret to Sunset, their falling out, and her apprentice running off into that strange world. Celestia’s thoughts were pushed away when she heard knocking at her door. She put the frame down and said, “Enter.”
Twilight Sparkle opened the door and entered the chamber, trying her best to keep her eyelids from closing while a yawn escaped her mouth. “You summoned me, Princess Celestia?”
Celestia frowned as she started berating herself from keeping Twilight from a good night’s rest, especially after her ordeal. Forgive me, Twilight, but I have to know. More than anything. “I did. I know that this seems like an unusual time to discuss matters now, especially with all that has happened.” Celestia sighed and looked at her student with pleading eyes. “Twilight, I beg you, tell me everything that happened between you and Sunset Shimmer. Leave nothing out, no matter how small it may seem or how much it might hurt to hear. I need to know what has become of my former apprentice.” Twilight’s stunned face wasn’t a surprise to Celestia. Rarely had she ever begged Twilight for anything so desperately. If only Twilight knew the truth...
After gathering her wits, Twilight proceeded to tell Celestia everything. Celestia knew it wasn’t going to be a warm story, but she had underestimated just how much her former apprentice had fallen. Listening to every horrible act Sunset Shimmer had done for power and control plunged the dagger of guilt deeper into her heart. The harm she had done, the lives she had ruined, and the friendships she had broken. Never before had she felt her heart broken since the time she banished Luna. Near the end, when she heard her apprentice had become a demon of all things and tried to kill Twilight and her new friends, Celestia couldn’t help but break down in tears.
Oh, Sunset... my little sun, thought Celestia, burying her face in her hooves. How could you have fallen so low? How could I have failed you? If I had known...
“Princess, it’s okay!” urged Twilight, now wide awake. She rushed to her mentor and hugged her. “After we hit her with the power of our magic, she was purified. The magic of friendship I had formed with my new friends unleashed the same power as my pony friends can with the Elements of Harmony. She apologized and everything went back to normal, just like it did with Princess Luna. It took some convincing, but the others will watch over her and teach her what friendship really means.”
This only made Celestia cry harder before she whispered, “Twilight, do you know what the power of the Elements do when they purify somepony?”
“N-no,” answered Twilight. “I only know what it’s like to use their power... not be on the receiving end.”
“For a long time I wondered such as well. At first, I thought they were only about turning those with evil in their hearts into stone. I assumed that Luna’s banishment was a result of me using only half of its power. After Luna was freed, she told me what happened when they hit her. It was not something even I would wish done to me,” whispered Celestia.
“Wait a minute,” Twilight began to back away as her eyes widened, “you mean to tell me that when you sent me to stop Nightmare Moon... you were expecting us to turn her to stone like you and Luna did with Discord?”
Celestia, closing her eyes, nodded. “Believe me, Twilight. I had to live with the fact that I was very likely sending my sister to her own stone grave, but I had to put Equestria first and my own feelings second. The only reason it couldn’t work the first time was because the bond my sister and I had was broken, thus the Elements of Harmony were at half power.”
“So, what do they do?” asked Twilight.
With a shiver, Celestia said, “They force you to feel the pain of everypony you have ever hurt with your actions. All the lives she had ruined or ended during her attempt to bring eternal night my sister was forced to feel. What seemed like minutes to us was likely a thousand lifetimes for her. A split second where there was no time: only endless pain. To feel their fear, their despair, knowing all the pain that she had caused all directed at her made my sister realize the wrong she had done and filled her heart with regret.”
Celestia remembered the restless nights Luna had after being purified. She had to hold her sister as Luna cried into her shoulder, unable to dream because she could still see the faces. The faces of the ponies that had been forced through the terror that was Nightmare Moon. Every pony she ever brought fear to, enslaved, or even killed, she had felt their worst and sometimes last moments all at once. No matter how much she tried to plead and beg for those faces’ forgiveness, she couldn’t stop them from haunting her. It took an entire year until Luna was finally was able to leave the castle and visit Ponyville, later dreaming peacefully when she returned with the knowledge that she was no longer feared or hated.
“It forces you to regret your actions,” muttered Twilight, rubbing her chin before snapping her head up. “But wait, what about Discord? He was turned to stone! Twice!”
“I believe when Discord was hit, despite all the pain he felt, he didn’t feel regretful for his actions, thus the Elements had no choice but to petrify him,” said Celestia, looking downward. “It is knowing this that made me have some... pity for him, I guess. This is also the reason why I asked Fluttershy to reform him. Only time will tell if he truly changes for the better or not, but I think, after finding something to care about more than chaos, he shall.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. “So when we hit Sunset Shimmer with the Elements...”
“She, just like Luna and Discord, felt all the pain she caused,” muttered Celestia, a tear dripping down her face. “Perhaps it was necessary, but I cannot help but wish I had a chance to comfort her. To let her know that I still loved her. Now she will have the same terrors that Luna faced, and I cannot help her! Even now, after all these years, I am a failure to her!”
“Princess Celestia...” whispered Twilight as her mentor burst into tears again. “Why didn’t you ever tell me of Sunset Shimmer? I knew you had apprentices in the past, but you never told me much about them. What happened between you two?”
Taking a few moments to calm down, Celestia shut her eyes and debated if Twilight deserved to hear the truth. She had ordered that Sunset’s name never be spoken again. Not out of anger, but out of regret. Nopony else, except a few sworn to secrecy, knew the truth. Not even her sister knew of the apprentice she had failed until recently. And yet it was a single secret that had ruined everything we had between me and Sunset, thought Celestia. Have I not learned from my mistakes? Perhaps if I had the truth known then things would have been different. Celestia made up her mind.
It was time for the truth to come out at last.
“I suppose you of all ponies, Twilight, deserve to know everything,” muttered Celestia as she levitated the frame with her from its place in the cabinet and looked at it. A small smile graced her lips before she turned to Twilight with a stern glance. “But you must promise me that you will tell nopony this. When she comes back to me, my little sun, I will be the one to tell the world and finally do what I should have done in the first place.”
Twilight nodded and leaned forward. Ready to hear what Celestia had to say.
Celestia closed her eyes and gulped. “Sunset Shimmer is my daughter.”
There was nothing. No gasps of shock, cries of ‘what’ or even the sound of breathing. Opening her eyes, Celestia saw that Twilight was as still as a statue. Her eyes as wide as they could go and her mouth wide open in shock. Whatever weariness Twilight had was long gone now. For a long time, neither of them spoke as the biggest secret Celestia had ever spilled continued to ring in both their ears. It was like a sense of relief for the elder alicorn, to say those words to somepony else after so long. It was if she had been freed from a caged prison and could fly free once more.
At last, Twilight found her voice as she jumped into the air, screaming, “What?!” Celestia was grateful that she had prepared the soundproofing spell ahead of time as she watched Twilight pace around, her mouth going at rapid speed. “You can’t be serious?! Your daughter?! That makes Sunset Shimmer a princess like me, but by blood! She’s actually the first royal born pony from your womb in nearly a thousand years! All this time I was fighting against my mentor’s daughter, and I never knew! Why didn’t you tell me?! Or anypony for that matter?! How could this have been hidden for so long?! I mean she had the word sun in her name!”
Celestia shook her head in amusement at her student’s typical way of handling such knowledge. I expect nothing less from her.
“Your daughter?! This is unbelievable! This is history! You haven’t taken a husband, much less a lover, since a thousand years ago! I asked you one time and you told me you just didn’t have the time to start falling in love again! Well, now I know why and it’s because Luna was banished, thus leaving you with twice the workload. So how could Sunset Shimmer be your daughter unless...” Twilight stopped and turned around, facing her teacher. “It was a secret love?” Celestia slowly nodded. “But... who is the father?”
Another pang of combined guilt and sorrow pierced Celestia’s heart as she remembered the face of the last pony she had once called “her special somepony”. The only one to break her efforts to not fall in love again after her sister’s banishment. She could still remember his smile, the last gleaming sparks of life in his eyes as she held him in his final hour. To this day, she still couldn’t find herself to visit his grave after all these years. “His name I will not tell you,” muttered Celestia, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter now since he is no longer of this world, and even saying it will give me more grief than I can stand at the moment. Only know this... He was a great stallion, and I will always hold him in my heart like all the others I loved before him. I only pray he forgives me in the afterlife of what I have done to our child.”
Twilight looked like she was going to press on the subject, but soon shut her mouth and nodded. Her ears perked up as she rubbed the floor with her hoof. “Does... does Sunset Shimmer know she is your daughter?”
“Perhaps I should tell you the full story,” muttered Celestia as she summoned two cushions on her bed for them to sit on.
Getting comfortable, Celestia thought back to the past years she had with her last lover before his unfortunate end. But from that death came a joy. A joy named Sunset Shimmer. It all seems like it was yesterday.
“After my lover died, I found myself pregnant with his foal. Naturally, I was afraid of what to do. If the public, much less the nobility, learned that I was having a baby my enemies could use her against me, or try to manipulate my daughter like they had done with my nephew, Blueblood. I also was in fear of her safety. At the time there was a cult that supported Nightmare Moon. They were awaiting her return, hoping to weaken Equestria so that she could take it over easily. I couldn’t risk my daughter by having her turned into a pawn like Blueblood or have her killed by my enemies,” explained Celestia.
“Why didn’t we face such a cult before? During the Summer Sun Celebration?” asked Twilight, tilting her head.
“I will explain why, eventually. So to hide my pregnancy, I pretended to fall ill by saying it was a disease that only alicorns could get. This convinced the public, and the nobles didn’t mind. It was a chance to use their influence to control Equestria while I was unwell. Thankfully, they didn’t do anything too damaging to our nation that I couldn’t fix,” muttered Celestia, wishing more noble houses like the Twilight’s and Fancy’s. “Soon, I bore my daughter into the world...”
***
Celestia was starting to remember why she hadn’t had any foals for a thousand years. It bucking hurt. Celestia let out another scream, one she sure would have even pierced through the soundproof wards they had put around her room. The doctors, wet nurses, and few guards she could trust, including her Captain of the Guard, Chainmail, were encouraging her to stay strong. Easy for them to say! They’re not the ones giving birth!
“Come on, your Majesty!” encouraged the head doctor, hidden between Celestia’s rear legs. “One more push and that should do it!”
With one last scream, Celestia finally felt her foal leave her at last and gasped in relief. It was finally over, and she knew it had all be worth it when she heard the foal’s cries for the first time. The nurses quickly began to clean the new princess up before the head doctor walked up to her. He took off his mask, and gave a congratulatory smile towards her. “Congratulations, Princess Celestia. It’s a healthy filly.”
“Unicorn or alicorn?” asked Chainmail.
“Unicorn, but I think that works best for the plan, if I’m right?” replied the doctor as he went over to the nurses.
Celestia nodded, taking deep breaths as her maids began to wipe the sweat all over her face. It was a good thing her newborn daughter was a unicorn, or else their plan to protect her would have been all a waste. It was still unknown, even to her, if an alicorn could be born from a non-alicorn parent. All of her previous children shared the same race as their fathers. A small part of her hated it though, knowing she would outlive her child. But the memories that she had with all of those she brought into this world were part of what kept her sane all these years.
And now, one more would be added to the mix.
Any energy that she lost during the birth was soon revitalized the moment Celestia saw her daughter for the first time. The nurse holding her in a pink blanket handed the new princesses into Celestia hooves as she quickly took her precious filly and smiled. A tear fell from her eye. “She’s beautiful...”
“She looks a lot like him your, Majesty,” said Chainmail, noticing the color of her coat, but then he saw the speck of color in the newborn's mane and frowned. “Except her mane and eyes. They look like yours.”
Celestia frowned. “Yes. It seems we’ll have to alter her appearance permanently with the spells we found. You should make her mane red, just like her father’s, but with a yellow stripe. It will be in the colors of the sun I raise.”
“Very well, I’ll do so before I make for the orphanage,” said Chainmail. “I’ll go see that the preparations are set.”
Celestia didn’t hear him, nor did she bother to see him leave. She was too busy looking at the now sleeping foal who was only born on this day. To be held in Celestia’s hooves and never again afterwards. It filled her heart with grief knowing that this would be the last time either of them saw each other, but she had to remind herself that this was for the best. Ignoring the political ramifications, Celestia would not see her daughter used as a tool by the corrupted nobles like they had already started to do to her once sweet nephew. And with the threat of the Nightmare Cult still a grim reality, the idea of her daughter as a target was unthinkable.
I wonder, my little daughter, will you hate me? Curse me for this? Will you grow up stronger, or will this moment shatter you? I will always love you no matter what, and pray you will live a good life, vowed Celestia as she kissed her daughter’s forehead.
Nopony interrupted the brief moment they had together as Celestia forced herself to memorize every moment she had with her daughter in the precious few minutes they had. She nuzzled, kissed, and even sang to her daughter a song that she had once learned from her own mother in a time long ago:
Oh little sun, so quiet yet bright
Hiding in the shadows, afraid of the night
Come to your mother who lies in the sky
Waiting for you as time marches by
When you come up, and bring about the day
Your mother shall kiss you and together we will play
When Celestia finished the song, she looked out her window where the sun was stuck in set, the pregnancy having temporarily haunted her ability to move the celestial objects. Thankfully, she would just chalk it up to her ‘disease’ and cease any worry. Staring at it, she came with a name for her foal. “Sunset Shimmer. That will be your name, my little sun.”
Her foal opened her eyes, stared into Celestia’s own purple pools, and giggled. For the first time, in a very, very long time, Celestia showed a true smile on her face. A smile she had not worn since banishing her sister to the moon. This tiny pony, in a single moment, was all the happiness in the world for Celestia. However, it had to come to an end as Celestia’s smile soon faded when she saw Chainmail return, dressed in a cloak and levitating a basket.
“It’s time,” said Chainmail, standing beside his princess. “Please, give her to me, Princess Celestia.”
Celestia looked down at her smiling daughter, and at that moment wanted to say no. To cancel the plan and announce to the world the birth of her lovely daughter. She wanted to make Sunset Shimmer a princess and teach her magic. To see her grow up, have friends, marry, have foals of her own, and die of old age. To live a long and great life, loved by her mother and those closest to her. Every motherly instinct that Celestia had buried deep inside her was instantly revived and was ordering her to keep her little sun. Her Sunset Shimmer.
However, there was too much at stake. Had things been different, she would let herself keep her daughter. Now she was doing the one sin that no mother should ever do: give up her foal.
With great reluctance, Celestia did her best to hold back the tears as she kissed her daughter one last time and placed her in the basket. A simple sleeping spell put the filly into a blissful slumber as Chainmail bowed and made his exit. Celestia never stopped staring at him and her retreating daughter until he was out of the room.
There in the silence, those left in the room waited. Nopony said a word, but their eyes showed the sympathy they held for the mother. Closing her eyes, Celestia ordered them to leave her be until she called for them. It was only when the last of them left did Celestia weep out loud, crying her daughter’s name in the lonely room of her bed-chamber.
Meanwhile, a newborn filly, with only only a blanket, a basket, and a note with her name, was found at the footsteps of an orphanage after the owner had heard knocking, only to find nopony there. Nopony, but Sunset Shimmer, the newest orphan in his establishment.
Celestia didn’t know she had been crying until Twilight came by her side and hugged her. She felt the warmth of the embrace flow through her as she let out years of anguish and regret. She had made many mistakes in her life, some that would haunt her to her grave, but letting go of Sunset was among the top on her list, right there with sister’s descent into madness.
“It couldn’t have been easy...” whispered Twilight as Celestia felt her student's tears strike her shoulder. “I don’t think... I could have ever done that...”
“I never got over it, Twilight. Not even when I met her years later,” muttered Celestia, wiping her own tears away. She could remember every sleepless night from the nightmares she had of her daughter, starving and cold, begging for her mommy to save her, but Celestia was powerless. “It took every inch of willpower I had not to get her back.” Celestia then smiled. “Then I saw her again. When she tried to take the entrance exam for my school. All at the age of five...”
“Five?!” shouted Twilight in shock. “I didn’t take take the entrance exam until I was nine! How did she manage to get in at such an early age?!”
Celestia chuckled at her reaction. “Twilight, you are a prodigy with magic, but so was Shimmer. The only reason she managed to get in at such a young age was because one of my professors and his wife were looking to adopt a foal for their family. They saw Sunset Shimmer, who already had her cutie mark at such an young age, and saw her talents first hoof. Believe me, it was a shock to find out myself...”
***
“I’m not to sure about this, Notebook,” said Celestia as she walked down the hall of her prestigious academy. Rarely had she gotten involved in the school unless she was needed in a major decision or is she was looking for a student to take under her wing; a feat she hadn’t done in a hundred years. It was quite a surprise when Professor Notebook had all but begged Celestia to see this talented unicorn he and his wife found while adopting their new colt. “Five years old is a really young age. The earliest age we accept for this school is nine. Shouldn’t she go to magic kindergarten first?”
“She’s an orphan, Princess. She can’t afford such a thing, not even public school,” said the young blue unicorn with a silvery mane and a notebook as a cutie mark. “Trust me, Princess. She’s talented. She even has her own cutie mark, a little sun believe it or not.”
Celestia almost paused in her steps when she heard him say “little sun” and quickly thought back to the daughter she had given up five years ago. She would be this little pony’s age. I wonder how she is doing? My lovely Sunset Shimmer...
“What can you tell me about this filly?” asked Celestia, shaking her head in an effort to clear her mind her daughter in fear of awaking old grief.
“She’s very smart, talented, and kind. She’s a little on the arrogant side, yet adorably so,” said Professor Notebook as he opened the doors revealing the testing room for all new applicants to the school. Already the three other judges were waiting, notepads ready. “As for her name...”
Celestia turned to the pony and immediately felt her heart stop. She did not need to see the color of the mane, nor the look in her eyes to know who this was. A mother never forgets, not even after years of separation, missing every moment of her child growing up. She knows, in her heart, what her child looks like. And Celestia was looking at the wide, amazed eyes of her daughter who was looking at her in both admiration and nervousness.
“... it’s Sunset Shimmer.”
Celestia didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe it. Was fate this cruel or was it this generous? Her daughter. Her lovely little sun, who even supported this nickname with a sun as a cutie mark, had returned to her. She looked so strong, so willful. Her eyes held a passion that Celestia herself once had years and years ago around her age. A passion for learning, adventure, and excitement. Celestia had slowly, but surely, resigned herself to the idea that she was never to see her daughter again. And yet she had been proven wrong.
“Um, P-p-princess Celestia?” asked Sunset Shimmer, nervously pawing the floor. Celestia snapped out of her trance and did her best to keep herself calm under the confused glances of her little subjects. “I-I want to know if I can start now, Princess?”
“Y-yes of course,” urged Celestia, forcing a smile. She didn’t call me, Mommy. My own daughter doesn’t know that her mother is standing before her. To Sunset, I am just a stranger.
Sunset smiled and walked towards a tiny potted plant. Celestia looked at it, it was a small seedling, barely bigger than a newborn’s tooth. Sunset Shimmer looked at the sprout with a flare of confidence as she closed her eyes and concentrated. Her horn illuminated as Celestia watched with growing anticipation. She was watching her own daughter perform magic for the first time and she was already on the edge of her seat.
The turquoise aura surrounded the plant and soon it began to move. Then, it started to grow. Celestia and the judges gasped as the small seedling began to grow much bigger, to the point where it bloomed into a beautiful flower, but it didn’t stop there. It started growing thicker vines, a stronger stem, and more flower buds spread and bloomed on their own. The pot exploded, its roots digging into the floor. Celestia had to back up just to make room as she watched it grow as high as the ceiling.
Finally, Sunset Shimmer stopped, taking deep breaths while looking at her work with a wide smirk. Celestia, as well as the judges by the look of their flabbergasted faces, not believing what they had seen. An orphaned filly, age five, had managed to turn one little plant into a giant, tree-sized version of it that covered half the room.
Sunset Shimmer pushed back some of her sweat-soaked mane as she panted. “So how did I do? Impressive, huh?”
The judges finally managed to find their voices and announced their agreement. Only Celestia as still silent, looking over the work that her secret daughter had done, while sensing the familiar magic that flowed through the plant. Turning to the tiny unicorn, she asked, “Sunset Shimmer, do you know what you have done?”
Sunset gulped, her s previous smile evaporating within an instant. “Um, I made a plant grow really big?”
“Yes, but do you know how you did it?” asked Celestia, earning a shake of the head. “What you used was solar magic. It’s borrowing magic from the sun itself to perform spells and enhance one’s abilities. You took the energy of the sun and used it to make this plant grow at an accelerated rate. Only a very few set of unicorns can do this, one of them being myself because of my connection with the sun. Tell me, how did you first discover this?”
“W-well,” said Sunset Shimmer, calming down,“One day, I was working in the garden when I noticed some of the plants dying. It had been cloudy for a week or so and they weren’t getting much sunlight. So I figured I could use my magic to make them look better, but then I felt some kind of force...”
“A force?” asked Celestia, who had a feeling she knew where it came from.
“Yeah, it was really warm and felt like it was made of pure energy. So I put it into the plants and it made them grow.” Sunset then looked at her flank. “That’s how I got my cutie mark.”
The sun. The sun was calling to her, as if knowing she was my foal, thought Celestia. It had taken even Starswirl the Bearded, arguably the greatest unicorn ever, years to master solar magic. And yet this filly had done it at the age of five. There was no mistake: some of her alicorn powers had transferred to Sunset. She was undoubtedly more powerful than any unicorn remotely close to her age, and would continue to grow stronger. Celestia fought to contain the growing smirk coming over her face.
But that all soon changed as Celestia quickly realized the great dilemma before her. Her daughter deserved to learn how to control such great power, but none of the teachers here would be able to help her when she really needed it. There was only one pony in all of Equestria who could teach Sunset how to use her powers and master them. It meant going against her promise to stay out of her daughter’s life, but she couldn’t hold back from this.
“Sunset Shimmer,” said Celestia with a warming smile, a smile she had not shown since the day of her daughter’s coming into the world. “You have great talent and have shown the possibilities of being a master of a magic that only I have truly ever mastered. Therefore, I wish to ask that, instead of being a student at the academy, would you like to be my personal apprentice and live with me?”
Everypony in the room gasped, no more so than Sunset Shimmer whose eyes widened larger than Celestia thought possible. “Y-you want me to live with you, and... and you want to teach me?” Celestia only managed to get a nod in before Sunset Shimmer nearly tackled her off her hooves, crying into her chest. “Thank you! Thank you! I’ll be the best student you ever had! I promise!”
Celestia let a single tear fall, this time of joy, as she embraced her daughter. No, my little sun. It’s me who is grateful that we have a chance to be reunited once again.
***
With all the paperwork done and the orphanage given notice on the recent developments, Celestia was quick to lead Sunset Shimmer into her castle and new home. The wide-eyed expression of the little filly was so cute that Celestia’s heart nearly flipped. Seeing her daughter happy made her happy, and it made Celestia wonder if she should tell her Sunset the truth about everything. When they learned that she took Sunset on as an apprentice, those she had trusted with the information of her daughter warned her not to take her on to do it, but Celestia didn’t care. She had thrown away her daughter once. She would not do so again. Relenting, they advised her to at least hold off on telling her new student the whole truth.
That’s what made Celestia’s stomach roil, she knew the reasonings why, as it was still dangerous for any announcement of her having a child. The Nightmare Cult was growing more and more dangerous, having killed her nephew’s parents. If they knew she had a daughter, there was no telling how far they would go just to strike at her beloved Sunset, and it would be a cold, dark day before she let a single hair on her coat be hurt. Not to mention that the Griffins were at civil war right now, the rebels being leaders of the military who were disapproving of the alliance they had with ponies, their oldest enemies. Celestia sent what aid she could for the king of the griffins, knowing that if the rebellion succeeded and the power was switched it would make it much harder to prepare Equestria for Nightmare Moon in the upcoming years.
There are still the Elements of Harmony, but the new wielders have not yet shown themselves, if they ever will, thought Celestia.
“Princess Celestia?” asked Sunset Shimmer, awakening the ruler from her worrisome thoughts. “Are you okay? You seem sad.”
Celestia smiled and nuzzled the little filly who giggled at the touch. “No, my dear Sunset; I am simply tired. It’s been a long day.”
Sunset Shimmer yawned and smacked her lips. “I’m getting tired too. How much more of the castle do we have to see?”
“Only your bedroom, my new student,” said Celestia, guiding a tired Sunset up a series of stairs. She soon saw how slow her daughter was getting, and levitated her up onto her back, where she thanked the alicorn with a nod before resting her head against her mane.
When they reached the top, Sunset Shimmer was already fast asleep. Celestia quietly opened the door to the room she always gave her apprentices. With great care, she tucked Sunset into bed and looked at her sleeping daughter with a warm smile. “My darling little sun. I promise to do everything I can to protect you,” she then kissed her on the forehead.
Celestia blew out the candles and made her way towards the door where she slowly closed it, whispering, “Goodnight…”
Celestia paused her story to politely accept a cup of tea from Twilight. The elder princess’ parched throat cried out in heavenly thanks as the soothing and tasty liquid washed over her aching throat. “Thank you, Twilight.”
“No problem, Princess,” said Twilight, sitting back down on her cushion as she filled up her own teacup. “So how was Sunset as a student? Was she as good as me?”
“She was just as brilliant as you, Twilight. However, there were some differences,” said Celestia, smiling. “While you always focused on books and the theories of magic, Sunset was more into actual casting and putting the magic to actual use. Instead of the library, the courtyards were Sunset’s home as she put hours upon hours into casting spell after spell. More than once I would have to have the guards drag her to dinner while she was trying to master some new spell.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow as she saw Twilight lower her cup and glance at the floor. “Would... would we have met if Sunset was still your apprentice? Would she have been the Element of Magic and a princess instead of me?”
There was a pause in the air before Celestia raised her apprentice’s chin with her hoof and smiled at her. “My dearest, Twilight. You would have been my apprentice regardless. Your magic was unchecked and I knew that I would be the only one to keep you from losing control. I have never taken more than one apprentice before, but I would not be against the idea. You would have been special to me regardless.” Seeing Twilight's smile return, Celestia continued. “As for the Element of Magic and becoming a alicorn...” Celestia sighed. “I admit, I did see my daughter as a candidate for both. But there were also other candidates for the other Elements as well.”
“Like who?” asked Twilight.
Celestia licked her lips and tapped her chin. “Well, for Loyalty there was Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts as well as your brother, Shining Armor. Laughter was a strange traveling party pony named Cheese Sandwich who is very much like Pinkie Pie. I suspect one day their paths will cross. Generosity had three other potentials, one of them was Fancy Pants, the other two lived in Trottingham. The first one, a unicorn named Reflection, sadly died in an accident a year before I sent you to Ponyville. The other was a pegasus racer named Accelerator. There was nopony else for Honesty like Applejack. And Kindness had only one other pony, a pegasus named Derpy Hooves.”
The shocked look on Twilight’s face as she listed off names both familiar and new to her was a bit of an amusement to Celestia. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened to Twilight if any of these ponies were the ones she was destined to become friends with. How much would have changed and what would have happened to the friends she knew now if none of them were chosen?
“There is something I don’t understand and it’s kind of been bugging me a bit,” asked Twilight, rubbing her hoof. “How did you know I could become an alicorn princess?”
“Alicorns can feel when others have the potential to become alicorns as well. Sometimes they are born like my sister and I, others need to become one through various ways such as you and Cadance.” Celestia sighed and looked into her drained teacup with regret.
“Will... will I live as long as you?” asked Twilight with a wavering voice.
Celestia knew this question would come and she gave a warm smile to Twilight. “Do not worry, Twilight. Alicorns have long lives, but they are by no means immortal. You will live to be about a hundred. Maybe a hundred and fifty. But you will join your friends in the next life along with Cadance. Luna and I are... exceptions.”
“Why? How?” asked Twilight.
“It is our connection with the Sun and Moon. The unicorns originally raised them, but it always caused such a strain and needed to be done with groups. Many didn’t live long lives or suffered disabilities because of the strain. My sister and I were born with a connection to both heavenly bodies and so our life forces are connected to them, stopping our bodies from aging. We believe we shall continue to live until another is destined to take our role as the raisers of either the sun, moon, or both. From then I suspect our bodies will begin to age again. And we will die.”
“Has anypony come close? Have I?” asked Twilight. “I-I mean, if I need too.. I don’t mind.”
“No, Twilight. You are not going to replace me or Luna. You would have had a connection to either the sun or moon the moment you were born if this was to happen. No, only one pony has ever had the same connection as I...”
“Sunset Shimmer?”
Celestia nodded. “I sensed the potential of alicorn transformation within Sunset too, but I foolishly told her this too early.”
“She did say she wanted to be a princess...” mentioned Twilight, placing her hoof on Celestia’s. “Do you want to tell me how it happened?”
***
“Would I wear a crown like yours?!” asked Sunset, eagerly.
“Yes.”
“And have my own subjects?!”
“Yes, and you would have a duty to treat them with respect.”
“And eat all the cake I want?!”
“That’s one of my personal favorites,” teased Celestia with a wink of the eye. She and Sunset Shimmer had been walking down the halls after their afternoon lessons. Well, she had been walking, Sunset had been hopping around the room like a six year old again when she was already eleven.
“When can I turn into one or learn how to turn into one?” asked Sunset, eyes beaming.
“When you're older and more powerful, Sunset. These things take time,” answered Celestia, who couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride over all that her daughter had achieved in the year since she came back to her life. Sunset had shown more potential than any other student Celestia ever took and all of the other teachers adored her prized student. She still had problems fitting in with the other students, most of which were upset that an orphan like her got to be Celestia’s student, but she never let it bothered her. I just wish she’d make a few friends.
“Aww, I wanted to be one now,” muttered Sunset, pouting. Her gaze then turned to a locked room with three magical chains surrounding it. Stopping in front of it, Sunset looked at the door before turning to her teacher. “What’s behind that door?”
At first, Celestia was against the idea of showing what was behind it, but then she saw the innocent look in her daughter’s eye and figured that no harm could come from it. Using her magic, the three magical chains disappeared and the door opened. Inside was a mirror that she hadn’t seen in a long time. It looked like any ordinary mirror, but just by being near it you could sense the magic radiating off of it.
“What is it? A mirror?” asked Sunset, walking forward and reaching out to touch the surface.
Celesia gasped, “Sunset! No!” She grabbed her daughter by her tail and dragged her away. Rushing over to the mirror, she gently touched it with her own hoof but relaxed upon feeling the cold surface. It wasn’t activated, thank goodness.
“What was that about?” asked Sunset, puffing her cheeks.
Blushing, Celestia answered, “I’m sorry, Sunset. But this mirror is no ordinary mirror. It is a gateway to another world.”
“A-another world?! Is that even possible?! What kind of world?!” asked Sunset, inching closer to the mirror.
“I don’t know. I have never ventured beyond into it. Only Starswirl the Bearded, it’s creator, has done so. Yet, he never spoke or recorded of what he found,” answered Celestia. “It only opens every thirty moons and once that moon’s final day leaves it cannot be opened again. I have kept it around for study since finding it a hundred years ago with Starswirl’s notes, but I have not found the courage to test it out.”
“Think maybe someday I can venture inside? If I’m strong enough?!” asked Sunset, looking at it with beaming eyes. “Just think of what could await us there.”
Celestia smiled at the sight of her daughter’s sense of adventure and nuzzled her. “Tell you what. I promise one day, when you're old enough, we’ll venture into the mirror together.” She looked up and glanced at the mirror again. “You know, the mirror also has another function. If one stares into it deep enough, you can see possible futures that you can experience.”
“Have you ever looked inside the mirror, teacher?” asked Sunset.
“I... have...” said Celestia, hesitantly.
“What did you see?”
My biggest dream and my greatest fear...thought Celestia. She had looked into this mirror only once, but once was enough. She saw two futures, ones that still plagued her to this day. The first showed her and Luna, back to her normal self, in a warm, sisterly embrace with smiles on their heads. There was no crown or regalia on them. Just them as sisters, united once more. It was the future Celestia wanted more than anything else.
And yet she saw another possible future. A darker one. Her worst fears coming to life.
She saw herself, wings torn asunder, horn sliced in half, body covered in gashes and cuts, while being tied to a pillar with chains of dark energy squeezing her tight. With tears of eyes, her reflection looked gazed upwards upon the one that had defeated her. Nightmare Moon, laughing in triumph as all of Equestria turned dark.
A future of hope. And a future of despair.
All it did was drive her more to seek the Elements’ new bearers out so she could make the first future real.
“Teacher?” asked Sunset Shimmer, poking her leg. Celestia quickly got out of her thoughts and looked down at her student. “Could I take a look?”
Seeing no harm with it, she nodded and guided Sunset to the proper place to look. “Focus on the mirror. Don’t blink or look away. Concentrate and relax.”
Sunset nodded her head and stood as still as a statue. She slowed her breathing and never once shook as Celestia calmly stepped back to let her student focus. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then Sunset gasped and her smile grew larger. “I... I can see it! I see myself! I’m an alicorn! A princess just like you! I’m standing beside you as we look upon our subjects. They look so happy to see us. I really can become this? As loved as you are?”
A proud smile spread across Celesta’s muzzle. “Yes, Sunset. You have the potential to become a great and wise—”
Suddenly, Sunset was screaming. She screamed and began to back away from the mirror, terror completely filling her eyes. Celesta was at her side in an instant, shielding her daughter with her wing and embracing her straight her chest. “Breathe, my little sun! It’s okay! You are safe! It’s okay!”
The screaming stopped and was soon replaced by crying. Celestia could feel her coat getting wet but none of that mattered. All that mattered was soothing her crying daughter and nuzzling her with each passing second. “It’s okay. Shhh, shhh. Let it all out.”
“S-So scary... so... evil...” muttered Sunset, shivering in Celestia’s hooves.
“What did you see?” asked Celestia.
“It... it was on two legs... flying in the air with bat like wings. Its claws held fire as her red body was encased in flames like they were from Tartarus. Even her mane and tail were ablaze. But the worse where its eyes... its dark, soulless eyes. Eyes of evil and terror. Like all it wanted to do was destroy me as it looked at me like a meal to feast on!” Sunset looked at her teacher with teary confused eyes. “W-what does it mean? Why does one of my futures have a demon in it?”
Celestia didn’t know. She only rushed them out of the room and swore never to show Sunset the mirror again. She did not know what this demon was, but if it was involved in her daughter’s future in anyway, she would make sure it never harmed her or anypony else.
It never occurred to Celestia that Sunset was seeing herself.
Ever since she showed her daughter the mirror, Princess Celestia had been worried. Sunset had started to show signs of further interest in the mirror despite Celestia’s repeated warnings not to look at it further. The idea that a demon was a possible involvement in her daughter’s future was more than enough to cause panic in Celestia’s heart; she didn’t need to know what other dangers there might be in her daughter’s life. Instead, Celestia focused on an event she had been planning for weeks: her daughter’s birthday.
Because of the secret nature surrounding her birth, Celestia had been forced to skip her daughter’s real birthday date each year. Instead, they celebrated on the day she took Sunset Shimmer as her student, holding a party every year that acted as a celebration for both. The entire castle from the guards to the servants were invited each year, but nopony else. Celestia had hoped that Sunset would have friends that could also join, but yet again it was another friendless year.
Still, she had many years to teach Sunset friendship before her sister’s return. Right now, her primary focus was to teach her daughter magic and keep her safe from all harm. Specifically, harm from the Nightmare Cult.
“Are you sure these reports are accurate?” asked Celestia, removing her gaze from the scroll and towards the pegasus scout who kneeled before her.
“Yes, my Princess,” she answered. “There have been whispers within the cult about possible assassination attempts, mostly on you. We’ve known this has been one of their objectives since their founding, but they have not yet been in such serious talks like this since the attempted attempt on your life three hundred years ago.”
A small growl escaped Celestia’s lips. She remembered that day very well. It had been a parade done in her honor while she had been by the box seats with some of her closest friends. All of a sudden, assassins jumped from hidden trap doors on one of the floats and dove at the box with magical blades powerful enough to even threaten her life. Many of her friends were killed that day, but she survived thanks to hundreds years of training and instinct. She sought to bring the cult to justice, but most of them managed to slip away and go underground for centuries. At least, until recently.
“We shall double the guards in the castle from now on. No single patrols. Always in twos or threes. Guards are to be given Class B armaments, with permission to change to Class A if danger approaches. Most importantly, Sunset Shimmer is to be protected at all costs. Her life is more important to me then anything, even my own,” ordered Celestia.
The scout’s eyes widened. “But Princess, surely you are more important?”
“No, she is. Dismissed,” said Celestia, narrowing her eyes. The scout bowed and left, leaving Celestia with her two regular guards and her Captain of the Guard, Chainmail.
“I’ve been going over the traces of the Nightmare Cult’s actions for the past three years,” said Chainmail as he followed Princess Celestia towards the doors leading to the great hall. “Most of them have been in contact with other known locations the Nightmare Cult has been active in such as Cloudsdale, Vanhoofer, and Ponyville. We’ve conducted raids on the last one in secret where we discovered plans for excursions to the Griffin Empire. When we interrogated two individuals we captured, they refused to tell us and attempted to escape. We had no choice but to... eliminate them.”
“Where did you dispose of the bodies?” asked Celestia, silently praying for the two lost souls. It was not the first time she and her forces had to do this for the sake of Equestria, and every death she wept, even if they were an enemy.
“We made it look like they fell from a bridge that was broken, their relatives on the apple farm were notified. As far as anypony knows, they died of an accident.”
***
“YOU KILLED APPLEJACK’S PARENTS?!”
Before Celestia knew it, a blast of magic had blown her across the room and straight into a wall. If not for the silence spell she had placed earlier, the entire palace would have been alerted. A part of Celestia knew this would happen, but Twilight deserved to hear the whole truth. She wasn’t going to lie about this or anything related to her daughter. The other part was impressed that she managed to learn the Royal Canterlot Voice so well.
Twilight, eyes blazing with fury, jumped onto Princess Celestia with her horn charged up and ready to cast. “Do you have any idea what you did to that family?! Granny Smith had to work tirelessly to kick those trees at her age! It ruined her hip! Big Macintosh and Applejack blamed themselves for years for not going with their parents and maybe helping them at the ‘accident’! And Apple Bloom was only a few months old! She has no memory of her father or mother! You ruined that family!”
“I know, Twilight,” answered Celestia, tears dripping down her eyes.
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t understand... you’re suppose to be merciful! Kind! The peaceful ruler who has kept us out of war for nearly a thousand years! How could you do something so horrible?!”
“Twilight, what makes you think that is not the first time I’ve done that?” asked Celestia. Twilight stepped back in shock as Celestia got up and sighed. “Do you really think I kept peace up for a thousand years with diplomacy alone? I’ve had ordered assassinations, approved of night raids, sent spies to every corner of our nation and beyond, and blackmailed others to keep them quiet. All of this was done in the shadows and without any record. I’ve been almost assassinated thirty-seven times in my life, half of them from my own subjects. Luna alone has been targeted eighteen times since she returned, but she only knows of six. I’ve manipulated many events in our history to keep us safe and preserve us from dangers both inside and outside of our country. Half of what you find in history books is all but twisted versions of the truth.” She looked up and stared straight into Twilight’s eyes. “You alone have been targeted five times since you came to my castle as my student. Twice since you became a princess. I’ve stopped them all by striking first and without mercy.”
Falling onto her haunches, Twilight slowly turned pale. Slowly, Celestia levitated her crown that had fallen after the attack and looked at it with such hatred she wished she could melt the thing and throw it into a ditch to be forgotten forever. “Being princess... being a ruler of a nation means dirtying your hooves. It’s part of the political life, Twilight. Always has been. I have so much blood on my hooves that I know one day I’ll pay for it all. This life or the next. But if I can keep my precious ponies safe then I will never hesitate.”
“But then why make me a princess at all then?!” shouted Twilight. “If this is what the life of a princess is like then I want nothing to do with it!”
“You won’t have to suffer what I have suffered because you will be better than me,” answered Celestia, shaking her head with a smile. “You... you have so much potential. So much good you can do for this world. You can lead others by example and friendship, building a legacy that will last long after you are gone. I believe the reason destiny choose you to become a princess was so you and your friends could have the authority and power to change our world. A better world where my shadowy actions will not be needed. I don’t know how or when it will happen, but this is my faith in you, my student.”
“Oh, great... heh, no pressure,” whispered Twilight, chuckling as she rubbed the back of her head. She then bowed before Princess Celestia. “I... I’m sorry I attacked you...”
“I deserved it, Twilight. Even if I never knew Applejack back then, I still deserved it,” answered Celestia.
“W-what do I tell her though? Should I tell her?” asked Twilight, biting her lip.
“That is up to you. I don’t know how she would take the fact that her parents were traitors trying to serve a cult that was dedicated to destroying me and all I held dear for Nightmare Moon and her Eternal Night. Lives have been ruined and lost because of them, and I saw justice for every pony suffered by their hooves. From what you mentioned in your letters, Applejack idolizes her parents and seeks to live up the expectations they had for her. Telling her the truth might destroy her, even worse if it got out it would destroy her family name.”
Twilight sighed and nodded her head. “Maybe... maybe it is for the best she remains ignorant. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“It is up to you, Twilight,” answered Celestia. “Do you wish to end our talk tonight or shall we continue?”
“No, we can continue. What happened next? Did the cult strike back at you?”
Celestia lowered her head to the point where her mane covered her entire face. Rage and sorrow filled up her heart at she remembered that day with almost perfectly clarity. “Yes...they hurt me where I hurt most... They targeted my daughter... and everything went downhill from there.”
There were few times where Celestia was allowed to relax and enjoy a single day without worrying about some political or economic situation. She wasn’t even allowed to relax on her birthday. However, when it came to her daughter, she wanted to be Mommy Celestia instead of Teacher Celestia.
She couldn’t even allow Sunset’s birthday to be some grand and extravagant event: just a quiet moment between the guards, servants, and professors to come together and enjoy a party for the most important filly in Celestia’s life. Everything had to be prepared in secret and done only by those within the castle walls. If any word got out about a birthday party at the castle, or any celebration for that matter, and the nobles would gather like sharks smelling blood. It wouldn’t be to wish Sunset Shimmer a happy birthday though. They would only come to brag about how they were personally invited to the castle and they were close with the princess.
It was one of many reasons why Celestia didn’t want her daughter to play in politics or interact with the nobility without her present. It would not be the first time they had tried to weasel one of her apprentices into their web. They had done so with her once sweet nephew, Prince Blueblood, and he had changed into such a prat that his own parents couldn’t deal with him. It was why she had sent Cadance to study abroad so she didn’t become ensnared in their clutches as well. However, neither he nor Cadence were as sought after as Sunset who was, despite her humble background, Celestia’s personal student.
She could still remember how so many noble unicorn families were outraged by the fact she took in an orphan with no last name as her apprentice instead of one of their “highly trained” sons or daughters. If only they knew that Sunset was more noble than all of them. She knew Sunset would eventually have to learn of her highborn status.
But that was all for another day. Today was a birthday to celebrate.
Hundreds of balloons and streamers could be seen around the throne room with tables full of food and parties games to be enjoyed. Some of her guards, or at least the ones not on duty, were playing pin the tail on the draconequus or bobbing for apples. The maids were dancing to the music of a DJ named Record Scratch, a long blue haired mare with shades. While Celestia personally preferred classical music, this new techno stuff was quite catchy. Celestia even felt her own rump shake a bit to the rhythm.
Mountains of presents were stacked on a table, all for Sunset who was busy trying to hit a piñata that was just right above her nose. Wielding the stick with her magic, she swung and managed to lay a solid hit on it, splitting it in half and making it spill all of its candy. The group that watched her clapped their hooves before a grinning Sunset started to share her candy.
“She’s grown up quite into a fine filly, Princess,” said Chainmail as he walked up behind her. “And you’ve changed as well.”
“How so?” asked Celestia, smiling at her daughter’s actions while she blew a big bubble of gum before it popped, splattering all over her face.
“I’ve never seen you smile so much.”
“I smile all the time, Captain,” said Celestia.
Chainmail chuckled as he shook his head. “That’s not smiling, Princess. What you put on most days is a mask, but when you're with...” he leaned closer and whispered, “your daughter, you smile like you mean it.”
Celestia didn’t deny nor confirm his captain’s words, she only stared at her happy daughter who was being given a piggy back ride by one the guards. “Is it wrong for me that I wish she wasn’t the chosen pony for the Element of Magic? That somepony else was instead of my little filly?”
“No, it’s not. My own filly wants to join me in the guard. I don’t want her too, I’d rather she was a gardener like her mother, but how can I deny her? I love her too much that I would do anything for her,” answered Chainmail, chuckling. “What you wish for is the wish that all parents want: their children to be safe. Nopony wants to fail the ones we love. We simply have to do our best.”
“All we can do is do our best, huh?” Celestia sighed and shook her head. “I failed somepony I loved once and I swore to never do it again. Failure is something I cannot afford.”
“You are too hard on yourself, but I understand,” said Chainmail as he walked away just as Sunset was running up to her teacher.
“Princess! Thank you so much for the party!” shouted Sunset, wrapping her hooves around her teacher’s neck and nuzzling her cheek. “This is the best party ever!”
“You said that last year as well, Sunset,” teased Celestia.
“W-well, that was fun, but this year I really really mean it!” shouted Sunset, blushing.
“Well, if you really are that excited, why don’t we finally have the cake?” asked Celestia, rubbing her daughter’s head playfully.
“You’ve been waiting to say that all night, right Princess Cakebutt?” teased back Sunset, earning a snort from Celestia.
Cakebutt? That’s a new one. Still, she’s not half wrong. I’ve wanted to bite into that cake since I saw it!
The cake was just as big as Sunset with mounds of white frosting, decorations, and a giant candle made to look like her cutie mark. Sunset’s name was below the words “Happy Birthday,” along with a small flag that read the number twelve on it. Sunset sat on a stool as everypony gathered around and started singing Happy Birthday.
As she sung, Celestia looked at the smile on her daughter's face and felt her heart leap with joy. In her mind, she saw all four years they had spent together. All the laughs, lessons, struggles, and love between them. She could remember every thank you, smile, and card for every holiday from her student. Including last year’s Mother’s Day card, which she had framed in her room.
And there would be more celebrations, more moments where they could be proud. She knew one day she would have to tell Sunet the truth of her birth, and it would not be an easy thing to go through. But she was confident that everything, for the first time in her life, would go smoothly.
When the song ended, Sunset took a deep breath and closed her eyes for her wish.
Just as she was about to blow, there was a bright light from the table of presents. For a nanosecond there was no sound, then a giant bang. Celestia felt her eyes close as she was thrown off her hooves and the sounds of screaming and pain erupted from all directions. Celestia’s brain barely had time to register an explosion had gone off before she slammed into the floor, slicing her forehead. The sounds of shattered glass echoed as she felt bits and pieces cut her side.
A second later all she heard was ringing, a horrible ringing that made her brain scream. She held her hooves to her ears as she struggled to open her eyes. Blury as her vision was, she saw the pale face of the DJ looking at her with dead eyes. A shard of glass had gone right through her neck and was lodged inside.
Her blood was now a pool that started to enter Celestia’s mouth.
Shaking her head, she got up, centuries old battle instincts coming into play as she heard less of the ringing and more of the sounds of crying and battle. The smoke from the explosion started to clear as she saw her guards, the ones not wounded, poured in with their spears and swords charging at each other. They were fighting one another, and she didn’t know why.
Sunset... where is my Little Sun!
Now mother instincts were at play as Celestia screamed, “Sunset! Where are you?!”
“Die, false princess!”
She turned around, knowing that phrase. It was the one the Nightmare Cult used so often. A guard was charging at her with his spear, screaming his war cry. The cult tried to kill her daughter.
They tried to murder my daughter...
Before the guard knew it, his spear was broken upon meeting Celestia’s hoof as she took the pointed end and jammed it straight into his face. Two more infiltrators tried to take her down, but Celestia teleported a sword. Not just any sword. It was a pure white diamond blade that shined even in shadows. A golden crossguard with the rubies in the center and actual living phoenix wings thanks to an advance forging spell on the side. Inscribed on the blade was the language of dragons: “Shio Malsvir Valignatic Ini Nomeno Cayosin”.
“All Evil Burns By This Blade.”
The blade’s name was Lightbringer. And it was the same sword that slayed the Dark Dragon Lord Mesong over a thousand years ago.
And it was about to taste blood for the first time since that day.
With a simple activated spell known only to Celestia, the blade of the sword glowed with the heat of the sun and cut through the two guards. They were barely able to choke out a grunt before their bodies turned to ash. More of the cults followed them, but with wraith and grace combined they were nothing more then ashes.
As she swung her blade, Celestia cried out the name of the one most precious to her. The one she prayed to every god of the past, present, and future, would not be in a pool of her own blood and limbs like so many caught up in the blast.
“Princess!” cried Sunset’s voice. Celestia turned around, blade ready, only to nearly drop it upon seeing who it was that held her daughter, covered in cuts and a black eye, with a sword against her throat. Chainmail looked at his princess with regret in his eyes as he drew blood from Sunset’s neck. Sunset whimpered as she whispered, tears dripping down her face, “Help me.”
“I’m sorry,” whispered Chainmail, loud enough so that Celestia could hear him. “They got my wife and daughter. I had to help them. I’m so sorry.”
“Chainmail... don’t do this... please...” begged Celestia, fighting down her emotions that urged her to just charge in. She was losing. “Don’t kill her. You don’t have to do this!”
“I have to... if I don’t kill her then they’ll kill my family,” whispered Chainmail, a tear dropping from his eye. He looked around as did Celestia, her remaining guards had either subdued or killed the infiltrators. “So many of my comrades dead... so many lives lost... the very people who trusted me.”
“You can make it right! Just give up! We can talk about this, and save your family!” shouted Celestia.
Chainmail shook his head. “I can’t be forgiven for this. Not by you, my family, or anypony.” He glared at the princess with cold eyes. “It’s either my daughter or yours, Celestia. We are both parents and we do what we must for our children. You do what you can to save your daughter... but I need to do what I can to save mine!”
“NOOO!” shouted Celestia as she fired a beam her horn.
Just as she did, Sunset lit her horn and teleported herself out of Chainmail’s embrace, much to his shock. He looked up just as the beam went straight through his forehead, leaving a perfect hole in place. He fell down in an instant just as Sunset reappeared across the room by a pile of dead bodies where she fell on her haunches.
Celestia sighed in relief upon seeing her daughter safe and sound, but a cry of horror erupted when one of the dead guard bodies reached out with the last of his magic. The cutting knife from the cake lifted up and made its way deep into Sunset’s side.
Celestia didn’t hear her daughter’s cry nor the thud of her daughter falling onto her side with a five inch blade in her ribs. She didn’t hear her own cries for a doctor as she poured all of her healing magic into Sunset’s body, fighting to keep dying daughter alive. All she could hear was the dying cultist shout out his final words before the real guards shot arrows into his face.
“Glory to Nightmare Moon! Death be to the Sun and her ill-conceived daughter!”
A state of emergency was declared after the attack during Sunset Shimmer’s birthday party.The palace was locked down and put on full alert with every guard put on watch duty with authorization to arrest anypony they found acting suspicious. Every guard had to have an inspection to make sure they were loyal or not. Those who did not pass the screening were sent back to the barracks under house arrest until further notice. Those who could trusted were ordered to keep to their assignments and not let anypony enter, regardless of their social or political standing.
Celestia had ordered to keep the news of Guard Captain Chainmail being a traitor silent for now, at least until she reached her own conclusions. For now, the Solar and Lunar Lieutenants were chosen to share the title of Acting Captain until one of them was chosen as the permanent replacement. The only visitors that were allowed into the castle were medical personnel who were called into the palace to help the wounded before taking them to nearby hospitals.
The princess didn’t know who to fully trust, for the betrayal of her own Captain Chainmail having shaken her up. Even worse, her daughter was currently in the hospital wing dealing a deadly stab wound. She offered the doctors healing her anything to save Sunset, even royal titles, but they assured her they would do this without reward.
Others were asking what should be done for now. There were nobles, press, and citizens who wanted to know what was going on. Already rumors were going on about how Equestria was going to war or that Celestia had been killed and it was being covered up. The entire city was awake in the dead of night in a panic and the one pony who could restore order was too occupied with worry for her daughter.
Said princess sat outside the hospital wing. Celestia kept thinking of the events over and over again in her head. How could I not see this happening? Why did I let my guard down? How could Chainmail do this to me? Oh, my Little Sun. I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault!
However, that wasn’t the worst of it all. Sunset had heard, clear as day, the truth that Celestia had hid from her for so long and it was in the worst way possible. Celestia closed her eyes, doing her best not to collapse into tears as she prayed to every deity she knew or heard about in her entire life that her daughter would make it.
Banishing her sister had almost broken her. Burying Sunset would completely destroy her. She wished he was here. Right beside him. The only one who made her break her vow to never love until her sister was returned to her. The feeling of his fur against hers as they embraced. She wanted to cry into his chest and not be the Princess of Equestria. Only Celestia.
More than anything she wanted to hold onto her daughter. Comfort her and kiss her until the dawn came. She was half tempted to just grab Sunset, go into whatever world the magic mirror led to, and live the rest of her days there. It was only the logical voice in her mind that reminded her that, like it or not, she was a princess. She had a duty.
And it had to come first.
Haven’t I sacrificed enough for this duty? My sister. My love. The hundreds of friends who rest in the earth. Must I sacrifice my daughter as well? she bitterly thought, cursing her fate.
That all was pushed away when she heard the door open and she got off her flank to rush towards the doctor with worry in her eyes. “Is she alright?!”
The doctor nodded. “She’s alive. We have her stable and she’s resting. The dagger nicked her liver, but we were able to save her. We also managed to start the blood transfusion.”
Celestia didn’t even respond in thanks, she just rushed in and nearly gave a hollow cry of sorrow upon seeing her sleeping daughter on the medical bed. Tied to her was a pulse reader, an IV, and the bloodpack that Celestia personally donated. She would give all her blood just to see her daughter live.
“Oh, Little Sun,” whispered Celestia as she knelt down and nuzzled her daughter. “Forgive me, Sunset Shimmer. Forgive me. I tried so hard to protect you... I’m so sorry.”
She gently stroked her daughter’s sun kissed hair and began to whisper in song:
Oh little sun, so quiet yet bright
Hiding in the shadows, afraid of the night
Come to your mother who lies in the sky
Waiting for you as time marches by
When you come up, and bring about the day
Your mother shall kiss you and together we will play
“That was beautiful,” said a familiar voice that warmed Celestia’s heart and filled her with hope.
She turned around and, there before her, dressed in his purple and white uniform back in the day as former Captain of the Guard, was her old friend. “Shining Valor.”
Despite being in his seventies, he was still fit as he was twenty years ago. Arguably considered one of the greatest Captains in the century, the white coated stallion with a light magenta mane in a crew cut walked up to Celestia and saluted. “I hope you don’t mind me coming back into duty when I heard the news.”
“No, if anything, having you here make me feel better,” said Celestia with a smile before she turned to her daughter again. “How is your family?”
Shining Valor chuckled as he walked over to the other side of the bed and stared at Sunset. “My grandson wants to be a guard like I was, despite Night Light and Twilight Velvet trying to dismiss him. He’ll go far. He’s got that light in his eyes my dad saw in me when I wanted to be just like him. And my granddaughter says she wants to go to your academy when she’s old enough.”
“They sound like good grandfoals,” muttered Celestia.
“They are. Something special about them. Call it an old Captain’s instinct,” whispered Shining Valor before sighing as he gazed at Sunset’s peaceful face. “She looks just like him in so many ways. I take it you changed her appearance when she was born?”
“I had to. to protect her. so much for all my efforts, huh?” bitterly laughed Celestia.
“You couldn’t have see this coming. Nopony could. Not even I,” whispered Shining Valor, shaking his head.
“I trusted him. How could he do this to me?” asked Celestia, shaking with rage. She wanted to take Chainmail’s corpse, burn it, and spit on its ashes.
“One of the cultists you captured confessed that they were holding his family hostage,, but...” Shining Valor shut his eyes and sighed. “He admitted that they killed the family before the party even started and dumped them in a lake outside the city. I ordered some guards to get their bodies. They were planning to kill Chainmail if he survived the assassination attempt.”
“Monsters,” muttered Celestia, closing her eyes as a tear dripped down her cheek. “See that Chainmail and his family are given full military burial rights, but he is to be striped of his rank. Even if he had his reasons, I can’t forgive him what he did. Gods help me, I just can’t.”
Shining Valor nodded. “How are you going to respond?”
“Should I really be worrying about that right now? When she needs me?” asked Celestia, closing her eyes.
“Princess Celestia…, you were attacked. Your daughter was nearly killed. You’ve let these cultists get their way for far too long. What if you were weeping over your daughter’s body in a casket, instead of this bed? Next time that might happen,” pointed out Shining Valor. He walked over and put his hoof on her shoulder. “Those who died in that attack are going to have families and friends who will have nothing but graves to look to now. That DJ you hired was a single mother whose eight year old daughter has nopony for her now. The least you can do for them, and those who died, is avenge them. Shut this cult down once and for all.”
Celestia lowered her head as a new feeling began to emerge from the words. A single emotion that burned like the sun she raised and set.
Rage.
***
The cells of the palace were the only places in the palace that were never cleaned. The dirt, blood stains, and vomit from those who once occupied these prisons were hundreds of years old. Princess Celestia was a just and fair ruler, but she knew when to be tough and deliver justice to those who deserved it.
Currently, the only ones occupied were by those of the Nightmare Cult that had survived the assassination. As the princess passed with Shining Valor and two guards, they started to curse her and praise Nightmare Moon. Celestia ignored them and instead focused on the loudest of them all, who was said to be one of the leading assassin leaders.
Celestia glared back at the stallion who hurt her in a way she never thought possible. He stood in his cell, glaring at Celestia as she came forward, a smirk slowly spreading across his face. He was a yellow unicorn with a dirty red mane. His cutie mark was that of a nail and hammer and he, by the indication of his eyepatch, was missing an eye.
“Leave me,” said Celestia to her party.
The three nodded and left. Celestia opened the door of the cell and walked in, closing it behind her.
The assassin leader was about to speak when he was suddenly thrusted against the wall in a wave of magic. He grunted and looked up only to gasp and turn white. Celestia’s horn was glowing a sickly dark purple color, like smoke rising from a volcano. Her eyes were completely green and filled with such hatred that she could see his blood turn to ice. With her wings flared out, and her grip growing ever tighter around his neck, she slowly walked up him and whispered. “Do you know how Dark Magic works?”
A choking gasp was his only answer.
“Fear. Desperation. Pain. Hatred. These four things feed the flames of shadow magic,” answered Celestia. “It is hatred that fuels it the most. And right now? I hate you. I hate you and all your friends. I hate your families. Your children. Your very existence. I would even say at this moment I hate Nightmare Moon, even though she is my sister. I hate you all. And I have spent years, ever since I was born, trying to not hate anypony. I have preached it. I have taught it. I have tried to make a world where there is no hatred, but congratulations: you won. You and your miserable pieces of shit have finally broken me. You have taught me to hate. And you know what I am going to do with that hatred?”
Celestia smiled. “I am going to kill you.”
She looked around the room, chuckling at the horrified faces of the once quite smug cultists. “I will kill all of you. Every Nightmare Cult member from the oldest to the youngest will die this night. I will drown the earth with your blood. I will have the sky echo your final screams. I will then kill your families, from your oldest grandparents to the youngest of your foals, so that nopony will be left to seek revenge against me or my daughter. I will send all of your worthless souls to judgement so that whatever god you believe in condemns you to the farthest depths of hell. And I shall relish in it.
“But before I kill you. I will make you suffer. I will make you all suffer. So much so that my soul will be black for eternity, but you know what? I don’t care. No, more than not caring, I shall enjoy every single second of you screaming and begging for mercy. And when I’m done, I will go to bed and dream without a single regret., Some may find out what happens here, but I don’t care. I will do anything—anything—to protect those I love. If that means becoming a monster of hatred, I will become that monster, just for you.”
Thick, black tentacles erupted from her horn, spiked and pulsing with energy. From the far end of each, the cultist watched with horror as sharp teeth formed, biting in the air.
“But first,” confided Celestia, “I need information that you have in that tiny brain of yours. However, I am not in an asking mood right now. So instead, I will be taking your brain apart, piece by piece, until I have everything from the first day you took a shit to this very moment where you are shitting yourself in fear.” The tentacles inched closer to his ears, their saliva dripping from inside their mouths. “And while I feast on your brain, gaining the information I need to find your little band of cultists? I want you to scream. Scream so hard that when your friends will hear they piss themselves waiting for their turns for me to work on them. Now be a good little pony and die.”
He screamed as the tentacles entered his ears and feasted.
As did the many others who begged for mercy as she descended upon them.
There was no mercy in her heart. There was no pity.
With the location of the Nightmare Cult’s hideout given to her by the now deceased prisoners, Celestia ordered an immediate counterattack. It would be an operation off the books, never to be recorded or remembered in history; it would quick, quiet, and forgotten. Princess Celestia ordered her troops, both Solar and Lunar, to be equipped with Class S weaponry which was only to be used during war.
Celesta herself brought in armor and weapons she had not used in centuries. Besides Lightbringer, she also carried a golden glaive that held the symbol of her cutie mark on both ends of the steel. It was known as Sun Striker, otherwise known as Lámlia in the ancient tongue. Discarding her regalia, she had chosen to wield the swiftest of her armors that was made by the legendary smith Helmfaestys. It was like having a second golden skin: one that could reflect nearly all weapons and magic. It was sleek, curved in the right places, and heavily protected in her sides.
Even before orders were issued, it was clear what they were going to do. Nopony dared to argue with a princess, whose anger was shining as bright as the sun she wielded. Taking direct command over a company of three hundred soldiers, they flew by wing or by pegasus-drawn chariot in the direction of the Everfree Forest under the cover of the night. Landing a couple miles outside of the town, she ordered her unicorns to prepare transportation runes so that the rest of their forces could arrive. At the same time, she cast a powerful illusion over their base of operations, so that nopony could stumble upon them.
As the company of prepared warriors waited for their comrades to join from Canterlot, Princess Celestia stared into the Everfree Forest where, hidden in the dark woods, the Nightmare Cult’s base of operations was located. How foolish of her not to realize they would operate all these years in the very location she had banished her sister. If it were any other day, the memories that she once treasured in the past with these woods and their surrounding lands would have brought both joy and sorrow to her mind.
Instead all she could think about was her daughter, lying in a hospital bed thanks to the very hooves of these monsters who would be delivered into the river of Styx from her very blade. None will live. None. I will end this cult once and for all, like I should have done years ago.
“What is the plan of attack?” asked Shining Valor as he walked toward her side. Despite being well into his retirement, his eyes still held the same vigor he once had in his youth. Dressed in his favorite purple and white armor, he had two silver bladed cutlasses with purple guards that held his family’s signature star symbol as pommels.
“I’m going to cast a very powerful and dangerous spell that will cause chaos in their ranks,” muttered Celestia, closing her eyes. “I will lead our troops through the front gate while you lead a platoon of fifty through the back. There is a secret passageway you can use that I remember. Slay every one of them.”
“Every one of them?” asked Shining Valor with wide eyes.
“Every stallion, mare, and foal,” muttered Celestia, growling. “This is not a battle, this shall be a purge. I will wipe this accursed cult from my lands. I have seen too many die and suffer for their insanity and I almost lost my daughter because of them. I will burn them all.”
Shining Valor said nothing. He only closed his eyes and sighed, “Princess Celestia, we will do as your order, but know this. At some point in your life you will regret what you did.”
“Noted. Issue orders to some of the Lunar Guards to move out and kill any sentries in the forest,” ordered Princess Celestia.
Shining Valor bowed and left, his words hollow in Celestia’s ears.
When a full legion of guards arrived, Celestia gave them their orders. Many were not pleased with the idea of the entire extermination of a group, even if they were a terrorist cult. That’s when she told them of everything the cult had done since its formation. Every grim, dark, and uncensored version of events that they believed were different or never heard of such incident at all. After her tale, the voices of dissent grew silent, replaced with hardened stares that better fitted these veterans.
Like a silent army of panthers, the first group swiftly moved through the forest following the instructions that Princess Celestia had given them. In less than two hours the entire castle was surrounded. Any cult sentires that were discovered were swiftly and unceremoniously dealt with before they could raise any alarm..
Despite having only a single rope bridge that could only support a very few number of guards at a time, Princess Celestia already had a plan to correct this for her unicorn and earth pony troops. They stood waiting for the signal from Shining Valor’s team to know they were in position as well. For a long time there was no sound from any of the waiting forces. Many of the soldiers around her were silently muttering prayers, asking for strength for the coming battle and forgiveness for the coming task.
Celestia only wished for the strength; she had no need for forgiveness.
Finally, they heard the three cries of a raven, and Celestia went to work. To the surprise of her forces, she walked calmly out into the open clearing before the bridge without a shred of fear in her eyes. Two Nightmare Cult guards, who wore the armor of the lunar guards a thousand years ago in undoubtedly some perverse worship to her sister, spotted her in disbelief. Naturally, they shouted warnings to the archers and guards near the castle who started to mobilize. They then charged at her, weapons ready to take her head as they screamed praise to Nightmare Moon.
Princess Celestia gazed upon the two lazily and raised Lámlia high above. In a single swipe, their heads detached from their bodies and landed beside her on opposite sides, their blood splashing her hooves.
With those two taken care of, she then began to glow with a red aura that emitted heat from her body. All stood to watch as flames began to dance around her like a tornado, even her eyes and mane were burning with fire. If anypony was to look down from the sky, they would see a mini-storm of embers dancing in circles around a demi-goddess.
Gritting her teeth, Celestia summoned her spell to take shape and the flames rose above her head. They soon came into the form of a giant three-eyed phoenix which gave out an eardrum-ruining cry of rage. Before the Nightmare Cult could do anything, the phoenix charged to the front gates and exploded.
Following that came the cries of agony and a cry to attack by Celestia.
The cult stood no chance after the spell that Celestia launched. Nearly half their members were wiped out by the explosion and fire, their bodies burnt to the point where their bones became ash. Armored pegasi flew down from the air, firing their lighting bolts from their crossbows or digging their spears into the flesh of the nightmare worshipers.
Just as ordered, their armaments were not just turned to those wielding weapons, but also those without. Nopony was spared in the aerial assault. Celestia and a few unicorns cross the bridge and placed the teleportation runes on the outskirts of the castle, allowing them to teleport their troops without crossing the bridge. Pushing the doors open, Princess Celestia and her guards entered the castle.
That’s when the massacre began.
For in this slaughter in fire, there was no spared. Mothers tried to shelter their children before they were stabbed. Old ponies who did their best to defend their people in the name of their imprisoned princess were cut down like weeds. Young colts and fillies cried over their mothers bleeding bodies before they had their throats sliced. Many more screamed glory in the name of Nightmare Moon, throwing everything they had against the cursed sun princess. It would be their last thoughts before the mithril blades ended their existence.
No pony, however, was more of a demon then Princess Celestia. Any pony she saw bearing the symbol of Nightmare Moon she killed without hesitation. Be it by sword, spear, magic, or even crushing a cultist’s head underhoof. Her fury was insatiable.
No casualties on her side occurred that night. There were no known survivors on the other side.
When at last the flames had died out, when the sounds of steel against steel were silent, and the cries of mercy were no more, only then was their a great moment of quietness before the dawn broke into the morning sky.
A great blood red dawn.
***
Celestia didn’t dare open her eyes and look upon her student’s face. She didn’t need to because she knew she had forever broken the image Twilight had of her. Like Shining Valor said, there came a day when she regretted what she did and she would forever more. For many months afterward, she had nightmares of every soul she had slain, hearing their pleading cries in her sleep. Visions of her slaying all in her path were as vivid as her own reflection in a mirror.
It was the night she had darkened her soul. It was the night she had gone against everything she believed in. Some of the soldiers who were part of that slaughter forgave her before handing in their resignations. Most would continue to serve her and would forever be loyal, but they never forgot that night.
She had just been so angry. So worried about Sunset and what happened to her. Celestia would have only feared what would have happened if she had lost her daughter. No matter what she did in life, she would never be able to make it up to the souls of those who died that day, nor to the ones who were forced to end them. It would be the final nail in the coffin that would descend her to Tartarus when she died, of that she had no doubts.
She heard the sound of hoofsteps slowly walking towards the door. Looking up and opening her eyes, she saw Twilight walking towards the exit, but she stopped just as she opened the door. Slowly, she turned around and, with tears in her eyes, whispered a sentence that shattered Celestia’s soul.
“How could you?”
And with that she left.
Celestia, after checking if the room was still soundproof, began to cry.
She was not the only one. Because a purple alicorn also cried. She cried for Sunset. She cried for her mentor. She cried knowing that things would never be the same again.
Her world had just been shattered by the very pony that built it for her.
Twilight Sparkle was already wide awake, when the crack of dawn arrived . Last night, she had learned so many things that her brain was still processing it. She didn’t know where to even organize them in her mental library or if she even wanted this knowledge at all. Twilight once heard that it was better to not know everything about somepony; now she knew what that had meant.
Before last night, Princess Celestia was a paragon in her eyes—almost godlike if she would even admit. She worshiped everything there as about her mentor from her grace and beauty to her wisdom and kindness. Learning of her dark past had shattered that pedestal and brought her fantasy down to earth. Nearly every historian said that Princess Celestia was a better leader than any of the other corrupted, lying, and manipulative politicians in the past, but she was just like the rest of them. She was no goddess or paraon; she was just a pony.
A pony responsible for the slaughter of an entire group, even if they were a dire threat to Equestria.
And Twilight Sparkle had no idea what to do with this knowledge. Or what to do with her relationship with Princess Celestia. She didn’t want to think that the sixteen years they had shared together in friendship, learning, and love was all over because of what was shared last night. Yet, deep down, she felt utter disgust and anger over what Celestia had done to the Nightmare Cult.
“Good morning, Twilight,” yawned Spike as he sat up in his bed, a soft smile spread across his face. “Ah, I missed this old bed. It sure beats sleeping on a bed of books.”
Twilight didn’t even acknowledge Spike, she just sat up and took a comb to her mane. Spike furrowed his brow at the silence as he walked over and looked at her with concern. “Are you okay, Twilight?”
“Just... still coming to terms with what happened last night,” answered Twilight as she put the comb down.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” said Spike, rubbing the back of his head. “I mean, I’m still trying to resist the urge to walk on all fours and shake my tail to show my mood.”
A knock on the door forced their heads to turn before one of the crystal pony maids entered the room. “Your Highness? Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor wish to invite you to breakfast in the dining room.”
“Oh, yes,” said Twilight with a small smile. “I’ll be right over.”
The two were about to follow the maid when Spike stopped and rushed over to her dresser. “Hold on.” He grabbed her crown and showed it to Twilight. “You forgot this.”
The moment Twilight saw the crown she was once again plagued with doubts. This time it was not if she would be a good princess or not, but if she could escape the same trap that seemed to trap all rulers. Every ruler, politician, leader, and significant noble had done something most would consider wrong or immoral. Secret and illegal orders, assassinations, spying on their people or their allies, bribes, negotiating deals with proven criminals, and more.
She thought Princess Celestia was different: that she escaped falling into the same behavior as the rest. Yet the scene still played vividly in her mind:
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t understand... you’re suppose to be merciful! Kind! The peaceful ruler who has kept us out of war for nearly a thousand years! How could you do something so horrible?!”
“Twilight, what makes you think that is not the first time I’ve done that?” asked Celestia. Twilight stepped back in shock as Celestia got up and sighed. “Do you really think I kept peace up for a thousand years with diplomacy alone? I’ve had ordered assassinations, approved of night raids, sent spies to every corner of our nation and beyond, and blackmailed others to keep them quiet. All of this was done in the shadows and without any record. I’ve been almost assassinated thirty-seven times in my life, half of them from my own subjects. Luna alone has been targeted eighteen times since she returned, but she only knows of six. I’ve manipulated many events in our history to keep us safe and preserve us from dangers both inside and outside of our country. Half of what you find in history books is all but twisted versions of the truth.” She looked up and stared straight into Twilight’s eyes. “You alone have been targeted five times since you came to my castle as my student. Twice since you became a princess. I’ve stopped them all by striking first and without mercy.”
Falling onto her haunches, Twilight slowly turned pale. Slowly, Celestia levitated her crown that had fallen after the attack and looked at it with such hatred she wished she could melt the thing and throw it into a ditch to be forgotten forever. “Being a princess... being a ruler of a nation means dirtying your hooves. It’s part of the political life, Twilight. Always has been. I have so much blood on my hooves that I know one day I’ll pay for it all. This life or the next. But if I can keep my precious ponies safe then I will never hesitate.”
If what Celestia said was true? Did that mean she would one day bloody her hooves? Twilight never believed in killing. Even during the changeling invasion she sought to stun, not kill. But what if I have no choice? What if I have to order somepony’s death because hundreds will die if I don’t?
Was there really no escaping the dirty world of politics once you entered it? Was idealism just a lie?
“Twilight?” asked Spike, getting her attention again.
“Just leave it, Spike. I don’t think we need it for breakfast,” said Twilight with a fake smile before she turned and left the room.
Spike shrugged his shoulders before placing it back on the dresser and followed right behind.
***
Twilight knew something was wrong when she saw that Princess Celestia was not at the table with the others. Luna stated that her sister was just suffering from a migraine, and thus wished not to be disturbed. Despite the smiles and tales of her adventure in the human world where she saw strange alternate versions of her friends, Twilight’s focus kept returning to the seat where Princess Celestia was supposed to be. A part of her couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving her mentor like that in such an emotional state.
“Y-yeah, why?” she lied, which was the worst thing she could do in front of her honest friend. Applejack was like a living lie detector and wasn’t afraid to know the truth, no matter how harsh it was.
“Ya just seem tense is all,” said Applejack, raising an eyebrow. “Anythin’ ya want to tell us?”
Everypony stared at Twilight, who could feel sweat dripping down her neck. What am I supposed to say? That Sunset Shimmer is Princess Celestia’s daughter? That she murdered an entire group of ponies from adults to children to an avenge an attack? That Applejack’s parents were part of these cultists and were killed by Celestia’s soldiers?
“I’m afraid that Twilight Sparkle is a bit stressed due to some events that happened last night,” said Princess Luna, shocking Twilight.
Does... does she know!?
“It is merely preparing to let the other nations know of our newest alicorn in our kingdom,” said Luna with a calm smile. “Twilight Sparkle is just nervous and yet also excited upon the prospect of visiting other nations and their leaders. Right, Twilight?”
“Um, yes! That’s it!” said Twilight with a fake smile.
Applejack seemed to accept this as she smiled and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Aw, shucks, Twilight. Ya don’t need to worry about impressin’ some dragon or griffin king. Ya got us here in Equestria who love ya and that’s all that matters.”
Twilight nodded and decided to go back to her breakfast, but a keen and knowing eye from Luna’s gaze made it clear they were gonna have to talk afterwards.
***
After breakfast, her friends went out to explore the Crystal Empire, each with a desire to see how the land was doing since their last visit. Twilight excused herself by saying she wished Princess Luna to help her with a small stargazing project she had going. This allowed the two of them to speak privately in her room.
After putting up the warding spells (something Twilight promised she had to learn herself one day), Princess Luna turned to Twilight with a solemn yet serious look. “I take it my sister told you the truth about her daughter yesterday.”
“Wait, you know about Sunset?” asked Twilight with wide eyes. “But Princess Celestia said that she didn’t tell you.”
“She did not tell me in person, but she told me in her dreams,” said Princess Luna as she sighed and gazed on a photo that Twilight had brought with her. It showed a filly Twilight reading a book alongside her mentor. “My sister has always hidden the truth from those she loves. Even from me. As such, I had to enter into my sister’s dreams many times to learn what truly happened over the last one thousand years.” Closing her eyes, a single tear dripped down from Luna’s eye. “I am ashamed to think that my actions helped caused such grief and guilt in my sister’s life.”
“Princess Luna... does this mean you also know about the... the cult?” asked Twilight Sparkle.
“I do,” said Princess Luna, growling. “My only regret is that I was not there to end their lives myself for what they did to my sister and niece.”
“But... but she killed them all! Mares! Stallions! Fillies and colts?!” shouted Twilight in tears. “Does that mean anything to either of you?!”
“The loss of life is regrettable, Twilight Sparkle,” said Princess Luna as she turned around. “But Celestia’s actions are one a mother would predictably carry out.”
Twilight didn’t say anything. She just sat down in shock that the two most wisest ponies she knows, and possibly ever existed, agreed with the total slaughter of the group. “Even if they were criminals, they deserved to still have a chance to repent. Haven’t we done that with Discord?”
“Yes, but Discord never kills,” said Luna, shaking his head. “He may be insane, immature, and a tyrant in many ways, but he is not a killer. He hates the idea of death. To him it's so natural and orderly and unfun. If he didn’t have that small bit of morality in him, as twisted and perverse the reasoning behind it is, I fear that my sister and I would have been killed long ago.”
She then turned to Twilight Sparkle with a harsh look on her face. “Do you know the crimes of that cult? What you saw was a small fraction of their madness. I have seen, in my sister’s dreams, how much blood they have spilt. If it was the other way around I would have wiped them out years ago instead of just recently. Some groups, some ponies, and some creatures are beyond saving, Twilight. Such evil must be destroyed without mercy. It may seem cruel, it may seem wrong, but there are evils out there, be it mortal or immortal, that are better off dead than alive.”
“I...” Twilight lowered her head and closed her eyes. “I don’t know if I can ever do that.”
“Let me put it this way,” said Princess Luna as he lifted Twilight’s hoof. “If a pony decided to murder your friends and take captive your assistant, Spike. Would you do everything in your power to save him?”
“Of course!” shouted Twilight with no hesitation.
“And now you have him at your mercy. What would you do to the pony who killed Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and nearly killed young Spike?”
Twilight closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Deep down, she knew what she would do in that situation. “I… I don’t… I mean...”
“That was going through my sister when Sunset Shimmer was in a state of life and death after that attack by the Nightmare Cult,” said Princess Luna as she wrapped her hooves around a trembling Twilight. “I’m not saying that what my sister did was right. But she was acting out of her own emotions, no different from any other pony. We are all the same inside one way or another. And deep down my sister regrets what she did. She regrets so many things, Twilight.” She gazed into her eyes with a pleading stare. “Please don’t end your friendship with her. She doesn’t need another regret to haunt her.”
Princess Luna slowly made her way to the door, but before she could open it, Twilight asked, “Princess Luna! What... what do I tell Applejack about her parents?”
“...Don’t,” muttered Princess Luna. “Let the Apples remember them as they believe them to be, not for what they were. Can you really go up and tell that family, who adored and loved them so much, that they were criminals and traitors that had to be killed?”
“No,” whispered Twilight. “I cannot.”
“Then carry this secret to your grave, Twilight Sparkle,” answered Luna. “Sometimes it is better for the truth to remain hidden for peace to endure.”
Twilight waited until she was sure Spike was asleep before she got out of her bed and left her bedroom. With great care in where she walked, Twilight quietly made her way out to her teacher’s room, stopping once she got to the closed door. She closed her eyes and wondered one last time if this was the right choice. She couldn’t find it in her heart to forgive Celestia for what she had done, but she couldn’t find it in her to hate her either.
Besides, she wanted to know what had caused her mentor and Sunset Shimmer to finally split up.
With a knock on the door, she held her breath as she waited for Celestia to answer or not. A few seconds later, the door opened and Princess Celestia, tear marks on her cheeks and mane less wavy than usual, gasped upon seeing who it was. “Twilight...”
“May I come in?” asked Twilight, biting her lip. Princess Celestia nodded and opened the door, allow Twilight to stare in amazement at the ruined room. It was covered with magic blasts, destroyed furniture, and broken pots and mirrors. “What the hay?”
“When you left... I sort of lost control. Before you say anything I wasn’t mad at you,” said Princess Celestia just as she saw her apprentice’s mouth open. “I was angry at myself. I thought I had lost you and everything that happened that night, and its aftermath, it all just... came to me at once.”
“I’m surprised nopony heard you,” said Twilight as she lifted up a half-burned pillow and sat on it.
“Privacy spells are very powerful Twilight, or at least this one was,” said Princess Celestia as she sat down. “To be honest, I thought you were never going to speak to me again... like Sunset did...”
“I...” Twilight sighed and closed her eyes. “I thought I would, but Luna helped me realize I might have been too harsh. I realize you feel guilty about it, and that you’ve made mistakes. It’s... kinda been an eye opener for me.” She then opened her eyes and glared at her. “That being said, I can’t forgive you for ending those lives that night. Even if it was to protect your daughter. I won’t be that kind of princess either.”
“I understand,” said Celestia, sighing heavily. “I’ll make the announcement of your resignation tomorrow.”
“Resignation?” asked Twilight, tilting her head.
“Are you not going to give up the crown now that you know the truth and burden of wearing it? Haven’t I shown that I am not the all-powerful and virtuous paragon the world makes me out to be? I would think you would want to stop being a princess all together,” said Celestia.
Twilight got up and walked over to Celestia, placing a hoof on her mentor’s. “No, I’ve accepted that this is part of my destiny. If anything, I want to show that a ruler doesn’t have to resort to dirty and dark tactics to keep peace in her nation. I’ll prove it with friendship, love, and forgiveness. I don’t hate you, Princess. You will always be important to me, but I’m going to rule my own way. Not your way.”
Tears again came to Princess Celestia, but they were not tears of sorrow. “I’m so proud of you, Twilight. If anypony can do that, it’s you.”
Blushing, Twilight sat back down and cleared her throat. “So, what happened next?”
The smile quickly faded from Celestia’s mouth as she looked down in shame. “Everything went to Tartarus...”
Princess Celestia galloped so fast she could swear she was running faster than the wind. Her guards had alerted her that Sunset was awake. The sorrow and bitterness that she felt from the cult’s massacre days ago was now a fleeting memory and only the drive of seeing her daughter’s smiling face drove her forward.
She knew that Sunset was going to be traumatized by this. That’s why she made plans for the two of them to take a vacation for a few months and spend them on her private island she owned for such occasions. Just the two of them, mother and daughter, fun in the sun and healing from their terrible experience.
Bursting into the room, Celestia saw her beloved Little Sun staring into the window with an empty look on her face. It bothered Celestia for just a second, but she quickly pushed the feeling away as she walked forward and hugged Sunset. The filly did not hug her back, choosing to let loose a grumble.
“Oh, Sunset,” whispered Celestia, with joy. “I’m so glad that you’re okay. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, but I promise nopony will ever hurt you again.”
“... you’re too late...” whispered Sunset, bitterly.
Celestia’s eyes widened as she broke the hug and looked down at her apprentice. Sunset was glaring at her with such rage it made the princess nearly step back. “W-what do you mean? Has somepony hurt you? Tell me!”
Sunset gritted her teeth as she raised her hoof and pointed at a shocked Princess Celestia. “You! You were the one who hurt me, mother!”
In an instant, Celestia felt her world, and heart, crumble. Falling to her haunches, Celestia tried to think of something to say, anything. She thought about denying it but one look in her daughter’s eyes made her realize there was no point. She knows... no... oh please no... not like this.
“When were you going to tell me? Huh? Did you even know? Did you abandon me?! For a good portion of my life I thought my parents were dead, but I guess I was wrong! Because my mother is the princess who moves the bucking sun!” screamed Sunset Shimmer, horn glowing with rage. She pulled back her covers and showed her cutie mark in front of Celestia’s face. “I guess it only make senses that I have this on my butt since I’m a natural at Solar Magic. A gift from you perhaps?!”
“Sunset... I...”
“Just tell me right now!” screamed Sunset, standing on the bed and looking down at Celestia who felt smaller than she ever had in her life. “Are. You. My. Mother.”
“...Yes,” whispered Celestia, as she shed a tear. “I am your mother... I’ve always known...”
“...Why?” asked Sunset, falling down and sobbing. “All these years....”
“I wanted to protect you,” whispered Princess Celestia, trying to comfort her daughter but was pushed away. “I didn’t want you to be in danger or used by my enemies... I gave you up so you could have a better life than be some target by scheming politicians. I didn’t know we would meet again, but I made sure you were safe...”
“Safe? I had no friends. No family for all those years at the orphanage. And now I was nearly killed because they found out I am your daughter,” growled Sunset, slamming her hoof on the bed. “I felt alone all those years until you took me in. I used to dream about you being my mother, but learning that you were my own mom all along? And you never once did anything? You abandoned me!”
“Yes, and I’m so sorry!” shouted Celestia, covering her face with her hooves. “Do you really think it was easy to give up my own daughter?! You didn’t think I wanted nothing more than to take you in?! I couldn’t risk putting you in danger! I know you may not think I loved you, but I did, my Little Sun. I’ve always loved you from the moment I saw you enter this world to even now!”
Sunset didn’t say anything. She just stared at her mother for a long time. “It doesn’t matter... you still hurt me...”
“If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please just say it,” said Celestia, standing up. “I can announce to the world that you are my daughter. I will give you any gift you wish. I will even tell you about your father. Just please let me make it up to you.”
Celestia wasn’t sure she understood that at first, but upon hearing it again in her head she felt a dark pit in her stomach. “Make you... an alicorn?” asked Princess Celestia in disbelief.
“Yes! I read it was possible. There have been other alicorns in the past,” said Sunset, growling. “I may not be an alicorn, but I have alicorn blood in me thanks to you. You will make me an alicorn so that I can become strong! Strong enough so that I never have to feel so helpless again!”
Celestia bit her lip and closed her eyes. “It doesn’t work like that...”
“Then how?! How does it work?!” demanded Sunset, stomping her hooves on the bed. “Ever since I saw my destiny in that mirror I’ve been trying to find out what it is that makes a normal pony become an alicorn! I’ve tried so many spells, looked up so many books, and I even tried making my own magic! What do I need to do to become stronger?!”
“My Little Sun, you are strong, and stronger you will become...” Celestia sighed and lowered her head. “But becoming an alicorn is not your destiny.”
The piercing hateful eyes on her daughter’s face made Celestia feel like she was being shot in the heart by Nightmare Moon’s magic all over again. No, this was worse. She was failing another pony all over again, only this was her daughter. Why... why do I always hurt the ones I love the most?
“I’m sorry, Sunset, but I cannot make you an alicorn. Only magic and destiny itself can do so. It is beyond my power,” Celestia answered honestly. “But I will do everything in my power to make up what I have done to you. Please, just give me a chance to make it up.”
“... Just leave me alone,” whispered Sunset, turning her head away.
Celestia tried once again to touch her daughter, but Sunset snapped her hoof away. It hurt to see her daughter reject her like this, but she couldn’t blame her. Everything that had happened the past few days had to have been devastating to her mind and heart; not helped by the fact that she didn’t know how to handle this. Worse, she didn’t know if she should give Sunset space or have her see a therapist.
While leaving the room, Celestia heard the soft sounds of Sunset crying from behind the wall. She wanted to go back in and just embrace her daughter, her hooves were even turned in the direction of the door. Even if Sunset never forgave her, it would be worth it just to have her cry on her shoulders. Yet, Celestia knew she herself was the problem. It took all of her willpower to not just head back in before she finally arrived in her room and cried herself.
***
“I’m sorry, Princess. She refuses to have visitors,” said the doctor she put in charge of Sunset’s conditions.
“I see,” whispered Celestia, lowering her head in disappointment. She levitated a bouquet of flowers. “Please give these to her, along with my love.”
“Of course,” said the doctor before heading back into the room.
A week since their fight and Sunset still refused to see Princess Celestia, not that she was surprised. She had barely been able to do anything but worry about Sunset Shimmer. She literally put everything on hold and she was getting complaints that she could give less than two bits about. The economy could collapse. War could be declared. Even Discord could be released from his statue prison and she could care less.
All that mattered was her Little Sun.
***
“Has she been going through the Starswirl the Bearded Wing again?” asked Celestia to her loyal guard that bowed before her. She had assigned him to trail her daughter in secret after she was released from the hospital, all of which she did on her own.
“Yes, I even managed to get a glimpse of the books she was reading and wrote them down,” he replied as he handed her his list.
Levitating it to her face, Celestia narrowed her eyes in worry. All of these are about alicorns, dimension magic, and transmogrification spells. She even looked up the Elements of Harmony. She lowered the list and bit her lip. What are you planning, Sunset? Is she trying to become an alicorn? None of this will help her, even if she did have access to the Element of Magic.
“You are dismissed,” ordered Celestia which the guard bowed again before leaving her alone in her chambers.
Two weeks had her apprentice been doing this. Refusing her summons and locking herself inside her own room with only the servants to bring food and water. I haven’t seen my daughter’s face in nearly a month. Is she truly this angry with me?
To make matters worse, she was too busy dealing with new problems. Eyeing the resignation papers in front of her, she now wished she hadn’t ordered the complete extermination of the Nightmare Cult. Many of the soldiers under her command that night had resigned, unable to deal with the fact they had committed genocide and slain foals. Celestia didn’t blame them, she was still having nightmares of the faces of those she personally slew.
Am I no different then Nightmare Moon, then? wondered Celestia as she sighed and rubbed her forehead. Oh, Luna. You were always right about me. I never stopped to think the consequences of my actions when my emotions take control. Even after living for so long, I am like a foal at times.
She didn’t know what it was that would make it right for her former guards, the lives she had taken, or her daughter, but she would do what she could.
***
The news her guard had given her tonight had Celestia most troubled. Sunset didn’t go to the library again. She had stayed in her room. This made Celestia feel that something was wrong and decided it was best to finally have that conversation she had been dreading to have with Sunset.
Celestia walked towards her apprentice’s room and knocked on the door. “Sunset? It’s me, Princess Celestia. I... we need to talk.”
There was no answer, as expected. Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. “I know you can hear me in there. I know you hate me, but you have no idea how much I hate myself. I know you think I abandoned you, refused you the love and comfort that all foals are supposed to feel when born. Looking back now I realize that sending you to that orphanage was a mistake, a risk that I thought would prove beneficial to you in the long run but I see that it wasn’t. I will not deny I made a mistake. I... I’ve made so many.”
Celestia thought about the little sister she once called “Lulu” when they were younger. How they used to play in the secret passages of their once great castle that was now ruins and stained with blood. “But I’m going to make up for it. I... I want to announce the truth to the world. The truth that you are my daughter, and a princess. My heir to the throne should I pass away from some reason. You would be ranked higher than even the Blueblood clan. Anypony who has an issue with this I will deal with, and I will protect you from anypony who seeks to harm you in anyway.”
She pressed her hoof on the door and a small smile decorated her face. “For the last one thousand years, I have had precious few happy memories. I put a smile on my face, but in truth I haven’t been happy since I sent my sister, your aunt, to the moon. Seeing you born and looking at me with your innocent and curious eyes is the brightest memory I have that keeps me going, despite my sorrow.”
Still nothing.
“Please, Sunset,” begged Celestia with tears in her eyes, her voice growing softer with each word. “I know I haven’t been the best mother, but I promise to do better. I love you so much that I... I need you my Little Sun. I need you so badly. Sunset, I-” she pressed on the door only for it to open. To her shock there was nopony inside.
Entering the room, she saw that there were tons of books and notes scattered on the floor. All of them with complex math equations and diagrams. Lifting some of them she recognized the drawings as the mirror she once showed Sunset so long ago that was a gateway to another world. There was also a calendar... that was being counted off with the last day being circled.
Suddenly, the realization of what her daughter had been doing all this time hit Celestia like the Friendship Express.
And she teleported as fast as she could.
It took only a second to arrive at the entrance of the room where the mirror was being kept, the magical locks already broken. She smashed through the door and saw Sunset reaching into the glowing portal mirror. “Sunset!” she screamed as loud as she could.
Sunset took one glance with a glare to follow... and then she jumped in. Celestia screamed as she dived for the mirror, determined to follow her. But just as she was about to touch it, the magic ended and the mirror turned to glass once again. She slammed into the mirror, barely making a dent. With horror, she realized the magic time for the portal to be activated was over. She was too late.
Sunset was gone.
That day a cry of woe echoed across Canterlot that anypony who heard it felt like crying for some reason.
***
Silence echoed across the room as Celestia wept silently. Whatever anger Twilight held for Celestia was now replaced with pity. Wordlessly, Twilight walked over and hugged her mentor who replied by crying on her shoulder.
“I failed her... I failed her like I failed Luna... and you, Twilight,” whispered Celestia. “No matter what I do, I’ll never be able to forgive myself for hurting those I love... I truly am the sun. I shine brightly and warm those I care about... but those close to me will always get burned.”
“That’s not true, Princess,” whispered Twilight as she nuzzled her mentor. “You care about us... and you made mistakes, but you never stopped loving us and doing what’s right. I feel that you can when Sunset comes home.”
“Home?” asked Celestia in shock. “She... she wants to come home?”
“I have a feeling she’ll want to come home one day,” said Twilight with a smile. “She just needs to find out who she really is. And make up for all the wrong she’s caused.”
How many years had it been since she had seen Sunset Shimmer? How many years had it been since she learned the fate of her daughter from Twilight? So much had changed since that day: Tirek, Discord completely changed into becoming good, Twilight’s new castle, Starlight Glimmer, and Flurry Heart. So much had happen in so few years, but she never stopped thinking about her daughter. Twilight had informed her of all the events that had happened when the Sirens had taken over that human school, and when she reported that Sunset saved the day again during that school’s competitive games events.
She had never been more proud of Sunset, especially when she learned she had become an alicorn during the battle against the other Twilight Sparkle. Deep in her heart, Celestia always knew her daughter would earn her redemption one day and she could think of no greater sign than this. Sure, she was not a full alicorn, but to be granted that status by magic, even temporarily, is a sign of a true hearted pony.
Despite having the means to stay in contact, Celestia never once wrote in the journal that she and Sunset once used together. She was still too ashamed and just had Twilight write for her despite her former student urging them to talk. That was until Sunset wrote that she wanted to speak to her mother.
Her mother. Those words and those words only. Not “princess”, “teacher”, or “mentor”.
Mother.
So she stood in Twilight’s Castle, the mirror just in front of her along with the strange device her student had created to travel back and forth on her own choosing. Celestia requested that she would be alone when this happened. No Twilight, Luna, or any of the Elements she had come to accept as friends. This was something she needed to face alone.
This was something she needed to face as a mother.
Celestia bit her lip. What would happened between the two of them? Would there be yelling? Would Sunset look at her in disgust? Could she contained herself from just falling to the ground and beg for forgiveness? She was willing to do anything this time. Anything to have her daughter see how sorry she was for hurting her.
Ripples appeared in the mirror as Celestia held her breath. Time seemed to slow down as she waited for her daughter to appear. First came a hoof with a very familiar color scheme, then a horn that had grown since she last saw it., and finally a face. It was so much more mature and beautiful than she last time she saw that face, but upon seeing it Celestia did everything in her power not to cry. The eyes of the stallion she once loved looked at her with sorrow and fear as Sunset Shimmer, now a grown mare, slowly walked out of the mirror and entered Equestria for the first time in a long time.
She’s become so beautiful, thought Celestia upon seeing her daughter at last. She had seen the photos Twilight had taken of the world beyond the mirror, but to see her actual daughter in the flesh as a pony was better than any picture.
Sunset stood there, staring at Celestia who did the same. Neither of the two knew what to do now that they were in the same room together. Finally, Sunset gave a sob and charged forward, tears in her eyes. Upon seeing this, Celestia did the same, running so fast her crown fell from her head.
The mother and daughter of the sun met in the middle and embraced, Celestia hugging her sweet child while she cried into her shoulder. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” screamed Sunset Shimmer as she continued to shed tears.
A smile appeared on Celestia’s face as she nuzzled her daughter as gently as she could. “I’m so sorry too, my Little Sun.”
“... Mom...” Whispered Sunset, who just hugged tighter.
Upon hearing that word, Celestia just closed her eyes as she felt years of guilt and suffering leave her with that one word.
Mom.
It was then that she knew that everything would be alright.
