Twilight's memories of being abandoned by her friends have been erased by Daybreaker. Will her friends choose to tell her the truth? Or will they keep it a secret? Will Twilight remember? And will she forgive them again?
After being abducted by Daybreaker, Twilight's memories of the wedding rehearsal were erased. Now her guilt ridden friends wish to forget about how they abandoned her as well. But they worry that Twilight will eventually remember what they did and not forgive them. Conflict emerges between them as they struggle whether to tell her the truth or not. Meanwhile, Twilight Velvet means to protect her children by any means necessary, and Celestia is having doubts about whether or not she should be ruler anymore.
All of Twilight’s friends looked at her in shock for a moment after she asked, “What wedding rehearsal?”
“You know… the wedding rehearsal where we…” Shining Armor began to say, but as he thought back to those horrible things he had said to his sister, he couldn't bring himself to describe how he had thrown her out of the wedding. He sighed and looked down.
Rarity looked from Shining Armor to Twilight.
“The Wedding Rehearsal where we… dropped something on your head darling!” she said while grinning nervously.
Everypony looked at her with nervous expressions. Applejack, being the element of honesty, felt the urge to tell the truth right than and there. But then the memory of how she had been the one to tell them to go check on Princess Cadance (really Queen Chrysalis in disguise) after Twilight had accused her of being evil and caused her to run away crying surfaced in her head. Applejack’s heart gave out and she remained silent, unable to tell the truth for the first time since she’d been a filly. That horrible memory of they had all walked past Twilight as though she meant nothing to them. The real Cadance frowned at Rarity, while Luna looked at them all in surprise and Celestia merely looked guilty.
Celestia walked up to Twilight with a look of remorse just as she had done with Luna moments ago.
“Twilight, I’m so sorry!” she said. “I kidnapped you!”
“Kidnapped me?” Twilight repeated. “What? You would never do that!”
“Twilight… I did!” Celestia confessed. “I turned into Daybreaker, just like I did on the day of the wedding when you were hurt!”
“Wedding, me hurt?” Twilight asked. “What are you talking about?”
Luna approached them now.
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
Twilight thought back. “I was in Ponyville, and my friends and I were all going on a picnic.”
So, she remembered everything from before the wedding even came up.
Celestia took a breath.
“Your brother Shining Armor was getting married to your former foalsitter Princess Cadence. But the one he was supposed to marry was an imposter. You… found the real one imprisoned in the caves beneath Canterlot. Then you came back and fought with the imposter. You were poisoned, and I got mad. Seeing you hurt caused me to turn into that fire pony Daybreaker. I was returned to normal briefly, but I… turned back into her just a few hours ago. I’ve always considered you a daughter Twilight! Some part of me wanted you to myself, and that awakened in a dark form within Daybreaker! She… I… took you from your parents.”
Twilight’s mouth fell open.
“You… kidnapped me?” she repeated.
“It wasn’t her fault!” Luna said.
“Yes, it was Luna!” Celestia objected. “All of this was my fault! I failed to see through Queen Chrysalis’s disguise, I couldn’t control myself and stop from turning into Daybreaker! I burned my own city, and tried to steal a child from her parents and raise her as my own!”
Twilight frowned. “I’m not a child, Princess Celestia!”
Celestia shook her head. “No, but I turned you into a baby. I wanted to erase your memories and raise you as my own daughter. I attacked your mother!”
At this point Twilight was too shocked.
“What? You attacked my mother!?” she turned to Shining Armor. “Where is she?”
Shining Armor lead them to the hospital wing of the castle where the guards would have likely taken Twilight Velvet and Night Light once they’d been released from prison. Twilight Velvet was being tended for her burns by a unicorn doctor casting a healing spell. The fur that had been blackened from Daybreaker’s fire after Velvet attempted to fight the fiery pony was back to its gray form. She looked up as Twilight and her friends entered the room.
“Twilight! Oh thank…” Velvet cut herself off as she saw Celestia (the very pony whose name she’d been about to say, as it was a common saying) enter behind Twilight.
“You!” she pointed a hoof at the Princess.
Celestia actually shook in her shoes. Quite literally as she was the only pony here to actually wear shoes, of gold no less. Twilight Velvet growled and got up from her bed, glaring at Celestia as she walked toward her. Velvet was small for a full-grown pony, even smaller than her own daughter.
“Velvet!” Night Light exclaimed, watching his wife.
“Mom,” Twilight cautioned, looking at her mother in concern before an aura of gold light pushed her aside.
Celestia walked forward to meet Velvet with remorseful eyes as she beheld the cold blue eyes which where usually warm and happy. She took a breath, remembering the great fury Velvet had displayed when preparing to fight her, how her entire body had radiated magic.
“If you wish to punish me for trying to steal Twilight, get on with it Velvet!” she said. “Hoofslap me silly! Throw me around with your magic!”
Velvet continued to glare at Celestia for a moment. She than got up on her hindlegs and struck the Princess across the cheek with all her might. All the ponies mouths fell open as they watched somepony slap Celestia.
“Consider yourself lucky you had Twilight in front of you when you turned her into a baby!” Velvet said. “If she had not been in my way, I swear I would have destroyed you on the spot!”
Looking into Velvet’s eyes, there was no doubt about that. Velvet than looked at her daughter.
“Oh, Twilight, honey! Are you alright? Did she hurt you?” she asked, putting her hooves around her daughter as tears appeared in her eyes.
“No, I’m fine,” Twilight said. “I just can’t remember some things.”
Velvet gasped. “She took your memory?”
“Not all of it, just what happened recently. My brother’s getting married to Princess Cadance?” Twilight said with a smile, looking at the couple.
“Yeah, and you’re… going to be Best Mare,” Shining Armor said.
“Best mare?” she repeated, her smile getting brighter. “Me?”
“Well… yeah. Who else would I have made best mare?” Shining Armor asked, pain tearing at his chest again as he recalled how he had stripped her of that title.
“Yes! Yes!” Twilight began bouncing around. “My brother’s marrying Cadance! My brother’s marrying Cadance!”
Shining Armor could not bring himself to flail his hooves into the air like he always did whenever Twilight began doing that bouncing because both of them were so happy. Twilight noticed.
“What’s wrong, BBBFF?” she asked, looking sad.
He sighed. “It’s just been a stressful time recently.”
“Ain’t that the truth!” Applejack grumbled.
Everypony looked at her in fear. Applejack clenched her teeth, wanting so desperately to be honest. But the image of how she’d lead everypony away from her sad friend forbade it.
“Well, its not going to be stressful for my children anymore!” Velvet said. “Twilight, Shining, you are to both resign from your roles as the Princesse’s student and Captain!”
Night Light gaped at his wife. “Velvet, dear. This is clearly an overreaction!”
Velvet threw a glare at her husband, silencing him.
“Mom! You can’t do this! I’m marrying Cadance!” Shining Armor protested, looking at his fiancé.
“You can still marry her, but you will have nothing to do with Celestia now!”
“That’s going to be impossible! She’s Princess Celestia’s adopted niece!” Shining Armor pointed out. “She lives in this castle with her aunt!”
“Well…” Velvet hesitated.
“You can’t expect a princess to give up living in her castle!” Shining Armor said.
“And I’m the bearer of the element of magic! I can’t just walk away from the princess!” Twilight pointed out.
Velvet frowned. “Then let your friends relay her orders as you continue to protect Equestria! You are not to go near her anymore! Come on! We’re going home!”
She made to take Twilight’s hoof, but Twilight yanked it away. “Mom! I’m not a little filly anymore! What Princess Celestia did was not her fault!”
Celestia shook her head. “Twilight, this is my fault! You lost your memory because of me. I alone am to blame for tonight’s events.”
“You see?” Velvet asked. “She admits it being her fault! Both of you have been in too much danger lately. Twilight, you’ve been sent on dangerous missions by her! You nearly died of poisoning after fighting Queen Chrysalis, and you were abducted by Celestia…”
“Daybreaker!” Twilight corrected.
“Doesn’t matter what she’s called! They’re the same pony!” Velvet snapped. “And now you’ve lost some of your memory! I nearly lost you to her, my own daughter was nearly stolen and made to be the child of a dark alicorn! I’m not going to go through that again! For either of my children! Shining was brainwashed and nearly forced to marry Queen Chrysalis! I’ve had enough life-threatening events happening for my children right now! You are both to return home this minute!”
At this point Twilight was upset. Mama Bear’s cubs were not appreciating their mother’s protection.
“I don’t live under your roof anymore!” Twilight pointed out. “I’m not a little filly anymore!”
“Twiley’s right!” Shining Armor agreed. “We’re both grown ponies and capable of making our own choices! Come on, Twiley. You can stay at my place until this dies down. I’m not resigning from my post as Captain of the Royal Guard, and Equestria needs you as the element of magic.”
He glared at his mother and was about to say, "You’re uninvited to the wedding.” But after what happened with Twilight, he couldn’t bring himself to say that to his mother as well. He was not going to make that mistake twice. But the wedding might have to wait even longer, at least until his mother cooled down. Instead he merely huffed.
Twilight nodded. “Lead the way. B.B.B.F.F.”
Velvet’s mouth fell open as her children turn away from her.
“Twilight! Shining! Wait!” she called.
“Sorry Mom! But we can’t talk to you right now when you’re all… bear like!” Twilight said. “Come on, Spike! We’re going to Shining’s house!”
The baby dragon looked back at Velvet as he followed Twilight and her brother out of the room. Velvet watched as the door to the hospital wing closed behind them in a reddish pink aura from Twilight. She let out a deep sigh and sat down on the floor. Twilight’s friends watched sadly, it was like when Twilight had been kicked out of the wedding. Yet another reminder of the horrible thing they had done, what their friend had forgotten that they had done to her.
This time they would not abandon somepony. This wasn’t a close friend of theirs, but it was a mother of a close friend who was sad. She needed to have somepony to comfort her.
Applejack approached Velvet.
“Hey, it’s okay. They’re just mad at you right now. We all do… stupid things when we’re mad.”
“Like how you walked out on my daughter when she was sad after Shining kicked her out of the wedding?” Velvet asked as tears flowed from her eyes.
This tore a hole through Applejack’s heart. “I’ve never been more sorry about anything, Mrs. Sparkle.”
“I suppose you’re relieved that Twilight forgot about that?” Velvet asked.
“I… can’t deny that it is somewhat relieving,” Applejack said.
“I wish all of us could forget about that ever happening! I can’t believe I actually thought Twilight would be possessive of her brother!” Rarity said.
Applejack looked at her friends. “Girls, we got to tell her the truth!”
“No!” Pinkie said.
“What if she doesn’t forgive us?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“She forgave us once, remember she said it wasn’t our fault and that Chrysalis fooled everypony!”
“But she doesn’t remember it now! What if she decides we were to blame after we tell her?"
“I can’t bear the thought of losing Twilight as a friend. Even though I truly don’t deserve it from her,” Fluttershy said. “I was so cruel, leaving her when she was sad. Some element of kindness I turned out to be.”
“We all betrayed our elements,” Rarity agreed. “I chose to be generous and ignore the imposters bad behavior, thought it was the result of nerves. But I didn’t do the same for Twilight! She was just trying to look out for her brother!”
“I should have stayed with her!” Rainbow said. “She could have been through a lot worse! The queen could have chosen to bite her than and there, then send her to the caverns to die!”
“Please, don’t say that!” Velvet sobbed. “I can’t bare the thought of anything bad happening to my children!”
Princess Luna stepped forward.
“I believe we would all benefit from some sleep right now. We’ve been up all night.”
Looking at a clock nearby, Celestia saw that it was indeed time to raise the sun.
“Oh, well here comes daybreak!” she sighed as she rose the sun.
“I’ve been up all night!” Rarity exclaimed. “So much for my beauty sleep! I spent some of it in that filthy prison!”
Fluttershy yawned. “I’m very tired."
“Let’s get some sleep, we’ll figure out what to do about this later,” Applejack said.
They all walked out. Night Light put a hoof around his wife.
“Come on, Velvet. Let’s go home. We’ll smooth things over with Shining and Twilight.”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Velvet nodded.
“You mean I will. This was all me and my Mama bear.”
Twilight and Spike followed Shining Armor to his house. He opened the door and escorted them upstairs to the guest room.
“Afraid I don’t have a second guest room or a little bed for you Spike,” he said. “If you want I can just sleep on the couch downstairs,” he said with a yawn.
“No, I’ll sleep on the couch,” the little dragon said.
“I insist Spike, I ought to be the one sleeping on the couch,” Shining said, looking at Twilight with a guilty expression.
Spike knew what Shining meant, though Twilight merely assumed it was him being courteous to his guests and little brother figure. She smiled and wrapped a hoof around Spike.
“You just sleep with me, Spike. I’m surprised you haven’t fallen asleep already seeing as you stayed up all night. Both of you look exhausted. I’m a little sleepy myself, guess this baby didn’t get much naptime while she was foalnapped huh?” Twilight giggled.
Spike yawned. “Thanks Twilight.”
She levitated him onto the bed as she entered the guest room. Shining smiled after them.
“See you both in the morning!” Shining Armor said.
“It IS morning!” Twilight pointed out climbing into the bed.
“When you-“Shining yawned. “Wake up then.”
He went to his own room and collapsed into bed. Exhausted from the ordeal that had taken place last night. When he awoke and looked at the clock it was almost three pm! He got up and looked into the guest room, Twilight and Spike were both sound asleep still.
Looking at his sister and her assistant caused Shining to smile for a moment. But he quickly the smile as he recalled what he had done. He’d kicked his sister out of his wedding, and now she’d forgotten about it. He’d been tempted to just wait and hope that maybe she would never remember. But now that he’d rested and could think clearly he knew that would not be right. He had to be honest with his sister, even he wasn’t stupid enough to realize what might happen if her memory returned. If he kept it secret than she might get mad. Even though she was a forgiving pony there needed to be trust, between family just as much as friends.
But first, he needed to do something for her. Putting a hoof to his chin, Shining thought. Then it came to him, he ran down to the kitchen.
***
Twilight woke up to a sweet smell filling the house. Looking around it took a moment to remember she was in her brothers house. She also saw Spike, the baby dragon snored slightly and then muttered something.
“Rarity, will you marry me?”
Twilight chuckled. Her number one assistant and his crush on the fashionista. She gently tapped him with her hoof.
“Spike, time to wake up.”
The baby dragon opened his eyes and rubbed them. “Oh, hey Twilight.”
“Come on, I think Shining Armor is making breakfast.”
Spike’s stomach rumbled and he looked at the clock. “Good, cause I’m hungry. Wow its after three!”
“Well, guess that’s what happens when we pull all-nighters.” Twilight jumped out of bed and levitated him onto her back.
They made their way downstairs to find Shining Armor levitating a tray full of pancakes topped with whip cream and strawberries.
“Oh, you guys are up. I wanted to give you breakfast in bed Twilight!” he said.
“Oh, how sweet!” Twilight said hugging her brother. “Who’s the best BBBFF ever!”
She looked him in the face and expected a wide grin at the compliment, but instead it was a sad face.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“No… well yes. Come on, we can talk at the table.”
He lead them to his kitchen where there was a small table. They sat there together, Twilight began eating the pancakes Shining had made, sharing some of them with Spike as well.
“So, what’s wrong Shining?” Twilight asked.
Shining Armor sighed.
“You know I love you right sis?” he asked.
“Of course I do! You’re my Big Brother Best Friend Forever! We’ve never had a single fight!” Twilight said.
Shining shook his head. “Well… we didn’t until the wedding rehearsal.”
“The one where I hit my head?” she asked.
“No!” Shining sighed. “You didn’t hit your head. That’s not what happened there. You remember Celestia said somepony was impersonating Cadence?”
She nodded.
“You knew there was something off about the imposter. You came here a couple nights ago and tried to talk to me, but the imposter came and dragged me into another room. You saw her putting a spell on me that made my eyes go all-“ he spun his eyes around before continuing. “You ran out and at the wedding rehearsal stormed in accusing Cadence of being evil. She ran out of the room crying. I got mad at you and… and told you to forget about being my Best Mare and not even come to the wedding!”
Tears appeared in his eyes at the end of that. Twilight’s mouth fell open.
“You… you kicked me out of your wedding?” she asked.
He sniffled and nodded. “I’m sorry Twiley! It’s a mistake I wish I could take back.”
Spike’s joy had vanished as he swallowed the last of his current pancake.
“And I and all your friends left you alone!” he blurted out.
She looked at him, stunned. “You left me?”
The baby dragon nodded. “And then Queen Chrysalis, the one who was impersonating Cadence… she sent you down to the caverns beneath Canterlot!”
Twilight was silent for a moment than asked, “What happened after that?”
“You… you found the real Cadence and got back up to the Wedding Hall, fought with Chrysalis, got poisoned and nearly died!” Shining said. “You were in danger because of me! Twice! I could have lost you!”
“Shining, its okay,” Twilight said. “I’m fine now. It’s over. Chrysalis is dead.”
Shining sighed.
“I guess. But I still feel guilty, and I will for the rest of my life for what I did,” Shining said. “No matter how many times I apologize.”
Twilight walked over to her brother.
“Would you have forgiven me?” she asked.
He nodded, and just like last night told her, “I would have let you back in the wedding. Maybe not as Best Mare, but I would have forgiven if you’d been wrong. I promise.”
Tears appeared in her eyes and like before she hugged him. They remained that way for several seconds before there was a knock on the door. Looking in that direction, Shining Armor got up from his seat and walked over to it. He opened the door to find his parents in the doorway.
“Shining, may I come in?” Twilight Velvet asked.
He hesitated.
“I’m here to apologize to you and Twilight!” she said.
Her son shrugged and stood aside to allow her to walk in. Velvet entered the room and went to the kitchen where Twilight and Spike continued to eat their pancakes. Seeing her mother, Twilight scowled slightly.
“Twilight, honey. I’m sorry,” Velvet said. “You were right, I overreacted by telling you and Shining to resign from your positions. You both have really important jobs taking care of Equestria. I’m just a small time writer trying to make a living. But I’m also your mother and I love you both! I hate seeing you in danger and would do anything I could to protect you! But… you are not little foals anymore. I understand that, and you have a right to make your own choices. It just… scared me seeing both of you in danger… having my son brainwashed and nearly forced to marry a changeling! My daughter poisoned and then abducted by somepony that wanted to make her their own daughter! That’s very stressful.”
Twilight sighed. “I know Mom. You know how well I deal with stressful situations. Not very well at all. I can be irrational too. We all make mistakes, but we pull through them.”
“Can you forgive me?” Velvet asked.
Twilight nodded and just as she’d done with Shining, walked over and hugged her mother. Shining smiled and went over to join them. Then Night Light came, and Spike. The entire family hugged happily.
After they left her, Twilight’s friends went back to their suite in the castle, their eyes lined with bags from lack of sleep.
“Ah! What a night!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Yeah, I just wanna lie down!” Rainbow Dash said as she folded her wings and fell onto her bed.
“Rainbow Dash! You should really wash yourself before you go to sleep!” Rarity lectured. “You’re all sweaty from the fighting and that filthy prison!”
“Eh, the servants can just wash the sheets you know,” Rainbow scoffed. “That’s what they’re for.”
Rarity frowned. “You shouldn’t make any pony do more work than they have to!”
“Says the pony who always brings so much baggage everywhere she goes!” Rainbow Dash countered. “On our way up here you had that poor Porter Pony carry all your suitecases, and I heard him say “I hope she doesn’t come to the castle all the time, she always makes me carry a mountain!”
Rarity gasped. “I bring everything I need!”
“Well what I need right now is a good long nap!” Rainbow Dash said. “So be quiet. Whoa!”
Suddenly Rainbow Dash was pulled by her tail out of bed by Applejack.
“We could all use some sleep. But Rare is right, we could use a little cleaning up first.”
They all went into their showers, which was refreshing to feel the hot water on their coats and the soap washed all the dirt they’d acquired from the prison away. After that they climbed into bed and woke up after three in the afternoon.
“Is everypony hungry?” Fluttershy asked. “I’d be happy to make something!”
“That sounds lovely darling!”
“I vote for pancakes!” Pinkie said.
“Very kind of you Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said.
“After that we can tell Twilight everything!” Applejack said.
The other four looked at her.
“No! We can’t tell her!” Rainbow Dash said. “We don’t know if she’ll forgive us again!”
“If we don’t tell her and her memory comes back she is not gonna forgive us for sure than!” Applejack countered.
“Um… maybe we should tell her the truth and then… tell her to find new friends?” Fluttershy asked.
“What?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
Fluttershy rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. Tears began to appear in her eyes as she remembered how she, the element of kindness, walked away from a crying friend rather than comforting her. True, Twilight had upset somepony, but she had had good intentions, trying to protect her brother from somepony she (correctly) assumed to be harming him. Fluttershy should not have simply walked out on her. Two wrongs do not make a right.
They all thought back to their awful act of leaving their friend at the rehearsal. They had been selfish, vain, and cared more about this wedding than said friend. It was truly unforgivable.
“We don’t. We put the party before her,” Pinkie said.
“She has been in a lot of danger, and we could have prevented that if we’d just listened to her. If we’d stood by her she never would have been sent to those caves, or bitten by Chrysalis! And then Celestia would not have turned into Daybreaker and burned half of Canterlot to the ground!” Rarity said. “We not only hurt our friend but cost a lot of ponies their homes, or even lives!”
“Some protectors of Equestria we turned out to be,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe we should resign as the element bearers as well?”
Applejack sighed. “Maybe we don’t deserve to be Twilight’s friends. But we can’t end our friendship. That has to be her decision when we tell her the truth. We don’t want to hurt her more than we already have.”
There was silence, than everypony agreed.
“Alright, we tell her the truth and say that if we wants to stop being friends… we… we understand,” Rarity choked out as tears escaped her eyes.
Applejack nodded. “Let’s eat.”
Fluttershy and Pinkie made the pancakes in less pleasant moods than they would have otherwise. They ate silently than decided it was time to tell Twilight.
“Do any of y’all know where Shining Armor’s house is?” Applejack asked.
They all shook their heads.
“Let us… ask a royal guard,” Rarity suggested.
They headed downstairs and found a pair of Royal Guards in front of the Castle doors.
“Excuse me good sirs, but could you be kind enough to escort us to the home of your captain. You see, we’re best friends with his sister,” Rarity explained blinking her eyes at them.
The royal guards gazed at her expressionlessly for a moment. But Rarity was such a raw beauty that all their discipline melted away and hearts appeared in their eyes.
“This way my lady,” they said, abandoning their posts to lead them there.
They came to a house with a shield and crossed swords above the door. The guards grinned at Rarity who offered them a smile.
“Thank you, good sirs.”
“We are happy to help any pony in distress,” one of them said. “By any chance, would you be free tonight?”
“Back off Macerunner! I helped her!”
“I helped her too!”
“I was more helpful!”
“How? We both lead her here!”
The two guards continued to bicker while Applejack approached the door to the house and knocked. Shining Armor answered the door. His parents as well as Twilight and Spike were inside as well.
“Oh, y’all worked everything out?” Applejack asked.
Shining nodded. “Everything’s fine between us and mom now.”
“Hey girls!” Twilight said.
Applejack stepped forward. “Twi… there’s something we need to tell you. It’s about the wedding rehearsal.”
As she neared Twilight’s seat, the lavender unicorn put a hoof over the orange Earth Ponies mouth.
“I know already, Applejack. Shining Armor told me everything.”
“You’re not mad at us, Darling?” Rarity asked.
“From what I’ve heard, it seems I forgave you already. But if you hadn’t told me in say a week, I probably would have been mad.” Twilight said. “We all make mistakes. But what’s important is that we learn from them and try not to repeat them.”
“Twilight, we made a big mistake leaving you at the rehearsal. We should have been there for you. We could have lost you to the caverns, or the Queen’s poison, or Daybreaker!” Rainbow Dash said. “I swear as the element of Loyalty I will stand by your side and rush to your rescue whenever you might be in danger!”
“We’ll make it up to you, Darling!” Rarity promised.
“Girls, girls. Its okay. How many times have I told you I forgive you anyway?” Twilight asked.
“Not enough!” Pinkie Pie said. “Its not about you forgiving us, Twilight! Its about us forgiving ourselves.”
“And that’s gonna take some time,” Applejack said. “What we did was really… really bad.”
“Well, time can heal wounds,” Twilight said. “But I think you’ve probably apologized to me enough.”
Velvet sighed. “I should probably apologize to Princess Celestia for slapping her.”
Spike suddenly burped out a letter. He opened and was shocked by what he read.
Dear Twilight Sparkle, I write this letter with a heavy heart. My time as Daybreaker has come to an end. As has my time to be Equestria’s ruler and your teacher. I have caused great harm to both you and my other subjects, burning Canterlot to the ground and trying to steal you as my own daughter. I think it would be best if Luna ruled Equestria alone now as I did. It has been my honor to rule, and an even greater honor to be your teacher. But now I must say goodbye.
Celestia sent her note to Twilight. She then began writing a royal proclamation. Her last royal proclamation. As her quill ran its ink over the parchment paper, she felt her eyes tear up. She was going to leave everything behind. But she felt it was the best thing to do. What she had done seemed to show that she was no longer a worthy princess capable of ruling.
She sighed as she wrote the last line than began the walk to the foot of her castle. Trumpets sounded, Celestia’s way of calling her citizens out in front of the palace for an important sudden announcement. She walked to the balcony overlooking Canterlot and gazed down on her subjects. This was the last time she would be gazing down at them like this, from a high up balcony as a mighty Princess.
She waited for a time, watching Canterlot gather in front of her castle until what seemed like a good enough mass appeared. She took a deep breath than opened the scroll she had written her last proclamation on.
“I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, due to the recent destruction I have caused to my city as well as risk I have placed my citizens and the ponies I love in, resign as ruler of Equestria. My student Twilight Sparkle saw a threat that I did not.
She knew there was something wrong with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza at the Wedding Rehearsal and tried to warn us. I though she was simply a jealous little sister, but she was right. She had seen through Queen Chrysalis’s disguise, fought with her and nearly lost her life. I became so enraged seeing her life put on the line and transformed into that dark alicorn Daybreaker, burning half of Canterlot to the ground. And just last night I turned into Daybreaker again, this time stealing my faithful student from her parents and trying to make her my own daughter. I feel as though my time to be a ruler good for Equestria has come to an end. I leave behind my crown and proclaim my younger sister, Princess Luna, to be sole ruler.”
There were gasps of shock as Celestia read this proclamation outloud. Celestia than turned back into the Castle, returned to her room and packed her things. Where she would go she did not know. A life in exile within the Everfree forest, battling monsters there and keeping them from threatening ponykind.
She put on her saddlebags than removed her crown, leaving it on the bedside table. Celestia than walked to her door and opened it to find she had visitors. Twilight, her family and friends were all there.
“Princess Celestia, you can’t just quit like this!” Twilight said.
Celestia looked at her former student sadly.
“What choice do I have?” Celestia shouted. “I burned half of this city to the ground fighting Queen Chrysalis!"
Twilight Velvet stood by her daughter.
“Celestia! You can’t just abandon everypony like this!”
Celestia gazed down at the mother who had slapped her this morning. She sighed.
“Velvet, how can you possibly forgive me? I tried to steal your daughter from you.”
Velvet sighed, than shouted up at her. “I haven’t completely forgiven you! I might not ever! But Twilight forgave her friends and has forgiven you! I know that you have always loved my daughter, and I know that she loves you too! She is a grown mare now, I accept that. She still wants to be your student, and I have no say in it!”
Celestia looked from her to Twilight.
“You really… still want to be my student? Even after I abducted you and wiped your memory? It might never come back.”
“It wasn’t a lot of memory Princess, maybe it will come back. But I know what happened even if it doesn’t. You and all my friends left me at the rehearsal when I accused Queen Chrysalis while she was disguised as Cadence. I also know that I forgave you for that already. Queen Chrysalis was the one to blame for all of this. Of courses I still want to be your student! I love you! You’re like a second mother to me!” Twilight said.
Celestia smiled. “I’ve always considered you to be like a daughter Twilight! But even so… I think it would be best if I relinquish my crown.”
“You can’t do that! Equestria needs you as well as Luna!” Twilight said.
“Equestria did just fine when I was on the throne alone. Why shouldn’t she be capable of doing the same?”
Twilight hesitated, unsure of how to answer that. Velvet was the one who stepped forward.
“You’re leaving your little sister to rule alone? How did it feel for you when you did that?” Velvet asked.
Celestia thought back and one word exited her mouth. “Hard.”
“And you want Luna to go through that now?” Velvet asked. “You control the day, she controls the night. The important things go on in the day, that needs you to supervise! Luna has to take care of ponies in their dreams! You can’t expect her to do both on her own. I know that everything was fine while she was on the moon, but times have changed now.”
Celestia sighed. “You’re right. Ever since Nightmare Moon was defeated there has been a massive increase in the need for a night guardian, as though by defeating the Nightmare in my sister we unleashed it to torment every pony in Equestria. I can’t leave her to rule alone and bear this burden when it is even more important for her!”
She levitated her proclamation up to her and ripped in half with her magic, than looked at Velvet.
“Thank you.”
Velvet nodded, “I’m glad that my daughter holds you in such high regard. But know this… if you ever try to steal her from me again, I will not stand for it!”
Celestia shivered nervously. “I will try not to.”
“Good,” Velvet replied. “Now… I believe we have a wedding that should be going on soon.”
*
The day for the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor came once the repairs to Canterlot were finished. Twilight’s friends completed their community service of rebuilding the damage done during the battle between Daybreaker and Chrysalis. The homes were now rebuilt, but not all wounds had healed yet. There were still ponies that had lost loved ones during the battle, and grief gripped those in Canterlot who wore dark mourning garments. Foals who lost their parents had been sent to an orphanage. Princess Celestia had sent a good amount of money there to provide for the foals, and she couldn’t help but feel responsible. The foals would miss their parents, but she would do her best to find them new families someday.
Then there was Twilight’s friends. Their friend had forgotten what they had done, but they never would. Still, they were relieved to know that she had forgiven them. Her memory might never return, but that didn’t matter. Because even when she had remembered it, she had still forgiven them, because they were all true friends. No matter what mistakes they might have made or will make over the years, true friends would work their problems out and be there for each other through thick and thin.
