> B.C. (Before Celestia) > by Princess of Stuff > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Epilogue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prologue "If only there was somepony...anypony...who understood my plight." Princess Celestia sighed. "Nine hundred and seventy five years of the same old thing. The same castle. The same garden. The same hall of stained glass, mocking me, reminding me of all I lost. The same night sky, rebelling my magical grip. Not to mention the ponies, with life spans of a candle." The princess said sadly, wiping a tear from her moist eyes with her hoof. She could go on all night, but she preferred silence. It was a warm spring night. The stars twinkled far off in the distance and the moon shined bright in a sky of black. It was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to Princess Luna's night. It seemed as though ever since Luna's exile nine hundred and seventy five years ago the night sky had never been the same. Just a lifeless canvas of black with a few shiny dots and a giant silver orb painted on. Ever since Celestia had taken over, it seemed as though the stars didn't twinkle as bright as they had once, and the moon seemed to have lost that lunar glow it had possessed before Luna's banishment. Princess Celestia had never realized how much she memorized about the night until Luna was gone. And now that her sister was gone, she noticed the beauty of night. The beauty that everypony else and been to blinded to see. The sad thing was also that after Luna's departure, ponies began to take interest in her night. Princess Celestia smiled, imagining how her sister would react when she found out about astronomers. Oh, how excited she would be. From that point, the Princess drifted off into images of her younger sister hopping up and down with joy. It was something Luna had done when she had been really happy, and part of Celestia wanted to try it. Then she remembered her beloved little sister changing into the monster she had become, along with everything that had happened in between. And finally, her worst memory yet, banishing her sister. She remembered being surrounded by the pastel rainbow that was the elements, and remembered, it surrounding her. She remembered hitting Luna, no, Nightmare Moon, and pushing her up, up, up, and finally letting her go. Then, Nightmare Moon hit the surface of the moon she so desperately loved, and tried to get away. Tried to attack Celestia. And Celestia flew back to Earth, with her new pastel rainbow mane, and rejoiced in the love of her little ponies. It was, just hours after Luna's banishment, when Celestia realized what she had done. She had banished her sister to the moon for one thousand years, and it was minutes after her realization when she was presented with the responsibility of raising and lowering both the Sun and the Moon. "Your highness, will you be attending-" Sadly, Celestia's thoughts were intruded on by her assistant. "No." Princess Celestia said dully, shaking her head slowly. The princess's assistant looked a little taken back at Celestia's tone of voice. "I don't mean to interrogate you Princess, but, it seems as though your always depressed at night. Why is that?" The assistant asked nervously as though she was afraid she would be beheaded just for asking. Princess Celestia snapped out of her depression. It wasn't like her to be so dismayed, especially around her subjects. "I'm sorry for being so...harsh. But in all due respect, your my assistant not my counselor." The Solar Princess pointed out, trying to keep herself from throwing a tantrum. She didn't like when ponies showed concern for her, but yet she always showed concern for her subjects. 'I'm such a hypocrite', Celestia thought to herself. "I apologize...but my special talent is caring." Celestia's assistant said quietly. She was a yellow Pegasus with a hot pink mane and a bulging stomach. "I know. That's why you'll be such a great mother." The princess smiled, regaining her usual joyful personality. Besides, she really wanted to change the subject. The pregnant Pegasus smiled nervously, but was interrupted before she could speak. "You should be getting to bed." The alicorn said gently. While she was showing genuine care for her subject, she kind of just wanted to be alone. "Your pregnant, you need the rest. But I really do wish you would take the vacation..." The pregnant mare shook her head as to say no. "That will not be necessary, however, I do think I should be getting to bed. Goodnight princess." But before the pregnant Pegasus could leave, Celestia felt she had to say something. "Your daughter...she'll be a great mare." Celestia spat out. "How do you know it's a mare..." The assistant said, turning around quickly, a look of pure shock on her face. "It's...a long story." The Pegasus looked surprised. A bit scared even. But within seconds, she dismissed her shock. "Goodnight your majesty." The young mare said before turning around and leaving the balcony. "She really will be something..." And for the first time in a long time, Princess Celestia, who had been depressed all day, smiled. Everything was going as planned. But the smile soon faded when both good and bad memories were brought back to her memoir. Memories that had been stuffed in the back of her head for nearly one thousand years. Memories that the princess didn't care to remember. "I suppose it's time to go to bed." Princess Celestia sighed. But the Princess was conflicted; part of her wanted to stay up and admire the moon. To just look up at it all night until it was time for it to be lowered below the horizon and the Sun to be raised. However, another part of Celestia wanted to sleep and just...dream. Dream about the old days, with Luna, Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra. How they would laugh, and play, and joke. After about thirty minutes of thought, sleep overcame to white alicorn. She was to tired to return to her room, besides, it was nice to be close to her sister. Or at least as close as possible. And it was then, at that moment, when the Solar Princess fell asleep beneath the moon, dreaming about life before her lonely rule. Before Celestia. > Chapter 1: Three Children in One Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Three Children in One Day "Queen Galaxia! I feel as though its been ages!" A female draconequus said, clapping together her paw and talon. The draconequus sported a yellow alicorn face and horn, claw of an eagle, paw of a cheetah, royal purple pegasus wing, royal purple bird wing, an indigo dragon hindleg, yellow pony hindleg, blue dragon tail, and crystal blue mane. She was quite beautiful in person actually, despite how her description seemed. "Queen Lana, for what do I owe the pleasure?" Galaxia smiled. Queen Galaxia was a beautiful white alicorn, Celestia's stature, with a long, glimmering mane, a clear respresentation of the dawn, and a large, round stomach. "Well...your a great mother to little Celestia, Galaxia, you really are." Queen Lana said, running her claw down her crystal blue mane nervously. Queen Galaxia could sense her nervousness and became uneasy. Clearly, Lana wanted something. The draconequus snapped her talons, and a moment later she was cradling two small draconequuses in her arms. "Oh, Lana...What are you suggesting I do?" Galaxia asked softly. "Galaxia. We both know how long I've ruled. Its about time I got a retirement, and we both know you'll be doing the same when Celestia and that one come of age. I promise, I'll visit. Its not as though I don't love them, I love them more than everything in the world. Thats...thats why I'm giving them to you. We both know I am in no position to take care of two young ones, but I promise to visit and whatnot. When its time, they can take over." What do I do...? Galaxia thought. She knew very well of the state of Queen Lana, how her husband had left her and left her with the children. How depressed Lana was, something not many others knew about Lana. She hid her sadness behind laughs, smiles, and jokes, but inside she was the most depressed creature in Hybrillia, the kingdom she ruled. After a few seconds of consideration, Galaxia came to a conclusion. Lana couldn't take care of Discord and Concordia, not in her current state. The twins would be better off with Galaxia in Equestria. "Very well, Lana. But if you at all want them to return to Hybrillia, just tell me. And I do want you to visit. Its not healthy for children to be away from there mothers." Lana smiled, and levitated the draconequus twins toward Galaxia. "Thank you, Galaxia. I don't know how to repay you." the alicorn Queen smiled, and grabbed the children with her telekinesis grip. From that point, the Queen waved goodbye to her good friend Queen Lana, and left with the twins. She boarded the Equestrian carriage, which was being pulled by four pegasus royal guards. How is the Kingdom going to react to this? What will they think of me taking care of two draconequuses? What will Tia think? For the whole ride home, Galaxia considered how the kingdom would react to their Queen taking care of another kingdom's prince and princess. They might think it was a nice thing to do, but others would be skeptical. The racism in Equestria was a popular problem, and she knew many ponies were still skeptical of other races, draconequuses included. After about an hour of flight, and long, hard thinking, the carriage came to a sudden stop in front of the castle. Citizens of Canterlot pointed in awe and wonder as the Queen's carriage flew gracefully to the ground and in front of the castle. "Its the Queen!" the ponies exclaimed, stomping their hooves, bowing, and whistling. Queen Galaxia smiled. She loved how much her subjects admired her, and she knew at least a half of the ponies here would take a magical beam for her, not that she needed it. It was completely normal for her subjects to act in such a way around her, and she was completely used to it. But would they show such praise and love to her after what she was about to do? Galaxia got out of her seat, trying to hide the two young draconequuses she was hiding in her wing. It was best to keep it quiet, for now. She would introduce the two into Equestria next week, perhaps sooner, but certainly not longer. Galaxia was escorted into the castle by two royal guards, a unicorn and an earth pony. Still, Celestia hid the prince and princess in her wing, she knew if any royal guards found out they were sure to leak the secret, most likely to eachother. But soon, word would spread, and some unfaithful guard would leak the news to all of Canterlot, and even back then, Canterlot ponies were just such big gossips. The Queen wanted to tell everypony herself, that way, the citizens wouldn't think she was secretive. Being open with Equestria was a big deal, and she was sure many ponies wouldn't appreciate it if she kept secrets like this from them. As Queen Galaxia was about to make her way to her room, she felt the pull of the Moon and Sun. It was almost time to lower the Sun and raise the Moon, and Galaxia found it best that she do this from her room and not from the royal balcony. Walking seemed to tiresome, so Galaxia simply teleported to her room in a flash of fluorescent orange and vivid purple light. In less than seconds, the white alicorn was in her bedroom, an oval room with glass walls, a large bed in the corner, a fireplace, and two large shelves of books. These were Galaxia's sacred books, books only to be read by those worthy to read them. When Celestia and the child she was pregnant with were old enough, they would be able to read all the books here. Queen Galaxia unfurled her wings and let Discord and Concordia fall gently on the bed. They were both nearly asleep, and looked adorable doing so. The two were twins, and while they looked nothing like their mother, and even less like their father, that was normal for draconequuses. A draconequus was a creature of randomness, so they usually looked nothing their parents, but twins did usually look alike. A draconequus could have children with any different species, and always have the children look like the other species, which was why draconequus were so rare. "Guh-Guh-Gaaaah." Discord, the little boy choked out. The twins were only two years old, same age as Tia, making them hardly able to talk. "Shhhh..." Galaxia said gently, raising him into the air. After about five minutes of attempting to calm Discord, she very slowly and carefully set him on the bed next to his sister. The queen thought it best to keep the young prince and princess in her bedroom. Nopony came in her room without her permission and when she wasn't there. Not even the maids, the alicorn queen found great joy in tidying up her own bedroom. For the longest time, Queen Galaxia watched the two sleep. While they weren't her children, and weren't even the same species, Galaxia grew to love Discord and Concordia, despite the little time she had been with them. Again, Galaxia felt the pull of the moon and sun. After such a long time, raising and lowering the sun, moon, and stars had become a natural instinct for the Queen. It was almost as though the orbs of light were telling her to raise and lower them. The sun, moon, and stars were what was called her source. Every alicorn had a source, it was usually an object of great power. A source was ultimately what enhanced an alicorn's power and kept them alive. If an alicorn's source was destroyed, an alicorn would die. If an alicorn chose to disconnect from their source, they would lose their immortality, and lose their extra power. Reconnecting to a source was extremely difficult. The owner of a source had the power to control a source with great ease. Since the sun, moon, and stars were Galaxia's source, it was extremely easy for Galaxia to move them, and since the sun, moon, and stars couldn't be destroyed, Galaxia was immortal. Again, twilight called. Queen Galaxia realized she was behind schedule, and would have to hurry. Surely, nopony would notice though. The white alicorn checked on the two draconequuses one last time before flashing out of her bedroom and onto the royal balcony. Queen Galaxia made herself comfortable, sitting on her hindlegs and looking out on all of Canterlot. A beautiful sight. Usually, the Queen took the time to savor the beautiful twilight. In the olden days, there was no dawn or Twilight. The raising and lowering of the moon went along very fast, until Galaxia's great grandmother had taken the time ten thousand years ago to admire the time between the moving sun and moon. Now, Dawn and Dusk were a normal part of day. Today, the Sun was a bit stubborn, most likely tired. The Sun was used to following a strict schedule, and it had been in the sky to long, making it tired. Meanwhile, the moon moved with ease, quite eager to be raised. It had been resting a bit to long and was very excited to take the Sun's place, as were the stars. Queen Galaxia sweared to Faust that they had minds of their own. Finally, Galaxia lowered the Sun completely, and had successfully raised the moon high in the sky. She finished off by arranging the stars in perfect order, making sure they were all in the correct place. She smiled at her work. While the night was a time to sleep, that didn't mean it couldn't look beautiful. Besides, she was sure somepony out there enjoyed the beauty of the night. It was hard not to. "My Queen..." Galaxia whipped around, she wasn't expecting any company. Besides, ponies other than herself rarely ever visited her on the balcony. Standing a few feet behind her was Penny, her foalsitter. "Celestia really wants to see you." Penny said quietly. Penny was a pegasus with a bronze mane and yellow coat. She was a great foalsitter because of her kindness, and was a far off descendant of Private Pansy, one of the guardians of Equestria, not like she knew though. After the guardians died, the Equestrian Monarchy took over the Elements of Harmony. "Very well, Penny." Galaxia followed Penny to the Celestia's room, a fairly large room for a two year old. In the middle of the room was little Celestia, with her pink mane, white coat, purple eyes, and Sun cutie mark. An alicorn was born with their cutie marks, since their cutie marks resembled their sources. "I'll leave you two alone..." Penny said quietly, before fluttering out of the room. Galaxia closed the door once Penny was gone. She was glad Celestia didn't look like her deceased father. "Momma!" the little white alicorn exclaimed, fluttering her wings in excitement. "Thats right!" Galaxia said happily, it was the first time Celestia had said 'momma' correctly, and it was also her first word. The little white foal dragged herself to her mother, since she was unable to walk yet. After hours of play, the Queen found that she had tired her daughter out. The little princess yawned, and her mother levitated her into her crib, and sang her a lullaby. When Galaxia was assured her daughter was asleep, she left the room. However, she couldn't help but feel something was going to happen. Something big, and unexpected. It was a feeling Galaxia had easily learned to detect over the years. Then, it happened. Galaxia's suspicions had been correct, and her water had just broke. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galaxia wrapped her wings around her newborn daughter, who she had decided to name Luna because of her cutie mark, which displayed a crescent moon in a night sky. "Beautiful." The Queen looked up, startled. She hadn't been expecting anypony to come in the room, but there standing in the arch of the doorway was Starswirl the Bearded. "Wasn't expecting you..." Galaxia said, smiling. Starswirl had been one of Galaxia's personal students, and while the Queen of Equestria never aged, Starswirl had grown old. But it felt like just yesterday he was an eight-year-old foal levitating a feather. "I thought you were due next week!" Starswirl exclaimed. "How...How could you lie to me!" the bearded colt said dramatically, pretending to weep. When Queen Galaxia had first met Starswirl he had been a shy, timid, little colt afraid of all the power he possessed. It took over twenty years of training, but soon, Starswirl grew to be less shy, and learned to tame his power. He still lived in the castle, and was now an Equestrian scientist and studied all sorts of magic. "I did too." Galaxia sighed, taking a quick glance at the little filly. She resembled her father a lot more than Celestia did, with her pure white coat, blue eyes, and icy blue mane. Bitter thoughts of the Equestrian King raced through her head, their fight, followed by his death... "Galaxia. You know the King died nobly. He would have loved to see Luna, and you know that." Starswirl said gently. "To bad he can't see her." the alicorn sighed. Sadness built up inside her, but she held back the urge to cry. She hated crying in front of her subjects. It showed just how weak she was. Besides, it was a time to be happy! One of the future rulers of Equestria had been born today. Starswirl glanced at his watch and yawned. "I should be going today. Me and Blue are supposed to be watching the stars. I wouldn't want to be late." the gray colt trotted over to the bed and kissed the sleeping princess on the horn, before trotting out. Queen Galaxia smiled, thinking of how her little student had grown. Now he was a grown colt, with a wife, a foal, and a nice job studying magic. She just hoped Starswirl would outlive her, she couldn't handle seeing her eleventh student die. She had seen enough deaths in her one-hundred-eighty-two years of life. The Queen smiled, thinking of her two little daughters growing up, and taking her place. And then having them have their own husbands and foals. She also smiled about the afterlife. She knew it was there, a recent study had shown that ponies who passed lived amongst the stars. Galaxia wondered what it was like, to be amongst the stars, and the sun, and the moon. It must be beautiful up there, in the heavens. Galaxia looked up at the moon, a shining crescent surrounded by a sky of black. This reminded her of something, and the Queen turned her head downwards, towards her daughter. Then she saw Luna's cutie mark. A shining crescent surrounded by a sky of black. > Chapter 2: Alicorn > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: Alicorn 5 years later... "But mommy, it's my special talent! My cutie mark says so!" Princess Celestia exclaimed, pointing frantically to her Sun cutie mark. "Yeah, YOU CAN'T STOP US FROM DOING OUR SPECIAL TALENTS!" Princess Luna said, addressing her mother in the royal Canterlot voice, then laughing at her own audacity. "Luna!" Queen Galaxia hissed "What did I tell you about using the royal Canterlot voice?" While Queen Galaxia's expression was one of seriousness, Luna and Celestia were howling with laughter. Finally, Queen Galaxia broke out into laughter. She didn't like being to serious around her children, she enjoyed when her daughters laughed. "Anyway, you ponies are to young to control the Sun and the Moon." Queen Galaxia said firmly, but the princesses dismissed their mother's seriousness and rolled their eyes. They only heard those words ten times a day. "Besides," Galaxia continued. "It's my special talent too." The Queen smiled, trying to lighten up the mood. As if on cue, the alicorn foals peered at their mother's cutie mark, half of a sun, half of a moon, and stars surrounding it all. The moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by bright little stars and gray clouds. While the night was beautiful, morning was right around the corner, which was why Galaxia and her daughters were awaiting the pull of the sun and moon, which signaled sunrise. Then, there it was. The pull. "It's Dawn!" Galaxia said in a sing-songy voice. The grown alicorn positioned herself on the balcony, sitting on her haunches and looking out at the sky and all of Canterlot alike. The Queen took a deep breath and took the moon in her telekinesis grip. It was best to lower the moon first, thus avoiding the risk of having the Sun burn the Moon. Once the moon had fallen, Galaxia reached for the Sun. Today, the Sun was groggy, moving slowly, but as time passed it began to move with more ease. It took about an hour for the Sun to sit in the sky fully, but all the while, the two princesses watched. Well, one of them did. Luna zoned out about ten minutes after the moon disappeared. Princess Luna didn't care much about the Sun, but Celestia found both celestial bodies equally interesting. At about seven the Sun was sitting fully in the sky. However, the job wasn't over. Galaxia had to hold the Sun in the sky all day until it was sundown, and in order to do that she had to be awake. Galaxia lay down on the floor of the balcony, exhausted. Raising the Sun drained a lot of energy, and keeping it in the sky drained even more. Now that the Equestrian Queen had to share her sources with both her daughters, she was a lot weaker. Of course, she could have Celestia and Luna raise and lower the moon and sun, but that wouldn't be fair to them. It would ruin their childhood, and Galaxia knew what that was like. "Go play..." The alicorn said, rubbing her forehead and standing up once more. The two sisters happily obliged, and left the balcony, waving and planning their day. Shortly after, Galaxia followed, and trotted tiredly down the hall and to her bedroom. Once she was in her room, the Queen shut the door behind her. Galaxia had a massive headache, and thought it best to relax. She trotted over to the glass wall in her bedroom and, with a flash of white light, cast a spell. A spell that would keep the Sun in the sky for roughly eight hours while Galaxia slept. Once the spell had been cast, the Queen lay down on her bed, daydreaming. One day, the sole ruler of Equestria would be retired. One day, approximately twenty years in the future, Celestia and Luna would control the sun, moon, and all of Equestria. Queen Galaxia thought about the afterlife, and what it was like. She knew it existed, and from personal experience. And soon, she would be there. With everypony she lost. But not today. Not tomorrow. Eventually, though. The Queen drifted into thought, and then, into sleep. --------------------------------------------- "So what are we gonna do?" Princess Luna asked, scraping her hoof against the dirt. "Well it's no fun when Discord is gone." "What about Concordia?" "Her too..." Celestia said sheepishly. Luna smirked. They both knew little Tia had a little crush on Discord. Just a little one. "Dissy and Tia sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love! Then comes marriage! Then comes a foal in a big fat carriage!" Luna sang, flapping her wings to the beat. "Lu...why don't you just tell the whole world!" Tia hissed angrily. Luna opened her mouth to sing it in the Royal Canterlot Voice, but broke out in laughter before she could speak. Once the Lunar Princess had recovered from her laughter, she stood up, wiping her moist eyes with her hoof. "Heyyyy look who it is!" Luna said, pointing her spare hoof towards a blue and yellow speck, floating in the breeze. "It's Auntie Lana!" Princess Luna said happily, and with that she flew into the air. Celestia flapped her wings in an attempt to fly. Fail. Tia sat on the ground, giving up on her feeble attempt to fly. Flying wasn't her thing, magic was. "...BOO!" The pink-maned alicorn foal squeaked and whipped around. In a quarter of a second there was a golden flash, and a seven-year-old Discord lay on the ground against a tree, eyes closed, chest heaving. "Discord!" Flash. Queen Lana stood next to her son, stroking his head comfortingly. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to!" Celestia moaned. Luna was just standing next to her sister, mouth gaped open. "What happened?" "I'm sorry!" "But...is he dead?" Princess Concordia, Prince Discord's twin sister said. "Ow..." The group sighed in satisfaction. Discord was fine. "I'm sorry!" Celestia said, crying now. She didn't like the fact that she had hurt somepony, somepony she really cared about too. She especially didn't like that it was Discord, of all ponies. Besides, now Queen Lana would hate her guts! Oh, Queen Lana would be so angry- But no. She laughed. Queen Lana of Hybrillia...laughed. "Oh, Celestia. It's fine. He's alive, you just jumped. You got scared. Discord should learn not to mess with you," the draconequus said heartily, prodding him in the stomach with her cheetah claw. "We should probably take him to Starswirl though. The burn looks pretty serious, but trust me, I've seen worse." "Well, I guess we should-" Lana snapped her fingers and in the blink of an eye, they were in Starswirl the Bearded's office. ----------------------------------------- "He'll be fine. Just a burn, but he'll be fine." Starswirl said, rubbing some green goo stuff on Discord's burn. "But still...oh Celestia, you must be very strong to have cast such a spell. I've never seen anything like it, at least not from a seven-year-old foal." The bearded unicorn said, levitating the jar of green goo back to the shelf of goos. "However, I don't think I have ever met an alicorn foal..." "Now I know not to mess with you Celestia..." Next to Starswirl was a gray unicorn with a black mane and red eyes. "Yeah, stay away from me, Sombra! My big sister will kick your flank!" The ponies in the room laughed, all except Celestia. She wasn't proud of what she had done. She hated herself for hurting Discord. "Starswirl...why did I do that!?" Celestia asked, a serious look on her face. Discord and Concordia rolled their eyes at the same time, but Luna and Sombra were to busy screaming at each other to hear Tia. "Well, Tia, when a unicorn- ahem, or alicorn is startled, we tend to...use magic. What you did was purely by instinct and you had no control over it." Celestia felt a little relieved that she hadn't really had any control over what had happened, but that didn't help much. "Beardy, can I do that too?" Luna asked, turning her large, adorable eyes to the gray unicorn. "Yes-" "See Sombra, I can kick your flank any day!" Luna smirked, lighting her horn, ready for a fight. "But dad even said unicorns could do it too!" Sombra objected. "But I'm an alicorn, so I'm stronger." Luna smirked arrogantly. Starswirl shrugged at his son who was peering up at him. "Why are alicorns stronger than unicorns?" Sombra asked, puzzled. He had never understood what was so different. So what, alicorns were a little taller, and they had wings but what made them better? Starswirl the Bearded cleared his throat, ready to give a thorough lesson on alicorns. "Everything has magic in it. Earth ponies and pegasi have magic inside them, but only unicorns can harness that magic because we have a horn. Magic can only leave through something...well, like a horn. It's why we have wands, so that creatures like zebras can use magic. We all know zebras are very fond of magic." Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Starswirl. "A creature has as much magic as it can store. You have magic from your head to your hooves. Since alicorns are taller, and have both a horn and wings, they can store a lot more magic and are able to harness it from their horns." The room nodded in agreement. "Can I become an alicorn?" Sombra asked. "There's no spell to do that. Not yet." Not yet, Sombra thought. But eventually there would be. And from that moment on, Sombra fantasized about being an alicorn, a dream he would carry for the rest of his life.