Chapter 5

The Sun and Moon

Although their parent’s expressions were serious, their father’s question was asked in a calm and curious manner. Celestia gave her parents a confused look while her sister was beside herself completely horrified as she tried to remember how she got back on field. Snap Shot finally stood up and looked at his king and queen with concern.

“Which one of you did it?” repeated Night Shade to his daughters.

“Did what?” asked Celestia. “Dad what’s going…”

“The Sun,” said Night Shade “Was it you who did that Luna?”

“I… I don’t think so,” said Luna in a frightened voice. “Mom what is he talking about?”

“Snap Shot, what happened?” questioned Star Bright.

“My queen, we were in the middle training when Celestia was eager to advance on to the next stage! Not that its any surprise of course, but…”

“Hey! It’s not my fault that I’m a fast learner!” Celestia retorted shooting him a glare.

“If you had just followed my lead, then none of this would have happened!” Snap Shot snapped back.

The two were staring daggers at each other before the queen intervened.

“Snap Shot!” Star Bright spoke up.

“Right," replied Snap shot looking away from Celestia's angered eyes. "Any way... Celestia lost control of her speed and when she fell out of sky she… I don't know how its even possible, but her wings reacted on their own and she stretched her hooves out like this.” Snap Shot lifted him self off the ground in order to imitate what he had witnessed. “Suddenly it was as if the Sun was in her control and it started to set.”

“So it was you Celestia,” said Night Shade correcting himself. “You made the day go and night rise?”

“Actually your highness,” Snap Shot said nervously. “It was Luna that made the moon rise in the sun’s place.”

“Mom, what’s he talking about?” Inquired Luna looking worried.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of honey.” Star Bright told her youngest daughter.

“Your mother’s right,” said Night Shade standing tall. “It was bound to happen at some point.”

“What was bound to happen?” asked Celestia.

“Snap Shot, you may return to your uh… sleeping courters for the night,” said Night Shade. “We will take our daughters from here. Celestia, Luna, you need to come with us. There is something we need to discuss.”

Back in the castle Celestia and Luna followed their parents down to the lower parts of the palace where they led them passed a room they had never seen or been in before. Celestia stopped and saw that the room was long and was lit by eerie blue lights that shun through the ceiling. Stretching down the center were shelves stacked with books, scrolls and other unknown sheets of paper.

“Not here,” said Night Shade diverting his eldest daughter’s attention away from the blue room by coming back to lead her away.

The king and queen led the two sisters to a different room that had a black-steel door. Night Shade muttered something under his breath as his horn glowed bright red. There was a loud clicking sound and the door opened making heavy metallic sounds. As Celestia and Luna followed their parents into the dimly lit room, they saw that it was like the throne room above them. The windows were made out of the same stained glass as those they had upstairs. The only difference was that these had colorful illustrations on them. A dark red carpet stretched across the floor leading to the center where a large fountain stood. The king and queen walked over to the fountain and beckoned their stunned daughters over to join them. Once Celestia and Luna reached the fountain Night Shade looked at Star Bright and nodded with an all-knowing attitude.

“Where are we?” asked Celestia still looking around.

“We are where the past lives on in memory and the future is yet to be made,” said Night Shade to his two daughters. “You said you wanted to know what was going on? Well, here, your answers will be found.”

“Snap Shot said that I made the sun fall and Luna made the moon rise. Why?”

Night Shade and Star Bright looked at each other again before the queen decided to answer her eldest daughter.

“Celestia, you and Luna are born under royalty, but as Alicorns you have been granted with special gifts. In this case, this ability.”

She pointed a hoof at one of the windows showing a picture of an Alicorn who had her wings spread and hooves stretched out. Behind her the sun was shown setting while the moon was shown rising

“Normally it is possible for one Alicorn to be able to control both the moon and sun, but in your case… Celestia, the sun is in your control while Luna has power over the moon and stars.”

“But how could we be?” asked Luna. “Why us? Why did Snap Shot look so, scared?”

“Because you two are the first in a thousand years to have been given these powers.” answered Night Shade. “The last Princess of Equestria was able to bring forth both the day and night, but after her passing, nopony else has been given her powers.”

“Until now,’ said Celestia unsure if she liked the idea of her having these newfound powers.

“Yes,” said Star Bright and she gave her husband a knowing look.

“Celestia, Luna… you are our heirs to the throne and when your time comes, you must lead and watch over the ponies of Equestria like the rulers before you.

The two sisters stared at their parents in disbelief. Why didn’t they tell them all of this until now? They didn’t know what to think of this situation. Panic sounded like an appropriate response. Shouting in frustration didn’t seem so bad either. They couldn’t see why their mother and father looked so at ease about this. It was easy on them of course though. They weren’t carrying a heavy burden. The more the realization of their predicament hammered away into their minds, the more they wanted to scream, run away, to hide. They wanted desperately to forget. Under desperation they thought that if they could just go back to their rooms and have a good nights sleep, they would wake up only to find out that the whole ordeal of destinies and ruling over Equestria when they were older was all a dream.

“We understand that this must be a lot to take in,” said Night Shade seeing how concerned his daughters looked. “But don’t worry. Your mother and I know what to do. You must master your gifts and thanks to these…” He gestured at the fountain behind him and conjured up an old book out of thin air.

“You should have no problem.”

And so, the future Princess Celestia and Luna’s royal training began. Night Shade would be helping Luna with her task of bringing forth the night, while Star Bright would take Celestia under her wing and teach her how to bring the day. They had been training for over a week. Suddenly things like friends and doing other things that would be considered normal took a back seat.

“Concentrate dear,” said Star Bright to Celestia as she was trying to raise the sun one night.

“I am,” said Celestia through gritted teeth. “Ugh! How did the last Princess manage to put up with this every day?!”

“I can not say,” said Star Bright patiently. “But if anypony can do what she did, it is you and Luna.”

Celestia focused on the horizon as instructed but nothing like before happened. The pressure she had been feeling for weeks finally took over and she couldn’t take it anymore. Lowering her hooves, she landed on the balcony. Everything she and Luna had known about themselves had been turned upside down within a single day and to hear her mother tell her that she believed in them was over whelming! Losing her temper, she stomped her hoof on the platform and lowered her head.

“Celestia, what…”

“I didn’t want this!” she roared. “I didn’t ask to be this way!”

“Celestia, I understa…”

“Do not tell me you understand!" The young Alicorn roared and turned to face her mother who had just stood up and tried to comfort her. "You and dad don’t have to be burdened with this! It was bad enough that Luna and I are born different from eveypony else and now you expect us to rule over Equestria one day as Princesses of the sun and moon!?”

Star Bright opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Her daughter glared at her with tears in her eyes.

“We don’t even have our Cutie Marks yet and from the looks of things, this isn’t the only thing you didn’t tell us! Dad said the last princess of equestrian lived a millennia ago right? So does that mean we too will live for that long while our friends and those we know now will...”

Celestia couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence. A saddened pain built up inside her as the weight of reality began to dawn on her. She and her sister will live longer than their friends and possibly family. It was after all their gift as Alicorns. Their curse…

Celestia sighed and with a much calmer, but horse voice asked, “How can you expect us to live like that? When were you going to tell us this?”

“You are right,” said Star Bright softly and embraced Celestia in a tight hug. “There will come times when your lives will seem lonely, but no matter what happens, you two will cherish the your memories you had with your friends as we have. And as long as you hold on to all the times you have spent with them in your heart, they will never truly leave.”

In a blackened room Luna gave a horrified shriek as her father turned out the lights once again and they were placed in everlasting darkness. Try as she might, Luna’s light spell couldn’t help extinguish her fears. The lights turned on and Night Shade stood by himself and found his daughter hiding under the carpet.

“I think,” he began to say. “We aught to go over what we had discussed.”

“No!” said Luna loudly as she stood back up. “Sorry, it’s not that I didn’t understand why we need to do this. Its just that...”

She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Her true feelings were practically screaming to be released, but she didn’t want to disappoint her father by failing at such an important task.

“If you are ready, then we shall try again." said Night Shade, his horn glowing again. "Get ready and try to remember, fear in the end is choice we make. And just like our decision to let it take over us we also must choose to overpower it.”

“Wait!” shouted Luna before her father could turn out the lights. “I… I don’t think I can.”

“Luna…” said Night Shade feeling sorry for the young Alicorn in front of him.

“I don’t think I have it in me! Come on, me? Princess of the night? I can’t even sleep with out the lantern on still!”

“Come here Luna,” said Night Shade.

He put a comforting wing over his daughter’s shoulder and escorted her to the fountain. In it, water lied undisturbed. The bottom of the fountain wasn’t seen leaving the coloration black.

“There is nothing to fear about the dark,” said Night Shade as his horn glowed once again and instantly they were covered in blackness.

Luna shrieked and made to back away, but she felt her father’s soft wing being placed on her.

“The dark can teach us many things Luna. And once you realize there is nothing to fear…”

Luna heard something touch the water in the fountain and a light started to shine from inside it. Curious, Luna hoisted herself on the fountain’s edge and looked at the water that went black again.

“You will see that the night can offer beauty in ways the day can not.”

Luna frowned.

“Beauty?” criticized Luna. “What beauty is there in such a thing as night?”

“Hmmm, why don’t you tell me what you see?” asked Night Shade egging his daughter on.

Luna focused her eyes on the black surface. Her reflection was barely visible as she stared sadly into the abyss.

“I can’t see anything,” she said in disappointment as she placed her left hoof into the fountain and twirled the liquid around.

The water was cold and continued to swirl when she stopped stirring. As soon as she was about to leave, the water started to give off light again. She stared into the fountain as she saw the source of light. A small speck was swimming around in it. Before she could reach for it another speck floated into view, then another and another. Luna’s eyes widened as the once blackened water was being filled with the tiny dots of light. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from what was happening. Each of the tiny specks of light twinkled at her as they swam around in their watery home. She soon picked out a few images they were making and found herself in aw of the show.

“Tell me,” said Night Shade smiling warmly at her. “What do you see now?”

Only one thing came to Luna’s mind at that moment as the fear she had felt moments ago was vaporized.

It’s so… Beautiful…