"She's... Beautiful..." said Nurse Redheart.

Celestia's eyes were locked on the baby filly that the new mother held. "I know." she replied.

"Is there anything you need, Princess?" asked the nurse.

Celestia smiled without looking at the nurse. "I think I just need a bit of rest. Thank you for all of your assistance."

The nurse left the room, Celestia did not even notice. The baby filly let out a yawn as she fell asleep in Celestia's arms. She looks just like her father... Celestia's mind wandered off as she thought about her husband. She thought about the events of half a year ago. A single tear streamed down her face. You were so stupid, Star...

-----------

General Stardust took a second look at the astronomy charts. "Aquarius, what is this?"

Stardust was a tall, large build alicorn. His coat was of very dark purple, matching his eyes. He had a pitch black mane, save for a stripe in the middle, which was dyed scarlet red. His cutie mark was scarlet red as well. It was a four point star, however the tips of each point were as black as his mane. He wore a golden plate of armor on his chest. Unlike the other soldiers, he wore no helmet, but a gold crown with a red gem. His outstretched wings were four feet long, each. General Stardust was truly the textbook definition of a divine alicorn stallion.

"Oh, well... I believe having the sun rise a few hours early will boost the agricultural economy from it's current deficit into a surplus. You know, with more crop then it would have had." defended the Admiral.

"Such a change can upset the natural order of things. For eons, the sun has risen and fell at the same exact times. Do you really think it's worth it to test nature like this? For some extra bits?" interrogated Stardust.

Admiral Aquarius rolled his eyes."Oh please, Star. What's the worst that could happen? Some owls and raccoons get angry because they get a bit less time to be awake?"

Stardust sighed. "I fear it could be much worse then that. Please redo these charts and return them to normal, Aquarius."

"Do you not care about the farmers at all?!" shouted Aquarius, angrily. "The money this could bring to them, and the entire nation! You would be a fool to pass it up because of some annoyed rodents!"

"Then I will have Celestia sew me a jester's outfit. As of now, go fix the charts." said Stardust, grinning.

Aquarius snorted as he stormed out of the room. Stardust chuckled to himself and returned his attention to some maps of the Drasilian empire that he had been looking at before Aquarius came in. Why do the griffins need all of this land? He lost track of time in thought.

----------

"My husband approved of this?" asked Celestia, reading the astronomical charts with a confused look on her face.

"Of course he did! He said the boost in crop supply was just what we needed to keep in competition with Drasil." answered Aquarius, eagerly.

Celestia sighed. "Well, if he thinks it's a good idea, it must be. I just don't get why he would be so bold as to do something like this. I'll inform my advisers of the new changes, then prepare to raise the sun. Two hours earlier than usual, I wonder if we will still get a large sum of spectators."

"I'm sure we will, your highness." assured Aquarius.

----------

Stardust had been staring at his maps for hours. He was growing increasingly bored, pacing back and forth around the room. He looked outside his window to see a large crowd gathering before Celestia's podium. That's different. Why are they here so early? The sun doesn't rise until...

His eyes widened as he saw Celestia walk toward the center of the stage. She spread her wings and began saying things that he couldn't hear from that far away. His jaw dropped as he saw his wife slowly fly upwards, raising the sun with her.

No.

He took off at full gallop towards the stage as Celestia set into place. The sun was now in its regular position, and the sun goddess lowered herself back to the ground. Stardust was panting now, trying to reach the alicorn as fast as possible.

No!

He finally made it, and with a surge of magic, pushed away the crowd blocking him. Celestia was confused and worried. He made it up to her and took a deep breath. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

Celestia gave him a puzzled look. "I'm raising the sun early for the farmers, just like you wanted me to."

"What? When did I-" The General boiled with incomparable anger as realization flooded his mind. "Son of a bitch!"

Their conversation was interrupted as the earth shook below. The onlookers panicked as Stardust and Celestia looked off in the distance. Her heart sank as she saw three purple transparent figures the size of mountains rise from the ground. Three, ultra massive, Ursa Majors.

Stardust didn't wait as adrenaline shot through his veins. He spread his wings and took off at unimaginable speeds, and in only a few short seconds did he reach the point where a huge explosion of sound and light followed him in his path. The light was six different shades of purple, black, and red. Everypony in Canterlot held their hooves to their ears and cringed as the horrific sound passed them.

Stardust slowed as he approached the angry, cosmic beasts. Upon seeing him, one of the ursa let out a loud roar, and the other two followed shortly after. Please, Aumean... Give me strength. Stardust's horn began to glow, and his eyes turned scorching white. He tapped into all of the stored energy that he had - Including his element of magic.

The general released a magnificent bolt of lightning focused at the blue insignia on the center Ursa. It fell to the ground with a crash, and it's transparent body disappeared. One down. He charged his horn once again, only to be knocked out of the air by the left Ursa major before he could finish the spell.  He jumped to his hooves the instant he fell, and flew back up to a safe distance.

"Tough things you are eh?" he said. The Ursa didn't notice his taunt. Too exhausted to use anymore magic, the alicorn propelled himself towards the insignia of the left ursa that had just attacked him. Seemingly just in time, he reached the correct speed and performed another sonic lightboom. The second Ursa fell similar to the first. He turned his attention to the remaining Ursa major.

They locked eyes, but then something happened. The last Ursa absorbed the cosmic energy of his fallen brothers, and grew to three times it's original size. The beast turned from dark purple to bright red, and let out a petrifying scream. Stardust looked on in absolute horror, weighing his options and contemplating what he had to do next. He thought of his beautiful, loving wife. He thought of his soon-to-come baby daughter. He thought of all of the citizens of Equestria that he had sworn to protect, no matter what. His entire life flashed before his eyes.

I love you, Celestia.

White lightning bolts began to circle at impossible speeds around the purple stallion. He closed his eyes and rested his wings, but he did not fall. He was being carried by an unexplainable magical force.  The lightning bolts grew with intensity as he slowly rose to eye level with the Ursa Master. General Stardust gave a sad smile to the Ursa before him, accepting what he was about to do.

The alicorn prince lifted his head, and opened his burning white eyes. "Well played."

At that very instant, a pressure wave released from the alicorn, knocking back the Ursa master, and crushing a nearby forest. A brilliant tower of white light erupted from where Stardust was flying, so massive that all of Equestria, and even beyond, could have seen it. The Ursa master slowly turned to dust and disappeared completely from the land below. As the tower of light subsided, the purple alicorn fell to the ground. He was out of all energy, out of all being, all existence. An immortal being, used seemingly infinite power, and drained himself dry.

He had sacrificed his own life.

----------

"So what are you going to name her?" asked Comet. Comet was a blue unicorn stallion, of regular build. He had golden eyes, and a yellow cutie mark depicting two intertwined moons.

Celestia thought for a moment. She looked down at the sleeping alicorn filly, and smiled. She had a small stub for where her horn would grow in, and no sign of wings yet. That was normal, wings didn't grow in until the mare was about twenty five years old or so. She was light purple, with a black mane to match her fathers. It was the most precious thing Celestia had ever seen. "Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."

"That's a beautiful name, my friend. To match a beautiful little girl." said Comet.

"Am I making the right choice, Comet?" asked Celestia, giving a worried look to the unicorn.

"She needs attention. She needs someone to be there all of the time. You know that you have a country to run, and without Luna or Stardust here to help you, you won't have time for Twilight." said Comet, trying to not cry in front of the Princess.

"You're right." she admitted. "Please, Comet. You and Eclipse, take good care of my daughter for me? I will always be watching, and I will try to visit whenever I can. When she is old enough, she can come to my school."

"Celestia. You are giving up your only daughter, so she may live a happier childhood. That's the most amazing, most selfless thing anyone has ever done. I won't let you down, I'll make sure she is loved, no matter what. She'll be raised right. She'll be happy. I promise." he said.

"What if she finds out?" asked Celestia.

Comet sighed. "Then you need to tell her. When Twilight is old enough, Celestia, she needs to hear the truth, and she needs to hear it from you. In twenty five years, I do not want to have her coming to me asking 'Daddy, why do I have wings?'"

Celestia cried deeply and hugged her filly one last time. "I love you so much, Twilight. I will always love you."