Students of Heaven

[Gentian]

8 – Duende

Twilight did not go through the mirror. We finally knew, but the question, then still remained: where was she? The query burned within us all, but with no more clues, there was precious little we could do to divine the answer.

I was now all but certain we weren't under attack, but it was conceivable the Yaks, Changelings or some other neighbor of ours would learn something was amiss and try to take whatever advantage they could, so Cadance continued her organizations of Equestria's defense, while Luna resumed her patrols, no longer calling the rifts, but instead keeping my ponies safe from them. I returned to Twilight's castle in the hopes of finding something, anything that would tell us what had become of her.

I wandered from room to room, inspecting each carefully, and every strange device I found therein. Twilight infused the place. Her scent, her magic, her very essence radiated from the hard crystal walls. They glimmered and shone and reflected images of her from within my mind, but my search for clues proved fruitless.

Sister called me sometime later, her disembodied voice breaking the silence of the dark halls to tell me of another portal. I felt it too: Honesty, and it didn't close. It grew and grew, and I knew it would be trouble, if not for us, then for that other world, but Sunset was there for them, and Twilight was somewhere else.

Luna told me later that the swamp's carnivorous plants pushed their tendrils through the portals. Some of them even fit their entire heads through, but they were far from Ponyville, and no longer held the promise of Twilight's delivery, so she was content to watch from afar until they winked out of existence, and I was content to let her.

Moments after it closed, another opened. Loyalty, this time, and worse, it wasn't in the forest. But it, too was short-lived and vanished. The siren-magic was getting out of hoof, but I remained at my task; Luna and Cadance would protect my ponies, Sunset would do what she could for the humans, and I would find Twilight.

Eventually, I make my way back to her grand hall; another circuit completed, with nothing to show for it. The roots of the Golden Oak hang in the gloom like some tentacled horror from the Immaterium.

This isn't working, and I must not fail. I have to go deeper. I expand my awareness, and in an instant know everything there is to know about the palace. Every facet, every groove, every mote of dust, and every atom. Twilight's lingering scent rises from the obscurity of sundry, useless details, and there, plaited with its strands, are those of an unfamiliar pony, and of the worrying emotions they both felt.

I push my senses further, and the giant, clumsy atoms are left behind. All the forces and energies binding them together resolve themselves, and each tiny measure of the time which stops everything from happening all at once, does too. Smaller and smaller fractions of a second pass, each one entire aeons to me, and here, far, far beyond the threshold I normally leave my senses, is a faint frisson of magic.

Time magic.

I recoil in horrified surprise. Could their shared presence really be a coincidence? Unlikely, but of course, I wouldn't have believed Twilight's and the portal's disappearances were either, even though they now seem to be just that. And what's more, back among the realm of gargantuan molecules, where the scent of the unfamiliar pony lurks: fear. Twilight's fear. And the other pony's scent stinks of anger.

For the thousandth time, I cast my sight across Ponyville, but there were none I didn't recognize. I search more broadly, sending my awareness down roads and rivers, through woods. Fields, and buildings. All throughout my land, I search, but find no recent traces of Twilight, nor of this other pony. If Twilight entered a portal through time, this pony probably went with her.

I loathe time magic, but Twilight must be found, and I'm the only one who can follow her to where she has gone. So, with a heavy heart, I gather my strength, ponder how best to use it, and beg the multiverse itself to give her back to me.

That's when the screaming started.

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Normally the walls and distance between us would have prevented me from hearing them, but now, with my senses honed, they roared like thunderclaps. Their cacophony rose and fell with the tidal wave of siren-magic crashing into me; another portal, spewing its noxious stew of eldritch energies like debris in a flash flood.

At once, my sight is again beyond Twilight's castle, and I see it, yawning beneath a tree, right in front of the Town Hall! A half-dozen ponies are in panicked flight; it must have been them I heard. Beyond the gate's mouth floats a creature of terror; a human mare, bewinged, and crowned with a single, malformed horn, whose mad, glinting eyes are limned in cold fire.

With easy waves of her hand, she tears hole after hole between our worlds; I can see Manehattan, Appleoosa, Rainbow Falls, and many others. Too many, and all of them echoing with the fearful screams of my children. This has to be stopped!

Effortlessly, and all at once, I begin casting the spells I'll need: teleports to take me there, and to move any ponies or humans on the wrong sides of the gates; masking spells, so she won't sense my arrival, or the buildup of my magic; shielding spells to protect me, and mine, in case she does; numerous closure spells for the portals themselves; and a variety of attacks to annihilate her utterly, before she can bring any more harm to my dear, dear ponies.

Everything will happen in an instant, and it will all be over before anypony even knows anything is happening at all.

Suddenly, my heart stops.

Sunset Shimmer, straight-backed and stern-faced, standing resolute beneath the monster's unhinged glare.

“Twilight, you can't do this!”

An image flashes to my mind: Sunset, still a filly, in Canterlot with me. We'd spent the day learning about Starswirl's victory over the sirens. “Celestia,” she'd asked. “How could he be so brave if he was afraid?”

“Oh, Sunset,” I'd replied. “That's the only time you really can be.”

Pride and love swell within me. Oh, Sunset...

Magic hums and races along my horn, fighting powerfully to manifest, but I hold it in check, and watch; can she really handle this?

“Why not?! There's a whole world right there, and it's just filled with magic!” A flash of light, an extended limb, and she gleefully blasts another hole through the multiverse.

Twilight told me there were human versions of her friends over there. Uncannily exact, right down to their names. Knowing that, it makes sense that “Twilight” would be the one to recover the gem fragments, and make them into the locket. Now, seeing what she's doing with it is also a sobering reminder of what my Twilight almost became. Of what Sunset did become, until Twilight pulled her back.

“But you're destroying this world to get it!”

“So what? There's magic there, and I want to understand it all!”

I see it coming before Sunset does. The glimmer in the monster's eyes, the curl of her lips, and a thousand and one other clues tell me an attack is imminent. But at the last moment, Sunset begins to dodge, and I know she'll be ok. The beam slams to the ground sending clumps of dirt erupting from the gaping maw of yet another portal.

Another one.

“This isn't the way!”

The largest one yet.

“I know you feel powerful right now. Like you can have anything you want.”

Another portal to crack my world, and endanger my ponies.

“I've been where you are. I've made the same mistake you're making.”

I'm sorry, Sunset.

“I put on a crown, and just like you, I was overwhelmed my the magic it contained.”

This is far too dangerous to let go on.

“I thought it could get me everything I wanted.”

With images of Nightmare Moon's banishment flitting before my eyes, I tally the gates, take note of where each pony and human is, and begin to unleash my blitz. Dimly, I'm aware of my Sister approaching. She must have come all the way from the Everfree. It doesn't matter now, though, this will all be over before she arrives.

I loosen my hold, and feel the bottled energies begin to slip...and my heart stops again! Another power touches me, familiar and wholly unexpected. The Elements of Harmony! Passing in brilliant, colored streamers to the locket held defiantly over Sunset's head.

There's something else, too. I focus my attention on her, and suddenly I'm laughing and howling like a mad-mare among Twilight's dark, vacant halls. This is it! It must be!

Instantly, I drop the other spells, and teleport to my Sister's side; she must not interfere!

_______________________________


Here, above and away from ponyville, I watch through the portal as Sunset slams the locket to the ground. Its pilfered magic bursts from the liberated fragments of the siren-gems, then quickly reforms and engulfs her.

A shiver runs down my spine, and I know Cadance is watching now, too. Luna says something to her eidolon, but I don't care to hear. I'm laughing and whooping, and gliding to the surface. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cadance materialize beside her. They trail me to the ground, regarding me with uneasy concern. They must think I'm mad.

“Watch!” I flick my snout toward the portal. “Can't you feel it?” Probably not, but I can! The seed inside Sunset is cracking open! It's roots are sprouting, and setting her soul aflame! Divine fire burning away her mortality and forging her anew! My Sunset, my Sunset!

My student turned protoge, my protoge turned devil, my devil reformed, and now, at long, long last, my demigoddess! And I can FEEL it all!

My Sister and Niece gasp as the radiance of her transformation fades to reveal her new, bewinged form. I simply lay down in the soft grass. Sunset raises her arms, and in a flash the portal is closed. Two by two, all over my planet, I sense the rifts slamming shut, until only one remains.

Cadance and Luna settle to the ground beside me in silence. I know they're watching me intently, but I am still focused elsewhere. Long ago, when I was put to the test my wrath bested me, and my Sister paid the price. Now, across the multiverse, Sunset faces her own crucible. With furious eyes, and terrible power, she lashes out, and the human girl wails desperately as she is overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed, but not destroyed.

Sunset's visage is hard, and the girl cowers, but I can already read her intention. Closer she floats, in a column of light.

“Take my hand, Twilight. Let me show you there's another way. Just like someone once did for me.” I watch her take Sunset's hand. I watch the light of friendship singe away her bitter callousness, and I sigh euphorically as the last portal is seared closed.

[Gentian]

And here we are, the last chapter. If anybody's reading this, thank you, I hope you liked it.

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9 – Retrouvailles

My songbirds are at it again, and their high melodies perfectly suit my mood; Twilight has returned! I can't keep the smile from my face as I set out a table in my garden. With my own 2 hooves, no less. And maybe, with a bit of help from my horn, here and there.

Cups and saucers here, sugar and cream there. Leaves of my newest prize strain steeping in the kettle, and an assortment of cakes, and treats laid out just so. I'm partial to anything banana myself, but there are plenty of others; Twilight is coming for a visit, and she's bringing a new friend. I am very eager to meet her.

It turns out, the pony I'd smelled in her castle was just as guilty as I'd thought. Starlight Glimmer, quondam leader of Our Town, had hunted my student down, and tried to take her revenge by taking Twilight's past.

Of course, the multiverse being what it is, such a plan could never have succeeded. Those terrible realities Twilight visited were not created by Starlight's actions, but have always existed, and would always exist within their own timelines, completely independent of our own. When Starlight went to the past, she altered events, yes, but the only result of doing so was to send herself down a timeline which had always existed, leaving all the infinite others very much intact.

In fact, had Twilight not gone to the past as well, she would have experienced no change, continuing on in our own timeline, utterly unaffected by Starlight's “revenge,” and would have, in fact, never encountered her again. I do hope Starlight realizes that in stopping her, Twilight actually saved her from being cast adrift in time.

Maybe she does, and maybe she doesn't, either way I'll be able to tell when she arrives. She will keep no secrets from me, I won't permit it. Hers was a stupid plan made by a rage-filled pony, yes, but it was a difficult plan, too. She'd used Starswirl's magic instead of her own to create the time-bridge, but it was still a remarkable feat, and a pony who is both so gifted, and so ruthless will have my undivided attention for as long as it takes to be sure she is no longer a threat.

Incredibly, that's exactly what Twilight claims! Twilight says she managed to not only thwart Starlight's vengeance, and return them both to their proper timeline, but to have actually turned her into a friend while doing so! Ostensibly. I trust Twilight's judgment here, but I also trust my own experience, and would much prefer to have a pony who is so powerful, so unstable, and so recently adversarial, somewhere that she can be watched. Just in case.

But, my ulterior motive does not counter my putative one; I truly hope her penitence is genuine, and until I know otherwise, I will treat her as a friend of Twilight's deserves to be treated. So I prance about the table, making sure everything is just perfect for their arrival, while humming to myself, and matching my voice to those of the birds.

I hear a pony approaching. I don't need to look to know who it is.

“Aunt Celestia!”

“Hello, Cadance,” I smile. “Are you here for the party?” Her ears perk up as she surveys the table.

“Party?”

“Mm-hmm. For Twilight and her new friend. I've invited them to have tea with me.”

“Ummmm...” suddenly her ears press back, and her eyes find the floor. “Actually, I have a message from Twilight,” she says, awkwardly scraping the marble with her hoof.

“Oh?”

“Yes...she asked me to wait a little before giving it to you,” she pauses. “But-” her head shakes rapidly “-I wouldn't have if I'd known you were planning a party.”

“What was the message?”

“Yeah, well...oh boy.”

“Cadance?”

“She read the book you gave her. The one to communicate with Sunset?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“You know how excitable she is.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Well, she didn't let me explain what happened, and just rushed off through the portal as quickly as her hooves would take her.”

“Oh.” Well, darn. “So she won't be coming. What about her friend?”

“Twilight didn't mention her. I don't think she knows about it.”

I nod. “That sounds like something Twilight might do.” Cadance nods, still looking at the floor.

“She loves to help...” her voice trails off, and we look at each other for a few moments.

“Well, my dear niece. There's no reason to let all of this go to waste.” - she perks up again - “Would you care to spend the afternoon devouring cakes and tea with me?”

“You bet!”

Shortly after we begin, the sound of a door gently opening filters down to me. I ignore it, and the steady clip-clop of hooves on marble, as their owner approaches. “Twilight!” Cadance shouts through a mouthful of cake.

“Hi Cadance, thanks for your help.”

“Anything for my favorite filly!”

Twilight smiles, then turns somberly to me, her purple eyes heavy with import. “Princess Celestia, there's a vital matter we need to discuss.”

______________________________________


I am calm.

My breath is even, and my eyes are serene. Inside, I'm anything but; my stomach flutters, and I feel the room might drop out from under me at any moment. The feeling of my hair in its etheral breeze adds to my discomfiture.

“You're hiding it well, Sister,” Luna not-quite whispers. I meet her smile with one of my own. Her gentle voice, and kind eyes give a much needed anchor for my emotions.

“Not well enough, it seems.”

“Oh no, Sister,” she says with a light chuckle. “Not even we can pierce your facade.” - she winks at me - “We simply know you better than you give us credit for.”

The feeling of Cadance's delicate nuzzle on my left cheek intrudes. Then, as she presses her shoulder to mine: “That's right, Auntie Cely, we're your family, and we're here for you.” With a smile, I lean more firmly into her, and feel Luna's weight pressing on my right side. They're nervous, but not like me.

I'd told Luna about Sunset, and Cadance even met her briefly, years ago. They were both delighted at the surprise emergence of another Alicorn, and when Twilight said Sunset had asked her to seek my permission to return, they'd all but begged to be here when she did.

Not that they needed to, of course, but they don't share our history, and so, don't share my doubts. Idea after unwanted, distracting idea runs through my mind. Slowly, carefully, I breathe in. I pause, focusing on the heartbeats of my Sister and Niece at my sides. Slowly, carefully, I let it go, and send my rampant thoughts with it.

The mirror begins to glow; they are coming, and I am ready.

Side by side, so closely their flanks are touching, they step over the mirror's threshold. Sunset Shimmer, ice-blue eyes fixed intently on the floor, turns to me. She opens her mouth to speak, but only manages a soft, strained gasp.

Tears well in her gorgeous eyes and she tries again, but no words come out. Trembling with effort, she forces her face to meet mine, opens her mouth a third time, and breaks into uncontrollable tears. Her legs give out beneath her and she sinks to the cold floor.

Luna and Cadance are silent, undoubtedly wanting me to take the lead. Twilight drops back, her eyes focused on me, as I step forward, one measured pace after another. I can't run, I can't speak; if I do, I'll lose control.

Sunset moans, and whimpers softly as my hoofsteps come to a halt in front of her. I stand over her, emotions churning wildly, my eyes never leaving this one little pony: the very center of my world.

“I'm sorry,” she whispers. “I'm so, so sorryyyy...” her voice breaks as the last sound stretches out to a wail.

Slowly, carefully, I lay prone in front of her.

Slowly, carefully, I wrap my wings around her.

“I am too,” and suddenly we're crying together. She crawls closer and pushes against my neck with her own. We nuzzle, and lean; lean, and nuzzle, and hold each other, sobbing away our pain, fears, and regrets. Our tears mingle, hot and wet on the cold crystal floor, as our hearts finally begin to heal. At last, we are spent, and I look around to see my family smiling at us.

My family.

Cadance was right; they are my family. Luna, my sister: first to ascend and show me my loneliness would not last forever; Cadance, my niece, whose unconditional love taught my heart to hope again; Twilight, also my niece, both through her brother's marriage, and most importantly, my love, who returned my Sister, and Sunset, and who has saved my ponies time and again; and Sunset. Poor orphaned Sunset: my daughter.

When I first passed her the spark, I'd made arrangements in secret, adopting her as my own. I'd intended to tell her when her wings sprouted, but alas, she'd left before I'd had the chance. She's never known she's royalty, and even though she fled my home, she has never stopped being my daughter.

Sunset, my beloved child, in whom I saw so much of myself that I threw caution to the wind, and in so doing nearly doomed an entire world. Here we are, all together for the first time.

A smile spreads across my face, waxing larger and brighter as my happiness grows. Luna is the first to speak.

“Welcome home, Princess Sunset.” She looks up at me, brow furrowed in confusion, before her gaze slides to my Sister.

“Thank you, Princess Luna. Princess Twilight told me you'd come back.” She looks back at me, then to Luna again. “If it's not too late, I'd like to say the same to you, Princess.”

“It is not, and we thank thee, as well,” - a mischievous twinkle flashes in my Sister's eye - “Princess.” Sunset looks between us, again.

“Princess Luna, why do you keep calling me that? I'm only a unicorn.”

Cadance lets out a little laugh. “I bet Twilight would have told you, but she didn't know either. Looks like Luna owes me 20.” She grins at Twilight, who has been staring open-mouthed with disbelief since she'd realized. “It serves you right for taking off again before we could tell you anything!” Sunset's head swivels between the 4 of us from between my wings, still clasped over her back.

“What do you mean, Princess Cadance? Twilight?”

With a gentle nuzzle, I whisper, “See for yourself,” and let our hug go.

“I have wings!” she gasps. Luna snorts facetiously.

“To think a pony could undergo apotheosis, and not even know.”

“I have wings! When did...” A look of shocked understanding shoots across her face. “The school? But how? You weren't even there!”

“Oh, Sunset,” I say as I hug her again. “There's so much to tell you. Just know that I've never really been as far away as you think.”

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Time passes in its slow, inexorable way. There is laughter, and there are tears. More of each are sure to come, but we're mending. At long last, I have my family, and they have me. We'll live each day, and each night in love for our ponies, and for each other.
Forever.