Those Distant Sisters CH25

Ch25:

The plane had long since gone when the crowd in Canterlot's streets finally dispersed. Celestia stayed as the scene calmed down, watching her sister go to the castle to sleep and the majority of her guards return to their post. After a while, Celestia thought herself alone on the street. She sighed.

"Princess?" A quiet voice caught her attention, urging her to turn around. She saw Evanescence, the mare that stayed, sitting blankly in the street staring off in the direction of her home. The orange mare Sunspot lay at her feet. "Princess, are… are we gonna be alright?" Sunspot asked, looking toward her marefriend's blank expression. To her it must have seemed like the steely gray mare's mind was a complete blank, but Celestia understood what was happening. She had seen it before a thousand years ago - In a mirror.

"Sunspot…" Celestia said, slowly trotting towards the pair. The named mare looked up slightly surprised that the princess even knew her name. "There is little in this world that cannot be healed with time. I feel however, that this is not a wound to be healed but a change to be embraced." The goddess sat next to the pair, slowly stretching a wing over them to block the mid-day sun. "Tell me, either of you, have you ever met a pony named Resonance or Evanescence before these two came into being?" Both looked at the princess and shook their heads, unsure what she intended to say. "There is a great power that comes from a name. I'm sure you have both met ponies whose names fit their lives or their special talents perfectly. This is no coincidence." The princess leaned in close, intent to give the message it had taken her years to understand after her own struggle.

"Resonance is the quality of sounds to mix, becoming strong as a thunderous tornado or weak as silence. The sound itself does not change, but how it acts does. Your sister has met her husband, Sonority the strong sound, and appears to have changed because of it. She will always be the mare you know and love, Evanescence. No matter how she appears." The steel gray mare looked at the princess hopeful while the orange mare at her hooves sank to the ground.

"Evanescence is similar, but importantly different. It is a reaction of light on metal, creating waves of bright and dark light as it bounces off of whatever it has hit. The key difference is that over time, Evanescence fades. The dark portions stay dark while the light portions dim. To the outside world it seems the light dies, but it doesn't. It simply can't be seen anymore." Celestia nuzzled Evanescence, hopeful that her message was getting through. "You have not become dark, my little pony. You have simply become something you were not before. What you are now is free. Free to live and love, although you will be sad for now." The princess stood up, looking down on the barely smiling mare. Sunspot however was less convinced.

"Bunk." The flat objection was muffled by the ground as Sunspot lay on the cobblestone street. "How can a name mean so much? A pony gets their name before they're even born. Forget about knowing what their special talent is, most parents don't know what color their kid's coat will be before naming them!" Sunspot rose to her feet, staring angrily at the princess. "And you. Celestia. Luna I get, that's the same name as the moon, but last time I checked the sun's name was Sol. Didn't your parents get the memo or are you just trying to go against your nature here?" The snarling mare's anger was met with cool understanding by the sun princess.

"Someday ponies will understand how the world truly works. Until then there will be times when we must wander the darkness with no sun, no moon, no stars to light our way. Trust that your heart knows the path, my little pony." Celestia turned and left the two alone. She did not want to have to explain her own story, although in all right she should. Celestia, the many heavenly bodies. If only the ponies understood what power they ask of me, and how little I can actually do. I do not know how I survived without my sister to aid me. I hope her freedom does not cost this pony the same heartache mine did.