Celestia brought the storm to heal the land.
Daybreaker came too.
Cover art from the gallery of NCMares.
Spanish translation, by SPANIARD-KIWI. Russian translation, by oranzinispegasas.
Chapters (1)
Carabas
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Very theatrical, and right up my alley. I have a fondness for the hostile inner monologue. Very nice!
Now I find myself wondering what alicorns have achieved in the past with just resolve and a packed lunch.
I have to appreciate when the shoulder angel is just as much of a merciless troll as the devil.
There's a beautiful irony here when one considers Chrysalis and Cadence.
The idea of every alicorn having a voice of temptation in the back of her mind is one of the cooler ideas you've come up with, and that's really saying something. Fantastic demonstration of the concept... though I really do hope Celestia took the time to explain this aspect of ascension to Twilight sooner rather than later. An alicorn who wants to purify the world in flame is bad enough. No one needs one who wants to determine the thread count of the fabric of space-time by pulling it apart.
In any case, fantastic demonstration of Celestia getting to actually do something. Thank you for it.
10214256
Thank you, Sky, and glad you like it! Hostile inner monologues are heaps of fun to have interact a character, and Celestia's definitely got a more hostile one than most ... as well as lots of experience in dealing with it.
10214266
"You ... you did what to the Capric Empire, Princess? I - tha - how?!"
"I pack exceedingly good lunches."
It's a notion I've had a lot of fun with, and I think it adds a bit to their characters - each nightmare has a different voice, plays on different urges, and each alicorn reacts differently. Celestia would have definitely had an off-screen chat with Twilight on the matter. Your description of Twilight's own nightmare there's a bonny one - 'determine the thread count of the fabric of space-time by pulling it apart' is excellent phrasing.
And thank you for commenting, and glad you like it!
This is a very nice surprise
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Glad to surprise! I've shamefully neglected Celestia for a while now, she was due a story.
Nice. :)
Thanks for writing.
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Glad you approve!
Oh, that's exactly what I like.
A lovely lesson in desire and symbolism.
Fun and enjoyable to read, thank you.
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Celestia hears a voice; it's name is Daybreaker and it speaks in Pride.
Luna hears a voice; It's name is Nightmare Moon and it speaks in Envy,
Twilight Sparkle hears a voice; It's name is Midnight Sparkle and it speaks in Gluttony.
Now I wonder what name does Cadence here, and what language does it speak?
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Anyhow, nice story. It's kinda impressive that Celestia is a one pony teraformer. I kinda wonder how much work could be done If all five of the princesses worked together. I also head cannon that she was an Earth Pony. I think it would be kinda neat for all the princesses to come from different tribes.
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Happy to provide!
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Glad you like itl!
10214376
Absolutely in agreement here. Pan-tribal representation among the princesses seems only fitting, and I've rolled with Celestia originally being an earth pony and Luna being a pegasus for a while now.
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If you want to read Carabas’ origin for the sisters check out The End Of The Day
I think everyone has an inner demon, something that slithers and crawls and inhabits the darkest corners of our psyches. Sometimes it finds fertile ground upon which to spread it's darkness and sometimes it doesn't. I really liked this representation of Celestia and Daybreaker, and yet I wonder, under what circumstances would she finally listen to it?
This was very well written. And it actually kind of resonated with me as somebody who–if I can be quite frank–has become steadily more aware of my own inner "Daybreak" so to speak as time goes on.
Here, have an upvote, a favorite, and a spot in one of my folders. :)
This is fantastic. Celestia is best pony.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes the idea of Celestia having been an Earth Pony before her ascension, or otherwise being experienced in Earth Pony magic because of her association with the Sun. Really makes me wish there were more stories of her bonding with the other Princesses via teaching them gardening or something like that, especially now with her being retired at the end of the series.
That being said, this was a great story, and it does a great job at showing how Celestia hasn’t given in to her personal “Nightmare” yet.
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Lust, obviously.
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By the way, why do you think it's Pride and not Rage?
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I'm not sure it's still applicable, however. Hear me out.
Midnight Sparkle is a product of human(!) Twilight Sparkle's lonely quest for knowledge. This Twilight is very different from the princess version. She's isolated, rejected, despised even, and her thirst for understanding is one of only two things that give her joy (the other being Spike), that let her feel like she's her own person, that she's worth something at all, and even there she's made to feel guilty after Sunset Shimmer yells at her. So, when the magic overwhelms her mind, in Sci-Twi's darkest hour, Midnight Sparkle is born: A being who has the mindset and the means to pluck the world apart so it finally reveals its secrets to her, guiltless, shameless, gleefully destructive.
The other two Alicorns' shadows—Nightmares, as they're called—are, too, connected with what drives them. Celestia has the urge to shed her caring, nurturing, eternally patient mask and burn away anything offensive like an infection. Luna has the urge to burst out from under her big sister's shadow, to force those ponies who prefer Celestia's warm day and warm smile and think the night is scary, its lunar princess is intimidating and abrasive, to love her... only her.
But Princess Twilight? She's not the self-centered scientist she used to be. She arguable never was like Sci-Twi at all. She never had to deal with everyone around her treating her like dirt, she was always high-status, well-liked, easily accepted. She's not the Princess of Knowledge, she's not even the Princess of Magic, she's the Princess of Friendship. So I say, her Nightmare would be different, no matter how much we love Midnight Sparkle's design. She's not Princess Twilight's shadow. She can't be.
Now i wonder how much of the empire Celestia built was thanks to her turning hostile non hospitable land into more fitting land for Ponies. Mother of Equestria and all that i guess. And if she helped others in a similar way, like freed slaves after a certain war or such.
Lets just hope she can indeed endure her Darker side, least some squabbling heads of state make her loose grip of it.
10214557
Fair point. I would argue that Twilight's deepest, darkest desires could still skew towards knowledge at all costs, but the Friendmaker Postulate definitely has legs.
I love the way you wound the story down. The last two lines were dialed in, perfectly understated. Thanks for sharing!
You mean 'wild'?
I'm glad to have found this story. Daybreaker very often makes for a good storytelling material, and people often make excellent stories out of it. I've visited several Daybreaker stories, including the very first one (which was, somehow, published back in 2015, before Daybreaker made her showcase in Season 7) and even wrote one myself (which got featured yesterday, by the way). And, every time I read a story that features Daybreaker, I just marvel at how diverse people's interpretations of her story can be (unless it's mindless clop. I hate those kind of stories).
As for this story, I loved how there's this nagging voice at the back of Celestia's mind that tries to tempt her into burning down the world. It's like those voices we all have at the back of our mind, only much more dangerous. The notion that there's always a chance for an alicorn to go rogue—which would never end well—is an interesting theory. We've already seen Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon, so what will it be for Cadence? For Twilight Sparkle? Maybe even for Flurry Heart? (Although I would prefer to not see the Nightmare version of the latter. A baby Nightmare would be... I don't know, horrifying and adorable at the same time?) Maybe I'll explore those notions a bit further later on.
Oh, and congratulations on writing the 101st Daybreaker story on this site!
10214453
The tired young farmer Celestia envisions here was doing her toiling just a few years prior to the events of The End Of The Day. Going from a humble farming background to embarking on grand adventure seemed only fitting.
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By Celestia's own reckoning, when all other avenues are closed off, and the choice is between the near-certain devastation Daybreaker'll bring and the certain annihilation wrought by whatever Daybreaker'll have to fight.
She's always wanted a few other alicorns around. Both to help stop such a day from ever coming to pass, and to hopefully contain Daybreaker if she's ever unleashed.
10214513
Thank you kindly! We've all got that unpleasant side we try not to indulge or advertise, and alicorns have it worse than most.
10214519
The correct opinion.
10214522
Earth pony origins as well as a humble farming background just seem to fit her. I imagine after her retirement, she'd be glad to have the chance to get her hooves muckier more often ... and if a growing Flurry ever came by to assist with her garden, she'd be happy to bond with her and teach a few lessons as she worked.
10214523
I'd lean more towards Love, her existing purview, but taken towards its unhealthiest extremes till it hardly resembles itself. The sort of Love that blinds, that smothers, that possesses.
10214549
Rage at the state of an unjust world definitely does the lion's share of fuelling Daybreaker. Pride's got its part to play as well too, though. Celestia knows full well what she's capable of, and regards herself as stronger and more cunning than nearly anything the world can throw at her. Daybreaker would very much like her to be more proactive about that, to do what she believes she's capable of.
10214557
Horse-Twi and Biped-Twi are definitely different beasts, and that explanation makes sense for why the latter's Nightmare took the form she did. The former's Nightmare would be something else together. I'd be keen to read any good takes on her.
10214559
The heads of state might not yet have actually made Daybreaker take the helm, but goodness knows they've certainly brought her close to the surface a few times. Post-meetings with them, there's invariably a few thoughts from Celestia to Daybreaker to the effect of, 'Look, I'm not saying you don't have some valid points, but - '
10214585
Those last two lines seemed nice and fitting, and wound it all down in suitably understated style.
Glad you like it!
10214591
Deliberate spelling. Normal wild storms bumble around doing as they please without input from weather teams. Wyld storms, at least as I've used them in other stories, have soaked up sorts of horrible rogue magic.
Glad you like it! Daybreaker's an excellent character, and though I think lots of headcanons had Celestia's potential to fall just like Luna, confirmation in a show episode was lovely to have. She's definitively an entity I'd like to explore more, as well as the other potential Nightmares.
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There is no "best pony". There are only the ones that we favor.
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By the way, Midnight Sparkle fits Lust more than Gluttony. She's a lust for knowledge driven to insane, destructive levels. Gluttony is overconsumption of something you already have, Lust is a desire for something you want.
10214572
It does. There's merits to that story, despite the stumbling it does towards the finish line... and the godawful name it came up for Princess Twilight's nightmare.
In fact, thinking about it, I'd say her Nightmare would be something more like a... a Dawning Star. And she speaks in Pride.
The Princess of Friendship has a duty to bring the world together. Help others be better, to themselves and others. Help everyone. Bring them together in friendship. Only she can do it. It's her destiny. That's a lot of pressure, but that's okay; she's done it before, she can do it again, with all her friends by her side. They are by her side, always, more and more friends who let her help them and who help her help others.
See, I think Princess Twilight's vulnerable spot is guilt. If something gives her pause, it's stressing over disappointing others. I think her shadow, or her Nightmare, would be an expression of joyful, magnanimous, guiltless tyranny. A Twilight who's so sure of herself that she doesn't think anything is too far to make the world a better place for friendship. She doesn't have Nightmare Moon's need to hog her subjects' affection, because she knows they are her friends, or will be. She doesn't have Daybreaker's violent urges, because she wants to build things, not tear them down, and besides, everyone will be her friend eventually.
And yes, the name wasn't chosen at random. This Nightmare is very different from Moon or Day. She could very well become a figure of temptation. A fallen angel. A creature who will pretend to be your friend, bind you to her, so she can use you in turn to tempt others, and so on—because she lost sight of what "friendship" actually means, and having others depend on her and have power over them this way is the closest her warped mind can get.
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Dawning Star, the satanic archetype, fallen Alicorn of Friendship. A monster parents tell their children about to warn them not to trust false friends; a figure thought to be mythical, but very real, and just waiting to escape Tartarus so she can pick up where she left off: make the world a better place.
Well, there's one idea right there!
She just needs to find some friends...
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Even Best Princess has her limits, and i rememebr the heads of states coming pretty close when Discord played with the world... Even they were pretty scared heh.
Lovely story! Celestia's very literally nurturing the land, shaping things and setting everything up for more life to spread, and for her ponies to follow. The rain and the sun and the fertile Earth, she knows them all and works with them, and keeps the consuming fire damped down.
And speaking of Twilight's nightmare version... I wonder. What if that voice in the back of her head talks of Sacrifice? Friendship, after all, is inherently social and shared. Why should the Princess of Friendship hold anything back, when she has so much to share, and give, and give, and give? A demon of self-destruction through spreading yourself thin, hollowing your self out, rather than something flashy and externally devastating?
Always happy to see more Celestia focused stories.
Also, Celestia may not be best pony, but she is definitively best princess
Thanks for writing this. Not only does Celestia get to do something, this was also an interesting take on Daybreaker and her means and motivations.
A queen as beautiful and terrible as the dawn, indeed. All would love her, and despair.
But what would the voice promising to give Twilight everything she'd ever wanted sound like? Would it promise the knowledge of the universe, if only she could ignore those pesky moral objections (something like Midnight)? Or would it mutter something more along the lines of how counterproductive free will is to everybody getting along (Allura's empire from that one Voltron episode set in an alternate universe)?
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I commend these excellent interpretations of Twilight's Nightmare, and rather than have to make a choice between them, I propose the sensible compromise of getting both Nightmares in a ring and making them fight. To the victor goes the headcanon.
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Glad you like it! Stories focusing on Best Princess are always a joy, and I'm glad to swell their ranks.
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Glad you like it! The shadow on Celestia's soul's superb writing territory, and exploring it as well as how Celestia stymies it and remains herself was fun to delve into.
That quote's an excellent summary as well of what Celestia would become if she slipped into the darkness. Her radiance would remain, and it would burn.
Exquisite. Too much to comment on, really; I think I'll need to digest this story for quite some time in order to fully appreciate it.
Even at first pass, however, several things stood out to me:
Firstly, I always love seeing the powerful and grand resist the siren call of utopia. "Perfect" worlds promise much, but deliver misery. Celestia is wise enough to prioritize love, life, and authentic freedom and harmony above the "harmony" that Daybreaker proclaims.
Secondly, having Celestia begin life as an earth pony was a stroke of genius, one I may have to
stealborrow with your kind permission. I don't think I've ever seen that before, but it fits with her nurturing personality and how she's managed the kingdom over the centuries - fostering life, supporting, teaching, protecting, but never as a tyrant. She is, at heart, a farmer of lives.Thirdly, how she battles her inner demons. I've heard it said that evil attacks the memory - exaggerating the bad, downplaying the good, and twisting virtue into vice. Celestia combats this by remembering her roots, remembering the real reasons behind her success, and understanding the true impetus behind harmony - namely, life, love, and the desire for that which is ultimately Good, even if it comes at the expense of control. She recognizes that Goodness is bigger than her, and is not so arrogant as to believe she should, or even could, control the world.
Fourth, and in some ways most poignant, she knows that the temptation will always be with her as long as her earthly life continues. Yet, for all that, she refuses to bow to temptation, and resolves to resist it again and again, however long it takes, because that's the right thing to do. It's powerful and inspiring, and a potent reminder that such resistance is not only possible but, with practice, increasingly easy. One old definition of freedom is "the act of pursuing the Good until achieving the Good becomes first possible, and then effortless." By living this freedom in the face of the tyranny that Daybreaker would proclaim, Celestia demonstrates her true internalization of what Harmony actually looks like.
10/10, will read again.
I think what I love most about this is it shows just how powerful an alicorn really is, something we never really got to see in the show. You did Celestia more justice here than many seasons and movies did! Loved it!
Marvelously wrought. Love me a good inner monologue. At first, I thought she was reviving the Ashlands timeline, but I guess a remote desert works too. And I have to say, I love the idea of Celestia being cheeky with her own alter ego.
Interesting touch making her originally an earth pony, don't think I've seen that before. Was that just for the purposes of this story, or did you find inspiration elsewhere? Because Harmony knows we don't get nearly enough of alicorns doing earth pony things.
I really enjoyed this. I love Celestia; I think she's the strongest of the alicorns, and it's a shame that canon shied away from portraying that so many times. This was a beautiful way of showing that strength to create, rather than destroy.
This was lovely. Celestia's inner dialogue (monologue?) was wonderful, and the life-bringing was a nice backdrop.
>double period ellipsis
Oops
Excellent portrayal of Celestia here. She is best suited as force of creation and restoration, given her role in the day cycles, and even more so her earth pony origins in your universe. There will be dark times indeed if she ever finds a greater need for destruction than her preferred talents. Nicely done!
It’s ash, isn’t it? It seems like she’s afraid to acknowledge it, but it fits. If the land was destroyed by flame, by a power similar to the one whispering in her ear, she might be unwilling to consciously acknowledge it. It might even be part of her motivation for healing this land. She wants to do the exact opposite of what Daybreaker would have her do, healing what was destroyed by fire instead of wielding fire to destroy.
Or maybe I’m reading too far into it, I don’t know. Great story either way.
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Deeply gratified the story struck such a note for you, and very glad to hear what stood out to you about it!
Celestia's a character I've always loved writing for — she's the absolute model of kindness and patience and wisdom in the show, but the mere presence of Daybreaker suggests layers of darkness and temptation that she must struggle with and control in her own fashion. The version I've written's no stranger to pride and wrath and the urge to take an imperfect world by the scruff of its neck and shake sense into it — but she knows her own limitations, and knows all-too-well what can happen when an alicorn goes off the rails. And above all else, she values her ponies and Equestria.
Feel absolutely free! It's a headcanon for her I've written about in the past, and I happily encourage its theft and proliferation far and wide. The End Of The Day features some of her pre-alicorn exploits alongside a pegasus Luna, if you're at all interested, and other stories I've gurgled out feature her at various points during her alicorn career.
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Thank you! It's good fun and exhilarating to showcase the power that alicorns can throw forth, whether in a destructive or constructive capacity.
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Familiarity with an evil alter ago will breed a certain cheekiness. This isn't her first time spent sassing Daybreaker.
I've used her past as an earth pony before in other stories, most especially The End Of The Day. It's a headcanon I'm fond, and it's good to be able to showcase earth pony might amplified to alicorn levels.
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Celestia's a great character, and I'm glad folk reckon I've done her justice. It's easy and tempting to drop her into a martial context and see what she makes of herself, but a scenario where she bends her strength towards creation seems much more of a comfortable fit for her.
Glad you enjoyed it!
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Much obliged, both for your praise and for spotting the incomplete ellipsis. Former received, and latter fixed!
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Thank you! It's gratifying you reckon I did right by Celestia. Giving her powers of restoration and creation a time in the limelight seemed only fitting,
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That's genuinely an excellent interpretation, and I only wish I'd been smart enough to intend that. Alas, I wasn't thinking any deeper than the sort of environment created by droughts — images of the Dust Bowl in particular came to mind, and the endless fields of dust and black clouds it gave rise to. I'm more than happy for Death of the Author to kick in, though, if folk want to take the ash interpretation. That gives it a beautiful extra layer.
Lovely work, excellent characterization and spot on grammar, bravo!
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Thank you!
10215001
Accidental genius is the best kind. It’s like getting an onion ring at the bottom of your French fries.
We need more stories that look at the Earth Pony side of Celestia.
A delightful read, as usual: spotting a new Carabas story on fimfiction, amidst the usual wreckage of bad self-inserts and worse porn, is like spotting the warm light of a friendly inn after struggling through a rainy, muddy night.
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Celestia's earth pony side's definitely an under-explored topic. Glad you approve, and that I could provide a friendly inn.
Let the eternal fire never die. Sun will rise evermore.
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"We shall make sure of it."
And we would have it never set.
"Do belt up for one moment, there's a good Daybreaker."
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Thanks! I'll shamelessly borrow the idea and check your other story out!
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I'm kind of scared they'll become friends instead of fight.
This has some serious dark souls vibes to it.
Using up your energy to delay the inevitable end of fire and failing to stop the age of darkness.
Choosing to erase her own memory was a terrible decision, like killing a piece of herself, but after finally wresting control back from Daybreaker she could not live with the terrible things she had done. Looking back (as if she could!), it might have been better to capitulate to whatever villain of the week was plotting to take over the world, but she felt failure was somehow not an option. Daybreaker still remembers though; she'll remind her other self when the time is right.