Hiding the Truth

The feast was excruciating. On more than one occasion Celestia had to fight back tears. For the most part, Cadence and Shining Armor spoke with Sombra and Hope about their plans for finding the shards of Princess Amore. Celestia picked at her food in silence, trying to listen and to turn her attention away at the same time. She caught Twilight and Fluttershy giving her looks of sympathy out of the corner of her eye.

After dinner, Sombra and Hope left the Crystal Empire. Celestia couldn't bring herself to see them off. Instead, she flew home alongside Luna, who tried her best to distract her sister from her thoughts about Sombra. Celestia tuned her out and thought about her Sombra instead. She couldn't wait to see his face again.

She knew that she needed sleep to have the energy to lift the sun, but her mind raced. Celestia couldn't stop thinking. She got up the next morning groggy and with dark circles underneath her eyes. Raising the sun drained the majority of her energy, so Luna ate food from the kitchens instead of Celestia's homemade pancakes.

"I thought we were 'perfectly capable' of making our own breakfast," Luna joked as Celestia sank into a chair. "What changed your mind this morning?"

"I, um, didn't sleep very well last night. It's one of the side effects of being the princess of the sun. I'm usually very awake all the time."

"You certainly have more energy than I do." Luna's magic brought a bite of omlet to her mouth. "Today is the only exception. I'm going to bed," she said and headed to her rooms for a good day's sleep.

With Luna gone, Celestia seized the opportunity to run down to Star Swirl's library. She hadn't been down there in a while, but her memory of the dirt hallways was still intact. The sign marked "Atheneum" stood near the entrance to the collection of his research. Celestia stepped inside the doors and headed straight down to the section of the library she knew Star Swirl had kept his research on the mirror and their travels. His notes were very specific, detailing every little thing they'd seen while traveling through different worlds and the tweaks he'd made to the mirror to lead them to different dimensions.

Without looking through the first notebook on the shelf, Celestia put it on a nearby desk. She knew it held the secrets behind the workings of the mirror. She'd need it if she wanted to reconstruct the portal.

However, she spent her time looking at the pages of the next one. The wave of memories overwhelmed Celestia as she studied the drawings of the strange creatures they'd met on their first few visits to other worlds. Star Swirl was one of her dearest friends, and she'd missed spending time with him the way that she used to before she'd met Sombra.

But she skipped the next few notebooks, knowing exactly what they held inside and sparing herself the pain of remembering.

As soon as she saw the next notebook on the shelf, she knew it was the right one. Its binding was crammed with more paper than it was designed to fit. This dimension was the only one they came back to time and time again, and Star Swirl took delight in noting subtle differences in their worlds.

Using her magic, Celestia lifted the notebook off the shelf and opened it to the page filled with the science behind the specific dimension Sombra resided in. It calmed her anxieties about her capability of creating another mirror.

She sat at the desk and opened the first notebook she'd found. She pored over the book until she felt a little fatigued and had a small headache. It was unfortunate Star Swirl had such messy hoofwriting. It took too much time and energy trying to decipher his words, and even when she could read it, it proved to be very difficult to understand. Her old friend didn't have a way with words, that was for sure.

What time was it? Her time down in the library felt so short, yet her internal clock told her it was almost time for her to lower the sun and make way for the moon. Luna would surely be up by now, and probably would be wondering where she was.

She remembered Twilight had told her that the secret exit still worked, but she hadn't traveled through it for some time. Celestia's legs had several small bruises by the time she tumbled out of the portrait.

Right in front of Luna's hooves.

"What is going on? Why were you in Star Swirl's library? What were you doing in there?" Her sister gasped. "This has something to do with that mirror, doesn't it?"

Celestia stood up shakily and replied smoothly, "It does. I was reminiscing about the times I had with Sombra. It made me feel a little better about the whole situation with Hope."

"Are you sure that was it?" Celestia nodded. Luna gave her a skeptical look, but she added, "I'm choosing to trust you on this matter. But you have to remember, all those times I struggled, you always told me that I could rely on you for help. So now I am extending the same invitation to you. Once again, are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes." Even though her heart was heavy with the previous lies, she knew she was telling the truth when she said, "I don't think I would be if it wasn't for you."

Luna smiled. "I am happy to hear that. Now, let's have dinner. I know you might have been feeling down, so I made it for you. Without servants."

"I know that must have been painful for you," Celestia laughed.

"For you, Celestia, I will endure the pain of cooking without the help of other ponies." Luna took a step, then looked back at Celestia and smiled. "And I am proud of you for being so strong, especially after this."

But Celestia's heart twisted. How many more times would she have to lie to Luna? She could only hope that her reunion with Sombra wouldn't tear apart her relationship with her sister.

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