Anonicorn: Eclipsed

>You failed.
>It took you years. Longer than you expected it to. But in the end, you still failed, as you’d feared you would from the beginning.
>For the past four days, your sister has been running Equestria from behind the scenes.
>Where she’d found the strength, you didn’t know; she was as devastated as you when your son disappeared.
>Maybe what’s weighing you down isn’t the event, it’s the guilt. That’s not something Luna would bear.
>This was all your fault and your fault alone.
>Tonight was your fourth night without sleep.
>You sit on your throne in nigh-complete darkness, as you’ve had for that whole time.
>Only the area immediately around you is lit, and just then only barely, by your own body.
>Lacking sleep and food, you’d started to burn yourself, or your magic, or whatever it was. A splinter of what lets the sun blaze eternal is all that keeps you going.
>Two of Luna’s nocturnal guards sit just outside the tiny, hazy sphere of gloom you cast in the otherwise pitch-black throne room.
>Are they your protectors or your jailors?
>Does it matter at this point?
>You hear a door open in the darkness at the other end of the room. A pony approaches.
>You can’t see the guards on either side of you, but you notice them tense up all the same, from the slight sounds of them shifting and the nudges of slight air currents as their wings stiffen and loosen again. They weren’t on alert, they were standing to attention. The visitor must be Luna.
>You can tell all the little cues that clue you in to how ponies feel and think, but you’d missed them from your son when it came to the topic at hand. When it came to what eventually drove him away.
>How could you be so blind?
>”Sister.”
>Did she come to scold you, for a second time? Her words still rang in your head from the first time, unkind but honest.
>”I come with news.”
>There’s only one kind of news that could come of an adolescent alicorn with little command of magic being lost in the wild for the better part of a week, and it’s the only news you’re desperate not to hear.
>You hang your head. Tears fall to the floor, tears you thought you’d run out of days ago.
>Luna hears your hitching breathing – or more likely sees you crying, possessing dark-sight like her guards – and walks up to your throne. She brings her head down to yours, gently nudging you cheek to cheek.
>”Cadance has found him.”
>What?
>Your whole body tenses and freezes.
“She… has?”
>You can barely speak.
>”She has. I will-”
>Your wings extend outward violently. The guards are almost knocked aside by the gusts they create.
>”Stay-”
“Don’t you dare try to keep me from my-”
>”SISTER, HOLD!”
>Luna’s roar echoes through the throne room. You’re stunned into motionless silence. How long has it been since she’s used that voice with you?
>”You are in no condition to go anywhere. If your son saw you now, you would only distress him further. I shall go in your stead. And to ward off Cadance’s… more peculiar notions. Shining Armor and I can keep him safe enough until you are reunited.”
>Luna doesn’t wait for your approval, or even a reply. She simply turns to leave, walking back into the total darkness beyond your little bubble of gloom.
>Leaving you, once more, with nothing.
>But now for hope.
>Somewhere, out there, your son is alive. And soon will be safe.
>You don’t know where it goes from here. This is, as it always was, uncharted territory. But now at least there’s somewhere for it to go, and from the darkness of the last few days, that is something.
>It isn’t enough.
>But it is something.
>Another displacement of air, at the far end of the hall.
>The two guards tense up again. Alert, this time, not to attention.
>Tick-clop. Tick-clop. Tick-clop.
>An irregular gait; one hoof, and one claw.
>It stops just outside your sphere of light.
>The guards don’t move.
>They have, in fact, gone quite still.
>So has everything else.
“Have you come to mock me, Discord?”
>Silence.
“Show yourself!”
>Your sphere of light blooms outward, lighting Discord’s form.
>He snaps his fingers, and that light holds in the air around you, needing no further effort on your part to sustain.
>”Let’s talk.”
>He walks to the foot of the stairs leading to your throne, then sits down.
“This was your doing, wasn’t it? You set all this up.”
>He looks up at you wearily, warily.  “You are more right than you know, but not in the way you think.”
>You’ve had enough of his bullshit.
“So are you here to gloat? Is this your ultimate victory over me? Taking my son?”
>He holds up a hand to stop you, shaking his head.
>”No Celestia. I had no part in this series of events. I just came to talk.”
>He snaps his fingers again.
>Two shot glasses materialize at your head’s height.
>One falls to the floor, upright, at your feet.
>The other falls the exact same distance above Discord, but lands on empty air.
>From the way light plays off them, you can tell they’re made of pure diamond.
>The draconequus floats up to the level of his own glass, lounging on nothing.
>”I figured you might be looking for some of this.”
>A full bottle appears between you two.
>”I have a deal for you; I’ll spill this into your glass, and you can spill your thoughts. Don’t worry, they can’t hear you.” He waves to the guards.
>They’re frozen in place. Just like everything else.
>Discord froze time itself, just for the two of you.
>You nod glumly. Booze splashes into the shot glass in front of you.
>Raising it to your lips, you hesitate. What if this is a trick?
>But no, Discord’s already downing his shot, from the same bottle. You know that doesn’t mean anything in the long run, but it’s an age-old gesture of trustworthiness.
>Little things like that are all you have left to cling to.
>You down the shot.
>Nothing can burn you anymore. Not really. You are the avatar of the sun itself, the great world-fire that lights and warms all with its grace and gentle touch.
>But this?
>This burned, as it went down.
“What-”
>You suppress a cough
“What is this, pure alcohol?”
>”120%, my dear.”
“Skies above.”
>Even after just one, you feel your head fuzz up a little. The lack of food can’t help that any.
>Another’s already falling into the glass.
>Gotta keep your end of the bargain.
“I’ve been around for a long time. Long, long time. But when he came along… I knew right away there was still more I needed to learn, and it was something that I couldn’t be taught.”
>Discord raises his shot glass, then downs his second.
>You follow suit.
>The burn is punishment.
“And I knew for all I’d accomplish, it would get the best of me. I wasn’t prepared. Nothing could possibly prepare someone to be a parent. Then came his early difficulties, and even after those had smoothed out – I cannot tell you how proud I am of what he’s grown to be – there was still always this gap between him and other ponies, no matter what I tried to do to bridge it.”
>You shake your head.
“The most important thing that ever happened to me, and this is the thing I screwed up.”
>Discord pours a third, but you don’t take it. Not yet.
“He thinks I’m grooming Twilight to replace him. And it’s true she’s a princess now. It’s even true I’ve thought of elevating her to the throne. But that’s not to hurt my son, it’s to protect him. I’ve dealt with so much that I hope he never has  to. Years ago, I thought maybe the two of them might be able to work it out. Rule together, like my sister and I. But they never got along well, and after all this, I’m afraid they never will.”
>”Twilight’s come a long way, but she has further to go.”
>You nod. Still a student, in some important ways.
>But what does that matter when her mentor is a failure in the only thing that mattered?
>Down goes the third.
“I don’t want my son to have to rule alone. I’ve lived that way long enough, and it was a lonely path. Lonely until he came into my life. The only reason I took students like Sunset – fine, this isn’t the first time I’ve failed something – and Twilight at all was because I wanted a pony he could rely on, when he’d grown. But what does it mean when my foal and my student can’t get along? What does it mean when he thinks I was trying to replace him? How could he possibly be replaced in my eyes?”
>You shake your head. Tears begin to fall anew.
“I taught him everything but his place in Equestria and in my heart.”
>Discord eyes you, before knocking back his own third shot and pouring fourths. “I think you’re not saying something. You do know how he feels, don’t you?”
>The answer to that question had left just before Discord arrived.
“My sister and my son have always been close. The night she returned, years before I had expected, that was something special. It felt like my whole life had led to that moment. My sister and my son, together. I couldn’t express how happy I was.”
>Down goes the fourth.
>You stoke the fire inside you a little hotter, to burn all the booze off. You have no idea what bizarre magic Discord’s using to cope. This stuff would have killed most ponies by now.
“But they only got closer. I-”
>You can’t help but laugh. A sad, dejected laugh.
“You’re right. I was afraid of being replaced, myself. How little sense must that make? I ask how my son thinks I could replace him, when in the back of my mind, I was afraid he was replacing me. Now after this crisis, Luna will be the first to see him. And she’s right; that too is my fault. I haven’t been taking care of myself.”
>You sweep a hoof to indicate the glasses and bottle.
“This isn’t taking care of myself either, but at this point, what’s one more night?”
>Discord shrugs, then pours a fifth.
>Now stone sober again after your little stunt, you down it immediately.
“And my failing has festered, leading to this. Leading to a moment where the last thing he wanted was to see me. Is there any worse curse, any greater rebuke?”
>Discord remains silent, but you have nothing further to say. Your question wasn’t rhetorical; you wanted an answer.
>Eventually, he sighs. “Princess, in this your student’s already surpassed you, and so too has your son. They both know failure doesn’t have to be the end. Let me tell you something. Back before I was freed, I could still think. Little did any of you know, I still had access to some of my magic. Not enough, and not without much patience and concentration, but I could nudge and tug things here and there. I put a curse on a pony once, a subtle curse, but one I hoped would derail their whole life. After I was freed, I was able to watch the fruits of my labor, from afar. I learned instead of ruining their life, I had given them a great gift. My curse was a blessing in disguise.”
“It just feels like being a parent is something that can’t be taught, but also something you can’t screw up. Yet, here I am.”
>He sits up, where he floats in mid air. “This is not the end for your family. Not for you, or your son, or Twilight. Anon just needs to collect his thoughts. You need to collect yours. Consider this temporary absence an occasion to do just that; a blessing in disguise. I find the booze can help sometimes. Well, it can help those few like us, who can just decide to not be drunk after. You won’t believe what this stuff does to Fluttershy.”
>You nod. Scatter your thoughts, so you can pick them back up properly.
“It feels strange to admit you could be right.”
>Discord grins. “Well, my dear, I can drink to that.”