The Earth Bound Resistance

The sun had just started over the horizon as Princess Luna returned to Canterlot. Weary and sullen, she glided in toward her tower, aiming to sleep till high noon, when her stomach lurched. 'Food, it appears, is a bit more important' she thought to herself as she landed on the terrace. She looked out over her and her sister's kingdom, a kingdom she had to get readjusted to. 'I wonder what the others would have done in my stead' she thought as she readied herself to launch back into the sky. 'They surely would have helped subdue me...'

It was barely morning, and the castle grounds looked amazing in the early morning beams. The pegasi of Canterlot were exceptional at dew placement, and took pride in their work, so Luna could not help but notice the small teaks they made to the morning due, a little silver dust here, an arrangement of images over there. The Banquet hall window was open, so Luna simply glided down and into the archway, tucking her midnight blue wings inward as she stepped inside.

The Banquet hall was always as warm as the summer's breeze, making it delightfully cozy. Celestia sat on her personal throne; gold and ivory, it was an eloquently designed lounge chair with burgundy wine velvet cushions, and a small ornate bronze hook for her crown. Celestia immediately greet her sister with a nod, her horn aglow with lime green radiance as she continued to lift the sun higher in the sky. Luna decided to wait for a bit and inspect her sister's personage: her coat was neatly groomed, her mane and tail brushed neatly (not that it mattered due to the nature of its movement), her crown gleamed to show off its recent polish. Even her hoofs, currently positioned in the chair under her for comfort, had been recently scrubbed and manicured. 'The definition of elegance' Luna thought dryly.

Celestia took a glance at her sister, realizing she had not yet taken a seat."Is everything alright, dear sister?" Celestia asked, her very smooth, gentle tenor tone slightly echoing in the spacious room.

"Y-yes, sister" Luna responded, “simply tired."

"I trust the evening winds did not give you much trouble? I had the weather ponies"

"The winds were just fine." Luna stated rather glumly. It was this tone that caused Celestia to finally focus on her younger sister. All the signs of the strain had appeared: haphazardly brushed coat, casually combed mane and tail, but not much else. This was unlike Luna, as she was usually very well kept.

"What is on your mind, Luna?" Celestia asked, concern creeping into her voice. "Was it too early to expect you to retake your duties?" Luna looked up at this, appalled.

"Of course not. It is my royal duty to guide the moon through the night sky."

"You are also supposed to guide our kingdoms dream dear sister. That is a lot to ask when you have only just return to your throne." Luna thought this as true. It had only been a month since she returned from the moon, and only a few weeks since she had been separated from the Nightmare forces by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Maybe it was too early.

"Do not be silly. I have been gone for a thousand years. That is a grievous absence and it cannot be allowed again. I simply must push myself harder."

"You have been thinking of them again, haven't you?" Celestia asked, her tone confident. "The cook said that you have not been eating. Your guards also report that you spend much time in the Library, in an attempt to catch up on current events I presume?" Luna stamped her hoof down.

"You dare use my own guard as informants?!"

"There is nothing in there about the Golden Era Luna. Nothing about The Great war either. I made sure of it." Luna slumped into her throne.

"I know."

"Then why keep looking. You know what happened to them."

"Most of them. Not Regni. Not Millennium." Luna stated sorrowfully.

Celestia sighed. "I wondered about that too. But they came to visit. Still do on occasion." Luna perked up.

"Regni and Millennium are still alive?!"

"In a way, yes."

"Then why have you not invited them to stay at the castle?" Celestia looked kindly at her sister.

"I did. He declined."

"What about Millennium?"

"They are not the same as they used to be dear sister. They are one in the same." A moment of silence drifted through the room on the tail end of that comment. The birds could be heard clearly from the courtyard; tweeting and cleaning themselves. "What do you mean one in the same?"

"Discord used those powers of his to fuse them together. They now call themselves Doctor Regnius Temporius. They have dedicated their existence to chronicling time's history itself. They do come by once in a while, to check up on me. " Luna looked shocked. "Does he... have the details on what happened that day? What Discord did to us? All of us?" Celestia sighed, heavier this time. For a second, she looked as old as she use to, young and scared. "Yes."

"Then please, tell me."

Celestia gulped. "Well, Discords fight inserted seeds of disharmony in all of us. Including me. It just took root after you all. Umbra went to take over The Crystal Empire. We defeated him: I, you, Chrysalis, Regni, and Millennium. By that point, He had given up his wings. Taken the name Sombra."

"Yes, we banished him into the shadows."

"Exactly. Next was Chrysalis. She began to become jealous of the bonds we still held dear, as her seed caused her to grow cold. She slowly began to change for the worse, becoming black from her gleaming white. Twisted and Wicked. A Changeling. I banished her myself. Regni witnessed it. When you began to change...”

"I remember bits and pieces. I remember Regni begging me not to do it. Pleading. I just continued along my way, the path I had allowed myself to see."

"I had enlisted Regni and Temporis's aid. They assisted in preparing the old palace. When you attacked, they were among the last line of defense.

"As you charged in with your army, they helped from a distance, taking old your mages primarily. Soon, it was just us three against you. As you attacked, their seeds activated, and they just vanished from our existence. In my hysterics, the Elements of Harmony activated, and I banished you as well." Luna sat quietly, soaking it all in

."I did not stay in that ruin. I helped to heal all sides of the conflict, and then I left myself. I hid my wings and traveled the world. Much had changed since the Golden Years, and I wanted to understand it. All of it. According to Regnius, he reappeared about six hundred years after I left. He saw the three tribes’ war against one another. He summoned the windigos. He stood on the hills as they declared this Equestria.

"I returned two hundred and seventeen years later. Imagine my surprise to find a nation where only a battlefield once stood. By that point, we were legend. These were tribe of ponies who were our own, just separated by a cruel trickster, and they thought that we were myth. They heralded me as a goddess, and made me their princess. I have been ruling ever since. Alone. The only comfort I had were your moon and my pupils. Even before that, I always saw too much of you in them. The worse being Sunset Shimmer. A Gifted mare, but too ambitious. Too ruthless. She left my tutelage long before I could confront her about it. And then I met Twilight Sparkle." Celestia smiled at the memory. "Always eager to study. Always willing to go the extra mile. Like we both were," Celestia met her sister's gaze. "Well, you know the rest. You have returned to us. Now my world is....." Luna looked up at her sister, who had a sudden expression of pure joy. "I just remembered." Celestia looked at Luna. "You wonder what a change of our choices would be? If we had saved everyone?"

"Yes."

"Then I will show you." Celestia stated as she rose from her seat and began trotting out of the room. Luna quickly followed suit, and the both descended into the dungeons.

After multiple secret passageways and several detours, the sisters arrived at a wall. It was a perfect recreation of the night sky, complete with stars and celestial bodies. "What I am about to show you most never be shown again. You and I are the only beings left in this timeline who can gaze upon it. “

“O-of course." Celestia's horn began to glow as she moved the sun on the walk to high noon. The wall buckled, then began to roll away, revealing a cavernous empty room. Celestia and Luna Quickly stepped inside.

"Welcome to the Timelines Luna."

Suddenly the room light up with multiple threads of pure ghastly silver and gold. Translucent images followed of each one like snapshots of what they each had in store for the viewer. "Each one of these lines," Celestia explained, "represents a universe like ours, but different. There are ones where I became a nightmare general. Ones where I was the younger of us two. Ones where Discord was a kind god. And," Celestia used her magic to bring forth a scarlet red line it moved violently and angrily, like it hated to be disturbed, "one where we all defeated Discord before he wiped us out. Enough of us were ripped apart to create our little ponies. But we were still numerous. I want to show you what our world would have been like. Gaze in with me." Celestia leaned into the line, and vanished. Luna jumped back, startled. "Luna." Luna began to look around, searching for the whispering voice. "Come with me into the timeline. Do not fear it." Luna gulped.

She only hesitated for a few moments more however. 'A view at a world where our race is still plentiful? I must see this.' Luna gathered up her courage and her might. Her sister would never betray her. With a final glance around the room, she swallowed and stepped forward into the line, her head held high. And Suddenly, Her world went black.