To Dream as an Immortal

Time passed, more than I could keep track of, yet my sister and I remained the same. The endless ice was meaningless. It had no strength to alter us. My memories stayed intact because there was nothing important enough to replace them. All I will remember from this time is my sister.

In the deep winter, the day does not come. Twilight brightens the sky only briefly, then retreats from the night. The moon is the only feature of the sky that brings light and warmth. It is during the long nights such as this that my sister suffers the worst.

My concern for Celestia has been growing. Her memories burn brightly and fill her otherwise empty life. I see her staring off, tears running down her cheeks then freezing. It wasn't her fault. No one has perfect foresight, but still, she claims responsibility because she sees herself as the leader. I nudge her backside and gallop off towards the east, challenging her to catch me. She gives a hearty whinny and we run towards the rising moon together.

I'm losing hope that the evil to the south will ever diminish. We have patrolled the threshold where that evil ends, the border between our frozen land and the land of the living, for longer than I could keep track of. Celestia should not live forever with the brutal killing of her herd as her last memory of the living world.

While we travel the border of the living world, I feel the presence of a herd of ponies, a large herd, though far away. Celestia and I come across such a feeling every once in a long time. However, it's always been a mystery. That mystery meant there was something we didn't understand about the world to the south, something unusual where ponies sometime survived. It was the only strand of hope I could find against the unwavering evil.

I halt where I sense the herd of ponies the strongest. When Celestia realizes that I'm no longer following her, she trots back and tries to get me to chase after her. Neither Celestia nor I could imagine living in this frozen world without the other. I refuse to follow, and she cocks her head inquisitively.

It's been so long I needed to use spoken language to communicate, but some ideas are too abstract. I couldn't help but feel dread over saying something that required such an unnatural form of communication. The spoken language, used to communicate to dragons, 'Draconic', was the language of creatures that would eat ponies. I would be breaking a natural order by using it to argue with Celestia. Did that mean I was in the wrong?

It took me a while to remember the correct words, and even then my language was imperfect. "The evil is never leave because of it's own will. We need confront it, change it, end it."

Celestia circles around me. When she speaks, the words come out smoothly, almost musically. "We are ponies, Luna, herbivores. We have neither fangs, nor claws. We run when there is danger. That is nature's intent."

Celestia always tries to maintain an aura of confidence, but I know her well enough to see the awkwardness of her gait, a twitch behind her ear. She is guided by fear, not conviction. "Then, Celestia, we need become predators. The evil is not natural. We are not rely on nature to end it. All of we protect now is empty lives."

Celestia shakes her head. "I will not risk losing you." She stands tall and I know the complete certainty of her conviction.

She gallops towards the east, but I do not move. She comes back and sits behind me. We stay there for a long time, sometimes sleeping while sharing warmth, but I show that I am adamant. Eventually, she nudges my backside and gallops south, challenging me to catch her. I give a hearty whinny and we run towards the strange herd ponies together.

I feel daunting fear and understand why Celestia was afraid. We are heading towards something unlike anything we've seen before.