“No, Luna. I’m afraid that I can’t let you do that. You’re not responsible enough to handle that, and I will not allow your bratty, whiny behavior to dissuade me. No means no. That is final. Do I make myself clear, sister?” Celestia said the words in a gentle, motherly tone. There was a deeper, more guttural anger behind her voice, however, which told a different story. It was filled with condescension and the slightest hint of annoyance, as if she’d been in a battle with a brick wall for hours.
Luna shook her head and looked around herself. In front of her was her sister with a slight scowl on her face. Somehow, she had ended up in the royal throne room. W-what? I’m in the throne room? How did I get here? I only remember going to my royal chambers to await the sunrise and then— A sharp cough Luna’s train of thought and brought her attention to her sister, who now had an even deeper frown and one eyebrow raised as if she wanted some sort of response.
Luna stared at her sister’s tense features and was momentarily confused. From the looks of things, they had been having some sort of intense argument. What they were arguing about was still a mystery to her. “Tia, what’s going on? Why are you looking at me like that?” Luna’s features tensed in nervous apprehension as she watched her sister tap her hoof on the floor with impatience. The rhythmic knocking sound echoed throughout the empty hall and out the open doors. Something about this just… didn’t feel quite right.
Why is everything so silent? There should be ponies moving around. There should be nobles shouting and yelling about all sorts of problems. I should hear royal guardsponies marching around and patrolling the halls. Where is everypony?
Luna looked at the empty halls around her and noticed something else that seemed rather odd to her. “Tia? Where are your bodyguards? You never leave your bed chamber without them. And where are all of the workers? Is there a holiday that I wasn’t told about?” It felt as if the oppressive silence around her were threatening to close in and engulf her. It circled and danced around her with its non-threats like a predatory cat circling around its prey. Luna shuffled on her back hooves in the uncomfortable silence and looked towards her sister. Surely she’ll have an answer for what’s going on here. I hope so at least… This is becoming rather disconcerting.
Her sister offered no answer. Instead, she gave a small grunt of annoyance and stamped her front hooves on the ground. “Just like you to ignore the problem at hoof, ‘Lulu’. Things start to shift away from how you want them to be, and you just change the subject to something else. Why do you always have to do this? All I want you to do is say ‘okay’ and admit that you were wrong. Is that so hard to do?”
A deep frown made its way onto Luna’s face as her mouth quivered. She took a step back from her sister and lifted her wings in instinct to make herself look bigger and more imposing. “What are you talking about, Tia? I didn’t even know we were having an argument. I just wanted to know what’s going on and where everypony is… What were we even fighting about? I can’t apologize if I have no idea what’s going on.”
Celestia’s lips curled upward in disgust. She looked at her sister as if she were some piece of rubbish left on the street after a Hearth’s Warming Eve party. “You were telling me about how you wanted to switch places tomorrow and raise the sun while I raised the moon.” Celestia shook her head and gave a deep sigh as she looked at her sister. Her glorious mane wavered and moved at a slower pace than it usually did. Its normal brilliant colors were replaced with dull shades of their original selves.
Luna’s eyes shot open in recognition. “Oh, yes, that’s right! We were going to trade places tomorrow!”
“No, we weren’t. That’s what we were arguing about. Don’t you remember? I just told you not five minutes ago that it’s too much responsibility for you to handle. Moving the moon would be easy enough for me, but the sun for you? That’s way too far out of your skill level. We could put the whole of Equestria in danger if you mess up the cycle. You understand that, right?” Celestia sighed and shook her head. “You really never think these things through, do you, Luna?”
Luna took another step back and flared her wings out to their full span. She directed a glare that could shatter crystals at her sister. “Hold on. Yesterday you said that this was a great idea. And saying that I’m so far under your skill level? We’re on the same skill level. You just got the sun and I got the moon. It’s not like either of us got to choose. And, I mean… It’s only one day. Any mishaps would be easily correctable. Please don’t treat me like a child, Tia. I know I can be reckless at times, but I would never put the whole of Equ—”
“Spare me the speech, Luna. I said you can’t handle it, and that’s final. There will be no changes in my decision, so save your breath. Why don’t you go off and do something useful with yourself? I hear that the kitchen could use some cleaning. Surely you can handle that.”
Luna gasped. “K-kitchen cleaning?” Luna felt an overwhelming anger wash over her entire body. It felt like she’d been dipped into the middle of a volcano and left to simmer in the heat. One-by-one, she felt her hooves moving towards her sister of their own accord. She watched through a hazy screen as if her eyes had been coated in a layer of film. “Hold on. What gives you the right to tell me what to do like that? We both lead this country together. You don’t get to treat me like I’m sort of stupid, inferior child all the time.”
Celestia scoffed and turned her back to her sister. “You know why I do that, Luna? Know why I treat you like that? It’s because it’s what you are. I’ll always be better than you, and there’s absolutely nothing that you can do about it. Deal with it. Now, why don’t you just run along to your room and go to bed? Us grown up ponies have work to do.”
Luna felt that feeling in the pit of her stomach growing stronger. The intense hatred and passion that burned inside of her threatened to burst her coat into flames. The hazy vision grew even more blurry and distant. She was watching her own life play out as a movie before her. She watched as her body crept up behind her sister and got poised to strike out at her. As she tried to scream a warning to her sister or at least pull her hoof back, she felt her will being restrained. She was a passenger in her own body. N-no! What’s going on? Stop! Why can’t I talk? Why can’t I move? Luna’s struggles did nothing to help her break out of the invisible bonds that tied her spirit together.
I was over in an instant; Celestia never saw it coming with her back turned. An audible ‘smack’ echoed throughout the great hall as hoof connected with flesh. The force of the hit sent Celestia face first into the marble steps to the throne. There was a sickening ‘crack’ as her snout hit the cold stone and broke on contact. Blood gushed freely from the wound like a little crimson stream trickling through fragment of bone and bent cartilage.
Too stunned to move, Celestia brought her hoof up to her nose and felt the damaged area. When she removed her hoof, her once white fur was a brilliant shade of crimson. She could feel the blood dripping out of her nose with a steady trickle, filling her with the all encompassing feeling of needing to sneeze badly. “L-luna, what is the mea—”
Celestia’s muzzle snapped shut as Luna’s horn lit up. A midnight blue aura surrounded her head and kept her jaw held tight. Luna moved closer to her sister. She could see the fear in Celestia’s eyes. She could taste the fear in her labored breaths as she struggled to breathe.
“You should learn when to shut your mouth, ‘dear sister’. You might have saved yourself some air for this moment.” Luna felt her lips contort upwards into a small smile as she giggled. She held Celestia in her magical grasp as she struggled. Her sister flopped about like a fish out of water as she struggled to get the air that she so desperately needed. Celestia’s face turned blue from the lack of oxygen and matched the shade of magic that blocked her airways. Luna gave a sinister laugh. In her mind, she winced as the powerful voice echoed throughout the empty room and broke the silence.
“Oh, it is so fun to watch you squirm.” Luna strode towards her sister and stopped directly in front of her face, stooping downward. She placed hoof on Celestia’s horn and smiled. Inside, her mind was screaming. No! P-please, stop! Stop hurting her! Her hoof lowered and applied a small amount of pressure onto the center of Celestia’s horn. Celestia began to struggle again almost immediately, steady streams of tears making their way down her face as she tried in vain to get away. She knew what was going to happen.
Luna thrust her hoof downward as hard as she could, straight onto Celestia’s horn. A loud ‘crack’ echoed throughout the empty room. Luna winced as she heard the sound of her sister’s broken, muffled sobs and released her hold of her sister. The anger that had been holding her before dissipated in an instant, only to be replaced by a hollow sorrow and guilt. She fell to her haunches as she began to pound her face with her hooves. “Stop! Stop, please! Why are you doing this to me?”
She turned her head as she heard a small whimper from her sister. “I-I didn’t do anything, Luna… Why? Why did you do this to me? I didn’t do anything…” Celestia curled into a fetal position and held her broken muzzle and shattered horn. As she rocked herself back and forth, she began to cry openly. “P-please. Go away… Just… GO AWAY! LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO ME! THIS IS THE ONLY THING YOU’RE GOOD FOR!”
Luna recoiled at the absolute hatred in her sister’s words. Once again, that familiar anger made its way back into her soul like water through a bursting dam. “You. You brought this upon yourself you witch.” Luna spat into her sister’s blood soaked face in disgust. “You sicken me, do you know that? Think you’re so high and mighty? How about I show you just how powerful you really are?”
Luna’s body gave a sharp kick to her sister’s side. The brittle ‘crack’ of ribs shattering echoed throughout the empty room, refusing to leave Luna’s mind alone. Stop! Stop it before you go too far! Please! With all her might, Luna struggled to free herself in her mind. Whatever chains were binding her, they were far too strong for her to break by herself. They weighed down on her like lead chains and caused her to sink ever deeper into the ocean of sorrow.
Another kick lashed out, followed by another loud crack. This time Celestia gasped and coughed up blood. A thick red pool percolated around a rib that was now poking out of Celestia’s chest. As Luna looked closer, she saw that she’d actually kicked her sister’s broken horn directly into her chest. Its brilliant white surface now shone a deep read. It was corrupted. Tainted.
No! Don’t hurt her anymore! You’ll kill her!
Kick after vicious kick landed on Celestia’s exposed chest and drove the horn deeper into her. Luna’s body laughed with each sharp crack and each wretch of blood that her sister expelled from her mouth. For good measure, she stepped over to her sister’s head and stomped on it with all over her might. Yet another crack as Celestia screamed out in absolute pain. She had no strength to talk anymore or protest; the light in her eyes was already fading fast.
“That’s how much power you have, you pathetic little wretch. I’m going to enjoy watching the light drain from your eyes.” Luna placed her hoof over Celestia’s cracked skull, causing her to spit more blood and scream in pain. She slowly increased the pressure that she was putting on to Celestia’s head, hearing small pops and cracks as her hoof pressed onward. Celestia’s eyes span in her head as her body struggled to cope with the intense pain that it was experiencing at the moment.
Luna could do nothing as her hoof finally pushed downward with all of its strength. The shattering of bone and spattering of brain matter filled her ears and replayed themselves in her mind for several minutes. All of a sudden, she was in control of her body again. The anger washed away, and all that was left was an empty, hollow feeling in her chest. She looked at the pink brain matter still stuck to her hoof and fell by her sister’s side. What she thought was her sister, at least.
She was no longer recognizable. There was a large, bloody hole in her chest with only a small white nub sticking out. Broken ribs poked through the skin and into other organs, and large patches of black and blue were present throughout her coat. The thing that bothered Luna most was her sister’s head. It wasn’t even a head anymore. Instead, attached to her neck, was a small puddle of red and pink, and a million glimmering fragments.
Luna picked her sister’s body up in her arms and held it tightly to her chest. “N-no. Please, Tia. Please get up! You’re always fine! You always have a plan! Get up! You can take the illusion spell off now…” There was no response from her sister’s headless corpse. Luna’s once blue coat was now painted scarlet in her sister’s life force. “I’m so sorry, Tia. I’m so sorry… I tried to stop! I really did! I just…” Luna laid down, cradling her Celestia’s body. She stayed there in the middle of the throne for the rest of the night, crying silently to herself.
Luna shot awake in her bed with a loud scream. As she looked around herself, she found that she was in the same familiar room that she had been in before she’d killed her sister. She was in her bedroom. In bed. Oh my goodness… That was just a dream? B-but it felt so real! H-how could…? She shook her head and sat up, trembling in her blankets.
She was startled as two night guards, two solar guards, and her sister broke through her bedroom door, searching her bedroom for any signs of a threat. After a moment of scanning the group saw that there was no immediate danger to the Princess of the Night. Celestia sent the guards back to their posts and looked at her sister with a large frown on her face.
“Lulu, what’s wrong? I heard you scream all the way from the other side of the castle! I thought you might have been in danger!” Celestia hugged her sister in a warm embrace and nuzzled her to calm her shivering.
“It… it’s nothing. I just had a bad dream is all,” Luna lied, turning her face away from her sister.
Celestia wasn’t having any of it. She grabbed Luna’s head in both hooves and turned it towards her so that she could look Luna in the eyes directly. “That’s not true. You know that I can tell when something is troubling you, Lulu. You know that you can tell me anything. I won’t judge, no matter what it is.”
“Well, I had this terrible dream. Everypony was gone from the castle and you and I were all alone. You were being exceptionally rude and mocking me about the switch tomorrow, and I just got so angry, and…” Luna began to sob into her sister’s shoulder, holding her as close to her chest as possible. She felt like if she let Celestia go, then she might just drift off and disappear, only to discover that her dream had been a reality. “And I got so angry. I couldn’t control my body, and I started saying rude things back… Then I hit you, and broke your horn, and… and… I killed you!” Luna sobbed even harder into her sister’s shoulder.
Celestia’s mind was plagued with doubts, suspicions, and concerns, but she held Luna close and patted her on the back. “Luna, that’s the fifth time this month that you’ve had that same dream. We have to get you some help for this. I’ll schedule an appointment with the royal psychologist as soon as possible, but for now you have to get some sleep.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’ll sleep with you tonight if you’d like Lulu.” Celestia tucked her sister into the bed with her magic and laid down beside her on the covers. “You know that neither of us would ever do those things to each other, Lulu. I love you, and you love me. We’re sisters before anything else.” Celestia snuggled closer to Luna. “It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real. You can go back to sleep, and when you wake up, I’ll be right here.”
Luna smiled at her sister and wiped her eyes. She rested her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, preparing to go back to sleep once again. It’s okay, Luna. Tia is fine. You’re fine. It was just a dream. Tia’s going to sleep with you tonight, so just relax. It was only a nightmare… She yawned and felt herself drifting back into sleep easily.
Relax, Luna… The voice penetrated her thoughts as she fell into a deep sleep. Relax. It was only a… Nightmare.
