Morbid Curiosity

A hill rose up behind Celestia and Luna, the sound of the Earth beneath their hooves echoing in their ears. Celestia turned to look at the marvel; Luna turned simply to remain with Celestia.

The sound of giggling children filled the air. Celestia could pick out 2, but no more. "Do I make my way over?" Celestia asked.
"I'm not your personal Vergil - I'm here to point you in the right direction, not tell you what you need to do." Luna responded, her tone tipped with the venom of aggression.

Celestia took a deep breath. She had no idea why, but she was nervous. "Pull yourself together Celestia - you can hear children, not the beasts of Tartarus!" she told herself under her breath. Making her way up the hill, the voices grew stronger, and Celestia felt they had some sort of resemblance in a distant memory. Approaching the top, a tree burst it's way, straight from the ground. It rose to full height, and it's leaves burst into life. An entire lifetime, passed in a matter of seconds. The tree cast shade across the meadow, and Celestia realized where she had seen this before. Making her way to stand under the shade of the tree, Celestia's suspicions were proved true - down in the Meadow were two children, both Alicorns. One was white and had a shimmering pink mane, her color having not come into it yet, while the other was a dark blue, and her mane a lighter blue. Neither mane was ethereal yet - they were too young. "This is... us..." Celestia remarked, taken aback by being able to see her past. Her dreams, even the most lucid, had never had her relive the past no matter how hard she tried. Similar to the past, she had done so - a landscape here, a conversation there - but not entire parts. "Which means Mother and Father should be -" Celestia began, her voice quickening. After all these years, she could talk to her parents again. "Here..." Celestia concluded, becoming incredibly deflated at the realization. She and Luna were stood where their parents would have sat.

Celestia sighed a little internally, but knew it was probably for the best. She was here for a purpose - whatever that might be - and distractions would only slow her return to the waking world. Yet, Celestia couldn't help but listen to the conversation her younger self was having with the young Luna. "Tia, stop it!" the young Luna cried through giggles, as the young Celestia tickled her nose with a daisy, attempting and failing to contain her own childish glee. The daisy wasn't held with magic as one might expect, but in the young Celestia's mouth.

Celestia smiled. Those were simpler times, before she had to run a Kingdom, before the responsibility of tens of millions of ponies' desires and needs dropped on her back. Before Celestia knew how to use magic properly, even. "Luna, Celestia! Girls, come along now," Luna announced, her voice perfectly mimicking her mother's. As the two young Alicorns turned to return to what would have been their parents side, the entire world slowed to a crawl. Then the grass stopped swaying, the younger Princesses almost froze, and Celestia felt the wind brushing against her slow down.

"This is your childhood. You were a filly then, happy and smiling. Completely clueless of how difficult the adult life can be. Do you know how Mother felt?" Luna said, not even turning to face Celestia, but simply staring over the fields.

"I suppose I do now. Constant work, running a country; I'll never have it as hard as Mother though. She had to look after Father - he was so sick. He didn't show it, but I could tell that he was getting worse with each passing day. Mother tried, but..." Celestia trailed. If this was really Luna, Celestia needn't remind her of that day.

"And she had to raise children. Luna and Celestia, the heir to the thrones." Luna continued. "Do you have an heir, Celestia?" Luna inquired.
"I intended for..." Celestia started. As the words left her mouth, the younger Luna faded away, and the young Celestia began to change. Her wings sank into her body, and her mane fell back to her shoulders. Her coat changed from it's usual white into a light pink, gradually getting darker and darker. Her cutie mark slowly contorted until it became a single, light purple star laid over a second white one, in contrast to the purple coat. "So, I see myself in her?" Celestia asked. Luna remained silent. "But, I don't. She's... just, a student. One I intend to pass my knowledge to, but just my personal student. She couldn't..."

The scene changed. Before Celestia's eyes, her entire surroundings changed. Everything was deadly still, snapshots of a life being shown. Celestia talking to Twilight in the morgue, the cold still biting at Celestia even now. Twilight asking Celestia a question of indiscernible origin, and Celestia smiling softly as she formulated her answer. Celestia curled next to her fireplace, Twilight wrapped under her wing. The place stopped there. Celestia stared at herself and and Twilight almost sleeping next to the fireplace, and recalled what the day had been. She had taken Twilight out to a small park and gotten involved in a snowball fight. The great vestiges of Fort Twilight holding out against the onslaught of the Celestial Army's snowball bombardment! Celestia smiled as she remembered that day. Twilight had been so happy; 'and,' Celestia admitted to herself, 'I had some fun too'. Afterwards, Celestia brought Twilight into the castle, and they sat next to the fire to warm up and forget the cold winter winds that howled outside the windows of the castle.
"You treat her like a daughter, not a student." Luna remarked. "A teacher doesn't take her student on a holiday during the winter season; a teacher doesn't embrace her student next to the fireplace. A teacher doesn't cover for their student after they commit an atrocious crime," Luna lectured.

Celestia didn't take her eyes off the scene - it somehow made her feel a little less desolate internally, a bit more warm inside. "I treat her specially, yes. She is special to me - she's my protege. I treat her like that to better understand and teach her - if she sees me like that, then she's more likely to understand and take to my teachings." Celestia explained, stuttering a little as she tried to get her voice out faster than she could think.
"You started over once before - or have you already forgotten about the one who ran from you so far as to go to another dimension?" Luna reminded Celestia.
"She was a dark child - eager for power, not knowledge. She left of her own accord, do not try and chastise me for that!" Celestia snapped. She didn't want to be reminded of her failure on that front. "I let her go because that was the moment I realized she was a lost cause - her nature was that of one who would do the wrong thing simply for her own gain,"
"So, running is wrong, but taking a body and poking around it's insides is fine?" Luna barked back.

Celestia was unable to retort to that. Twilight had done something incredibly wrong. Celestia should have done what she told herself to do: Take Twilight into custody; or terminate her, if worst came to worst.
"So, is it that the student has potential; or that the great, noble Celestia cannot admit even to herself that she is barren, and that Twilight is her child?" Luna questioned. Before Celestia could answer, the scene around her changed once more. First, it was of a small hamlet outside Canterlot. Then, it was populated by an older Twilight, 5 other ponies surrounding her. They seemed to share a positive group synergy. After, it was of a small, dark room with a single overhead light shining on a table with various entrails spread over it, emerging from a bloody body; a crazed looking Twilight was stood over it, her hair disheveled and her eyes widened and bloodshot in madness, staring at something out of view, her magic beginning to levitate various implements. Now it was of a grave, the rain stopped mid fall. Celestia approached the stone marking the owner - as she grew closer, the larger text stood out.

' A loved leader and friend. She will be surely missed.'

Celestia drew closer to the grave, almost cautiously.

'Ashes to ashes - may this pony's memory forever live on in the minds of those that she touched while shaping our future, and fighting for what was right'

Celestia was a little worried now. Twilight always talked of shaping the future, and she certainly wouldn't take injustices lying down. But it didn't have to be her - what was the name damn it?! Celestia crept closer to the tombstone. The name was...

The scene retreated from Celestia's vision, as if she was running in the opposite direction and facing the scene. "No... no!" Celestia yelled, attempting to get closer. Still, the tombstone retreated off into the distance, faster than she could run.

Everything went dark. Celestia was completely alone in this void - even Luna had vanished. "Hello?" Celestia called. She looked around. Nothing meant anything in here though - should she turn her head up or around, all she saw was the never ending darkness. No matter where Celestia looked, the dark was all that stared back at her. "Where am I?" Celestia asked, hoping that Luna would answer her back. Instead, another familiar voice responded. "You know what must be done - you have made your decision, but it does not mean you cannot change it," Twilight's voice came. "I am already lost to you, but you may protect others. Alas, there is but one choice -" Twilight faded into vision from the darkness, as if stepping into a light. "Kill me!" Twilight said, her voice almost mocking. Not a hint of sadness or regret. "Kill me!" Came another Twilight, this one behind the first. "Or do you not want to?" A third asked. "Coward!" It called. Another two stepped out of the void, chanting coward along with the other. "Or maybe you think I can be redeemed?" Came a 6th, this one slightly less aggressive in her tone. "Doubt!" It shouted, and another apparition of Twilight came along to stand by it's side and join in it's chanting. Celestia was unable to make out what yet another Twilight said, but after another three joined it she could hear what they were saying - "Regret!"

Celestia gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut, but this did nothing. She could feel her eyelids cover her eyes, but the troop of Twilight's were just as visible as before. Another squad came, these ones repeating the word "failure". Celestia put her hooves over her ears in response, but still the incessant barrage of chantings continued. Celestia screamed various commands - "Get out! Silence!" and the like - at the top of her voice, but as she raised her voice, so too did the Twilights. Celestia screamed at them as more and more voices joined the horrible chorus, until Celestia's throat was sore and her lungs short of breath.
Finally, Celestia gave up and fell to her knees, her hooves still cupped against her ears. "Just... leave me in peace..." she whimpered. Every single word, even those that Celestia couldn't fully make out, had taken their toll on her mind. It was as if the words were being injected directly into her mind; no matter how hard she tried or how little she heard, every single one stood out like a shining light in her mind, blinding her thoughts out until they eclipsed everything else.
In unison, the voices stopped. The Twilights backed up back into the darkness, and the darkened into nothingness as one. A single figure stepped out of the darkness to replace them. Celestia stared up to look upon herself. The voices of Twilight raced around Celestia's mind once more. "Doubt! Failure! Betrayal! Monster!" Celestia physically shook under the pressure imposed on her. Finally, the figure of Celestia declared in a booming tone. "Fix this!"

And Celestia's own body, along with the never ending Twilights racing back into view, snarled as they shrieked: "KILL ME!"