Whispers

Standing rigidly atop the gem-encrusted carpet, the edgy colt cast his anxious gaze randomly around the modest chamber in a futile attempt to settle his nerves. To his left, the tiled wall was dotted up and down with an array of paintings mostly depicting the royal sisters and those of special interest to them. To his right, two massive windows overlooked the Everfree Forest below. In the center sat a sturdy-looking bed obscured by thick yellow curtains, secured by marble columns sporting spiraling groove patterns at each corner.

The first word to come to mind: stunning. In immediate hindsight, that word didn't seem to do the sun princess's private chamber justice. No single word in his vocabulary could, and that only added to the atmosphere, the seemingly forbidden nature of this privilege. Architects all over Equestria, from the bustling northern metropolis of Canterlot to the quaint little village of Everfree nearby, would see this as a golden opportunity to draw inspiration from the furnishings.

All of that was wasted on the awkward colt. He fidgeted restlessly, tracing his hoof along the carpet and watching a little too intently as his illustrious host slipped off her crystal shoes. Even as she casually rolled her neck and stretched her legs, she made no effort to break the uncomfortable silence between teacher and student.

Caught between instinct and instruction, the boy found himself at loss for what to do. Should he say something? Was that not his place? He was in the princess's domain, at her request. On one hoof, she was obligated to make him feel welcomed. On the other, her word was law, and everything that happened here would be by her whim.

He sighed, closing his eyes and thinking back.

*******

At last, the qualifying students of Princess Celestia's senior magic class had finished their final written exam for the semester. The preceding hour had been enveloped by a thick silence, peppered only by the rhythmic clicking of royal hoofsteps in an overly dramatic parody of a clock. And yet, all too soon, that pacing had stopped and given way to the princess's gentle yet firm voice...

"Fair students," she announced, "your time is up."

Terror danced in the less confident students' eyes as they hastily tried to close their essays. These desperate bids were cut short, as the princess's horn glowed with a faint golden aura. A loud crack echoed down the hall as all the parchments snapped shut at once, bound by shimmering silver rings. The scrolls silently hovered toward the desk at the front of the hall, ignoring the longing looks of their owners who were already regretting what they could or shouldn't have said in their writings.

Princess Celestia then turned to face the class directly, relaxing her hard gaze into an informal smile. "Ye shall disperse and reconvene in a week's passing. Until that time, venture into your next subject at a light pace," she paused to close her eyes. "Consider your following week a well-earned period for recuperation. A blessing upon you for your diligence and focus this term past."

Behind the warm smile, she nonetheless resigned herself to the grading she would have to endure those coming nights. She summoned the scrolls into a glowing mass and went for the door, stopping just long enough to give her prized students one final smile of reassurance. "And ye shall be mindful of this..." Her tone was sincere and personal, untouched by academic formality, "We take great pride after the accomplishments and merits of all our students."

Mere moments after her departure, the students began to unwind and organize into their various social groups to the tune of disorganized shuffling. The quiet colt seated near the front of the room disregarded their chatter as he went about packing his things, unaware of the presence to his left.

"Arcanus," a vibrant green-coated filly chirped in a bubbly voice, having already whipped together a crowd, "wanna join us for drinks?"

The stoic facade was already gone, as the colt jumped slightly from the sudden address. Still, he composed himself enough for a dismissive response. "Oh, I..." he muttered, sparing her a brief glance as he tried to remember her name. Gorgeous obsidian eyes that disguised the dynamic fires within. Big silly smile indicative of unshakable cheer. Deep blue mane, hanging lengthily within a moon-shaped clip. Smooth coat as verdant as surrounding forest. He shook his head, "I appreciate thine offer, fair... Moonthistle?"

The girl pouted unbecomingly, but it didn't last. Her energetic grin returned as the colt looked away. He did know her name after all! "Thou art more than welcome," she said, before shrugging and skipping off—

*******

"Arcanus?"

The young colt's daydream ended abruptly in face of the wise voice he knew all too well. He looked up to find the princess standing next to a decorated gold dressing cabinet, eyelids hanging lazily as she sniffed at the small glass floating just beneath her muzzle.

"Wouldst thou care for some wine?"

Arcanus's eyes widened as he shook his head on impulse, flustered by that most unexpected of questions. What the hay was this? Might as well still have been a dream. The princess had invited him to her bedchamber, and was now casually offering him wine? That certainly suggested his impromptu invitation didn't mean he was in trouble, but... what did it mean? "I... I must respectfully decline, your highness," he said lightly, keeping his formality firmly in place with a modest bow. "Wine is not to my taste."

"Suit thyself," Celestia replied offhandedly, smirking and sipping from her own glass as she placed her gold crown atop the dresser. Apparently oblivious to the increasing look of surprise on her student's face, she trotted over to the small mountain of scrolls and began to sift through them. "Thou art aware that she liketh thee?"

Arcanus raised an eyebrow, clearing his throat. "... May I ask who, ma'am?"

"Young Moonthistle," she replied, her rummaging continuing unabated. "Her fondness for thee is quite evident."

Knowing his idol wasn't watching, the boy saw fit to roll his eyes in disinterest. Reflexively he stole a look at himself in the dressing mirror. By no means was he hard on the eye, if the attention of an easygoing socialite like Moonthistle was anything to go by. He was modestly built for a unicorn colt, with an ash grey coat and a short, neatly kept black mane. He neither craved nor rejected such attention, preferring to base his self image on academic accomplishment.

As an avid reader of fiction, the years had taught him two very important lessons: one, friendship had its downsides, and two, love just plain wasn't worth the trouble. He had taken these lessons to heart, and as his desire to learn and grow increased, so did his resolve to distance himself from such 'distractions.' Even from his first day at the academy, he had made it a point to form only passing relations with his peers.

He straightened up, and spoke as formally as he could. "With due respect, ma'am, I do not attend the academy to giggle at mares. Your royal tutelage obligates me to reach for, and seize excellence."

Celestia whistled, but contrasted it by giving him a serious look. "And in thine own words?"

Arcanus took a figurative step back, but the answer to that question was straightforward enough. "... I am here to study, and learn. My career in unicorn magic doth not depend on making friends."

Celestia hummed in apparent concurrence, levitating a particular scroll from the pile. She removed the binding and unraveled it with a thought, running her eyes up and down the inked words and symbols. Arcanus gulped down a painful breath of air, unnerved by the sudden tension. Was he here to witness his grading? Seemed a tad... informal for something like that, didn't it?

"On that note, Arcanus, thy study hath proven most rewarding," Celestia said after a moment of silence, arching an impressed eyebrow in contemplation of the writings presented to her. "We believe thou hast fully comprehended the Ascension hypothesis." She looked him in the eye, and smiled. "Thine efforts exceed our greatest hopes."

In that moment, the apprehension vanished from the colt's face in favour of an uncharacteristic smile. He had practiced the stoic facade, gleaned from many hours of reading and studying characterization to hide his feelings regarding other ponies. That didn't mean he was an emotionless shell; he certainly did have his pride, especially when it came to his passion for academia.

He had every right to be proud of himself, too. The Ascension was one of the most convoluted topics they had ever covered—a hypothesis aiming to artificially 'create' an alicorn by blending the three intrinsic pony magics through strict mathematical patterning and magically embedding this 'god formula' within a unicorn's body. To complicate things further, researching the procedure was largely theoretical in the first place, as the princess had opted not to reveal, or even suggest a possible power source.

Still, in spite of all that, he'd managed to impress the princess and earned special recognition! If that wasn't awesome...

"And it is for such reason," the princess continued, tossing the scroll listlessly back on the pile, "that we see fit to assign a new task unto thee."

"Ye need only name it," Arcanus said, waiting expectantly for elaboration on this task. He was already determined to see it through, no matter it entailed. However, what he heard next soured his mood considerably.

"But before this, if we may..." Her tone took on a sudden formality as the look in her eyes hardened. "We might ask after your family? How fare your dear mother and young brothers?"

She stepped back as the colt hurried over to the cabinet. His own horn radiated waves of black energy, as he went about filling the other glass and wasted no time in tossing the vile substance back.

"Apologies, ma—" he coughed as the exorbitant gulp he had taken took him by surprise. He slowed down and took a deep breath to try and get his gag reflex under control, as even his anger couldn't curb the powerful taste of alcohol poisoning his tongue and throat.

"Speak freely, Arcanus. I do not wish to force anything of thee."

"My brothers doth spend... increasingly exorbitant amounts of time away from home, squandering our family's esteem along with their shares of the estate," he ranted somewhat coherently, staring intently at his glass in fear of offending the princess with his steely glare, "while returning late at night in drunken stupors without a care in the world..."

Celestia sighed. Even such little detail made things clear, for she was intimately familiar with that family's story. Granted, Arcanus never made a big deal about it, but his offhanded revelations of minor details had assembled enough of a picture for her. His younger brothers were spoiled and abusive of their inherited wealth, an alarming trend growing among the upper class in recent decades. They were seemingly incapable of holding jobs, most certainly for lack of trying, and flippant about caring for their sick mother.

The honourable fact here was that while Arcanus was fully capable of following this path himself, he had adamantly refused and all but denounced those sniveling brats as his family. And while the princess had offered him reprieve in the past to take some time and resolve these issues, he had always turned her down.

"It is nothing," he would lie, while all signs pointed to the contrary. Always hiding beneath the mantle of honour and the insistence that his academic diligence brought more pride to his mother than anything ever could. He had fashioned himself into the image of an unshakable rock; his way of promising that although his brothers were useless, he refused to be. He'd even made it clear that he loathed the idea of wallowing in one's problems. To him, that was a trite and deplorable excuse.

In time, Celestia had learned to admire such a mortal pony who could bear these burdens in his own home while maintaining a pretty face and unwavering dedication to study, and had resolved to give him the respect and personal space he deserved.

"Let us impart upon thee some wisdom, Arcanus," the lighthearted humour dropped entirely from her voice, sharply betraying her true age and wisdom. She summoned two violet cushions from the bed and motioned toward them. "If we might interest thee."

Arcanus nodded without hesitation, suddenly finding his sour demeanor hard to leave in place when juxtaposed against his clumsy hiccups. He prodded the plush purple pillow, raising an eyebrow in sincere appreciation. Even the royal pillowcases were top notch.

Celestia giggled quietly, a rare break in her regal conduct that Arcanus alone had witnessed. She spoke in response to his obvious thought: "Are they not magnificent? One of ponydom's greatest inventions," she mused as if in awe herself. "After pacing endlessly before a class," she sat abruptly on her own pillow with a soft thump, completely at ease, "thou canst have no greater relief."

Arcanus just laughed, a sincere laugh only two figures in his life could ever hope to extract. And now, in this most surreal of moments, he was sharing stories over a drink with one... in her bedroom. It could have just been the fast acting wine playing tricks on his mind, but he doubted it. "Of course, ma'am."

Celestia nodded, taking another mouthful from her glass as the boy sat upon his own cushion, falling unceremoniously back into it. "A long time ago, there lived two sisters. Inseparable they were. Wherever one went, the other was sure to follow. Whatever trouble one caused, the other was there to take the blame..." she smiled nostalgically, staring at nothing in particular, "or oftentimes, to have been the one at fault in the first place.

"Twin terrors these children were. The love of their dear mother's life, yes, but also at times her greatest nightmare. And yet, beneath all of that, was an unbreakable bond of companionship. Their love ran deeper than the pranks, the mishaps, those times they found themselves lost. Through it all, they persisted. And then, one day, their mother... passed. She had seen it coming, knew that her time was nigh, that her fate was inevitable. It was then that the sisters knew: all they had left was each other, and it had taken a crisis for them to truly understand."

Arcanus listened, keeping his expression neutral. Wondering who these sisters were was just patronizing; the passion in his mentor's voice made it far more than obvious.

"Do not judge thy brothers so harshly," she said, raising a hoof to silence the disagreement he was sure to voice. His hatred for his brothers certainly ran deep. "I understand thy pain. Just as thee, my dear sister and I never had a father, and our mother hath been lost to us for centuries. And while I lament our recent difficulties..."

She trailed off, finishing her wine with a remorseless sigh as she quickly went about pouring a second glass.

Uncertainty forbade Arcanus from expressing any feelings he may have had on the royal sisters' personal problems, as they were decidedly none of his business. He merely remained silent, reminding himself that he was privileged beyond any of his peers just to be hearing this. He looked to his own glass, barely noticing it was almost empty before he felt the bottle brush against his hoof, though willed by a golden magical aura rather than his own.

To his surprise, the quiescent princess's eyes were closed. Even as she appeared to be sleeping, she had noticed his 'predicament' before even he had. Observant to a fault, as any good teacher should be. He gently accepted the bottle and refilled his glass. Heh, that was all it took to get his previously untapped confidence of and rolling? It was starting to taste somewhat civil, too...

"Ahem," Celestia coughed, flashing the trustworthy smile for which she was borderline famous despite the melancholy subject at hand. "These past months have been mark by... unrest between my sister and I. Disagreements over matters of nil importance, and mood swings, yet she... refuses to inform me as to why she conducts herself as such."

Her eyes narrowed, the pain within all too obvious. Clearly, she was giving the brief version of the story. Or perhaps she was leaving something out?

"However," she amended, "deep down, we yearn for the other's affection. The time we spend together, unmarred by meaningless quarrel, is most wonderful.' Her voice seemed to regain its usual strength with each word, as memories of happier times stirred. "In our hardest, our most trying times, all we have is each other, from now until eternity. No amount of petty arguing can sever that bond. Dost thou understand?"

Arcanus nodded slowly, unsure whether he should voice his disagreement as to how this analogy was meant to apply to him. His grievances toward his siblings went far beyond circumstantial disagreement. "I... believe I do, ma'am," he replied, with an obvious lack of conviction.

Celestia picked up on this, as she knew he would, and gave him a weary smile. It was one of those 'we both know that's nonsense' smiles.

"Young Arcanus, thine intelligence doth eclipse that of most. Thou hast drawn from our words what was intended," she stated objectively.

And, in the face of that, the influence the esteemed princess held over the minds of her students came to light as Arcanus resolved to speak his true feelings.

"But how am I to forgive my brothers? Irredeemable cretins they are, disgraceful..." He immediately regretted the demanding tone to that... demand, fighting hard to hold onto coherence in the face of his resplendent ruler. Bitter truth didn't mix well with alcohol. Celestia didn't seem to mind though, merely waiting out his rage with an immortal's patience. Her sympathy for his plight was true.

"We... I am not asking of thee to dismiss thy brothers' transgressions, but simply to be mindful of this," she said in a low voice barely above a whisper. "Someday, thy brothers shall turn to thee, and thou upon them. All thou shalt have left will be thy family. Find the resolve within thine heart to let go of the past and look toward the future with the strength only a family can share."

Arcanus said nothing, retreating to the comforting embrace of silence as he finished the last of his wine. He reflected on those words of wisdom. Could he really forgive his brothers? Would they ever seek that forgiveness? Did they deserve the chance at all?

Lost in these questions, he barely heard the loud knock at the door even as his regal host literally flew to her hooves to answer it.

"Highness, Princess Celestia." A burly dark-coated royal guard clad in silver plating, obviously one of Luna's elite. He saluted, catching sight of the diminutive colt in the room alongside the empty wine glasses and pillows. He was interrupting something, but his message was urgent. "It is time to raise the sun. Princess Luna..." He frowned. This wasn't going to go down well. "Princess Luna hath locked herself in her room, again. She doth refuse to answer to our prompts."

Celestia nodded and dismissed the messenger, sighing as she looked out the window. As per its magically automated arc, the moon should have been near the horizon by this time... yet there it was, perched high atop the heavens in all its defiant glory. Her estranged sister had recently taken to throwing tantrums, which often included freezing the moon's course and "hijacking" the cycle so to speak... sometimes for whole days at a time.

Obviously, tonight was going to be another one of those nights.

She felt a presence to her left, and laughing cynically. Mere months ago this foalish behaviour on her sister's part would have exacerbated her to no end. She had recently settled into a sort of defeated acceptance... which was disconcerting enough on its own. "Thou heardst that?"

Arcanus nodded, knowing he couldn't deny it.

"Take a lesson, my student," Celestia whispered, sculling the remaining half of her glass before trotting out the door. She looked over her shoulder, offering the most sincere smile she could. "One's siblings can be as night and day—their greatest pleasure, or their greatest pain." She forced the smile to hold, even as her young apprentice said nothing. "It is time to find out which it shall be tonight. Wouldst thou care to accompany me?"

*******

Arcanus shook his head groggily, rubbing his eyes to restore his vision. That said nothing of the faint traces of heat he could feel tingling all over his coat, or the tiny wisps of smoke wafting from his frazzled mane.

After accepting the princess's offer, he'd barely started after her when he'd been engulfed in some sort of glowing white flame. In no time at all, the room around him had simply melted away, scattering in all directions like rain drops in a cyclone. And then, as fast as he could blink, he was before this massive blue door, emblazoned with a large silver icon of the moon.

He'd have to learn the teleport spell and practice it, as being ill-prepared for its side effects could get him into trouble someday.

"Sorry," Celestia quipped mischievously, coping with her own nerves considering the gravity of what may await her on the other side of that door. She nodded at the sentries to either side before hesitantly raising her hoof to rap on it a few times. "Sister?"

No response.

"P-Princess," Arcanus whispered shakily, suddenly aware of the all-too familiar sensation flowing through his horn. Celestia didn't respond, clearing her throat and banging on the door again.

"Sister?" Still nothing. "Luna, art thou in there?"

"Princess," Arcanus repeated, with more insistence this time. His suspicions were right, and the tingling in his horn was no longer in question. "Do you feel that?"

Celestia stopped prodding the sealed door with her magic, taking a step back to survey it further. She closed her eyes and concentrated, scrying whatever it was her disciple was on about. With her attention focused, her heightened senses picked it up in seconds, specifically around the hinges; the invisible residue of...

"Loose magic," she muttered with an air of concern, indicating this was no longer routine. Loose magic was only present in the air after powerful spells had gone off recently. Few students in the history of the kingdom had ever reached that level of power without years of specialized study; those who did usually became lecturers.

More than likely it was Luna's own magic that had caused this fallout, and whatever warranted such exertion on the part of an alicorn was a matter to be taken very seriously indeed. Celestia spared Arcanus a brief glance, and the steel in her eyes made him back off immediately. The guards tensed, awaiting their command.

"Evacuate the castle and clear the village," she muttered grimly, watching as they dashed off. Arcanus closed his eyes, eventually having to shield them with his hoof, as the princess's horn began to glow white hot. "Arcanus, stand back!"

A massive crash reverberated down the dark hall as the door was ripped apart; shattered by the shockwave, the scattering fragments incinerated by solar flames. The backlash warped harmlessly around the two ponies, deflected by the other half of the spell: the barrier. An ingenious idea, Arcanus noted, but gave it little more than a passing thought. Academic curiosity had its place, and that place was not now.

Coughing and spluttering to clear the dust, Arcanus cautiously followed the princess through the splintered remains of the door. His suspicions could never have prepared him for the reality. The room had been torn to pieces. Scorch marks snaked their way along the floor and ceiling; broken furniture and bookcases littered the floor; the bed was half melted, what little remained of it impaled with shattered fragments of ornaments and picture frames; the ruined carpets cut into ribbons by a sea of glass shards; entire chunks taken out of the walls... A dragon might as well have chewed right through it.

However, his attention was saved for the most notable detail in the room. A large, spherical depression was carved into the floor, just off the middle of the room, and served as the epicenter of the destruction. Rather, the black alicorn kneeling within it, almost as large and imposing as Celestia herself.

Arcanus didn't even need a history of reading to draw conclusions on this one. The alicorn vaguely resembled Princess Luna, but that was irrelevant. Whoever it was, her very appearance was like a nightmare given form. Whoever said 'don't judge a book by its cover' had never seen this creature, evidently; wicked teal eyes, ominous black coat, ethereal and almost supernaturally unsettling mane and tail more closely resembling a gaseous cloud of stars than anything else, and a solid helmet and breastplate coloured in a light purple shade.

One thing was obvious to Arcanus: this wasn't his arena. He knew a thing or two about fighting, as the curriculum included traditional (and in modern times, largely ornamental) combat arts held over from the Age of Discord, but nothing that would help him stand up to an alicorn. He looked up at his mentor, who wore an expression more serious than he'd ever seen; a thick mixture of horror and determination.

"What devil art thou?" Celestia demanded icily, taking a brave step forward and pawing at the floor. She scanned the room in search of any sign of Luna, to no avail. "What hast thou done with my sister?"

The shadowy alicorn rose to her full height, her lips twisting into a sinister smirk. Correction, Arcanus noted. She was as big as Celestia. "Think of me as... what that ineffectual crybaby would become if she grew a backbone," she whispered spitefully, hinting at the hostility that ran deeply within. "She had her time."

Celestia's eyes narrowed further. "And that doth mean what, exactly?"

The dark mare shrugged, bringing a hoof to her cheek as she seemed to sincerely contemplate the best way to put it. Her eyes lit up, literally pulsed an effulgent white, as she motioned toward her cutie mark as though it told a story. "Is it not obvious? Luna is no longer. The weakness and submission that foal represented is but a memory of sadder times. You now stand before Nightmare Moon!"

"No..." Celestia murmured reflexively, as she could deny that damning detail no longer. The mark was the same as Luna's. She looked to the floor and found the charred remains of a book with part of its cover still intact. It was a title she was familiar with, one she hoped would never lead her beloved sister of all ponies to this... betrayal.

Bolts of lightning flashed erratically around the dark mare as her triumphant roar visibly shook the room, knocking Arcanus off balance. She looked over her new form with an appreciative smile, admiring the shimmering magical waves that rippled across her shiny coat. "At last, we can make our dreams a reality."

"... We?" Celestia inquired, keeping a firm check on her emotions for the time being.

"For centuries I have existed in the deepest regions of Luna's mind—ever since she took charge of the moon, in fact. Did you not think there was more to her than loneliness and low self-esteem? Did you not think that perhaps, deep down, she didn't accept her exclusion as a fact of life and sought the means to fight back?" Despite those accusatory words, she smiled as her older sister looked to the floor; the guilt in her eyes told wonders. So, she saw fit to twist the knife. "Did you not think of her at all?"

"Of course!" Celestia snapped, looking up at the contemptible facsimile of her sister with hateful eyes. Centuries it had been since she had succumbed to such anger, and this creature had provoked her to do so with a few petty words. Nopony insinuated the princess of the sun didn't care about her sister. "I would never wish any harm upon her! She meaneth more to me than life itself—"

"But you let things get this bad."

Celestia's rant evaporated along with her anger, putting her on the backhoof. Those words thrust her into a reflective silence by virtue of being exactly her own. How did I let things get this bad? The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place. Irrational mood swings, refusing to talk to her, inane insults with thinly veiled deeper meanings, hijacking the very balance of night and day? She was beginning to see them all in a new light.

Still, she had to know for sure. "... Is this thine idea of 'helping', then? By immersing thyself in that foul magic?" The ruined tome spoke of evil powers and the dark magic they could bestow upon those who sold their minds to it. Despite their obscure potential for abuse, they could have proved excellent learning resources. "What is thy reason for this transgression?"

"You wouldn't understand, sister. The people chose you. They admire you, and love you. They acknowledge what you do for them, day in and day out, and shower you with praise while caring naught for my own contributions to their insignificant little lives. They place you under the spotlight, and you are too busy feeding on their praise and adoration to even think about stepping out of it! And, the most frustrating part? You were the older and more powerful of us, so we—or rather, Luna—found ourselves condemned to such a status quo."

Celestia shook her head. "Thou dost claim to know my sister intimately, yet honestly believe that had she approached me on this issue, I would have responded with force?"

"Uncertainty, Celestia. Luna was built on it, and opposing you would have challenged an unknown. However, where she was afraid, I am not. In answer to your question? All I have done is risen to my birthright. No longer will I accept an inconsequential existence, forever trapped beneath your shadow! With this power, I can finally... matter."

Celestia gazed longingly toward the moon, ignoring the tears beginning to form in her eyes as the bitter subtext behind those last words became as clear as... day. Luna's refusal to lower the moon suddenly made alarming sense, and the implication that she'd had a hoof in this stirred a wave of sickness in the sun princess's stomach. Why hadn't she seen it sooner? Why hadn't she given more than a passing thought to any of this sooner? This was her fault, and now her negligence had gone to its logical conclusion.

"Thy words are not thine own, Luna," she attempted to reason... weakly, admittedly. But this didn't have to happen. There had to be a way out of this! "Why do this now? Thou knowest thy gift of night is appreciated—"

"Now it is," the warped image of Luna dismissed that shallow nonsense, as a sense of freedom and satisfaction at this new reality danced in her eyes. "And it shall be as such from this moment forth. Equestria will never forget my name again."

Celestia settled upon her corrupted sister a steadfast glare. Those vague words didn't sit well at all, even if she had a good idea what the deeper meaning was. "What wouldst thou do?"

"Teach them the meaning of respect," she whispered cryptically in seeming afterthought. "They had the audacity to shun my gift of night, take it for granted without giving even a loving smile in return, so let us see how they react to a lifetime of it!"

With a deep sigh, Celestia caught sight of the shattered remains of the moon princess's silver crown buried in the rubble. She shut her eyes, in a futile attempt to escape the reality it represented, but the bleak realization had already set in. This matter was no longer personal, and there would be no compromise. Eternal night would irrevocably cripple Equestria, and could not be allowed to come to pass.

A confrontation was inevitable and, by the looks of things, imminent.

"Is what I'm doing really so wrong?" Nightmare Moon continued to jab as Celestia contemplated the floor in silence. "You stand there in all your righteousness, but in all the years we've lived, you must have thought what it would feel like—"

"Thou darest compare myself with thy greed and ambition? That is thy domain, not mine," she snapped, dismissing the ridiculous notion. She shook her head, keeping her eyes to the floor as the tears fell freely, knowing her attempts to stay neutral were failing on every front. "... or Luna's, for that matter."

"And yet, here we are. I don't blame your inability to empathize," Nightmare Moon 'soothed' in a sardonic parody of consolation, aggravating Celestia further as she knew it surely would. "You already stand in the sunlight, the ruler everypony knows and respects. The thought of rising up and taking something for a change would be all but a foreign concept to one who already has everything—"

Celestia suddenly looked up, her eyes burning with rage the likes of which hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. "Is this how thou wishest be remembered? A selfish, immature foal?" Her magically amplified voice carved deep cracks up and down the walls as the anger at both her own ignorance and her sister's indiscretion boiled over. It was bad enough she'd let this happen, but how long would it take to undo the years... hundreds of years worth of mistakes that had brought them to this meltdown?

Nightmare Moon whistled. "This is where things get interesting! I haven't seen you this worked up since mother died," she stated plainly and precisely. "But your words are meaningless in the face of reality. If you intend to stand before me, then you can also fall before me."

"Lower the moon, Luna," Celestia commanded through gritted teeth, ignoring the petty taunt. Just as her sister's eyes shimmered with a strong white glow, her own eyes were enshrouded in deep blackness as her power ramped up further, igniting the few undamaged candelabra around the room. Still, she held onto clarity in the name of one last try at civility... even knowing her words would have little effect. "We shall extend upon you but one chance."

"I guess this means we won't become friends," the lunar mare said flippantly, deadpanning at the melodrama. Still, apparent disinterest gave way to passion as she lowered her horn threateningly and affixed her older sister with a hateful glare. "And if that was meant to intimidate me, you don't even pass on effort." Her eyes moved ever so slightly to her sister's right. "Will your little plaything, Arcanus if I recall, be joining us?"

Celestia side-stepped to stand between the two.

"In fact, why is he even here?" the nightmare continued, raising a curious eyebrow as a strange sort of sincerity flowing through her words. "This is our battle— my battle, is it not?" She let those words hang, as though expecting a response. "He has no place in this. He's a nopony."

Celestia narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at Arcanus, before returning them to the task at hoof. "Thou shalt not kill, or harm a hair on his head," she stated, not asked. Locking eyes with her sis- with the nightmare, she stared into them as though desperately searching out a lost soul. "He shall bear witness to what we are about to do, whatever regrettable tragedy it may entail."

"If that's the way you want it," the nightmare agreed with a shrug, humouring her sister as though the point was open for discussion. "It's only fitting that your prize student be the one to write the tale of your downfall in the coming years. The air around her began to bubble and crackle with violet and silver flames, while her eyes glowed uncanny white in a showy display of power.

Celestia dipped her gaze to the floor, shaking her head with grim acceptance as her own golden aura manifested and wreathed her body in flames. The superheated energies rushed past her face, boiling away her tears and revealing the reluctance in her eyes.

"Sister..." the forlorn princess whispered as her golden crown appeared before her. The three jewels within began to resonate, breaking free and hovering in formation around her head. Their counterparts from the broken husk of Luna's crown followed suit, shaking off their silver bonds like a sword would blades of grass. "Deep beneath thine anger and hatred, I pray thou wouldst hear these words," the gems glowed brighter, as their colours began to bleed outward and merge like wet paint, "... I am sorry to do this to thee."

Celestia shut her eyes and looked away as fresh tears forced their way out, her conscience screaming at her in conflicted agony. Ignoring it, suppressing it, only hurt more. She unfurled her wings and widened her stance, mentally and physically bracing herself to wield the power of Harmony against this darkness... to turn the very symbol of her mutual love for her sister upon her.

A sudden blunt pain rushed through the sturdy white alicorn's body, knocking her off balance and throwing her bout of self-pity to the wayside along with her concentration. The growing magical storm subsided as the glowing orbs fizzled, breaking formation and clattering to the ground.

"Apology accepted," Nightmare Moon quipped, condescension on high as she backed away while keeping her guard up. "I'd say that was a nice try, but... I'd be lying." She eyed the fallen artifacts and their attempted wielder with a satisfied smirk. "It's about time you learned that not everything happens on your terms. The night is still young, and this is far from over."

Celestia glared back at her defiantly, a show of desperation and exertion that only made the dark witch smile wider. The deep gash the brazen assault had carved through her flank burned furiously, and she winced as her attempts to force the wound closed with magic were met with an almost necrotic resistance.

She blotted the pain out, and surrendered herself to instinct with but one final thought.

Forgive me, Luna.