Chapters Those things we leave behind
Chapter 1 - The Three Friends
“Tia?” came a familiar voice.
“Are we just going to keep pondering on our memories, or are we going to explore?!” came a third voice.
It was rare that ponies and Draconequui ever became friends. The two lived on opposite sides of Equestria and rarely came into contact. The two ponies had been on the borderlands when they had met him. They became fast friends and stuck together. The story of how they had fended off an angry Gryphon was legendary! Or at least they thought so. Ever since Celestia and Luna’s parents had passed away, the two had been travelling; looking for a place they could settle down and call home. They had yet to find someplace like that, and had a feeling Lancie wanted to keep it that way so they could keep having fun.
The three of them pressed on into the dark, dank cave.
As they got further into the cave, they heard an odd rumbling noise, as if something was stirring deep within.
They carried on through the cave, jumping down from rock to rock, descending into more darkness. The rumbling only seemed to get louder and take the shape of a roar. Distant still, but a roar nonetheless…
Wordlessly, Celestia descended into the darkness, Luna following close behind her. Soon enough, they came to a part of the cave that was lit and incredibly warm too.
There was a distinct snore from the emerald green beast laying asleep in front of the three of them.
“Oh look.” Came an angry, deep voice, “A midnight snack.”
Those things we leave behind
She hadn’t been that much younger than she was right now when she had ventured into that cave. She remembered that fateful day more than she ever wanted to. Nightmares of it still plagued her. But it wasn’t what she encountered that had scared her so. It was what she had done for her own safety. Something Celestia never would have, and something she doubted she would have the ability to do…right now anyway.
Celestia had been off gathering supplies for the night. They had been setting up camp next to what seemed like a small cave. Bored and with nothing to do until her sister returned, the Alicorn decided to foray into the cave. It seemed fine at first. The cave was dimly lit so she could vaguely see where she was going. It became apparent to her that the cave descended for some way, though she chose to carry on exploring. As she jumped and climbed over a set of rocks, a distinct rumbling hit her ears. That should have been Luna’s first warning that something not friendly was lurking in the bowels of the stone walls. She chose to ignore the warning and continued exploring.
After what felt like some time, she figured Celestia must have returned by this point. What little lighting the cave had was also fading. That should have been her second warning, yet she chose to ignore those facts too. After casting a small spell, enough to light a small way in front of her, the young filly continued forwards. She reached a ledge which seemed to drop down into the bottom of the cave. Before moving a hoof off the ledge, she heard snoring for the first time. That should have been her final warning. Instead, curiosity filled Luna to the brim. She spread her wings and slowly flew down to the bottom of the cavern. The light from her spell revealed what awaited her. It was a very large, blue dragon. It was snoring heavily and guarding a huge mountain of gems and several other precious looking metals.
Luna stared in shock at what she had found. She had been told a little about dragons by her parents. It had been one single, stern warning. Never, no matter what, ever wake a sleeping dragon or even think about touching its hoard of gems. The warning echoed in Luna’s head. She had no intention of disobeying it. She slowly took a few paces backwards so she had enough distance between her and the great beast in order to take flight and make it out of the cave as quickly as possible. There was no doubt in her mind she would receive a stern scolding from Celestia once she returned.
Her wings unfurled and she gently glided up to the ledge she had flown down from. However, she misjudged her footing. The girl slipped and went tumbling down into the pit, hitting the bottom with a loud thud. Luna groaned in pain as she checked herself for injuries. She had managed to not injure either of her wings, which was a good sign. Slowly she lifted herself onto her hooves and sighed quietly. She turned around to try again, only this time she was greeted by two large yellow eyes glaring at her.
“Pray tell…” came a quiet, but powerful voice, “what is a puny pony doing in my cave?”
The world seemed to slow infinitely into darkness. Luna was surrounded by a nothingness she had never felt before. The anger of the dragon, the inevitable disappointment of Celestia…they all seemed miles away, another lifetime away. Where was she? Did it even matter? That darkness around her, it felt consuming. It felt as though it had jaws and was coming to eat her alive. What on Equestria was happening?!
Luna sighed. It felt like the sigh lasted a lifetime.
Luna said nothing for the longest time.
Time readjusted itself as the dragon loosed its flames onto Luna. But they had no effect on the shield she had produced. A dark, thick bubble that caused the flames to evaporate into nothingness, as if someone had flung the weakest of spells at her. The dragon recoiled in shock.
Luna leapt a few feet backwards, the smirk on her face only growing. She turned her head to something that it seemed only she could see. In the infinite space, the ‘real’ Luna could only stare in horror at the events that were unfolding before her eyes.
“You must be wondering by now, how is it I have the power to tear off a dragon’s scales? It’s simple really. I told you, I am simply demonstrating the raw power you have at your disposal as an Alicorn. You want to know the best part little Luna? This isn’t even your most powerful.”
Several moments of unconsciousness later or perhaps several days…she couldn’t be sure, Luna opened her eyes to only darkness. She felt a horrible pain on her head where she must have bumped it.
Those things we leave behind
Chapter 2 - The Sun's warmth
Luna’s eyes were tightly shut. She was scared, her entire body was shaking. Not just from the belief that she was probably dying, but the fact that if she wasn’t, she could be about to do something terrible if her dream had been more than just a dream. Slowly but surely she opened her eyes. She felt something soft and comforting around her. She looked around and saw one of Celestia’s wings wrapped around her, protecting her. But that couldn’t protect them from the fire, so how were they safe? Looking up more, she saw something else. It was golden, shining like the sun. A sphere was protecting them. Luna looked up at her sister and saw her horn glowing, and understood in that instant.
“Are…are you mad, Tia?” Luna asked, her voice filled with a deep sadness.
They ran as fast as they could, managing to make it out of the cave relatively quickly. Thankfully, the dragon seemed more than happy to get rid of them and hadn’t pursued them.
“Eggs.” Celestia said simply.
The three of them walked for some way before finding the camp they had left before going on their exploration.
Night had fallen over Equestria. Lancie and Celestia were fast asleep in their tents. However, in the third, Luna was plagued by nightmares. Vision after vision came in an onslaught of her mind. The first were of Equestria’s past. How it was formed, and how it nearly never happened. Then it fast forwarded to her sister’s birth, and then her own birth. Then it fast forwarded and showed her visions of that horrific dream she had had. Next it seemed to fast forward to today where she saw the love and motherly kindness in Celestia. Then it fast forwarded, to events that hadn’t happened yet. They weren’t as clear. She saw the discovery of some kind of gems, not usual gems, but gems that seemed to carry godlike powers inside them. She saw ponies from all over found a new city called ‘Canterlot’. She saw Lancie and Celestia behind closed doors. She saw a threat to the entire world, and the three of them somehow put a stop to it. She saw Lancie and Celestia get into the mother of all fights, and Lancie transforming into something new…something terrible…She saw the entire kingdom fall under the reign of a terrible tyrant. She saw herself and Celestia put an end to it with the gems they had discovered…something about harmony and discord…She saw them discovering their cutie marks in the process. Even further still, she and Celestia being declared princesses for saving the world, and helping Equestria and ruling over it. But further than that, it got even blurrier and quicker. She saw herself become a horrible monster. She saw Celestia’s heart shatter for the second time. Fast forward an indefinable amount of time and there were six ponies…there were those stones, and she returned. From there though…things became too blurry to see. That was her limit…
Luna awoke with cries and screams that rent the night air. She had been plagued with dreams and nightmares since her birth, but this was the worst of all! The things she had seen…the things she had seen herself do, and Celestia for that matter. All for the sake of protecting the world. But beyond that darkness came a single glimmer of hope…and it was the seed that had been planted earlier. The love of Celestia, so grand and unquenchable it saved Equestria twice from the people she loved the most.
A single white hoof opened Luna’s tent. Luna was on the ground, doubled up in tears. How could she do those things to Celestia? To her own sister?!
“I’m sorry Tia…sorry I’m so weak.” She sobbed.
Those things we leave behind
Author's note to everyone - This is my first Fanfic, I hope you like ^^. I'm sorry if it's not perfect, but I'm always looking to improve =) I try to get my grammar as perfect as I can within the limits of how I tend to write, but things will always slip through the net.
The mare stared down at what she had produced. The beautiful young filly had a coat of midnight blue. Her mane, although short right now, was the same shade of the night sky and almost looked as though it had the stars themselves speckled in it. A smile crossed both of their faces.
As if from nowhere, a new figure had materialised. The mare was not very old, but seemed to carry herself with a grace and poise far beyond her years. Her horn was short but sharp, honed from a few years of practice since her birth. Her wings were growing too. They had not yet reached more than a metre across, but were still growing strong. Her white coat was shining in the light of the moon. The only thing odd about her was her garish, neon green mane.
“Her name is Luna.” Her mother said softly, gazing at them both with affection.
The moment of happiness seemed as though it would last forever.
