Journal of the Starsby Et-Luna-Et-StellisChaptersPrologueDreamsSmoke ScreenNorthen LightsPrologue3000 years ago "Sister, I beg of you." "Luna, I have already expressed my view on this point. It is just a dream." Luna skidded around the corner of the narrow hallway, chasing after her fairer and (to her disgust) rather prettier sister. Celestia was older, and looked it. She already had the graceful stride inherited from her mother, and her tinted mane was beginning to flow around her shoulders, lifted as if by a slight breeze. She was taller than Luna, and decked in her crown and golden horse shoes, looked nothing less of a leader. "Tia, please! This one is different, it wasn't natural, it wa-" "Luna, drop it. Mother has already spoken to you about this. It is a dream, nothing more or less. If you are to be a leader, you should stop acting like a foal!" Luna glared at her sisters purple eyes, so unlike her turquoise ones. Although Luna was a head and a bit shorter, Celestia often made her feel as if she was around one hoof off the ground. "This. Wasn't. A. Dream." Luna hissed through gritted teeth. Dark as her sister was fair, her lavender mane was silky and reached past her shoulders and dragged slightly on the floor. Her sister might have taken after their mother, but Luna had inherited not only her father's dark coat and eyes, but also his stubbornness and short temper. "Sister, listen to me. He is dangerous. We do not know his origins, we do not know his methods- for all we know, he could kill you and not bat an eye!" Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Luna-" She began. "No! You have to understand, you must! It wasn't even a dream, it made the one I was having stop and I saw this instead!" Luna heard the plead in her voice and hated herself for it. But as much as her sister taunted her and told her to grow up, she would rather die than see her hurt like this. "Luna," Her voice had hardened, taking on a tone her mother often used herself. "Luna, I understand your concern. But Discord is trustworthy. He has already proven himself, has he not? He and his kind have fought on our side before and he even gave us inside information from the Griffin Kingdom." "He is a Draconeques, he cannot- should not!- be trusted! It's what he wants! He wants to control you like a puppet, and by dating him your giving him all he-" "Is that you or Starswirl speaking?" Asks Celestia smoothly, starting to walk onwards, Luna trotting in her wake. A dull blush appears on Luna's cheeks. "I- He- What? No of course, its me!" She blustered and the blush increased, turning her cheeks a light pink. "Do you think he's possessing me or something?" She let loose a slightly hysterical laugh. Most of her bravado had already been lost. Celestia grinned smugly. "I thought there was something between you two. Too much time spent in the library. And," She grinned even wider, "You started wearing perfume." Luna's cheeks were now a darker shade of pink. The blush had spread to the top of her muzzle. "D-don't change the subject," She muttered; "You are going out with Discord." It was Celestia's turn to blush. "So what if I am? I'm big enough to decide what's good for me." Luna's cheeks returned to their previous dark blue, and her eyes were once again narrowed in argument. "You had all of the colts of Equestria to choose from. You're a Princess. And you go for a dude who's not even a colt, not even a PONY. You go for a guy who appears out of nowhere and presents himself as a refugee. And you snog him. " Celestia suddenly stopped gazing at Luna's face and instead looked beyond her. Her eyes were wide with shock. Luna spun around and stared. Hoofsteps away from her is the Draconeqeus in question, gleeful face alight with a smile. "How much of that did you hear?" Luna demands. Discord grins unabashedly; "The part when you question your sisters good taste in guys. And honestly, I wouldn't snog her if I was presented with a life and death choice." He walks towards the pair of them on all fours, tail playfully tickling Luna's muzzle. Celestia giggles and swats at him with a hoof. "D, that's not true." Luna glared at the pair of them. Discord smiled innocently at her. "Nice mane. It looks better long.More like your sisters." Luna acknowledged the compliment with a cold nod. "Well," she said stiffly, "I'll be in my bedroom." Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked towards the nearest stair case. Her room was in the tallest tower in the castle, and she would usually teleport there herself, but she needed time to think. And time to make sure she wasn't being followed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * When she finally got to the peace and serenity of her bedroom, she sighed and automatically locked the door. She trotted towards her desk. The floor boards echoed and amplified her hoofsteps, the occasional threadbare rug doing nothing to help. Unlike her sister, Luna craved simplicity. She rummaged through the one drawer in the desk and found what she was looking for in seconds. Levitating it in her magic, she turned towards the en suite bathroom. Is it worth it? Yes, it is, replied a quiet voice in her head. It certainly is. Walking purposefully through the bathroom door, she gazed at the mirror above the white sink. She would do it. She walked in front of the mirror, levitating the object unto a shelf. She would do it. She began to to braid her tail. It took her mere seconds but it felt like hours. She wouldn't stop, not now. Luna took a gulp of air and continued. She braided her mane over her shoulder. She wouldn't stop. Luna levitated the object towards her. Her heart was beating hard. Would she dare do that what ultimately make her vulnerable for months, possibly years? But Luna knew the answer. Holding the scissors in her magic, she cut the braid of her tail leaving a choppy stump of hair. She immediately felt the difference. Her magic weakened, the blue haze around the scissors growing faint. She felt tired, so tired that even holding the scissors in her magic was a big effort. Alicorn magic was dependent on sources- Luna's source was the mane that so ressembled her fathers. Celestia's was unknown to her. She began to feel even more tired. The scissors started to wobble. She had to finish what she started. Lifting the scissors, she cut off the braid of her mane. The scissors clattered to the floor. She was at the brink of fatigue. Her hair was now chin length, and felt dull and coarse on her cheek. She felt exhaustion leaden her legs and make her clumsy. Her eye lids felt ridiculously heavy. Taking one last look at the mirror, she smiles. "I am not my sister and I will not look like my sister." Luna mutters before her eyes close and she drifts off to a heavy sleep. DreamsPresent Day It was dark. Celestia raised her head; she had changed from the youthful teenager she had once been: her mane was fully coloured and waved as if in a breeze; she was always taller than her sister, but now her build would be described as willowy. Her horn lit up with a stark, white light. It did almost nothing to dispel the darkness. She turned around. There was somepony there. She was also an alicorn, but while Celestia was tall, she was shorter. She had a thin build reminiscent of a foal and her wide blue eyes emphasized the resemblance. Her mane was a shoulder length wave of blue and navy, and she had no cutiemark. "Ocean Current," whispered Celestia. "How are you?" Celestia trotted towards her. The foal screamed and back away, thrashing; she had a wound in her neck, pouring dark blood unto her pristine light blue coat; she writhed on the ground and slowed to a crawl. "No!" Shouted Celestia, galloping towards the alicorn. "Sister, s-stop hurting me!" screamed the foal. The scene changed. Celestia was standing in a desert, another pair of alicorns facing her; they were almost identical in everything but cutiemark. One had a solitary flame and the other a raging inferno of fire. They had green eyes and startlingly pale coats, which were a pastel shade of light green. Both their manes and tails were light shades of red. They spoke in unison; "Celestia, you have betrayed us. You are a traitor undeserving of your title.We are ashamed to call you sister." A harsh wind whipped up from behind them, throwing sand and grit in Celestia's wet eyes. The wind began to strip the mares of their flesh, blood flying everywhere. "Forest Fire! Glade Flame! Please," Moaned Celestia. "I'm sorry!" By the time she had finished speaking the wind had stopped and two skeletons lay bleaching in the sand. The scene changed. Celestia was now in the old courtyard of her castle. Before her stood a another alicorn, taller this time. Celestia cowered in her shadow. Her mane was a mirror image of hers, as was her tail. Her coat was also a glowing shade of white, but that was when the similarities stopped. Her eyes were a deep red and her cutiemark was that of a golden crown. Her eyes were narrowed in hatred. "Celestia," The voice that came from the mare was low and cold. "What have you done?" Celestia couldn't stop the tears from flowing; her eldest sister had always been intimidating. "I-I-I'm s-sorry," she sobbed, lowering her head. "I'm sorry?" Screeched the mare. "I'M SORRY? What will your sorry do to those who are dead?! What will your sorry give to the destruction you have recklessly caused?! Because of you, our sisters lie dead! Because of you, Essence has died!" Celestia turned to see another foals body, this one with a pink mane, brown eyes and a white coat. She had no cutiemark. "Essence of Hope," whispered Celestia. Her body was spread at an awkward angle, as if she had fallen from a great height. Her hoofs were broken, but her glassy brown eyes stared unseeingly. "Aurora, what's happening?" Luna had appeared behind Aurora, looking younger than any of the foals Celestia had seen. She still had no cutiemark. Aurora turned towards Celestia, a cruel glint in her eyes. "You have destroyed everything I hold dear. Now it is my turn." Aurora lunged towards the filly, trapping in her under her body weight, hitting every part of her she could reach. Luna screamed in agony. Celestia tried to run but she couldn't. She tried to harness her magic, but she couldn't. She was stuck, watching her youngest sister slowly die. Tears spilled over her cheeks. She was powerless to stop it. Aurora hit Luna again and again, her cries and sobs ringing out to join her sister's. Then, her screams faded and her eyes turned glassy. Aurora was covered in blood, and continued to hit the filly, maniacal laughter ringing out. "LUNA!" Screamed Celestia. **************************************************************************************************************** "I am here, sister." Luna stood behind the head board of Celestia's bed her eyes still glowing white with the fading of the nightmare. Celestia sobbed on the bed, covering her face with her hooves. Luna silently walked over to face her sister, her eyes now their usual turquoise. "I had no idea that you still had those nightmares." She whispered softly. Celestia continued to sob into her hooves. "I s-see them d-dead all the t-t-time," She hiccuped. "It's always t-them d-dead." Luna stroked her sisters mane, even now rippling as if in a breeze. "It's okay," she whispered, "It's over now." Celestia's bedroom was quite big. She had a round bed almost touching the floor, silk duvet covering it fully; pink gauze curtains covered her two windows. She also had a plush white carpet padded every where. Intricate designs of great complexity lined the walls tapestries, and even her bathroom was decorated in shades of gold, white and pink. Celestia spent hours at a time following a single gold thread through all of the 15 tapestries in her room. When Celestia calmed down enough to sit up in a more dignified position, the golden clock on the wall chimed midnight. The last of the sobs racked Celestia's body and Luna gave her a swift hug. "Sister, but you must tell me- why were you and Aurora always fighting? I had always gotten an impression that you didn't get along, but nothing this serious..." Celestia looked up at her younger sister tearfully. "Do we have to talk about this?" She asked weakly. "Yes," Luna stated firmly. "Talking about it makes it better. Don't keep things like this bottled up." Celestia looked at her hooves and patted the cushion next to her, willing Luna to sit down. Luna obliged, and sat next to her sister. Celestia took a deep breath. "You see, Aurora Wind was born first. She was but two years older than me, and we were identical, at start. She would always help me, play with me, be the big sister I knew and loved. Then, when I was two and she four, another set of twins were born. Glade Flame and Forest Fire were... different. They were closer than us in ways we then did not even begin to comprehend. Aurora began to spend more time with them, as they were younger and, in her eyes, better company than a two year old twin who copied everything she did." Celestia lowered her head even lower. Rain battered against the windows, the drip-drop adding to the silence. "Aurora was everything I wanted to be. She was smart, elegant, and rather...ruthless. She had an independent streak that utterly destroyed her, in later years. I wanted to be just like my big sister. We had our first fight when we were seven and nine." Celestia's ears drooped. "She told me to stop copying her. To grow up and act like the future leader I had to be. So I tried. And tried. And tried again. But no matter what I did, she would always find something hurtful to say, to bring me lower. It got to the point when she would rather die than live knowing such an embarrassment was part of her blood. And she died." Celestia stared at the wall facing her. Luna looked up as well. Celestia was looking at a tapestry depicting a cliff with a shear drop, and a snow white figure standing on it. Celestia then covered her face in her hooves again and stated the fact coldly, without any emotion. "She died because of me." Smoke ScreenLuna trotted slowly from her sisters room. This didn't make sense. She had been in the dream realm, focusing on trying to see what the colts and fillies of Canterlot were dreaming. Instead of the normal portals holding images of the dreams in question, she had received just one- her sisters, which had more death and gore held in it's depths than Luna had seen since before she turned into Night Mare Moon. Why weren't the others accessible? But it didn't matter. The night was almost over, and before then, she had to help those who else needed it. Holding her breath, she twisted on the spot and walked forward, eyes closed. Before she even opened them, she knew it had worked. The air had become free and pure, and contained none of the metallic taint she had come to associate with the outdoors of the castle. She was in the dream realm. It was utterly enormous- or was it pitifully small?- and contained things of more importance than her own existence. It was dark blue and went on forever, its depths glittering mysteriously, enticingly. And so she called forth the dreams of her subjects, eyes closed and head tilted back. And this time it worked. The portals were there, each containing a different image- some a happy land of tea parties and ice cream, others, more dark and foreboding. She surveyed the portals which seemed to stretch on forever; they went in no orderly line but all over the place. She began to jump, looking left and right, searching for a dream that was going out of place, turning into a nightmare. She found what she was looking for before long. It was a mares dream. This was unusual, as the ponies who mostly had nightmares were young colts and fillies. Having a fully grown mare with a nightmare was almost problematic. Unlike foals, they couldn't always dismiss Luna as just a Princess. Adults would question and investigate, which was uncomfortable at the least. And some adults did the unadvised and tried to woo her. That was very annoying indeed. Shaking her head, Luna leaped towards the door, and assumed her usual position of viewing- behind the moon. Still frowning slightly, she watched the scene unfold below her. It was horrifying at the least. The mare was in a laboratory, lying on a hard metal table. Her hooves were stripped down to almost the bone and drenched in blood. It was evident that it wasn't the first time she was having the dream. She lay unmoving- not screaming for help, not yelling in agony. She had already accepted fate and was waiting for what was to come. The mare's blue eyes were dilated in terror, yet she was silent. Her cream coat was matted with congealed blood and a mixture of wires and tags. A shadow approached her, holding a series of medical instruments on a tray. The shadow formed into another mare, white coat and pink mane- Luna recognized her. She used to have dreams of operations going wrong and of failing her task- healing ponies. Nurse Redheart had a gleam in her blue eyes that was never there in reality- a mad gleam, a gleam that suggested recklessness. As the pony laid the tray on the floor, vanishing once more to the shadows, Luna realized who the mare was- Bon Bon. She was closely tied in with Lyra Heartstrings' dreams, and Luna knew Lyra quite well- many nightmares, when she was both young and older. And the problem hit Luna- Bon Bon was nosocomiphobic. She had an excessive fear of hospitals. Judging by the nature of the phobia in question, Luna figured it would be unwise to show herself this time- she might mistake her for a medic and panic, making her wake up and ultimately making her have the same nightmare again. Dreams were complicated. And although Luna admired how the pony mind was capable of producing them she still valued simplicity in this matter. It was best for the form of help to come in a different package. Igniting her horn, Luna concentrated on the one pony Bon Bon could trust in this situation. Lyra Heartstrings was taken from her dream of performing on the Lyre faster than she could protest. Luna smiled humorously; maybe this was how Discord felt, controlling all the ponies like puppets when he was on the throne. Lyra arrived beside Luna in a matter of heart beats. She looked rather dazed, but not surprised enough to wake up. "Go help your friend; you came here of your own accord. You shall not remember this. The shadow can be dispelled by laughter." Luna smiled as Lyra trotted obediently to Bon Bon, untying the straps holding her down. She loved working behind the scenes- she was no longer the pony she used to be. She turned, about to leave the dream, when the foul odor of a nightmare distinctly radiated from the room she had been observing. The shadow had returned. Nurse Redheart was angry, and was brandishing a gigantic pair of medical scissors. Lyra looked like she might suffocate under laughter; she had her hoof stuck in her mouth to prevent the giggles from escaping. Bon Bon thought one look at her and burst out laughing. Luna smiled; now, surely, the figure of the Nurse would disappear? She wasn't disappointed- the figure melted to the floor and both mares were giggling despite themselves. Now the dream would end and both mares would wake up. Once more, she turned to leave. The air burned with a melted-plastic-like taint- the scent Luna had grown accustomed to in all nightmares. The shadow was growing again. And another thing happened at the same time. The walls and ceiling began to push forward, the laboratory turning to a blank metal room. The shadow was now changing, growing bigger and bulky. Muscles rippled and tightened on the Nurse, her demeanor now considerably less pony like. It grew until it almost filled the room it was in, filling it with the musky smell of serpent. Luna hated snakes. Her fear was second only to- the thing streched, bulbous wings erupting from it's hide, scales coating it's body, the four limbs lengthened and split into jagged claws, the thing's tail grew longer and turned a cold shade of grey. What in Tartarus was this thing? The thing was huge, filling up most of the room available in the black space, it towered above the ponies. Utterly terrified, both were hugging each other for support. Lyra's pupils were dilated to mere pinpricks as her claustrophobia kicked in. Bon Bon was looking up in awe and horror. The records of the thing it most resembled were destroyed before Luna could walk. They mustn't wake up. They mustn't. It was Bon Bon's dream, if she woke up now, the dream would disappear and both Luna and this thing would return to the dream realm. The thing might ravage into others dreams, causing the biggest nightmares since before the plague was cured. And the only way to keep Bon Bon from waking up was to go in the dream herself. And hope that the number of first person shooters including herself and her sister played by Bon Bon will disguise her. Luna jumped through the viewing screen that was the moon, landing lightly on her hooves. The thing only had to glance at Luna for her jaw to drop. This couldn't be an ordinary nightmare. It's eyes bored into hers, searching for a weakness, for an impulse to fight, but none came. Luna stared, eyes open wide, at the thing. Lyra looked heartily confused and scared; with a barely audible "puff" she disappeared. The room suddenly expanded again. Bon Bon stared at Luna in shock. Luna needed to act fast; this thing looked reptillian, with a long tail for balance and webbed claws. This meant it was suited to water. And what was the opposite of water? Luna let loose a blazing inferno of fire at the creature, aiming for it's eyes and face; the blast hit and the creature was knocked over by it's power. And as if coming from a great distance, Luna heard a series of pings: a green bar was hovering above the creature, and with every ping the bar turned steadily more orange. The pings stopped; the bar was now half of it's original size and a deep violent shade of orange. It was like a fighting game. Luna glanced above her to see a full green bar. She turned around to see Bon Bon looking expectant. Too many video games, Luna thought wryly. The creature was back on it's feet; it now looked mad. One of it's eyes was reduced to a puffy black slit. The other was narrowed in fury. Judging by it's body language, it was going to charge. The floor was covered in tiles; they were flat and hard, with little grip available. If this creature was indeed water-dwelling, it would have difficulty on land and wouldn't be able to grip much with it's claws. Luna thought frantically; what would you do in a street style fighter? Trip the opponent, whispered a voice in her head. Even as she came to the conclusion, she knew it was no good. The creature was too close. Yet... there was something she could do. The creature charged and as it did so, Luna created a wall of fire in front of her and Bon Bon; the creature saw its mistake too late- even as it's claws skidded across the tiles scrabbling for purchase it was engulfed in fire, head, stomach, thrashing limbs and all. The pings were now so fast it was almost impossible to distinguish them from one another; The bar above the things head was now a deep shade of red bordering on black. It was almost empty. Burnt and hissing in pain, the thing looked upon Luna's eyes; they were sorrowful, and, surprisingly, wet with unshed tears. The sight captivated her, entranced her; they were so alike, and yet so different, and for a moment like he was looking at her directly. And before she could do anything, it lashed out. It didn't cause her any pain, but she cried out nevertheless; a hank of her mane fell, the cut straight as if done by scissors. She danced back, out of reach, but she knew it was no good; the bar above her head dropped down to a light shade of black. If the thing could smile, it would have. She had to destroy it. The thought rang out throw her head even as she swayed. She had to kill the thing. Harnessing what was left of her energy, she flung a last sphere of flame at the creature. It's bar went completely empty; as did Luna's. ****************************************************************************************** She felt herself thud unto the wooden frame of the bed. She breathed deeply; the air smelled slightly of cookies. It was time to lower the moon. Walking to the balcony of her room, she removed the stars and moon from the sky. The heavens paled as dawn spread throughout the land. Without waiting to see the sun, Luna closed the door to the balcony and drew the curtains of dark blue cotton. Without any hesitation she dropped unto the bed again and begin to sob; the creature had reminded her of the reason never wanted to be a Princess. The reason she never took students. Northen LightsFour Thousand Years Ago “It is unorthodox.” “Yes, it is.” Aurora stared at the filly who had spoken. The mares surrounding her giggled. “How cute!” one exclaims. “Aw, isn’t she adorable?” Aurora turned to Celestia. “I didn’t ask your opinion,” she said coldly. Celestia looked up at her big sister and grinned an almost toothless smile. “No, you didn’t.” She stuck her tongue out. The mares laughed. “What cheek!” A unicorn with a blue mane smiled. “She looks the spitting image of you, you’re so lucky, A!” Aurora forced her face into a smile and did a passable imitation of a laugh, “She’s quite the cutie! Tia, can I tell you something in secret? Outside?” The mares break into a series of giggles and chit chats. Aurora wondered how this was even slightly similar to a study group. Leaving the warm chamber full of cushions and golden streaming light, Aurora trotted calmly outside. Celestia followed her, tripping over her own hooves as she attempted to copy the regal strut of her older sister. When a safe distance away from the room, Aurora started to talk. The dimmed light in the corridor gave her face a slightly skeletal appearance. “What. Was. That?” Her narrowed eyes were inches away from the fillies eyes. “I-I-I’m sorry, Aurora, I just-” “Just what? JUST WHAT? I only allowed you to come with me because you promised not to do anything. You promised you’d shut up for ten minutes and I’d let you hang around for an hour or two, maybe longer. You know you’ve ruined your only chance, now, don’t you?” Tears gathered in the filly’s eyes. “I-I-I just wanted to help, I-” “I. Don’t. CARE. You didn’t keep your side of the bargain. Now, I won’t keep mine.” Aurora’s royal purple eyes met her twins lighter violet ones. They were one of the only differences between them. Aurora grinned cruelly; “Consider all of the east side of the building out of bounds.” Celestia’s resistance crumpled; “B-but my bedroom is on the east side! As is the dining room and Mommy and Daddy’s room!” Aurora looked mockingly thoughtful; “I guess you’ll have to sleep and eat else where then.” Celestia’s legs gave up beneath her; tears flowed down her cheeks and and her sobs racked her body. “W-w-w-why?” She cried. Aurora crouched down beside her twin, looking into her wet eyes. “Because I just can’t trust you anymore, can I?” She stood up abruptly and walked back towards the warm room full of laughter and smiles. Fixing an innocent smile on her face, Aurora walked in and openly testified, “Celestia has forgotten to do some of her homework and she’s gone off to do it now.” The mares broke into chat again, discussing how Celestia is a model to all sisters and how Aurora should prize having her in the family. Aurora couldn’t disagree more. ************************************************************* It was sunset; if Celestia’s parents were home, she’d be in bed. But as they were away for some political reasons with the second set of twins, Celestia believed with all her heart that Aurora would make her sleep out of her bedroom for two weeks. And she did have homework to do, which she didn’t plan on handing in undone. She stealthily crept across the corridor leading to her bedroom; the door was unlocked and her sister was safely three floors below her, still studying with her friends. Letting out a deep breath, she opened the door of her room. It was rather dark and stuffy, in comparison to the corridor; its walls were white, as was the ceiling, the bed, and the drawn curtains. Without missing a beat, the filly grabbed her saddle bags and piled all her books, ink, quills and scrolls of parchment into them, until they were bulging fit to burst. They were heavy, almost too heavy for the filly to carry. Looking around for one more thing she could carry, she decided on a plush white blanket. The saddle bags now on her back and the blanket in her teeth, Celestia galloped as fast as she could away from the east side of the castle, into the unknown and unfriendly-looking west. The blanket dragged on the floor, occasionally sending Celestia stumbling; after a few minutes of galloping with a heavy load, she began to tire, and wonder where she could sleep. The observatory? Aurora visited it way too often. The throne room? On the east side. Celestia began to wonder where she could find a map of the whole castle… The Library! Without a second thought, Celestia half-wobbled half trotted to the place her Mommy visited on a regular basis when in the castle. By the time she had descended to the first floor of the building, the moon was already a pale spot in the sky, surrounded by shining stars. Tired but still determined, she opened the oak doors and tumbled in. The Library was huge. It’s shelves rose high along the walls, candles lighting every spot. And along with all those books, there was a wooden table, with a joining chairs. And even though Celestia wanted to find a map of the castle as soon as possible, she was tired, and her legs hurt. Shutting the door behind her, the tiny princess sat on a chair, sighing in relief; she put the saddle bags down beside her and tilted slightly on her chair to open them. With a noise like hundreds of galloping hooves and a wind strong enough to blow her mane off her shoulders, the lights of the candelabra in front of her extinguished. Jumping off the chair in shock, she turned around to see that the shelves behind her had moved aside to reveal a small room. She couldn’t believe her luck. She ran in to examine it. The room before her had a few small cushions scattered inside it; it had no windows, but a couple of candles stood amongst regular intervals. It was perfect. Celestia ran back out of the room with haste. She bit down on the strap between her saddle bags and dragged them into the room. Then she came back for the blanket. When safely inside with all her possessions, Tia wondered how she could possibly close the door to the room. If she couldn’t, anyone would be able to just walk in and see her. The filly looked around from her new room for a couple of minutes. Then she spotted it- the chair she had sat on was still tilted back, and one of it’s front legs was on a small metal arc. To close the room, she had to tilt the chair. But how to do so without being locked out? Magic. She had to push the chair back with magic. Celestia frowned slightly. She could hardly ever use magic, because she was still a filly. The most she could normally do was turn a page in a book, at the most levitate said book, assuming it was quite thin. She would have to see if she could produce enough push to get the chair back in place. Concentrating solely on the chair, Celestia’s horn lit up; she gritted her teeth and forced her magic to push the chair forward. The chair gave no resistance and fell back into place.The door of book shelves swung shut, leaving Celestia in semi darkness. Then, the filly noticed another source of light; there was a small hole on the bookcase-door, small enough to see a fraction of the room. Small enough for Celestia only to see the chair and be able to force it open whenever she wanted. Celestia sighed in relief. Maybe these two weeks wouldn’t be that bad after all, she concluded, plopping herself onto a couple of fat, soft cushions and covering herself with her blanket.
Prologue3000 years ago "Sister, I beg of you." "Luna, I have already expressed my view on this point. It is just a dream." Luna skidded around the corner of the narrow hallway, chasing after her fairer and (to her disgust) rather prettier sister. Celestia was older, and looked it. She already had the graceful stride inherited from her mother, and her tinted mane was beginning to flow around her shoulders, lifted as if by a slight breeze. She was taller than Luna, and decked in her crown and golden horse shoes, looked nothing less of a leader. "Tia, please! This one is different, it wasn't natural, it wa-" "Luna, drop it. Mother has already spoken to you about this. It is a dream, nothing more or less. If you are to be a leader, you should stop acting like a foal!" Luna glared at her sisters purple eyes, so unlike her turquoise ones. Although Luna was a head and a bit shorter, Celestia often made her feel as if she was around one hoof off the ground. "This. Wasn't. A. Dream." Luna hissed through gritted teeth. Dark as her sister was fair, her lavender mane was silky and reached past her shoulders and dragged slightly on the floor. Her sister might have taken after their mother, but Luna had inherited not only her father's dark coat and eyes, but also his stubbornness and short temper. "Sister, listen to me. He is dangerous. We do not know his origins, we do not know his methods- for all we know, he could kill you and not bat an eye!" Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Luna-" She began. "No! You have to understand, you must! It wasn't even a dream, it made the one I was having stop and I saw this instead!" Luna heard the plead in her voice and hated herself for it. But as much as her sister taunted her and told her to grow up, she would rather die than see her hurt like this. "Luna," Her voice had hardened, taking on a tone her mother often used herself. "Luna, I understand your concern. But Discord is trustworthy. He has already proven himself, has he not? He and his kind have fought on our side before and he even gave us inside information from the Griffin Kingdom." "He is a Draconeques, he cannot- should not!- be trusted! It's what he wants! He wants to control you like a puppet, and by dating him your giving him all he-" "Is that you or Starswirl speaking?" Asks Celestia smoothly, starting to walk onwards, Luna trotting in her wake. A dull blush appears on Luna's cheeks. "I- He- What? No of course, its me!" She blustered and the blush increased, turning her cheeks a light pink. "Do you think he's possessing me or something?" She let loose a slightly hysterical laugh. Most of her bravado had already been lost. Celestia grinned smugly. "I thought there was something between you two. Too much time spent in the library. And," She grinned even wider, "You started wearing perfume." Luna's cheeks were now a darker shade of pink. The blush had spread to the top of her muzzle. "D-don't change the subject," She muttered; "You are going out with Discord." It was Celestia's turn to blush. "So what if I am? I'm big enough to decide what's good for me." Luna's cheeks returned to their previous dark blue, and her eyes were once again narrowed in argument. "You had all of the colts of Equestria to choose from. You're a Princess. And you go for a dude who's not even a colt, not even a PONY. You go for a guy who appears out of nowhere and presents himself as a refugee. And you snog him. " Celestia suddenly stopped gazing at Luna's face and instead looked beyond her. Her eyes were wide with shock. Luna spun around and stared. Hoofsteps away from her is the Draconeqeus in question, gleeful face alight with a smile. "How much of that did you hear?" Luna demands. Discord grins unabashedly; "The part when you question your sisters good taste in guys. And honestly, I wouldn't snog her if I was presented with a life and death choice." He walks towards the pair of them on all fours, tail playfully tickling Luna's muzzle. Celestia giggles and swats at him with a hoof. "D, that's not true." Luna glared at the pair of them. Discord smiled innocently at her. "Nice mane. It looks better long.More like your sisters." Luna acknowledged the compliment with a cold nod. "Well," she said stiffly, "I'll be in my bedroom." Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked towards the nearest stair case. Her room was in the tallest tower in the castle, and she would usually teleport there herself, but she needed time to think. And time to make sure she wasn't being followed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * When she finally got to the peace and serenity of her bedroom, she sighed and automatically locked the door. She trotted towards her desk. The floor boards echoed and amplified her hoofsteps, the occasional threadbare rug doing nothing to help. Unlike her sister, Luna craved simplicity. She rummaged through the one drawer in the desk and found what she was looking for in seconds. Levitating it in her magic, she turned towards the en suite bathroom. Is it worth it? Yes, it is, replied a quiet voice in her head. It certainly is. Walking purposefully through the bathroom door, she gazed at the mirror above the white sink. She would do it. She walked in front of the mirror, levitating the object unto a shelf. She would do it. She began to to braid her tail. It took her mere seconds but it felt like hours. She wouldn't stop, not now. Luna took a gulp of air and continued. She braided her mane over her shoulder. She wouldn't stop. Luna levitated the object towards her. Her heart was beating hard. Would she dare do that what ultimately make her vulnerable for months, possibly years? But Luna knew the answer. Holding the scissors in her magic, she cut the braid of her tail leaving a choppy stump of hair. She immediately felt the difference. Her magic weakened, the blue haze around the scissors growing faint. She felt tired, so tired that even holding the scissors in her magic was a big effort. Alicorn magic was dependent on sources- Luna's source was the mane that so ressembled her fathers. Celestia's was unknown to her. She began to feel even more tired. The scissors started to wobble. She had to finish what she started. Lifting the scissors, she cut off the braid of her mane. The scissors clattered to the floor. She was at the brink of fatigue. Her hair was now chin length, and felt dull and coarse on her cheek. She felt exhaustion leaden her legs and make her clumsy. Her eye lids felt ridiculously heavy. Taking one last look at the mirror, she smiles. "I am not my sister and I will not look like my sister." Luna mutters before her eyes close and she drifts off to a heavy sleep.
DreamsPresent Day It was dark. Celestia raised her head; she had changed from the youthful teenager she had once been: her mane was fully coloured and waved as if in a breeze; she was always taller than her sister, but now her build would be described as willowy. Her horn lit up with a stark, white light. It did almost nothing to dispel the darkness. She turned around. There was somepony there. She was also an alicorn, but while Celestia was tall, she was shorter. She had a thin build reminiscent of a foal and her wide blue eyes emphasized the resemblance. Her mane was a shoulder length wave of blue and navy, and she had no cutiemark. "Ocean Current," whispered Celestia. "How are you?" Celestia trotted towards her. The foal screamed and back away, thrashing; she had a wound in her neck, pouring dark blood unto her pristine light blue coat; she writhed on the ground and slowed to a crawl. "No!" Shouted Celestia, galloping towards the alicorn. "Sister, s-stop hurting me!" screamed the foal. The scene changed. Celestia was standing in a desert, another pair of alicorns facing her; they were almost identical in everything but cutiemark. One had a solitary flame and the other a raging inferno of fire. They had green eyes and startlingly pale coats, which were a pastel shade of light green. Both their manes and tails were light shades of red. They spoke in unison; "Celestia, you have betrayed us. You are a traitor undeserving of your title.We are ashamed to call you sister." A harsh wind whipped up from behind them, throwing sand and grit in Celestia's wet eyes. The wind began to strip the mares of their flesh, blood flying everywhere. "Forest Fire! Glade Flame! Please," Moaned Celestia. "I'm sorry!" By the time she had finished speaking the wind had stopped and two skeletons lay bleaching in the sand. The scene changed. Celestia was now in the old courtyard of her castle. Before her stood a another alicorn, taller this time. Celestia cowered in her shadow. Her mane was a mirror image of hers, as was her tail. Her coat was also a glowing shade of white, but that was when the similarities stopped. Her eyes were a deep red and her cutiemark was that of a golden crown. Her eyes were narrowed in hatred. "Celestia," The voice that came from the mare was low and cold. "What have you done?" Celestia couldn't stop the tears from flowing; her eldest sister had always been intimidating. "I-I-I'm s-sorry," she sobbed, lowering her head. "I'm sorry?" Screeched the mare. "I'M SORRY? What will your sorry do to those who are dead?! What will your sorry give to the destruction you have recklessly caused?! Because of you, our sisters lie dead! Because of you, Essence has died!" Celestia turned to see another foals body, this one with a pink mane, brown eyes and a white coat. She had no cutiemark. "Essence of Hope," whispered Celestia. Her body was spread at an awkward angle, as if she had fallen from a great height. Her hoofs were broken, but her glassy brown eyes stared unseeingly. "Aurora, what's happening?" Luna had appeared behind Aurora, looking younger than any of the foals Celestia had seen. She still had no cutiemark. Aurora turned towards Celestia, a cruel glint in her eyes. "You have destroyed everything I hold dear. Now it is my turn." Aurora lunged towards the filly, trapping in her under her body weight, hitting every part of her she could reach. Luna screamed in agony. Celestia tried to run but she couldn't. She tried to harness her magic, but she couldn't. She was stuck, watching her youngest sister slowly die. Tears spilled over her cheeks. She was powerless to stop it. Aurora hit Luna again and again, her cries and sobs ringing out to join her sister's. Then, her screams faded and her eyes turned glassy. Aurora was covered in blood, and continued to hit the filly, maniacal laughter ringing out. "LUNA!" Screamed Celestia. **************************************************************************************************************** "I am here, sister." Luna stood behind the head board of Celestia's bed her eyes still glowing white with the fading of the nightmare. Celestia sobbed on the bed, covering her face with her hooves. Luna silently walked over to face her sister, her eyes now their usual turquoise. "I had no idea that you still had those nightmares." She whispered softly. Celestia continued to sob into her hooves. "I s-see them d-dead all the t-t-time," She hiccuped. "It's always t-them d-dead." Luna stroked her sisters mane, even now rippling as if in a breeze. "It's okay," she whispered, "It's over now." Celestia's bedroom was quite big. She had a round bed almost touching the floor, silk duvet covering it fully; pink gauze curtains covered her two windows. She also had a plush white carpet padded every where. Intricate designs of great complexity lined the walls tapestries, and even her bathroom was decorated in shades of gold, white and pink. Celestia spent hours at a time following a single gold thread through all of the 15 tapestries in her room. When Celestia calmed down enough to sit up in a more dignified position, the golden clock on the wall chimed midnight. The last of the sobs racked Celestia's body and Luna gave her a swift hug. "Sister, but you must tell me- why were you and Aurora always fighting? I had always gotten an impression that you didn't get along, but nothing this serious..." Celestia looked up at her younger sister tearfully. "Do we have to talk about this?" She asked weakly. "Yes," Luna stated firmly. "Talking about it makes it better. Don't keep things like this bottled up." Celestia looked at her hooves and patted the cushion next to her, willing Luna to sit down. Luna obliged, and sat next to her sister. Celestia took a deep breath. "You see, Aurora Wind was born first. She was but two years older than me, and we were identical, at start. She would always help me, play with me, be the big sister I knew and loved. Then, when I was two and she four, another set of twins were born. Glade Flame and Forest Fire were... different. They were closer than us in ways we then did not even begin to comprehend. Aurora began to spend more time with them, as they were younger and, in her eyes, better company than a two year old twin who copied everything she did." Celestia lowered her head even lower. Rain battered against the windows, the drip-drop adding to the silence. "Aurora was everything I wanted to be. She was smart, elegant, and rather...ruthless. She had an independent streak that utterly destroyed her, in later years. I wanted to be just like my big sister. We had our first fight when we were seven and nine." Celestia's ears drooped. "She told me to stop copying her. To grow up and act like the future leader I had to be. So I tried. And tried. And tried again. But no matter what I did, she would always find something hurtful to say, to bring me lower. It got to the point when she would rather die than live knowing such an embarrassment was part of her blood. And she died." Celestia stared at the wall facing her. Luna looked up as well. Celestia was looking at a tapestry depicting a cliff with a shear drop, and a snow white figure standing on it. Celestia then covered her face in her hooves again and stated the fact coldly, without any emotion. "She died because of me."
Smoke ScreenLuna trotted slowly from her sisters room. This didn't make sense. She had been in the dream realm, focusing on trying to see what the colts and fillies of Canterlot were dreaming. Instead of the normal portals holding images of the dreams in question, she had received just one- her sisters, which had more death and gore held in it's depths than Luna had seen since before she turned into Night Mare Moon. Why weren't the others accessible? But it didn't matter. The night was almost over, and before then, she had to help those who else needed it. Holding her breath, she twisted on the spot and walked forward, eyes closed. Before she even opened them, she knew it had worked. The air had become free and pure, and contained none of the metallic taint she had come to associate with the outdoors of the castle. She was in the dream realm. It was utterly enormous- or was it pitifully small?- and contained things of more importance than her own existence. It was dark blue and went on forever, its depths glittering mysteriously, enticingly. And so she called forth the dreams of her subjects, eyes closed and head tilted back. And this time it worked. The portals were there, each containing a different image- some a happy land of tea parties and ice cream, others, more dark and foreboding. She surveyed the portals which seemed to stretch on forever; they went in no orderly line but all over the place. She began to jump, looking left and right, searching for a dream that was going out of place, turning into a nightmare. She found what she was looking for before long. It was a mares dream. This was unusual, as the ponies who mostly had nightmares were young colts and fillies. Having a fully grown mare with a nightmare was almost problematic. Unlike foals, they couldn't always dismiss Luna as just a Princess. Adults would question and investigate, which was uncomfortable at the least. And some adults did the unadvised and tried to woo her. That was very annoying indeed. Shaking her head, Luna leaped towards the door, and assumed her usual position of viewing- behind the moon. Still frowning slightly, she watched the scene unfold below her. It was horrifying at the least. The mare was in a laboratory, lying on a hard metal table. Her hooves were stripped down to almost the bone and drenched in blood. It was evident that it wasn't the first time she was having the dream. She lay unmoving- not screaming for help, not yelling in agony. She had already accepted fate and was waiting for what was to come. The mare's blue eyes were dilated in terror, yet she was silent. Her cream coat was matted with congealed blood and a mixture of wires and tags. A shadow approached her, holding a series of medical instruments on a tray. The shadow formed into another mare, white coat and pink mane- Luna recognized her. She used to have dreams of operations going wrong and of failing her task- healing ponies. Nurse Redheart had a gleam in her blue eyes that was never there in reality- a mad gleam, a gleam that suggested recklessness. As the pony laid the tray on the floor, vanishing once more to the shadows, Luna realized who the mare was- Bon Bon. She was closely tied in with Lyra Heartstrings' dreams, and Luna knew Lyra quite well- many nightmares, when she was both young and older. And the problem hit Luna- Bon Bon was nosocomiphobic. She had an excessive fear of hospitals. Judging by the nature of the phobia in question, Luna figured it would be unwise to show herself this time- she might mistake her for a medic and panic, making her wake up and ultimately making her have the same nightmare again. Dreams were complicated. And although Luna admired how the pony mind was capable of producing them she still valued simplicity in this matter. It was best for the form of help to come in a different package. Igniting her horn, Luna concentrated on the one pony Bon Bon could trust in this situation. Lyra Heartstrings was taken from her dream of performing on the Lyre faster than she could protest. Luna smiled humorously; maybe this was how Discord felt, controlling all the ponies like puppets when he was on the throne. Lyra arrived beside Luna in a matter of heart beats. She looked rather dazed, but not surprised enough to wake up. "Go help your friend; you came here of your own accord. You shall not remember this. The shadow can be dispelled by laughter." Luna smiled as Lyra trotted obediently to Bon Bon, untying the straps holding her down. She loved working behind the scenes- she was no longer the pony she used to be. She turned, about to leave the dream, when the foul odor of a nightmare distinctly radiated from the room she had been observing. The shadow had returned. Nurse Redheart was angry, and was brandishing a gigantic pair of medical scissors. Lyra looked like she might suffocate under laughter; she had her hoof stuck in her mouth to prevent the giggles from escaping. Bon Bon thought one look at her and burst out laughing. Luna smiled; now, surely, the figure of the Nurse would disappear? She wasn't disappointed- the figure melted to the floor and both mares were giggling despite themselves. Now the dream would end and both mares would wake up. Once more, she turned to leave. The air burned with a melted-plastic-like taint- the scent Luna had grown accustomed to in all nightmares. The shadow was growing again. And another thing happened at the same time. The walls and ceiling began to push forward, the laboratory turning to a blank metal room. The shadow was now changing, growing bigger and bulky. Muscles rippled and tightened on the Nurse, her demeanor now considerably less pony like. It grew until it almost filled the room it was in, filling it with the musky smell of serpent. Luna hated snakes. Her fear was second only to- the thing streched, bulbous wings erupting from it's hide, scales coating it's body, the four limbs lengthened and split into jagged claws, the thing's tail grew longer and turned a cold shade of grey. What in Tartarus was this thing? The thing was huge, filling up most of the room available in the black space, it towered above the ponies. Utterly terrified, both were hugging each other for support. Lyra's pupils were dilated to mere pinpricks as her claustrophobia kicked in. Bon Bon was looking up in awe and horror. The records of the thing it most resembled were destroyed before Luna could walk. They mustn't wake up. They mustn't. It was Bon Bon's dream, if she woke up now, the dream would disappear and both Luna and this thing would return to the dream realm. The thing might ravage into others dreams, causing the biggest nightmares since before the plague was cured. And the only way to keep Bon Bon from waking up was to go in the dream herself. And hope that the number of first person shooters including herself and her sister played by Bon Bon will disguise her. Luna jumped through the viewing screen that was the moon, landing lightly on her hooves. The thing only had to glance at Luna for her jaw to drop. This couldn't be an ordinary nightmare. It's eyes bored into hers, searching for a weakness, for an impulse to fight, but none came. Luna stared, eyes open wide, at the thing. Lyra looked heartily confused and scared; with a barely audible "puff" she disappeared. The room suddenly expanded again. Bon Bon stared at Luna in shock. Luna needed to act fast; this thing looked reptillian, with a long tail for balance and webbed claws. This meant it was suited to water. And what was the opposite of water? Luna let loose a blazing inferno of fire at the creature, aiming for it's eyes and face; the blast hit and the creature was knocked over by it's power. And as if coming from a great distance, Luna heard a series of pings: a green bar was hovering above the creature, and with every ping the bar turned steadily more orange. The pings stopped; the bar was now half of it's original size and a deep violent shade of orange. It was like a fighting game. Luna glanced above her to see a full green bar. She turned around to see Bon Bon looking expectant. Too many video games, Luna thought wryly. The creature was back on it's feet; it now looked mad. One of it's eyes was reduced to a puffy black slit. The other was narrowed in fury. Judging by it's body language, it was going to charge. The floor was covered in tiles; they were flat and hard, with little grip available. If this creature was indeed water-dwelling, it would have difficulty on land and wouldn't be able to grip much with it's claws. Luna thought frantically; what would you do in a street style fighter? Trip the opponent, whispered a voice in her head. Even as she came to the conclusion, she knew it was no good. The creature was too close. Yet... there was something she could do. The creature charged and as it did so, Luna created a wall of fire in front of her and Bon Bon; the creature saw its mistake too late- even as it's claws skidded across the tiles scrabbling for purchase it was engulfed in fire, head, stomach, thrashing limbs and all. The pings were now so fast it was almost impossible to distinguish them from one another; The bar above the things head was now a deep shade of red bordering on black. It was almost empty. Burnt and hissing in pain, the thing looked upon Luna's eyes; they were sorrowful, and, surprisingly, wet with unshed tears. The sight captivated her, entranced her; they were so alike, and yet so different, and for a moment like he was looking at her directly. And before she could do anything, it lashed out. It didn't cause her any pain, but she cried out nevertheless; a hank of her mane fell, the cut straight as if done by scissors. She danced back, out of reach, but she knew it was no good; the bar above her head dropped down to a light shade of black. If the thing could smile, it would have. She had to destroy it. The thought rang out throw her head even as she swayed. She had to kill the thing. Harnessing what was left of her energy, she flung a last sphere of flame at the creature. It's bar went completely empty; as did Luna's. ****************************************************************************************** She felt herself thud unto the wooden frame of the bed. She breathed deeply; the air smelled slightly of cookies. It was time to lower the moon. Walking to the balcony of her room, she removed the stars and moon from the sky. The heavens paled as dawn spread throughout the land. Without waiting to see the sun, Luna closed the door to the balcony and drew the curtains of dark blue cotton. Without any hesitation she dropped unto the bed again and begin to sob; the creature had reminded her of the reason never wanted to be a Princess. The reason she never took students.
Northen LightsFour Thousand Years Ago “It is unorthodox.” “Yes, it is.” Aurora stared at the filly who had spoken. The mares surrounding her giggled. “How cute!” one exclaims. “Aw, isn’t she adorable?” Aurora turned to Celestia. “I didn’t ask your opinion,” she said coldly. Celestia looked up at her big sister and grinned an almost toothless smile. “No, you didn’t.” She stuck her tongue out. The mares laughed. “What cheek!” A unicorn with a blue mane smiled. “She looks the spitting image of you, you’re so lucky, A!” Aurora forced her face into a smile and did a passable imitation of a laugh, “She’s quite the cutie! Tia, can I tell you something in secret? Outside?” The mares break into a series of giggles and chit chats. Aurora wondered how this was even slightly similar to a study group. Leaving the warm chamber full of cushions and golden streaming light, Aurora trotted calmly outside. Celestia followed her, tripping over her own hooves as she attempted to copy the regal strut of her older sister. When a safe distance away from the room, Aurora started to talk. The dimmed light in the corridor gave her face a slightly skeletal appearance. “What. Was. That?” Her narrowed eyes were inches away from the fillies eyes. “I-I-I’m sorry, Aurora, I just-” “Just what? JUST WHAT? I only allowed you to come with me because you promised not to do anything. You promised you’d shut up for ten minutes and I’d let you hang around for an hour or two, maybe longer. You know you’ve ruined your only chance, now, don’t you?” Tears gathered in the filly’s eyes. “I-I-I just wanted to help, I-” “I. Don’t. CARE. You didn’t keep your side of the bargain. Now, I won’t keep mine.” Aurora’s royal purple eyes met her twins lighter violet ones. They were one of the only differences between them. Aurora grinned cruelly; “Consider all of the east side of the building out of bounds.” Celestia’s resistance crumpled; “B-but my bedroom is on the east side! As is the dining room and Mommy and Daddy’s room!” Aurora looked mockingly thoughtful; “I guess you’ll have to sleep and eat else where then.” Celestia’s legs gave up beneath her; tears flowed down her cheeks and and her sobs racked her body. “W-w-w-why?” She cried. Aurora crouched down beside her twin, looking into her wet eyes. “Because I just can’t trust you anymore, can I?” She stood up abruptly and walked back towards the warm room full of laughter and smiles. Fixing an innocent smile on her face, Aurora walked in and openly testified, “Celestia has forgotten to do some of her homework and she’s gone off to do it now.” The mares broke into chat again, discussing how Celestia is a model to all sisters and how Aurora should prize having her in the family. Aurora couldn’t disagree more. ************************************************************* It was sunset; if Celestia’s parents were home, she’d be in bed. But as they were away for some political reasons with the second set of twins, Celestia believed with all her heart that Aurora would make her sleep out of her bedroom for two weeks. And she did have homework to do, which she didn’t plan on handing in undone. She stealthily crept across the corridor leading to her bedroom; the door was unlocked and her sister was safely three floors below her, still studying with her friends. Letting out a deep breath, she opened the door of her room. It was rather dark and stuffy, in comparison to the corridor; its walls were white, as was the ceiling, the bed, and the drawn curtains. Without missing a beat, the filly grabbed her saddle bags and piled all her books, ink, quills and scrolls of parchment into them, until they were bulging fit to burst. They were heavy, almost too heavy for the filly to carry. Looking around for one more thing she could carry, she decided on a plush white blanket. The saddle bags now on her back and the blanket in her teeth, Celestia galloped as fast as she could away from the east side of the castle, into the unknown and unfriendly-looking west. The blanket dragged on the floor, occasionally sending Celestia stumbling; after a few minutes of galloping with a heavy load, she began to tire, and wonder where she could sleep. The observatory? Aurora visited it way too often. The throne room? On the east side. Celestia began to wonder where she could find a map of the whole castle… The Library! Without a second thought, Celestia half-wobbled half trotted to the place her Mommy visited on a regular basis when in the castle. By the time she had descended to the first floor of the building, the moon was already a pale spot in the sky, surrounded by shining stars. Tired but still determined, she opened the oak doors and tumbled in. The Library was huge. It’s shelves rose high along the walls, candles lighting every spot. And along with all those books, there was a wooden table, with a joining chairs. And even though Celestia wanted to find a map of the castle as soon as possible, she was tired, and her legs hurt. Shutting the door behind her, the tiny princess sat on a chair, sighing in relief; she put the saddle bags down beside her and tilted slightly on her chair to open them. With a noise like hundreds of galloping hooves and a wind strong enough to blow her mane off her shoulders, the lights of the candelabra in front of her extinguished. Jumping off the chair in shock, she turned around to see that the shelves behind her had moved aside to reveal a small room. She couldn’t believe her luck. She ran in to examine it. The room before her had a few small cushions scattered inside it; it had no windows, but a couple of candles stood amongst regular intervals. It was perfect. Celestia ran back out of the room with haste. She bit down on the strap between her saddle bags and dragged them into the room. Then she came back for the blanket. When safely inside with all her possessions, Tia wondered how she could possibly close the door to the room. If she couldn’t, anyone would be able to just walk in and see her. The filly looked around from her new room for a couple of minutes. Then she spotted it- the chair she had sat on was still tilted back, and one of it’s front legs was on a small metal arc. To close the room, she had to tilt the chair. But how to do so without being locked out? Magic. She had to push the chair back with magic. Celestia frowned slightly. She could hardly ever use magic, because she was still a filly. The most she could normally do was turn a page in a book, at the most levitate said book, assuming it was quite thin. She would have to see if she could produce enough push to get the chair back in place. Concentrating solely on the chair, Celestia’s horn lit up; she gritted her teeth and forced her magic to push the chair forward. The chair gave no resistance and fell back into place.The door of book shelves swung shut, leaving Celestia in semi darkness. Then, the filly noticed another source of light; there was a small hole on the bookcase-door, small enough to see a fraction of the room. Small enough for Celestia only to see the chair and be able to force it open whenever she wanted. Celestia sighed in relief. Maybe these two weeks wouldn’t be that bad after all, she concluded, plopping herself onto a couple of fat, soft cushions and covering herself with her blanket.
