The sound of quills scratching on parchment was the only noise inside Princess Celestia’s study as three alicorn princesses worked their way through the various documents on the oaken table in front of them. None of them had spoken for a while, and the dim, flickering light of the candles and fireplace was starting to make Twilight Sparkle feel sleepy. They had been working for hours, and it was now well past sunset.
Shortly after Twilight’s ascension, Princess Celestia had taken her to Canterlot to show her the basics in running the Equestrian government. While she had ensured Twilight that her actual role would be minor at best, it was still important that she know these things now that she was in the line of succession.
They had gone over various documents with her, testing Twilight’s ability to understand “legalese”, as Celestia referred to it, along with a crash course in economics, Equestrian law, and other relevant topics. While Twilight was already knowledgeable about many of them, she still needed a leader’s perspective.
Once she had shown a basic grasp of the idea, the two princesses had sent some of the less important bills and reports her way, giving Twilight the power to grant or deny royal assent by proxy. She was still much slower than Luna and Celestia, but her old mentor had assured her that she was doing well so far.
Luna cleared her throat, causing the other two ponies to look up her. Twilight had mixed feelings toward Luna at the moment. She had seemed nice enough on Nightmare Night, if a little shy, but lately she had been somewhat scornful toward Twilight.
“Sister, I have a concern,” Luna said. She slid a stack of papers across the table toward Celestia, who levitated it toward her face to look it over. “I see that you’ve signed the proposal cutting taxes on farming equipment.”
Celestia frowned as she lowered the papers. “I did. Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” Luna stated. “The lost revenue is going to be made up by imposing a tariff on imports from the Griffin Empire. We both know that raising those tariffs any further will worsen our already strained relations. They may even embargo trade altogether.”
Celestia sighed. “Luna, last year’s harvest was a disappointment. The farmers need the surplus. In the long term it will help stimulate the economy.”
“In the long term it could mean economic isolation or even a war!” Luna retorted, annoyance creeping into her voice.
Celestia cocked an eyebrow. “War? Over a simple tariff? Please be realistic, Luna.”
Twilight watched the two bicker for a few minutes, growing more and more irritated. She had never seen Luna and Celestia interacting very often until now, but she had been surprised by what she’d learned. In short, they couldn’t agree on anything. It wasn’t the first time they’d had such an argument, and Twilight was fed up with it.
“Okay, this is ridiculous!” Twilight snapped.
Luna paused and turned to face Twilight. “And I suppose you have a solution?” she asked.
Twilight felt a surge of anger at Luna’s condescending tone, but she stared back without fear. “Why don’t you cut taxes without imposing the tariff? We’re running a surplus anyway. We can take the hit if it means more income in the long run.”
Luna and Celestia stared at her for a few moments. While Luna’s face was expressionless, Celestia seemed impressed.
“I’m surprised I didn’t think of that,” Celestia admitted. “I will send the bill to be amended.” She proceeded to scribble a note on a piece of parchment, then teleported it away along with the proposal.
“Well, why didn’t you think of it?” Twilight asked. “I mean, it was a really simple solution. It’s almost like you two have to disagree on everything.”
Twilight expected a rebuke, perhaps even a dismissal from the room, but to her surprise Celestia and Luna exchanged a meaningful look. Celestia returned her attention to Twilight, expression unreadable. “That isn’t far from the truth.”
Twilight blinked. “Excuse me?”
“We rarely agree on anything,” Luna said with venom. “The only reason Equestria functions at all is because of the Council of Nobles, the Elements of Harmony, and common enemies such as Sombra and Chrysalis.”
Celestia gave Luna an indignant look. “That’s not true. Give our little ponies due credit, Sister. They work hard to keep our country together.”
Luna arched an eyebrow. “Twilight and her friends aside, I have rarely seen our subjects do anything useful since I returned from exile.”
“Please don’t start arguing again,” Twilight moaned. “Why do you two fight so much?”
Both Celestia and Luna fell silent. Twilight looked back and forth between them as neither answered.
Eventually, Luna spoke first. “That’s… a complicated question.”
Twilight cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward. “How complicated?”
Celestia spoke next, her expression stern. “I will give you this one warning, Twilight. If you learn the answer to your question you will not leave this room in good spirits. You will feel despair, anger, desperation and betrayal. But you will know, and you will understand.”
Twilight felt uncertain. Celestia’s tone held no room for doubt, and she had never lied to her before. It made her think very hard about heeding the warning and backing out now, but in the end her curiosity won out.
“I’d still like to know,” Twilight said, matching Celestia’s gaze.
Celestia watched her for a moment before nodding, expression somber. “I thought you would, although I had hoped otherwise.” She shifted in place, ruffling her wings before continuing. “What do you know about my sister and I?”
Twilight blinked. “Well… the same thing everypony else does. That you’re sisters, you rule Equestria, and Luna controls the moon while you control the sun.”
“Accurate,” Luna said. “But incomplete. There is far more to it than that.”
Twilight frowned. She had never liked not knowing something, and the princesses were not making it easy on her. “What else is there?”
“To begin with, my sister and I are more… abstract than you think,” Celestia said.
“Abstract?” Twilight asked.
“Representative is a better word,” Luna said. “Our roles are more complex than most ponies believe. For instance, I am more than the Princess of the Night. I also represent the winter season, the oceans, the skies, and death, to name a few things.”
“Death?” Twilight asked in shock. “But that’s…”
“Evil?” Luna asked wryly. “Please, Twilight. Death is what makes way for the next generation. For renewal.” She rolled her eyes. “Besides, there are plenty of ponies that the world is better off without."
“But what about the good ponies?” Twilight protested. “Death tears families apart, makes ponies sad!”
Luna cocked an eyebrow. “Does it?” she asked. “Tell me this then; have you ever had a loved one die?”
Twilight frowned. “Well, yeah. My grandmother died when I was a filly.”
“And did that tear your family apart?” Luna asked, leaning forward.
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, only to come up short. She thought for a few more moments. “Well… no,” she admitted. “I mean, we were all sad for a while, and we still miss her.”
“There was a funeral,” Luna said. “You all spoke of her. Recalled your fondest memories. And though you mourned her passing, she lived a long and full life. Correct?”
Twilight gave a hesitant nod.
But Luna wasn’t done. “Consider this as well, Twilight.” she said, staring directly into her eyes. “What is happiness without sadness? If you had never experienced despair, would you even know you were happy?”
Twilight swallowed, unable to think of a good answer to that question. She was still uneasy about it, but she found it hard to dispute Luna’s logic. Instead, she turned to Celestia. “What about you?”
“In the most basic sense I represent the day, the summer season, the earth, and life itself,” Celestia said.
Twilight frowned as she looked back and forth between the two ponies. “But that makes you seem like…”
“The good sister?” Luna finished, sounding contemptuous. “Please. There are two sides to every coin. Animals, including predators and pests; disease and plague; mosquitos and locusts. Drought and the summer wildfires. She stands for all of them.”
Celestia scowled at Luna, who was giving her a slight smirk. “And what of you, Luna?” she asked. “The blizzards. Every death since the beginning of time. The storms that batter our coasts. All who have been lost at sea.”
Luna showed her teeth, rising up slightly as she met Celestia’s glare. “I have never pretended to be anything I wasn’t,” she hissed. She jabbed a hoof at Twilight. “But didn’t you see? Ponies believe I’m evil, when you’re just as bad if not worse.”
“Stop!” Twilight shouted. “Just stop!”
The tension in the room was almost unbearable as the seconds ticked by. Eventually Celestia chose to look away and they both sat back down.
“I just don’t get it,” Twilight said. “Why are you two are like this? Why do you have to disagree? Just… What are you thinking?”
“Do not presume to judge us without understanding,” Luna said coldly. “You have no idea what we have been through, what it’s like to be us.”
“You will not speak to her that way!” Celestia growled, fire in her eyes. “She is my student and I will not tolerate your disrespect any longer!”
Luna bared her teeth as she glared back at Celestia, and Twilight felt a sudden chill in the room as Luna’s mane began to billow more furiously. Celestia matched her stare, and once again the two seemed to be trying to destroy each other with looks alone. The tension grew over the next few seconds, but just when Twilight thought it was about to come to blows, Luna looked away and huffed in annoyance. Looking satisfied, Celestia nodded and visibly calmed.
Twilight was trembling, tears in her eyes as the temperature of the room went back to normal. Celestia at least looked guilty, but Luna remained scornful.
“I apologize for that,” Celestia said. “Sometimes my temper gets the better of me.”
Twilight took a shaky breath. “I’ve never seen you like that before,” she said. “You always seem so… calm.”
“She is anything but,” Luna scoffed. “Not that most ponies are aware of that.”
Twilight frowned, angered by Luna’s constant attacks on her ex-mentor. “What do you mean?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Telling you is pointless; she’ll just disagree with me anyway.” She gave her sister a stern look. “You know what you have to do, otherwise she will never understand.”
Celestia grimaced, looking over at Twilight. Despite her hesitation, she nodded. “Are you familiar with memory projection?”
“Yes,” Twilight replied. “When one pony shows another one of their memories, from their point of view.”
“Precisely,” Celestia said, giving Twilight an approving smile. “I am going to show you one of mine.”
Twilight perked up. “Really? Which one?”
“Discord,” Celestia replied. “The moments before his defeat. The first one, at least.”
Twilight had more questions but for the sake of time she nodded in understanding. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Celestia gave Twilight a smile, but it didn’t seem genuine. If anything it looked mocking, an alien expression on her former teacher’s face. “Very well.” Celestia leaned forward, her glowing horn touching Twilight’s. Moments later, she was somewhere else entirely.
The two sisters stood side-by-side on the edge of a rocky cliff, looking over the vast expanse of Discord’s realm. The ground had been transformed into a patchwork tiled floor, with islands of earth floating hundreds of meters above it. On some of those islands there were trapped ponies, slowly starving or dying of exposure.
Agriculture had also been swept aside for Discord’s idle musings, and a terrible famine had swept across the land as a result. Many of the plants that had survived that had been killed by the lack of proper rain; plants could not survive on chocolate milk. Celestia gritted her teeth, the eternal flame inside her flaring up at the thought of her starving ponies.
“We are close, Sister,” Luna said.
Celestia looked at her. She noticed again just how battered Luna looked. Her fur was dirty and matted, hiding multiple scars of war. She also knew that she herself wasn’t much better.
“Yes,” Celestia said. “This has been a long time in coming.”
“Come,” Luna said, spreading her wings. “We will put an end to this.” She took to the skies a moment later, Celestia hot on her trail. The two of them matched their speed, looking over the warped landscape with distaste.
The animals had not been spared by Discord’s whims either. Those plants that had survived the chocolate rain were too few in number to sustain the various herbivorous species. The predators had declined in number as well, and more than one species was now thought to be extinct.
In short, Equestria had become little more than a wasteland under Discord’s rule, and seeing the devastation he’d wrought had Celestia trembling with rage.
She nodded toward a floating island nearby, and she and Luna both touched down on it. They trotted over to the edge, looking down at the hill where Discord had made his ‘throne’.
“What are your intentions?” Luna asked.
“I’m going to reduce him to vapor!” Celestia growled, hate in her eyes.
“We are not doing that!” Luna snapped.
Celestia’s expression could have melted steel, and her Power demanded that she smite her sister on the spot to silence her. “Yes we are!” she snarled. “That abomination is unworthy of life!” She gestured around herself. “Look at all the harm he has done, both to us and our ponies! I will reduce that foul creature to boiling flesh and scattered ashes!”
Luna met her gaze, her expression one of cold steel in contrast to Celestia’s bare fury. “Death is more than he deserves.” She bared her teeth in a feral smile. “I will turn him to stone while leaving his soul alive so that he may forever gaze upon a world he can never touch again.”
Celestia’s anger only grew the words, the edges of her vision going dark as she focused on Luna. “You wish to leave him alive, even after all he has done.”
Luna’s expression did not waver. “There are things far worse than death, Sister.”
Violet eyes matched cerulean in a silent battle of wills. With every second that passed the roaring inferno within grew stronger, and Celestia’s mane began smoldering.
But eventually the tension broke like glass and Celestia looked away. “So be it,” she said. “We will use the Elements.”
Luna nodded. “I’m glad you see it my way.” She moved to stand by Celestia, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Come. We must act now.”
As Equestria’s princesses took flight, Celestia’s vision dimmed until it finally went dark.
Twilight gasped as her eyes flew open, looking around in a panic. She felt herself shaking, lying on the floor where she had fallen. She looked up, seeing Celestia’s concerned face above her. With a terrified squeak Twilight tried to scramble away, putting some distance between them. Looking hurt, Celestia took a few steps back, watching in silence as Twilight’s breathing steadied.
“How… How are you still sane?” Twilight asked with bated breath. “You wanted to kill him. You even wanted to kill Luna! You… You wanted to destroy, to burn! How can you just stand there, looking like everything is fine?”
About halfway through Twilight’s rant, Celestia’s expression had gone from solemn to hard. “Practice,” she said after a moment. “Controlled venting.” She looked toward Luna, who was calmly sitting at the table and watching the spectacle. “And because of her.”
Twilight frowned at Luna. “What do you have to do with it?”
Luna sighed, pressing a hoof to her forehead. “Have you not noticed the pattern yet, Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight climbed to her hooves, looking between Celestia and Luna. “Pattern?” she repeated.
“Yes,” Luna nodded. “Isn’t it obvious?” She gestured to herself, then Celestia. “Our disagreements. Our domains. Even our colors. Think, Twilight. You were my sister’s star student. Act like it.”
Twilight scowled at Luna, but she refused to back down. Instead she thought about what Luna had said. “You keep her in check. It’s part of your role. You’re opposed to Celestia because you have to be, otherwise she’d go out of control.”
For the first time Luna actually smiled, although it was still a bitter one. “Exactly.” She jerked her head toward her sister. “Consider who she is: the Princess of the Sun. What else could she be but an inferno that looks warm from a distance even as it threatens to consume everything around it?”
“A pony,” Celestia retorted. “I am not a festering collection of rage and loathing.” She looked at Twilight, almost pleading. “You saw me at my absolute worst. Believe me when I say that if I were like that all the time there would be nothing left of the world but fire.”
“It all comes back to the balance,” Luna said to Twilight. “Her temper is kept in check by the knowledge that if she loses control I will be there to oppose her.”
After some thought, Twilight gave a slow nod in understanding. “So what does that make you?” she asked Luna. “You represent the moon. The night. So you must be…”
“Cold,” Celestia interrupted. “Calculating.” She narrowed her eyes at Luna. “A predator.”
Luna gave Celestia a distasteful look but didn’t deny it.
“Is it true?” Twilight asked. “All of it?”
Luna sighed and looked away from the two of them. “Essentially, yes,” she admitted. “I don’t like how she phrases it but I cannot dispute her words. In the end that is what I am. Cruel, ruthless, and selfish. Almost a sociopath, really.”
“That’s not true,” Celestia said with vehemence. “You are not your Mantle, Luna. It may define you, but it does not control you. Despite it all, you are still my sister.”
Luna looked up, and Twilight was taken aback by how vulnerable she looked. “I… thank you,” she said at last. “I suppose you are correct, but the Pull can be so hard to resist.”
Celestia’s expression softened. To Twilight’s surprise, she stood up and trotted around the table, causing Luna to give her a questioning look. Celestia sat next to her sister and wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close for a hug.
“I understand,” Celestia said softly. “I truly regret the things I say to you, but only after I have stifled the flames.”
After a few moments of hesitation Luna closed her eyes and leaned against her sister. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way,” she whispered. “Feeling like I do… Constantly scheming, plotting against my friends and loved ones. But I can’t stop myself. Not for long.”
Celestia said nothing more, continuing to hold Luna in her warm embrace. Twilight was beginning to feel uncomfortable, as if she didn’t really belong, but her curiosity hadn’t been satisfied.
Twilight wasn’t able to stand it anymore. “I don’t get it,” she said, causing the two princesses to look at her. “What do you mean? About Luna not being her Mantle? Or the Pull?”
Celestia sighed and retracted her wing, standing up to put some distance between herself and Luna. “The Mantle. The Power. The Pull. There are other words for it, but those usually suffice.”
“Our powers come with a cost,” Luna said, looking at Twilight with sadness in her eyes. “Ponies think we control the sun and the moon. In reality, it is closer to the opposite.”
“The opposite?” Twilight repeated. “You mean they control you?”
“Not literally,” Celestia said, moving back to sit down at her previous spot. “But the ability to manipulate the celestial bodies, and the overwhelming magical might that comes with it…”
“It is incomprehensibly powerful,” Luna said. “And is not a benign force. It compels us to emulate our domains, influences our behavior, our desires...” Her expression turned furious. “We are slaves. Slaves to our Power. Slaves to our thrones. Slaves to Harmony.”
Luna looked away from her, and Celestia turned to look into the fireplace, saying nothing. Meanwhile, Twilight sat on the third side of the table in a state of shock, trying to process it all. “You mean you aren’t real ponies?” Twilight whispered. “You’re just… avatars?”
“No,” Celestia said, not looking away from the fireplace. “Our minds are our own but our wills are not. We can fight the urges, the Pull. The compulsion to resist each other, to maintain the balance.” She sighed. “But we always bow to it in the end.”
Another long silence, and Twilight felt helpless. She had just learned that the princesses were not their own ponies, at least not completely, and that Celestia was far from what she appeared. Luna at least had always been seen as the darker of the two sisters, but now Twilight wasn’t even sure about that.
“So this… ‘Pull’, this ‘Power’,” Twilight began. “It forces you to oppose each other?”
“In a sense,” Luna said with a nod. “It is not quite so absolute but it is hard to fight it. It plays with our thoughts, our emotions, convinces us that we’re right and that the other is wrong. At times the compulsions are so strong that they’re indistinguishable from our own desires.”
“And what do you feel?” Twilight asked. “I mean, I’ve seen you being nice before. Caring, even. I always thought you were a good pony.”
Luna gave her a smile, and it was the closest to a genuine one she’d had all night. “I was once,” she said wistfully. “Sometimes I still try to be. Other times… I fail to see the point.”
“But there’s always a point,” Twilight insisted. “Kindness is a reward on its own. It makes your friends happy. It even makes yourself happy.”
“I don’t think you understand what it’s like to be me,” Luna said, her voice turning cold. “What it means to be the Princess of the Night.” She stood up and began trotting over to Twilight, who got up and started backing away in a panic. “But I intend to show you.”
“Wait, please, I just—”
She could speak no further before Luna’s glowing horn touched hers, and the room melted away.
In the dead of night the bitter cold of the Frozen North dug at Luna’s hide. To any other pony it would have been miserable, but for her it was as pleasant as a warm sitting room. She looked over the vast expanse of the icy wasteland surrounding the Crystal City, knowing that her plans were about to be set in motion.
“It’s time,” Celestia said. Luna looked to her right, seeing her sister clad in ornate golden armor, a stark contrast to Luna’s midnight blue. “Are you ready?”
“I am,” Luna said, the monster inside her baring its teeth. “Let’s see to it.”
In unison Celestia and Luna spread their wings and took flight, angling themselves toward the Crystal City up ahead.
From the wall surrounding the city, a barrage of arrows were launched toward them. Luna’s horn flared, and a sphere of midnight blue energy erupted from the tip, spreading in all directions. It passed through the two sisters harmlessly and disintegrated the arrows on contact.
A beam of golden magic lanced from Celestia’s horn, crossing the distance to the wall in an instant. An enormous chunk of the hardened crystal barrier was obliterated, ponies screaming as they were tossed about like ragdolls.
“Sombra!” Celestia bellowed, her magically enhanced voice echoing across the land. “Enough of these games! Your armies cannot stop us! Surrender and prevent further bloodshed!”
Another volley of arrows and magic from the remaining ponies on the wall came in reply, and Luna again swept them aside with a thought. The two princesses parted, heading in opposing directions. Celestia put on a burst of speed, a trail of golden flame following in her wake as she shot toward the wall.
The ponies screamed in fear as Celestia came to a stop, hovering above them. She tilted her head down, and a torrent of boiling lava swept across the parapet, melting over a dozen ponies where they stood.
Luna touched down a few dozen meters away. A group of crystal ponies, glimmering under the moonlight, gave loud battle cries and charged toward her. Luna watched them, expression stoic, and her horn flared with magic. A split-second later, all of them had been encased in everlasting ice, faces frozen in terror. Luna gave a dark smile at the sight, the creature within nodding in approval.
It took the two princesses less than a minute to clear that section of the wall, and neither of them looked any worse for wear. Luna seemed as composed as ever, but Celestia’s mane and tail had transformed into streaks of billowing flame.
Down below, an entire company of crystal guard ponies were charging down the street, readying javelins and spells to throw at the two princesses. With a single spell Luna coated the street in a layer of ice, causing many of the ponies to slip and fall. A moment later they were vaporized by a massive wave of superheated plasma that Celestia sent down the street, leaving nothing but ashes and clouds of steam from the flash-boiled ice.
“Come out and fight, coward!” Luna shouted, her voice echoing through the city. Aiming her horn, a thick bolt of lightning flew from the tip. It tore through the night, directed at Sombra’s fortress in the center of the city. It struck with a deafening thunderclap, and though the structure rocked under the strain, it did not collapse.
Luna scowled. “It appears to be fortified against magic.” She looked to her sister. “We can break it down, but it will take time.”
“We will see about that,” Celestia growled. With a loud screech she took flight, her entire body encased in golden fire as she rocketed toward the castle.
Cursing her sister’s rash behavior, Luna’s body transformed into an inky blast mist, which then sank into a nearby shadow. Seconds later she emerged from another shadow at the base of the castle, and Luna resumed her normal form. She looked up just in time to see the flaming trail as Celestia crashed into the castle, an enormous shockwave erupting from the point of impact.
Luna took flight again, heading straight up to where Celestia had latched on. As she neared, she could see that Celestia was firing a lance of concentrated flame at the wall, slowly carving a hole through the structure. It wasn’t the method Luna would have used, but Celestia had obviously given in to her rage so she had little choice but to follow her lead.
Luna joined her a moment later, adding her own magic to Celestia’s. Between the two alicorns, they soon managed to burn a hole through the reinforced structure, opening a way inside.
However, as soon as the wall crumbled away, an enormous wave of force slammed into both of them, sending them tumbling through the air.
Luna flapped her wings, managing to stabilize herself, while Celestia disappeared with a pop and reappeared next to her. They both watched the enormous hole they had cut in the center of the castle.
A dark figure emerged a moment later, a black unicorn they knew to be King Sombra. He was baring his teeth at them, enraged by their assault on his city. Celestia’s expression was similar to his, while Luna’s was cold and hard.
“Surrender, Sombra!” Celestia snarled. “You cannot hope to best us.”
Sombra didn’t reply. Instead, a beam of dark magic erupted from his horn, crackling with sinister energy as it arced toward them.
Luna darted aside, but Celestia surrounded herself with a swirling sphere of fire that absorbed the beam. However, Sombra wasn’t done. He kept firing more spells, attempting to overwhelm the princesses by sheer quantity.
Despite the raw power they both possessed, Luna and Celestia were having difficulty keeping up with the rate of Sombra’s casting. Celestia’s shield was holding, but as long as she was maintaining it she couldn’t retaliate.
Luna meanwhile had been swerving around the beams, preparing a spell that she hoped would put an end to things. Angling herself toward the castle, Luna headed for the nearest shadow she could see, her body transforming back into the starry black nebula. She disappeared into the shadow cast by a tattered banner, and a split-second later emerged right next to Sombra.
Before he could turn to face her, Luna had returned to her corporeal form and aimed her horn at him. A blast of icy magic struck him in the side, sending him flying toward the wall where he impacted with a sickening crunch.
With a satisfied smirk, Luna trotted over to the groaning figure, noticing out of the corner of her eye as Celestia touched down inside the building as well, walking over to stand next to her. Both of them came to a stop in front of Sombra, who was groggily looking up at them.
“Sombra, your reign is at an end,” Celestia said, her face cast in an eerie shadow by her flaming mane. “Do you have any last words?”
Luna gave Celestia sharp look. “We shouldn’t kill him,” she said. “He is more useful to us as a puppet. He is no threat to us, but competent enough to rule on our behalf.”
Celestia glared at her, and Luna could have sworn she saw embers flickering in her eyes. “You scheme, even now?” she asked. “The liberation of an entire nation falls to us, and you would simply remove their shackles while leaving the cage intact?”
“They are not our ponies,” Luna insisted, the beast within rumbling its approval. “It is not our duty to protect them.”
“You are far too unfeeling for your own good,” Celestia said. Luna caught a whiff of brimstone. “We are here to vanquish a tyrant, but you wish to fit him with a collar of his own.”
Luna gave Sombra a twisted smile, causing him to shrink away from her. “Indeed. The irony is lovely, isn't it?”
“It’s sick,” Celestia spat. “You are cruel, Sister. I truly fear for you if you continue along this path.”
An icy wind blew between the two ponies as Luna’s expression became hostile. An impression of a horned beast unsheathing its claws entered her mind. “Do not fear for me. Fear for my enemies.”
The threat lingered between them, and for a moment Luna thought she had gone too far. Celestia’s eyes narrowed, and her lips contorted in a snarl as the inferno her mane had become grew even larger. Her entire body trembled as she fought against the anger of the undying sun.
Nevertheless, Celestia resisted the urge to attack her sister and began to speak. “What if he refuses to be controlled? You would break his mind? Subvert his will?” She leaned closer to Luna, eyes like burning coals. “I refuse to allow it. No one deserves that.”
Luna snorted. “I am not a brute. If he refuses to cooperate I shall convince him, one way or another.” She met Celestia’s eyes, and there was sincerity in her next words. “His ponies will no longer be slaves. They will be subject to Equestria, but we will not oppress them. We will free them, and though their King will remain he will be unable to harm them any longer. And Equestria will have a staunch new ally with a grateful citizenry and a puppet for a ruler.”
Celestia looked doubtful, but at least she seemed to be considering it. Eventually, she gave a nod. “As you say,” she said with resignation. “We will free the crystal ponies, but their ruler will remain in power as our vassal.”
Before Luna could reply, a quiet, hacking laugh drew their attention. Sombra seemed to have recovered, and though still quite battered, his expression was one of triumph. “Fools,” he muttered. “Did you really think it was that easy?”
Luna’s eyes widened as she felt an intense magical field saturating the surrounding area. A cursory detection spell showed that it blanketed the entire city. Without knowing what it was, they could take no chances.
“Sister, teleport!” Luna bellowed. For once deciding not to question her, Celestia disappeared with a golden flash of light, Luna following immediately after.
Luna reappeared outside the city a moment later, watching in shock as a dark dome of energy spread across the city, engulfing it in an obsidian orb. Seconds after it reached the outskirts of the city it vanished, leaving behind nothing but empty tundra.
Twilight gasped as her vision returned to her, placing her back in the warm, comfortable study. She was shaking again, disturbed by the scenes of violence she’d been exposed to; the ruthless efficiency of both the princesses during their crusade.
Twilight stared up at her with a new, fearful respect for the princess. “I see it now,” she whispered. “Why you behave the way you do. Why you’ve treated me like you have.”
Luna cocked an eyebrow. “Do you?” she asked, sounding almost amused. “Enlighten me.”
“It’s like Celestia said,” Twilight replied, sounding more confident. “You’re a predator. A schemer.” She shook her head, almost in disbelief. “It was never about me being ready, was it?”
“Her problem was that she didn’t want the competition,” Celestia interjected, causing both Twilight and Luna to look over at her. Celestia gave Luna a look of intense displeasure. “She treated Cadance much the same way, despite her not being a true alicorn.”
Luna snorted. “An alicorn whose mind and power belong to herself alone? Forgive me for being resentful.” She spared Twilight another look before turning and sitting back down at the table. After a moment’s hesitation, Twilight followed and sat down as well.
“What do you mean about Cadance not being a true alicorn?” Twilight asked.
“She holds no Mantle, and still has a mortal life span,” Celestia explained. She gestured at Twilight. “The same as you, in fact.”
“I was wondering about that,” Twilight mused. She decided it would be best to skirt that issue for now. “What happened to Sombra?” she asked. “You beat him, but somehow he made the whole city disappear.”
Luna grimaced. “Sombra was skilled in dark magic. We knew that, but underestimated him just the same. He had placed some sort of failsafe spell on the Crystal City, which he activated as soon as his defeat looked certain.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “Despite our best efforts we were unable to recover it, or even find out what spell he used.”
“I see,” Twilight said, a bit disturbed by the idea that Sombra had been able to remove an entire city from the globe.
“Do you understand now, Twilight?” Celestia asked. “What we feel, and why we are so opposed to each other? How many of our thoughts are not our own?”
Twilight shuddered as the memories of their emotions washed over her. “Yes,” she said. “Luna was right. You’re slaves. Not in body or mind, but in will. You can think for yourself… But you’re never sure when you are.”
“Exactly,” Luna said. “You’ve seen us both at our worst. You’ve seen us at our best. And you are beginning to understand the true reason behind it all.”
“Balance,” Celestia said. “Order. Stability. Harmony. It all comes back to that.”
“And the balance is absolute,” Luna said. “Even if we resist it is always restored, for good or ill.”
Twilight felt troubled. “You keep mentioning Harmony. Like it’s some powerful force pulling the strings and forcing you to be this way. How do the Elements fit into it all?”
“Ha!” Luna barked, startling her. “I was wondering when that would come up. They’re the failsafe, basically. A reset button. It forces a restoration of order by equalizing the balance.”
“I see,” Twilight said. A dark thought occurred to her then; if Harmony had done this to Luna and Celestia, could it be that she and her friends were nothing but avatars? Were her thoughts really hers, or did she only think they were?
She decided to set that aside for now. She cleared her throat as another thought occurred to her. “If the Elements are supposed to restore the balance, why did they banish Nightmare Moon the first time instead of saving her?”
Luna looked uncomfortable. “Not my proudest moment, not by far. But tell me; what did you notice about our memories?” she asked. “Relative to my sister and I.”
Twilight frowned, and stared down at the table as she considered. “Well… You’re obviously very opposed to each other, and your Mantles seem to force that to happen.”
“Right,” Celestia said. “What else?”
“Luna seems to be the more rational one, but also cruel,” Twilight continued, gaining momentum. She turned toward Celestia. “You have more anger, but more empathy.” She thought for a few more moments. “You told me that Luna keeps you in check, to prevent you from losing control. But what about Luna? How do you balance her?”
“By ensuring that death is followed by new life,” Luna answered. “By ending the winter and allowing the crops to grow again. By nurturing the flora and fauna that cover our beautiful lands. If you want an idea of what Equestria would be like without Celestia, you need only look to the Frozen North.”
“So you have to keep each other balanced all the time. Otherwise…” Twilight frowned. “I guess bad things happen?”
“Close,” Celestia said. “Keeping in mind what you’ve learned, does anything else from our memories stand out to you?”
Twilight’s brow furled. “Luna,” she said after a few moments, eyes widening. “Luna got her way both times. Discord was turned to stone, and Sombra wasn’t killed.”
“Exactly,” Luna said. “And that was the problem. The balance may be absolute, but imperfections happen. By ‘winning’ both times, the beast within me grew more confident. More demanding.” She sighed, looking angry again. “Eventually I overstepped my bounds. I attempted to destroy my sister and seize absolute power for myself.”
“It was an abomination,” Celestia said angrily. “A violation of Harmony.” At Luna’s sharp look, Celestia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down. “I apologize. That was my Power getting to me again.” She looked at Luna, who suddenly seemed uncomfortable. “But the worst part was that it took my sister away from me.”
Luna’s expression softened as she met Celestia’s eyes, looking almost ready to tear up. “My exile was not a mere punishment,” Luna said quietly. “It was a debt to pay. A debt to Harmony. A thousand years of my absence to restore the balance that I had disrupted through my actions.” She sighed. “That was why the Elements banished me instead of saving me.” She looked up at her sister. “It was not your fault, Tia. It never was.”
“I think I see now,” Twilight said. “But it’s all still so hard to believe.”
“It’s a difficult pill to swallow,” Celestia admitted. “And ponies as a whole are better off not knowing. Another of the few things Luna and I agree on.”
It left a sour taste in her mouth, but Twilight couldn’t disagree with Celestia’s rationale. She still wasn’t even sure how she felt about it yet. “There is one other thing,” Twilight said. “Luna was gone for a thousand years to pay off the debt… So how did you maintain the balance by yourself?”
Celestia looked guilty. “Truthfully, I didn’t,” she said. “Luna was still close enough to have some influence, but the last thousand years were some of the worst in Equestrian history. The climate grew much warmer and the polar ice caps began to melt. Diseases became more virulent and commonplace. The Everfree Forest expanded, and predators grew in number.” She gave Luna another mournful look. “All because of Luna’s absence.”
“When I returned, things got better,” Luna said, refusing to meet Celestia’s eyes. “The climate cooled and the ecosystem stabilized. The overall life expectancy of ponies increased.” She snorted. “To think that the alicorn of death helped restore life to a dying land.”
“It was difficult for me as well,” Celestia said. “Without Luna there was nothing stopping me from becoming a tyrant but my own will, which was a pittance compared to that of the Sun.” She sighed and looked miserable, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “I cannot even count how many times I considered vaporizing entire nations that wronged Equestria. Exterminating species that threatened us. All those moments when I nearly lost my temper. If I had given in to my rage even once…”
“Why didn’t you?” Twilight asked. “It sounds like you were about to explode.”
“Honestly? That happened a few times,” Celestia said. She frowned. “Well, not literally. Tell me, what do you know about the world outside Equestria?”
Twilight blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected question. “Well… There are other nations bordering ours, but the other side of the planet is completely uncharted.”
“There is a reason for that,” Celestia said. “For a thousand years, I had no one to check my anger. I needed an outlet.” She sighed, looking tired. “Every so often I would teleport all the way to the other side of the world, something no unicorn could ever hope to manage.” Her expression hardened. “And while I was there, I would release all of my pent up rage and fury.”
“I could see that part of the world from the moon sometimes,” Luna said quietly. “A third of an entire continent reduced to glass and cinders. Nothing lives there anymore, and I don’t think anything ever will again.”
“You… You destroyed an entire portion of the world just because you needed to vent?” Twilight asked in quiet horror.
“It was uninhabited,” Celestia snapped, causing Twilight to flinch. “Animals and plants, yes, but nothing sentient. I’m not a monster, Twilight.” She closed her eyes and looked away. “I’m not,” she whispered.
Twilight felt a sudden urge to go and hug her teacher, but something held her back. Something that she had to ask. “Did you ever feel that way towards me? Did you ever want to…” She swallowed. “To hurt me?”
Celestia looked at her for a long moment, expression unreadable. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
Twilight looked away, trembling slightly. “No, I don’t think I do,” she admitted.
“So, now you know,” Luna said, causing Twilight to look over at her. She expected scorn, maybe satisfaction, or even amusement, but the night princess only looked somber. “I can see that you wish you didn’t. But you do.”
“Why did you tell me?” Twilight asked, almost pleading. “How can I live my life now, knowing that we’re all slaves to this ‘balance’? That neither of you are what you seem?”
“One day at a time, Twilight,” Celestia said quietly. “The same way we do.”
Twilight looked back and forth between them, feeling helpless. She recalled Celestia’s words from before, the sole warning she’d gotten. She wished she’d listened.
“I think I need to go,” Twilight said, standing up on shaky legs.
“As you wish,” Celestia said. “Will you be remaining in Canterlot for the night?”
Twilight thought about that for a moment. To be honest, she wanted to put as much distance between herself and the princesses as possible, but it was too late in the evening to catch a train, and she had yet to even test her new wings.
“Is it okay if I sleep in my old room?” she asked.
“Of course,” Celestia said. “The servants have been keeping it clean since your departure, so you shouldn’t have any trouble settling back in.”
“Thanks,” Twilight mumbled.
Without another word she turned and trotted out of the study, leaving the two sisters alone. A few seconds passed in silence as Celestia and Luna refused to look at one another.
After a moment, Luna spoke first. “Do you suppose we shouldn’t have told her?”
Celestia sighed. “As a princess she needed to know. If something were to happen to one of us, it’s likely that Harmony would seek a new host for the Mantle. Twilight needed to be prepared for that possibility.”
“True,” Luna said. “Harmony willing, let us hope it never comes to that.”
Celestia gave a nod of agreement, defeat on her face. “We can only hope. But in the end, the balance must be maintained. No matter the cost.”
“No matter the cost,” Luna said solemnly.
