Two alicorn fillies, one blue and one white rolled together in the grass, laughing merrily all the while. The white filly rolled over on top of the smaller blue alicorn pinning her in place. Determined not to be beaten yet, the blue filly wriggled out from underneath her captor, got to her hooves, and raced away with a shout of, “Catch me if you can Tia!”
The larger white filly scrambled to her hooves and gave chase. Looking back over her shoulder at her pursuer, the smaller of the two fillies opened her wings and began flapping them madly. A few moments later she squealed in surprise and shouted, “Tia! Look! I’m flying!”
The white filly slowed down to a stop and moaned indignantly, “That’s not fair Lulu! How come you get to fly first? I’m the older sister, not you!”
Still bubbling with excitement, the blue filly landed messily next to her older sister. “Awwww, come on Tia,” she whined, “Why do you always have to spoil my fun?”
The older of the two fillies rolled her eyes and said, “I’m not spoiling anything. I just hate how you get to be the first to do everything. Just once, I wanted to be able to beat you at something, but you still managed to do that thing first as well.” The white filly turned her head away from her sister in an attempt to hide the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.
Her little sister laughed, but her voice was no longer the voice of a filly. The voice that her older sister heard was the voice of a full grown mare, one that would haunt her many years later, for ten long centuries of her life. This was the voice of her worst nightmare. "Well, well, well, look who's jealous now. Not so perfect after all, are we Celestia. Why does everypony love you so much anyway? You were always the weaker sister. I was so much stronger, so much better than you at everything, and yet, look who was left to lead Equestria. What were ponies thinking when they chose you for that role?"
The laughter began again, but this time it was more malicious almost to the point of cackling. The white filly dropped to the ground, curled into a ball, and began to sob uncontrollably. All the while, her little sister stood over her, laughing and taunting her relentlessly.
Celestia shot bolt upright in her bed and screamed loudly. Her breathing was labored as tears began to fall in thick rivulets down her cheeks. The door to her chambers was thrown open by magic and in the doorway stood her younger sister Luna. "Sister, what's wrong? Are you being attacked?"
After taking a moment to get her breathing back under control, Celestia replied, "I'm only being attacked by inner demons sister. It was just a nightmare."
The princess of the night stepped further into her sister's bed chambers and shut the door behind her. Walking up to her sister's bed, Luna asked, "Would you like to talk about it? I might be able to help."
Gesturing for her little sister to join her on the bed, Celestia said, "If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate that a lot."
"Of course I don't mind," Luna said as she sat down next to her older sister, "Why don't you start by explaining what the dream was about?"
Leaning close to her younger sister for comfort, the princess of the sun began tentatively, "I dreamed we were both fillies again and were playing together. I was chasing you when you flew for the first time. You were really excited about it, but I was jealous because you were always the first to do something even though I was the oldest. I tried to explain that to you, and your voice became the voice of Nightmare Moon. You then proceeded to taunt me and laugh at me in her voice while all I could do was cry."
Luna wrapped her wings around her older sister and hugged her tightly. "I promise I would never ever do that for real. A nightmare is all that was, alright? I know that it scared you; it would've scared me as well if I'd been in your position. You've had to deal with so much pain in your life sister, partly due to my stupidity, and you need a break. I can see how all of this is overwhelming you, and if you'll let me, I can give you a break from all of this."
Tears still glistening in her eyes, Celestia looked at her younger sister. "What would you do Luna? I'm not sure there's even a way for me to escape from all of this since it's been so long."
"You've always been the one who has done everything possible to keep both of our hopes up when times are difficult. I know it seems like you've had to deal with this for so long that it can't go away, but I promise you, I can give you one night of peaceful sleep. Trust me Tia. I'll take you back to those times when we were young and carefree, but with me, you won't have to fear the return of a nightmare. Let me help you sister, and I'll guard your dreams as if they were my own life."
Celestia looked up at her sister hopefully. "Would you really do that for me?"
"Of course I would. I love you Tia."
"If you're sure about this, then I'd really appreciate it," Celestia sighed and leaned back against her pillows.
Smiling down at her older sister, Luna got off of the bed and cast the spells necessary to ensure that Celestia would have nothing but pleasant dreams. As she watched her sister slip into sleep, Luna whispered, "I'll always be here for you Tia, no matter what. If you ever need me, I promise I'll do everything in my power to help you. You don't deserve all of this pain, and I'm sorry that I caused it to be placed on your shoulders in the first place."
A few tears began to form in Luna's eyes as she walked back to the door and opened it. Just as she slipped out of the room, the princess of the night looked back at her sleeping sister and said, "Sweet dreams Tia. I love you."
