"There can be only one princess in Equestria, and that princess will be me!" Luna screamed, smashing a railing to bits with her hooves, eyes glowing white as she channeled her magic. The stone behind her cracked and the window outright broke. She wanted to show her sister what her arrogance had brought her. The Moon rose into the sky, covering Celestia's precious Sun and turning the land to darkness. Black beams shot out from the newly formed eclipse, but Luna scoffed them off. She knew that at the moment of raising the Moon, there would be an opportunity to power herself up. But she wouldn't, couldn't, give up her pride like that. She could beat Celestia on her own.
"Luna, I will not fight you" Celestia sighed, lowering her flared wings. She knew there was a way to solve this peacefully, Luna was just confused. Her little sister would never do such a thing. "You must lower the Moon, it is your duty, your birthright" Celestia said, trying to reason with her furious sibling.
"My birthright? My birthright is to be rejected whilst you are loved?" Luna sneered, flying down from the parapet and landing in front of Celestia.
"Rejected? Luna, the ponies adore you!" Celestia sputtered, her eyes widening in shock at Luna's claim.
"Ha! Just like you to try to trick me! They loathe me!" Luna accused, having brooded for so long that these wild claims made sense in her head. It was true, she was appreciated slightly less than Celestia, but after focusing on it for so long, it seemed like the gap was insurmountable by anything short of humiliating Celestia. "Now, fight me!" Luna demanded, her horn lighting up with a teal light as she prepared for the duel.
"I will not! You are my sister and I shall do everything in my power to avoid hurting you!" Celestia said with a shake of her head, unwittingly inflaming Luna's ire even more. In the enraged state Luna was in, everything was an insult in disguise.
"Hurt me? Even now, your arrogance blinds you!" Luna spat, firing a vicious beam from her horn. Celestia's eyes widened and she leaped to the side, letting the beam blow open the back of their castle, revealing a crowd of gawking ponies.
"I beg of you, stop this madness" Celestia pleaded, flying into the air to avoid any other casualties.
"You are just afraid of losing in front of your adoring subjects. They can bear witness to your failure!" Luna cried out, turning into black smoke and teleporting behind Celestia, reforming her physical body in time to throw a kick. But Celestia wasn't there when she reappeared, her powerful wings allowing her to dodge upwards and out of the way. "I know you're stronger than that, stop dodging and face me, coward" Luna hissed, noticing how the ponies were cheering for Celestia. So much for them adoring her.
"I refuse! See sense" Celestia commanded, realizing too late it would only infuriate Luna more.
"DON'T YOU DARE PRESUME TO COMMAND ME!" Luna roared, an explosion erupting from her body in a weaponized shield. Celestia used her own shield, surviving the attack without a scratch. "Good, that was a warm-up" Luna commended sarcastically, flying up so she was level with Celestia.
"Luna, I beg of you, stop this" Celestia begged, trying to keep her composure. Looking like a filly did not add respect. Luna merely laughed.
"You only care because I'm strong now" Luna taunted, but before she could add another insult, a golden attack flew through her heart, tiny as a needle.
"Now that you are calm, we can talk" Celestia snorted, moving over to a doubled over Luna. Celestia was a scholar and had found a spell which calmed the target, if they were not truly devoted to a cause. Celestia was sure Luna was just confused. Luna's response was slugging Celestia in the face, sending the pale alicorn flying and into a building.
"As if such a pathetic spell could work" Luna sneered, flying over to Celestia, who had made a crater in the building upon impact. "Get up, I know that wasn't enough to put you down" Luna challenged and was met with a gust of wind as Celestia flew up, firing even more of the needle like calming spells. Luna didn't even feel them, her devotion to her cause bordered on fanatic at this point. "Is needles all you can muster?"
"Luna, calm down!" Celestia said, though it came off as more of an order. She was met with a barrage of dozens of blue magic blasts, all firing wildly and without aim, a spray and pray strategy. She dodged around each and every one of them though, flying low to avoid some. The ponies on the ground were not so lucky. "No!" Celestia cried out, cursing herself for her stupidity and making shields to block falling rubble. She became aware that one of the beams was still on her tail. If she dodged, it would no doubt hit a terrified pegasus foal on the ground. Skidding to a stop, Celestia braced herself and took the blast head on. Gritting her teeth, she destabilized the blast, causing it to explode on her chest and saving the foal. It had certainly stung, but it was worth it.
"It's a good thing she did that" Luna murmured to herself, reprimanding herself for being so reckless. She had nearly hurt innocent ponies who had done nothing. Well, aside from hate her, but they could change. They didn't deserve death. But Celestia had taken it to a new level of caring for civilians. With a grin, Luna had a devious idea.
"You are safe, little one" Celestia smiled breathlessly, turning to see the foal. All she saw was a broken corpse. It felt like her life had shattered before her eyes. One of her subjects had been hurt. It was her fault, she should have paid more attention to Luna, she should have dodged upward, she should have used a shield, she should have tried harder! Trembling, Celestia turned about, unable to make a single noise as she saw the destruction. Ponies dead and bloodied, her shields broken. How? How could this happen?
"Celestia, move fast!" Luna cackled, sending a knife like magic construct flying forward at a wounded foal. Or what appeared to be one. Celestia had indeed saved all the ponies from injury, but in her panic to check if they were alright, it had been easy for Luna to cast an illusion, making Celestia believe they were dead and wounded. As for the foal she was shooting at, merely a bag of hay. Luna knew now that Celestia indeed would not fight her, not like this. She needed motivation.
"No!" Celestia yelped, moving as fast as she could, outstretching her hoof for the foal. Then, he was gone, a knife in his breast, blood gushing from the surely fatal wound. Celestia stopped moving and lowered her head, trembling. Her duty was to serve Equestria, protect it. She had failed. What does one do when their life purpose fails? Celestia trembled, letting out a hiccup as she sobbed quietly. Luna landed, holding an illusionary foal beneath her hoof.
"Failed? You were never better than me, I could have saved them all. And you'll fail to save this one" Luna said with an internal smile, congratulating herself on a way to make Celestia fight without actually hurting someone. Celestia still didn't move. "You give up?" Luna asked, causing Celestia to lift her tear stained face.
"No more, please, I beg of you" she pleaded, looking pathetic.
"How sad. Now, watch who suffers the cross of your failure" she declared, slamming her hoof down on the illusionary foal's head. Celestia felt time stop. She saw Luna laughing, blood trickling out of the broken body at her hooves. No, it wasn't her own fault. It was Luna's. She could not be allowed to run rampant anymore. This connection surged through Celestia's brain, her vision turning red, her horn glowing golden. The stunned silence was broken by an earth-shattering scream, a primal scream of rage and pain. Luna took a step back, shielding her face with her wing as blinding light surged from the howling Celestia, the ground where Celestia stood cracking and melting from the energy shooting out of her.
"I will never forgive you" Celestia snarled, her eyes shining with a determined fire, her mane flowing with power, and sparks of flame shooting out of her periodically.
"Ha! Don't get cocky, I am still the stro-" Luna started before a huge pain exploded out of her gut, driving the air out of her as she was sent into the air. Gasping for breath, Luna only now realized that Celestia had punched her. "How dare yo-" Luna sputtered, losing sight of Celestia before she could finish. Where had Celestia gone?
"Over here, murderer" Celestia hissed, making Luna whip around in horror. How had she gotten behind her? "You forget your place. You forget how you control a lifeless rock while I control the life source of our planet. You forget how it is I who held off Sombra and Discord whilst you researched ways to defeat them. You forget that it is I who am the stronger" Celestia growled, the air around her waving about from her heat.
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME!?" Luna shrieked, thrusting her horn forward and firing a massive blue blast. Not stopping there, she continued firing blast after blast until Celestia's position would have been destroyed ten times over. Panting, but happy, Luna allowed herself a smile. Celestia must be knocked out by now. Her joy disappeared as the smoke cleared, revealing that Celestia had moved to the right by just enough to avoid all of them.
"Wasting your energy on attacks you don't know for sure are going to work" Celestia lectured, walking up to a stunned Luna. Her hoof flashed through the air and Luna was snapped out of her shock, rubbing her face where the slap had hit her. Luna's teeth gritted, sweat running from her brow.
"H-how...how dare you mock me?!" Luna roared, lunging into a barrage of physical attacks, kicks, punches, bucks, attempted stabs with her horn, she tried it all. And Celestia dodged or parried each and every one of Luna's attempts.
"Doing sloppy attacks and not changing strategies" Celestia continued, moving under an over telepgraphed buck and headbutting Luna in the muzzle, making Luna let out a muffled scream as she clasped her hooves over her nose and staggered back to staunch the nose bleed that was surely happening.
"You are not this powerful. I was winning earlier" Luna bemoaned, standing up straight again and ignoring the blood flow from her nose.
"I was letting you win. You are a spoiled, little child, crying about how not everyone in the world is falling to their knees and worshipping you. No, even a foal's temper tantrums are worse, at least they don't commit massive amounts of destruction and justify with a petty inferiority complex" Celestia hissed, preparing another spell on her horn. Luna was unable to respond, the words cutting her heart before a blast of air slammed into her, staggering her back. "And now I will show you my true power!" Celestia bellowed, teleporting behind Luna and telekinetically grabbing the younger by the leg before spinning her around, making sure that on the downward spins Luna struck the ground. Finally, Celestia let go and Luna was sent into the sky. Celestia flew after her, catching up to Luna before she could even stop herself and delivering a blindingly fast series of punches across Luna's gut, making the nocturnal monarch gag and wheeze. Finally, Celestia teleported behind Luna and slammed her back hoof into the small of Luna's back, getting an agonized cry from Luna in response as she was sent to the ground, slamming into the road with a crash.
"This can't be happening, I deserve to win" Luna moaned, crawling out of the crater her crash had made. Seeing Celestia flying towards her, Luna gritted her teeth and summoned up all her magic, firing a massive blue beam at Celestia, easily powerful enough to destroy a house. There was an explosion as Celestia crashed into the beam, a golden bubble forming around her as she actually began to move through the beam. Eyes widening, Luna put even more power into her attack, but it didn't work, Celestia kept making progress through the attack. Eventually, Celestia was right in front of Luna, visible through the semi-translucence of the ray. Forcing through the ray, Celestia fired a precise blast, about the size of a coin. The small attack flew through Luna's left wing, dislocating the appendage at the joint. Luna squealed in agony, stopping the beam. Her screaming was stopped by Celestia grabbing her telekinetically by the skull and grinding Luna's head across the ground. Luna spun around, conjuring up a dagger to slash at Celestia with. But her magic was too weak, exhausted from her previous attempts. The construct merely bounced off of Celestia before the golden alicorn used her own magic to twist the dagger around and drive it through Luna's mouth.
"That was to cease your rants!" Celestia declared, letting Luna stumble back, bleeding from her ruined jaw. "This is so you do not hurt others!" Celestia added, firing a second coin sized beam through Luna's other wing, crippling the alicorn of flight. "And this is to pay for your crimes!" Celestia yelled, firing a truly massive blast at Luna. But even so, she held back so as not to kill Luna. The blast sent Luna through the air, smashing through the side of a wooden shack and landing helplessly on the ground. Celestia flew over to Luna and landed the finishing blow. "Give your face!" she snarled, blasting Luna's bruised and bloody face with a beam of heat, causing the black alicorn to wail in pain, her face burning. However, she lived. It wasn't meant to be a killing blow, just enough so that all would know who beat her. A sun shape was now emblazoned on her forehead. "Yield"
"I....yield" Luna grumbled through her destroyed jaw and copious amounts of pain. At that moment, Celestia realized what she had done. Luna felt the light leave her eyes, entering unconsciousness
Luna woke up to a white ceiling, in a bed. Did Elysium have beds? Or Tartarus? Luna looked around and recognized she was in the castle's hospital room. She panicked as she saw Celestia entering, now remembering the beating she had been dealt. The golden needle flew through her heart and she calmed, forcing her to listen for the time being.
"Luna, I am truly sorry and ashamed of what I did to you. It was cruel and inhumane. I was at fault for more destruction than you and for becoming a monster in the spirit of vengeance" Celestia spoke, sniffling a little. Sadness had clenched her heart for days now, while Luna was treated. Luna's flight would now be awkward and painful, her speaking would be difficult, she would probably have many other medical problems, and the sun shape might make her inclined to hurt herself. At least, that's what the doctors had told her. Celestia had faith that her feisty sibling would recover. "For my horrific actions in Canterlot, I have passed my judgement on your proposal" Celestia murmured, looking away, cowed by Luna's very presence. The black alicorn had freed herself from the calming spell, but stood still. Was Celestia deferring to her? "You may rule Equestria yourself. I am clearly the worse option, you are better" Celestia said soberly, handing over her crown as well as a few legal documents. "As the new ruler, you may decide what to do with me" Celestia offered, bowing deeply. Luna's eyes narrowed. This was beyond horrible. Her pride was in tatters, her body wasn't far behind, and now Celestia was patronizing her?
"Your judgement...is exile" Luna commanded, her words slurred and painful, but she didn't let it stop her. Celestia bowed even deeper at this.
"I shall take my leave then" Celestia said with a nod, leaving the room, discarding her possessions to her room before flying out of Canterlot. She knew her sister would be better than her, she had faith in this fact. Celestia landed in a small cave to the westernmost reaches of Equestria. Only then, did she sob for hours
