Sister's Embrace

*“When thy moons rises this night,

the moon will be full.

And when thy subjects awake for their morning sun,*

the moon will stay – forever.”

Luna jolted awake as she felt the chariot touch down, nearly falling onto her side. It took her a moment to realize where she was, her ears falling back as she looked upon her home with both relief and fear. This was Luna’s first night back in Equestria after her thousand-year sentence to the moon. This castle wasn’t her home, however. This was a new castle, not the one both her sister and herself had lived in. At least it didn’t hold the nightmares from those years ago.

The large, spiraling castle was illuminated by the moon’s silver veil, the various roof tiles slightly glimmering in the light. In some places, torches were lit and light could be seen through all of the castle’s windows. Where the chariot had landed, they were directly in front of the castle’s large entrance, two members of the royal guard standing vigil. Luna slowly rose to her hoofs as she shook the sleep from her head. “Sis-“ Luna began before turning head to see an empty space next to her. Looking forward, she watched as the alabaster alicorn make her way into the castle.

The princess slowly lowered from the chariot and onto the smooth pavement below, staring forward. She deserved this treatment, why would she think she could ever have her sister back? With these thoughts in mind, Luna slowly followed after Celestia, feeling the horrible, burning gazes of both the chariot drivers and the royal guards upon her back. ‘This is to not be a warm homecoming,’ Luna thought, ‘I will never be looked upon the same again.

Throughout the night, her subjects and guards either quivered in fear and ran away or they would give her an evil, burning glare. She couldn’t find her sister anywhere, the sun princess had disappeared after Luna entered the castle. Luna was alone like before, only now with resentment surrounding her. Luna slowly sat upon the rugged ground before letting out a sob, a tear running down her cheek. “H-help…” she whined in a pitiful tone, as if she were a small filly who lost her parents.

“Princess Luna!” a voice suddenly called out in front of her, causing the dark blue alicorn to look up. She didn’t recognize this pony, but she appeared to be a servant. The figure approached her, the dusty brown mare looking at the princess with bright green eyes. Her horn was lit, a nearby duster floating close to her dark red, curly mane. “P-Princess Celestia sent for you…Follow me,” she mare said before turning around and began to walk forward, the lunar princess soon following behind her.

After a good few minutes of silent, eerie walking, the mare gave the princess a quick bow before running off, leaving Luna in front of a large, dark wooded door. “She’s...going to kill me,” Luna sighed nervously before her own horn lit, slowly cracking open the door. As the door opened fully, a large bedroom was presented to her. The room’s carpet was a dark shade of blue and the ceiling jet black, the walls showing a transition in between the two colors. The vast blackness of the ceiling showed white, shining stares, all connected to reveal various constellations.

A dark wooded vanity sat at one end of the bedroom, next to it appeared to be a dresser. A desk of the same color and wood sat on the other side of the room, along with various other things that seemed to make it feel like a true bedroom. In the center of it all, sat a large, regal queen-sized bed. Over it was a blue canopy, which enveloped the bed in its veil. Within it, a silhouette of the mare that has haunted her dreams sat motionless, though Luna could feel her sister’s gaze burning into her skull. Closing the door behind her, Luna placed her back crown upon the vanity, along with her neck piece and horseshoes.

Taking a shaky, nervous breath, Luna slipped passed the veil and onto the bed. There sat Celestia, looking upon her younger sister with a piercing set of purple eyes. Luna felt as if her entire body was on fire, being observed underneath the gaze. “S-sister…W-we,” she began before she was cut off. Letting out a yelp, Luna was drawn against her older sister’s body in a tight embrace. At first, Luna squirmed, her wings flapping as she panicked, “G-get off!” she cried. It was a drop of moisture upon her horn that made her grow still, her ears rising as she heard Celestia quietly sob.

Looking up, her eyes grew wide as Celestia stared down at her, tears streaming down her alabaster cheeks. “Luna...dear sister,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry!” Luna blinked at this, she had never seen her sister like this. With Luna’s silence, Celestia continued, pleading “I-I had no choice. I-I love you so much…Sending you away only tore me apart, being alone here without you.”

Luna blinked at this before squirming against her sister’s rather strong arms. “W-what are you talking about?! You have everypony in all of Equestria here, you weren’t alone!” she argued, though she began to feel her eyes start to sting a bit. “Sister,” Celestia sighed, “I care for everypony, I do. But I LOVE you, Luna. We grew up together…Nopony could replace that.” Luna, at this point, was also crying. She felt fiery hot tears dribble down her jaw and onto her sister, her smaller body beginning to quiver. “Luna…Let me by your side, I want you back as my sister,” Celestia whispered desperately.

Luna stared up at the ruler of Equestria for a long, silent moment before suddenly pushing forward with unseen strength. Making Celestia yelp and roll onto her back, Luna laid on top of her sister as her arms squeezed and embraced Celestia as tight as she could managed, burying her face into her neck as she began to sob uncontrollably, hiding in the warm embrace. “I-I love...you too, Tia,” she breathed, laying still. Throughout the dark night, the two sisters stayed like this, in each other’s’ arms until they both fell asleep. Even when morning came, and both looked haggard with messy manes and bloodshot eyes, the two sisters were finally together once more.