Celestia was, aside from Applejack, the last pony still breathing in her private chambers. Even in her weakened and strained state, she was far more resilient than any other pony, but she felt that it would only be minutes until it was over.

Applejack had vented her anger at her Stetson and was now little more than a crying mess, backed up in a corner of the room, begging for forgiveness.

Celestia was unable to open her eyes, let alone to speak, she just waited for her end. But, even though most of her senses felt rather dull at the moment, she suddenly felt something tingling at the back of her head. It was a strange feeling. In some sort, it was a familiar sensation, but the veil of death made it difficult to pin down where exactly she felt it before.

Applejack looked up when a sudden flash of dark blue light filled her field of view and Princess Luna just appeared in the middle of the room.

The princess’ eyes darted around and her face was unmoving, like stone. She was smaller than usual and her mane was only of a light blue, not the usual ethereal flow of a night sky, dotted with stars. She almost looked like she did back when she was freed from Nightmare Moon.

She walked over to Applejack and looked down onto her with eyes like steel. “I know what you did and I have to inform you that it is utterly pointless.”

Celestia gathered all her strength and opened her muzzle. “Lulu? You’re alive?”

Luna’s head turned like that of a hawk and her eyes were locked onto her sister. Without a second she rushed next to her side and put a wing around her. “Shhhhhhh, its ok Tia. I am here, and you will be fine in a few moments.”

Heavy breaths were audible from the sun princess. “I thought you were gone.”

Luna gently stroked her sisters mane. “No need to worry sister. I will explain everything in a few moments. For now, you only have to trust me and let death embrace you. You will understand once it is over.”

Celestia nodded and just stopped breathing, though with a happy smile on her face.

After her sister had exhaled her final breath, Luna backed off a few steps and watched the dead body.

The sun outside the window grew a bit darker, it could easily been overlooked since it was only a slight change and lasted only for a brief moment. To Applejack and Luna however, it was a sensation as if the world itself was tipped off balance and now stood at the edge of falling into the ultimate darkness.

Celestia’s body shrinked and started to suck in light from all around her. Within merely three to four heartbeats the whole room went dark, only a small white body with a pink mane was still visible. The darkness itself was not just a shadow cast over the room, it was the absence of light itself, pitch black and empty nothingness. Finally, Celestia’s body succumbed to this darkness as well and all that remained was a small dot of purest light where her form once was.

When it seemed that this last speck of light would also vanish, it suddenly exploded. In the blink of an eye, light filled the body of a young Celestia, only slightly taller than other ponies and with a purely pink mane instead of a multicolored, ethereal one. A moment later, the room was back to normal, the sun was as bright as ever and the sun princess stood in front of her sister, a baffled expression on her face.

Applejack, still crying, could only gaze at the display before her. Her mouth had to try several times before it managed to form any coherent words. “What just happened? How are you alive?”

Luna turned to Applejack and resumed the steely gaze from before. “Your whole scheme was completely pointless, right from the moment it started. The only things you have accomplished are the deaths of your friends.”

Celestia walked up next to her sister, for the first time in many years, they were of equal height. “Luna, I don’t quite understand how this is possible. I felt a enormous power calling me back and righting what was wrong with my body, but I don’t get how this is possible.”

Luna looked at her sister with a tender smile. “It is quite simply. You and I are not simply guiding the sun and the moon through the sky. Do you remember when we got our cutie marks?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course. We assumed control over both sun and moon and each of us got her cutie mark when we first grasped them with our magic. I remember Star Swirl being closer to a happy face as ever before or since.”

A slight chuckle escaped Luna as her sister mentioned the grumpy nature of their old mentor. “You are absolutely correct sister. When I first guided the moon, I felt all the raw magic power it contained and how a portion of it flowed into my body. I assume it was the same for you when you guided the sun for the first time.”

Celestia’s face was blank and she could only shrug. “Yes, well?”

Luna turned back to Applejack and resumed her speech. “Well, we both may not be truly one with the celestial bodies we guide, but they support us as much as we support them. We are not immortal because we are alicorns, we are simply eternal because sun and moon are. If the sun might ever get damaged or even destroyed, it will use some of Celestia’s power to fix itself. This also works the other way around, of course. For example, whenever Celestia gets hurt or even killed, she will instinctively draw a small fraction of power from the sun to fix herself. Essentially, if you don’t destroy both the sun and my sister at the same time, you can’t destroy either of them, one will always fix the other. The same goes for me of course.”

Her sisters look rested on Luna. “How do you know all of this?”

Luna cleared her throat and her face turned red with shame. “I have never told you, but when I was sealed on the Moon I tried to flee on many occasions. Aside from the ill effects the attempt to break a spell cast by the elements of harmony has on a being of darkness and evil, the emptiness of space is not suited for a pony. To make a long story short, I died about two thousand and ninety-three times while I tried to free myself, a few give or take.”

Applejack interrupted the princesses with a hopeful smile. “So, Twilight will come back?”

For the first time since she arrived the face of the night princess showed emotion, sorrow. She looked at the bodies that lay around the room and sighed. “No, neither Twilight Sparkle nor Cadence will revive. They were the embodiments of emotional concept, not celestial bodies. Cadence might have been able to come back as long as Shining Armor was alive, but since you killed both the princess of love and the greatest love of her life at the same time … I do not think she will be restored.”

Celestia’s eyes rested upon Twilights dead body and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. “I assume that it’s the same for Twilight Sparkle. Simply because you killed all her together with all of her friends.”

Applejack shook her head and her smile widened, putting a hoof to her chest. “That can’t be right. I’m still alive.”

Without waiting for any response, the orange mare bolted for Twilight’s body and grabbed her head. “Twilight? Do you hear me? Luna said you could come back to life as long as your friends are alive. I’m still alive. I’m your friend, Applejack, remember? The element of honesty?”

Dark blue magic enveloped Applejack’s body and dragged her away from the dead princess. She was held in the anger fueled levitation spell of Luna and thrown back into the corner she originally retreated to. “STAY AWAY FROM HER!”

Celestia put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder and wrapped a wing around her back. “Stay calm Luna. It’s obvious that we’re both weakened.”

Luna nodded. “You are right. It was quite taxing to teleport back from the moon, even though I had almost two weeks to gather strength after my rebirth.”

The gaze of the night princess fell onto Applejack. “But there is still enough power left in me to deal with this rotten Apple.”

Applejack was terrified and desperately tried to hide deeper in her corner. “P… Princess Celestia said there is no death penalty in Equestria. What are you going to do?”

Luna gazed at at her victim and laughed like Nightmare Moon herself. It was even more terrifying because of her somewhat fragile form.

When the laughter finally died down, the princess of the night lowered her head towards Applejack’s ears. “I will bring you to a place that is very far from Equestria and all its laws. But rest assured, even there you do not need to fear death. Although, you might wish for the reaper pony to free you from my grasp sooner rather than later. Either way, I will make sure you will pay properly … for Twilight, … Pinkie Pie, … Rarity, … Rainbow Dash, … Fluttershy, … Cadence … and Shining Armor.”

Luna reduced her voice to barely a whisper, so that not even Celestia could hear her words. “And after that, you will pay for Mac. I spoke to him before he passed away you know? He explained everything to me, apologized and refused for me to ease his pain. I loved him and you will pay for taking him from me.”

Luna’s eyes turned turquoise, her pupils turned into dragon-like slits and she licked her lips in gleeful anticipation. “I know a few dark spells that are able extend your life. I promise, dear Applejack, you will pay me back … for all eternity if need be.”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading up to this point, I really hope you liked my first attempt to write something darker. It was inspired by two of my favorite youtubers, Scribbler and TheLostNarrator, when they made a rant about grimdark fics. If you enjoyed this piece, remember to check out there awesome channels with beautiful fic readings to listen to.
And if one of these two ever reads this: Thank you for the inspiration, you both are awesome and I hope I at least didn't bore you to death.

If you have anything you want to tell me, I'm thankful for any criticism you have, the positive as well as the negative, so no need to hold back.

Special thanks goes to Crimson Ink and scootaloo96 for helping me to decide witch turn the ending should take. Both suggested the ending you've seen and I'm quite happy how it turned out.

And finally, sorry for any grammar mistakes or misspellings, I don't really have an editor right now, but I gave my best to eradicate as many as possible.

I hope to see you around for a few more stories in the future.