“You cannot change the past,” said Celestia.
“We have the power of goddesses, Tia, is there any reason we should not be able to do so?”
“There is.”
“Then tell me!”
There was a second-long silence, but to Princess Luna it felt like hours. And once that silence had passed, her sister spoke, carefully aligning her tone with caution.
“Because you are a good pony.”
Luna jerked backwards, startled, and silence took back its crown once again.
They were standing in a celestial area, a flat, open stretch with no trees or structures, pony-made or natural, in sight. The ground, however, was not made of common grass, but instead was a shimmering expanse of pure light, shimmering in different shades of rosy pink and periwinkle blue. The light radiated heat, flooding throughout the princess’ bodies and giving each a different type of motivation. Luna was egged on by the sear of warmth rapidly making its way inside her; Celestia only became calmer, and her expression, a soft, unhappy frown, did not change. Above them was the night sky, twinkling stars bright. Beyond that, nothingness.
Luna frowned. “And why should a good pony not be able to change the past? Does she not have more of a privilege to do so?”
Celestia simply shook her head. “Oh, Luna. Luna, Luna, Luna. There is still so much you have yet to learn.”
The younger alicorn bared her teeth in a fierce snarl. “I do not appreciate being treated as a filly, Tia.”
“Oh?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “And I was unaware I was treating you as such.”
“Then we are both at fault,” Luna replied without missing a beat.
Celestia smiled. “You have grown, my sister. But even ponies that have grown immensely still have many, many things to learn. Some lessons they need to decipher are simpler than others – for example, a heartbroken mare cannot flounder in her sorrow forever. She must eventually crawl to the shore, and once there, pull herself onto land, or she will drown. If she simply thrashes about, with no true determination behind her actions, things will not get better, but will instead get worse. Her limbs will simply tire and she will sink, and nothing will have changed.”
Luna shook her head, attempting to comprehend the words. “What are you trying to say to me?”
The smile that had momentarily appeared upon Celestia’s face was gone in an instant. “You mean to tell me you do not understand?”
“You’re speaking in riddles, Celestia. That’s all you ever do. Riddles, riddles, riddles! Why can you never tell anypony anything straight? Why must you always muddle it with your fancy words that nopony cares about?”
“I have not broken through to you, I see,” Celestia simply replied, voice tinged with a hint of sorrow. “A shame.”
“A shame?” Luna’s face burned. “Are you treating me like a fool?”
“Goodbye, Luna,” was the calm response. “Let us meet again tomorrow; perhaps then we’ll have made improvement.”
The light glowed brighter under their hooves. The pinks and blues shifted to greens and yellows, endlessly changing in the unstable ground, shifting like liquid but firm as ice under Princess Celestia’s retreating hooves, and Luna was left behind, having gained nothing but a mind muddled beyond repair.
On the second night, Luna was ready. The colors of the ground had become hot, fiery reds and burning, sizzling yellows. As Celestia padded up to her sister, she glanced below her hooves and frowned.
“You are troubled, sister,” she said.
“This is a fitting place to release emotion,” Luna replied, a hint of a smile on her face. “In the daytime, when you are queen, we cannot face each other like this. But here –” She waved her hoof, gesturing to the emptiness surrounding them, “ –here we can talk. And we can do more than talk.” The smile grew to a grin as her horn suddenly lit up with a bright blue glow. “We can –”
Celestia cut her off, horn igniting with a fierce golden light. Luna stared at it for a moment, opened her mouth as if to speak, and collapsed to the ground, eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her sister watched for a moment, furrowing her brow.
“Oh, Luna. I’m sorry, my sister. Tomorrow, we will try again. Perhaps you will be a bit more forgiving.” Celestia swallowed. “You are not alone in your sorrow, my dear, dear sister.”
The next night, the ground appeared washed out in dirty, empty shades of brown and grey, and Luna was lying down. Celestia moved slowly, wings ruffling with concern. The younger alicorn was crying, and where her teardrops landed, the light burst and bubbled around her hooves.
“This is all your fault,” she mumbled without having to look up, and then a louder, primal scream. “All your fault!”
“But Luna,” Celestia murmured, settling down to face her sister, “She chose her own destiny. Not even I have to power to stop that.”
“You do,” was the response. “You know how to change the past, you know how to travel backwards, you know how to bring her back, and you won’t tell me!” Luna slammed her hoof down on the floor of light, and in a single heartbeat it shattered, colors fleeing their eternal prison and illuminating the sky, and the earth, until nowhere was up and direction was a pointless word.
Celestia flailed from side to side, wings flapping, but it was to no use, and she was falling down, down, down...
And suddenly she was in her own bed, and it was the middle of the night, and somepony was knocking at her door.
It burst open before she could even utter a word, and there was Luna, throwing herself across the room, sobbing uncontrollably, before landing into the comforting grasp of her sister. Her tears wet Celestia’s fur, but the older alicorn didn’t care; she nuzzled her sister’s mane, trying to hide her own watery eyes.
“Tia, I...” Luna hiccupped, swallowing. “I don’t want her to be gone.”
“I know.”
“I...I love her, Tia.”
“I know.” Celestia’s voice wavered slightly.
“I want to fix this. I want to know what we did wrong. Why would she not take the path of immortality? She had the chance. We had given it to her, and yet she did not take the chance. But…but if you give me the spell, we could go back!” Luna’s eyes opened, and she sniffed loudly. “We could make her stay with us – with me – with…with…”
Her words turned into mumbles that deteriorated into fierce sobs. Celestia shook her head.
“You are too good a pony to mess with another’s fate, Luna, especially the fate of the one you love. There is nothing more we can do for her. She has chosen her own path.”
Luna stared into her sister’s eyes, gaze watery and clouded. “But I want her to come back, Tia.”
“Even the best of ponies must face the worst of heartbreak,” was her single response.
Luna was quiet for a very long while; when she next spoke, her voice was hoarse. “Can we go visit her grave again tomorrow?”
Celestia embraced her sister in another hug. “Of course.” A softer whisper. “I miss her too, you know. She was not just your lover, but my protégé, and my…my friend.”
The sisters held each other late into the night, and did not let go until it was time for Celestia to raise the sun in the morning .
Author's Note
I began writing this early last year, and only just stumbled upon it again today. I edited it a bit and completed it, and though it certainly isn't my best piece, I'm happy with it! I hope you all enjoyed as well.
