"Celestia" came a cool, calming voice. Celestia raised her head and looked around groggily. "Celeeestia..." came the voice again. Celestia forced herself to her hooves and followed it. It took her a moment to notice where she was. Canterlot. Or, at least, what looked like Canterlot. The streets were abandoned. Rubble lined the streets. The only sound was the sound of her own hooves clacking metallically on the stone. A hacking cough came from her left. Celestia jumped slightly and turned. A dark, black tunnel lay before her. Another cough followed a few choked sobs. Celestia walked slowly and carefully down until the sound was coming from just before her. Celestia lit her horn and heard a yelp. There, in front of her, was her young sister.

She was curled into a ball, bloodied and crying. Both of her wings had been twisted completely around, rendering them completely useless and bleeding heavily where the skin had torn. Perhaps the worst of all was her horn. Or lack thereof. Her horn had been completely snapped off. She yelled and tried to stand, only to crumple back against the wall. Clearly at least one of her legs were broken. Probably more. She looked up at Celestia, tears in her eyes. Her pupils were mere pinpricks. Reflected in her sister’s glassy eyes, Celestia saw fire. She glanced back and gasped. Her mane and tail were both bright and blazing. She was wearing smooth, shiny armor embedded with red gems. Even her cutie mark was different.

She turned back to her sister and couldn't stop what she did next. Her horn lit and Luna was raised into the air. A tightness formed around her neck, and a single tear slid down her cheek. Celestia couldn't stop. She wanted to, but she couldn't. She didn't even wince when a large crack was heard, and Luna went limp in her grasp.

***

Celestia awoke with a start, sweat and tears staining her face. Spike was sitting up next to her, looking at her with concern.

"Celestia, are you okay?" He asked in a deep voice. Celestia hadn't realized how hard she'd been shaking. She breathed out deeply and glanced outside. The moon was still high in the sky. It would still be a few hours before sunrise. Celestia leaned far to her right and was expecting to hit the ground, but was caught by scaled, warm arms. Celestia glanced up and gave a half smile before lapsing back into sleep. When she woke, she felt warm arms embracing her. That tends to be a thing with dragons. They have a fire in them that will always keep them warm. Celestia grunted and nuzzled into it. "Are you awake?" Came Spikes soft voice. Celestia yawned and opened her eyes.

"Yeah. Thanks" she responded. She rolled her eye to the window and saw the sun slowly making its way up. She groaned and stood shakily, stretching and popping her back. She stood for a moment, trying to gather her scrambled thoughts. She turned and glanced back at Spike. "You ready for this?" She asked, watching him from the corner of her eye. Instead of answering, he just stared confusedly. Celestia winked and walked to the center of the library, opening her wings wide. She rose into the air, horn aglow. A white glow shone from her chest as streams of light flew from the many books that were still intact. It was a beautiful sight, but it was over in a few seconds. She landed down carefully and swayed. Spike ran forward to catch her, but was stopped when she held up a hoof. She righted herself and carefully laid a hoof to her forehead. "Oh wow, I haven't used that spell in ages"

"What did you do!?" Asked Spike, slightly panicked.

"I absorbed the knowledge. It would've taken way too long to read all of these books. There was one though..." she trailed, looking to her left in wonder. She quickly trotted over and picked up one very, very old book. She opened it and read. She got about a paragraph down and gasped, dropping the book. She took several steps back, bumping into Spike.

"What’s wrong?" He asked, laying a hand across her back. She jumped and winced at the touch, causing Spike to recoil.

"S-sorry" she whispered. "I-I just... can't right now"
Spike nodded and held both hands at his sides.

"What's wrong?" He repeated, more forcefully. Celestia turned and looked at him, tears in her eyes.

"Alicorns" she said quietly. Spike had been stunned into silence. "That book... it had a note from my parents, and I never even knew it. There's a whole city of them outside Equestria. Far, far north. If we could get there..." she explained, more tears falling. "There had always been rumors, but we never believed them. We... we could never find them" she continued before going quiet. Spike rose after a minute and embraced Celestia. A few hours later, Spike and Celestia left the library. Celestia had cast a spell on a large bag, expanding it on the inside. It was a large, comfortable town house on the inside with a large basement full of supplies. They walked across Ponyville before coming across the Everfree forest. They kept walking, trudging forward until nightfall.

That was when they took to the skies, soaring freely above the gnarled black and red trees of the Everfree. They made good progress, landing a couple miles south of a small town by sunrise. They then picked a safe spot under a rock where they stored the bag and climbed inside. Celestia and Spike headed to her bedroom, where Celestia climbed into bed. Spike turned and walked to the door.

"Spike" called Celestia, just as he walked under the door. He turned and looked at her expectantly. "I... I have just had my entire world turned upside down. For many, many years before this I have forced myself to remain cold. I have always been the protector, not the protected. Now that my life is falling apart, can you do me one thing and just hold me?" She asked, large eyes reflecting the light from a single candle burning at her bedside. Spike smiled warmly and nodded, climbing into the bed and wrapping his long arms around her. Before either one of them could fall asleep, Celestia turned her neck around and blew out the candle.

Author's Note

Sorry that the big part came a bit suddenly. Hopefully it didn't ruin the story though! Please leave a like and comment if you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!