Pain. Pain and fear and hopelessness. Not a single thread of sanity remaining to the monster before her.
Her sister. The very one she had grown up with, shared memories with, painful experiences and beautiful laughs, the very...creature who would now be the one to end her life. She was alien, foreign, something she’d never recognize as her sibling, even if her appearance had remained.
No, this was something else. Someone, perhaps, but no more a pony than a griffon was. No more sane than Discord had been. Her fanged, wild grin, the scars of war staring into her soul, the broken mind of a pony who had lost all reason and descended into a madness beyond measure.
Nightmare Moon. Supposedly her sister and twin ruler of the kingdom, but she knew better. This...thing, wasn’t her sister. Perhaps her sister had her own issues. The royal voice has long fallen out of style, lack of sleep wasn’t particularly helpful, and the stress of ruling anything, even the smallest library or diner, didn’t add to her grasp on reality. But she was still her sister. She could be saved, She could be renewed and improved.
This, this...demon before her, it was nonredeemable. Forsaken. Abandoned by love, guidance, compassion, any emotion denoting her as anything other than the conqueror of Equestria.
The blade slipped into her side. Celestia screamed, not so much in pain, but in shock, having been broken out of her reverie.
With strength only an experienced fighter could hope to match, she reflexively jumped aside, her hooves scraping against the stone slabs of the forgotten palace. Her eyes focusing back onto the opponent before her, her lungs choking and wailing for a breath. She accepted, drawing a desperate wheeze into her broken body. The wound, which had only been a distant shout a moment ago, began screaming at her, begging to put out the inferno in her ribs. The bandages on her ear unraveling with a flourish, the tender, red flesh of her scab exposed to the freezing air.
She allowed herself to focus, her mind snapping into a state of tranquility, picking up her scratched and glowing rapier. Only a second to spare of relaxation, she parried another blow, the blade slipping up and flowing over the other with violent grace. Nightmare Moon arched her head back in time to avoid decapitation, but not swift enough to deflect a slash of steel across her left eye. Her helmet had long been abandoned, in favor of her visceral, star-infested mane spreading across the frozen air. She gasped, but did not flinch, attempting to pay back Celestia with an aggressive thrust to her neck.
Celestia was too slow, too drunk with exhaustion, too tired and distant to avoid the blow. Her only saving grace was her regalia, the night queen’s dagger slanting off the polished gold, the screech of steel echoing throughout the chamber.
The pair of bloodied alicorns backed up, taking a moment’s respite to gain their wits once more. Celestia allowed herself to pant, her breath forming clouds of billowing mist in the autumn’s chilling gust. She slid the rapier into it’s vibrant rose sheath, squealing into its cold home. Her mane now a torrent of disarray and rusty stains, her flank equal to a volcano, a chunk of flesh carved out where her cutie mark ought to be. She bent her skull back, basking in the coolness of the air tonight, the chill refreshing her muscles. Her wings allowed themselves to stretch into the chamber, gaining a taste of exercise after hours of restriction.
“I still don’t understand. Even after all your heresy, your determination to start a cult, your efforts to convince me without bloodshed. I still can’t understand why.” Celestia’s voice disturbed the silence that had grown and infected the two mares. “You desire to overthrow me and cause eternal night. But...what’s the point? What good is it to rule over a land which has no love for you?”
Nightmare’s ears swiveled, almost glowering at the Sun Guardian, soaking in her words with indignation. She allowed herself a cackle, before booming to the broken mare before her, “T’is not obvious? We need no respect, no admiration, no love. We only need power, the power and authority to rule the sky, and erase it of sunlight. Whether they appreciate it or not, they shall learn to live with the moon’s beautiful gaze watching them forever. No early mornings, no cripplingly hot summers, and most importantly...”, she gathers her spite and hatred into a toothy snarl. “One icon for power. There will be no confusion over who to consult for royal matters, far less taxes to support a smaller castle and quarters, and the army shall be halved. Does this not sound appealing? T’is a wondrous prospect for our ears. Only one, unified kingdom of the stars to worship and praise, under our watchful gaze.”
“And yet it isn’t so. You speak of a utopia, one without problems like we have today. But one ruler simply could not handle our world.” Celestia coughs a glob of blood and bile, wiping her muzzle to remove the rancid material. “What if Discord returns? How could you handle him without the aid of your-”, she cuts off, rethinking her speech, “-of Luna’s sister? Or if the griffons invade again? It took all our horsepower to fight them off the first time. They wouldn’t hesitate to assault a weakened kingdom and confused leader. You do not know your limits.”
“Enough!”. Nightmare’s announcing voice wobbles throughout the room, reverberating throughout Celestia’s ears. “You will not ruin our glorious conquest with your toxic words! Prepare to die, former Princess Ce-”. She is cut off as her barrel becomes stained with the red of her life essence, a rapier poking out of her marred chest. She screams, shattering the window nearest her, and totters back as her eyes growl with rage and shock, her muscles tensing, her mind filling with adrenaline.
Just as she wills herself to launch a final assault on Celestia, determined not to die as a crumpled mess, her ears perk and sheave towards the clattering door.
“Princess! The Cult of Eternal Nightdom has been routed! They now flee to the griffon border!” A royal Sun Guard batters through the gate, his coat and armor smeared with gore, one of his legs cast and his left ear severed. “The kingdom is ours for this moment!”
Celestia sighs, slumping onto her haunches, her throat releasing shaky pants of relief. Stealing a glance towards Nightmare Moon’s position, she witnesses the navy alicorn shaking with...grief? Rage? Pain? Whatever it is, she is immobilized and ripe for the victor to slay.
No. Celestia shakes her head. Despite her own better judgement, and obvious rational thinking, she cannot bring herself to kill her sister with her own hooves. Enough blood has been spilt these past months. No, she knows of another option. One that can perhaps return her sister to her.
Groggily forcing herself onto her slender legs, Celestia limps over to the broken Queen of Darkness. She uses what magic is left to freeze her in place, earning a slight growl before silence. With strain, she unlocks the hidden pedestal in the floor, allowing it to ascend to her shoulders.
The Elements of Harmony lay undisturbed upon the slate plate. She grasps them with her telemagic, arranging them into a hexagon of crystals. Summoning any will she may have left, Celestia conjures the words from her battered throat into existence.
“No longer are you welcome on Equestria, foul creature in possession of my sister! Greet the moon with all your despair and hate, and love its barren cold and hopelessness for a thousand years! Begone, and leave this land in peace, away from your violence! Begone!”
The Elements shine and radiate with life, slowly spinning in a clockwise movement. Nightmare Moon herself shines as well, her mane and tail being replaced with...a soft blue hair? Swearing under her breath, Celestia looks away from what she knows to be in front of her, but she cannot close her ears out.
“Sister?” A quivering, almost childlike voice calls out, requesting Celestia’s attention. “Tia, what’s going on? Why...why are you so injured? Who hath done this to you? Who dares scar our sister?”
The feeble blue mare gasps as her eyes place themselves upon the Elements humming and vibrating in front of her form. “Why...are those out? What use could they be? Hath Discord returned? And...why are they being used on me? Sister?! Do not ignore us! Have we done something terrible? Tell us!”
Celestia fights back as much as possible against the emotion building in her throat. She deigns not to respond, rather pouring more magic into the Elements, speeding their work, spinning faster, shining bright, enveloping the small blue alicorn in pure white brightness.
“Tia?! Stop this! What hath we done? What could demand using these on your own beloved sister? Do I no longer deserve to rule Equestria alongside you? Do I-”, she whimpers, before stopping in response to a spare piece of regalia lying before her. “Is that...that’s not yours, nor is it ours...Tia?” The mare begins crying, tears flowing over her face, staining her fur and dimming her voice. “Don’t tell me, I...I...Don’t let me believe this! Don’t tell me I betrayed you! Don’t...don’t let me be this way! I can make up! Throw me into a dungeon, banish me, but tell me what I did!”
Celestia could only tighten her eyes and lower her ears as the Elements reached maximum strength, preparing for a final sendoff, ready to clear the room of her sister’s presence. She clenched her jaw, determined not to scream, not to release any emotion.
“Tia...I’m...I’m...” The blue mare lowers her head, letting her tears slam against the marble floor. “I’ll always love you, sister. Forgive me.” She rests on her haunches, accepting whatever fate may await her now.
The Elements become pure white orbs, merging into a cloud of energy. They surround the blue mare in a vector of noise and light, carrying her into the air.
The Elements, and the blue alicorn, shoot off towards Equestria’s moon. They disappear into the black sky, leaving only a trail of white essence behind for a fraction of time.
“I’m sorry, Luna.” Celestia’s voice cracks, and she collapses onto the floor, her emotions and injuries overtaking her. She finally breaks, tears and wails erupting, no longer contained by her iron resolve. She covers her face with her hooves, soaking her fur with salty droplets of despair.
On the distant moon, a clear image of a regal pony fades into view.