The Frame of War

~ II ~

The Sibling Rivalry

The dark miasma flowed into the room, swirling and slow, composed and compounded with power. It flowed across the ground like a liquid-metal puddle, expanding across the flooring, enough to produce a pond. It bubbled, a rising beneath the surface, the composition of power infusing into a form.

Out from the depths of dark magic.

Nightmare Moon rose.

"Mmhmm-aahh!" Nightmare surfaced in a slow and continuous rise, rolling around her head, delighting at every kink that popped. Some caused her to moan; others to lick her lips. Drunken arousal coming from the drinking of power. "How sore and aching my body has been after decades neglected. Maybe I... should have stretched before finding you, dear sister."

Celestia only shook her muzzle. "Don't think I'll be calling you the same."

"That so? Well oh well! So much for family reunions." Nightmare strode out from her pond, though in every step, the waters followed. They darkened and thinned without losing their density. It became her shadow, fully formed, once she stepped out. "How long has it been exactly? If only we had a way of knowing."

The creature kept in-between them, within its coffin, asleep despite them.

Princess Celestia didn't have words. Nothing to be said or done to her sister. Thousand years had passed, thinking and reflecting, the time rendered into an opportunity for them both. Using harmony to advance all of their lives was her plan.

And yet, despite the years, not a shadow of doubt appeared, to Luna, in her feelings for revenge. If all the time locked away on the moon didn't give her cause to think twice on what occurred, those many seconds festering hate and rage... nothing said now, done now, would change a damn thing.

Maybe Nightmare Moon kept her from the insanity of pondering Celestia had found herself in throughout the years.

Or maybe it was Nightmare Moon causing it.

Never was an answer reached.

Only more pondering followed by added doubts.

"I think you and I, dear sister, have waited far too long for our rematch." Nightmare Moon strode forward while her miasma seeped across the floor. It was a living, sentient, and dangerous foe on its own. "Victory should have been mine the time before. But like the loser you are, in your defeat, you called for supernatural aid. But as far as I can see—"Nightmare's gaze swept across the room with assurance "—no such help will come to you now."

Nightmare strode right to Celestia, muzzle to muzzle, glare to glare, seconds ticking. "Unlike you, I've been training, waiting to enact this final plan. You hardly seem stronger since the last time." Nightmare's muzzle dipped upon checking Celestia out. "In fact. Weaker. You've gotten weaker... with intent?" She shook her head. "Don't let this fight down. Not after all these years of dreaming. You give it your all, or whomever your prized student is now will suffer worse than you."

Celestia hadn't expected herself to smile, but came to do so, the sweetness of the past, done just the same in the present. "Still worried about being stronger and beating your bigger sister? Won't be happy unless you truly best me? It might drive you crazy if I surrender now, won't it?"

"Don't you dare strip me of this!" Nightmare Moon stomped her hoof into the floor, the dark, ethereal puddle shooting up from behind. Seconds later, it pelted from the air, each striking with intensity. "Those years of teasing me, lording over me, demonstrating your superiority! I need to prove my betterment! To destroy your best and tower over the ashes!"

That's what you thought those years were about? Acts and words. They won't work now.

Princess Celestia offered a nod of acceptance, taking a few steps back, relaxing. Stiff muscles evened out and tensions of the chest carried out in a steady breath. Winning or losing was irrelevant. So long as it granted time for Twilight to learn her lesson.

And ascend.

I suppose it should be interesting to find out how rusty these last thousand years have left me.

Both alicorns kept several feet away, expressions uniquely determined, circling the other. Every loop saw to a step closer being taken, their horns consumed by surging magic, each powering up. Seconds passed. Then moments of silence, until, of course...

The sisters, and their sibling rivalry, renewed after a thousand years.