Celestia gazed deep into the static void of her television with large violet eyes that were completely glazed over. A parade of empty Mountain Dew cans littered the area around her like a sea of apathy, the faint powder of Doritos stained her lips from a snack days ago.
Luna would proclaim that her hair was a tangled knotted mess. She'd point out that she wore panties and a bra that hadn't been changed in at least a week. Luna might even go as far as to say the tee she wore was stained beyond repair from a fortnight of neglect.
Indeed her sister would say lots of things.
All of them were completely false!
Her hair could be brushed easily in a second.
Celestia was half sure that her undergarments were self-cleaning.
And of course, this shirt wasn't a fortnight old, it was ten days old.
The light bulb of the living room suddenly plunged the beautiful darkness into a horrid sensation of fire and decay. Celestia had to lift her pudding stained hand upward to shield her fragile eyes from this sudden abuse. Luna entered the room dressed in her cleanest of wardrobes, simply to flaunt the fact she was completely bathed.
“Enough of this madness!” Luna flipped her long vibrant hair over her shoulder in dismay.
“Madness? This is RETIREMENT!” Celestia hissed to her younger sibling before she sunk deep into her sofa like melting butter.
“You're not even watching anything!?” Luna snapped in reply her translucent blue eyes narrowed sternly.
“Nuh-uh! I'm eagerly awaiting results to something or another…” Celestia flaunted her hand in a lackluster fashion towards the static snow of her flat screen.
“You have candy tangled into your hair!” Luna lifted fingers to her temple as she began to massage.
“For your information, they're cute hair clips!!” Celestia yanked a hairy lollipop out of her bangs with a wince of pain.
“Or not?” Celestia scrunched her nose confused.
Luna had enough excuses, she walked beside her sister yanking the pile of wasted potential from the sofa prison. Celestia gave a loud belch of gas into the stagnant air above, the once poised woman now completely slouched over.
“Easy I'm brittle!” Celestia burped louder.
Luna did her best to hold back a feminine gag of disgust. She was flabbergasted by how far her sister had fallen in such a quick time frame. Only two months have passed since both had entered retirement, surely her sister had more determination than this?
“It'll be fine my sister.” Luna cupped her delicate hands on the filthy cheeks of her sister.
“Can I have more Dew?” Celestia stumbled forward blindly unsure where to go.
“I'll get you a can, Celly. But first, let's get you into the tub.” Luna politely led her sister down the cluttered hallway towards the bathroom.
“Smells like roses.” Celestia caught the lovely scent of bath oils wafting across the air.
“I know, it's your favorite.” Luna nudged her older sibling into the dark bathroom lit only by scented candles of various dainty fragrances.
Celestia didn't have the energy to fight back. Instead, she simply shed her husk of apathetic melancholy, her soon nude frame stepping forward into the pink-tinted water of the tub. With a release of a defeated moan from her lips, Celestia lowered into the welcomed warm water in delight.
With her older sister finally on the path to cleanliness, Luna could focus on fixing up the living room to an appropriate status.
After all, it had been ages since they had company.
After thirty minutes of cleaning the impact site of her sister's depression. Luna had come across more than a few oddities, some she rather wished she didn't find at all. With several large garbage bags filled to the brim behind her, Luna took a second to wipe the sweat from her brow with a delicate wrist.
Celestia at this moment chose to stumble back into the living room wearing an ocean blue bathrobe which was several sizes too small, her thighs on full display much to the dismay of her little sister.
“My clothes are shrinking?” Celestia narrowed her eyes in fear.
“No, you're just in my bathrobe.” Luna slapped her face annoyed.
“Why are you so tiny!?” Celestia gazed behind to see her bare ass protruding outward from under the robe.
“The better question is this?” Luna snapped in reply as she held up a blank body pillow.
“I was experimenting.” Celestia shrugged.
Luna spun the pillow around to show a photo of the college professor Discord sprawled out across the front in a seductive manner. Celestia’s eyes finally focused enough to snap her mind back into reality, the older woman quick to blush a dark red color.
“I have nothing.” Celestia gazed down to her feet in silence.
“How could one woman create so much filth!?” Luna pointed to the bags of trash in genuine awe.
“I won't lie, it wasn't my proudest hour.” Celestia walked over to the indented sofa to take a seat, the moment she bent over her robe ripped up the backside with a loud tear.
Luna quirked a thin brow silently as she watched her older sister’s bosom nearly explode out the front of the robe violently. Celestia simply kept her expression collected and calm, as if trying to save some shred of dignity from disgrace.
“Neither is this hour.” Celestia smacked her lips softly.
“If this is going to be a normal occurrence, we might need to rethink living arrangements.” Luna snorted aloud with a roll of her eyes, both arms crossed sternly over her chest.
“You're leaving?” Celestia pushed her lower lip into a sudden pout.
Luna gave a shrug of her shoulders full of uncertainty. “I'm thinking about it, sister.” She decided to come clean of the subject that had been eating away at her soul for a small while.
“So the goose is loose!” Celestia pursed her lips into a visible frown.
“That's not a saying…” Luna sighed half-heartedly.
“You can't toss the cat back into the frying pan!” Celestia grumbled under her breath.
“What!?” Luna squinted a tad lost.
“If it's because I'm a smidge depressed, I promise to take baths daily.” Celestia reached her hand into the sofa with a sarcastic gaze, quick to pull out a can of Mountain Dew from the void.
“Four bags of trash isn't a smidge!” Luna scoffed.
“Smidge and a half.” Celestia began to chug her drink.
If Luna had to be completely honest. Ever since they retired from their duties of the High School, she had begun to dream about new adventures just over the horizon. To spread her wings and travel to new places far from the craziness that Canterlot offered.
In fact, a simple existence surrounded by just mundane experiences did sound like a sweet slice of paradise, magic shenanigans could age one horribly if allowed to carry on. Yet no matter how much she dreamed, it couldn't become a reality.
One thing in this life anchored her to the current reality, she called her own.
“We've been in this together,” Luna whispered in a soft-spoken tone.
“For now and forever!” Celestia giggled as she lifted her can to toast nobody in particular.
“No matter the cost…” Luna locked gazes with her sister.
“Your happiness I'll treasure…” Celestia suddenly felt a cold chill race down her lower back.
The eldest sister could feel this facade she built crumble to pieces around her. Leaving her body numb from the inevitable sting of what would come, Luna carefully took each step towards her beloved sister in deep thought.
“You know I'd be fine on my own?” Celestia placed the can atop the coffee table with a half-hearted shrug of both shoulders.
“I don't want you just existing.” Luna rested her head on her sister's shoulder. “I want you to live.” She let her pale blue eyes fall to the floor disheartened.
“I've been on my own once, I can totally do it again!” Celestia rose from her seat nervously, voice cracked with fear of the unknown.
Luna could feel the anxiety waft from her sister's aura. They had truly been together for so long that the thought of being apart, was enough to plunge the world into a shroud of darkness.
Luna let her eyes drift across the dimly lit room, a dark void which had no escape. The trash bags overflowed in the corner, a stench of apathy clung to the air as a constant reminder that the world was full of decay.
Celestia had already been in this shroud.
She had already begun to feel alone.
"You knew?" Luna bit her lower lip hard.
"I can see the light in your eyes, the joy filling your voice from discussing travel plans." Celestia fought back tears which stung her eyes.
"I can stay, those plans are able to be held off." Luna flashed a chipper smile towards her older sister.
"To hold off is to give up a piece of ourselves, my fear of being alone shouldn't steal the adventure from your life." Celestia sighed as she tossed the empty can of soda to her right.
"Was all this to keep me close?" Luna arched a brow.
"Yes." Celestia huffed in a sigh of uncertainty.
"What comes next?" Luna tilted her head to the side.
"I let you go." Celestia closed her eyes tight.
"Will you be alright?" Luna felt her voice crack saddened.
"At first no, but in time I will." Celestia could feel the stench that held her down in this void lift from the area.
"Will you please not give up?" Luna asked with a somber giggle.
"Of course not, the memories of all the happiness you've brought me." Celestia felt warm tears roll down her cheeks.
"They'll keep me company, perhaps I'll look back at this moment and laugh." Celestia suddenly became cuddled under a warm cotton blanket.
"This isn't goodbye." Luna kissed the forehead of her older sister.
Celestia opened her eyes to the tidy empty room around her, she was curled up on the sofa of the darkened living area comfortably. The fireplace to the far left glowed a lovely vibrant orange hue, a postcard from Luna nestled safely on the wooden coffee table in front of her.
The woman lifted out of her cocoon of safety with a tiny stretch of a nap well needed, she was dressed in a white tee designed with a glowing sun decal. Delicate blue shorts hugged her hips, Celestia took the card in her hand with a smile.
With a silent sway of her body, she walked over to a wall covered in dozens of postcards each from a new adventure and detailing so many new friends. Each new location well earned for her little sister, Celestia knowing that the potluck she had been invited to would start in less than an hour.
Her own humble adventures gave her a wonderful sense of warmth.
Eyes lingered on the wall.
Heart overflowed with joy.
Mind drifted back to that day, the day she let her love go.
At that moment, she couldn't help but laugh.
