Silence of the Alicorns

by Array

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Luna, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 5776

Symbols fall. A world is torn asunder. A cosmic horror. Never again will she be alone.

A symbol falls, and what it stands for soon follows.
When devastating events occur, shattering the hearts and minds of ponies everywhere, many will have their spirits tested, their resolve questioned.
Their world torn asunder, and with the threat of a cosmic horror, a select few souls will traverse a universe very different to the one they know, and one where the symbols they stand for do not exist.
And no single pony will be able to restore harmony to their world.

But they will never be alone.

Nothing is forever.

Published 2013-02-17 19:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-17 19:30:02 UTC

Chapter 1: Fall of the Alicorn

Chapter 1: Fall of the Alicorn

This is the end.

There would always be an end. No matter how hard she hard fought the universe’s laws, no matter how powerful she became, she would fall to the same fate that befell all those that came before her. And now there was no one before her. They ended, just as she would.

The elements were nothing but a distant dream, a past lost to the abyss that would soon engulf her. The world had shattered, reality finally collapsed, and there was no future left for any being. It was all… gone.

And it was all her fault.

///

Thousands of years had passed under their rule, and there was nothing but harmony. An age of peace and prosperity was the result of their governing, and together the kingdom had vanquished many great evils that threatened the balance of the perfect society constructed by the alicorns.

Little was truly known to the average pony about the origins of the alicorns. Their rule was met with no resistance, for nothing but an ideal society had grown under the care of the goddess-sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

This aura of obscurity surrounding the nature of the alicorns is not helped by the state of the Canterlot Archives. Very few ponies went out of their way to learn the history of Equestria beyond that which is annually celebrated by Equestria’s citizens. A mention of one of the most legendary unicorn mages of all time, Starswirl the Bearded, would be met with confused stares and the occasional exclamation of vague familiarity by the elder ponies.

Only a select few can even enter the deeper recesses of the Archives, a place filled to the brim with untapped knowledge that hardly any pony has ever seen. The doors to these foreboding areas have not been open for centuries at least. Even the alicorns themselves seem to have forgotten its existence.

It was almost as if someone had bewitched the doors to be unnoticeable. No guards were ever posted there, and no one ever takes a second glance towards the ancient brass frame. The unassuming aperture had been left undisturbed for an age.

It was on this fateful day that the silence of the archives had been broken, by a small lavender unicorn, distraught and despairing for the health of her once-powerful mentor. She had a narrow view of the world, one where everything was organised into categories black and white, with variables and constants coexisting in her mind, interacting with one another exactly as she would predict. One of those constants had changed, and it disrupted the balance of her idealised world.

///

The day before had been a thoroughly normal one, and so was the one before that. Her life had finally settled down into a quantifiable routine, with only the occasional hiccup in the form of a localised disaster, or friction between her friends. However, to her unconscious mind, this day had not yet started. She awoke, shaking herself from the peaceful serenity that had existed a moment before in order to assess her surroundings. Her room at the highest point in the hollowed-out tree was still darkened, for the sun had obviously not risen yet.

It was a curious thing, the tree. The previously-underused library sat at the heart of it, and the living piece of vegetation had the interior carved out to accommodate the needs of the ponies its builders had hoped would use it. It had been grown centuries ago, and has always been acknowledged as a central piece of Ponyville’s history. When it was to be made into a library, a spell was cast on the enormous plant in order for it to live through its service as the town’s reservoir of knowledge, but it sadly had not seen attention it deserved.

When she had arrived in the quaint little town, this spell was beginning to wear off. She was the only one who noticed this, as the other unicorns in the settlement paid no attention to the old tree. It was only through her magic that she restored the energy of the great tree, rejuvenating it so that it might live a little longer.

She left the safety of her bed’s covers and moved over to the window, pulling the curtains apart. Surveying the peaceful villa, she found nothing of interest, feeling a slight frustration creeping into her mind. She could not see the moon from this angle, so it must have almost accomplished its nightly path across the sky.

The young mare gave a small yawn before preparing to return to her bed, ever so slowly, when the harmony of Luna’s night was broken by three firm, slow knocks on her front door.

“Nopony’s here, library’s closed,” she tried to yell at the source of the disturbance. She was unsure how loudly she had called, and whether or not they would hear her voice, because of her lack of energy. The unicorn immediately stopped thinking about it, crawling back into the warmth of her bed, knocking into something under the bed sheets. Pulling the covers back, she found a book entitled ‘Physics: Magic and Relativity’, resting open so that the interior of the book was facing down, spine slightly raised in the air.

Cursing herself for her carelessness, knowing full well that books are easily damaged from being left like this, the mare lifted the book into the air with her magic, reading the page that she left it on. ‘To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction: or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in opposite directions’. Hoofton’s Third law of Motion, she knew it well. One of the basic subjects learnt when taking a science course, it described how there were always equal and opposite forces acting on particular objects when they interacted with each other. As described by the other laws, if there is a balance of these forces, the object remained at rest-

Three more knocks, louder, but just as drawn out. She had almost gotten to sleep again, but that damnable knocking resonated in her mind. She sighed inwardly, and resigned to see who was at the door.

She slowly, gradually, made her way to the library’s front door, dropping her hooves on each step of the stairs. Trudging to the tree’s entryway, she lazily swung the door along its appointed path, involuntarily yawning at the same time. However, when she finally opened her eyes, they were met with a most unexpected sight, and one that caused her to choke and cough for a moment, interrupting her yawn.

“Twilight Sparkle,” the princess of the night said flatly.

“Princess… Luna?” The equine in question stuttered out. She resumed coughing for a moment before appropriately adjusting her demeanour.

“Thy time is uncertain. Thou must cometh with us at once.” The princess turned to go, motioning for Twilight to follow her. However, the unicorn felt completely rooted to the spot, jaw suspended as her brain attempted to retrieve the meaning of what had just happened. Several seconds later, her mind unleashed a barrage of questions for her to voice.

“What’s going on? Where are we going? Has something happened?”

The alicorn did not face her as she spoke, and continued to walk briskly towards the royal carriage that lay resting a short distance ahead of her, being attended to by her signature bat-like guards. “Something is indeed happening, and to give thee prior knowledge would be to inflict unnecessary suffering.”

Princess Luna’s answer only served to further her confusion, but the unicorn followed her nonetheless. “For the matter at hoof, our destination is to be Canterlot,” she added.

Princess Luna leapt gracefully upon the carriage, and nodded to Twilight. She put her front hoof on the vehicle before a realisation hit her.

“Spike’s still asleep! He won’t-”

“We have prepared for that,” Luna promptly cut her off, and signalled for two of her guards. Nodding, they trotted into the house and shut the door behind them. It was then that Twilight noticed the large number of Luna’s guards organised into a small troop beside the carriage, but she did not question it. “He may be surprised when he wakes up, but there is nothing to fear from our guards. They will ensure that no harm comes to him,” she unsatisfactorily clarified for Twilight. When Twilight hesitated, staring at the closed door, the princess pulled her into the air with her magic, and slowly placed her on the carriage. Before she could object, the vehicle lurched into motion, and was pulled into the night sky.

As her brain was addled, it was not until they had reached maximum height that Twilight realised that she had never been on Luna’s carriage before. With sleep in her eyes, she began inspecting the details of the carriage, momentarily forgetting where she was. Somewhat stupidly, she asked “I don’t suppose this can wait until morning?”

Princess Luna was staring at the front of the carriage, and, expectantly, shook her head. As Twilight began to sigh, Luna said, “’tis already midday.”

This addition to the mare’s confusion did not warrant further questioning, she decreed, and promptly fell asleep.

///

There was a voice in the dark, familiar, caring yet urgent. It beckoned for her, but she did not respond. She didn’t know how.

///

To Twilight, it felt like only a moment had passed before she opened her eyes again, and saw that they had already arrived at the great city. Luna was beckoning for Twilight to leave the carriage, and so she did after several seconds of contemplation.

I must have been reading that book far too late, she thought, and she followed the princess through the large passageways in silence for what felt like far too long to be out of her warm bed.

Twilight didn’t understand what was going on, but made no attempt to leave the princess’s company as they eventually arrived at a familiar door. A very familiar door made of enchanted wood, with an elaborate golden frame, leading to Princess Celestia’s personal chambers.

All feelings of lethargy evaporated as Twilight suddenly stood up straight, and excitedly asked, “Are we going to see Princess Celestia?”

Luna gave a small nod. “She has requested your audience.” And with that, she used her magic to slowly push the door open, revealing the dim chamber.

As Luna stood by the door, Twilight eagerly trotted in, scanning the room for a sign of her mentor’s presence. There were several seconds of delay, oddly, before she finally noticed Celestia’s still form in front of the waning fireplace. Though the circumstances were odd, she always enjoyed meeting with her teacher to discuss her studies, and for Twilight to gush about her ambitions for the future, her intent to become as accomplished as Starswirl the Bearded, always to a nod and an uttering of “Someday, I’m sure you will”.

It was then that Twilight began considering possible reasons that Celestia had called her here. Her mind gave way to wild predictions, as she thought that maybe she wasn’t keeping up with her work? Maybe her last assignment wasn’t a perfect A, as the princess’s personal student should be getting? Maybe-

“Twilight, please come closer.”

Celestia’s voice shook Twilight out of her mind’s tangent, a commanding yet gentle call. It was much softer than she remembered, but she came to her mentor’s side without question.

Despite what preconceptions were running through her mind, Twilight quietly responded, “You wanted to see me, princess?”

“Indeed. Forgive me if this question unsettles you, Twilight,” the alicorn shifted her gaze from the dwindling fire to the young mare beside her, showing emotion yet undefined by Twilight’s eyes, “but what is it that you fear most in life?”

Twilight gulped. She very rarely got such a question, preferring to deal with more logical concepts and linear equations. Even with her studies into the qualities of friendship, she still had not gotten used to this type of learning.

“There is no right or wrong answer, Twilight. It is what you feel that I am concerned for.”

After several moments, Twilight mustered the courage to answer, “I think… I don’t like the idea of dying.” No, not quite. She thought about a little longer before continuing, “I don’t want to be forgotten. Like, after I’m gone, I want to have my name remembered by someone, otherwise, it feels like everything that I did in life was for nothing.”

Celestia looked to the diminished flame as Twilight held her breath. She finally responded, “Thank you for being honest, Twilight.”

They watched the fire together in silence for several long seconds. Confusion began to resurface in Twilight’s head as she waited, until Celestia broke the silence again. “I also fear being forgotten.”

The unicorn’s mind exploded in outrage at the simple statement. “What?” she asked incredulously, “But you’re a goddess! You’ll be alive forever, and you’ll be the ruler of Equestria for all of that time! You can’t be forgotten!”

Princess Celestia drew in a deep breath, and said, “I used to believe that, until recently.”

Twilight felt increasing nervousness and discomfort in the second that preceded her next statement. What…

“I’m dying.”

No.

///

It happened before, it will happen again, and it’s all your fault.

///

It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t. There were no external conditions, no faults in her system, and yet, the error surfaced. This was not possible.

“Twilight…”

This was a test, wasn’t it? It felt almost cruel, but everything her mentor said had purpose. She simply had to find what the reason was.

“Twilight, please…”

Twilight felt a chill move through her, and realized that she had slowly been backing away from the princess.

“Twilight, it’s alright…”

All the logical though processes that had ceased suddenly spurred to life in her mind, and she spun to face the open doorway before galloping out as fast as her weak knees permitted her. Celestia thought that she could see a small trail of tears swing outwards when the lavender unicorn sharply changed direction down the hall.

It was when Twilight had well and truly left, Luna, who had been waiting by the door, spoke up.

“We believe that this could have gone better.”

It was hardly a moment before Celestia gave a small sigh, and responded, “Dear sister, please raise the sun for me, and then seek out my faithful student. I suspect she may be headed for the archives.”

Luna began to move with the intent to carry out her requests, before stopping and asking, “Sister… will you be alright?”

“I wish I could say for certain, but I do not know the nature of my affliction.”

With Luna gone, the Regent of the Sun began to levitate several objects around the room, amongst them a quill and scroll, and drew them towards her.

“I only wish I had enough time…”

///

Despite what her mind would try to justify, her hooves knew where she had to go.

“I can… Celestia can count on me. I’ll figure everything out,” she tried to tell herself, but to no end. She rounded another corner, and pushed past a patrolling guard, who ignored the weeping mare.

This latest hall was the one she had subconsciously wished to arrive at. Apertures left and right led to ancient archives where eldritch arcana was stored away, and where a pitiful few ponies ever sought knowledge in the depths of Canterlot’s libraries.

The unicorn never wasted her time, and she was not about to start now. She flung the first door open, and was met with a section of the archives labelled simply with ‘warfare’.

Warfare? Very few wars had ever been fought in Equestria’s history, to her knowledge, and yet, here was an entire section of the library devoted to the subject. Even then, they had only been minor skirmishes that were quickly put to rest by the alicorn sisters.

She swiftly closed the door. This is not what I need. However, as she turned to try and find one of the many sections devoted to various schools of magic, her mind felt an unfamiliar tugging sensation. Moments later, the feeling ceased, but now it felt as though her mind had turned into a compass, directing her towards a door further towards the end of the hall.

Twilight was briefly reminded of one of the lessons she learnt during the Changeling’s invasion of Canterlot.

Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn.

More tears were brought forth as she remembered exactly who had taught her this, but she persisted, and galloped down the hall to meet another door. This section of the archives was entitled ‘History’. She was unsure why she would want to go into here, but she gingerly pushed the door open.

The room was a mess. Books had been knocked off the shelves, and lay cluttered on the floor. One of the bookcases even lay tipped over, shelves devoid of the books that piled up on the ground.

The organisational part of Twilight’s brain screamed at her for allowing the place to get into this state, despite her lack of responsibility. Stepping into the maelstrom, she was unsure of what her plan of action was, until her mind tempted her yet again, directing her towards one book that lay atop the rest on the closest heap.

Hearth’s Warming Eve.

Why she decided to read it with her limited time, she could not grasp, but she quickly skimmed through the book as it recounted the story of how the three tribes, the earth, pegasi and unicorn ponies came together as their segregation fed the everlasting hunger of the Windigoes. After facing the perilous threat, they decided to put aside their differences to work together and establish the nation she knew today as Equestria.

However, upon reading the story, there was something wrong. Twilight could feel it in her heart, like something vital was missing, some crucial piece of the non-existent puzzle she was constructing for herself. Shaking these thoughts away, she trudged through the mess, levitating books out of the way as she passed another door deeper in the particular archive.

Wait.

She had walked the halls of the archives many, many times in the past, all through her years studying under the Princess. But there was something out of place, even with the chaotic state of the room.

Slowly, she turned her head towards what she had thought was a blank wall, to find another door, but one she had never seen before. It was unlike the ones that led to each individual wing of the archives, rather, it was small and inconspicuous with its brass frame and simple archaic design.

There were no titles, no labels to give the lavender unicorn any indication as to what could be found past the unassuming door, but the feelings inside her head seemed to tell her to push forth, and so she did.

After she applied the slightest force with her front hooves, the door swung open, and Twilight could feel the old and new air mingle at the opening. The dust that clung to the inside of the walls was disturbed as the ancient door came to a rest on the side of the dark passage.

And it was indeed dark.

Peering into the tunnel, Twilight could tell that there were steps leading down into the bowels of the structure, but she could see little further, as light seemed to stop short in the passage.

She channelled her magic to her horn, causing an eruption of light at the tip, directed all around her as she gulped and took the first step. Her light source was normally more effective, but it didn’t seem to penetrate more than ten metres ahead of her as she descended the stairs uneventfully.

Upon reaching the bottom, however, she discovered that there was a layer of mist across the ground that reached up to her knees. There was no longer a tunnel as the walls led away, but she could not see how large the room was. Steeling herself, she summoned forth as much magical energy she felt she could at the time, and pushed the power into her light spell. Whatever force that was keeping the light at bay was overpowered, and the illumination reached the walls of the very large room.

When she finally opened her eyes after focusing on the spell, she barely stopped herself from gasping. Before her was simply the largest library she had ever seen, dwarfing the rest of the archives put together. Aisles upon aisles of shelves which, in turn, held countless books stretched out in front of her.

Where was this? This section of the archives must have extended into a good portion of the mountain.

After she had taken in the information from the sheer sight, the tempting feeling in her mind returned, beckoning for her to walk down one of the aisles. She complied, and trotted down the nearest one. Reading the titles of the books that she passed, Twilight determined that she had stridden into the history section.

Entranced by the myriad of knowledge that she one day hoped to tap into, her mind commanded her to stop by one particular book. Gently levitating it out of its place, she read the cover, and discovered that it was a detailing of the pony-griffin war, shortly after the three tribes had established Equestria. She had read modern documents relating to the conflict, but she found that this one appeared to have been written at the time of the war.

She had not even realised how old it was, but now, looking at the cover yet again, evidence of its time was apparent. Wondering how she did not notice, she returned to the book’s interior, reading the ancient style of pony writing. It detailed how Celestia and Luna had personally led their forces into battle during the waning days of the war… and…

She felt a dreaded feeling in her stomach as she dropped the book. Whirling around, she skimmed the titles along the shelves until she had found what she was looking for. It was another tome that, again, detailed how Equestria was founded through the Hearth’s Warming Eve tale. The archaic language confirmed her fears as the story was no different to the version that she read earlier in the surface archives.

The young mare grabbed the war account again, and read through it, quicker, until she found what she hoped to find, or rather, what she didn’t find.

The constants in her mind clashed yet again, thousands of years of false history she had suddenly discovered, from one simple fact.

There was no Princess Celestia or Luna.

In no version of the Hearth’s Warming Eve story did they ever mention the royal sisters. And yet, less than a year later, the pony-griffin wars erupted, and the alicorns had personally led their subjects into battle to defend their new land. But nowhere was any account of how they came to Equestria in the first place. Now she thought, after reading the few accounts left of pre-Equestrian times only confirmed her thoughts. It was almost as if they had… appeared out of thin air.

It was then that she suddenly realised what an enigma they were. Yet they ruled over Equestria with no resistance, and everyone looked to them as an icon, feeling nothing but love and trust for them. But how did they earn this in the first place? Who were they?

They were immortal. They had ruled over Equestria forever. But they didn’t. And no-one had ever considered the clashing facts. There was no reason that this would go unnoticed, and yet, it had. The Equestria that she knew was a lie.

Gazing at the hundreds of books around her, she began to take in the sheer amount of historical accounts that related to wars. Wars fought against changelings, buffalo, griffins. Against... other ponies. The supposedly peaceful history of Equestria had never existed. Wars fought… by the alicorns.

Several seconds after the realization had appeared in the unicorn’s mind, it was met with a strange, foreign whisper that voiced only a few words.

The veil has been lifted.

///

The Regent of the Night quickly strode through the halls of Canterlot. Thankfully, most ponies were still sleeping, as she was to raise the sun without any pony noticing. However, many of them were rousing, as their inner clocks commanded them to wake at this time. She could feel their every unconscious breath, and she could see their dreams if she so wished.

Luna made her way to the courtyard, and made sure that no one was watching, before bringing forth her power. She had hardly ever had to make the sun rise, the last she could remember was when Discord reigned, and even then, Celestia had been at her side as they worked against the lord of chaos.

Celestia.

Her sister was so weak that she could not perform her most important duty. She could not understand why Celestia was… dying. When Luna had tried to scan her, all she could find was not the presence of something; rather, it was a lack of her own power.

She slowly began to rise into the air as more power gathered. The sun was unfamiliar, and yet it carried many similarities from the moon when it came to the method of their manipulation. The princess of the night reached out with her magic, and took hold of the sun. Attentive ponies would have already noticed the lack of the moon in the night sky, so she wasted no time as she slowly pulled the sun into vision. Its radiance reached out across Equestria, and Luna could feel as if she were the great star itself as it doused the land in light.

Satisfied, Luna touched the ground once more. She then prepared to find Celestia’s pupil, and set off at a canter, having a vague idea of where she might be.

She wondered how she would approach her. It was Celestia’s wish that she spoke to her before she passed on, but Twilight would be stubborn when she insisted that the princess was fine, despite the fact that she would be at work trying to prevent it. However, something inside Luna told her that Celestia was not going to live for very long.

It was then that Luna felt a dreaded chill course through her. Something had happened, but she did not know what it could be. She could still feel the live presence of Celestia, though dimming, so it was something else. Something old, something familiar. When she recovered herself, she set off at a speed that would make the fastest Runner of the Leaves pale in comparison as she galloped through the halls.

///

“Who said that?” Twilight spoke aloud to the empty library.

The lavender unicorn whirled around, only to be met by more emptiness. She looked to the roof, as if she could find the source hanging from a non-existent chandelier. However, when she looked down at the ground again, she realized how wrong she was.

The mist that existed all along the ground was taking a more physical shape. Or, rather, shapes, as it swirled and drifted across until they had formed distinctive figures. Tens, no, hundreds of ponies whose only composition was the mist had formed a circle around her, as much as they could with the limited space, and beyond them stretched a sea of similar shapes. One stepped forward, with what Twilight interpreted to be the shape of a mare, and spoke to her.

“You have discovered the truth about Equestria now. What will you do?” it simply questioned, with a voice seemingly made of dozens of other voices speaking in perfect unison.

Twilight was at a complete loss for words, and had been since they first began to form. She followed up their question with another, stammering out “I… what are you?”

“We are the lost, the ones that came before and traversed the same sea of knowledge you have. Our fate was to be condemned, for our knowledge was to never leave this place,” the same mare explained.

“What… who did this?” The lavender unicorn gazed at the figures around her. Despite the swirling mist they were apparently made of, they all stood deathly still.

Twilight could not tell if the mist-mare’s mouth was actually moving as it continued, “The one you know as Princess Celestia did not wish for the information here to leave these walls. There is an arcane veil that has been lain upon the citizens of Equestria, and only the most intelligent of us have broken through this shroud of lies.”

The unicorn contemplated what it (they?) had revealed. “Will the same happen to me?”

“We feel the alicorn’s waning power,” the mist stated, “We believe that she no longer has the power. But we have existed here for far too long to harbor any hatred for her.”

Twilight carefully chose her next question. If she was to help her mentor, she needed to understand her first.

“Can you tell me everything you know about Princess Celestia?”

She thought she could see the figure smile as it responded in a deepening voice, “Certainly.”

///

Luna stepped into the hall that contained the entrances to Canterlot’s archives. She was certain that she would have been able to hear the unicorn’s activities as she would be rummaging through an advanced spells section. She found that Starswirl’s wing was still locked, so she imagined that Twilight must be behind one of the many doors.

Luna stood in the centre of the corridor as she took hold of all the archive’s doors, and, at once, flung them all open.

Whereas most of the rooms were revealed uneventfully, further down the hall, the ‘history’ archive let a few pages and scrolls float out of the room from the sudden air movement. Puzzled, she looked into the room to find it in a chaotic state. She briefly considered the idea that Twilight could have done this, but quickly dismissed the thought. The books and scrolls were pointlessly strewn around the place.

After analysing the room, Luna found another open door. She hadn’t expected to find another room attached to it. She approached it and began making her way down the steps.

She suddenly remembered what the place was. It was an ancient archive of the times before she had become Nightmare Moon. What in Equestria would Twilight be doing down here?

Luna thought she could hear voices coming from the archive. After listening, it seemed to be Twilight talking to no one in particular. The poor girl must be completely traumatized.

However, upon reaching the final step and viewing the lit room, she felt a deathly chill wash over her.

Further down the first aisle stood Twilight, in the centre of a group of scrolls and books that she had apparently been reading. The mare whirled around, and gazed at Luna with tearful eyes. A moment later, she choked out a question that Luna could not honestly answer.

“What are you?”

Neither of them moved for several seconds, and the tension increased as Luna took in Twilight’s appearance. Her tear-stained face and her dishevelled mane showed evidence that something had transpired. Clearly she had discovered something, but what?

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but before she made any audible sound, she felt a searing pain in her chest, and gasped. The alicorn collapsed on the ground, agony coursing through her body, and brought her head up to look at Twilight. She was just as bewildered as the princess felt, and stood back as Luna cried out again incomprehensibly.

Twilight seemed to momentarily forget her predicament and rushed over to Luna’s side. “Princess, what happened?” She asked.

The pain had receded slightly, and once Luna had gotten a hold of it, a realization dawned on her, and she replied, “Celestia. Go to my sister!”

Twilight nodded, and fled back up the stairs. Luna lay in pain for a while longer before lifting herself to her hooves, and followed Twilight up the stairs with a slight limp.

The Princess of the Night left the inner archive and galloped as fast as she could in her injured state. She made her way to the tower that contained the royal sister’s chambers, and finally reached her destination. The door was already open.

Please be all right, sister.

She turned around the corner, and was met with a sight that she had dreaded.

Twilight stood with her back turned to Luna, staring Princess Celestia. Neither one moved for a while, before Luna stepped into the room. The blue alicorn knew what had happened, and had already resigned to the knowledge of this fate, but she felt its effects all the same. She felt everything Celestia had throughout her final moments.

Luna could see liquid dripping from the distraught mare’s face as she spoke.

“She’s… not… dead…”

Luna stepped closer to the unicorn, who only walked over to the balcony away from her. She looked out at the view of Equestria that the Regent of the Sun woke to every morning, as if she could see something and for a reason known only to her, she paled at the view.

“I know I can fix this,” Twilight whispered.

Before Luna could reply, the mare’s horn began to glow, and she defied the quantifiable laws of space-time as she disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Luna alone with her sister.

Moments later, Luna dropped her façade as she openly wept for her sister, collapsing before the still form of the goddess. Tears streamed down her face as she recalled thousands of years of their lives together, and the moment that she was cast into the moon. A thousand years she lay in wait, imprisoned in her own mind, thoughts never leaving that of her sister. She had loved and hated her for so long.

She had returned for less than two years before they had parted a final time.

The sun shone on her face as dawn had passed, and it was some time before her tears ceased. Equestria’s lasting peace was threatened, but for now, all Luna could do was grieve by her side.

The deathly silence returned to fill the royal palace’s halls as Celestia left the heart of Equestria.