Birthrights

Fate

        Luna stood, head held high. faced towards her  final objective, the palace. She thought hard on the goal she hoped for and the success she would come to achieve. Finally... Ponies will know my name, and fear it.

        “Shadowbolts! come to me,” she requested,  the five pegasi flying down before her, “Not all of you have been named, and one of you will now be. You, blue pony,” she called to the mare, who stood with her head held high.

        “Ma’am,” she responded as she stepped forward and bowed.

        “No need for formalities. We will fight as equals today, and you will fight named. You are erratic and unpredictable in flight, maneuvering through areas with ease, always in sight, but never caught. So I name you, fittingly, Shooting Star,” she decreed, the blue mare bowing her head, “Thank you, ma'am,” she then turned to stand at attention with the others, who congratulated her. Luna looked to the single pony with no name, a dark grey pony with a light blue mane, “You shall earn your name yet, young one. Oh but I cannot call you that longer, you have grown into soldiers, warriors, all of you,”  she smiled to them, a smile few had seen in recent times, an honest smile.

~

In the Palace foreground in Canterlot, Celestia stood before a small collection of soldiers she had hand picked for this event.

        “Colts, Mares, I thank you...” Celestia sighed, seeming morbid in thought.

        “I had hoped for my sister to return willing, but she will not. So we have been forced to defend Equestria and its sunlight. I had hoped to avoid this, and convince her,” She sighed for a moment, choking back tears of the sorrow that is soon to come. “Convince her to return to us, But she will not. So please, for our lands freedom, and her soul, fight. But do not harm my sister, or you will regret your birth,” she finished. She added emphasis to the end, which marked it instantly not as a warning, but a promise.

        “Yes Ma’am!” The soldiers called in unison, standing at the ready in battlements and position. The Wonderbolts were positioned upon the palace, watching for any incoming soldiers she may have gathered.

~

        “Tia, what does a Princess do in war?” young Luna asked during the dinner they shared in Celestia’s room, which had become a getaway from the stuck-up world outside of it.

        “When a princess must go to war, she will try to prevent it, avoiding it till there is no options, and even in combat she will make efforts to end it, risking as few lives as she may possibly save,” She responded, looking up from her food.

        “What if the two princesses go to war? Like me and you?” Luna queried once more, Celestia having an invisible twinge of sadness, fear of its possibility.

        “That will never happen. I could never fight you, nor shall I ever have to,” She explained, avoiding the conversation as a whole.

        “alright then...” Luna finished, going back to enjoying her food.

~

Two years before the preparations of both the princesses, Celestia walked through the

Everfree Forest in search of her sister.

“Luna!” Celestia called. She soon heard a faint rustle, and down jumped Shadow Flare and Crescent Moon.

        “Halt! Who dare step into Miss Luna’s land?” asked Crescent Moon menacingly.

        “I believe you know who I am, young ones,” Celestia assumed, smiling faintly. The two pegasi took a combat ready pose, and Shadow Flare responded,

        “Yes we know who you are. You’re the princess of the day, Luna’s older sister. you betrayed her in her time of need and left her crying. You’re a miserable disgrace for a pony.” Celestia sighed, and looked up, tears forming in her eyes, “You’re right. I betrayed her, I made no attempts to save her. I have come to try though.” she then continued her walk forward, the Soldier ponies walking to the left and right of her in an escort.

        “Why have you come to the land where night remains eternal, despite its ruler,” Luna called from atop her stone palace

        “Night is the mother of councils Luna, You know that all too well. And for council I have come,” Celestia called up, Luna descending down to stand before her.

        “My you have grown,” Celestia pointed out, Luna almost equal to her height.

        “Yes, I have, something you have failed to do, another thing to add to your list of failures,” taunted Luna, frowning at her lack of response to it.

        “That list has grown long. You holding its peak, I failed you,” Celestia whispered barely audible, tears dripping from her face.

        “You finally see, dear sister. Far too late do you recognize your failures,” Luna said, her calmness betraying the mood in the air.

        “I have not come to discuss my failures Luna, I have come for council,” Celestia stated, lifting her head back up, her eyes slightly red from tears.

        “Fine then, come inside and discuss with me,” Luna finished as she turned to walk inside. Celestia followed behind, the five pegasi followed further behind still.

        “Luna, I have come to request a treaty,” Celestia immediately said upon having took her seat..

        “What sort of treaty?” Luna curiously asked,

        “I request you to return to the palace and no ill will to come of you. And to return the privilege of day to the ponies of our land,” Celestia proposed. The idea was quickly laughed at by Luna.

        “Return? I shall not return to that disgrace of a palace, for it shuns the night and its leaders and followers. Here in my forest I embrace the night, which I  shall not revoke under any standing points but one,” Luna finished, a small grin on her face.

        “What would it be?” Celestia asked hopeful for a fair ending, but her fear betrayed in her voice. Luna smirked, and in a daunting voice, whispered “War.”

        “War?! Why war?” Celestia exclaims, shocked by the declaration.

        “War for night or day; I succeed and night falls eternally. If I fail, you may hold your power over the sun, and I will fulfill my duty in exile,” Luna explains, “I will also, in between now and the point of battle, release my grasp upon the moon and allow your sun to rise. allowing your soldiers to gather and grow confidence.”

        “I had hoped against this sister, But I am forced to agree,” Celestia sighed, a tear dropping from her face once more.

~

Luna and her shadowbolts stood on the skirts of the Everfree Forest, the soldier Pegasi lined at the ready.

        “Ready, my soldiers, for today we fight, for the night we long for. We fight for my honor, your names will be marked in history, today Celestia falls,” At that notion, the five pegasi cheered in a simultaneous ‘Hurrah!’

        “Now, Follow Shadowbolts, into battle we will fly!” She declared, flying into the sky, the warrior-pegasi following close.