Desert Sands

by DarthBall

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Sad, Princess Luna, Violence, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death
Length: 16116

The sun never sets within Luna's nightmares.

Nothing lived here. Nothing could.

These were the only coherent words Luna could force onto the page of her dream journal.

Who is to blame? Why is this happening? How does her sister not see the chaos unfolding?

These questions dance within Luna's addled mind as her nightmares become indistinguishable from reality.

A big thank you to UnamsuedWaffle, INeedSleep, and Orderly Disassembly for prereading and editing!

Published 2023-04-03 18:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-04-03 18:50:00 UTC

Feel Warm at Night

Luna had been counting the days–-three weeks of living with a relentless, uninvited nightmare that haunted her every waking moment.

Without fail, she would always find herself within an arid, sunbaked wasteland. And without fail, the howling wind would always carry the scent of sand and decay as Luna trudged through the desolate landscape, searching for answers to her doubts.

There was never a reprieve from the blistering sunbeams that charred her fur and flesh, no shade or promise of shade. And no matter how far Luna gazed into the distance, she could only find rusty reds and burnt oranges.

Luna was no stranger to the power Mother Nature wielded, which routinely humbled even the mightiest of dragons, and she was no stranger to the unquenchable thirst that consumed her with each sweltering step.

But Luna's fear went beyond the scorching heat; it was the absolute isolation, the deafening silence, and the daunting thought of being trapped in this barren wasteland forever that truly chilled her to the bone.

The waking world compounded upon this dread.

Silence. Luna’s moon and stars had taken center stage in the sky, and the castle servants had long since retired to their homes, fast asleep. Her ears constantly quivered and twitched at the slightest noise—the scampering of mice hidden in some dark hovel, the late evening breeze drifting through open windows which gently caressed the cloth drapes as it sleuthed through the halls.

To others, the settling noises of the castle brought upon unpleasant thoughts of ghosts and ghouls that lurked in the shadows, but Luna knew better. She latched onto them, her nerves calming at the sounds of life still lingering around her.

It was enough to slightly alleviate the pressure in her chest, and with bleary eyes, Luna stared blankly at her dream journal.

Nothing lived here. Nothing could.

She blinked, the phantom sunspots from her nightmare still dancing within her vision as her legs bounced with anxiety.

Luna had long since passed the threshold of frustration, having found no clear form of progress, and had fallen into a lethargic despondency. She flipped through the pages with a sigh, her eyes glossing over each theory and hypothesis her sleep-addled mind conjured within the past three weeks.

“Tis’ no Baku nor Jinn assaulting our mindscape. We would have noticed their intrusions with the former, and we have seen to the eradication of the latter… perhaps a Mara? A Cauchemar?” Luna pondered before shaking her head. “Nay, none of them could have bypassed our defenses nor dared to. Not with the power we wield.”

Pushing herself away from her candle-lit study, Luna began to pace.

“Three weeks we have been deprived of our domain, three weeks that our subjects have become vulnerable to this interloper’s machinations.” She blanched at her own words. Without her intervention, her subjects were still easy pickings to whatever mischievous force was working against her, along with any other opportunistic spirits that feasted upon the minds of mortals.

On the third night, she had hastily sent missives ordering her Night Guard to search for any signs of malcontent or resurgence of nightmares within the populations, but their searches had come up empty. And as time passed, it seemed less and less that her suffering was at the hoof of some half-starved dream beast and more and more along the lines of enemy action.

“Is our enemy working at the behest of some foreign power? Is this a ruse to obfuscate somecreature's tracks? But what manner of sorcery could force this recurring dream upon us so?”

More baseless theories and no answers to back them up.

Of course, the fledgling nation of Equestria had many enemies—the border disputes with the Griffon Empire across the eastern sea and the ravenous Diamond Dog slaver tribes to the west chief among them. They were savages, prone to fits of irrational violence, and relied upon their military might to achieve their aims.

While it was uncharacteristic of them to try to use underhanded sorceries to achieve their aims, Luna could not rule them out when the stakes were this dire.

The other nations surrounding Equestria’s borders could not be ruled out either. Luna long suspected that the Saddle Arabians sought to carve out pieces of their land through shrewd political and economic maneuvering. And she knew well enough of their Sultan’s envy of her influence over the moon and stars.

At the same time, the prideful Minotaurs of Minos always considered the power she and her sister wielded as a heretical affront to their gods.

“Nay, we are running in circles, casting blame upon everypony with nothing more than baseless accusations.” Luna sighed. “Tis’ a mystical threat that plagues us. Their nations do not bathe within the same sorcery our kingdom is blessed with. But what? What being has such power over the divine? What menace can match our prowess within our own realm-”

Luna paused, halting in her tracks.

The sweltering heat in her memories gave way to numbing frostbite and perpetual darkness. She remembered the amethyst crystals, which pulsated with unlight as they festered upon the land like blemishes on the skin.

And she remembered the deep and resonant voice that accompanied that evil mocking of the princesses' efforts.

“We saw him die, banished to the shadows! His influence had been wiped clean from this realm!” Her mind raced alongside her beating heart, which throbbed with frenetic energy. “But who else but he could perform such feats of sorcery?”

Luna hastily opened her desk’s drawers until she fished out her diary. Bound with string and cloth, the pages haphazardly shoved into it were disorganized and cluttered. Brushing her fears aside as best she could, Luna scoured through the pages, scanning for any regarding the long-lost Crystal Empire and its tyrant king.

Minutes passed. Hours.

Her previously written entries insisted upon King Sombra’s demise, and her memory only further confirmed it. The Crystal Empire had vanished completely and utterly, leaving only a patch of tundra in its wake. They had recovered no artifacts during their battle, and with each page meticulously scanned… it seemed more and more likely that the tyrant’s legacy died with him.

Eventually, the cool breeze that sauntered through the castle halls was warmed by the coming dawn, which bled through underneath the window curtains. With a heavy sigh, Luna allowed her diary to flop onto the wooden surface of her study with a soft thud.

Lethargy slowed her movements as she donned her usual adornments. Silver slippers slid awkwardly onto her hooves, and her ornate and bejeweled necklace clasped onto her neck tightly like a hangman’s noose. A simple morning routine that typically took her no less than a minute took five, and combing out her mane and fur in a presentable fashion took an extra ten.

Yawing wearily, Luna trudged out the door of her chambers and toward the dining room hall for breakfast.

Her sister looked nearly as bad as she felt.

Celestia's vacant eyes were sunken and tired, and she mechanically shoveled a forkful of pancakes into her gaping maw, the sound of her loud chewing and slurping echoing off the walls of the dining room. Luna struggled to contain her revulsion, fighting the urge to grimace at the unappetizing sight and sound as she sat down at the opposite end of the table.

Hunger pains gnawed at Luna’s insides, draining her courage to speak despite the fear-induced adrenaline that flooded through her. Each time she opened her mouth to speak, her sister would hastily spear her fork into another pancake and pounce upon it like a griffon to its meat.

And slowly, Luna’s sense of urgency left her, replaced by the sore spot from their last exchange only a few days prior.

…

“We have a right to an answer, sister! Explain thyself!” Luna demanded, following after her sister down the hallway. She didn’t care if any castle servants or guards could hear their argument—not when Celestia decided to go against her wishes in such an abrupt manner. “Sister!”

“You know well enough why I made my decision, Luna,” Celestia off-handedly replied as she briskly walked onward. A half dozen scrolls and quills were clutched tightly within her golden magic, and she never took her eyes off any of them for longer than a second as she continued to scribble in between the margins. “The needs of our subjects are paramount above all else, and we cannot afford such frivolous spending in these trying times, especially considering this year’s harvest…”

“And how, sister, will canceling the Winter Solstice Festival accomplish that? Our festivities-”

“Have been on the decline for years,” Celestia cut Luna off abruptly. “Few ponies are willing to travel during the winter months as is, and with the genuine concern of food security plaguing our subject's minds, even fewer will brave the trip to the capital, assuming they can even afford it.”

“Thou sayest this,” Luna clenched her jaw. “And yet not once in the past eight years hast thou raised the taxes upon the nobility. Surely they can live up to their titles and weather such a burden for a single harvest, sister! Or increase tariffs? Or does our agreement of never interfering with each other's domains no longer hold weight?”

“Are you listening to yourself, Luna? Or do I need to argue with you again about fiscal responsibility?”

“Are thou listening to thyself, Tia? Or dost thou truly not see us as equals? Thou art addressing us as if we were a mere politician, a public servant!”

“I will treat you with the respect you deserve when you re-earn my trust!” Celestia declared, turning to face Luna. The scrolls and quills in her hold fell to the red carpeted floor like puppets with their strings cut. “I’ve spent years and sacrificed so much to build rapport and political capital with our subjects and neighboring nations. And within a single year, you’ve nearly burned it all away!”

“Lies!” Luna shouted, her voice sending ripples down the hallway, powerful enough to shatter glass. “At every opportunity, thou hast sabotaged our efforts, and for what? To consolidate power for thyself amongst the nobles at my expense? Or is tarnishing our legacy and our night not good enough for you?”

“Your personal projects have emptied our coffers-”

“And allowed our subjects to travel safely within the night without fear! No longer do the other tribes, nay, any creature, need to rely upon the hoarded knowledge and power of the unicorn nobility!” Luna countered. It had taken many months to perfect the technology that allowed her street lanterns to burn without the need for magic and a few more to source the necessary whale oil to allow them to illuminate the cities of Equestria.

Despite enhancing the lives of her subjects, the project had been mired in controversy from the start. Most of the contention came from the mage’s guild, which had a stranglehold upon the market before its inception with lumina runes and illumination magic.

Squabbling between opportunistic entrepreneurs and the nobles who backed the mages guild had increased tensions between the tribes. Still, Luna saw that as a necessary evil—her work benefited all, and any potential buyers from other nations and outlying towns would offset the costs within due time.

But Celestia did not see it that way. Her mind had been too fixated on the present, and the lecture Luna had to suffer through afterward was proof enough.

Luna’s words fell upon deaf ears.

“-And do not get me started upon your unmitigated disaster with King Minos! Do you know how much I had to sacrifice to maintain our trade routes? Or do you care so little about the future prosperity of Equestria?”

“Those curs have no right to dictate how we weave our night!” Luna snapped. “And we will never bow and scrape to them just to appease their flawed superstitions! Our celestial domain is sacred!”

The demands of those filthy mongrels were still fresh on her mind, as was how they dictated terms to Luna. She could still remember the presumptuous demeanor of their King as he demanded that she not interfere with her stars on the winter solstice.

It had taken all her willpower not to run the bullish bastard through with her horn.

“This!” Celestia’s wings swiftly spread out from her sides in a subconscious act of intimidation. “This is why I cannot trust you! Your lack of tact and stubbornness will scatter the three tribes to the winds, and we will be right back where we started!”

Luna puffed up her chest and held her ground, staring directly into her sister’s glittering magenta eyes.

“We are not some child for thee to scold, sister!”

“Then do not act like one! Your childish antics have no place within my throne!” Celestia shouted, slamming her forehoof onto the floor hard enough to crack the stone underhoof. A pregnant pause filled the tense air, and steam billowed from Celestia’s nostrils as she snorted like a kettle. For a moment, the air began to singe Luna’s fur, and the night terrors came back to the forefront of her mind in full force.

“...Thy throne?” Luna whispered morosely. “So it is true then, sister?”

But just as quickly as the hallway began to swelter with flesh-melting heat, it stopped, leaving a cloud of black dust and soot in its wake. Celestia’s head bowed to the floor, eyes closed as she breathed in slowly.

"Perhaps it's not the night that our subjects are displeased with, Luna," Celestia resumed tersely. "Perhaps the blame lies with you alone."

Without another word, Celestia turned and waded through the ashfall, leaving Luna to tremble silently in anger.

…

Celestia’s haggard face and furrowed brows never left the stack of pancakes on her plate.

Luna began to chew upon her lips. She had not seen a single hair of her sister’s mane after the argument, and by all accounts, it seemed as if Celestia was planning on keeping it that way for the foreseeable future.

No grunts of acknowledgment, no impromptu lectures or arguing, just a quietness thick enough to cut with a shortsword. Days prior, Luna was completely fine with ignoring her, which made going against her wishes all the easier; She had already drafted plans to acquire the necessary funding for the Winter Solstice Festival.

But she needed help, help that she could not find within the castle’s libraries or from the mage’s guild. Only she and her sister were powerful enough to walk within the realm of dreams, and only they had the mental fortitude to keep her sanity while doing so.

Despite this fact, the words refused to escape her lips. What camaraderie was left between them was shattered, and Luna felt like a complete stranger instead of a sibling.

She hasn’t even prepared a plate for us.

The unbidden thought crossed her mind, echoing inside her skull and causing her ears to flatten to the sides of her head. Celestia had already disowned her in every way that mattered, and the only thing that surprised Luna was that she still had her room within the castle.

There were no missives or documents to pour over within her study, and the castle servants and guards remained tight-lipped about anything pertaining to the crown and her duties other than patrolling the dream realm.

Does she already know about our struggle? Would she care, even if she did?

Luna wilted into her chair, her eyes blinking rapidly in a vain effort to avoid the siren call of sleep. She eyed the spread in the center of the long table—the prominent buttery sweetness of fresh pancakes and ripe, juicy fruit wafted over to her nostrils and caused her to salivate like a rabid dog.

Celestia did not make a sound as she pilfered a basket of blueberries and began to scarf them down like a ravenous beast.

Ever since the nightmares began, her appetite and thirst were never satiated. She remembered her youth, when the whole world had tried to bet against them. When sleep was the only remedy to stave off the cold and hunger.

It was a time when foals her age were refused the chance to grow up, but Luna could not help but feel wistful with nostalgia despite all the horrors and tribulations.

And thou were always there for me, sister. Through thick and thin, and even within our darkest hours… a new dawn would always rise. What has changed?

Luna spared another glance at her sister.

Maple syrup stained the white fur of Celestia’s muzzle and chin, with strands of gooey caramelized sugar dripping onto the table in a tiny puddle. And her rainbow mane, which always billowed from an unseen wind, was a knotted maze that would be impossible to comb through without a protracted war.

It was an image of her sister that few would ever see within a dozen lifetimes, and Luna’s heart ached in desperation to reach out—to say anything at all. But Celestia refused to meet her gaze, no matter how long Luna stared.

Does our kinship truly matter this little to thee That thou choose to abandon us now, in our time of need?

Luna absentmindedly devoured a stack of lightly buttered pancakes as she waited for her sister to bridge the gap like she had done so many times before.

Chew. Swallow. Silence.

Luna had tried to clear her throat and speak, but it felt as if the words were stolen before she could vocalize them.

She continued to stare, her eyes never leaving her sister’s hunched-over posture.

…

Nothing. Celestia refused to meet her gaze, and she refused to acknowledge her existence.

A deep ache settled in Luna’s chest. It was a wound more profound than any spear or spell, and her eyes began to sting with saltiness as her breathing became shallow and uneven.

If thou wish to abandon our friendship out of pettiness and greed, then so be it, sister. Thy choice is made.

Luna turned to flee, not noticing Celestia’s ears perk up from the noise nor the exhausted voice that trailed down the hall after her.

Three sleepless nights passed.

Luna stood in the middle of her chambers, bathing in the darkness that drained all light and warmth. It was her last bastion—the only place she could maintain her tenuous grip upon her sanity.

Hidden hooks and false promises have always been a mainstay underneath Celestia’s court of favor—a culture built upon the foundation of white lies to hide inconvenient truths. The sycophant nobles and strutting, sneering wizards never seemed to tire of considering themselves the voice of reason and telling Luna and her sister what to do or whom to hang.

Refusing to partake in these childish games had always been a double-edged sword. While no courtiers were foolish enough to squabble or air their boisterous demands to her, there was no end to the lies and the whispers behind her back.

Rumors spread. Most unflattering, some even treasonous. Seeing her weakened state only seemed to egg them on, and Luna soon found herself in over her head. She could not deal with the machinations of the nobility and discover the culprit behind her nightmares alone, but Luna could not find a single hair or feather of her sister anywhere.

And without her support, Luna quickly found herself stonewalled by red tape and bureaucracy at every turn. Investigating the Royal Vaults alone had been an exercise in futility, with over a dozen forms, procedures, approvals, and permissions needed to be completed in advance just to reach another dead-end lead.

A combination of spotty memory and her exhaustion had worked against her, and she had needed to complete three entire sweeps of the vault. Artifacts that she had thought misplaced materialized before her eyes, and items she had check-marked spontaneously disappeared. Even Sombra’s tattered armor and the few chunks of crystal left behind from their battle had eluded her… until it suddenly didn’t.

The experience had only further cemented the seeds of doubt and foul traitors running amok in her mind.

“Sister, we need thy counsel. We-” Luna’s eyes began tearing, speaking to an audience of ghosts. She was injured in both mind and body and sick with a heartache she had no time to ease. There was always work to do, duties to fulfill. “We beseech thee! We have nopony else to turn to, no friends to help us ease our burden. There is no shoulder for us to cry on!”

Luna’s ears swiveled, straining to hear anything over the deafening silence.

“Please, sister! Spirits and demons have roused from our extended absence, stalking our subjects within the dream realm and sowing chaos! Our fair nation is poised to disintegrate between the infighting and divided loyalties amongst the three tribes!”

Sunspots from the unblinking lidless eye of her nightmares still danced within Luna’s eyes as she collapsed onto her bed. She couldn’t stop the tears stinging her eyes from streaming down her face, or her emotions from waging war amongst themselves.

“W-We need your guidance, Tia…” Luna choked back a sob, strangling it in her throat as unbidden flashes of memory played out in her head.

However, the princess was lonely, and no matter how much her subjects admired her, she still felt like something was missing. One day, a beautiful dove landed on her windowsill, and everything changed.

Luna! Luna! Look! You got your cutie mark! And it’s so big!

Hush now, and sleep well, sister. I’m just getting ready for the day.

I love you, Lulu. I have always loved you, and I will never stop loving you. Now and forever.

Perhaps it's not the night that our subjects are displeased with, Luna… Perhaps the blame lies with you alone.

Anger was not a foreign emotion to Luna. Of the two sisters, she was always the one who wore her feelings on her foreleg—always quick to anger and always quick to mete out retribution and vengeance against any creature that wronged them. But no matter how dire situations were, Luna had always been able to count upon keeping her emotions in check.

However, the current state of the feelings brewing within her was different. It was a tempestuous emotion that raged within her, one that Luna couldn't control. She felt like a fire had been lit inside her, burning as hot as the sun’s sweltering rays in her nightmares, threatening to consume her from within.

Only when her rage finally threatened to boil over did Luna remember the signs. The red flags. Castle servants would stammer or hastily flee from her presence, while guard ponies would turn stiff like mannequins. The hushed whispers behind her back only heightened her paranoia, and she began to see traitors and collaborators in every corner and niche.

But this realization wasn’t enough to bleed the rage from Luna’s system as she trembled with anger. Her jaw tightened, and a coppery taste slathered itself onto her lips as her teeth poked her tongue.

Rolling off the bed and onto her hooves, Luna slammed a forehoof onto the stone floor. Once. Twice. Ten times over. Fissures formed from each stroke, spiderwebbing into a large divot in the flooring.

And for each strike, Luna fantasized about faces. Whining politicians and populists. Fat guard captains and self-righteous court wizards. She imagined her hoof stomping into the thick skulls of each sun-loving parasite, and could almost feel the red ichor sticking to her metal shoes as her heart rate climbed.

Fifteen. Thirty.

Her hoof froze in midair as Celestia’s face flashed before her eyes.

Instantly, Luna’s stomach became unsettled, and a thickness formed in her throat as she fell back onto her haunches.

The skin under Luna’s matted and curled facial fur paled, and she closed her eyes at the thought of what her sleep-deprived mind had conjured. Had she not done enough for her subjects? Had they not gotten their pound of flesh from her? She had run herself ragged to protect their lives and happiness, and they chose to repay her with resentment and deceit?

“Why do they deserve it?”

Quickly getting back onto her hooves, her heart pounding and eyes wide, Luna cast her eyes wildly around the pitch-black room.

It had been no louder than a whisper, but she had felt the interloper's gaze fall upon her and a promise of violence, eternal and utterly terrifying.

“Who dares to spy on us?” Luna commanded. An azure glow emanated from her horn, bathing the walls and door with its pale light. “Show thyself at once!”

Her head swiveled. There was no sign of any disturbances—the scrolls and bottles of ink resting upon her study were as neat and tidy as they always had been. She noticed nothing disturbed or taken from the large bookshelves lining the opposite wall, nor any fogging or cracks within the mirror next to her wardrobe.

Immediately, a spell erupted from her horn, enveloping the door in a blue shimmer.

“There is no escape for thee now, knave! Reveal yourself, and we may yet show leniency!” Luna offered. Not even a mouse dared to scurry through the silence that followed.

Luna knew of few creatures that could conceive of a cloaking spell, and even fewer with the stones to brazenly invade her inner sanctum. Without exception, they were all brilliant spellcasters, with only the limitations of the mortal form preventing them from outperforming an alicorn's magic prowess.

And upon retrospect, everything started to click. The Griffons, Minotaurs, Saddle Arabians, none of these nations had mages of this caliber under their purview. It had always been treachery from the start.

With this revelation, however, came horror. Horror from discovering that somepony had been breaking into her chambers each night without her notice. Horror from suffering the same nightmare repeatedly and being powerless to stop them.

Horror from knowing that the culprit was most definitely an ally of her sister.

“What did my sister promise thee for such a brazen act? What do you hope to gain from the chaos thou are sowing?” Her words hung in the air, and Luna strained to catch the sound of a heartbeat other than hers.

Silence.

Luna walked two steps forward, her metal-shoed hooves clicking against the floor loudly.

A shadow darted in the corner of her eye.

“Found thee!” A wave of blue wax scattered in all directions from Luna’s horn, coating and scalding every surface it touched. Not a single patch of stone or piece of wood or fabric was spared as Luna quickly darted her eyes around the room.

Her heart thumped in her chest.

The shadow shot forth.

Luna twisted, her magic wrenching the doors to her wardrobe open.

There was no sign of them. No hoofprints imprinted upon the wax coating the floors or feeble attempts to force the door open. Luna gazed toward the ceiling, tore out the bookshelves, hoisted up her bed and study, and searched every possible niche a pony could hide in.

Glimpses of the shade would glide across her sight, moving too fast for Luna to do anything other than chase the afterimages it left behind. Spells darted from her horn—orbs of light and magic missiles glided across the room, trailing behind the shadow but never being fast enough to overtake it.

The air rippled, and Luna caught one final glance at the shadow before it leaped into the wax-stained mirror.

And then everything went still.

Buttery scents of paraffin and beeswax wafted into Luna’s nostrils as she stared at her smudged reflection. Despite the blue stains splotched onto the mirror’s surface, she could not deny the look of fatigue plastered onto her face, the sunken eyes, and bags under the bags under her eyelids.

Distorted. A combination of sleep deprivation and wax stains had morphed her visage into a black-furred beast with bared fangs as white as polished moonstone.

But at that moment, as sleep overwhelmed her, Luna could distinctly see her reflection smiling back at her with pointed fangs bared.

Luna gulped in air like a drowning mare, her chest heaving with each ragged breath as all thoughts of the intruder and her sister’s machinations scattered to the four winds. Every muscle in her body sang a unified chorus of agony, each fiber vibrating with exhaustion and strain, and each moment awake was an act of sheer willpower.

There was still defiance left within her—a spark fighting back against the sharp talons of her migraine digging into her forehead, dragging down her eyelids, and blurring her vision. However, even an alicorn had their limits.

Her reflection did not suffer from such weaknesses of the flesh.

As the staring contest with her bastardized mirror image grew longer, her consciousness waned like a moon slowly losing its brightness, until she was left with nothing but the heavy weight of sleep on her eyelids.

…

Her reflection’s mirthful gaze watched approvingly as Luna’s body slumped to the wax-stained floor in a crumpled heap.

Parasitic fears gripped Luna’s mind and chest as she stirred.

Familiar arid gusts brushed past her like a hot, dry breath that sapped the moisture from her fur and stole the air from her lungs while the sun baked the sand beneath her hooves like a searing hot glue.

She knew that the sand wastes around her were nothing more than a nightmare, but this knowledge only made the tortuous existence of her dream weigh more heavily upon her. No matter how many times she experienced this dream, she never escaped.

Her magic would always sputter out like a dying candle, flicking its last bit of light before fading into darkness. Her wings always felt like they were made of stone, weighing her down with an unbearable burden that made each movement an ordeal. And her throat would always feel as dry as the desert dunes that surrounded her, with each feeble attempt at swallowing saliva an exercise in anguish.

“No!” Luna cried out as she spun around.

“No!” Luna cried as she gazed upon the familiar hues of lifeless red and orange, her prison.

“No!” Luna cried out as she gazed up at the sun, her warden.

Luna’s mind instantly drifted to the endless days and weeks she had already been and the months and years she would continue to spend completely isolated. Alone. She picked a random direction and galloped as fast as she could, ignoring the pain lacing through her emaciated and desiccated body.

Mounting terror prevented Luna from coherent thought, even as her mind screamed at her to stop and conserve what little energy she had. The sandy dunes stretched out infinitely, and there was no shade or promise of shade as sand kicked out and scattered from under her hooves.

A mile. Two. Luna galloped. Her cheeks sunk inward as the telltale signs of dehydration reared their ugly heads. She dared not look back—if only to save herself from more demoralization as her hoofprints became engulfed by gusts of sand, which roamed the empty badlands like cutthroat bandits.

It was useless; It always was. Nothing lived here. Nothing could. Luna knew this, but her legs ran wild underneath her. Her sweat evaporated off her forehead as she crested another sandy hill. There had never been any landmarks in this wretched land—no mirages or oases taunting her off in the horizon.

It was another cruel punishment. Aimlessness was anathema to Luna, who always strived to set new goals and achieve new heights if only to escape her sister’s ever-widening shadow. It was a complete surprise to her when her crusted eyes spotted a landmark in the distance.

The mirage in the desert looked like a mysterious portal, with swirling colors and shapes that seemed to promise a way out of the scorching desert heat. It was a trick of the light, a pure fabrication. Luna knew this deep down, but the hope welling up within her convinced her otherwise.

What if it wasn’t? What if this mirage wasn’t a mirage? The mere off chance that it could be something other than another insidious method of torture spurred Luna on.

She galloped again.

Gusts of sand rushed across the barren field, nipping at her fur and eyes. She braced herself, bowing her head forward and forcing her legs to move through the flesh-rending storm. Despite the savagery of the badland’s weather, Luna kept her eyes peeled upon the swirling ethereal colors dancing in front of her vision.

Every pained step forward was progress, every sand-filled breath an act of defiance against her torturer. Halfway. She had crossed halfway across the empty expanse and could almost taste the magics that sparkled and glittered under the oppressive sun.

Her forelegs gave out first.

Tasteless, ground-up silica particles flooded the gaps of Luna’s teeth as she fell face-first into the earth. It obscured her vision, stinging her eyes and rushing down her nose as she struggled to breathe. The sand parted, dragging her deeper and deeper like an insect trapped inside a pitcher plant.

Each desperate attempt at clawing her way out of her makeshift grave was more feeble than the last, and Luna slowly felt the crushing weight of the dune piling on top of her, grain by grain. Her heart skipped a beat. Once. Twice. Three times.

Darkness surrounded her, and Luna felt her bones begin to creak.

“Hope is a double-edged sword.” The voice was Luna’s, and not at the same time. Older, louder, it spoke with a self-assuredness that she so desperately lacked. “It can be a balm, soothing our wounds and lifting us up in our most dire moments. But it can also be a corrupting poison, leading us astray and blinding us to the truth.”

Luna’s mouth opened wide in reflex, the scream upon her lips silenced by the sand rushing down her throat.

“You don’t see it, do you?”

The crushing weight on her bones abated, and Luna scrambled to the desert’s surface. The sun continued to stare unblinking at her, but its gaze no longer held the same intensity as it once had. And the air, which trapped the desert's heat in its winds, chilled like a late autumn breeze.

Luna wheezed, coughing up clumps of yellow grit. Her eyes roamed, looking to catch sight of the magic mirage before her eyes widened like dinner plates.

Pooling at her hooves. Spreading across the dunes. Earthy and metallic, the smell rushed to Luna’s nostrils like long-lost lovers reuniting. Craning her neck, Luna drank her fill, uncaring for the source of the water flowing down her scratched and cracked throat.

“Look at what she’s reduced you to,” the voice rippled across the landscape. “A pet, mewling and begging for the barest scraps of affection and attention.”

Cold anger seeped into her veins, and Luna couldn’t help but bite back against the dark presence hovering everywhere and nowhere around her simultaneously. “Thou show your hoof easily, malevolent spirit! Tell us, are thou a fragment of the Tyrant King Sombra, or dost thou serve another master?”

“Have you already forgotten about me so easily, Luna?” The other voice chided. “You wound me, Luna. For shame.”

“We will not tolerate thy games!” Luna declared, stomping a forehoof and sending ripples through the water beneath her. “Nor will we tolerate thy feeding us poison about our sister! Begone!”

“I can't, Luna, and you know that. I’ve told you before.” A grim chuckle rippled across the landscape, causing Luna’s fur to stand up on end. “Unless you’re still insisting you don’t remember…”

“Enough! Release us at once, or face the consequences!” Luna demanded.

The voice heard, and answered with a haughty sniff. “Truly? Are these self-inflicted nightmares not enough for you? You’d rather mutilate yourself now than see the truth?”

“Such talk coming from a shadow,” Luna returned. “Yet thou still cravenly mask your presence from us. Are thou so afraid of the light, spirit?”

Luna’s smile disappeared as the voice laughed out loud. “Oh, my sweet little Luna, I’ve never hidden my nature from you! You’ve seen me in every reflection, in every mirror. I am a part of you, and you a part of me. We will always be together, and I’ll never abandon you… unlike some.”

The hollowness inside Luna’s chest widened—an emptiness that she couldn’t fill, and despite knowing that the shadow’s words were nothing more than a ruse…she could not fault the truth in the last remark.

Even before the nightmares, you’ve been aloof, sister. Where you once showed us kindness, you now harbor resentment and apathy. No longer do you seek our counsel, and you always have some excuse on hoof at any moment to abandon us.

What changed, sister? Why have-

“-You forsaken our friendship? Why have we been cast aside?” the shadow finished as if reading out her thoughts like a screenplay. “You know the truth, Luna. Ambition, greed. You were nothing more than a tool at best, and with each passing day, she finds fewer uses for you. You are a bloodied and rusted relic that complicates the narrative she is trying to weave.”

Luna looked downward. The water beneath her hooves was as clear as glass, and she had a perfect view of her visage staring back, smiling.

“Do you see now?” The words on her doppelganger’s lips moved, even as Luna’s remained pursed. “Am I still just some intruder or a figment of your imagination?”

“This proves nothing, knave!” Luna snarled. “We will not be so easily swayed by honeyed words and cheap parlor tricks.”

“And yet you still allow yourself to be beholden to your sister’s ambitions.” The shadow sighed. “Face it, Luna, you have no place within the world of harmony Celestia is trying to create. It will not be long before either she or your subjects see you as an obstacle to be removed at all costs.”

“Cease thy baseless prattle, beast!” Luna screamed. To anyone else, the cadence of her shout would have bowed even the most bullheaded of the court’s archmages. The shadow only saw the act for what it really was—a pained howl from a cornered wolf.

The shadow’s lips curled into a sly grin, turquoise eyes glinting with malice.

“Prove me wrong! Show me that Celestia still values your friendship!”

I love you, Lulu. I have always loved you, and I will never stop loving you. Now and forever.

“She is my sister! She still loves me! She always has!”

“Prove it!”

“S-She promised!” Luna’s voice cracked.

“Promised? Promises are made to be broken, Luna. Unless you can prove how she has shown that love as of late?”

“Nay! She has… she was just angry with us! She has enough on her plate with the court and our duties!”

“You mean the same court that sings nothing but praises for her? Or how she offloads all of her duties to her sycophants? I’m sure she’s absolutely exhausted from hoarding the dragon’s share of your subject's adoration…”

The air chilled more, allowing Luna’s tears to run down her face without melting underneath the sun’s gaze.

“Do you not tire of these games, Luna? How often must you cry alone in the dark before you see the truth?” The shadow’s barbed words jabbed at Luna’s heart like spears, forcing her breathing to hitch. “It's time to accept that she has forsaken your friendship and sisterly bond.”

Luna’s ears folded to the sides of her head, and her starry mane lost its luster as she wobbled on her hooves.

“But we still feel it,” Luna whispered.

“Another lie. Celestia’s actions have only proven that she is unworthy-”

“Nay! We will not be swayed by thee! Neither I nor our sister’s connections have been severed to the elements! We can feel them, even now!” The muscles in Luna’s body flexed, and ethereal energies flowed through her veins. Azure sparks sputtered from her horn as Luna pointed it at her reflection like a lance.

The self-assured grin on the shadow’s face no longer reached its eyes.

“Where was the kindness in Celestia’s harsh words and actions a week ago or the past few months?” The shadow’s mimicking voice challenged. “Where was her generosity when she starved you of your subject's favor? She has always placed your needs last behind the groveling masses, yet you still refuse to see it!”

The shadow’s eyes narrowed.

“Celestia knows the burden of immortality, and she knows that only she can alleviate the loneliness of this curse for you,” the shadow spat in disgust. Instantly, the clear water beneath Luna’s hooves turned black as night. “You have tried reaching out to her, have admitted fault, and taken the blame for problems she’s caused, and what does she do? She abandons you. She leaves you to suffer alone in silence, knowing full well that nigh unbearable pain. All so she can feast upon the love of those who revile your existence!”

Luna remained steadfast, refusing to move an inch as the miasma of darkness began to churn.

“She knows she cannot best you in combat, and no poison or assassin’s blade can claim your life, so she is doing the next best thing. Isolate you, destroy your image, countermand your policies, all of this is orchestrated on her part. She has found the chink in your armor and is now smiling as she twists the dagger!”

War raged within Luna. Her horn was primed, ready to smite at the interloper and free herself from their influence, but each word it spoke had cut deep into her soul. Her hesitation had doomed her, and she struggled to find the courage she needed.

“You, too, bore the elements. Loyalty, laughter, honesty…”

“…”

“I cannot lie to you. You know this. You know you do not deserve to suffer for your sister’s actions.”

“...No,” Luna whispered.

“Indeed, I’m glad you realize it now,” Her reflection smiled from the darkness with sharp teeth. “The road to healing will be long and arduous-”

“No,” Luna replied with conviction. “We know not what has happened to our sister, nor the cause for her actions, but we will not tarnish the legacy of our bond over pettiness and fear! If she truly wishes to part ways, then so be it! But we will not allow violence and rage to taint the memories we share!”

Luna fired.

The lake beneath her hooves disintegrated in waves of blue flame, and the gravel underneath was reduced to glass. Flapping her wings, Luna took flight, putting the arid badlands to the torch. No dry gulch or rigid hill was spared, and soon all was burned away to dust.

One flourish of her wings drew back the billowing black dust clouds, allowing Luna to glare at the brazen sun.

“Thy hold upon us is over, evil spirit! In the name of the Mother and Equestria, I cast thee out, wretched thing!”

Azure light lanced forth, carving through the sky. Luna watched with grim satisfaction as the lidless eye screamed, orange, yellow, and blue hues coalescing and pooling into a whirling vortex that expanded across the empty horizon. The cloudless sky melted away in an instant, revealing a starry expanse that glittered like polished diamonds.

Exhale. A bed of conjured clouds. Soothing, gentle moonlight. Luna allowed herself to breathe, basking in the afterglow of her hard-earned victory. The silence, deafening and maddening before, now granted her much-needed peace of mind and soul.

Already, she could feel her body mend as the stress upon her body ebbed. And the connection to the dream realm, which had been severed for so long, flowed within her once more. Luna wanted nothing more than for the worries of tomorrow to melt under the glow of her stars, but she knew this was possible.

Our absence has roused these beasts for long enough. It is time to bring about the end of these nightmares and restore order to our subjects, lest they blame us for their misfortune.

Luna sighed, her exhaustion bleeding in from the waking world into her dreams.

Truly, our work is never done.

…

…

“A fleeting distraction. Nothing more.”

One by one, the stars around her dimmed.

“You want this, Luna. You’ve wanted this from the bottom, deepest corner of your blackened heart.”

Unlight shrouded the dreamscape, blinding Luna’s sight. It was the first sense to fail her. Touch was next, as her body became rigid and numb from an unseen force coiling around her and violating her soul with its fetid touch. Smell and taste failed her soon after, with an overwhelming pungent stench of oil annihilating her olfactory organs. Liquid copper, bitter and thick, rushed into her throat, silencing her.

Luna thrashed with all of her might, but there was no escape. Frostbitten anger seeped into her, freezing the blood in her veins. Snow licked her mind, a malaise that molded and shaped her thoughts. Memories flashed; pale magenta eyes stared back at her, and a reassuring smile plastered on alabaster fur.

…never stop loving you. Now and-

Curdled, like spilled milk. Anger and flame licked at the mare’s eyes, and her lips pursed.

Tia? Tia-

Your childish antics have no place within my throne!

Tia, please! Thy actions are unfair and unjust!

Perhaps the blame lies with you alone.

Tia?

You are a threat to our ponies and to the will of harmony itself!

Tia, Please? Sister!

There is no future for you here. Not anymore. Goodbye, sister.

Stop! Sister, we love-

“And I know you will not rest until every unbent knee is shattered, and all of your subjects are humbled and bowed in reverence of you.”

Luna’s eyes fluttered, barely cognizant of anything other than the ice-cold talons scraping inside her skull. She could not resist the siren call of the shadow in her ears as it stemmed the tide of accusations and hate.

“And I will see that your will is done!”

Morning light poured through the castle’s windows as Celestia sat alone at the breakfast table, brilliant streaks of yellow hues flowing across her white coat. She pitifully poked at the stack of pancakes on her plate, having once more lost her appetite as her mind turned to the tumultuous series of events that had occurred in the past week.

Her nose crinkled, thinking back to the mountains of scrolls and empty ink bottles waiting for her in her study. It was a testament to the endless duties and obligations that had flooded in over the past month. Celestia often found herself up into the late hours of the night hunched over her desk, pouring over tax records and legal documents.

The lackluster harvest was still the hot topic of the kingdom, and even the royal coffers were feeling the strain that came about from this nightmare. She felt pangs of guilt in her chest for every tax levied—wondering how many of her subjects would suffer from each stroke of her quill.

‘This is for the good of our ponies,’ Celestia would always repeat in her head. This mantra was the only placebo that worked, even if it, too, was starting to fail her.

Bite. Chew. Swallow. Celestia’s tired eyes rested listlessly upon the slowly dwindling stack of pancakes she was reluctantly stabbing into with her silver fork. It was a complete surprise to her when a tea cup and saucer gently touched down next to her plate.

“Your Lemon Balm tea. And here is this morning’s paperwork to review.”

“Thank you, Mari,” Celestia kindly spoke, bottling her emotions behind a serene mask. She never personally enjoyed the taste, but anything that kept the edge off her nerves was welcome in her eyes.

Taking a small sip, Celestia turned her attention to the scroll nestled neatly on the table, only for her ears to perk up from another subtle and soft clink.

“Your Highness, forgive me for being presumptuous, but may I humbly suggest that presenting Princess Luna with her cherished Silver Needle tea would be most fitting?” Marigold spoke. The golden unicorn was one of her best aides, having served Celestia for the last sixteen years. In the princess's eyes, she was one of the few voices of reason within the castle, and she always highly regarded her advice. “You are aware of her delicate constitution in the early hours, and what better way to appease her disposition than with the calming flavor and scent of her favorite morning tea?”

Celestia stared at the second tea cup and saucer.

Luna’s repeated absences from their breakfast had been a worrying trend for Celestia. It was a sacred tradition, one that had always further cemented their bond regardless of any arguments or contention that would arise. In the past sixty years alone, Celestia could not think of a time when her sister would be absent from the dinner table, even if on the brink of exhaustion.

Until I broke her heart, that is.

Celestia never meant what she said and immediately regretted each syllable she uttered in that fight. She knew how to push her buttons and where to stab and twist the knife, and Luna had folded before her argument, just like she wanted.

It was for the good of our ponies, but is Luna not among them? How many others have I wounded in such a way that I can’t see? No matter how exhausted or stressed I had felt then, there was no excuse for what I did.

“Always so helpful, Mari,” Celestia smiled lightly, reading between the lines. “I will ensure this is delivered to her posthaste.”

Taking a final sip from her Lemon Balm tea, Celestia carefully balanced Luna’s teacup in her magic before getting up from the table. There was purpose in the first three strides toward the door, but Celestia soon found herself glued to the spot as doubt crept in.

“I will endeavor to reschedule the review for expanding the lantern project and your meeting with the Mages Guild.”

“I- thank you,” Celestia shook her head. The door was only a few inches away, but she still couldn’t find it within herself to move, with a dozen worst-case scenarios playing out inside her head concurrently.

“Pray, do not fret, Your Highness,” Marigold replied as she gently pushed the doors open with her magic. "Her Highness has always been one to forgive, as you well know, and you have weathered more tumultuous quarrels than this in the past. Let us face this situation with fortitude and grace, and all shall be well once more."

“And I shall,” Celestia nodded. “I will rue the day you retire from my service, but you have more than earned it. I know we have not made the years easy for you.”

Marigold smiled at her. "With the utmost pleasure, Your Highness, it is my sincerest desire to fulfill your every wish and desire. But do hurry along; time is of the essence!”

CRASH

Celestia’s and Marigold’s eyes snapped to the hallway.

…

“Your Highness?” Marigold’s voice was disquieted as her purple irises shrunk to pinpricks. Loud noises were not uncommon in the castle, but the stillness that now haunted the hallways was unnatural. Such racket would have drawn the attention of every Palace Guard and servant within the vicinity, but neither of them heard any telltale signs of life. No ironshod hooves clanking against stone, no concerned voices. Nothing.

Where was everypony?

The fur on the back of Celestia’s neck stood ramrod straight, and her flight or fight response became bogged down from her racing thoughts.

“Stay here and lock the door, Marigold,” Celestia ordered.“I will return once I find the source of this disturbance.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth that darkness fell upon them.

It was as if a shadow had draped itself above the castle, preventing any source of sunlight from seeping through the windows. Celestia shivered, and every fiber of her being screamed that this was the portent of an ill omen.

Snapping out of her fear-ridden trance, Marigold began to protest. “Surely you jest! I will not abandon you in your time of need!”

“Your loyalty is not in question,” Celestia replied, her expression turning serious. “And while I admire your resolve, I must implore that you remain here where it is safe. I fear that something terrible has happened.”

“...Your will is my comm-” A puzzled, sour look washed over her face like the mare had chewed on a lemon.

And then she clutched at her throat as if she were choking on it.

Celestia’s wing shot forth, collecting the shivering mare in a feathered embrace as her mind raced, thinking of any spell that could counteract whatever was constricting her throat or lungs. Golden radiance enveloped Marigold, attempting to prevent the swelling in her throat as Celestia stared into her purple, desperation-ridden eyes.

“Stay with me, Mari!” Celestia’s breathing became harried, and she fought back the tears stinging her eyes. Marigold’s heartbeat quickened, and Celestia felt it thump wildly against her own chest. “It is not your time yet!”

No matter how many times she witnessed it, it never got easier for her. Celestia was eternally grateful that it never did, even if it meant saying goodbye always left a mark on her soul.

Her magic continued to pour through into Marigold, even as the unicorn’s heartbeat slowed to a crawl. Too enraptured with her careful work, Celestia didn’t notice the chilling breeze that poured through the hallway and gently caressed her fur.

“Must you always be this dramatic, Princess?”

Celestia’s heart stopped, and so did Marigold’s.

The voice that seeped into her ears oozed with alien devilry, and each syllable was comparable to the hiss of a basilisk. Even so, an unwanted twinge of familiarity was trapped beneath its surface.

Still cradling Marigold’s lifeless body like a newborn foal, Celestia craned her neck.

“Or do you still delude yourself into believing that we are equals to these utter wastes of fur and skin?” Two slitted, teal draconic eyes stared back at her through the darkness.

Celestia’s nose crinkled, inhaling trace scents of iron as the shadows parted, revealing a blood-stained black alicorn. Her gaze hardened, piecing together what caused the unnatural silence to befall the castle.

“I am no god, nor tyrant, beast!” Celestia’s horn flared in offense, forcing a golden lance of energy to blast toward the monster in pony flesh. “But I do not need to be either to condemn you to the deepest pit of Tartarus!”

Dark mist coalesced around the midnight alicorn, disappearing from view as the deadly beam melted through the wall behind her in the hallway. Not a moment later, a wave of azure magic spiked into Celestia’s chest, slamming her through the table and scattering the remains of the breakfast spread in all directions.

CRASH

The air was forced out of her lungs as she crumpled against the wall. Several deep gashes and cuts littered her chest and torso, but they closed nearly as soon as they formed, leaving only a dusting of granules and wood chips in her alabaster fur.

“You are already disappointing me, Princess,” the dark alicorn spoke bemusedly. “All of these years of cowering within your shadow… all the years of suffering your contemptible existence. I believe you. You are no god.”

“And neither are you!”

Gold magic slammed against blue.

Celestia pointed her horn at the alicorn’s heart like a lance. “I have no idea what monster sired you, but you’ve already lost! Surrender, and I may show you mercy that my sister will not!”

The alicorn brought her head back before letting loose a spine-chilling laugh. Beneath the tones of sinister guffawing was an undercut of familiarity. It blended so perfectly that Celestia’s ears almost didn’t perk up to it, but they did. She heard the hysterical sob smothered beneath the creature’s vile laughter and the pained look trapped behind her draconic eyes.

“Tia, help me! Please!”

Annoyance abruptly cut the dark alicorn's hysterics short, but not quickly enough.

“What have you done to my sister!” Celestia demanded, dread growing inside her stomach. All thoughts of straggling castle staff and subjects fled her mind, and the air inside the room began to swelter. “Answer me!”

The dark alicorn snarled, letting loose another torrent of stone-rending magic at her.

A thousandth of a second passed, and Celestia became wreathed in golden energy as the deadly lance of attacks smashed into her like a hammer. Clouds of dust scattered about, raging around her as a tornado. Head on a swivel, her eyes strained to catch sight of any moving shadows within.

Another three-thousandths of a second. Something darted from the left corner of Celestia’s eye.

She fired.

The devilish voice hissed in pain.

Still blinded by the billowing dust clouds, Celestia continued her onslaught, allowing her other senses to pick up the slack for her blindness. They danced, weaving through spells like a needle through fabric. Magic collided. Walls crumbled. The castle burned.

It had not been Celestia’s intention, and despite still holding back, she soon found her hooves crushing loose chunks of rubble underhoof as silence reigned. She coughed, wheezing out the powdered debris from her lungs while she scanned the dense, gray fog.

Slowly, she waded through it like a shallow river of fine sand.

“Sister!”

“Luna?” Celestia’s head snapped sharply to the right. “Luna! Where are you?”

“...Sister, please help us! W-We’re trapped, and we c-cannot move!”

“Stay where you are! I’m on my way!” Celestia hurriedly rushed to the source of her sister’s voice, uncaring of anything else.

“By the Mother! Tia, please! Don’t let us burn!”

“Luna!” Celestia cried out. Fear wormed into her mind, preventing her from remembering the wings on her back or teleporting the vast distance she needed to cross. She galloped through the thick curtain of dust.

Luna started to scream.

“No!” Celestia’s harried pace quickened, her heart pounding heavily in her ears. “No! No! NO!”

Her world and sanity crumbled like the foundations of the castle she raced through. Like a nightmare, each step and stride was too slow for her. Time slowed. Blue light scampered toward her.

Celestia swerved, the beam sizzling next to her left ear as she unleashed her own lance of molten plasma. And then a second. A third. Five.

The fog burned away, and Celestia blinked.

The charred, flame-broiled corpse of a Palace Guard smoldered in front of her dusty hooves. Instantly, self-loathing, sadness, and relief welled up inside her, battling for control within.

-Wasn’t her. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her.

Shame won out, distracting her for a split second—long enough for her to not notice the shockwave that threw her into the air like a shooting star. A cacophony of screams reached her ears as she reached the apex of her flight, and the full moon leered at her as she spiraled back down to the earth.

Down. Down. Towers that had stood for centuries crumbled and toppled in billowing shrouds of grey that swept through the city streets.

Impact.

The world around her shook. Wide boulevards collapsed inward, spawning gaping, bottomless chasms. And not a moment later, the castle’s foundations and entire city blocks vanished from Celestia’s sight.

Screams of terror continued to fill the air as Celestia’s blood painted dark constellations on the stones beneath her.

Craning her head, her magenta eyes stared up shakily toward the moonlit sky. Its silver light provided no warmth, and the clouds fled in terror toward the horizon, eager to put distance between themselves and the moon’s gaze.

Coughing up blood, Celestia tried to move. She could still feel her muscles ache and quiver, and she still could suck air into her lungs, yet she remained stubbornly anchored in place. Copper and salt filled her nostrils, and a twinge of pain erupted from her side, alerting her to the cause of her immobilization—a jutting rock spire piercing her abdomen.

A writhing mass of black shadow descended into view with the grace and decorum of a vulture waiting for its bloody feast. The monster wearing Luna’s flesh grinned savagely, but Celestia still noticed the tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

“L-Luna, please!” Celestia pleaded. She had been foolish for not recognizing her sooner, and for allowing such evil to fester within her sister’s heart for so long. “This isn’t you!”

“And how would you know that, Princess?” Again, she heard her sister’s voice, but it was just as quickly lost in the unhinged laughter that rolled on and on. “You weren’t there for her when she cried alone in the dark! You never once apologized to her for your misgivings! You always put her wants and feelings behind every parasite and peasant!”

A black forehoof slams into Celestia’s chest, electing a scream from the solar alicorn as the spire skewered her even more.

“You know full well the burden of immortality! You knew how painful isolation was to her and that only you could alleviate her aching pains, but you didn’t!” The monster continued to grandstand as if trying to convince an audience of her argument.

But the screams had stopped a few minutes ago—she was performing for a lowly audience of two.

“And now you have the gall to say that? As if you knew what she felt?”

Celestia gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain. She had felt far worse before. They both had. Gesturing toward the carnage, she spoke, “Yes. My sister is many things, but she isn’t a monster.”

Crumpled on the ground. They were nothing more than black shadows in the moonlight. The copper and salt in their blood spilled onto the marble flagstones, pooling together into a river of dark red.

“Stop! Stop thy madness at once! Canst thou not see the damage thou hath caused!”

The monster wearing Luna’s skin kept her gaze fixed upon her.

“O-oh, that’s rich coming from you!” The monster gave a crooked smile. It wasn’t enough to hide the pang of guilt that spread across its face, if even for a split second. “The Butcher of Griffonstone! The Bane of the Dragons! The Chain Breaker! She was your attack dog, staining her fur red in your name and leaving nothing but ruins and orphans in her wake! All so you wouldn’t have to muddy your dainty hooves!”

Celestia’s mouth opened in protest but was savagely cut off by another stomp to her chest.

“It hurts to no longer hold the leash, doesn’t it? All of this power and hate at your beck and call… it truly is intoxicating,” The monster breathed, smothering another quiet plea from Luna. “She wants to spare you, even after everything you’ve done. Unlike you, however, I won’t break my promises.”

‘Tia! TIA!’

Celestia grimaced, her eyes drifting past the black-furred chest of the monster every so often. She shifted, her wings twitching at her sides with impatience as if in some desperate attempt to free herself.

“I will spare you from the eternal curse of immortality. And when the stars witness your passing, night shall reign eternal, and peace will spread across the land.” A shiver ran down the dark alicorn’s spine as the words left her lips. Unbidden tears streamed down her face, even as unlight swirled around her horn, poised to strike her heart. “Sleep now, Celestia. You have nothing to fear anymore.”

The monster paused for a moment, perhaps in wait for her final words or perhaps from the weight of Luna’s guilt building up upon its shoulders. Celestia didn’t know nor care. Despite everything, there was only one pony on her mind, and she had no time for crass rebuttals or arguments.

“We love thee, sister. We always have.”

“I know,” Celestia answered.

With a scream, Celestia’s horn clashed against the monster’s in a shower of gold.

Nightmare Moon was well acquainted with the sensation of fear.

For most, fear was the mind-killer, something that all creatures went out of their way to avoid. It often paralyzed, confused, and distorted the thoughts and feelings of those under its sway. For others, it was fuel to fight until the last breath. But without exception, fear was an inherent truth for all living things. Not even the mightiest of dragons and beasts were immune from its poison.

The alicorn under her sway was no exception.

But neither was she.

Sunspots from the golden flash still danced in Nightmare’s eyes as she lit her horn, bracing herself against the solar alicorn’s heated gaze. Her host’s heart fluttered like a kaleidoscope of butterflies trapped in a jar, and beads of sweat dripped down from their forehead like raindrops as the air caught fire.

Celestia’s composure shattered like glass, and Nightmare Moon could not help but stare in shock as the fatal wound in her chest closed. “YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!”

A single moment of hesitation. A blink of an eye. Nightmare Moon's eyes widened, having no time to react as a golden beam of magic crashed against her, completely encompassing her. Her host’s skin peeled, and its fur burned like candlewax as Nightmare Moon screamed, immediately taking flight.

“No more! No more lives shall you take!” The marble flagstones under Celestia’s hooves now flowed like a river of lava, pooling and bubbling as it moved. “I’ll see you chained into the deepest pit in Tartarus!”

A strangled gasp of pain escaped Nightmare’s lips, one befitting of a wounded and cornered beast.

Luna’s laughter echoed in her mind.

Give up.

“Never!” Nightmare screeched. Shifting her head, she launched her own barrage of blue death back at her pursuer before quickly banking downward and right, narrowly avoiding an onslaught of solar magic. Another street corner burst like stitches as they flew overhead, lava bleeding from the open wound. “I will not let her stand in our way!”

Thy way. We want no part in this madness, not after such tragedy and grief thou caused, monster.

“You wanted this!” The strain on her host’s wings increased twofold, and Nightmare struggled to outpace the boiling mass of sunlight gaining upon her. Much to Luna's current amusement, Celestia had always been the better flyer. “This was your dream! Your desire-”

They were fantasies and should have stayed as such. We never had any intention of enacting upon them, monster.

“And this is why you will never escape your sister’s shadow! Not before she discards you like all the others who outlived their purpose!” Nightmare Moon rebuked, chancing a look back. The heated ball of plasma chasing after her was closer now. Larger. Perhaps both. The flickers of flame that licked Celestia’s fur burned hotter than the stars perched above.

She flew faster.

Dost thou not understand? Thou have lost. Thy words hold no sway over me, and thou will not escape my sister’s wrath. Surrender now, and perhaps thou may spend the rest of thine existence praising us for the mercies our sister will not grant thee.

“I’ve shown you nothing but the truth! Opened your eyes to your sister’s lies! You should be thanking me-”

Vertigo. Flames licked at her host’s ethereal tail, expanding outward before exploding in a violent orange flash. Up and up. She hurtled into the sea of stars, which stared down at her with judging, unblinking gazes.

Celestia pursued.

Thou are a thief who steals joy from those leading fulfilling lives until they are nothing more than withered husks. Yes, we know of thy kind, monster. Thou abhor and fear all that is good in the world and use lies and deceit to drag your victims into thy ranks. And thou thought of us as a buffet, have thee not? A source of great grief tempered by the many years of our endless existence?

Nightmare struggled against the violent updraft, unable to flex her wings hard enough for her to regain control. The blast had only done superficial damage at best, and the previous scars she had taken had already healed before she even regained her senses, but something was wrong. Each beat of her wings took twice the concerted effort, and malaise started to creep through her veins, spreading through her host's body.

Nightmare flapped her stolen wings harder and faster but couldn’t ascend.

A blazing sun shot from the earth to greet her.

“What? What are you doing to me?” Nightmare’s thoughts instantly leaped to the incessant voice inside her head.

Taking back what is ours.

“I have had enough of your insufferable whining!” Nightmare spat. She focused inward, quickly readying a spell as the ball of burning plasma and hate pursuing her closed the gap. Luna screamed, her voice reverberating within her skull and causing her bones to rattle like a chorus of angry snakes.

“You are nothing without me!” Luna retreated back into the dark recesses of her mind.

“No! You are nothing without her!” Celestia snorted. A gauntleted hoof slammed into Nightmare’s chest, forcing the air out of her lungs with a wheeze. To any mortal, the blow would have reduced them to a fine mist, but to an alicorn, it had been nothing more than a lovetap by comparison.

Nightmare Moon grinned savagely.

Celestia was still holding back.

She was not.

Spears as black as the night sky descended from the heavens, raining down upon Celestia with the wrath of an angry god. Dodge. Weave. She flowed like water, dancing around each spear like a ballerina from Minos. Pulses of blue magic escaped Nightmare’s horn, blending in with the dark expanse as it bent and raced forth, tracking the solar alicorn’s erratic movements.

Twist. Roll. Celestia spun. The magic missiles collided in midair, exploding in a shower of dazzling sparks.

A blazing inferno clipped past Nightmare’s ear as she dodged. No longer burdened with Luna’s presence, Nightmare Moon dived downward, pushing her host’s body to its limits with powerful wing strokes.

The tides shifted. They flew until their lungs burned, their wings failed, and dark spots crowded around the edges of both alicorn’s eyes. It was the only outcome, of course—they could no more escape each other than they could escape the air they breathed.

Ahead of Celestia rose a fountain of shadows, a wave of darkness that stretched across the city's ruins and rose to touch the moon. It was a final, desperate gamble. A show of brute strength and impatience.

Celestia responded with flame.

Nightmare Moon screamed in Luna’s voice.

The ashes coated her black fur already began to sluff off as she fell. Golden light showered down upon her, slamming into her chest with the force of a Minotaur’s horns and the savagery of a Griffon's claws. Her wounds opened, only to close in time for the next barrage during her death spiral.

Flesh-melting heat met her halfway down, and Nightmare Moon cried out. The lake of fire below rushed to embrace her like an old friend.

Her stolen wings hung uselessly at her sides, and her eyes squeezed shut out of reflex. The fear of suffering was always worse than the suffering itself. Nightmare Moon knew this well, but she also knew the agony of having flesh burned off from bone—and the mind-shattering pain of having it grow back.

It was a fear both Nightmare and Luna shared, now realized.

A second. Two. Nightmare’s borrowed lungs seized in her chest.

…

Nightmare Moon opened her purloined eyes. Alabaster. Soft. Celestia’s chest filled her view, and she could feel her legs coiled around her like vines around a trellis. Images flashed before her. Memories. Softly spoken lullabies, youthful laughter, promises made. Something stirred inside the recesses of her embezzled mind.

It all disgusted her. Mercy disgusted her.

Azure bolts pelted against Celestia’s chest. It was a futile gesture—the wounds closed as fast as they appeared, and the fur on her chest remained unblemished.

“It is over. You are beaten,” Celestia hissed, standing triumphantly atop Nightmare Moon with a hoof pressed firmly against her chest. Still disoriented, Nightmare Moon took a moment to comprehend her words or their newfound surroundings. A tower, the last one still standing, stretched upward as if cupping the moon in its hooves from her perspective.

The cold, unyielding stone beneath her provided little comfort as the parasite squirmed.

“Relinquish control of my sister,” Celestia pushed down harder, the force enough to shatter the bone of any mortal creature. “And face the consequences of your actions!”

Alabaster eyes glittered dangerously down at her, and NIghtmare moon retorted with a hardened gaze. “Beg all you want; it won’t bring her back.”

“Do you think of me as a fool? Or have you truly deluded yourself into thinking you can still defeat me? You have already brought yourself to the brink of exhaustion while I have only begun tapping into my strength.”

“And that is why I shall rule. You have the power to stop me, but you are too weak to embrace it!” Nightmare shifted, catching a whiff of a scent that the pungent odor of burning sulfur could not mask. “Submit, and I will still honor your sister’s wish.”

Celestia followed her gaze, tracking her eye movements. She could smell it too. Feel it. The city lay in ruins, her ponies dead or scattered in terror of the living, breathing night. Scattered. Scattered. Her eyes widened.

The hoof that crunched down on Nightmare’s pilfered horn wasn’t quick enough.

A blue bolt sailed above Celestia’s head, and she could only watch in horror as it streaked toward its mark like an arrow.

W-what?

The parasite grinned with Luna’s smile, despite writhing senselessly on the ground. Like a chorus, another set of screams filled the silence as the tower lurched. Clouds of billowing dust and debris bled from the open wound, the tower swaying precariously as if uncertain whether to cling to life or succumb to its inevitable fate.

Celestia flew.

Tia? Monster! What have thou done?

Golden light staunched the wound and stemmed the bleeding, and her terrified subjects watched with bated breath. Aristocrats and paupers held each other and whispered, awed by the sheer radiance before them, and they prayed. They prayed for the coming dawn and the end of the longest night.

“Flee! Flee my subjects!” Celestia ordered, her voice carried by the wind. Eyes squeezed shut, her magic permeated the tower, holding the wild beast in place as it bucked and squirmed in her grasp. The trample of hooves resounded through the dying city, and a seemingly endless wave of ponies fled, stampeding over the cracked marble streets as they screamed.

They were not fast enough.

Celestia’s empathy blinded her, and she did not see the second blast of magic that sputtered from Luna’s cracked horn. Or the third.

Dazed, Celestia’s magic faltered, and gravity took its pound of flesh. The old stones creaked and groaned, straining under the weight from the sudden onset of reality reasserting itself, and she disappeared in a haze of grey.

Sister!

With a sudden, thunderous roar, a section of the tower gave way, sending a cascade of rubble crashing into the ground below.

Smiling, an unbidden tear streaked down Luna’s face as Nightmare Moon watched on. A shower of dust, mortar, and rubble rained down upon the hapless crowds as the tower crumbled, silencing the endless tide of peasants and sycophants in one singular act.

And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the destruction was over. The tower lay in ruins, a jumble of stones and rubble that the earth would slowly reclaim. The nighttime winds still blew, but now they howled through the empty spaces where the tower had once stood, a haunting reminder of what once was.

The smile never left Luna’s face as Nightmare Moon crawled, struggling to right herself as she pushed her hooves against the marble flagstones. She waddled like a newborn foal with shaky legs, and the fog of dust that permeated the atmosphere fled her presence.

Then she saw it, and Luna thrashed about in her bonds, screaming.

Nightmare Moon cackled, ignorant of the mounting pressure stirring inside her.

What hast thou done, monster? What hast thou done?!

They were no longer mere shadows. Young. Old. Fit or infirm. Pauper or privileged. Luna recoiled in horror from the recesses of her mind, tasting iron and salt on her lips as they stared unblinkingly. One of them slumped forward, a false sign of life, but their face lowered, submerging itself into a blood cocktail mixed from the life essence of a dozen donors.

Luna’s pinprick eyes cast wildly. A mother who died huddled over her offspring, a thick splinter of stone the size of her sister’s legs had been driven right through the mare, in through one side of her barrel and protruding gruesomely out the other.

They were one of far too many, and the moon and stars above twinkled in silent vigil.

Luna’s neck twisted. The smell made the acid in Luna’s stomach curdle like rotten milk, but she could not pull her eyes away from the flattened, pancake-like remains surrounding her.

Monster! ANSWER US!

Nightmare Moon cackled hauntingly, hard enough for Luna’s lungs to feel fit to burst. She had no respect for the living and even less for the dead, for she could not feed upon a corpse. Even so, Luna felt sick as elation spread across her stolen body.

The bodies and rubble blended together, shredding each fiber of Luna’s sanity with each passing second.

And then she saw it.

White, pristine fur and a golden shoe.

Sister! SISTER!

A pained grunt muffled Nightmare Moon’s cackling as she subconsciously drifted toward the scene of her crime. Ash and stone filled her sight, and her hooves were already digging, finding purchase in the rubble.

TIA! Please! Answer us!

“Enough,” Nightmare Moon commanded, backing away. Not even a second passed before Luna started to gurgle and cry out. Nightmare kept Luna’s horn lit up threateningly. “You both understood from the beginning, even if neither of you was willing to admit it. One kingdom. One throne. There was no other way this could end.”

…Thou art right.

Silence filled the grave. Nightmare Moon remained still, staring at her work like a craftsman looked fondly upon their finest work. The nightmares, her fear of the light, they were over. No longer would she hide in the shadows.

Nightmare Moon breathed. “We’re in this together, you and I.”

…

She felt it first in her ears. An indecipherable noise pounded away at her eardrums, accompanied by an elevated pulse. It was unlike the surge of adrenaline that spiked her blood during her battle, and she could not halt the sudden twitchiness in her tensed muscles as her vision tunneled.

Emptiness came next. It settled in the bowels of Luna’s stomach, anchoring her down like the roots of a tree. Wet tears scorched her stolen eyeballs, and Nightmare Moon could do nothing as a powerful sense of disgust and self-hatred filtered into her.

Her horn sputtered, cracked, and was now utterly useless as Luna’s right foreleg coiled, rising into the air with its own will. Stomp.

Nightmare Moon flinched, hitting her hoof on a stray rock before cursing. And then another. Again. And again. Her hooves bled. Dust and ash coated them, digging into the freshly made wounds and stabbing her with a thousand tiny needles. Stomp. Stomp.

Her wounds refused to close.

“What? What are you doing to us?” Nightmare asked confusedly.

One mind. One body.

The heavy debris before her cracked and splintered in tandem with the frog of her hoof. Despite the pain, Luna continued with the relentless enthusiasm of a dog digging for a bone.

“Stop!” Nightmare Moon shouted. The sudden chill in the nighttime breeze froze her warm blood to her fur. “I command you to stop!”

It was never about the throne. In truth, we cared little for the affection of our subjects, as it was always fleeting, and we always starved for more. We stayed by our sister’s side, not out of obligation to any creed or oath we swore, but because of our bond. She was everything to us—the only thing that mattered and gave our life meaning, and it took us far too long to realize it.

Nightmare’s gaze became glassy; all she could feel were pins and needles. Luna continued, turning stone into fine paste under her hooves. Stomp. Stomp.

Something metallic clinked against the marble flagstones out of sight.

But then thou took her from us. Thou stole her away, and what have thou left us with? This slaughter has earned our place in history alongside the likes of Sombra and Discord, and we have no chance of ever endearing ourselves to our subjects. But that was the plan all along, wasn’t it? To isolate and push everycreature away until we could only ever confide and place our trust in thee.

…

No more.

Bloody black hooves scrabbled and scraped against the rubbled stone. Nightmare’s cries for mercy remained stuck to her throat. Stomp. Stomp.

If we cannot be with her in life, then we shall join her in the grave. Thou, who cannot feel love or affection, could never hope to understand.

“Listen to me!” Nightmare Moon begged. The mountain was now a hill, quickly eroding with each strike. Rubble shifted. Gems clinked. “T- Think about what you’re doing!” Sharp fangs bit into her bottom lip, drawing more blood.

…

Stomp. Stomp.

“No!” The dead city shook. Stones, gore, and ash scattered before the force of her voice, scampering away into the shadows. “I will not be bowed or broken! You and your kind shall never imprison me again!”

Shallow breaths. Pins and needles. Tunneled vision. She fell backward onto her haunches. A sickening squelch reached Luna’s ears.

Nightmare Moon looked down. No rubble was in front of her or beneath her bloodied, stumpy hooves. Bending down, she stared in horror at the single misshapen, bent golden metal shoe before her.

Too late, she realized. Nightmare Moon turned to the source of the blistering heat.

“To Tartarus with you,” Celestia growled. She stood tall and proud above the charred and blackened ground that had once been Equestria’s shining jewel. The pale magenta of her eyes was replaced by a searing gold, which radiated enough warmth and unnatural brightness to turn a dragon to ash under its gaze.

It was not the majestic incandescence of the solar alicorn that frightened her, however. Six glittering, familiar, multifaceted gems hovered beside her like attentive waiting servants.

“Luna, stop this madness! She’ll kill us both! This is exactly what she wants!” Luna’s hooves and wings remained firmly fixed in place, even as Nightmare Moon thrashed about in her invisible bonds. Mounting pressure pressed down onto her chest, and Nightmare screamed, even as a wide grin stretched across her muzzle.

Not even a second later, the world around them disintegrated into a kaleidoscopic whirlwind.

Consciousness came to Luna in short, painful bursts.

Eyes squeezed shut, she squirmed underneath the heavy blankets draped over her, and a sigh of discomfort escaped her lungs. Migraines were not an affliction alicorns felt beyond childhood—not due to some innate immunity, but due to the near limitless reserves of mana stored within them.

Invisible talons poked and scraped at her brain just above the eyelids, causing her to scatter her bedsheets to the floor. Luna grumbled. Flames licked at her brain just at the thought of casting a spell.

Slowly, the world came into focus. The air was thick with an unfamiliar scent of smoke and old wood, which tickled at the insides of Luna’s nostrils. She blinked. The hiss of crackling fire in a hearth from somewhere unseen crackled in her ears yet provided her no warmth.

Luna blinked, immediately feeling her stomach churn. The stone walls and accompanying darkness she had become accustomed to were gone, replaced by faded tapestries and oil paintings of unknown nobles and forgotten battles. The solitary window beside her bed was small and dirty, offering only a faint glimpse of her moon and stars beyond.

Her fur stood up straight like soldiers at attention, and it all came rushing back. The taste of copper and salt, the smell of ash and soot, her hooves stained-

Her ears flinched. The floorboards creaked, but she couldn’t care. A choking sob clogged her throat, and she struggled to breathe. Smoke. So much smoke. In her memories. She could taste it in the air alongside the dusty atmosphere, which clung to her tongue like a breastfeeding foal.

“Luna, it's ok,” Celestia whispered suddenly. “Shhhh… breathe.”

“Tia,” Luna said weakly. A gold glimmer deposited her discarded blankets gently over Luna’s body. She could feel her sister’s breath on her neck as she nuzzled and caressed her, taking some of the edge off her frayed nerves.“W-Where?”

“A tavern near Canterhorn Mountain,” Celestia couldn’t bear to look her sister in the eye. “I’m sorry, Luna, but it was the only place close enough...”

Luna’s ears pinned themselves to the sides of her head. It did nothing to stop the screams echoing inside her head. The taste of ash filled her throat, and realization settled over her like a blanket of snow, the freezing cold soaking into her bones.

“...So it wasn’t a nightmare, s-sister?” Luna’s face crumbled.

A pregnant pause filled the air, and not even the mice dared to scurry alongside the walls to break it. Luna felt the lumpy bed underneath her sag as the weight of her sins pressed down upon her.

“...How many?”

“Luna-”

“H-How many perished by our hooves, sister!” Luna shook her head in denial, but she couldn’t forget. She wouldn’t. A deluge of bile suddenly rose up to her throat, burning its way to the tip of her tongue until she coughed violently.

“It wasn’t your fault!” Celestia denied her sister’s self-accusation. She reached out, pulling her sister closer to her chest with her hooves as she settled beside her on the bed. “That monster’s actions were not yours.”

“Nay, sister. We trampled them underhoof, and by our magic—we purged the castle and city of our loyal subjects like vermin-” Luna shuddered, curling into herself in a vain attempt to escape her sister’s warm embrace. “We let them in. We allowed it to feed off our jealousy and contempt for thee. And… despite everything, we still feel its poison linger inside us. We still feel envious of our subjects favoring thee. And we still feel bitterness for being trapped within thy shadow.”

“Do not say such dreadful things, Luna,” Celestia replied concernedly. “If you were still the monster you claim to be, then you would feel no remorse for your- that monster’s actions.”
Draping a wing over Luna, Celestia continued. “Do you truly think I am perfect? Do you truly believe that I never have lingering thoughts like those, day after day? Thoughts and fantasies are never something to feel guilty for.”

“Tia-”

“I, too, fantasize, Luna,” Celestia shifted in the bed, finding the spark of courage to look into her sister’s eyes. “I constantly envy our subjects, who live in blissful ignorance. I feel bitterness, knowing that I may never raise a family of my own, lest they be targets for my enemies. I feel grief, knowing that everypony I meet will turn to dust within a blink of an eye.”

Celestia’s wing tightened firmly around Luna. “I feel rage, knowing that injustice and hatred fester just beyond my sight—and this evil is often committed under my name. Countless times I’ve felt these thoughts creep into my mind, but that is not a sin, Luna. You are allowed to have emotions.”

“But thou are strong enough to not act upon them.”

Celestia’s solemn, magenta eyes drifted off toward the window. When she spoke again, her voice came out in a soft whisper. “And so were you.”

Luna didn’t understand, and her brows furrowed in reflection of her confusion. “Sister?”

“I heard your pleas for help.” Celestia’s heart ached as she spoke. “That monster might have taken control of your body, but it did not worm its way into your soul. You fought against it with all you had, and that is enough.”

Luna mulled over her sister’s words. She knew they were true, and she even felt a small crumb of comfort at the fact.

But just as soon as it came, it fled screaming.

A snapped neck. Screams and pleas for mercy in the dark. Collapsing towers and crumbling streets. A recursive loop played out inside her head of the carnage, which left nothing to the imagination. Luna knew this would be deemed the worst massacre in Equestrian history since the Era of Chaos and the Griffon Wars.

Because it had been a massacre, not a natural disaster. And it was all her fault.

The contents of Luna’s stomach continued to churn like butter.

“You are my dearest sister, and I would not-” Confusion and anguish melted onto Celestia’s moonlit face. “This was all my fault. I wanted to protect you from all the chaos and politics I knew you hated, but I only ended up pushing you away. And between trying to handle diplomatic affairs with the other kingdoms, the poor summer harvest… I shouldn’t have said what I said. I know how much this all meant to you,”

“...The blame does not lie with thee,” Luna finally said. The only thing worse than the pain swelling into her chest was the forlorn look on her sister’s face. Grasping tightly onto the last embers of courage left within her, she spoke again. “We lashed out like an angry little filly throwing a temper tantrum who wasn’t getting her way. And we never thought about the consequences of our actions, convincing ourselves that we were walking the correct path. The only path. And our subjects paid the price.”

Pale magenta graced Celestia’s eyes once more as she turned to face her. “I’m so sorry, Luna. I truly am. There is no excuse for abandoning you in your time of need. And I’ve gotten so caught up in my work that I became the selfish and ignorant monster you imagined me to be.”

The self-loathing in Luna swelled, but she brushed it aside with concentrated effort creasing on her brow before wrapping her hooves around Celestia. “We are not angry with thee nor disappointed. We both bear such great responsibility toward all of our subjects, and neither of us can possibly care for each and every one of them personally. We have no right to resent you for performing your duties, but we cannot ever forgive ourselves for what we have done. Our actions that night were inexcusable, and… and we deserve whatever punishment befits our crime against ponykind.”

“Luna…”

“Sister, please,” Luna begged. She paused, waiting for the next cascade of bile to recede down her throat before speaking up once more. “For so long, we have chased after the approval of our citizens. Our entire life since we became a princess revolved around it… if only to please thee and earn the love thou have shown me all these years. But no matter how much we pushed ourselves, it was never enough for us. We always craved more, and our plans always revolved around such. The thought of you caring for and loving any creature apart from us became centerstage for our nightmares and fears.

“And when my madness had overtaken me-”

“You never needed to earn that, Luna. You’ve had my love from the very beginning, and you will have it until the day I die,” Celestia said, kissing the side of her cheek.

“We didn’t see it that way then. The monster-” Luna recoiled at her words, struggling to speak about the beast that haunted her nightmares. “-it promised us everything we wanted. The throne to ourselves, the adoration of our subjects… but they were frivolous to us. We only wanted to reach out but were too blind to see any other way.”

Celestia closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “You are not alone in this. All I ever saw was your drive, ambition, commitment.” She sighed. “I loved you too much to see the growing darkness within your heart until it was far too late. I have failed you, but I promise I will do everything I can to make things right.”

“How?” Luna replied meekly. “They must know it was I.”

“I will not have you painted as a vile, contemptible monster,” Celestia spoke with conviction, and Luna wilted under her gaze. “The monster responsible for this atrocity has already been judged, and I will not hear more of this.”

“Sister, surely thou cannot-”

“And what would you have me do? Throw an innocent mare to the dungeons? Exile them? Or should I trot you out into the town square for our subjects to cast stones at? No, sister. You may believe yourself to be irredeemable, but I do not.”

Unshed tears stained Celestia’s eyes as she retreated from Luna’s side on the bed. Struggling to keep her warring emotions in check, she bowed her head before scrubbing at her face with a wing.

Exhaustion crept into Luna as she looked on. A distant look clouded Celestia’s eyes as if she remembered something from long ago. “Please, Luna. Please just give me time to find some way to help you. Do not throw your future away on a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

Luna contemplated. The curse of eternal life was already unbearable to her with her freedom; she could not form friendships like mortals did, or raise a family. Exile or imprisonment would destroy her; destroy them both.

And then she understood. Selfish of her sister or not, Luna would acquiesce to her sister’s wishes, justice be damned. Both Equestria and her sister’s future depended on it.

Slowly, Luna snaked out from under the covers, reluctantly closing the gap despite her body screaming for rest. Cupping Celestia’s chin with a wing, Luna began to speak, “Sister, we do not need anything more than your love. This has always been the truth. No other creature understands us or can relate to our struggles like you.”

Both sisters turned their gaze to the stars sparkling outside the window.

“Dost thou remember, sister, when we were still fillies, and thou would read stories to us underneath the willow tree in the meadows?”

“Every night under the stars,” Celestia breathed. “Just like this one. And I kept reading them even when you complained that you were too old for bedtime stories because we both knew deep down you still secretly enjoyed them.”

The memories flooded back. It had been their nightly ritual—a tradition that had not been broken until years after they had been crowned as the sole rulers of Equestria. For a moment, both sisters forgot everything except the stars glittering like gemstones outside their window.

“Sister… canst thou-”

“Yes,” A ghost of a smile spread across Celestia’s lips. “Lay down, and clear your mind of everything that has happened. We can deal with it tomorrow.”

Flash. A vast expanse of stars greeted the two sisters as they teleported to the tavern’s roof. Celestia wrapped her wings around Luna and inched her muzzle close to her ears, just like they had always done many moons ago.

The words didn’t come immediately, but she soon found them flowing from her lips like water as she began to whisper.

Once upon a time, in a grand kingdom filled with magic and wonder, there lived a beautiful princess. She had everything she could ever want - a luxurious castle to live in, endless riches, and loyal subjects who adored her.

The princess was kind and generous, and her people respected her greatly. She was known throughout the kingdom for her wisdom and grace, and many sought her advice on all manner of things.

However, despite her many blessings, the princess was lonely. No matter how much her subjects admired her, she still felt like something was missing. She longed for a true friend - someone to share her secrets with, to laugh and play with, and to simply be herself around.

But no matter how hard she searched, she could not find anyone who truly understood her. And so, she spent many long days and lonely nights inside her castle, feeling more and more isolated with each passing moment. That is, until one fateful day, when a beautiful dove landed on her windowsill, and everything changed.

Luna drifted off to sleep not a moment later.