Drooping eyes, blurry vision. Who was that?

Irregular breathing, throat…itchy.

Ah, it's Mom. Why was she here? She was supposed to be working, wasn’t she?

Her mom smiles, gently caressing her with her wings. It felt better than being on clouds, at least she thought it was.

Dry mouth, water.

Chest tightening, air struggling to get into her lungs, a battle with each breath. A battle she’s slowly losing.

No Mom, don’t cry. Please.

She doesn’t want to see her cry, she’s done nothing wrong. She was the only reason why, a life, even a short one, had been worth living.

So, please.

The sickly, thin hooves try to wipe the tears away.

They fail.

Don’t cry, mom.

All she sees is golden. It’s comforting. Her mom bids her to sleep, to rest.

She can’t find the strength to argue, sleep might be good. Then she can talk to her mom again. They can read her book later together. That sounded nice.

Selene peacefully drifted away to sleep under the soft moonlight.

The dungeons lay in the depths of Everfree Castle. They barely see any use. However, there is one cell, one heavily guarded and monitored cell where no one is allowed except a couple of ponies.

‘’Leave.’’

‘’H-huh?’’

‘’Leave, I wish to be alone.’’

‘’My Princess, you can’t be-’’ A single look silenced the guard. ‘’...As you wish.’’

Bang. And the heavy iron door closed. Celestia was now alone.

She gazed inside the grand cave. There was a stone bridge leading to a single platform in the middle of a deep chasm. Numerous torches helped illuminate the place, although the light from the torches got dimmer and dimmer toward the platform.

Celestia took a huge breath. There was no going back now, but was it truly the right thing to do? Luna, Selene…

She shook her head, no time left. An unknown force pushed her legs forward. Desperation? Maybe.

Drip, drip, water from the roof.

Her breathing and the burning torches were the only sound she could hear. Regardless, there was a mad laughter inside her head—a voice, crooked beyond belief. The voice only got stronger and stronger as she neared the statue in the middle of the jagged platform.

‘Fee’ said the voice.

‘Fi’ laughed the voice.

‘Fo’ cried the voice.

‘Fum’ yelled the voice.

‘I smell the ruffled feathers of a little pony.’’ said the voice, giggling.

Celestia stopped, raised her head, and finally looked at the statue. The weathered stone that stood had its body almost covered entirely in moss, yet through the green one could see the statue’s proportions which were a mish-mash of random creatures stitched together with a cursed stapler. The head was left in a state of perpetual scream, the lone antler and the sharp horn adorning it.

‘Oh, I know I’m beautiful but you didn’t come here to gaze upon me now have you?’ said the sultry voice.

‘’S-silence!’’

‘And how are you going to silence me dear? Encase me in stone-’ he stopped for dramatic effect. ‘again? No, I’ll talk as much as I want.’

Celestia heaved a sigh. ‘’...As much as it pains me to do so I-’’

‘Yes, yes. I already know of your little problem.’

‘’H-huh?’’

‘I still have a lot of vaguely bird-shaped friends. I know what ails you, little Princess.’ The now condescending voice continued. ‘Such a conundrum isn’t it? You can save one, pretty easily might I add?’ he laughed, again. ‘But that was always the plan, wasn’t it? Save your dear sister.’

‘’I-no, I didn’t-’’

‘Ah come now, even I couldn’t predict that you would become attached to that sacrificial cursed lamb. You even gave her a name! What was it Seluna?.’

‘’She’s not cursed!’’ Celestia yelled, her voice coarse.

The voice finally stopped laughing, it didn’t speak for a time. Was it angry? Was it calculating something insidious? Celestia didn’t know. Did she just lose her one chance? She hoped not.

After some grueling minutes of silence, she finally heard him again.

‘As much as it pains me to do so, I may have a solution.’

Celestia gulped, her eyes narrowed. ‘’What is it?’’ She tried to ask in a composed manner.

‘Well, you might not like it with all your-’ the voice sounded disgusted. ‘-harmony, and all that other stuff.’

‘’Just tell me.’’

‘I see someone’s desperate. Very well. I, being the most generous creature in all of time shall help this poor little Princess.’

The statue seemed much more imposing, much more threatening. Celestia had this urge to run, never look back, seal this cell, and throw away the key.

But she stayed, for her sister and her…daughter.

‘She’s dying.’ The voice said bluntly.

‘’They’re both dying.’’ the words felt like thorns on her tongue.

‘Yes, your little lamb because of her ‘not curse’ and the even littler Princess because of her turbulent emotions.’

An Alicorn's emotions were much more powerful than the regular emotions of regular creatures. They can eat up the alicorn bit by bit if not taken care of, affect their body, change their minds, and slowly kill them. In Luna’s case, it had been decades now. Gradually rotting inside her room, isolated from the rest of the world, unable to live.

At this point Celestia was powerless to stop it, so she took drastic measures. Selene was the perfect candidate.

But no longer. No pony will die.

‘You need to use it.’

Celestia knew what he meant. ‘’N-no! There has to be another way!’’ She objected, the idea abhorrent.

‘If there were another way, you wouldn’t have come to me.’ said the voice without laughter, without fun, without humor.

Words failed to form both inside her head and outside her mouth, her instruments of vocality tangled up in her throat, begging to be released: to spit fire on the monstrosity in front of her. But that sensation was squashed.

‘I’m glad you understand.’ it gained back its usual sound, somehow Celestia preferred this one. ‘They both need to be free.’ he said as a lone drop of water landed on the head of the statue, feeding the moss growing on it.

‘The littler Princess needs to be free of her emotions, while your small lamb needs to be freed from her body.’

The latter half of the sentence made Celestia shudder. ‘’What do you mean?’’ she demanded, her voice trying to convey whatever authority she thought she might have at the moment, yet only a small voice laden with fear came out.

‘One’s soul has an excess amount of magic, to the point that it’s killing her. While the other one’s soul has a deficit so grand that it’s killing her. So how about a trade?’

The torches around the statue slowly started getting dimmer and dimmer. Their light and warmth barely reached Celestia.

‘If one has too much and one has too little. How about they give each other what they need?’

‘‘...But Selene wouldn’t survive, her body is too weak.’’

‘Ah, who said it would happen in her body? Only her soul needs to be freed.’

Celestia's eyes widened, she choked for a second before unleashing a wave of screams upon the statue. ‘’You want me to kill her?! Are you insane!? Wait, why am I asking? Of course, you are!’’

‘Oh calm your feathers, I never said you had to kill her. I only said her soul needs to be freed.’ he said dismissively. ‘Besides, you have the perfect tool for the job, something which belongs to me might I add?’ he said with words dripped in venom.

She shuddered under the intense words, and even harsher implication of the words. But she considered them. What he was suggesting was theoretically possible. Or at least it should be possible. But Soul Magic is a wicked art.

However, Celestia was willing to be the most wicked creature if need be. And the need had presented itself now. So she relented.

‘’...how?’’ she hung her low and closed her eyes so as not to look at the statue.

She could hear him smile. ‘Listen carefully my dear. For if you make a mistake or if something interferes, even I do not know what would happen.’

Celestia looked at Selene's sleeping form, which was so thin and fragile yet so strong compared to her. The tears staining the wooden floor beneath her hooves, Celestia wiped them away and gently crawled into the bed lying alongside Selene.

‘’My sweet child,’’ said Celestia, looking upon her daughter, not of blood. ‘’My most precious treasure.’’ She hugged her child and lay on the bed with her for some time.

Selene was enveloped in a faint golden hue, her sickly body floating in the air. Her head hung, and a small smile was on her sleeping face. Celestia got out of the bed and headed towards the door, Selene was comfortably placed upon Celestia’s back. The moonlight clutched onto Selene’s body as Celestia left, begging her not to go.

To stay.

The weak hold of the Moon was broken with little resistance. Celestia felt a shiver pass through her spine not knowing why.

The halls were empty. Under Celestia's orders, no one dared venture out of their rooms, not even the guards. The creaking of the dark wooden floor and the sound of soft breathing reverberate through the marble walls.

Celestia moved to a part of the castle that Selene was not allowed to go to, the section surrounding Luna’s bedroom. She could not have them meet each other, it could mess everything up.

A group of ponies stood outside Luna’s room, forming a half circle, their faces obscured by their heavy wool hoods. They murmur between each other, hushed whispers of emotional venom they spat. Celestia’s ear tried to catch a few words but failed as the whispers ceased once they saw her coming and all promptly bowed quickly and unceremoniously.

‘’M-my Princess, we did what you asked us to.’’ said one of the ponies, head not raised.

‘’Good, now bring her out.’’

The hooded heads rose and a couple moved inside the room, leaving only a handful behind. Who finally notice the lump of blackness sleeping quite soundly upon the back of their ruler. They all took a step back slowly. Celestia’s brows crease and her eyes narrow, as her wings block out Selene. They don’t see her as she does. She needs all the help now, she can’t reject them. She’s worked with the arch-enemy now, what’s a few unruly subjects?

Luna’s door opened and gave way to a sleeping Luna, who was being moved through the air with three of the figures holding her up in the air. Celestia looked upon her sister form: a disheveled shell of an alicorn, where stars of unparalleled beauty occupied her mane now stood the empty blackness, starvation caused not by food but by feeling her ribs poke out threatening to burst out of her chest. Celestia almost broke down at the sight of her.

Almost.

‘’Put her on my back.’’

One of the ponies tried speaking up to protest but the glare he received from Celestia shut his mouth pretty quickly. When the body of her sister was placed on her back, she barely noticed the difference.

Celestia turned around to see the same hallway she came through look darker just moments ago. Braziers provided just enough light to see the way but not enough to illuminate the hallway fully. The glasses lining the wall let moonlight in but it helped little, way thinner than it should have as if the moonlight was trying to make the journey harder.

She felt a slight weight shift on her back but resisted looking back. But just in case she slowed down her gait a little. They thought that Celestia wouldn’t be able to hear their wicked tongues murmur. She chose not to hear them, blocking them out of her mind lest she lose her temper.

The throne room was as empty as the rest of the castle with its only occupants being the vacant thrones. Celestia looked at the thrones with an empty look before craning her neck and looking back.

‘’Mmmhh, sofht,’’ Selene mumbled out, muzzle tucked inside Luna’s neck. Her slight drool stains Luna’s fur. Who had her head laid upon the side of Selene’s head with the smallest of smiles. Stained glass on the walls and roof allowed the spears of reflected illumination to strike both of them, bathing them in dim yet radiant light.

‘’...’’ Celestia bit her lip.

‘’Uhm, my princess? I-is something wrong?’’

Celestia realized that she was indirectly staring at them shook her head quickly and broke her gaze turning her neck back. ‘’No. Bring it out.’’

Again one of the hooded ponies scurried past Celestia, hurriedly moving towards the thrones. He ran up the stairs and went behind Luna’s throne. A click was heard and then he just as quickly went behind Celestia’s throne and after a second another click was heard.

Stone against stone, metal against metal, a slow grinding sound reached everyone's ears. Celestia took a step back, as did her entourage. The centerpiece of the room opened up and a small pedestal was raised, a gleaming gem on top of it. The many sharp but somehow soft protrusions of the gem stuck out of everywhere abiding by no laws of symmetry, one could compare it to the spikes of a hedgehog yet that would not be a fair assessment and it would be an insult to the hedgehog. A hedgehog’s spikes were orderly, organized, and had structure. This could only be called chaotic.

Yet the gem was free, it cared not for the air around it nor its presumed shape, it cared not for its color, changing at every possible second. And for that reason, Celestia had a use for it. Even if being in the presence of it made her want to hurl.

It was the weapon that Discord wielded with great cruelty, wreaking havoc upon the lands of Equestria and many more; yet it fell to the Elements of Harmony. It was the singular, loathsome Element of Chaos.

Freedom.

‘’Pick it up and follow me.’’

Silence.

None moved. All petrified in the presence of this object.

Celestia looked back and saw the figures frozen, not even their breathing could be heard.

‘’I said pick it up and follow me.’’ Said Celestia, with a slightly commanding voice. A few of the ponies were broken out of their stupor and rushed forward without thinking.

Yet when they reached the gem none touched it, none even tried to move it. They all looked terrified at the gem. One looked at the Princess, begging her with her face.

‘’Pick. it. up.’’

The brave pony’s fear of the Princess won against whatever fear she was feeling and she quickly snatched the gem. The moment, it was moved away the pedestal retreated into the ground and the floor closed back off.

‘’Good. Now follow,’’ Celestia moved towards the thrones and moved up the stairs. She moved to the wall behind the thrones; out of the side of her eye, she saw the pony from earlier who was trying to make himself as small as possible behind her throne. She ignored him and touched the wall with her hoof. She took in a breath and moved her hoof along the wall.

Her hoof slid to the right. Three, two, one, stop. Her hoof followed down. Three, two, one, stop. Her hoof again glided towards the right. Three, two, one, stop. Celestia stopped when her hoof felt a slightly different texture. She pushed it.

Another slow screech of the stone made its way to the ears of everyone there and the wall infront of Celestia was split in two revealing a long path forward. She moved in without hesitation expecting others to follow, which they did just not as confidently as Celestia. This was a part of the castle only known by Celestia, not even Luna knew of its existence.

Darkness enveloped the hallway, Celestia led her flock through the darkness with light coming from her horn. They all stopped before finding themselves infront of a long set of spiral stairs. But at the bottom level where they were, light pierced through. When one looked up through the light one could see the extraordinarily long stairs with its middle empty allowing light to seep through the roof.

A few of the ponies unconsciously heaved groans of frustration, the thought of climbing these stairs a suffering they would rather not endure but those ideas were extinguished as quickly as a slight side eye of the Princess passed over them. She took a step forward and began climbing, they followed.

It would be a long night.

The longest one there is.

Luna kept her stance, her eyes not leaving her opponent. It looked as if this cart was the designated eating space with tables and chairs full of silverware lining the walls. Or at least Luna thought that was what it was from the other side of the cart. Since her side had been unceremoniously destroyed by her, leaving behind only scrap pieces of wood and the occasional spoon on the floor.

‘’You know how much that’s going to cost to fix?’’ The Steward sighed, ‘’More than I earn that’s for sure.’’His face changed into an innocent smile and he jumped up on one of the tables and reached into his coat. ‘’Or I could scrap by some money with my musical talent eh?’’

An ancient-looking accordion, that was clearly too big to fit into his coat, was pulled out and he played a joyous tune on it. ‘’I think I would be a big hit, wouldn’t you say?’’

She snarled and charged, how dare he!?

Her hooves stamped with fury, destroying pieces of the floor and bending some of the unfortunate silverware beneath them.

With her horn lowered, she focused most of her magic on it. Her horn glowed and in its place formed a lance made of pure magical energy, ready to skewer the abomination in front of her.

She increased her speed even further, her eyes only focusing on the mocking being still playing the accordion with a delightful smile.

Luna balanced the lance, she would make sure it would hit.

She made contact.

The table he was standing on broke in half, but not him. What? Where is he?

Luna’s neck snapped back instantly when she heard that accursed instrument behind her. He was up on another table, seemingly uninjured, still playing.

‘’You know, I don’t think-’’

Luna gave him no chance to talk and rushed towards him again.

He jumped to a different table before the one under him was destroyed.

‘’Would you please-’’

Again, the table was destroyed. He hopped to the single remaining one.

‘’Look-’’

He sighed when Luna cared not to listen and moved to destroy both him and the last table. He stopped playing for a second and let his hand go of the keyboard.

The keyboard went flying, and the metal reeds extended and extended before striking her right on the muzzle. Luna, stunned by the attack, stumbled and was forced to stop.

But when the accordion flew back into his hand and those insidious notes came out again and her rage returned, yet she stifled that anger just enough to not charge in blindly.

“Oh? Have you come to your senses-” Again, he spoke; his body following the accordion as he played it, balancing on the table.

His word was yet again cut short, this time by one of the many bent spoons being thrown at him, intending to scoop him out.

One of the windows shattered and a small object flew and hit the spoon, throwing it out of course, and making it fall right at his feet with a pitiful crash.

“A spoon? You couldn't even use a knife on me?” he said as one of his hands let go of the accordion and reached towards the object that flew out and stopped the spoon.

Was…was that a peanut? Didn't he throw those out earlier?

Before Luna could even process what was going on, the remaining glasses were all broken, and dozens of peanuts came flying out towards The Steward. Whose accordion was playing a different tune.

Luna could not just wait idly with…whatever this was, going on. So she picked up whatever she could from the floor, be it a knife, fork, scrap pieces of wood, and even the mighty spoon.

Unfortunately, none of them hit, the peanuts that formed a circle around him stopped them with precise hits before they could even get close.

“I call it my Peanut Buffer.” He laughed and moved his accordion while playing it, the peanuts moving in sync with the music.

“Get it? Peanut. Buffer. Like peanut butt-”

“Thou hast the comedic sense of a cactus and the humor of a rotten book. Cease your wicked tongue, or we shall cease it for you.”

He stopped playing for a moment, the peanuts froze alongside him. Interesting.

His face had completely molded into one of shock and disbelief. “...tough crowd,” he muttered.

The peanuts stirred back to life when he slowly started playing again, this time the tune felt a little less joyful yet he still played it.

She just needed to stop him from playing it, even for a second. Her eyes scanned for anything she could use and they landed on her target.

The real question was how she could accomplish it. She couldn’t just charge again; he would simply do something outrageous and get out of the way. But she also couldn’t do anything from far away.

Her line of thinking got interrupted by another strike of the accordion, this one barely missing because of Luna’s pony-like reflexes.

‘’Daydreaming are we? I don’t know how you can do that when we are literally in a dream but, you do yo-woah!’’ He almost fell from the table but balanced himself at the last second. ‘’Creaky table, gotta get that fixed.’’

That’s it.

‘’Alright, let’s finish this. Or you can just leave?’’

‘’...’’

‘’Please?’’

‘’...’’

‘’Pretty please?’’

‘’...No.’’

He sighed and the accordion was freed from his hand, pushing forward to strike Luna. She would need to hit and silence that accordion. As it closed in Luna reared her head to the side and prepared.

The invincible string holding her head back seemed to snap, and her head darted right before the accordion reached her.

O u c h

She was able to hit it, but the impact left her dazed. From the ringing in her ear, she was sure her ear fell or at least it felt like it did. Even though her vision was blurry she was nevertheless able to see the accordion travel backwards.

‘’Yikes, that looked like it hurt.’’ The Steward sucked his teeth in an understanding yet mocking way. ‘’And you kno-ah!’’

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as the accordion that was thrown off course from Luna’s strike flew wildly back and struck the legs of the table he was on, the momentum and the weight breaking them effortlessly.

The Steward could not respond in time as one of the sides of the table fell down and he fell alongside it. The now table-turned slide pushed The Steward toward Luna. Unfortunately for him, the peanuts still hovered in the same they were before and he rapidly slid towards Luna.

He ground down to a stop just infront of Luna, who had a small smile on her face. He looked up at Luna, his face changing into one expression: Nervousness.

‘’O-oh, would you look at that! Heh h-heh.’’ He said, raising his hands a little.

Luna said nothing, her front hooves raised. Finally to destroy him and that accursed accordion.

‘’Well, it was fun,’’ he said and closed his eyes.

The Steward didn’t even try to move out of the way of the incoming stampede or use his accordion.

Hooves rushed down, massacring the strapped accordion first. It’s dying breath, releasing one single note before being put out of commission for good.

Over the distance, her ears picked up on the sounds of the peanuts falling. She cared not enough to look.

Hooves went through the blue fabric, dispersing the soft and cool clouds. The hooves did not stop until there was nothing left on the floor except numerous amounts marks and a panting Luna.

She calmed herself down. She would not be goaded into Nightmare Moon’s provocations any longer. Anger would only lead to her destruction, well it did lead to something's destruction at least. Her eyes passed over the annihilated piece of accordion before leaving the cart.

Could he be here? Did she finally get rid of the beasts? How was Nightmare Moon able to conjure up such strong guardians? Even if she was able to escape from The Elements, she should have been quite weak. These were the strongest, and most annoying nightmare monsters she had dealt with until now.

‘’Ha, you lost to that?’’ A rough familiar voice cut through her ears.

…No.

‘’She is tougher than she looks.’’ A lively familiar voice slashed through her ears.

No.

‘’Yeah, I can attest to that. You know I had pieces of wood in my underwear?’’

‘’We don’t have underwear.’’

‘’Imagine how bad it was then if I found wood there.’’ She saw the two of them standing side by side.

‘’Oh, she’s here already.’’ said The Steward.

‘’Really? That was fast.’’

‘’Move.’’ Luna declared.

They both looked at Luna and then at each other and then Luna again. Two of them spoke, yet it felt like only one voice was speaking. It was the most familiar, the most correct, the most right-sounding voice.

‘’Can’t.’’

Luna sighed and for the third and final time got ready for battle.

Author's Note

Hehehe, peanut buffer.

The funni aside, please do leave some comments about the chapter! They're always a delight to read and help a lot!