It Was War

"Do you know what happened to you Luna?" Celestia asked as the walked back into her room, her sister following close behind.

"We have had to visions already this night-" Luna hesitated before a moment before continuing. "About the war."

Celestia cringed noticeably.

"Perhaps We can bring this up another time." Luna began to retreat out the open door. They clicked shut before she could escape.

"You make it sound as though they weren't simply dreams, so then what did you see?"

Celestia invited her sister to a cushioned corner of the otherwise sparsely furnished room. This was the corner where Celestia would lay down to do her paperwork; sitting on a throne all day left no desire to also sit and write.

Celestia cleared away space for her sister and waited patiently while Luna nervously lay down across from her.

"Luna, understand that after so long your every word and thought is important to me. Certainly now, and even then I found it hard to be upset with you; you can tell me what you saw and I won't be mad."

Luna bit her lip and hid behind her star filled mane; despite her sister's assurance she didn't know where to begin such a conversation.

At length Luna took a deep breath and said, "What happened to Ye over the years of the war?"

Celestia gave her a questioning look in response.

"Perhaps that is not the question We meant to ask." Luna looked around the room as she thought of yet another way to attempt to broach the subject gently. "What is it We did to Ye- You by waging war against the kingdom?"

Celestia nodded both in a slight understanding of the question, and in commending her sister's efforts to normalize her speaking.

"You hurt me in more ways than one Luna; I'm not going to lie, I'm sure I won't recover fully. You know what I did to gain control over all six elements of harmony in order to banish you. You also-"

"What We really mean is-" Luna paused, slightly embarrassed she'd cut her sister off, "What We mean is, you wanted Us to die. You didn't want to kill Us, you wanted Us to die. What did We do that would have made you think such things?"

Celestia simply stared in Luna's direction , her precious one and only sister; whom she could share anything with. Luna was aware that Celestia was contemplating her question, but the way she stared through her was somewhat disconcerting.

"I was scared, Luna; so very scared." Celestia's voice was weak and unsure. "When you began your campaign I didn't know what to do. When you didn't stop, the idea of having to face you as you were was terrifying to me. Not because I was scared of you, but because I was scared of having to match your hate fueled ambition with my own hate."

"We see." Luna failed to maintain eye contact during Celestia's explanation.

"No, you don't Luna." Celestia said sharply, making her sister jump. "You were born after me, you didn't see what I was before you came. I was bad, Luna. The dark ages of Equestria were my doing, I held power over all things, and I ruled through sadistic fear. That is why I was scared, for I knew that if I faced you without any other plan, I would not simply defeat you; I would break you, and damage you until you admitted you were wrong. Then I would have killed you without a second thought."

"So, you allowed Us to continue on, unhindered, to save Us from thine cruelty?"

"I could never replace you, Luna, until the day I knew something had to be done, I tried to imagine there was nothing wrong. I thought ignoring you for as long as possible would allow you to come to your senses, but I could no longer stand hearing of the casualty reports; could no longer bear to see widow's and orphans fill the streets."

"We swear upon Our own immortality, We will make this right, somehow." Luna said as confidently as she could, attempting to hide the fact she was currently scared to be in the same room with her sister. She'd been given far more information, than she knew what to do with. With so much learned about her sister, Luna was denied the peace of mind she'd sought.

Celestia nodded, silently dismissing her sister as she left. Luna went to the balcony and once again took off into the air, instead of returning to her room she continued to fly over Canterlot letting the cool night air run over her body as she continued to mull over what she'd learned of the once pristine sun goddess. As she flew, the weight of her past deeds were a physical presence that eventually forced her to land and walk the empty streets. It was her fault after all, she realized.