Celestia sputtered. She felt something wet, coarse, and grainy on her lips. Also, she could smell a distinctively salty air. Was it like that in the great beyond? Celestia didn't really concentrate on these details the last time she was there, but a moment later she opened her eyes, and had to realize she wasn't in Caelum.

She was lying on her side on the sandy shores of Aeternum Island.

She lifted her head, and could hear the familiar crashing of the waves along the shoreline. Otherwise, it was all so quiet. She looked up, up at the sky. It was a bit overcast, but apart from that, it looked perfectly normal.

Celestia propped herself up on her front legs, and looked around better. She didn't see any dimensional rifts above the island, nor around it. It was all calm and normal. And to underline that, she heard some seagulls wailing in the distance.

"We... We did it." Celestia muttered, mostly just to herself, but then realizing the gravity of the feat they achieved, she said it louder, and more confidently "We did it! We saved Equestria, the world! We did it, Luna!"

Celestia, finally, got up to a proper standing position, but didn't see Luna anywhere around. She looked along the shoreline in both directions, but no one was there.

"Luna! Luna, where are you? Luna! Luna..."

Only then it occurred to Celestia to look towards the center of the island, towards the Citadel.

And what she saw horrified her. With a slow, creeping feeling of dread.

It was gone. The whole Citadel was gone, blown to smithereens by whatever force was unleashed when she and Luna jumped into the Elements' magic stream. All over the island, every tree was toppled over, and the white rocks, that were once the proud Citadel, strewn about, as mere pebbles.

"Oh no..."

It took a few minutes for Celestia to dawn on her what this meant. Everything was gone. The Citadel. The tribe. The Council. The Magikhan. Her parents. Luna.

"Luna..."

Celestia's heart sank, but before she could drop a tear, she got to thinking. Was Luna gone, too? After all, she survived. And they both entered the magical stream the Elements of Harmony created at the exact same time. If somehow the Elements decided she should survive, it couldn't be that Luna just perished.

Yet, she wasn't around.

Celestia took off, and took a bird's eye view. She still couldn't see Luna, but she saw something else: not far from where she woke up, something glistened in the sand. Or more precisely, three somethings. Celestia dove down, and they were what she believed they should be.

The Elements that formed her crown formally.

Celestia picked them up in her magic. They were intact, shiny, not a single crack in them, not a scratch. They were also dormant, like the very first time she and Luna found them. Also, this was only her side of the deal. Which could mean...

"Maybe the Elements protected me. So maybe they protected Luna too. If I find the rest of them, Luna should be near too."

Celestia started down the beach, trotting, and scanned her surroundings for any signs of the remaining three Elements and Luna. But mostly Luna. There was a huge basalt formation after which the shoreline bended. Celestia cleared it, and to her joy, she found something blue and rather irregularly shaped lying in the sand, in front of another huge basalt formation.

It was Luna, with spread wings, still passed out.

Celestia got over to her. She also noticed the Elements near. Made sense. She nudged Luna, and to her relief, it didn't take much effort to wake her up.

"Sister..." Luna muttered weakly, visibly confused a bit.

"We did it, Luna. It's over."

Luna looked around. She put together where she was, and that she was still pretty much intact, and so her sister. A little smile started to form on her face.

"So we won?"

"In a way, yes." Celestia looked away grimly, then back at her sister.

Luna got up, but the beginnings of her smile went away.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you happy? We stopped Arcana and...

Then it started to dawn on Luna.

"What's going on? Where is she? And the others? Why did I end up here?"

"See for yourself, Luna." Celestia sighed, and subtly gestured towards the sky.

Luna threw her sister a suspicious look, then spread her wings, and flew up into the air, above the huge basalt rock.

"NO!"

Celestia could only lower her head.

For about a minute, Luna just floated in place, staring at the destruction. Then, Celestia slowly rose up next to her. At that moment, she couldn't decide what was sadder: the scenery, or Luna's expression.

"But...but... That means... Not just Arcana but the whole..."

The rest of Luna's sentence got stuck in her throat.

"I'm sorry."

Luna landed on the gigantic basalt rock in front of her. Celestia followed suit. Luna just stared for minutes before she could say anything again.

"No, no, that cannot be. They couldn't be all gone! Are you sure? Did you check, Sister?"

"No, I did not. Although..."

Celestia looked up from her downcast expression. Luna didn't see Celestia in such a forlorn state many times during her forty years. She snapped at her:

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's search the island! Someone might still be alive! Our parents... They surely survived, didn't they?"

Celestia scanned the dead island in front of her. To the southwest, near the shore, she could spot the remains of the family home. The only such building on the whole island, now gone too. They weren't there when the catastrophe struck, but Celestia suspected the truth. Yet, she tried to force herself to believe, just like Luna did right then.

"You're right Luna. We shouldn't give up hope."

Celestia pointed a hoof. Luna looked there, where her part of the Elements lay in the sand. She flew down to pick them up.

"Oh right. These." Luna said, without any enthusiasm left in her voice.

☼☽

Celestia and Luna were trudging through the ruins of the Citadel. All that remained was the foundation, the rest was so thoroughly destroyed, that no one could have told what stood there before. The sisters barely spoke to each other. Luna was searching for something, and Celestia helped her, although she didn't know what it was. It was all indistinguishable, samey-looking white rocks, due to how the Citadel was made all those millennia ago. As the Twelve wanted to create something that could stand the test of time, that wouldn't crumble around them, so they actually carved the building out of the existing rocky hill, instead of building something comparatively flimsy on top of it.

Yet, now it was destroyed, just like the once glorious civilization they built. All that was left was two lost alicorns, in search of... what exactly?

Maybe a piece of their past, at least in Luna's case. At least that was the only thing Celestia could imagine. Everything happened all too suddenly. Luna barely came to terms with who she truly was, who she wanted to be, then it was all gone. She didn't get a proper closure. All she got was a fight, because that's what she has chosen. But she deserved more.

Yet, maybe this is how things had to happen, Celestia thought. Maybe this all happened with a purpose. After all, the Elements had to cause this sort of destruction. Maybe the Creator herself willed this. Or maybe, it was all just bad luck.

Did they have a choice in the matter? Celestia wanted to believe that yes, they did. They weren't just part of some big, godly game. Fortune didn't smile on them, but it smiled on something else: Ponykind. Thanks to them, they were now free. And they probably knew nothing of any of this. If something, now that was some silver lining.

"Luna. There's nothing here."

Luna stopped in her tracks. She looked up. She's been teary eyed for a while now.

"I know."

"Come on. Let's take a break. Have some rest."

Luna nodded absentmindedly for a few seconds.

"You're right. Let's go home."

They both flew to the remains of their house. Only a few charred pieces of wood could be taken out amongst the ashes. The only thing that remained intact... were the memories.

"I... I could never tell them they were right!"

The grief finally burst out of Luna. Her tears were dropping upon the blackened remains of her past. Celestia stepped closer, but she only listened for now.

"I never got the chance to say sorry! I hated them... I hated them because deep down, I probably knew they were right about me!"

Now Luna's sobs were shaking her whole body. The sound of her crying spread far upon the empty landscape. She turned to Celestia, but didn't look up at her.

"I planned to make up with them as soon as we got back. But... but... that will never happen now."

Celestia stepped right in front of Luna.

"I was so foolish!"

And with that, the younger alicorn threw herself at her sister. She buried her face in her chest coat, and sobbed profusely. Celestia softly wrapped a foreleg around Luna, and let her let it all out.

"They would be proud of you now, Luna."

Luna just cried on. After a while, the intensity of it subdued, and she distanced herself from Celestia a bit. She took out her three gems, her Elements of Harmony.

"After I overcame the Magikhan, I overcame myself, you, you had to take everything I had left. I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

Luna angrily threw away her Elements, and they landed in the distance with a barely audible clink. Luna stared after them. Celestia too. After about a minute, Luna started to get going.

"I need a walk."

She went toward the shoreline, and Celestia followed closely. She knew her sister needed her, possibly more than ever.

☼☽

Luna walked the beaches of Aeternum, dragging her hooves. Her head was hanging, only looking up towards the ocean every now and then. After a while, she stopped for just enough time to let Celestia catch up. They stared at each other for a minute, but neither of them said a word. Celestia knew what Luna thought, and Luna just didn't have the emotional energy right then to say anything.

They walked on. The island wasn't big, and by sundown they walked around it, arriving back near their former house. Luna plopped down in the sand, while Celestia took a bit to search for what her sister threw away earlier.

"These belong to you."

Celestia put down the Elements next to Luna after the latter refused to take them over. She merely glanced up, and said a weak "Thanks."

Celestia also lay down, and looked at the dusk. She was usually mesmerized by its beauty, but right then, she couldn't appreciate it. She was concerned with something else. Someone else.

Luna wasn't looking at the horizon. She was fumbling around with a hoof in front of herself, drawing random patterns in the sand. Celestia wanted to talk to her hard, but felt Luna should say something first. She wanted to give her time. But after the last rays of the Sun disappeared, and the Moon came up, she couldn't stand to stay silent anymore.

"Luna, I know it's hard. I feel the same as you."

Luna made proper eye contact, but didn't reply. Celestia continued.

"I know what happened is tragic and sudden, and nigh incomprehensible, but I want you to know: I'll be always here for you. No matter what."

"I know."

As if a hint of a smile appeared on Luna's face. But the next moment, it was gone.

"You've been silent for a while now. Don't be afraid to talk about your feelings. Let it out, Luna."

"An alicorn shouldn't be like this." Luna sighed "I've been moping and coping enough. I'll be fine soon, just... give me some more time."

"An alicorn shouldn't be like what?!" Celestia furrowed her brows slightly "After everything that happened, I don't think taking after the tribe should be a guideline. At least not considering something like this."

Luna didn't answer, but looked at her sister questioningly, so she continued.

"In the last few days, I saw you letting out your feelings for the first time ever since you were a filly. You felt so much more relieved. So much more you."

"I know. It's not that."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. She waited for the rest of her sister's thoughts.

"What happened, happened. Our civilization crumbled. Nothing will bring back any of them now. Some I'll miss. Some were good riddance. But I can only wonder: What now? What we'll do?"

Celestia nodded ever so slightly, then scurried closer to Luna.

"I think we both need some time to get our thoughts sorted out. But after that... Well, we can't stay on this dead island, can we?"

Luna looked to the side, to the top of the hill that was once the Citadel. Then back at Celestia.

"You're right. Too many bad memories are tied to this place. Especially now. But where could we go? This was the only home alicornkind ever had. The only home we ever had."

"The tribe may be gone, but their duties remain. And since we're the only ones left, those duties rest on us. That is, the protection of ponykind. I'm sure defeating Discord wasn't the end of it. But with the long-range scrying spells gone, and our precognitive abilities not being strong enough..."

Luna cocked her head at her sister not finishing her sentence:

"Are you implying something, Celestia? You're not saying that we..."

"...we wouldn't be able to detect danger from here." Celestia finished, cutting off Luna "And yes, I'm saying we should move to Equestria. The only way we could protect ponykind would be if we were right next to them."

Luna recoiled a bit.

"Sister, we couldn't possibly live among mortals! It was never done. There was a reason why our tribe lived here, separated from any mortal realms. It would just lead to bitterness and misery. A pony, or any mortal could never understand us, and honestly, we could never fully understand them either, probably."

"Are you so sure about that? You said yourself it was never even tried. Now we could. Perhaps the reason why the council grew so bitter and cynical about their guardian duties was because they never got a good perspective on what being a pony is like. Ponykind was their charge, but everything must have been so impersonal, so distant to them. We shouldn't make the same mistake. Maybe if we could look at them as lives, as individuals, we could cherish our roles until eternity. We wouldn't get corrupted by our own emotions, ever. Or by the lack of them, thereof."

Luna got up into a sitting position. She got roused by Celestia's words somewhat, and some pep got back into her voice.

"I can see your point, but what if it doesn't work out? Living among mortals would be so... Well, mortals and immortals just don't mingle well. We would be an exhibition of everything unnatural."

"Then we would just stay on the sidelines." replied Celestia, getting up too "But you remember how ponies received us after we defeated Discord, right? I think this could work out. Our presence wouldn't be overbearing. And they wouldn't mind us. I'm sure ponies wouldn't want to change their way of life just because two alicorns would be around. But if that way of life would be at risk, we would be near to deal with it. Be that a flock of dragons, or another mad god getting ideas."

Celestia let out a little smile now, and that, slowly, spread to Luna as well. She was visibly thinking about what she heard, and turned her head sideways a bit. Then, she talked:

"Well, I could see myself flying in to save the day from time to time... With you. Of course, provided only the two of us would be enough for what a whole tribe has been doing so far."

Celestia slid closer to Luna, into hugging range. She took out her own Elements, and showed them up.

"These helped us protect Equestria when our own powers proved insufficient. I'm sure if it would come to it, they would help us out again."

Then Celestia dropped the Elements into the sand, and folded her left wing around Luna.

"But Elements or not, I'm sure things will work out eventually. Because as long as we're here for each other, we cannot fail."

Luna, in turn, also wrapped a wing around her sister. She looked up at her, smiling:

"You're right. We shall not let down ponykind. And we won't let down each other."

Celestia squeezed Luna closer. The younger sister snugged into Celestia's neck, and in turn, Celestia gently rested her cheek on Luna's mane. They remained like that for a few minutes. Then, they looked up at the Moon together.

At the Moon, that shone really brightly that night.

THE END

Author's Note

And that's a wrap! Thanks a lot for each and every one of my readers for getting to the end of my first longfic. I hope you enjoyed the ride. And since we're here at the very end, now it would be wonderful if you shared what you think. Sure, a "like" is lovely as well, but I think I don't lie too much if i say we authors love comments. And if you didn't like it, you should share that too. Or any hot takes, really.
At any rate, thanks again. See you on my next(???) fic.
Edit: Now with an author's blog, because I always wanted to write one of these. And now, I can justify it with a long story like this :)