„This concludes todays’ training. Now before, you continue doing whatever you have planned for today, I have one more thing to tell you. I think it’s time for you to get a weapon. Fighting with magic and your horns is cool and stuff, but you need a possibility to parry and block a physical attack. It would be very helpful if every one of you gets a weapon of some sorts in the next two weeks.” Aren turned to Celestia. “This doesn’t apply to you. Remember, in two days we begin.”

“This said, I’ll be back at my room.” And Aren vanished. The other three immortals turned their looks to Celestia, who just looked nervous. She hasn’t told them about her being his apprentice, even though three days already passed since it was decided. It would be necessary to tell them in the next two days. Celestia looked at the curious eyes of Luna. Especially for her sake.

“Sister, could you please tell me what you and Aren did three days ago? The air between you two changed, and you are acting differently to one another.” Then Luna gasped. “Has he done something to you? I swear if he even thought about hurt-“

“Luna, calm down. He didn’t hurt me or anything.” Celestia aborted Luna, who didn’t seem to be even a bit calmer. Celestia sighed. “Luna, what exactly do you have against Aren?” Celestia hoped that she may be able to gain a possibility to open up the topic of her being his apprentice, without any incidents, through this question. Luna groaned once in exasperation.

“He’s arrogant. He shows off his skills on a daily basis. He thinks he’s better than us. He has no humor. He acts like we are all some foals which never went out of their castles. His training methods are way too brutal. His teeth make me kind of nervous. And he acts like this place belongs to him.” Luna explained in one breath.

‘These are a lot of problems.’ Celestia thought with an impressed glint in her eyes. ‘Maybe this will not be as easy to tell her as I thought.’ She sighed once. ‘If I tell her about him and me, she will think that he stole me from her, and will hate him even more. Yet, I still need to tell her about my apprenticeship. Oh colt, this will not be pretty.’

“Really Celestia, I would have never thought that you would keep secrets from your own sister. I always thought you were such a perfect princess.” Chrysalis voice was moving deep in the levels of the strongest sarcasm-regions in existence. Celestia turned to her and got nervous. She wanted to tell them what happened between Aren and her, but it didn’t seem like a good opportunity. But when will a good opportunity arrive?

“Come Celestia, I think it would be appropriate for you to tell us. We have a right to know, why your training suddenly looks different from ours.” Ravien also gave his opinion, and Celestias’ mood kept going further and further to the station called nervousness, boarding on the country of panic. In the end, she just sighed, and decided to get this over with. She turned to Luna.

“Luna, have you looked at Equestria in the last year? The changes?” Luna seemed a little confused by the sudden topic change. Without any delay, she answered.

“Of course, but what does this have to do with Aren and you?” Celestia groaned once.

“I’ll come to that part later, but for now, what do you think of the changes?” Luna thought about this while Chrysalis and Ravien just looked indifferent at them. Since they weren’t really around Equestria that often, they couldn’t think of an answer. After a time, Luna answered.

“Well I must say, that Blueblood and Shining Armor are doing a good job in ruling the country. Some things they decided seem to benefit Equestria greatly, but some seem to be too… how do I put this… direct.” Celestia nodded.

“I think so too. They made some changes, which would have never occurred to me, but other ones just seem to be in the way of the harmony we tried to maintain for the last three thousand years.” Celestia sighed and looked to the side. “Say Luna, do you want to go back to ruling in four years, when all this is over?” Luna crooked an eyebrow, and she looked like Celestia asked the most obvious question in the world.

“Of course, what else should I do?” Luna exclaimed with a voice that hinted that this should have been obvious. Celestia sighed again. It seemed like she sighed especially much this day.

“Well you could go exploring. You could visit other planets. You could visit the rest of the world. Learn new things. Don’t you have the desire to learn and experience new things?” Celestia asked with a troubled voice, while looking away from Luna. Luna pondered about this and already had a hunch to what Celestia was hinting at. No, this was too crazy.

“I don’t know. Learning new things is a great thing, but it gives me a bigger sense of achievement when I solve a problem of my subjects. I just love to be there for them, even if not many visit my night court.” Luna sighed upset, but then looked at her sister. “Why do you ask this? Are you not happy with ruling Equestria?” Celestia shook her head.

“It’s not that I am not happy with ruling the land. It just feels like I am missing out. Seeing other villages, other lands, other spells… other worlds. It seems like it is such a big unknown, which invites to be explored. The things I could see. The things I could do after some time. The ponies I could meet. It seems so vast and interesting, like a novel with seemingly endless pages. It just lays there and waits to be read.” Celestia looked in Lunas’ eyes.

“Shining Armor and Blueblood are doing a very good job in ruling Equestria, but they lack experience. Experience they don’t have because they are not multiple thousand years old. You have the experience they lack. While we ruled over Equestria, our ponies were rejoicing in harmony, but it was a stagnant kind of harmony. They were living in happiness, but nothing new happened. No great breakthroughs in science and magic.” She shook her head again and had a more serious look in her eyes.

“Shining Armor and Blueblood have changed that. The current progress of science and magic is faster than nearly ever. The last time it happened, that Equestria was progressing this fast, was after Oran left last time.” She sighed deeply. “Equestria needs change, so I decided to give up my position as ruler over Equestria for a changing position of a mortal ruler.” Alright the first half of the awful news was out, now to wait for the reaction.

The reaction was stunned silence. Chrysalis looked like she could never think of giving up her rulership. Why would someling even think about giving up this kind of power over others? Ravien had a proud look in his eyes. She saw what was best for Equestria and sacrificed her own position as a ruler in order to improve the land. This actually was something truly noble.

Luna just had a shocked look in her eyes. A look that said nothing different than just the pure disbelieve in that statement. She shook her head. “What do you mean you give up your rulership? You can’t just say, I don’t want to rule you anymore. You can’t just simply quit. Equestria needs you, sister!” Luna told her with desperation in her voice. Celestia just looked sympathetic at her sister.

“Luna, you know exactly like me that it is not a good thing if the progress of a nation slows down until it eventually stops. Even if, I am immortal, I only have one consciousness, and am blinded for new ideas, which could be produced outside of my thinking pattern. If a land gets ruled by one or two beings who never do any new things, like visit new countries, it is bound to remain the same. Equestria needs change, but it also needs harmony. This is why I want you to continue ruling Equestria.” Luna shook her head violently, and tears began forming in her eyes.

“Tia, you don’t need to sacrifice yourself in order for Equestria to progress. We managed the last three thousand years, and we will manage the next three thousand.” Celestia sighed.

“Luna, I think you didn’t understand me completely. I know that it is not always right to sacrifice oneself, but this is no sacrifice.” Luna had a confused look back, accompanied by teary eyes. “It is the exact opposite. I am being selfish right now. I don’t want to rule Equestria anymore. I do the same thing over and over again. Waking up, raising the sun, cleaning, breakfast, day-court, lunch, day-court, tea, more day-court, diner, signing petitions, lowering the sun, and then about two hours of free time.”

“It is the same every single day, and I can’t stand the monotony anymore. I wanted to stop ruling over Equestria for the last five hundred years, but whenever I started to get any resolve in this matter, I just thought about what the new rulers could do wrong if they wouldn’t have any proper guidance. I don’t want to continue this monotone life!” She nearly shouted the last part and slammed her crown on the floor.

All the disturbing withheld emotions were now flowing out. Of course, it helped to speak with Aren some days ago, but she couldn’t properly let out her feelings back then. After she had remembered the last five hundred years while explaining to Luna why she wanted to quit, she began to recall all the feelings. It felt like a storm was breaking out of her. She couldn’t hold back anymore, and began to tear up while falling on her legs. Chrysalis and Ravien looked down at her uncomfortably and decided that it may be better if they went along their way.

Somewhere in that explanation, Lunas’ eyes changed from shock to pity. She didn’t know that her sister had these many problems with her leadership. She slowly knelt down to her sister and embraced her in a loving hug, which Celestia gladly returned. Luna teleported both of them back into Lunas’ room, not wanting anypony else to see her sister like this.

They appeared in Lunas’ bed but never parted the embrace, until several minutes later. When Celestia finally calmed down, they parted slowly, and Luna looked into her sisters’ eyes. “Feel better?” She asked with a little smile, and Celestia simply nodded, still looking a little stressed.

“Luna, I-“ She got interrupted by Luna.

“I’m sorry, Tia.” Luna exclaimed with a pained voice, to which Celestia just responded with a surprised expression. “I should have seen this. That you feel this way about ruling Equestria. How could I have been so blind?” Luna shouted with an angry hoof to her face. Celestia took hold of that hoof and moved it downward.

“Luna, you don’t need to be sorry. You couldn’t know because I always did my best to hide it. If somepony should feel sorry, then it is I.” Luna shook her head.

“No sister, you don’t need to be sorry fo-“ Now Luna got interrupted.

“Luna, this is not what I meant. I meant that I am deeply sorry for the pain you will be put through, because of me.” Luna crooked her eyebrow. “I feel awful for forcing you to carry on the burden of ruling Equestria. I feel so ashamed of myself.” Luna put a comforting hoof on Celestias’ shoulder.

“I love ruling my nation. You don’t need to feel bad for giving me something I enjoy.” Celestia smiled at this, but it soon faded. It can’t be postponed anymore. Everything else was discussed, and only one thing was left. Time for the truth.

“Luna, there is one more thing I need to tell you.” Celestia said with a hint of seriousness and sadness in her voice. Luna just continued smiling.

“Whatever it is, I am sure we can handle it.” Luna said reassuringly. What’s the worst thing she could say? Suddenly Celestia felt the urge to tell it to her as directly and unfriendly as possible. It felt like the universe wanted her to hurt her sister, but she would have none of that.

“Luna… I don’t know how to formulate this… *sigh* I will be going on a journey. Not in the near future, but someday I will go on it.” Luna raised an eyebrow. She wanted to go on a journey? And here she thought Celestia meant something serious.

“What journey? Where will we go?” She asked eagerly. Celestia giggled nervously and embarrassed.

“Well the thing why this is so serious, is that you sadly can not come with me.” Lunas’ eyebrow reached new heights.

“What do you mean?”

“The journey doesn’t go through Equestria.” Luna looked confused.

“Not through Equestria? Where else would yo…” Then it hit her. “Are you telling me that you plan to travel to other dimensions?” Luna hoped she was wrong, but Celestia slowly nodded, and Luna just shook her head. “We can’t travel through the multiverse because Equestria has no spells for that yet, and Aren can’t teach us since it is too advanced for our world, have you already forgotten?” Celestia drew small circles with her hooves.

“Well technically, I am no Equestrian anymore.” Luna was taken aback but shook her head.

“Of course you are. You have hooves, you have a horn, you are one of its’ ruler. Why wouldn’t you be?” Luna honestly wasn’t sure what Celestia meant. Celestia only sighed once.

“I don’t mean as in a pony. I mean that I am no citizen of Equestria anymore, or of our planet, or our dimension.” Luna looked a little nervous, but was still able to keep calm in her voice.

“Please elaborate.” She stated calmly.

“It genuinely pains me to tell you this, but I…” She hesitated a little, but there was no turning back now. She had to say it. “I asked Aren if I could be his apprentice, and he accepted.” Luna crooked an eyebrow.

“And what does this mean? Are you getting different lessons now?” She asked. Celestia forgot that Luna didn’t exactly know what it meant to be an apprentice of a traveler through the multiverse. Sighing she started explaining.

“It means, that I don’t belong to any dimension anymore and that I have the right to visit any dimension that I like. It also means that I acknowledge Aren as my master until I either equal him or he dies. In return, he will teach me everything he knows about the other worlds, magic, and every other thing. Since I don’t belong to any dimension anymore, there are no restraints here. Aren can teach me everything.” Luna looked a little skeptic.

“Tia, I don’t really see a point in there why you should feel sorry. The only thing that could disturb me about this is that you will spend more time with this Aren character, but that shouldn’t be that big of a problem.” Luna said with an unsure voice. Celestia was dumbfounded that Luna didn’t know what this meant.

“Luna, I won’t just be one hour a day longer with him. It means that I will be by his side nearly all the time… even after the issue with Oran is resolved, and Aren leaves Equestria.” Now Luna caught on, but still looked unsure.

“So you mean to tell me that you will leave Equestria?” Luna sounded shockingly calm, and her sister knew what this meant. Celestia quickly tried to rescue the situation.

“Yes, but not forever. I will come back, as soon as I am able to handle the dimension-travel-spell without help. Aren also reassured me that as soon as I am able to use the spell, I can visit Equestria frequently. So I won’t leave Equestria or you forever. I can still visit for some days.” Luna seemed to calm down a little, but it still unsettled her that her sister wanted to “move out”.

“I need to say, this really unsettles me. I always thought we were going through our lives together. I only returned one year ago, and you already tell me that we will part ways. Honestly speaking, I don’t really know what to make of this.” Luna exclaimed with a pained voice.

“Luna, I said I will visit, and I stay by my word, but there is still one more thing.” She sighed. “Normally, there are gateways that bring somepony to different dimensions, but they are logically only built and available in worlds, which already interacted with the multiverse. This means that Equestria doesn’t have such a gate.” Luna felt more nervous than before.

“What do you imply with this?”

“This means that I need to get back to Equestria the hard way. Every traveler needs to be able to trespass dimensions without the help of gates and gadgets. So the travelers created a dimensional travel spell, which only they can teach and use. That’s the spell Aren used whenever he simply vanished. This spell is not bound by any gates, and can bring somepony to a dimension which doesn’t have said gates.”

“This means that I first need to learn this spell, in order to return to Equestria, and Aren told me that it needs a very long time to learn said spell. He gave me an estimate on how long it will take for me to learn this spell.” Luna seemed like she didn’t want to hear the time, but still paid Attention. Celestia sighed.

“Luna, he thinks I will need around two thousand years to learn it.” Lunas’ eyes widened, and she couldn’t believe what Celestia just said. She won’t see her sister for two millennia? Luna shook her head.

“You can’t possibly mean that. Two thousand years. This is an unreal amount of time. You can’t even consider doing this.” Luna slowly said with an unrecognizable voice. “You don’t need to do this. There surely must be another way.” Celestia shook her head.

“Luna, I talked with Aren. There is no other way.” Luna shook her head in horror.

“Then just don’t do it. Don’t go!” Again Celestia shook her head.

“Luna, it’s already official. Aren and I went to the council, which decides such things. I am officially his apprentice now, and there is absolutely no turning back now. Everything’s already decided.” Luna looked pained.

“And you never thought about talking with me before you all decided that?” Celestia looked to the side, a pained and guilty look on her face.

“If I would have talked to you before, I knew that I wouldn’t have gone through with it. I can’t continue living this monotone life. The thought of doing the same thing for the next five hundred years seems unbearable.” Luna quickly answered in a shouting voice.

“AND YOU DIDN’T THINK THAT LETTING ME ALONE WASN’T UNBEARABLE FOR ME?!” Celestia winced at the sudden outburst, but wanted to place a comforting hoof on Lunas’ shoulder. It got quickly punched away. “Get out!” Luna bellowed dangerously.

“Luna, please-“

“GET OUT!” Luna screamed, and used her horn to teleport Celestia out of her room. She quickly built a barrier around her room, because she didn’t want her sister to return. Just sitting in her bed, not moving an inch, Luna thought about things. Celestia can’t just leave her like this. How dare she?

Wait… how dare she? No, leaving Luna alone wasn’t something that her sister would do. It was impossible that her loved sister would do something hideous like this. No, it’s all Arens’ fault. He corrupted her sister. He wanted to be between her sister and Luna. He was the one who told her sister about how thrilling it is to travel through the multiverse. If it weren’t for him, Celestia would be her old cheery self.

If it weren’t for him, Celestia would still be the sister she loved. Aren changed her sister. Celestia wasn’t her sister anymore. She was something different now, something evil. Only a pure evil being could play with the hearts of their loved ones like this. Luna began to breathe heavily and fast through gritted teeth. Aren is the lone fault that her sister is now evil.

Luna gripped her head with both her hooves and started groaning violently and in extreme aggression. ‘If he would not be alive, I would still have my sister. That embodiment of evil and chaos! I FUCKING HATE HIM! HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HATE HIM HAAAATTTEEE HIIIIMMM!’

She couldn’t hold herself anymore and began throwing all the things in her room around, and began incinerating everything with fire and death. She screamed on top of her lungs like she was a mad-mare who wanted nothing more than to scratch Arens’ eyeballs out. He has to die! HE NEEDS TO DIE! She continued thrashing around and hammered her hooves at the walls and at the furniture. She continued screaming and destroying and didn’t even stop when her hooves began to bleed furiously.

No matter what she did, the burning rage inside wouldn’t subside. Clutching her head again and laying at the floor, she continued to groan and screech in aggression. Her throat hurt already, and her voice seemed to fade, but that didn’t stop her. With aggressive eyes and barred teeth, she hammered her head into the floor beneath her. It hurt a lot, especially when her horn hit the floor. Screaming, she continued destroying the floor beneath her. It was not enough. She needed to kill Aren. It was the only way. It was-

CLINK

Luna stopped doing everything, when she heard and felt that noise. Looking down, she noticed the upper third of her horn, laying at the floor. She slowly picked it up in her hooves, and felt blue liquid pouring down from her horn over her face. She continued looking down at the part of her horn and began shaking.

“He broke my horn.” She slowly said to herself.

“HE BROKE MY FUCKING HORN!” She screamed and slammed it into the floor. She started gripping her head again, and began to just scream in rage. Suddenly there was a shattering noise, and Luna was enveloped in a furiously burning red aura. She continued to scream her lungs out until the room exploded in a furious red explosion, which destroyed her room and some neighboring rooms.

Many maids and guards came running to the explosion, and looked around. A huge chunk of the castle was blown off, and the remaining walls were smoking as if they were burned. The floor suddenly stopped and broke down into the deep fall from Canterlot. There were still broken chunks falling down to the earth beneath Canterlot, and from time to time, new parts of the castle fell down.

Celestia was also there since the rooms of the two sisters were pretty close to each other. Celestia didn’t know what could possibly cause this much destruction to her castle. Then she heard rustling and looked down at some parts of the remains of Lunas’ room. They were moving.

“LUNA!” Celestia shouted while flying to the remains that moved around. “By the sun, I am glad you are alri-“

From the debris, something emerged, and it was most definitely not Luna. It looked like Nightmare Moon, but also not the same. It was bigger than Nightmare Moon, and it wasn’t dark and blue like the night. No, it was pure black, with red streaks and veins going all the way through the body. Red burning shoes were on each hoof, and her wings looked like the ones of a phoenix, just redder and burning more violently. Its’ mane and tail had silhouettes of agonized spirits appearing and fading in them, and its’ mane and tail were not gracefully floating in the breeze of the ether. No, they were moving like a violently burning fire.

The face also didn’t look as cold and calculated as Nightmare Moons. No, this thing looked like it was burning with rage. Grinding and barring carnivore teeth could be seen, and the red burning eyes had a furious look in them. On top of its’ head was a spiky and jagged red crown with a black jewel embedded in it. There was also a black jewel embedded in its’ chest that was glowing a violent red. The horn was black at the hilt, but changed color the further it went to the tip until it was a furious red, but the most disturbing thing was the cutie mark. Its’ cutie mark was a picture of a squirming and furiously burning pony.

Celestia took a step back and gasped. Then she composed herself. “What did you do to Lu-“

Celestia couldn’t end the sentence due to the black and red horn that was suddenly penetrating her chest.

Author's Note

Yeah I had one question while writing that chapter. How can someone scratch out eyes with a hoof?

Apart from that, I decided that since I had to change my story to mature, I can take advantage of that and put in some swear words. You are used to a psychopath that tears ponies apart, so I doubt that some "fucks" rustle your jimmies.