Everfree. The significance of the name was long forgotten, its true history erased from the history books. But it was more than just a simple name. It was a wish. An ideal. A revolution. A war cry.
Had Princess Luna seen clearly, she might have succeeded. But perhaps her love for her sister had clouded her mind. She had known that the Princess of Day was threatened by the rebellion, that she had been growing increasingly desperate. But she had never imagined her to be capable of such a foul deed. She had never imagined that she could subject her own sister to such a heinous act. Thinking back, she should have realized that Celestia would not hesitate to resort to such extreme measures.
A sudden explosion of light had brought her out of what seemed like an unending dream. An unending nightmare. In her dazed state of mind, Luna could only make out the sound of someone talking. The voice belonged to her sister.
“...needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna!”
With a panicked gasp, the Princess of Night opened her eyes, and immediately found her gaze meeting that of Celestia. How many generations had come and gone since she last saw her sister? It felt like an eternity in the true definition of the word, yet at the same time as recent as but a few seconds ago. Luna cowered under the glare, her imagination filling her mind without countless visions of cruelty. For a moment, fear took hold of her entire being.
“It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.”
Ponies unknown to her collectively gasped at this revelation. So these were the new Element Bearers, the appointed guardians of Equestria and faithful servants of Princess Celestia. Had they known the truth behind the events that transpired in Everfree a thousand years ago, would they so readily have accepted their roles? Had they known the truth about their princess, would they have served her without question?
“Will you accept my friendship?” Princess Celestia asked. There were tears in the corners of her eyes. Luna did not doubt her sincerity for a second, but the question cut her like a knife. Will you accept my friendship? The words repeated themselves in her head a hundred times, sending shivers down her spine. Could the ponies surrounding them even begin to understand her question? Could they possibly understand the implications? To them, Celestia must seem like a paragon of love and forgiveness.
Once, long ago, Luna had believed the same.
For a moment, she let her gaze wander. The palace, the seat of her rebellion, had been reduced to ruins overgrown with vegetation. Time had torn down its grand walls and nature had slowly reclaimed the land. The irony was not lost on Luna. Had her sister so wished, the palace could have been kept in pristine condition. Instead, it served only to remind her younger sister of her folly. It served as a message:
See, Luna. This is the reward for your heresy. This is what your dissent has wrought. And it is all your own fault.
As her fear faded, rage begun to burn inside her. She wanted to scream out her frustration, to yell until her voice gave out. She wanted to tear down all of Equestria and destroy all that which belonged to her sister. She wanted Celestia brought low and grovelling at her hooves. With or without her followers, she would see the Sun Princess defeated and the populace uniting under her rightful rule.
But every bit as quickly as it had taken over, the anger gave way to regret. She knew full well that she was defeated, that her dreams of rebellion had been crushed utterly a thousand years ago. Her ambition had brought her nothing but ruin; a millenium of despair and loneliness. She looked up at her sister. Perhaps one day somepony would rise up against her, and succeed where others had failed. But Luna was tired. It was not a battle she wished to fight anymore. The only thing her revolt had accomplished was to separate her from the only pony she could ever truly allow herself to love.
She hesitated for all of a second.
“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, embracing Celestia for literally the first time in ages. “I missed you so much, big sister!” Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she cried on her sister’s shoulder. Perhaps she was letting love cloud her mind yet again, but she was at a point where she had nothing to lose.
“I’ve missed you too.” Celestia replied, her voice trembling as she, too, began to cry. They both knew that nothing could truly change between them, that neither one would ever abandon their ideals. Perhaps the atrocities they had both committed could never be entirely forgiven, perhaps the scars were simply too deep for them to ever be able to fully trust each other again.
But their rivalry was, once and for all, over. No longer were the Princess of Night and the Princess of Day adversaries. They were merely sisters, determined to leave the past behind.