By the Will of the Council

by Captain Neckbeard

Chapter VII: Requiem for a Sister

Hours have passed since Willow Leaf left for the recipe of the healing potion. In the meantime, all Luna could do was checking on Celestia's lifesigns, at regular intervals. To her relief, her life signs were stable, but they slowed to a crawl. It was as if she had fallen into a coma.

Luna stood up from beside the bed Celestia was moved to. She was frustrated she could do nothing while waiting. She looked out the window. It was already late afternoon, and the Sun was setting, keeping its intended course (despite, probably, Discord's best efforts to disrupt it).

The younger alicorn left the house, seeking some fresh air. And also, some distraction from her strange feelings. Why all of a sudden, she became so emotional? Cold, professional, effective. That's what the Magikhan's right hoof should have been. Instead, she's been almost like her...like Celestia.

Luna walked to the edge of the village, and stopped on top of a small hill. From there, she could see the inhabitants trying to make sense of their strange surroundings. Although Luna used the anti-chaos spell on a few more buildings earlier, she dismissed the ponies begging her to continue. She knew without Celestia, that spell was very ineffective.

Which was strange enough...

She knew her sister's magical limitations, and although better at the more obscure spells than her, even their combined power shouldn't have been enough to cover such a huge area with the chaos-dispelling effect.

Yet somehow, their power exponentially grew when they used magic in tandem. But how so? Luna was thinking about that when a soft, squeaky voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Hello? Excuse me..."

Luna looked to her side, then back, then down. It was an earth pony filly. Suddenly, she didn't even know what or who she expected.

"Oh. Greetings, child."

"Good evening to you, kind angel! I don't want to bother you, I really don't, just... I want to thank you for what you and your angel friend did to us. I didn't even realize our minds were hexed for so long. It's good being me again. So, thank you, and I wish your friend will be okay. I really do."

Luna looked down at the filly. She didn't know how to answer. Somehow, she felt she never heard anyone so genuine and honest in her life before. Not even Celestia.

"You're welcome." Luna could muster eventually.

"Um, your friend won't die, right? I mean, you're angels, and angels cannot die. Right?" the filly continued, stepping a bit closer to Luna.

Luna sighed. She really didn't wish for this conversation to happen, but the filly was just so innocent, and for her, out-of-this-world, that she just couldn't dismiss her. Not yet, anyways.

"Hopefully she won't."

"I mean, you won't let her. I'm sure of that."

Luna glanced down at the filly, then after some pause, she answered, very quietly:

"No, I won't."

The filly didn't react, but remained by Luna's side. Luna didn't let herself getting bothered by that, and continued watching the sunset.

The sunset...

Considering Discord's wrongdoings, that probably required big effort from her father. And if Celestia was awake, she could probably tell exactly how much.

"Celestial magic. It runs deep in my family. So why it can't run deep in me?"

After a few minutes, the filly spoke up again. Her voice, like so far, was gentle, innocent.

"You don't have a cutie mark."

Luna gave the filly a nasty look, but it didn't register with her. The alicorn didn't like that term, that's not how it was called among her own. "Cutie mark" was such an inherently pony term. Regardless, she was right about that simple fact.

"Sound observation."

"That must be because you're an angel, right? And angels are beings who are just good at everything at once! And, well, it would be impossible to have that many cutie marks, so you just have none instead. It's simpler that way, I guess?"

Luna looked down at the filly. She was smiling at her. For a moment, Luna's mouth also turned upside down, then she answered.

"No, we're not like that."

That made the filly pause. But after a few moments of thinking, she resumed talking.

"So, even an angel is only good at a few things, like a pony? What are you good at, then? What is your special talent?"

The inquiry was innocent, like everything the filly said so far, but it reminded Luna of her situation once again. Obviously, she wasn't a healer. She also wasn't a celestial mage. She was bordering on saying she was useless, but that wasn't true either. Only her growing current concerns made her think that. She was very skilled in an alicorn's most base role.

So she responded:

"I kill ponykind's enemies."

"You're not even a proper Guardian. You're Arcana's errand girl. A sharp tool. But nothing more." her brain added.

"Y-you what?! You kill?!" the filly asked in disbelief "B-but why?"

"That's all I know."

"S-surely you don't." the filly sputtered, still shocked by the answer. "An angel convinces the monsters and bad spirits to go away, but they don't just kill. Like now, with Discord. Right?"

Luna sighed. She thought the filly was endearing, in a certain way, but she had enough. She turned to her, and bent down slightly.

"Look filly, there are many horrors in this world you, or even your parents, don't know about. My tribe makes sure those horrors stay at bay, or get eliminated if they don't. I'm a warrior who helps in that. Not so unlike your pegasus brethren, who also have a warrior's heart."

"Yes, I know of the pegasi, but..."

"Get back to your own, child." Luna interrupted, "I do not wish to continue this conversation."

The filly visibly wanted to react, but the words stuck inside, and she stayed silent. Instead, she bowed her head a little, and backed off.

"Have a good night, kind angel. I hope your friend gets better."

The little one left, and Luna looked back at the Sun, which almost completely set by now. And after it dipped below the horizon, with her head hung, she walked back to Willow's house.

☼✶☽

Luna sat down next to Celestia's bed once again. She was looking at her sister's motionless body. She ran a hoof along the side of the bed, smoothing a crinkle on the sheet along the way. It was eerie silence in the dimly lit room. Luna breathed in, then let it out with a long sigh.

"I bet if you could have any thoughts right now, you would be disappointed in me. That I can't help you. That I can't help someone, who would -and could- do it for me."

Luna put her head down to the edge of the bed, right next to Celestia's chest. She gazed at the chest wound, which as if looked better than a few hours ago. But it was probably misperception, the result of the dimming light of early evening. She closed her eyes. She was reminded of something, something from times long past. Luna's thoughts trailed off...

☼✶☽

-

☼✶☽

MANY YEARS BEFORE...

Luna dodged yet another bolt fired off by the feral changeling in front of her, while keeping in mind the half dozen to her right, and another half dozen behind her. She never trained against so many of them so far, but she accepted the challenge, wanting to impress her leader.

The Magikhan stood on the raised, observation section of the arena, supervising little Luna's efforts. The young alicorn was about the size of an adult pony mare by now, but would grow much bigger if Celestia's size by then was any indication. But no one knew how much time it would take them to be fully grown, not even the most ancient and wise Magikhan Arcana. As no alicorn was born before them.

Luna penetrated the skull of a drone before bending down to avoid another one trying to tackle her. Then, three other changelings tried to overwhelm her, attacking in perfect synch. Luna saw the danger of that, and bolted instead of engaging them, running a semi-circle round the edge of the arena.

But Arcana wasn't enthralled by Luna's swift moves. Her ever-glowing eyes flashed up with a slight bout of anger.

"Stay in control Luna, kill those hostiles! Simply surviving isn't enough. You'll face much more, and much worse when you'll become a Guardian."

Luna opened her wings to help her stop promptly, and skidded to a halt. She turned, and fired off three quick, but powerful spells at her pursuers. Two died instantly, but the third suffered only a grazing hit, and fell to the ground with a pained hiss. But Luna was momentarily drained of magicka. Before it could get up, she jumped over, and stomped on its head with her front hooves. Feeling she didn't finish the job, she reared up again, and the second strike finally made something crack. Luna was satisfied, but Arcana once again scolded her.

"Don't use melee, it'll give your enemies time to close in on you."

That wasn't the case yet, and Luna kept her distance, keeping all the rest of her opponents in her sight. A particularly big drone had a pretty good lock on her, and its spells actually sought out Luna, turning to her direction mid-flight. She brought up a barrier in an instant, and the striking bolts only left blue ripples.

The big changeling closed in, and the rest attacked in tandem. Luna widened her barrier, so it would deflect the shots from the others too. Then, when they closed in enough, and her magicka was almost spent, she shot out the barrier in front of her, knocking over the attackers, but it merely faltered the big one. Using the window, Luna finished it off with a quick bolt put right between its eyes. She looked over at Arcana, for a moment, seeking some approval, but the alicorn superior had a face of stone, lacking emotions.

But of course Luna didn't have time to ponder that. She opened her wings, and flew over the changelings getting up, while she had a few moments to regain magicka. Right as she landed though, one of her opponents shot her, hitting her on the flank.

Luna flinched, but thanks to her inherent magic absorption, only a slight scorch mark was left as a result. She quickly landed, and brought up a shield. Angling it just at the right moment, the changeling's second attack was reflected back at it, resulting in its demise.

A second later, her opponents were all over her once again. Although their numbers were reduced, Luna still had to split her attention a great deal. Three were flying at her, and four charged her on the ground, and they did nothing, but madly cast at the young alicorn. In an arena, without cover, it was pure arcane skills that would win the day.

So Luna dashed sideways in a wake of magic, and using the momentary confusion, charged up a telekinetic blast. The resulting shockwave knocked over the changelings on the ground before they could split up, then quickly finished one off before having to bring up another barrier for defense against the airborne ones.

By a sudden decision, she took to the air as well, and a deadly dance followed between her and the rest of her enemies. Luna took them out one by one, the hissing and roaring of the shapeshift-incapable, feral changelings filling the arena. They fought savagely, but the skill of the young warrior was proven to be superior.

That is until all, but two remained.

The second to last one flew straight at Luna, and she was unable to react quickly enough. It latched unto her, and simply went for her throat with fangs, trying to rip it out. Luna raised her hoof at the last split-second, so the bite connected with her foreleg instead. They struggled for a few moments, the alicorn trying to shake her off, while firing madly, but unable to hit due to the extremely close distance.

Finally, she kicked the changeling off with her hind legs, but it managed to tear a chunk out of her front leg in the process. Luna cried out in pain, and the wound immediately began to bleed profusely.

With her concentration broken, but still having enough magicka, it took Luna multiple shots to hit her attacker, but once she did, the changeling's luck was out for good.

But there was still one hostile out there, and the young alicorn was both in pain and losing blood. She should have used a healing spell, but what she knew wasn't enough to close the gash on her leg. She landed, as walking required less energy than flying. Limping on three legs, she left a trail of blood in her wake, while having a shield up to protect herself from the last changeling.

Smartly enough, it stalled for time, landing shots with deliberate slowness, fully aware of Luna's state. Of course, Luna could have asked for help. It would take nothing for Arcana to turn that changeling into dust, or to heal Luna's leg, but that would've forfeited the young one's trial. So Luna suffered on, bleeding out, having the changeling in her sights, but unable to focus a combat spell. She was never wounded this badly, and didn't realize how much it interfered with the arcane focus.

Luna knew if she passed out, she would automatically lose. By a sudden idea, she put down her barrier, so it floated in front of her, and charged up another spell. It was a low intensity beam spell, not enough to fry a changeling, but enough to cauterize a wound like hers. She aimed right into the cut, and began casting. Gritting her teeth as she led the beam along the length of the wound, she was close to screaming, but ultimately had enough self-control, and kept it to herself. Arcana was probably disappointed in her already, she didn't want to top it off by showing weakness.

With her wound patched up in this extreme manner, she waited a few minutes for the pain to subside, but then, she was ready to win the battle. As soon as she let go of her shield, she dashed sideways, then shot out a bolt of magic right away, hitting the changeling squarely in the chest. It wriggled on the ground for ten or so seconds before remaining motionless, marking Luna as the victor of the battle.

She looked up at Arcana. And she didn't seem impressed.

"That was real sloppy, Initiate Luna. I'm expecting much more from you next time."

"I'm sorry about this, my noble Magikhan." said Luna, lifting up her wounded leg slightly "B-but I won. On my own. All the hostiles are dead."

"You won?!" Arcana snapped, in her strange, whispery voice "Look at yourself. You are bloody, broken, you can barely even walk. You won in the strictest sense of the word, but you were on the edge of defeat as well. That's not how an Alicorn fights. An Alicorn is in constant control, and dominates her foes. And clearly, you were not in control this time."

"But..."

"Excuses won't make this look any better, child." Arcana interrupted "You passed, but next time, such a battle won't count as such. I'm expecting a clean-cut victory, not something like this."

Luna hung her head. She didn't like what she heard, but it was as it was. She fought so hard, yet it wasn't enough. She needed to become better. Perfect. She looked up, right into Arcana's white, glowing eyes.

"I'll train even harder, Your Wisdom. I promise."

"Good. No matter your unorthodox way of creation, you can become a great warrior. You can become the best warrior this tribe has ever seen." Arcana answered, and for the first time, with some approval in her voice "Now go, and get some proper healing for that burnt flesh. It'd be a shame if you had to miss a training session because of your wound."

With that, Arcana left, and Luna remained alone with the changeling corpses. She looked at herself. She was indeed a mess. Blood, that was already drying, soaked her front-left leg, but the coat on her chest also got some from it. She also had that scorch mark on her flank from getting hit earlier. Her mane must have been a mess, too. Hers didn't flow on an ethereal wind, like the rest of the tribe's. And she was just little, weak Luna anyway, daughter of Master Guardians Solus and Selena, born, not created, struggling to make something of herself.

☼✶☽

Some time later, Luna was walking -or more like, limping- in the north wing of the Citadel. She was seeking Guardian Aceso, the undisputed master of healing spells. Surely, she could fix her leg in no time. But before she reached Aceso's quarters, an unexpected member of the tribe found her.

That is, her sister Celestia.

"There you are, Luna! I was looking for you. Mother asked me to... Are you limping?!"

Whatever Celestia wanted to say was interrupted by her noticing Luna's condition. She stepped to her sister, and tried to take a better look of Luna's leg, but she covered it up by extending her left wing over it.

Luna scrunched up her muzzle in anger, and stepped back.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"You're injured." Celestia said, now her voice getting more concerned "What has happened?!"

"It's nothing serious, and it's none of your business anyway! Let me go."

Luna tried to tiptoe around her sister, but she blocked her path. Luna furrowed her brows, but Celestia didn't care about that.

"It IS my business. You are my sister Luna, and if something happened to you, I'm not sure I could take it. Actually, that's why I sought you out, Mother wanted to know when you'd come home. Now, show me your leg."

"The Citadel is my home, too. You should calm Mother down, she worries too much. Now, get out of the way."

Luna wanted to go around Celestia from the other direction, but she didn't let her.

"Show me your leg, Luna." Celestia said, now in a stricter tone.

"Mind your own business! Now, let me...

But Celestia didn't let her sister have any of that, and she levitated the wing away from the injured leg. When the burnt wound was revealed to Celestia, she gasped a little, and couldn't contain her concern.

"By the Creator's grace Luna, what has happened? Did you train? What did you train against? Was it the changelings again? And... Ah!!! Why didn't Arcana help you? What kind of teacher is she?!"

"She is the kind mother and father could never be! She's trying to unravel my true potential. I fought twenty changelings, and I've killed them all! Next time, I'll fight thirty. And unlike you, dear sister, she has faith in me. She knows I can become the best warrior this tribe has ever seen."

Celestia shook her head. She answered, her voice getting a tinge of desperation.

"Arcana is putting you into serious danger, letting you fight so many hostiles at once! And she doesn't want anything else, but shape you into a fine weapon, for herself. Don't let her misguide you, we're being "born ones" as she calls us, doesn't mean we're anything less than other members of the tribe. Now give me your leg, let me heal it. I know just the spell."

Luna clenched her teeth, both out of frustration, and pain. She wanted to go badly. She was ashamed her sister found out about her failure in her latest battle. And to top it off, now she also insisted on letting her potential go to waste?!

"What do you know about that?!" Luna snapped "We are born ones, markless, without a role or destiny. With all that misfortune, we were lucky Arcana was willing to teach us. But you rejected that. But I won't. Our parents might go against her, but I won't follow them. Now let me find Guardian Aceso. She will heal me, and won't question my loyalties!"

Celestia stepped back and sighed. She cast a forlorn expression at Luna for a second, then steeled herself, and said:

"Luna, one day you will see Arcana's path is not one you should follow. But currently, I'm most concerned about your wound. But Guardian Aceso is very busy right now as far as I'm aware, so let me just patch you up instead."

"No, thank you very much! It's not that bad. I'll just get some rest instead." Luna said with her snout turned up, and with a wing-assisted leap, she jumped over Celestia's head.

But Celestia teleported right in front of her, and insisted, slightly raising her voice:

"Luna, your leg is burnt almost to the bone! You need a healing spell immediately. The more you stall, the harder it will be to fix properly. You know nerves are harder to restore the more they are out of commission, and your..."

Luna didn't wait for Celestia to finish her lecture, and just turned back, but once again, she teleported into her path. Luna got frustrated. It was also a spell she didn't yet know, just like the more serious restoration spells.

To escape -and also to show off a little- Luna phased away, in the wake of a strip of magic. But it wasn't so easy to get away from Celestia, and the older sister materialized in front of her again.

"Alright, enough stalling. Give me that leg."

"NO!"

"Luna!"

After that, Celestia simply grabbed Luna's leg in her telekinesis, and began casting. Luna already felt the soothing sensation of the restorative magic, but she wouldn't have any of that. Her pride was stronger than her desire to get rid of the pain.

She fluttered her wings to get away, but Celestia's spell was like an anchor. Clearly, her magic was stronger than Luna's, and the younger alicorn hated that. Then, out of desperation, she punched Celestia in the chest, as hard as she could. Her hoof connected, but it simply left a golden ripple upon the coat. Celestia was on the nose, and cast a shield spell in no time, while still casting the healing spell, and holding down Luna's leg, simultaneously.

"Let me finish Luna, it's for your own good." Celestia said after all of that, without any anger left in her voice.

And Luna, without a way to stop her, crumbled to her rump, and just watched as Celestia worked her magic. But she was thinking of a retort, and after some time, she said:

"Have your little victory Celestia, but know this: You are no longer my sister! I won't call you that ever again, and I don't want you to call me that either! And from now on, I don't want Mother and Father to interfere with my training either. The tribe will be able to teach me just fine."

Celestia stopped casting, and looked into Luna's eyes. She was seeking words, and visibly almost dropped a tear.

"I'm...sad to hear that."

But after that, she resumed her spell, somber as she was. Although, she no longer had to hold Luna down.

"Don't be sad." Luna answered, after her anger subsided a bit "This will be for the best. For both of us. Our ambitions are clearly different. So let's just not get into each other's way."

"I can't just let go of you like that, Luna. You should know me well enough to be aware of that."

For several minutes, both of them remained silent. Celestia was visibly hurt, Luna could see that, but at that point, she was almost happy her not-sister shut up about her apparent issues. Luna knew what she was doing! And one day, she would become a worthy member of the tribe, more than what Celestia could even dream of.

After some time, Celestia spoke up:

"You didn't really mean that, did you?"

Luna opened her eyes. She was resting them, but now she made eye contact.

"I did. And I'm also tired of you not taking me seriously. Are you finished?"

Luna looked at where she was once wounded, but she could barely see anything. The pain also completely went away, instead all she felt was the pleasant warm tingling sensation of the late-phase healing spell. The golden aura suddenly dissipated, and Celestia spoke:

"Not fully, but you should be good. You're ready for battle. The coat will regrow on its own, but if you want..."

"Do not bother, you already did more than what you should have." Luna said, while trying out her front leg by shifting most of her weight to it. To her satisfaction, there was no pain, and her leg was as strong as ever.

"I should go." she added.

"Be very careful, Luna."

Celestia's voice was soft, almost motherly. Luna pondered for a moment if she should react, or not, but in the end she just settled for an "I'll be." and went on her way. But Celestia didn't go anywhere, remaining in the spot where they met. When Luna almost disappeared in the bend of the corridor, Celestia called her out.

"Luna?"

Luna stopped but didn't turn back.

"No matter what happens between us, you will always remain my sister. I hope you know that."

Luna stayed motionless for a bit, then resumed walking. She finally took a turn, and got out of Celestia's sight.

After that, they didn't talk for days. Or even see each other. And although no matter how much Luna hoped for the contrary, that fact didn't make her feel satisfied.

☼✶☽

-

☼✶☽

BACK IN THE PRESENT...

Luna opened her eyes. During all her somber reminiscing, she dozed off. She lifted her head up from the bed. It was already dark, but she didn't know how much she could have slept. She stood up, and looked out the window. A full moon was shining brightly, painting part of the room in a silvery-yellow light, but it didn't reach Celestia.

Luna looked up at the heavenly object, and somehow, suddenly, knew exactly how many hours they were into the night. She was also aware of its presence. She never felt that before. Perhaps because it was held up by an alicorn's spell, and not by the unicorns'.

It must have been her mother's.

Luna turned her head away. She didn't feel that was important right then, although somehow, she still felt an urge to check on the Moon's progress, if it ran its correct course. That feeling came back to her from time to time, but she always suppressed it. She was a warrior, not a celestial mage. Unlike her sister... who she couldn't help.

Luna walked back to the bed, and sat down, putting her head on the edge exactly like before. Her mind was a strange swirl of emotions. She muttered:

"Oh sister... I wish I could be only half the alicorn you are."

She didn't even notice what she said. She closed her eyes, hoping she would doze off, just like a few hours ago. She didn't want to be awake, she wanted the unrest in her mind and soul to go blank. She wanted to be the cool and professional Luna she always was before, and not this emotional mess. These feelings weakened her, didn't they? Compassion wasn't allowed, only duty-bound camaraderie and mutual respect. Compassion would lead to useless emotions like love, and love would result in useless alicorns... like herself.

But suddenly...

"Luna. You're awake?"

Luna's eyes popped open. Her heart began to beat faster. She was startled a little, even. It couldn't be...

It was her sister's voice. Or was it? Maybe it was all inside her head.

"C-celestia?"

Celestia slowly turned around on the bed, to face Luna. In the faint light the Moon provided, Luna could see that Celestia was smiling. It was a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. So, she wasn't hallucinating.

"Luna, you're everything that I am, just in many aspects different. But we're sisters, just as you said. So how could you be any less than me?"

Her sister's voice purred in a soothing tone. Luna gasped a little, then her mouth remained open. She could hardly react.

"B-but how??? You were in a coma just hours ago."

"I know it was easy to mistake it for a coma," Celestia answered as she slowly got up in the bed, "but I was merely in a state of deep meditation. And all the while, I was able to cast a lingering restoration spell. That's how I got healed."

"I never would have guessed. The Magikhan never made me aware of such a method."

Luna was still in awe, and in the darkness, hung her head. She was happy that Celestia was alright, but at the same time, felt guilty she couldn't do anything for her.

But Celestia, very gently, put a hoof under Luna's chin, and lifted her head.

"Luna, the Magikhan wanted to limit your potential, so she held back many things from you. So you would become her very own assassin, executioner. And you're a great warrior, nonetheless, but there is so much more to you."

Luna felt Celestia was gazing into her soul. Deep down, she knew she was right about her. But would it even matter at this point? Suddenly, she stood up, turned, and stepped away from the bed. She couldn't take Celestia's gentle, compassionate look. She didn't feel she deserved it. She just wanted to go back to how things were in the past. When she didn't care, when she was focused, when emotions didn't play a part.

But now, the floodgates of her soul were opened. And she wanted to close them.

"Celestia, I get what you're saying, and perhaps you're even right, but it's too late for any of that now. What am I without the Magikhan's approval? Without the Council's? Look at yourself, and look at our parents: you defy the Council, and thus, you are regarded pariahs. But let's admit, we couldn't have a life outside the tribe. And I don't want to be an outcast."

There was silence for a minute. Luna glanced at the patch of moonlight visible on the floor, that was creeping closer to her as the night progressed. Then, she heard hooves striking the wooden floor, and a few clip-clops.

"It's never too late, Luna. Search your feelings."

Luna turned her head, and answered:

"I'd rather not do that. I can't, I shouldn't. But if you're feeling fine, we can continue our quest in the morning. Remember our orders."

Luna stepped away from Celestia, and into the moonlight. All she could hear was a soft sigh from the other alicorn. And she was glad that this time, she perhaps didn't want to press this issue any further.

But a few minutes later, Celestia spoke up:

"The Moon is beautiful, isn't it Luna?"

"It is." she simply said. But deep down, something stirred up again.

She needed a distraction. Something. Anything.

"Celestia?" she turned to her.

"Hmm?"

"Could you teach me that healing spell you used on yourself?"

"Oh... Here? Now?"

"Of course. We still have a few hours until morning. And I feel like I could benefit from the knowledge. Who knows when you get taken out next time..."

Luna tried to hit a bit of a silly tone with that last sentence, with moderate success. But Celestia got it, and answered with a joyful ring to her voice.

"Yes, such things can always happen! Well, I suppose I can draw up the arcane patterns right here on the floor, and I can just explain the rest."

"Please do so. I'll make some light."

With that, Luna cast a luminous orb near the ceiling, but Celestia shot it down. The younger alicorn got a tad confused.

"Huh?"

"Come on, Luna. I think the Moon provides all the light we need."