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Sadness and Sisterly Love1,672 words
An Agent of Chaos1,397 words
A walk while recollecting1,258 words
Plotting a Draconequi's Downfall2,852 words
The Truth1,596 words
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Spring in Stalliongrad2,784 words
The Desert2,371 words
An Abdication2,249 words
Operation: Infiltration3,375 words
Prisoners5,056 words
Tranquility Returns2,090 words
Saying Goodbye3,609 words

Saying Goodbye

The two new princesses entered the massive castle hall, and shut the door behind them, silencing the noise of the celebrations outside. Princess Solaria stood in front of the throne, and Captain Steel Hooves was stood next to her. Luna and Celestia stood about five yards from her, in the moons’ light which was reflecting through the window behind them. Princess Solaria began to speak in her quiet, lyrical voice.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted out there, I just got angry when I lost the use of the Elements.”

Luna and Celestia both nodded, showing that they accepted the Princesses apology.

“It’s just that I’ve been the sole user of the Elements for such a long time, I started to feel that they were mine. But I have to let them go, the Elements choose who uses them, and you two have been selected.” Solaria admitted sadly.

“Thank you, Princess Solaria.” Luna and Celestia said as they bowed before her.

Solaria and Captain Steel Hooves both shared a laugh.

“Don’t be so formal!” Solaria giggled. “You two are Princesses, we’re practically family now.”

Luna and Celestia both stood, slightly embarrassed, but proud that the Princess would ever consider them as equals.

“Well, okay.” Luna mumbled. “Do you want the Elements back?” She asked.

“I will store them in the vault beneath the castle to ensure that nopony else can take them. As long as we protect the Elements, we’ll be alright.” Solaria said as she smiled and held out a hoof for the Elements.

Luna and Celestia took off the Elements of Harmony and handed them over to Solaria, she then handed them to Captain Steel Hooves, who took them to the vault.

Solaria then spoke to Luna.

“Has the Captain told you that we’re having Raiders’ funeral tomorrow?” She asked.

Luna started to feel sad at the mention of her loves name, but she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for him, so she composed herself for him.

“Yes, I know.” Luna mumbled sadly.

“Then I’d like you to be the last pony to see him before we…” Solaria left the comment hanging, not wanting to offend Luna.

Luna became overcome with happiness.

“Thank you, Princess. It would mean a lot to me.” She said through happy tears.

Captain Steel Hooves returned from the vault.
“Your highness, the Elements are now stored and locked in the vault.” the Captain reported.

“Thank you, Captain. And I thank you two as well. I’d say it was a job well done.” Solaria said with a smile.

“Thank you, Solaria.” The sisters said as they trotted away, towards the door.

The Princess watched them start to leave, but then stopped them.
"By the way, what are your names?” She asked.

Captain Steel Hooves suddenly stiffened, aware of a possible threat, he looked at the sisters and tried to signal for them to lie, but they didn’t see him. The sisters then took turns to introduce each other.

“I’m Luna”
“and I’m Celestia.” They answered.

Princess Solaria’s face then turned from a smile into a dark scowl as she remembered an event in her past. Solaria then angrily asked,.

“Who were your parents?”

Luna and Celestia both looked at each other, then to the anxious Captain, and then to the fuming Princess. They didn’t answer her, just stared at her in fear, realising the threat they were in.

“That’s what I thought.” Solaria whispered.

Steel Hooves saw the anger rising through Solaria, and prepared himself to intervene.

“Glimmer and Orbit.” Solaria said, angry tears shining in her eyes.

“I'll banish you two as well!” She screeched.

Solaria fired a beam of magic at the sisters, and the ray hit Luna in the midriff. As the ray hit Luna, she disappeared into thin air and the ray deflected through the high window and towards the night sky.

“Luna!” Celestia yelled as Solaria readied herself to fire again.

Steel Hooves had anticipated this, and he launched himself at Solaria, tackling her to the ground and causing her second magic beam to miss Celestia and hit the wall. Solaria then tried to fire again, but she missed a second time. The huge Captain flattened Solaria and slammed a hoof into her horn, smashing it to pieces, rendering her magical ability useless.
Solaria screamed in shock as Celestia fell to the ground, too shocked to do anything else, she simply stared sadly at the spot where here sister last stood.

“Captain!” Solaria yelled. “Get off me!”

But the Captain didn’t move, still crushing her into the ground.

“Negative, ma’am.” He muttered angrily.

“I'm still your Princess, Captain! I order you to get off me!” Solaria screeched again.

Steel Hooves stopped crushing the Princess to the ground and let her stand, but then he slammed her into the castle wall, a massive hoof crushing her neck.

“You aren’t my Princess anymore. You aren’t anypony’s Princess.” He whispered harshly.

Solaria started to argue, but held her tongue as the Captain would probably kill her on the spot.

“Where is Luna?” He asked angrily.

“Did you not see the beam reflect? I banished her.” Solaria gasped, despite having her neck crushed.

“Where?” Asked the Captain, crushing her neck even more forcefully than before.

“The moon.” Solaria said simply.

Celestia stood and galloped swiftly to the Princess, her inner rage bursting out at Solaria.

“How do we get her back?!” The older sister demanded.

Solaria started to cry, fearing her imminent death.

“You can’t.” She admitted. “She can only return in a thousand years.”

Steel Hooves released the Princess from his death grip, and she fell to the ground, crying in a heap on the floor. The Captain then spoke to Solaria as he trotted over to Celestia.

“I recommend that you stay in your room tonight. We’re having Raiders’ funeral at tomorrow noon, and I want you out of Canterlot by then. If I were you.” He started. “I’d never show my face here again.”

Steel Hooves walked to the weeping Celestia and nodded his head, asking her to walk with him while Solaria trotted up to her castle suite, still crying.

“I need to talk to you, do you mind if we walk?” The Captain asked.

The teary-eyed Celestia groaned back.
“I need a walk.”

Steel Hooves removed his armour and helmet and left them on the castle steps, then he walked away with Celestia.

“Captain? Your armour?” She asked, she had started to compose herself and she had stopped crying, but she still missed her sister.

“Leave it.” He said sadly. “I’m retiring, after what I’ve seen today, I don’t know what to think about our world. I’ll tell the troops tomorrow.”

The Captain looked sad on the outside, but on the inside, he knew that he would have to stop at some point, and there were troops that could replace him.

“I’m sorry.” The Captain said quietly as he walked.

“It’s not your fault.” Celestia muttered, still very depressed.

“She was wrong to do that, the children shouldn’t suffer because of the sins of their parents.” Steel Hooves said poignantly.

“If only Mom and Dad had helped Solaria, then we could have avoided all this and we’d be a happy family.” Celestia moaned, angry and sad at the same time.

“But life isn’t like that; it’s what we do, and not what we don’t do.” Steel Hooves mumbled, showing his sadness at Luna’s banishment.

The sad Captain and Celestia continued to walk through the quiet, empty streets, the ponies of Canterlot had all gone to bed after their wild celebrations.

“Would you like me to tell everyone tomorrow at the funeral?” Steel Hooves asked.

“Tell them what?” Celestia replied.

“About Luna…and Solaria.” the Captain quietly revealed.

Celestia thought about it. Solaria should be seen by all as the villain she is. But Celestia wanted to be left alone. She wanted to forget about Luna, even though she missed her, she couldn’t bear to think about her younger sister without crying, and more publicity would remind her of Luna even more.

“No.” Celestia responded. “I don’t want ponies acting strange around me because she isn’t here. I’ll just say she moved away. But tell Cirrus, he deserves to know.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him, but nopony else.” Steel Hooves respectfully accepted her demand.

“I’ll see you at the funeral tomorrow, then.” Celestia said as they reached her house.

“Celestia.” The Captain asked after her, and Celestia turned to face her, “I’m sorry, again. I’ve always wanted the best for you and Luna ever since you volunteered to go on that mission.” The Captain wiped his eyes, his emotions getting the better of him. “But look where that has left us.” he finished.

“Captain.” Celestia replied. “Thank you. You never did anything wrong, it’s not your fault.”

Steel Hooves allowed a smile to break on his face, happy that she could forgive him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Steel Hooves muttered as he slowly trotted back to the barracks, recollecting on the mad day that had unfolded in front of him.

Princess Solaria trotted slowly into her room, still crying from the loss of her horn and how she’d ruined the lives of Celestia and Luna. She felt sorry for the older sister, who would now have to live without Luna, but Solaria couldn’t leave events the way they were, she had to wipe her slate clean, in any way, and before midday.
Solaria rooted around her suite, searching for a parchment and quill. She eventually found some and wrote,

Princes & Princesses of Canterlot.
Princesses #17 & #18: Celestia and Luna.
These brave alicorn sisters recovered the Elements of Harmony from the Changeling Kingdom to return to Canterlot and imprison the villain Discord.
After Discord had been imprisoned, the older Celestia grew envious of her younger sister, Luna and utilised her Elements to banish her to the moon for a thousand years so she could rule alone over all of Equestria.

Solaria knew that this was the wrong thing to do and that nopony would believe her if Celestia or Steel Hooves told everypony, but she had to hope that they would remain silent and that somepony in the future would find this note, and then her framing of Celestia would be complete and she would be free to live without public embarrassment.

Solaria packed her most valued belongings and ran to the library, where she hid the note in a ‘Princes and Princesses’ book.
Solaria then left Canterlot under the cover of the night, never to return again. If Celestia and the Captain spoke, Celestia would be seen as the guilty party in the future.

The sun rose over Canterlot the next day, a beautiful spring morning. No clouds in the sky. Cirrus was stood in his back yard, tending to his plants. As he stood and wiped beads of sweat from his face, he saw the small memorial at the far end of his garden.

Cirrus trotted over to the shrine he had made the previous night, now able to inspect it in the day. It was a memorial to Luna and her parents, Glimmer and Orbit. It had a small picture of the ponies above an inscription of their names.
The old Pegasi dropped to his knees in front of the memorial, sobbing into his hoofs, remembering Luna. One of the alicorn sisters he had always looked out for, always cared for, and now she was gone for a thousand years. Tears fell from Cirrus’ eyes, he cried like a child who had lost a parent. He would never see Luna again.

Cirrus then looked at the pictures of Glimmer and Orbit.

“I couldn’t do it.” Cirrus bawled. “You trusted me, and I couldn’t protect them.”

Cirrus continued to sob until he looked at his watch and noticed the time; the service would be starting in five minutes. The old pony stood and trotted sadly from his yard, his head held low. Cirrus looked back to the memorial and whispered.

“I’m sorry.”

Steel Hooves walked through the trees, across the graveyard to where Raiders’ coffin lay. A small wooden surface had been built with a large canvas behind it, showing a picture of Raider. Steel Hooves stepped onto the platform and spoke into a microphone, so he could address the huge crowd that had gathered to witness Raiders’ burial.

“Firstly, I’d like to say something quickly before we start.” Steel Hooves sighed sadly,

“I’m leaving my post as Captain of the Royal Guard.” He admitted.

The crowd of citizens and soldiers gasped, shocked at how their Captain had resigned. He would no longer be their superior, just another normal pony.

“I feel that the time is right for me to leave. I deeply enjoyed my time in the Guard, and I made many friends, met many fine troopers. I always put one-hundred-and-ten percent into my work, and I hope that you all think I went about my job professionally. All I ever wanted to do was to protect you, the ponies of Canterlot.”
Steel Hooves paused to the sound of applause from the crowd, showing their support for their retiring Captain.

“Thank you.” The Captain gasped, overwhelmed with happiness from their support
“But I won’t leave my post until my replacement is appointed. So let me present to you your new Captain of the Royal Guard:
Captain Emerald Horn.”

Steel Hooves held out a hoof to present the new Captain, who emerged from behind the canvas. Loud cheers and a round of applause rang throughout the graveyard. The green unicorn was wearing sparkling armour and helmet, looking very authoritative. Emerald Horn approached the microphone as Steel Hooves stepped aside.

“Thank you.” The new Captain acknowledged the support from the Canterlot ponies, who died down as he started to speak.

“Thank you for your support. When Captain Steel Hooves informed me of his imminent resignation and asked me to take over, I couldn’t wait to get started. Even though I am a Stalliongrad pony and always will be, I will try and do my best for Canterlot. Hopefully, I will fill the gap that Captain Steel Hooves has left. Hopefully, I can do everything I can…for all of you.”
Emerald Horn finished to a deafening round of applause. Emerald Horn stepped aside and Steel Hooves took over again.

“Now, let’s do what we are here to do.”

“Yesterday.” Steel Hooves started. “We lost a friend. All of Canterlot lost a friend. Sergeant Raider would lay down his life for anypony in Canterlot, or anypony in all of Equestria. That is how he left us; defiant to do his duty, until his last moment, his last breath.

As I said, we all lost a friend in Sergeant Raider, and Equestria is now a lesser place for having lost him. I lost my best friend, my second-in-command. The troops lost the best Sergeant who has ever lived. We troops will miss Raider for the way he was; his tenacity, his determination. The model soldier.

But we all miss him for the stallion he truly was; kind, full of compassion, eager to help everypony. No words can describe what a perfect stallion Raider was, and nothing we can do could ever mirror his dedication in life.”
Steel Hooves then stepped down to allow ponies to say goodbye to Raider.

Hundreds left photos or flowers, with a few leaving objects that would have meant something between them and Raider. Celestia watched the slow trail of ponies kneel before his coffin, say their goodbyes, then trot away. Celestia found herself crying, not specifically tears of happiness or of mourning, but just in memory of her friend who sacrificed his life to save Luna.

Cirrus slowly trotted onto the platform, his head hung low, trying to hide his tears. He stood in front of Raiders’ closed coffin and started to choke back his tears. Cirrus reached to his side and grabbed a sheathed sword, the one that Raider had given him. The Pegasi placed the sword down by the long side of the coffin, beneath a small, circular picture of the dead Sergeant.

“Goodbye, my friend.” He whispered, then he turned and returned to his place in the crowd.
As Cirrus trotted away, Celestia saw a dark-khaki coloured Pegasi wearing an olive vest and a tan pith helmet-shaped-hat approached Raiders’ coffin. The Pegasi removed her hat to reveal her grey-rainbow coloured hair, she placed her hat atop Raiders’ coffin. She then knelt in front of his picture and started to cry.

“I left you.” She whimpered. “I loved you, and I left you.”

As the trail of grieving ponies slowly ended and they returned to their places in the crowd, Steel Hooves returned to his position on the microphone and spoke to the crowd.

“We have all said our goodbyes to the brave Sergeant, and now it is time to send him to Paradise.”

As he spoke, four troopers carrying two poles trotted to Raiders’ coffin, they threaded the wooden poles through the iron rings on the side of the casket. The four troopers stood on each side of their Sergeants’ coffin and balanced the poles on their shoulders, waiting for Steel Hooves’ order, he would always be their Captain in their eyes.

Steel Hooves concluded his speech and signalled to the troops.

“Rest in peace, Sergeant Raider.” He finally muttered.

Celestia and Cirrus walked home in the early evening sun, they were both crying, for Luna and Raider.

“Celestia,” Cirrus mumbled.

“Yes?” She asked, trying to stop crying.

“I’m still going to look out for you, if you need help with anything, don’t hesitate to ask for my help.” the Pegasi suggested.

“Thank you.” Celestia whispered tearfully.

They continued to walk until they reached Celestia’s home. Here they said goodbye while they hugged each other, crying into each others’ arms. When Celestia entered her house, she went straight to bed; she was too tired and weary to do anything else.

Celestia awoke the next day as if nothing was any different; she trotted into the kitchen to make breakfast, but opened the cupboards to see them bare. She walked to Luna’s room, exclaiming.

“Luna! I’m going-” Celestia cut herself short, she had been so used to waking Luna, she couldn’t help herself but do it, it was instinctive. As Celestia looked at the empty bed, she sighed sadly and retreated from her sisters’ old room.

Celestia’s day continued to drag, only thinking about Luna. She went to the re-opened store to get some food. She trotted to the counter, and Cirrus was stood behind it, his eyes still red from crying. They didn’t talk, Cirrus just grabbed the supplies Celestia usually asked for and handed them over. Celestia handed over the money and nodded at Cirrus as she walked out. Neither spoke, or showed any emotions. They didn’t need to, they both felt the same way, and nothing needed saying.

Celestia continued to slouch through her day. She stayed at home for most of the morning and afternoon, either doing nothing or sat outside, looking at the horizon, thinking about her adventures with her sister.

The sun set and the moon rose, so Celestia retreated to her bedroom. She stared up at the moon and thought about Luna.

“I miss you, Luna.” She whispered at the moon.

Suddenly, Celestia’s horn shone a bright white and she heard a voice in her head.

---Tia? Can you hear me?---

Celestia gasped loudly as she heard Luna’s voice in her head.

---Luna! Is that you?---

---Tia! You can hear me! I’ve been trying for ages! We need to be quick, my magic’s fading, I can’t do any other spells at all!---

Celestia heard Luna starting to cry, knowing she would be alone soon.

---Luna, I’m sorry, for everything.---

---No, it’s not your fault, Tia. You never did anything wrong, you’re the best big sister I could ever ask for.---

Celestia became overwhelmed with emotion as Luna said that, and she began to cry also.

---And you’re the best little sister anypony could ever have.---

Celestia wondered, would Luna be a different pony by the time she returned, would her millennium on the moon twist her into somepony else?
She then continued to communicate with Luna.

---There won’t be a day that goes by without me thinking about you, Luna.---

---Me too, I would never forget you. Not after all that you’ve done for me.---

---Same, you’ll still be the most important pony in my life, even if you aren’t with me. Nothing will stop me caring for you.---

Celestia felt Luna’s magic fading; her voice was becoming slowly quieter.

---I’m going to miss you, Tia.---

---I’ll miss you too, Luna.---

Luna then exclaimed suddenly, shocked by something.

---No…I’m leaving you. Tia, my magic’s dying.---

Luna stared down at Canterlot, and Celestia looked up at the moon where her sister would stay for a thousand years.
They both cried, and through their tears, they whispered their last words to each other.

---I love you.---

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