Princess Celestia is grateful that her dearest sister will finally know peace after her centuries of banishment but is surprised when events turn out differently than expected. Worse than that she is tormented by the return of somepony she had long b
Princess Celestia is grateful that her dearest sister will finally know peace after her centuries of banishment but is surprised when events turn out differently than expected. Worse than that she is tormented by the return of somepony she had long buried.
Will she be able to find it within herself to forgive her sister for all she has done? More than that will she be able to ever forgive herself for all she has done or will she be destroyed by the memories of the pony the once loved?
Princess Celestia looked across the horizons of the Everfree from her balcony whilst her rising sun painted it in an almost godlike glow and smiled with a content feeling she had not felt since before Starswirl had become bedridden and slipped into a coma over a year ago.
It was obvious to her that her Kingdom despite its flaws and its kinks was still quite beautiful and she was positive that despite the distance her sister had been receiving in court recently and despite the obvious distance her fiancé Reach had been giving her that the future was looking bright indeed for Equestria.
Speaking of Reach she detected a certain pony attempting to sneak up behind her and she playfully spun round and with the tip of her horn she touched the plate mail of Reach’s golden armour and announced “Thou art dead” along with a small chuckle from which they both emitted, Celestia’s being more light and Reach’s more deep.
He huffed after and removed his helmet, showing his face in all it’s majesty. He was a tough looking stallion, tall with a grey mane with a almost shiny charcoal coat but when Celestia gazed upon his soft brown eyes she knew better than anypony else the love that was tucked away in there, the love he only brought out for her.
Using his magic he set the helmet atop the balcony’s stone and retorted “Thou art mistaken, I am merely gravely wounded from thine blast, it was only a stage in my cunning plan” which was of course complete and utter nonsense but nevertheless it was a soothing nonsense that was what Celestia loved him for.
“Thou is too playful with your Princess Reach, what if we were to face a situation where you had to sneak up on me for real?” Celestia teased playfully as Reach pulled her into a swooning embrace. “Now I wouldn’t doubt me too much when it came down to defending thy grace from saber-tooth lions or timberwolves, sneaking is for cowardly plotters, real stallions fight for thy liege.”
Celestia was about to retort in protest then he leaned in and shut her up with a kiss, not the kind of heart warming and melting one but the rough and verging on seductive one which made many a maids eye flinch on the off chances they ever caught them making out behind an empty corridor.
She pushed herself away blushing and replied in pretend shock “My word Captain control thine self! To think that we are thous Princess! It is, why it is simply disgraceful thous behaviour to us.”
He grinned like the devil himself and replied “Oh I’d call it something a bit different from disgraceful… Celly” and with that he leaned in and before having the chance to whisper any lewd and wonderful things was interrupted by a pop of magical blue energy that immediately caused him to wheel away from Celestia, suspecting danger to simply appear out of thin air as it had a knack for doing around the two sisters.
Speaking of sisters it was the younger sister of Celestia who had decided to pay a rather untimely visit, Princess Luna. Whilst the Princess had been known for her ferocity in battle as well as in court and her regal demeanour in recent years she had become some what of a recluse and in some instances shy, as she was when she saw how hurriedly Reach had been pulling away from her sister and blushed.
“S-Sister we must speak with thou on the new mansion taxes on the nobility’s homes, it is simply not fair for them to be paying so little when times are this hard on the common peasant” she explained as Celestia gave a frustrated sigh and regained her lost composure.
Reach in the mean time had returned his helmet to his brow and with a click of his hooves and a salute he bid “I shall leave your royal majesties alone to discuss important matters, please contact me in the grounds if thou requires mine services” but before he could leave Celestia shook her head, the way she saw it Reach had been distancing himself lately and now when he did some romantic gesture her stupid sister decided to teleport in and ruin it.
“We can discuss this later Luna, Reach and I were discussing some rather… delicate matters that we feel are more important at the moment, taxes can wait another day.”
Luna was not as tall as her sister or as Reach for that matter but she was very composed and also a little oblivious at times and so replied “Of course, please continue” and without a word she stepped back and waited a few seconds, only to watch with confusion as Reach and her sister stared at her.
Luna was unsure what they were staring at her for and so Celestia spelled it out more clearly by saying “We will talk with thou later Luna, Reach and ourself wish to talk in private” and with that Celestia began to look cross and furrowed her brow, much to Luna’s discontent and frustration.
“V-very well then” she bid before starting to walk away. She could hear them whispering behind her and in a fit of mis-understood rage she turned and without seeing the full picture declared “I know what thou art doing sister but I was hoping we could be more civilised on this matter instead of straight up insulting me as you have!”
Celestia was getting hot and flustered, on one hoof thanks to the fact Reach was here beside her and on the other because her sister was choosing to turn a potential special moment with a beautiful sunrise into a talk about tax which she endlessly prattled on about.
“Luna thou art paranoid and completely blind, we don’t know what has gotten into thou these past few months but all this moping and sulking is childish and we cannot abide by childish behaviour in court, go to bed little sister and let the grown ups do all the real work” and with that she turned to Reach who was looking himself a little stunned and sorry for Luna and kissed him harshly, almost as if the kiss was a direct insult at her sister, which he had no doubt it was meant to be.
Princess Luna’s cheeks filled with colour and her legs shook with anger but at the same time her eyes filled with tears and ignoring doors as she had coming in, with a pop she had teleported across the castle to her room where she could lose that composure as well as her temper.
Reach breathed in a deep gulp of air when she had left as did Celestia who apologised, “We art so sorry Reach, that was highly uncalled for of our sister, sometimes she is just so insensitive towards others and can be a complete and utter baby. To be honest I believe that’s why the court is falling through her hooves.”
Reach just stared in disbelief and pushed himself away from Celestia with his own expression now stained red red but filled with anger and what could only have been disappointment. “Celly thou may not have been told this but at times thou can have a very mean streak. What thou perpetrated upon thine own blood was embarrassing, she is equal ruler to you and you showed her up in front of a mere Captain, regardless of our bond and the fact you did that makes me wonder if thou hast done this before?”
Celestia was to put it plainly utterly bewildered by these accusations and it showed on her face, her mouth beginning to gape. Reach retracted his grip around her and turned to the corner of her room where he had propped his spear during their little game of “sneak up and assassinate the Princess” which was now soured.
“I shalt be patrolling the throne room, please go and make right decision with thine sister and please for Ancestor’s sake if I hear and explosions keep the debris field contained” and with that he left in a bad mood and saddened at his love’s cruelty.
Celestia herself was beginning to feel physically sick on thinking back to what she had said to her sister, the one pony she could trust besides Reach, the one pony who had been through ice and fire with her to defeat evil and rescue thousands from peril and she had talked down to her as if she was 4 and not grown mare.
“I have wronged her in truth, I should… I should really kick myself and go apologise” she thought, her expression becoming sullen as she flicked her pink mane out of her eyes and summoning her magic. With a small pop and a burst of golden light she was in her sister’s bedroom where she had entirely expected to see her crying into a pillow or something equally as heart wrenching but no, suprisingly instead she saw nothing but a destroyed bedroom.
“She must be uber angry” Celstia thought as she gazed upon the broken furnishings and cut up curtains. She exited her sister’s chambers to go and search for and apologise in full to her but the search she was about to discover would be very difficult.
She started with the observation tower which they both used to look over the land and stargaze and not finding her there she searched the Night Guard barracks, finding them strangely completely empty. "This is just so strange" she thought as she finished checking her own guards barrack to find them also deserted, it was as if every guard, servant and worker had dissipated along with Luna.
After checking the gardens she caught the attention of a rather queer sound that kept repeating itself over and over again, some kind of ringing sound that she couldn't put her hoof on until finally she recognised it as the ringing of steel on steel, that of swords and spears clashing.
Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the ground as the throne room's roof half collapsed and half exploded outwards into the sky and the screams of ponies could be heard coming from the east part of the castle. “Luna! Reach!” was the only thoughts that were contained in Celestia’s mind as she without any thought spread her wings and in much haste sped towards the throne room.
Flying through a broken stained glass window she found a sight of chaos with what appeared to be the day guard and the night guard attacking one another in an all out Battle with Captain Reach and Captain Aquila at the fore, leading their respective troops. The battle was bloody with many ponies either locked in sword combat or clashing hoof to hoof against one another.
“Protect the elements!” Reach shouted as he drew his sword and stabbed the nearest Night guard, a bat pony through the chink in his armour before continuing with his momentum and clashing swords with another night pony.
Celestia was about to do something when suddenly the sinister and almost sickly twisted voice of her sister rang in her ears and announced between the two of them “We see you came to witness our revelation Big Sister. Thou art a foal, thinking we would turn our head to the ponies in court and in the Kingdom bowing to thine every whim and basking in thine glorious sunlight. Well no longer! There can only be one Princess in Equestria and that Princess is ME!” and with that Luna stomped her hooves and the ground crumbled and rocked again, causing guards to lose their balance and topple, only to be grappled and stabbed by their aggressors.
The air grew cold as black shadows grew around Celestia’s sister, much to her horror and began to infuse themselves with her as through a hole in the wall Celestia noticed an unscheduled eclipse cutting off her sunlight and plunging the whole castle and Equestria into darkness.
“Stave this bucking madness” Reach shouted as his sword clashed with his counterpart, Captain Aquila’s sword. “Long live the night!” he shouted in retaliation as his horn surged and knocked Reach back a few metres with a small and controlled blast.
Celestia desperately wanted to intervene but at that moment the shadows finished mutilating her sister’s body and left behind a terrifying, jet black, sharp fanged Alicorn mare with an eerie flowing mane that was totally wrong on her, "Everything here is totally wrong with her" Celestia then thought as the nightmare that was her sister gazed upon her.
She cackled in madness, an insane cackle that resonated through the halls as serpentine eyes sought out Celestia whose feelings at that moment were very much on the side of running very fast and very far away, to make time to formulate a plan.
Celestia didn’t think twice about her current weak plan and instantly took off in the opposite direction as a beam of raw magical energy surged past her and caused a tower to explode outwards, showering her and some ponies below in debris, many of whom were crushed instantly.
“Come to Lu-Lu Tia” a maniacal voice chanted from behind, her sister matching her pace in the air and shooting wild beams of energy at everything around her, destroying their home that they had worked so hard to build.
“Luna please” Celestia begged as she zipped over the castle but she got no words from her sister other than “Hold still you wretched maggot” as her sister attempted to shoot a hole through her chest and send her flying into oblivion.
In truth Celestia was terrified, everything was going wrong now, her sister had turned berserk thanks to her cruel words and her guards and her love were dying below to protect the elements which… “That’s it” Celestia thought just as a bright blue bolt of energy deflected off her regalia, causing her to cry out in pain as it seared her flesh and stunned her, then causing her to plummet back down to the throne room through the hole in the ceiling to where the last dredges of battle were taking place between a dwindling number of guards.
“Celly!” Reach cried out as he limped over to her, a spear now in his hoof and a deep slice across his flank. He had however defeated Captain Aquila who lay dead in the corner and now without their leader the remaining Night forces were beginning to panic and lose more than juest the battle.
“Love thou needs to wake up! Thou must fix this right now! Thou needs to fix Luna before any more damage occurs, if we don’t do something we’ll AHHH!!” he cried as he was knocked back by a huge boulder of debris, shot with telekenetic energy as Luna landed across the room, met by four remaining Day guard who charged to avenge their Captain and protect their Princess.
Princess Celestia coughed and came to, trying to see where Reach had gone and what was happening. She shook herself and felt her broken ribs which made her hiss in pain before looking over at Luna just as the last guard standing cried “Run M’lady!” before he was in an instant vaporised by a blast of pure blue magical energy that caused such a scream it would haunt Celestia for years to come.
“Luna strolled casually over to her sister whom tried to move back and stood on her stomach with a sadistic grin, watching as Celestia wretched and cried in pain. “You whorse, thinking thou was our better hmm? Well we sure showed thou didn’t we? To think thou believed you could get to the elements in time and simply poof us away, pathetic” and with that she grabbed her sister with her magic by the head and levitated her up to her level.
“Luna p-please” Celestia begged as she felt the pressure on her head cause her jaw to pop loudly. Luna laughed however and replied “Please you pathetic shit, call me Nightmare Moon, your future ruler. That’s right Tia you will get to watch eternal night as it kills off our ungrateful subjects and watch as those who can scratch out a meagre existence wallow in misery under our divine power!”
Princess Celestia wept suddenly, she wept for her love, crumpled in the corner, she wept for her servants and guards either slaughtered or dying and most of all she wept for her dear sister whom she had lead to this breaking point which she had never seen coming, whom she had ignored until she had snapped and gone to this horrifying extreme.
“W-We, p-please forgive us Luna… please j-j-just kill us quickly sister” she cried in both physical and mental pain as Nightmare gave the most horrific smile, her sharp razor teeth and fangs showing and replied “Thou hast no ears oh ex-sister of mine, we are going to keep thou as our pet, but we only realised now that pets have no need for horns and magic so instead of waiting let us correct this now!”
Celestia took a moment to realise what her sister was saying before she shriek as she felt muscle and sinew begin to collapse as she felt her horn begin to tear from her head before by some mercy Nightmare was knocked back by a small blast of silver magical energy as Reach, stood before her, spear raised unsteadily and horn charged.
“Stay away from her you bitch” he coughed, spitting out teeth as he limped over to Celestia, shielding her with the strongest protection spell he knew as Nightmare stood, flank charred and teeth barred.
“Why thou little… thou little Roach!” Nightmare cried as her full magical fury bore down upon his shield which after a full few seconds collapsed and caused him to instead cover Celestia with his own body. Celestia cried as he screamed in pain, his back being seared by the blue fires of starlight in order to protect her.
Nightmare Moon chuckled and after a moment to ensure no other surprises were coming about, lifted Reach from Celestia and raised her horn to his chest. “What was that little game thou plays with our sister? Thou surely knows the skank over there thou’ve been having for the past year in front of everypony” Nightmare taunted “oh I can’t remember but it usually ends like this” and drawing her head back Nightmare made to impale Reach’s throat when suddenly she found her head locked in place as well as her body.
“What” was all she was able to say before her eyes drew behind her to gaze upon her old mentor, the supposed to be bedridden and dying Starswirl now awake and using his all powerful magic to lock her in place.
He said nothing as he activated the vault with the Elements as Nightmare tried to use her magic, tried to do anything, nothing being available to her. Celestia meanwhile simply watched and Reach fell away as Nightmare's magic dissipated and crumpled again, possibly passing out for a second time.
“So d-dissapointing” he sighed almost with a fragile temperament as he levitated the elements around him. Nightmare cried in sheer fury and with a surge of magic she overloaded the elderly Wizards spells, making him wince as she lunged at him, teeth bared and hooves outstretched just as his wielding of the elements took effect.
She didn’t get far as Reach had arose and using whatever was left inside of him he literally threw himself at her, supported by the dredges of his magic and she was knocked down alongside him in a tangle of hooves a few metres in front of Celestia who tried then to levitate Reach away, in shock finding her magic was dysfunctional thanks to Nightmare's torture.
With Starswirl’s eyes glowing white and the power coursing through him he shot a beam of bright, magical energy that seemed to dance before Celestia which cut right through her sister who cried in fear and anguish, screaming her hate to Starswirl and her sister before she dissipated.
To Celestia’s woozy shock and panic however the beam flew right through her sister and into her love Reach as well and in searing pain he looked upon her one last time with eyes that to her cursed her and told her “This is your doing” before he melted before her, into the light which shot towards the sky, towards the moon.
“Nooooo!” Celestia cried, wincing as she attempted to stand, instead slipping back down as her tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she was forced to watch the two ponies closest to her disappear into the heavens. Similarly she heard a groan and with a crumple the elderly Starswirl collapsed, wheezing with much strain and his hooves shaking.
Despite the shock and the pain and the hurt Celestia felt she crawled over to him as he gazed upon her with eyes that were not afraid of death but of something else entirely, something far worse.
“She will return in a thousand years when the stars aid in her escape… C-Celestia thou must prepare she is twisted, the old Luna is buried deep. H-How could thou h-h-have l-let this happen?” he wheezed as his breath became ragged.
Celestia buried her face in her old mentor's shoulder and cried “It’s all my fault, all mine, I need to bring them back, I need to talk sense into my sister and Reach he’s up there, he got caught in the magic he’s…” but Starswirl cut her off saying “He is dead Tia, l-let go and grow up, Equestria needs y-you more than ever n-n-n-now… don’t make t-t-the same mist-mistakes ag” but the Unicorn couldn’t say anything, he was so trembly Princess Celestia feared he was about to combust but with a short and sad sigh he left this world, not in peace but with the worries of great darkness and great pain on his shoulders.
Celestia sniffed and looked at the inanimate objects that were the Elements. She tried to connect to them with her magic, her horn still feeling jittery from when it was almost ripped out of her head and her magic fluttering at times. Nothing happened and she hissed as she realised that without her sister, her other half, the elements were likely to not respond to her or to work again unless they found new bearers, bearers who were deserving of the Harmony they brought.
“Luna…” Celestia whispered and then “Reach” before finally weeping “Starswirl” and giving in to the pain inside her and wailing to the heavens like a banshee for she was now more than ever so truly alone in this world and had no idea what to do.
Her sister also felt the same pain but just not in the way in which Celestia was feeling it.
From atop a newly created crater on the moon the enchanted and snarling Nightmare Moon screamed at the planet she had moments ago been on “Curse you! curse you all! I will rise again! I will kill you all I will make Equestria weep in fear and pain and I will boil you blood I will snap your bone and I’ll start with your little plaything sister!” she cackled, turning to the crumpled and unconscious heap behind her and laughing deeply.
Back on Equestria a few ponies picked their way through rubble and debris to get to their Princess as she lay sobbing in the debris just as it began to rain, the rain painting everything shiny and causing blood to soak the floor. What remained of her guard, a few recruits who had fled in terror and maids and scribes fortunate enough to not get crushed in the battle strolled up to her in fear and shock.
Celestia looked at them through bleary eyes and they stared almost frightened of her before one small maid asked “What should we do Princess?”
Princess Celestia sighed as she looked out from her balcony at the moon she had only just risen with her magic and grimaced at the pattern it held on its surface. “This is it, I can only hope that Twilight will know what to do now” she thought as she leant against the balcony and stared into the night sky, not a particularly clear one as she saw pegasi moving clouds in for some scheduled rain for the early morning just before her sun rose for the Summer Sun Celebration.
Not that it would rise of course but only she knew that and Twilight, despite the fact she’d given her false reassurances that Nightmare Moon was an old ponytale she knew Twilight would be suspecting something. Even if she didn’t know the details she would be calculating the probability that Nightmare Moon would rise and researching a way to stop it.
“She’s a good filly” Celestia thought with another sigh. She had placed everything perfectly, she knew that Twilight was special and would find through the library the knowledge on the elements, she knew that she’d meet friends in Ponyville to help her understand friendship, it was a special little town after all and she knew that no matter what she’d find and use the elements to defeat Nightmare Moon and kill her sister once and for all.
Celestia had spent hundreds of years in preparation for this event and yet she still couldn’t keep her eyes from watering as she stared up at the moon and felt a tear run down her cheek and drip from the balcony to the courtyard below.
She was sure that Nightmare would be weak when she returned but she knew that Nightmare would be powerful enough to kill her. In truth Celestia could stop Nightmare, she was older with more power and tricks at her hooves than she had when she was younger but she would not kill her only sister not after causing her to turn, to become the beast in which there was now a holiday dedicated to remembering the fear she had brought.
Celestia had made sure to bury the details of her old home and of her sister deep within time but that still hadn’t stopped myths and legends from adding Nightmare Moon to their repertoire so now Celestia was graced by having two days of the year in which to remember her grave and unforgivable mistakes.
Celestia was ready for her sisters fury and ready to die, she had made up her mind on that centuries ago. It was in a way a blessing she supposed to not have to endure any more years of this loneliness she had built up around herself after her sister was banished.
She knew Cadence would be able to take the throne, she had prepared her for it and just in case she had made sure that she had one of the finest Captains the Royal Guard had ever known to protect her.
“Oh” Princess Celestia inhaled as her mind wavered over to Reach. She had mourned for years for both Reach and for her sister but recently she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She only feared that he suffered before he died, before Nightmare took his life for her mistakes.
She had many a Nightmare about it about the things she would have done to him, the things that he would suffer at the hooves of her sister as she almost had.
She also had dreams about what her sister would do to her little ponies and herself if she returned and believed that her sister might actually be the cause of them, being how adept she was with dream magic all those centuries ago she might be able to scrape enough power to send a few dream messages every few years.
She sniffed as she realised that she could barely even remember Reach’s face and what it had felt like, the memories buried so deep that she feared they were naught but whispers anymore. “For the best in the end” she thought solemnly as a cold wind began to blow over her face, disturbing her mane.
Celestia shivered and went inside to her vanity mirror in the corner of her large room which when it had been built so long ago she’d spent many an hour complaining stubbornly about.
She brushed her flowing mane back so that it didn’t flow around her eyes and yawned, she was tired, today there had been much discussion and preparation for the celebrations all across Equestria and she’d need to be up in a few hours to raise her sun in Ponyville.
She knew she could never get to sleep with these thoughts in her head, after all in a few hours she’d be most likely dead and Twilight would be similarly putting an end to her twisted sister.
She was also deeply afraid of sleeping on this night as well, when Nightmare’s powers would begin to grow and take root back in Equestria as her curse ended and she rejoined the world she had been isolated from for a thousand years.
So amazingly she sat down at her desk and began to do some last minute tedious work that she had let pile up. “Typical, my last few hours in Equestria and what do I spend them doing? I’m not out having a good time for the first time in centuries or taking long flights in the mountains but filling out legislations.”
Fireworks were heard at some point and there were cheers at other moments in the night and before she knew it there was a knock at the door and her assistant a rather slender white mare with a brown mane and some very similarly slender framed glasses came in.
“Princess I’m sorry to bother you but will you be taking the Chariot to Ponyville or would you prefer to travel there by yourself?” she asked her, levitating a notepad up to her face “I just need to let the guard know so that they can get ready for you” she explained as Celestia yawned softly.
She smiled and pushed the dark thoughts of the next few hours out of her mind and replied “It’s tradition to arrive in the Chariot, tell them to give me half an hour and I’ll see them in the courtyard” and with that her assistant scribbled down the order, bowed and left without another word.
Celestia set aside her quill and put away her stamps and stood. She checked herself in the mirror and saw how different she was to all those years ago.
Taller with a composure and wisdom that spoke centuries and a face that never showed her true feelings. Her mane now flowed like it was trying to escape from her head, a bi-product of becoming a mature Alicorn though she missed the colour pink like her youth. Now it was rainbow like, a little dull in all honesty to herself.
She donned her crown and her regalia, the scars of her last fight with Nightmare Moon had been erased with time and magic but the internal scars she knew would never fade. They would haunt her forever and so they had but today maybe that would end. “Well one can hope not but then one can also think realistically” she thought grimly.
Celestia made sure her room was in some kind of order before she trotted out, closing the door behind her and nodding to the two guards on duty who remained at their stations as she walked through the castle.
She didn’t know why she should really care anymore, in her Will she’d given all material and stately things and duties to Cadence along with specific instructions and all personal things she’s given to either Twilight and whatever personal wealth to what members of her ungrateful family happened to cling to her though some obscure blood relation. She was just thankful she never paid herself anything.
Celestia frowned at the echo of her hoof steps through the castle. Canterlot Castle was more modern than her original castle, more shiny and more polished… She didn’t like it at all.
Of course the decor and materials were exquisite and the views breathtaking to all who looked upon it or from it but that was just the problem Celestia had with it.
It lacked the character of the Everfree castle, the castle Luna and she had matured in and ruled in up until it’s destruction and abandonment and now it was barely even known of and never visited, overgrown and likely inhabited by wild beasts though the Elemental vault remained, barely touched and waiting for bearers.
In truth the vault was covered in magical enchantments to ensure no thieves or beasts stole the rather ugly looking inactive elements or that weather or anything besides strong magics would harm them. She just had to hope that Twilight would make some friends that connected with her, she was certainly ready, all she needed was the right stimulus and Ponyville was the obvious choice.
Celestia arrived at the courtyard and kept trying to put negative thoughts out of her mind, after all what good would it do to look miserable on a day where everypony was celebrating? So she adopted her natural composure as the chariot arrived to take her to Ponyville, the cute town she hadn’t visited for a long time.
Her guards nodded to her and said their good mornings politely. On the plus side Celestia thought that technology had changed over a thousand years and now her guards armour was besides being made of sterner stuff also infused with minor magical enchantments for extra protection, on top of the more rigorous training and mental tests they went through to earn a position on the guard.
Still would it be enough if even Twilight failed to stop her sister? Maybe for a while but Cadence was by no means powerful enough to face Nightmare Moon and that was what worried Celestia. By not taking on her sister herself or at least trying to, would she condemn the only ponies she had personal affection for in this world to their deaths?
Celestia got onboard the Chariot and smiled as her guards along with an escort of two other pegasi lifted off with the chariot and into the air of the early morning. It was getting lighter, Celestia could feel the sun was due to rise soon, her internal clock never out of pace.
The night would be a longer one however as it always was every Summer Sun Celebration, except of course for tonight where ponies might find it to be incredibly long and a tad scary.
Her guards didn’t speak to her, few ponies did unless informing her of something or pleading with her for something as if she was some tyrannical meanie who wouldn’t give a farmer the time or day to ask for a government grant for his crops which had failed that year.
She supposed that the higher types of society tried to make conversation with her but it was very little and it was entirely focused on money and how far up their own rumps they were with it. Celestia almost gagged at how sick the aristocracy made her, remnants of the old monarchies and rich ponies who had bought themselves into it they were comical wastes of space.
She observed the ground beneath her, the dark hills of Equestria were truly a sight to behold. Similarly the times she’d visited the cities which had began springing up all over in the past few hundred years she’d been amazed by the sheer number of ponies living in relative harmony together.
“The problem is they all thank me for it” Celestia thought as the carriage began to descend less than an hour after the beginning of their flight. “I don’t deserve praise, if it weren’t for Luna I would have never stepped up, I would have never taken responsibility and gotten my head out of my own cloud land.”
Celestia sighed as the Carriage circled the small but cute town and pulled discreetly up to the back of the town’s main hall. The Mayor of Ponyville along with some other ponies were there to greet them, looking severely happy and a little giddy at the sight of their Princess.
Princess Celestia hopped off, her wings fluttering a little as the town’s Mayor bid her welcome along with many other frivolous gestures that although standard to tradition and greeting very much annoyed Celestia.
The Mayor was not very old but it was obvious to Celestia that time in office had taken it’s toll on the mare and as a result her mane must have greyed beyond her years and her eyes looked tired behind those fine spectacles she wore.
“The joys of mortality” Celestia thought though not because she felt sorry for the mayor but because she envied her. The feeling of growing old was one she’d experienced but never lived, simply maturing until ageing completely stopped for her entirely.
Similarly Celestia envied other ponies and their lives that she could never have. The relationships they could develop and the love they could share. Not that she hadn’t had a relationship since Reach but they were few and it was always fleeting and nothing serious to warrant attention.
Celestia smiled as these thoughts raged in her head and the Mayor explained “So then you have the program your majesty we shall just head in and begin the announcements. I trust that you do need anything? A refreshment? Maybe somepony to help you with your uh… mane?”
Celestia chuckled and kept that happy look of rational composure on her face before replying “It’s quite alright Mayor, I shall simply take my position behind the stage, the rest of my guard shall await my speech with the others below. I trust everypony understands this? It’s almost time for the show to begin.”
In truth the Princess wanted her guards and anypony else out of the general vicinity. If she could do it any other way she would probably have just been standing in a field right about now getting ready for what she knew was coming but she couldn’t allow Twilight or anypony else to fret just yet.
That’s when she felt it, the darkness that was beyond comprehension that seemed to seep into her bones and make her breathing become shorter. “I have to get them away quickly” she thought and quickly uttered “Time’s almost upon us, let’s get this show underway shall we everypony?”
They all took the message as a sign of impatience, the Mayor ushered along her attendants, leading the way into the town hall whilst her guards strolled around to use the front entrance.
The Town Hall was quaint, not too big but then it was not a very large town. “Minimal damage if this happens to go the wrong way, I just hope Nightmare will be far from recovered from her years of banishment.”
Celestia was feeling many things as she ascended some stairs to the top tier balcony where a number of fine, strategically placed, thick purple curtains kept her from view. Acceptance was the first one, then it was probably fear and then an edge of happiness. Either way in the next few minutes she would see her sister, no matter how demented and twisted.
Ponies had begun to gather when Celestia felt it, the air although to most might have gotten chillier but to Celestia it froze solid as time itself seemed to stop. The noise of the crowd dimming along with the poor lighting behind the balcony.
Suddenly blue mist began to swirl from around her, forming into one dreaded being in front of her that made Celestia gulp as that fear became a much more prevalent feeling. “Last time I saw her she had knocked me out of the air, took pleasure in pressing my injuries until I cried bloody mercy and then she had… Reach” but her thoughts were cut off as she tried to refocus, her composure shifted until she was once more standing tall and strong in the face of what was to come.
The Blue mist finally after conjugating for a few seconds finally materialised the dreaded and yet beautiful Nightmare Moon. Her fangs glistened, her eyes sparkled and her mane swirled as Celestia’s did but her expression was not one of madness or of seeking vengeance but one of weariness.
“Celestia…” Nightmare Moon’s voice venomously hissed before she truly began “1000 years because of you and the old man, 1000 years of hunger, of dehydration, of bitter freezing cold, of endless grey dust and stars whilst you controlled our very satellite, parading it as yours.”
She swallowed, her voice raspy as she seemed to struggle to stand for a few moments before saying “We have dreamt for years of the things we would do to you. The things we would have done to the old man if he wasn’t so obviously dead and in the ground.”
Celestia’s composure remained absolute but her expression was now solemn and her eyes watered as memories of Luna, now very old but still very vibrant came back to her as she remembered the dangers they had faced together and the effort it took to forge Equestria into one nation without discrimination.
“We considered so many tortures, so many ways to make you suffer in such fucking delightful ways. Ways of breaking you, making you ours, then ways of mutilating your flesh, making you a twisted freak to behold by our subjects.
Physical torture is fun but then we knew of a better way to make thou suffer for our torment, for your neglect and for your conspiracy to take our moon” Nightmare grinned, unnerving Celestia who simply watched.
Nightmare’s horn began to glow and Celestia braced herself, ready for whatever torture or horrific death was about to come her way. “When you see him he should explain all, he knows what happens in all scenarios” Nightmare almost cackled to which Celestia couldn’t help but begin to wonder “what’s she talking about?” before her vision turned black.
Suddenly there was the horrific feeling of falling, of falling through darkness forever and ever. “Endless black is a terrible way to lose one’s mind” Celestia noted before finally in a burst of energy she found herself flying over grey mountains and large open craters.
Celestia to say the least was surprised by this as she could not understand where her sister could possibly gather the energy from to send her to the moon, especially in the state she was in. That was when Celestia realised as she landed heavily that the pain in her form was off, that this was a dream, a trick and that her sister had concocted and she was tucked away in some dreamscape, a formulated world that was close but struggled to completely recreate what would be felt in the real world.
“Complex magic” Celestia thought as she shivered, feeling the bite of the cold her sister had mentioned “it’ll take more than some cold, grey rocks to harm my mind sister. You should have killed me” Celestia smiled as she began to have actual hope she might survive if Twilight was able to discover some bearers as well as the magic within her.
Questions naturally arose in Celestia’s mind as to why she was here though. “Why not the sun? The temperatures even in a dream would be excruciating and unbearable so why not banish me to my own star?”
She pondered on this for a short while as she gazed upon the well crafted but fake planet below and retreated into her own mind, closing her eyes. “Although difficult I bet I could achieve sleep in dream at this moment” she yawned tiredly as she lay down.
She was surprised however when she began to hear a feint something shuffling towards her, almost as if it was sneaking up on her. “Maybe Nightmare painted a much more interesting picture than just the moon” Celestia thought before jumping up and spinning round, horn primed and ready to strike down the evil spirit or demon, even though her magic had been taken from her.
To her surprise it was not a demon but in fact an ordinary pony. Or at least what might look like an ordinary pony. To the shock of Celestia however it became quite obvious that this was meant to be her punishment as she recognised everything about him.
The tall and tough stance, the dark grey mane that flowed valiantly almost like her hair despite no magic being applied, the charcoal coat that shone despite the gloomy terrain around them and the angular muzzle which emanated power.
Worst of all however was the things that confirmed her fears, not the cutie mark of a spear in front of a shield but the eyes, the golden eyes of Reach her one true love, her dead special somepony who had been cast away with Nightmare Moon centuries ago.
At first Celestia had almost galloped over to him, the only thing stopping her being that it was obvious that he was a figment of her imagination, a dream programmed by Nightmare Moon to torment her and it was doing well as she felt her heart wrench.
“Thou got me again Celly, looks like I am dead” he uttered in the exact copy of Reach’s voice, another thing that caused Celestia’s heart to break. “It’s a lie and he is simply there to mess with you” she reminding herself, trying yet failing to look away from Reach’s well detailed face.
He took a few steps forwards and smirked, something he’d have really only done rarely as he uttered “You are here to wait as my Mistress collects the elements to ensure that you haven’t any tricks planned. Until then I am to be your… entertainment.”
Reach took another few steps forward and Celestia flinched, almost taking a step back but then realising that would be what her sister wanted, to freak her out into running away like a small filly. Reach picked up on this and smiled, gesturing around and saying “Please humour Mistress, she took a century to create such a complex dreamscape. Why you could say that I sound real no? She asked for some feedback.”
Reach took another few steps in Celestia’s direction until her was barely a metre away. “You are as beautiful as when I left. When you let me leave, let the old man banish me and Mistress to this cold wasteland, I am only thankful that although I didn’t realise it at first I was here for Mistress.”
“Nightmare you are twisted and will never break me” Celestia sniffed and held firm as he finished the short journey and came face to face with her. She stood taller than him yet he still seemed to have the same presence he had always had. His breathing was deep to counteract hers which was shaky and easily showing.
To be so close to him even if it was only in dream after so many years, to gaze upon his face and see him it was incredible. In a way she almost wanted to thank Nightmare Moon but then this is exactly what she wanted, she was using this to let her remember him, to dig up the horrific memories of the past and expose them to the modern light.
They stayed there for a few minutes, neither doing anything except breathing before Reach (to quote his name) reached out and stroked a hoof along Celestia’s long neck. “So soft” he murmured almost longingly as Celestia, no longer being able to take it felt as cold tears began to drip down her face.
“Don’t cry Celly” Reach almost begged sincerely and that completely destroyed Celestia who stood firm and rigid as he brushed a hoof over her eyes. “You were so strong all those years ago, so dedicated to having fun with me whilst your sister did all the ruling and work and for her troubles got outcast by the courts and her subjects.”
Celestia broke down and began to sob, something she hadn’t done for years and it felt terrible. She felt terrible and the fake Reach picked up on it. “You’re weak really aren’t you Celly? Why without me you would be rotting by my Mistress’s side right now, a puppet on display for all to see. Tell you what, I can see that time hasn’t much changed you, so why don’t I show you how time changed me?”
Celestia gazed though her tears in confusion as Reach grinned and stepped back a bit as if about to perform some amazing feat of magic. Celestia was confused but sensed something terrible was about to happen and for sure she wasn’t disappointed.
Suddenly it all began to happen and he hissed as a deep gash opened up on his flank, the exact same gash that Captain Aquila had cut into him all those years ago.
“Pay attention Celly, Mistress commands it” he cackled almost insanely as he grunted and suddenly his side was covered in small nicks and it seemed his fore-leg was dislocated or possibly broken. “Re-Remember this bit now?” he asked, spitting some teeth out before suddenly screaming in horrific pain as half his back was lit alight in blazing blue and to Celestia’s shock and horror she saw his fur and some skin melt off.
“Y-You know all those though d-don’t you haha” he chuckled as Celestia stared in horror as suddenly his right fore-leg was wrenched around by some invisible force, causing him to cry out in pain and collapse into the dirt.
“That was the f-first Mistress did to teach me a lesson” Reach heaved as he Let out another cry and suddenly his face erupted with blood as he seemed to lose the majority of his teeth out of his mouth. “S-smshed in he fase wiv a rock haha, woudnt shut up” he choked through blood and teeth as the next bit came.
Celestia knew what this was, this was all the injuries, all the torture Reach had experienced thanks to Nightmare and she was being shown it all. He screamed as suddenly his horn was snapped in two and then vomited as his ribs were broken. “Celestia at this point looked away, burying her sobbing face into her side and falling to the floor, wanting this nightmare to end.
The screaming continued however for what seemed like eternity in which Celestia just wished it would end. She tried her magic, to teleport away or cast a spell to stop this but nothing worked and so she endured until finally after what must have been hours it came to a stop.
The silence was perhaps more terrifying than Reach’s pained screams. He was dead now however surely, and so Celestia looked up. That was when Reach’s hoof, grabbing her head by her mane whilst he screamed “Look at me! Fucking look at what you did to me!!!!!” and pressed his face up against hers.
Celestia cried in pain and fear at the sight, the bloodied Reach was scarred all over, his horn was snapped, his body ragged, twisted and burnt and he was missing an eye, the bloody socket burrowing a hole into Celestia’s mind forever as he smiled an almost toothless smile and announced “She let me live to serve her needs, in a way I must thank you for giving me to Mistress for without her I am nothing” he cackled again, truly insane and nothing like the Reach that Celestia had known. “You aren’t Reach, Reach is dead and you are trying to break me, well I know that no matter what he suffered, if he even did suffer this badly that you are not worthy to represent him!” Celestia shouted as the phoney Reach’s blood dripped onto her face.
Suddenly something shifted in the air and Celestia felt a warm breeze roll though, something strange considering they were on the moon. She sighed in relief and with a kick she sent the husk of Reach flying and felt for her magic, amazed that she could feel it again.
“Thank the ancestors you did it Twilight” Celestia thought as she turned to leave, wiping tears out of her eyes and only wanting to get away from the depiction of her dead love. “Going to leave me Celly?” the dream Reach asked from his position on the floor. “Going to forget about me again and condemn my story to the back of your mind where it will decay and rot?”
Celestia sniffed and looked down at the bloodied pony she had loved. “You aren’’t my Reach, the Reach I loved is dead and you are a highly crafted version of him made to make me suffer, I shall return to Equestria and I shall make sure my sister and Reach are honoured for if it wasn’t for Reach Nightmare would have destroyed the world and it was not for me then Luna… Luna would never have turned int...” she couldn’t finish that however and instead finished “anyway I will not spend anymore time mourning when I know you, the pony you represent is dead” and so she began to charge her magic.
“This dreamscape will collapse and I will dissipate haha Mistress told me what to do in this event, she’s smart Mistress is. You must know that you assume too much about Reach and your sister. Little Lu-Lu was there all the time that Reach got what he deserved, she revelled in it. The shadows barely needed any help with her evil, she’s just filled with it.”
Celestia opted to stop paying attention to her torturer at this point as she got ready to leave and he yelled “She loved it when she cut him open and saw all the bits that made him tick. She really loved taking the one thing you loved in the world as hers.”
No longer would she listen to this and so in a sharp and bright flash of golden light she felt herself leave the little world Nightmare Moon had deposited her into and return to Equestria whilst the mad illusion cackled as the dreamscape folded in on itself.
In the instant she arrived back she felt that a great peace had descended upon the land as with her arrival the sun rose and the sky brightened. Celestia breathed a sigh of relief that Equestria was safe and sound as she popped back into existence in the town hall where she had originally disappeared.
She teleported into the throne room of her old castle where Twilight had obviously found the elements and saved the day and was surprised to see five other ponies amongst Twilight, all wearing necklaces with the elements attached to them with the exception of Twilight who had a crown that seemed to fit her quite well.
“She may have more potential than I ever realised” Celestia thought as Twilight, bursting with happiness upon seeing her mentor alive and well rushed over and nuzzled her affectionately whilst her new friends knelt before her.
“You have done well Twilight my faithful student, I knew I could count on you” Celestia smiled sadly, saddened because her sister was now well and truly gone but amazed and happy that despite the darkness she had witnessed she was alive and could continue to rule over and protect her little ponies for a while longer.
“Princess I don’t understand, you told me that Nightmare Moon was an old ponytale?” the lavender mare questioned, ever curious as to her mentor’s logic. Celestia smiled and replied “I told you that you needed to make some friends Twilight, nothing more. Seeing the signs of Nightmare’s return I knew you had the spark of friendship within you to destroy her, you just needed to let true friendship into your heart.”
At the sound of this Twilight smiled and looked over at the other girls in the room before Celestia, hearing something turned away only to gasp in shock. “She’s not dead” she uttered almost without sound but loud enough for Twilight to hear who also with the others turned in shock to gaze upon the sight of a small blue mare in the corner of the room surrounded by broken and smouldering armour that had belonged to Nightmare Moon.
“She killed Reach, she broke his bones, burnt and slashed his body until there was nothing left” seemed to be the only thing running through Celestia’s mind at that moment as she grit her teeth together and took a step towards her sister, who seemed to be coming out of the haze she was in. “How can she possibly be alive anyway? She was supposed to die, that’s what the elements should have done to her, that’s what the scrolls said, that’s what the arch mages said so why is she still alive?” Celestia asked herself furiously.
Twilight was unsure of the expression upon her teacher’s face but made sure to stay right behind her in case something was to happen. “Princess Luna” Celestia began and Luna’s pupils seemed to dilate and she, in fear crawled back slightly as Celestia towered over her.
“She broke his mind and made him suffer, she did it all to him for fun, she’s the reason he’s dead” Celestia continued to think as she cleared her throat and continued “It’s been a thousand years since I’ve seen you like this” trying to think of what to say next and wondering just what she was about to do.
Celestia had always maintained that she was mostly to blame for her sister’s transformation into evil but suddenly she was very unsure. “She was always jealous of my love for Reach and his love for me, she never understood what true love was because nopony wanted to court a fucking introvert like her” Celestia thought as her horn began to glow slightly.
Suddenly the four guards who had been stationed to her from the early morning caught up to events and arrived in a flurry of wings, two or three of them with blackened armour from what had been a lightening strike shot at them from Luna.
“Princess Celestia are you alright!” the most senior Officer among them shouted, snapping to attention as the others checked the perimeter dutifully. Celestia exhaled and her magic dissipated but not before she, in a split decision ordered “No, seize that monster that was once my sister immediately” stepping back as they converged upon Luna who in fear tried to get away.
“Halt!” one guard ordered, tackling Luna easily with his weight and beckoning his comrades to come and help ensure she didn’t escape. Twilight swallowed and looked from Celestia to Luna, a little confused about what was going on but not feeling it was the appropriate time to question her.
Luna having finally found a voice, quietly begged “Si-sister please” but she was quickly shut up when one of the guards stopped her by shouting “Shut it!” before securing her wings with rope and then placing a magic cancelling ring over her horn to ensure no magic would catch them off guard.
“Tia” Luna begged once more with tears in her eyes as Celestia stood there, unsure of what to say. The Officer looked back to Celestia for orders and Celestia without thinking about it ordered “Hit her Lieutenant” much to the surprise of everypony, including Celestia.
The Lieutenant although a little affronted to such a harsh judgement from the worlds nicest ruler against her own sister saluted and without hesitation brought a hoof across Luna’s face, the entire room hearing a crunch as it bruised her cheek.
Twilight and her new friends either gasped lightly or winced at the harsh treatment as the small mare’s mouth began to drip blood from the corner and she went almost limp as the guards on either side of her restrained her.
“Barely a small taste of what she gave Reach” Celestia thought as she said “Use the chariot and escort her back to Canterlot Castle, throw her in the filthiest dungeon you can find and ensure that every magic deactivation spell is used on her beforehoof, she is a trickster and a resourceful demon, ensure that two Unicorns are stationed with her at all times and await my instructions.”
The guards saluted and without another word they grabbed Luna, now sobbing lowly and half dragged, half forced her forwards before finally lifting into the air, ensuring that she was firmly in their grasp.
The silence in the room was so thick that not even a knife could cut it. Celestia disliked this silence and decided to break it, turning to Twilight with a sigh she smiled and asked “So who are your new friends Twilight?”
Twilight looked from Celestia to the small speck now disappearing into the sky and swallowed before replying “It’s uh… a long story Princess.”
