The Fall of a Sibling (Let's just get this bullshit over with.)
Celestia landed unsteadily on the ground, beating her wings to keep herself from toppling over. Blood dripped sluggishly from a gash on her stomach, and she was developing a splitting headache. Wearily, she looked up into the sky. Rain poured down in great sheets, soaking her to her skin. She saw her sister Luna and her brother Mylla flying around, dodging the constant lightning strikes.
“Celestia!” The voice was calm, beseeching. The sun princess glared up at the draconequus, furrowing her brow. Discord, god of chaos, floated lazily above her. His chipped horns and broken leg did nothing to deter his smug grin. “This does not have to go on any longer! If the three of you would just surrender to me, I can end this!”
“No, sister!” Luna called out to her, over the clash of thunder, “Surrendering Equestria to chaos was never an option!”
“I know!” Celestia shot back. “What can we do, though?”
Luna and Mylla landed next to Celestia. “I have an idea,” Mylla explained. “Can’t you and Luna trap him with the Elements of Harmony?”
“Yes, but he’ll have plenty of time to stop us,” Celestia informed him, hazarding a glance at Discord.
“Not necessarily,” Mylla said. “I’ll fly up and distract him. You two get on that.” Without another word, he launched himself into the air.
“Mylla! No!” Celestia was about to launch herself after her brother, but Luna held her back.
“The best thing we can do now is stop Discord,” Luna said. Celestia nodded tearfully and gathered her magic.
As the sisters started to charge the elements, Mylla hurled great spikes of rock at the draconequus. Discord had a hard time avoiding the earthen spikes, which seemed to grow grasping claws whenever they flew close, but the alicorn was tiring, and it showed.
In desperation, feeling his body grow weak, Mylla landed on the ground and wrapped himself in stone. Just before the protective field closed in, he saw that Discord hurriedly weaving a miracle, his mismatched hands pointing down towards his sisters. Mylla launched his stone prison into the air, in front of his sisters, as Discord’s spell neared completion. He closed his eyes, praying he would get there in time. Mylla collided with the lighting spear in a titanic explosion, sending rock fragments flying.
“That... that was for my sisters...” and with that, he fell, crashing into the broken earth.
“MYLLA!” Celestia screamed. Suddenly Celestia and Luna felt heat rush through them. Discord turned with a wicked grin to the two alicorns and his eyes widened. The smile dropped from his face as he saw the princesses finishing the ritual of Harmony.
A brilliant light surrounded the pair, their horns glowing with their respective colors. Celestia’s a bright yellow, surrounded by rainbow hues. Luna, a blue-black, studded with silver, wavering like smoke. The Elements of Harmony orbited them, occasionally pulsing arcs of magic into the princesses. Suddenly, a great glimmering shield erupted around them, carving a deep trench into the earth around them. A wave of white magic burst from the shield, slamming into Discord.
Discord reeled from the impact. He could feel his body calcifying around him, his skin turning to rock. The pain? Unimaginable. The princesses loomed before him, and time slowed for a moment. He was screaming, thrashing... no, he was laughing, crying out in triumph, unable to contain his mirth.
“Oh, you foals... You think that you’ve beaten me?” He pointed at the fallen Mylla. “I might be gone, but I have still won! Equestria is doomed!” He roared with laughter and began to dance as he eventually was completely encased in stone.
As the sisters landed, the ground trembled. “Oh no!” Luna yelled.
The princesses ran to their brother, stumbling across the cratered earth. “Mylla? Are you still with us?” Celestia said to him.
He slowly cracked open an eye. “Sorry, girls. I think... I think I’m done.”
“Don’t talk like that!” Celestia yelled. “We can still save you!” Just then, the ground shifted, knocking the princesses to their knees.
“Can’t you feel it, sister? The earth is tearing itself apart. The lightning spear cooked my... insides.” Mylla groaned.
Both sisters were openly crying at this point. “What can we do?” Luna asked.
Mylla squeezed his eyes closed, trying to block out their despairing faces. “You need to kill me.”
“What?!” They both cried.
“You can’t save me.” Mylla said. “I’m already too far gone. If I stay alive, the earth will be destroyed. The land will make way for the sea, and drown everypony in Equestria.”
“Celestia, we can’t do this!” Luna said, “He’s our brother!”
“We have no choice,” Celestia softly said, “This is the only way.”
Luna’s eyes flashed red. “Sister. We will NOT kill him.”
Celestia’s eyes hardened, determination filling her voice, “I cannot trade the life of one pony for our subjects. We have to.”
“But...we can’t.”
Celestia turned away from Luna, her voice growing cold. “Back up, Luna.”
“B-but, Celestia...” Luna started.
“Back. Up.” Celestia snapped, a white aura steadily growing around her.
Luna stepped back, weeping brokenly. Mylla smiled up at her. “Go on, Celestia.”
Celestia bent down, kissing her brother on the forehead. “I’m so sorry, Mylla. I love you.”
Mylla smiled at her. “I love you both. Goodbye... Celestia, Luna.”
Luna let out a wail as Celestia touched her horn to her brother’s. Both were engulfed by a rainbow light, forcing Luna to look away. When the light diminished, Celestia was alone.
. . .
The rest of the month was pure torture for the two sisters. After their brother’s death, life seemed hopeless. Celestia and Luna had decided to both take care of the earth, repairing it and maintaining its stability. Both sisters would spend long periods alone in different parts of the castle to mourn for their fallen brother.
Luna grew more and more distant. She would often leave her room to only raise or lower the moon, receiving food via teleportation magic. Celestia became colder, not only to Luna, but to her subjects as well. She would barely bother to raise the sun, instead choosing to lounge in a hedonistic bliss, ignoring the raising ceremony for hours at a time. Time in Equestria became erratic, as both princesses set aside their duties in favour of their own means of mourning.
Of all the ways Luna had changed, her mental state was the most worrying development. She had become more paranoid regarding her night, and was deeply hurt when the ponies cared more about the day. After all, there had been several times that Celestia had left the sun up longer than necessary, and nopony had complained about it.
As the days moved on, Luna became more and more incensed by this unfairness. Six weeks after Mylla’s death, Luna latched onto a brilliant idea, rousing her from her depression. She would bring Mylla back.
For weeks, she delved into the hidden, lost, and forgotten sections of the castle library. During the night, she would pour over eldritch tomes and scrolls, hoping to find anything that could help her resurrect the dead. In the end, she found what she needed.
The Liber Mortuorum explained that the ritual could only be performed at midnight, alone. After reading the instructions about the spell, Luna teleported from the castle in the dead of night, while her sister slept.
Luna landed in the Canterlot graveyard, with not two minutes to spare. It was silent, and after a quick verification spell, she realised nopony was around. She immediately moved to the grave of her brother, the route torturously familiar to her.
When she reached the grave, she knelt directly in front of it and closed her eyes. Her horn began to gleam, as she muttered the ancient necromantic chant.
“Luna? What are you doing?” Luna jumped as she heard Celestia’s voice from behind her. She dimmed her horn and turned to face her sister. Celestia stood, shining in the moonlight. Her mane was disheveled, and she looked tired. Old, even. Luna suspected she looked much the same.
“I just...wanted to visit him.” Luna stammered.
Celestia sighed. “I know. It’s been hard for me also.” She walked past Luna and stroked the gravestone with a gentle hoof. “I miss him so much. I wish there had been a way to save him.”
Luna lowered her head. “I think I’ve found a way.”
Celestia turned and fixed her sister with a hard stare. “What are you talking about, Luna?”
“The Liber Mortuorum.” Luna said. “I’ve been reading it. I wanted to find a way to bring him back.”
Celestia gasped. “Luna, we can’t use that! It’s forbidden!”
Luna definitely shook her head. “I’m sick of this, Celestia! Look at us. You sit with your fine wines and your foods, lounging around like a cat that got the cream! You’ve barely been able to keep tabs on what time you need to raise and lower the sun, so I can’t raise the moon either!” She sobbed bitterly, tears spilling over, “We barely talk anymore... I hate it!” Luna wiped away the tears, glaring at her sister. “Don’t you see? If I bring him back, it’ll be easier for all of us. Everything will be normal again! Don’t you want that?”
“Luna.” Celestia softly said. “I would love to see him again, more than anything. But we can’t do that. Don’t you understand? Even if you could bring him back, he wouldn’t be the same.”
“What do you mean?” Luna asked, hoofing the ground nervously.
“When a spirit is brought back from the afterlife, their spirit is changed.” Celestia explained. “There is a very good chance that Mylla won’t even remember who he is, or who we are.”
Luna looked down. “I don’t care,” she whispered.
Celestia stared sternly at Luna. “What was that?”
“I don’t CARE!” Luna snapped. The wind picked up and lightning flashed around the two sisters. Luna’s eyes started to glow and she floated gently into the air, her wings still and folded.
“Luna!” Celestia yelled, her eyes wide and fearful, “Stop this now!”
“I won’t!” Luna shot at her. “I’m bringing him back and I won’t let you stop me!” As she spoke, her appearance began to change. Her deep blue coat became a jet black, and her ethereal mane lost what structure it had and became a flowing mass of starry cloud. Her teal eyes mutated, her pupils becoming slit and draconic. Even her regal attire was altered, her crown taking the form of a helmet from which her mane flowed freely.
“You will not take this chance from me!” the corrupted sister barked, her eyes filling with tears. “I will bring Mylla back, everything will return to normal... you shall not stop me!”
A tear tracked down Celestia’s pale cheek as she beheld the change that had come over her sister. “You don’t have to do this,” she whispered.
“Back up, sister,” Luna said coldly. Celestia glanced to her side and saw that she was standing before Mylla’s grave. Her eyes widened, the words echoing hollowly in her mind.
“Back. UP!” The last word was accompanied by a blast of concussive force, as Luna’s temper finally gave out. Celestia frantically erected a shield against the blast wave, leaping backwards.
Celestia looked back at her sister. It was clear just from looking into her cold, angry eyes that there was no talking her out of this. Celestia had no choice. She needed to stop her. “No.”
Luna’s eyes glinted with anger as her horn glowed a deep, foreboding, dark blue. Celestia didn’t flinch, nor did she back down. Her horn glowed a luminescent yellow. With every second that ticked by, the glow around Celestia’s horn grew brighter and brighter, Luna’s horn doing the same.
“So be it,” Celestia stated solemnly. Her golden light intensified, obscuring her from view, and when it faded, she was gone.
Seconds later, Celestia reappeared outside the sanctum of the Elements of Harmony. There was little time left to spare; Luna was undoubtedly attempting to resurrect Mylla at that very second. The gems sat in their cradles, glowing softly. The most powerful magic in all of Equestria... the power to smite a godling... contained, in six gems. They looked fragile, under her hooves, as she gently removed them from the sockets.
“I pray I will not be forced to bury you, too, dear Luna.”
A flash of gold, and she disappeared.
. . .
Luna read through the forbidden tome, reciting the passage as quickly as she could. “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean pharetra bibendum est quis elementum.”
Before she could advance further, however, her vision was impaired by a blinding flash. When she regained her eyesight, Celestia stood before her, the Elements orbiting around her.
“This is your last chance,” Celestia warned her. “Please, give up this poisonous pursuit. I don’t want to have to lose another sibling so soon.”
“Then why not allow me to recover the one we lost?” Luna retorted.
“Mylla died with honor. If anything, you’d be defiling his grave. Do you honestly want to do that?”
“He died for nothing... it was senseless, in the end. Would you so selfishly rob him of this second chance, sister?”
“If you bring him back, he will be nothing like the brother we once knew. He’d be a soulless husk of his former self. For eternity. That would be a fate worse than death, and you know it, sister.”
“Enough!” Luna shouted, her voice booming in the night. “You will not stand in the way of this! If that means that I must fight you to resurrect our brother, then so be it!”
Celestia had little left in the way of words. Never in her life did a night such as this ever cross her mind, yet here she was, facing what used to be her loving sister. A tear trickled down her cheek. “It didn’t have to be this way, Luna.”
“Goodbye, dear sister,” Luna hissed, her horn glowing a dark blue.
“I’m so sorry,” Celestia said, the Elements lighting up one by one in their orbits, leaving dizzying trails of color around the sun princess.
At the exact same moment, both princesses fired their magic at each other, Luna’s, a dark blue stream, Celestia’s, a blinding rainbow of various colors. The two beams collided, pushing each other back and forth in a desperate battle for dominance. For a moment, it was shockingly even, neither managing to make any headway. The elements pulsed brightly, hurtling around Celestia, whose magic became pure white for a split second. It was enough.
“NO!” Luna cried as the beam consumed her. The moon flashed in the distance, immediately taking on a likeness of its ruler.
“A thousand years... until then, dear Luna.”
Her terrible deed finally done, Celestia collapsed in a sobbing heap in front of her brother’s grave, her sister’s image staring mockingly down at her from the moon.
. . .
Nine hundred and eighty-six years passed.
Celestia walked toward her school, lost in thought. She gave up on her thought and sighed. She had been alone for so long after losing Luna and Mylla. The pain had never dulled. Celestia angrily wiped away a tear. “No. I said that I would not mourn. Not anymore.” She raised her head.
Celestia glanced up into the sky as a beautiful rainbow washed across the sky. Simultaneously, an explosion rocked the school. Celestia turned just in time to see a green and purple dragon expelled through the chimney.
When Celestia went into the school, she saw a young purple unicorn surrounded by a sparking magical field. She saw two potted plants by the door, four instructors trapped in a magical bubble, and of course, the giant dragon.
Celestia swiftly walked towards the filly and put her hoof on her shoulder. The filly’s eyes were glowing pure white as she looked at the princess. As Celestia smiled at her, the filly relaxed. Her eyes flashed back to normal, the plants turned back into two unicorns, the instructors fell to the ground with a thud, and the dragon reverted to a more manageable size, immediately beginning to suck on its own tail.
Celestia took a moment to look at her. This filly. She has so much raw potential. She regarded the young lavender filly warmly, finally addressing her directly.
“Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia smiled at the young unicorn. "I may not have you, Luna... or you Mylla... but until I see you again... perhaps a little mortal company is in order."