Teatime - A Novel Of Twilight & Celestia

by bigbear


Chapter 8 – History Lesson

With a final nibble, Celestia finished off the second piece of cake on her plate. “You’ve been trying to distract me.” She gave a small sigh as a stroke went over a particularly sensitive joint. “And doing a fine job. But I still owe you an explanation.”

Twilight noted that Celestia was not asking her to stop, so she continued her grooming. If Celestia was ready to talk, Twilight would let her.

“First, I want to apologize. Not for tonight, but for some of the things I did in the past.” A look of pain was on Celestia’s face. “I’ve not always been candid with you, and tonight it came back to haunt me.” Celestia’s face grew stern. “Please tell me what you remember of the story of Luna’s banishment.”

Twilight never let her brush stop. She wanted to tell the story with as little emotion as she could, to spare Celestia a relapse. “Zecora gave me a potion to see the past. I saw Luna, in a fit of jealousy, turn into Nightmare Moon and declare there could be only one princess in Equestria. I saw you demand she lower the moon. The two of you had a fight in the air. Nightmare Moon struck you from the sky. While she gloated, you got the Elements of Harmony, confronted her, and the Elements banished her to the moon.”

“All of that is true. All of that happened.” Celestia straightened up. “But all of that is also a lie. How long did it take?”

Twilight tried to parse Celestia’s words. “How long?”

“How long was your vision?”

“A few minutes,” Twilight counted the time in her head. “Perhaps five or six.”

“The Lunar Rebellion lasted five years.” Celestia’s words were very quiet. “What you saw was… metaphorical.”

“That makes no sense!” Twilight cried. “The two of you couldn’t have fought for five years. What about ruling the kingdom? What about cycling the sun and the moon?”  She raised her brush and pulled away.

“We were not the only ones fighting,” Celestia whispered.

Twilight thought back to the first part of the symphony. “War. Ponies fighting ponies. A civil war.”

“Yes,” Celestia said one word and then was silent.

Twilight took a deep breath and tried not to hyperventilate. “Now might be a good time to panic.” her inner voice said. But Luna had warned her something like this would happen. No matter what she was feeling, her responsibility was to be strong for Celestia. “What would a friend do?” she wondered. “What would Fluttershy do?

She moved back over to Celestia and resumed brushing her coat. “How is it I don’t already know about this?”

Celestia took a deep shuddering breath. “I’ve spent a millennium making sure you didn’t know. That nopony remembers.”

“What about Luna?”

“Especially Luna.” Celestia’s breathing was getting a little quick, a little shallow. Twilight pressed a bit harder on her next few strokes, and Celestia’s breathing returned to normal.

“Twilight, stories are very powerful. They’re how we make sense of the world. And especially in dreams, stories are more about emotion than logic.” Celestia reached down and took a sip from her tea. “When Luna was taken by the Nightmare and banished to the moon, she was nothing but rage and betrayal. She was obsessed with hating me, fighting me, and being banished. There was nothing I could do to change that. But the details were subject to… editorial revision.”

Twilight shifted to brushing down Celestia’s back in long strokes. She stayed silent and let Celestia continue.

“Every night I would project my thoughts to the moon and engage the Nightmare. She would taunt and rail against me. I would focus her rage on our battle and away from the rest.” Celestia shuddered, remembering the nightly confrontations. “After many mortal lifetimes, that was the only thing that was important to the Nightmare, and all she remembered. When you and your friends used the Elements to drive the Nightmare from Luna, that’s all she remembered as well.”

Twilight silently considered how Luna had predicted Celestia would make revelations this night. Twilight thought Celestia might be wrong about what Luna remembered. But that was an issue for another time. She nudged Celestia with the brush to get her to roll over, and then began grooming her other side with long strokes. “What about what ponies remember?”

“Ponies were easier.” Celestia took another sip of her tea. “So long as there were ponies alive that had been involved in the war, or even who’d spoken to somepony who was involved, I did nothing and honored their experiences. But as the generations passed, I altered the focus of the tools ponies use to remember history.” Celestia curled in on herself. “When memorials to the fallen in the war became worn, I recommended they be replaced with memorials to all those who fell in service to Equestria for whatever reason. I preserved those records that reinforced my story and let time have its way with the others. When scholars had questions about history, I provided answers that served my ends. I was the sole living repository of much of pony history, my words carried great weight.”

Celestia raised her head and peered at Twilight. “You’ve been a scholar your entire life. Honesty is one of the Elements of Harmony. All these lies, my lies, must disgust you.”

Twilight closed her eyes and swallowed hard, then opened them again and returned Celestia’s gaze. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disturbed. As a scholar, it seems... wrong to lie about our history.” She was going to say ‘evil’ but changed her mind at the last moment. “But as a princess, and as your friend, I don’t know enough to form a judgment. You clearly thought you had good reasons for what you did.” Twilight kept the brush moving.

“I suppose I did.”

Celestia seemed deflated by her revelations. Curled into a fetal position, she was as small as Twilight had ever seen her. She decided it was time for a change in tactics. “Do you think that soup is still warm?”

“If not, we can warm it up,” Celestia replied.

“Would you like some?” Twilight asked.

“Please.”

Twilight put the brush down and busied herself with food and drink. With her magic, she refilled their teacups, moved the cake tray back on the trolley, and replaced it with the soup tray. Twilight confirmed that the small firebox had kept the soup hot, then laid out two bowls, and ladled a generous helping into each. Steam from the broth wafted up and the smell of spicy vegetables filled her nose. Her stomach rumbled in response. Twilight looked sheepish and Celestia smiled weakly. “Soups on,” Twilight said.

Celestia turned her head down and slurped some soup from her bowl. Twilight levitated her soup spoon and took her own slurp. The soup was warm and flavorful. It filled a void Twilight hadn’t realized was there.

She looked as Celestia took another slurp from the bowl. “I notice you haven’t been using your magic.”

Celestia swallowed. “No, I haven’t. When my… episode... started, I put a block on myself, so I wouldn’t do anything I would later regret.” She shook her head so the towel fell off and her long pink mane spilled about her. It was still damp. “I locked everything down, which is why you see this.”

Twilight levitated over the mane comb and slipped it on her hoof. “I never realized your actual mane and tail were pink. It looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in a while, though.”

“When they flow, it’s easy to forget to care for the hair underneath. It was past time.” Celestia turned so Twilight could get to the back of her head. “Thank you again for…  everything.”

“Whatever you need.” Twilight began teasing the comb through Celestia’s mane. It was extraordinary long, but the conditioner had done its job, so there were few tangles. Soon she was pulling the comb through her hair with strokes that started at Celestia’s head and ended near her rump.

“Will my mane and tail ever flow like yours and Luna’s?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a common expression of mystical power,” Celestia replied. “Cadance and Shining Armor both had their hair flow when they expelled the Changelings with the power of their love. You and your friends had it happen when you wielded the power of the Elements to defeat Tirek.” She pulled her head against the stroke to increase the pressure and nickered softly at the sensation. “It wouldn’t surprise me if either you or Cadance got your own ‘mystic mane’.”

“I suppose I’d have to get used to having long hair. I’m not sure how Fluttershy does it.” Twilight was relieved that Celestia seemed to be feeling better. “Who knew soup was so powerful,” she thought.

Celestia slurped up the last of her broth, then gave the bowl an un-princessly lick and smacked her lips. “Would you like some more?” Twilight asked. Celestia shook her head no, then laid it down on the cushion and closed her eyes. She stretched her body out and continued to rock her head forward against every stroke Twilight made. Her breathing slowed.

Twilight continued combing Celestia’s mane in silence. Sometimes helping a friend was just about being there. Soon, Celestia’s mane was straight, tangle free, and glistening.

When Twilight hesitated in her combing, Celestia opened her eyes and looked back at her mane, a shiny fan of pink laid out across her back, wings, and flank. “It looks wonderful, thank you.” She shifted her head and watched as the sea of pink hair rippled. “It’s too bad I don’t have the energy to braid it. That’s what Luna and I used to do with our manes on the road before they started to flow.”

“I can do that,” Twilight said. Celestia looked at her quizzically. “Applejack taught me to braid her mane during a sleepover,” Twilight insisted. “She does it by hoof, which seems like prestidigitation to me, but I can do it with magic.”

“A loose braid then, to keep it from getting into everything.”

Twilight lit her horn, and magenta magic enveloped the great pink sea. She loosely divided the hair into three sections but didn’t separate them completely at the bottom. She began to cross the sections, one over each other but didn’t pull the strands through. When she got to the end, Twilight looped the bottom half through the middle of the braid and pulled it snug. The result was an upside down braid, a rope of pink as long as Celestia’s body, as thick as her leg, and as soft as the finest silk.

Celestia moved her head, and the pink rope slithered across her shiny coat. “That brings me back.” Celestia smiled. But then thoughts of the past turned dark, and Celestia frowned. “I still owe you an explanation, why I lied about the past.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Twilight replied.

“I owe you more than I can ever repay,” Celestia countered. “And I need to tell you, now that it’s in the open between us.”

Twilight realized these revelations would be hard for Celestia. “How can I make this easier?” she thought. “Keep things low key.” her inner voice responded. Twilight nodded to herself. She refilled their teacups with the last of the tea, and then pulled the towel off of Celestia’s pink tail. “I’ll keep working here, you say what you need to say.” She began to tease the comb through the long pink hair.

“One of my many failings is a tendency towards arrogance. I truly believe I know best, and it has come back to bite me more than once.”

Twilight wanted to jump in and contradict Celestia, to tell her of all the times she’d been right and just. But she decided Celestia needed to speak her piece, so she kept quiet and continued combing.

“When Luna and I came to the leaders of Equestria, the system where teams of unicorns raised the sun and the moon was dying. The most powerful unicorns in the land were being broken, keeping the day and night cycle going. But raising the sun and the moon strengthened Luna and I. So we took over that duty and released the unicorns so they could pursue their lives.”

Celestia sipped her tea. “What the unicorns didn’t realize was that raising the sun and the moon was the bedrock of their political power. Their implicit threat to disrupt the day kept the pegasi and earth ponies from pushing too hard in negotiations. Without that threat, the tribes fell to squabbling. Every issue was disputed and decided by a floating two to one vote that always left one of the tribes unhappy.

“Luna and I stayed out of politics in the beginning. We watched two generations of pony leaders pass. During the third generation, the tribal leaders became gridlocked and there was a crisis. Equestria was still young and had many enemies. The griffons were unhappy about the establishment of Manehattan. It was on land they thought was theirs to colonize and they threatened war. Due to poor leadership, Equestria was ill prepared. When the griff invaded, Equestrian forces were routed.”

Celestia gestured to her desk. “There is a wooden box in the bottom drawer, could you get it for me?”

Twilight lit her horn and tugged at the drawer. It was locked. She’d figured out how to bypass Celestia’s mystic locks when she was a student. With implicit permission, Twilight picked the locks with her magic and opened the drawer. She pulled out a slim wood box and floated it to Celestia. The box had a black lacquered finish, along with fine golden hinges and clasps.

“Open it please, gently if you can.”

That sounded like a challenge. Twilight tried to open the clasps with her field but found the box was magically locked. She recast the spell that opened the drawer, but it was ineffective. The defensive magic squirmed under her attack. “She obviously doesn’t want ponies getting into this,” she thought. “Except for you,” her inner voice replied.

Starlight Glimmer had challenged Twilight with a polymorphic locking spell that defended itself by switching locking mechanisms whenever somepony tried to bypass it. The trick had been to send a flurry of lock picking spells in quick succession, bypassing the locking spell no matter what defense it switched to. Twilight closed her eyes to concentrate, then opened them to cast. A hundred tiny purple lightning bolts arced from her horn to the clasps. Magic crackled for a few seconds, then the clasps popped open.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch,” Celestia said.

“Clever students keep teachers on their toes.” Twilight opened the box and laid it in front of Celestia. Inside were 20 large crystals, arrayed in a grid, with a crystal mount front and center.

Celestia picked one up by hoof. “These are memory crystals. They record memories and allow others to experience them.” Celestia held it out to show Twilight. “I recorded these so I would remember the truth, even if nopony else does.”

“And now you want me to know as well?”

“If you wish,” Celestia whispered.

Twilight wasn’t sure if Celestia wanted her to experience the memories, or if she wanted Twilight to show trust by not needing to see them. She hated these kinds of tests. They were impossible to study for.

But tonight was a night for revelations. Celestia wanted her to know the truth, and experiencing the memory crystals would reveal the truth as Celestia had lived it. Now was not the time to shy away. It was a time to be strong.

“I would be honored,” Twilight whispered back.

Celestia put the crystal into the holder and turned it.

Twilight’s vision flared. Sounds jumbled to white noise. Sensations, like the heat from the fireplace, and the rugs under her hooves, blended into an unidentifiable morass.

Sight, sound, and sensation returned, blurry at first, then in sharp focus. Twilight found herself in a stone room, with thick brown tapestries on the walls, and carpets on the floors. A heavy cloak draped across her withers and rump. A natural fire crackled in a large fireplace, but cold drafts tickled her nose.

The door crashed open and Luna barged in. “Sister, it’s a calamity!” She wore barding, but no crown, and was barely larger than Twilight. Her mane and tail were only slightly longer than normal ponies, and while they flowed weakly, no stars sparkled within.

“Close the door, Luna, you'll let out all the heat.” Twilight realized she was doing the talking. She recognized the voice as Celestia’s, but it was higher in tone and without the resonance she was used to. She was a bit taller than Luna, but not as tall as Celestia was in the modern day. She wore only the cloak, no crown or regalia.

Luna slammed the door and rushed forward. “Manehattan has fallen to the Griffons. The Army has been routed and the politicians are in a panic. There are stories of abdications and resignations.”

Twilight felt Celestia’s head nod. “And?”

Luna started. “And? We must offer our help, as we have in the past. Fly to Manehattan to rally the Army. Announce our support for the government to avoid anarchy!”

Celestia shook her head. “Not this time.”

“How can you just sit there?” Luna cried. “We must…”

“We must do nothing except cycle the sun and the moon.” Celestia’s voice was hard. “Everything else is a choice. And I choose to wait for them to come to us this time.” Twilight felt Celestia’s steely determination, an undercurrent of anticipation, and a bit of exasperation with Luna.

“Every second we wait, ponies will fall.” Luna paced. “Anarchy in the winter will lead to starvation.”

“And if we take half measure, it will be worse.” Celestia advanced to Luna and held her. “Trust me, sister.”

There was a rapping at the door. Celestia released Luna. “Come!”

The door opened and a herd of ponies of all tribes entered. Celestia could see these were the ponies one step removed from power: Duchesses, Colonels, and Directors. Not a Princess, General, or Chancellor among them.

A unicorn, Duchess Morning Glory, stepped forward. “The former leaders of the government of unity have been persuaded to step aside because of their incompetence. Here is the proof.” She floated a trio of signed parchments in her field. Luna snatched them up and scanned them. “We have twin disasters, and need leaders everypony will trust to rally the army and regain control of the government. Leaders as reliable as the cycle of the sun and moon.”

“We acc…” Celestia cut Luna off before she could finish. “If we are to fix this mess, Luna and I will need absolute authority to make decisions and appointments. The council may advise, but not override.”

The Duchess looked back at her fellows. They were all uncomfortable with this idea.

“Every second we wait, ponies will fall,” Luna reminded them.

“For the duration of the emergency?” the Duchess offered.

“For the duration,” Celestia countered.

The Duchess looked to her fellows, but none stepped forward to object. “Agreed.”

Celestia produced a pre-written parchment and quill from under her cloak. “Have everypony sign this to make it official.” Duchess Morning Glory took it in her field.

But before she could even start to read it, a pegasus Colonel snatched away the parchment and quill. He scratched his signature upon it. “Quickly, every moment we talk, my troops suffer.” He passed the parchment and quill to the group. Everypony signed, even the Duchess. Twilight felt Celestia’s satisfaction at completing a game long played that ended with Check and Mate.

“Who will be Queen and who will be Field Marshal?” the Colonel asked.

Celestia took the parchment, rolled it, and stashed it back in her cloak. “We will both take the title Princess and rule as a diarchy,” Celestia proclaimed. “Luna, take control of the Army and restore our position in the field. You have the authority to draft and maneuver your troops, and any civilians necessary to support your forces, as you believe necessary.”

“I understand.” Luna scanned the crowd. “Let the enemies of ponykind quail, for we shall be their nightmare! All Army and support forces, follow me to the headquarters.”

“Yes, Princess Luna!” They all saluted and followed her out of the room at a trot.

“The rest of you, we will go to the Council Chambers and organize winter relief efforts,” Celestia commanded.

“Yes, Princess Celestia!” they all cried.

Twilight's world went white again, and when sensation returned she was back in Celestia’s sitting room. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “That’s not the way it’s taught in school.”

“No, the Princesses, Generals, and Chancellors of the three tribes did not hand over absolute power out of gratitude for our maintaining the cycle of day and night.” Celestia took a sip of her tea.

Twilight’s tea had grown tepid. She heated it with a minor spell and took a sip. “And the argument about the duration of the agreement?”

“The duration of our lives, of course.”

“Convenient for an immortal.”

“Quite so.”

During the memory flash, Twilight had dropped the mane comb. She picked it up and moved back to work on Celestia’s tail. “What happened next?” she prompted.

Celestia settled back on the pillow. The tugging on her tail was relaxing. “Luna was the hero of the hour. She rallied the army and expelled the Griffons. Luna always was a better fighter, more inspiring leader, and more skilled tactician than I was. I reorganized the government to make sure ponies got through the winter. The herd instinct is strong in ponykind. Most were starved for an administration that served all, not just their narrow tribe.

“When the emergency was over, Luna and I made permanent appointments for the ponies who’d shown the greatest competence and retired the ones who’d failed to perform. Because of our responsibilities, most of my appointments were to the civilian authorities, and most of hers were to the army.

“At the time, they were equal responsibilities. If our neighbors were not threatening Equestria, monsters from the forests or mountains were attacking our ponies. Luna’s troops became a fearsome weapon, responding to every threat. It was during one of these forays, Luna met and recruited her fanatical Night Guard. They became the tip of her spear.

“But over the mortal generations, circumstances changed…”

Celestia picked up another memory crystal. Twilight put down the mane comb and steeled herself. The world went white again.

Celestia sat in an empty council chamber, in one of two thrones at the head of a great oval table. She wore a crown and her own mane and tail were ever flowing. Twin banners, one white with a yellow sunburst and one blue with a silver half moon, hung behind the thrones. Celestia scratched on one of a dozen parchments that lay on the table before her.

Azure magic enveloped the double doors into the council chambers and opened them. Luna strode in and closed the doors behind her. She was larger than last time, in a crown and black full mail. Luna carried a fearsome black helmet in her magic, with spikes resembling fangs on the snout guard, and long vertical slits for the eyes. Her own ever flowing mane and tail were longer and sparkled with stars. “The latest affront against our ponies has been avenged. Scouts report the Yaks are moving back to their side of the border.”

Celestia looked up from her writing. “What was the affront?”

Luna sat down with a clang of mail in the second throne. “A Yak squad crossed the border and ransacked a pony village in the Frozen North.”

“And your response?”

“A standard raid.” Luna leaned forward, a sparkle in her eye. “I cloaked a regiment of my Night Guard in shadow and flew them deep into Yak territory. I pulled them in my wake so all would fly with my speed.” She gestured with her hooves to illustrate. “We attacked by surprise and reduced an enemy regiment in in their barracks. I captured the commander, and delivered the twin messages that Yak forces must stay out of Equestria, and nowhere is safe from our wrath if we were invaded again.” She sat back, satisfied. “We returned with three injured, no dead, among the Night Guard.”

Celestia pulled up a parchment from the table. “I have a note from the Yak ambassador that they sent a team of rangers into our mountains to search for a calf who ran away from home. The ambassador apologized for any damage caused to Equestria in their search and offered to pay reasonable recompense. He says their team found the calf and returned home. I received this a few hours ago, so it must have been sent before he knew of your reprisal. I expect to get a very different message from the Yaks come the morrow.” Twilight felt Celestia’s exasperation with Luna and her anticipation of having to again cover for her excesses.

“You can’t believe him.” Luna waved her wing as if waving the note away. “The Yaks deploy forces all along our border and have been probing it for months.”

“What don’t you believe about the ambassador’s story?”

“It’s too convenient.“ The sparkle returned to Luna’s eye. “And it’s exactly what I’d say if I were sending scouts across the border.”

Celestia took a deep breath. “Regardless, Luna, sending 500 Night Guard in an attack on Yak territory in response to 10 Yaks crossing the border is... disproportionate.”

“That’s why I sent 500! All our enemies must know we’ll be ruthless if attacked and that they’ll lose much more than they could possibly gain from any incursion.”

“Our neighbors have taken your words to heart,” Celestia said. “You are known far and wide to come like a nightmare in the night.”

Luna smirked in response.

Twilight felt Celestia decide to change tactics. The white alicorn got up from her throne and walked over to the long side of the great table. “Luna, you and your forces have done a magnificent job protecting Equestria.” Celestia gestured to the map of the nation, embedded into the table. “Our borders have been stable for a generation, and our neighbors see more gain in trade than they do in confrontation. You’ve cleared the most fearsome monsters from within our borders and ponies travel and trade freely between our towns and cities.”

Luna followed her sister. “And?”

“Let’s take advantage of your many successes and work together to reduce the level of tension with our neighbors.” Celestia turned to face Luna. “I want to send the signal that Equestria is a good partner. If there’s a monster attack or a full-scale invasion, of course you should respond with all force. But until that happens, take yourself and our forces off of high alert. Use more of your energy, and more of the pony power you lead, to make Equestria better for all.”

Luna flared her wings and stood tall. “You’re wrong, we’re still threatened by enemies abroad, and monsters within. Just because we were not attacked yesterday doesn’t mean we won’t be attacked tomorrow.

“You control Equestria’s Treasury, our Courts, our Ambassadors, and the Royal Guard that keeps order in our cities. You think that means you control the nation.

“But, I have the responsibility to defend Equestria. I control the Army and have the authority to draft and maneuver our troops, and any civilians necessary to support our forces, as I believe necessary. And I’ll continue to perform my duties the best way I know how.”

Luna strode out and slammed the door behind her.

Celestia dropped back onto her throne. She took a new piece of parchment and wrote, “Dear Mr. Ambassador, I regret to inform you…”

Twilight’s world went white again until the sensations of the modern sitting room returned. She shuddered; riding around in Celestia’s body and not being able to say anything was… maddening. “I hate to see you two fighting,” she said.

“It will get worse,” Celestia replied, deadpan.

Twilight examined Celestia’s face. Her countenance was neutral, but her eyes were like infinite pools of sadness. “This is hard for you.” It wasn’t a question.

“You’ve no idea.” Celestia looked away. “But I suppose this night is about giving you that idea.”

Celestia turned to her teacup, but it was empty. She looked back to Twilight with a small frown. “Would you indulge me?” Twilight nodded and set about making a fresh pot of tea and rewarming the soup. Both took the opportunity to eat and drink, but the process brought Twilight little solace.

Celestia wasted no time. Once the food was eaten, she pulled the next memory gem from the box. “The raids continued until a breaking point was reached.” The world went white.

Celestia sat alone on the Solar Throne in the Castle of the Two Sisters and brooded about the darkness outside. She’d removed her regalia and laid them on a cushion nearby. There was a knock at the door. “Enter,” she bade. The door opened, and a Royal Guardsmare entered. “Your Majesty, Galiena the Griff is requesting an immediate audience.”

“At this time of night? It must be important. Send her in.” Celestia considered putting on her regalia, but Galiena was a friend, and sometimes the crown was too heavy to bear.

Galiena, was a medium sized griffon, about the height of a large earth pony stallion, with white head and breast feathers, russet body fur, and golden beak and claws. She entered and bowed her head, “Your Majesty.”

“Enough of that, Galiena. You’re a friend and I’m not wearing my crown.” Celestia waved a wing. “What brings you here at such a late hour?”

Galiena ruffled her feathers as she approached. “I must speak to you in confidence. If word of my coming here were to get to the wrong ears, it could go… poorly for me.”

Celestia sat forward. “Of course. You may speak in confidence here.”

Galiena sighed. “The Nightmare and her Guard are raiding in the Badlands as we speak.”

“I see Luna’s security is not as good as she thinks it is,” Celestia replied.

“This attack is the last straw, Celestia. Luna and the Night Guard have terrorized us all long enough.” Galiena looked both ways as if to see if any others were listening. “My people and the rest of Equestria’s neighbors have decided we will not tolerate the raids anymore. If Equestria is going to punish us for the appearance of an affront, then we will all stop dealing with Equestria.”

“What’s being proposed?” Celestia was alarmed.

“A blockade,” Galiena said. “No travel. No trade. We will all have no dealings with Equestria, so there will be no chance of provocation.”

Twilight felt Celestia’s mind race down dark paths. “That would be crippling. Our economy would collapse. We depended on our neighbors for raw materials, medicines, and goods we cannot make ourselves.” She considered the implications. “A blockade would hurt your peoples as well.”

“Yes, but we’ve been preparing and you have not.” Galiena was very still. “We have agreements for alternate markets already in place. For us, it will be... inconvenient, expensive.”

“For Equestria, it will be devastating,” Celestia whispered. Directly, she said, “How do we avoid this?”

Galiena took in a deep breath. “Equestria must take drastic action to stop the raids. A high profile head must be cast down so we know you’re serious. We realize Luna is necessary to raise the moon, but she must step down from leading Equestria’s armed forces. She and the Night Guard must limit themselves to operating only within Equestria, except in times of declared war. If they show one hoof outside of the country, we’ll initiate the blockade.”

“But she’s my sister,” Celestia pleaded.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this. But you should have acted long ago.” She nervously tapped her claw on the floor. “The official announcement of the blockade will be made tomorrow, simultaneously, by all Equestria’s neighbors. I wasn’t supposed to tell you, but I couldn’t let you be ambushed like that.”

Galiena ducked her head. Celestia rose and hugged her. “Thank you for the warning. Is there anything you can do to stop this?”

“It’s beyond me,” Galiena said. “And I’m not sure I would stop it if I could. The raids must end, Celestia.” She looked sad. “What will you do?”

Celestia took her to the door and opened it. “What I have to.” Twilight felt Celestia push aside all her love and indulgence for her sister, like crushing them into a small ball and freezing it away. Something threatened ‘her’ ponies, and she would deal with it, even if it would hurt her only kin.

Galiena shook her head and left. Celestia waited for her to get out of earshot, then said to the guard outside, “Send for the Commander of the Royal Guard, immediately.”

When the Commander appeared, he found Celestia signing a piece of parchment then applying the Royal Seal. “Commander, we have an impending crises. I need these orders followed to the letter.” The Commander came to attention. “When Luna and the Night Guard return, inform my sister that I request her presence in the Throne Room immediately to discuss an imminent threat.” The Commander acknowledged the order.

“Commander, my sister and the Night Guard are that threat.” The Commander started, and then came back to rigid attention. “As soon as Luna is gone, the Night Guard are to be disarmed and confined to the barracks. You will be taking interim control of all Equestria's armed forces.”

“What of Princess Luna?” The Commander asked.

“Luna is taking a sabbatical from her position as head of the army,” Celestia replied. “I shall inform her personally.”

“And if the Night Guard resists?”

“Do what’s necessary to make sure they do not resist, Commander.” Celestia’s voice was steely.

“And if Princess Luna resists?” he asked quietly.

Celestia took a deep breath. “I will do what’s necessary. Go.”

After the commander left, Celestia drafted a flurry of emergency declarations. She met with ponies at the pinnacle of all branches of the government and the nobility. Pegasus messengers were dispatched to every city. The message was always the same. Luna was taking a sabbatical. The Night Guard was being disarmed. Celestia and the Royal Guard were in control.

The responses were predictable. Many were fearful, but even more were relieved. Many ponies feared the dark armored Night Guard as much as the other races did.

The last of the functionaries had left the Throne Room when the doors were nearly pulled off their hinges by azure magic. Luna flew in and skidded to a halt, wings flared, still in full black armor and nightmare helmet. “I came as soon as I heard, sister. What threatens our fair subjects?”

Celestia closed the doors and warded the Throne Room with her golden magic. “You, Luna. You are what threatens our ponies.”

Luna stared at Celestia. It was difficult to judge her expression through the fierce visage of her helmet. “What madness is this, Celestia?”

“I begged you to stop your nightmare raids. To stay in Equestria and work for the betterment of all ponies.” Celestia was pacing now. “But you refused. And now our hoof has been forced and it is time for a reckoning.”

“Celestia… Sister... You’ve obviously been working very, very, hard. You need to calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong is that every single ally I’ve tried to make, you’ve turned into an enemy.” Celestia thrust a hoof at Luna. “Because of your incessant raiding, all our neighbors are banding together to blockade Equestria. We’ll be in a depression within a moon, and have starvation by the winter.”

“Tis economic warfare!” Luna railed. “We shall retaliate, take what we need for our ponies.”

“No, they are within their rights. We can’t force them to trade with us.”  Celestia shook her head. “They are right, and we are wrong.” Celestia looked at Luna. Twilight felt her righteous anger and indignation. “You are wrong. You’ve abused your authority, and now you have to pay the price to keep Equestria from falling into a dark pit.” She gestured to the parchment bearing the royal seal.

Luna picked up the parchment and scanned it. “What have you done?” she growled.

“The Commander of the Royal Guard will take control of the armed forces,” Celestia commanded.

“That gold plated constable? We’ll be overrun by our enemies within a fortnight. And my Night Guard will never follow his orders.”

“The Night Guard will be disarmed, until such time as they can be integrated into the new chain of command,” Celestia continued.

“And what of me, sister? Where do I fit into your grand plan?”

“You will take a sabbatical from the army.” Celestia softened her tone. “You and I will agree together on your new responsibilities. Perhaps you’ll take a tour of Equestria, showing our ponies how much the crown cares for them, using your royal prerogatives to solve local disputes, and rehabilitating your damaged reputation.”

“And will you also have me beg for scraps at your table like a dog?” Luna spat. “Nay, I think I will countermand all these orders and retain my place.”

“A part of these orders state they can only be countermanded with our mutual agreement.” Celestia’s voice was deliberate.

“We rule as equals! You’ve overstepped your authority.”

“You may take me to court,” Celestia said. “If you wish to establish the precedent that the court can rule on the legality of royal orders.”

“Your courts would never back my plea. They are your creatures and bask in your precious light.” Luna paced, then brightened. “I just need to be sure these illegal orders are never delivered.”

“Too late,” Celestia said. “They went out by messenger hours ago.”

“Equestria is large sister, and the night is young,” Luna sneered. “In the dark, my Night Guard can outfly any pegasus.” She turned and stomped toward the door.

“Luna, no, the room is warded...” Twilight felt Celestia’s alarm.

Luna grabbed the door with her azure magic and triggered the defenses of the golden ward. Lightning arced from the spell on the door and knocked her to the ground.

Luna glared up at Celestia. “I never believed you would strike me, sister.” She got up with a snarl.

“I tried to warn you…”

“Nay, you’ve made it clear that only one of us can rule.” Luna stood up to her full height. “You’re right that there will be a reckoning. I will rescue my Night Guard. I will be your nightmare from now on. And if there can only be one princess in Equestria, that princess... will be me!”

Luna stomped both fore hooves on a stone railing and shattered it. Outside, thunder and lightning boomed. Before Celestia could react, Luna shot a beam across the ceiling, sundering the ward. Falling rubble pinned Celestia and blocked her view. By the time Celestia had freed herself, Luna had flown out through the hole in the ceiling and was gone.

The scene faded to white, and then back to the sitting room. Twilight shook her head to clear it, and then scanned around to locate the source of the sound she heard. Celestia was writhing and wailing on the cushion in front of the fire.

Twilight rushed over and embraced Celestia. “It’s over. That was long ago. I’m right here. You’re safe now. I’m right here.” She hugged Celestia with all her strength and repeated the phrases over and over. Celestia’s wailing quieted to sobbing and silent shudders. Twilight levitated over a towel, and Celestia buried her snout in it.

“I was so wrong. I drove her away,” Celestia cried.

“You don’t have to show me how many times you tried to stop Luna’s raids, I could feel it in the memory,” Twilight whispered.

“But I didn’t have to be so harsh. I was just angry… convinced I was right. When it turned out I was disastrously wrong.” Celestia gulped. Tears still leaked from her eyes, but they no longer ran in torrents. “If only I’d dispelled the ward…”

“‘If onlys’ and ‘what ifs’ will make you crazy… I know,” Twilight said.

Celestia looked at her with red eyes. “You do, don’t you. For you it’s ‘what ifs’; for me, ‘if onlys’.”

Twilight laid her head against Celestia’s broad white neck. “You normally do a much better job of hiding it than I do…”

“Wait until you’ve had a millennium of practice.” Celestia sniffled and embraced Twilight back. The two lay before the crackling fire, absorbing warmth from the flames and from each other.

“You don’t have to do this anymore” Twilight whispered. “I get it now. I do.”

Celestia was quiet for a long while. “Thank you for the offer. And we can stop if you need to. But if you can bear it, there is one more pain I feel needs to be shared to make the tale complete.”

“Anything for you,” Twilight replied. If Celestia hadn’t been an alicorn, Twilight’s embrace would have cracked ribs. She would have been happy to let this moment last forever, but Twilight knew it was not to be. When they disengaged, Celestia propped herself up on the cushion. Twilight settled next to her. Each had a wing slightly extended, their feathers just touching.

Celestia took out another crystal, but this time, instead of immersing the two of them in a memory, she told a story and punctuated her words with visions from the crystal.

“Luna subdued the Commander and freed her Night Guard,” Celestia began. “She cloaked them in shadow and flew east. With Luna’s speed, the Night Guard got to the East Coast faster than my pegasi messengers. She issued her own orders and consolidated the leadership of the major cities, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and the fleet in Horseshoe Bay. She declared this area her Royal Lunar Republic. Royal in that she would be in ultimate charge. Republic in that ponies would elect an assembly to “advise” her. Her reputation on the coast was strong; Luna was still revered as the hero that had freed Manehattan from the Griffons. By the time my messengers got to the coast at dawn, Luna’s position was secure and my orders were ignored.

“I controlled the majority of Equestria and expected to swiftly quell Luna’s rebellion. I was… horribly overconfident. Take this as a lesson, Twilight, everypony who starts a war expects it to be short, and it almost never is.

“I won’t go into the campaigns. Each side’s forces centered around an elite corps, the Royal Guard and the Night Guard, supported by draftees of all tribes. So long as the elites were not annihilated, more ponies could be drafted, the armies rebuilt, and the fighting continue. There always seemed to be more ponies to draft.”

Twilight saw the Royal Guards set up a Solar Army recruiting station in an earth pony town, and no ponies showed up to join. Incognito, Princess Celestia cast a spell that produced upbeat, patriotic music. It exalted the glory of Equestria and Celestia in equal measure. Twilight felt the music deep within, like at the symphony that evening. For a moment, Twilight felt like she would sign up herself if she could. When the music finished, earth ponies rushed forward and formed long lines to volunteer. Twilight felt both Celestia’s revulsion about what she’d done and her acceptance of the necessity of the deed.

“Suffice to say, over the years we both ended up drafting every able-bodied stallion and mare we could until there were hardly enough ponies left to grow food and hold off starvation.

“Each of us tried to negotiate a cessation of hostilities at times, but it never worked. We both believed in the righteousness of our positions and could never find sufficient compromise at the same time.”

Twilight saw the two armies encamped within sight of each other. Luna sent an offer for a mutual retreat, to avoid what was sure to be a bloody battle. Celestia sent back a reply scroll secretly trapped with a delayed action “Want It, Need It” spell. When the spell was triggered, the Lunar soldiers begin a general melee to get their hooves on the scroll. When their lines disintegrated into chaos, Celestia ordered the Solar forces to charge. Martial music swelled and Twilight felt drawn to charge with Solar troops.

After winning the battle, Celestia offered a ceasefire, as a first step towards negotiating a lasting peace. Luna accepted the ceasefire but drug out the preparation for face to face negotiations long enough to rebuild her army, and then stage a surprise counterattack.

“Slowly Luna overcame her initial disadvantages and took over more and more of Equestria. She truly was the superior war leader.”

Twilight saw Celestia in her command tent in the center of a large Solar Army encampment at night. Formations of Royal Guards encircled her tent and a ring of militia troops surrounded them. Out of the darkness, Luna bombarded the encampment with shooting stars. Celestia didn’t have time to protect the entire encampment, and could only shield her commanders and the Royal Guard in the center. She ordered the militia to scatter but had to watch as the shooting stars impacted the ground and explode among them, with devastating results. Twilight felt Celestia’s helplessness and rage.

Year by year, my forces retreated, until all I controlled was an army of a few remaining Royal Guards, and a militia of foals, elderly, and crippled veterans. I retreated to the area around the Castle of Two Sisters and put all my energy into protecting it with an impenetrable Solar Shield anchored to the magic of the land itself. Lunar forces besieged the area for a full year. That was when the Solar forces nicknamed the area ‘Everfree’, in that it wouldn’t fall to the Lunar forces and would remain forever free.”

Twilight saw Luna assaulting the shield again and again. Meteors. Spears of Moonlight. Alchemical Explosives. Massed Unicorn Magic. After each attack failed, Luna railed at Celestia to give up and admit she had no hope of winning. If she would declare Luna the sole princess the war would be over. But Celestia and the Solar forces held out behind their invulnerable golden dome.

“The war was indescribably horrible, but the two things neither Luna nor I ever did was fight each other or fail to cycle day and night. Some primordial instinct drove us to uphold those areas of our responsibilities, even as we abandoned the others. Neither of us wanted to lose our only sibling. We just each wanted the other to capitulate.

“Until one morning in the spring, Luna didn’t lower the moon, but kept it in the sky and blocked my raising of the sun. With my energy going into keeping up the Solar Shield, I could not contest the heavens. But the longer the moon held the sun from the sky, the more out of balance the world became.

Twilight saw a great cloud of dark magic rush down from the Frozen North toward the castle. In Twilight’s experience, Luna’s magic felt cool like the night. But this cloud felt both dark and evil, like Sombra’s magic in the Crystal Empire. The cloud slammed into the shield, and both magics exploded, twisting the land around the castle.

With the shield down, the Lunar armies attacked the castle. Dark music drove them fanatically forward. Solar forces were outnumbered and surprised, but recovered and fought back valiantly. Celestia sent all the forces in the castle out to bolster the defenses. Solar troops had spent a year building extensive works and took advantage of them to hold off the attackers. The fighting quickly became hoof to hoof, and no quarter was asked or given.

“But no mortal defenses could stop what remained of the dark magic cloud. It flooded into the Throne Room where I was and materialized into a large dark alicorn. After years of war involving millions of ponies, this conflict was to end as it had begun, between the two of us.”

“I got tired of waiting for you to come to your senses, so I decided to change the game,” the dark alicorn purred. “Does my new form please you, sister? I have learned so many wicked things in Sombra’s ruins, and have grown far beyond you.”

The dark alicorn was at least as big as Celestia and had coat and wings of shiny black instead of midnight blue. Other details jumped out to Celestia: real fangs, not spikes on a helmet, and actual cats-eye pupils, not just slits in a helm.

Surprised by the attack, Celestia was caught without her full mail. “Luna,” she cried. “I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!” Twilight felt Celestia’s arrogance. Celestia was positive that Luna, as the lesser of the two sisters, would ultimately obey her because she was in the right.

The dark alicorn cackled with menace. “Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!” She unleashed devastating blasts of dark magic from her horn. Celestia dodged the blasts by shooting skyward, but the castle was not so fortunate, its walls and ceilings were torn asunder.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Nightmare Moon called as she flew after Celestia, blasting again and again. Through some trick of the sister’s alicorn magic, every soldier on both sides could follow their fight as if in a ringside seat. The fighting of the soldiers died down; they were absorbed by the spectacle. Twilight felt Celestia’s arrogance turn to fear.

“From here on, your original vision was mostly accurate. I could not dodge Nightmare Moon’s attacks forever and took a blast full in the chest. I screamed and fell back into the castle through one of the holes in the roof. Nightmare Moon cackled in glee at my fall and strutted through the air over the castle, backlit by her full moon.”

A great roar went up among the Lunar soldiers, and they redoubled their assault. A matching gasp sounded among the Solar forces, and they struggled to defend themselves.

Down in the castle, a wounded Celestia rose. “Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these.” Twilight felt Celestia’s deep sadness and resignation. She lit her horn with a golden glow. A matching glow surrounded a pair of secret doors in the floor. With a loud clanking and grinding of gears, a large stone orrery, with five gems at the end of its arms, rose from the floor. Celestia hovered over the orrery, and used her magic to levitate the five gems from their holders, and then rise a large magenta gem, shaped like a six-pointed star, from the stone sun at the center of the orrery. Twilight recognized them as the Elements of Harmony, last used by the sisters together to defeat Discord, the spirit of Chaos.

Celestia set the gems rotating around her, faster and faster until she and the gems glowed with rainbow power. Celestia flew back into the night sky. The fighting died down again, as the soldiers were captivated by renewed confrontation.

Nightmare Moon spotted Celestia and fired a massive beam of dark magic at her. But this time, Celestia did not dodge but focused her own magic beam through the Elements of Harmony. Her rainbow beam met Luna’s dark beam and the two warred for supremacy. The dark beam was overcome, and Nightmare Moon blasted high into the night sky. She disappeared in the distance, flying in the direction of the moon. A circular rainbow erupted from her landing, and the shadow of an alicorn covered half the lunar surface.

Twilight felt Celestia’s heart break. At that moment, Twilight was Celestia, and her own heart broke as well. All the war, all the sacrifices, had been nothing but a waste. An entire generation of ponies had paid the price for her arrogance. And she’d lost her sister anyway.

“To Tartarus with all of it,” Celestia/Twilight said. “Let the sun and the moon spin in their own chaos,” she thought. “Let the ponies starve in the muck. What did it matter? Her little sister was gone.” Celestia/Twilight wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and let the world burn.

When they realized Luna had been defeated, a massive cheer rose from the Solar forces, and the Lunar forces groaned in despair. Celestia/Twilight did her best to ignore them. Her pain was what mattered now. Her loss.

Then she heard the Solar forces chanting over the groans of the fallen.

“Prin - cess”
“Cel - es - tia”
“Lead Us All
“To Vic - tor - y”
“Prin - cess”
“Cel - es - tia”
“E - ques - tri - a”
“Is - Ever - Free”

The chants shamed her. It wasn’t about her loss. It was about their future. Their Equestria. The ponies on both sides had paid a terrible price for her arrogance. She could not allow them to pay more because of her despair. Even if she had to silently pay forever.

Celestia/Twilight pushed her broken heart down into the same place she’d stored her love for Luna all those years ago. She summoned the Royal Voice and called out with her magic so everypony on the battlefield could hear her. “Lunar forces, your leader has been defeated. The rebellion is over. Cease fighting and you will be treated fairly.”

“Leaderless, the Lunar forces were swiftly disarmed. I landed on the battlefield and was horrified by what I saw. The dark magic of Nightmare Moon had warped the forest around the castle, turning the very animals and trees into monstrosities. And the casualties among the ponies on both sides were equally devastating.

“The Castle of the Two Sisters was wrecked, and the surrounding Everfree Forest had been rendered uninhabitable. So I abandoned the castle and told all the ponies on both sides to evacuate the wounded and regroup at the base of the high mountain a short march away. Once there, all soldiers who swore allegiance to Equestria were treated equally. Food and medicine were distributed fairly and in the shadow of the Canterhorn, the healing of a nation began. I pledged to the soldiers that we would build the new capital there together, and thus Canterlot was born.”