"And that's it." Rainbow finished.
"That's a lot of shit, Rainbow." Lightning shook her head slowly, wrapping a hoof around her. "Don't cry. He's going to be fine."
She told. All the little meetings, the way he embraced her, all those little moments that she had locked away for far too long. It hurt. It pained her far too much to see him gone from her life, ripped away, another regiment, different ponies, maybe even a marefriend. She sniffed.
Soarin. Scootaloo. Everyone that she had once known. Anything that she had ever loved except Lightning.
"And now, what do we do?" Lightning sighed. "There's a crazy princess who's mind controlling the other side and a princess back from exile for revenge. Who also loves the crazy being-mind-controlled guy."
"I love shit. Merda. Merde. Der'mo. Whatever you want to call it." Rainbow could not resist the sobs that choked out as she buried her face in her hooves again. "But I have my own problems. And this is not over. Not over at all. Lightning, you knew that I have a daughter. Nothing can happen to me. I have somepony I love and who I love with my whole heart."
"Well that's nothing. Rainbow, everything is nothing now." Lightning's voice quieted. "Half of our regiment is gone. We all know. Gone. Captured, dead, missing, or anything. Just not with us."
"What do I not? I am sergeant, and this is the most cruel thing I had to do. Those letters of apology, thanking them for the service, with all of us knowing that many of us will not come back."
"This world is cruel. It has always been cruel, Rainbow Dash." Lightning whispered as she realized that Rainbow had fell asleep.
~~~
Luna had another sleepless night. The moon shone far too brightly for her taste, and she was guilt ridden with all those memories of her selfishness.
Had she been evil? But what did the people know of Celestia? They had enough reason to judge for themselves, and Celestia gave nothing but reasons for her kindness and benevolence.
Why, god, why?
Luna wanted to scream so badly and yet she could not. It was never a good idea to reveal yourself to an enemy. When you could escape you did, when you could outwit them you would, and when you couldn't you confused the heck out of the enemy then flee.
Sombra. The one that she loved far too much. The one thing that kept her from ending the pathetic life she had led herself to.
The moon was a prison she could've escaped by death. Yet she didn't. The thousand years she spent were accompanied by escapades in her dreams - trips with her beloved and a distraction from the sting of betrayal. What her sister did, was horrible. It was moreso when she cared. When she still loved her sister far too much to even register her banishment until days had gone and she were left alone, no one to care, completely alone, and then she picked up the pieces.
The little curses. The jokes. The poisons.
It all added up. She ran them through and decided way too late how cruel her sister had been.
Her sister.
How?
Even if she were not the best sister, Luna considered herself a good one. She did everything she had been able to in order to support her sister, even substituting and meeting with all the delegates well into midnight in order to make the best decisions. She had did her best.
Then she was discarded. Maybe, she wasn't supposed to be powerful. But Sombra had taught her many useful things, one of which was escaping and honing her powers. Light was never her strength, but under the cover of darkness, she could do many, many things. Perhaps Celestia was apparently powerful, but Luna had her own strengths, studying with a master, and practicing herself sick.
Love, what was it? She saw the Rainbow mare with the stallion. She wished it were all simple like that.
In another life, Sombra, she wondered, will we meet again?
If I were not a princess and you were no king, would we ever reunite?
If I would give up all the power I hold for you, would you do the same for me?
Enough of the musing, she told herself. The Scootaloo filly is waiting.
Not filly, she corrected. Mare. Except that the poor mare was too undernourished to even look remotely mature. Those wings...she felt the pain of being the incomplete pony.
"Now, dear, do you need anything?" Let yourself go, she reminded herself. Not the royal voice. Neither did the royal we work.
"When do I see my sister again?" Scootaloo asked.
"Sometime. Until this is over. I am protecting you, you see." Was she hostage or a bargaining chip or her client? Luna did not know. The filly was useful, and that made her Celestia more than she ever wanted to be. Still, she reasoned, she would never harm the filly, at least, she wouldn't use her as leverage. Persuasion, she said, but a sense of guilt was there, tugging at her and making it difficult to breathe properly.
Was she too much Celestia? They were sisters, after all.
"A story?" She offered.
"Okay." Scootaloo settled down.
"Once upon a time, there was a mare who fell in love with a stallion." She began, and tensed her face to avoid any reaction. "Except the mare was a princess and the stallion was a king. It was still love."
"And?" Scootaloo thought it sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it.
"The only thing in between this love was the princess' family. She hated the fact that the king loved the princess. It was the Crown Princess, the one all had to bow to. "
"I think I know part of this."
"You may. He was banished and cursed and tortured. She was imprisoned and denied the outside world. It were a millennium before she broke the chains and freed herself, and she came back to see her love mangled and villainized, her sister sitting on a throne, forcing the citizens of the country to fight a threat that she created and manufactured. No one suspected a thing."
"And how does it end?" Scootaloo asked. The tale was all too familiar. Too much like Luna.
"I don't know, little filly, I don't know. I wish we knew. I wouldn't waste my energy if it were a lost cause." Luna shook her head sadly.
"You still love him." Scootaloo said suddenly.
"I do."
"Even if he is a monster?"
"Yes."
"What do you want, then?"
"I want to live like a normal mare, to love who I want to love. I want him to be a commoner, not a king or the prince I knew. I want to love with my heart. I want my love to be celebrated, not the root of mass destruction."
"I guess there's nothing unreasonable. But how?"
"I know not how." Luna shook her head sadly. "I am spent."