//------------------------------// // Morning Light // Story: Immortal's Retribution // by ChaoticHarmony //------------------------------// Several hours have passed… The Princess of the Night stood alone in the room, gazing out of the only window and into the starry sky. A cool air blew in from the open pane, blowing over her already-icy body. Her horn glowed as she levitated a small note sealed with a splash of wax hurriedly pressed with her sister’s crest. In circles the note spun as she watched her night quickly approach its close. Tearing her gaze away from the stars, her eyes scanned the dark room behind her. The black cloth lay on the floor, a small portion of hair sticking out from under it. The colored mane barely moved now, only stirred by the gusts of the wind that teased at the locks. Tears began to push at her eyes, but she merely rubbed her hooves against them to shove them back down. She looked away from her sister to gaze back into the night, her eyes following the constellations that she herself had put up only a few hours ago. “Truly such beauty cannot last in a night such as this.” She held up the note to her eyes, reading the small and precise writing of her sister’s, the only thing she had left of her now besides memories. She turned to look at the rope that now lay on the floor, still spun in the loop that had taken the sun goddess’s life. “Tia…” She pulled away the seal on the paper using a knife. The metal glinted in the moonlight as she worked to ply the wax away. The note landed in her hooves, which were slightly trembling as she opened it. Her sister’s voice seemed to fill the room as Luna read the letter. ”Dearest Sister, “I know by now that you will have despaired my passing, and have questions as to why I would do such a horrid thing. Hopefully this note will tell you a little of why I do this, and I pray that you will understand.” A slight rustling made Luna turn and look over the room, her gaze searching for anything that could have made the noise. When nothing else moved, she directed her attentions back to the letter. ”I am the ruler of Equestria during the daylight hours. The ponies see me as infallible and perfect, as if I can do no wrong. I am supposedly everything they are not. Criminals do wrong, and I am sought to end their wrongs. I pay for damages, express condolences for families that lose a member at the hooves of a murderer, and I take them from the world when they become too,” The parchment had small dots of ink, as if her sister had been tapping the quill onto the paper as she searched for a word. ”Destructive.” Another rustle came from behind her, followed by a small breathy sound. She paid no attention to the workings of her imagination and her eyes further followed the words on the page before her. Her sister’s voice seemed to swell with emotion, becoming louder and clearer with each letter that her voice wrapped itself around. ”I know nothing of the pain of death. I know nothing of how ponies feel as they die. But I do feel their pain in a different way. Each pony that I had killed gave me the same look as they passed; a look that was mixed with both anger and gratefulness. Each time, I had felt like my heart had been stabbed harder and harder. You remember the last student of mine yes? Starswirl the Bearded was his name.” With a rush, the pony in question surfaced from her memory, slightly blurred from age. He had been a lime-green unicorn with immense potential. Ambitious too, though completely clumsy in normal everyday actions. The solar goddess’s voice seemed to take a breath to steady herself before continuing. ”A few years after you were banished to the moon, he went insane. Days passed before he had stepped from his room, and even then he stuck to shadows like a timberwolf. Soon I saw and heard nothing of him. At least, before the reports of a unicorn murderer came to me. Shortly after that, I had found him, deranged and alone, and I took him back to the castle. Only a day later, I had sentenced him to death. ‘It was the only way’ I had told myself then, ‘He’s become too crazed to help.’ His last words come to me even now, and I hear his small voice call to me from beyond life.” The note ended abruptly, small scratches littering the bottom of it as if Celestia had wanted to say more. Tears fell readily from her eyes, landing onto the crumpled parchment and smearing pieces of the ink. She didn’t care; nothing mattered to her anymore except the fact that her sister was gone. A deep unsteady breath came from behind her, and small drops of something fell onto Luna’s back. Celestia’s voice continued to speak, filling the room with its power. “I’m sorry Luna. I know now that I must bear the pain.” A hoof was lain on the unmoving goddess’s midnight-blue shoulder. “Because immortals cannot pass from this world.” The tone became bitter, the words tainted with a slight distasteful ring. “The pain is what keeps us alive, we live in it and breathe it every day. And even however much it hurts...” A sob sounded from the white alicorn, her tears falling freely. “However much it kills you inside, there will be other ponies there to share the pain. I’m so sorry little sister, can you ever forgi-.” The sun goddess’s voice was cut off as the younger grasped her in a strong hug. A golden light filled the room as the sun shined over the horizon once more. “Thank you, Luna.” A little of an Author's note here... This isn't my best of works, but rather something that I HAD to write. I got a little of an idea during the night and I just...well...HAD to do it. I know a few of you will know that kind of feeling.