The first alicorn was born with a horn and a pair of wings, if Luna’s memory of the tale was correct. Legend had it that she leapt out of the ashes of the great plains at the base of Foal Mountain, after a scorching fire, her wings spread like an angel. The ponies hailed her, proclaiming her a Queen. Her name was Sol, though later she became known as Celestia.
Of course, actually being alive and present way back when, she knew that it was simply folks being folks; spinning something out of nothing. She would have known if her sister was born of a fire and not from the womb of a mare, like all other ponies. Just as she knew that she had not sprouted into existence from the cap of a mushroom or some other such nonsense, she knew that the scene of Celestia’s nativity was not that of a flaming field.
It was instinctual. But she liked to imagine—visualize what such an event would have looked like, feel the heat of the flames, etc. Such was the mind of an introspective pony, at the precipice of their demise. It was all just food for thought, as it were. It probably felt quite dissimilar to how she felt right now.
Her coat was slick with sweat; damp against her clammy skin. The hooves that had supported her graciously for over fifteen-hundred years were collapsed under her, completely devoid of strength. Her head was dull as lead, and her chest moved up and down laboriously, as though there was a heavy weight upon her.
There was a reason for her fatigue. Today, she had lost a friend and gained an enemy.
Time.
Previously, time was something that happened to other ponies. She, an alicorn, was unbound by its chains, free to stride its lengths unrestricted. But time’s arrow was without bias and now, without the shadowing cloak of immortality on her back, she was in its path.
Just like everypony else.
She wasn’t even sure how they dealt with it. Maybe, they found solace in the presence of their loved ones. Maybe, they prayed to Celestia and her to preserve their souls. Maybe, they didn’t deal with it at all, ignoring it as if it were pleasant fiction.
That was what she wished to do, but her current proceedings wear the bearer of no fruit. Who knew ignoring one’s future could be so difficult?
“Luna, you have that look on your face again.” A white, warm body pressed up against hers. “That look that says, ‘I’m down in the dumps’. You don’t wear that look well, sister.”
She turned her head to meet the gaze of her sister. Celestia’s mane was pink, her straightened locks all tied back into a ponytail with a cutsie little hairband. Her coat was well-trimmed and her barrel was clothed in a blue button-down shirt, patterned in floral designs. A pair of rimmed sunglasses sat atop her head.
“I wear it better than most. I’m surprised you even noticed.” Luna smiled sourly. It was just like her sister to come and barge into her space, on grounds of trying to ‘cheer her up’. She knew of no other viable reason for her sister’s intrusion.
A white hoof entered her vision and bopped her on the nose, making her eyes cross. She could almost feel the smile on Celestia’s face. “I can still read you like a book—you’re still my little Lulu, after all.” After a moment, Celestia continued. “Even after missing so much of our time together, you haven’t changed all that much—besides getting bigger, that is. You were never quite the master of stoicism you thought you were.”
She brushed Celetia’s hoof away from her nose, a blush adorning her face. “Why must you bother me. There is plenty of space on this beach besides right here.” Luna waved her hoof about her, gesturing to the sand stretching width-wise as far as the eye could see.
Celestia giggled, pulling herself closer. “Well, I figured you were keeping the spot warm for me.” She pressed her hoof on Luna’s chest, a smile on her face. “And besides, I didn’t see anypony else here to keep me company. I would rather not be alone.”
“I’m sure you could find somepony else if you tried hard enough.”
“Why look when I’ve already found somepony!” Celestia reached both of her hooves around Luna’s neck, pulling their heads together. If Celestia cared about her coat being sweaty, she didn’t show it.
“What if that somepony doesn’t want to be around anypony else?” She struggled, hoisting herself away from her clingy sister. Her hooves quaked faintly beneath her but held firm. A quick shake dislodged the wayward flecks of sand still clinging to her coat.
Celestia sighed. “Sometimes, one needs the company of others. Ponies need ponies—it’s in our blood.”
Luna eyed her sister warily. “Hmph, debatable. I went a millenia with naught but myself and a voice within my head.”
Celestia’s flinched slightly, her jaw loosening and lowering in sadness. “...That does not detract from my previous statement, Luna. Ponies need ponies. You are a pony.”
She narrowed her eyes, her brows furrowing inwards. “...I am a pony. Fine, I suppose I can give you a victory in that you can differentiate between myself and, say, a gryphon.”
Celestia was quiet for a moment, before she giggled once more. “I’ll take every win I can get.”
Luna remained silent, moving over several hoof lengths and lowering herself back down to the sand, facing the black basalt wall at the top of the beach. She barely retained any warmth from the fading sun. Great, now she was cold again. Why did her sister have to be so warm?
She watched from the corner of her eye as Celestia stood up, keeping her fixed with a warm smile all the while. “Care to walk with your sister, Lulu?”
“Actually, Tia, I would prefer to remain right where I am. It is quite comfortable.” Lies, it was cold and the sand was getting stuck in her coat, but she couldn’t show any weakness to her sister.
She waited for a response…
Silence.
That’s never good—COLD! She nearly leapt out of fur as a torrent of icy ocean water flooded over her, leaving her a mushy pile of wet coat and anger.
Luna felt the caress of warm breath on her ear. “You were always a terrible liar, Lulu.”
This transgression must be paid for in blood, she thought. You don’t even realize what you’ve started, o’ sister of mine.
Celestia received no warning before a wave of similar size rose from the ocean, sweeping her off her hooves and leaving her sprawled, spread-eagled in the sand.
She stared at her sister. Her fur was matted down, and her hair was undone, spread around everywhere in small, pink tendrils. Her face was frozen in a look of shock, her eyes pinpricks due to the cold, no doubt. She looked terrible.
Perfect.
Luna couldn’t help but laugh, her chest lightening up significantly. Her sister just looked so… miserable, that it was worthy of a laugh. She collapsed next to her sister, her hooves holding her gut in an effort to contain her laughter but to no avail.
It seemed her laughter was contagious because soon, she heard Celestia join in, her laughs raspy and weak, making Luna laugh even harder. So, there they laid, wet as dogs, covered in sand, and a hundred miles away from civilization, laughing like madmares. They were cold. They were drenched. They were happy.
They were together.
After a minute, their laughter died down to chuckles, and those to giggles. Luna still felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Her hooves no longer felt like lead pipes and her head felt lighter than a feather.
“Did it work?”
Luna twisted her head in the sand to meet her sister’s eyes. “Did what work?”
Celestia smiled, a twinkle in her eyes. “Did I get your mind off of whatever it was that you were thinking of?”
Her smile faltered slightly. In the haze born of their childish behavior, she had forgotten about her previous train of thought.
“You don’t even know what the problem was.”
“I can guess.” Celestia rolled onto her back, staring into the fading dusk sky. “Time is as fickle as love is. Now that our time is limited, we have to make the most of it.” She paused, with a giggle. “I’m not going to miss the paperwork, though—Twilight’ll have to learn quick”—She put her hoof up to her chin—“or Princess Twilight, should I say.”
Luna propped her head up on a hoof. “I feel as if I’m wasting my time with whatever I do now—it's like a commodity and it’s”—she grabbed a hoofful of sand with her free hoof and let it trickle to the ground—”slipping through my hooves faster than sand.”
Celestia mirrored her pose and spoke with a gentle smile. “Then you just have to spend it wisely.” Her sister grabbed a hoofful of sand with her magic, forming it into a small hourglass. It hovered in the air for a bit before dispersing.
“How does that walk sound now?” Celestia stood up and offered her a hoof.
Luna pondered for a bit. She accepted the hoof, rising to her hooves. If they were going to waste their time on this beach, they were going to waste it well, so she did the only thing appropriate at that moment.
“Tag, you’re it!” She booped her sister’s nose before taking off, clumsily galloping through the sand. It was dark now, but not late enough for the stars to be out. It was that odd interim between day and night. It was dark enough that she couldn’t see very far ahead of her, but she found that she didn’t care in the slightest. All that mattered was the here and the now.
She cackled as she heard her sister struggling to catch up with her.
“Can’t catch up, slowpoke!”
“You wait and see! I’ll show you who’s the slowpoke!”
Their happy exhalations echoed off of the sheer rock cliffs, as they ran off, giggling into the night.