Meanwhile in Canterlot Castle
The alabaster alicorn stood atop her balcony, staring off into the distance with her magenta colored orbs. Her prismatic mane flowing gently, as if a soft breeze was constantly blowing it. Horn alight with her lemon colored aura, she levitated the fragile little teacup; pursing her lips slightly and bringing the cup up to her lips. She takes a long, shuttering sip in hopes to calm her nerves even slightly. Unfortunately it doesn't work.
Placing the cup back down upon its saucer with a small 'tink'. The white furred pony began pacing back and forth with a troubled look upon her face.
It isn't everyday that Celestia let down her wall of royal status, it is quite uncommon for her to let down her mask and to truly be herself. This is one of those times. Her sister was the only other pony who could see through her façade, and Celestia knew it.
The clip clop rhythm of her hooves tapping against the marble floors did nothing to help alleviate her worry, in fact it only made her more anxious.
Her thoughts began to carry her away into a world of her own while she paced.
"I wonder how Twilight is doing, she hasn't send me a letter in a little over a week."
"Was I too harsh earlier when I said I wanted Chocolate cake instead of Vanilla? Poor mare, I must have made her so scared after asking her where her bakery was. She must have thought I would destroy her business."
"Have I been putting on a few extra pounds lately? My hindquarters seem to be expanding slightly, am I losing my mind?"
During the Princess's anxiety ridden thoughts, she didn't notice her bedroom door opening and closing. Celestia was so distracted by her thoughts that she couldn't even hear her name being called.
It was only when she accidentally trotted into a cobalt alicorn mare, that she snapped out of her thoughts with a tiny yelp of surprise; Tumbling onto the floor on her back ungracefully.
The ivory mare lifted her head and met the gaze of her younger sibling staring at her with a look that practically said "Are you kidding me?", Luna raised an eyebrow while continuing her glare.
"Greetings to you too sister, we did not realize that you and the floor were close friends. Is this of a platonic sort or is there something you failed to mention to us?" She finally said with a ghost of a smile.
A bright pink blush materializes over her cheeks and she picks herself up, "it is nothing of the sort sister, you just startled me is all." Celestia coughs lightly into a dainty hoof and puffs out her chest trying to look dignified. She fails as her fur puffs out slightly.
Knowing this, Luna tries very hard not to laugh at her sisters hilarity; She puts a hoof to her lips as the lightest of chuckles worm their way out of her. After that moment of lighthearted humor passes, her face changes from one of laughter to one of care and concern.
"Are thee alright dear sister?" Her eye color turns into a slightly lighter blue.
The elder sister smiles warmly, "Yes I am doing fine little sister, thank you for your concern. Truly, it means so much but im okay." She nuzzles her cheek affectionately only to be met with air as Luna took a step backward.
"Celestia..." Luna deadpanned.
Celestia felt a shiver run down her spine as she heard her own name called, she knew that her sister would never call her by her own name unless it was it was something serious, she was mad or that she wasn't believing her shit.
She got her answer soon enough.
"We are sisters, thou may be three years older than I, but we are not stupid...", the night princess poked her chest a few times with an accusatory hoof. "So do not think for one minute that we will believe the hogwash you are spewing from your lying mouth, we will not hear it. Give us the truth and nothing but the truth or shut the buck up." She finishes with a powerful glare.
Celestia's mouth dropped as she couldn't believe her ears, she could not believe that her sister said that to her but it didn't make it any less true.
Making sure to pick her jaw up from the floor it was resting on, she at least made an effort to seem apologetic.
"I'm sorry Luna," Her ears fold down cutely. "I should not have lied, I just don't want to worry you over my petty issues. You have enough to deal with during your nightly duties, you shouldn't hear about nonsense such as this." She tilts her head down towards the floor and stares at her own reflection, not even batting an eye to her sibling.
Both sisters could hear the crickets in the background as they stayed silent, after some time however; Luna was the first to break the silence with a soft sigh.
"Look at us sister." Luna said calmly.
Celestia flinched slightly, refusing to look at her and continue looking at the shiny marble ground.
The lunar princess lets out another sigh and trots up to her elder sibling, places a hoof underneath her chin and slowly lifts her head up to stare into her eyes once again.
"We are friends are we not?" She asks much to the confusion of Celestia who nods a little.
"And we are sisters yes?" Another nod.
"Sisters are friends and friends tell eachother about their problems no matter how little or large they are yes?" Celestia's eyes trace back down only to be interrupted by a firm shake from her sisters hoof.
"Answer the question sister." The sun princess swallows the small lump in the back of her throat and gives a bigger nod as she stares back into her sisters caring eyes.
Luna removes her hoof from her chin and begins gently stroking the prismatic mare by her mane. "No matter what you say sister, we will always love you and will offer you advice however we can. Do not be discouraged by the issues, be they petty or serious, we support you nonetheless because that's what good sisters do for one another." A few tears of liquid love flow slowly down Celestia's face before being wiped away with an azure frog.
"Th-thank you Luna, you're a wonderful sister. How could I have been blessed with you growing up I will never know." She gives a few sniffles before ending her sentence with a heartfelt smile.
"We wear our title with pride Celly." The sky princess smiles warmly and wraps her hoof around her sister's haunches. "Now tell us what is wrong? Please? Don't make us turn sentimental once more, as much as we enjoy it we do have a reputation to uphold." Both deities shared a laugh that they could feel in their core, turning the atmosphere into a joyous one unlike the sad and cold one from mere moments ago.
They basked in this warmth for as long as they could until reality hit them both once again, turning things more serious.
Locking the door with her magic with a gentle click, Luna slowly pulls back and makes her way over to her sisters bed; the bedsheets were bright and yellow with a large sun placed perfectly in the middle. The princess of the night sits down, wrinkling the sheets as she does but she could care less as her attention is set upon her sibling.
The alabaster mare slowly makes her way towards the window placed at the opposite end of the room, back to her sister. She stares at the lit up buildings and the light poles shining brightly in the streets below as well as the ponies cantering and laughing with one another with morose eyes.
Taking a deep breath she begins, "Twilight hasn't sent me a letter in a little over a week and I can't help but feel concern sister, that isn't like her. I do hope that she is alright." Luna hangs onto every word and tilts her head slightly. "I'm sure that young Sparkle is doing alright sis, she is likely entranced in some book of hers and simply lost track of time."
Shaking her head, she places a hoof on the frame and her mane waves around at a slight quickened pace. "That's just it Luna, Twilight never does anything like this; I am aware that she gets sidetracked and busy but she never goes this long without even saying 'hello' to me. Sometimes I can't help but think that she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore." She hangs her head feeling depressed.
The small groan of annoyance coming from the moon princesses throat makes itself known as she shifts against the bedsheets.
"Do you hear yourself right now sister? You can't possibly even consider that", Sighing; Luna facehoofs and shakes her head causing her starry midnight mane to blow and wave along with her. "Did you even think of the possibility that young Twilight is simply TOO busy to run to you every minute to say hello? That young mare has a life of her own; she takes care of that dragon of hers, she has friends to converse and have fun with, AND she has a library to run. A very busy life indeed." She explains, "And she's busy flaunting around that juicy flank of hers like she's some kind of prize ." She mutters.
Celestia's ear twitches slightly and turns her head to her, "What was that Luna?" she inquires.
"Nothing Sister." Luna coughs awkwardly and looks all over the place to avoid contact and rubs her hoof against her neck.
The older alicorn just lets out a small sigh and looks oncemore towards the sky, the moon shining brightly in the night sky and stars twinkling as bright as diamonds. Constellations smearing across the cerulean/black background.
"I know that Luna, I just can't help it. I care for Twilight very much and have known her since she was a small filly. She's like a daughter to me and it would break my heart if anything happened to her or if she hated me. I honestly don't know how I could live knowing that my only daughter despised me." Tears began making their way down the solar princesses face slowly.
Celestia could hear shuffling and groaning come from the wood and sheets of the bed as well as hooves approaching her until they stopped just behind her. She could feel herself losing control and as soon as she felt her sibling pull her into a hug.
"It's okay dear just let it out~" Luna spoke with such soft words that she could have been mistaken by an angel. That is when Celestia began bawling into her chest, tears streaming down her face a mile a minute.
The younger sibling could feel her heart clench in pain as she held her loved one dearly, rubbing the white mare's back and in between her wings while whispering sweet words to her. Celestia could do nothing but cry and cry as the stresses and worries kept pouring out of her, and Luna was unfortunately the napkin to dry her eyes.
Internally Luna wanted nothing more than to wipe the disgusting snot and tears matting her vibrant coat fur off and take one hundred showers in hopes of being pure once again but she bit her tongue and allowed Celestia to continue crying against her.
"The things I do for love..." She thought to herself as she for her sister to calm down.
As the minutes dragged by, Celestia let all of her woes out until she couldn't produce anymore tears. Pulling back and sniffling she magicked a wad of tissues and blew hard, sending all the gunk out and throwing it into the trash bin sitting next to her desk filled with papers and quills.
"Feeling better?" Her sister bit back her venomous words and decided to stick to small talk for the sake of not strangling Celestia.
Celestia nodded and took a deep breath, smiling once she let's it out. "Yes I'm feeling better, thank you Luna." She looked at her and let out a little snort before laughing hard and falling to her hindquarters, kicking her hooves and holding her sides.
Luna's normal soft, pristine, and perfectly brushed coat turned into something out of a horror movie. Snot, tears and whatever else caused her entire front to look matted and dried up like a raison. Luna wasn't happy and she could tell by the look on her face. And she thought it was hilarious!
"Yes yes laugh it up why don't you? After all I'm just standing here like a concubine of mucus and other undesirable stains." Luna said dully while narrowing her eyes. Her mane stopped moving and her eyes turned a shade darker but nothing other than that.
"I'm hehe so-hehe-sorhehehhe-ry-hehehe! It's j-just too fu-hehe-unny!" After laughing for what felt like hours for Celestia and eternity for Luna, the solar princess finally came down from her bout of giggles.
"Are thou done laughing at my torment?"
Celestia nods and offers an apologetic smile. "Yes Luna I'm done, although you may want to wash that out. It's not good for your coat."
"Dully noted sister..." Luna mutters slightly while rolling her eyes, drawling another few giggles out of her sister.
Despite the overwhelming disgust that she felt, she didn't show it but Luna couldn't help but smile inside because she knew she did the right thing. The right thing might be extremely difficult but it's often the best choice to make. Even if the results in the end were her being repulsed, it was worth it for her because her sister is feeling better. "I would do anything to protect her and to make her happy" she thought. "Even if that ends with me being in less than fortunate instances." She ended with a slight shake of her head as she noticed Celestia picking herself off the floor and giving her cheek a nuzzle, she reciprocated the notion and enjoyed every single moment. Enjoyed every little touch and rub that her sister gave her and gave it in return.
The moment was short lived however when both sisters heard the unmistakable shout of pain come to their ears. It game as practically a whisper to their ears as the voice spread across their brains like spiderwebs. They looked at one another confused. Pulling away from each other as they gazed across the horizon looking for that pained cry only to be met with an even louder one echoing through the air. Luna could feel very uneasy as the screams continued.
"Sister, what.... who is screaming such pain? It sounds so far away... what poor creature could endure such horrors?" Luna could feel the hairs all over her body raise as they continued listening.
"I... I don't know Luna... But.... we must help them", Celestia's face turned hard. "We MUST help them! We CAN'T leave our subjects to deal with such torturous agony." She used her bright yellow magic to open her glass balcony doors wide, allowing the moonlight to shine against the floors.
Spreading her wings wide Celestia ran towards the outdoor balcony with every intention to leap off the edge and race across the country if she had to in order to save the poor soul. Luna went alongside her clearly sharing her sentiment until stopping dead in her tracks, her eyes bugging out of her skull and her mouth open wide.
"Okay, if we get there fast enough we- Luna what's wrong? Why are you looking like that?" Luna was speechless and couldn't put into words what she was seeing but the only sound that came out of her mouth was "Hngggg...", Luna could do nothing but raise a shaky hoof and point it towards the sky.
Celestia could do nothing but stare in horror at what she was witnessing. A bright blue beam of light what shooting into the sky and at the spot the beam was aimed at, there was a large tear in the sky. Like someone shattered a piece of the sky like a piece of glass and leaving behind a pitch black spot. Both of them could see the piece falling into the everfree forest which is where the strange light seems to originate from.
Both deities stood there dumbly for a moment but to them it felt like forever. The solar princess shook her head, snapping herself out of her stupefied state of mind and immediately started writing a letter to her pupil.
"This isn't something we can do by our lonesome Luna, we need the elements for this. We can't handle an invasion to this extent, if Sombra was bad enough...." Dark thoughts and pained cries came to her brain as she couldn't stop thinking about the slaves he tortured mentally, emotionally... and sometimes physically.
"Yes... yes we agree with this... a piece of the sky breaking and falling? This is the work of something far greater than we thought." Luna dumbly nodded and started writing a letter of her own.
Once both sisters were done, they sent their letters to the recipients. Luna ran out the room without time to spare, not even looking back at Celestia as her hooves slammed against the tiles.
The elder sister was about to follow her younger sibling but her ear caught something that made her face go pale.
CELESTIAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!
"That, that voice...... please don't let it be true. Please be wrong for once Tia!" Absolute terror filled her chest as she sprinted out the room with images of burning blue eyes and flowing white air filling her brain. A scaly devil arm and a sword big enough to split rock with ease.
The last thing her brain tortured her with was a single name that she was all too familiar with, and one that filled her with intense trepidation.
"Nero..."