1
Luna had not heard Celestia's voice or any other voices for a few days now. She hung from the wall, chains engulfing her legs and her magic cut off. Her tears had ceased to fall but she still cried. Her head was hanging limply to her chest and she whimpered quietly to herself. All of her meals were brought to her by a guardspony now, and they would levitate the food to her. It wasn't bad food by any means but, she still wished she could eat it herself, instead of being treated like a criminal. Every time she tried to ask him or her, depending on the day, about Celestia they would cringe and fast-walk out of the room.
Celestia couldn't stand the sight of her sister in such a miserable state. She stared her younger sister, her heart broke again at the sight of what she had done. She placed a hoof on the one way ice panel that separated her from her imprisoned sister.
"Did I go too far?" she asked herself. "Did I do the right thing?" Celestia got up and decided to go and talk to Luna. She went to the door and opened it, letting in more light than was there previously. Luna looked up with the most pitiful look Celestia had ever seen, making her heart cringe. "Luna?"
"..."
"Luna, please say something." she pleaded. Luna did not give a response. "Luna, please understand, I had to put you here." This caught Luna's attention. "You were contaminated, I can't take the risk of it being contagious." she tried to explain.
"How long?" Luna whispered, making Celestia look up.
"What?"
"How long?"
"I don't understand." Celestia said, confused.
"How long were those things inside of me? It can't be contagious!" Luna yelled.
"I can't take that risk Luna! Please understand..."
"UNDERSTAND?!" she bellowed from her chains. "UNDERSTAND LIKE WHEN YOU SEALED ME INSIDE THE MOON!?"
"Luna, stop..."
"HOW YOU REJECTED ME THEN TOO!"
Luna, I..."
"YOU WHAT?! WANT TO SEAL ME AWAY AGAIN? HOW ABOUT LETTING ME ROT HERE INSTEAD?! MAKE ME SUFFER!? I LOST ONE-THOUSAND YEARS CELESTIA! ONE-THOUSAND! HOW LONG WILL IT BE THIS TIME?!"
"LUNA!" Celestia roared, over her sister's massive voice. Luna stopped and glared daggers at Celestia. "Luna, please, don't make this harder than it already is. I don't know how those things got inside of you, but I'll fix you."
"Fix me? FIX ME!? I'M NOT BROKEN!" she continued yelling, letting tears of rage fall from her eyes.
Celestia had begun to cry a little bit as well. "Luna, I did what I thought was the right thing to do at the time. I couldn't have possibly known how you felt."
"No you couldn't have! If I were you right now and you were in my place, how would you feel then?!"
"I...I don't know how I..."
"Of course you don't! You're not me! You were always the one the citizens of Equestria looked up to, while I was just an afterthought! It was always about Celestia, Bringer of the Day! I still haven't gained the citizens trust back after Nightmare Moon, while they hail you as the savior of Equestria!" she roared.
"That's ENOUGH!" Celestia roared, Luna went quiet. "That's quite enough young lady. I don't know what happened to you, I don't know how those cells got inside your blood, and I really don't know how you and Volos are connected, but I will find out and I will fix it." Luna remained silent. "I'm your sister and I care for you deeply, I just don't want to take any risks is all." Luna looked away from Celestia. "I'll come back later once we both have had a chance to calm down." Celestia said closing the open door behind her as she left.
2
Celestia was standing a distance away from Volos, who was still standing like a statue. She glared at him. "It's all your fault!" she yelled. "If you hadn't shown up, Luna would still be normal!" she shouted, swinging her hooves and flaring her wings. After she felt satisfied with her one sided shouting match, she went back up to the observation deck and sat on a small chair in frustration, ignoring the other Alicorn in the room.
"Auntie? Are you feeling alright?" Cadance asked.
Celestia looked over to Cadance with surprise. "Cadance, what are you doing here?"
"I brought her." Shining Armour said, walking up from behind Cadance.
"Why?" Celestia groaned.
"She asked, and somepony here wrote a letter to me regarding the current situation." he said nonchalantly.
"Remind me to banish whomever it was that sent it." Celestia grumbled. "You know about Luna then?"
"Yes, Princess."
"Call me Celestia. I retired you from duty, remember? And your my nephew in law."
"Now what about Auntie Luna?" Cadance asked, stepping into the conversation.
"Luna has been...contaminated." Celestia said, remorse in her voice.
"Contaminated? What do you mean?"
"We found cells inside of Luna's blood stream that are identical to the creature's."
Cadance was dumbfounded. "May I see it?" she asked, after a time.
"The blood samples or the creature?"
"The creature." Cadance said. Celestia pointed with a hoof to the ice panel. Cadance walked over to the panel and scanned the room beyond it until her eyes fell onto the creature standing by the wall. "Oh, my." was all she could manage to say.
"It contaminated Luna somehow. I will find out how to cure her." Celestia said, determined.
"Where is she now?" Cadance asked, Shining Armour listening in as well.
"In isolation, if you can call it that." Celestia said, sadly. "It's more of a prison really. I had to chain her to the walls and cut off her ability to use magic. I don't know if it's contagious and I didn't want to take the chance." she stated.
"Auntie?!" Cadance exclaimed, surprised at such a statement. "You did what?!"
"I had no choice!" Celestia yelled. Cadance recoiled and Shining Armour came over and placed a hoof on Cadance's shoulder.
"Cadance I...I didn't mean too...I..." she stammered.
"It's alright, I just have a hard time believing that you would do such a thing." she replied.
"I do too." Celestia responded, looking back to the creature behind the glass. "I do too."
3
Luna's mind spun. She was angry, sad, and a mix of many other emotions all at the same time. "She betrayed me again." she whispered angrily. "I've been sealed away again for a crime that I didn't commit. I didn't ask to have those things in my blood, I didn’t ask to be connected with Volos." her rage built up significantly. "I WISH THEY WOULD ALL JUST GO AWAY!" she roared in her Royal Canterlot Voice. Her head fell down again and rested against her chest, tears falling from her eyes. She began rustling the gold chains that were attached to her limbs. She pulled and strained but the chains would not budge an inch against her force. She tried again and still the same results. "Let me out!" she cried.
"The door to Luna's room opened and Cadance walked in with Shining Armour in tow. Cadance covered her mouth with a hoof in complete shock of the sight before her. Shining Armour was trying not to yell at Celestia, who stood a short distance behind them.
"Auntie Luna?"
Luna looked up. "Cadance?"
"Yes, Auntie, it's me. And Shining Armour is here with me." she tried her best to keep from crying. "I know what's happened, Auntie."
Luna's features changed drastically. "Is that so?! Have you come her to stare at the freak?!" she yelled angrily.
"Auntie..."
"We came here to offer you our support!" Shining interjected.
"Right." Luna sighed. "This whole thing has been mind numbing to say the least. I'm starting to wonder who I really am."
"Aunt Celestia has agreed to let you down from the wall." Cadance said, smiling, trying to spread the emotion to Luna.
"I see." Luna replied. "Where is Celestia?"
Cadance stepped aside, letting Celestia come to the front of their little group. "Luna, I'll let you down on one condition." she stated.
"What's that?" Luna asked.
"You still can't leave."
"WHAT!?" she bellowed. "You've kept me here for days! I won't agree to that condition!"
"Then I can't let you down."
Luna's rage was growing, she wanted nothing more than to lunge from her prison and strangle Celestia for keeping her prisoner. She began pulling on the chains again, huffing. "LET ME DOWN!" Luna ordered, pulling on her chains. "LAST CHANCE!" Celestia still did not do anything. "I HATE YOU!" she roared. Celestia, Cadance and Shining Armour recoiled from her harsh words. Luna continued screaming and pulling on her chains, she was seeing red. Celestia charged her horn. Luna noticed and started to scream and pull on her chains more ferociously. Cadance was cowering while Shining stood in front of her. She stared at Celestia. "You betrayed me!"
"I did no such thing!"
"Lies!"
"I'm telling you the truth! I don't know what those cells could do to you or anyponyelse in this facility!"
"It's NOT CONTAGIOUS!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Celestia roared. "How should I have handled the news?! You tell me!" Luna stopped struggling and didn't say anything to Celestia. "That's what I thought. I will let you down eventually, but until you show me that you can agree to my condition, I can't."
Luna's horn began to glow and spark, her rage building again. Celestia's mouth went agape. Luna screamed, pain shooting through her body and horn. Luna began to pant and her horn began smoking after the sparks had faded. The group looked at Luna in awe. A short time later they were knocked out of their trance by an angry roar.
4
Volos still stood in his room when his on board information display began to work.
...Orders Received...
...Terminate Enemy...
Target...White Alicorn known as 'Celestia.'
5
They felt the ground shake and heard crashing noises. They turned in time to see Volos crash through one of the crystal walls. Volos bee lined toward the group. Before they could move, Volos had slammed into them, sending them in different directions.
"Is everypony alright?" Celestia asked getting up.
"I'm O.K." Cadance said, wincing as she got up.
"No she's not. She has a broken leg and wing." Shining said getting up, noticing her contorted leg and wing. He assisted her in a standing position that would not compromise her injuries.
"Take her and leave." Celestia ordered. Cadance tried to protest but Celestia's face said otherwise. Cadance and Shining left quickly. Celestia looked at Volos, he was pulling on the chains. "They won't break." she said, her words falling on deaf ears. Luna was not moving and was limp. Volos pulled again and this time the chains started to move. Celestia was shocked, and stood in silence. Volos pulled one last time, making the chains shatter and dissipate into thin air. "What?" Celestia whispered.
Luna fell into Volos' arms, unconscious. He cradled her and set her down gently on the ground. He stood back up and turned to face Celestia. She stared at the creature before her, she swallowed hard. Volos roared and charged. Celestia shot him with a concussive blast spell. The blast of sound washed over Volos' body but it didn't slow him down. Celestia dodged a direct blow from Volos' shoulder as he slammed into the wall opposite her. Seeing her chance, Celestia blasted her chain spell on Volos. Volos' entire body was laced with the gold chains. He pushed out, using his arms and the chains shattered without much effort.
Celestia couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. One of her most powerful imprisonment spell was destroyed so easily. "What's happening?" she whispered. Volos lunged at her, catching her neck before she could move. Volos swung Celestia into the wall and let her drop to the ground. Volos was closing the short distance between them, releasing one of his blades. Celestia could feel her magic stores being drained rapidly. "What's happening?" she groaned. Volos stopped and placed the blade to her cheek. She looked at Volos and noticed that his body was emitting a very faint green glow. "The Crystal Heart?" she questioned, a realization dawning on her. "It's deemed me a villain?" she panicked. "But why? I...." she looked over to where Luna was lying on the ground, the realization felt a like a punch in the gut. "I made a mistake!" she hollered at Volos. "I'm sorry!" Volos raised his fore-arm mounted sword above his head. "No! STOP! PLEASE! I WAS WRONG!" Volos still held the blade above his head, his on board scanner relaying information.
Luna stirred and opened her eyes with a groan. She was greeted by the sight of Volos standing over her sister with his blade raised. "Wait, don't." she ordered. Volos did not move from his position. "Don't kill her! Even after everything she doesn't deserve to die!" she screamed, running between Celestia and Volos. "I don't agree with what she did to me but she's still my sister. Stand down." she ordered, a boldness coming from her voice.
...Orders Withdrawn...Awaiting New Orders...
Volos lowered his blade and re-sheathed it. He walked a short distance away and stood like he had been previously.
"What happened?" Luna asked, turning to Celestia.
"The Crystal Heart had labeled me a tyrant and drained all of my magic reserves. It made me defenseless."
"Oh."
Celestia looked at Luna and hugged her. "I'm sorry." she sobbed. "I'm sorry that I had done this to you. I was wrong in every way. Can you forgive me?" she asked.
"Celestia, I..." she faltered, making Celestia nervous. "I can't, not yet."
Celestia became even more downcast. "I...I understand." she stated, sadly. "How did you call him?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked. Celestia pointed to Volos with a hoof. Luna stared at Volos. "I don't know. I remember wanting to hurt you so much earlier. I...I wished for you to be hurt and he came running in."
Celestia was not surprised Luna had wanted to hurt her, but what she did not expect was for Volos to carry out her will. "You don't remember your horn glowing and sparking?"
"I remember that it hurt a little and I felt something else."
"What?"
"I don't know how to put in words to explain it but it felt like he was supposed to carry out my wish." she stated.
"I see." she stated, her voice shaky. "Luna?" Luna turned toward Celestia. "I want to talk about all of this with you. I won't stop feeling guilty but...I can't continue knowing that you still can't forgive me for this." she looked down at the floor, shame washing over her. "I never even asked about how you felt about everything that has been happening, and for that I'm sorry. I want us to sit down and, I want you to talk to me, vent your frustrations. I just want you to know that I really do care about you, and that I regret imprisoning you."
Luna looked at Celestia. "Is this because the crystal Heart took your power from you?"
"I know that is how it appears, if you truly want, you can attack me now and I won't be able to fight back." she said, putting herself into an open position for an assault. "Go ahead, if you really need to."
Luna stared at her sister in amazement. "You would really leave yourself open to an attack, just to show me you were sorry?" Celestia nodded. "Celestia." she thought for a while. "I think you've been through enough torment because of this. I won't make you suffer more than you already have." she said, a faint smile on her lips.
Celestia rocketed to Luna, pulling her into a great hug. "Thank you." she cried.
Luna placed her hooves on Celestia's back, returning the embrace. "We have more work to do, do you want to get started?"
"Not yet." Celestia said, still crying and holding onto Luna.
"Agreed." Luna responded, smiling.