All around the princess, fire blazed. Terrified screams of griffons – wait, not griffons… ponies – assaulted her ears from all angles. The ponies ran around frantically, their homes on fire, the cobbled streets upturned, the – wait, the streets are upturned?
“What’s going on here? Celestia! Where are you?!” Luna yelled, but just the screams of ponies answered her. She still heard her name being called out, but nowhere Celestia could be seen. Luna glanced hard at her surroundings. Upon closer examination, the princess of the moon realized that she was no longer even in Griffonia, but in their home, Equestria. Luna looked on in horror as she realized that the ponies screaming were their own subjects – the ones that the royal family was sworn to protect and serve until their dying days.
“Tia, please, where are you!?” Luna cried out in despair, seeing one dark green unicorn trip on the ground. The unicorn laid there for a moment, not moving, and then started slowly hoisting herself her to her feet, yet she looked frightened. Luna kept watching, and realized that the unicorn was not lifting herself up – but was starting to hover ever-so-slightly in the air. The unicorn shrieked in terror and batted her hooves uselessly against the air. The princess ran over to her and tries to pull her back down.
“Princess!,” the unicorn’s eyes went wide at seeing her, “Please, you have to help us! You have to save us! Please, do something!”
“Save you from who?!” Luna begged as she pulled the unicorn back down to the ground finally. The mare’s face calmed for just a brief second, fear replaced by confusion.
“Them, of course!” She raised her hoof high in the sky and pointed. Luna glanced upwards. And there, flying, rubbing their ugly, terrible hands together, a legion of draconequus hovered. Luna could only stare as one of them snapped his two fingers, and two other ponies that were running down the street suddenly had the street pulled right out from underneath them, like one could do to a rug. They fell down with a loud oof, but quickly regained their footing and kept on running.
“LUNA! WHERE ARE YOU? PLEASE!” Luna still heard Celestia screaming. The filly couldn’t find the strength to move her muscles. Fear rippled through her, holding onto her heart, preventing any possible action.
“Tia…” Was all the princess could manage to squeak. Luna still stared at the enemy so far up. The draconequus were terrible, terrifying monsters, and here they were, in her kingdom. Where were her mom and dad? Why weren’t they here, fighting these enemies? A small flash of white caught her eye. Luna turned to see Celestia standing at the end of the street. Luna found her voice.
“TIA! I’M HERE!” Luna cried out, regaining muscle movement. She started sprinting towards her sister. Celestia saw her and a big smile grew on her face. Even amidst all the chaos surrounding them, Celestia’s smile still shone brightly.
“Luna! I’m so glad I found you! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s going on here?” Luna asked. Celestia shook her head, her eyes wet, dirt smearing her coat.
“The draconequus are here, and… and…” Celestia could get no further. She bit her lower lip, tears pricking her eyes. Luna moved forward and put her hoof on her sister’s shoulder in concern.
“Tia, what’s the matter? What’s happened?” Celestia was quiet for a moment before she let out a wail. Tears flowed freely down from her eyes. Luna started, pulling her sister into a tight embrace. Both fillies shook, Celestia from sobbing, Luna from worry.
“Mom and dad… they’re gone, Luna.” Celestia wailed through her gasps of air. Luna stopped and pushed her sister back.
“Tia, what do you mean?”
“They’re gone, Luna. They’re dead.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Is this a good stopping point?” Twilight smirked at Sweetie Belle.
“NO!” Sweetie looked at her hooves in despair. “They can’t be dead. It’s impossible. How did Luna and Celestia end up in Equestria? Weren’t they in Griffonia?”
“They were, yes.”
“Then how did they get back home? And why were the draconequus there? And why were Solaria and Astras dead? And how did they die? And why was Luna there all alone? Why didn’t she have any memory of anything?” Sweetie Belle listed question after question, more to herself than Twilight. The Princess of Friendship laughed.
“Woah there, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. Do you want me to continue?” Twilight took another sip of water.
“Yes please, Twilight! This is getting so good! I really wanna know what happens!”
“Alright,” Twilight leaned back again. “Luna couldn’t believe what she had just heard coming from her sister’s mouth…”
~~~~~~~~~~
“What are you talking about Tia? They can’t be dead!” Luna shook her sister hard, angry. What was she saying? Was she delusional? But Celestia kept shaking uncontrollably, gasping for air.
“They’re dead, and we’re here alone. We have to drive the draconequus away. I’m the only one who can do it.”
“Are you insane?! What about me?”
“No, Luna. I can’t let you be harmed. That would be too much for me to bear. I couldn’t live with myself if I let you die.” Celestia rested her head on Luna’s shoulder. “Please, just stay here. I’ll be fine. Just get to safety.” Luna pushed Celestia away again.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, and I don’t know what’s going on here. Mom and dad aren’t dead; they’re in Griffonia. What are we doing back here?” Luna’s head was spinning. It was all too much for her to bear.
“Luna, I don’t know what you’re talking about anymore. Just please, run to the castle and hide in your room.”
“No.” Luna’s face was solemn and serious. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m not leaving you.” Celestia shook with anxiety.
“You might die, sister. I couldn’t bear to face the world without you here.”
“Then that’s a risk that I’m willing to take. We can run to the castle together.”
“I can’t…” The elder princess whispered. “Our people need me. Their king and queen are dead. Mom and dad are dead. And I’m the only one that can drive the draconequus away.” Luna just stared at her sister, words lost in her mouth. There was nothing that she could say that would make sense.
“Well, well, well… what do we have here?” A deep, rolling voice cooed. Both princesses snapped their heads to the direction of the noise. A draconequus hovered close by, sitting in a floating throne, smiling coyly. Celestia took a step forward, protectively placing herself between the monster and her sister.
“What do you want, draconequus?” The elder princess shouted at him. He laughed slowly, a gentle expression on his features.
“My, my, princess. Such a temper. I just came to see what the two of you were discussing over here? No need to react with such vigor.” The draconequus still smiled at the two. Celestia gave him an angry glare.
“You monsters killed my parents, but you won’t kill my sister!” Celestia cried out. The princess’s horn glowed lightly with magic. Luna stared in wonder at her. The draconequus feigned shock.
“Kill Princess? Why, you wound me! I would never kill your sweet, little sister!” The draconequus snapped his fingers, and in an instant, appeared behind Luna. He reached out his hand and stroked her mane softly.
“She’s so adorable; I would never think to do something like that!”
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Celestia screamed as Luna batted his hand away and dashed behind her again. Her horn glowed fiercely now, the golden aura lighting up her face. Luna shrank away slowly, fearing her sister’s wrath. When Celestia was angry, she was angry. The draconequus rolled his eyes in boredom.
“Now that’s quite enough out of you, princess. I don’t need to deal with your sass today, if you please.” He didn’t even seem to notice the golden glow off Celestia’s horn. Luna’s voice cracked as she spoke.
“Get him, sister. Kill him.” Celestia nodded grimly. The draconequus frowned.
“If you try to kill me, you’ll regret it deeply, princess. Why bother?” The draconequus leaned back, reclining. “But if you will, then please, fire when ready.” A glass of apple juice appeared in his hands and sunglasses popped onto his face. The monster didn’t look frightened or worried in the slightest. Celestia let out a wail and sent the golden beam off from her horn and it flew towards him – and went right through a big hole in his chest that suddenly appeared. Both fillies gaped as the draconequus laughed, and the hole closed up.
“Please princess, do you honestly think that you could defeat me with your pathetic little magic? Ponies could never triumph over the might of the draconequus! Your kingdom will fall, and your sister killed right in front of you, Celestia.” He leaned forward to her, sneering in contempt. The elder princess cowed beneath him, still guarding her sister, but the white alicorn’s legs quaked. “You could never hope to save anyone, Celestia. You’re a useless little pony who can’t do a thing. It would be better for you to just give up.” Celestia slumped to the ground, tears flowing from her eyes.
“No… no, please, no.” She moaned in despair. The draconequus just grinned at her, overjoyed at her dismay. “I’ll do anything, just please, spare my sister. Don’t let anything hurt my sister.” Luna’s own tears threatened to leak out of her eyes.
“Tia, don’t do this.” Luna put one hoof forward, gasping for air. Celestia turned and looked at Luna over her shoulder.
“Run, Luna. Please, run away.” Luna looked up to the draconequus, who still gazed smugly at Celestia. Luna squeezed her eyes shut in disgust.
“There we go, princess. Finally using your little tiny brain, I see. Finally seeing sense.” Luna watched as the monster snaked around her older sister, who had her eyes shut, trying not to cry. He stroked her mane lovingly as he did so.
“There there, princess. Calm down. It will all be over soon.” The draconequus lifted his hands and a glint of mania glimmered in his eyes. Luna opened her mouth to scream, but she was too late – the creature snapped his fingers, and a bright light enveloped Celestia. The monster shrieked in delight and laughed at Luna’s screams. All around the filly, fire still blazed. Luna shrunk away from the light, calling out Celestia’s name.
And then the noises subsided. The bright lights faded. And Luna was awoken by Celestia, sitting up in their straw bed, screaming her sister’s name fanatically. All four griffons snapped their heads towards the two fillies. Marne ran over to the bed.
“Miss Celestia, what’s the matter? Are you alright?” Celestia stared at Marne, then at Luna, and dove at her, tackling her in a tight hug. Luna was still too stunned to move, or do anything at all.
“LUNA! Thank God you’re alright! I thought…” Celestia bit her lower lip and bit back tears. “I thought I was never gonna see you again.” The two sisters hugged. Luna found her voice.
“Tia… what just happened?” Without raising her head, Celestia shook her head frantically.
“I had a dream that you were in trouble... I had a dream that mom and dad were dead. I had a dream that the draconequus were here.”