Knock knock knock
"Away with thee... We are sleeping..." Princess Luna mumbled to the door.
"Apologies, Milady." a guard replied from the other side. "I simply wished to inform you that your sister is awake and well."
"How... Wonderful." Princess Luna groaned quietly.
It had been two and a half days since the spell was preformed and Celestia passed out from magical exhaustion. Luna had unofficially been tasked with the raising of both the sun and the moon; a feat which was not incredibly easy, especially when it seemed as though the sun outright resisted her, at times.
Shining Armor had been... "Convinced" that the alien was a threat that needed to be dealt with, while Twilight Sparkle seemed more friendly towards it.
"Typical..." Princess Luna muttered as she fully opened her eyes to find the sun, just as she had left it, halfway across the sky.
She had barely gotten an hours rest.
Noble Six held her helmet in her hands, visor turned towards he so that she could see the crack across it.
It had seemed so real; the Elite. Its grip was tighter than her own but, in the end, it was her, choking herself.
Noble Six couldn't believe it.
Seventeen different operations on planets she had never even heard of. Her personal kill-count ranked one-hundred and thirty-seven.
She had lost two teammates in one mission gone bad - a sniper round through both of their visors -, so, why was she now only breaking down?
She shouldn't be breaking down in the first place, but she was.
The Elite had proved that...
Noble Six ran her armored finger along the crack in her visor one last time before a small smirk formed on her pale lips.
"Good afternoon, Captain." Princess Celestia greeted, quietly, as she descended the steps down into the dungeon.
"Good afternoon, Milady." Shining Armor replied, blandly, to which Celestia was rather used to, from her guards.
"I trust everything has been well during my absence?"
"Mostly, your highness." Shining Armor began. "There was a slight incident, yesterday night, when the alien began pounding on the walls. The noise boomed throughout the entire castle, and it only calmed down once Twilight tried speaking to it."
"How odd." Princess Celestia noted, aloud, as she took a step forward to peer through the barred window on the door to the cell. "Has it been sitting there, like that, ever since?"
"Mostly, your highness." Shining Armor replied, taking a small glance at the creature.
The alien did not stir.
"Has it asked for anything? Has it tried communicating with you?"
"No, Milady. It has remained silent since the incident."
Celestia gave a slight frown and continued watching the armored creature for a moment before turning to ascend the stairs, leaving Shining Armor and the troubled alien alone, once more.
"Good afternoon, Lulu." Princess Celestia greeted, cheerfully.
A mumbled reply came from Princess Luna, who pulled her blankets over her head.
"Aww, not going to say hello, back? I'm hurt, Lulu." Celestia pouted playfully. "I thought you'd be happy to see me, after all this time."
"I'd be happier if I was asleep." Luna's muffled voice came from under the covers as Celestia crawled onto the bed next to her sister.
"I'm sorry I'm keeping you up, but I'd like to know what has happened since my blackout."
"Then pester the Captain of the Guard, or Twilight Sparkle." Luna groaned.
"I would, but Shining Armor simply watches; he doesn't think about it. And Twilight seems to be a bit mopey. Any clue as to why?" Celestia questioned accusatively.
"Not in the slightest."
"Hmm..." Celestia mused as she reached a hoof over and pulled the covers away from her sister's head. "We need to talk, Lulu, about several things. The first of which being what exactly happened to Noble Six while I was out."
"The alien had a fit and tried to kill itself. Probably because it's going through an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder. Or, maybe because it realizes it will never go home and will die here, alone, on a foreign planet." Luna explained with a glare.
"You're always so dramatic." Celestia replied with a roll of her eyes. "And what's this I hear about you not agreeing on the validity of Twilight's Princesshood?"
Princess Luna gave an annoyed huff and rolled out of bed. "I did not bring it up, since you never seem to listen to me, anyway."
"Luna, that's not true. We've been there for each other for thousands of years ever since Mother and Father left. We wouldn't have made it this far, together, if we ignored each other." Celestia challenged. "Is this because I ignored the trials?"
"Of course it's because you ignored the trials!" Luna shouted. "An alicorn's power is limitless, and, coupled with their immortality and near lack of weaknesses, one would be nearly unstoppable if in the wrong hooves! Twilight Sparkle is brash and untrained!"
"She is my student and a blessing to Equestria!" Princess Celestia shouted back, rising to her hooves. "Without her, the Elements of Harmony would never have been reunited after all of those years, and you would be back on the moon, because nopony would have been able to save you!"
"I didn't need saving!"
"Then why did they encounter you as Nightmare Moon?!"
"BECAUSE NOPONY WAS THERE FOR ME!" Princess Luna screamed as tears welled up in her eyes and her voice shook the castle. "One thousand years of banishment on a floating rock in space, Celestia! One thousand years of you claiming to care, but if you really cared, you would have at least remembered the place you banished me, and been there to greet me when I returned! Instead, what do I come back to?!"
"Luna, that's not fair! I-" Princess Celestia tried to interrupt.
"Piles of sun-bleached skeletons donning Republic Armor, and not a single glimmer of golden armor!" Princess Luna continued. "When we claimed the throne after Mother and Father passed, we swore to love each pony equally, from the most villainous murderer, to the snobbiest noble! But, instead, you cared only for yourself and those who stayed loyal to you! You left my wounded and dead ponies there to insult me when I returned!"
Princess Celestia was left dumbstruck as her younger sister, crying, spread her wings and slammed through the large glass window that led to the balcony; shattering it in the process.
Princess Celestia simply watched, in silence, as the black dot that was her younger sister grew smaller and smaller in the horizon.
Now was her chance.
Whatever that noise was, it had been loud enough to reach her in what she hoped and assumed was the lowest point of the castle.
Putting her plan into action, Noble Six set her helmet on the ground and held her head tightly as she began screaming, collapsing to the ground and writhing in fake pain when the white pony guarding her peered into the cell.
A slight peek revealed an alarmed expression on his face, rather than a plain and uncaring one.
A moment later, he was shouting upstairs and, soon after, down came several armored guards; two of which supported a rather small stretcher across their backs.
Noble Six continued to act as though she were in pain, spasming lightly on the floor as she held her head, as the guards came into her cell and struggled to heft her onto the stretcher, and then tried to carry her to the stairs.
The weight of her armor was apparently too much for the tiny horses, who barely moved as they tried to get her to the stairs; realizing, too late, that they would have to go up the stairs, as well.
Princess Celestia ignored the tear that rolled off of her cheek and onto the aged, cartoonish drawing.
It was one of Luna's, from when they were still little fillies; happy, young, playful... When Mother and Father were still alive...
But that was behind her, now, and Celestia had worked so hard to not be angry at him; so much so that she encased him in stone rather than outright executing him for all he had done, as Luna suggested, all those years ago...
Princess Celestia sighed a sad sigh and carefully tucked the drawing back into her memory chest before teleporting it away to the safest place in all of Equestria - a place that only she knew of.
Princess Celestia's sadness was interrupted by the soft creaking of the door, and a quick glance behind her revealed Twilight sheepishly entering.
"I'm sorry, Princess... I know you probably want to be alone, right now, but I just wanted to let you know that they managed to get her up the stairs and into the infirmary." Twilight Sparkle explained.
"Thank you, Twilight. How is she?"
"The doctors still don't know. They haven't given her anything because they're afraid it'll do more harm, but it looks like she's in immense pain. Oh, and... Uh, two guards strained themselves a bit too much helping her up the stairs. They'll be fine, though."
"That is good news, Twilight. About the guards, I mean." Princess Celestia said, before giving a sad sigh.
"I'm sorry I caused this... I didn't mean to; I was just a little frustrated... I never expected this to happen..."
"It's not your fault, Twilight." Princess Celestia reassured, pulling the young alicorn closer with her wing and giving a comforting nuzzle against the top of her head. "Luna always has been a little touchy, but she's right. I should have been there to greet her. I kept track of the days, for one thousand years. I should have been there to welcome her home. And instead... Instead, I left her alone, once again and, even worse... I let her see those horrid memories..."
Unable to think of any way to reassure her wise mentor, Twilight simply slumped against the white pony...
Elsewhere, however, groups of horridly black pony things huddled together in sleep, rather than sadness.
Princess Luna trotted determinedly past the guards, who let her through without hesitation. When she reached the end of the long, poorly lit, cavernous hall, and stood before the giant, rotted wooden doors, the guards beside them gave a slight chitter and eagerly opened the doors for the Princess of the Night.
"Ah, Princess Luna. You didn't tell me you were coming - I would have prepared a banquet." the tall, dark, ominous alicorn teased from her throne.
"Stay your teasing, please. I grow tired of hearing of food that I cannot eat."
"My apologies. To what do I owe the honor of being blessed with a visit?"
"To war, of course." Princess Luna replied, darkly.
The creature on the throne nearly leapt off of it as her snout exploded into eager excitement. "When do we begin? The Hive is restless to seek revenge, and to be free of the underground!"
"Soon, Chrysalis." Princess Luna explained, with a dark smile. "Soon.