Present Day
It was dark. Celestia raised her head; she had changed from the youthful teenager she had once been: her mane was fully coloured and waved as if in a breeze; she was always taller than her sister, but now her build would be described as willowy. Her horn lit up with a stark, white light. It did almost nothing to dispel the darkness.
She turned around. There was somepony there. She was also an alicorn, but while Celestia was tall, she was shorter. She had a thin build reminiscent of a foal and her wide blue eyes emphasized the resemblance. Her mane was a shoulder length wave of blue and navy, and she had no cutiemark. "Ocean Current," whispered Celestia. "How are you?" Celestia trotted towards her.
The foal screamed and back away, thrashing; she had a wound in her neck, pouring dark blood unto her pristine light blue coat; she writhed on the ground and slowed to a crawl. "No!" Shouted Celestia, galloping towards the alicorn. "Sister, s-stop hurting me!" screamed the foal.
The scene changed.
Celestia was standing in a desert, another pair of alicorns facing her; they were almost identical in everything but cutiemark. One had a solitary flame and the other a raging inferno of fire. They had green eyes and startlingly pale coats, which were a pastel shade of light green. Both their manes and tails were light shades of red. They spoke in unison; "Celestia, you have betrayed us. You are a traitor undeserving of your title.We are ashamed to call you sister." A harsh wind whipped up from behind them, throwing sand and grit in Celestia's wet eyes. The wind began to strip the mares of their flesh, blood flying everywhere. "Forest Fire! Glade Flame! Please," Moaned Celestia. "I'm sorry!" By the time she had finished speaking the wind had stopped and two skeletons lay bleaching in the sand.
The scene changed.
Celestia was now in the old courtyard of her castle. Before her stood a another alicorn, taller this time. Celestia cowered in her shadow. Her mane was a mirror image of hers, as was her tail. Her coat was also a glowing shade of white, but that was when the similarities stopped. Her eyes were a deep red and her cutiemark was that of a golden crown. Her eyes were narrowed in hatred.
"Celestia," The voice that came from the mare was low and cold. "What have you done?" Celestia couldn't stop the tears from flowing; her eldest sister had always been intimidating. "I-I-I'm s-sorry," she sobbed, lowering her head. "I'm sorry?" Screeched the mare. "I'M SORRY? What will your sorry do to those who are dead?! What will your sorry give to the destruction you have recklessly caused?! Because of you, our sisters lie dead! Because of you, Essence has died!" Celestia turned to see another foals body, this one with a pink mane, brown eyes and a white coat. She had no cutiemark. "Essence of Hope," whispered Celestia. Her body was spread at an awkward angle, as if she had fallen from a great height. Her hoofs were broken, but her glassy brown eyes stared unseeingly.
"Aurora, what's happening?" Luna had appeared behind Aurora, looking younger than any of the foals Celestia had seen. She still had no cutiemark. Aurora turned towards Celestia, a cruel glint in her eyes. "You have destroyed everything I hold dear. Now it is my turn." Aurora lunged towards the filly, trapping in her under her body weight, hitting every part of her she could reach.
Luna screamed in agony.
Celestia tried to run but she couldn't. She tried to harness her magic, but she couldn't. She was stuck, watching her youngest sister slowly die. Tears spilled over her cheeks. She was powerless to stop it. Aurora hit Luna again and again, her cries and sobs ringing out to join her sister's. Then, her screams faded and her eyes turned glassy. Aurora was covered in blood, and continued to hit the filly, maniacal laughter ringing out. "LUNA!" Screamed Celestia.
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"I am here, sister." Luna stood behind the head board of Celestia's bed her eyes still glowing white with the fading of the nightmare. Celestia sobbed on the bed, covering her face with her hooves. Luna silently walked over to face her sister, her eyes now their usual turquoise. "I had no idea that you still had those nightmares." She whispered softly. Celestia continued to sob into her hooves. "I s-see them d-dead all the t-t-time," She hiccuped. "It's always t-them d-dead."
Luna stroked her sisters mane, even now rippling as if in a breeze. "It's okay," she whispered, "It's over now." Celestia's bedroom was quite big. She had a round bed almost touching the floor, silk duvet covering it fully; pink gauze curtains covered her two windows. She also had a plush white carpet padded every where. Intricate designs of great complexity lined the walls tapestries, and even her bathroom was decorated in shades of gold, white and pink. Celestia spent hours at a time following a single gold thread through all of the 15 tapestries in her room.
When Celestia calmed down enough to sit up in a more dignified position, the golden clock on the wall chimed midnight. The last of the sobs racked Celestia's body and Luna gave her a swift hug. "Sister, but you must tell me- why were you and Aurora always fighting? I had always gotten an impression that you didn't get along, but nothing this serious..."
Celestia looked up at her younger sister tearfully. "Do we have to talk about this?" She asked weakly. "Yes," Luna stated firmly. "Talking about it makes it better. Don't keep things like this bottled up." Celestia looked at her hooves and patted the cushion next to her, willing Luna to sit down.
Luna obliged, and sat next to her sister. Celestia took a deep breath. "You see, Aurora Wind was born first. She was but two years older than me, and we were identical, at start. She would always help me, play with me, be the big sister I knew and loved. Then, when I was two and she four, another set of twins were born. Glade Flame and Forest Fire were... different. They were closer than us in ways we then did not even begin to comprehend. Aurora began to spend more time with them, as they were younger and, in her eyes, better company than a two year old twin who copied everything she did." Celestia lowered her head even lower. Rain battered against the windows, the drip-drop adding to the silence. "Aurora was everything I wanted to be. She was smart, elegant, and rather...ruthless. She had an independent streak that utterly destroyed her, in later years. I wanted to be just like my big sister. We had our first fight when we were seven and nine." Celestia's ears drooped. "She told me to stop copying her. To grow up and act like the future leader I had to be. So I tried. And tried. And tried again. But no matter what I did, she would always find something hurtful to say, to bring me lower. It got to the point when she would rather die than live knowing such an embarrassment was part of her blood. And she died."
Celestia stared at the wall facing her. Luna looked up as well. Celestia was looking at a tapestry depicting a cliff with a shear drop, and a snow white figure standing on it.
Celestia then covered her face in her hooves again and stated the fact coldly, without any emotion.
"She died because of me."