//------------------------------// // Sisters // Story: The Abduction of Luna // by 97xxfastbike //------------------------------// Princess Luna shot over to interpose her body between the Palace Guards and Celestia, who Luna noticed stood openly staring at her with incredulity. A relieved expression was her only clue to the overwhelming joy she had at her serendipitous arrival. “Guard! What was thy plan with this sword?” Luna stamped her hoof on the spellbreaker blade and glowered at the cowering noctala who had dropped it. The Lunar Guardpony leapt up to the position of attention. “My Princess, the order was to neutralize Princess Celestia.” Following the strict traditions of his training, his answer to a direct question from a superior must be immediate, loud, and fast. This guard was certainly wiser than his current pay grade, Luna noted. He had answered her in a way that attempted to deflect her question rather than answer outright. Her vision went red at the periphery and magic boiled within her that caused her eyes to glow white while a sneer curled her upper lip. He may have the wisdom to try to redirect the wrath of an angry alacorn away from him, but she was in no mood to be toyed with. “We did make our inquiry of thee!” The guard’s eyes widened to their limits. “I – I only wanted to force her to surrender, my Princess.” The guard further explained in an excited voice that rose two octaves. “Thou art lucky to still draw breath. If thou had not dropped this weapon, We - and by that ‘We’, I mean I - would have removed thee from the realm of the living!” Luna stamped her hoof and her horn flared bright with indigo tinted magic. The guard shrank back two faltering steps and swallowed. “Thou shows great intellect,” Luna snarled, “get away from Us this instant!” The noctala scurried away, his hooves a flurry of activity on the polished marble floor. “That goes for all of you,” Luna said in an ominous tone as her gaze swept the room, “put away thy weapons and armor, care for thy wounded, and then confine thyselves to the dungeon to await judgement.” She then looked over at her sister to acknowledge her authority and gain her nod of approval. It was a necessary gesture, as by their agreement Celestia would be the recognized leader whenever the sun was fully above the horizon. However, Celestia had retaken her seat sometime during Luna’s examination of the noctala who had wielded the spellbreaker sword. She now sat on her cushion examining her right forehoof like the events happening in that room didn’t concern her as much as did the scuff on her golden hoofshoe. Her disinterested posture effectively ceded for the moment all authority to Princess Luna. Luna turned back to the room, sneering at her rebellious charges, even as her heart bounded within her for joy at her sister’s public demonstration of total confidence. “That was an order!” Luna roared. Then the room erupted into a frenzy as all present fought for the exit. But Luna wasn’t done just yet. “General Blackwing!” She yelled to be heard clearly above the sound of crashing bodies and scraping hooves. Blackwing turned and gave a quick bow. “Yes, Princess!” Luna kicked the spellbreaker out from under her hoof, sending it clattering along the floor till it stopped against the General’s hooves. The noise of the new development brought curious stares from all those still in the room. “We command thee to destroy this sword.” There was complete silence. Luna could even feel Celestia’s astonished gaze locked on her. General Blackwing’s jaw went slack. “But, Princess, may I remind you that this is an enormously powerful – and expensive – magical weapon. It was created by an artisan magic user the equal of your power. It is pictured in our archives and celebrated in our art. There is no need for this valuable resource and ancient treasure to be destroyed. I beg you to reconsider.” Luna stood impassive to his plea. “That thing was brought into Princess Celestia’s chamber while she sat peaceably at breakfast. It was drawn against her though she sat unarmed. It threatened her though she did nothing to provoke an attack. Therefore, it has been defiled. As such, We remain determined to purge this abomination. The only way this insult can be satisfied, is to have the one who commanded its use – destroy it, or fall upon it!” General Blackwing blanched, but bowed and took up the sword, then turned and followed the last Lunar Guard out of the room, leaving the door to latch shut with a loud clack. “Your Lunar Guard is very well trained. There were three Solar Guards to only one noctala that had to be carried out.” Celestia observed in a quiet voice that seemed to Luna to be completely disassociated to the serious event that had just transpired. Still staring at the door, Luna snorted and pinned her ears back. “The noctalas were trained to be killers, every one of them. We should transfer them all to the EUP. We believe them to be unfit for Palace Guards.” “They are zealous for the Princess of the Moon. You must admit that that is a desirable quality for her personal guard.” “Indeed. But has not today’s event proved the noctala to be over-zealous?” She shook her head. “We declare them all irredeemably dangerous. Each of them is a veritable powder keg.” “You have done much today to impress upon them your expectations and their limitations. I suggest that you consider allowing them to continue to serve as your personal guard. Perhaps time will temper their propensity to violence. But my hope is that they never lose their loyalty to you, however extreme it may be.” Luna looked back over her shoulder. “Surely you agree with Us that General Blackwing must resign?” Celestia’s head bobbed once. “Of course.” “Do you have any other opinions you wish to express?” “That sword you ordered destroyed is the Moonbeam; it was father’s gift to us. The noctala have kept it for a millennium. It has been preserved as a treasured relic.” Princess Celestia recounted, then took a deep breath. “I will take no offense if you do not have it destroyed, but allow it placed in the armory.” “We –” Luna shook her head, “I mean, I meant every word I said, sister.” She looked up to meet Celestia’s gaze. “Besides, what would satisfy you, if you came into my personal dining room and found a Solar Guard with our mother’s battleax pressed against my throat?” Celestia frowned, “You’re being melodramatic. The Moonbeam wasn’t pressed against my throat.” “Am I?” Luna shook her head. “I clearly heard the order Blackwing gave even while outside. ‘Neutralize Celestia’, he said. And that noctala confessed that he hoped to use it to force your surrender. It may not yet have touched your flesh, but there is no doubt that the intentions of those present were bent on seeing that done. Therefore, the only difference between my hypothetical scenario and what just transpired, is time. Now tell me truly, what would you do if you had flown onto my balcony and witnessed the scene I described?” For an instant, Luna saw Celestia’s nose wrinkle like she had just sniffed something rotten, and her eyes flashed miniature novas. A rare micro-expression of Celestia that gave her a glimpse into the true feelings of her older sister whom she had often thought as cold and aloof. An older sister who had been trained by their father to hide and control her feelings in order to be a more effective leader and diplomat. He had done so with the best of intentions. When their father turned his oldest child into an emotionless, austere, public servant, all of Equestria was in tumult. The three pony races – unicorns, pegasi, and earth – or ‘tribes’, as he preferred to call them, had recently come out of their nearly xenophobic societies and haphazardly banded together. But however well-intentioned and pure the motives of those pioneers, he knew that it was only the pressure from the wendigoes and the desperate need they all had for each other that brought them together. Absent of that pressure, time and familiarity would soon breed stereotypes, distrust, contempt, and then ultimately, hatred, and finally, war. A wise, impartial ruler was needed to maintain and preserve order, and that ruler – ideally – must not come from one of the tribes, lest aspersions of favoritism be cast at every controversial decision. So he had chosen his firstborn to be that leader in that crucial time. An alacorn: She was no member of any tribe, exceptionally long-lived, and blessed with a sharp intellect. There was no way he could know that by creating his older daughter to be the powerful leader that Equestria needed for a lasting peace, he would also be undermining the formation of a strong relationship between her and her younger sister. As with most parents, he had made the best decision he could. Whenever Luna looked in the mirror, she could see their father; the one who loved them. But she also saw the one who never had time for her. However, even now as she looked at Celestia, she could see her strong resemblance to their mother, but thankfully, the similarities ended with external appearances. For her memories of the achingly beautiful mare whom she and her sister called ‘mommy’ were full of confusing, severe mood swings. At first, Luna alone witnessed the disturbing shifts in their mother, but chose to silently weather the storms. Though later, her mommy began to have terrifying, angry outbursts at trivial or imagined faults and lashed out, sometimes violently. Back then, Luna had no capacity to understand that the behaviors that frightened her most about their mother were because of a degenerative madness. A disease of the mind, and not a result of purposed, malevolent actions nor born from some perverse desire to see Luna suffer. Her immature reasoning told her she was somehow to blame for everything bad that happened. But she had no resources to deal with this change, nor could she continue to hide the aftermath. That madness would eventually steal both of their parents away. After their mother suffered a particularly bad episode, their father held them both close and told them what he planned to do. He was going leave them and take their mother up into the stars, where he hoped to find a cure for the madness and return to them. In the dawn of that last day, he told Celestia to remember her training, to rule in a fair and impartial manner, and to raise her little sister, teaching her all that she had been taught. Then he came to Luna and apologized for his neglect of her during his education of Celestia. Patiently, he tried to help her understand that her mommy truly loved her. Next, he clarified for her the differences between the actions of a loving mother and the actions of a mindless disease. Then, he tried to explain all he planned to accomplish by departing with their mother. All day long he taught her, while weaving in time for fun games and play between the somber lessons. Even though she understood full well that her father was leaving, she remembered that as a particularly joyful day because for the first time, their father had spent the entire day with her alone. At sundown however, her joy ended. He bid her and Celestia a heartfelt farewell and said he hoped to return someday. Luna remembered weeping as he took up the catatonic body of their mother and mounted the magical dais that would catapult them through space. She also remembered Celestia trying to comfort her by embracing her with her wing and holding her close. But Celestia had learned her lessons well. She ought to be always in control, even if it meant being emotionless. To Luna, her sister’s gesture was stiff and wooden. Celestia was a stone: cold, hard, uncomfortable. While Celestia thought Luna was an annoying dog, incessantly yapping despite reproof. In her mind, Luna was either crying for attention, or because she was too dull to recognize that her noise would change nothing. Neither of them could understand nor appreciate why the other acted as they did. They only knew the resentment that they felt for each other over the perceived lack of empathy. They never saw either of their parents again after the dais filled with rainbow light. They also stopped considering each other as sisters, but instead over the years floundered in awkward confusion over the new roles that were thrust on them. It would take nearly two millennium for them to call each other ‘sister’ again. Luna shook herself free of her dark recollections. Celestia had asked her a question and was now staring at the gauze bandages wrapped around her fetlocks. “No, I am not badly injured,” Luna said after recalling enough of her question to answer, “and these burns are not entirely the fault of my abductors.” “Burns?” Celestia looked alarmed, “How did you get burned?” Luna looked around the room, her ears went flat and she felt her face flush with heat. “I don’t think that’s important right now.” “How else were you abused?” Celestia asked in the same light, casual tone she would have used to inquire about a recent shopping trip. Luna, however knew better. Her sister was a volcano, seemingly passive and deceptively safe, even when close to exploding. “Celestia, please,” Luna entreated with a sigh, “I was completely in control the entire time, but I don’t want to talk about that right now.” “Come here, Luna.” Celestia abruptly stood and walked toward her sister without waiting. “Oh, no,” Luna waved a hoof to ward her away, “I haven’t bathed in five – Ohh!” Luna gasped at Celestia’s quick embrace. “Unngh!” Luna grunted and struggled against her sister’s firm grip, “Release me, I’m filthy!” Celestia responded by clutching her sister even tighter against her. She buried her nose into Luna’s mane and inhaled sharply. “Ewww, don’t do that!” Luna grimaced. “And don’t you dare suggest that my scent hasn’t changed!” Celestia continued to ignore her and again inhaled deeply, this time with a flehmen, but then she emitted a low whine and her breath shuddered as she exhaled. Luna’s eyes shot open. “Celly?” She whispered in shock. It was a very rare thing for her sister to cry. She scanned the broken porcelain and shattered glass on the floor where the breakfast table had been overturned. Amongst the debris was a half-eaten slice of plain toast and a tale tell slice of ginger root. She knew her sister never ate toast plain, and she only drank ginger tea when… She threw her forelegs up around her sister’s barrel. “Celly, have you been ill?” There was no answer at first, but then she felt her sister nod against her neck. “Am I the cause?” Celestia sniffed and nodded again. “If we are ever forcibly separated again, please don’t even think to ask me to do nothing about it, even if you are complicit! And don’t expect me to act as though nothing is wrong. That’s impossible.” Luna squeezed her sister to match the pressure of her embrace. “I regret being the cause of your illness. I had no intention nor desire to make you suffer so.” Celestia relaxed her embrace. “But you aren’t sorry…” Luna pulled back just enough to look her sister in her tear-streaked face. “No. I am not sorry. I feel… I feel empowered. Strong. This ordeal has made me feel competent as a governor, confident in my role as a princess, and given me precious insights of our empire. And now that I have returned, I know that you do not see me as just a child that daddy left for you to raise; an unwanted responsibility that fell on your back. But, you see me as your sister that you chose to raise, and love,” She reached up to brush away a tear of her own, “and now I know that you love me almost as dearly and deeply as I love you.” Celestia snatched Luna up in another tight embrace and her body shook with powerful convulsions. Great braying sobs echoed in the empty room as the sisters celebrated their reunion and their newly found strength in each other. “I love you, Woona,” she bawled out her sister’s childhood nickname unashamedly, “and I missed you so much!” Lingering, deep-seated bitterness dissolved in their confession of love for each other. Two sisters finally discovered what next they needed to do in order to complete the spiritual and emotional cleansing that forgiveness had started in them four years ago. For the first time in their lives, they wept together. Both mourning for their mutual losses, and yet weeping for joy at this new intimacy they discovered. Locked in each other’s embrace, their tremulous bodies scrubbed away two millennia of misunderstanding and resentment. Briny tears flowed out to salve festering emotional wounds that had been neglected far too long. They held on to each other even after their limbs screamed for relief. They cried until their sides burned and their lungs ached. They only dared to separate when the tears no longer came.