“Now don’t eat them all at once; you’ll just get fat like me!” Luna’s favorite baker chuckled as he patted his belly.
“Don’t worry, I won’t! I’m gonna share them with my big sister!” Luna chirped as she watched him tuck the freshly-baked goods inside a paper bag for her. She hopped up and down in place with glee, for she had managed to convince him to make her favorite treat: sugar cookies with tiny chocolate chips sprinkled on top.
With a lot of concentration, Luna lit her horn and thought only about the bag of cookies. She envisioned it floating towards her as she poured more power into the spell, and much to her delight, she watched a light blue aura surround it as it floated into the air. Luna missed the look of approval on the baker’s face as she struggled to pull the bag to her. It jerked towards her, then stopped in mid-air, hanging between her and the table. Her eyes narrowed as she bent down, mustering up all the power she could, only to have the bag drop to the floor. Luna frowned as she panted, eyeing the bag as she huffed in disappointment. “Darn it!” she muttered.
“Here, allow me to fetch that for you,” the baker said as he stepped around the table.
“No! I want to do this on my own,” Luna said, spreading her forelegs. “I need the practice.” She ruffled her wings and flicked her tail, then lit her horn once more. The bag floated into the air, hovering a couple of feet in front of her. A small part of her wanted to cheat, to move forward so she wouldn’t have to exert herself further, but she knew her mother would not approve.
With a deep breath, Luna pulled the bag towards her, feeling the beginning of a headache form in the back of her head. As sweat began to form on her brow, she managed to tuck the treats inside of her saddlebag. “Phew!” She wiped her forehead and smiled up at the baker. “My momma taught me how to do that! She’s gonna teach me to how to do other spells tomorrow when she’s done with her meetings, too!”
“That’s great!” The baker said as he shared Luna’s infectious smile. “Run along now! You don’t want those cookies to get cold!”
“Okay! Thank you!” Luna left the kitchens with a gleeful pep in her step. It had taken a lot of practice for her plan to come to fruition, but she’d been working on her best puppy-dog eyes in the mirror for the last week, knowing that the baker couldn’t resist them.
With the cookies tucked safely away in her saddlebag, she trotted through the halls, fully intent on finding her big sister to share them with. Luna thought to check the first place that she thought Celestia would be: her bedroom. Though her sister normally didn’t spend much time there during the day, Luna knew that Celestia liked to retreat to her chambers to relax with a good book in the evening. Since Celestia’s room was the closest place on her mental checklist, she trotted off. With the setting sun at her back, its light streaming in through the many windows, Luna made it to Celestia’s hallway in good time.
Nearing the bedroom door, she pushed it open with a hoof and stuck her head inside. “Celestia?” she called out, listening to her voice echo in the chamber. After a few moments of silence, she pulled back, shrugged, then pulled the door shut. “Huh... where to next?” she asked herself, looking both ways in the deserted hall.
Setting off in the other direction, Luna found a familiar face; one of her mother’s many friends. “Good evening, Mrs. Hearthsbottom,” Luna said as the old mare walked towards her, wiping her eyes.
“L-Luna?” Mrs. Hearthsbottom stopped and looked down upon the smiling filly. “I’m... I’m so sorry for your loss!” she managed to choke out. Tears streamed down her cheeks, running freely down her fur and onto the marble floor. She stepped past Luna, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Huh?” Luna cocked her head to the side as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. As Mrs. Hearthsbottom disappeared around the corner, she called out, “What do you mean you’re sorry for my loss? What did I lose?” Only the sounds of sobbing met her question. As a pit of worry formed in her stomach, she turned and trotted down the hall, her head on a swivel as she looked for somepony else to talk to.
Making her way towards the Grand Hall, she bumped right into the pony she was looking for, the sounds of many ponies crying echoing from further down the hall. “Celestia!” Luna hugged her big sister’s foreleg and sat back with a wide grin. “You’re not gonna believe what I have in my...” She noticed that Celestia’s head was hung low, almost at eye-level with her. Celestia’s ears were laying flat on her head, and Luna spotted the tell-tale sign that she had just finished crying. Celestia’s cheeks were wet with her tears, her eyes bloodshot. “Why... why are you crying?” When Celestia didn’t respond, she thought, If big sis is crying, then something must have gone really wrong!
Luna’s ears flicked back as all thoughts of sharing her special cookies disappeared from her mind. She tentatively prodded Celestia’s hoof with her own, making Celestia open her eyes to look at her. Celestia’s eyes did not hold any trace of joy or love; they were stone-cold, a fact that sent a chill down Luna’s spine.
“We... we need to talk, Luna,” Celestia murmured, her vision blurry with tears. “Come with me to my room.” She lit her horn and lifted Luna up into the air, then gently placed her on her back. Celestia ignored Luna’s constant questioning as she trudged to her chambers.
“‘Tia!” Luna slapped the side of her sister’s neck with a hoof. “T-talk to me!” she whimpered, only to be ignored again. This was shocking to her, as Celestia never ignored her like this. She grew quiet when Celestia flung open her bedroom doors, each one smashing against the wall. Luna winced at the loud sound, but she made no mention of it. Eyeing the splintered doors, she watched as her sister’s magic surrounded them, repairing and shutting them all in a matter of seconds. Woah... she’s really been practicing her magic... I wonder when Mom is gonna teach me spells like that!
Celestia pulled herself onto the bed, weakly flapping her wings once to propel them onto it. She spread herself out, pulling a pillow over her head as more tears streamed down her face.
Luna slid from Celestia’s back and scooted up to the pillow, shrugging her saddlebag off. With a gentle hoof, she pulled Celestia’s hoof away from the pillow and pushed her head underneath it, nuzzling her sister’s cheek. She paid no mind to the tears that were smeared on her cheeks, for she felt she had a duty, as her sister, to comfort her however she could.
Celestia pushed aside the pillow and wrapped her forelegs around her, pulling her into a ferocious hug the likes she’d never seen. Laying on her sister’s stomach, Luna froze briefly, then wrapped her forelegs around Celestia’s neck as far around as she could. A few minutes passed as Celestia’s sobs died down to sniffles, then as those faded away, Luna sat back, sitting on the base of Celestia’s tail. “‘Tia?” Her bottom lip stuck out as she watched Celestia wipe away her tears. “What’s the matter? I’ve never seen you cry like this, and... you’re scaring me.” She rubbed the side of her foreleg with a hoof.
“Mom’s gone, and she is not coming back...” Celestia finally said, her voice hoarse.
Luna cocked her head to the side as her eyebrows furrowed. “Why not? She’s still gotta teach me more spells! I only know how to levitate stuff, and I can barely even manage to do that!” She pouted, glaring up at her sister. “There’s no way she’d leave us here; we need her.”
“N-not anymore,” Celestia whispered.
Tears formed in the corner of Luna’s eyes. “You’re lying! I’m gonna go find her right now!” She stood up to leave, but felt a firm pressure on her back. Looking up, she saw Celestia’s horn glowing with its usual golden aura.
“When have I ever l-lied to you, Lulu?” Celestia croaked out. “She is gone, and there is nothing we can do to bring her back!” Fresh tears streamed down her face as she held Luna’s defiant gaze.
“No! There’s always a way!” Luna stomped on Celestia’s tail, angry that she couldn’t move. “If she’s gone somewhere, then as a family, we have to go with her! That’s what families do; they stick together!”
Celestia’s magic faded away as she sniffled. “That is what mother always s-said...” She clenched her eyes shut and hid her face behind a pillow, muffling her cries of anguish.
Luna took a step back, a foreleg raised as her mind tried to figure out what Celestia was talking about. “Y-yeah, that’s right,” she said softly. “So let’s go find her! I can’t wait to see how happy she’s gonna be when we find her!”
Celestia let the pillow slip from her face. She looked Luna dead in her eyes and said, “She did not leave the castle, Luna. Her... body is resting in the medical wing right now. The funeral is...”
Luna’s vision went dark as she tuned out her sister’s words. All of her plans to find her loving mother slipped from her mind as she processed what Celestia had just uttered. B-body? “No...” A sole tear slid down her face. “No!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, making her throat hurt. She collapsed upon the bed as all of her strength left her in a split-second. Her body grew cold, and her hooves felt numb as her heart filled with the most dreadful of feelings: the loss of a loved one taken too soon.
Celestia rolled over and scooted over to her. She laid a wing over Luna’s back and pulled her up against her side as tightly as she could, holding her as she tried to push her away. After a few moments, Luna gave up, burying her muzzle under her forelegs as Celestia nuzzled the back of her head.
Celestia felt her throat grow tight, the darkest of words that would remain in their minds for generations to come, resting on the tip of her tongue. “She’s dead, Luna... I watched her pass away just a little while ago in her bed. We sent guards to find you before it was too late, but... nopony could find you.”
A dark revelation hit Luna so hard that her tears stopped. I was in the kitchens getting cookies... I missed Mommy because I wanted to get cookies?! She felt her stomach twist itself into a knot. Luna felt like throwing up, and as wave of nausea hit her, she dry-heaved a few times. She swallowed what little came up, the horrible taste of bile sitting in the back of her mouth. “I... I...”
“I know, little sis... I know.” Celestia laid a kiss on Luna’s head, her tears slipping down onto Luna’s mane. She closed her eyes as she felt another wave of tears come up, but she wiped her eyes with a hoof.
“What are we gonna do, ‘Tia?” Luna finally asked, her sobs dying down as she lifted her head. She felt another wave of nausea hit her, forcing her to lay her head back down. She weakly pushed herself forward, then laid her head on Celestia’s foreleg, burying her muzzle into the crook of her shoulder.
“We stick together, for starters,” Celestia whispered. “And together we will overcome this.”
A few moments of silence passed before Luna murmured, “Mommy was gonna teach me more magic tomorrow... Who’s gonna teach me now?”
“I will, Lulu,” Celestia said, her voice regaining a small bit of strength. “Mother taught me quite a bit in these last few months, even though... even though her strength was fading.” Looking towards her nightstand, Celestia lit her horn and grabbed the only framed picture in her room. “You remember this moment? Mother took this picture the day we both learned how to fly. She gave it to me to remember our achievement, but... now I want you to have it.”
Luna slowly lifted her head and looked at the picture that lay before her. She sniffled, then wiped her eyes. “R-really?”
Celestia smiled down at her, the first one since their mother passed away. “Yes. Every night before I fall asleep, I looked at this photograph. Seeing you so full of joy always made me smile, and I know it’ll make you smile, even in this darkest of times.”
Luna smiled up at her sister. “Thanks, ‘Tia...” She lifted the picture and clutched it to her chest much like she would a teddy bear. “Do you mind if I sleep in your room tonight?” she asked with a sheepish grin. “I don’t think either of us want to be alone, especially after... after...”
“Shh...” Celestia rocked Luna from side to side. “Of course you can sleep with me, little one. I’ll always be here for you, just like I know you’ll always be here for me, right?”
“Right...” Luna said, nuzzling her sister’s breast with a hum of content. She heard her sister’s horn light up, and she saw her tug the blankets close. “Wait... c-can I do it?” she asked softly. Celestia didn’t answer, but her magic faded away. Wondering if she had any strength left in her, Luna lit her horn nonetheless and focused her thoughts on lifting the leading edge of the sheets. She poured what little energy she had left into her spell and was pleasantly surprised to see the sheets drifting ever closer. She pulled them up to their shoulders, then let her magic fade away.
“I’m so proud of you, Luna,” Celestia whispered, pulling over a pair of pillows for them. “You’re such a strong filly, just like me.”
Luna laid her head down upon one of the pillows, the warmth from Celestia’s wing gently lulling her to sleep. “I love you, ‘Tia...” she whispered as her eyes drifted shut.
“I love you too, Luna,” Celestia whispered back, using her magic to snuff out the candles around the room. She started closing her curtains to block out the moonlight, but felt Luna lay a hoof on her foreleg. Celestia lifted an eyebrow, then let her magic slip away. She looked down to find Luna staring out the window, her eyes transfixed on the moon that hung so gracefully in the night sky.
“We will get through this... together.”