The Sun and Stars: Lightning Round

by JKinsley

Reunion - Jonesly - Feb. 22, 2015

By Jonesly

Celestia walked into the throne room with a slight limp. Her hair was disheveled and her armor scuffed. Somewhere along her journey, she had lost her shield. She had fought through every challenge she faced, but had finally made it to the center of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“Luna! Luna come out and face me!” She yelled into the seemingly empty room.

“Luna isn’t here. Luna will never be here again.” A sibilant whisper came from the shadows.

“Well I’m not calling you Nightmare Moon.” Celestia replied.

A dark haired woman stepped out of the shadows, she was shorter than Celestia, though not by much. Clad in a set of black armor with a silver sword at her side. “What do you want, Celestia Morningstar? Why have you fought through my lieutenants just to see me?” Nightmare Moon growled.

Celestia smiled grimly. “You know what I want, Luna. I want her back.”

Nightmare smirked. “Then come and take her.”

Celestia launched into motion. Swinging her sword overhand, she charged Nightmare Moon, who drew her own sword and parried neatly. With a flurry of thrusts, slashes and parries, they danced around the throne room. Swords clanging together as the battle raged.

They moved back and forth across the room, Celestia matching her sister stroke for stroke even through her exhaustion. Nightmare suddenly burst into a flurry of movement, striking from her right, her right, her left then her right again. Celestia struggled to counter each stroke, moving her blade to intercept. Nightmare started getting fancy, adding more flourishes to her strikes, her confidence building as she could see her sisters stamina flagging. She struck from the left and when Celestia parried, she started to spin to her right for a strike. However, the instant her back was turned, Celestia surged forward and slammed her fist and hilt into the back of Nightmare’s head, who collapsed in a heap, her sword falling to her side as she was dazed. She rolled over to face her sister only to feel cold steel at her throat.

“You always favored the dramatic over the effective.” Celestia said coldly, holding her sword steady.

With a gulp, Nightmare yelled. “YIELD, I YIELD!”

“Where is she?” Celestia asked coldly.

Nightmare called out. “Twilight, could you come here, please?”

A door on the far side of the room opened. A shorter woman walked out, her purple dress in tatters. She clutched her side and her hair was ragged, looking like she’d had a rough time, which she had. She walked stiffly towards Celestia, focused on her princess, hope dawning in her eyes. Celestia moved towards her, her sword arm dropping, her other hand raising towards Twilight Sparkle. Their eyes met, and the rest of the world faded into the background.

Shadows flickered and Twilight moved towards Celestia, smiling weakly, tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes widening. She looked down at her chest in shock, at the point of a sword dripping blood. “Cel-Celes…” she breathed out as she collapsed.

“I may have never matched your physical prowess, but I was always your better at stealth and treachery.” Nightmare Moon snarled, pulling her blade out of Twilight’s back.

“NOOOOOO!” Celestia screamed, flashing forward towards Twilight. “NO! Twilight! Don’t be… You can’t.. Don’t leave me, please, I’m begging, don’t leave me. Hold on!”

Even as she crossed the distance between them though, it was too late. Twilight’s breath slowed and with a final gasp, she lay still, her eyes still staring at Celestia.

Celestia fell to her knees. Tears freely falling from her eyes. “No…. no… nononononono… NO!” She screamed, jumping to her feet and facing her sister. She growled unintelligibly, raising her sword in a mindlessly aggressive stance.

She dashed towards her sister, flailing her sword at Nightmare Moon, she hammered her down, forcing her into a defensive stance. Her sword flashed down again and again, her rage fueling her speed and strength. Nightmare tried to put up a defense, somehow managing to get her sword into a position to block every strike, but she could not gain any momentum, she struggled merely to block the strikes of her sister. Celestia’s face twisted with rage as with a final strike she slammed Nightmare’s sword to the side and drove her own sword home.

Nightmare Moon gaped at her sister, sinking to the floor, Celestia followed after, going to her own knees with her sister. Panting heavily, she took a moment to calm her rage.

Celestia stared into Luna’s eyes, possessed by the night mare and impaled on her sword and whispered. “Never again.” She traced her finger over several runes on her hilt and channeled her full power into them. Feeling the strain of magical effort, she didn’t stop, instead she poured forth all of her grief and pain, powering the spell to critical levels. A beam of light exploded into being, connecting her sword and the sun.

The light grew in brightness, the heat of the room rising with it. Celestia crawled over to the body lying on the floor. She gathered Twilight’s smaller form into her arms. Smoke started to rise from her armor. Before the burning light overwhelmed everything, Celestia whispered to her love. “Wait for me Twilight, we will be together again.”