Episode 5: Chronicles of the Two Sisters (Book 1)
At this point, royal guards like Gallus no longer lead us to Princess Twilight's throne room when she calls us. So we were mostly on our own when we opened the doors to meet up with Twilight and Spike. Spike stood nearby while the Princess paced.
"You called us?" Tirek asked.
"Yeah, she did," said Spike.
"Why during school, though?" I questioned.
"It's a funny story, really..." Twilight stopped pacing to speak. "So... earlier today, I received a letter from Princess Celestia-"
"Hold up!" Cozy interrupted. "She's still here?"
"Yes. Her and Princess Luna."
"But... I thought when they gave you the crown, they... you know..."
"I won't blame you for thinking that way. But it's much different than what you think. Yes, when Celestia and Luna fused their crowns to pass on to me, it took some of their magic, the magic enabling them to do what their jobs were, and all that. However, their lives still have a very long way to go. Even when an Alicorn is mortal again, their lifespan is still very long. In fact, we don't know when... or if... they'll pass, but it's something that we keep in mind."
"Good to know, good to know," I nod.
"And here you'd think that the lifespan would be accelerated," said Cozy.
"We thought the same thing, too," Spike chuckled. "But Equestria is full of surprises."
"You do seem concerned about them coming, Princess," Tirek said.
"Well... I am..." the Princess admitted. "They've trusted me to look over Equestria, and when I first heard about it, I felt prepared. But even when I finally accepted it, there's always been this itch... this small voice telling me that it would be my fault if something happened, and... well... something has happened. Three times. I'm just worried that when they arrive, they'll be upset or something."
"Twilight, I don't think there's anything to worry about," I replied. "Take that from me. I'd worry a lot about something stupid, too. Everyone makes mistakes, and those mistakes don't always mean you'll disappoint your friends and family. Huh... a lesson before the problem even started. Now that's new."
"I do wonder, though... they've been absent all those times that we could have needed their help," Tirek said. "I mean, were they taken by Grogar and left for a very long time, or were they just... gone?"
"It is a question that will indeed be answered," said a voice that caught our attention.
Twilight and Spike looked past us, and we turned around.
With a few royal guards, including Gallus, by their side, the former Princess Celestia, and the former Princess Luna, approached us. Twilight wasn't kidding when she said they wouldn't look too older... you could barely tell.
Princess Twilight quickly flew over us and landed in front of the Princesses to give them both a big embrace. Celestia and Luna shared the hug back, and then looked at all of us.
"Um..." Cozy slowly raised and waved a hoof. "...Hi?"
...
Intro
...
During their embrace with Twilight, Celestia and Luna lifted their gazes to focus on us. When they finally parted from Twilight, they went up to us.
"Well, this is awkward," said Tirek. "Um... long time no see."
"Do you... need a long explanation?" Cozy coughed. "Or... something?"
"No." Luna shook her head. "No we do not. We know everything. When something big happens anywhere in Equestria, news can spread like wildfire."
"It's very odd seeing you three here, and not feeling a sense of danger," Celestia spoke. "And honestly, it will take some getting used to for us."
"Completely understand." Chrysalis scratched the back of her head. "Since you were among the ones we hurt the most, and we haven't correctly made amends yet..."
"In spite of your past actions however..." Celestia's warm smile made a slight return. "...you three have saved Equestria, and gained the trust of my former student. If she trusts you, then we'll both give you three a second chance as well."
"And as for you..." Luna raised and pointed a hoof at me. "Your sudden presence in Equestria was the second thing that spurred our attention. Where did you come from?"
I gave down the quick rundown. "Earth. Was a different creature. Tons of magic made me into an Alicorn. Can't go home for who knows how long. Long story."
"Well we happily welcome you into Equestria with open hooves," Celestia said.
"Well, this is a nice reunion and all, but I have just one question..." Cozy began. "Where the hay have you two been?"
"Yeah... I mean, were you two captured by Grogar and only just now got released?" I asked. "What happened?"
"Not to be rude or anything, but did any of you even remember to call for our help?" Luna pointed out.
She had us there. None of us could form a rebuttal for that.
"It wouldn't have mattered, anyway," said Celestia. "We actually got into a little adventure of our own," Luna continued. "Twilight, do you remember the last letter you received from us before everything happened?"
"Yes, I do."
Over a month ago...
The letter was whisked away in Celestia's magic as it was sent to Princess Twilight.
"Do you have everything packed?" she asked her sister.
"I do." Luna lifted the bag with their stuff packed inside. "It's been quite a while since we've been out. Not only that, but we're counting on going farther out of Equestria's borders. And you're sure it's a good idea?"
"Well, why not? We've always been at some place that we've heard about or are familiar with. Besides, even after all of Twilight's discoveries, there's still so much more left to explore."
"I suppose you're not wrong there. Besides, it could be worse. It could be a whole lot like our first vacation when we didn't have a middle ground."
"It's more of an exploration trip. Even though we're retired, we've barely been out in recent years. I just want the spark back, especially since we've still got many years left in our lives."
"I want that spark back, too..." Luna replied. "More than that, actually. Ever since we retired, I've always had this... small, nagging fear that the more we stay hidden... the less that we do something... the more that the memory of us just fades away from others, due to everything else. Being on the moon for 1,000 years and realizing that I was mostly forgotten just... left a mark on me that only now I admit. I do believe Twilight has done a fabulous job, I know she'll always remember us, and I know that history books exist for a reason, but... it couldn't have been that hard to be forgotten about. Unless you spread some sort of rumor so that parents would never tell their children about me, which lets face it, I know you would never do."
"Listen, Luna, today is a much different type of day than... over 1,000 years ago," Celestia assured. "Of course you'll be remembered. There is nothing to worry about. I promise."
"Yes, I know... um... look... how about we head out? I... think we finished what we needed to get done."
"Of course."
The sisters left Silver Shoals, and began their venture to the nearest train station. When the train arrived, they got on, and the train set course for the farthest station to the west. When the train reached its destination, Celestia and Luna got off, and resumed the tour on hoof, occasionally stopping to eat or rest.
And soon, they came across the forest that bordered them from the Undiscovered West. They both stood, their gazes kept into the
"Are you even sure about this?" Luna asked.
"As long as we stay together, we'll be fine," Celestia answered. "Maybe this isn't a good idea... but maybe we'll find something good. And if we get in trouble... we'll know what to do."
"You're right."
Celestia made her way forward, and it didn't take long for Luna to follow close behind.
...
...
Celestia and Luna's trip into the forest started off uneventful. At some point, both of them heard the sound of scuttling, and were prepared for action, but it turned out to be a false alarm, and they continued onward.
But it wasn't long after that event, when they started to reach a larger clearing, where Luna started to feel a sense of dread. She looked behind her, feeling like she was being followed.
"Celestia, maybe we should-"
When Luna turned her head back, the whole landscape was suddenly different. It was nothing... just a dark void, and a familiar white surface underneath.
"I can't be back here... no... no..."
Luna stumbled around. She felt stuff touching or poking her hooves, but it was hard to tell what it was.
"Celestia! Somepony! Anypony!"
"Luna!"
Hearing Celestia calling her, Luna darted left, only to suddenly stumble on something, and then fall into... something.
Right after Luna felt herself fall, she then felt the hard impact on her belly. Groaning, she got up onto her hooves.
Luna looked around the hole she fell in. She expected it to be basic... just a small room with nothing special to it. But that was not what she saw... instead, she saw that she was in a tunnel, which wouldn't seem so artificial if it wasn't for the torches on the wall.
THUMP
Luna heard something fall, and she could have an easy guess as to what it was. Luna opened her wings, and flew out of the hole. She did not think that she'd see Celestia get up off a bush when she got out, with twigs in her mane. Celestia's facial expression worried Luna... her sister looked like she saw something.
"Sister... are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine... I just... we'll talk about it later. Perhaps we should maybe head back..."
Luna was surprised. Celestia wasn't always the one to drop everything and leave. Whatever she saw must have been that bad for her, though Luna decided to save the subject for later.
"Well... before we go and do that..." Luna began. "I found something that I think you may want to see."
Luna brought Celestia over to the hole leading to the tunnel. She flew inside, and Celestia followed. She allowed her sister to have some time to look around. Celestia's apparent worry for whatever happened was gone, and replaced with interest.
"I would go and say that these are just tunnels, but..." Celestia grabbed a torch. "This may prove otherwise."
"Would it be a good idea if we took a closer look?"
"That may be a good idea."
Celestia put the torch back, seeming eager to do it. Luna wasn't sure if it was because of the possibility of discovery, or something entirely different.
And then they finally began their descent deeper into the tunnel.
It seemed to go on and on. For a while, there was nothing but torches, and the occasional splits in the path, which had Celestia and Luna discuss which paths they preferred to take.
"I wish we could have recorded what was North, South, West, and East on the surface..." Luna said. "We'd have an easier time telling where we are."
"Well either way, this leads somewhere. It has to. Maybe it's not important, but... it's definitely better than the surface."
Those last few words were more of a mumble, but Luna was able to understand.
Finally, they came across another split in the path. But this one was in a larger variety than others, and it was more like a large room. There were much more tunnels, amassing to a total of six potential paths. hen Celestia looked behind her, there was a sign above the tunnel they were just in that said EXIT. However, the word was in another language that Celestia vaguely remembered learning.
Celestia and Luna looked around. They peeked into all of the tunnels, and aside from the direction they went to, they all looked the same.
Clip, clop, clip, clop
The sound of approaching hoofsteps began to grow and echo, and both sisters knew that there was no place to hide.
"What do we do?" Luna asked in a low hiss.
"We take the risk, and we introduce ourselves."
"Are you crazy?! We don't know what we could be getting into."
"We've done just fine with every other creature..."
"And that's something to thank Twilight and her friends about that, but what about us?"
"How would it be different?"
"We're not perfect. And for all we know, they could be supportive of Twilight or any of her friends, but not u-"
Luna stopped herself when the approaching being came into view. It was a pony-like figure, its body wrapped in cloth.
"Um... hello," Celestia greeted. "I am Celestia, and this is my sister Luna. We come in peace, as we've been exploring the Undiscovered West in hopes of discovering new civilizations.'
"Are you a friend, or a foe?"
The thing that could only be assumed to be a pony briefly said nothing, but then it, turning out to be female, said "Friend. Right this way."
She beckoned for the sisters to follow, which is exactly what they did.
As they kept going, questions started popping up in their heads.
"What are these tunnels for?" Celestia asked.
"Passageways... passageways to our home," the pony explained. "For centuries, our families have lived in these tunnels. This underground civilization."
"Why?" inquired Luna.
"I suppose because our ancestors saw something. And they wanted to hide."
Luna wasn't sure if this referred to Celestia or not.
"Do you have a name?" Celestia asked.
"Thorn."
"Thorn? That's an odd name?" said Luna.
"It's what they gave me."
"Your family?"
"The whole civilization. Speaking of which..."
Thorn, Celestia, and Luna all turned a corner.
"We're here."
Celestia and Luna's jaws dropped.
It was a large underground area, with plenty of ponies wearing the same concealing clothing as thorn. Along the walls and ground were more tunnels, and small homes appearing to be made out of dried mud and clay. The only things that gave out light were torches and lanterns, and there was a large column in the middle for some odd reason.
As the three made their way down the spiraled ramp, the other concealed ponies raised their heads to watch them. The attention Celestia and Luna were getting was slightly off-putting, but they went along with it.
"So, this is where we live," Thorn clarified.
"Is this all there is?" Celestia asked.
"Actually, some of the tunnels in this area lead to some places like a library, a cafeteria, and some more homes for us to rest. Would you like to see more?"
"What do you think, Luna?"
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt much if we explored."
"Very well," said Thorn. "I suppose we should go to the library next."
And so the three continued, Celestia and Luna ignoring the looks the hidden ponies were giving them.
...
...
Celestia and Luna were enjoying some relaxing time, reading some of these books that the underground ponies had. They were notified that they were more ancient than some of the more current ones, piquing their interest a little more.
So far, things seemed the same as they read. Until Luna came across one of the history books that they had.
"Hm... this is odd."
Celestia looked up from her own book. "How so?"
"Some of the pages in the beginning have been torn out," Luna replied. "But the first one still there has a beginning similar to our history books."
"So what are you implying? That it's missing some parts of history that we've never heard of? Maybe it's out of order."
Luna flipped through and speed-read some pages.
"I don't think so, sister..." she shook her head. "Whether they've retrieved this from some sort of source, or they've always had it, either way, it could potentially mean that, somewhere out there, someone knows... or knew.. something that we've never looked into."
"We can take that back with us when we leave after this," said Celestia. "We'll see if there's anything else when the time comes."
Luna tucked the book aside and joined Celestia as they left the library. They went back to the main room with the columns and homes, where Thorn was waiting for them.
"All done?" she asked.
"Yes, we are," Celestia confirmed. "I would like to thank you for allowing us to visit the library before we left. If it's alright with you, we'd like to take one of your history books home with us."
"That is perfectly fine! There's just one little thing I'd like to mention before you go."
"What's that?" Luna asked.
Thorn giggled.
"We're not going to let you leave. Hit it!"
Celestia and Luna's reactions went as far as head turns, before one of the ponies raised a green crystal and jammed it into the column. All of a sudden, the tunnels closed, and it was as if they were never there.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Luna demanded.
Thorn raised a hoof and pulled off all the cloth and items covering her face, revealing that she wasn't a pony at all! Instead, she was an unreformed changeling, who oddly looked like one of the former students at the School of Friendship... Ocellus.
Celestia and Luna gasped.
"You have questions... don't you?" Thorn tossed the coverings to the ground. "We are the renegade changelings. We've always found Chrysalis to be a questionable leader, so when we were all cast away from Canterlot, that was the final straw in deciding to leave the Hive forever. So we moved here to the Undiscovered West, feeding off the love of wild animals or creatures that dare cross our paths. We've been waiting quite a while for ponies like you to show up..."
The rest of the ponies removed their masks and coverings, revealing their changeling faces.
"...Our diet has been getting quite boring."
"Perhaps you've forgotten just who you're dealing with..." Celestia opened her wings, and Luna did too.
"There's plenty more of us... even if the power of one of us is unmatched, there are plenty of us."
"So be it, then..." Luna lit her horn.
And so, the battle began. All the changelings charged, some of them donning disguises of ponies from their past. Celestia and Luna's horns both shot out shockwaves, sending back the changelings in front of them. To avoid being caught, they immediately darted forward, blasting away any changelings that would get to them. Some more changelings pounced, but Celestia and Luna stopped quickly dodged their conveniently high pounces. But right when they recovered, multiple duplicates of them leapt onto them in an effort to pin them to the ground.
Desperately, they used their magic to yet again fend them off, and their brawl got a little more physical with the lookalikes... hooves being swung, hind legs, being kicked.
Eventually, Celestia's hind legs kicked a Luna lookalike to the ground... which turned out to be the real Luna.
"Hey!"
"Sorry... got too into it... it's been forever since we did this." Celestia helped Luna up right after she deflected an attack from a Luna look-alike. The look-alike changed back into Thorn as she got up.
"You can't fight forever!" she yelled. "We're not afraid to get back up again."
The fight continued. More changelings were being knocked down, and more kept attacking. However, just like the changelings, Celestia and Luna persisted.
Before long, one of the changelings were thrown to the wall. When it got up and hissed, it stopped. So did everyone else.
A crack drew from where the changeling struck the wall to the floor.
"Should we... be worried?" Luna asked.
"Our families have been in these tunnels and caves for generations," Thorn scoffed. "There's no reason to be-"
All of a sudden, the ground under some nearby changelings gave in, and they fell, screaming. All the other changelings fell as well. However, Luna and Celestia were quick enough to propel themselves into the air. And so was Thorn, who quickly flew at Celestia's face and jammed her hind hoof into her cheek, knocking Celestia down, and causing her to fall, unable to recover control.
"Celestia!" Luna dove down to get her, missing Thorn's attack.
Luna picked up speed as she tried to catch up to Celestia and catch her. She could see all the changelings falling safely into a large underground stream that was somewhat hidden under the room... an odd thing since no one ever found it.
But something about catching her sister to save her was what made Luna determined.
Thorn latched on to Luna's hind hoof, but one blast from Luna's horn got rid of her.
Luna was finally able to reach Celestia to wrap her in an embrace, but all three of them landed in the stream.
Even while being whisked by the stream, Luna went out of her way to help Celestia. When she rose up to the surface, she had Celestia wrapped safely in her forehooves.
"I got you, sister..." Luna assured. "We'll be safe."
Thorn sprung out of the water and latched on Luna.
"I told you... I'd get you..." she hissed. "You'll pay... you'll all-"
Celestia's elbow shot up and struck Thorn in the muzzle, knocking her in the water.
Luna saw Celestia's eyes open. Celestia looked at her sister and winked.
"You're okay..." Luna smiled.
Eventually...
The sisters found a shore-like place in the stream to crawl on. Thorn was still unconscious, but they decided to go easy on her, and drag her body onto the mound of mud and rock.
"We'll leave her here," said Celestia. "She'll find her own way out."
"From the looks of it..." Luna looked around. "None of these tunnels are artificial."
"We're going to have a long journey ahead of us..."
Present day...
"And so that was how it went..." Luna continued. "We've lost track of time... we kept exploring the tunnels, searching for any potential exits. And when we did... as it turned out, a day later, the day you three beat Grogar, we had no idea where we were, but we were eager to get back. We continued searching for our way back, and when we had a sense of direction, we returned back. We've never had an encounter with those changelings again..."
"Well, that explains why you've been gone during Grogar's attack..." said Cozy Glow. "But what about the rest of the month? Were you just absent, or something?"
"No, actually," Celestia answered. "We've... ended up on another adventure. We never encountered those changelings again, but we've had another encounter with our fears... the manifestations we mentioned earlier. And all of that brought us closer together, after we finally told each other what we saw."
"Tell us!" I beg.
"That will have to be for another time. In the meantime, Luna and I would both like to hear what you all have been up to."
"Well, prepare yourselves for some long stories..." Chrysalis said.
"There's just one more thing I don't understand, though, before we begin..." Tirek spoke. "Over a couple times now, you mentioned these... fear hallucinations?... I believe we may have encountered something like that before..."
One Month Ago...
"Keep going!" Chrysalis barked. "We gotta get as far away from that unicorn. Like I'm gonna succumb to her little... lessons!"
"Hmph! Friendship..." mumbled Tirek. "The chances of me ever even caring enough to listen would be as likely as the idea of being cast to another world..."
"Maybe we should head back?" Cozy suggested. "Something doesn't feel right..."
"Oh quit tucking your tail!" Chrysalis spat. "We'll be fine..."
As the villainous trio trekked through the woods, none of them noticed a concealed passageway that would lead into a series of tunnels, and maybe something else.
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
1,042 users online
1,580,023 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Only two major things to say so far. On one hand, I liked seeing where was Luna and Celestia during Grogar's attack and glad the sisters didn't ended up getting captured/taken out. Liked how they were fighting a bunch of those changelings there. Loved the bit about Luna having a fear of being forgotten, which explores her character more(I will explain more on that in a later post)
But on the other hand, I feel like the retirement thing for Luna is even worse now due to apparently she lost her immortality now and most of her magic. It just seems so wrong since she lost a 1000 years of her life being stuck and yet only being back for a few years to not only give up whats pretty much part of her and her cutie mark, but apparently she has to give up her immortality and thus starting to grow old and wrinkly like that.
It really felt like destiny screwed Luna big time for the sake of Twilight there.. Had to vent that out.. sorry.
10822052
It's uncertain if she lost it, but if it is true, it would be good material for a theme... if I could think of one. Fear? Enjoying what you can? Something.
nice Story! though i wonder what are you going to use my villain Character For? answer this please?
10824010
More than a cameo. Soon.
10824346
Oooh nice! Another major villain yes?
10824863
Yes.
10824864
Nice btw take a look in your discord hehe
10824868
I have done that, and left some comments :)
10824871
I have added more
10822423
Luna really shouldn't be screwed for the sake of a moral there though.
She lost a 1000 damn years and barely got to enjoy her destiny of raising the moon and dreamguarding. If anything, having her lose her immortality and magic to Twilight "chosen one" Sparkle really screwed her over.
Morals are good but in this case, it doesn't make it ok to screw Luna over like that. The writers doing the whole retirement thing did her character dirty and essentially screwed her over.
Why was Luna having wrinkles under her eyes if didn't lose her immortality then?
I hope this wasn't bothersome..
10826256
Got rid of the part with the wrinkles to add more mystery.
Another reason I did it was because I felt it should make sense, but I suppose nobody knows an aftermath when no answers are given.
At least they’re giving it their all when in danger. It won’t be the last time they do.
10826288
Ok then.
Though I wished Luna could have gotten all of her magic back. Its bad enough destiny made her lose her throne and crown to Twilight despite she barely ruled, making her give up most of her magic and unable to do whats part of her cutie mark makes it worse.
I see a bunch of fans thinking its quite dumb the sisters apparently transferred their magic to Twilight like that when merging their crowns there, like it messes with the concept of Cutie Marks there. Along with rendering that amulet thing Twilight got in Between Dawn And Dusk pointless in a way.
I feel like if the Tree of Harmony planned all of this, it really screwed Luna over in more ways than one.
10830475
She still held her own at least. She may have less power, but she did well in battle. Celestia, too.
10830738
Still Luna really should be getting all of her magic back though.
Like really it weakens her badly too. Even though she may done well in this fight, its still bad she is essentially nerfed due to destiny making her give up her magic to Twilight like that.
She barely got to enjoy raising the moon and yet the tree of harmony just seems to set this up to make her lose her magic to the "chosen one".
She returned from the moon only to fail and FAIL and now she doesn't get to put all of her power to use to actually save the day due to destiny making her lose most of her magic to Twilight.
10831900
I don't know how I'll resolve that, honestly. All I can really do is address things at the moment, and then find some eventual loopholes. I may have thought of something. But there has to be that build-up first.
10831907
What can be addressed for now?
10832594
I’ll try to work Luna’s fears into the mix, and her feelings, and just try to give the two sisters more time to fight and win. And, if need be, I’ll work more in.
10832710
Ok then.
How much fear is there so far?
10833969
What we saw last episode, along with some other stuff.
10833982
I feel like given how her track record is worse than Celestia's due to losing a 1000 years and how she ended her rule on a crappy note, I feel like she would fear she would either be forgotten due to she barely ruled or most of the time she be remembered is being a failure whenever a villain attacks.(And Celestia is to blame due to not letting her help save the day but instead forced her to stay out of it for the sake of "testing" Twilight).
Even with the festival of the Two Sisters, Celestia will be remember way way WAY more than Luna.
Luna ultimately barely had any impact on Equestria as ruler compared to Celestia due to losing a 1000 years of ruling. In terms of ruler, in terms of raising the moon. Its one of the reasons why its a pretty terrible sendoff for Luna's character when they had her retire like that.