Sun & Moon Act II: A Crown Divided

by cursedchords

Chapter 43: What Matters Most

“The Unicorn Kingdom, being built on the supposed superiority of one tribe, was doomed to failure. For the opposite reason, Equestria will survive.”

- Journals of High Princess Celestia (Vol. 2)

The edge of the lantern’s light quickly revealed a different world down here. The wooden finish on the walls was replaced by arches of bare brick, running between closely spaced columns of stone. The air was chill and musty, filled with aromas of preserved fruit and aging cider. On the far wall Celestia saw a stack of casks, somehow reminding her of Raspberry’s tavern, a memory from what felt like a lifetime ago. Elsewhere in the cellar were other preserves, loops of garlic and sacks of vegetables, shelf upon shelf of canned and jarred goods, and even a small well with a crank and bucket sitting next to it.

The one thing that immediately caught her gaze though was the large wooden cage that was sitting to the right of the staircase. It was big enough to be called a cell, really, sturdy wooden posts several inches thick, running up and down and secured into boards that formed the floor and ceiling. There was a door locked with a sturdy padlock. And inside it, just barely visible at the edge of the lantern’s light, was Trinity. The sight of her involuntarily brought Celestia’s hoof up to her mouth.

The earth pony was tied to a chair, her fore-hooves drawn tightly to the sides and her rear legs to the front. There was a bag over her head hiding her face, and indeed it was probably a good thing that Celestia didn’t get a chance to see it. For the rest of Trinity’s body was marked with welts all over, her white coat marred by bruises, and a few dried streaks from what must have been trickles of blood across her shoulders. Celestia fought a sudden torrent of nausea, finally forced to turn away.

Gala had removed his shirt, and was affixing an iron horseshoe over his right front leg. “Best if you stay out of sight for now,” he cautioned, completely unfazed by the brutal sight. “I’ll give her the hard routine first, and then when I step out you’ll have your turn. I’ll give you five to ten minutes before I come back.”

The old stallion had an entirely different look in the gloom of the lamplight down here, especially with that heavy shoe adorning his hoof. The tufts of his mustache cast shadows across his cheeks, and his eyes reflected the glow of the lantern as twin pinpricks of fire. The still genial tone of his voice now seemed horrifically ironic.

Celestia sat back against a pillar and nodded, unable to bring herself to speak.

When Gala walked past and out of her line of sight, Celestia allowed herself to exhale. She’d known that she wasn’t going to like what she found down here. She’d consciously avoided it, in spite of the things Trinity had said, and the clues evident from how Gala conducted his affairs. How Screw had suddenly disappeared and virtually no pony mentioned him since. Yet the truth of it all still shocked her. To either side of her were racks of equipment, long-handled pincers and shears, whips and knotted cords. She spied one that still had a few tufts of blood-covered white hair dried upon it, and recoiled, the nausea returning.

But this wasn’t what her life would become, she desperately thought to herself. She would be handling the accounts upstairs, and Luna would find whatever position best suited her when she came of age. This part of it all could remain a secret, something barely thought about. Never mind that it was happening here, and probably all over the upper city, or in whatever strongholds the noble houses kept to themselves around the country. How many had suffered, just as Trinity was now?

Gala’s voice came to her then, echoing across the cellar. “Now again, who was your contact? Where did you meet them?” A loud slam! of heavy iron against wood. “You’ve got a pretty face, Miss Trinity. I wish I didn’t have to mess it up! Last chance, who was your contact?”

There was a moment of silence as Celestia held her breath. Then came the distinctive thunk of that iron hitting something else. And a yelp of pain in a familiar voice. Yet she heard no fear, no tears, and no confessions. Indeed, as Gala continued to lash Trinity with questions and beat her, it was Celestia who found herself weeping. Every blow that she heard was another unanswerable shock, another thing that Trinity had never said, and that Celestia had tried to avoid.

Thunk! This world was the one that she had fought so hard to enter and the one that she had defended to her friends.

Thunk! This world was the one that she had desired, for herself and for Luna.

Thunk! This world was the one that she had earned her place in, and celebrated above. The manor upstairs was warm and bright, but the cellar was a part of it too. There was no taking one without the other.

Finally she heard the clomp of Gala’s hoofsteps. “Haven’t had enough yet, have you?” he was saying. “Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty more. And some that will leave a more permanent mark. Let me just go and warm up the hearth. I’ll be but a moment.”

Celestia took a few deep breaths in the hope of composing herself. With a nearby rag she wiped the tears out of her eyes and off of her uniform. It probably wouldn’t do for Gala to see how upset she was. She got back to her hooves as the old earth pony emerged once more into the light. Once again he was back to his usual self, that bright and cheerful smile on his face. But that image was tainted by the few drops of fine red spatter on the leg that had the shoe.

“Okay, time for you now,” he said, offering Celestia a quick nod. “She’s a resilient one certainly, but I’m going to heat up the branding irons, and she knows it. All you’ve got to do is offer her a way out. If she doesn’t bite, I’ll be back in five minutes.”

He reached out to put an encouraging hoof on her shoulder, and Celestia had to fight the urge to recoil from him. At least it wasn’t the bloody hoof. “Don’t worry if you can’t crack her. No matter what happens, the important thing is that she’s not going to hurt anyone anymore.”

As if to play at the irony of that statement, Gala scanned over his equipment rack for a second, before picking out a long wood-handled branding iron with an apple design at its end. He gave Celestia one last wink before leaving for the far end of the cellar, loudly whistling a light and bouncy tune.

Alone once more, Celestia thought for a moment. She could perhaps just run away here and now, up the stairs and away from the estate, never looking back, in a way just like Capstan had said. That was probably how this would all end eventually. But in that world Trinity would die just the same. She would still have sealed her friend to this fate, even if she hadn’t come face-to-face with it herself. Those cries of pain and Gala’s cheerful whistling would haunt her dreams until the end of her days. Every moment of happiness, even earned honestly, would be tainted by this memory. No. She had to put this right, somehow. And that started with turning around and facing her old friend again.

She peeked her head around the column. Trinity’s cell was still just at the edge of the lantern’s light, cast in deep shadows. But she could see Trinity, hunched over in her seat, eyes closed as if asleep. Her head was just as bruised as the rest of her, with blood running from her left eyebrow. As Celestia stepped closer she could see that Trinity’s breaths were shallow, but as soon as she entered the cell that breath caught.

“Forget something?” Trinity asked, amazingly still with a note of confidence, though with an undeniable quiver in there too. But when she cracked open her eyes and saw Celestia standing there, she sat up straight. “Celestia? What are you doing here?”

A horrid thought came to her then, that Trinity might think she was only here to twist the knife some more. It was almost enough to convince her to turn around right there. Even if that wasn’t what Trinity thought, she would still probably be bitter over her betrayal. Celestia let her gaze fall to the floor. “I’m, uh… I’m here to apologize, Trinity. For everything. I should have believed you from the start. It shouldn’t have taken me seeing you like this to make me appreciate the truth.”

Her friend nodded slowly on hearing the words. Celestia expected a lash of justified anger, and was ready to accept it, but instead Trinity stayed calm and offered a friendly smile. “I always knew that you would come around eventually. It is quite the pity that it took this long though. But don’t worry, I’m not dead yet.”

“Wait, what?” Celestia jerked her head up to look Trinity in the eyes. Her friend’s expression was calm and open, seemingly honest. “You’re… you’re not still mad at me?”

“Mad? Hmm, no. Disappointed mostly.”

If Trinity had been able to lean back in the chair, Celestia guessed that she would have done so, even in spite of all of the pain that she was probably feeling right now. But she seemed relaxed at that moment.

“If I’m being honest, I have myself to blame as much as you for that. I trusted you just a bit too much, and underestimated how tempting the Lord’s offer would be to you. Plus it was a lot to just drop on you right there and we didn’t exactly leave a very positive first impression. Still, there’s time to make it up once you get me out of here. I assume that’s what you’re here for?”

“Assuredly so,” Celestia nodded. “Though I’m still not sure how. Gala will be back any minute, and he’ll surely hear us if we try to make a break for it.”

“Don’t worry. I think I know.” Trinity flashed her a crooked grin, revealing that she was now missing a few teeth. Yet, even on her broken face, it was still full of energy and life, and seemed almost to bring some light back into the room. “Untie my front hooves here, but leave the ropes on so it looks like I’m still restrained. When Gala comes back, I’ll take him by surprise, and you’ll take him from behind.”

It seemed like a good plan. As Celestia came forward to see to the ropes, she couldn’t help but get a whiff of Trinity’s smell. Not just the grime and muck of being kept in a dirty cell all day, but also the blood, sweat and tears. It almost made Celestia want to throw up again, but she took a deep breath and kept on. “How have you been able to deal with all of this?”

“It sure does look bad,” Trinity admitted with a flinch, “and I’ll assure you that it is pretty bad too. But everyone in the Resistance knows that this is what happens if you get captured. I went through some pretty rough training to prepare. Ultimately, it’s all about remembering that the cause is bigger than me, no matter what I have to face.”

With the knots untied, Celestia did her best to arrange the ropes to look like they were still tight. To her eyes it wasn’t a particularly convincing job, but hopefully Gala would have his mind elsewhere. The disturbingly cheery notes of his whistling were still echoing through the cellar, though she figured that her five minutes must be nearly up by now. In the time that they still had though, she leaned down and caught Trinity in an embrace, holding her tightly. “Thanks for understanding,” she said.

“You came around,” Trinity said back. “I knew you would. It means that you really do have a good heart in you. Now, stand back and ask me a few questions. I think that Gala is coming back.”

Standing up straight, Celestia gave her a nod and then quickly straightened out her uniform. Indeed, she could hear the sound of Gala’s steps approaching them once again. “Trinity, I’m just trying to help you,” she said, much louder than necessary, almost desperately. “There’s no need for this to go on. All that you have to do is tell us who you were meeting with, and where, then this will all be over.” Trinity, for her part, had clammed up, back to the stoic posture and deep breaths.

“Nothing?” came Gala’s voice once again from outside of the cell. When Celestia turned he was standing only a few steps away, holding the apple brand, only now the end of it was glowing bright orange and smoking slightly. “Don’t worry about it. She’s chosen the hard way, and that’s none of your concern.” He stepped aside to clear her a path back to the stairs, even lowering the brand and giving her a bow as a gentlecolt might. “You should head back up and get some rest then. You won’t want to be around for the part that comes next.”

She sighed as she passed him by. “Whatever needs to be done, I suppose. I hope that you won’t waste too much time on her. You do need your own sleep too.”

“Never mind about me,” Gala chuckled. “I have a good sense by now of how much a prisoner can be pressed before anything further truly is a waste of effort.”

He stepped past her and into the cell, raising the brand once more. The light coming off of its tip was enough to bring a warm glow into the tiny space, akin to an ember of fire. In its light, Celestia could see a bit of Trinity’s face, her eyes wide and fearful. But then, just as Gala stepped forward, she gave Celestia a wink.

Trinity moved like lightning, her hooves coming up and catching a hold of the brand just as Gala was about to drive it home. Celestia didn’t get a chance to see the look on his face, but he didn’t fall over or step back. Instead it looked as though he was holding his ground, and perhaps even winning the struggle. That was when Celestia jumped him from the back, locking her legs around his neck and toppling them both over onto the grimy floor.

There was a muffled grunt from Gala as they came down, but at once he was trying to shake himself free from Celestia’s grip. He was much stronger than she had expected, and in spite of her efforts it was only an instant before he had overpowered the strength in her legs and fought his way to his knees. Gala turned to look down at her and spat a wad of spittle right into her face.

“Another traitor,” he grunted, sounding almost disappointed. “I should have known. But there will be room in the cell soon enough.” Then there came a scraping sound behind him, and Gala turned, just in time to see Trinity bring the red-hot branding iron down onto the back of his neck.

Gala’s scream echoed in the cellar, deep into the back recesses of Celestia’s mind, as Trinity held the iron in place, and smoke curled up from the stallion’s neck. After a long moment that seemed to freeze in time Trinity pulled back, only to then swing the brand into Gala’s face, catching him on the side of the skull with a decisive thunk. She brought it back up behind her shoulder again, ready for another blow, but the elder Lord had collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The seared flesh on the back of his neck was still smoking, the stench acrid in Celestia’s nostrils, but for the moment he was out.

Trinity though was not taking a second to catch her breath. She was already leaning over to work on the ropes binding her rear legs. “We’re going to need to move,” she said briskly. “Someone will have heard that scream, and will be down to check on him soon.”

Celestia nodded, and hurried to help with the knots. With the storm outside, it was possible that nopony had overheard the struggle, but it wasn’t a chance that they should take. There was no explaining away this one. They needed to get out of the orchard, and never come back.

When the last ropes were undone, Trinity fell off of the chair and onto the floor. She was slow getting to her hooves, and Celestia could see a scowl of pain on her features. “Are you okay to walk?” she asked.

Trinity nodded, though Celestia could see that it was taking an effort for her not to cry out. “Just stiff is all,” she said. “It’ll come out in no time. Come on, we need to move.”

That much was true, but Trinity looked like she could barely walk. Gala’s interrogation must have left a more permanent mark than just cuts and bruises. Through the floorboards above, she could hear the urgent tapping of hooves as the servants congregated, and some were sent to investigate. Time was running out.

Celestia made an executive decision, picking up Trinity’s body and draping it across her back, before unfolding her wings and dashing up toward the stairs. With her wings to guide her she turned the corner to head up the stairway without losing any speed, and the two of them emerged into the darkened hallways above. The Sun had fully gone down by now, and the storm had broken, with the windows getting pelted by sheets of rain as lightning danced along the horizon.

Celestia turned back toward the front door only to find the hallway blocked by a pair of servants who were looking at her in confusion. One immediately turned and began shouting for Fastidious, though, and the other was standing firm. Celestia could maybe get past her, but the front entrance would surely be blocked by guards before she could get there.

“The other way!” Trinity shouted from her back. “There’s a servant’s entrance around the side of the estate! Down that hall!”

Celestia took off in the direction that Trinity had pointed, through hallways lit by burning lamps in their niches, past the dour glares of the Appleton family ancestors that stared out at her from the nooks.

Twice more she encountered other ponies attempting to block her way, guards this time, with sharp spears held level, but each time Trinity knew of another way out. Celestia by now had no idea where they were going, after so many turns in the maze-like halls of the manor.

Finally she saw the servant’s entrance, and hurling open the door she took off into the night sky, far up and not caring at all which direction she was going. So long as they left the Rose et Blanc behind them.

---

They had flown for maybe fifteen minutes when Celestia turned around to look back. The countryside behind them was empty, filled only with falling rain and the occasional bluff of trees. Lightning lit up the horizon occasionally, its far-off flickers revealing Eridian high on its peak, several miles further off than Celestia was used to seeing it. But they had left the orchard behind, and probably wouldn’t be followed. Not in the storm, at least.

Celestia set down in a stand of small trees, though it was late enough in the year that they had lost their leaves, and so provided no cover from the pouring rain overhead. She and Trinity were both drenched to the skin anyway, but even so as she laid her friend down into the grass Celestia held out her wing to make something approaching a canopy. “I think we’re far enough away,” she said, letting out a sigh.

Trinity laid herself down flat on the grass, taking a deep breath herself. “Probably,” she said, still wincing from the pain. “Though they will search for us once the storm lets up.”

“As soon as I’ve got you somewhere safe I’ll head back to the city, and lay low. Fastidious and Gala don’t know exactly where I live, and thank goodness for it.”

With the quiet of the rain settling on her now after the chaos of their escape, Celestia’s brain was finally catching up on what this all meant. Her dream of a secure life had just evaporated, and things were going to be even harder now. But just looking at Trinity’s battered form beneath her brought back her confidence. She would do it again in a heartbeat.

On the ground, Trinity’s breath suddenly caught. “Oh no.” She turned her face up, eyes filled with anxiety. “Celestia, you need to go back to Eridian right now.”

Celestia frowned. “I can’t leave you here in your current state.” On her own, Trinity could barely walk, and would probably fare even worse in the rain without any shelter. Still, the look on her friend’s face brought a flutter of nerves into Celestia’s heart too. “But what is the matter?”

“Celestia, forgive me but I… I-” For an instant, and astoundingly for the first time tonight, Trinity looked to be on the verge of tears. She sat up and caught her breath, but it was still trembling as she went on. “When they took me, of course I knew that you were the one who had turned me in. I wasn’t going to tell them anything about the Resistance, but I thought that there wasn’t much point in keeping your secrets anymore. I told them… everything. Who you were, where you lived.” She hung her head, and went on in a whisper. “I told them about Luna.”

The flutter of nerves turned into a stone that dropped right to the bottom of Celestia’s stomach. Fastidious wouldn’t search after her in the storm, but could send guards to her home, and would have done so right away. Rosy, Capstan, Wickerlock and Luna would all be blissfully unaware, perhaps huddled by the fire to ride out the storm, until Fastidious’s goons kicked down their door looking for her. Trinity was right. She had to get to them. But still she couldn’t take her gaze away from her friend, and the clear injuries all over her body.

“What about you, though, Trinity? I can’t just leave you. Not after all of this.”

Trinity coughed a couple of times before turning over onto her knees. Soaked by the rain, the welts and bruises across her flanks were even more obvious, yet she had the strength to stand. “We have hideouts spread all over. Like the one that you saw,” she said. “I can find one, and hunker down until I’m well enough to travel. And then find my way to Everfree.” Her eyes hardened, and she brought a hoof up to Celestia’s shoulder. “But you don’t have time. If Fastidious sent a pegasus right away, they might have reached the city already.”

That all made sense, yet still Celestia couldn’t agree. “What if I took you along?” she asked, voicing the first idea that came to her head. “You could find someplace safe in the city to recover.”

“No!” Trinity replied sharply, the word cutting through the rain like an arrow. Once again she was the Resistance agent, giving an order. “Celestia, we don’t have time to argue! I would just slow you down. You have to leave me and get to your sister!”

Hesitantly, Celestia nodded, and gathered her wings back to her side. Trinity was right, even though it still felt wrong to be leaving her.

Eridian was a good distance away, but she could see it on the horizon. She wasn’t the fastest flyer, but could make good time when necessary. Gala’s guards would need time to organize, and to navigate through the warrens of the lower city. She could still get the family to safety, but Trinity was right. She couldn’t afford to wait.

She gave Trinity one more look. It felt strange to be leaving her friend here and now, when she had just broken her out of captivity, and would never have the time to make up for her betrayal. “I guess that this is goodbye then, isn’t it? There’s no way that we’ll ever see each other again?”

Her friend gave her a thin smile. Somehow, in spite of everything, she was able to find the bright side. Celestia would have to put some practice into that herself. “Never say never, I suppose, but you and Luna will have to be in hiding for a long time, and I will have to make myself scarce as well. But if you ever do get out of Eridian, maybe we will meet again someday. Until then, just keep a hold of your hope, okay?”

“Got it,” she said, then gave her friend one last little hug. “Thanks for everything.”

“Go on, Celestia.” Trinity shook her head fervently. “You don’t have any more time.”

And so she took off, up to clear the trees and on into the driving rain. Celestia took one look back, to see Trinity standing unevenly for a moment, before taking her own first step off into the darkness. Celestia hoped that she would find her way to safety. Heaven knew that she deserved it, after all that she had been through. But now her own gaze had to be forward.

The rain was coming down before her in sheets, the weight of the water on her feathers and the swirling winds making flight near impossible, but hopefully the same would have slowed down the Lord’s messenger just as much. Every flicker of lightning illuminated the horizon in front of her though, so at least there was no danger of her getting lost.

With every flash Eridian loomed larger before her on the horizon, the tiny fire of light at its peak still there, once a warm reminder, now seeming to taunt her, looming high and unreachable above. But Celestia knew what it meant. She would find peace and safety yet, she swore to herself, but not there. Somehow, somewhere else.

Beneath that light the countless ruins of the lower city tumbled down the mountainside, dark and empty in the storm. There were no lights to be found in those collapsed buildings and roads choked with fallen debris, even though probably hundreds of ponies did live there. All of them would be surviving this storm just as her family was, huddled around fire pits far away from the windows, clutching their blankets for warmth. Those old enough to remember would be hoping that this was only regular rain, and not the tempest of a coming Chaos Storm. That the winds overhead would stay simply howling in gusts, and not cackling in mirth.

Celestia picked out the family’s building quickly, and dove in toward the city streets. From the outside everything looked fine, and there were no signs of movement. When she landed in the street all was quiet, save for the pounding of the rain against the broken cobblestones of the street in front of her. She could see that the door was open though, and immediately knew that she was too late. Beyond the threshold, she took in what was left of her home.

The kitchen looked as though a twister had gone through, their supplies now scattered all through the space, potatoes and sugar sprinkled down into the fire pit, which was still smoldering weakly. The remains of their beds were piled up around the perimeter of the room, turned upside-down or standing up on their ends, the mattresses bent over and torn. The wind coming in the open doorway occasionally blew one of the sheets off of its spot, billowing it out into the silent, empty space.

There was no sign of anypony. She was too late. They were all gone.

Listlessly Celestia sat down on the edge of the fire pit, running her gaze over the ruin once again. She’d been holding it together for most of the night, ever since she and Trinity’s escape from the orchard, but for the flight back to the city she’d been running on hope. Because of course she would make it in time. The alternative was simply too grim to imagine. Living it now though, there was nothing left to hold the emotions back.

Celestia wept, for all that had been lost in her ambition and her pride. She had wanted safety for all of her family, but now she had lost them all. Even if they had made it out okay, they were still lost, away somewhere in the vastness of Eridian. Capstan and Wicker wouldn’t come back to look for her; they thought that she was safe at the orchard. They might even believe that it was her who had sent the marauders after them. She had to hope that at least Luna was with them. Her sister was the one who still deserved a happy life, and as long as she was out there and okay, maybe she could still have one.

Celestia knew that she ought to move on too, but couldn’t think of what to do or where to go next. What was the point anymore? She didn’t have anything left now. No resources or contacts or influence. Not even another pony to lean on. She was alone. Alone in a dark world without any hope.

Celestia could have sat by that pit for a long time, as the wind gusted around her and the rain of her tears fell inside, had not a dark purple hoof then appeared up from out of the cellar. She hardly dared to hope for what it might be, but then Luna’s face emerged as well. The filly looked haggard, her mane tousled and dirty, her eyes wide and fearful. But when the two sisters’ eyes met, they both smiled widely.

“Tia!”

“Luna!” She ran over to the cellar, lifting her sister up with her magic. “You’re safe, oh thank heavens!” She locked her forelegs around her sister, and held her tight. “I didn’t know, I thought that you were gone!”

“Tia, what’s happening?” Luna still sounded fearful, and she was holding on to the embrace just as tight as Celestia was. When she went on, her voice came quickly, emotions spilling out as fast as her mouth could form the words. “Capstan and Wickerlock came home angry. They said that you were ‘lost’. And then these stallions showed up, and I think that they were looking for you? But it all happened so fast. Rosy told me to hide in the cellar, and the others…” Her breath caught. “I- I don’t know. There was a lot of noise, it sounded like maybe a fight. I stayed quiet until things had died down. Are they okay?”

Celestia held her sister up so that she could look into her eyes again. In the middle of the ruined space, she tried her best to be a point of comfort, though of course the tears in her own eyes would hinder that. “I don’t know either. We have to hope that they got out okay.”

In that moment, she wanted to just stay here, and enjoy the feel of Luna’s skin on her hooves, the warmth of having her sister this close. She could tell by the look in Luna’s eyes that this was what her sister wanted too. But they were still in danger. “We have to move. I’m sorry but it’s not safe for us to stay here anymore.”

For once, Luna didn’t ask her why. She would have many questions later, but for now she took a deep breath and gave a short nod. Celestia set her down, and then gathered up one of the sheets and tied it to make something of a crude satchel. “Here, can you gather up supplies? We’re going to be on our own for a little while, and we’ll need as much as we can.”

Luna bent down, letting Celestia slip the bag around her neck. “Tia?” she asked, softly now. “Will we ever see the others again?”

Seeing her sister there, her big eyes full of emotion that she wasn’t letting come out to her face, Celestia tried to muster up a reassuring smile. “I… I don’t know. I can’t say much of anything about our future now.”

Ten minutes later, both she and Luna had a bag full of what supplies they had been able to scavenge from the ruins of their old home. Outside, the wind was still howling and the rain was still coming down, but Celestia didn’t want to wait. They needed to move on, and find shelter somewhere else in the city. And then she needed to think about how they were going to survive. Standing by the door, she bent down to Luna’s level once again.

“Ready to go?” she asked, trying to look as comforting as possible.

“No,” Luna replied. “But I guess we don’t have a choice, do we?”

“Not really. But I’ll make you a deal, okay?” She took one of Luna’s hooves in her own, holding it up. “Things are going to be very hard for us for the next little bit. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I promise you that I’ll stick with you through it all. See this? I’m never letting go.”

“Never,” her sister affirmed, giving her a hoofshake to seal the deal. “Don’t worry, Tia,” she offered after, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. “We’ll make it through just fine.”

Celestia could only nod. She got back to her hooves and took one last look at their old home. This place had been safe, or at least as safe as she’d ever known. The world beyond that doorway was dark and dangerous, filled with the horror of the fight between the Resistance and the upper city, the uncertainty of the daily struggle for the necessities, and the hazards of Discord’s magic besides. She was walking out into a thunderstorm with no shelter and no idea where she was headed. But she had Luna beside her, and that was all that mattered.