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Loonie5,623 words
Tia5,544 words

Tia

She had called her ‘little Loonie’ because she always had been so small and when they’d prank the caretakers at the Everfree Castle. Her plans were way too elaborate to be practicable and too crazy to actually work.

Everytime Celestia closed her eyes she still saw the snows of their first winter and the little blue filly jumping right into it, sinking into a hole, jumping out again, sinking into another hole. She remembered the sky that would change it’s color at random. It hadn’t known day or night for such a long time, but only purple and yellow and sometimes cyan. She remembered the runes on the gate, keeping the ever-changing roots of the forest around them away. She remembered the faces of their caretakers, those kindly ponies. In her first memories they had been so young.

There had been Pegasus. Black coat, white mane, grey eyes, always looking at her with a grimness that scared Luna but only encouraged the elder alicorn to try to prank him.
There had been Unicorn. White coat, black mane, white eyes, always sitting in a chair and trying out magic. The blind pony had loved to hang out with Luna and had taught her the value of history.
Celestia had always preferred the last, Earth. She remembered him to have a coat of grey, a black-and-white striped mane and eyes the color of her own mane.

“The ground is the most important thing,” he had told her, “without it, neither pegasus nor unicorn would live.”

She remembered Luna as she had seen her the last time. It had been in the middle of the night and Celestia had been so anxious about the celebration to come that she couldn’t sleep. When Luna had first come in she had thought to make a friendly chat.

Only, Luna took offense in anything she said these days, interpreting everything anypony said or did as and attack against her. As of late Celestia noticed the plans she had made for her personal life all backfiring, even though she only had the best intentions. She had thought Luna would like it to have less work, to see how her older sister could take care of things but she only seemed to dislike Celestia more. Everypony spoke about how it was the younger ones who wanted to impress their elders but with Luna she always felt the need to impress her.

Celestia had seen her sister, rings beneath her eyes, the coat had darkened, probably from the dirt in her room, that once beautiful mane had stopped moving in whatever ethereal wind always made it move and the once graceful trot she had always possessed had degenerated into some kind of scurrying around. The way Luna had eyed to her from down below, she probably hadn’t even seen how Celestia had gestured her to sit beside her on the royal cushions.

The whole talk had been a mess. Afterwards the first thing Celestia had done was tear that darn dress off, since it had neither comforted her nor gotten a laugh out of her sister. After she had thrown herself on the bed Celestia looked at the garment on the floor. She thought that pink mess of a dress ugly but nowadays she liked dressing herself ugly. Court got boring pretty easily and the ponies had devised the nicest games. They’d outshine each other with the ridiculousness of their dresses and manestyles just to get a laugh out of each other. Well, they had in the beginning at least. Nowadays on Celestia seemed to care about the original purpose. Nowadays ponies applauded one’s tower of a hairstyle.

Court had gotten worse, Celestia knew that and halfway through she had become dependant on them. Not on the ponies themselves but their ancestry. She still saw the ponies she had laughed with and seen grow old and die, not their children and children’s children.

Luna’s words had struck Celestia and even though she hadn’t seen her sister all week now, she had most certainly kept a close eye on her nobility and went down to the towns for the first time since 40 years.

Everything had changed around her and everything was still changing. It always escaped Celestia until the moment the change was already over. Last time she had left a grey, boring castle she had come back to Luna covered in paint and the castle turned into some kind of artwork. It had been the best day of the century for Celestia and the last time she had seen Loonie again.

That princess had planned to paint the castle like that for roughly forty years, every line, everything her household members should do, everything and in the end it had been so elaborate that Celestia wondered why she hadn’t seen it coming.

Just thinking about it made Celestia both smile and a bit sad. It was whenever she was alone with her thoughts she’d always find herself wishing both her and her sister back to the Everfree Castle. She had enjoyed those times of freedom and laughter so much, even if it had been for only a short time. They had just gotten their cutie marks by the time the seals broke and they had to go to war against Discord.

She always put on a smile of confidence but Celestia remembered that she had always been glad to have Luna besides her. Back then, though, she had protected her sister most of the time. Now Celestia would remember when Luna would take part of her shifts even eighty years back. She had never expected to be repayed, she had always been generous like that.

Generous and honest, she was an embodiment of harmony afterall.

The alicorn did not know what to believe anymore. She sighed, all this thinking was giving her a headache. Well, she had ended her days with headaches over the last hundred years so it wasn’t that much of a difference. In fact, Celestia had gotten used to walking around with a head the size of a watermelon.

Especially now that she realized that the court had been lying to her. She had only noticed hints of it, since she hadn’t been able to really leave the nobility to itself. Unlike Luna she couldn’t waltz around and look at the castle and the town for what they were. Yet it was always there, keeping information about Equestria to themselves, offing their rivals when she didn’t look and letting those they had sworn to protect suffer to enrich themselves.

Harmony had long left Canterlot and from Luna’s perspective, she had grown decadent, too. That was probably it, she didn’t see the games, she just saw the suffering that was caused by her sister being so immaturely engaged in a game that wasn’t one.

Celestia hovered the tiara onto her head, thinking how it didn’t suit her. Luna had the right of it. She was no princess. She just had been born an alicorn, nothing more.

Still, there was a small chance for her to fix everything. When this night ended, so would come the Summer Sun Celebration. Originally it should’ve rained throughout the night, but Celestia had re-issued a clear sky until the sun had risen after the complaints her sister had given. She had wanted to see the night sky, too. Luna had hidden away, writing letters, probably to friends who were closer to her nowadays than her own sister. Celestia felt bad about that but she also didn’t feel like possessing enough courage to face Luna just like that. Instead she had come up with an ingenious plan.

After the Summer Sun Celebration, she and Luna would leave the kingdom and spend time in the Everfree Forest. Just for a week or two, trying to get to know each other again, occasionally visiting the nearest towns, getting a picture of the realm and figuring new plans out. Getting to know their subjects would be another priority. She wanted to do it right and if Luna’d get better, too, everything would turn out right.

Celestia looked at herself in the mirror, not knowing what she wanted to see. She only knew what she saw now and what she would see tomorrow and the confidence reappeared.

Everything would be fine and the sun would soon rise. She took the tiara off and rang the bell to call for her hoofmaidens.

They were always the most pleasant company. Their joking and gossiping made the whole ordeal so much easier. She liked each and everyone of them. Dusty had a certain innocence about her and Winter Garden had a wonderful sense of humour. Mistflower loved messing with the princesses’ hair, while Smoothie always had an idea for a good dress. Today, though, Celestia didn’t want a beautiful dress or a mane to put them all into the shadows. She wanted something Luna could hardly hate her for.

For nostalgia’s sake she went with her old armor, the one she had worn in the days of Discord’s rebellion. A golden armor embedded with the gems of loyalty, honesty and laughter. She had always felt herself closest to those elements back in the days. Nowadays? She didn’t even want to answer.

She kept her mane as it was but at least took the royal tiara. The ponies might be put off if she wouldn’t wear it. Still, her royal highness found herself looking very regal in the end. Also, she felt it in every fiber of her being, the sun would soon have to rise.

She and Luna kept everything around the world turning, even as one of them slept, their magic still kept the whole apparatus going. Lucky for them, only dawn and dusk required attention. She had never understood why, but the magic always needed to be at it’s strongest during those times.

The Summer Sun Celebration was probably THE greatest of all sunrises. In Celestia’s opinion, she had never managed to pull off something like Luna did during the winter solstice. Last year, there had been a thousand stars dancing as the moon reached out to it’s peak.

Her sister had all the stars of the night and she only had the sun. Sometimes it felt unfair. She had never quite understood why the ponies liked the days more than the nights but someday she would surely find out.

She trodded out of her room, only to be greeted by Lord Commander of the Solar Guard, Glory Seeker, who had donned the most fabulous looking barding Celestia had ever seen. The steel was painted in all the colors of the rainbow and the surcoat was made of the finest silk money could buy, presenting the royal colors of day and night with Celestia embroided on one side, with rubies for her eyes and an outline of smaragds, while her sister had eyes of smaragds and an outline made of sapphires. He had painted his normally plain turquoise mane with three additional colors, white and dark red and indigo and his moustache was twirled and styled.

Fabulous was really the only word to describe him. The shield was of the same color as his coat, a pale yellow and on it was his cutie mark, the picture of the most fabulous hat in all of Equestria, a magnificent purple thing with a broad brim and three huge feathers, probably from peacocks. Celestia would always lose herself looking at it.

Even his spear was something to behold. The shaft was made of silver and the tale how Brave Letter delivered the dragon treaty across the lands was etched onto it. The Blade was fine steel with a golden version of the equestrian sigil on it.

His deep blue eyes settled on his princess and he nodded in her direction: “You look completely stunning, your Grace,” he said with that warm tone in his voice.

“Thank you Glory, you seem to have gone all out, yourself,” she noticed.

“Everypony’s trying so hard again and considering that the night guard will attend, I simply had to make myself outdo their captain,” he said. Celestia smiled to that. The nightguard wouldn’t play that game, she knew. Their captain was a simple pony who misliked the sun. Celestia didn’t remember her name, but that she had often snuck into the palace and that Luna would teach her the names of all the constellations in the sky.

Her own captain was in it because he could play dress-up.

Somehow Celestia heard Luna’s words again in the back of her head. Glory Seeker was easy on the eye and the way he went over the top with everything he did amused Celestia to no end, but that wasn’t the purpose of the Lord Commander was it?

Maybe she should just hire a captain, some brave knight in shining armor to defend the Equestria. Hopefully someday she’d find such a hero.

Today, she had Glory.

“Well,” she said, “try to get along with her.”

Glory chuckled to that, “Do not worry, unlike that commoner I know how to act at court.”

The commander of Luna’s guard was called Nightlight and was actually the daughter of one of the orphans from eighty years ago. She was deeply devoted to Luna and unlike her own captain, capable of more than looking good. Celestia found it somewhat amusing that Luna’s guard was probably far more capable than the solar guard while only looking half so good.

Celestia tried her best for the realm but the royal guard really seemed to reflect what the princesses had become. Not that that was a problem. Luna had always been superior to Celestia in anything that didn’t involve physically doing something herself. She could still outdo any pegasus, earth pony or unicorn in her sleep, just not as good as Celestia, but the sheer brilliance of the younger alicorn had always baffled her elder sister.

Celestia’s guard, now that she reflected, had been chosen by three ponies:
Glory Seeker, who had only cared about their looks.
Clinging Coins, who had only cared about only getting the cheap ones.
And herself, who had amused herself, who had mastered the art of sleeping with open eyes by then.

The Nightguard, though? They had been chosen by Luna herself. Ponies who loved the night as much as she did and would rather live in the light of the stars than the shadows the light of the sun cast.

Today, she’d see how it would work out.

She trotted across the room, her Lord Commander besides her and his best (looking) guards to all their sides, with Bold Storm, her ward and royal bannermare, walking before them. The sun would rise soon and the royal procession formed behind them as they marched through the castle.

By the time Celestia had reached the gardens there were fifty followers. The entire royal court was on her side of the garden, as well as the entire solar guard. Frankly, there were more guards than other ponies.

Everypony was dressed up especially well for today, though. She spotted Golden Heart with a dress that would Discord make weep of joy. There was the green mare, a pony whose name Celestia didn’t recognize, with vines and flowers in her dark green mane and boots that resembled roots, covering the brown stockings of her legs, while the bright green coat was hidden well beneath a dress that resembled a bush. Her grass green eyes stared at the princess. Celestia also nodded in greeting as she spotted Clinging Coins, who had donned a silver armor himself, probably because he still held a grudge that Luna had told him ‘No’ for his tourney idea.

There were many more, forming her side of the royal procession. The other side, Luna’s, would come from the other side of the garden and from the Gate of Harmony, the main gate in Canterlot, they would march towards the golden arch that had been erected for this occasion in the middle of the town of Canterlot.

So it happened, as Celestia moved towards the gate, all the royalty of Canterlot gathered behind her. The ponies would normally gather in equal amount behind her and her sister, maybe the townponies were waiting at the plaza already. She didn’t waste much time thinking about it and instead moved onwards, now also finding the Solar Marching Band heralding her coming. Celestia frowned. Under normal circumstances she would have approved but now she felt just bad about it.

The procession approached the gate and so did Luna. Celestia raised an eyebrow, Luna was wearing her old armor, too. And the contrast made her coat appear almost black, that looked really weird. Luna’s procession really was much smaller, only a few noble-ponies followed her along the guard.

She spotted Hearthfire, the Lord of Mines; Butter Bread, the current chief-astrologer of Canterlot; and Sunny Skies.

The red-maned pony with the rose coat walked a bit behind her princess, aided by a guard she named Snowflower and Stark Silence, the stoic watchpony, as they called him. Sunny was blind and two of her hooves were missing, one in the front and one in the back, so she was bound by a wheelchair, another of Luna’s wondrous ideas. Sunny also was an orphan from back then and another dagger thrust in Celestia’s heart.

Still, she would fix everything soon enough. The court, her past wrongs, everything.

Loonie, she thought, I’m coming.

They met in front of the roads and Celestia, in front of all the ponies tried to look as regal as possible and in the courtly manner, adressed her sister, “Princess Luna.”

Everytime she said that Luna would twitch and look at her with what could only be called hatred. Not this tim, though. Luna smiled back and replied surehooved: “Princess Celestia.” It sounded almost condescending so Celestia figured from Luna’s perspective their relationship had reached a greater deep than after their first battle against Discord.

As they stood besides each other she leaned in on her sister and whispered: “When the ceremony’s done, I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Yeah...me, too,” came the answer. It surprised Celestia but she smiled at her sister, maybe this would be easier than she had originally thought.

So the two princesses marched forwards, towards the town. On the stairs the princess listened to the chatter behind her.

“You haven’t even dressed properly. Oh Nightlight, your nightguard will never reach the greatness of us solar guards,” she heard Glory Seeker remark. A frown came unto her face but luckily, Nightlight was a mare enough to not jump at the remark. “It must be so hard on your ponies, since this is one of the rare nights you ugly things have to be seen.”

For a moment, Celestia really thought about stopping but instead she would wait until after the celebration. She didn’t want to ruin the moment for everypony. She also needed a new Lord Commander as it seemed.

Canterlot itself normally wasn’t a busy town and even during a festival like this, only the respective townsfolk gathered around. Not this year, though. The stars shone down on the plaza and the town was lit with lanterns and torches. Ponies stood everywhere in the streets and she even saw some looking down from the windows. Celestia had tried to get a good glimpse at her little ponies over the last week but this was the first time she saw them.

She remembered that in the beginning, Luna had done so much for the entirety of the realm and everypony who knew the work she did loved her for it. She didn’t care about much that was happening outside her room and whenever she had met her sister at dusk she had only asked one question: “How are our new subjects faring?”

She never had been content with the workings of everything, had always tried to find new ways to help Equestria grow. Celestia had never had any chance to do actual big work, instead she listened to the minor complaints of the subjects and fixed the small things. Soon enough, though, she had become the face of the nation and even though it was Luna who issued the building of cities and organized everything, Celestia had always felt that the ponies loved her less than the elder one.

Luna never cared, it was only one question.

Always one question.

“How are our subjects faring?“

Celestia only saw what came to court and there had been rules about it, somewhere down the line even the smallest pony needed to be made part of the scheming and playing if they went to court and suddenly, the face of the realm lost sight of it. Now she stood before the arch and saw the realm.

The ‘common’ ponies looked ragged and hungry. While in Court everypony was bound by the dress coat, here she could clearly see that most ponies weren’t even able to afford a hat. Even the houses were ragged and downed. It had never looked like this before, or...didn’t she just want to see it? She saw one mare with a brown coat with remnants of a blonde main, somepony else had chewed most of it off as it seemed. She looked into the empty eyes of that pony, there was a spark of hope, as if the rising sun and the coming morrow would change something, anything.

Celestia gazed into those eyes and in the back of her head, she heard stone cracking. The sound of laughter.

“Oh Celestia, you always get so serious when we’re doing this.”

She felt it all around her. She heard her nobility talking badly about the subjects, her trusted friends, she saw how angry Luna looked at her, as if this was Celestia’s fault, she noticed how everypony looked at her with the same eyes like hundreds of years ago. She felt it, the armor weighing, the Elements of Harmony pulsing. She felt the other thing, too. The seeds of discord.

Celestia took a deep breath, before she turned towards Glory Seeker, who was now trying to push some fillies away who wanted to touch his armor.

“Lord Commander,” she heard Luna say, “I want you to move my sisters guards away, the townsfolk seem eager to take a closer look at how my sister and I bring down the night and raise the moon.” She used that wording specifically, maybe in hopes that it would please her sister.

Glory looked shocked, “but you’re royalty, princess. The rules-”

“Of court were made by me and some friends after drinking enough cider to give us a royal headache at the next dawn. Please, do as she commands,” said Celestia, giving Luna a smile.

Begrudingly he commanded his men and the nobility to make enough space so everypony could see the princesses. Celestia quietly hoped that this would help the mood but the way the ponies looked at them, nothing had changed. They weren’t happy, they looked like they were starving, like they were sick.

The last big problem in the realm Celestia remembered had been the great plague. Back then, the whole of Equestria had worked to fix it. Food shouldn’t, couldn’t be a problem. There was a reason the court was always fun and games. It was because Equestria was fine, yet, the more she looked at these ponies, the more she doubted. Luna would’ve told her about something like this....

Then it hit her. Luna had tried to tell it, but Celestia had proven herself to be both inept and blind. The younger sibling strolled before the ponies at that moment, even Celestia looked puzzled.

Luna leaned in on her sister, Celestia noted that she seemed taller, “All day you and your court prance about while before you the realm rots,” the younger princes said, spite in her voice.

There wasn’t anger, “If my subjects would starve, why wouldn’t they tell me about it. Whatever is going on here, I will fix it, Princess Luna.”

Luna sighed, then strolled towards the ponies, “The light of day won’t help them. They don’t need you or your court.”

Celestia only saw the eyes on them, hundreds, maybe thousands and everypony was listening to the Luna’s voice. Everypony knew she was right, that was what Celestia saw in that moment anyways. She looked Luna in the eyes.

“I’m-” she wanted to say sorry but at that moment Luna flushed.

“WHAT?” The voice rang across the plaza, “I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU ARE!”

Princess Celestia then saw how her sisters wings spread. The light blue armor laid against a black cloak and snakelike eyes looked at Celestia.

“ONLY I MATTER! THEY ONLY NEED ME!” the younger princess bellowed and her horn lit up.

Before the blast hit her, Celestia could only ask one question, “Loonie?”

And seconds later chaos was around her, Lunas guard started attacking her own followers and all around her, Celestia heard the ponies screaming and running. All while she was lying on the ground, her chest cooked black from her sisters magic. The pain burned through every fiber and every muscle of her, still she tried to gather her strength and tried to lift herself up. She only managed the head, looking at Luna, who calmly trotted towards her, a smug smile across her face.

The black mare looked around, “My kingdom shall be one of nighttime eternal, never again shall your precious sun rise, Celestia.” Celestia heard it, all the spite and all the hatred had been given it’s own voice, not Luna’s but another’s. She grunted, as she tried to move, tried to stand up.

She needed to stop this madness. The black alicorn chuckled at her efforts and lean in close.

“Don’t try too hard, “she whispered in Celestia’s ear, “all that strength is wasted anyhow. I’m far more powerful than you can imagine, especially since I took already one half of the elements.”

Celestia looked at the other mare, “Who are you? What have you done with Luna?”

The other mare looked up, “You’re captain is pinned down by mine, who’s gonna win that one? Want to take a guess?” she asked with a calm voice, before gazing upon Celestia again, “Not feeling in the mood for a bet, are we?”

Now Celestia felt angry, rising unsteady on her hooves.

“I ASKED, WHO ARE YOU?”

In the distance flames roared up and a war was raged, the alicorns stood there, one battered and bruised, the other with a triumphant smile on her face.

“I am the one who will bring peace beneath the light of the stars. I will bring joy to everypony when they wake,” the black one said, “and fear when they sleep.”

Celestia grinded her teeth, the mare smiled, “I guess my name would be...Moon.”

The horn lit up again, but this time Celestia was quick enough to put a barrier around herself on which the blast perished.

“As to what I’ve done with your sister...become her would be an appropriate spin of words. I needed a body, else I would have perished and I could help her with her ambitions. Do not worry she wanted-” The smile perished and from one moment to another the mare fell on her knees, screaming.

Celestia looked down on her, before the eyes met once more. This time, though she heard Luna’s voice, “Sis-, I never- You need to- She’s a Nightmare!” she managed to get out before she screamed out in pain.

Celestia looked at Nightmare Moon, who rose up again. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew...this was her own fault and she had to fix the situation. She roared up and stormed towards the other alicorn, her horn glowing brightly. She wanted to use the opening that moment had created, maybe she could banish that ‘Nightmare’-thingie. It didn’t happen like that, though, moments before, with a flap of her wings, Nightmare Moon lifted herself into the air and brought some distance between her and Celestia, enough to charge up a spell of her own. So as Celestia jumped into the heights, two spells clashed. They created a shockwave powerful enough to send everypony in the vicinity flying.

Celestia was up in the air somewhat beneath the enemy in her sister’s body. They looked at each other, but while Celestia was still hurting from the first blast, Moon seemed only to have finished warming up. The princess of the sun knew this was going badly. Still, Luna was inside that thing. She had to free her, but how? Immediately after she had posed herself that question silently, a smile formed on her face and she hurled herself towards the mare.

“I have waited for so long, I have survive until now and I won’t fail here. The night shall rise and so will we once more and a new age of dreams will come!” Nightmare Moon yelled and aimed for a dive towards Celestia. The princess saw the black mare coming, her wings spread far, a black patch across a white screen.

Oh, Loonie, I always envied you. You have all the stars of the night and the bright moon while all I have is one sun, she had thought. Right before that dazzling moon she unleashed the elements of harmony and in the last moment, she saw a sudden resonance, the elements on Luna’s armor lighting up, too. For one moment she dared to hope, one moment.

The screams of defiance came and went, there was an explosion in the middle of the sky and Celestia knew she was hit by another blast, a last one, in the last second. and crashed into the ground again.

She woke up beneath the rising sun, in the middle of Canterlot and the first things she saw were the rocks of the elements by her side and the face of her sister on the moon.

The snow had covered the Everfree Castle in the greatest white, Tia found. She and Luna both had spent the entire day throwing snowballs and building snowponies. They had dug tunnels and build houses and castles. They had thrown themselves of the roof only to land in the soft white stuff that was snow.

Now, tired and all, they looked at the bright magenta sky, a big ball hovering above them, a black nothingness that couldn’t be touched by the taint of chaos. Unicorn called it the ‘moon’. Tia and Luna spend many times here on the highest tower, just looking as it strode across the sky aimlessly, searching for the stars and the sun, which had vanished a long, long time ago. Tia had originally thought it a bit boring, but Luna had made her see it.

“It must be so sad,” the little blue pony had once said, “it’s the last of it’s kind, all alone up there in the sky.”

Tia hadn’t said anything back then, she didn’t say anything now. They just looked at it, as it made a slight curve towards the west. It looked utterly lost.

“One day you’ll show which way that one has to go, huh?” Tia asked her sister. The smaller pony nodded.

“Yes, I’ll need to get the stars to help me, too, though.”

Tia had heard about that, too, from Pegasus. Her eyes were fixed on the moon, “I can’t imagine how that must look. When our powers manifest you get the stars, the moon, all bright lights shining against a dark sky. All I get is one big ball of light. I doubt anypony will ever find any enjoyment in my day as in your night.”

Luna giggled, probably feeling proud of herself. She was young still and loved to be praised.

“I’d give it to you, though,” Loonie said after a few moments of silence, “I’d rather give it all to just be up there, on the moon and just watch the years pass. Just imagine how small everything would look from up there. It’s probably the best thing ever.”

Celestia did not answer. Instead, she looked as the big black ball in the sky made another turn, searching for something that it would someday find with the help of a little blue filly. Maybe they’d actually both get to see it. She wanted to see from up there, too, with the eyes of the moon. Even if not, though, there were still many more adventures to be had down here.

Tia smiled, “Earth is making waffles, I saw, wanna steal some?”

~How Sisters Collide~
The End

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