As the lone Alicorn walked slowly through the halls, she listened to the echoing of her hooves clopping on the floor of the hallway.
The castle was so big, every room cavernous compared to the equine who roamed it. It scared her... yet it was the only thing she could call home. She felt like she had always been here. Always been alone.
She tried to look out of the windows lining one side of the hallway, but she could see nothing outside. Crystals as black as the deepest cave covered every window, every door. She could not break them. She could not escape.
This place was more of a prison than anything.
The pony prisoner shivered, and coughed haggardly. Her blueish-purple coat was lined with tiny patches of ice in some places. It was so cold. So very cold.
She spread her wings, shaking the tiny icicles off of them. They were too frozen for her to be able to fly, the feathers saturated with ice.
Even her horn could hardly use magic. The freezing temperature seemed to have sucked the magic right out of her.
She sighed, her breath distinctly visible in the frigid air. She continued to walk, aimlessly searching for some form of life... some form of hope.
The pony stopped. She had not seen this room before.
It was a ballroom.
Ice coated the place, making the whole area colored in various shades of blue and grey. The air felt crisp and clear, no sounds daring to penetrate the stillness.
Across the vast room, a set of gilded stairs stood, leading up to a small balcony, on which sat an ice and crystal-encrusted throne.
It called to her.
She trotted across the ballroom, every echoing step of her hooves resounding around the room and beating down on her harshly, emphasizing her isolation.
She slowly climbed up the slippery stairs, and sat in the throne. A startling, painful chill ran up her back. The pony gave a cry, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth.
Then she heard a noise. The pony flicked her ears, opening her eyes quickly. She gasped as she took in the sight before her.
The ballroom was filled with ponies. Pegasi, unicorns, and even earth ponies flooded the dance floor, laughing and talking.
The prisoner sat in the throne, her face plastered with a look of great surprise. Slowly, a smile crept onto her lips. Her heart filled with pure elation. For the first time in a long time, she felt joy.
The ponies began to dance, a wonderful, haunting waltz, being played in the background by an unseen orchestra. The stallions took the mares into their embraces, and the couples twirled and spun across the floor in perfect synchronization. The mares’ beautiful dresses seemed to bring color to the icy realm around the ponies, and the handsome smiles of the stallions brightened the room.
The pony watched in quiet mesmerization, her happiness warming up her entire being.
Then the music faded, and the dancers stopped. They lined themselves up, stallions on one side of the room, mares on the other.
The huge double doors at the opposite end of the room to the Alicorn opened, and a bright light shone into the space. The light melted the ice on the walls away, water cascading to the floor and fizzling away under the heat of the radiance.
A breathtakingly magnificent pony stepped into the room, the light that had melted the ice coming from her long, white unicorn horn. She spread her massive wings, and gave a stunning smile. She wore a dress that seemed to be woven from sunbeams, and atop her head a golden crown glistened. And her mane... oh, her mane... It’s ethereal mass sparkled and flowed like a rainbow, colored with the shades of sunrise.
The prisoner’s heart lurched. She knew this pony. She knew this pony!
Her breath quickening, the prisoner cried out the name of the pony who shone light. But no sound came out of her tattered throat. She tried again, but to no avail.
She could not speak. And as she looked around the room, she noticed that none of the ponies had ever once looked at her during the time they had been here.
Giving another silent cry of the name of the radiant pony, the prisoner lept off of the throne, racing towards the crowned pony. She noiselessly screamed at the one who shone light, trying to get her to notice her.
But as she stood in front of the beautiful alicorn, she could only see that none of them could perceive her.
Pleading, crying, the pony prisoner reached up towards the one who shone light, standing in her large shadow. She reached out to grasp the crowned pony, to embrace the only one she knew.
Her hooves closed around thin air.
The ponies were beginning to fade away, the one who shone light fading along with them. Ice was creeping up the walls again, the cold returning in full force.
The prisoner extended her hoof to reach the last bit of light left... and then it was gone. They were all gone.
The prisoner gave a long, heart-wrenching wail. She could hear her cries now. They echoed around the cavernous ballroom, bouncing back to hit her ears.
Her heart seemed to shatter into countless pieces, scattering around the frozen floor like bits of broken glass. As she crumpled to the ground, the ice creeped up her legs, threatening to engulf her.
The pony had been deserted by the only souls in her world. She was a prisoner in a hellish nightmare, forsaken by those she had loved.
She was alone.
-----
“Luna!”
One word, spoken by a familiar voice, snapped Princess Luna back to reality.
Before her stood a blank piece of stone wall, framed by a dark doorframe, an open wooden door connected to it by two hinges. She was in a deep hole-like cave in the ground, a spiral staircase attached to the sides of the walls leading upwards.
Luna quickly slammed the door shut on the wall, her heart beating abnormally fast.
“Luna!” said the voice again. A large white wing folded itself over Luna’s shoulder.
Luna turned her head to see Princess Celestia giving her a very concerned look.
“What is wrong?! I heard you screaming from higher up the staircase! Are you hurt?” Celestia cried.
Luna did not want to speak. Her mind was still processing the harrowing things she had experienced.
Celestia grew even more worried, performing a whole-body healing spell on her sister. But she soon saw that nothing physical had needed to be healed.
“Luna, please! I need to know if you are alright! Sombra trapped us in here, but I think I've found a way out. We need to stop him!"
“I...”
Luna barely managed to say anything before she burst into tears, embracing Celestia as hard as she could. Her sister’s warm body seemed to help melt away her fears. Unlike in her nightmare, she now had a real pony to hang on to. One who would not abandon her.
Even though she still had no idea what had happened, Celestia began to tear up as well. Seeing her sister cry like that invoked an automatic response from her. Celestia wrapped her wings around her little sister, hugging her close.
Celestia began to sing to Luna, the same lullaby she had sung to her when they were children.
Do not cry, Do not fret, Though darkness may call, Do not forget.
I am here, I will stay, Though trials may come, I’ll keep evil at bay.
The flow of Luna’s tears began to stop. She looked up at Celestia and smiled. Celestia gave a warm smile back.
The door laced with dark magic had shown Luna her worst nightmare. To be alone, abandoned.
But...
When have our worst nightmares ever really come true?
The princess let out a steaming breath, her bloodshot eyes glancing down at the scalding chains burning her white coat.
The smell of burning fur and flesh was overwhelming.
She sat on a golden throne, a grand piece of work with many jewels set into it. As beautiful as it was though, the hot chains wrapped around it and the princess were slowly melting it.
The princess tried to move, shuffling her wings against the back of the throne. The chains only dug deeper.
Everything in the huge throne room seemed to be drooping. The gilded frames and decor upon the walls were dripping molten lumps of gold onto the floor.
The princess took in breath after breath, her lungs filling with burning air. She gritted her teeth and let out a moan.
Pain was all she felt.
In her heart, she knew it was because of her own choices.
The gleaming white unicorn horn of the princess was lit up in a glorious way. However, it was not her own doing. She did not know what the magic seeping from the horn was doing, nor could she stop it.
All at once, the great walls in front of and flanking the princess crumbled, revealing the horrible truth laying outside.
The magenta eyes of the princess widened as she took in the picture.
The Sun, in its burning glory, took up almost all of the sky.
The land was in flames.
The princess cried out as she watched her precious kingdom burn. Her dried throat made it almost impossible to speak.
“No... please...” She said in a hushed tone, her scratchy voice barely loud enough to hear. The tears she shed evaporated upon contact with the scorching air.
She flicked her ears as she heard a cacophony of noises.
The screams of millions of different ponies were deafening. Their torturous cries hammered into the princess’s ears with an evil vigor.
The princess watched in agony from her high place as a town miles below turned to ash, whipping winds sweeping it in hundreds of directions. The citizens of the town ran to and fro, their panic setting in like a wildfire. They were helpless to stop the raging fire of the sun, which came closer and closer every passing second.
The princess looked up at her horn, screaming at it in the vain hope of making it stop.
She cursed herself, a wave of anger rolling into her soul.
She was a traitor to all of her loyal ponies.
She had been their leader in prosperous times, and now she was destroying them all.
The princess strained against her chains. She needed to stop this.
The chains seemed to grow heavier, their burn growing ever stronger.
She could not do anything.
She was helpless to stop herself from destroying all she loved.
Breaking down in tears and despair, the princess wept. The lack of tears due to the steaming air only made her cry with more vigor. For once she wanted to feel real tears flow down her cheeks. To feel the coolness of water amid the blistering heat.
A gust of strong wind lifted up the ashes of the towns and cities surrounding the princess, blasting it straight at her.
The princess was wracked with spasms of dry coughing as the ashes whipped around her, seeping into every breath she took.
She closed her eyes tightly, twisting her neck so as to press her mouth and nose against her chest.
The wind suddenly subsided. The ashes fell to the ground.
Cautiously opening an eye, the princess gazed in surprise at a figure who had appeared before her.
Standing not far from the princess stood a second princess. She sported a dark blue coat and a brilliant mane filled with stars. Her most striking feature was her face, which was twisted into a look of hatred.
“Sister, you are alive! P-please... help me!” said the chained princess, her jaw shaking. “I cannot stop... I-I cannot stop!”
The starry-maned mare seemed to ignore what her sister said. “Why have you done this?!” she screamed. “STOP, my sister! For the sake of everyone you love!”
The chains around the princess had seemed to become hotter than the sun, melting into liquid on the white alicorn they had ensnared. She was free.
But the princess soon realized that she no longer had control over herself. She moved without her consent, standing proudly and with strength while she felt like collapsing.
Without warning, she unwillingly stepped forward and used her glowing horn to spear her sister through the chest.
Screaming in anguish, the princess watched as her sister crumpled.
The sister’s blood was turning to ashes as she lay motionless on the marble floor, her wide eyes staring into the princess’s soul.
The princess stood as still as a statue as she watched her beloved sister perish, her inner turmoil reaching an unbearable peak.
Pain was what she felt as the her own Sun’s heat seared her flesh.
But that was not as great as the torture within her soul.
The heart of the traitor princess shattered into uncountable pieces, scattering across the floor and mixing with the ashes.
It was so hot...
So very hot...
***
“Tia? Sister, where are you?”
Princess Celestia blinked, her magenta eyes filled to the brim with tears. She took a shaking breath.
The blank space of wall behind a strange door was holding her gaze. She tore her eyes away from it.
“Sister? Please come, Cadance is beginning the luncheon!” Princess Luna called, her hoofsteps echoing in the room above Celestia.
A muffled gasp followed by the sound of wingbeats echoed around the cavern Celestia was in.
“Celestia! Get away from that door!” Luna screeched as she located her sister. She hurriedly closed the door Celestia had been near.
Celestia whipped her head around to look at Luna, her eyes wide.
“Y-you’re alright!” Celestia burst in incomprehensible joy, flinging herself at her sister and hugging her tightly. She wept into Luna’s dark coat.
Luna began to weep as well.
“Oh Celestia.... oh Tia why did you open that door... why...?” Luna asked, burying her face into Celestia’s mane. “I-I can’t bear to think of what you saw...”
“This is the door that caused you to weep all those years ago when we were trapped in here, isn’t it?” Celestia said, her breath shaking.
Luna was silent for a moment.
“Yes... but I never wanted you to know what had happened. That door shows you your worst nightmare... and what I saw changed me. I let it get to me... I-I let it define who I was,” Luna said, “Oh, Tia, I was so afraid it would come true...”
Celestia hugged her sister close. They sat quietly for a moment, the only sound being their hushed crying.
“Sister...” Celestia said once she had wiped her tears away. “I think it is for the best that we no longer hide things like this from eachother... we need to tell each other what we saw. It will help us to not only understand one another and fears we may share, but it will help us to cope with what has been seen.”
“I agree... I am sorry to have kept this from you for so long...” Luna mumbled, lowering her head. “It is my fault this has happened.”
Celestia used her hoof to raise Luna’s chin. “I do not blame you. I shouldn’t have been wandering this castle alone. I am sorry to have left you.”
Luna smiled. “Thank you...” she said.
The sisters proceeded to tell each other their painful accounts of the visions they had seen, frequently breaking down into tears.
But unlike in their nightmares, they were not alone in their fears.
Together they shared their sorrowful burdens.
Together they repaired their shattered hearts.
***
Do not cry, Do not fret, Though darkness may call, Do not forget.
I am here, I will stay, Though trials may come, I’ll keep evil at bay.
Princess Cadance sipped her tea, the warm liquid making her tastebuds tingle.
“Where in Equestria are Luna and Celestia?” Shining Armor wondered aloud, staring at his untouched food with desire.
“I have no idea, they couldn’t have wandered far,” Cadance said, setting her teacup down.
“Well we can’t eat without them,” Shining Armor said, sighing.
Cadance stood up. “I’ll go look for them,” she said simply.
“I’ll go with you,” Shining Armor said, standing up and hooking his front leg around Cadance’s neck, giving her a peck on the cheek “Can’t let my darling princess wander into danger!”
Cadance smiled and kissed him back.
The couple searched the castle high and low, finally coming upon the throne room.
“Ach! There you two are! We’ve been looking for ages!” Cadance tutted, gazing at Princess Celestia and Luna, who were standing near the throne, The large crystal that usually sat at the top of the throne was in the grasp of Luna’s magic.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Cadance,” Celestia apologized with a smile. “There have been some very grave matters we have been attending to.”
“What kind of matters?” Cadance asked, curious.
Celestia glanced at Luna and nodded.
Together, the sisters used their magic on the large crystal, breaking it into pieces.
Cadance gasped. “What in the world did you do that for?!” she cried.
Luna smiled. “Perhaps we could tell you at lunch,” she said. “The food must be cold by now!”
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Well... alright then.”
All four ponies trotted out of the throne room, their bellies rumbling in anticipation of a delicious meal.
Luna stopped, looking back at the small space of the floor where the trapdoor to the cavern was hidden. She hoped dearly that nopony would ever find that place again. The crystal key to unveil it was broken, and that would most likely prevent others from gaining entrance into the place.
Luna turned her head back around, gazing at her sister and the other two walking toward the dining hall. She smiled.
