> Solar's Eclipse
>  by chillbook2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Light assaulted Celestia’s eyes, violating her sight with flashes and beams of white. Her entire body felt numb, detached, as if it was nowhere. She habitually brought her hand to her mouth, to wipe the tiny bit of saliva that dripped from her mouth on the rare instances in which she slept. Perhaps it’d be better to say she attempted to bring her hand to her face, for Celestia could not move them very far without the yank of heavy chains pulling them back above her head.
Celestia gazed around her bedroom, or what her bedroom had become. A cold, gray stone box, the only window being directly opposite of her, and with black steel bars bracing the opening. Her stomach, back, and legs were all sore and, upon further inspection, bruised. Directly to her right was a wooden bucket, which, though empty, gave off a putrid odor. She rolled her eyes, waiting for the joke to be over. This had to be Discord at work.
Then, she took a look at herself. Celestia was sitting completely naked, her usual flowing white robes and shiny golden crown nowhere to be found. All down her legs and stomach were scars, of varying sizes and depths. That’s when panic gripped her. Discord would never go so far as to physically hurt Celestia, not unless provoked. She willed her horn to glow, waiting for the chains to melt into dust. It was simple, a spell she could do in her sleep, yet it never happened. Celestia never felt the familiar buzzing of energy, the pressure on her forehead whenever she cast a spell.
Celestia yanked at her chains one last time before deciding that it would be impossible to pull them from the walls. Fear grew in her chest, dark, confused terror. She’d never been trapped with no escape before, certainly not without some idea of how to free herself. This time, however, liberty seemed to be an impossible dream. Celestia’s stomach clenched uncomfortably, vomit working it’s way up her throat. She shot her head to the left, then the right, eyes falling on the smelly, wooden bucket.
When the acid was done scalding her esophagus, Celestia felt the pain of the scars and bruises as if they were fresh. She could imagine every slice of the knife, every lash of the whip, though she couldn’t imagine the reason why. Why would anyone attack her, Princess Celestia of Equestria, using such primitive methods? Celestia couldn’t imagine any of her enemies wasting their time with a riding crop, yet she recognized the bruise on her thigh to be from just that; a riding crop.
There was a slight creaking to Celestia’s left, catching the princess’ attention. Through a door that she hadn’t noticed before, two alicorns entered the room. One was light blue, with a starry blue mane and bold cerulean eyes, with a jet black crown atop her head. Her black cloak only partly covered her Cutie Mark, a white crescent moon that painted over her black, splotchy birthmark. Celestia recognized her immediately as her sister, the Princess of the Moon.
The other alicorn, however, was a little harder to place. Her coat was lavender, and her purple mane shimmered and glittered much like Luna’s, though much longer. She wore a purple cloak that flowed down her and pooled around her hooves. She reached into some hidden pocket in her cape, revealing her Cutie Mark for a split second. A split second was more than enough time for Celestia to make out the purple six-point star. Twilight Sparkle used her horn to adjust her crown as she drew a small knife with her hands.
“Twilight! Sister!” croaked Celestia, words nearly sticking in her throat. “What is happening?”
“She’s doing it again.” said Twilight, ignoring Celestia. “Just like five years ago.”
“Yes. Proceed as planned.” said Luna. “She is faking it, of course.”
“Faking what?” asked Celestia. “What is happening? Why am I in chains? Are we being attacked?”
“Your deceit is pointless. Hold your silence.” commanded Luna. She reached into her own cloak and withdrew a tiny butterfly needle, a tube of wire, and an empty IV bag. She attached one end of the tube to the bag and the other to the needle. Luna roughly grabbed her sister’s arm and buried the tip of the needle into her.
“What is happening?” asked Celestia once again. Her throat still burned from her vomit and she felt absolutely dreadful.
“Silence.” ordered Luna, watching Celestia’s blood fill the bag. When she had a full pint of red, she removed the needle, leaving Celestia’s wound to leak. That’s when Twilight went to work.
The younger princess brought the knife to Celestia’s face, just under the left eye, and slowly dragged. Celestia gasped in both pain and surprise, the hate in her student’s eyes shocking her. She began to squirm, thrashing and trying to escape. Her attempts only angered Twilight, who slashed her teacher again, deeper this time.
“Sit still, prisoner!” commanded Twilight. Celestia immediately stopped, taken aback by Twilight’s anger. She was equally shocked by the word “prisoner”. Celestia knew she was many things, but a criminal was not one of them.
“Why are you doing this?” asked Celestia. “Why? What has happened to you two?”
“For Rarity and Applejack.” said Twilight, letting out an angry puff. She stabbed Celestia just above the right knee. “For Fluttershy.” Another flurry of stabs, each punctuated by a tribute from Twilight and a yelp from Celestia. 
“For Rainbow, Pinkie, Sunset, Trixie.” growled Twilight. She stabbed at Celestia’s chest, barely missing the princess’ heart. “For Flash.” Another stab, on the opposite side. “For Cadence.” A slice deep in the left shoulder. “For Shining.” Twilight pressed the bloody blade of the knife against Celestia’s throat, biting her neck with the cold, unforgiving steel.
“You will have to wait for your gift from me.” whispered Twilight. 
“Are you quite done, Twilight?” asked Luna. “We have work to do.”
“Yes, of course. I take it the guards understand that she is not to be killed?” asked Twilight.
“Obviously. She’s hardly any use to us as a cadaver. We will return later, if you have more to get off your chest.” offered Luna.
“We’ll see. Depends on how stressful today will be.”
“Considering how unlucky we’ve been the last five hundred years, I’d say you’ll have plenty to get off your chest.” sighed Luna. Celestia, having withdrawn from the situation, jerked back to coherency. 
“Five hundred years?” asked Celestia in shock. “No. Impossible. Twilight can’t be five hundred years old.”
“She’s sticking with this story, then.” said Twilight. “She’s almost convincing.”
“Sister, please explain why Twilight is acting so strangely!” begged Celestia. Luna replied by launching her hoof into Celestia’s stomach, a groan of pain reverberating through the dungeon.
“Do not call me that anymore.” growled Luna, wiping her hoof with a handkerchief from her cloak. “You are no longer my sister. You are barely filth beneath my hoof.”
“And that is Princess Twilight to you, Celestia.” said Twilight bitterly.
“Queen Luna, on the rare instances I allow you to directly speak to me.” said Luna. And with that, the queen and princess left the dungeon, leaving Celestia bleeding and crying in her dungeon.
It’s a dream, thought Celestia. That’s all this is. I knew I should have refrained from the cake right before bed. Luna, she’s just being fair. The rules say she can’t interfere with an adult’s dreams, and she’s being fair. She can’t break the rules for me.
The more Celestia thought about it, the less sense it made. Her own internal rationalization fell apart. Luna would’ve woken her up by now. Regardless of the rules, Celestia knew her sister would never let her suffer like this. Yet, she was allowing it to happen. Celestia refused to accept this, the fact that Luna was sitting there and watching as Twilight hurt her. Impossible.
The truth does not change according to your ability to stomach it, whispered Celestia in her head. That’s what Mother would say.
What troubled Celestia the most wasn’t the chains, or the wounds, nor was it the lack of answers. What troubled her the most was the look in Twilight’s eyes. That hate, Celestia had seen that look of rage and despise before. The day she banished Luna to the moon. The gaze of Nightmares. It scared Celestia, downright terrified her, more than the implication that Twilight would kill her. That look, the evil, intense gaze was far more menacing than death.
“Somepony!” called Celestia. “Help me! Princess Luna and Princess Twilight, they are bewitched!” That was the only answer; They were cursed. The only possibility. 
The door creaked open again, this time two unicorn stallions being the ones who entered. They had a large cart in tow, with various tools of varying size, sharpness and sterility. The stallions were clad in golden armor, with Princess Twilight’s Cutie Mark on the chest. As they bent over to grab their instruments, they revealed Queen Luna’s Cutie Mark on the back.
“I take it you’re not here to free me?” tried Celestia. To her surprise, one stallion pulled a ring of battered, golden keys from his hip. He unbound Celestia from the wall, dropping her arms back to her sides. As blood rushed back to her fingers, she muttered a quiet thanks. In response, the stallion who freed her dealt her a heavy blow to the head.
Celestia tried in vain to rise to her hooves. Everytime she attempted, her knees gave out, and the repeated kicks from the guards did not help. Eventually, through many blows, she found herself in the center of the room. With one stallion hitting her repeatedly in the stomach, the other pulled a crackling cattle prod from the cart. He sparked it up and brought it to Celestia’s side.
ZAAAP!
Celestia spasmed and convulsed, losing control of her muscles and twitching. Despite her efforts, her bladder emptied itself onto the floor, humiliating the once-honorable Princess of the Sun.
“We’re not supposed to talk to you.” said the cattle prod guard while his fellow chained Celestia’s arms to the roof. “I just think you should know that we plan on having a lot of fun with this.”
“Try to enjoy it as much as we do.” said the other, chaining her hooves to the floor.
Celestia tried to speak, but stopped herself in order to prevent herself from biting off her own tongue. Even in her chains, she twitched and spasmed, nearly slipping into a seizure. The guards laughed at their prisoner. They seemed to understand what she was going to say.
“We could tell you what we’re going to do to you.” said the cattle prod guard, removing his armor.
“But that would take away from the fun.” said the shackle guard. He also removed his armor, then went about undressing the thin clothing beneath. Celestia struggled once more, trying to free herself. The guards grabbed her by the hair, whispering that it would be okay, before forcing their way into her.

> Pain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia sat in her chains, tears and filth running down her face from the trauma of earlier in the day. She was back in her sitting position her arms high above her head. Celestia sobbed softly, completely helpless. The Princess of the Sun had just been defiled by two stallions, and it hurt her deeply. Deeper than Twilight’s stab, deeper than her hate. This hurt Celestia’s soul.
The door creaked open. This time, Celestia didn’t look on in hope. Instead, she shrunk down in hiding as Twilight entered the room. Twilight’s horn was surrounded by purple glow, and a burlap sack fell into her right hand.
“That’s it? No threats?” asked Twilight, moving Celestia’s chains to the center of the wall with her magic. “No orders to release you?”
Celestia remained silent, begging her horn to do something. She let herself be chained again, on her knees and with her hands bound to the floor. Twilight pointed one finger at Celestia’s face, and a stream of water burst onto Celestia, washing away the tears and filth. 
“I never really thought we’d be able to break you.” said Twilight. “That little incident really hit you hard, then? Of course it would. A pony like you? The once-respected, once-honorable, the once-great Princess Celestia. Now nopony has any respect for you. You have no honor. As for greatness? Pah. Don’t make me laugh.”
“If you are going to kill me, hurry and get it done.” whispered Celestia. “If I had to be betrayed by anypony, at least it was someone worthy of the throne.”
“You have some nerve, accusing me of treachery. It is you who betrayed me and Luna.” said Twilight.
“Could you at least tell me what happened? I’d rather die with some answers.”
“You’ve really forgotten, then?” asked Twilight. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“The celebration. There was a feast in Canterlot.” recalled Celestia. “You’d just beaten Tirek. I held a feast in the castle. I remember… cider. You’d had too much, and were in no fit state to return to Ponyville. You and your friends stayed in Canterlot for the night. I closed my eyes last night and awoke in this dungeon.”
“I truly envy you, Celestia. You have the luxury of forgetting the last thousand years. This terrible millenium has disappeared from your memory. My scars, however, are fresh.”
“You still haven’t explained.” said Celestia. “What happened?”
“You tell me. You’re the one who murdered half of Equestria.” said Twilight bitterly. Celestia froze at the impossibility. She couldn’t remember the last time she killed anypony, let alone half of her own kingdom. Before she could ask any more questions, Twilight covered Celestia’s head with the sack. Tiny beams of light broke the darkness surrounding Celestia as her eyes shot back and forth. She was familiar with bags such as those; they were usually used during executions, however rare they might be. Celestia felt her head be forced back, and looked to the sky as she braced for her death. Twilight had other plans.
Ice cold water fell onto Celestia, water colder than the frozen north of Equestria. The Sun Princess coughed and sputtered as water consumed her being; there was no air, only more water that filled her lungs. Her blood froze to shards of ice, and her skin was live with goosebumps. Twilight halted the water and removed the sack, letting Celestia breath for just a second before resuming the waterboarding session.
Celestia was drowning. That was the only explanation. So much cold water, she couldn’t breath. She had to be drowning.
My next breath shall be my last, Celestia said to herself. I will die here, to my own student.
Twilight removed the sack again, letting Celestia spit water out of her lungs and replace it with gulps of air. The air slit her chest, but she thought it better than ice doing the same. Celestia was so busy choking down breaths that she didn’t notice a pony step into the room.
He was a guard, as evidenced by his golden armor. This guard was very different from Celestia’s rapists; He had a horn and wings, and was missing his left eye. In it’s place, over a patch of skin as orange as his fur, was the image of a blue shield, with a single, yellow lightning bolt running down it. He bowed before Princess Twilight and brought attention to himself with a light cough.
“What is it, darling?” asked Twilight. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Apologies, Mother. I’ve been sent by Queen Luna.” said the guard. “She requests another pint of blood.”
“Tell Luna that she cannot spare another pint. Any more blood loss may lead to serious repercussions.”
“Queen Luna wanted me to tell you that she is close to a breakthrough on the cure.” explained the guard. “She insists on more blood, before she loses her findings.”
“Not today. Tell her to come back in a week.” said Twilight adamantly.
“Queen Luna was afraid you’d say that, so she gave me a code. Override Code: Star, Diamond, Apple, Butterfly, Balloon, Lightning.”
“Confirmation code?” asked Twilight.
“M, G, H, K, L, L.” said the guard, slightly frightened. Twilight let out a sigh, and reached into her cloak. She withdrew a tube, pouch and needle, like the one Luna used before. Twilight levitated the needle into Celestia’s and waited for the pouch to fill.
“You may go, my dear. I’ll bring it to Luna.” said Twilight. The guard nodded and disappeared through the door as fast as he came.
“That code.” croaked Celestia. “It is a tribute to the girls, yes?”
“Shut up, Celestia.” growled Twilight.
“Where are they? Do you have them locked up as well?”
“Hold your tongue, prisoner.” suggested Twilight, although rather forcefully.
“Are they okay? Have you killed them?” asked Celestia stubbornly. Twilight snapped. Her fist met the side of Celestia’s head with passion, knocking the prisoner to the ground. Twilight planted her hoof into Celestia’s side again and again, each blow followed by a groan of pain.
“You will remember!” shouted Twilight, eyes glowing faintly white. “You shall not forget what you did to them!”
“I have, my dear.” grunted Celestia. “You shall have to remind me.” Twilight stopped Celestia talking with a well-placed hoof to the throat.
“You’re not so broken, then.” said Twilight, reigning in her violent energy. Her eyes dimmed and returned to normal. “You’re trying to anger me. To get information? I’d be some interrogator if I allowed you to discover information from me.”
“Yet you let slip that I am being interrogated.” coughed Celestia. “Which means I know something that you do not, and it is something you need dearly.”
Twilight smiled slightly. It wasn’t gleeful, nor was it nervous like her smiles a thousand years ago. It was a grim, slightly spiteful smile, a smile of determination and purpose. She liked Celestia’s teasing; it meant she was back, that her fire had returned. Which meant Twilight had to extinguish it.
“Sharp as ever.” said Twilight, grabbing the now-filled bag of blood. “I knew you weren’t down just yet.” She took a step to exit the room.
“Wait!” called Celestia. “Whose spell is this? The magical suppression spell?”
“Who said it was a spell?” asked Twilight with an evil smile.
“Then why is it that I cannot use my magic?” said Celestia in terror.
“The only one hundred percent foolproof method of magical suppression.” said Twilight, smiling even wider. “Lobotomy.”
Celestia gasped in terror, trying to pull her hands from the ground. She struggled and strained, forcing herself to cast a spell, any spell at all. Twilight laughed at the former princess’ futile attempts.
“You… You’ve removed my horn.” said Celestia, tears welling in her eyes. “I-I… I’m a pegasus.”
“For now. There may come a time when I need to remove those wings of yours.” said Twilight. 
“Talking of wings, I hope you intend on explaining. The guard who asked you for my blood. He was… your son?”
“Every Equestrian that is living is related to me in some manner.”
“I ask for answers, yet all you give me is more questions to ask.” sighed Celestia.
“It’s strange to be on the other side, isn’t it? You used to make a habit of that; Give me a task, and let me figure it out on my own.” said Twilight. “I’ll let you ask your questions as you rot.”
Twilight left Celestia in the dungeon, sopping wet and freezing cold. Celestia curled up as best as she could, recoiling from the icy water that still clung to her skin. Her body was becoming numb to the point of soreness, the only parts of her that she could feel being the parts Twilight had attacked. More than the numbness of her body was the detachment from her horn.
What was Celestia without a horn? She was nothing without her magic; Not very strong, not particularly quick. Celestia never even knew how to fly properly. Why fly when you can teleport to your destination instantly? Celestia wished she would’ve taken the time to learn. Then, she wished that it mattered. 
I’ll never leave this dungeon, thought Celestia. I’ll never get the chance to fly. This place is all that I am now. My prison, my bedroom, my catacomb. 
A wave of exhaustion flew over Celestia. Her body seemed to fall limp, every last bit of her waning energy vanishing on the spot. It was a long day for Celestia, a lot of shock in a short period. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed, despite her best efforts to the contrary. She needed sleep, and she knew it. Yet Celestia forced her eyes to stay opened.
If I close my eyes, they shall never open again, thought Celestia. Sleep is death. Vigilance is life. Stay vigilant. Do not close your eyes.
Celestia was battling nature, a battle she could never hope to win. Her eyelids failed, fluttering closed. Mother Nature stood triumphant, and Celestia fell into the cold embrace of what she thought was surely death.



A hard kick to the stomach yanked Celestia from her slumber. She groaned as she pulled her face from the cold, unforgiving concrete floor. Queen Luna and Princess Twilight stood before Celestia, the queen with a set of shackles and a collar in her hands and the princess with a large, steel bat in hers.
“Rise and shine, prisoner.” said Twilight, strolling around Celestia’s back.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” asked Celestia scathingly. Twilight swung the bat into the back of Celestia’s head, knocking her dizzy. The room swam before Celestia’s eyes.
“You are not to directly speak to the queen without permission.” said Twilight. “I would recommend keeping your mouth shut.”
“We are transferring you to the West Tower.” said Queen Luna. Her horn began to glow blue, and the collar floated over to Celestia. The leather wrapped tightly around the Sun Princess’ neck, choking her slightly.
“Hold her for a second.” said Twilight. She used her own magic to unlock Celestia’s bindings, and pinned her face to the floor. “Move and you will find that more parts of you will go the way of your horn.”
Twilight spread Celestia’s right arm to the side, and stepped on her already sore, red wrist. Luna used her magic to hold Celestia’s arm there, so Twilight could remove her hoof. The princess took her bat and swung it with all her might onto Celestia’s arm. The Sun Princess cried out in pain as Twilight shattered her arm again and again. Twilight broke Celestia’s arm in six places before she moved on to the wing.
With help from Luna, Twilight pulled Celestia to her right side, her right wing flat on the ground and her left flailing pitifully. The left wing smacked lightly against Twilight’s face. The princess grabbed Celestia’s wing and twisted slowly. Celestia’s already-grimacing face screwed up in agony, a scream escaping her. More and more, Twilight twisted Celestia’s wing, laughing at her agony.
SNAP!
With on last jerk, the wing snapped. Celestia grit her teeth in pain, refusing to allow Twilight anymore satisfaction. It seemed Twilight was happy, because she let Luna chain their prisoner for transport. A steel shackle belted around Celestia’s broken and bruised wrist, chaining to her good hand. The collar around her neck tightened and hardened into steel as black as her chains. Another, similar set of chains tied Celestia’s hooves together. A final chain fell into Twilight’s hand, which she attached to Celestia’s neck. She yanked forward, pulling the prisoner and tightening the bonds even more.
“It is time for us to depart.” said Luna.
“Yes. To the surface.” said Twilight. She yanked on Celestia’s chain, urging her to follow. They left the dungeon in a single file, Twilight in the lead, a mangled Celestia behind her, and Queen Luna in the rear. Celestia darted her eyes around, trying to gather as much information as possible.
They were moving through a tunnel of grey stone, not unlike Celestia’s cell. There were a myriad of doors and corridors to each side of them, but the trio advanced forward in a straight line. Twilight led the line along, not being particularly gentle to her prisoner. Soon enough, they reached a slab of stone on the roof that was slightly darker than the rest of the ceiling. Twilight placed her hand against Celestia’s mouth. A thin plane of purple light bent around Celestia’s face. It shimmered for just a second before melting into the air.
“Do you need me, Luna?” asked Twilight.
“I can manage.” said Luna. She placed her hand against her own mouth, a similar energy surrounding her face. Twilight nodded and pressed her palm against the roof. A light vibration shook through the walls, and the slab began to glow purple. It melted into a ladder, which hit the ground with a soft thud. Twilight flew slowly up the newly formed shaft in the roof. Celestia had to move quickly to avoid getting strangled. She pulled herself up to the surface, and nearly fainted at her surroundings.
Canterlot was in ruins. The castle towers a bit away were crumbling, save for the West Tower. There was scarcely a single building that was not burned, collapsed or otherwise destroyed. That wasn’t the most terrifying thing to Celestia. No, the most frightening thing Celestia found about her shattered capital was the corpses.
Bodies of all races, Earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn, littered the streets. The number was unfathomable, the innumerable casualties of some great tragedy. Their eyes were waxy and yellow, with a strange grey pus oozing from them. The bodies were in great piles, some in haphazardly crafted pits that acted as mass graves. The corpses were in varying states of decomposition; some were nearly clean picked skeletons, while others were practically completely preserved.
“What caused this?” asked Celestia.
“One.” said Twilight.
“One what?”
“Two.”
“Why are you counting?” asked Celestia frustratedly.
“Five.” said Twilight.
“She is counting the hours she will be torturing you when we arrive.” said the queen. “It’d be smart to shut up.”
Celestia kept her silence as Twilight and Luna escorted her the rest of the way to the West Tower. They travelled down a passageway very similar to how they left. When the trapdoor was sealed, Twilight snapped her fingers. The wall of light surrounding Celestia’s face  returned, then shattered into purple shards of arcane energy.
“There is a disease.” said Celestia. “Which is why you gave me the mask.”
“Correct.” said Twilight. “Seven.”
Celestia kept her mouth shut from then on. Twilight smiled slightly, proud of her ability to intimidate Princess Celestia herself. Twilight found a door she liked and shoved Celestia through it. This cell was tiny in comparison to the other, about the size of a bathroom. Twilight shackled Celestia’s arms, legs, and neck to the wall. Luna gave Twilight a nod of approval before leaving the new cell. Twilight’s horn began to glow, and a wickedly sharp, sinisterly serrated knife fell into her hand.
“You have twelve hours of torture to endure.” said Twilight. “That is enough to devote an hour to each of my friends, plus one to make this personal.”
“Twelve?!” asked Celestia in terror. “You said seven!” The knife kissed Celestia’s breast, loosening a tiny spittle of blood.
“And now I say twelve. We have no time to waste, do we?”
> Scars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia’s wounds were healing much slower than she hoped. Ten days had passed since Princess Twilight had brought a knife to her skin for twelve consecutive, hellish hours, and she still had to be careful of how she slept. One wrong twist, and the wounds marking her body reopened painfully, leaking blood onto the floor.Those ten days were not easy on the former princess. She had no visitors, other than Princess Twilight and Queen Luna. Sometimes they came to draw blood, and sometimes they came to mock and humiliate her. More often than not, however, they came to torture her.
Celestia still could not get past her torturers. It was all unbearably strange to her. Not only was she being hurt constantly, but she was being hurt by two of her favorite ponies alive; Her little sister and her protege, two ponies who she could never dream of harming, and who she thought would never harm her.
Sadly, they were indeed harming Celestia. Even when not beating her with clubs, or slicing her stomach with knives, Celestia was in constant threat of death. She would get little water only every few days, and what she did get was dirty and warm. As for food, if you could call it that, was given to Celestia even less than water. Celestia thought back to her days in the castle of Canterlot, of the feasts she so often took for granted. What she wouldn’t give for just a taste of her head chef’s favorite dishes; The delicious carrot soup, the fresh salad, the mind-blowing pasta dishes. It was of these lovely meals that Celestia was thinking of when Princess Twilight arrived with her dinner.
Twilight pushed open the door with a tray in her hands. The tray held a blob of cold, grey goop. The unintelligible ooze clattered to the floor, and Twilight pushed it forward with her hoof. The slime fell just to Celestia’s left, but the former princess ignored it. All of her focus was given to Twilight.
“I’ve been thinking,” said Celestia. “And I’ve decided to forgive you.”
“Forgive me? I must say that I had originally hoped for your forgiveness.” said Twilight. “I hope you are not offended when I say that I do not return the sentiment.”
“I’ve started piecing together what happened. Would you like to hear what I’ve come up with?” asked Celestia.
“I do not fraternize with my prisoners.” said Twilight.
“Ah, but you are no less a prisoner than I.” said Celestia. “Just humor me. What are the negative consequences to listening?”
“I might grow so angry that I stop caring how much Luna needs you alive.” stated Twilight, eyeing Celestia evilly. “On second thought, go on. Make me angry.”
“Judging on how you react whenever they’re mentioned, I assume your friends are dead.” said Celestia. “Which is odd.”
“Why is that odd? It’s been a thousand years. They should’ve been long dead anyway.” said Twilight, although she knew it wasn’t true.
“The box. The Rainbow Power that helped you defeat Tirek would have given them immortality like ours.” said Celestia .“The only thing that would be able to kill them is something that was specifically designed to kill an alicorn, or if your friendship ended. The latter is unlikely, given how much you still care about them and the strength of your friendship, so let’s say it was the former.”
“Congratulations. You’ve said what is obvious.” shot Twilight.
“So, let’s see. They died a while ago, but you’re still bitter. That means you feel some manner of responsibility for it.” continued Celestia. “They were murdered, but indirectly. This is obvious because of your hatred. It’s intense, but also undirected. You want to blame me, but you’re still not sure if it was because of me. Still, you don’t care. That means that you’re pretty confident that I am to blame, and even if I’m not, I still have a lot to be hated for.”
“Well reasoned. I hope you realise that every minute I sit here is a half-hour with the knife.” said Twilight.
“We’ve established that it was an indirect murder. Indirect, specifically made to kill alicorns, and something you feel like you could’ve stopped.” pondered Celestia. “The disease. Whatever it is, it is responsible, at least partly, for your friends’ death. Speaking of the disease, I have a few theories on that as well. When you and Luna transferred me, you gave me a mask to protect me from the contagion. Luna had one as well, but you did not. You are immune, somehow. That eliminates the possibility of using me to find a cure.”
“By what logic?’ asked Twilight. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but how do you reason that out?”
“I assumed you were using my blood to find a cure for the disease, as I heard from your child.” explained Celestia. “But, if I needed the mask, that means I am not immune. If I am not immune, nopony would assume I held the secret of the cure. Yet, they don’t take your blood, which leads me to believe that your blood has too much complex magic in it to decipher.”
“Is that all you’ve deduced?” asked Twilight scathingly. She turned to leave when Celestia opened her mouth one last time.
“Which brings me to the subject of your bloodline. That child, the symbol on his left eye, I know it from somewhere.” said Celestia.
“Correct. Now drop it.” ordered Twilight.
“It’s… Flash Sentry’s Cutie Mark, yes?”
“Shut up. Shut the hell up, Celestia.” said Twilight, her voice lowering.
“Hm… He looked quite a bit like Flash, and he referred to you as mother. You and Flash had children?” asked Celestia. “But that doesn’t work. If it’s really been a thousand years, then Flash and his children, and their children and so on, should be long dead. He shouldn’t look anything like Flash, yet he looked exactly the same.”
“If you say his name again, I will delay your water to next week.” whispered Princess Twilight.
“But that proves that both the child and Flash mean something to you. When I was talking about your friends, you only threatened to hurt me. When I speak Flash’s name, you threaten to kill me. Sounds like love to me, which loops back to the original theory that you had children with Flash. Alicorns do not typically have children, but assuming they did, the child would be just as immortal as it’s parent, apparently.”
“If you don’t shut up, I will start removing your teeth.” threatened Twilight.
“You truly hate me and hold me responsible for whatever it is I’ve done.” noted Celestia. Her food was growing even colder, and was becoming more gelatinous and viscous. 
“Yes. I do.” agreed Twilight.
“Is that what Flash would have wanted?” asked Celestia. She felt something grip in her mouth, her top-right incisor. She felt her tooth pull down painfully, a small drip of blood trailing from the root. Suddenly, the tooth yanked and Celestia’s mind exploded into sharp, lasting pain. Blood began to drip from her mouth and onto the floor as she gasped and cried. Her bloody tooth, surrounded by purple light, landed in Twilight’s palm.
“Next time, it will be your tongue, and I will shove it down your throat!” shouted Twilight.
“You were like a daughter to me! The daughter I never had.” said Celestia. Twilight spun on her heel and grabbed her prisoner by the neck. She landed a punch in her stomach, then her face before responding.
“And you were a mother to me. The mother I always needed.” said Twilight. She yanked another tooth with her magic, Celestia screaming in pain.
“Look in your heart.” begged Celestia. Her mouth was filling with blood, “This doesn’t feel right, does it?” Twilight dropped the teeth to the floor, and turned to show her prisoner her back.
“No. It doesn’t feel right.” admitted Twilight. “But, then of course, it didn’t feel right to bury Rarity. It didn’t feel right to decide it was time to pull the plug on Rainbow Dash. It didn’t feel right to tell Fluttershy that it would be okay when we both knew that she would die that night. It didn’t feel right to pick through piles of corpses to identify Applejack’s mangled, nearly unrecognizable body. And it certainly didn’t feel right to cut Pinkie’s hanged body from the ceiling fan.”
“I’m sorry.” said Celestia. “I truly am. Whatever I did, I apologize profusely.”
“Don’t you get it? Apologies won’t bring them back. It won’t bring back Aj or Rarity, or Dashie or Pinkie or Fluttershy!” shouted the princess. “It won’t bring back Trixie or Sunset or Cadence or Shiny! It won’t bring back Flash! You asked me if this felt right, and I could honestly say no. Nothing about this feels right! This is as far away from ‘right’ as feasibly possible. The closest thing to feeling ‘right’, as you so eloquently put it, is when I am sticking a sharp blade under your skin!”
Princess Twilight kicked her prisoner in the face once before huffing out of the room. Celestia took the attack boldly, ignoring any pain she was feeling. She turned her head and spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. With much difficulty, she leaned to the side and began to messily gobble her meal.
That was a good session, Celestia thought as she choked down her disgusting meal. I’ve learned some things, filled in some holes. I’ll have to figure out more from Luna. 
When Celestia finished her meager breakfast, which would also be her lunch and dinner, she tried to sit herself comfortably. It’d been so long since she felt her hands, suspended high above her head. The only feeling in her arm was pain from the six cracks in her arm. Her bones attempted to heal themselves over the days, but Princess Twilight never allowed it to get to comfortable. When Celestia was in as little pain as possible, she closed her eyes. Her stance on sleep had changed dramatically since she arrived; The rest she originally shunned, she now embraced. Celestia learned that she could ignore her pain if she slept, so sleep she did. Within a minute, she was quietly snoring in her cell.



Queen Luna watched her prisoner sleep. She had been generous enough to let her rest for a few hours. While Celestia dozed, Luna walked through the plane of her sister’s dreams. She picked out the relevant information, and decided that Celestia would attempt to reverse the interrogation. Luna stepped in front of her prisoner with her horn faintly growing. After much effort, a heavy cinderblock appeared in front of her, barely held by Luna’s levitation spell. With a sick smile, Luna released the block over Celestia’s leg. The heavy hunk of concrete cracked Celestia’s shin and yanked her from her sleep.
“Son of a-” cried Celestia. She reached for her leg, the chain keeping her hands above her head. The stone stood atop of the fragments of her right leg, which was beginning to bruise.
“Celestia.” said Luna. She pushed her hoof down on the cinderblock, causing more sharp pain to go through Celestia.
“What?! What do you want?!” growled Celestia. For the first time since her imprisonment, Celestia grew angry. She couldn’t explain why; Maybe it was because of the last battle they had, and how unwilling Celestia was to hurt her sister. Now, Luna took joy in Celestia’s pain.
“That’s no way to speak to your queen.” said Luna. She ground her hoof into the stone, twisting even more agony through her sister. “I’m going to be honest with you. Ever since I returned from the moon, part of me hoped for this.”
“This is unfair, Luna! How could you do this to your own sister?” asked Celestia.
“The same way you banished me from my home.” said the Queen simply.
“I had no choice! I was protecting Equestria!” shouted Celestia.
“As was I! I was protecting it from you, Celestia! I did not start this fight, but I would be a liar if I said I didn’t enjoy it.” said Luna. She brought her hoof down on the block again. “This is justice! Finally, the great, the just, the insane Celestia falls! This is how things were meant to be, Tia! Even Mother thought so. When you weren’t around, she would call me ‘Queen’. Did you know that? You may have been Daddy’s little Princess, but I was Mother’s Queen Luna.”
“Mother would be sick if she saw what you’ve become!” spat Celestia. “She is turning in her grave!”
“All because of you. You’ve made me into this. All of this, the death on the surface, the pain down here, all is because of you.” said Luna. “I find it amusing that you think you have the right to be angry with me.”
“Considering that you’re torturing me for something I can’t even remember doing, I think that my anger is justified.” said Celestia. She made the mistake of twisting her right leg, a million shards of glass running through her veins.
“Do you remember when we were kids? When Daddy had us practice together?” asked Luna. “You used to beat me every single time, without even trying. And every time, I’d get so mad. Yet you never once showed any emotion, nothing but boredom. You always had a disgusting condescendence. Like you were above it all. But look at you now; I am the one who is above it all. You are trash, if even that. Few remember you, and those who do hate you.”
“You can’t possibly still be upset because Father liked me better.” said Celestia. Luna stomped on the block again, and a thin shard of pain struck Celestia. “You know it’s true. I couldn’t help that I was his favorite.”
“All of that dignity and pride. All of the respect you earned. All of it gone. You finally fell from your high seat, and showed your true colors.” laughed Luna grimly. She heaved the stone up with her levitation. “You showed us cruelty.” Luna dropped the stone, then raised it up again. “You showed us evil.” The stone fell yet again. “You showed us hatred!” Luna slammed the cinderblock down again. Celestia swore loudly out of pain, tears flowing from the corners of her bloodshot eyes.
“For the record, I do not hate you.” said Celestia through gritted teeth.
“I was not referring to any hatred you have within you.” puffed Luna. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and took her leave. As Luna’s hooves clacked against the cold stone floor, Celestia cried loudly in agony.
“At least move the damned stone!” she shouted, although she knew that nopony who cared could hear her. Tears dripped down her cheeks, leaving trails of clean down her dirty, dusty, greasy face. Celestia absolutely trembled, gasping in breaths between heavy sobs. Pain was becoming the norm for Celestia, her only companions being Sleep and Agony. She cried for twenty minutes before she got used to the pain in her leg. When she did, she closed her eyes to meet with Sleep. Before she could do much more than flutter her eyelids closed, she felt sharp pain across her torso. She ripped her eyes open and gawked at the red leaking down from her breasts, stomach, and legs. Her wounds had reopened yet again.
> Threats
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia awoke with her torso covered in bandages. Her arm and leg were in casts, and her wing was bandaged as well. She was in a very different room than her cell. The walls were white, clean and shining. Her back was pressed against something soft, a hospital bed that was inclined into a sort of chair. Overwhelming happiness fell over Celestia; It was all a dream. She was injured, and the torture was all a dream. Luna and Twilight still loved her.
Except…, thought Celestia hopelessly. She tried to move her arms, but they were restrained by thick leather straps. She tried to untie her bonds with her horn, which was a futile effort. Her horn was still gone, and she was still a prisoner. Her joy instantaneously morphed into despair. 
“Hello?” called Celestia hoarsely. Her throat was raw and sticking. “Is anypony here?”
“She is awake.” whispered someone from a place Celestia couldn’t quite see. A tall, orange, one-eyed alicorn guard stepped into the room. His horn began to glow lavender, much like Twilight’s aura.
“What happened?” asked Celestia. “Why am I here?”
“Queen Luna broke your leg very severely.” answered the guard. “Mother feared that you would not survive without medical attention.”
“Why does she need me alive?” asked Celestia. “Why does she need my blood?”
“She is taking your blood?” said the guard in surprise. He removed the casts from Celestia’s body.
“You knew that. You requested my blood on behalf of Luna.” said Celestia. Her hands were put into chains, slightly lighter than the other sets she’d grown accustomed to wearing.
“That wasn’t me. Must’ve been one of my brothers. My name is Flash, by the way.” he said. “Flash Sparkle.”
“Twilight has two children? Missing an eye on the same side?” asked Celestia. Flash chained Celestia’s legs together, and added an extra chain to her wrists to act as a leash.
“Mother told me not to speak with you. She wants you discover the answer on your own.” said Flash. Celestia remained silent and let Flash lead her from the comfort of her bed. They walked through the same grey, stone corridors that Celestia had entered the West Tower through. When they got to the trapdoor, Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise. There was another alicorn stallion, that looked like an exact copy of Flash Sparkle, missing eye and all. The second Flash brought the side of his hand to his heart upon seeing his brother. The original Flash mirrored him and held the salute for a moment. 
“Transport Code: Wand, Heart, Shield, Sun.” said the first Flash. “Confirmation: T,C,S,S.”
“Do you need a mask?” asked the second Flash.
“Yeah. My magic keeps flitting in and out, and Mother would butcher me if I let the prisoner die.”
The second Flash nodded, and his horn began to glow with a purple light. He placed his hand against his brother’s mouth, then Celestia’s, each time producing a thin wall of purple magic that melted into the air.
“Thanks, Sunrise.” said the first Flash.
“No worries.” said the second Flash, Sunrise. “Hail Luna, Love Mother.”
“Hail Luna, Love Mother.” returned Flash. With an anxious sigh, he pressed his palm to the trapdoor on the ceiling. The entire corridor shook slightly, and the trapdoor, shrouded in purple energy, melted into a ladder. It fell to the ground with a thud, and as soon as it did, Flash instructed Celestia to scale it. She did, with Flash close behind her. They reached the surface of the ruined city of Canterlot, and Flash led Celestia back to the West Tower.
They crossed the city, to the other side where a trapdoor was waiting for them on the floor. Flash opened it and slid down, dragging Celestia with him. They walked for a moment down the cold, gray corridor, until they reached Celestia’s cell. When they were in the confines of the tiny little room (Celestia swore that it had gotten even smaller), Flash chained his prisoner to the wall, hands above her head.
“Please, Flash. I’m begging you.” said Celestia. “Please help me.”
“Why would I let you go?” asked Flash. “What would I have to gain by betraying Mother for somepony who nearly wiped out their entire species?”
“You don’t have to free me. Just give me some answers.” begged Celestia. “What did I do? What got me to this position? Why can I not remember the last thousand or so years?”
Flash stopped Celestia’s flood of questions with a kick to the face, his hoof shattering her mask into shards of magic. He turned and left the room without another word. Just then, Celestia had a plan. She knew that it was a terrible plan, but a bad plan had a better chance of succeeding than no plan at all.
Celestia sat in her cell, trying her best to work out any variables in her plan. She knew that it would likely take a few days, perhaps a week or two, to put her idea into motion. She also knew that it would be dangerous and with very little gain, which is why she decided to only implement it when she had no other choice.
Do not show your hand until all cards have been dealt, thought Celestia. Discord used to tell me that, when I had thought I had beaten him. Celestia kept this advice in mind as she closed her eyes to prepare her meditation technique. She began counting her breaths, and she forced her mind to the back of her head, letting unconsciousness take most of her body. She remembered these techniques well, for this was the only skill Luna possesed that Celestia did not; the ability to induce a lucid dream. Celestia could remember her sister bragging about how easy it was. She remembered Luna’s quick, sharp words of advice.
“Focus. Sleep, but remain awake.” Luna had said. “Always ask yourself if you are awake. With practice, you may be able to control your dreams so well that even I cannot tell the difference.”
Sleep took Celestia nearly at once. She dreamed of pain, of razor blades licking her throat, of ropes constricting her neck. She dreamt of sharp knives and cold chains. She dreamed of agony and torment and fear and hate. She awoke a short few hours later, and could hardly tell the difference.
“Am I awake?” Celestia said out loud. “Is this a dream?”
Does it matter? she asked herself. It doesn’t. You could be awake, asleep, or dead in hell, and it would not make a difference. They are all the same.


 
An icy wall of water cascaded over Celestia, waking her from her sleep. A wooden bucket dropped onto her leg as she coughed and gagged. She didn’t even need to open her eyes to know that it was Twilight who had woken her.
“My faithful student.” coughed Celestia.
“Drink up.” said Twilight. “You won’t be getting any more for a couple of days. Maybe a week.”
“Then why dump it on my face? Wouldn’t it be wiser to, say, let me drink the water?” asked Celestia. There was an air of annoyance to her voice. “You were always sharp, my dear, but you had your moments when I thought that your IQ was lower than I hoped.”
“I want you to survive, not to live.” replied Twilight. “There is a difference.”
“Ah, so you do remember my lessons. Well, some of them, anyway. You seem to have forgotten the one when I taught you not to torture others for no reason.”
“There’s a reason, Celestia.” Twilight said. She brought her hoof down onto Celestia’s leg. It didn’t hurt very much, but Celestia let out a grunt of pain all the same.
“We are getting nowhere with this! I have a proposition.” said Celestia. “You have something I want, and I, in turn, have something you want. If you help me, I will help you.”
“Do you understand how being a prisoner works?” asked Twilight. “If you have it, and I want it, I take it. You are powerless to stop me. And besides, you have nothing that could be of any use. Nothing that you’d be willing to give up.”
“Have you discovered my secret library yet?” asked Celestia. “The entrance is beneath my old castle. There is a magical lock on the door, and I can give you the combination.”
“I know of your library, Celestia. What assurance do I have that you are giving me the correct combination?” asked Twilight.
“You’ve been torturing me for a thousand years, maybe more, and I haven’t told you yet. If it took me this long to tell you, it is obviously worth something.” said Celestia. “I am not sure what sort of struggles you and your ‘kingdom’ are going through, but the solution is likely in that library.”
The air in the room seemed to solidify. Twilight gazed at her former teacher with hate in her eyes. Celestia’s face was a blank canvas, with a small smirk threatening to break through her facade. Celestia knew that Twilight had no choice but to accept her deal, although it still would not make much difference.
“What manner of books are in this library?” asked Twilight.
“Books of spells, obviously. The books of Starswirl the Bearded, of Queen Faustia, of Tirek, Scorpan, Discord, and Sombra.” said Celestia. “My personal spellbooks. I never let you read them, because I knew you’d attempt the spells they contained. My magic was still too much for you at the time, but I have faith that you will be able to handle them after a thousand years or longer.”
Twilight was fighting herself. She did not want to accept the deal with Celestia, the one who had caused her so much suffering and pain. But she needed any and all magic she could gather, for the sake of her children. Finally, Twilight let out a sigh.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I want answers. For every question you answer, I will give you a number in the combination.” said Celestia, her smile showing itself. “Let’s begin. How long has it been since you defeated Tirek? Be as exact as you can, please.”
“It has been one thousand three hundred forty-five years, ten months, and fifteen days.” answered Twilight, sparing no more than a second of thought.
“But who’s counting?” said Celestia sarcastically. 
“Combination.” ordered Twilight.
“Six.” said Celestia cheerfully. “Why can I not remember any of the last thousand-odd years?”
“That’s a good question. Queen Luna was looking into it, and she’s still not positive.” answered Twilight. “She has it down to two possibilities; either Eclipse finally affected you, or there was a magical flare that only you felt. Number.”
“Four. Now, what exactly is Eclipse?” asked Celestia. Any trace of cheer vanished from her on the spot. 
“Your pet project. Number.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” said Celestia.
“I answered it. Just not very well. You never said that I had to give you a straight answer.” said Twilight.
“Nine. What exactly do you mean by ‘pet project’?” asked Celestia.
“You worked on Eclipse during your off-time. When you weren’t building Crucibles and Camps.” said Twilight. “And the last number to the combination is... ?”
“Three.” said Celestia angrily. Two of her questions remained unanswered, and one of them opened up to more questions. 
“Six-four-nine-three.” said Twilight. “What significance does it hold?”
“None. The combination, however, is extremely important to me.” said Celestia. Twilight’s face fell, much to Celestia’s pleasure. “What? You didn’t think I was actually going to give you the combination, did you?”
Twilight’s hoof connected with Celestia’s throat forcefully. The former Sun Princess coughed out a throaty laugh before it was interrupted by another hoof to the neck.
“Relax.” coughed Celestia. “The numbers are all correct. It’s up to you to discover the order.”
“You said you would give me the combination!” shrieked Twilight, kicking Celestia in the stomach.
“I said I would give you the numbers to the combination. Just as you never promised to answer my questions properly, I never promised to give you your information in the right order.”
“If Luna didn’t need your blood.” grumbled Twilight.
“If Luna did not need my blood, we would not be having this conversation.” said Celestia. “It would likely be you in these chains, rather than me. You couldn’t kill me, even if you wanted to.”
“Oh, I want to. I so very much want to.” whispered Twilight.
“No, you don’t. You still care about me, just as I care about you.”
“I don’t care about you. In fact, I hate you.”
“Hate is far too strong a word to waste on somepony you don’t like.” said Celestia. “I think it’s too strong for you, period. Power does not suit you, Twilight. It never did.”
“Then why the hell did you give me a kingdom?” asked Twilight.
“What can I say? Watching you struggle is amusing.” laughed Celestia. “You always got so worked up over your failures. You took yourself far too seriously, my dear.”
“I do not tolerate cheek, Celestia. If you don’t shut up, I’ll cut out your goddamn tongue.” said Twilight. It would be wisest for Celestia to stay silent, to let Twilight storm out of the room, but Celestia had one more in her.
“Another thing. You’re not very good with threats. You see, threats only work if you follow through with them.” said Celestia, a strange tone of condescendence in her voice. “You threatened to cut my tongue out a few days ago, yet here I am, free to speak unhindered. When I ruled Equestria with Luna, before you, before Luna was banished, I had a threat similar. I told my citizens that any criminals would have their throats filled with molten silver if caught. I thought it would stop crime, but it did just the reverse. People thought I was a joke, especially after they realized that I would never do it.”
“If you’d like, I can get my knife now.” said Twilight.
“After my story, if you still feel like it.” said Celestia. Then, she resumed her tale. “Nopony took me seriously. Until, one day, a criminal was brought before me to plead his case. He raped, murdered, and cannibalized at least thirteen children. He admitted it, he bragged about it even, the cocky bastard. But what angered me the most wasn’t his heinous crimes. No, what truly made my blood boil was the fact that he calmly admitted it and still had the audacity to request my help. He knew that I would never go through with my silver threat. Do you know what I did after that, Twilight?”
“I’m sure that you’re going to tell me anyway.” muttered Twilight.
“I went through with it. I tied him to a stake, gathered all the citizens I could, and I personally tipped the cauldron.” growled Celestia. “And in the long, long history of Equestria, there has never been a murderer of that degree since! Do you get it, Twilight Sparkle? Words are cheap! Action, however, is priceless! So, by all means, ‘cut out my goddamn tongue’, as you said. Do it! Until such time as you do, I will not take anything you say seriously. I can’t. You are a joke, Twilight Sparkle, and not a very funny one.”
“Are you serious? You have the nerve to call me, Princess Twilight Sparkle, a joke?!” bellowed Twilight, landing her hoof in Celestia’s gut. “I, who defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord,  Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, and Lord Tirek?”
“Elements, Elements, Cadance & Shining, Crystal Heart, Elements, and Rainbow Power.” listed Celestia. “You are weak, Twilight Sparkle. All of your ‘accomplishments’ are the works of magical items or people far more powerful than yourself. While you do have talent of your own to be proud of, it does not equal strength, nor does it equal respect.”
“I am Twilight Sparkle! I saved Equestria time and time again!” shouted Twilight.
“You didn’t save it from this plague.” muttered Celestia.
“I revived our race! I birthed an entire generation of alicorns! My children are the future of our kind, and they came from my own genius! Do not mock me, Princess Celestia, princess of the setting sun! Princess of prison cells and steel shackles. Princess of nothing!”
“And I believe that makes up for your lack of answers.” said Celestia. “Thank you, Twilight. You’ve been quite helpful.”
“Come again?” said Twilight.
“You were always easy to manipulate, which is partly why I have forgiven you.” said Celestia with a smile. “The combination is three-nine-six-four. See you another time.”
“Enjoy your water.” muttered Twilight. She spun on her heel and exited the cell. Celestia closed her eyes and began counting her breaths. She forced her consciousness to the rear of her mind and fell into the warm embrace of sleep. She dreamed of glittering silver, of knives and blood. When she awoke, she found that her tongue was bleeding slightly. She spat the blood from her bitten tongue onto the floor and resumed her sleep.
> Secrets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What’s her plan?” asked Twilight, leaning forward in her throne. “What’s her play?”
“I’m not sure. Her dreams aren’t giving me any hints.” said Luna. “She’s hiding it somehow. She’s planning something big, and I fear we will not learn what it is until she already begins implementing it.” Twilight groaned, and fell back in her chair. Around her subjects, Princess Twilight kept up a facade of elegant grace, but in reality, she had no concTwern for proper etiquette, something Luna berated her for constantly.
“Stop doing that.” ordered Luna. “It’s unbecoming for the Princess of Equestria.”
“Does that even mean anything now?” asked Twilight.
The doors to the throne room opened, and a guard slowly marched into the room. He was followed by an alicorn mare with a light orange coat, an orange-red mane, and a single, piercing cyan eye. The other eye was missing, replaced with a thin sheet of flesh that had the mark of a swirling yellow and orange sun, one half red with a yellow flaring outside and the other half yellow with a red flare.
“Your highness.” said the guard, dropping to his knee before Twilight and Luna.
“Which one are you again?” asked Twilight, looking to the alicorn. “I’m sorry, but there’s a lot of you.”
“My name is Twilight Shimmer.” said the alicorn. “I have word back from the team we sent to open the library.”
“And?” asked Luna.
“The combination worked. The books are being transported as we speak.” supplied the guard. “But that’s not what we came here for.”
“Then why did you come?” asked Twilight, slightly excited. The books were coming, which was good news for her kingdom.
“It’s the prisoner. She says that she’s ready to talk.” said Twilight Shimmer. “She says that she will tell you how to cure Eclipse, but only if Queen Luna lets her go first.”
“What?! Of course not!” shouted Luna. “Why would you even bring that nonsense before me?”
“We thought it would be good information for you to know.” said Twilight Shimmer, flinching slightly.
“And it was. Don’t listen to Luna. She’s just being grumpy.” said Twilight Sparkle. “Do you have her exact words? Did you write them down?”
“Yes, Mother. She said, quote ‘I have the secret of Eclipse, and I am willing to relinquish it to my sister, only after she releases me, forgives me, and accepts my embrace.’, end quote. What do you make of it?”
“She’s lying, obviously.” said Luna. “Why would she all of a sudden want to give up the cure?”
“Perhaps she’s only now remembering it.” suggested Princess Twilight. “Her memory loss was genuine, as you know, and it could be reasoned that she is slowly regaining it. Maybe she’s just remembering, and her guilt is taking over. Maybe she wants to repent, to do the right thing.”
“A pony who wants to do the right thing just does it, without demanding certain conditions be met.” said Luna. “She is planning something.”
“I don’t doubt it, but what could go wrong?” asked the princess. “No magic, and far too weak to overpower either of us. Worst case scenario, we release her, she hugs you, and tries to run. We restrain her rather easily, put her back into chains, and continue like nothing happened.”
“Is that really the worst you can imagine?” asked Luna. “This is Celestia we’re talking about. The mare who killed all of your friends.”
“A fact I am painfully aware of, but thank you for reminding me, Luna.” said Twilight angrily. Luna’s eyes widened slightly, as she forgot how sensitive her subordinate could be at times.
“Forgive me. You’re still a relatively young alicorn, so you don’t have the detachment that I and Celestia have.” explained Luna. “Give it another thousand years and you will be able to push them from your mind.”
“If that was meant to make me feel better, it failed spectacularly.” said Twilight. She shook her head and addressed her child again. “Did Celestia say how long the offer was good for?”
“She said to come see her whenever you’re ready.” said Twilight Shimmer. She darted her eyes from her Mother to Queen Luna in slight unease. She had never seen the Queen and Princess argue even in the slightest.
“Well, then, we shall see what comes of the situation.” said Luna. “I still feel that this could be a trap, but we shall consider it.”
“If we avoided every single trap, we’d have lost a long while ago.” said Princess Twilight. “You would not be on that throne, and I would be in the ground.”
“I find it hilarious that you think you are in a position to tell me to live on the edge.” scoffed Luna. “You are likely the most cautious pony I’ve ever met.”
“‘You guys worry so much about staying alive that you forget to live a little.’ Rainbow Dash used to say that quite often.”
“Mostly before she did something foolish.” pointed out Luna. Twilight glared at her co-ruler with an odd rage. Twilight wasn’t sure why she was so angry with Luna. The Queen was never especially sensitive to the concept of death. She disrespected Twilight’s friends almost daily, but the princess never paid it too much attention. Today, however, she was enraged, near to the point of violence. Even Luna herself, who was normally oblivious to the deep emotional workings of others, noticed Twilight’s rage.
“Why are you glaring at me in such a way?” asked Luna. “So much hate.”
“Hate is far too strong an emotion to waste on somepony you don’t like.” said Twilight. Under her breath, she muttered “So, yes. Hate.”
“Hold on a second. Where did you hear that?” asked Luna. Twilight shrugged her shoulders. It was just a saying, a proverb so old that it’s origins were lost in time.
“That saying… Celestia.” said Luna after pondering for a second. “This is her play, as you said. She’s trying to pit us against each other.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s impossible, for starters.“ said Twilight. “She would have had to have known when exactly to say that particular proverb, then she would have had to have known when Twilight Shimmer would give us the information, then she would have had to have known that we’d start bickering over it. Even if she knew all of that, somehow, there’s no way she knew that you would disrespect Rainbow Dash when you did, and she couldn’t have known that I even remembered her saying the proverb, let alone repeat it.”
“Celestia is cunning. This we know for a fact. I put nothing past my sister.” said Luna.
“Unless you’re implying that Celestia is that much more intelligent than yourself, I can’t see that happening.” said Twilight.
“Celestia is more intelligent than all of us, Twilight Sparkle. You know that as well as I.” said Luna angrily.
“Celestia is an all-powerful, psychotic, clever, sadistic, cunning being who, with next to no aid, eradicated most of her people.” said Twilight. “She is a genius, and that is insulting to her. She is smarter than almost every Equestrian, dead or alive. She is smarter than Cadance, smarter than you, smarter than Tirek and Sombra and Chrysalis. But she is not smarter than me.”
“Are you implying that you are above me, Twilight Sparkle?” growled Luna. 
“I do not mean to imply my superiority.” said Twilight. “I mean to directly state it; I am superior to you, Princess Luna. Your title of ‘Queen’ is purely for show.”
“Do you really wish to fight with me? In front of one of your precious science experiments, no less?” shot Luna. Twilight flinched, angry with herself. In her anger, she completely forgot that her daughter was standing in front of her.
“Twilight Shimmer, to your barracks.” ordered Princess Twilight, knowing full well that she just did the equivalent of sending her daughter to her room. Twilight Shimmer rose to her feet, brought the edge of her hand to her heart, and marched out of the room. The guard followed her after giving his own salute to the Queen and Princess.
“What is your problem today?” asked Luna, as soon as the doors were closed. “What has gotten into you?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just so frustrated.” sighed Twilight. “I get all this anger built up inside of me, and I feel like I want to destroy something. My life has become one long temper-tantrum. I haven’t properly smiled since Pinkie died, did you know that?”
“I’ve seen you smile after her demise.” said Luna. Twilight shook her head.
“Just because I show my teeth and go like this.” She spread her mouth open into a blank, emotionless smile. “Does not mean I’m smiling. ‘A pony smiles with more than just their mouths. They smile with their souls’. I never thought something so deep and profound could come out of Pinkie’s mouth.”
“Perhaps you should recall Pinkamena’s wise words more often. It would save me the embarrassment, and the headache.” said Luna. “It’s unfit for a true leader to let their emotions manifest.”
“Then you are quite a leader.” shot Twilight. “Where’s your passion? You’re so cold and detached.”
“Passion is an excuse for intelligent ponies to act foolishly.” said Luna. “No amount of care or passion for something can save it.”
“If you care enough about it.” argued Twilight. Luna was growing impatient with the conversation.
“Then you must not have cared about your friends very much.” spat Queen Luna.
“How did this happen to us?” asked Twilight angrily. “There was once a time when I admired you, when you were one of my only role-models. I guess a thousand years and a plague tend to strain a relationship.”
Luna felt a tingling run down her back, and she forgot her retort. She shushed Twilight and closed her eyes. The world melted around her, and she fell through the nothing. She flipped over and over through the air, her hooves eventually hitting cold concrete. To her right was Celestia, chained to the wall. In front of Celestia was Princess Twilight.
“It’s been years since I’ve seen into your dreams, sister.” muttered Luna. “Let’s see what you have to offer.”
“Are you sure that it will work?” asked Twilight.
“I am positive. Any amount in Luna’s food will be lethal.” promised Celestia. “Even though you are immune, I would recommend shielding yourself. I upped the power of Eclipse to make sure that it kills my sister, and it is possible that your immunity will be unable to protect you.”
“When should I do it?” asked Twilight. “Today?” Celestia shook her head.
“Don’t show your hand until all cards have been dealt. We’ll wait until Luna frees me, and kill her only if necessary.” said Celestia. “Luna might still be useful to us in the future, and it would be short-sighted to needlessly kill her.”
“Why give me Eclipse if you don’t plan to use it?” asked Twilight.
“The best weapon is the one you never have to fire. Only kill Luna if she attacks you. If she tries to employ diplomacy… Well, Luna can’t have Eclipse leaking to her subjects, now can she?”
“What happens when Luna is out of the picture?” asked Twilight with a greedy, sinister smile.
“You free me, of course.” said Celestia. “You explain to your subjects that you were bewitched by the terrible Princess Luna, and the spell has been broken. I clean up Eclipse and we work together to fix the surface. Between the two of us, it’ll take a year, at most. Then, we split the land. If you have no major objections, I would prefer if I kept Canterlot as my capitol. I put many years into that place, and I’d like to return to rule in a familiar place.”
“Of course.” said Twilight with a nod. “I will take the Crystal Empire.” She looked over her shoulder nervously. “I have to go. Try not to sleep too much.”
“Right. We can’t have Luna seeing my dreams. Not that it makes much difference.” said Celestia. “We have her right where we want her.” Celestia slowly turned her head to the left, her eyes falling on Luna. “If she so much as acknowledges that there is a coup d’etat underway, the coup will complete itself. This, my faithful student, is what we call a checkmate.”
“I cannot wait until you’re back on the throne, where you belong.” said Twilight. She smiled to Celestia and turned for the door. She vanished from the room, and Celestia began whistling to herself.
“Luna thinks she has me trapped, chained and lost in the Devil’s hall.” said Celestia cheerfully. “But Luna’s wits have gone and snapped, and that is why Luna will fall.”
“Luna!” shouted Twilight. The queen blinked furiously, removing herself from Celestia’s dreamscape. She looked around in confusion, calming down only when she realized where she was. Her throne room normally filled her with power and purpose, but she now felt nothing but fear and uncertainty. She looked to her subordinate, Princess Twilight Sparkle, with the feeling of dragons flying through her gut.
“Is everything okay, Luna?” asked Twilight. “You dazed off.”
“It is… It is fine.” lied Luna. “I thought I saw something. Wait! Blood. I need blood.”
“What for?” asked Twilight.
“I just had a thought. We might not need to free Celestia for the cure. I think I just cracked it.” said Luna. 
“Then let us go.” said Twilight. Luna shook her head vigorously.
“You must stay. The books will be getting here any second, and you have to begin looking through them at once.” said Luna. “Who knows what sort of counter-spells Celestia put on those books? She was rather paranoid when it came down to her magic, and she used to put up methods to prevent others from reading a spell more than once. Or to prevent them from reading at all.”
“Then I will be careful.” nodded Twilight. Luna began walking at a brisk pace, grabbing her cloak off of a hook by the door. She threw the black cape over her and reached into the inner pocket, retrieving a bloody needle and tube, tied to a bag filled with blood. She stared at it uneasily for a second before stowing it back into her pocket and setting off for her sister’s cell.
> Games
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna kicked open the door to Celestia’s cell in a fit of fury. There was one other pony, besides Celestia in the cell. One of Twilight’s sons stood in front of the Sun Princess, holding a bloody knife. A fresh, gushing wound sat across Celestia’s chest.
“You! Out!” ordered Luna. Twilight’s son dropped the knife and ran from the room immediately, closing the door behind him. Luna grabbed the knife and brought it to Celestia’s neck.
“Hello, sister.” said Celestia with a yawn. “I am sorry that you must see me like this. I was never the most graceful in my sleep. So, how may I help you?”
“How did you do it?” asked Luna.
“You see, when the body expunges it’s energy, you must sleep to regain it.” explained Celestia. “It is to regain awareness and vigor.”
“Don’t toy with me! How did you do it?!” asked Luna angrily.
“My grumpy little Lulu still exists in there. Always yelling.” 
“Do not call me that, Tia. I always hated it.” growled Luna.
“Just as I always disliked the nickname of Tia. But, it would appear that some things never change.” said Celestia. “So, ask again. Properly this time, if you don’t mind.” Luna inhaled deeply, withholding the urge to drag her blade to the left.
“How. Did. You. Do. It.” said Luna slowly.
“I. Don’t. Know. What. I. Did.” said Celestia, just as slowly.
“How did you brainwash my student?” asked Luna. 
“I wasn’t aware that you were a teacher.” said Celestia. Luna slashed her sister just above the knee. Red painted the concrete floors, but Celestia didn’t seem to care.
“I suppose that, after a thousand years, Miss Cheerilee would have to retire.” joked Celestia.
“You brainwashed Twilight Sparkle, my student-” began Luna.
“My student.” corrected Celestia.
“I taught her magic for around a thousand years.”
“And I taught her the things that mattered. I taught her the magic of friendship.” said Celestia.
“I still don’t completely understand what magic exists in friendship.” said Luna.
“Well, if it wasn’t for the magic of friendship, your return to Equestria all those years ago would have been rather short-lived.” pointed out Celestia.
“Are you saying that you would have banished me again?”
“Of course not. I’d have killed you. You realize that I let you take me, right? I chose to let Twilight rediscover the Elements of Harmony.” said Celestia. “Should she have failed, I would’ve killed you that night. It wouldn’t have been difficult. Honestly, if I was at my best, I could kill you right now.”
“But you’re not. Don’t waste my time with impossible scenarios.” growled Luna. “Tell me how you enticed Twilight to betray me!”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about. I didn’t convince her to do anything she didn’t want to do.” said Celestia. “If she’s betraying you, perhaps you deserve it.”
Luna swiped her knife at Celestia’s stomach. The princess of the sun had taken so much punishment that she barely felt the cut. In fact, she began to laugh.
“I’ll remember that, Luna!” she chuckled. “I don’t think you want to get on my bad side. Then again, I don’t really have a good side for traitors. So, by all means, continue. You can’t make it much worse.”
“You’ve made a grave mistake, Celestia. Now that I know of your plan, your coup d’etat will fail.” said Luna. “I can easily overpower Twilight and put her in chains, right next to you.”
“Firstly, no. You cannot overpower Twilight. If you’d like, you could have somepony cast a sleeping spell on you so you can continue to dream, but in the real world, that’s not going to happen.” mocked Celestia. “Secondly, you’re stupid. I know that you’re monitoring my dreams, and you heard the plan. Attack Twilight, and she releases Eclipse. Argue with Twilight, and she releases Eclipse. Free me… Well, there won’t be any Eclipse, but there won’t be very much of Luna, either.”
Celestia spat across Luna’s face. The queen wiped her face with her thumb, then jabbed it into the wound on Celestia’s chest. Needles of stinging pain ran through Celestia’s chest, but she kept up her facade of confidence and control. Celestia knew that if Luna thought she had control, control she would have.
“What happened to you, Luna?” asked Celestia with a smirk. “Why would you let yourself get hit by that? Unless… You don’t have any magic? That is priceless! How did that happen? I was joking when I told Father that you were basically an Earth Pony, but you truly don’t have any magic?”
“You knew that my magic has become rather unreliable.” said Luna quietly. Somehow, after all that Celestia had done to her, what made Luna feel the worst were the reminders of her father. 
“The more time goes on, the more I believe that my amnesia was self-inflicted.” laughed Celestia. “As I learn more about what I’ve apparently done, the more it makes me laugh.”
“I thought that you were remorseful of your actions.” said Luna.
“Of course I’m remorseful. I hate myself for my crimes. I honestly agree that I belong in this dungeon.” said Celestia. “But you seem to want me to be the ‘bad guy’, and if the shoe fits, I’ll wear it.”
“I don’t want you to be the bad guy. I want you to be my sister, but I know quite well that I’ll never have her back.” Luna pulled her thumb from Celestia’s wound, wiping the blood onto her sister’s face, just above her lip. “I never asked you to be like this.”
“Then why do you continue to torture me? If you wanted things to return to normal, you should have released me when I apologized, as I so did.” said Celestia. She licked her lips, lapping up the blood on her face. Just as she hoped, Luna cringed slightly. “But you kept disturbing the hornet’s nest. You push me, and I will push back.”
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
	Luna froze at the sound of the door knocking, a simple sound that chilled her blood. The door pushed open after a second, and in walked Princess Twilight. She traded her cloak for a simple black dress. Luna turned to face her subordinate with fear in her heart. The air became thick, so much tension that Luna was tempted to cut it with her knife.
“Luna, I need you to look through the books.” said Twilight. “Our prisoner failed to inform us that the books were written in gibberish.”
“Not gibberish, dear.” said Celestia. “They’re written in Aitselec.”
“And what in the name of sanity is Aitselec?” asked Twilight. 
“I know what Aitselec is.” sighed Luna. “Aitselec is a language that Celestia invented with our father when she was a child.”
“Can you read it?” asked Twilight.
“Eh…”
“‘Eh’? What does that mean? ‘Eh’. Is that even proper English?” asked Twilight angrily. “That’s not even a complete thought.”
“I can read it… just not very well.” admitted Luna.
“Why not?!”
“Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I said Celestia invented it with my father. I am neither Celestia nor my father.” said Luna. “I can read it, but only because Mother made them teach me some.”
“Didn’t you have your own language?” asked Celestia. “Ulul, right?”
“Shut up.” commanded Luna.
“Ulul. Let’s see if I can remember any…” said Celestia. After a second of thought, her eyes lit up. “Unalay is oingay to illkay me orfay riningbay isthay up.”
“What the hell?” asked Twilight.
“She said ‘Luna is going to kill me for bringing this up’.” supplied Luna.
“It’s Pig Latin! Luna didn’t know that Pig Latin existed at the time, and she just made Pig Latin. Oh, and she was so proud of herself.” mocked Celestia. “Mother made me praise her, but how me and Father laughed! Luna’s only original idea was actually invented hundreds of years prior.”
“Shut up, Celestia! Your language isn’t much better! Aitselec is just backwards English!” shouted Luna. Celestia’s eyes widened for a second before she exploded in laughter.
“You believed that? Sure, the name is just backwards English, but not the entire language! I told you that so you would go away! So gullible.” laughed Celestia. “Ladies and gentleman, the princess of the moon, you’re all-powerful, all-knowing leader who can’t tell when her sister is being sarcastic.” Luna swung her hoof into the side of Celestia’s face with a heavy SMACK!
“Queen Luna.” she growled.
“Princess Luna.” spat Celestia. “And only if you’re lucky.”
“She is stalling, Luna. Come on. Help me decipher these books.” said Twilight. 
“Very well. I want to talk to you, anyway.” said Luna. “Do you recall our debate earlier? Well, I think I’ve reached a decision. We must discuss.”
Luna and Twilight left the room without another word. Celestia tilted her head slightly in thought, planning what to do next. She was cold, hungry, in pain, and she felt terrible for her recent actions, but she smiled despite all of that. Her mind games had worked. Celestia could tell by Luna’s hushed tone what she was planning.
Things will never be the same, thought Celestia, Luna will watch me carefully, and she will get rid of me at her first opportunity. I must strike first.
Celestia laughed grimly to herself. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.



Luna advanced her pawn one space forward and to the right, capturing Celestia’s knight. Luna smiled at the mammoth assortment of pieces she had captured; Celestia was left with nothing but her king, a bishop, and both rooks. Meanwhile, Luna still had her queen, most of her pawns, a knight, a rook, and a bishop.
“You may as well give up now, Tia.” said Luna. “You have no chance.”
“Is that so, Lulu?” yawned Celestia. She ran her hand through her pale pink mane and pushed her king one space to the left. “Your confidence is admirable.”
“Why shouldn’t I be confident?” asked Luna. She moved her queen forward so that it was four spaces from Celestia’s king. “I believe that is mate.”
“Wrong.” said Celestia. She moved her rook up, capturing Luna’s queen. 
“Damn! Well, I still have nearly all of my pawns. I can easily get a new queen.” said Luna.
“You could, if you were not currently in checkmate.” said Celestia, rising to her hooves. Luna looked again and saw that she was right; The rook Celestia used to capture the queen was five spaces from Luna’s king and, due to the position of Luna’s own pieces, no movement could be made to free the king.
“How?” asked Luna.
“Mother has been letting you win, and you have been letting that go to your head.” said Celestia. “If you actually want to get good at the game, play against Father. He shows no mercy, and that will teach you not to make such sloppy mistakes.”
“What mistakes?” demanded Luna. Celestia sighed impatiently. She wanted to hurry to her father for their private lessons, but her Mother had given an order to teach Luna as much as she could.
“Firstly, you were far too easy to manipulate. I goaded you into taking my knight so that your pawn would be out of my way.” said Celestia. “Secondly, you let your own assets get in your way. The hardest barrier to overcome is often the one you yourself erect. You didn’t trust yourself to keep your pieces protected, and your own distrust ended up being your undoing.”
Celestia tipped Luna’s black king over on it’s side and turned her back to her sister.
“You don’t have to be so rude about it!” yelled Luna.
“Says the one shouting. How am I being rude?” asked Celestia.
“You already beat me. There’s no need to rub it in by tipping my king.”
“So sensitive, Lulu. It’s merely a tradition of the game. And besides, I wouldn’t brag about beating my little sister in a petty game of chess. Especially since she’s so new at it.” said Celestia.
“I’ve been playing longer than you have!” shouted Luna. Celestia laughed.
“I know. I just wanted to hear you admit that you are bad at chess.” she said with a smile. “I’m off to see Father. Have fun with your potions.”
“And you have fun with your charms.” said Luna. “Wait! Tia!”
“What? If I’m late, Father will kill me.” said Celestia.
“Rematch after class?”
“Will you actually be a challenging opponent this time?” asked Celestia. Luna shook her head. “I figured. I’ll see if I can make a decent player out of you.”
Celestia stepped away from her sister, heading from the courtyard to the entrance of Canterlot Castle, the castle that would soon be hers. She turned to her left and shot an evil smile to Queen Luna.
“Do you remember this day, sister?” asked Celestia. “This particular day?”
“Of course. It was the day that Mother and Father passed.” said Luna cautiously. 
“Just like that chess game, you played right into my hands. What do you plan on doing? Will you release me, or is Twilight going to have to kill you? Or perhaps you favor the third option.” said Celestia. Luna turned away and began to fade from view.
“Return to your dream, Celestia. Enjoy yourself.” said Luna. She vanished just as Celestia pushed open the castle doors. She strode into the entrance hall, repeating the same phrase she uttered every time she entered the castle.
“This castle will be mine!” she hummed. “The throne, the crown, Equestria will be mine! All shall bow to Queen Celestia, and if you don’t, well, off with your heads!”



Celestia opened her eyes to find that her arm chains were much longer, long enough to move comfortably. On her lap sat a tray of a lump of cheese, a carrot, and a hunk of stale bread. To her left was a small jug of water. Celestia smiled and ripped a piece of bread with her teeth.
“Just like that game.” laughed Celestia, sipping from her jug. “You played right into my hands. Checkmate, little sister. Lulu lost again.”
> Checkmate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A cockroach scuttled across the floor, pausing in front of Celestia’s hooves. The former princess stood absolutely still and allowed the roach to scurry up her leg. Slowly, Celestia placed the back of her hand against her thigh. The roach inched forward before rushing onto Celestia’s opened palm.
“Got you!” said Celestia, closing her fist. The roach threw itself against it’s new cage, trying desperately to free itself.
“You and I are not so different.” said Celestia. “Both of us have fallen from the top of our respective kingdoms. We both are captured.” She opened her palm slightly. “And we shall both be free soon.”
The door creaked open slowly. Celestia looked up slightly, closing her fist on the roach. Twilight stepped into the room with several sets of chain bindings in her hands. She reached into her lavender cloak and withdrew a small, dented key.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle.” said Celestia. “What brings you here?”
“Shut up. I have to move you to the infirmary.” said Twilight. Celestia pinched one of the roach’s legs with two fingers.
“When will you be letting me go?” asked Celestia.
“When pigs fly out of a frozen hell with ice cream cones and land on the moon.” said Twilight. Celestia twisted the roach’s leg and pulled it off, laughing slightly.
“Will there be strawberry?” she asked mockingly. “It was always my favorite.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, Celestia, but it’s not going to happen.” said Twilight.
“What am I trying to accomplish? I’m trying to intimidate and frighten you.” said Celestia. “Is it working?”
“No.”
“Yes it is. Don’t you know this by now, Twilight Sparkle? I know you inside and out. Every fidget, every flinch, every nervous gasp, every stutter.” said Celestia. She pulled off another roach leg. “If you breathe an extra breath, I notice it. Once you understand how something works, you can begin to manipulate it.”
“You can’t manipulate me.” said Twilight.
“The universe does not revolve around you.” muttered Celestia. Twilight half-heartedly kicked Celestia in the side, not doing much more than nudging her.
“What was that?” asked Twilight.
“You shouldn’t assume that I was talking about you.” said Celestia, a little louder. “I have been manipulating you from the get-go, but not much recently.”
“Then who do you think you’ve been manipulating?”
“You used to be so sharp, dear. What happened? It’s not exactly brain surgery to decipher my codes.” sighed Celestia. “Yesterday, or whenever that was, when you got your hands on my books. What did Luna say she was coming to visit me for? For blood?”
Twilight kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to hear what Celestia had to say, but she was curious of what her prisoner was implying. Despite her better judgement, she stood in the room, waiting for Celestia continue.
“Well? Are you going to ask to see my needle wound?” asked Celestia. “I’ll save you time and tell you that there are none.”
“Then why did she come?” asked Twilight.
“Why did she come, indeed. Maybe it was to catch up on old times. That’s what ended up happening, so I’m sure that was it.” said Celestia. “But that raises the question: Why would she lie to you? Did she have another reason to visit me?”
Twilight dropped down in front of Celestia. She reached forward and began to unchain Celestia’s arms. As soon as her arms were free, the prisoner grabbed Twilight’s hair and brought Twilight’s ear to her lips.
“Or maybe she’s plotting how best to eliminate her competition?” whispered Celestia. Twilight jerked away, then freed Celestia’s legs.
“Are you… Luna has betrayed me?” asked Twilight. Celestia shrugged her shoulders.
“It would seem so.” Twilight dropped the chains to the ground, her fist balled up in rage. Her mane became more aura-like, and her eyes shone like headlights.
“She betrayed me! For the likes of you! Why does this happen to me?!” shouted Twilight. She reached into her cloak and yanked out a knife, which she used to slash at Celestia haphazardly.
“You don’t want to do that, my dear.” said Celestia, avoiding Twilight’s attacks. “If I were to die, mayhaps a new strain of Eclipse will outbreak. You don’t want to risk your children, do you?”
“You dare threaten my children?! I will die a thousand deaths before I let you harm any of them!” shouted Twilight hysterically. Celestia grabbed Twilight’s wrist firmly, keeping the knife pointed to the ground.
“Unless you want your precious bundles of joy to join you in those thousand deaths, I suggest you lower your blade, and quiet down.” whispered Celestia. She could feel the roach bounce around in her other hand, and it took all of her will to refrain from crushing it.
“I thought you changed!” said Twilight through gritted teeth. “I thought that you were sorry. I asked Luna to consider freeing you, you manipulative, tyrannical piece of shit!”
“Such foul language is unbecoming of a Princess.” said Celestia. “Here’s what is going to happen, Twilight Sparkle. You will not attack Luna. You will not confront her. You will not even let her know that you are aware of our little coup d’etat. The moment you break any of these rules, Eclipse will be released among your children. You will go to Luna tomorrow and tell her that you want to discuss releasing me.”
“Why not today?” asked Twilight. “Aren’t you in a rush to get out?”
“I’ve waited for a thousand years. I can wait one more day.” said Celestia. “If you seem too hasty, Luna will be suspicious. I am not really supposed to be telling you any of this. If you make Luna suspicious, she will release Eclipse. So, you will wait until tomorrow. You will sit her down and you will discuss releasing me. Luna will refuse at first, which is why you must convince her. It is very important that you stay in character the entire time. The moment she thinks something is amiss, she will release Eclipse. I do not want Eclipse to be released.”
“So, I have to somehow convince her to let you go? Without sounding as if we’re working together?” asked Twilight. Celestia nodded, then wrenched the knife from Twilight’s hand.
“As insurance.” said Celestia. She buried the knife in her own midsection, just below her lungs. A soft groan of pain escaped her. “There. Leave me be and discuss it with Luna. This wound is far deeper than it appears. I will be dead by tomorrow at around this time with a wound like this. It is about six in the evening, yes?”
“Yes.” said Twilight, her voice shaky. “T-ten minutes past six.”
“You have until then to convince Luna. Until we meet again, Twilight Sparkle.” said Celestia. She sat down against the wall and chained herself back, hiding the knife behind her back. Twilight stumbled to the door, fumbling at the knob. Finally, she pulled it open and slipped out into the corridor. A devilish grin broke out on Celestia’s face as she felt the roach scuttle in her hand some more.
“I will be free by this time tomorrow.” said Celestia to the roach. “My first order of business is to get my horn replaced. And then, I will eradicate all of your kind. I always hated insects such as you.” Celestia pushed her palm against the floor, pressing the roach against the cold concrete. “You will be the first of many, you disgusting creature.” She wiped the crushed organs of the cockroach onto the floor and pushed her back against the wall.



Luna watched Twilight leave Celestia's cell. The princess looked over shoulder nervously before carefully making down the hall away from Queen Luna. Luna gripped the hem of her gown and strode to the door, hesitating at the knob. Her sweaty hands slipped against the doorknob. She took a second to steel her nerves, taking in a deep breath. Her clammy hands moved of their own accord, twisting the knob and pushing open the door slowly.
“Hello, sister.” said Celestia. “Have you given any more thought to my offer?”
“You mean your ultimatum?” asked Luna.
“A rose by any other name has just as many thorns.” chuckled Celestia. “You’ll be pricked all the same, regardless of what you want to call it.”
“No matter what happens, you will kill me. My choice is either to die to Twilight or to die to you.” said Luna. “What am I expected to do?”
“You’re expected to make a choice before I bleed out.” said Celestia. Blood lightly gushed from her gut. “If I do not get any medical attention by this time tomorrow, I will die. So, here’s what you are going to do. When Twilight approaches you tomorrow to discuss releasing me, you will resist. She will try to convince you, and you must give in only when you think she has reached the end of her rope. She will be desperate, but you mustn’t give in too quickly.”
“Why not? Are you not in a hurry to escape?” asked Luna. Celestia shook her head.
“I’m not supposed to be saying any of this to you. If I am not released in time, or if I die from some other means, Eclipse will be released among the entire population of your kingdom. Furthermore, we shall leave evidence that implies it was you who released it, destroying your image.” said Celestia. “Twilight wanted to kill you outright, but I convinced her to give you a chance. But, the moment she discovers of my interference, you will be killed.”
“It’s not enough for you to simply win, is it?” asked Luna angrily. “You just have to lord it over me, don’t you?”
“I do not know what you mean.” said Celestia, smirking smugly.
“You’re doing it right now! We always knew, everyone always knew that you were better than me! It was no secret that you were smarter, stronger, prettier, nicer, more perfect in every way! Even our own parents prefered you over me!” shouted Luna. “You were never content with just that. Even when you had everything, you just had to rub it in! You had to-”
“Tip the king.” said Celestia. Luna grabbed Celestia by the neck tightly.
“Again! You won’t even give me the satisfaction of finishing my own tirade!” spat Luna. “You always have to prove that you’re better!”
“You think I am flaunting my superiority because I am trying to save my sister?” asked Celestia. She gripped her hidden knife tightly.
“Why do you even care, Celestia? Just a few days ago, you were threatening to kill me. Now you want to protect me? From what? The big bad boogeyman?” asked Luna. Celestia smiled, and kissed her sister on the cheek.
“Good night, sister.” said Celestia, closing her eyes. “See you in the morning. I take it you remember my directions?”
Luna kicked Celestia in the side with all her might. When Celestia didn’t react, Luna grumbled and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Celestia never heard it; She was already asleep.
> Answers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna sat in anxious wait. Her glittering blue throne normally made her feel powerful and relaxed, but now, she had no room for anything but terror. Twilight had requested her audience, yet Twilight herself was nowhere to be found. What’s more, the throne room, which was normally empty, contained five of Twilight’s one-eyed children.
“Where is your mother?” asked Luna. “She sent for me an hour ago, yet she is not here.”
“Mother and I ran into a slight delay with the prisoner.” said Flash Sparkle. “She sent me ahead of her. I don’t doubt that she’ll be here soon.” No sooner did Flash say this did the doors burst open, marking the entrance of Princess Twilight. Twilight strode across the room and took a seat to Luna’s right. She opened her mouth once before closing it. Twilight raised her throne with her magic and brought it around Luna’s front, then sat down face-to-face with the Queen.
“Hello, your highness.” said Twilight. “I take it you know why I wanted to speak with you?”
To kill me!, Luna screamed in her head. If you’re going to kill me, just do it!
“I haven’t the faintest idea. I do hope that you’re not wasting my time.” said Luna. Twilight squeezed her fists together uneasily.
“I brought you here to discuss the proposal of releasing Celestia.” said Twilight shakily. Her children tensed uncomfortably. What Twilight was suggesting was nonsense. The guards glanced at each other in shock; Twilight always stayed true to her vow that Celestia would never see the outside of a prison cell. 
“We discussed it. I said no.” said Luna. “What else have you brought me here for?”
“I really think we should talk about this a little.” said Twilight. “More than not at all.”
“May we speak in private? Your children are rather nosey, and I fear they may have heard too much already.” said Luna. Twilight peeked over her shoulder anxiously, more than just scared, Twilight was terrified. 
“I… I would prefer if they were to stay.” said Twilight slowly. 
“For what reason?” asked Luna, oblivious to Twilight’s fear. If Luna wasn’t so scared herself, she might’ve noticed.
To kill you, thought Luna. She wants her children here to kill you!
“I enjoy their company. They make me feel protected.”
“And what would you need protection from?” asked Luna, raising an eyebrow.
From you! Twilight shouted to herself. If they leave, I’m as good as dead!
“Just… You know how careful I am. I like to leave nothing to chance.” insisted Twilight. “Let us begin, unless you have any further objections.” Luna gazed at the five guards in the room, each looking attentively back to the Queen. They had their hands away from their weapons, and Luna guessed that at least three of them had no reliable magic, which put the Queen’s mind to rest ever so slightly.
“Fine.” agreed Luna reluctantly. “You wish to release Celestia. Why?”
“I believe that she will be much more useful as an ally rather than a prisoner.” said Twilight. “As you know, those books gave us nothing. Mostly because we’re still not even sure if we’re reading them correctly. I say that the best way to get this information is to take it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“And why does she need to be freed for this?” asked Luna. “We’ve been trying to get information from her for years. It’s like pulling teeth! Quite literally, in some cases.”
“Right, sorry about that. She was speaking ill of Flash.” brooded Twilight. “But, as you said, we’ve been trying for years. Emphasis on trying. We can bring the horse to water, but we certainly can’t make it drink.”
“Why so many horse metaphors? Is it meant to be humorous?” Luna straightened herself in her throne. “Am I missing the joke again?”
“Not any more than usual. Fine, then. Why do you think we should keep her imprisoned?”
Luna stood up angrily, making Twilight flinch. There was no denying that they were both in a panic.
“She is still not to be trusted. Sometimes, she seems truly regretful for her actions. But recently, she’s been very…” Luna struggled to find the proper words. “Very hostile.”
“I suppose you have a point. Tell me, is the story with the silver true?” asked Twilight. “Did she really execute somepony with molten silver?”
“It wasn’t her, per se, it was more of our father.” explained Luna. “It was her idea, but she meant it more as a joke than anything. Father took it one step above and beyond. Not only did he take it into consideration, but he made her do it. She had nightmares for weeks. I still see traces of the terror in her dreams.”
“See? She’s not an altogether violent person.” said Twilight. Luna scoffed. “Okay, perhaps I’m giving her too much credit. She’s not being violent right now.”
“Are we going to free her and wait until she does? And you proved that she is up to something.” said Luna, hoping, praying that she was doing her job correctly. Negotiations were a very volatile process, one push being more than enough to send it over the edge.
“I don’t very much see how. She told a little fib about something she probably doesn’t remember perfectly.” said Twilight. “So what?”
“She remembers. And it’s not about her lies.” said Luna. “Why would she bring up that memory? Celestia, unbeknownst to you, buries her emotions even better than I. If I were to bring up the silver incident, Celestia would suddenly fall deaf and dumb. To her, it never happened.”
Twilight pondered Luna’s question. Why would Celestia do such a thing? It would be unnecessary, and Celestia was never the type to waste anything, especially when she was in a bind.
“But what harm is she to us now? She has no horn.” said Twilight.
“And what do you think will be her first request?” asked Luna. “‘My name is Celestia, and I just got out of prison! Does anypony know where I can find a banana?’. No. She’s going to ask for her magic back, and we’ll have no real choice but to give it.”
“Was that sarcasm? Are you learning to be funny?” asked Twilight. “And sure, she’ll ask for her horn back, and we’ll give it to her. Eventually. I’m sure she’ll be reasonable enough not to ask for it back immediately.”
“So our survival depends on how reasonable Celestia is?” Luna scoffed again. “Start writing your will now, Twilight Sparkle. You have plenty of children to include.”
"Okay, Luna. What do you suggest we do?" asked Twilight sharply. She was getting rather frustrated. "If we sit here idly, our people will die! Is this not worth the risk?"
"Not when there are hundreds, thousands of lives at stake!"
"These are my children, Luna. If they were to die because of your unwillingness to act, I will hold you personally responsible." said Twilight.
"Are you threatening me? I am not frightened by the likes of you, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna half-lied. It wasn’t Twilight she was really afraid of. “You are not very good at threats, Princess Twilight. If you wish to make me respect you, then-”
“Do not make me act on my threats! If I see you as a hazard to my people, I will not hesitate to put you down!” shouted Twilight. “Do not think that I won’t. You and your sister are not so different after all.”
Luna let out a shout of frustration. Her horn crackled with cerulean light, her eyes glowed slightly. She took in a deep breath and calmed herself.
“Twilight, I do not want to fight with you.” said Luna. “I honestly do not. I truly respect you and what you are doing, despite my personal disagreement.” She sat back in her throne. “Let us discuss again what we should do, without the petty arguing over opposing views.”
“That’s it? We’re not going to argue anymore?” asked Twilight in surprise. The gears in her head starting grinding harshly, a million ideas and explanations running through her brain at once.
“There are some things that are more important than my opinion, or my desires.” said Luna. “This is bigger than me. Bigger than you, even. Too much is at stake to be foolish about this.”
Something else is going on, thought Twilight. I’m missing something.
Twilight raised an eyebrow in surprise, but leaned forward to continue negotiating nonetheless. She kept an eye on the clock, the hours until six melting away into minutes. Twilight and Luna discussed and reviewed for hours, neither of them giving much leeway. Despite Luna’s insistence that she didn’t want to argue, she fought hard to ensure that they were making the right decision. 
“Luna, I think I know what we should do.” said Twilight at five minutes to six. She breathed in sharply and worked up some courage to take the gamble she was preparing to. “I think that we’ve been thinking about this issue all wrong. Celestia isn’t the solution. She is the problem.”
“So?” asked Luna in confusion.
“Let’s solve it.”
“I don’t understand what you’re implying.” said Luna.
I’m missing something, said Luna to herself. Something is amiss.
Twilight leaned forward and began whispering her plan to Luna. They were finished debating at the stroke of six. Together, they rose to their hooves and left to free Celestia.



Celestia gripped her knife behind her back. She didn’t think she would need it, but it would be foolish not to prepare in every way. She was wide awake, too excited to sleep, but kept her eyes squeezed shut in feigned sleep anyway. She heard the door creak open and peeked out of one eye.
“Are you awake, sister?” asked Luna. “Wake up, Tia. It’s time for you to get out.”
Celestia gently lowered her blade to the floor and opened her eyes completely. Luna stood to her left, holding a long white dress in her hand. Twilight held a dented black key, which she hovered into Celestia’s shackles. They fell from the Sun Princess’ wrists, clattering onto the floor. Celestia pushed herself to her hooves, grabbing the knife on her way up. She hid the blade behind her back and stepped forward cautiously.
“I think I need to see a doctor.” said Celestia, gesturing at the wound across her midsection. “I’ve lost a lot of blood.” Luna tossed the dress to Celestia and began digging in her own robes.
“You are not the only one who needs a doctor.” said Twilight. “I, for one, have a splitting headache.”
“Me as well.” agreed Luna. She pulled a syringe from her robe, a needle filled with a cloudy blue liquid. She took it to Celestia and forced it into her sister’s flesh, just above the wound.
“I wonder what would cause such pain.” said Celestia. The blue liquid fled from the needle and rushed into Celestia.
“I know exactly what it is.” said Luna. “It was your mind games.”
Celestia’s vision began to fade and go blurry. She stumbled and fought to stand. Her mouth opened, but words didn’t leave it, only babbling.
“You almost had us beaten, Celestia.” said Luna. “Our back was to the wall, but we broke through.”
Celestia took a step to the door, the door that was a million miles away. Luna grabbed her wrist firmly and pulled. Celestia fell back and swiped her knife at Luna’s chest. The Queen gasped in pain before yanking the dripping blade of her sister’s grasp.
“Restrain her, Luna.” said Twilight. 
Heat built in Celestia’s chest, fiery energy seeping through her body. She dropped to her knees and began to tremble. Luna grabbed her other arm and wrestled Celestia to the ground.
“Fall!” shouted Celestia. A burst of bright yellow light exploded from her, slamming Luna against the wall. Celestia dizzily crawled forward for the door, her strength leaving her with each step. Twilight’s hand grasped Celestia’s mane just as she lost consciousness and fell into darkness.



Beams of white light burnt through Celestia’s closed eyelids. She begged herself to return to sleep, but a strange pain assaulted her mouth, keeping her awake. She wrenched her eyes open and surveyed her blurry surroundings. She couldn’t see much, but it looked like she was in the throne room. A great chair sat a few feet in front of Celestia, made of glittering purple steel. Celestia tried to pull her arm forward, but the chains around her wrists kept them pinned to the wall. She could move her head only left and right, but couldn’t look down due to the steel belt wrapped around her throat. She wanted so desperately to glance down at whatever was on her lap. It was round and dripping some thick, warm liquid, and it was connected to something sharp poking Celestia in the gut.
“You were right.” said Twilight. She stepped from the left and into Celestia’s view. Blood was splattered across her face, from her chin up to her forehead. Her hands were also painted with red. Celestia tried to speak, but she couldn’t do more than grunt and groan.
“You were right.” repeated Twilight. “What you said about threats. They’re only good if I act upon them.” Celestia grunted a question, which painted a sinister smile onto Twilight’s face.
“What’s the matter, Celestia? Cat got your tongue?” she said mockingly. She smiled even wider. “Or perhaps it was an alicorn.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth and pushed out more primitive noise, trying, fighting, begging herself to speak. Now that Twilight mentioned it, Celestia noticed that she couldn’t feel a tongue in her mouth. Tears grew in her eyes, and her arms began shaking. She tried to clench her fists, but found that she couldn’t move her fingers.
“Yes, I took out your tongue.” said Twilight. She reached into her robes and withdrew a rag, which she used to wipe the blood from her hands. “I also cut off your hands and hooves. You were thrashing quite a bit in your sleep. Between you and handling Luna, I’ve been busy. I’m glad you managed to stay unconscious for as long as you did. It took me a whole day to evacuate and quarantine that part of the castle.” Celestia couldn’t hold on to the conversation; She was absorbed in the lack of feeling at the end of her wrist. She expected something like that to hurt, but she felt… nothing.
“Your plan. You convinced me that Luna was a traitor intent on killing me and freeing you.” said Twilight. “You then convinced Luna the same about me. That way, we would both try our best to free you without anypony dying. No bloodshed. I must admit, that was a surprisingly eloquent and peaceful solution to an otherwise bloody dilemma. Unfortunately, you chose not to take my advice. If you would have forced me to free you the day we spoke about it, Luna and I would not have had time to discover that the traitor as a hoax.” Twilight’s smile grew even more evil. “You didn’t trust yourself to keep your pieces protected, and your own distrust ended up being your undoing.”
That grabbed Celestia’s attention, and invoked her rage. Twilight simply laughed and took a seat at her throne.
“Luna shared that story with me before we went to free you.” said Twilight. Then, all trace of amusement left her face. "Which brings me to the subject of Queen Luna. You did quite the number on her. Would you like to see her?” Celestia nodded as best as she could with her neck restrained. It didn’t matter. Twilight would’ve shown her, regardless of Celestia’s wishes.
Twilight’s horn began to glow with lavender light, and the thing in Celestia’s lap rose slowly. It crept into Celestia’s view, first the horn, then the vacant cyan eyes. Celestia let out a shriek, and the tears in her eyes burst down her face.
“It was that blast of magic.” said Twilight. “A new strain of Eclipse. Even I feel slightly ill; What chance did our poor Queen have? It melted her down to sinew and goo. I decapitated her post-mortem, so that we’d have something to bury.” Celestia sobbed in sorrow while choking down the vomit working up her throat.
“It’s basic knowledge that a unicorn’s magic doesn’t actually have anything to do with their horn.” said Twilight. “There is a separate system in our bodies, weaved in with the nervous and circulatory systems, that sends the charge of magic. We use our horns only to channel it. This means that, theoretically, a hornless unicorn could potentially use some sort of crude magic if their life was in danger. You proved that theory.”
Luna’s head dropped back down onto Celestia’s lap. Twilight ran her hands through her mane in frustration.
“Do you understand what you’ve done? Do you even care?!” asked Twilight. “Luna is dead! Only she understood how to treat Eclipse! Only her! Now my people will be dead within a year, all because of you!” Twilight sighed and ran her hand through her mane again. “Since I am probably going to kill you anyway, I’ll tell you what happened. You still don’t understand why you’re where you are, do you? Well, here you are.”
“The day after the feast, a massive earthquake shook the Crystal Empire to rubble. You sent me and the girls to aid Cadance and Shining.” began Twilight. “It took us three months to sift through the dust and pull out all the corpses. Half of the Crystal Ponies died from the quake, and more from the aftermath. Starvation, dehydration. After a while, Cadance sent us home. She could handle it, she told us. We arrive in Canterlot to bring you up to speed and we found out that things changed drastically. You claimed that there was some dark evil in your land, and that you had to eliminate it. The only problem was that you had no clue who or what it was. So you decided to put all of your suspects into concentration camps.”
Celestia grunted her argument. Twilight didn’t need to hear her to understand that the sun princess was denying it. She still didn’t believe she was capable of such atrocities.
“The Camps didn’t sit well with us, but we didn’t do anything. How could we? We couldn’t very well go up to the princess and tell her she was doing her job wrong.” said Twilight. “Then you moved on from Camps to Crucibles. Every month or so, you would take thirty suspects from the Camps and put them in a pit, where they would fight until one pony, most often a child, killed the others with their bare hands. We were appalled, disgusted, but still we did nothing. That is, until Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were taken into the Crucible.”
Celestia could remember that: The blank looks that the three fillies had when they were taken from their homes. Sweetie Belle wouldn’t stop scratching her ear, until the flesh was red and irritated, while Applebloom sang an Apple family lullaby ceaselessly under her breath. Scootaloo…  Celestia remembered Scootaloo falling mute with no sign of her speaking.
“So you remember that much?” asked Twilight. She could see the look of realization on Celestia’s face. “Do you remember who won that Crucible? It was Sweetie Belle. The things that poor girl had to see, to do, at the age of thirteen. In the arena, Scootaloo went mad and attacked her friends. Sweetie Belle had no choice but to kill her, to protect Applebloom. She bashed Scootaloo’s head in with a large stone and after that, Applebloom stopped. She gave up. In the end, Sweetie Belle walked out of the Crucible victorious. She left breathing, but she died in that arena. Rarity never properly told me what happened, but I imagine she committed suicide.”
Celestia forced out a sound like a garbled choke. Twilight had her repeat herself a few times over before she discerned what her prisoner was trying to ask.
“How did Applejack and Rainbow react?” asked Twilight. Celestia nodded. “They forgave her immediately, which I think was part of Sweetie’s sorrow. With those three dead, I now had to try to calm three of my friends. Rarity, Aj, and Dash all wanted your head. They started a rebellion. After the Cakes were taken to the Camps, Pinkie joined. I helped, but I never fought. I just did logistics, things like that. Then came Eclipse.”
“We called it Eclipse because when it came, it was a cloud of black that blotted out the sun. It killed an unfathomable amount in a short span of time. Rarity died, and Dashie fell into a coma that she would never wake from. The survivors fled and quarantined as best as we could. One day, Fluttershy got stuck on the wrong side of the fence. I promised her that I would get her out, but she knew she was already infected.” said Twilight, choking back a sob. “Applejack as well. Her face was so disfigured… I didn’t even realize I was looking at a corpse at first. She looked like a rotted log. When it was down to me and Pinkie… Well, it quickly went down to me.”
Celestia had another epiphany. She could suddenly recall the rebellion. They called themselves “Harmony”. They would attack Canterlot Castle whenever possible, burning it, bombing it, but they all fell eventually. Celestia choked out a question that Twilight was able to decypher immediately.
“You want to know what Eclipse did. It essentially melted us from the inside out. We would grow boils that would pop, and pus would leak from the wounds for a day. Then it was blood and muscle tissue liquified.” said Twilight. “If it didn’t kill you outright, you might be crippled or mentally handicapped. All who were exposed to the pathogen, even in it’s most diluted form, suffered from infertility and magic loss. Except for me. Nopony knew why, but your Eclipse wouldn’t touch me. I found a team, people who could help me overthrow you and fix Equestria. I found Flash Sentry, Shiny, Cadance, Trixie. I even went through the mirror to get help from Sunset Shimmer. We fought you at every turn, and you slowly whittled us down. You killed Shining Armor and Cadance right in front of me. Trixie saved us, bought us enough time to escape from a raid. She didn’t make it.” 
Celestia gripped Shining’s horn and pulled it to the wall. Her horn was surrounded by yellow light and she brought her index finger across the back of Shining’s knee. Blood spurted outwards, and his leg fell away from the rest of him. An agonized scream came from him as Celestia extended her palm to Shining. Flames erupted from his body, scorching his flesh.
An evil smile spread across Celestia’s face at the sight of Twilight’s horrified expression. Cadance ran forward savagely, swinging a sword at Celestia. The Sun Princess avoided the swipes and grasped Cadance’s wrist. She spun Cadance around and wrenched the blade from her hand.
“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Celestia remembered saying. She brought Cadance into a sort of shielding position. “Look to your sister-in-law. Look at her!” Cadance stared at Twilight with tears in her eyes when the sharp tip of her own sword pierced her chest.
“You’re remembering. You killed Cadance. We couldn’t find Luna anywhere. We were going to die.” said Twilight. “Until one day, you let your guard down. We caught you when you least expected it, on the day that used to be the Summer Sun Celebration. But it was too late to reverse the damage. We were at about ten percent of our original population, and nopony could reproduce. We eventually found Luna, brought her down from the moon, but she couldn’t solve our problem. We were dying off, and Flash suddenly had an idea.” 
Twilight laughed darkly. She remembered her reaction to Flash’s proposition at the time, how absurd it worked. Halfway through her laugh, she stopped. She missed Flash with all her heart, maybe a little more than even her friends.
“I took a sample of Flash’s DNA and replicated it. He impregnated me and I acted as a tissue culture. Eventually, I copied the idea with Sunset’s DNA. That’s how I got my children.” said Twilight. “The cloning process wasn’t perfect, which is why they’re missing an eye. After the first batch of Sunset Shimmer clones, Flash died. He was infected, as was Sunset. Then, it was just Luna and myself. We bunkered down underground and began torturing you for the cure. You wouldn’t give for years and years. Luna started taking your blood to see if she could find the cure, but never found anything conclusive. We already searched my blood to isolate whatever made me immune, but we couldn’t find it. A thousand years or so passed, and a wave of magic passed through that shocked your frontal lobe. Your hippocampus didn’t know how to react to the surge of energy, and you lost memory. The rest is history.”
Twilight rose to her hooves with a look of exhaustion plastered across her face. She drew a knife from her hip and took a step towards Celestia.
“Are you remorseful?” asked Twilight. “Do you regret what you’ve done? Don’t bother lying to me. I won’t change my mind, regardless of what you say. Do you regret your crimes?” Celestia nodded and closed her eyes. She braced herself for death, and didn’t even flinch when Twilight pressed the sharp blade against her throat.
“I wanted you to die today. I think I changed my mind. I don’t want you to die.” said Twilight. Celestia opened her eyes just in time to see Twilight swipe her knife to the left. Red cascaded down the former Sun Princess’ neck. She produced hacking, gurgling sounds as she tried to force air down her blood filled throat.
“I want you to suffer.” said Twilight. She dropped the knife to the ground and left Celestia to bleed in her chains. Celestia convulsed in agony once before closing her eyes. Darkness crept to her, and she met with sleep for what would be the last time.