> Half-Sisters > by Steve Ott > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Lies We Tell To Foals > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Half-Sisters By: hellvic notion An MLP Fanfiction Chapter 1 The Lies We Tell to Foals She had won. Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, had just successfully taken Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Despite this success, it nearly came crashing down when that lavender unicorn accused her of brainwashing Shining Armor. Thankfully for Chrysalis, the unicorn’s friends and her teacher were more blind than she thought. Once they had left, Chrysalis had imprisoned her in the crystal caverns with the real Princess Cadence. In hindsight, that was probably a bad idea since they both were able to escape. However, that no longer mattered as her changelings had captured the Elements of Harmony, Shining Armor was still under her spell, and their beloved Princess of the Sun was currently trapped in a cocoon. But Chrysalis felt that she was missing something. That was something that had been eating at her for sometime now. Chrysalis was never one to forget something, especially on this magnitude. However, no matter where she went, it always felt as if she was being watched. She had heard that Celestia’s “sister” had returned from her exile. To Chrysalis, that moon princess was nothing but a traitor. Though deep down, she new her reasons for not joining her all those years ago. Maybe that’s why she sought her out at first? But not only was the moon princess not present, but neither was her personal guard. The only inkling she got of her presence was the fact she was raising the moon. She wondered why the moon princess hadn’t interfered with the invasion. Maybe she was truly on her side after all? That hope was smashed when a changeling was launched across the throne room by a blast of blue magic. Chrysalis whipped her head around as Twilight gasped, “Princess Luna!”. There, at the west entrance to the throne room was Princess Luna. Chrysalis was hit with a wave of emotions ranging from relief and fear. But most notably was the anger that radiated off of Princess Luna. Chrysalis muzzle formed into a devilish smirk before sneering, “Ah, Princess Luna, how nice of you to finally join us.” Luna just continued to glare at Chrysalis with her piercing blue eyes. Her own smirk began to form across her own muzzle. “Queen Chrysalis, long time no see”, Luna greeted. From what the other ponies emotions told her, they were confused by Luna’s rather calm greeting of the Queen who had just taken over Canterlot. “Indeed, old friend”, Chrysalis responded. Six high more high pitched gasps could be heard from her right. She continued, “I take it that you have come to confront me and banish me from your lovely capital, but let me tell you something. No one here in Canterlot or in all of Equestria truly cares about you like I do. I have heard their thoughts about you, and trust me they are not nice. These ponies still think of you as Nightmare Moon. You know that you don’t belong here, and you weren’t even going to stay here if you hadn’t gotten that mark on your flank.” “You know better than to try to deceive me Chryssy”, Luna sneered causing Chrysalis to wince at the mention of her old nickname. “And yes, I have come to get rid of you from my capital. You don’t belong here and neither do your soldiers. So why don’t you just leave while you still can before I splatter your guts on the castle walls”, Luna threatened. Instead of intimidating the Queen, it only made her belt out a hearty, devilish laugh. Still grinning, Chrysalis retorted, “If we are to fight, I must remove that facade of yours.” Before Princess Luna had any time to react, green energy launched from Chrysalis’s jagged horn, straight to Luna. “Princess, look out!”, Twilight shouted out towards Princess Luna. But instead of heeding her warning, she remained steadfast and let the green magic hit her. Almost instantly, Luna felt her disguise being ripped off of her exoskeleton, her horn morphed into a jagged horn similar to Chrysalis’s, her legs now holes adorning them, as well as her still flowing mane. The most startling change was the fact that Princess Luna now sported two impressive canines, which were even longer that Chrysalis’s. Where a princess once stood, now stood a second changeling queen. What was once Princess Luna opened her piercing blue eyes with a small, toothy smirk. “May the best changeling win”, “Luna” sneered before flapping her now see-through wings, gaining lift off. Her horn crackled with blue energy before launching a spell into the direction of the other changeling. *** If you were to ask Twilight Sparkle that morning that changelings would take over Canterlot and that the Queen of said changelings would be fighting another changeling that was masquerading as Princess Luna she would’ve thought you were crazy. Now here she was, watching two changelings battle to the death. Scorch marks were littered everywhere, several of the bricks in the walls were now cracked from the force of their magical blasts. Despite this, Twilight couldn’t help but notice the changelings differences. While Queen Chrysalis looked like the prototypical changeling queen that she had seen in old books, the one that was Princess Luna looked quite different. Instead of a black exoskeleton, hers was a dark blue, similar to Luna’s. Not only that but her mane still had the everlasting breeze flowing through it. Twilight could almost see stars in her mane as well. “Why does she look so similar to Princess Luna”, Twilight thought to herself. As the two changelings fought, Twilight found herself rooting for the dark blue changeling. However, it became apparent to her that the blue changeling was losing. She was huffing and puffing, while Chrysalis was still more than fresh. The love she had gathered from Shining Armor was proving too much for the other changeling. “Shining Armor? That’s it!”, Twilight thought. She quickly made her way over to a dejected Princess Cadence saying, “Cadence, while they are distracted, you can go over to my brother and break the spell on him.” Cadence’s eyes lit up, she quickly nodded to Twilight before trotting her way through the changelings carnage. Once she got to her fiance, she saw the extent of Chrysalis’s spell. Throwing caution to the wind, she kissed her fiance straight on the lips. Immediately, the green in Shining’s eyes faded away, returning to it’s natural color. “Is the wedding over”, Shining groaned. He glanced up seeing the devastation in the throne room, including the two changelings locked in combat. “What in Celestia’s name happened?”, Shining asked in disbelief. He then felt a horn touch his own. Looking up, he locked eyes with the love of his life. He didn’t know how long they stared at each other before a bubble of pink magic began to expand around him. The changeling that was once Princess Luna knew she was outmatched. Her only hope was she could distract Chryssy long enough for the others to defeat her. After dodging another spell sent by Chrysalis, she looked over to find a bubble of pink magic beginning to expand, with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Positioning herself in front of one of the many stained glass windows she yelled, “It’s over Chryssy, Equestria has won.” “Nonsense”, Chrysalis scoffed whilst rolling her eyes, She looked up to see “Luna” pointing behind her with a sly grin plastered on her face. She glanced back, her eyes widening in horror. The pink shield began to rapidly expand towards them. Chrysalis felt the pure emotion exuding from the magic shield, swiftly overriding her senses. The next thing she felt was the feeling of total weightlessness as the shield picked her off her hooves. As the shield slingshotted her through the window, she heard the pained cries from her soldiers as they too were launched out of Canterlot. “I’m so sorry my children, I have failed you”, she apologized across the hive mind. As Chrysalis was flying through the window above her, “Luna” was at peace. She may have lost her disguise, but they had beaten the changelings. Despite this, she felt a pang in her stomach, something that her sister must have felt when she banished her to the moon an eon ago. Instead of flying through the open window, she was flung into the cobblestone wall at such force that it could’ve killed a mortal pony. Thankfully for “Luna”, she was immortal. Her body smashed into the wall, nearly going straight through it. And that was when the world went black. *** Twilight’s eyes suddenly snapped open. Her eyes darted from side to side, scanning the destruction. Her five friends were both also just getting up as well, her brother and Cadence both still had their horns locked together, Celestia was still out cold, and the throne room was covered in scorch marks. It looked like the wedding would have to wait. “That was so awesome!”, Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “It almost makes me want to do a Sonic Rainboom right now.” “Hold your horses sugarcube”, Applejack interjected. “I think we have bigger issues to take care of first.” Applejack pointed her hoof to the mess that was once a throne room. Rainbow’s eyes widened slightly upon examining the devastation. “Yeah, I guess you’re right AJ. But once we’re finished you going to witness the best Sonic Rainboom you’ve ever seen”, Rainbow Dash responded. Applejack simply rolled her eyes, trotting her way to Princess Cadence. “Are you okay Princess?”, the apple farmer asked. Cadence gave a small smile before responding, “Yes, and thank you Applejack. Now once Auntie wakes up, the wedding will once again be back on track. Hopefully there are no interruptions this time around.” “What about her?”, Fluttershy asked, speaking louder than usual. Every other pony swiveled their head to the direction that Fluttershy was pointing at. There, in the corner of the throne room, was the prone form of the changeling that was posing as Princess Luna. Her mane hanged limply against her neck, she had a black eye, and she was covered horn to hoof with cuts and bruises. Twilight scrambled to her hooves and began to run to the injured changeling. Just as she reached the changeling Shining Armor boomed, “Twilight, get away from it. I don’t want to lose you again!” “Big Brother, without her help, the changelings would have won. The least we could do is help her”, Twilight huffed. “I’m sorry Twilight, but we have to play it safe”, Shining responded softly. Just then, around ten Royal Guards trotted in. “Hey you guys”, Shining bellowed, “I need half of you to take Princess Celestia to the infirmary, and I need the other half to take this changeling down into the dungeon.” The ten guards nodded, doing as they were told. “Once this changeling wakes up, we should be able to get answers out of her. Okay Twilight?”, Shining Armor said as he nuzzled his younger sibling. *** When Celestia’s eyes opened later that day, she found herself in the infirmary. While not her first trip, it was her first one not involving her being sick. She had underestimated the power that Queen Chrysalis was able to wield against her. Despite this, she was pleased to discover that it was Shining and Cadence that ultimately defeated the changelings. However, she felt that there was something that she was not being told. Her horn spark with magic, as she levitated the last spoonful of the soup she had been given. After, a dainty sip of the lukewarm soup, she gently set it back down into her bowl. She the magicked her bowl and the tray over to her nightstand. Silently she wondered what had become of her sister. Had she been hurt, or had she seen this coming? Something in her mind hoped that it was the former despite the implications. She just hoped she was okay. A few moments later, her Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor trotted in with a slightly irked expression on his face. As he opened the door with his magic, he greeted, “Good afternoon Your Majesty, I trust that you are recovering swiftly as usual?” Celestia gave a small nod before he continued, “You’ll be pleased to hear that the wedding is scheduled to take place in two days.” Celestia raised an eyebrow before responding, “Captain Shining Armor, are you sure that you will be recovered in two days? From what I’ve heard, you’ve been through quite the ordeal.” Shining sighed before replying, “Yes, I’m confident Your Majesty. I just don’t want anymore delays, especially because of the fight that destroyed the throne room.” Celestia frowned. This was the first time she had been informed of this. “Captain, what fight in the throne room, and why wasn’t I briefed before this?” Shining gulped before shakily responding, “Before me and Cadence banished the changelings out of Canterlot, another changeling confronted their Queen. This changeling was pretending to be another pony before the Queen undisguised her. Unlike the Queen she was much more pony like.” “Who was she masquerading as Captain Armor”, Celestia demanded, her typically soft eyes burrowing into Captain Armor’s soul. After taking a deep breath, Armor responded, “She was pretending to be your sister Luna.” Celestia’s eyes widened before quickly asking with a hint of fear laced in her tone. “What did she look like and where is she being held?” “She’s being held in the dungeon right now. And now that I think about it, she did look somewhat like Luna”, Shining quickly responded. Without a second thought, Celestia dashed off her hospital bed, swiftly heading for the door. Shining Armor protested but he was simply shoved aside. “Princess, where are you going?”, Shining pleaded. Celestia paused as if she was deep in thought. She took a deep breath before replying, “I’m going to see my sister in the dungeons.” > Dungeons and Changeling Queens > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Half-Sisters by: hellvic notion An MLP Fanfiction Chapter 2 Dungeons and Changeling Queens All she felt was pain. Pain of losing the battle. Pain over not getting her revenge. Pain that she had been defeated. Pain over the fact she had to fight a loved one. But most of all, she felt pain because she failed not only herself, but her entire hive. She had failed, and now her hive will suffer the consequences. Many of her soldiers were either missing or dead. That ones that were missing were likely to die before they ever got home. Sadness filled her heart as she thought about her doomed subjects. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the fact that she wasn't long for this world. With no heirs, her species would be doomed to die. There was only one other changeling that was capable of taking on the mantle of Queen. The only problem was that it was also the one who had assisted in her defeat, and had betrayed her true race. But she was their only hope for the survival of their species. *** To say that Twilight had a rough day was an understatement. In just a few hours she had been imprisoned by a changeling queen pretending to be her foalsitter, and then escaped only to witness an army of changelings descend upon Canterlot. She and her friends the attempted to retrieve the Elements of Harmony only to be captured again. Then just when all hope seemed to be lost, another changeling queen pretending to be Princess Luna attacked allowing for Cadence and Twilight’s brother Shining Armor to force almost all of the changelings from Canterlot. Not only that, but the changeling who helped saved them all was now rotting in the dungeons. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash poked her head through the door to Twilight’s room and asked, “Umm Twi, Can we talk with you for a moment?” Twilight glanced up noticing the nervous grin plastered on Rainbow’s muzzle. With a sigh she replied, “Yes, of course you can.” Rainbow let out a sigh of relief before turning around and saying, “Come on in, she said yes.” Soon, Twilight’s four other friends filled into her room following Rainbow, forming a semicircle around Twilight. Silence reigned over the group of friends. Twilight was almost sure that could’ve cut the tension with a knife. Twilight scanned her five friends, all of whom looked to be ashamed by something. Applejack was holding her stenson in her hooves, Fluttershy was hiding behind her pink mane, Rarity kept looking from one thing to another, Rainbow Dash’s wings flapped nervously, and Pinkie Pie’s mane had lost some of it’s poof. Realizing that none of her friends were going to speak up, Twilight inquired, “Well, what do you girls need?” Rarity cleared her throat before responding, “Twilight dear, we would like to say sorry.” Twilight sat bewildered at this revelation. “Why would they need to say sorry?”, she thought to herself. Recognizing Twilight’s shock, Rarity continued, “We would all like to apologize for our behavior during the wedding rehearsal. We should’ve believed you from the start.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she exclaimed, “But what if I was wrong? Cadence would have never forgiven me!” “But you were right Twi”, Applejack stated solemnly. “But none of us believed you, and we left you in your darkest hour.” “Yeah, we should’ve believed you from the very beginning. Isn’t that right Fluttershy”, Pinkie Pie exclaimed while bringing the shy pegasus in a hug. “Yeah, we should’ve”, Fluttershy mumbled, clearly still shaken from the whole ordeal. “I shouldn’t have left you hanging. Some Element of Loyalty I am”, Rainbow Dash huffed. Suddenly, she too was brought into a hug, but this time by Twilight herself. “So does this mean you forgive us”, Rarity tentatively asked. After a short pause Twilight responded, “Yes of course I forgive you girls. You are all my friends!” And with that, everypony else joined in on the group hug. While they were all hugging, Twilight thought of something. After the hug ended Twilight asked, “Can you girls accompany me down to the dungeons?” After Twilight’s question, you could’ve heard a pin drop from Las Pegasus. Twilight looked at her shocked friends, eyes all nearly bulging out of their sockets, or in Pinkie’s case, actually bulging out. Rainbow Dash recovered first saying, “Are you crazy? Why would you want to go down there while that changeling is there?” “In case you didn’t notice, Canterlot would still be covered in changelings. Besides, we need to figure out why she saved us at all”, Twilight replied firmly. And with that, she began to trot out the door, followed by four of her reluctant friends. Noticing that somepony was missing, she called, “Fluttershy, that means you too!” Fluttershy poked her head out into the hallway softly yelling, “Please no! I don’t want to be in the same room with a changeling ever again!” Twilight groaned inwardly before replying, “Fluttershy, we need you too. Your the nicest pony I know and we need you to be nice to this changeling so we can get the information we need.” Reluctantly, Fluttershy limply followed the rest of her friends to the dungeons. *** Shining Armor was gobsmacked. Not only did Princess Celestia get herself out of bed when the doctor had told him that she shouldn’t be able to for a couple of days, she also referred to that changeling in the dungeons as her sister. “Princess! Princess! Princess”, Shining called only for Princess Celestia to ignore him and continue walking. Frustrated, Shining powered a teleportation spell before appearing right in front of the Princess. “Your Majesty, what did you mean by sister?”, the captain inquired. Celestia shot him a irritable glance that could probably cut down a tree. “What do you think I meant? And if you would excuse me, I must meet with my sister”, she replied, pushing her way through Shining Armor. Shining groaned before once again teleporting to Celestia, this time to her side. “Your Majesty, you keep insisting that this changeling is your sister. Are you sure you are not brainwashed right now?”, Shining asked. If looks could kill, Celestia’s look would have slaughtered an army of ferocious dragons. Shining couldn’t help but quiver a little bit. Bitterly, Celestia responded, “I’ll have you know Captain, that the only way for an alicorn to be brainwashed is by another full blooded alicorn, and I doubt that Cadence would do so. And yes, that changeling is in fact my sister.” “But Celestia, how could she be your sister if you are an alicorn and she is a changeling?”, Shining asked. “She’s not a changeling, or at least a full blooded one. She is only a halfling”, Celestia responded in matter a factly. “Umm Celestia, what is a halfling”, Shining asked, struggling to keep up with the white alicorn. “All will be explained in due time Captain, but first I need to see if my sister is okay”, Celestia replied while taking a sharp right turn, into the direction of the dungeons. *** When Twilight and her friends made there way to the dungeons they did not expect the amount of security they had. If they weren’t the Elements of Harmony, they probably would’ve been detained by some overzealous guard. Thankfully, they had gotten through unscathed and were now at the bottom of the stairwell that lead to the dungeon. Unsurprisingly, it was almost completely empty. In fact, it looked as if it hadn’t been used in centries. Cobwebs were everywhere, many of the stone blocks had cracks in them, and many of the cell doors were rusted through. The six slowly walked their way past the empty cells, finally reaching an occupied one at the very end of the hall. The changeling queen was still knocked out cold, lying on her right side. Twilight nearly puked immediately at the ghastly sight. She was surprise that Rarity didn’t faint on the spot. The changeling was covered from horn to hoof with nasty scrapes and bruises, she had a black left eye, and judging by the way she was breathing, she probably had cracked ribs as well. “We need to take her to the infirmary now”, Twilight said aloud. “Are you crazy? We would never be able to sneak her past the guards”, Rainbow angrily replied. “We can’t leave her here like this. Changeling or not, she desperately needs help”, Applejack said, much to the chargian of Rainbow Dash. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t help her AJ, but we can’t do anything right now”, Rainbow responded. “Maybe we could get Twilight to teleport the changeling to the infirmary?”, Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight shook her head before responding, “No can do, even I’m not powerful enough to teleport somepony as big as this changeling.” “Can we just call her Luna?”, Fluttershy asked quietly. Everypony turned to look at her as she continued, “If it’s alright I mean.” “I guess, for the lack of a better name”, Twilight responded apprehensively. “What if we just go fetch Princess Celestia. Surely she would know what to do”, Rarity said aloud. “I don’t think we can, she’s not su-”, Twilight said before she was interrupted by two ponies loudly walking down the stairs. All six friends looked up to see Princess Celestia and Captain Shining Armor exit the stairwell. As they all bowed hastily, Celestia asked, “Is she okay?” Twilight, recognizing who her mentor was referring to responded, “No, not really Princess.” Swiftly, Princess Celestia made her way over to the last cell where the six friends were located. Peering into the cell, Celestia, the avatar of the sun, broke down in tears. “Lulu, I’m so sorry”, she whispered. The gears that were turning in Twilight’s head suddenly stopped. “Why did the Princess just call the changeling her sister”, she thought.Looking around, she realized that she wasn’t the only pony to hear what her mentor had just said. After somewhat composing herself, she turned and ordered, “Applejack and Pinkie Pie, I want you two to take my sister to the infirmary. I want the rest of you to join us there as well, there is much to discuss.” *** When Applejack and Pinkie Pie carried the passed out changeling out of the dungeon, they caused a bit of a ruckus. Thankfully, Princess Celestia wasn’t to far behind quelling the fear. Following Celestia was the rest of the Elements as well as a still gobsmacked Shining Armor. As they made their way to the infirmary, Princess Cadence joined them, allowing Shining to fill her in. Once they all got to the infirmary, Luna was quickly placed on a gurney and rolled away along with a doctor. After a few tense minutes the doctor emerged, allowing the group of ponies in. Once in, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Cadence sat on the provided chairs, Rainbow was a few feet off the ground, Twilight was pacing around the room, Fluttershy hid in the corner, and the almost wedded couple sat with their mouths open. In the center, was the changeling that was once Princess Luna. She had an oxygen mask over her muzzle, bandages around her body, and an i.v. stuck into her right foreleg. If somepony didn’t know any better, they would’ve thought that she was on her deathbed. Thankfully, the doctors had informed them that she was going to live despite her injuries. Clearing her throat, Celestia began, “What you all are about to hear hasn’t been told in over a millennia. I’m sure my sister wouldn’t approve of this, but I do what I must. Is everypony ready?” When she received eight nods she continued, “Alright, I guess I should start from the beginning.” > A Child of Peace > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Half-Sisters by: hellvic notion An MLP Fanfiction Chapter 3 A Child of Peace “Back then, Equestria was much different from what it is today. It was a much more dangerous time. For hundreds of years, Equestria was at war with one or more of its neighbors. As you may know, we won most of our conflicts due to our superior magic skills. At this time, I was only a child as my parents ruled Equestria. Their names were King Orion and Queen Faust. Under their leadership, Equestria grew from a tiny principality to an Empire. Eventually, my parents were able to establish peace across the continent of Eques. Then the changelings appeared. “For much of their history prior, the changelings had been a tribal society. That was until all changeling tribes were united under King Carduus. However, changelings were not meant to be lead by a male, and their new hive suffered greatly. Instead of abdicating, he declared war on Equestria, beginning the Twenty Years War. “I don’t remember much about the war as most of the records have been lost to history. I do remember that the changelings were severely outmatched. From what my sister and my parents have told me, Carduus’ wife tried to knock some sense into her husband. For her troubles, she was imprisoned. Not long after, Carduus was murdered by his own guards and they installed his wife as Queen. Her name was Sapphire. “Once she became Queen, she immediately wanted to broker peace between our two nations. Unfortunately, many ponies despised the changelings after the needless war they had caused. Thankfully, my parents were more than willing to establish peace between our nations, but they were unconvinced that ponies and changelings could ever be at peace ever again. And that was when Queen Sapphire had an idea.” “What was her idea Princess?”, Twilight asked curiously. Celestia paused for a moment as if she was thinking of what she should say. “Her idea was for my father and Sapphire to have a foal together”, Celestia responded finally. “But, that can’t be possible!”, Twilight exclaimed as she waved her forehooves in the air. “It is in fact possible”, Celestia stated. “To get back on track, Sapphire’s idea was rather simple. They would create a halfblood, one part would be changeling, the other part alicorn. This halfling would be raised as a sign of peace between the two species. Despite having some reservations, my parents agreed. It took many tries, but eventually Sapphire became pregnant. “Sapphire began to spend more and more time at the castle in order to ensure the foal’s health. For the last month, she and her convoy stayed exclusively at our castle. This was because the natural birth mortality rate was very high for changelings, and we needed to be sure of the foals safety. During this last month, she decided to bring her daughter as well. Her name was Chrysalis, though me and my sister called her Chryssy. “Wait you were friends with that changeling that we just blasted off a few hours ago?”, Applejack questioned. “Unfortunately yes, she was. Time has not been kind to our friendship”, Celestia answered. Aftera few tense moments, she continued, “She was younger than me by around eleven years, however she was the same age physically due to how slow natural alicorns grow. I remember Chryssy being so nervous when we first met that she nearly cried when she was left alone with me. However, once she warmed up to me, we became almost like sisters. I taught her games like hopscotch and various card games, while she taught me chess and an early version of hoofball. That month was one of funniest that I have ever had. “At the time, I didn’t know that I was going to be a sister. I only knew that Queen Sapphire was going to have a foal in our castle. However, when I was talking with Chryssy one day, she accidently let it slip that the unborn foal's father was in fact my dad. I was understandably miffed at my parents from withholding information from me. I just couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t tell me. Now that I am older, I now know why they didn’t tell. They had wanted to protect me if the foal didn’t survive. “After discovering that the foal was fathered by my dad, I went straight to my mom as she was much more approachable. She was clearly startled that I had found out about the origins of Sapphire unborn foal. In order to appease me, she promised me this, “When the foal is born, you get to name it.” My mom later talked to Queen Sapphire about it, and she too consented to the idea. I was overjoyed. “Around a week later, Chryssy and I were playing in the gardens when suddenly she collapsed in pain before shooting up and running towards Sapphire’s room. I followed her to the room, only to discover that Sapphire was delivering the foal. Thankfully for my eyes, I didn’t see the birth though Chryssy said it was the most horrifying thing she had ever witnessed. Soon after the birth was complete, my parents invited me into the room. “There wrapped in blankets, was my little sister. She had a blue carapace, a jagged blue horn, tiny fangs, and holes in her legs. However, she also had a pony like face as well as beautiful blue eyes. Most strikingly, she had a sparkling blue mane, almost identical to my father.” “What are you going to name her?”, Sapphire asked as her newborn foal cooed. After a moment of thought, I responded, “How about . . . Luna?” Sapphire gave me a small smile, before replying, “Luna, yes perfect for my little ‘ling.” “And that was the day my little sister Luna, was born”, Celestia finished with a tear slowly rolling down her face. “Is that it?”, Rainbow Dash asked. Celestia politely shook her head before responding, “No my little pony, there is so much more to tell. I’m just getting a little choked up.” Instinctively, Fluttershy wrapped her wing around Princess Celestia. Looking down at the yellow pegasus, Celestia gave an approving smile. “So why is none of this in any textbooks? Why would they ignore something so important to pony history?”, Twilight asked. “Many of the things that I have told have been lost to time. Queen Sapphire, while important in changeling history, didn’t affect much of anything in pony history outside of this event. She focused much more on rebuilding the hive then affairs with us outside of her daughter. As for the war, historians chose not to teach it in the past because of its subject matter and the fact that nopony knows enough to teach anything about it anyways. Once Luna became a Princess, the populace began to see her as a pony and not a hybrid. Eventually her changeling status was reduced to a mere rumor. By the time I was forced to banished her to the moon, very few ponies believed that she was a changeling. It was unintended, but I believed it to be for the best, as I did not want my sister to be become more of a villain. Changelings were still seen as evil despite our best efforts”, Celestia answered. “But how could they forget something that big?”, Rarity asked. “I don’t have an answer, but I suspect that my ponies didn’t feel comfortable with a changeling holding equal power to myself, so they simply chose to see her only as a alicorn”, Celestia replied. “But what about Chrysalis? You claimed to have once been friends with her, then why did she attack Canterlot?”, Shining Armor asked. “This is what truly bothers me about the recent attack. The last time I had seen her, she had been defeated by our forces for the third time in a century. I once again tried to broker peace, but she stubbornly refused and disappeared soon after. For over 800 years I thought that not only was she dead, but her entire species save Luna”, Celestia responded. “Is that why you didn’t discover that she replaced me?”, Cadence demanded. Celestia sighed before responding, “Yes, I simply assumed that all of the changeling magic was from Luna. Her magical signature is nearly identical to Chrysalis which didn’t help matters.” Cadence looked at her aunt, disappointment plastered upon her face. Shining Armor attempted to comfort his ailing fiance but to no avail. Cadence’s scowl began to burrow deep inside Celestia’s heart. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Celestia said, “Alright, I still have a story to finish now don’t I.” After receiving a round of nods from around the room, she glanced at Luna’s still form before saying, “Okay then, once Sapphire recovered from the birthing process, she took her newborn daughter back with her to the hive.” “Wait, why did she do that?”, Twilight questioned. “When a changeling queen is born, it needs to be taken care of by the entire hive. While this causes a strain on resources, it is necessary if the newborn queen is to survive”, Celestia stated simply. “So when did you get to see Luna again”, asked the strangely quiet Pinkie Pie. “It was around a year when I finally got to see her again. I remember being so excited to see my little sister once again that I was literally bouncing off the walls. Once she did arrive, I was shocked to discover that she was scared of me. For days after her arrival, she couldn’t be in the same room as me. Soon I was starting to get angry, but I knew better than to yell at a foal. So one day I asked her why she was scared of me. She told me that she was scared because she didn’t know who I was. I felt so stupid when she told me that. How was I supposed to suspect a one-year old to remember somepony that last met her when she was born.” “So what did you tell her?”, asked Cadence, her scowl almost completely gone. “I told her the truth”, Celestia replied. “I told her that I was her big sister.” “Well, what did she respond with”, Cadence pressed. “She told me that Chryssy was her big sister not me”, Celestia laughed. “She denied it for weeks so I had to take matters into my own hooves. I took her on walks in the gardens, we went on a pranking spree, I read old pony tales, and we simply had fun together. On the night before she was supposed to leave, we decided to gaze up at the night sky. It was while we were lying on our backs under the night sky that Luna finally called me sister. “I was so happy that I nearly crushed her with one of my infamous bear hugs. I officially had a younger sibling. What I didn’t know at the time was that moment of Luna calling me sister would be the last genuinely happy moment we would share for over a millennia.” > Everlasting Friend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Half-Sisters By: Steve Ott An MLP Fanfiction Chapter 4 Everlasting Friend Finally, the sun dipped below the horizon ending the most eventful day since the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration. Canterlot was a bit worse for wear, but nothing that the residents could handle. There had initially been a lot of fear because of the likelihood of some changelings were still in the capitol, but after Shining Armor dispelled those fears, everypony went about their day. After all there was still a wedding to be held. However, none knew what was going on in the castle infirmary. It had been almost two hours since Twilight, her friends, Shining Armor, and Cadence left the Monarch of the Sun alone with her younger sister. All had been shocked by the revelation, and nopony could possibly believe it. However, the proof was lying comatose on the hospital gurney. As much as she wanted to finish the story, she knew that it had been a stressful day for all involved. She promised them that tomorrow she would finish. So they left Princess Celestia alone to wallow in her misery. Tears infrequently dripped from her eyes, slowly streaming down her face. She had only had Luna back for not even two years and now she was knocking on death's door. All because she was so blind once again. As she gazed at her prone sister, her mind began to drift to a happier time. It was during on of Luna's stays at the old Everfree Castle around fourteen years after her birth. Celeste closed her eyes, completely immersing herself into the memory. *** Celestia's eyes snapped open suddenly. Instead of being in the infirmary, she was now in one of the expansive hallways in her old castle. Tentatively, she began to slowly trot through the corridors. Glancing at a nearby window she determined that it was a little before midnight. Exactly the time when her younger sister would be awake. As she began to trot down the halls, she began to approach a dark brown door at the end of the hallway. As she began to get closer, her ears picked up the faint sound of music emanating from the other side. After a few more steps, she heard what she identified as somepony playing the cello. She quietly opened the door revealing her younger sister playing her cello with perfection. Slowly, Celestia recognized the song. Her younger sister had her eyes closed, focusing all of her effort on her instrument. It had been her parents idea to have their daughters to learn how to play instruments. While she herself failed miserably at playing the flute, her sister was a natural at playing the cello. So much so that some of Equestria's greatest composers had asked Luna if she wanted to join their orchestra. However, Luna simply didn't have the time. As the song began to wrap up, Celestia felt tears begin to cascade down. She attempted to wipe them away only for more tears to follow soon after. While the song was undoubtably beautiful, it wasn't the reason why she was crying. She was crying because this was the last day she would get to see her sister for another three months. Finally, Luna played the last note of her tune and opened her eyes to find her older sister crying. "Tia, why are you crying?" Luna asked innocently. After taking a moment to compose herself, Celestia responded, "I'm not crying, its just liquid pride." Luna suddenly began to giggle at her older sister's comment. Soon, Tia herself began to laugh along with her. And so the two sisters laughed and laughed and laughed. *** Suddenly, the memory changed. Instead of being in her sister's quarters, she was now in her own. Her muscles ached everywhere, her horn was completely spent, and she struggled to even stay awake. As she lied on her side, she heard hoof steps approach from behind. "Tia?" Luna asked fearfully, now with a deeper, more mature voice. Celestia glanced at her sister, taking in her new form. She now stood at almost equal height, her blue carapace shining brightly as the twilight hit it. Celeste recognized the moment, the moment that changed both herself and Luna's live forever. "I must raise the moon," Tia breathed out slowly. "I'm sorry sister, but you are in no condition to raise the moon," Luna replied quickly. Luna had gained an independent streak ever since her mother died. Celestia attempted a retort but what came out was a groan. She didn't even have the energy to speak. Reluctantly she closed her eyes and allowed blissful sleep to overtake her. When she woke up next, the sun was no longer out. Instead, the moon was out and brighter than ever before. On her balcony, she saw what she first thought was a stranger. The pony sported a flowing mane that seemed to sparkle, she had a long horn upon her head as well as large wings, and a cutie mark of a crescent moon on black background. However, when she gazed into the pony's eyes, she immediately recognized who it was. "Luna?" *** Once again the memory shifted. Now she was in her new room at Canterlot Castle. Beside her was he sister Luna, looking how she did back when she first returned from the moon. Worry was etched upon her face and she seemed reluctant to say what was on her mind. "What is it Luna?" Tia asked softly. Luna took a deep breath before asking, "Tia, what happened to Chryssy?" Celestia nearly gasped aloud. It had been years since she had even thought about Chrysalis. The last time they had talked was when she had to inform Chrysalis about Luna's banishment. After composing herself, she replied as calmly as she could, "I don't know Luna, I haven't seen her and her hive for over five centuries." Suddenly, tears began to slowly cascade down Luna's face. Luna thrusted herself into her older sister's shoulder and began to weep. "Its all my fault isn't it?" she choked out after a few seconds of effort "No, don't you ever say that Luna. This is my burden to shoulder, not yours," Tia responded swiftly as she continued to console her younger sibling. Luna continued to cry for what seemed like hours but Celestia didn't notice. The memory began to shift but instead of changing into yet another memory, it blasted her out into the real world. *** Celestia opened her eyes, now finding herself in the present. Luna was still in a coma having shown no sign of waking up. She sighed before leaving the room. After around five minutes of walking, she found herself on her balcony. Her horn lighted up as she lowered the sun, slower than she ever had since the day she was forced to banish Luna almost a millennia ago. Once the sun was finally lowered, Celestia reluctantly began the task of raising the moon. It took a lot of agonizing, but the moon slowly climbed higher and higher. Once it had reached it's apex, Celestia once again burst into tears. She didn't know how long she sat there all alone, but it felt as if it were hours. With her tears finally quelled, she stood up and slowly began to trot for the door. Just as she reached it however, she heard a low groan. Turning swiftly around, she began to cry once again. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy. "Tia?", Luna groggily croaked out, her throat parched. "I'm sorry." Celestia scampered over to her prone sister, tears falling as she did so. "You have nothing to be sorry about, nothing at all," Celestia whispered. She then carefully hugged her sister, both embracing this tender moment. *** A drone approached the broken Queen. "How may I be of service, My Queen?", the drone asked in a monotone tone. "I need you to go back to Canterlot and inform my sister of my plight. She needs to know." the broken queen rasped, the order punctuated by a cough. "Of course, My Queen," the drone responded before flapping his insect like wings, quickly gaining altitude. As he flew from the hive, he thought back to lead up the botched invasion. The Queen had been very nervous about her sister intervening, and from what he could tell, she did in the end. However, the Queen never made any order to capture her sister, in fact she told everyling to stay away from her. In order to do so, she gave her drones her sister's name: Luna. Now, she was the only one that could save their species from certain doom. > Send the Pain Below > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Half-Sisters By Steve Ott An MLP Fanfiction Chapter 5 Send the Pain Below It had been an sleepless night for Twilight Sparkle. She had tried to fall asleep, only to be prevented by the memories of the events of yesterday. Her mind still couldn't accept what her mentor was telling her, that Princess Luna, of all ponies, was a changeling. Well, technically a half-ling. Twilight paced around the guest bedroom pondering on yesterday's events when she suddenly realized something. If Luna was a half-ling, how does she eat? How did she acquire her cutie mark? What happened to her relationship with Chrysalis? As more and more questions filled her mind, she gathered a quill and some parchment and began to furiously jot down her questions. She only was able to write down a few of her questions when she heard a knock at her door. "You can come in!" she hollered to the pony on the other side of the door. The door opened, revealing one of the castle's many butlers. "Breakfast is to be served in the Royal Dining Hall in five minutes. Your Majesties are expecting you and your friends to be present very soon," the butler said with a deep Trottingham accent. "Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can," Twilight responded quickly, already gathering up her belongings. The butler gave a polite nod before exiting, leaving Twilight be. Soon Twilight was out the door and heading towards the Dining Hall. All the while she thought about Luna. The last she saw her, she was still out cold and there was an underlying fear she wouldn't wake up again. Twilight shook those thoughts out of her head, pessimism will do her no good right now. She continued to trot down the hallway until she arrived at her destination. One of the guards nodded to her before opening the door. Twilight muttered a thank you before trotting inside. Sat at the table was her five friends, Spike, who had been sleeping in Rarity's room last night, Shining Armor, his soon-to-be wife Cadence, and surprisingly Blueblood. She could tell Rarity's blood was boiling just at the sight of him. Strangely, Princess Celestia wasn't present as of yet. "Morning Twi," her older brother greeted, sleepiness lacing his voice. "Morning to you too, BBBFF," Twilight greeted back, lacking any energy to do anything more. Usually she would be panicking about being late, but right now the issue seemed so small. Twilight glanced at her meal, taking in the fresh ingredients that the chefs prepared. It was an egg soufflé along with an assortment of vegetables. Glancing around she saw that both Rainbow Dash and Cadence had salmon on their plates. From what she could tell, Shining Armor was just a little uncomfortable about it. Swiveling her head to the left, she spotted Pinkie Pie toying with her food. Ever since their trip to the dungeons, Pinkie had been relatively quiet. The thought perturbed Twilight, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Twilight began to poke at her food, slowly eating only for substance and not taste. There was a underlying tension all around. Even the servants were nervous. Several times Blueblood seemed he was about to begin a conversation only to either receive a death stare from Rarity or he would think better of it. Twilight looked across from her seat at the two empty ones. Unlike the seat everypony else was sat in, these were grandiose, built for a Princess. "Or a changeling," Twilight thought. Things stayed the same for a while before suddenly a large set of double doors opened. Everypony swiveled their heads in the direction of the sound only to be shocked by the sight they saw. Princess Celestia looked completely haggard, her mane sticking out in several places. She wore no makeup, and her eyes were droopy, likely from staying up for most of the night. However, the shocking sight was the pony next to her, Princess Luna. She no longer was in her changeling form, but rather in her pony one. Even so, there were some minute differences. Her coat was slightly darker than it normally was, and most strikingly, she sported her long fangs. Her mane hung limply to the side of her muzzle, lacking much of the sparkle it normally had. Her midsection was bandaged as well as her hind right leg. As she slowly limped to her seat, she used one of her wings to place on her elder sister in order to leverage herself. Slowly but surely, she made it and sat down in her opulent seat, giving Princess Celestia a small smile. In front of her on the table was a small serving of salmon along with some legumes. Using her magic, she levitated her fork, cutting into the cut of fish before taking a small bite. After some chewing and swallowing, she looked up at the collection of ponies staring at her. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie quickly looked straight back down at their hooves, while everypony else looked upon Princess Luna with sorrowful gazes. Surprising to everypony present, Blueblood didn't up and scream bloody murder at the sight of Luna, in fact his cool composer held, giving his aunt a small reassuring smile. Luna cleared her throat before saying, "So, I guess we have a story to finish, or would you rather have me answer some of your questions." Taking this as her cue, Twilight cleared her throat as she pulled out a scroll she was writing on earlier. "Well, to start off with Princess, I would like to know how you have your cutie mark?" Twilight asked. Luna could almost feel Tia tense up at the question. It was understandable really, it had come almost right after a particularly dark period in both of their lives. Before she answered, Celestia motioned for the remaining servants to leave the room, giving the ponies still present some much needed privacy. "While I'm only half-pony, so I can assure you I was always capable of receiving a cutie mark. Though, I must admit, that it wasn't always for certain. There was a brief period of time when I didn't want one in fact," Luna responded. "Well then, can you tell us how you acquired one then," Twilight inquired further. Celestia tensed further, wanting to end the conversation before it got a chance to get started. Thankfully, Luna knew what to say. "I'm sorry Twilight Sparkle, but that story is personal. Perhaps another time when everypony is ready." Twilight nodded before progressing to her next question, "Can you eat emotions like other changeling's?" "Yes, but it isn't an effective food source, though it does heal me up faster than it normally will. Regular food like this fish is better not only for my stomach, but changelings in general. When emotions run low, there is always another protein source as a back up. Which is what most bothers me about my sister's invasion," Luna responded curtly. "What about your relationship with your sister, Chrysalis I mean," Twilight quickly asked. Inside, Twilight worried that her question would incite some unwanted memories. However, it was Celestia that was getting more and more tense. Twilight couldn't fathom why her mentor was acting like this. Luna gave a soft smile, as if she was reminiscing about things that passed long ago. Finally, she answered, "I'm sure Tia can attest to this, but I was closer to Chryssy than any pony else at one time. She was always there for me whenever I fell down. It wasn't until she became Queen that we began to grow apart. As for recently, I thought she was deceased, our species extinct with me just being a relic of he past. An endling if you will. But now that she is alive, I feel a responsibility for my little 'lings, as well as for our ponies." Celestia suddenly piped up saying, "We will cross that bridge when we get there, but for now you need to heal up little sister. As for the story, I think we know enough about it without getting to personal. All we need to know is that Luna is the Princess of the Night and she is here to stay." That effectively ended any conversation and everypony resumed eating. In the back of Twilight's mind, he was trying to figure out what suddenly changed for her mentor since last night. Yesterday, she was willingly divulging details of her past but now was shutting them down before they could questioned. This was beginning to make her head spin. After the previous one ended, other conversations popped up, and soon everypony was comfortably talking with the exception of Princess Celestia, Blueblood, and herself. Every once in a while, she looked across at Luna and began to see her slowly change. It was gradual, but she could see that Luna looked healthier and healthier as breakfast trudged on. By the end, her mane had once again begun to flow with Celestia. *** "We need to inform the general populace on the situation with Princess Luna," Blueblood stated in his posh voice. "I know, rumors have been running rampant. However, I fear telling the truth is only going to make things worse, especially after yesterday," Celestia responded with a defeated sigh. Celestia was right, rumors had been spreading all around Canterlot and Equestria. Theories ranged from an inside job to legitimize Princess Cadence to a plot by the mysterious New World Order. However, the most concerning rumor was about the return of Nightmare Moon. Unfortunately, this seemed to be the most popular theory and the most damaging. "Yes, but the longer we wait, the more antsy the citizens will become. Plus, we can't risk the public finding out on there own or else Luna would have to flee from a certain riot," Blueblood replied. Celestia thought for a moment, weighing her options delicately. Finally she responded, "I agree, but this ultimately falls upon Luna. We can not force this upon her. We must let her make the final decision. I will talk to her after Day Court concludes. Thank you, Blueblood." And with that, Princess Celestia headed off to the throne room where hundreds of terrified residents were waiting. For some the waited for reassurance, and other waited for the possibility for revenge. Elsewhere, Twilight and her friends were beginning the task of planning the wedding along with Shining Armor and Cadence, and Luna sought comfort in her sleeping quarters. *** Luna was happy. Happy that everypony accepted who she really was. Happy that everything seemed to turn out okay in the end. But then there was the matter of her older sister, Chrysalis. Luna no longer had any connection to the hive mind, so unfortunately that meant no connection to her sister. She hoped that she was okay, but there was a familiar pit in her stomach. It was something she only felt once before. The day her parents died. Her musing were cut short by a swift knock on her door. Groaning, she slightly limped her way to her bedroom door before opening it. To her shock, it was Blueblood on the other side. "Blueblood, what a surprise," Luna gleefully said. Truthfully, Blueblood wasn't the insufferable twat most ponies perceived him as. In fact, he was a coltcuddler, and a rather flamboyant one at that. That was why he acted the way he did at the most recent Gala, and she had to admit it was pretty funny when she first heard about it. Ever since then, they had become sort of friends. Well, as much of friends distant relatives with two different personalities could be. However, that didn't mean he wasn't great fun to be around. However, Blueblood didn't respond. Luna was about to question him when she saw his eyes. His sickly, green eyes. She glanced around, making sure no guards were present before pulling Blueblood into her sleeping quarters. "Reveal yourself changeling, tell me why you're here." Green fire erupted around the form of Blueblood, revealing a typical changeling drone. They stared at each other for a brief moment before the drone bowed to Luna and said, "We need your help, our Queen is dying."