1. What is happening to me?

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“Augh, We must stop staying up so late playing games with our guards.” Luna groaned to herself as she sauntered across her room. It was noon, well past the alicorn’s usual ‘bed time’. She’d discovered a game she found the common ponies playing around Canterlot. It consisted of drawing two parallel lines horizontally, and then two more parallel lines vertically.

“Those Lunar Stallions have gotten quite adept at beating us at our own game.” The night princess stated, almost impressed, as she shut the curtains to block the accursed sun. “I can’t believe a game consisting of circles and X’s would be so, enthralling.” Luna said to herself as she struggled to find the right word.

She began to climb into bed, while using her magic to float her royal jewelry over to an appropriately sized mannequin. She would have to be up in roughly 7 hours to begin her royal duties.

Much less time than We normally get. Wish it didn’t take so long to eat “breakfast” when We wake in the evening. The dark alicorn complained to herself. After finally getting into her favorite sleeping position, Luna quickly fell into a deep slumber, where a very detailed dream awaited her.

Luna found herself floating in a white abyss, though her wings were still clung to her sides. She slowly settled on the “floor” and shyly looked around. There was endless white everywhere she looked. No landmarks, no ponies, not even a sky, just the warm white wherever she looked.

“Is anypony there? Where am I?” Luna demanded, her voice quickly fading into nothing in the empty air. Her ears laid back, the eerie feel of this place beginning to slowly push her into panic mode.

“Hello, Luna.” A voice greeted her from all around.

Luna paused: she knew this voice; it was so familiar to her. She furrowed her brow as her downcast eyes darted back and forth.

“You…” The alicorn said upon realizing the owner of the mysterious voice.

“Yes, me.” The voice answered her. “Do you know why I am here, Princess Luna?”

“Yes, We do.” Luna replied, her tone flat and short. “And stop calling Us princess, you know We loathe that title during in-formal discussions.”

“Oh, you’re no fun.” The voice said with a cheery tone as it began willing itself to take form. “Well, how do I look now? Wait, don’t answer that: this is your dream after all; I’ll just look however you picture me anyways.”

A wondrous sight occurred before the dreaming alicorn. The blinding white of the dream began to subdue, leaving a spotlight shining off in the distance. Luna could see the air begin to wave back and forth in the light as if it were a mirage. A swath of colors began flowing into the mirage from up above, like ribbons flowing through a stream. It was a beautiful sight, with even more beautiful results. They all slowly came together into a seamless, perfect pony that the princess of the night knew all too well.

Luna slowly got down into charging stance, tilting her horn towards the form that was before her. She tapped one hoof and suddenly took off in a sprint. When she was within a few feet, the alicorn’s expression suddenly changed. She threw her forearms open and embraced her imaginary lover as they both tumbled to the ground.

“You are my reason for sleeping,” Luna started, peering into the mare’s eyes. “It is only here that We can have you all to ourselves.” Her tone turning mischievous as one side of her mouth curved upwards.

“Hehe, I missed you too Luna.” The mare underneath her giggled, looking up towards the dark alicorn that held her.

“Shall we get started then? We don’t have long until We wake.” The princess was eager, and ready for nightly sessions of imagined intimacy with the mare she longed for.

“Ok, but only ‘cause I can’t say no to that pretty face of yours.” Luna beamed at the comment.

Luna slowly closed her eyes as she brought her muzzle down to meet her lover’s. This was how every night started, just her and-

LUNA!!!

A voice boomed all around the couple.

The moon goddess vaulted out of bed, ready to strike her hoof on those who would interrupt her dreams. She spied nopony in her bedchambers. Confused, she thought back to the voice that stopped what she was about to do with-

Wait. That was Tia’s voice! Luna’s eyes instantly expanded upon her epiphany. She stormed out of her room without bothering to adorn her regalia, shoes and tiara. This was too important. She quickly summoned up a locating spell to find her distressed sister.

Please be ok…

A few minutes earlier.

“…and that brings us to a close on the tax revisions for today.”

Celestia visibly winced at the final word of the politician before her. This week was scheduled for her to go over all the tax laws that fell upon Equestria. To say the white alicorn of the sun was bored, would be putting it as mildly as an Appleloosan’s dancing skills. She dreaded this particular week every year.

“Very well then, court is adjourned for the-“ She stopped, something in her skull pounded against her horn. Celestia brought a hoof up to her aching head as she gritted her teeth at the pressure. It was like a pressurized beverage was inside her head, being violently shaken.

“My princess, are you all right?” One of the pair of guards positioned behind her throne inquired as he approached the pained alicorn. “Do you want us to fetch the royal doctors?“

“No, I am quite alright.” Celestia recovered as she addressed her guards. She turned to the ponies below her on the throne room’s marble floor; they looked confused as their princess was just reeling from pain. “My apologies everypony, I do not know what came over me. You are all excused until tomorrow.” The ponies all filed out of the castle a minute later, seeming to have forgotten the princess’s unusual behavior.

Celestia finally relaxed in her throne. There was a very slight ache that still remained.

What’s going on? What’s happening to me? Surely I haven’t exhausted my magical reservoirs sitting here?

The alicorn brought a perfectly dressed hoof up to her chin, thinking deeply.

Perhaps it is some sort of illness? Oh please don’t let me be getting sic-

Celestia's pain returned, this time it was different. Whereas before it felt like her head would explode, this time around it felt like it would implode. She buried her head in her hooves at the sudden spike of pain. Her body began to tremble from the unusual ailment.

Suddenly, her horn let loose its golden aura and she was lifted off of her throne, only to land at the bottom of the small flight of steps. The guards in the room rushed over to their princess as fast as their hooves and wings would carry them, their faces wracked with fear and worry. Before they could get there, Celestia’s horn shone again, this time it was almost blinding in its magical release.

Her head waived back and forth in the air of its own accord. A new wave of unpleasantness overcame the sun goddess. It felt like her horn was being pushed into her skull, trying to turn itself inside-out.

Just as before, her horn picked her up slightly off the ground as she was led horn-first out of the throne room. Celestia desperately put her legs in front of her, but all she managed to do was catch a rug and knock over a decorative vase. It was leading her through a corridor adjacent to the room she just left.

She could feel her consciousness fading, the pain from her rogue horn too much for the alicorn to bear. In the final moments before darkness took her, she lashed a magical tendril in the rough direction of her lunar counterpart. Calling her sister for help, in a way they both reserved for only extreme emergencies.

She reluctantly closed her eyes, suddenly very afraid of what might be seen when they reopen.

2. Where am I?

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Celestia opened her eyes just enough to see without fully opening them as she groggily brought herself up off the ground. She slowly opened her eyes more, only to realize she couldn’t see anything but unending blackness. Fearing she was blind, she looked down at herself. Relieved that she could at least see her own body took a small weight off her unsteady shoulders.

Something piqued her curiosity after inspecting herself. Celestia could not make out any noise whatsoever from her environment. Shifting her eyes back and forth, she found herself in an endless area unknown to her. A black, empty abyss with only her white coat to stand out as a beacon. The alicorn felt something she hadn’t felt in centuries; fear. She felt vulnerable, out in the open as bright as something could possibly be in that wretched place.

She tentatively put her hoof down on the hard obsidian ground. Not too long after, she heard the faintest echo reply her.

“Well, this is quite the oddity.” The sun goddess thought aloud. She ruffled her wings as she brought a hoof to her chin in thought, before a sly smile appeared on her lips.

“Luna, if this is one of your pranks, I am not amused in the slightest.” Celestia sighed shaking her head.

Nothing.

“Release me from your Dream Control spell right now, this is not funny, Luna.” Celestia demanded as she slammed a royal hoof down.

Only an echo, slightly louder this time, answered her.

By now, the princess of the night would have said something; she always did whenever she meddled with her sister’s dreams. This was different; Celestia reached out with her magic and felt something gently pushing her back. The magical signature was faintly familiar, but one thing was clear; this was not Luna’s doing.

The white alicorn’s ears laid back ever so slightly as she tried to unravel the mystery before her.

“All right Celestia, you’re in some massive room, with nothing in it except black, and you don’t know how you got here.” Celestia started, as she slowly paced back and forth. “First step is to-“She stopped as something occurred to her. She didn’t even know how she got here. This was most unusual seeing as most ponies could remember something as trivial as how they got somewhere.

“Let’s start with retracing our steps.” Celestia huffed, she never liked doing this. “The last thing I remember was discussing the amendments to the taxes. I dismissed everypony, and then…and then I…” She rubbed her horn in frustration, her eyes shut in anger with the situation.

“Why can’t I remember what happene-!” A pulse shot through her body, going from her horn to her hooves, effectively stopping the alicorn’s complaints. As the wave of agony cascaded through her body, she could’ve sworn she heard something moving in the darkness.

The pains decided to retreat for that moment. As soon as the last wave of discomfort left her, she remembered everything. The sensation her horn felt when it tossed her from her own throne, how it dragged her out in the hallways, and when she called to Luna for help.

“Luna…” Celestia whispered.

Why hadn’t Luna helped her big sister? It was impossible to sleep through each other’s call for help. Unless, no, Luna wouldn’t do this, Right? Luna loves Celestia, and would never attempt something like dethroning her, much less attempting to assassinate her. Unless she still harbored ill feelings towards her for 1000 years of banishment…

All of these thoughts raced through Celestia’s mind. After awhile she concluded that Luna could not... no, would not... ever kill her.

“Wait.” The princess’ thoughts hit something, a question she should’ve asked a long time ago. “Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?” She bowed her head in a defeated sigh. Whatever it was that caused her horn to act so strangely must’ve been too much for her. Celestia collapsed into a miserable heap of despair only rivaled by her sister during her time on the moon.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, she started crying tears of sadness. Each and every drop that poured brought forth a memory of regret. Her sister’s imprisonment, all the ponies she was forced to kill to get to Discord, each and every griffin she slayed in the War of Feathers all those centuries ago. The largest regret was too much for tears. Have you ever been so depressed you couldn’t cry? This is what Celestia was feeling at this very moment.

All she could do was curl up as tight as possible on the black granite and sit through the ride as her mind screamed its anguish at never finding true love. In her thousands of years of life, she’d never married, never truly loved; she would never have the children she always wanted, never become a queen. Only Luna would continue the legacy of the royal sisters now, she thought.

“Why am I stuck here!?” The alicorn screamed to the imaginary heavens above her. An echoed “why” was the only reply to the depressed princess.

“Why, you aren’t stuck here, Celestia.” A cheery voice interrupted her gloomy thoughts.

The keeper of the sun wheeled around at the sudden noise. In her shock, she couldn’t pinpoint its owner’s position. It sounded like it came from everywhere.

A slow stepping of hooves on her left, the sound of large wings beating overhead. The noise of the wing’s owner ceased as the sound of it landing on her right. She was surrounded. The unknown figures were stepping towards her. She found herself rooted to the ground in fear of what would happen. She could only imagine what horrors these figures would bring upon her in this evil, desolate place. All the alicorn could do was huddle herself on the ground, and await whatever fate befell her from these dark spirits.

“Celestia, why are you hiding from us?” A curious voice asked her in a non-threatening tone.

Celestia buried her face deeper her hooves like a foal hiding from closet monsters. She felt something, a hoof; It was slowly rubbing her shoulder as she cringed, then relaxed at the gentle touch. The distressed alicorn slowly gazed from between her hooves. She could see a deep crimson hoof adorned with a beautiful silver shoe resting on her shoulder.

She followed the foreleg up to its shoulder, her eyes flickered to the wings at the side, and each was a beautiful deep red to match the coat. Her gaze continued upwards, pausing to admire a shimmering midnight-blue mane dotted with stars that flowed in an invisible breeze. Her inspecting gaze eventually met with the most beautiful copper eyes Celestia had ever seen; her mother’s.

“M…m...mom?” the daughter’s shaky voice inquired in disbelief. She hadn’t seen her mother since-

“Yes, daughter of mine.” The ancient red alicorn confirmed with a smile that threatened to reach her mane. Celestia stared, dumbfounded at the situation. Before she could think, she jolted up and hugged her mother in an embrace that would have crippled a normal pony. She let out a cry of joy after seeing her royal mother after such a long time.

She didn’t hear the hoof steps behind her as she nuzzled her mother’s neck.

“Hey there, Celly” A deep booming, yet gentle voice greeted “You haven’t forgotten about your dear old-“

“Father!” Celestia leaped towards the dark blue alicorn she hadn’t seen in eons, hugging him tightly. “Dad…” She contently sighed as she nuzzled into the tall alicorn’s coat. It smelled of summer rain, just like she remembered.

Her mother walked over and together the three alicorns embraced each other in silence.

If this isn’t death, then what is this?

After what felt like too short a time to the royal daughter, the family embrace ended. Celestia looked with tear-filled eyes up to her parents who still stood a full foot taller than her. They both smiled back warmly as her father laid a wing over her mother, bringing them closer.

This was how Celestia wanted to remember her parents, as the strong, loving king and queen who gave their children everything they wanted, and more. The alicorn of the sun looked back at her cutie mark, and then to her parents; both their flanks were blank after relinquishing power of the sun and moon to their daughters. The lack of cutie marks made no negative impression upon Luna or Celestia; they loved their parents even more after their gift.

“Mom? Dad?” Celestia asked to get their attention. They both replied with warm smiles, ready for anything.

“If I’m not dead like you say I am, then why am I here?”

The reply the princess of the sun received started with her parents giving each other the look every child knew; the look that they were silently deciding who should go first. Her father took a step forward towards the curious alicorn before him. He cleared his throat to begin, the deep and wise tone she remembered all too well came forth.

“Listen close, Celly, this may be hard to explain.”

Celestia dropped to her haunches and nodded, confirming she was ready.

She wanted to know everything.

“I don’t know about this, Twilight.”

“Why not Spike?”

“You remember what happened last time we agreed to let the Cutie Mark Crusaders help us?”

“Of course I do, but I have forgiven them. They deserve a second chance.”

“Even after what they did to your book?”

“Well…” Twilight winced at the memory of the three fillies ‘helping’ her organize.

Twilight levitated herself down the stairs, pausing to identify the smell that reached her nostrils. Somepony was burning a book. One of Twilight’s books was on fire in the main room. She could only stare in horror at the blasphemous act.

“We’ll be fine Spike, I promise” The unicorn smiled. Before Spike could begin another protest, a familiar knock was at the door.

“I’ll get it…as usual.” Spike grumbled as he reached for the handle. “Oh hey Sweetie Belle, where are Scootaloo and Applebloom?“

“They both had things come up” The filly’s voice squeaking slightly. “Applebloom’s taking care of Granny Smith and Scootaloo’s grounded for not doing her homework. So it’s just me today.” Sweetie Belle beamed a friendly smile at the purple dragon. She couldn’t complain, she liked Spike and wouldn’t mind spending time with him this autumn afternoon.

“Well come on in and make yourself comfy, it’s really chilly today.” Spike was such a gentlepony, er dragon Sweetie Belle thought. Everypony knew the purple maned filly was crushing hard on Spike, except for the dragon himself. How ironic, it’s like the way he likes Rarity without her really knowing. She thought to herself as she entered the welcoming warmth of one of her favorite places in Ponyville.

“Hey Spike?” Sweetie Belle started, turning her head to see him staring right back at her. She certainly wasn’t expecting that. “Uhm…I need to ask Twilight something before we try organizing again, you mind?”

“Go ahead, she’s in the kitchen.” The dragon flicked a thumb towards the aforementioned room.

Without another word she set off to find the purple unicorn she wanted to talk to. This was going to be important. She entered the kitchen and spied Twilight simply staring out the window, lost in her thoughts as she stared off towards the mountains.

“Twilight?”

The purple mare did a double take before realizing somepony was talking to her. “Oh, hi Sweetie Belle!” Twilight tried greeting nonchalantly. Sweetie Belle shrugged it off as nothing; Twilight did weird things like that a lot.

“Hello, Twilight.” Sweetie Belle returned with her sing-song voice. “Can I ask you something? If you’re not busy right now that is.” Twilight slowly squinted then raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“It’s not about Spike, is it?” She sighed as these words left her mouth. “I’ve told you before, I can’t help you with him, you’ll just have to get the courage to-“

Sweetie Belle frantically rushed forward to silence the mare by placing her hooves over Twilight’s muzzle. “He’s right in there!” She whispered to the now hushed unicorn. She removed her hooves as Twilight’s face showed her understanding of the situation.

“Well then, what did you want to know?” The older unicorn brimmed with excitement; she loved being asked questions, mostly because she always had a correct answer.

“I had a question about Cutie Marks…” The filly started, pausing to find the right words. “Where do they come from?”

“They’re connected to the magic all pony tribes have access to. The earth ponies and their connection to nature, pegasi and their weather-“

“That’s not what I meant” Sweetie Belle interrupted, piquing the unicorn’s interest all the more. “I meant are our cutie marks decided for us before we’re born? Like, some sort of god-like entity that decides everypony’s fates and what our marks look like?”

“Oh, that’s easy! You see-“The purple pony’s voice stopped. She knew the answer to this, right? She knew everything! Twilight sent a mental probe through her brain, stopping and analyzing everything she knew about cutie marks. Nothing she’d ever read explained their origins, and this blank return of an answer rewarded Twilight with a thousand yard stare as her brain froze.

Oh great, I broke Twilight… Sweetie Belle mused as the unicorn opposite her stood there for the better part of a minute before moving.

The baffled unicorn shook her head back and forth before adopting a serious look on her face. “This requires research, now.” Her tone was flat and quick. This day was going to prove more interesting than previously thought.

An hour of frantic research through every tome on magic yielded nothing close to what they were looking for. Books lay strewn over almost every surface. It surprised Sweetie Belle that the library could even hold such a massive throng of tomes.

“Well, if there’s anypony who knows this, it’s going to be the princess” Twilight confidently strode over to her desk, levitating its makeshift blanket of books away into a corner.

“You’re writing the princess?” Sweetie Belle cheerfully asked.

“Yes.” Twilight confirmed, her parchment and inkwell being brought of a drawer as a quill floated from somewhere Sweetie Belle couldn’t see. “I just hope she isn’t too busy right now.”

In a land far away, a dark alicorn was sprinting through corridors in a severe panic. Luna had received her sister’s magical cry for help only moments ago. The lunar princess now followed the white beam of light as it wound around corners to show where Celestia was. Her tracking spell was having trouble; it would occasionally take a wrong turn, which brought a few curses from Luna. Something about Celestia was interfering with the tracking spell. It eventually led her outside and into-

“The labyrinth?” Luna stood at the entrance of the colossal maze. “What in the name of Tartarus is she doing in there?” She didn’t wait around before taking to the sky in search of her distressed sister. The princess’s dark wings beat rapidly to propel the alicorn forwards. Time was of the essence, Celestia could be dying for all Luna knew.

The alicorn’s tracking spell was still in front of her, leading her through the air directly into the center of the labyrinth. Without warning it turned straight towards the ground and stopped. What Luna saw when she landed paralyzed her with fear; Celestia lay on the ground, unmoving as her horn shot forth a slow but constant stream of sparks onto the grass a few meters away.

“Tia!” Luna took no time in trying to wake her unconscious sister. She was gently prodding Celestia’s sides and nuzzling her, a broken look adorned on her face. “Tia? Tia, you have to wake up, please.”

Celestia did not respond. The only movement was the rogue horn, still firing small sparks for a reason Luna did not care to know.

“Tia!” Luna yelled into the alicorn’s ears, she did not respond. The lunar princess ran her horn over the unconscious mare’s body, hoping to find the problem. As she tried to get a picture of what was happening with her sister, she felt a block to her magic. Luna reeled back in shock; there were only two reasons her spell wouldn’t work, either Celestia was actively blocking her somehow, or she was really…

“No...no…no no no you wouldn’t leave me like this! You can’t do this to me…” Luna couldn’t believe what was happening. She slowly sat down to rest her head on her big sister’s side, like when they were younger. They were best friends then, before Luna turned into Nightmare Moon. She openly wept into Celestia’s pristine coat; her heart ached from regret at all the time she could have spent with her. Instead she was alone for those thousand years, so horribly alone it nearly killed her. The only thing that kept even the smallest part of Luna’s mind sane was the knowledge that one day she would see her beloved sister again. But now, she feared she was gone forever, leaving Luna alone once again.

Unknown to the heartbroken princess, a letter had arrived and silently rolled under Celestia’s mane. In a last ditched effort, mostly through desperateness she pulled her sister’s wing over her body as a makeshift blanket. It made her feel safe, it made her feel loved. Luna looked down at her sister’s face.

She reminds me so much of mother and father, always there to comfort me when I feel scared. Always there to help me if I needed it, always there to teach me when I am wrong…

“Please wake up Tia, I need you” Luna pleaded, using her face to nudge Celestia’s head. “Come on, wake up. You can’t leave me like this…please just get up. I’m sorry for everything! Just please wake up!” A new waterfall of tears rolled their way down her coat. Please, just wake up Tia, I love you.

“So, this place is some kind of halfway point between life and the afterlife?” Celestia asked, after hearing her parents explain the unusual setting.

“In a nutshell, yes.” Her mother nodded. She was under her husband’s wing again.

“But you still haven’t told me why I am here.” Celestia pouted. The air was cold, and Luna was probably worried sick.

“Well, you see…” Her mother looked to her father, he always was the better one with words. He nodded and began where his wife left off.

“This place is where souls wait to have their final destination given to them. You either ascend, or you are bound to Tartarus for the rest of eternity.” Celestia cringed, being captive in Tartarus would not be pleasant, and there were many souls there who would want revenge on the royal alicorn whom sent them there. Her father could see the hint of fear in his daughter’s eyes. “Don’t worry Celly, that is not your destination.”

“Then what happens to me?” Her mother decided to answer this one.

“Why, you go back to Equestria of course. You were sent here as a safety measure while your physical body recovers.”

“What actually happened to me? All I can remember is my horn hurting terribly, and calling out to Luna for help.” Her parents gave each other a look, the look that something unpleasant was about to be brought up.

“Before we discuss why you are here, let’s discuss Luna.” Her mother started.

“Yes, we know you imprisoned her to the moon for one thousand years.” Her father continued. Celestia bit her lip as she felt her heart stop. Her parents being disappointed in her was the only thing she was afraid of in their time.

Oh no, are they mad? Of course they’re mad you foal! You banished your own sister, their daughter, for one thousand years! Effectively scarring her most likely for the rest of her days!

“Mother, father, I know what I did is unforgivable, but she was going to-“Her mother held up a hoof. This was it she thought, they were going to send her Tartarus, or keep her here for eternity!

“What you did was keep the kingdom your father and I worked so hard for safe.” The crimson alicorn’s voice was comforting, sincere. “We both understand it was difficult, but Luna was going through a difficult time and you had to do something.” The dark blue alicorn opened his mouth to continue where his wife left off.

“We’re sorry for what you both went through.” Her father started, placing a hoof onto Celestia’s sitting form. This gesture did little to comfort his next words. “We’re proud of you, of what you did”

“What!?” Celestia stood up, shocked at her parent’s feelings. “You’re proud of me for banishing my only sister? You’re proud of me for all those lonely centuries I spent without my best friend? I can’t believe you-!” She was stopped by her mother, who placed a wing over her. She began crying into her mother again, embracing her for a reason she didn’t know. She should be mad at me, I don’t understand!

“What your father means is that when you used The Element of Harmony on your sister, you could have used them to kill Luna and be the sole ruler of Equestria.” Her mother’s tone was comforting as she smiled proudly at her daughter.

“I…I never even thought of that. All I wanted was for the kingdom to be safe, I thought sending her away was the right answer.”

“And it was.” The blue alicorn nodded. “If you had killed Luna with the Elements, Nightmare Moon would have taken complete control and been too strong, even for you.” Celestia seemed to recover at the wisdom of her father. Eventually she released her grip on her mother and stood on her own. She closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself.

“Let’s go back to my other concern, why I’m here at all.”

“Ah yes, well it would seem that a spell was going through your body, a very old spell that you set in motion a long time ago.” Her father was certainly wise, but also quite vague at times.

“I don’t understand, a spell I did?” Her parents nodded. “What was its purpose?”

“It was made to make you remember something, a time capsule spell. Only, you cast it so long ago it built up and released an extraordinary amount of magic.” The red alicorn looked with worry at her daughter. “It’s a miracle it didn’t kill you. But, it did do the job you set it to do.”

“I don’t remember, but I guess that’s the point of a time capsule spell.” Celestia deadpanned, not amused at her actions that brought her here. “What did I design the spell to do?”

“It was created to take you to a place where a memory is kept.” Her father replied

“A memory? Of what?” The sun goddess tilted her head in confusion

“That, you will have to discover for yourself.” Her mother’s tone was cheery. “But to do that, you have to wake up, dear”

“If I wake up, I won’t see you again.” Celestia frowned as she felt a tear begin to form. She was going to object before she remembered her duty as the bearer of the sun. Her people needed her. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few She thought to herself, it was part of the royal code. It meant duty came before desires.

“Will I remember this when I wake up? Will I remember being here?” Her voice was hoarse and full of worry. Her parents only nodded in unison. She leaped towards the alicorns in front of her, hugging them with all her strength as a single tear slowly cascaded down her face. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll all see each other again someday.” Her mother comforted as she embraced her daughter back. Her father squeezed her tight with his mighty wings before releasing her and looking off towards something in the distance. A golden archway materialized not far from the trio. It caught Celestia’s attention, now seeing what her father looked at.

“Go to her, she needs you.” The former king of Equestria pointed towards the archway. Muffled cries belonging to Luna began to come from the other side. Celestia turned her body towards the source of the noise and took a tentative step forward. She took another step, if she turned around now, she wouldn’t ever leave. She unfurled her wings and with a single mighty beat of her wings she flew into the archway, hearing a final echo from her mother as she passed from the world of darkness.

“We love you very much Celestia, do us proud once more.”

Celestia could feel herself falling through blackness for what seemed minutes. She was not afraid however; she knew she would be alright. Her parents would never lie to her. She could feel herself slowing down as something appeared below her. It was a small dot of light that quickly grew into recognizable forms.

Surrounded by the darkness was Luna, huddled next to her body, pleading with the unconscious alicorn to wake up as her heart was beginning to shatter. Celestia pointed herself downwards to gain speed, headed directly towards her body.

I’m coming Luna, don’t be afraid.

Reality was brought back to the alicorn slowly as she felt herself being melded with her physical body. It felt strange as her senses slowly returned to her. First was her sense of smell, it smelt of freshly cut grass and midnight air as Luna’s mane blew nearby. Her next sense to return was touch; she began to feel her sister’s weight against her body.

She tried to move but her sluggish body wouldn’t respond. She tried opening her eyes but they wouldn’t budge. The unconscious alicorn began to hear a ringing sound as her hearing slowly came back.

“-ust wake up Tia, I love you.”

That was Luna’s voice. The sound of her younger sister’s heartbroken tone brought her out of her subconscious state. She had to comfort her sister, let her know it was all going to be okay.

The first thing Luna noticed was Celestia’s horn; it stopped firing its unending volley of sparks. The lunar princess’s eye opened in horror, believing her sister was truly gone now. That is, if she didn’t feel Celestia’s chest suddenly fill her with air and lift her off the ground. Luna now stood, cradling a hoof under her older sister’s face as her eyes opened agonizingly slow.

“Tia? Tia!” Her voice returned full of surprise and relief at the small sight. Celestia’s voice was strained and barely understandable as she regained control of her vocal chords.

“It’s all right Luna…I’m back, I’m okay.” Luna’s reply was quick as her eyes filled with tears of relief at her sister’s words. She craned a neck down to her weakened sibling.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

3. Where did the time go?

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Have you ever felt the relief of knowing a loved one was okay after a traumatic incident that could have killed them? The relief of knowing your world will hold together a little bit longer until the next big tragedy? This was the relief that a certain alicorn was feeling as she held her sister in relief that she finally woke. It is also on this bright, warm day that tragedy will strike our royal sisters once again.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Luna contently sighed into her sister’s ever-flowing mane. Her forelegs were wrapped around Celestia’s neck whilst she lied on the labyrinth’s grass. Luna let the worries she’d bottled up just pour out. All the while Celestia comforted her younger sister without saying a word.

“I thought I’d lost you.” The lunar princess whispered without opening her eyes. “I was so scared of being alone again, Tia.”

“It’s alright Lulu,” Celestia nuzzled into the distraught alicorn. “I’m ok, I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“What… what happened to you?” Luna sniffled, regaining her composure.

“Well…” Celestia started, bringing her legs into a more comfortable sitting position. “”It’s complicated, Luna.”

“How?” The younger alicorn pulled away, wiping a tear away with her hoof. “Do you not know what caused this?” She slightly titled her head at the situation.

Celestia said nothing as she slowly rose to her hooves, a deadpan expression on her face as her inner thoughts ran amok.

Do I tell her what happened?

What will she say if she knows about that, place?

If I tell her, how much do I reveal?

What did mother mean when she said we’d see each other again?

What did it all mea-

The solar alicorn looked straight ahead in epiphany. The memory spell…

“Tia? Are you ok-?”

“Luna,” Her sister’s voice was serious and flat. “Was there anything unusual happening when you found me?” Luna slightly pulled away at the tone of her sister. This was most certainly a strange situation.

“Yes, your horn was firing off sparks when I got-“

“Where?” Celestia interrupted. “Show me, now.” Luna replied by slowly raising a hoof and pointing a short distance away. Celestia quickly noted the slightly charred patch of grass. She paced around the patch with an inspecting but cautious eye. Her horn began to shine as she readied a spell to inspect the area.

“Dear sister, you need your rest.” Luna could see her sibling’s exhaustion from whatever happened to her. Celestia was about to voice an objection before Luna cut her off. “Whatever is here can wait a little longer.”

“But-“

“No ‘buts’, Tia. You need your rest.”

Celestia looked from her sister back to the marked grass with a slight frown. It’s waited this long…it can wait a little longer.

“Fine,” Celestia sighed, released the breath she’d unknowingly held. “I admit I am still tired from this altercation.” She gave her wings a few flaps to make sure they weren’t damaged while she was unconscious and dragged like a ragdoll.

“When we come back tomorrow,” Luna unfurled her wings as she addressed her sibling. “We’ll sort this out, no matter what it is.” Celestia inwardly chuckled. It was rare for Luna to act the “big sister” part.

She’s grown up so much…

Stowing that last thought, Celestia took to the sky with Luna in-tow. Neither alicorn noticed the scroll Twilight sent. It sat, slightly crushed from Celestia’s weight in the middle of the labyrinth, unlikely to be noticed.

After a short flight they landed on the balcony of Celestia’s bedroom. Luna told the guards there would be no visitors or royal business for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, Celestia got comfortable on her colossal bed. Both alicorns removed their jewelry and set them aside, eager for some rest from what had transpired. They both settled their bodies together in preparation for cuddling. Once together, Celestia draped a wing over her sister like she always did, covering the younger princess in her own little cocoon. It always made her feel safe.

“You know, Tia…” Luna was interrupted by an escaping yawn. “I never did like the gold blankets in your room.” She motioned to the shining fabric whilst letting a small laugh escape.

“Well,” Celestia brought her shoe-less hoof up to her chin. “Perhaps we could go to the haberdasher and pick out a new color scheme?” A faint smile tugged at the older sibling’s mouth. “It’ll be just like old times.” Luna nuzzled her sister at the prospect.

“That sounds lovely, Tia.” They both bowed their heads and wordlessly began to drift off to an afternoon nap. Before succumbing to sleep, the younger alicorn peeked out the window and saw the labyrinth from her prone position on the bed.

Many thoughts raced in the lunar princess’s mind. One in particular stood out from all the rest.

What is she hiding from me?

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sweetie Belle!” Spike waved out the door to the bouncing unicorn before shutting it with a light thump. He turned back to the main floor of the library with his claws stroking his chin. Something was troubling the young dragon, and it concerned a certain little filly.

“Hey, Twilight?” He called as he made his way up to their bedroom. He opened the door to see his adoptive mother giving the window one of her classic thousand yard stares. Her ear twitched toward him at least acknowledging she knew he was there. He decided to continue where he left off.

“Did you notice anything different about Sweetie Belle today?” He asked as he clamored up the mare’s bed. “She was like, really clingy and asked me to hang out with her tomorrow.” Twilight turned her attention to the dragon beside her before looking back to the window.

“Well, what did you say?” She asked.

“I told her ‘yes’, of course. I need some more time off from all the work you make me do. Uh, no offense.” He looked away shyly. Twilight turned and nudged Spike with a smile on her face.

“It’s to teach you responsibility so one day you can be successful on your own, and it’ll look good for Swe-“ She barely caught herself in time. “Er, I mean it looks good to anypony, to be responsible. Yep.”

Close one.

“Right.” Spike drew out the word, looking over the purple unicorn with suspicion. “Like I said, some time off will do me good. Tomorrow is Saturday after all.”

“Uh hu.” Twilight nodded as she watched the mid-afternoon sun with a trace of curiosity. “Has the princess replied to my question yet, Spike?”

“No. That’s strange, now that I come to think of it.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s been what, two hours since we wrote-“

“Two hours, seventeen minutes exactly since we sent the letter.” Twilight interrupted, looking away from the clock on the wall and back to the captivating window. “I’m worried Spike, she usually replies within 135 seconds, never more!” Spike stood up and wrapped an arm around Twilight’s side and leaned against her, also taking in the sight of the outdoors.

“I’m sure she’s just really busy. Friday is probably when everypony goes to her with problems so they can relax during the weekend.” Twilight sighed.

“You’re probably right. Still, what if something’s wrong? What if the Changlings attacked again? What if-“ She was interrupted by a purple hand being smacked over her muzzle.

If I don’t stop this train of thought, it’ll derail and destroy the entire town. Spike internally complained.

“Twilight, I’m going to remove my hand and when I do, you will stop worrying about that stupid letter.”

“Ifs noff stuffiid!” She grumbled through her closed mouth. Spike only narrowed his glare further; he wasn’t going to give up unless she stopped. Their eyes played a silent war back and forth, willing the other to give in. The unicorn eventually lowered her shoulders in defeat, and felt her assistant’s hand leave her muzzle.

“Fine.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear! Last thing this town needs is another T-word level disaster like last year with that dol-“ Spike was cut short by a tickling sensation in the back of his throat. He only had a moment to look away from Twilight before green flames erupted from his mouth, leaving a sealed scroll on the bed.

In a flash Twilight snatched up the letter and tore off the seal without bothering to see who it was from.

Twilight Sparkle,

It has come to my attention there is a situation most-urgent here in Canterlot that requires your attention. It would be best if you could make arrangements with your assistant to allow you to stay a minimum of a week to help resolve this crisis. A chariot has been sent and will arrive within one hour of this letter. Please be ready to depart by then.

This matter is confidential, it is best if you not disclose this information to anypony.

-Luna

The letter was short and the ink marks clearly showed the writer was in a hurry. Twilight furrowed her brow as she re-read the letter twice, then three times again. Spike peeked over Twilight’s shoulder to see the scroll, or he would have if she didn’t stand up and knock him to the floor.

“So what’s on the letter?” The dragon asked, rubbing the arm he landed on. “Was she able to answer your question?”

“Pack your things Spike; you’re staying with Rarity for the next week.” Twilight ignored the question as she brought out a suitcase from under the bed. If she didn’t start packing now, there’s no way she’d be packed in only an hour.

“What? Why? What’s going on?”

“I…don’t know.”

A short time before...

Dark wings beat through the afternoon air in a hurry to reach their objective, the autumn air wafting through the nostrils of their owner. Only a minute ago Luna was cuddled up to her sister. Now, she was soaring through the air as fast as her wings would carry her, her jewelry still in her sister’s room. Celestia would surely be upset if she knew what the lunar princess intended.

I’m sorry Tia, I just have to know what’s happening to you. Please forgive my impatience.

Luna landed back in the labyrinth where she’d left not long ago with her now-sleeping sister. It only took her a few moments to find the charred patch of grass. She stood before it and curiously looked around the maze.

Why is there something hidden here? This is a random spot in a maze! Nothing remarkable here at all, nothing!

Luna sat down on her haunches in thought. Had this been a fluke? A random occurrence with no logical explanation? No. There was a reason for her sister’s strange behavior, and Luna was going to figure out what.

Well, magic brought her here… Her horn began to build power. Maybe it can show me why.

Luna’s horn released a small wave of magic, much like a sonar wave, revealing things unseen. She ‘felt’ a ping and looked back to the burnt grass. Puzzled, she released another wave and was surprised the ping was slightly further down than the topsoil.

That makes much more sense now. Luna mentally facehoofed. Only one thing to do now.

She stood and released tiny bolts of her blue magic at the ground. Each impact of the alicorn’s magic pulled a perfect cube of soil only a few inches across out and set it aside. She wanted to take it slow with her ‘digging’, she didn’t want to damage whatever lay beneath. After many minutes, and a couple feet of piled cubes beside her, something other than dirt finally showed itself. At first Luna thought it a trick of the fading light when she saw-

“Gold? Why in Equestria would Tia bury gold all the way out here?” She reached with her magic and gave it a slight tug. It would not budge. Perplexed, she gave it more force and eventually the mysterious object was released with a slight pop from its earthy home. It was much larger than the piece of gold Luna originally thought it to be. She set it down In front of her to get a better look.

The entire surface was a perfectly polished gold that still shone with brilliance despite being surrounded by filth for who knows how long. It was rectangular and had six perfectly flat sides with minute designs etched into it. Perfectly made lines swirled up and around its surface, all eventually coming together on the top where a symbol stared up at Luna: It was Celestia’s seal, her cutie mark perfectly modeled in gold.

The alicorn stood before the chest in awe: she recognized this particular valuable, though it felt another lifetime ago she last laid eyes on its beauty.

I gave this to Tia when we were but fillies on her birthday. It took me months to make it at that young age. Luna folded her legs together and sat down as she was lost in that memory. She was so happy to see it, she’d been talking for months how she needed a jewelry box for the tiara mother and father gave her the prior year. Of course the chest was large enough to hold 30 of the filly-sized accessories, but nonetheless, Celestia cherished it as her most prized possession.

So why was it buried away where nopony would ever find it? Luna reached to open it, before an alarming thought stopped her hoof mid-air.

What if she placed a magical trap on it?

She thought back to the prank she intended to pull on Celestia thousands of years ago by placing a frog into the chest…only to have the golden box release its trap-spell on her, leaving the poor alicorn mute for a week. It was a good century before Celestia stopped teasing her about it.

Now? Now the younger sibling had enough magical prowess to disarm any of her sister’s humorous spells. She tentatively reached out with her magic and ‘felt’ the chest, trying to sense any magical signatures left behind. Surprisingly, she didn’t sense anything other than a faint, almost unnoticeable flicker of magical energy from inside the chest. Gold had strange properties when it came to magic, not what. Luna called her magical tendril back and looked the object over in contemplation.

The blue alicorn bit her lip in thought. What now? Do I put it back and pretend nothing ever happened?

No, Tia would see through my lie…she always does. Luna flicked the box with her hoof in frustration, eliciting a slight ping that was quickly absorbed by the living walls of the labyrinth.

“Well, I have come this far…there is no backing down now.” She stood and rested her hoof on the simple latch that held the lid shut. After a moment of mental preparation, she undid the latch and let the first light in a long time grace the interior of the ancient chest.

“This is it…this is what’s caused this whole thing?” Luna couldn’t believe something so small held such weight when it came to her sister. She inspected the inside of the chest and only the item floating in her grasp was inside.

“It’s a letter?” Luna brought it closer to her face; it wasn’t sealed or even tied. It was just a rolled-up scroll, nothing terribly special to the naked eye. She set it down on the grass and felt around it with her magic, hoping to learn something about the seemingly mundane object. However, there was a heavy aura emanating from the scroll, and the identity of the spell affecting it was not what Luna expected to find.

“A memory spell?” The princess took a step back. “Tia should have known better than to use one! They are incredibly unstable when cast over a long time!” Luna fumed at the idea that her wise sister almost killed herself over a stupid piece of paper.

Wait…

Lune spied a dark character on the edge of the scroll as it relaxed and slightly unraveled itself. She sat down and slowly opened it the rest of the way, marveling at how it survived.

Probably an age-slowing spell, too bad it only worked on simple objects like this before its use was banned.

Luna unraveled it all the way and began to read the ancient text her sister seemed so tied to.

“Time for some answers.” And she began to read.

To Princess Celestia, me,

Wind whipped through the unicorn’s mane as the chariot under her hooves raced to the Equestrian capitol. She’d barely had time to get her bags onboard before the chariot took off in a bloom of dust.

Must be serious if they sent four pegasi to take me there… She looked up to the sun. Judging by the sun’s position and my departure time, I should be there shortly after 5.

Twilight peeked over the side, the landscape blurring past in a sickening motion of colors. Twilight never was a fan of heights. She quickly pulled herself back to the center of the chariot.

Spike seemed all too happy to stay with Rarity for a week. Twilight brought a hoof to her chin to stifle a giggle. Guess I ended up helping Sweetie Belle after all.

She looked up from her thoughts to see Canterlot rapidly growing in the distance. Even at this distance its beauty radiated. If Twilight didn’t know any better, she’d think a spell was at work to make the city more alluring than it already appeared.

I hope this crisis was just exaggerated and it’s nothing too bad. The purple mare blushed at her next thought.

Sure would be nice to spend some time with the princess too…

No…no no no no no! Luna’s lip trembled as her eyes scanned the parchment, and began to fill with tears. She had snuck away from her sister to learn her secret. Now, it was something she wished to erase from memory…or erase the letter in a flash of fire. Neither option would fix anything though, much to the disappointment of the grieving alicorn.

This can’t be happening…it just can’t. Luna’s eyes were now waterfalls of sadness, the dam holding her tears back had collapsed and shattered. She had given-in to her despair and let her body fall on the grass, letting the letter silently fall back into its golden home.

“This is a trick…yes, another of Tia’s tricks, of course.” The lunar princess sniffled before continuing. “It can’t be real…she would never do that to me, right?”

She banished you for a thousand years, you know very well what she is capable of. A rogue thought snapped to the front of her mind.

“Tia did that for my own good!” Luna stood and shouted at her rebellious thoughts. “Tia would never be so cruel to do this to me…” She bowed her head and whimpered. Luna stood there as tears rolled down her muzzle and fell to the grass. She thought of what impact this would have on the future. She would be alone, again.

Alone.

The insidious word rang through her head, bouncing back and forth.

I can’t be alone again, never again. Luna looked back up to the chest as her eye twitched, the memories of her solitude on the solar body rushing back. It was all too much and she released her anger. In almost an instant she let loose her cold thoughts in the form of magic. In a flash, her horn pulsed once again. She opened her eyes and gasped at what she saw.

The labyrinth around her was frozen solid. The grass covered in a thick frost that stopped the gentle breeze moving it. Even the walls around her made of hedges were frozen and solidified in her frustration. She tentatively took a step to the wall and touched it with her hoof to see if it were real. The frozen plant-wall reacted by shattering much like a fragile glass sculpture. An avalanche of green diamonds began to fall around her, reflecting the sunlight in beautiful flashes. The spectacular and terrible sight eventually stopped where the frozen walls still lived, some 30 feet down the path.

“I, did this?” Luna whispered looking around at the frozen landscape, afraid her voice alone may destroy something. In a panic she turned back around, afraid her outburst had destroyed her sister’s ancient letter. She was relieved to see it resting safely inside the chest, cold, but not frozen.

Out of the corner of her eye she spied a glint of purple in the sea of frozen green. Curious, she walked over and looked down to see-

“A letter from Twilight?” The purple tie on the letter was the unicorn’s “signature” per-say. Luna’s horn shone as her magic began to envelop the scroll, only for it to shatter into countless pieces much like the labyrinth walls. The princess blankly stared at where the letter was the moment before. She could feel her anger begin to build up again.

No, I’m better than this.

Luna drew in a large breath before slowly letting it back out. She looked back to the chest having momentarily forgotten its existence. Her eyes cast downward in thought.

Guess I should go, before somepony finds me here. Snap-freezing and destroying part of the Canterlot labyrinth would not be a simple explanation, considering the circumstances. Luna closed the chest with her sister’s letter still inside and as brought it close to her in a dark-blue aura. She needed to see her sister, and have her explain this phenomenon.

But first… She looked down to the purple bits of ice that were Twilight’s seal a few moments ago.

Luna beat her wings to get aloft, the down-draft shattering some of the still-frozen lawn. With the chest in her grasp and the castle only a stone’s throw away, Luna was able to land on the balcony to her room in no time.

Opening the double glass doors that led to her balcony, Luna gingerly sat the gold chest on her bed and strode over to her desk, inkwell and quill already out. She began to write.

Twilight Sparkle,

It has come to my attention…

With the letter sealed and on its magical path to the unicorn’s assistant, Luna notified the guards to send the fastest chariot to Ponyville. The lunar princess had a sister to find, and confront.

The chariot touched down in the princesses’ private gardens, the closest open terrain to the castle it could land.

“Here you are, Lady Sparkle. Princess Luna will escort you from here.” The lead pegasus told her in his flat, authoritative voice.

Twilight looked away from the gardens to the castle seeing Princess Luna standing by an entrance to the palace. The purple mare couldn’t help but notice something was, off, in Luna’s stance. Twilight leaped off the gleaming chariot and ran a few feet before hesitating and looking back.

“Your bags will be taken care of, Lady Sparkle. Please, do not keep the princess waiting.” Twilight smiled and nodded to the pegasus before returning her attention back to the alicorn. She quickly closed the distance and stopped only a fore-leg’s length away from the Princess.

“Princess Luna! I got your letter, what’s going on? Is there-“Luna raised a hoof to silence the mare. Twilight noticed the princess was without her regalia, crown or slippers.

That’s weird. I’ve never seen either princess without their-

“Please follow me, Twilight Sparkle.” The alicorn turned and strode inside, leaving a confused unicorn a few steps behind. They continued walking up and down corridors for roughly a minute before Twilight spoke again.

“Um, Princess? Where is Princess Celestia?”

“She is in her personal bedchamber; I am taking you to see her, then I will depart.” Luna’s voice was quick and flat.

Princess Celestia’s bedroom? Just me and her? Alone?

Twilight was glad the alicorn in front of her could not see her blush. She decided to keep going with her questions.

“Why there?” Twilight inquired. Luna suddenly stopped at the question, almost causing the mare to run right into her. The princess bowed her head and sighed before letting a strained sentence out.

“Ti –I mean Celestia, is not well and I thought it best if her best student and friend were there to cheer her up.”

“She’s sick?” Twilight brought a hoof up to her mouth in a mild panic as her mind raced. “How sick is she? Luna raised her hoof once more.

“You shall have to ask her yourself.” With that, she turned and continued walking; Once again leaving a confused unicorn in her wake.

It did not take the pair long to reach Celestia’s bedroom. Twilight looked out the windows alongside the hallway and noted they were fairly far from the ground, not a settling thought.

“The guards have orders to allow you access, and then they will depart, giving you and my sister some privacy.” Twilight’s eyes grew as large as dinner plates in response.

What Twilight was completely stonewalled.

Luna raised an eyebrow at the stunned unicorn. She decided to ignore it and turn around to leave.

“Now, I must go, Twilight.” Having been released from her temporary shock, the unicorn could only question the princess further.

“Wait, where are you going?” Luna’s reply was barely a whisper as she slowly walked away.

“I need to be alone right now…” Luna barely whispered loud enough. If the princess had been facing Twilight, she’d have noticed tears welling up in the alicorn’s eyes.

Twilight watched the princess go before turning and ascending the couple steps that led up to the princesses’ room. The guards looked her over before nodding to each other and leaving in unison. Without knocking, Twilight opened one of the doors and went inside; weary of what may happen once inside. In truth, she’d been there once before when she was sick as a filly and the princess let her sleep in her bed. Now? Now things were different, and that made her extremely nervous.

The first thing Twilight noticed was a chest made of solid gold right next to the door. She accidently bumped her hoof on the corner, alerting the princess inside she was no longer alone.

“Who –Oh, Twilight!” Celestia craned her neck up from where it lay the moment before. Twilight looked up to see the princess on her enormous bed. She saw dried tear marks on Celestia’s muzzle.

“Luna sent me here. Said you needed cheering up?” Celestia slightly bowed her head and smiled sadly.

“Oh Luna, I should have expected this from you.” She muttered to herself.

“Didn’t quite catch that.” Twilight craned her neck towards the bed to hear better.

“Nothing, my little pony.” Celestia flashed her a smile, but Twilight could see cracks in the princess’s facade.

Why does she look so tired? She’s never been like this when we’ve talked before. Better approach this casually, I don’t want to come off as too worried just yet.

“Princess Luna seemed pretty upset about something. Is everything alright?” Twilight asked nonchalantly, taking a few casual steps towards the princess, noticing the flowing mane before her was drooped down ever so slightly.

“Everything’s fine,” Celestia hesitated. “She’s just been overwhelmed by all the work lately. It’s tax season, it always leaves us feeling drained with the extra paperwork.” She finished with a smile slightly too large to be normal. She shifted her wing slightly, pushing something behind her in hopes the unicorn wouldn’t notice. Twilight narrowed her eyes as a smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“Is that part of the tax work?” The purple mare asked, her eyes drifting to the princess’s side. Twilight saw the slightest flash of hesitation in Celestia’s eyes.

Gotcha.

“Whatever are you talking about, my faithful student?”

“What it is you just hid behind your back.” Twilight took another step toward the alicorn, now only a few feet from the edge of the bed.

“Oh, this?” Celestia rolled up the scroll before lifting it with her magic and letting it rest a couple feet above the unicorn’s head. “These are just some amendments to last year’s laws, nothing special.”

“Mind if I take a look?” Twilight offered. “As you know, I did study tax when I was still living here.” Celestia’s smile faltered before quickly reappearing.

“That’s quite alright, Twilight. You needn’t worry about an old mare like myself.” The alicorn waved a hoof dismissively. The scroll settling down on a nearby nightstand.

“Who said I was worried?” Twilight confidently smiled.

“Nopony, it was just a figure of speech my dear.” Celestia answered quickly, too quickly. She knew she was quickly losing ground in the mental battle against the mare before her.

“Princess, you surprise me...” Twilight chuckled. Celestia cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head in curiosity at her student’s behavior. “You were the one who told me a pony’s real words were what their body said.” Twilight continued, motioning to the princess. “And what you’re saying is something really big is bothering you, and Princess Luna. On top of that, you’re not wearing any of your regalia. You always wear your jewelry.

The solar goddess could only sit on her bed with her mouth slightly hung open, unsure of what to say next.

You taught her well... The princess thought to herself. She looked to her student for a few silent, tense moments before bowing her head and resting her chin on the edge of her bed in defeat.

“Well played, my faithful student.” Celestia sighed. “I should have known it impossible to deceive you.”

“What can I say? I learned from the best.” Twilight blushed, nearly invisible under her purple coat. “You’ve always been a big influence in my life.” Now it was Celestia’s turn to blush.

“Come,” The alicorn patted the bed next to her. “Join me and I’ll tell you all about it.” Twilight hesitated a fraction of a second before complying. Something that did not go unnoticed. “I promise I won’t bite.” Celestia smiled as her student, no, her friend climbed onto the plush bed and settled against her side with a large grin. She thought of draping her wing over Twilight, but dismissed it.

Not yet, Celestia, you don’t want to scare the poor thing off. Besides, she probably doesn’t-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Twilight nuzzling into the base of her neck. She looked down to the purple mare and smiled. Their eyes locked for a second before one of them spoke.

“Princess?” Twilight began. “You wanted to talk about what was troubling you?” Celestia smiled at the ever-persistent mare.

“Please, call me Celestia when we are alone.” The white alicorn smiled softly. “There is little need for protocol now.” She sighed and turned her face away from Twilight, shutting her eyes as the feelings of sadness returned like they were when she was alone.

She was going to find out eventually...best to tell her now.

“Twilight,” Celestia began, still facing away with eyes closed. “I need to tell you something...something important, and do not think as my sister did and believe it to be a joke. Do you understand?” She finished and looked back down to the mare cuddled up next to her, the princess’s eye forming a small tear.

“I understand, Celestia.” Twilight reached up and embraced her mentor around her neck. “You can tell me anything.” Her hug was returned for a few sweet moments before they both released. They locked eyes again, their faces barely a foot apart. Celestia inhaled sharply, there was no turning back now.

“Twilight...I am dying, it is a curse.” Twilight’s mind froze as those words hung in the air.

Dying?

Cursed?

That can’t be right...can it?

Her mind continued to race, trying to comprehend what the princess had just told her.

“But,” Twilight finally managed to speak. “There’s no such thing as curses!” She cried.

“I wish that were true, but there is very old magic at work here, and it cannot be stopped.”

“But why!” Twilight’s eyes were beginning to swell with tears. Celestia laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder as she began to sob, unable to deal with what she was hearing.

“It is an ancient form of magical punishment.”

“But what could you have done?” Twilight managed to ask. “You’re the princess! You’d never do anything wrong!” Celestia closed her eyes and bowed slightly.

“That is where you are wrong, Twilight.” The royal alicorn whispered before opening her eyes again. Two sets of depressed eyes met. Twilight could only listen as her heart and mind screamed in agony. Celestia closed her eyes, drawing in a breath for what she had to say.

“It is the punishment of an alicorn that has spilled the blood of an innocent.”

4. How could this happen to me?

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A peculiar coldness had begun to shroud a particular wing of the castle. It drew noticeably colder the closer you got to a certain room… Princess Luna’s private chambers. Nopony saw her return, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t there. A crashing sound had been heard as a patrol passed her bedroom doors. Worried, a Lunar Stallion decided to check on the alicorn he served. He nodded to his partner, and proceeded into the room.

“Princess Luna? Is everything alright in here?” The guard pony asked as he cautiously opened the door. “We heard a clamor and decided to…“ His words stopped as his eyes took in the scene in front of him. Everything was frozen. There was a thin layer of ice covering every surface; he had never seen anything as beautiful as the crystals that glistened and reflected back upon themselves. Princess Luna was lying on her bed, facing towards the door, but not noticing the ponies standing there at first. There were a few frozen tear-tracks on her muzzle.

Her eyes flicked from the frozen bedspread to the Lunar Stallions. “Please leave us alone, guards.” Luna whispered to the aforementioned ponies, blinking a new tear from her eyes. The guards quickly glanced to each other.

“Are you sure you—” He didn’t get a chance to finish as the alicorn jumped off her bed and landed a few feet from the ponies, her eyes full of mixed emotions.

The princess of the night took a slow stop forward. "I... said.. to..." she began before suddenly unfurling her wings. "Leave!"

Her commanding voice lightly tossed the two guards outside the door, before slamming it shut and erecting an icy barrier. The dumbstruck ponies quickly gathered themselves and galloped away, leaving the princess to stew in her sorrow.

“Twilight, please do not be afraid.” Celestia cooed. The princess’s student was quite taken back by what had been revealed to her. She’d stood up and taken a step away from the bed in shock. The princess still lay on her bed.

“You… you, what?” The unicorn squeaked out from her position on the floor. did she really just say what I thought she said? I must be hallucinating, how else would I have been in bed with Celesti—

“Twilight, I killed a pony. I’ve taken an innocent soul.” Celestia answered with a twinge of regret on her tongue. “It is a difficult situation to explain.” The alicorn began to take on a more shameful and sad tone. “Won’t you give your old mentor a chance to explain herself, please?” Twilight was still processing what she’s heard. Celestia has killed somepony, Celestia! Of all ponies! Like most sane ponies, she was a bit nervous sharing the room with somepony who openly stated they had taken another life.

“But, you’re the Princess Celestia! The nicest pony I’ve ever known! You’d never do something as awful as that... right?” Twilight hesitantly asked.

“I’m... afraid that’s where you’re wrong.” Celestia sighed. “It was a desperate choice made during a desperate, difficult time.”

Well... Twilight stood there while she silently debated her next course of action. If I don’t listen to her now, this will eat away at me for the rest of my life...

Twilight wordlessly, albeit slowly stepped back up onto the bed. She lay down by the alicorn, slightly further away than she had been before. The purple mare looked up to Celestia before nodding. “Okay, I’ll listen.” Her mentor tentatively nuzzled her friend, taking care to not spook the poor thing anymore.

“What I am going to tell you dates back to an age before Luna and I ruled, before we even came to this land. History teaches ponies many things about the events that founded Equestria and the origins of the princesses as the truth, most of which are fabrications. Many of the things I will say must be kept secret. Do you understand?”

Twilight stared into Celestia eyes for many moments before a slow nod. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know now, but something inside her told her she needed to hear this. Celestia stared ahead and took a long breath before momentarily closing her eyes. She was delving deep into her memory, where she had not been in a very, very long time.

“Luna and I were not born in the land known as Equestria. We came from another continent, the name of which I no longer remember. Its beauty rivaled that of this land, and its size was nearly twice of it as well. We were born and raised there under our mother and father, the king and queen of that nation. Mother controlled the sun, much as I do now, and father controlled the moon.”

“I was barely 100 when Luna was born, just a filly about your size at the time,” She paused to look at Twilight before continuing. “She was the most important pony in the world to me. I spent almost all my time raising and playing with her while mother and father tended to the nation. Do not think they neglected us though, I just knew they would be busy and gladly offered to watch her. They were the best parents anypony could ask for, always there if we needed them. They would do anything to help their children.”

Celestia smiled sadly, lost in the memories. Twilight inched closer to the depressed alicorn, laying her hoof on her shoulder for support. I’ll have to thank Twilight for this one day.

“Many years passed that way, I raised Luna while mom and dad took care of everything. Luna and I would do everything we could together, often causing problems for the guards who had to watch us in that colossal castle. It was shortly after my 305th birthday that mother and father seemed to change; they seemed stressed and more worried than their usual selves. We brushed it off as a momentary disruption of the norm.”

“It didn’t take much longer for us to get our cutie marks, and our talents revealed to us. Our parents approached us one day and told us what we were to become. Mother would train me to handle the sun, and father would teach Luna the ways of the moon. I had an uneasy feeling that we were being rushed, that something wasn’t right. By that time we were nearly the size we are now, with Luna of course being slightly shorter. We both earned our cutie marks on the same day.”

“It had taken a relatively short time of 3 years to be taught, and be able to use our abilities to move the cosmic bodies. Our parents made us move them as often as we were able, to ensure we could handle the stresses on our bodies and minds that go with the task. Not long after Luna and I were comfortable and confident we could move the sun and moon without assistance, mother and father came to us one day in the garden. They told us there was a plague, brought about by a demonic enemy whose origin was never discovered. It killed unicorns, pegasi and Earth ponies all alike, and was 100% fatal once contracted.”

Twilight was now leaning into the princess, her hoof holding that of the alicorn as she told her story. She was in awe, this was something nopony else but her and the princesses would ever know.

“Luna and I were told of ancient relics in another land that would have a chance of defeating this enemy before it was too late. You know them as the Elements of Harmony, a legend at the time. Mother and father had their forces do all they could to contain the infection in the far-reaches of the nation. It was delayed many times, but always found a new way to infect more hosts. With it only taking 72 hours to kill a pony, and the rate it was being transmitted across the country, it wouldn’t take more than a year or two for it to reach, and destroy the city we called home.”

Celestia sniffled and bowed her head. This is going to be harder than I thought…

“We… we were given the task of travelling to this far-off land and retrieving these relics by our parents. We fought to stay, but once we were shown what happened to the lands claimed by this virus, how it killed every living thing and left only wasteland behind… we quickly got ready to leave. We had been taught every survival technique known and taken extra flying time to build our wing muscles. On the eve of our departure, shortly after Luna raised her moon, our parents approached us and said they had ‘one final gift’ for us. They transferred their gifts of agelessness to us, in case we didn’t make it back in time.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “I thought all alicorns were immortal? At least that’s what I’ve read…”

“That is a, ‘rumor’, Luna and I spread early into our roles here. Subjects respect you much more and are happier when they believe their princesses will never die.” Celestia answered, and wrapped her wing over Twilight once more.

“Alicorns are actually born mortal and a long life expectancy that would have passed long ago were it not for my parents gifts. How they obtained the power of agelessness they never said. When they gave up their gifts to us, the powers gave us eternal life, so long as we were never too physically harmed.”

“They told us keep them and use them for the eventual day we would lead our own country. Once my sister and I had received our parent’s blessing, we set off for the continent we are on now. It took more than a month of the longest and most difficult overland travelling I can remember, and 3 days of flying over the ocean to reach this land. It was beautiful where we had come, but that illusion was quickly dispelled not long after setting forth for the site of the so-called Elements of Harmony.”

“On our way to the mythical temple where the relics were, we passed many ruined towns, long-dead and forgotten by the old civilizations that once lived there. We were only a few miles from the site of the Elements when we finally met another pony, that is to say, group of ponies. Luna and I immediately knew something was wrong with them, they showed tell-tale signs of magical manipulation the likes of which we had never seen. After we pried them with questions about the land… they quickly turned hostile and we, we were both forced to defend ourselves against them.”

Celestia looked down to her bedspread and let a lone tear fall. “That was the first time I had ever taken a life, Twilight… the first time I had ever used my magic to harm somepony. It was so horrible.”

I can still hear them screaming, as my solar powers cooked them alive…

“Princess, I am so sorry.” Twilight reached her forelegs around her mentor’s neck before slowly going back to her side. “Was that when, you know?”

“No, remember what I said? It is the punishment for taking the life of an innocent. These mobs of ponies were inherently violent, and we later learned they had destroyed many villages for the pure sake of chaos.”

“Back to the story. After Luna and I, disposed of them, we quickly left the scene in case there would be reinforcements. We had accidentally gone in the wrong direction and ended up somewhat lost in the thick forest now known as the Everfree. We stumbled onto a small settlement of no more than one-hundred ponies in the mountains. We had previously avoided any signs of civilization for fear of being attacked again, but we had no choice as our food was quickly running out and nothing edible could be found to sustain our alicorn-sized diets.”

“We entered at night under one of Luna’s moonless skies and tried to loot some food stores without being noticed… we failed. However, upon being noticed, we were not attacked as we realized these ponies were not being afflicted by the same forces as the other anarchists’ ponies we had previously encountered along the way. They offered us food and shelter, which we were gracious and quick to accept, though we couldn’t stay long. The few elder ponies in the town came to us after I was witnessed bringing the sun out. They told of a great evil in the land that only, ‘the holy ones’ could vanquish.”

“Luna and I questioned them about the state of this land and the strange inhabitants we had run into before. They told us there was a great evil that had shown up many years ago and had taken control of the land… that evil was known as Discord.”

“Nopony was old enough to know exactly when or where he had come from, only what had been done by him. He quickly took over the continent as he drenched the lands into chaos and anarchy. His residence was a massive structure that was not far from the temple that held the Elements of Harmony. The elders said many brave and foolhardy ponies had ventured there in an attempt to either kill him or retrieve the Elements, none of which were heard from again.”

Twilight continued to listen to the princess’s telling of the tale. All of this was amazing and terrible to learn at the same time. Amazing to know more about the Elements, the princesses and the land’s history. Terrible, because the thought of how horrible the condition of it had once been under Discord’s rule.

I wonder what would’ve happened if he took over again... what he would have done to us?

“After we were packed and left the following day, we were easily able to retrace our steps and find where the ruins to the temple began. Luna and I agreed on a plan, we were to retrieve the Elements, use them to defeat Discord and then get back to our home as quickly as possible in hopes there would still be something worth saving. After traversing the forested ruins, we came upon the temple. It had many traps, physical and magical, old and new placed around and inside of it. We were able to get around them… most of them anyways. Luna was hit by one and poisoned beyond what my magic could heal at the time.”

Celestia let another tear fall onto her bed. Twilight reached up to give another comforting hug. “What happened next?” she beckoned the princess to continue.

“I did the only thing I could; I took her back to the settlement and tried to make her comfortable before she lapsed into unconsciousness. The lone doctor there promised to do all he could for her. He said any advanced medicines were confiscated by Discord’s indoctrinated armies early into his reign, and stored in his fortress. I knew then what I had to do. I made sure Luna was as okay as possible before quickly setting off on my own to invade Discord’s castle.”

“It did not take long to find, his mindless armies were plentiful the closer I got. Sneaking by them was easier than fighting. My magic was strong, but no match for the thousands of troops there. I eventually made it inside and found the rooms with what I was seeking. I grabbed as many antidotes as I could and left the fortress. I thought I was in the clear, but was discovered just as I escaped. I quickly dealt with those that had found me and made haste to leave.”

“I managed to make it to the edge of the forest that bordered the ancient castle before I was met with a foe beyond my skill levels, Discord himself. He commended me on my bravery and complimented my prowess. I made my best efforts to fly and run away, but he seized me in his magical grip each time without difficulty. He had known what I came for and was going to let me go… but only after I did something for him. He, he promised to let me go if I executed one of the village prisoners he was holding.”

Twilight brought a hoof to her mouth and gasped. “Discord did that? He forced ponies to kill innocent prisoners while his armies pillaged and destroyed!?” Celestia slowly nodded before addressing the questions.

“Yes, he was not as cocky as he was upon his last return. His power had not fully actualized, and he was much worse in the ancient times. He did terrible, unspeakable, violent acts upon those that disobeyed him.”

“When Discord made his offer to allow me to leave and save my sister’s life in exchange for the prisoner, I instantly refused and told him he’d have to force me to do it… words that would have best been kept silent. He snapped his fingers and summoned a female unicorn prisoner from his castle, bound and gagged. I was in one hand’s magical grasp; the pony was in his other. I tried to resist but he was just too strong, I couldn’t escape and was powerless to fight back. What happened next was… was the worst thing I had ever been a part of.”

Discord dropped us both to the ground and gave me an ultimatum, he told me only one of use would leave alive. I was reluctant for him to elaborate...”

Many centuries ago.....

”What are you talking about, Discord? Just let us go!” Celestia sneered at the god of chaos, whilst leveling her horn as she built up an offensive spell.

“Ah ah ah, no magic.” Discord chided before snapping his fingers again, draining what magic the alicorn had into a lightning bolt in his other hand before dispelling it harmlessly into the atmosphere. Celestia’s strong appearance faltered as she felt completely helpless against this entity. “Your magic would be unfair against such a comparatively weak companion.”

“What... what are you saying?” Celestia asked as she felt her heart drop. She had an uneasy feeling about what would happen next.

“Why, it’s simple...” Discord paused to turn and whisk away the bindings on the unicorn, leaving her shivering in fear. “You two both wish to return to loved ones, I’m afraid that just can’t happen.” He paused to look back and forth to his prisoners.

“You can’t do this to me!” The alicorn shot at her chaotic captor.

“And why is that?” Discord dis-interestingly asked as he pretended to inspect his nails.

“You don’t know who I am, do you? I am Princess Celestia, you cannot do this to me!” Celestia stamped her hoof. “I demand you let me go at once!” Discord seemed unamused and pretended to yawn in boredom.

“Ohhh, a princess! And what will her majesty do to me? Lock me in a dungeon?” He asked in a mocking voice.

“I’ll—” Celestia was cut off as she was brought face to face with Discord in his magical grip. He slowly closed his fist, crushing the helpless alicorn in an invisible vice.

“You’ll do what?” His serious, deep voice slowly asked before dropping her back where she was before. She stood and assumed a charging stance for a few moments before backing down, breathless. “That’s what I thought.” The white alicorn took a minute to catch her breath before addressing Discord again. The unicorn mare continued to watch in silence.

“You... you can’t just do this to me, I’m—” Was all she managed to ask before being silenced.

“You alicorns are all the same, assuming you are the natural leaders of this world,” Discord rolled his eyes in disgust. “Ponies like you are nothing more than a fluke, a genetic race of freaks that believethey should decide how the world is run.” Discord frowned before turning a glance at the unicorn prisoner. An insidious idea had formed in his mind, which was mirrored by a grin of pure malevolence unseen by the alicorn.

“You’re wrong!” Celestia spat at her accuser.

“You know, maybe I am wrong.” Discord turned to the princess, his face contorted in an evil smirk. “If you believe you should make all the choices in your subject’s lives, then maybe it’s time to prove it.”

“Will you please cease with your cryptic wording and just release us? I don’t have the time to sit here and play your games!” Celestia grumbled, her fury clearly evident.

“Very well then...” Discord snapped his fingers, bringing both of the ponies side by side in front of him. He snapped them again and erected a magical barrier around the clearing, several hundred feet across and meeting in a point above the trio. “Like I said, only one of you may leave. And you, my young little princess, shall have the honor of choosing who.” Celestia and the unicorn looked to each other. She saw knowing in her eyes, mixed with spine-tingling dread. “It’s simple you see, you choose who lives and who dies. Who will it be? This unicorn who attempted to steal from me to save her starving family? Or you, trying to steal from my medicine cache. So who will it be, your ‘majesty’?” Discord began to let loose a thunderous laugh as the mocking words left his mouth. The unicorn decided to speak up now.

“I was doing that to help somepony I love you bastard!” Her hoarse voice managed to exclaim.

“So was she." Discord looked to Celestia. "I think it only fair the princess decides who returns to their loved ones. After all, if she believes herself of royal blood, then she should be the one to choose.” He paused to let his words sink in. Celestia and the unicorn looked back to each other in disbelief. Her face was pleading in fear. “I’m going to leave you two to... mull things over. This barrier will only go away once one of you lies dead. Your magic will be returned to you as well.” Discord informed before giving a snap of his fingers. A hammock made of clouds appeared next to him before he gave a long stretch and climbed into it. “Please girls, do take your time. Unlike you, I am in no rush.” Neither of the ponies sitting there had the luxury of time to decide what happened next.

Celestia stood and stepped back several paces before looking the other pony in the eyes, her own filling with remorse. She knew what she had to do. Her sister’s life, and the lives of everypony in her home depended on this unfortunate decision. The other pony slowly stood on her wobbly hooves before speaking once again.

“Please... I have a family. They’ll need me...” She pleaded, almost bowing to her knees before the alicorn. Her eyes watered with tears.

I have a family too... Celestia closed her eyes before bowing her head... and charged.

“I-I’ll never forget her scream...” The sun goddess wept, her cracked dam of emotion finally giving way to the tears she so desperately fought back at the memory. Tears cascaded down her muzzle and landed on her bedspread

“T-there was nothing I could do, I had to do it! For my kingdom, for my sister! That mare died by my hooves, right in front of me. I apologized through my tears, but she told me it was ok... She actually thanked me in the end, thanked me for ending the tortures Discord had forced her to relive each and every day to force the location of the village out of her.. I left her body there as I fled and returned to the village, with her blood still on my horn and face.”

“Princess… I, I don’t know what to say…” Twilight could barely comprehend what she had heard. Celestia’s tears had begun to increase in frequency as she told the event. For a while they both just lied there, leaning into each other as the words replayed in their minds. It was slowly getting dark outside now, the time passing quickly as she told what happened. Celestia eventually mustered the courage to continue.

“When… when I made it back I gave the antidotes I retrieved to the doctor. He began to work on Luna right away. I was glad to be there; she was drawing nearer to death every hour without that medicine. It was a few days before she was awake. In that time I had finally washed my horn and face. Nopony asked me what happened or commented on it, they all just looked at me with sad, knowing eyes. I never discovered which ponies were the family of that mare I... that mare I killed.”

“I was in a personal hut they were gracious enough to give me for a few days. I just sat and wept, the look on that dying pony’s face haunted my every waking second. It did not help when I remembered why we were here in the first place, to stop the billions of innocent ponies just like him back home. I’d never hugged anypony as hard as I did when Luna came walking into our temporary home. The doctor said she was well enough to leave, but it would be another day or two before she could travel. That night when I slept, I was visited by something… something very powerful.”

“I ‘woke up’ in my dreams in a dark place. It was not long before I realized I was not alone. In front of me was something barely recognizable as a pony. Its entire body was light, with no other features besides being twice my size and clearly an alicorn. It was blinding to look at; I had to cover my face from its radiance. It eventually identified itself as “The Creator,” and told me I had to pay the price for what I had done. I had asked what it meant and a short ways away it summoned the memory of the pony I had killed. It was like watching it from my own eyes again.”

“The Creator told me when it bestowed the gifts of agelessness to my grandparents, whom I never met, early in their lives that it would be taken away and they would be cursed if they ever took an innocent soul… that same rule applied to me as well. I tried to reason with it, telling it that what transpired wasn’t my fault, that I was forced to do so! It told me the rules were clear, ‘to spill innocent blood, no matter the circumstances is to revoke ‘The Gift’.”

Small flames lined the edge of Celestia’s mane as she told her tale. Twilight only hugged her to try and comfort her poor princess. She was almost burned trying to do so.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I was just so angry at the time... I had no choice!” The white alicorn cried.

“I begged it to reconsider and asked if there was anything I could do to earn it back… but nothing I said pleased this entity. I felt energy ripped from me as I stood, scared in the darkness. The Creator told me it had transferred my agelessness to my sister, Luna. So she may continue the tradition of passing it onto the next two alicorn children… I silently thanked it for this, at least the traditions would continue.”

“As further punishment, it told me I would be granted temporary immortality until a set date far into the future. When I asked why, it told me it was a way of making me feel the guilt I ‘deserved’. I was to live more than a thousand years of suffering before I would die from its spell. Even if I was physically harmed to the point of death, I would continue on living… to continue living the regret. I later woke back up in the hut I shared with Luna. It took a few days to sink in as my sister continued to recover.”

“We decided to go with our previous plan, though with much more caution this time around. After another day to pack supplies, and receive the blessing of their elders, we set back for the temple, for the last time. Most the traps were disarmed from our first attempt and we found that we almost made it the first time. Luna and I retrieved the elements with relative ease and donned them. We were ready to take Discord.”

“We trekked the short distance to his massive fortress and snuck inside, following my previous route. After what felt like hours of silent searching, we found him in his makeshift throne room. He was incredibly arrogant this time we met, which was his ultimate downfall. He laughed at the thought of two young princesses overthrowing his reign. Luna and I used the power of the Elements to turn him to stone, something he did not witness through his pretentious laughter. The energy of the continent began to shift as Discord’s powers retreated. His indoctrinated slaves and armies reverted back to themselves with no memory of anything they had done. They were the lucky ones.”

“The reverted ponies worshiped us as their goddesses. We told them of our need to leave, and to guard Discord’s statue with their lives if we did not return. We topped-off our supplies at the familiar village and quickly set off for home. It had been nearly a year since we had seen it. Luna and I would return home as heroes to our nation… unknown to them the horrors that dwelled in our minds. The trip back was only half the length of our first departure. We set foot back in our homeland in just two weeks.”

The princess became silent once more, lost in the memories only she could see, wishing she couldn’t. Twilight gently nudged her in the shoulder with her own.

“Celestia? What happened when you got home? Did you make it back in time?”

“We… we weren’t quick enough. Luna and I… when we got back to our island home it was barely recognizable. Everywhere was an arid wasteland, devoid of any life whatsoever. Be it animal or plant life, nothing had survived the plague. Even the sun itself seemed weaker in this decrepit land. We didn’t see a single creature, or even grasses or weeds as we flew to the citadel we grew up in. The city we called home was in shambles. It was just barely a year since we left the bustling, lively city. Now it was ruins and looked thousands of years older than it should be. The demon that had swept over the land had destroyed everything. There was nothing left for its virus to infect, so we were safe.”

“We found our way to our castle; it was barely standing as we carefully made our way inside. Our hopes that our mother and father survived were still there, but faint. It took us awhile but we eventually made it to their bedroom. We found two piles of dust on their bed… their crowns lay within them. Before departing, we found a message engraved into the walls of their room, it was barely readable.”

Celestia paused before continuing, wiping a tear from her eyes with her shoe-less hoof.

“They… they told us they loved us very much, that we made them the most proud parents in the universe. They said the infection accelerated too quickly and they were sorry they wouldn’t make it to see us return. Our parents’ engravings told us to start a new empire in the land known as Equestria, to continue the lineage and unite ponies in peace once more. After saying our final goodbyes, we left our island home and have never returned. The knowledge of that continent is erased in the incredibly rare times it surfaces. The risk of the demon’s taint traveling overseas is too great.”

“Our return to this land was met with a grand reception: The ponies continued to hail us and had transformed the temple that housed the Elements, into what is now known as The Temple of the Two Sisters, as tribute and thanks for what we did. We took the offered positions of rulers of Equestria. We had a lot of work to take care of; there hadn’t been any form of civilization in decades. We had to build everything from scratch, but the ponies freed from Discord’s power were eager to assist.”

“In seemingly no time at all we had the groundwork for new towns laid out and a new government and economic system. However, all the work in creating an empire did little to distract me from my past. The guilt continued to fester and rot inside of me.”

“Princess?” Twilight quietly asked. “Did Princess Luna know what happened?” Celestia looked up to the ceiling before turning back to her with her eyes closed and her voice strained.

“She does, now.”

“It was a few years before any semblance of normalcy in Equestria. Our temple in the Everfree was indeed grand, but no place fit to rule from. Canterlot’s foundation and castle was built by just about every pony that could help. Luna and I helped too, of course, our magical skills were still increasing and we were amazed at what we could do.”

“After this castle was built, we quickly settled into our roles and tended to our nation. It was almost a funny thing to say at first, our nation. One day it finally clicked for us, we did it. We did everything our parents wanted us to do. We wondered if they knew how far things would go, but the duties of this country tend to keep one, busy. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Luna was slowly growing envious of the joy our subjects expressed with my daylight, and how she thought they shunned her nights. I was focusing on the nation and still trying to cope with my guilt and what happened with ‘The Creator.’ I was too wrapped up to notice my own sister’s feelings.”

“It took 10 years of pent-up jealousy before the entity known as Nightmare Moon took hold of my sister. It was with unimaginable regret I used the very elements that saved us, to exile her. Believe me when I say I did everything to appeal to her, but she was too far gone to be reasoned with.”

“You… you did the right thing.” Twilight comforted, lightly nuzzling the alicorn.

Twice today I’ve heard somepony say that…

“I know, Twilight, but it’s not an easy thing to justify, no matter how you look at it.” Celestia sighed before continuing.

“I was nearly consumed by regrets and sorrow, having the knowledge of killing an innocent pony and banishing my sister, my friend who had always been there for me. It would have driven me to suicide, if I weren’t incapable of dying that is. As I used the elements to exile Luna, I set the time of her return to a specific date, one thousand years into the future.”

“So, I was right after all!” Twilight beamed.

“Yes you were, my astute student.” Celestia smiled for the first time in a while, looking down at the purple mare cuddled up next to her.

“But why did you set a timer on her banishment?”

“I knew at the time that I would need time to find a way to bring the real Luna back, and time enough to train her to run the kingdom without me. The first part has been completed, though that was the easy part of my plan. Shortly after her banishment, I wrote a letter to myself and safely stored it in what is not the labyrinth. I put a memory spell on it so I would only remember an exiled sibling and not the innocent pony that died at my horn. The spell was calibrated to activate a few years after Luna’s return, giving her enough time to settle in and get her comfortable.”

“Y-you, you planned all this from the start? Over a thousand years of planning?” Twilight was completely in awe, the success of something on that scale was hard for her to wrap her mind around. Celestia nodded to the bewildered unicorn.

“Yes, now that she is settled back into her role as the princess of the night, and knows of my… ‘incident’ and what it means, I must begin training her to run the nation… without me.”

Twilight quickly spoke, her voice full of confidence “I bet it won’t be that hard, you managed to run it for a thousand years on your own. Plus, with the new committees, it’ll be a snap for her to—” Celestia raised a hoof to politely interrupt.

“That is not what worries me, Twilight. She can handle political problems easier than I, but her magic is not as adept as mine. Do you remember what the story said about Luna’s banishment? That I had to take duties of the sun and the moon? If Luna cannot learn to tame the fire of the sun, the world will freeze to death, and all life as we know it will cease.”

Twilight stared completely dumbfounded. How had she not realized what was really going on? She was on the verge of tears just at the thought of how it could all go wrong.

“How… how long will it take to train her? How much longer do you have in your life?” In truth, she was afraid to ask these questions, but they would nip at her until she had an answer… no matter how good or bad it was.

“I have ninety years of life left before I die. I wanted to have time to live the life of a regular pony before I pass away. Well, the time an average pony has to experience life.” She looked down to Twilight and smiled weakly before continuing. “I don’t know if this helps, but you will likely pass before me, so you’ll never be without me to guide you.”

Twilight hugged Celestia with all her might. This was a lot to process, and she was right; she was a bit relieved to know she’d never have to live without Celestia. She didn’t care if it sounded selfish on the princess’s part, for now she was happy enough.

“I’ll miss you, Celestia. Even if I die before you… I’ll miss you.” Twilight loosened her grip on the princess’s neck and pulled back a bit.

“I’ll miss you too, Twilight. You are the most amazing unicorn I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.” Celestia complimented as she turned to look down at the purple mare, their faces barely a foot apart.

For a while they just looked into each others eyes, letting everything sink in. The air around them seemed to grow thick and tense as it slowly dawned on them how close they really were. The princess unfurled her wing to cover the unicorn and smiled. They both knew what was about to happen, their feelings unable to be hidden any longer. Twilight’s eyes flashed to Celestia’s muzzle almost too fast to notice. Celestia slowly lowered her head, while her companion slowly raised hers. The gap between them was quickly closing and first contact only a scant couple seconds away.

“Princess Celestia!” The door burst open as a Lunar Stallion accompanied by a Solar Guard came inside. The princess and Twilight both jumped at the interruption. Twilight thought she saw a very faint flame dance on Celestia’s horn before flickering away; it might have been her imagination though.

“Yes, what is it?” Celestia asked through a strained voice.

You were so, so close this time Celestia...

“It’s Princess Luna! There’s something wrong with her. She’s… freezing her part of the castle.” The Lunar Stallion stuttered, completely unprepared for the situation. “Is she… she’s not going to turn into Nightmare Mo—“

“No, she will be fine once I talk to her.” Celestia’s voice was back to her authoritative princess mode. She stood up from the bed and made her way outside her chambers.

“Twilight, why don’t you stay here? I’d hate if anything were to happen to you. And I think you could use some time alone too, no?” She asked as she turned back to the unicorn still occupying her golden bed. A nod was all the reply she got, and needed.

“Guards, please have Luna’s wing of the castle cleared.” The guard ponies exchanged nervous glances as Celestia’s bedroom door shut behind her. “It is only a formality; I can handle whatever it is she’s doing. Now please, go.” And with that, they left to their appointed task, leaving a lone princess in the corridor.

Celestia’s walk to Luna’s wing of the castle was full of many, racing thoughts..

Was it right to tell Twilight everything so soon?

What will I do if Luna can’t learn the sun’s power?

What will I do with my remaining life?

Would I have really kissed Twi—

Before she knew it she was at Luna’s bedroom door. She knew right away what was happening with the icy growth that was starting to spill out into the corridor. It happened when her emotions were too much to handle and she couldn’t find a release.

She hasn’t done this since mother and father died… Celestia thought as she studied the icicles that jutted out of the door at every angle. With a quick flick of magic, she vanished and re-materialized inside her sister’s frozen bedroom. She had to admit, her sister’s work had been quite beautiful when not created out of despair. The crystals in the ice reflected her every angle across the entire room in little pieces as they reflected off of each other. The princess of the night was on her bed, staring out the window she had somehow managed to not freeze or shatter.

“Luna? It’s me…” Celestia whispered in the most caring tone she could manage. She took a few slow steps toward her sister’s bed, shattering the beautiful, minute ice-crystals that covered the floor. “Are you alright, dear sister?”

“You know We are not…” Luna blinked, not taking her gaze from the window. Her older sister glanced outside, noting it was quite dark by now.

“If you’d like…” Celestia started, still using her caring voice. “I could take care of the moon for you, just for tonight?”

Luna’s response was her eyes glancing over to her sister for a moment before muttering a flat “No.”

“Lulu, please. Let us talk about this.” Celestia took another step towards the bed. Luna slowly huffed and lazily got to her hooves and stopping in front of her older sibling. Her heavy eyes scanned her sister for a few silent moments before leaping forward and embracing Celestia in a crushing embrace.

“It’s not fair Tia! It’s just not fair! I just barely got back!” Luna bawled into her sister’s coat. Celestia rubbed her sisters back in a comforting motion and wrapped her wings around her in support. How can she leave me like this...

“It’s going to be alright Lulu. We’ve been through everything together… we can get through this. I love you.”

“I love you too, big sis."

Celestia's Bucket List

by Brony2893

1. What is happening to me?

2. Where am I?

3. Where did the time go?

4. How could this happen to me?