Interlude III - Luna

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The train hissed as it pulled into Canterlot station, and Luna smiled down at Fleur's peaceful face. She watched her partner and lover slumber for a few moments before leaning in and gingerly kissing her cheek. "Wake up, my love." She whispered softly, rousing Fleur from her slumber. The detour to Horseshoe Bay meant that the return trip to Canterlot would take a full six hours – twice the normal length. Thus, Luna had indulged and bought them a sleeper cabin. Despite her many entreaties, Fleur, refused to sleep on the tiny bed without her, so Luna had resigned to sitting near the end with Fleur's head on her legs.

'She really is cute when she starts pouting though.' Luna thought as she looked down upon the slowly-waking face of the one pony that was even half as close to her as her older sister. Fleur had fallen asleep as soon as her body hit the small bed, and she had slumbered peacefully through the entire trip. 'I'll tease her about her light snoring later...'

"Hmm," Fleur stirred, her eyes fluttering behind her lids. She finally opened them with a few bleary blinks, looking up at Luna groggily. "Are we here?"

"We are indeed," Luna nodded, kissing the tip of Fleur's horn gingerly. "Come now, it's time to go home."

"But I don't wanna," Fleur pouted cutely. Sensing that the pout would not work a second time, she gave a mighty yawn and pulled herself begrudgingly away from Luna's embrace. She stretched as best she could in the cramped sleeper car before nodding to Luna. "When can I see you again?"

"We just spent a full - and very tiring - weekend together," Luna teased, following her love as they stood. "You want to see me again so soon?"

"After the weekend we just had, can you blame me?" Fleur quipped, blushing a little. "I... I just don't want to go another month without seeing you."

"Trust me, Fleur, neither do I. Tell you what, since you're so adamant about seeing me again, how about dinner this Wednesday? It will give us both a chance to rest up, and I'm sure you have social obligations to fulfill between now and then.

"Ooh..." Fleur grimaced with realization. "I put off a meeting with the Acquisitions Committee's secretary to attend the expo, so she'll probably want to see me as soon as possible.”

"See?" Luna quipped, kissing Fleur's ear and eliciting a cute groan in return. "I have my own duties to tend to as well. I'll see you Wednesday."

"It's a date." Fleur giggled, leaning forward to gingerly press their lips together. Luna sighed into the sweet touch, feeling Fleur's passionate appreciation for her company. 'She seems thankful just to be near me.' Luna mused as her lips continued their delicate dance against Fleur's. 'Not that I mind the attention, but...' Her thoughts trailed off as her mind replayed the events of the previous weekend – from the hushed conversations in the showers to the scintillating sessions in full view of hundreds of ponies.

Luna had learned more than she expected to about Fleur's real feelings and motivations, and those of some of her subjects’ as well. Aurora's response to their passionate displays of affection was proof enough that the regular ponies of Equestria might not mind one of their Princesses being in a relationship.

Their lips parted, and for a second, they stared at each other. In that moment, they were neither socialite or Princess; they were simply two mares with a healthy taste for BDSM, and hearts yearning to close the only gap that seemed to exist between them.

"Goodbye, Luna."

"Goodbye, Fleur." Luna smiled as Fleur slipped out of their cabin and and began making her way towards the exit at the far end of the car, where her luggage would be waiting for her. 'Ten bits says she'll go home, have a glass of wine, and go right back to bed' Luna chuckled as she watched Fleur exit the car.

'I suppose I have things to attend to as well...' Luna's horn glimmered softly as she cast a cloaking spell on herself before quietly slipping out of the other door to the train car. The brief flight to the castle was invigorating, and she sighed contentedly as she stretched her wings out for the first time in what felt like weeks

"Aah, home at last..." Luna landed on her balcony, sighing as the cloaking spell dissipated. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scents of scented candles and age-old books that wafted from her tidy but welcoming room. 'I'll have to enjoy my room later...' she thought as she crossed the room to the bedroom door. 'Duty calls.'

Luna entered the hallway and immediately began looking for somepony to question; Celestia could be awfully sneaky when she wanted to be, and Luna did not feel like searching the castle all day for her elder sister. Thankfully, there was a guard patrolling the hallway who informed her her sister was currently taking lunch alone in her quarters. Luna smiled and made for her sister's room, greeting guards and servants alike on her way there. She was cheery and smiling, happy to be back.

It seemed she was the only one happy to be back, however. Everywhere she went, whispers of doubt and worry permeated the air. Everypony seemed to be worried about the changeling attack, and Luna was getting some very concerning looks from a few of the guards. She tried to shrug them off, but their disapproving glares remained in the back of her head, nagging at her. By the time she arrived at Celestia's quarters, her cheery smile had morphed into a fairly grumpy scowl.

"Enter," The door swung open before she could even knock. Luna sighed inwardly and crossed the threshold, spotting Celestia with a cup of tea at the lone table in her bedroom.

"Hello, sister."

"Hello to you, Luna, and welcome back. Please, join me?"

"Certainly." Luna took the seat opposite her sister, sparing a moment to glance around the room. Celestia's private quarters had always been rather... Utilitarian. Luna had really only been here a hoof-full of times over the years, and each time she noticed only one small change to the room from her previous visit. This time, that small change came in the form of a small but colorful rug that now sat at the entrance to the restroom. Celestia calmly sipped at her tea, the remnants of her breakfast still on the table before her. Luna continued to quietly observe the room, allowing Celestia time to finish her meal.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Celestia asked firstly. Luna smiled at the question. 'That she even bothered to ask means she at least cares... Unlike half of the ponies I've encountered so far today.' Still, Luna knew her sister's verbal quirks, and she could see immediately that this was a loaded question.

"I did, actually. Trottingham was beautiful, and both Fleur and I enjoyed ourselves.” She responded calmly, but carefully.

"That's good. I'm glad." Celestia smiled, though it quickly withered into a stoic look, one that Luna was unfortunately familiar with. It was the same face Celestia wore when first meeting somepony important, or when contemplating a very serious chain of events. Luna's expression mirrored hers as Celestia seemed to stare her down. A kind of tension that she hadn't felt in ages was quickly building between the two sisters. At long last, Celestia spoke once more. "I needed you, Luna."

"You said you'd be fine." Luna returned. "I came to you immediately after the Changeling attack to discuss the issue of my attendance at the expo. You were adamant that you, dear sister, were better suited for this sort of situation. And with Cadance and Shining Armor on standby, you could withstand any follow-up attacks." Luna softly waved a hoof to emphasize her point.

"I felt bad about leaving at such a time, but you seemed happy to let me go..." Her expression turned dour once again. "Now though, I'm not so sure. You seem almost angry that I left at all."

"I understand what I said, but it was a mistake… Just like your leaving was a mistake." Celestia frowned intently, setting her tea cup down. "Luna, do you understand what you've done?"

"Yes, I do. I left you to handle the bulk of the fallout from this heinous act of aggression." Luna countered. "Which as you made very clear, is something you seem better suited for, I might add."

"I sincerely doubt that." Celestia glanced to the side as a servant pony peeked her head inside. Seeing the empty plates, she bustled forwards and gathered them quickly, as if she sensed the tension in the air. Celestia and Luna remained quiet until she departed, their gazes never once wandering from the other. Luna spoke only once the servant pony had cleared the table and left.

"We discussed this, Celestia. I asked your permission to go, as you know I do every year. I even told you if you wanted me to remain, all you had to do was ask and I gladly would. Luna softened her expression just a bit. "We've just seen the first act of open aggression against Equestria since Sombra's reign, and I would have gladly stood by you to weather this storm, despite my personal feelings on the matter."

"No." Celestia shook her head immediately. "We will not eradicate the changelings. End of discussion."

"But if we just-"

"We will not!" Celestia snapped, her eyes flaring a little. Luna felt her hackles raise as Celestia stared her down. "Equestria has been victimized! We are the martyrs right now! It was our ponies who suffered, our capital city that was attacked! For the first time in as long as I can remember, we are on the receiving end of sympathy! The gryphons have even sent a large contingent of their best engineers and construction workers to help us rebuild! Tell me, Lulu, when was the last time a griffon offered us anything other than the end of their spears in our necks?!" Celestia's voice dropped considerably. "We will not retaliate, Luna. Not this time... Not again."

"Fine." Luna huffed. "But you see then why I requested to leave. I'd just as soon have followed Chrysalis out of the city and ended them once and for all. I will turn the other cheek as you have instructed, dear sister, but pray that I never catch sight or sound of a Changeling ever again." Luna's eyes brimmed with energy just then, a match for the underlying current of power between her and Celestia. "If I do, the only thing that will be turning will be their necks." Their eyes locked once more, the two of them staring at the other intently. Celestia spoke once more, her tone cautious but resolute.

"I still needed you here, Luna. Not running off with some recently-divorced, desperate hussy-"

"Watch it." Luna growled.

"Watch what? My sister run off with some unicorn to have a weekend of depraved sex?!" Celestia countered. She rose to her hooves, and Luna followed suit. Only the table stood between them now. "Leaving to remove yourself from the conflict I can understand, Luna, but this?! A... A conference on exhibitionism and submission?! Do you really think that's the most appropriate thing to be doing right now?"

"I advise you to choose your next words very carefully, Celestia..." Luna barely got the words out through her tightly-clenched jaw. Her entire body seemed to hum with barely restrained power.

"I do not mean to insult Fleur, that was a mistake." Celestia admitted huffily. "But I honestly don't think going to Trottingham - for any reason - was the best course of action. I thought that you would remain in Canterlot, perhaps in your room or even at Fleur's home. I had counted on you staying close at-hoof, so that I might request your input should I need it. And need it I did." Celestia lowered herself to a seated position in an attempt to ease the tension in the room, if only by a few degrees.

"With what?" Luna returned, lowering to her own haunches. Her outer expression softened a bit, but inside, Luna was still seething. 'How dare she bring Fleur into this?! And what help could she possibly want from me?'

"Well, regarding the Changelings, I suppose I already received my answer." Celestia sighed. "I wanted to know what your input on the situation was. The gryphons, it seems, share your sentiment; they were willing to provide their fastest outrunners to chase down Chrysalis and the remnants of her horde."

"Hhmph." Luna grunted. "It would seem that they have more sense than we give them credit for." Luna expected another pithy retort from her sister, but received nothing more than a quick scowl.

"Cadance and Shining had just married, though. They remained behind, refusing to take their honeymoon, just to help protect us." Celestia sighed. "And now, this..."

"This what?" Luna arched an eyebrow. Celestia looked up at her, her eyes glimmering faintly. What she said next nearly stopped Luna's heart.

"The Crystal Kingdom has returned."

"No..." Luna breathed. "That's impossible."

"I thought so myself at first, but it has been confirmed. Cadance and Shining Armor left as soon as I received the initial report, and sent this a few days after they arrived." Celestia's horn glowed as she hovered forth a small sheaf of paper. She shuffled through the sheets before removing a large envelope that had already been opened. Luna withdrew the letter within at Celestia's insistence, and began reading cautiously. Her eyebrows rose higher and higher the further she read down the page.

"That's... I never imagined."

"It appears Sombra's curse wasn't permanent.” Celestia replied. “We'll get more information from them as this develops."

"I'll leave immediately." Luna rose up, nodding to Celestia. "To make it up to you for the changeling attack."

"No." Celestia cut her off. Luna paused, feeling the tension return to her counterpart's voice. "You and I will remain here. There are some things we need to hash out ourselves before we're able to help anypony else."

"What do you mean?" Luna sat down once more, albeit cautiously. Celestia sighed and leaned forwards.

"I mean your attachment to Fleur."

Luna stared incredulously at her sister. "I fail to see how-"

"Hear me out." Celestia cut her off curtly, frowning at Luna. "You told me how it was you first came to the conclusion that Chrysalis had infiltrated the castle, captured Cadance, and was actively impersonating her, right?"

"Right… Well, I didn’t know it was Chrysalis specifically." Luna said cautiously.

"Tell me, Luna, how do you think things would have turned out had you confronted her as soon as you discovered her deception?" Luna's heart nearly jumped into her throat at Celestia's question. She knew why she did not act in that moment, but under hindsight's cruel gaze, her reasons quickly withered into flimsy excuses.

"I was afraid she might escape, or worse, harm Shining Armor to deter me from attacking."

"I sincerely doubt that." Celestia frowned. "Your tracking magic is better than even my own, and I've seen your defensive spells hold entire legions at bay... You could have easily shielded Shining Armor from harm and kept that overgrown bug from escaping the castle."

'Oh, back-hoofed compliments, is it?' Luna mused. 'Two can play that game, sister.

"That may be true, Tia, but you do realize that she completely fooled the most powerful unicorn in the entire Royal Guard, right? And you are the sun incarnate, the only pony to ever wield all of the Elements of Harmony at once. Surely, you should have been able to stop one single Changeling with an inferiority complex and a sick taste for playing dress-up."

"Luna..." Celestia sighed. "Did it ever occur to you exactly how our magic works in an encounter of that magnitude? Do you remember Saddle Arabia? The rebellion?"

"I remember." Luna said cautiously.

"And do you remember how we turned much of their kingdom into the same sand that it was built upon?"

"Right..."

"We did that together, Lulu. And do you remember when you went alone to look into the reports of zebra magic being used to bolster their forces? How difficult it was for you to defend yourself long enough to escape?"

"I remember." Luna's frown intensified. “Get to the point, Tia.”

"My point, Lulu, is that when we're separated, we're weaker." Celestia concluded. "Because you were skulking in the basement, I was not able to call upon the combined power that your presence would have afforded the both of us, and as a result, Chrysalis was able to defeat me. Had you been there, by my side, things might have ended in favor of your more... Barbaric tactics."

"Alright, so..." Luna sighed and closed her eyes. "You think we're weaker when we're separated?"

"I know it." Celestia nodded. "I put my all into subduing Chrysalis, and she beat me using only Shining Armor's love. Granted, his love for Cadance is powerful, but even the strongest of loves is nothing compared to our power to literally command the sun and the moon.” Celestia shook her head solemnly. "I should have been able to defeat her. COULD have been able to defeat her, were you by my side."

"Alright, so I may have made a mistake." Luna looked back at her sister. "Had I confronted Chrysalis immediately, I might have been able to get the jump on her and end the threat prematurely... But what of the other changelings?"

"Outside of the barrier.” Celestia quipped dismissively. “With Shining Armor's lucidity returned, we might have been able to take Chrysalis hostage and use her as leverage to make the changelings stand down and leave Equestria for good. Failing that, they'd still have lost their leader to a life sentence in the dungeons."

"How was I to know the rest of them were outside of the shield?” Luna replied defensively. “You know the saying, 'one-by-one, your families fall... Where there's one changeling, you've got them all.' For all I knew, Shining himself could have been a changeling, or the guards who permitted me down that corridor, or any number of ponies attending the ceremony."

"With Chrysalis subdued, they wouldn't have been able to do anything. Remember, Changelings exist as a hive-mind. We control their queen, we control the horde."

"But there was no way of telling if the one impersonating Cadance was even Chrysalis! That could have easily been a simple drone, while Chrysalis may have been impersonating the guard at the foot of your throne!" Luna complained. At that much, Celestia frowned.

"Well, you have a point. Still, I'd like to know what it was that made you hesitate in the first place. In any other circumstance, I'd have expected you to vaporize the changeling on the spot, then begin asking questions later." Celestia raised a hoof directly at Luna. "Yet you ran... You took Fleur and ran to the basement like a scared filly. What I want to know, dear sister,” Celestia leaned across the table, her eyes dancing with meaning. “Is why."

"I..." Luna faltered. Celestia had just found the chink in her armor, and she wasn't about to let this one go. With a sigh, Luna hung her head. "I was afraid the changeling would escape, or somehow capture and impersonate Fleur... Even though it'd be a fake, I couldn't... I couldn't have brought myself to-"

"She's a weakness, Luna." Celestia said simply. Anger, shame, and denial boiled in her blood instantly, and Luna had to grit her teeth to hold herself back.

Celestia gestured with a hoof. "Your attachment to Fleur is your weakness. I know for a fact you have very few weaknesses, Luna, but look… One threat where she might have been used against you, and you're incapacitated. While you were in the basement, I was subdued, and Canterlot was very nearly overrun!

“Shining Armor and Cadance won't be around forever.” Celestia continued, leaning back a little. “They can't; they've already been called away to handle this whole Crystal Kingdom ordeal. We cannot rely on them should the changelings bolster their forces and attack again. I need you here, Luna." Celestia's voice wavered slightly. "I can't handle another attack like that. Not alone."

Celestia's point hit Luna like a velvet-wrapped hammer; the words were not said in malice, but they shattered her heart just the same. Luna's eyes brimmed with tears, and despite her efforts to the contrary, a pair of tears escaped, tracing long streaks down her muzzle. 'She's not just my co-ruler, she's my sister too... The only other pony who's lived as long as I have...'

The tears reached the end of her muzzle and fell to the tile floor below, their landing sounding more like breaking crystals than a simple patter. 'I cannot alienate her again. Not like this. But what of my feelings? My own desires?'

"Celestia," Luna pleaded. "You know I cannot just leave her-"

"You can, Luna." Celestia sniffled, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "Trust me, Lulu, you can, and you must."

"No!" Luna cried, her voice barely together now. "You ask too much! I... I can't just leave Fleur. I care for her!" Luna's lower lip trembled. "I love her, Tia!"

"Luna," Celestia sighed, leaning in close. "I know this hurts, but you must not fall in love with anypony..."

"But why?!" Luna countered as she fought sobs with every word. "What part of the royal protocol forbids me from loving another pony? Or, do you wish me to be even more cold and heartless than I already am?!"

"That's just the way it is, Luna!” Celestia replied quickly. “Strong emotional attachments to anypony are a weakness for the both of us. They can interfere with our judgement, or make us easier to exploit. Say that Chrysalis had taken Fleur prisoner, and demanded her as ransom to avoid a war. What choice would you expect me to—"

"NO!" Luna surged to her hooves and dove over the table in a blind rage, pinning her sister to the ground beneath her hooves. Luna's eyes were white with fury, her coat crackling with raw energy.

"You will do no such thing!" she roared at Celestia, who merely stared up at her enraged younger sister, and the growing blackness that enveloped the air around her. Luna shifted her weight forward, peering down into Celestia's eyes with pure, unadulterated rage. "I will NOT allow her to be used in such a way! Not by Chrysalis, and certainly not by you!"

Wings flared and teeth bared, small arcs of lightning lit up Luna's mane as she leaned into Celestia's face, her voice growing as cold and unforgiving as the moon itself. "I will bring down the heavens themselves to destroy this entire city before a hair on her head is touched!"

"Will you?!" Celestia replied, using her magic to project her voice through the maelstrom around her. "Will you really do it, Luna? Destroy the entire city? All of Equestria?" She stared directly into Luna's white-hot eyes. "What if I had to choose between Fleur or a thousand dead innocents? Would you destroy me too?!"

"I... I... AHH!" Luna's magic stuttered for a second, then flickered out, and she collapsed on the ground next to Celestia. Silence overtook the small room, save for the gut-wrenching sobs from Luna. Celestia slowly shuffled to her hooves and wrapped her younger sister in her wings, speaking low and quiet.

"You cannot go on like this. Look at yourself. You attacked me at the mere mention of losing her." Celestia wrapped her forelegs around her, drawing a quivering Luna into her embrace. Luna stiffly leaned into it, still quivering with anger and rage. Celestia tenderly stroked her mane, speaking softly. "I hate to see you like this, Luna... And I know she's going to pass one way or another. You're going to be alone before you know it, Luna... What then? Will you react like this?" Celestia whispered the next, making Luna shudder. "Or will you let the Nightmare turn your grief and sorrow against you once more?"

Luna broke down into tears. She sobbed into her sister's mane, desperately clutching her as she cried. Celestia held her close, stroking her hair ever so softly. Luna cried until she had no more tears, until her eyes were red and she felt more exhausted than she had in millenia. Celestia spoke only after a long while.

"Do you understand why I ask these things?"

"But..." Luna whimpered. "I can't just leave her... I... I care so much for her. You see the state I'm in..."

"I do Luna, I do. Heavens help me, I've never seen you happier than you’ve been the past few months..." Celestia sighed. "But you don't want to be involved with her when she passes... Trust me-"

"Trust you? Celestia, you've never loved anypony the way I love Fleur... Y– You've just sat here alone for the past thousand years. How could you possibly know what I'm going through?"

"Haven't I?" Celestia arched an eyebrow. Luna swallowed a lump in her throat. 'Don't tell me... did she really?' Celestia pulled away with another soft sigh. "I've loved as you have, Luna... Several times, in fact. Believe me, I know the painful sting of loss."

"You mean..." Luna sniffled. "You've... Been intimate?"

"I wouldn't be the pony I am today without having done so." Celestia nodded solemnly. "Yes, I have. I won't say I'm as... Experienced as you are, but I am just as much a pony as you. I experience love, lust, and desire, just the same as anypony. I've had my dalliances in the past..." Her face fell, betraying a painful memory. Luna could feel her heart throb in her chest intensely.

"I too have loved as you have... I've known the intimate touch of another, how intensely you can care for them when they're in your hooves, so alive and eager, looking at you pleadingly, like you're the only thing in the world to them. They trust you, Luna. They trust you so implicitly to never leave them... And we never do. But they will leave us. Even if they never left our sides for even a second, they will one day leave us as alone as we were before we met them." Celestia shuddered as tears of her own fell from her muzzle and landed on Luna's shoulder.

Luna gazed up at her elder sister's tear-stained face and felt even the pieces of her heart break anew. "Who was it?"

"Her name was Ribbon. She was a talented dancer, and a magnificent spellcaster. She performed with the Canterlot Ballet… We met at a reception that the crown held to commemorate the ballet’s fiftieth season.” Celestia’s eyes took on a distant look, as if she were gazing back through time itself. In a way, she really was.

“I loved her dearly, and she filled a gap in my heart, one that I thought I wouldn't be able to fill until your return. She took my quiet suffering into her hooves and held it there, made it a part of herself... In that way, I wasn't alone. I had somepony to go to, somepony to hold and to whisper my fears and worries to..." Celestia shuddered again, her breath shaking as she drew it in. Luna thought she would break down, but Celestia swallowed and managed to compose herself...

If only for a moment.

"And then she died." Celestia choked, the tears flowing freely now. Her lip trembled, and Luna could feel her pain with each sob. "What happened?" Luna asked quietly.

"Over the millennia, we have lost so many ponies to war, famine, and disease, especially in the early days. Thankfully, Ribbon's end was peaceful and serene..." Celestia continued to sob, wiping a hoof over her swollen eyes. She only coaxed more tears, her face stained with them now.

"She just passed away of old age after a long life that was well-lived. I saw it coming, but when she left, I was... I..." Celestia broke down then, collapsing to the floor with a choked-off sob. She managed to stammer a few words.

"It felt worse than when I sent you away!"

Luna shifted out of her elder sister's grasp, and instead drew the larger alicorn into her own wings. In that moment, the moon eclipsed the sun as Celestia shrank into Luna's embrace, sobbing more than she had ever seen in all her years.

There the two sisters sat for a while, two hearts as broken and bare as the masks that lay in the wreckage of their emotions. One mourned anew a love already lost, while the other mourned a love whose time was quickly coming to its end.

Luna stared blankly around the room as she held onto her sister, their still unsteady breathing the only other sound in the room.

"Tragic, is it not?" Luna asked. "As Princesses, we are tasked with loving everything and everypony for eternity..."

A final tear ran down her cheek.

"Yet we cannot really love anything, can we?"