"You know," Princess Celestia said to her younger sister, "when you told me you were going to Ponyville to visit Twilight Sparkle and practice modern grammar with her, I expected you would deviate from that plan a bit. I did not expect you to render your guards unconscious, take off into the Everfree Forest, and come here to our ancient castle, of all places."

"Let us practice now," said the bedraggled, red-eyed Princess Luna. "There are some things you canno- can't- predict. You are not omniscient."

"Please don't mock me," Celestia said, reaching out to tenderly brush a stray lock of mane out of Luna's face. She flinched, but did not back off or turn away. "It already hurts enough to see you like this. Will you please just tell me why?"

"I am sorry for mocking thee," she said with genuine contrition. "'Tis a lowly thing, one of the vices I am prone to. If thou wishest me to work on my shortcomings, however, thou shouldst also be working on thy weaknesses."

"Luna, we were talking about why you're out here all alone, not about how weak you think I am."

"I am not out here alone. I have made a friend already."

"You have?" Celestia asked, her eyes widening a tiny fraction.

"Do not sound so shocked," Luna said, huffing and turning her head to the side. "I happen to be a very likable pony."

"Actually, I completely agree. I'm happy for you, truly, but again- why did you leave?"

"Art thou sure thou wouldst know?" Questioned Luna, turning back to look into her sibling's eyes. Celestia's face dropped a little at the gloominess of the question, but she nodded, so Luna went on, choosing her words carefully and deliberately. "Well, before I say, I want to make one thing absolutely clear. My love for thee is unconditional. It is the deepest emotion I have ever experienced, and no fear, rage, hate, romance, jealousy, or friendship has come close. I am so happy to have had the chance to be with thee again." She paused, and Celestia nodded in understanding, then urged her to continue.

"Dost thou remember how I said that I have been away from our subjects for so long, and how I need to go out into the world and apply the lessons of friendship for their, and my, benefit? I also said that they needed to know their sovereign, and that I needed to know them. That was all true, but it was a layer of cake frosting on a pile of steaming refuse. The heart of it is that my envy of thee grows day by day, and with it so does my anger and depression.

"Thou art so full of grace and beauty and love, while I struggle simply to avoid making a fool of myself, or worse. Let me clarify, though. I am used to these emotions. I have dealt with them for so long that they are nearly a part of me. The reason I am out here is to put an end to them, to make them gone. And they are gone when I am out in the field, sleeping under thy sun and feasting on the wild grasses. They are gone when I am planning a journey or concocting a strategy. They are gone when I meet an enemy in battle and lay them low. They are gone when I am saving others. In short, they are gone when I am doing something more important with my life than galas and petty politics.

"If I do these things enough, I believe I shall be able to halt the rise of all the nasty feelings I have toward thee, or perhaps even overcome them completely. All I know for sure is that I shall accomplish nothing of the sort by staying with thee in Canterlot."

Celestia was silent, stunned and contemplative. Luna matched the silence, slightly worried about what her sister would say, but still surprisingly calm. It had felt so good to finally say those things to her directly.

"So you want to be the hero again," Celestia said slowly. "And you want to run away from me and your government in the process. Take care where you're running, Luna. Look at these old ruins around you. This place has changed much, but you know we both remember it quite clearly."

"Do not dare twist my words, sister," said Luna, her wings spreading out sharply with a gust of cold, musty air. "That will never happen again."

"Maybe not, but what if something worse happens? What if you die?"

"I would rather die right now loving thee," Luna said quietly, lowering her head and closing her eyes wearily. "Than live forever hating thee."

Celestia bowed her head as well, resting it on top of Luna's with their horns crossing. "What is it you want me to do, dear sister?" She whispered. "Do you want me to go away and ignore you? I can't do that. You're still a Princess of Equestria, and you are so important here. This country needs us both almost as much as I need you."

"Let us not worry about that now," Princess Luna retorted. "Everything always has to be a plan with thee. I do not even know how long thou hadst been engineering events for my return, or how far ahead thou hast plotted thy contingencies. By the stars, I can practically see all of those wheels spinning even now. Celestia, they are all dust in the wind. Tonight is what is important."

"Are you lecturing me? I thought that was my job."

"I am only an amateur. Thou art still much better at it than me."

The two of them shared a laugh which seemed to lower the temperature of the air by several degrees.

"Speaking of which..." Luna drew back from her sister's embrace and stood straight up. She balanced herself with her outstretched wings and brought her fore hooves up to her face as she bounced left and right on her hind hooves. A mocking but challenging fighting stance. "Thou art going to become even softer without me around. Better to get as much practice in as possible now."

"Oh Luna," Celestia said with a kindly smile. "You know I can't do that. I've already been gone for so long looking for you, there are probably petitioners lined up from the audience chamber all the way to Ponyville. Perhaps another-" POW.

In mid-sentence, Princess Celestia bounded forward with blinding speed and shoulder checked Luna in the gut, sending her flying off the ruined balcony they had been perched on.

"That is it!" Luna shouted as she cackled and started flying around the tower. She lifted her crown off of her head and throwing it down to her older sister. "Improvise!" Celestia caught it in her teeth, then took her own crown off with her hooves, setting them both down on the tower before leaping into the dark, clear evening sky herself.

Luna halted her circling and executed a quick flip to reverse her course, sending her body hurtling into Celestia's. The impact sent them spiraling sideways in the air like a funnel cloud as they grappled for position with each other. Hooves pressed against faces and limbs as their wings flapped frantically. Seeing an opening, Luna thrust out a quick jab right into Celestia's muzzle, then took advantage of the split-second stun to wrap around behind and get her sister in a head lock. Before she could even start to squeeze, however, she realized she was hurtling rapidly toward the ground, having been flipped straight over Celestia's shoulders with a powerful toss.

Instead of trying to stay in the air, Luna tucked up her body and braced for the impact. She slammed into the earth, creating a small crater in one of the stone pathways surrounding the keep. She executed a perfect roll to minimize the damage to her body and then sprang to her feet. Celestia was streaking down straight at her, hooves outstretched, which her younger sister met precisely with her own. The sharp crack of their meeting sent waves of pain through their entire skeletons. Luna used the downward momentum to allow herself to fall onto her back. She left another painful crater, but at the same time reared her hind legs up and swung a strong kick at Celestia's exposed underside. Instead of letting her fly upwards from the force, however, Luna grabbed Celestia's hooves and put her whole body into a huge horizontal toss of her own. The larger white-coated Princess sped along the dirt and stone for dozens of yards, dirtying her greatly and making the soft, shimmering colors of her mane and tail begin to flow in all directions, knocked completely out of their perfectly-combed locks.

Tiny bits of blood were trickling from their nostrils and lips as the two royals circled each other from the great distance.

"I had forgotten how liberating this could be," Luna spoke in between ragged breaths. Her lungs were definitely going to bruise from this. "Out here, I can cry and scream and let everything out. I do not have to bottle up and always make sure I am wearing the proper face and speaking in the proper voice. I can make my own propriety!"

"Luna dear," Celestia said, her own breathing a little labored as well. “You’re making the mistake of giving me time to think.”

"And what art thou thinking?" Luna asked as she carefully closed the gap between them.

"I'm thinking that you're too tired and injured to win."

"My goal is not to win," said Luna as she used her wings to give herself a final burst of speed and wind up a huge haymaker kick at Celestia's face. She sidestepped the blow just in time, then delivered a quick one-two kick in response. Luna's lithe, lanky body flowed around the counters, then her elbow rammed into Celestia's shoulder. She winced, but then stepped in close to strike Luna's side powerfully. They stayed pressed tight and close for several minutes, pummeling each other in the side and stomach with increasing ferocity. They very nearly crossed the line from sparring to outright combat.

Eventually, Celestia took such a huge risk that Luna was too stunned to capitalize on it. She raised both her fore legs high into the air, completely exposing her belly, then brought the hooves together and sent them crashing down onto the top of Luna's head. Luna hit the ground again, with several inches of rebound from the rocky grass.

"Then what is it?" Celestia asked while panting hard.

Luna leaped up with a feint uppercut. As soon as she saw which way Celestia dodged, her rear legs swung around and up, crunching against Celestia's chest. While the older sister was reeling, the younger jumped on top of her, knocking her onto the ground. Luna scrambled to try to get in a pinning position. After several minutes of intense struggle, she finally succeeded. Her feathered wings were set at full length and her whole body was twitching with barely-contained fury as she held Celestia to the ground.

"My goal is to hit thee," she said, causing a stream of spittle and blood to drop out of her mouth and mar what little purity there was left in Celestia's white coat. "Hard."

Celestia responded by ramming her forehead upward into Luna's skull. She couldn't quite break free of the pin even then, likely because the sudden blow had intensified her younger sibling's wild, dark, bloody visage and the freakish strength that came with it.

"Surrender. Now." Luna demanded in a voice that shook the rubble around them. While she waited for a response, she didn't notice that Celestia had unfolded her wings, at least not until it was too late. With a single, mighty backwards flap, the pair was tipping the opposite direction and the situation was completely reversed. Just before Luna could hit the ground with her back though, Celestia spun her around to land on her stomach, while keeping hold of her two front legs. Luna's shoulders nearly popped out of position as the elder Princess held her in place with one knee on her back.

"Who-" she said in between gasps for air, her limbs shaking from exertion, "is soft - now!?"

Luna's horn suddenly began to glow, as did Celestia's hooves in the same light blue color. With a single telekinetic yank, she was on her stomach as well, landing hard enough on Luna to knock the wind out of both of them.

"You cheated," Celestia groaned after she collected her breath, not moving another muscle.

"All is fair in love and war," was what Luna said, or something like that. Her voice was muffled from being buried several inches into the dirt.

"Ugh, what an- ouch- atrocious saying. What does that -ack - even mean?"

"It means that the objectives are so important- herk- that little care can be taken as to the means, if necessary."

"Objectives?" Celestia said disgustedly, coughing up a small gout of blood. "What are the 'objectives' of love?"

Luna was silent for a long time, during which she turned her head to try to ease the burning in her lungs. It helped little, since they were battered, perhaps even punctured, and she had inhaled some dirt and stone besides. It was nice to be able to see her bright star-studded sky though, even if it was through only one good eye and a fraction of a bruised one. "I will get back to thee on that..." she said finally.

"Please do," Celestia whispered, finally summoning up enough energy to roll off of Luna's body and onto the sweet, soft grass. And a few sharp pebbles, but she paid them little mind. With a grateful gasp, Luna rolled over as well, so that now the two were next to each other, resting supine and gazing far above.

"And it is the old Luna that believed that anyway," said the Princess of the Night, watching and helping the full moon tick slowly across the arc of the sky. “Not me.” She sighed and stretched out with a protracted yelp, but she had to make sure everything was set and healing properly. "Truly, I shall miss thee, despite my earlier harsh words. I know what I said was hurtful, but sometimes there is no other way to tell the truth. Understand that I was not attempting to be nasty merely to cast barbs upon thee."

"Shh," Celestia responded, doing the same stretching that Luna had with just as much noise. "I am hurt, it's true, but you don't have to explain the sometimes-terrible necessity of telling the truth to me. I was honored you trusted me enough, actually, and glad to hear how you really felt, even if it wasn't all positive."

They both attempted to say more, but their severe injuries fully caught up with them at the same moment. Besides, they also realized that most of their words just now had been superfluous anyway. They had said all they truly needed to say with their kicks and strikes during the battle, and so they rested.

It took several hours of wordless but not noiseless healing before the two of them were well enough to stand. Luna stood up first and gallantly offered her hooves to help Celestia up. She took them gratefully, and they looked at each other quietly for a few minutes, each contemplating how terrible they both looked.

“If you're going to miss me so much,” said Princess Celestia, “why not write me occasionally? Perhaps- once a week?”

“So help me,” Luna replied, rolling her eyes, “if thou askest me to send thee reports on the magic of friendship, I shall drop a comet on thy head.”

Celestia brushed off the comment with a wave and a laugh. She suddenly remembered something, and unfurled her wings to test them out. Seeing that the pain in her muscles was not excruciating enough to prevent their use, she flew up to the top of the tower they had met on. She brought back down their royal crowns, one golden, one black. She gave Luna the golden one, and in imitation of that nearly-forgotten ritual that had changed their lives forever, the two sisters bowed their heads and slowly set each crown on its owner.

“What art thou going to tell thy soldiers?” said Luna as she rose up and surveyed the tapestry of welts and bruises on her sister.

“Oh, probably that I had to slay a monster or two. That will give them a nice fit. That, and that you're perfectly okay and they no longer need to search for you. Oh, and you really should apologize to Sergeant Heartstrings. He was only doing his job, which is to protect you.”

“Who?”

“The leader of the detachment I sent with you, which you cast a sleep spell on? That was very impressive, by the way. Six trained ponies at once is not easy.”

“Oh right,” Luna said with a proud smile. “Him. I shall be sure to do so. Tell him I shall send a letter, which will have to suffice until I am able to apologize directly.”

“So,” both of them said simultaneously, and spent a few seconds working out who would speak first. It was Celestia.

“I must be going. Thank you for the practice. If you need anything else from me, you know how to find me. Farewell, Princess Luna.”

“Farewell, Princess Celestia.”

Celestia hopped majestically into the air and flew off as quickly as she could. Luna noted with a smirk that she was clutching one of her sides, before realizing that she herself was doing the same.

“I shall get thee for this.”

With that, the battered, broken, but still-proud royal mare stepped back into the keep, where she dispelled her illusion to reveal her ancient chest. Seizing a bit of vine, she fashioned a makeshift rope and then, against the protests of her entire body, hoisted the incredibly weighty object onto her back and tied it to herself. With many strained beats of her wings, she was finally able to lift off. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself above the treeline. The bats of the castle followed her in a black cloud as she flew back towards the road, creating a menacing procession of creatures of the night that no monster of the Forest attempted to molest, at least this time.

About an hour after midnight, Luna's flight brought her to a rustic-looking town she didn't recognize. It was laid out very similarly to Ponyville, except that its central plaza was a huge mosaic of Celestia's cutie mark, and the roads and buildings were all made of brick. The railroad ran close by as well. She was about to continue on her way and ignore their gaudy sun worship when she noticed something was wrong. The buildings were falling apart, and ponies were running out of and between them. And- the ground was shaking! An earthquake!

She dove down as quickly as she could, untying her vine and letting her treasure chest land with a great thump on the grass. She and her small army of bats swooped into the plaza. Several ponies noticed the spectacle- but not enough. Telling her servants to begin circling the square and turning the Canterlot Voice on full blast, she called out.

“Citizens! If you are outside, gather here in the square! If you are inside, wait away from falling objects and windows until we can rescue you! Do not exit the buildings yet!”

As she spoke, she levitated several hunks of brick that were falling off some of the larger buildings, halting them in mid-air over cowering ponies. She kept doing this over and over, until a large portion of the buildings was under her direct control. She kept a great deal of rubble from fully collapsing, but the mental concentration required by this and trying to keep herself upright as the ground shook was straining her faculties. With grim determination, however, she held on as best she could.

“If anypony is in there,” she yelled, describing one of the town's shops that no longer seemed to be falling apart. “Leave at once!”

Three dusty ponies came scrambling out and nearly halted at the fearsome image of the wounded and blood-stained Princess Luna, wreathed in a blue aura along with what must have been half the town. Their fear of the quake was greater, however, so they soon joined her, albeit unsteadily, along with a couple straggling families, tearful mothers, and wailing foals.

Shortly afterward, Luna noticed that the burden of holding the collapsing rubble had lessened slightly. Looking around, she saw that two of the unicorn ponies that had gathered around her had gotten the same idea she had, and now some of the debris was also wreathed in orange or green light. She pointed out several more buildings to evacuate, asking one of her subjects what they were called to make the process easier, and slowly the number of ponies in the square grew. So too did the number of unicorns endeavoring to hold the village together with her. A kaleidoscope of auras lit up the night, and acted as a beacon for more and more terrified residents. The earth continued to shake violently, but thanks to their sturdy hooves and the support of their fellow citizens, the ponies managed to keep from getting injured by falls and other accidents. Some of them even seized opportunities to run into buildings the unicorns had stabilized and rescue the elderly and foals, and those trapped under debris or otherwise unable to move. Luna was impressed, because she was about to order them to do exactly that.

Once all of the ponies in sight had been carried out of danger and into the square, they pressed against each other for support and comfort, looking nervous and worried. The unicorns continued to hold up the rubble for now, just in case anypony was missing. In the meantime, nearly everypony was talking, some about Luna, but most asking around to make sure their loved ones were okay.

“Be silent,” Luna roared at the sky, which accomplished the dual purpose of silencing all the voices and getting them to cower close to the ground, where their balance would be sturdier. “We must perform a head count immediately. The authorities of this town will assist us. Everypony else remain calm and do not move!”

The main earthquake had subsided by then. Aftershocks would likely come, but the mayor used the moment's respite to approach Luna to give the number of inhabitants, a little over one hundred, and then dispatch all of the town's pegasus ponies to help count with her. There appeared to be three missing. Circling the town, they made out no sign of them- until they saw the railroad track. All of the pegasi knew something was wrong, but only Luna could see exactly what- the rails had twisted and bent, and three tough-looking earth ponies were trying desperately to bend them back in place... because a train was approaching in the distance. Seeing that those missing were outside of the village, Luna dropped her levitation spells carefully, and the rest of the unicorns did the same.

“Oh come on,” Luna said in exasperation when she saw how close the train was. She did not mean it literally, but she was surprised and proud that the ten ponies flying with her took it as such and quickly raced alongside her to the track. The tired, grunting earth ponies were shocked at the sight of the new arrivals but did not stop their work until Luna suddenly commanded them to do so.

“What?” one said. “There's a train coming!”

“We know,” replied Luna as she closed her eyes and started to focus a great deal of energy around her horn. “But we have enough power to heat the metal. Stand back for now.”

The metal beams began to glow, first orange, then white. Sparks flew, and all the other ponies gazed in wonder at the image of the Princess that the sparks lit up in a strobe effect. They very nearly mimicked the flowing stars in her mane. Before the metal had cooled at all, Luna put her hooves to it and began to bend the tracks straight and true, with a sickening searing sound and the smell of burning hair, skin, and keratin filling the air. Some of her subjects tried to stop her, but she brushed them off with powerful snaps from her wings and continued to push. The train was close enough for its lights to be seen and its horn to be heard.

When she had magically cooled the metal off enough, she informed the others and they immediately set their hooves to the task. The beams were now pliable enough that they just might make it in time. Encouraged by the thought, they all redoubled their efforts through the pain, because there was not enough time to cool the metal enough to keep it from burning them. They sweated and strained with their whole bodies into the push and with their rear hooves digging deeper and deeper into the earth behind them, even the mighty Princess.

At last, they withdrew once the tracks were straight enough, for the time being. All except for Luna, who required them to be straighter. Were it not for them shouting at her and trying to pull her away, she may well have been run over. Instead, the ponies all swung back with her and landed in a huge pile just as the train passed by. It bumped and slid, but it just barely stayed on its course. There were many ponies staring with amazement and gratitude out of the windows as they whizzed by. The pegasi and earth ponies raised up a cheer, and before she realized what was going on, they had hoisted a wide-eyed Luna onto their backs.

She maintained perfect composure as they carried her back to town, not letting slip the slightest hint that she was in agony. When they sat her down at the gathering of the rest of the settlement, she noticed many more grateful and tearful faces than frightened ones. The fields of their minds had not been furrowed with dread by too many terrible legends about her, it seemed. Her appearance gave many pause, of course, but the mayor strode forward and, to her surprise, bent down to kiss her hoof. With the utmost courtesy she extended it for him, and then he lowered himself onto his knees, as did the rest of the crowd.

“On behalf of the ponies of Starfield,” he said, “I offer our deepest gratitude to you, Your Highness. Thank Celestia you-...” He bit his tongue, sure she was glaring down at him for those words. She was, but she breathed in and out through her nostrils, counted to ten, and then responded.

“No, thou and thy ponyfolk are right to thank Celestia. She has sewn the seeds of thy valor in this soil, and tonight all of us tended those plants until they blossomed and bore fruit. All of you are exemplars of what ponies should be.”

“Nevertheless,” he went on, continuing to bow deeply, “it is you we should thank most, Princess Luna. Please, let us tend to your injuries.”

“Nay,” she said. “Our only rest lies in the field now. All we ask of this noble town is water and grazing, for that is all the sustenance a chevalier requires.”

“Might I ask what a 'chevalier' is?”

“Yes, but first thou and thy subjects must rise. And actually, we also require parchment, ink, and a pen. We shall inform our royal counterpart of what has transpired here immediately.” She nodded as the assembled ponies got off their bent knees, and a few of them ran off to find the items she mentioned. “In the meantime, we hereby officially commend the courage and virtue of the residents of Starfield, and we offer these gifts as both a monument and as a continued service to them.”

She looked up at the bats hovering overhead and, taking their cue, they all flew down to perch wherever they could. Many on Luna, more on the remnants of buildings, and some on any pony who would let them. “They are intelligent and obedient. You need only get to know them.” Her words did little to assuage the creeped-out looks the ponies were giving each other about the dark “servants” with sinister red beads for eyes, but they still thanked her profusely.

While she and many others partook of refreshment (some mimicking her minimalist style), she took the parchment and wrote out a quick letter.

While she wrote, she defined what she said earlier briefly. “A chevalier is one of an ancient order of warriors we created, and of which we were the first. It is our sacred duty and calling to roam the troubled areas of the land and lay those troubles to rest however we can. There are no doubt some stories of these adventures in your library, which has hopefully not been destroyed, but they focus much on battles, so they are hidden away simply for want of readers. However, our lives were never easy on any front, and so feats of strength, tests of virtue, hopeless and hopeful loves alike, and tangled vines of intrigue were quite common as well. It will not be necessary to read them though, because word will soon reach your ears of the new chapters we are adding to the sagas. Your Princess has taken up the mantle once again, and we are at your service. Call upon us whenever there is an injustice of any kind that must be corrected.”

There were some yawns, but Luna chose to attribute them to exhaustion and ignore them in favor of the looks of interest she had garnered, and particularly the looks of wonder some of the foals were giving her. When she finished the letter, she spoke to all of them again. “There. Unfortunately, we are not trained in the arts of modern repairs, so we have sent for teams of experts which should arrive quickly. We shall also check on the occupants of that train, should they require assistance. We must be on our way. Remember, dear citizens, that you did well. We are proud. May the stars watch over your dreams.”

She dipped her horn to them and performed the Traditional Royal Farewell. Combined with the high emotions of the rest of the evening, the gentle glow from Luna's horn drove many to tears. They watched the letter vanish into the air as she sent it to Canterlot, then looked on with broken hearts as they saw that Luna was limping away, but somehow with royal dignity. She did not look back or wave, but the bats she had given them squeaked with what might have been happiness at their new friends and masters.

Not wanting to put too much strain on her burnt, tender hooves yet, Luna dragged her box of artifacts along the path with her magically. It was not too taxing by itself, but she soon felt the weight of everything else on top of it, and she collapsed several hours before dawn. She lowered the moon early tonight so that she could pass out in peace. The Princess of the Night slept like a stone through the whole day.

Just as Celestia finally arrived at her private chamber, the tingling of arriving mail traveled up her horn. She allowed the transfer to continue, opened the scroll, and read:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

There has been an earthquake in and around the village of Starfield. All emergency assistance has been rendered and no lives were lost, but the infrastructure has suffered significant damage, including the railroad. Its stop gap repairs will hold locomotive traffic for now, but it will require professional attention 'ere long. I am afraid I can be of little further use to these villagers.

I noticed something interesting during this disaster. Perhaps it is a fluke or a statistical outlier, but many of the citizens of this town were able to overcome their panic and work together to minimize the losses. They obeyed my commands without hesitation, and they took great initiative as well. I have officially commended them and given them some of my servants in honor of their courage and strength. If thou seest fit to send them a token of thy own, I would be in thy debt.

I am setting out to Ponyville now (in truth, this time), and I should reach it next evening. If my last visit is anything to go on, this adventure will be worthy of a ballad or two, for it will be at least as harrowing as the ordeal of the earthquake. Blessings upon thee.

Thy peerless sister,

Princess Luna

P.S. How are thy ribs?