Celestia could always tell what her sister was feeling. Perhaps she knew Luna too well, or perhaps she was naturally good at reading emotions.

And today, her sister was worried.

It must just be the stress of ruling a failing kingdom, Celestia thought to herself. Everyone expected so much of them. So much of her. Being the oldest, and apparently the nicer sister, she always had to have the answer. Be the perfect diplomat that was kind, loving, and lifted the people's spirits.

But sometimes, she didn't want to be the one who had to comfort grieving families day in, day out. Watch children starve, day in, day out. Visit dying soldiers day in, day out!

It was important. And she loved helping her people. But lying through smiles that everything was going to be ok wasn't helping them at all.

She knew what they called her behind her back. Liar. Useless. Shallow. Vapid.

Oh, Luna. You have it easy. Luna didn't know how hard it was, having to continuously sugarcoat things for people while they withered away. It was so hard to sleep at night. All the guilt just piled up on top of her until she couldn't breathe. Being Luna wouldn't be so bad.

No, don't think like that, Celestia chided herself. Luna had her own set of equally challenging problems to deal with. Being constantly pushed aside and not taken seriously, if noticed at all. Celestia couldn't bear the thought. No heads turning when I walk into a room? Insane.

She knew that Luna envied her for many things. But envy went both ways. And if there was one thing Celestia envied her sister for, it was friends. Making friends wasn't the problem. It was finding the right ones. People had a tendency to take her kindness for weakness.

Oh, being mean would be so much easier, wouldn't it?

"Princess."A maid hastily entered the library. "You're wanted in the second Meeting Room immediately."

Celestia didn't ask, just ran across the hall, burst through the doors and slipped into a seat. She looked around the table, finding a disheveled Luna and the three remaining members of the War Council. (The other four had been killed in the Duskan Youth massacre).

"There's been an attack on the Crystal Empire," Aidan, one of the members, informed her.

"An attack? From who?" Who would ever attack an empire now ruled by the Dusks, let alone succeed?

Aidan instantly went very pale, and the other members looked away. "Sombra."

The room went so silent, she could hear Luna's shallow breathing from across the room. "That's not possible! He has no magic! There's no way he could defeat the Dusks!"

Celestia wasn't very surprised. He had always struck her as the type that would be able to set their morals aside to do whatever it took to achieve what they wanted. The type that didn't care whether others were hurt in the process. She was always wary of him, but never said anything to Luna.

Who was she to judge? She, who had no friends and wanted nothing more than to see her sister happy. And Luna had been happy, for a few months.

"Well.....he had magic," Aidan explained.

"He lost the use of it a week ago!" Luna argued. "This isn't adding up. Are you sure you have the right person?"

"Dark black hair, tan skin, eyes that spew green and purple smoke,crystals manipulation-"

"His eyes do not spew smoke and he doesn't have crystal manipulation."

"There is a possibility," Celestia spoke up. Everyone turned to her. "Dark magic. It can change people, give them abilities. Abilities that corrupt them," Celestia continued. "Do you know any place he might've gone to change himself?"

Luna started to shake her head, then she stopped. "The Dark Side of the Moon."

The Council nodded, muttering amongst themselves.

Aidan cleared his throat. "Sombra has managed to take over the Crystal Empire, and the whereabouts of Specter Dusk, who was guarding the empire, are unknown."

"Do we know if the citizens are ok? If Amore is ok?" Celestia intervened. Those poor civilians didn't deserve any of this. Relentlessly used as bargaining chips, as pawns as if they didn't matter. And Amore, though flawed, had a sweet side. A side that understood Celestia.

They'd met twelve years ago. She remembered those nights they would spend singing, chatting, putting on makeup. Getting the chance to be normal teenagers. Amore was, in a way, an older sister to Celestia.

Aidan ignored her question. "One of the citizens escaped during the siege, and she'll be able to show you what happened using a memory crystal." He then turned towards the door. "Evelyn, you can come in now."

A girl in her mid-teens walked in hesitantly, giving a shaky curtsy at the door. Her wide eyes darted around nervously, and she looked like she had been crying.

"Come sit next to me," Celestia invited.

"B-but, there aren't any chairs," Evelyn pointed out.

Celestia scooted over. "There's plenty of room."

One of the other members, a woman named Akali, produced an orange crystal. "Evelyn, all you have to do is hold this in your hand and think back to what happened, ok?"

"Ok," Evelyn whispered, gulping nervously. With a trembling hand, she took the crystal from Akali.

The room glowed orange from the light, and a large image was projected in front of them.

It can't be that bad. Sombra's magic couldn't be anything they hadn't seen before. Powerful, yes, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Nothing out of the ordinary, she kept thinking to herself, until Amore, in terrible shape, ran out of the castle. With a grand gesture, black crystals grew from the ground and encased her. Then she shattered under Sombra's touch.

Celestia bit back a scream. Bam. Amore was dead. And so quickly. Sombra looked almost peaceful. Peaceful, when committing murder. Another person I love, now taken away from me too.

First her parents, then her brother Astral. Her best friend Miyura. Now Amore was dead too. All she had left was Luna.

Nearly blinded by tears, Celestia forced herself to continue watching. The Crystal Palace went next, exploding into a million shards of crystal, while screaming citizens tried desperately to flee.

Luna's expression switched between unyielding rage and pure bewilderment. Celestia couldn't imagine what Luna was going through. In one week, she had lost four friends. Jet was dead, Chrissy and Evie were missing, and now Sombra was.....this.

But wasn't he always? This was always buried somewhere deep, deep inside of him.

In the projection, a bunch of guards (idiotically) charged Sombra, but then the fragments of what used to be Amore impaled them through their abdomens.

Evelyn shrieked and looked away. Celestia put her arms around her like she used to do with Luna.

The projection fizzled out into black. "That's it," Evelyn whimpered.

"Thank you, Evelyn," Celestia whispered to her. "You may leave now, if you'd like."

Evelyn rushed out of the room, turning her head to hide her tears. The door slammed behind her.

A few minutes later, Aidan cleared his throat, a rather uncanny shade of green. "So, that was....a lot worse than we predicted."

"A lot worse? Sombra managed to kill Amore! She's not weak. And he destroyed the castle with very little effort!" Luna snapped. "He's a lot more powerful than we thought."

"Do we know what he's done to the Empire?" Celestia inquired. "Is it completely destroyed or-"

Another member, Kaveen, spoke up. "No. We suspect it hasn't been destroyed. Sombra clearly had the capabilities to do so. If he wanted to, why didn't he just obliterate the entire Empire? Why take his time?"

"Maybe because he wanted them to suffer? To put it on display," Celestia suggested. "That is what the Dusks did, after all."

"Luna, you knew Sombra well. Is that like him?" Aidan asked.

Luna shook her head, holding back tears. "No. It isn't. He always did things the most efficient way possible. I don't think he wanted to destroy the Empire."

"Well, if he didn't want to destroy it, what does he want?" Akali demanded. "What's his motive?"

"Based on what he did to take over, he's very intent on being merciless. Which means...he'll most likely have a tyrannical regime," Kaveen hypothesized.

"And there is a possibility he'll come for us next. Especially because...." Celestia hesitated. "Dark magic changes people by taking their original motives, but twisting and spinning them out of control. We know that he was very intent on power. He knows we stand in his way. Once he secures the Empire, he'll come for us next."

Everyone gaped at her.

"Logic," Celestia muttered. "Luna, what do you think?"

"He loves me. Which means he'll want me by his side, " Luna realized. "Celestia's right."

"Then, we need to stop him," Aidan jumped in. "We'd have to go to the Empire to....attack-"

"This can't be solved with diplomacy or kindness," Akali brought up.

Celestia sighed. She and Akali rarely agreed on anything. War was despicable. It only brought out the worst in everyone. And now they were doing it all over again.

"We could send Luna in as a spy," Kaveen added.

"Do you think he's stupid?" Luna seethed. "Sombra would see through my act immediately. It's too risky."

Celestia backed her up. "It won't work. Besides, Luna loves him. It's not that easy to go in and betray him."

"We have to attack. If we wait until he strikes us, he'll have a much bigger army than us. More time to hone his magic. We already lost many soldiers during the Duskan Youth Massacre. If Sombra came to take over, he'd easily overwhelm us." Aidan summarized.

"But wait. War is expensive. We don't have the money for this!" Akali gasped in realization.

"There are no other options. We should take our chance. We're choosing between bad and worse," Celestia replied.

Luna nodded. "A kingdom is most vulnerable during a shift in power. If we catch him now, it...it...." She burst into tears. "I'm sorry....something in my eye..."

"What she means to say is, it's our only chance at success." Kaveen summarized.

"But the funds....." Akali worried.

"The funds so far have only been used on building restorations," Celestia recalled. "We'll cut that."

"How will we defeat him?" Kaveen asked. "It's very likely that he has a powerful army behind him."

"But the army would be reluctant. The citizens don't like him. He has no recruits. If I go in and intervene, they'd likely help us and try to fight against Sombra." Celestia proposed.

"I'll guard," Luna added. "If there are more spies, and he finds out Celetsia's going...he could plan an ambush," Luna forced out.

"Ok, this seems like a solid plan," Aidan finished. "We'll update you when we find out more information."

***********

(Four days later)

The Frozen North was exactly the same as Celestia remembered it. Equally barren, equally unforgiving. The only difference was that another tyrannical leader had taken the previous one's place.

The Empire itself radiated a dangerous aura. Go back. Go back. Go back. It seemed to scream. And Celestia would've obeyed, if it wasn't for everything that was on the line.

As she drew closer, she could make out drastic differences in appearance. The glittering blue castle was now smooth obsidian with razor-sharp spires. The vast majority of the Empire was this color.

She caught a quick glimpse of the mines. The same (if not more miserable) citizens still mined for shiny jewels. Their movements were defeated, as if they had all but given up on life. I would've, if I were in your position.

At the top of the crystal castle was a balcony. And the boy who stood on it wore a large, spiked crown. A crown he had no right to wear. Their eyes met for a second, and then he disappeared into a mass of shadows and reappeared a few feet in front of her.

"Celestia."

He said her name like a threat, sending a shiver down her spine. You think you can defeat me?

"Why. Why would you do this to yourself?" Celestia responded. Why would you do this to the Empire? Why would you make innocents suffer?

"It was the only thing left to do."

"You don't have to do this." Celestia's voice cracked. "This isn't what Luna would want."

Sombra visibly winced at that. After all, he was still the same hopelessly lost teenage boy who just wanted what the rest of them wanted. Happiness.

Next to her, Aidan's hand went to his sword.

They say one wrong move ruins everything. In this case, it was true.

Sombra had noticed it. Around him, dozens of soldiers stomped in perfect formation, a single collective body. When he raised a hand, they all stopped. Up close, Celestia could see that their irises were tinged purple. Sombra's were as well.

No.

"Celestia." Sombra sounded almost sympathetic. "You're hopelessly outnumbered."   

Hey guys! I know we haven't had any Celestia chapters so what do you guys think of her character? Remember to leave a vote if you enjoyed, and comment any thoughts. 

-Sapphire