Disclaimers: Everything belongs to Hasbro/Lauren Faust.

Notes: Shorter chapter this time, I'm afraid this one went on a long digression involving various ideas I have about the princesses' origins and why the Everfree Forest is the way it is. (seriously, Luna and Celestia must have lived there at one point, since they have a castle there and all...) I'll try to actually move the plot forward in the next chapter, honest. And yes, there are much worse things than Discord lurking in the shadows...

Spoilers: None, this is pretty much all in fanon territory now.

Part 2 – Roots

Years passed. With Discord's defeat and imprisonment, life in Equestria had become harmonious and peaceful for all the different types of pony. The earth ponies built new settlements and farmed without having to worry about their hard work being destroyed at a whim. The pegasus ponies no longer had to fear their cloud homes being scattered across the sky by vagrant storms, and banded together to create their own city, Cloudsdale. The unicorns set up a school in Canterlot for teaching magic, something that Discord had long forbidden. And the two alicorn sisters ruled over them all, raising the sun and the moon, controlling the weather, and eradicating the last traces of Discord's chaos. All but the Everspring Forest, where the sisters' castle had been, and where they had finally imprisoned him for good.

The fight with Discord had destroyed large parts of the castle where they had once lived, where they had both been born, and though both Celestia and Luna had tried using their powers to rebuild it, it resisted them. It was as if the winds of magic had somehow been altered across the entire forest, everything within its borders, including the castle, paid no heed to the order the sisters had set over the rest of the land. Within the forest, the plants and trees grew with wild abandon, gleefully winding themselves around what was left of the castle. The weather seemed to have its own laws as well, raining when Equestria was dry, snowing in summer and sunny in the depths of winter. Only day and night remained the same.

The animals were worse. Those that would once have been happy to see the sisters now fled at their approach. And those creatures that had been favoured by Discord, the manticore, the cockatrice, the chimera, the sphinx, the lamia and others even stranger, lived there in abundance. For the first few years, both Luna and Celestia had kept a constant watch over the forest, expecting those creatures to attack nearby settlements. However, for the most part, they remained in the forest, and the occasional monster that did stray into Equestria was easily turned back. The forest was their domain, and they cared very little for what lay outside its borders. If the forest's behaviour and inhabitants had been part of a final curse from Discord, it seemed that it had very little purpose except to force the sisters from the castle that had once been their home.

From time to time Luna still visited what was left of the building, sometimes with her sister, but more often by herself. Celestia's time and attention had gradually being taken up more and more by managing the realm that was now theirs, now holding court in the new castle being built in Canterlot every day instead of once a week. That was why Luna was once again alone as she landed in the overgrown courtyard of their former home.

"Because everypony takes their problems to her, not you," the small voice inside her head whispered. "They love her more."

Luna ignored it. Ever since Discord's defeat, the doubts he had left her with seemed to whisper to her now and then, spiteful words about Celestia, about the ponies who all but worshipped her, about Luna's place in the new order she and her sister had created. But she knew that Discord had just wanted to trick her into letting him go and what he'd said to herhad only been intended to manipulate her.

"Really? Then why was he right about so much of it?"

With a slight shake of her head, Luna pushed that thought away, telling herself it was just unfounded jealousy. It wasn't like Celestia found holding court much fun anyway, Luna knew her sister would much rather be here with her instead of listening to ponies complain. Approaching the double doors to the Great Hall, Luna pushed one open. It was strange, somehow the doors had been spared the destruction that had befallen most of the castle, the wood still highly polished and the metal fixtures shining brightly, opening without the slightest resistance or sound.

Inside, the Hall was empty, what little furnishings that had survived the battle with Discord had already been moved to Canterlot. So had the stone form of Discord, while both sisters would have been happy to never lay eyes on it again, they had agreed that it was best kept somewhere that they could keep an eye on it, just in case. Moving through the empty rooms, Luna looked around carefully for anything she'd missed, just as she had every other time she'd visited her former home. There was nothing of course, she and Celestia had looked through the ruins thoroughly the first time, all that was here now were the memories of her fillyhood and dim recollections of the parents she barely remembered.

And to be honest with herself, Luna knew that those memories were the reason she kept coming back. In her minds' eye, the ruined corridors were long halls of shining marble that went on forever, echoing with laughter as she and Celestia chased each other down them. And there was a dark stallion, impossibly huge, who had thrown her into the air higher than the moon and caught her with magic. And a mare as bright as the sun who'd been warm and soft and comforting and when Luna had hidden under her wing she knew she was safe. But then they vanished from her memory like morning mist, and there was only Celestia. Celestia, and bedtime stories, and games in the courtyard, and learning to fly, and even though Celestia's wings didn't cover her like their mother's had, she'd still felt safe.

"That was then." It almost sounded like the voice was in pain, as if those memories hurt it somehow. "Things change. Sisters change. She doesn't have time for you any more. Why else would you be here alone?"

"She's just busy," Luna muttered to herself. For a moment, she wondered why she was speaking aloud, when there was nobody there to hear her.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Fine, I will!" Luna snapped, then froze as she heard hoofsteps behind her.

"Luna? Who were you talking to?" Even in the dimness of the ruined castle, Celestia still seemed to carry a touch of the sun's light with her, and Luna ran to her.

...and something else hissed angrily and recoiled, biding its time...

"Nothing sis, I was just thinking out loud." Luna's jealous thoughts seemed silly now, and the young alicorn wasn't sure why she'd ever considered them to begin with. "Are you finished with court?"

"For today, yes." Celestia replied, looking around sadly at the castle ruins. "You need to be careful if you're coming here Luna, it's dangerous now."

"I know, but it's just... like it gets lonely." Luna said quietly. "Like it misses us. Are you sure we can't fix it up again?"

In response, Celestia lowered her horn towards a tumbledown wall. Slowly, reluctantly, the fallen stones pulled themselves up from the earth and reformed themselves into a complete structure. But the moment Celestia released them from her control, it toppled back into ruin. "Things are different here now, ever since we defeated Discord," she said mournfully. "It's like our magic only works while we focus on it, anything we change just goes back to the way it was afterwards. Discord must have done something to the forest, but I don't know what, so we can't fix it. The ponies have started calling it the Everfree Forest now, because everything here is wild."

Sighing, Luna leaned against her older sister. "Well I guess beating Discord was worth it though, right? I mean, everypony else is happy now..."

"That's right Luna." Celestia leaned down to nuzzle her sister's ears. "That's what Mother and Father would have said. We can't just think of ourselves, then we'd be just like Discord. We have to think of all the other ponies who live in Equestria too."

With a last look around herself, Luna turned back to her sister. "Do you want to go flying for a while before moonrise?" she asked. "I'd like to see how far the pegasus ponies have gotten with Cloudsdale."

"That sounds good to me," Celestia answered as they turned to leave. "Oh, and I haven't told you about what got raised in court today, this year the ponies in Canterlot want to hold a grand gala to mark the fifth anniversary of Discord's defeat. Sounds a little silly to me, but every pony seemed really enthusiastic about it."

Luna giggled as she trotted along beside her sister, the two of them taking to the air once they reached the courtyard. "It could be fun," she said as they rose higher into the sunset sky. "As long as it's not all formal and stuff."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Celestia admitted, then the two sisters vanished into the clouds.

It followed them, hidden in the younger sister's shadow where it had a measure of protection from the elder sister's light, and both sisters' sight. It was still much, much too early to reveal itself.