Leo smiled. Raph was curled up next to him, sleeping peacefully. He felt guilty for failing to prevent him from getting hurtâ his responsibility, his fault. His smile faded. He should've done something. Watching his brother in so much painâ and, oh God, his scream- He should've stopped Evernight. Those few minutes felt like they lasted forever. It was worse than experiencing it himself. Every second that ticked by was a stab into his heart.

After a few minutes of contemplation, Leo decided to meditate. He tried to leave the bed, but Raph whined softly in his sleep and rolled onto his lap, leaving him with two choices: move him and risk waking him up, or stay the way he was.

He sighed. This would have to do. He closed his eyes, turning his consciousness inwards.

In the spiritual plane, everything looked different. Raph was still curled up next to him, but instead of seeing his physical body, horn, wings, and all, he saw a wispy white border around his silhouette. Usually, his brother's silhouette would be engulfed in a massive burning fire, but now, the inferno had dimmed to a small flickering flame. Leo looked at his own wispy hooves. He had never seen his own aura, and none of his brothers had meditated enough to take a look for themselves.

Today, he wanted to try something different. He had never tried to move around the spiritual plane, in fact, he had never even considered it possible. But after the events that had taken place in the last few hours, he needed to know more about where they were. Taking a deep breath, he focused on moving his spirit out of his physical form. It felt like pushing through a brick wall. But still, he pushed harder, and eventually, his work paid off. He experienced a slight suffocating sensation, as if his air supply had been cut off, and then he burst through the barrier.

Traveling through the spiritual plane, he discovered, was quite different to traveling in the real world. Rather than walking, his aura drifted through the room.

Leo rounded the corner and entered to see Evernight's aura facing the window while Mikey and Donnie sat awkwardly on one of the couches. Mikey's aura was constantly moving, a mass of shapeshifting energy ricocheting off the edges of his silhouette. Donnie's aura was similar to Mikey's, in a way, as his was also constantly moving, but while his younger brother's aura moved unpredictably, Donnie's one was in the shape of a gear turning smaller gears behind a screen, which was flashing rows of data and code faster than he could read.

Reluctantly, Leo turned his attention to Evernight's aura. As much as he enjoyed studying his brother's spirits, he had other things to do.

Evernight's aura was dark. Not a dense shadow, but more like a stormy fog hanging over her. He squinted. He didn't really believe that she was evil. It just didn't seem possible that her aura could be so corrupted. Yet, it seemed as if that was the case. He circled her disbelievingly. Raph was right. She wasn't trustworthy. She probably even hurt them on purpose.

"I'm assuming that it hurt." She had said. She was smiling. He remembered it as bright as day. How could she have smiled, when she had just caused him pain? How could she- how could she?

"Evernight saved me. She killed Brutus-" In cold blood? Even if it was to save her sister, she had killed one of her own. Leo looked back at the mare, who was still facing the window. Why hadn't he connected the dots? All the evidence was there, plain and simple. And why did the ends of her mane and tail seem bloodstained? How many had fallen by her hoof?

"-Evernight over here is in charge of Death-" Of course. Her job was taking ponies' lives. She was an enemy, not a friend.

Then he saw it. A flash of brightness, and it was coming from Evernight. From inside her chest. He approached her, assuring himself that she couldn't see him, and hesitantly reached a transparent hoof forward and touched her-

A bright purple ball of magic. Surrounded by the remnants of Death. He was sucked into it, though he scrambled to find a hold, there was nothing to hold onto. He was overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. And then he was…her.

The feeling of depression every time somepony's life is taken. Regret, everytime she remembers Brutus snarling underneath her hooves, his eyes wholely black like two holes in his once handsome face. Anger, when she remembers the betrayal of her younger sister. Worry, for her family's wellbeing. She wonders if Luna is okay.

Disbelief when she discovers Luna is co-ruling alongside her traitorous sister. Anger, again. And then, calmness blankets over all of the feelings, covering them, concealing them, hiding them, burying them. She doesn't like those feelings. But there are some that she cannot hide.

The burden of leading her tribe, training them, helping them.

She loves them. She loves them all. She loves the ponies of Equestria. But Celestia took them all away from her. Now no one remembers her. And when they do, they hate her for her power.

Her power is important. Death is a blessing. It is not painful, just the moments leading up to it, be it old age, or battle wounds. Life can be a curse. Scars remain for life.

The sun, while provides light and heat, will burn if exposed to it for too long. The moon is much better.

Nothing is like it used to be. She liked it when they were all a family, her and Mother and Father, her younger siblings all close together. But something changed when Brutus attacked Scarlet. She didn't mean to kill him, only to get him off her twin. It was just an accident that he fell into acid. Besides, he was the one that challenged her to a duel, and he chose the battlegrounds. Celestia decided that Evernight had pushed him into the pool on purpose, and convinced Mother and Father to banish her. And after their parents passed away, Scarlet was too shy to take the throne, so Celestia took it instead. But she was too young, so Luna shared it with her to compensate for their inexperience.

People liked Celestia better because of her power over the sun. They thought less of Luna, as they didn't often see her. She had always been a little bit of an introvert.

And then there was Scarlet. Scarlet, with the scar over her eye and the broken horn, who moped around the palace day and night. She had never found out about Evernight's banishment, only that she was missing.

Only a month after Evernight was forced to leave, Celestia told Scarlet that she was getting in everyone's way, that she looked ugly anyway, and that she had to leave.

That fateful day when she found Scarlet in the middle of the desert, half starved and dehydrated, she made a vow to take her revenge on Celestia. She could've searched for her spirit and snuffed out her life, but then again, Death is a blessing. Life is a curse.

She would get her revenge some other way.

A/N: If you guys catch any weird symbols like "â" and two other symbols I cannot find on my keyboard, that would be responding to my ellipsis(three full stops/periods) or dashes(-)

Sorry for the confusion.