Bonus Ch - Past and Memories

Celestia’s Tiny Student

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Bonus Chapter

Past and Memories

//This bonus chapter focus on Celestia and Luna backstory, alongside with Celestia’s secret plan for Twilight and how she plan to deal with Nightmare Moon. If you are interested only in adventures of tiny Twilight, feel free  to skip it and go to Chapter 1.

Celestia look around in her bedchamber, it was comfortable, clean, well-decorated, and certainly fit for royalty. On the walls near the door hung a few majestic art pieces created by the best artists Equestria could afford, though many of them were gifts for the princess from her grateful subjects. Next to the door was a big bookshelf, packed with rare books for the princess to read for personal enjoyment. Opposite the entrance door was a balcony and two windows which gave a wonderful view over all of Canterlot. In the middle of the room was a substantial bed designed for an alicorn-sized princess. The bed itself was an expensive make and very, very comfortable with two large pillows embroidered with flowing golden lines and swirls.

It was her’s private sanctuary in which few would disturb her, save for the filly she now brought in, still curled up on her warm back. “You deserve a solid rest, my little pony,” Celestia whispered, before releasing the ropes and levitating the filly onto one of the substantial pillows on her bed.

She sat for a moment and gazed upon her future student, now sleeping peacefully on her giant pillow. I had no idea that my pillows are so big; this one pillow alone can easily serve as a bed for my new student.

Celestia leaned in to take a closer look at the sleeping filly, her nose almost touching the tiny unicorn.  So defenseless. So fragile. We can’t have that, now can we? Celestia thought as she lit her horn, charging a powerful spell. After a minute of concentration, a small, yellow wave made contact with Twilight’s tiny body, and soon the aura disappeared.

“That’s better,” Celestia whispered to herself. The protection spell would effectively double her student’s strength, endurance, and magical power to compensate for her small size, helping her defend herself from her now oversized environment. Celestia lit her horn again, and slowly the balcony door closed and the window curtains swept shut.

After ensuring that Twilight was sleeping comfortably in the darkened room, Celestia straightened up and prepared to leave. Come on. It’s about time, Celestia. You have duties to attend and a lot of preparations to finish. Everything will be all right, Celestia thought as she still continued to watch over the little filly in front of her. Move your flank already. Nothing will happen to her while you’re gone.

A few more long moments passed before Celestia managed to turn and exit the room, still uneasy about the safety of her little pony. I have always been so overprotective over my subjects, but I can’t let my emotions get in my way, Celestia thought as she closed the door to her bedchamber, her gaze now focused on the guards outside.

“Guards,” Celestia ordered in a quiet but commanding voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” both royal guards asked in unison as their attention focused on Celestia. She flinched at the loudness of their voices. She’s still sleeping in there.

“Many important events took place in the School for Gifted Unicorns. I will explain the details later, but the result is that I was forced to shrink a unicorn filly to a hundredth of her original weight. She is now very fragile and is resting after a very harsh day,” Celestia explained as the guards kept their full attention on the princess, listening intently. They are exceptionally well trained, but I am sure even *they** must be confused and curious as to what happened.*, Celestia thought before she continued.

“I assured this poor filly’s parents that I will train her in the field of magic as my personal student, and that I am to ensure her safety. However, I have royal duties to attend to and until I am back, I want you to keep this filly safe. Am I understood?” Celestia ordered quietly.

The guards gave a sharp salute and replied in unison, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

“One more request. This filly is very tired and she is sleeping at the moment. Make sure that her rest is not disturbed by any loud noises…or loud guards,” Celestia gave a smirk at her blushing guards before they straightened and gave a much quieter salute.

Having much to do and very little time, Celestia decided not to walk or ride her chariot in favor of teleporting from meeting to meeting, foregoing her public appearances for speed.

The first item in her itinerary Celestia visited was the Royal Hospital, where she asked surprised doctors to tend to her little student, giving concise details about what happened and making sure that Twilight’s condition would be kept a secret.

Once Celestia was sure that her student was going to be checked by professional doctors, she teleported to the School for Gifted Unicorns, making quick repairs to the building itself before entrusting the care of the newly hatched dragon to specialized caretakers.

With the more evident issues sorted out, Celestia cast a quick spell to locate three select ponies. Plans had changed, and they needed to be informed.

Even with no immediate problems, Celestia moved quickly as she led the last of her three ponies to their meeting place. She trotted down the winding steps towards the ancient shelter. This place was a refuge during the Griffo-Draconic War so many years ago. After so long, my subjects have all but forgotten such a place even exists, Celestia thought as she led a silent Fancy Pants into the caves beneath Canterlot.

A few minutes of walking later, Celestia stopped in front of an apparently featureless stone wall. She quickly located the hidden switch and activated it, causing a portion of the wall to shift and to move aside. She entered and swept her gaze over the two already seated around a large circular oak table.

“First off, I would like to apologize for gathering you all on such a short notice,” Celestia apologized as the ponies in the room rolled their eyes.

“Your majesty, as Captain of the Guard, I am always on duty,” replied an old pegasus stallion with two crossed blades as his cutie mark. Despite his age, he was still well suited for his occupation and a force to be reckoned with; though, Celestia mused, a new replacement would have to be found soon before his health truly failed him.

“And I am your secretary. I meet with you every day to help you schedule. It is not like I have very far to go to get here,” added a mare with a scroll, ink, and pen as her cutie mark.

“I am always glad to be at your service no matter what, Your Highness,” Fancy Pants proclaimed proudly before taking his seat.

“Fancy Pants, Silver Scroll, Brave Blade... thank you,” Celestia said gratefully, as she took her seat at the table.

“Brave Blade, what is the status of your guards? Is training proceeding smoothly?” Princess Celestia asked in a serious tone, her face carefully emotionless.

“Yes, Your Highness. An elite company of one hundred pegasi, trained in capture and immobilization, is almost ready. Every pegasus is equipped with an enchanted sword capable of cutting through any barrier, or a rogue alicorn, if needed,” reported Brave Blade, using his wing to place a manila folder on the table and pushing it towards the princess.

“In addition, fifty unicorns have been trained in stunning spells and are equipped with magic restraining rings,” continued Brave Blade as Celestia levitated his report open in front of her, this time placing one of the rings in question on the table. The restraining rings were created quite a while ago to constrain the magical abilities of any unicorn. At the very least, it prevented the captured unicorn from teleporting away. In this case, I hope that they’ll be enough to restrain Nightmare Moon until she can be contained where she cannot hurt anypony. She took a moment and reconsidered the ring, grasping it in her magic and turning it over, It’s a pity I can not use these on my new student. Even at her original size, I doubt that keeping that much energy restrained within her would be beneficial for her health.

“Are... are those soldiers truly prepared? Alicorn magic is not to be trifled with, and even with my help, capturing Nightmare Moon alive can cost the lives of many good stallions in your army,” Celestia warned, the weight of her words evident. I truly do not wish to harm you, sister. It is selfish of me to sacrifice the lives of ponies for your safety, but without them, I fear the loss will be much greater.

Celestia was deep in thought as memories flashed before her eyes.

Celestia was lying on the floor, scarred from the battle with her sister, Luna— or rather, the demon that had manipulated and possessed Luna. Nightmare Moon stood proudly above her. Unlike Celestia, she only had a few scratches, as Celestia had not attempted to hurt her.

“Stop this nonsense, Luna, before you do something you will regret!” Celestia attempted to sway her fallen sister once more. As she tried to stand again, her wings spread to their full span, to appear more intimidating.

“I am no longer little Luna!”

“You cannot order me around anymore, your sole rule over Equestria ends here and now! From now on, you will serve in the shadow of my moon,” Nightmare Moon exclaimed proudly, voice dripping with confidence.

“I am not the sole ruler of Equestria, Luna, we rule it together,” Celestia pled as Nightmare Moon laughed in her face.

All the commotion had drawn a response from the royal guard. Within moments, dozens of Celestia’s finest had poured into the chamber, “How dare you lay a hoof on the princess you MONSTER!” the royal guard’s captain declared as he signalled to his fellows to ready to strike the demon.

Nightmare Moon turned in their direction, “‘Monster’ you say... is that what you call a princess of Equestria?” Nightmare Moon asked calmly, with surprisingly little venom in her voice.

“Princess of Equestria! Ha! You are nought but a demon who finally showed its true colour, if you won’t surrender, I will slay you myself.”

Celestia watched the scene with horror, “N-no! Thats not-”

Nightmare Moon gaze back upon her, “We are equals you say? It was always nothing but a sweet lie to keep me on a leash, no wonder the Element of Honesty chose me.” In her anger Nightmare Moon sent a strong blast of magic into sun princess, sending her crashing into the throne. The moment Celestia recovered, she saw her guards launch themselves at Nightmare Moon, spells and swords prepared.

Nightmare Moon set up a black barrier around herself to parry the deadly spells sent against her, the moment the spells let up she turned into mist, swords passing through her new form without doing any damage. Nightmare Moon rematerialised in the air, flapping her wings as she cast spells over entire throne room, hitting guards in random order one by one.

Those unicorn guards lucky enough to evade the rain of fatal spells, tried in vain to retaliate with offensive spells of their own, while pegasi attempted to attack Nightmare Moon, hitting her with swords in their teeth. But Nightmare Moon held her ground, and swords broke upon impact with her flesh.

Celestia tried to order her guards to cease their attack, to retreat, but they were more eager to kill her sister than she anticipated, and once the battle was over, she could only stare in horror at her sister’s eyes, as her body was covered in bleeding wounds, while all around her were the bodies of what had once been her royal guard, broken swords and armor lying all over the floor.

“Luna, I...-”

Celestia wanted to say something, but was cut off by angry response of Nightmare Moon, “You steal them away from me, you turn all of our subjects against me, but today, I will take back what is rightfully mine!”

“They are, Your Highness. You have been taking care of this kingdom and your subjects for hundreds of years. The least we can do is to assist you in your time of need,” replied the Captain of her Royal Guard proudly and taking Celestia from her deep thoughts and into the conversation at hoof.

“Thank you, but it still pains me to risk their lives for myself...” Celestia gave a quick shake of her head to clear her thoughts and continued, “Now, the real reason I called you here... I believe the Elements of Harmony are restoring themselves.”

A stunned silence descended upon the three ponies gathered before Celestia as they stared at her with wide eyes.

“H-how... how do you know, Your Highness?” Captain asked, clearly in disbelief. It was no secret to those gathered here that Celestia and her sister had used the elements to defeat many powerful foes in defense of Equestria, just as it was no secret that they were currently useless hunks of stone in the Everfree.

“Though it has been a thousand years since I last used the Elements of Harmony, I have not forgotten their aura. I haven’t forgotten the sensation of using them, and what I felt when that rainbow wave passed above me was unmistakeable. I am certain that the Elements of Harmony are behind it,” Celestia elaborated confidently. She took a deep breath and paused before continuing.

“The filly who was taking the entrance exam today had an uncontrollable magic surge immediately after the wave passed. I’m positive they are connected, and just as she earned her cutie mark during its influence, I am quite certain other bearers have also earned their marks much the same way,” Celestia added to the group at large, though her attention was focused on the confused officer in front of her.

“Is it possible? Could the Elements have just chosen random ponies and give them their cutie marks? Would they really be able to wield the elements?” Brave Blade asked, uncertain and doubtful towards Celestia’s words.

Celestia gave a shrug. “The Elements of Harmony work in mysterious ways. Back when I was just a unicorn and my sister was a pegasus, we’d gone through countless books for powerful artifacts to use against Discord. The Elements tested us, and many who accompanied us... did not survive,” Celestia answered his question as she hesitated for a moment to continue her story.

Fancy Pants spoke up, curiosity evident through his refined accent, “Tested? You’ve already told us about your Elements, like generosity, kindness, and so forth, but you’ve never told us how the Elements tested you and your sister.”

“During our adventures, we’d managed to pass many dangerous trials before we could find the Elements. Those trials tested the strength of my bond with my sister and the strength of my magic, generosity, and kindness, as well as my sister’s loyalty, laughter, and honesty,” Celestia stated as every pony in the room gave her their full attention.

Groups of tired, but determined, ponies walked restlessly upon the mountain fields, as some mysterious force was calling for them, leading them to a mysterious cave what was never marked on any map. Without hesitation, one of ponies ran into a cave, screaming that the artifacts must be inside, and as he eagerly ran upon the darkness of the cave he vanished, everypony stopped once they heard a scream of pain, and a loud blood curdling roar.

Every pony watched in fear and awe as a beast emerged from the darkness, a dead pony in the maw of one of it is heads. Some of ponies in the group screamed and ran away, leaving only  those brave enough to face it.

A white unicorn recognized the beast, screaming one fearful sentence, “Ch-chimera!” Clambering backwards, she almost fell over herself.

“I am the guardian of this cave,” stated the Goat head.

“Turn back or you will end as my snacks, brave but foolish creatures!” added the Lion head while still chewing on the pony he previously had in his mouth.

“Only those proven worthy can pass,” finished the Dragon head.

There were many brave ponies who were determined to get the artifacts that could end Discord’s reign, one by one they attacked the Chimera with swords and spells, from ground and air, but despite everything they tried, they could not defeat the beast. A night blue pegasus with a sword tried for one last charge, but was captured in the levitation field of another pony, “Do not do this, it is suicide!”

The pegasus turned to her captor, “But sister, this beast is slaughtering our comrades, we can not let them die.”

“I know, and we will not let them, Selena,” replied the white unicorn, before she lit her horn.

A pony that was about to be squashed by the chimera was pulled away in a golden aura of magic, and so were all the other fighting ponies as the white unicorn grabbed them and placed them on the ground behind her. The chimera shot a fireball from his dragon head, but the attack was reflected by a golden forcefield.

The Chimera ran forward to kill the unicorn that was in its way, until a strong golden aura levitated him from the ground, pushing him back against the stones. “I do not want to hurt you, but I will if you will try to hurt my friends!”

Chimera shook his three heads, recovering from the impact. His dragon head spoke, “You do not wish to hurt us, even if we are in the way to your goal ?”

“I... I do not want to take life of any living creature, even from a murderous beast like you, but I will use all the power at my disposal to get those artifacts you are guarding, they are our only hope!” the white unicorn said with determination in her voice.

“I will let you pass, but only if you prove worthy,” the Lion head boomed with proud voice.

“Two trials you have passed, four are left for you to pass, you showed us kindness and magic, but still more we demand,” the Goat head added in riddle.

“If you pass those trials, salvation for your kind will be at hoof, but if you do not pass, then the artifacts will be nothing more than junk for you.” the Dragon head finished.

“Very well, if there is a chance we can solve this without more bloodshed, I accept.”

“Your first challenge will be to play a game of tag with me, are you brave enough ?” the Lion head asked with a growl.

The white unicorn hesitated, so did others, not brave or fast enough to play with a beast in game like this, expecting only one outcome from participating. Everypony except night blue pegasus who bravely walked forward.

“A game of tag, with fat beast like you? It will be easy!”

Every pony watched in awe as a midnight pegasus toyed with the chimera, not showing any fear of the beast far bigger than her. The white unicorn could only stare in horror as her sister was risking her life, but what surprised her the most was her laugh, as if her sister enjoyed this game.

“Congratulations brave soul, it took courage to laugh in the face of death,” the Lion head replied, as Selena walked proudly with smile on her face.

“Oh sister, you should see look on your face,” Selena laughed uncontrollably at her sisters expression.

“Now for the next challenge, I will ask you questions, and the answer will determine your worth,” the Goat head began.

Everypony gulped as they started answering, though Selena and her sister’s answers were always different.

“Am I pretty?” asked the Goat head simply.

The white unicorn replied, “Yes, you are, your beauty is really impressive and...” Almost immediately, the white unicorn’s praise was cut off by her sister.

“Tia, stop talking nonsense, this beast is ugly and disgusting, maybe except Lionhead... thought if I was a chimera myself, I would find you attractive... but no promise.”

Everypony watched in awe as Selena give one answer after another, every single one of them were anything but what the chimera should like to hear.

Dragon head was silent for a moment, until his face flushed red from anger.

Selena was not intimidated, “I will give you one chance pegasus, take example from ponies around you and answer correctly this time, or face my wrath.”

Despite other ponies pleading look, Selena just replied proudly, “Are you expecting me to lie? What I said was the honest truth.

If you cannot take a bit of criticism, than I am sure a solid kick with my hoof will change your mind.”

The Lion head replied proudly, “Honesty, even when it does not benefit you, I admire it.”

“You all underwent a lot of hardship to get to the elements, how much are you willing to pay for artifacts you seek?” the Dragon head asked.

Ponies in the group started to give offers in bits, food, but none of their offers seems to satisfy the chimera.

“And you, white horned one, how much are you willing to pay for the elements?” the Goat head asked.

“Everything.” Tia replied firmly, assuming that the beast meant horned one, her sister looked at her in confusion.

“Will you pay with all your food, water and the riches you posses ?” asked the Dragon head, as Tia nods.

“Will you give half of your blood for me to drink,” once again she nods in agreement, as her sister pled her to not acquiesce.

“Will you let me eat two of your hooves,” once again she nods in agreement.

Selena could not take it any longer and screamed, “Are you insane Tia?”

“You can not possibly consider it, we can just kill this beast here and now.”

“Only those worthy can use the elements. If you kill me, they will be forever out of your reach,” the Dragon head stated nonchalantly.

Selena started to accuse him of lying, but Tia just replied that fate of hundreds of ponies are more important than her own.

“Will you give up your freedom, and serve me for the rest of your life, or even die if I will give your companion artifacts you seek?” once again, she bobbed her head to the other ponies’ horror.

“You, the one called Selena, listen well. You proved yourself worthy, the artifacts are yours,” all three heads commented at once as every pony cheered. “However, your sister will become my snack.”

Many ponies were ready to attack as Tia replied, “I accept.”

Selena tried to protest, “are you out of your mind? I will not let you die!”

Tia wanted to respond, but the chimera was first, “Leave your sister and take what you come here for, save your kind and be the hero. Refuse, and you will share your sister’s fate.”

Tia plead to Selena, but it proved pointless as her sister was very stubborn, “I am not going to let you eat my sister, I will beat you and we will take those artifacts together, you hear me?”

“So you choose to defend your sister, rather than attain power and fame. Very well, time has come to take consequences for your choices.”

Tia and Selena were about to fight side by side, while the other ponies kept their safe distance, but the fight never came. Instead, six colourful stones levitated out of the cave.

“Selena, honest even when it is not beneficial, laughing in the face of death, loyal to your sister when abandoning her would give you victory, you proved yourself worthy,” the Lion head spoke firmly, looking at Selena.

“Tia, showed kindness to a merciless beast, willing to sacrifice everything including your own life for the greater good, and with magic who made this journey possible, you proved yourself worthy,” the Dragon head spoke as well, sharing a look with Tia.

“Go. Save your kind,” the Goat head commanded as Tia walked closer.

“Thank you, but before we go back, we must rest and heal our wounds. Despite the lives you took today, I understand that it was your duty as guardian... I know a healing spell that can close some of your wounds,” Celestia spoke with kindness in her voice.

“That will not be necessary kind one,” the three heads replied, and to Tia’s astonishment, the Chimera turned into stone.

“When we finally tried to use the Elements against Discord, he took my horn and my sister’s wings away and teleported the Elements to random locations... He gave us a map and a riddle so we could search for them as he watched in amusement. Well, until he got bored and left us alone,” Celestia gave a scowl as she recalled the dark times of early Equestrian history.

“Losing our magic and wings did not grant us any of the benefits of earth ponies, and Discord made sure that nopony could aid us in our search. But despite all of the hardships we experienced, and all of the dangers we endured, my sister and I managed gather them all. The moment we had all of the elements, they activated and we were once again reborn as alicorns.

After two years of hardship and traveling all over the world, Tia and Selena finally found the elements one by one, as Discord’s curse prevented any pony from helping them. Covered in wounds and scratches, Tia was missing an eye, while her sister had broken bones throughout her body. They finally found the last element inside a dormant volcano.

“We did it sister, we did it !” Selena jumped from excitement on her three unharmed hooves until she fell from exhaustion.

Her sister gazed upon her and smiled, “Yes sister, now we can defeat Discord, and free the ponies from his cruel jokes, and we will no longer be his form of entertainment.”

Selena looked around, using her broken foreleg to point at the road ahead, “It seems that we will have some climbing ahead of us to get back, sister... and then a week long walk back, I really miss my wings,” Selena spoke with sadness in her voice, resisting the urge to burst into a fit of tears, for two years she had to endure the worst fate any pegasus would face.

“I miss my horn too sister, and the uncomfortable feeling I have in my head as my magic can’t find a way out is almost driving me crazy, but I will endure... no, we will endure, as long as we are together, there is nothing we can not overcome,” Tia responded as she hugged her sister, closing her only working eye.

The sisters were so focused on their embrace they did not notice the elements had started to glow, surrounding them in a rainbow colored storm. Only to leave a pair of marks, one of the moon and the other the sun, burned in solid rock inside the volcano.

Tia and Selena opened their eyes, confused about what possibly had happened, as they were surrounded by wonderful white lights in endless space. Confused and curious, Tia and Selena walked around something what Tia called an Ethereal Plane, for lack of a better term.

Tia and Selena were surprised by multiple images representing their past flashing before their eyes, challenges and hardships they endured together, times they helped one another and other ponies endure Discord reign, all good times they spend together. But the little show they watched did not last long as orb of magic escaped from their own bodies and flew around them.

“I’m s-scared.”

“W-what is happening Tia?”  Selena asked, a trembling uncertainty in her voice.

“Worry not little sister, we endured so much, and we will endure this too.”

“We can do this together, do not lose hope,” Tia did not believe in her own words, but whatever was going to happen, calming her sister’s fears was the only thing she could do.

Tia slowly opened her eyes, both eyes, as she slowly stood, noticing her little sister doing the same in front of her, but she quickly noticing something different. Her sister had wings and horn. Out of curiosity she checked her own body to find wings and horn as well.

“Bravo, bravo... now that’s a show you don’t see often, you both provided truly enjoyable fireworks,”

“Discord!” Tia shouted, as she aimed her horn in the direction of the monster who put both her sister and herself through so much pain. To Tia’s surprise, she accidentally shot a powerful magical beam that struck Discord, it was not really much stronger than a magical attack she could perform as unicorn, but unlike any regular unicorn offensive spell that did nothing to Discord, this attack actually hurt him.

“Okay, now it’s not fun anymore. A spell that can harm me? I do not approve,” Discord stated in annoyance as he snapped his fingers, and then snapped them again, and again. After his failures, he gazed upon the small white-winged unicorn, “Look what time it is, time to leave,” Discord added as he snapped his fingers to teleport away, but he reappeared in the same place he was moment ago, captured in aura of golden magic.

With another snap of his fingers, he tried to teleport the coloured crystals flying around the two winged unicorns, but his actions received no result and Discord smiled awkwardly as the winged unicorns returned the gesture. A moment later, Discord could see a rainbow colored beam turning his body into stone.

A few weeks after Discord’s defeat, ponies declared Tia and Selena their leaders. In the beginning, Tia and Selena tried their best to refuse taking any titles, but there had to be some pony to take charge and unite all the ponies together as one.

A major problem presented itself when the sun was stuck in place, no longer controlled by Discord. This started to cause damage to the environment. To fix this situation, every unicorn from the land gathered together and tried to rediscover a spell to move sun and the moon in the sky. After several failed attempts, however, Tia felt something guiding her, and when she opened her eyes, she was herself, floating without a body in front of the sun. Confused at first, she tried to move around and escape wherever she was, but the moment she noticed a large planet behind the sun, the incredible sight made her watch in awe until she decided to try something.

Focusing her magic, Tia noticed that sun is moving, controled by her magic, but the magic she used felt odd, as if sun itself was giving her the energy to use, so she could push it in the sky, almost as if she was the sun. And when she opened her eyes, she was lying on the ground, ponies watching her confused and incredibly impressed.

The real shock for Tia came after her sister touched her flank, “Look sister! You got your cutie mark!” Tia, despite feeling drained and powerless, used the rest of her strength to gaze upon her cutie mark. After being blank-flanked for over thirty years, she finally found her destiny and she moved a celestial body by herself. With so many changes happening to her, it was only suitable to change her name as well.

“We had wings and horns that Discord could not take away, and our harmony neutralized Discord’s power. He failed to separate us from the Elements a second time and could not escape our combined telekinetic grasp. In the end, the Elements turned him into nothing more than a statue,” Celestia concluded.

The elements chose us and gave us power ponies could only dream of... but many friends died trying to pass the trials while my sister and I endured hardships I would not wish on my worst enemy. I wonder, will Twilight and other Element bearers also be forced to walk a  thorny road? Will they even manage to survive? Celestia thought guiltily. My student must already endure so much while being so tiny.

“So why did they banish your sister to the moon rather than heal her or turn her to stone like Discord?” asked Silver Scroll, a pained look on her face.

Celestia lowered her head before she morosely responded, “I was partially responsible for that. The power of the Elements came from our trials and bonds. My sister became less and less honest with me as I failed to listen to her and less and less loyal to the country that did not respect her. Her laughter was replaced with sadness born from loneliness. And I was too blind to notice.”

‘Knock knock’

“Come in,” Celestia called out firmly, while her full attention focused on several papers in front of her, signing them one by one.

“Sister, we need to...” Selena tried to say, only to be cut off by her sister.

“Oh, it is you Luna, would you be so dear and help me with those tax laws, you are so good with numbers, I am sure you can handle it easily.”

Luna sighed, “Tia, please, I need to talk with you, no pony wants to accept my proposal to organize a night celebration where I can-” Luna, once again, was cut off by Celestia waving hoof.

“This again Luna? “

“We talked about it before, ponies enjoy your nights, there is no point to organize such celebration,” Celestia interrupted Luna, not taking her head away from paperwork in front of her.

“But sister... nevermind,” Luna groaned, with her head hung low as she was about to leave room, but Celestia’s voice stopped her.

“You are not going to organize this celebration on your own, right Luna?”

Luna clenched her jaw in anger without even turning her head before answering. “Of course not dear sister, I would never do anything without your permission,” Luna remarked with a little hint of sarcasm and anger in her voice.

The moment Luna left her sister’s bedchamber and when she was alone in her own room, decorated by midnight blue wallpaper with many stars, she took a vase and threw it on the floor, shattering it into many tiny pieces. “We are ruling this kingdom as equals, nopony loves my night, and all my sister says is nothing but lies and ponyfeathes!” Luna screamed in her anger, as her coat became a bit darker, dark magic floating around her. “We will no longer going to live in shadows of our sister, no longer we will be ignored, no longer we will be obedient little sister!”

Luna transformed little by little every day, as more ponies feared or disrespected her.

Celestia, so focused on her work, did not notice any signs. Meanwhile in the royal vault, the colorful crystals of power, called the Elements of Harmony were losing their colour, becoming more and more gray, sensing Luna’s vanishing loyalty, lack of honesty and loss of laughter in the Princess of the Night, while generosity, kindness and magic were weakening in Celestia everyday. Their sisterly bond built on hardship hundreds of years ago was crumbling under Celestia’s blindness and Luna’s loneliness and jealousy.

“With only three of the Elements on my side and our broken bond, the Elements could not heal her. I still do not understand how the Elements work, but I believe that they probably knew my desire to protect my subjects, and to ensure that she would not harm anypony with eternal night, they banished her. The Elements rejected us, turning into stones, as they have remained until today.” Everypony in the room was silent as Celestia shed a few tears, forgetting to maintain the confident composure she often kept in front of her subjects.

After a moment of silence, Brave Blade gave a curt nod and confidently noted, “I will send my best ponies to search for the new bearers. If there are ponies who got their cutie marks when that weird rainbow wave passed, we will find them.”

“I will try to assist as well. I know many influential ponies that can help search without attracting too much attention,” added Fancy Pants.

“Thank you all,” Celestia replied calmly, blinking away a few tears. “I was going to ask you to help me secretly search for them, but I am glad that you are offering to help on your own.”

“It’s our pleasure, Your Highness.”

Confident in that aspect of her plan, Celestia turned to Silver Scroll. “Now, I also have a task for you, Silver Scroll. I wish to teach a candidate for Element of Magic personally, and I need your help to ensure that I will have at least two hours of time with her every day. For now, I want to cancel all of my meetings for today. Can you arrange it?”

“Right away, Your Majesty,” replied Silver Scroll as she levitated as she opened up a densely-packed calendar and began marking though appointments, already working on her assignment.

“Very good, I hereby end this meeting, and as always, our discussions are not to leave this room,” Celestia finished in a serious tone as those around her gave their nods of assent.

With the meeting over, everypony went to complete their tasks while Celestia went back to her new student. She soon found a smile working across her face for the first time in years, and she began to feel hope for the safe return of her sister.