Eternity is a long, long time.
Time wears anything down. Nothing is impervious to the corruption of time. Well, almost nothing. There are a few things that could withstand it. Most are inanimate objects. A few are not.
As you can imagine, after an eternity, only these few things would remain. But life, life is a strange thing. It is never permanent. However, a constant cycle supports the balance between life and death. Life can renew itself. All it requires is two creatures of the same species and the opposite gender.
However, what would happen if the species no longer exists? Simply put, you will never see another of that creature again. Nopony can turn back time or change the past. We simply accept this fact and move on.
But what if life itself became extinct?
****
A ferocious gale howled, tossing many unlucky leaves about like… well, leaves. Not a single figure could be seen amidst the many abandoned ruins, nor near the large expanse of dead trees that dotted the landscape. The leaves that were blown along the ground were neigh-unrecognisable as leaves, having decomposed to the point where one would not see the difference between it and a crumpled, flat, brown-black stone. That is, if there were anypony around to see it.
Suddenly, another sound echoed around the ruined village. This time it was not the wind, nor the leaves scraping along the barren, sorry excuse for earth. It was the sound of skin coming into contact with the detritus that littered the ground. A hooded figure emerged from the shadow of one of the structures, only to disappear when it crossed another patch of darkness. The constant tap tap tap of the figure’s steps continued, until it reached the edge of the village, where it leapt over the dried-up stream that wound around the cluster of buildings with the grace of an experienced equine.
The stranger pressed on, following a barely recognisable dirt path, away from the village cursed by decay. A few trees that somehow survived after all that time grew at the side of the road. Soon, the path gave way to a large forest with ominous trees that were alive, just like the trees lining the dirt road. Undeterred by the queer and downright spooky scene, the stranger proceeded straight into the forest.
Soon, the dense collection of plants that was characteristic of the forest gave way to a clearing, with seven grey stones protruding from the ground. They were rectangular in shape, and rounded at the top. The figure approached them slowly, heading towards the one all the way on the left. She was only a metre away from the stone when a gust of wind blew back against her hood and revealed a pony with an indigo face, with a flowing starry night sky-blue mane and tail that moved in the exact opposite direction that the wind was currently blowing. Two blue irises peered out at the stone, concern filling those gentle eyes. The horn atop the pony’s head flashed once, and the rest of the cloak dissolved into an mass of bats that flapped their wings and flew away. The blue wings at her side flapped twice, flexing themselves after being restrained for some time. Her mouth opened, and the alicorn spoke.
“’Tis good to be able to stretch mine wings after the walk. We would abandon the cloak, but these winds contain too much dirt for mine own good.” Luna stared at the rounded stone lovingly. “We have come to visit, dear sister of mine. We do not really know why thou asked to be buried here, but we suppose you were always close to your ‘dear student’.” She gave the other stones a glance. “Still, we have never properly thanked the Elements of Harmony for saving our world twice. Pity they didn’t succeed the third time.” Luna turned her focus back to the original stone. “We warned you that the game you play is a dangerous one, Sister. Death is inevitable, one way or another, even for alicorns like thee. Discord was already terrible enough by himself, but to invoke war with the entire draconequus race is plain foolhardy. We still don’t agree with thy motives, but we understand what you said when you told us that they threatened the very safety of Equestria.”
Luna’s horn glowed as she summoned a gold-coated box from seemingly nowhere. “We have brought a present for thee.” The box opened slowly, revealing a pretty blue flower sitting on the cushion within the container. “’Tis one of the only flowers that still grows in eternal night. If you were present to raise the sun, We might have been able to procure a more beautiful bloom.” Luna looked at the flower in the box. “It is called Poison Joke, a flower native to this forest. We had sufficient presence of mind not to touch it.” The box floated down to the ground before the tombstone, where it came to rest. “We know we should be out searching for more life in this ravaged world, but we fear there is nopony left in this dark wasteland. Furthermore-”
A sudden rustle from behind her made Luna freeze where she was standing. The alicorn turned around slowly, expecting anything from a rabbit to a draconequus to come leaping out at her from the darkness of the trees. Her horn emitted a soft glow as she mentally cycled through all the combat spells she knew. There weren’t many.
Suddenly, she felt someone tap her on her shoulder, and she yelped as she released the thunderbolt she had been preparing. The uncontrolled electricity arced past her and struck the plantlife at the opposite side of the clearing. Luna’s head whipped around and she came face-to-face with…
Nopony.
The alicorn looked around in confusion. She was completely sure that someone had tapped her on the shoulder. The fire illuminated the entire clearing, showing that there was nopony present… wait, the fire?
Luna immediately realised that the trees her wayward electric blast had struck were now a blazing inferno, consuming all other plants within reach. Luna hurriedly summoned a concentrated blast of wind to extinguish the flames. However, the wind simply fanned the fire, which spread more quickly, eating up more and more of the indigenous plants like a ravenous monster. Luna looked around frantically for any source of water, but her efforts proved fruitless. All the ground around her was dry, with not a droplet of water to be seen. The alicorn could feel the air rushing towards the fire, feeding the flames with the oxygen it needed to burn.
'Wait, that’s it!' Luna acted on her sudden brainwave and used her overly powerful alicorn telekinesis to draw all the air away from the fire. Deprived of its fuel, the inferno vanished instantly, leaving no trace that it had ever been there, aside from the ashes of the unfortunate plants that the flames had all but annihilated.
Luna breathed a sigh of relief and swivelled around on the spot to face the grave markers. The sight of a single draconequus perched on Celestia’s tombstone startled her so much that she nearly fainted dead away. As it was, she barely managed to flap her wings before her face connected with the ground in what would have been an extremely painful and embarrassing sight.
Discord looked at her with a disapproving gaze. “Really, Luna, am I that ugly? It’s quite rude to treat your guests like this, you know?”
After she recovered, Luna gave the god of chaos and disharmony a look filled with so much venom it would have been deadly had the poison been real. “Thou art most certainly no friend of mine, draconequus. Now leave, before we smite thee with our powerful- er, powers?”
Discord laughed. “Most eloquent, my dear Luna. However, I am not here to fight you. I am here to negotiate a truce.
Luna’s icy look held up. “We might be able to take thee more seriously if you weren’t resting thy ugly rump on ‘Tia’s gravestone.”
Discord took a brief look at what he was sitting on and got up instantly. “My apologies, princess. I was unaware of your sister’s dea- passing.”
“She died valiantly defending her nation.” Luna’s hate-filled look intensified, if such a thing was possible. “Unlike thee, who was the cause of this entire conflict to begin with.”
Discord raised his hands defensively. “You can’t blame me! I couldn’t really move much as a statue.” The draconequus pronounced the last word clearly, injecting as much loathing and malice into it as possible.
“You brought that unto yourself, monster.” Luna’s eyes radiated not only hate now, but also contempt.
Discord chose not to take the bait. “Hey, hey, I’m not here to argue with you. I’m here to negotiate a truce. And maybe give you some helpful tips.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Why should we trust thee? You do nothing but spread chaos and breed disharmony!”
“Does it look like there are cotton candy clouds anywhere raining chocolate? Or dancing bears? Or the world looking like it has been twisted by my ‘chaos and disharmony’?” Discord asked. It was most definitely a rhetorical question.
“Well, no.” Luna admitted.
“Exactly!” Discord exclaimed. “It’s no fun to cause chaos when there’s nopony around! And if I can’t cause chaos, there’s no point fighting you so I can spread it!” The draconequus extended his paw. “I’m tired. Tired of having to fight for nothing. I may be able to live forever, but this life is not even worth living anymore.”
Luna recoiled. “You… you want to… die?”
Discord snorted. “Why not? There’s nothing to live for. Tell me, what do you live for?”
“That’s most obvious! It is because-” Luna was surprised when she had to think of an answer to a question she thought she knew the answer to. “b…because we need to help our little ponies to rebuild after this disaster-”
“What little ponies? I’ve been around the world twice already and there’s nopony around for me to spread chaos to! Face it, Luna. Equestria is DEAD!” The last word resounded with so much volume that the very ground vibrated and the trees were shaken.
“No… no… it can’t be…” Luna sunk to the ground. A thousand angry voices suddenly appeared in her head, screaming at her with voices full of hate and anguish.
‘You failed us, Luna!’
‘Why? Why didn’t you do anything until it was too late?'
‘We’re dead because of you, Luna! You abandoned us!'
Just as the alicorn thought that things couldn’t get any worse, a single voice resonated through her mind. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
‘I’m so disappointed in you, sister. Why did you leave when the world needed you most? Why?’
“NO!” Powerful arcs of electricity lashed out at everything nearby, and Discord doused the dozens of small fires that started with a single snap of his fingers. The thunderclouds fizzled out of existence as the anger and hate in Luna’s heart was replaced by helplessness and sadness. “No…”
Discord moved forward to comfort Luna, but a bright, glowing ball of energy appeared before him, halting his advance. The shimmering sphere coalesced into a very familiar white alicorn, her multicoloured mane and tail flowing and rippling.
“Luna.” Celestia spoke, her voice radiating kindness, reminding the indigo alicorn of what she had lost.
“’Tia?” Luna looked up at her sister with teary eyes.
Discord hesitated, trying to decide whether he should approach Luna or not. “Uh…”
Celestia gave him a look that was even harsher than Luna’s. “Leave us. NOW.” She spoke the last word extremely loudly, highlighting its importance.
Discord nodded briefly before hovering off towards the almost pitch dark space beyond the clearing. He took one last glance at Luna before he disappeared into the forest.
Once the draconequus had left, Celestia turned her head to look at the trembling princess of the night. Amazement was abundantly clear in her eyes, but a tinge of doubt could be seen in the way her mouth curved slightly downwards at the edges.
“Sister, thou hast returned!” Luna moved up to hug Celestia, but her hooves passed through the sun princess’ body, creating a rippling effect on that portion of the skin. Luna looked up at Celestia incredulously. “What is wrong, ‘Tia?”
“I’m sorry, Luna, but I’m not really alive.” Celestia looked down at the expanding ripples on her coat. “When I said that alicorns lived forever, I didn’t only mean it physically. I also meant it spiritually. Normally, most souls left stuck in this world wither away into nothingness, but as alicorns, we can survive here indefinitely.”
“We… we don’t understand.” Luna shook her head in confusion. “Why art thou even here? And why hast thou neglected to visit us before?”
“I suppose I ought to explain things to you.” Celestia’s voice contained none of the old Equish that sometimes took over in the moon goddess’ speech. “I believe you know of what I told the ponies a few thousand years ago, right?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, thou told them that good ponies’ souls would go to paradise in the sky after they die. Why dost thou think that the next few generations of ponies were peaceful and obedient, with not a trace of malice in their hearts?”
“Indeed. However, did I tell you what happens to bad ponies when they die?”
Luna’s face scrunched up in confusion. “My memories fail me, sister. We do not remember.”
“That is because I did not tell you.” Celestia’s face remained a mask of calmness. “When bad ponies die, their souls will be stuck in this world, and take dozens of millennia to wither away. During this period, they cannot interact with anypony, and eventually go mad. However, those souls eventually fade, and then they are reborn, and have another chance at life. Call it forgiveness if you want.”
Now Luna’s face was rid of its confusion, with dawning comprehension taking its place. “We understand now, sister! But wait… if only bad souls are stuck here, then that means…”
Celestia nodded her head sadly. “Yes. I’ve done many things that I’m not proud of in the many thousands of years when I was alive. As I’ve said before, alicorns live forever, so that means that I’m stuck here for eternity.”
Luna’s blue eyes began tearing up. “Oh… oh, ‘Tia…”
“I’m afraid I don’t have much time left. I’m expending vast amounts of energy just so I can transcend the spiritual plane to contact you. I have to tell you something before I leave.” The white alicorn’s eyes focused deep into Luna’s, as if looking straight into the moon’s princess’ soul. “It is too late for me. I know that. I have no second chances left. But you do.”
“Leave this world. For me. There is nothing left here, so go ahead and end your suffering. It pains me greatly to see you like this.”
The image of Celestia began to waver, and slowly fall apart starting from the hooves up. Luna tried to concentrate her magic to hold the pieces together, but to no avail. The sun princess’ continued disintegrating despite Luna’s best efforts. When nothing but the head was left, Celestia gave Luna a sad smile and spoke her last words.
“Thanks for the flower.”
The last pieces of Celestia’s body felt to the ground and turned into an intangible dust that flew away into the sky. Luna watched the little flecks disappear into the star-filled night, crying silent tears of despair.
Discord peeked out from behind a tree, and noting that Celestia was gone, approached Luna once more, extending his paws in a gesture of kindness, an emotion tragically rare for the draconequus. Before he could reach Luna, however, the moon goddess looked up at him, and the first thing that got to Discord was her eyes.
Somepony once said that the eyes are a gateway to the soul. Those blue eyes, which were usually filled with emotion, be it unbridled fury or uncontained happiness, were now completely dull. It wasn’t just that there wasn’t any form of emotion in them. There was nothing in those eyes. It was like a contrast between pitch darkness and a black hole. Luna’s irises could be compared to the latter, absorbing everything around them but refusing to give anything in return.
“You’re right.” The alicorn spoke in a voice that similarly lacked any emotion.
“You what?” Discord asked. He knew just what Luna meant, but he couldn’t resist the temptation to tease her one last time.
“I’m done with this life. Let’s go. We can’t let ‘Tia down.”
Now Discord was confused. “Go where?”
“Back to where we started.”
****
Luna stood just in front of the deep gorge that circled the ancient castle where she had battled the Elements of Harmony as Nightmare Moon.
It was also her old home. Strange as to why she thought of this place being the scene of her alter ego’s defeat instead of an old abode.
“Ah. Fitting to end it where it began.” Discord was surveying the area, taking note of how deep the gorge was.
“That is why we chose this location.” Luna looked at the giant chasm, it was indeed very deep. “We need you to tie our wings for us.”
“Sure.” Discord snapped his fingers a little too eagerly, and two ropes, along with a bunch of chains and a lock, fastened themselves around Luna’s wings. Now she was definitely suspicious.
“Discord.”
“Yes?” The draconequus looked at her.
“Art thou following us or not?”
“Of course.” Discord snapped his fingers again, and numerous ropes bound his wings. “I meant it when I said that I had nothing left to live for.”
Luna nodded. “So tho did.” Now she could jump with a clear conscience, knowing that Discord wasn’t planning anything. She took a deep breath as she stared down the gorge.
“Three…”
Luna readied herself to leap to her death.
“Two…”
A thought occurred to her. She didn’t need to do this. She could continue living in this wasteland with no hope. She didn’t need to die.
But that wasn’t really an option.
“One…”
She couldn’t let Celestia down. She wanted Luna to be happy, and she sacrificed her own happiness to give her that. The sun princess would forever be wandering aimlessly in this blasted hellhole, and the first pony the white alicorn thought of was her.
She wouldn’t fail her sister.
“Zero.”
Luna pushed herself off the edge.
She watched the walls of the chasm rushing upwards, and the ground getting ever closer. She wanted to close her eyes, but the wind forced them open. She willed it to be over quickly.
The last thing she saw was Discord snapping his fingers and disappearing in a flash of light. Luna cursed her naivety, and tried to invoke a teleportation spell immediately. However, she was only seconds from the ground at that point, and the ground met the side of her face far too quickly. A bone crunching snap echoed throughout the chasm.
Luna’s world disappeared into darkness.
****
Discord clapped gleefully as he heard the sharp snap that was Luna hitting the ground at the bottom of the gorge. “Finally! At least the effort of keeping up the illusion of Celestia paid off! Now I will get the start of the new, majestic world!” He rose up into the air, snapping his fingers as he did so.
The surroundings immediately changed from the dismal scene of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters to a colourful, noisy metropolis, with cotton candy clouds littering the sky, and buildings floating in the air, some upside down, along with a sign that boldly stated: “Welcome to the New Chaos Capital of the World!” However, there was a sight that would have shocked Luna, had she been there.
Ponies roamed the frozen streets, walking around, or more commonly, crying. All of them regarded their surroundings with hate in their eyes. Discord seemed not to notice this, and began to speak in a voice that would have put the Royal Canterlot Voice to shame.
“FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! YOUR LAST HOPE, PRINCESS LUNA, IS DEAD!” Most of the ponies let out confused gasps, the rest of them fainting.
“THAT’S RIGHT! THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND THE PRINCESSES ARE DEAD! THERE IS NO MORE REASON TO RESIST!” Discord loved watching the ponies going into varying degrees of shock.
“YOU MIGHT AS WELL ENJOY YOUR LIVES IN THIS CHAOS!” The draconequus bellowed. “While they last.” He added quietly.
He remembered what Celestia had said to him while he was frozen as a statue the second time. “Those whose motives are pure, will always succeed.” He repeated. “Well, I have succeeded, pure motives or no! And this world is mine now.”
He had all the time he wanted to rebuild his empire from the ashes. After all, he was eternal.
He had all the time in the world.
****
Luna opened her eyes.
She was back at the bottom of the chasm. Luna felt no pain, until she caught sight of her body lying, mangled, in the dirt. Then she had a sick feeling at the bottom of her stomach.
“Well, we are dead, that point has definitely been proven. Now, what course of action should we take?”
Suddenly, a very familiar shimmering white sphere appeared in front of her, which soon shifted its form to take the shape of a white alicorn with a rainbow mane and tail, along with two pegasus royal guards. Luna jumped with joy, until she realised that Celestia’s eyes held not happiness, but immense sadness.
“Um… ‘Tia?” Luna asked hesitantly.
Celestia sighed, and the moon princess could hear all of the despair that saturated the noise. “I’m so disappointed in you, sister. Why did you leave when the world needed you most? Why?”
Luna flinched. She had heard that exact phrase before, and it stung like you wouldn’t believe.
“I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, Luna, but I have no choice.” She turned to the guards. “Let’s leave.”
One of the pegasi spoke up. “We’re not taking her back to Paradise, your highness?”
Celestia shook her head. “No. She’s a bad pony.”
As the group slowly began to fade away, Luna lunged for them, but passed straight through the ponies.
Celestia gave her one last sad look before disappearing.
‘I’m a bad pony…’ The voices in Luna’s head restarted again, and Luna clutched her temples, trying to get rid of the unwelcome intruders, but to no avail.
Death was no longer an option. She had lost the life she could have had, along with the last shred of hope and sanity. She slid down onto the ground, listening to the voices in her head.
‘We’ll never leave you, Luna.’
‘We’ll always be by your side.’
‘Taunting you, mocking you.’
‘For the rest of eternity.’
And eternity is a long, long time.
