In Youth Eternal - Origins

Chapter 9: Betrayal Part 2

The sound crafted by the large double doors slowly creaking open interrupted the eerie, desolate silence. It echoed loudly in the empty halls as she stepped through, promptly shutting the doors behind her with her magic.

Princess Celestia had returned to her castle after having dealt with Crimson, finding not a single sign of life upon her return. The clopping of her hooves on the hard floor broke the silence once more, her head shifting back and forth, trying to spot anypony in the immediate area.

“Hello!?” she called, raising her voice, hoping to find somepony within earshot in another room.

The only response she received was the echo of her own voice. ‘Something is definitely wrong. First Luna’s moon eclipses my Sun, and now my castle is deserted,’ observed Princess Celestia.

The only thing of interest in the entrance hall were the pedestals where the dormant Elements of Harmony were displayed. The regal alicorn continued onwards, trotting around the pedestals and into the the next chamber.

Once again, she was met with silence and emptiness as she trotted into the center of the room. Not a single royal guard or servant stirred within the area, going about their usual duties. Princess Celestia’s ears perked up upon the sound of a pebble hitting the floor behind her. Even the smallest of sounds in such desolate silence stood out clear as day. Her form swung around quickly to witness who or what created the small sound.

Nothing. There was nothing. No pony, no intruder, just nothing.

‘Am I hearing things now?’ she pondered as her eyes narrowed in suspicion. A strange feeling had been nagging at her ever since; a feeling that was familiar, yet different, and it was not just the fact that the castle was suddenly forsaken. There was something else.

Princess Celestia’s horn created a burst of magic energy, promptly teleporting her form directly to the throne room of the castle. Her head and eyes shifted around, scanning the surroundings.

Once more, it was deserted. The alicorn’s brow furrowed as she let out an audible frustrated grumble.‘I am growing tired of this,’ she thought. With that in mind, her eyelids snapped shut as her horn became shrouded in gold light.

To her surprise, Princess Celestia felt the presence of many ponies. All of the guards, the staff, even Star Swirl the Bearded himself was present. And yet, something was off; their location.

‘The dungeon!? What are all of my subjects doing cramped inside of the castle dungeon!?’ her thoughts bellowed, understandably confused. In addition, the Goddess of the Sun sensed some sort of magic seal on the dungeon, preventing any entrance or escape.

Her mind raced to make sense of everything that had been found thus far, and then it hit her. There was another presence inside of the castle, lurking in the shadows; a very dark presence. Just feeling this dark force almost made the alicorn choke, causing her to gag.

Her spell deactivated as her head drooped, panting, with cold sweat damping her brow. Princess Celestia took a moment to catch her breath as her panting slowly began to subside. The alicorn’s eyes were widened in shock.

‘Such... darkness,’ she thought. ‘I’ve never felt such malice before!’

“Hm hm hm hm,” a chuckle rang out, echoing within the halls of the castle. Princess Celestia’s head sprang up, startled by the sudden sound. She frantically glanced around the throne room, attempting to discern the source of the sinister chuckle. However, the sound seemed to have come from all around, rather than a specific direction.

“Reveal yourself at once!” Princess Celestia demanded as she stomped a hoof into the floor, causing it to crack. Her brow furrowed with anger at this malicious, invasive entity.

With that, an aura resembling the starlit night sky materialized before the throne, growing and swirling around, creating an ominous wind in the area. “Hahahahaha!!!” a voice boomed in a maniacal laughter.

The swirling dark aura dispersed suddenly, revealing a tall, sleek, jet black alicorn. Her mane resembled that of a starlit sky, much like the aura from mere moments ago. It too flowed majestically like Princess Celestia’s. Her body was fitted with blue royal adornments. Her teal blue eyes each had a vertical slit for a pupil, similar to a dragon. The brow of the dark alicorn was furrowed, with her mouth formed into a large, maniacal grin, which conveyed feelings of malice.

Princess Celestia’s widened eyes scanned the dark alicorn before her. Something was so familiar about her, yet so different. Then, her eyes spotted it. Upon the flank of the evil alicorn, was a crescent moon cutie mark. Princess Celestia gasped at the realization.

“Si... Sister? Is that you!? How did you assume that form?” she asked, in a frightened confusion.

“Yes, sister,” the dark alicorn spat in reply. “But I am Luna no longer. I, am Nightmare Moon!” she bellowed, causing her ethereal mane to spread out rapidly in an intimidating manner. “It was all a simple matter, really! A few preparations and arcane spells to increase my powers!” explained the dark alicorn in a taunting fashion.

“Sister! What has happened to you?! What in Equestria has driven you to this!?” she cried in a pleading tone. Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes at the white alicorn.

“Why don’t you go look in a mirror, you foal!” she growled in anger. Princess Celestia was taken aback by her sister’s answer.

“What? What do you mean!?” cried Celestia. Nightmare Moon shut her eyes in thought for a moment, before they snapped open.

“These past number of days, sister,  you were beyond insufferable!! At first I wanted to help, but you drove me away! You abandoned me!!!” she yelled, gritting her teeth together.

Princess Celestia winced at Nightmare Moon’s comments, her eyes snapping shut.

“In addition, you threw away all of your royal duties, completely neglecting your entire kingdom, and left me with the all of the burden!” she reasoned angirly, pointing an accusing hoof at Celestia. “I have deemed you unfit for your position, and your Sun shall never rise again, dear sister,” she spat. “I will remove you myself!!!”

Nightmare Moon gathered dark blue magic energy at the tip of her horn as she reared her head. Without hesitation, she drove her horn forward, releasing a vicious beam of magic which resembled the night sky, directly towards her sister with killing intent.

The attack was monstrously fast. Princess Celestia almost reacted too late, narrowly teleporting out of the way in a flash of golden light. The blast struck the floor, creating a violent explosion with a crater in its wake.

Princess Celestia had reappeared several meters away from where she just stood, glancing at the destruction caused by Nightmare Moon’s attack. Her eyes were wide, awe struck at her violent acts.

Seeing this, Nightmare Moon pushed off the floor with her legs, lunging towards Princess Celestia with her horn pointed directly at the Sun Goddess. Princess Celestia tilted her head down, pointing her own horn forwards in defense.

The royal sisters clashed, locking their horns together in a stalemate, each attempting and struggling to overpower the other. Princess Celestia felt a metaphorical knife plunge into her heart at her sister’s hostile actions. With that, Celestia attempted once more to reach out to her sister.

“Please, sister! I’m... I’m sorry! I never meant to hurt you so much! Please, calm-”

“SILENCE!!” interrupted the dark alicorn, pushing forward. “The time for words is over!” Nightmare Moon quickly hopped back, landing in a combat ready stance. Suddenly, her wings began to flap, lifting her form into the air. The dark alicorn’s ethereal nighttime mane began to expand before twisting upwards, swirling around above her body.

“AHHH!!” shrieked Nightmare Moon, throwing her hooves outwards as her a burst of magic erupted from her hovering form. The ceiling of the regal throne room was obliterated, sending the debris flying into the skies above. Stain glass windows shattered into thousands of tiny fragments.

Princess Celestia braced herself, gritting her teeth as she brought a hoof up to shield her face and eyes, stubbornly holding her ground. Once the blast subsided, the alicorn brought her hoof back down as her head tilted upwards to see the damage caused.

Dark clouds loomed overhead, with rain trickling down into the now exposed throne room. A bolt of lightning streaked across the clouds, followed by the loud voice of thunder.

‘When did the weather change?’ Celestia thought to herself as her body was bombarded with hundreds of drops of water.

Nightmare Moon’s wings gave a powerful flap, blasting herself further into the air above the castle. Her dark magic began gathering quickly at the tip of her horn. “I will finish you off quickly!!” boomed Nightmare Moon.

Princess Celestia could feel immense power from Nightmare Moon’s horn as she gathered magic there. The alicorn’s eyes snapped shut briefly. ‘It’s no use. She’s too far gone...’ Celestia concluded. Her brow furrowed as she looked back up at Nightmare Moon. ‘If I have no choice but to fight, then so be it!’

Princess Celestia suddenly vanished from her spot in a flash of light. Nightmare Moon let out a surprised gasp, looking around frantically.

Without warning, a pair of hooves struck the dark alicorn in the back. She lost concentration of her magic, causing her destructive spell to disperse harmlessly. Nightmare Moon’s form stumbled forward in the air before turn her head to see her sister.

“RAAHH!” the dark alicorn bellowed, flapping her wings furiously, swiftly charging towards Princess Celestia. Their respective horns lit up, shrouded in magic at the same time as they clashed once more. Sparks of gold and blue erupted from the point of contact, creating a shock wave which blew away the raindrops that surrounded them. The two alicorns gazed deep into each others eyes, grunting from their horn deadlock.

“Sister! Do not make me strike you down!” Celestia yelled, pushing Nightmare Moon back.

“SHUT UP!”  the dark alicorn screamed, pushing her sister back in her rage.

They both reared their heads simultaneously, preparing for another clash. Each made their move, only for Princess Celestia to teleport in a burst of light at the last second. Nightmare Moon’s eyes went wide before noticing a golden light in her peripheral vision.

The alicorn of darkness quickly lowered her elevation, narrowly ducking underneath Princess Celestia’s illuminated horn. As a follow up, Nightmare Moon thrust her horn directly upwards towards the white alicorn’s head before she had a chance to move out of the way.

The Sun Goddess’s head jerked to the side, causing Nightmare Moon’s horn to graze her cheek instead. The white alicorn promptly moved backwards with a stronger flap of her wings to gain distance. Blood trickled down her cheek from the cut Nightmare Moon gave her.

Nightmare Moon followed Celestia’s path, not letting up in her assault. The sister clashed horns several more times, circling around one another to try and gain the upperhoof, creating shockwave with each mighty blow.

A final thrust by Nightmare Moon was met with Princess Celestia slapping her attack off course in a parry. Before Nightmare Moon could recover, the Sun Goddess aimed her horn at her sister, unleashing a quick bolt of magic energy to subdue her as she quickly backed away.

The small golden blast of magic exploded harmlessly against Nightmare Moon, doing nothing to slow her down. “Foal! Did you really think that would do anything?” she mocked, grinning maniacally at Celestia.

Princess Celestia grunted in frustration with a furrowed brow, having expected it to do more than that.

Nightmare Moon charged towards her sister once more. She easily cleared the distance within moments, causing yet another horn clash. This time however, Nightmare Moon’s mane expanded above her, swirling around. The night sky mane generated bolts of magic lightning, viciously striking Princess Celestia.

The white alicorn was knocked out of the sky, tumbling downwards at an angle towards the castle entrance. Her white fur was noticeably charred, with pain coursing throughout her body. Her eyes had closed due to almost losing consciousness.

Her eyes reopened, with her blurred vision sharpening back to normal. Celestia gasped as she found herself falling, dangerously close to the ground. Her form stabilized itself when she spread her wings before landing on the ground in front of the main entrance on all fours with an ground shattering thud.

She turned to look up at Nightmare Moon, finding the dark alicorn to already be charging a spell at the tip of her horn. Princess Celestia widened her stance as golden magic gathered upon her own horn. Every effort was made to gather as much power as possible, gritting her teeth as she strained.

With that, Nightmare Moon launched a large, nighttime sky-esque beam of magic from above. In response, Princess Celestia unleashed her own attack, creating a golden blast almost as bright as the Sun itself.

The two attacks collided midway, violently pushing against one another. A constant shockwave emanated from the beam collision, creating strong winds blowing away in all directions. The white alicorn fed as much power as she could handle into the attack, but to no avail.

Nightmare Moon’s blast began pushing Celestia’s back. The Sun Goddess could feel her power being forced back, no match for her sister’s. ‘No... At this rate, I will never defeat my sister!’ she reasoned in her mind. No matter how she strained, Princess Celestia was unable to overpower her sister’s attack. Then, she had an idea.

With that in mind, the white alicorn darted to the side, towards the main doors of the castle while maintaining her attack. The force of Princess Celestia’s blast changing angles pushed Nightmare Moon’s attack far to the side.

A satisfied smirk crept its way onto her features as witnessed hers and Nightmare Moon’s magic blasts were redirected away from the castle. The beams traveled a fair distance towards the nearby chasm, effortlessly obliterating the cobblestone bridge which connected the two sides.

With that out of the way, Princess Celestia pushed the large doors open with her hooves, dashing inside the entrance hall, the doors slamming shut behind her. ‘I have no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony!’ she concluded, having determined herself no match for Nightmare Moon.

The regal alicorn levitated the 6 sealed artifacts off of their pedestals and over to herself. ‘Elements, don’t fail me now...’ she thought, as sparks of magic flew from her horn and onto the 6 stone orbs. For a brief moment, the orbs lit up in a powerful, radiant glow before cracks formed on them. The orbs shattered to reveal the true, regal forms of the Elements of Harmony.

As that happened, Nightmare Moon landed harshly on the ground just outside of the entrance, creating a loud thud. “Don’t run from me, Celestia!!” she shouted, forcing the doors open with a touch of her magic.

It was then and there that the alicorn of darkness saw the Elements of Harmony surrounded in her sister. The white alicorn turned to face Nightmare Moon, a stern scowl adorning her features. The dark alicorn gasped at the sight, rearing her head.

“You leave me no choice, sister!” asserted Celestia with a loud, angered voice. “I did not want it to come to this! You are hereby sentenced to imprisonment on the moon!” Princess Celestia pushed off the floor as her wings flapped, allowing her to hover several hooves off the floor, her eyes whited out with an eerie magic glow. The Elements of Harmony surrounded her form in an evenly spaced orbit.

Nightmare Moon panicked, frantically flinging bolts and blasts of magic at her sister, only for an invisible force to effortlessly swat them away. Seeing her assault was futile, Nightmare Moon gritted her teeth, growling in frustration as cold sweat dripped from her forehead.

With that, a massive rainbow colored blast erupted from Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, knocking back and engulfing Nightmare Moon’s form, swirling around her. She let out a terrified scream as the blast of rainbow light launched itself, along with her, into the skies at impossible speeds.  The dark clouds above parted, revealing the still-daytime sky as the rainbow headed directly towards the moon.

Her mind was flustered. Surrounding her was the power of the Elements of Harmony, launching her towards her own moon. No matter how she struggled, Nightmare Moon could not break free of the magic that encased her.

The dark alicorn suddenly found herself slamming into the surface of the moon, with the magic of the Elements of Harmony pinning her against the surface as its power seeped into the moon itself.

The the surface of the moon where Nightmare Moon was help, suddenly parted, revealing a deep chasm. Rainbow colored chains quickly reached up from these depths, wrapping around Nightmare Moon’s body. She began thrashing violently as the chains began to pull her down into the depths of the moon.

“DAMN YOU CELESTIA!! WHEN I RETURN, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!” she screamed with all her might, her eyes appearing bloodshot. With that, Nightmare Moon was helplessly dragged into the dark depths of the moon, screaming, as the chasm closed itself, sealing her fate .

Back at the castle, Princess Celestia snapped her eyes shut as tears gushed down her cheeks, causing her to hyperventilate. Her legs gave out from under her, causing the alicorn to hit the floor on her side with a hard thud. The Elements of Harmony very quickly followed her example, all of them becoming subject to gravity’s pull.

The physical and mental strain was too much for Princess Celestia to handle, as she felt her consciousness beginning to fade. Her sister’s betrayal felt as if her heart had been ripped clean out of her body and stomped on.

Princess Celestia gave one final thought as her eyes slowly shut, falling into the dark, cold void of unconsciousness.

‘I’m so sorry, Lulu...’