Delaying the Inevitable

Chapter 7

Opening it, it looked like some kind of dairy as every alinea started with the date it was written at. It began at three and a quarter of a century from now and ended three hundred years from today. That’s pretty impressive to have written a book for twenty five years. Of course, the Royal Sisters hadn’t written every day, but more like every month.

The book contained many beautiful explanations and illustrations of events that have happened during those twenty five years. And those years seem to have been tough as those were the years Celestia got confronted with most of her villians. And looking at the point of view the different entries were written in, it seemed that Princess Luna stopped writing in the dairy after a couple of years. It was only Princess Celestia who continued the journal. I wonder why, would it have to do something with her banishment? And what about Starswirl? I’m sure she has to say good things about him. I started reading the journal after Princess Luna didn’t write any entries no more.

‘Today, Starswirl and Scorpan travelled all the way from their laboratory cave in western Equestria to here to report about the finds of the Elements of Harmony.’

Elements of Harmony? Shouldn’t it be the Spell of Harmony?

‘Me and my sister found them resting in a tree inside of the ravine. The Elements of Harmony seem to have a unique power that can only be casted when showing true friendship. That is what Scorpan and Starswirl figured out when they were examining them. It seems they are very best friends with each other.’

I flipped the page to continue reading, it was really fascinating.

‘Starswirl did ask to talk face to face with me. He wanted to talk about the relation between me and my sister. He sensed something wasn’t going alright with her after we got to the Crystal Empire to banish King Sombra in the ice of the arctic. He said he would examine if he could bring my relation with my sister back to a good balance like it was before. But for now, he said I should keep these elements if it would get out of hoof. And it was better not to tell Luna about you possessing them, he added.’

That as everything written at that month, I’m surprised what should come next.

‘When I was lowering the Sun a couple of days ago, I saw my sister having a lot of troubles raising the Moon. I told her to stop the nonsense and asked her to start raising it, but then she began complaining that my subjects and myself didn’t show much love to her. That all the ponies would sleep during her night that she tries to make as beautiful as she could make it. I tried to comfort her by saying that the ponies find her night so peaceful that they fall asleep from it. She didn’t feel a whole lot better after I said that, but she did at least try to raise the Moon. However, she was still struggling, so I decided to help her with that.’

That doesn’t sound well at all. Anyways, I wonder what would have happened afterwards. On to the next month.

‘An evil master of chaos named Discord appeared in our realm and threatened the land. Me and my sister got to there to deal with the troublemaker. Shortly after, it seemed that dealing him using only our alicorn magic wouldn’t do the job. But then I thought back to the Elements of Harmony Starswirl gave  me, he did tell me it was best not to show my sister I had them in my possession, but I did it anyways as this situation called for it. And as Starswirl told me, they would only go into effect when showing true friendship. But when me and my sister wielded the elements, it didn’t go swiftly at all. I can clearly remember Discord laughing with the situation we were in at. But soon after, the elements did eventually go into effect and turned the Master of Chaos into stone. After that happened, me and my sister got into yet another argument. She was scared and angered that I had the Elements of Harmony in my possession, I didn’t tell her that I had received them from Starswirl so I could defend myself against her, but that wasn’t the reason she was angry anyways. She said it was too dangerous to wield it all by myself and demanded I should either give them back to Starswirl, give them back to the Tree of Harmony or bury them away.

But I didn’t want to get rid of the elements yet, so I lied to her and promised I would bury them. Instead, I kept them safe in a little secret spot underneath the ground floor. Luckily she hasn’t found it yet and let’s hope to keep it that way.’

Reading this made my thoughts get confused. Why would Celestia want to keep her sister a secret? Maybe that’s why the ponies back in Canterlot threatened me with my studies and with the exploration of the Everfree Forest. Princess Celestia tries to…, hide the truth to us. I looked through the door at the library. She didn’t really hide it well, did she? I thought.

Yet I didn’t feel comfortable as I was wondering what would happen if I would to return to Canterlot. There is no doubt that Princess Celestia will not allow me to. But the journey isn’t done yet, there are a couple more pages still to read.

Skipping a few entries, I found yet another fascinating part.

‘Today it happened, something I am already feeling much regret of. A couple of days ago, Luna refused to lower the Moon and make place for the Sun. I started with being kind against her, but soon enough it ran out of hoof and my own sister began transforming into a scary, wicked mare. I can clearly remember the words she said before she transformed: ‘Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all bask in your precious light!? There can only be one princess in Equestria, and that princess will be me!’

Those words shivered down my body, but I tried to remain calm. She started to destroy the wall, statues and the roof of the castle. I was first hesitant to battle against her.

‘Luna I will not fight you! You must lower the Moon, it’s your duty!’ I screamed at her, but with no success.

‘Luna?’ She responded, ‘I am Nightmare Moon!’

The name itself clearly showed she got out of her mind and she began assaulting me: ‘I have but one royal duty now: do destroy you!’ And she shot off a beam from her horn towards me. Yet I was still not fighting back, instead I tried to fly away in the hope I could get to the Elements of Harmony in time before she could. She was constantly firing to me and I eventually got and fell down on the same spot I had hid the elements from her. There, I took them out of their place and they started orbiting around me. With the elements by my side, I flew up to meet my sister once again. On the moment she saw me, she prepared herself against my wrath. But it was clear that I had way more supremacy over her. I felt her trying to fight back the magic of the Elements of Harmony, but alas, the elements sent her away. And when I opened my eyes again, I saw her face getting formed on the surface of the Moon.’

So, Princess Celestia banished her own sister? My head felt like it could detonate at any second.

‘And the elements did their job, they listened to my friendship I had for her. But deep in my heart, it felt wrong, too wrong.

When the balance between day and night got restored again, many of my subjects came to the castle to cheer for my victory. And it was only then when I understood what Luna tried to say with ponies not showing their love to her: there was nopony who wondered where Luna was as they still weren’t aware that the darkness that covered Equestria was because of her. It was only Starswirl who noticed something went wrong when he paid me a visit.

‘You have done the right thing, princess,’ he tried to cheer me up, but it didn’t work.

‘It was not you who banished her, it were the elements who did,’ that sentence got me to frustration: ‘I am a princess of Equestria, a land of harmony. And the only thing I have done was pushing my own sister away in the background even though she deserved to be noticed by all my subjects.’

‘Do not worry, princess,’ Starswirl followed, ‘everypony makes mistakes. I have made mistakes too in the past.’

‘But, I am a ruler, I can never fail. If I will let my subjects know of my cruelty, there will be no way to return my trust in them.’

I could feel Starswirl being uncomfortable with that: ‘what do you mean, princess?’

I looked outside, there were still a couple of ponies cheering at me.

‘I believe it is best not to tell about this to the future generation.’

Starswirl was shocked with what I suggested: ‘so instead of fixing the problem, you will try and push it away?’

‘I guess that is what I will do,’ I said in a much calmer tone than Starswirl’s.

But he still didn’t agree: ‘princess, what you are planning is ridiculous. One way or another, there will be somepony who will fins out about the truth. What you are suggesting is only delaying the inevitable.’

‘Then you don’t know me well enough,’ I finished the conversation.

After that, Starswirl left and since then I haven’t heard from him ever again, neither have I heard anything something from Scorpan anymore. I believe they must have fled towards another place.’

And this probably marks the start of her regime? Let’s check out next month.

‘Clearing out the public libraries from all the books I wanted to be banned went fluently. Of course, many of my subjects wondered what was going on but I - together with some trustworthy companions of mine - have been able to successfully reassure them.

What was difficult though is making so that the following generation wouldn’t know about many events of the past that might lead to them knowing about Princess Luna. Parents would tell them about the Crystal Empire for example, but luckily they are being told that it is just a ponytale at school.’

But, that is outright propaganda!? Princess Celestia, she, she planned all of this?

There were only a few more pages written after that and the journal ended when she decided to move to another place: Canterlot.

I took out my quill and paper to try and note down everything I had discovered, but it was at that point that I saw Navorse sleeping: I have been reading this journal almost the whole night long, yet I didn’t feel sleepy at all until I heard Navorse peacefully snoring, that gave me the notification it’s better time to take a rest.