Fall From Greatness

Author Notes: This should be -really- short ~1,000 words just to get an introduction into things and try to establish the history of events in my story. So yeah this is my first fic of any type. Hopefully I can get a few editors on my side to help me out. Here we go!

Tarnished Gemstones

The sun rose over a Canterlot waking up to start the day as usual. The two princesses that ruled over Equestria were currently eating breakfast. This was one of the few times the two sisters were up at the same time but this was partly due to their roles in nature. One being in command of the sun and the day and the other being in command of the night  and the moon. It was silent for quite a while before Luna spoke up rather groggily.

“Sister... a thought has occurred to me...” The younger mare lowly turned to face her older sister as the white mare looked to her with a smile. “The elements of harmony... how exactly do they work? I mean yes the use the essence of the wielder to summon forth an astounding amount of energy that can bombard a target bringing them back into harmony with each other. I know that much...”

It was then that Celestia interrupted rather curtly. “ Why are you so interested in the elements of harmony all of a sudden? And more importantly I thought you already knew how it worked. The six elements of harmony come together unified in friendship to bring the opponent back into harmony with his or herself.”

“Celestia...” Luna started to speak again after being interrupted by her sister. “I know about that part... but my concern is...well... never mind I am sure it is nothing to worry about maybe I'm just looking for things to be worried about... but maybe you can follow my logic?”

“...Continue then” Celestia stated as she sat down in her seat, looking over to her sister with a small smile.

“How many times have we called upon the elements of harmony? I mean both of us, not your student and her friends.” Luna looked to her questioningly.

“Well... you have used them once... I think...when we fought with discord the very first time to lock him into his stone prison.... and I used them twice Once to help with discord and the second...well.. to lock your alter self on the moon.” Celestia looked down somewhat as she stopped talking. She was still rather remorseful about having her sister banished for so long.

“I remember that when I used it just that once and the battle was over the resulting drain knocked us both out for a week... and while I don’t know how it effected you after you banished me am I right to assume that it also took a lot out of you?” Luna sat back down and started to eat a fresh garden salad.

“Actually...I blacked out... and when I came to it was a completely different season...” Celestia hmmed a bit as her mind started to turn gradually getting onto the same page as her sisters.

“Exactly...keep in mind that we are essentially gods among mortals... and we were using at least three elements at once...we both know that even one element contains near limitless amounts of power... how can a mortal body channel such power with no repercussions and more to the point. The power contained in the gems is finite how many times have you asked your student and friends to unify and unleash the power of harmony?” Luna asked as she took a bite of that salad, leaning back slightly to listen to her elder sister.

“Well there was You, Discord, Then there was the dragon conflicts... and the gryphon affairs... then the guardian and the-” She was cut off by Luna who at this point was starting to look rather strained.

“You don’t need to name them all off just give me a number...” Luna huffed.

“All things considered... about thirty two times...” Celestia looked down somewhat in defeat. “My duties are harder than you realize Luna... and while I don’t like sending my favorite student out to fight some battles I have to because I tried to do everything myself I wold be run ragged... I cant ask you to take up the fight because you are still recovering from your banishment...” The white mare sighed a bit and stood up, heading out of the room.

“Tia....” Luna started to sigh somewhat apparently she had struck a nerve the dark mare however would not drop the subject but rather than try to debate her sister over the point that the elder sister was sore about. She however decided to  head down the the royal library. Among the many many books that lined the halls there was one that she needed most of all. A book on magical theory in regards to the elements of harmony. While nobody really knew how they came into being there were many books based off of speculation.

“Where is it where is it..ah.. Here it is!” She used her magic to pull out a dusty old tomb that hasn’t felt a set of eyes upon it for many years. The pages of the book flipped rather quickly before it stopped to a certain point as Luna began to read to herself.

“The elements of harmony work by restoring balance...not balance within the the self but balance within the world... there must always be good there must always be evil.. It is my theory that these gemstones have the ability to effect balance on a global scale... influencing it for good...influencing it for evil.” Luna closed the books and started to think to herself. “influencing it for good... and for evil... anything to maintain balance...” Luna took the book she read and decided to head back to her room for now.  She needed sleep before it was her time to set the sun and rise the moon.

Elsewhere in the castle Celestia was walking into her royal quarters were she levitated a moderate sized box opening it up to reveal the six treasure that made up the elements of harmony.  Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic. Celestia had remembered them as she saw the being used only a few weeks earlier when she had her student and her friends deal with yet another one of the many opposing forces of goodness and order.. they were rather bright and vibrant then. But now... now some of them looked a little off to say the least... The one unifying treasure, the element of magic was changing. That bright purple star that was a flawless amethyst was now starting to get darker...and the gem itself was riddled with imperfections that she could of sworn weren’t there the last time they were used. The White mare's eyes widened slightly. Maybe Luna was right. Maybe she had to look into the true properties of the treasures completely before she used it to solve every problem that she could solve on her own.

“It is my students duty...she can handle it... she is my student after all...” Celestia mused to herself in an instance of pride in her student.

Celestia waked away from the treasures and went to start the rest of the day, unknown to her a crack started to form in the now dark, clouded purple gem...