Prologue to Harmony

Celestia was in shock for what she saw. This wasn’t supposed to happen. They were supposed to be the witnesses of Luna’s power, not Luna’s hate. After a few minutes, the princess finally woke up from her trauma. She looked at the catastrophic place that surrounded her. The ghost of what used to be Canterlot. The buildings were falling apart, the ponies screaming in terror, the deep darkness. The only light came out of a few fires that were produced along with the destruction of the city. It was raining, and lightning bolts generated intense flashes that blinded the citizens for a few seconds. It was total chaos. Celestia couldn’t think of anything else than blame herself for the imminent death of all those innocent ponies:

-“What the hell was I thinking? Being a tyrant? That doesn’t solve anything! For pony’s sake… now my stupidity has condemned Equestria… but the worst thing of all, is that I made my own sister become a monster. I remember… when I used to be sisters…good sisters. Our relationship was perfect. Our friendship was so strong that we even wielded the elements of harmony to defeat Discord and countless enemies, always being toge-“–She suddenly realized what she said. – “Wait… the Elements of Harmony! If I’m strong enough, then maybe I could find a way to use them on my own, and defeat my sister! We still have hope!”

She quickly stood on, and went running to her castle, which was falling apart just like all the other buildings in Canterlot. She knew that in her library she had a book about the Elements. Maybe the book had clues of a way to use them alone. As she was running towards the castle, she heard the voice of her twisted sister, coming out from nowhere:

• “What, you think you can do something about this!? Don´t make me laugh! My perfect kingdom is going to live forever! And there’s nothing you can do to save your people for falling into destruction!”

Celestia looked everywhere. She couldn´t spot her sister. But trusting she would hear her, she responded:

-“This is not the way Luna! We still can amend things! Stop this madness!”

She heard no response, only a hysterical laugh that came from the sky above her. Suddenly, lightning bolts started hitting furiously the ground. They were hitting near Celestia, and they were getting closer. Celestia ran as fast as she could, but when she was really close from the castle, a lightning hit Celestia in her back, throwing her away. She fell unconscious while she kept hearing the laugh.

Celestia finally woke up, and with difficult she finally stood on. She looked at the castle that was near her. Even when it was raining harder than ever, the Castle was on fire. Celestia kept running to the Castle while she thought:

• “Oh no, I hope the books haven’t burnt out. Finding the book I need is the only way to stop my sister’s madness”

She entered the castle, and started looking quickly for the book. She was hardly moving because the lightning had burnt her back, and the pain was incredibly intense, but she didn´t give up. She had to save the citizens.
Celestia looked everywhere, but all the books were burnt. She was getting desperate. She started throwing away the remaining ashes from the burnt books, and looking for some book that was still readable. Suddenly, she found a book with a golden unicorn in its cover. She quickly opened it using her magic, and carefully read the title:

-“The Legend of the Elements of Harmony”

The Princess smiled in delight. It was just the book she was looking for, and it was intact. She suddenly heard that the walls that were surrounding her started cracking. She quickly got out from there, just as the rest of the castle finished falling apart.

Celestia hid the book in her tail. She couldn’t let her sister know that she had it. It was still raining, so she started looking for shelter, maybe a place where her burnt marks could be cured. She looked everywhere, but all she could see was the destruction of Canterlot. Suddenly, she heard a voice:

-“ Princess! Princess Celestia! Over here!”

She looked at the direction where the voice was coming from, and saw a little family of ponies:

• “Princess, come! We have a shelter and some fire here! “

She quickly went to their shelter, which was a house that was difficulty standing up. She entered carefully, and saw the ponies in there. It was a father, and 2 little fillies. They were happy. Celestia looked at them confused:

-“ Thank you kindly, but, aren’t you scared of me? I was the one that left you living in these deplorable conditions…”

• “Of course not. In moments of need, we always have to help each other. And I say, they will not be a moment of need more important than this one”

Celestia was surprised. All they had was a little fire in the middle of the room, and they were sharing it with someone who caused terror and fear between them. Celestia thanked them again, and sited down, next to one of the fillies. The father extinguished the fire with some water, and hugged his children. They fell asleep after a while. Celestia, however, couldn´t sleep. She looked outside and saw the destruction and desolation once again. That encouraged her:

• “I WILL stop this. Things won’t be like now forever.”- She looked kindly at the sleeping family – “…I promise…”

She looked in her tail, and found the book. She started reading it carefully, while generating a soft light with her magic:

• “ The elements of harmony represents the qualities required to create harmony and peace in the world. Once the first five are present at the same time, the sixth one will appear, revealing an amazing energy, powerful enough to end chaos, discord, sadness, etc. The elements shall be used by a group of ponies with the qualities that represents the elements, and their power can only be used to bring good…” – Celestia read to herself. Then, she started thinking about it – “Qualities, hum? Well, If I find a way to have all those qualities, then maybe the 6th Element will appear…I hope…” – She kept reading to herself – “The first 5 elements needed to cast their powerful magic are: Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, and Generosity. Once all these elements are present, the 6th one, Magic, will appear…”

Celestia putted the book down. She knew very well those elements. She felt them when she had good times with her sister. Their good relationship made her feel a magic inside that was more powerful than any other power known in Equestria. That’s why she was able to wield the Elements along with her sister in order to defeat Discord. But now, she was all alone. She needed to start a relationship with somepony, because as far as she knew, one cannot be generous or kind to himself. And if you could, she didn´t believe it would replace an element. No. She needed to share those qualities with somepony…but who? She didn´t have any friends, only her sister. And now, her sister was one of her enemies. Celestia felt more alone than ever.

The family of ponies woke up about 5 hours after they had fell asleep. They looked directly at Celestia, which was hardly sleeping. She had her eyes closed, but she was talking quietly to herself:

-“No…Luna, no…I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to…No…NO!!! ARRGGHHH!!!!”

The father quickly woke up the Princess. She looked at him with tired, red eyes. The father looked her back worriedly:
- “Um… Princess… are you alright?”

• “Ugh, no… I mean, yes… I only had one bad nightmare… a TERRIBLE nightmare”

One of the fillies looked at Celestia. She asked to the Princess:

-“Miss Sun Princess. Will the sun ever come back? I don’t want it to be night forever…”

Celestia looked kindly at the filly. The Princess answered with a sweet voice:

-“Don’t worry little one. I promise that I will do something to stop this eternal night. No matter how hard it will be, I WILL protect my subjects…”

The father of the ponies hugged his little daughter. He said softly to her:

-“Don’t worry Hope Bringer, we will all be safe”- Then, he looked at Celestia. - “What will you do? Nightmare Moon is far too Powerful and Dangerous…”

Celestia looked at him seriously, and answered coldly:

• “After a short research, I finally found a way to stop my sister. I shall use the Elements of Harmony to kill her, and then…then maybe I will take care of both the Night and the Day”

The father looked at her confused:

-“I thought that to wield the Elements you needed to be at your sister’s side. At least, that’s what Discord’s Legend tells.”

-“I will find a way to use them on my own.”

After that short conversation, Celestia went outside the shelter to see how thing were going on. The night was as dark as 5 hours ago, and it was still raining. The only change was that there was no fire, but everything else seemed the same.
She turned back, ready to say thanks, and goodbye to her new friends, when suddenly the dark cloud that was surrounding Nightmare Moon appeared out of nowhere and trapped the Princess. She desperately looked everywhere looking for a way out, but the cloud was too dense, and she couldn’t see anything at all. She started freaking out when she realized there was no way out, and covered her face with her hooves, praying for it to end soon. Suddenly, she heard the voice of Nightmare Moon, apparently coming from the other side of the cloud. Celestia panicked even more, and started running, with the cloud always around her. She couldn’t see anything. She could only hear the voice of her sister talking with a dark happy voice:

-“Oh, little Celestia, why don’t you just give up?. Admit it. You are weak, and there’s literally nothing you can do to save the lives of your subjects. After all, you’re not even fighting for your own life. C’mon, you’re not even fighting for people that you love. They hate you to guts, and you are trying to save them. Absurd. Simply absurd. Why don’t you just join me, and enjoy eternal life?”

Celestia stopped. She knew Nightmare Moon was right. She was trying to defend ponies that hated her. But that was not the point. She was trying to redeem herself for the pity and shame. She stood with confidence, and said with no fear:

-“You’ll have to try harder Nightmare Moon! I’m not letting down my people so easily!”

Nightmare Moon’s voice has heard again.

• “But think about the possibilities! You will have no more problems with these stupid ponies. That’s one problem less. Also, you will not have to raise the Sun no more. That’s another thing. Besides, if you join me, I will not kill you. Simple as that”

• “I. Said. NO!” –

Celestia shouted and flapped fiercely with her wings, finally fading the dark cloud. She looked around her, and discovered that she was far away from the family of ponies, which were looking at her surprised. The father approached to her, with tears in his eyes. He said to her softly:

• “Thank you, your highness… thank you for not letting us down….”

The Sun Princess was serious. She discovered a new feeling deep inside her. She really didn’t want to see those ponies harmed. She cared more for their safety than for her own.
She had discovered Loyalty.

Celestia finally said goodbye to the family of ponies, not before asking their names

-“I’m Fire Light. And these are my daughters: Warm Heart and Hope Bringer.”- Said the father with a little sparkle in his eyes.

-“Well, thanks a lot, Fire Light. Without your help I would have gone crazy…literally…”

Celestia turned back, ready to continue her journey, when suddenly she remembered:

-“Oh, Fire Light, before I go I must ask…where is your wife? All I have seen are your daughters.”

The colt looked down. He answered with a sad voice:

-“Oh, my little sweetheart… She passed away because of the hunger… She couldn’t take it anymore…”

Celestia was now determined to end this as soon as possible:

• “Please, hold on as long as you can. I will kill the devil that is ruining your lives and bring up the sun in no time!”
  -“I sure hope so…”

The Princess turned around and started walking seriously, as the little family watcher their future savior go away.

Celestia walked down the street, while watching all the destroyed homes. She had finally discovered how it felt to be loyal to someone, and it felt great. The power of knowing that someone depends on you was awesome. She was avoiding that feeling for the fear of letting her people down. But now that she knew how wonderful some ponies could be, she wanted to do everything possible to make them happy again.
But the element of Loyalty wasn’t the only one she had to control. She was still missing other 4 elements to make the 6th one appear. Celestia knew that her sister and new enemy was listening, so she said calmly:

• “Once I control the rest of the elements, there will be no more Miss Kind Princess. The tables will be turned and YOU will be the one who fears me. So, good last days of life, my dearest sister…”

Nightmare Moon was indeed hearing her sister’s monologue. The wicked Princess was hearing everything from the shadows. And she knew it was true. Nightmare Moon soon was desperate. She was practically sweating bullets. She quickly started thinking:

• “Oh, damn. Celestia knows how to defeat me… if she reunites all the 6 elements, I’m going to be doomed! Think-think-THINK….” – Suddenly, she realized – “Hey… she is going to kill IF and only IF she finds the elements. Right now she is weak and defenseless… I must kill her know…”

Nightmare Moon came out of the shadows, bringing fear and chaos to the ponies that were surrounding the place. She closed her eyes and her horn started glowing. With a powerful and strong voice, she started summoning the darkest souls from hell:

• “Listen my minions! We must destroy the Princess of the day! We must destroy the Princess of the light! WE MUST KILL CELESTIA!!!”

A pentagram surrounded the floor under her hooves. Suddenly, a horde of completely black creatures that looked like ponies started emerging from the floor. The faceless creatures were all around Nightmare Moon, who said:

• “WE WILL RULE! WE WILL DESTROY! WE WILL BRING ANARCHY AND CHAOS EVERYWHERE!!! EXTERMINATE CELESTIA! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!!!!!”

The twisted creatures started shouting along with their leader:

• “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

At once, all the black ponies started running towards Celestia, which was walking calmly:

• “Huh? What are THOSE!?

The black ponies started jumping in Celestia, damaging her with their hooves and horns. Celestia was shouting in pain.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Nightmare Moon started encouraging Celestia:

• “HA! That’s how you gonna beat me!? Screaming of pain and suffering!? Please, do try better! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The Dark Princess’ words worked. Celestia was furious. Quickly she used her horn no stab a dark pony in the face. She used her horn to crush some other minions, and with a flash of light she temporally blinded everyone around her, including her sister. Celestia said seriously:

• “This has not ended yet! I’m going to beat you know!”

Nightmare Moon was scared. She shouted quickly as she started running away:

• “Wh-what are you waiting for!? Minions! Kill this crazy mare!”

Celestia tried to chase her, but the monsters were surrounding her. Celestia decided to fly away, but one of the monsters bit her left wing, which was severely damaged. The Princess ran out of choices. She had to fight no matter the consequences.
Quickly, she grabbed a minion with her mouth and tossed it away. She was killing more minions when one of them kicked her in the face. Celestia used her back legs to kick the monster back, and the front legs to stand up again. She kept up this way for several minutes, but she was getting tired, and there were still hundreds of shadow ponies. Luckily, Celestia remembered the spell of the solar beam:

• “Let’s see….I must concentrate…”- While Celestia was remembering the spell, some shadow ponies started hitting her. Celestia endured the pain, and she continued remembering- “ImustconcentrateImustconcentrateImustconcentrate….”

The dark ponies kept hitting her, but Celestia didn’t give up. Her horn started glowing, and a bright light surrounded her:

• “Yes! YES! I remember!!! TAKE THIS MONSTERS FROM HELL!!!”

She started shooting light beams from her horn. Each beam fired down a minion. The light surrounded the place, as the minions that were left were burned to ashes.

Celestia behold the destruction of all those monsters, while saying to herself:

• “Don’t worry…they’re just monsters….they can’t feel pain…they did not suffer… you didn’t make anyone suffer…they are just monsters…they needed to die…” – She hold back her tears and continued – “they…can’t feel…I hope…”

Celestia took a deep breath and continued her journey, with the darkness surrounding her again. She walked while remembering the face of her dearest sister: Smiling, without the hate and evilness all around her.