The Life of the Alicorn Sisters

Chapters

The Innocence of Youth
Frozen Heart
The Threat of the Snow Queen
Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony
The Elements of Harmony
A Call for Help
The Vanishment of the Crystal Empire
The Raising of the Shadow
The Nightmare of the Night, Part I
The Nightmare of the Night, Part II
Celestia and Hepheus, Part I - Infiltration and Deception

The Innocence of Youth

King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia unified Equestria as an all, bringing not only, respectively, the night and the day, but also ruling with wisdom and care for their beloved land. But an harmonious kingdom was not the only thing that they were blessed with.

From the eternal love existed between the two of them three daughters were born, with them all being, for everypony’s amazement, alicorn. The oldest one, Ingrid, had been gifted with great ice powers, what contrasted with the ones of her parents. However, Celestia (who was a year younger than Ingrid) and Luna (who was two years younger than Celestia) had showed great competence to control day and night, respectively. Despite everything, one thing was certain: the three sisters were the best friends of each others.

Their friendship was admired by everypony in Equestria, with nopony having seen sisters as united as those three. It wasn’t unusual seeing them playing on the gardens of the castle or else at the forest that surrounded it, staying at the neighborhood and never going to its inside, where wild creatures lived.

Even when the moment arrived for each one have a magical education, the three of them had the same mentor: Star Swirl the Bearded, considered to be the most powerful unicorn conjurer on the land. Beyond the lessons in magic, Star Swirl liked to tell to his students stories about the old unicorn kingdom before it was consumed by eternal winter brought by the Wendigos and the young princess enjoyed to listen them very much. Under his tutelage, the three sisters flourished in their respective areas of magic… at least until the day Star Swirl disappeared mysteriously.

One day, Queen Galaxia gave birth to a new child: a baby unicorn colt whose coat was like the one of his mother, a mane with dark shades of blue and eyes with a color that had a lighter shade than his father’s. Everypony was delighted with the new baby, mainly the three sisters that now were fifteen, fourteen and twelve years old.

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Ingrid exclaimed.

“Look to those cheeks…” Celestia said.

“He looks so fragile… but he also looks so strong at the same time” Luna commented.

“Come on, girls, give some space to the baby and to your mother” Cosmos said.

They were all in Cosmos and Galaxia’s bedroom, where the latter was laying on the bed, holding the new-born baby who was wrapped by a blanked, sleeping.

“Cosmos, let them be” Galaxia said, giving a chuckle. “After all, this is their little brother.”

“I know, but… all care is little.”

“Honestly, it looks like this is the first child that we have” Galaxia commented, making the three alicorn sisters to drop a laugh.

At that moment, somepony knocked the door, opening it. It was a guard who said:

“I’m sorry to bother you, Your Highnesses, but you have visitors.”

“Really?” Cosmos asked. “Curious, we’re not expecting nopony.”

And then, a figure got in quickly in the room and stopped at the edge of the bed, leaning over to see the baby. It was Heartbeat.

“Oh, he is the cutest thing that I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed. “Wait, I think I just said a cliché that is said always about babies and that it doesn’t have any originality… Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. After all, it is an undeniable truth that babies are the cutest thing that exist in all Creation.”

“Heartbeat…” Everypony said.

“It’s my name, so, please, don’t waste it because I like it very much” she replied.

As soon she said, another pony came in, but in a slower and more elegant way. It was Princess Aurora that said, while getting in:

“I’m sorry by Heartbeat’s intrusion. She gets always this excited when it comes to babies of any kind.”

“Your Highness…” the five alicorn said, revering Aurora.

“Please, you do not need to head to me in such formal way” the princess of the Light Kingdom said. “Actually, I am the one that should honor you for bringing a new life to this world.”

“You’re very kind, Princess Aurora” Galaxia said.

“I just said the truth” she replied. “If I may know, can you give me the honor of telling the name of this lovely child?”

“Yeah, I also want to know that” Heartbeat said. “It will be much more practical than being calling him the baby. Do you have any idea how many babies there are just in this reality?”

“Well… we decided give him a name that we wanted to give to our daughter in case they were colts: Orion.”

“Orion… Yes, it is a good name” Aurora said.

“I agree” Heartbeat added, making then a thinking look, while looking to the baby.

“What is it, Heartbeat?” Aurora asked.

“There’s something strange with the baby” she replied. “Shouldn’t he have wings?”

“Well, the birth of an alicorn is not that common as it seems” Aurora said. “I have to say that Cosmos and Galaxia had already been very blessed with three alicorn daughters.”

“But, independently the baby was a alicorn, nothing would change the love that we have for each one of our children” Cosmos replied.

“I couldn’t have said better” Galaxia agreed.

And then the two hugged all of their four children.

“Oh, I love family hugs!” Heartbeat exclaimed.

And she gave a step to join the hug, but Aurora prevented her, saying:

“Why don’t you let them have their moment, Heartbeat? After all, as you just said, this is a family hug?”

“Okay…” the General of Affection replied, looking disappointed.

After that moment, they all get out of the room to let Galaxia and Orion rest. Aurora and Heartbeat returned to the Light Kingdom, while Cosmos went to deal with royal duties, as he was doing also his wife’s duties while she was recovering from the birth (except when it came to move the sun, of course). While that, the three alicorn sisters were walking around the castle.

“You know, it feels good to finally have a brother” Ingrid said. “And look that this comes from somepony that had to look over two little sisters.”

“Yeah, it will be strange having a little brother when not long ago I only had sisters” Luna said.

“I think it will be harder for him, as he has three older sisters” Celestia commented.

She then noticed on her older sister’s thoughtful look and asked:

“Is everything okay, Ingrid?”

“Yes, it’s just…” she said. “Well, we three are alicorns, so we will live for centuries. But Orion is a unicorn, so he will have the same lifespan as the other ponies.”

That made Luna also think about the subject.

“I haven’t thought about that…”

Celestia, noticing on the dismay that was growing on her sisters, she said:

“Come on, girls, don’t think about that. Think only that only gives us a reason to enjoy each moment with our little brother. Beyond that, we have to think that, even if we outlive our family and friends through the centuries, we will always have each other.”

That caused Ingrid and Luna to make a smile and then they all shared a big hug, with the three knowing that nothing would separate them.

Frozen Heart

A few years have passed since the day Orion had born and the young prince was not the only that had grown. His older sisters had also grown, with Ingrid reaching the beginning of adulthood. She now could help her parents rule Equestria in a broader sense, going to towns and cities to ensure everything was in order.

While making a stroll on the Unicorn Range, Ingrid was walking happily when she saw him. He was a beautiful young unicorn about her age. He had an orange coat equal to the color of the sunset, a mane that seemed the sea rippling and eyes that looked like two full moons immensely bright.

Seeing him, she felt her heart increasing its beats and a lump in her stomach, but all these feelings made her feel immensely well. Was she in love?

It didn’t take long for the two to become friends, with Ingrid getting to know the unicorn’s name was Day Glow. Eventually, the young princess decided to take him home so he could meet her family.

“Mom, dad, this is Day Glow” she introduced, as they were at the throne room, where her parents were sitting on their respective thrones. “I met him at Unicorn Range when I went to Vanhoover dealing with that changeling problem. He helped me a lot.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highnesses” Day Glow said, while bowing to the king and queen.

“The honor is all ours, Day Glow” Cosmos replied.

“Our daughter has told us how you helped her dealing with those nasty changelings at Vanhoover” Galaxia said. “I have to say that I find impressive that spell of yours that you use to possess another.”

“You’re very kind, my queen” Day Glow said, bowing his head in a respectful way.

“My wife is telling the truth, my boy” Cosmos declared. “You helped a lot of ponies by capturing those changelings and you did a great favor to your nation. I hope you can still help us against the villains that threat the peace in Equestria.”

“I wouldn’t want in any other way, King Cosmos” he replied.

“Are Celestia and Luna around?” Ingrid asked to her parents.

“Luna went to visit your grandfathers, but I think Celestia is at the gardens” Galaxia answered.

“Good!” Ingrid exclaimed. “Come, Day Glow, I want to introduce you to one of my best friends.”

And the two left the throne room, going to the gardens where they found Celestia reading a book under a tree.

“There she is” Ingrid said. “Day Glow, that’s my sister Celestia. She is the oldest after me.”

When Day Glow first saw Celestia, he couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. She was radiant like the sun and he could even feel warm as he and Ingrid approached her. He only noticed that he was already beside her when Ingrid said:

“Tia!”

“Ingrid!” Celestia replied, dropping the book and going to hug her older sister. “I missed you so much. You have to stop going on those journeys that last more than a week.”

“Sorry, sis, but I need to help mom and dad keep the peace in the kingdom” Ingrid replied. “But don’t worry, I promise in a near future I’ll take you with me. Now, let me introduce you to a friend of mine. Celestia, this is Day Glow. Day Glow… well, I think you who she is.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Day Glow” Celestia said, extending her hoof. “Ingrid told me many things about you.”

“She did the same with me” Day Glow replied, taking Celestia’s hoof. “If there’s something she doesn’t get tired of talking about are her sisters and brother… And I can see why.”

That caused Celestia to give a little chuckle, while blushing slightly.

Ingrid didn’t know yet, but she had just put in motion a chain of events that would change her life forever…

Sometime has passed since that moment and, in each day, Ingrid’s affection for Day Glow only increased until she couldn’t hold it any longer. She wanted to confess her love to him, so she went to meet him at the place where they have met: Unicorn Range.

Arriving there, Ingrid started to search for Day Glow, walking in a very joyful way. But that ended when Ingrid stopped suddenly and her happy air quickly became a shock air. Day Glow was accompanied by Celestia and the two seemed to be very happy together, cuddling against each other.

"What’s the meaning of all this!" Ingrid exclaimed.

That made Celestia and Day Glow to turn and see Ingrid.

"Ingrid?" Celestia asked, while she and Day Glow rose up. "What are you doing here?"

"The question is what are you doing here?" Ingrid said, advancing, with her voice starting to get filled with anger. "With the stallion I love."

"Ingrid, I didn't mean this to happen in this way" Day Glow said. "But I just like you as a friend. Celestia is the mare I really love."

"No, Day Glow, it can't be" Ingrid said. "We knew each other first. We created a link first. I love you."

"I know this must be very painful to you, but believe me" Day Glow said. "I also thought that you and I could be more than just friends. I really did. But I met Celestia and I fell in love."

"No, no…" Ingrid said, turning her back, trying to pretend that she hadn’t listened what he had said. "It can't be true."

Seeing that her older sister was suffering terribly and feeling sorry for her, Celestia moved a bit towards her and said:

"Ingrid, sorry, my sister, I didn't mean to..."

"Who are you calling sister?" she asked, turning to Celestia, full of anger. "You're not my sister. YOU'RE A TRAITOR!"

"No, Ingrid…" Celestia said, trying to calm Ingrid down. "Please, let's just talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about" Ingrid replied. "I have nothing to talk to you. In fact, right now, I just want you gone."

And, having said this, Ingrid charged her horn with magic, much to Celestia and Day Glow’s shock. It was then that Ingrid shot to Celestia a white magic beam.

"No!" Day Glow exclaimed.

And he put himself in front of Celestia and he received the damage of Ingrid’s attack, right in the heart.

"Day Glow!" Celestia shouted.

Ingrid was also in shock with what happened. Day Glow fell backwards and Celestia caught him, smoothing his fall.

"No, please, Day Glow, say something!" Celestia exclaimed, as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Celestia..." he said weakly, while lifting his hoof and passed it through her face. “I love you..."

Celestia put her hoof on his and said:

"I love you too. Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

But Day Glow, due to Ingrid’s attack, began to freeze. Seeing that, Celestia said:

"No, no ... No!"

She tried to use her magic to stop the freezing, but to no avail. Day Glow became completely frozen and then he shattered into many pieces.

"NO!" Celestia exclaimed, full of deep sadness.

She then turned to Ingrid with her eyes full of tears and asked her sadly:

"What did you do, Ingrid?"

Still stunned by what she had done, Ingrid felt an immense pain in her heart, which led her to hold herself in a way to be able to contain the pain she was feeling. All that made snow beginning to fell and then she was surrounded by it with a strong wind. When everything stopped, Ingrid had disappeared.

At the top of a great mountain, at an unknown place, Ingrid reappeared, causing an intense snowstorm to start, while she, with a great tight on her heart, just fell on her hooves, while crying and having her face being washed by her own tears.

"Why did he do that?" she asked, while whining. "Why did he sacrifice himself for her? Why did he love her and not me?"

At that moment, Ingrid decided to put her emotions aside. She would forget the meaning of joy and love so that she wouldn’t have her heart hurt again. However, there was one feeling that she was willing to exist in her being…

Ingrid rose up, stopping her crying, and then said:

"It doesn't matter. He is dead, as well as Celestia to me. She's going to pay. She's going to pay for all this."

The storm intensified and Ingrid shouted:

"She's going to feel the anger of the Snow Queen!"

The Threat of the Snow Queen

Years have passed ever since the incident that drove Princess Ingrid to adopt her new title as the Snow Queen. Such event was a hard blow to the royal family, but their hope of bringing Ingrid back was what allowed them to hold on and move on.

The news about the Princess of Winter became almost null, with the only pertinent information being that she had taken a kingdom called Oldenmark, located beyond Equestia’s northeastern border. Of course there was little information about that place, as Ingrid had turned Oldenmark into a kingdom stuck in an eternal winter that was so intense that any scout would have problems to infiltrate.

Beyond all the tension about what Ingrid could be planning to do, another event came to happen. The Lord of Order had appeared to King Cosmos and Queen Galaxia to offer them a place in Harmonia, what would allow Celestia and Luna to inherit their lights, getting then the control over day and night over the Pony Reality.

A great celebration was hold to honor such moment. Ponies from all over the kingdom came to watch the transition of power that was about to happen, including Princess Aurora and the Generals of Order. The doors of the throne room opened, allowing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to get in and approach the two thrones that used to belong to their parents. Cosmos and Galaxia were waiting for them, exhibiting a proud smile. Beside them was the Lord of Order, while Aurora and her Generals were at the front line of guesses, along with Prince Orion, who now was a young adolescent.

Arriving to their parents’ front, the two alicorn sisters bowed respectfully their heads, while the king and the queen replied to them with the same gesture. After that, Cosmos, placed his hooves over his daughters’ shoulders, told them:

“I always knew this moment would come and I also knew that, when it did, I would have in front of me two princesses ready to take the responsibility that was fated for them since birth.”

“Are you sure we’re ready, father?” Luna asked.

“If you weren’t, the Lord of Order wouldn’t have asked us to step down” Cosmos replied. “Don’t worry, you’ll be great rulers to Equestia.”

“Your father is right” Galaxia said, going to hug her daughters. “It is now your time to shine.”

“But how can we guide an entire land when we can’t even bring back a pony of our own blood?” Celestia asked.

That made Cosmos and Galaxia to share a look. They knew how much Celestia blamed herself for what happened with Ingrid and that guilt has been tormenting her for all those years. Rising up chin with a hoof so their eyes could cross, Galaxia told Celestia:

“Listen to me, Celestia, you’ll be fully the Princess of the Sun and, as such, it is your duty to bring the sunlight to all creatures, but that’s not your only duty. You’ll also have the responsibility to inspire all of your subjects, giving them the hope they need to live their lives with happiness. I am certain that, if you keep the light in your heart, you will be able to bring your sister back to the right path.”

Tears flooded Celestia’s eyes, while she heard the words her mother said, and a smile appeared.

“Thank you, mother…” she said.

“Beyond that you won’t be alone” Galaxia continued. “Luna and Orion will be with you and they will help you in what they can.”

Celestia looked to Luna who nodded to her, confirming what their mother had said, and then looked to her younger brother who smiled at her tenderly. All that gave Celestia the confidence she needed.

“Well, now that the inspiring speeches are done, let’s go to the most important part” the Lord of Order said.

And the Book of Fates appeared before Celestia and Luna, opening on the pages that contained their images and making appear two quills.

“Sign your respective pages so you can inherit your parents’ lights and start your reign over the sun and moon” the Lord of Order.

The two sisters shared a look and then each one took a quill with their magic, signing their respective pages. With their pages signed, the book closed and disappeared. To the amazement of everypony present, the flowers containing the two princesses’ star seeds appeared, revealing them. The same happened with Cosmos and Galaxia and their star seeds started to transfer part of their glow to their daughters’, with Celestia’s receiving from Galaxia’s and Luna receiving from Cosmos’. When the process was over, the two princesses had their star seeds glowing at the same intensity as their parents’. The star seeds returned to the interior of their own owners.

After that moment, the Lord of Order stomped his spear on the ground, opening the portal that would take Cosmos and Galaxia to Harmonia.

“Well, it’s time to go” he said. “And I hope you’re brief. I don’t like to have too much light giving my brother some room of maneuver.”

The king and the queen involved their daughters in a strong hug with Orion joining them. After that, Cosmos and Galaxia turned to the portal and crossed it, with it closing afterwards.

“Very well, now it’s your turn to carry on your parents’ legacy” the Lord of Order said. “I can see that you two will do great things…”

“And you think one of those things includes our sister?” Celestia asked.

“Only time will tell” he replied. “But I can say that you two, Celestia and Luna, will be the key to stop the Snow Queen once and for all.”

Having said that, the Lord of Order disappeared, leaving Equestria’s new two regents meditating about his words.

In Oldenmark, Ingrid observed her army training. Since she had took over that kingdom, the Snow Queen had started to get the army stronger, using her eternal winter to do that. Since then, her warriors had become only stronger, with the weaker being put aside.

It was then she felt a small magical disturbance that left her uncomfortable.

“What the hell…” she said.

“I believe you chose the wrong words, my dear” a voice said.

Ingrid turned around and faced the Lord of Chaos.

“What are you doing here?” she asked coldly. “Don’t you see I’m busy overseeing my army’s training?”

“Well, I came here to tell you the last events in Equestria that may explain that feeling you had, but if you’re not interested…”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the passing of testimony between your parents and your sisters” the Lord of Chaos told. “Equestria now has new rulers to give it the day and the night.”

Now Ingrid understood what she had felt. That was her sisters receiving their parents’ lights.

“And why did you bother to come here telling me that?” Ingrid asked to the Lord of Chaos “I’m certain that you have much more important things to do.”

“Maybe, but I couldn’t resist in giving you the news” he answered. “After all, we’re talking about your parents going to Harmonia and the ascension of your sisters to their full potencial. This must be a great day for them. I suppose they’re now celebrating with all the others, everypony happy… laughing…”

When the image of Celestia laughing came into Ingrid’s mind, an immense rage invaded her, what caused the snow out there to fall with more intensity, along with the wind that was now blowing much stronger.

“Silence…” Ingrid said, while she tried to control herself. “I don’t want to hear any more what you have to say.”

“I’m just saying this is the ideal moment to enact your revenge” the Lord of Chaos said. “With your parents out of the way, Celestia will be vulnerable to you. She may have inherited the light of your mother, but she, unlike you, didn’t grow up dominating the plenitude of your power. You have the opportunity to make her pay for what she did to you, as well everypony that turned their backs on you to stay on your side.”

There was a pause where Ingrid tried to deal with what the Lord of Chaos was saying.

“This is your opportunity, Ingrid, and I hope you don’t waste it” the Lord of Chaos ended before disappearing.

The Snow Queen left herself be for a few moments, before a sudden determination appear on her eyes, teleporting herself then.

After Celestia and Luna’s nomination as the new rulers of Equestria and bringers of the day and night, a great celebration was held. Princess Aurora and the Generals had returned to the Light Kingdom after the nomination. There was a great amount of joy being share by everypony… except one.

Celestia was sitting on her new throne, observing everypony else. Luna approached her and said:

“Tia, why are you here alone?”

“I can’t celebrate” Celestia replied. “Not when our family is as divided as it is.”

“I know what you’re feeling, but instead of lamenting for the ones who are not with us, you should celebrate with those that are still with you” Luna said. “I’m talking about me and Orion. Come on, it will be good to you.”

Despite everything, Celestia didn’t manage to say no to Luna. But when they prepared to join the others, the temperature dropped quickly, getting as cold as the longest night, while ice started to cover the walls. There was an explosion of white light and Ingrid appeared in the middle of the air, flapping her wings. Everypony got shocked with her sudden appearance, a shock that soon became fear to someponies.

“Ingrid…” Celestia said.

“Hello, my dear subjects” she said to the ponies beneath her. “We don’t see each other for a long time.”

Some pegasus guards tried to corn her, but Ingrid said:

“Really?”

And she used her magic to freeze their wings, causing the guards to fall. Her attention went then to her sisters.

“Just look who they are” she said. “Do I have to make a bow to the new bringers of the day and night?”

“What are you doing here, Ingrid?” Luna asked.

“I just came to congratulate my dear little sisters” she replied. “Although that’s an honor that you don’t deserve, Celestia.”

“Please, Ingrid, let’s end this” Celestia asked.

“Sure, just give me Equestria and your fate and all this will end.”

“But… I can’t give you Equestria…” Celestia replied.

“Then it looks like we have to do this the old way” Ingrid answered.

“Why do you want Equestria, anyway?” Luna asked. “You already have Oldenmark.”

“I’m just reclaiming my right as the oldest sister” Ingrid told.

“Well, you have to pass through us first” Luna said, charging her horn.

Ingrid did the same and the two attacks collided with each other, but Ingrid’s quickly subdued Luna’s, starting to approach her. It was then that Celestia intervened with her beam, stopping Ingrid’s and then making it hit a wall.

“Enough!” Celestia said, turning to Ingrid. “Come on, Ingrid, this war has to end. What happened was tragedy, but you must not let that cloud your mind…”

“Spare me, Celestia” Ingrid said. “You’ll never be able to convince me with those sweet words. You’re just saying them because you know that I’m more powerful than you and Luna. But, in the name of old times, I’ll make you two a deal: you have twenty-four hours to declare your surrender to me. Do it and I’ll spare you. Of course you’ll be exiled, but you’ll continue to live. Refuse to do it or try to attack me and I’ll make sure I’ll be the last thing you’ll see. I hope you choose well.”

And, having said that, she teleported herself, leaving behind a sepulchral silence.

After everypony was gone, Luna approached Celestia and said:

“Celestia, we have to decide what we’re going to do. The threat Ingrid did…”

“I know, she was talking seriously” Celestia said. “I think it is for the best to comply to her threat.”

“What?!” Luna exclaimed. “We can’t do that.”

“You heard what she said” Celestia said. “She will leave us go if we deliver Equestria to her. If we refuse, she will try to take it by force and innocents will get hurt only for her to win in the end. You saw her, Luna. She is too much powerful for the two of us.”

“That can be true, but we can’t give her the kingdom” Luna replied. “If we do, the Lord of Chaos will be able to corner the Light Kingdom and get close to conquer this reality. Thinking like that is not you, Tia.”

But Celestia didn’t say anything, avoiding look at Luna directly. It was then that the younger sister realized:

“I know what’s happening… This is because what happened to Day Glow. Celestia, you shouldn’t blame yourself for his death. That was an unfortunate accident, no matter what Ingrid says or thinks.”

“It doesn’t matter, Luna!” Celestia exclaimed. “What matters is what Ingrid believes, because it’s that what moves her actions against us… against me… We can’t face her, because she’s too powerful for us. Unless you have another idea, I don’t think we have any other option.”

Luna thought for a while and then said:

“Then we’ll talk with the Lord of Order. Let’s go ask his help on the subject.”

That made Celestia to agree, as she couldn’t find an argument against Luna’s request.

At the Lord of Order’s throne room, the two alicorn sisters explained to him the situation they were into. After they finished, he said:

“I always thought she would cause problems. You did well in coming to me for help. In fact, Ingrid is too much powerful and blinded by hate. Don’t worry, I will take care of her.”

“Please, don’t hurt her” Celestia asked. “She’s still our sister.”

“She will be contained without suffering any damages” the Lord of Order ensured. “I haven’t lost hope on her yet. And I can see you feel the same.”

“One more thing, my lord” Celestia said. “We know that our parents asked you to keep what drove Ingrid into the dark path a secret. We wanted to ask you to keep that information a secret. We don’t want Ingrid to be judged for something that was not entirely her fault.”

“Of course, I also wasn’t planning in breaking that promise that I did to Cosmos and Galaxia” the Lord of Order answered. “And I have in mind the perfect pony to the mission. A pony capable of obeying without making any questions…”

In Oldenmark, Ingrid was observing from her balcony her army getting ready in case her sisters refused to give her Equestria. She wouldn’t let them stay with what was hers by right.

“You know, I liked you more when your heart wasn’t frozen” a voice said.

Ingrid turned around and faced Heartbeat.

“What are you doing here?” the Snow Queen asked. “How did you manage to pass by my guards?”

“Answering to your last question, I used my swift nature” Heartbeat replied. “Now, about your first question, I think you know the reason why I’m here, because you announced it to anypony who wanted to hear it.”

“So my sisters are so afraid of me they prefer send a little General to do their dirty job, didn’t they?”

“First, it was the Lord of Order that sent me… at your sisters’ request” the General of Affection said. “Second, it was hard for them to do it. And third, I may be small, but I’m the most powerful General of Order that serves Princess Aurora.”

“You think you scare me?” Ingrid asked. “I am the Snow Queen and I can freeze anything, even star seeds. I can freeze completely.”

“I know you can” Heartbeat said. “I know everything you are capable of. You can’t say the same about me.”

Ingrid chuckled and then told:

“I think you’re underestimating me, Heartbeat”

“No, you’re overestimating yourself” the General replied. “You don’t know me, Ingrid, not even the full extent of my powers.”

It was then that Ingrid tried to attack Heartbeat, but it was then that something immobilized her, while she felt her rage and hate slipping away, while an immense joy invaded her. At that moment, she realized she was no longer in her castle. Actually, she didn’t even remember it, not even Oldenmark and her search for revenge against Celestia. She now was on the place where she met Day Glow, having a romantic picnic with him. Nothing more mattered to her beyond that moment…

The truth was that was only an illusion inside her mind created by Heartbeat. Ingrid was immobilized with an empty look and a faint smile.

“Ponies talk about Mirror Coat’s illusions with mirrors, but my illusions are better because they use the victims’ own emotions against them, giving them what they want so they don’t escape” Heartbeat said, while walking around Ingrid. “Your heart may be frozen, but I managed to find a way to get in. Don’t worry, the illusion will not last. Only until I put you in a place in a place where you can’t do stupid things.”

And Heartbeat summoned a golden urn and then said to Ingrid:

“I’m sorry to do this.”

And she opened the urn and pointed it to Ingrid. She then turned into a white liquid that then was absorbed by the urn that was closed by Heartbeat.

After having imprisoned Ingrid, Heartbeat took the urn to Tartarus, where she placed it in one of the cells in the solitary, sealing it then. With the loss of their queen, Oldenmark elected a new monarch, but, due to the time Ingrid had ruled, her magic entangled with the land, causing it to be covered by the eternal winter.

What happened was hard to both Celestia and Luna, but they knew that it was necessary to keep the peace in the world. However, they still had hope that Ingrid would still come back to them and then they could be a family like before.

Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony

Sometime has passed since Ingrid’s imprisonment in the solitary of Tartarus and, despite everything, it looked like Celestia and Luna’s life had come back to normal. Of course the feeling of guilt for the terrible fate her sister had suffered still haunted Celestia, but she was doing her best to look strong for the sake of her subjects.

One day, when the sun had just set and Luna was rising the moon, Celestia said:

“I hope you have a good night, Luna.”

“Yes, you too, sister” she replied. “Enjoy your rest. I noticed you have been having troubled sleep.”

“Well, having in count that Sombra has been tormenting Equestria, I don’t have reasons to have a good night of sleep” Celestia replied.

“Don’t worrie, we will stop him” Luna ensured. “Good always wins in the end, after all. Beyond that, we have Princess Aurora and the Generals of Order to help us.”

“Yes, you’re right, Luna” Celestia said. “With their help, we will be able to neutralize the threat he represents.”

At that moment, a bang at the horizon caused the two alicorn sisters to go to the balcony and look, while they saw what looked to be six meteors of different colors going in different directions on their kingdom. Four of those meteors, the red, orange, green and blue ones, passed through their castle, with the orange one heading towards northwest, the red one heading towards north, the green one going towards northeast and the blue one landing close to them, but with the two princesses losing track of it.

“What was… that?” Luna asked.

Observing those meteors, Celestia couldn’t stop thinking that she had already seen them in someplace else. It was then that she remembered where.

“Those were… star seeds” she said.

“I never saw star seeds like those before” Luna said. “Did you feel their power? It was immense, even more than ours. Who could have a power like that?”

Celestia thought for a while and then she had an idea of what could be happening.

“Oh no…”

After a while, Celestia and Luna arrived to what left of the Light Kingdom, that was now petrified in stone, without any trace of life or the light that characterized it. Such vision left the two sisters speechless. The idea of the most powerful kingdom of the Pony Reality fall was truly unreal, but, however, it had just happened.

Arriving to the Great Hall where the six Generals were, Celestia said, while walking around their bodies turned into stone:

“Those star seeds we saw must belong to the Generals of Order. They should have expel them to safe places to protect them from Sombra. The same must have happened to the rest of the kingdom.”

“What about Princess Aurora?” Luna asked. “It looks like she’s not here.”

Although she didn’t like the idea, Celestia knew the most certain was that Princess Aurora had sacrificed herself to save her kingdom. Luna, who had also arrived to the same conclusion, said:

“Sister, if the Light Kingdom and its princess and Generals are no more, then that means…”

“It means this world had just fell more in the darkness” Celestia completed. “Equestria and the Crystal Empire are the only barrier that prevents the Lord of Chaos from dominating this part of the Pony World. If we fell, it won’t last for the rest of the world to fall with us.”

“We must return” Luna said. “We have to fortify our defenses as fast as possible.”

Celestia agreed and the two sisters returned to their castle, placing guards on as many places they could at the castle and then sending others to the various parts of Equestria.

At the end of the evening of the next day, Celestia was sitting on her throne when Luna came in the throne room saying:

“I just received reports from the squads we’ve sent and none spotted anything out of usual.”

“I don’t like that” Celestia said. “It would expect the Lord of Chaos would try to take advantage from the fact we have such vast land to make an attack.”

At that moment, an earth pony guard came in the throne room in a worry, saying:

“Your Highnesses, something strange it’s happening… I don’t know how to describe it…”

“Please, take a deep breath and speak slowly” Celestia said. “What happened?”

“It’s the clouds, Princess Celestia… they turned into cotton candy.”

“But that… is impossible” Luna said.

“But that’s not all” the guard continued. “The roads are filled with soap, things are floating in the air, ponies have gone mad… It’s a complete chaos out there.”

Listening to that, the two sisters quickly realized the Lord of Chaos was behind all that.

“Gather all the guards that you can and get ready” Luna said. “If this is some kind of attack from any villain, we have to get ready to face them and defeat them as quickly as possible. We have already enough problems with Sombra already.”

The guard bowed to her and Celestia and got ready to get out when he started to elevate in the air like a balloon. Seeing that, Luna tried to use her magic to bring him down, but nothing happened.

“What…?” she said, not wanting to believe. “My magic didn’t work? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Make sense?” a voice asked. “Oh, what fun is there in making sense?"

“Listening that voice, the two princess looked around, trying to find who had spoken, with Celestia getting up from her throne.

“Who’s there?” Celestia asked with her authoritarian voice. “Reveal yourself!”

The voice laughed and then said:

“I never thought that the beloved Princess of the Sun was so demanding. Tell me, Celestia, do you speak with everypony like that or am I special?”

“I don’t even know who you are” she replied.

“Oh, how clumsy of me” the voice said. “Allow me to introduce myself.”

At that moment, from nowhere, holophote lights started to move around all the room, while drum beats were heard. And a voice said:

“And now, coming directly from the Spirit World, allow me to introduce you to your delight the most loyal, handsome and powerful servant of the Lord of Chaos. With you, the one and only …”

There was a flash of light and a creature appeared. It had an asymmetrical body, composed by parts of multiple animals: the right leg of a lizard, the left leg of a goat, the left arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right wing of a bat, the left wing of a pegasus, a serpentine body with an equally serpentine tail with a white tuft on the tip, the head of a pony with eyes with disproportionate pupils, a goat beard and a large, protruding upper teeth, with a deer antler on the right and a blue goat horn on the left.

“… Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony, the purveyor of pandemonium, lord of lawlessness, earl of turmoil, bringer of bedlam…” he continued. “You know what, I think you should take notes, as I have a lot of titles… even more than you. Jealous?”

The two sisters looked to Discord, confused, and then the younger sister asked:

“What?”

Discord sighed and said:

“Really? Can it be that you, ponies, can’t get things at the first try? It looks like I’ll have to make my great introduction again…”

“No!” Celestia exclaimed, not wanting to watch it again. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Ah, now I feel myself offended” Discord said. “Just like when your moony sister said I was any villain. Really, guys, even a spirit of chaos has feelings.”

“Wait…” Celestia said. “I know who you are. You are the malign spirit that almost turned this world upside down years ago.”

An arrogant smile appeared on Discord’s face and he said:

“Well, finally my reputation caught up with me.”

“But Heartbeat defeated you” Luna said. “She imprisoned you in a place where you would never get out.”

“Well, that is true” Discord said, while playing with the floating guard that ended up getting out through the window. “That sample of a General defeated me in a way that nopony had ever did. Honestly, I don’t know why everypony finds her that adorable, just because she is small and has those big eyes and that lovely mane. It must be because you have never seen her bad side. Anyway, now she’s gone, the binds that were holding me also disappeared. And you know what they say: when the Generals are away, Discord comes to play.”

“No while we’re still here!” Celestia exclaimed, while landing beside her sister.

The two of them charged her horns with magic and prepared themselves to attack Discord. It was then that he snapped his fingers and, from nowhere, the throne room got inverted, causing Celestia and Luna to fell on the roof that was now the floor. Then, dark roots appeared and involved them, holding them. When they tried to get free, they realized their magic was being drained.

“He’s stealing our magic!” Celestia told.

Discord’s head appeared at the tip of the root that was involving her and said:

“That’s correct, princess. And once you two lose all of your magic, Equestria will be mine.”

The head disappeared, reappearing then with the rest of the body, with Discord then saying:

“And when that happens, nopony will prevent the Lord of Chaos from finally conquering the Pony World!”

And he dropped an evil laugh, until he choked and said:

“I really have to train that part.”

The two alicorn sister could feel their magic being drained quickly. It won’t take long until they got without it. At that moment, Celestia got an idea. It was risky, but their only hope.

Making a sign to Luna, she transmitted to her the idea. She agreed and they focused the little energy they had and, making it flow in the opposite way their magic was being absorbed, they caused an explosion of magic that not only destroyed the roots, but also created a smokescreen that obscured their escape.

The smokescreen got dispersed by Discord, who had made a fan appear, while saying:

“Those little princess… They will see. I will squeeze them so much they will look like ping-pong balls.”

It was then he noticed they have been able to escape.

“Oh crap…” the spirit said. “This is not good…”

“Discord!” a voice called.

The Spirit of Chaos got petrified when he heard that voice. He turned around and found himself facing the Lord of Chaos.

“My lord!” he exclaiming, while pretending an happy and confident look. “But what brings you here?”

“I came to see if you managed to finish the job I gave you” the Lord of Chaos said. “I hope you have good news.”

“In a matter of fact, I have…” Discord replied, a little nervous. “It’s with great pleasure that I inform you Equestria, as well the magic of the two alicorn sisters, is under my control.”

Being able to detect Discord’s nervous look, one thing he had been trying to hid, the Lord of Chaos asked:

“Okay, spill it, what mess did you do this time?”

“Mess?” Discord repeated, in his innocent tone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, master.”

“Don’t even try to fool me, Discord” the Lord of Chaos said. “You made some mess and I order you to tell me what it is.”

Realizing he didn’t have any escape possible, Discord confessed:

“It looks like the princess… managed to escape… a little bit.”

“WHAT?!” the Lord of Chaos shouted. “You let them escape?!”

“Well, yes, but, master, I managed to take their magic over the sun and the moon” Discord said. “They are no longer a threat now.”

“Never underestimate my brother’s followers, Discord” the Lord of Chaos said. “They have a tendency to find a way to turn the game in their favour.”

“I can guarantee you that won’t happen” the draconequus reinsured.

“For your sake, Discord, I really hope so” the Lord of Chaos replied. “Because believe me when I said that I can make what Heartbeat did to you look like foal’s play.”

And, having said that, he disappeared, leaving Discord a little uncomfortable.

Celestia and Luna flew until they were as far as possible from the castle. When they thought they were at a safe distance, they landed and Luna asked:

“What do we do now, sister? Discord conquered our kingdom and stole most of our magic.”

The princess of the sun thought for a while and then she said:

“We have to get a way to defeat Discord and there is only being that can tell us how we can take Equestria back… the Lord of Order.”

The Elements of Harmony

With Celestia and Luna’s defeat caused by Discord, he was now ruling Equestria and it didn’t late for him to turn everything into his personal kingdom of chaos: the roads were now covered with soap, houses were flying around, the sky was covered with clouds made of cotton candy that caused rain of chocolate milk, day and night intercalate with each other in irregular time intervals and both ponies and animals acted in a strange way. Everything seemed to be under Discord’s will.

The two alicorn sisters, with most of their magic taken and running from Discord, did their best to find a hiding place in order to contact the Lord of Order. When they found one, they used the little magic they still had to summon him and then an image of him (that flickered due to bad connection), appeared.

“My lord, I’m afraid we have bad news to give you” Celestia said, while she and Luna bowed.

“Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, was able to take over Equestria and take most of our magic” Luna continued. “We’re ashamed of our failure.”

“Don’t be” the Lord of Order replied. “Discord has always been a villain particularly difficult to defeat. Even my Generals had some difficulties in stop him, until Heartbeat made a stand and locked him up.”

“For knowing that he was already defeated in the past is that we came to ask for your help, my lord” Celestia said.

“If we can’t stop him, then it will be a matter of time for the Pony World to be dominated by Darkness” Luna told. “We can’t let that happen.”

“Heartbeat was using her power to keep Discord under control” the Lord of Order said. “Without her, I don’t think there’s any power strong enough to defeat Discord and undo all the evil he has made.”

At that moment, however, the great Creator had an idea:

“Wait, maybe there’s something you can do. Sometime ago, when you were still young, I created something to bring light in times of emergencies. Well, having in count that the Light Kingdom fell into that stone sleeping, along with six of my Generals, and the original light disappeared from action, I think the time couldn’t be more ideal.”

The two sisters shared confused looks and the older asked:

“What are you talking about, my lord?”

“The Elements of Harmony…” he replied. “I created them using the elements necessary to create peace and harmony: honesty, kindness, laugh, generosity, loyalty… and magic. When used together, these elements have the power to free the land from any evil.”

Listening that, the two alicorn sisters got filled with hope. That was what they needed to defeat Discord and recover the kingdom.

“Where can we find these elements?” Celestia asked.

“I hid the elements in a cave somewhere at the MacIntosh Hills, in a place where no evil being is able to reach. Take this ball of light, it will guide you to your destiny.”

Having said that, the Lord of Order created a ball of light that he delivered to the alicorn sisters.

“I hope you can correct this unbalance as fast as possible.”

And the great Creator disappeared.

“Well, looks like we have what to do” Celestia said.

“Even though, Tia, the travel to the MacIntosh Hills is still long, mainly when we have to hide from Discord” Luna told.

“I know that looks like time is not at our side, but this is the only thing we can do” Celestia replied. “Have faith, sister, we will save our kingdom.”

Those words were enough to give Luna the will to continue. She smiled and nodded to Celestia who nodded back to her. The latter then released the ball of light the Lord of Order had given to them. It started to advance and the two sisters followed it.

Being careful while advancing and avoiding calling any attention into them, the two sisters arrived at last to the MacIntosh Hills. Even with the ball of light guiding them, the journey started to get more challenging as they started to climbing the big hills and the air started to become thinned. At last, they saw the ball of light getting in a specific cave and they did the same.

The journey had tired Celestia and Luna, but they, even so, didn’t slow down the pass as they advanced even more into the cave. It was then that they found what they were looking for: the Elements of Harmony.

The elements were precious stones of different colors that were placed in pedestals that were structured in a way similar to a solar system model with five of the elements (whose colors were red, orange, blue, pink and purple) around a sphere at the center where the sixth was hidden.

“Finally… after what we have been through, we found them” Luna said.

Celestia advanced with her sister following her and the two of them took the shining jewels with their magic, with Luna taking the red, orange and blue ones and Celestia taking the purple and pink ones along with the one hidden in the sphere, revealing it to have a six-pointed-shaped magenta star.

“Are you sure these can help?” Luna asked to Celestia, while they put the elements in their saddlebags.

“We have managed to find the only means by which we can defeat Discord and free the citizens of Equestria. Don’t worry, the Lord of Order wouldn’t send us to retrieve the Elements of Harmony if they were not strong enough to defeat Discord. I believe that, with their magic, we can keep the peace that was hard to conquer, now that we don’t have Princess Aurora and the Generals.”

Luna then nodded with her head, smiling, truly believing that her older sister was right.

The two alicorn sisters returned to their home, not taking too much time to find where Discord was. With a confident look in their eyes, they advanced towards a small hill where there was a throne at the top, with its back turned to them. It then turned and Discord appeared, sitting there, and said, while laughing:

“Oh, this is so much fun. How about a game of Pin the Tail on the Pony?”

And he showed what looked to be Celestia’s tail. She looked back and, to her shock, she really didn’t have it, what caused her to gasp. But that little trick of Discord didn’t shake her enough to make her quit what she came to do.

“Play time is over for you, Discord” she declared.

Discord, who was now munching what seemed to be strange black seeds from a bag, replied:

“Oh, without your magic, I doubt that. Hungry?”

He extended the bag to them, while munching in a way that caused some of the seeds to be thrown at the princesses, despite they showed little concern about that. Not receiving any reply from them, Discord said:

“Suit yourselves.”

Celestia and Luna traded a look and nodded to each other. They took the elements out of their saddlebags. Seeing that, Discord asked with a pretended interest:

“Oh! What have you got there?”

“The Elements of Harmony” Celestia replied.

“With them, we shall defeat you” Luna added.

And they then made circle them in a way that created a glowing rainbow circle. Despite that, Discord, still full of himself and believing to be more powerful, started to laugh immensely while saying:

“You should see yourselves right now. The expressions on your face. So intense. So sure of yourselves.”

The two sisters, channeling the power of the Elements of Harmony, joined the tip of their horns and, together, they shot a rainbow beam against Discord, who was still laughing and saying:

“Hilarious!”

And the rainbow beam hit him, turning him into stone. Then, there was an explosion of rainbow magic and all the chaos created by Discord’s magic was reverted.

The two alicorn sisters, now back to their castle as the legit rulers of Equestria, placed Discord’s statue in a safe place in the castle. However, despite all the security, they couldn’t prevent all forces from passing through…

Although being turned into stone, Discord still could see and feel everything around him, despite not being able to speak.

“Those two little princess will pay…” he was saying with his mind. “No one humiliates the great Discord this way.”

“Except for little red fillies, isn’t that true, Discord?” a voice replied.

And the Lord of Chaos appeared in front of the draconequus, being capable of understanding him.

“My lord!” Discord exclaimed. “Please, release me from this stone prison so I can give to those miserable princesses the lesson of their little lives and reconquer Equestria for you.”

At that moment, the Lord of Chaos started dropping a few laughs.

“What’s so funny?”

“The fact of you thinking I had considered I would release you” the Lord of Chaos replied.

“But I thought…” Discord started.

“I warned you to not underestimate them, Discord!” the Lord of Chaos scolded. “I warned you to focus in capturing them instead losing time fooling around. Now, because of that arrogance and laziness of yours, the two alicorn sisters have in their possession a powerful source of good magic that will give them the capability to stabilize this world.”

“Well, when you put it in that way…”

“Don’t even dare to say that it looks bad when I put it in that way, because it looks bad in any perspective I put it! It’s because of all this, Discord, I’ll let you where you are. Maybe some time as a statue will teach you how to use your head more often.”

And, having said that, he disappeared, leaving Discord alone again.

“Oh, poo…” the Spirit of Chaos said. “He could at least have put me in a more dignifying position…”

A Call for Help

A few weeks had passed ever since the Light Kingdom fell and the alicorn sisters had defeated Discord and it looked like everything had returned to normal. However, dark clouds were trying against the peace that was now standing weaker with the fall of the main light source of the Light Kingdom.

Despite being happy with her role to rise the moon, protect the kingdom from the evil creatures of the night and watch over all the dreams of her subjects, Luna couldn’t help but feel like her job was unappreciated by the others. But she really tried hard to conceal all that, as she didn’t want Celestia to know that and feel bad for her.

After one night of work, Luna, returning to the castle as the new day was beginning, entered in the dinner room, where Orion was eating a pile of pancakes for breakfast, where the pile was decorated to look like a pony face.

“Hey, sister, you have to taste these pancakes Celestia just did” he said, while eating. “They’re delicious!”

“Yeah, not in the mood…” she replied, while taking an apple from the bowl at the center of the table and starting eating.

“Wow, you look tired” Orion observed. “But I have to say that it was worth it. I had such a good dream, sister. Thank you very much.”

“At least one pony noticed that” Luna commented.

Noticing the way his sister said that, Orion asked:

“Is everything okay, Luna?”

The princess of the night sighed and then told:

“I don’t know, Orion… It’s just… I feel… unappreciated. Most ponies seem to not give me the value I deserve.”

“Don’t say that, Luna” Orion replied. “That’s not true. Everypony knows how important you are.”

“It’s difficult to notice that when all ponies seem to prefer Celestia’s precious light.”

“You know that everything has its own purpose. The day is for the ponies to play, work, enjoy… and the night is for rest and tranquility, and you’re the one who brings that.”

Luna drew a little smile and then she told:

“Thank you very much, Orion. I needed to hear that.”

“I think you should also tell what you feel to Celestia” Orion said. “I know she can help you get the appreciation you deserve. She must be coming to bring more pancakes.”

“I believe it’s for the best to wait until I get some rest” Luna replied. “I talk with her later.”

“If that’s what you want, then I won’t say anything against your decision” Orion told.

It was then that the door opened and Celestia got in, transporting two plates, each one with a pile of pancakes.

“Oh, good, you’re here, Luna” Celestia said, with her usual jovial smile. “I have made pancakes for you. You must be really tired after all your work.”

“That’s… really nice of you, Celestia” Luna replied. “But, like you said, I’m tired and I need to rest.”

Having said that, Luna got out.

“What’s up with her?” Celestia asked to Orion. “She’s been acting weird lately.”

“Don’t worry, Tia, I’m certain Luna will tell it” he replied.

After resting for a few hours, Luna advanced towards the throne room, finding her sister sitting on her throne reading some parchments. The princess of the night knew she had to talk with Celestia about her troubles. She would understand and help her to overcome. Furthermore, she loved her and Luna knew she would drop anything for her family. Taking a deep breath, Luna advanced to her, landing beside Celestia, and told:

“Celestia, can I talk with you?”

“Of course, Luna” she replied, putting the parchments aside. “I noticed that something was off with you. You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“Yes, sure, and I think I should already have talked with you about this” Luna said.

“So, what’s happening?” Celestia asked.

But, at the moment Luna was starting to speak, the doors of the throne room opened suddenly and Orion entered, saying:

“Sisters, we have a big problems in hooves!”

“What is it, Orion?” Celestia asked.

“It’s the Crystal Empire” Orion told. “It’s in great danger.”

“But what is happening to the Crystal Empire?” Luna asked.

“It was taken over” a voice replied.

And a crystal pegasus mare appeared. She had a light raspberryish gray coat with two crystal butterflies surrounding a crystal flower, a brilliant cerise mane and brilliant rose eyes. She was the princess of Crystal Empire.

“Princess Rose Quartz…” Celestia said, while she and Luna took flight and landed beside her and Orion. “What do you mean it was taken over?”

“We thought the Crystal Empire had the Crystal Heart to protect itself from the enemies” Luna added.

“Yes, but… the one who invaded us had such… powerful dark magic” Rose Quartz said. “I didn’t even know a pony could have such power. He invaded the Crystal Empire and subdued us like it was nothing. I… was lucky to escape, but… my parents…”

She wasn’t able to finish the sentence as it was hard for her, with tears appearing on her eyes. Orion hold her and said:

“It’s okay. We’re here to help.”

With his support, Rose Quartz was able to hold herself together.

“Please, Princess Rose Quartz, can you tell us more about the one who took over the Crystal Empire?” Celestia asked.

“Yes…” she said. “He is a very peculiar unicorn with a mane as dark as the night. But the weirdest thing was his horn. It was red and curvy.”

Hearing that description, the two alicorn princesses realized immediately who Rose Quartz was talking about.

“Sombra!” they both exclaimed.

The Crystal Empire, once a place made of pure crystal and filled with a strong light that, when magnified by the Crystal Heart, was capable of keeping away the harsh climate of the North Pole and any enemy, was now a place of dark crystals with the crystal ponies enslaved, what caused them to lose their crystalline body.

Sitting on the throne was Sombra, now entitled King Sombra, who had a wicked smile. Despite the outcome of his invasion to the Light Kingdom, he was now proud of his actions that had caused him to fulfil his master’s will.

It was then that a voice said to him:

“Finally I have a villain that can do anything worth of my appreaciation.”

The Lord of Chaos appeared before Sombra, saying:

“It has been so long since that happened. You were able to redeem yourself from your failed at the Light Kingdom.”

“My lord…” Sombra said, bowing his head. “You know that I live to serve you. Despite that, unlike how it happened in the Light Kingdom, it was pretty easy to conquer this piece of land abnormally covered in light crystal. The king was too cocky to be able to fight back properly.”

“It’s what happened when you rely only on my brother’s power” the Lord of Chaos answered. “But let’s now focus on the current situation. Without the Light Kingdom and the Crystal Empire, this world will be at my mercy once again. The only thing standing in my way are those pesky little princesses. But, if you follow the plan as I told you, then Equestria will also fall… in a way or another.”

“You can be sure, my lord, that your plan will come true” Sombra reassured. “After I’m done, you’ll be one step closer of having the Pony World under your control.”

“I really hope so, Sombra” the Lord of Chaos replied. “I have to get everything before the original light reincarnates and tries to regain the Light Kingdom back. Don’t disappoint me.”

And, having said that, he teleported away.

The Vanishment of the Crystal Empire

The news that Sombra had been able to conquer the Crystal Empire worried the alicorn sisters a lot. After the fall of the Light Kingdom, those were the worse news they could get as now the Pony World was now even more inclined to Chaos.

After Orion took Rose Quartz to a guess room so she could rest, Celestia and Luna started discuss what to do regarding Sombra. However, their opinions regarding what to do couldn’t be more different.

“We have to act now” Luna replied. “We can’t let Sombra get his way with the Crystal Empire and having the crystal ponies as slaves.”

“And we won’t, but we can’t forget that Sombra may have dark ponies guarding the streets and the castle” Celestia said. “We need to gather an army. Don’t forget that he created an army of dark ponies to invade the Light Kingdom.”

“And that’s why we have to act now” Luna replied back. “We owe that to Princess Aurora and the Generals. Besides, we can certainly deal with dark ponies easily and I’m certain Sombra doesn’t stand a chance again our combined power. He is just a cockroach that can’t do anything without the help of his dear master.”

“I believe you’re underestimating Sombra, Luna. Have you forgot what happened with Discord? We can’t make the same mistake again. The all Pony World is counting on us.”

“You’re right about that, but that’s why we have to go after him now when he least expect and with everything we have. You know I’m right, Celestia.”

Celestia hated when Luna tried to make her pass over her reasoning and was successful.

“Okay, but I’ll make sure we have access to the Elements of Harmony” Celestia replied. “They are the strongest magic that we have.”

“It’s fine by me” Luna replied.

So the two got ready, wearing armors with Celestia holding a spear and Luna holding a sword, and flew all the way to the Crystal Empire, landing some distance away. They start observing the empire, noticing the dark ponies guarding the outskirts, while others watched over the enslaved crystal ponies.

“It’s a horrible scene…” Celestia commented. “Poor crystal ponies… How can a pony do this to others?”

“Sombra is evil, sister” Luna replied. “And also a coward… Walled up in his fortress like it were a tomb, while his dark abominations guard him.”

“In a way, I think it was good that we left our forces back home” Celestia said, while looking around. “With all these dark crystal, it would be hard for our earth pony and unicorn guards to advance and I bet he has ways to deal with pegasus as well. We will have to deal with those dark ponies ourselves. If we purify their star seeds as we pass by, they will turn back into normal ponies again.”

But Luna didn’t seem too much interested in the dark ponies or in any of her explanations, but, even so, Celestia continued:

“We only need a window of attack. He can’t hold his ground against both of us. And, with the Elements, we shall dispose of him.”

“And what if they don’t?” Luna asked.

That question caused Celestia to frown and then she asked:

“Why would they fail?”

“Hypothetically speaking…” Luna added.

“Well, hypothetically speaking, we’re prepared just in case” Celestia replied, holding her spear.

That caused Luna to chuckle and then said, with a small smile:

“Indeed. He doesn’t know what forces he is tampering with. Let us not delay his end any further.”

And she took flight. Celestia took a few seconds to do the same, as she noticed that her sister looked weird. However, she thought that was due to the fact they were facing the one pony that led to the fall of the Light Kingdom and the disappearance of Princess Aurora and her Generals of Order.

The two alicorns advanced towards the empire, while channeling directly the powers of their star seeds, purifying the dark ponies and returning them to normal. So they arrived to the castle and get in throne one of the windows, joining then their horns together to create a blast against King Sombra, what created a smokescreen.

While hoovering at the air, Luna asked:

“Is that it?”

But, suddenly, using a platform of dark crystal, Sombra erected in the air, holding a scythe made of dark crystal, and hit Celestia, while giving a wicked look to Luna. He charged her with a dark beam and he princess of the sun fell hard on the floor.

A light appeared and blasted the platform where he was and Celestia and Sombra crushed their weapons. While getting up, Luna noticed the broken pieces of crystal falling on her and used the sword to defend herself, defending then a blow from Sombra coming from above. The shock caused them both to move back a few hooves.

However, Luna soon took flight and she and Celestia started an attack from both ways, but Sombra, using his dark magic, made shadow tentacles appear and protect him, while covering the two sisters and turning into crystal. Celestia, nevertheless, managed to get free and tried an attack on Sombra who turn into shadow and disappeared, causing the princess of the sun to hit the ground with her spear.

“Show yourself, you coward!” she yelled.

But the only answer she got was his evil laugh.

“Have you sunken too much in your master’s darkness to be able to face me?” Celestia asked. “Well, I think I shouldn’t be asking that having in count what you did both to the Light Kingdom and the Crystal Empire.”

She then felt his presence behind and was quick to defend herself from his scythe with the spear, but after that blow she managed to stab him in the chest, being not to harm him but to prevent him from turning into shadow.

“It’s over, Sombra” the alicorn princess said. “Yield!”

But the dark king just laughed, with the dark magic passing through his eyes and horn, and said:

“So… much… hatred!”

And he tried to attack Celestia with the scythe, forcing her to retreat. Sombra then said, while passing towards her:

“You speak of cowardice? Your dear Aurora was a bigger coward than I can possibly be… sitting in a throne while having all those Generals serving as shields and preferring to die instead of facing me. Did you know it was because of her that I became who I am?”

With anger overflowing Celestia for everything Sombra said, she attacked and the two of them shared more blows, with Celestia yelling:

“I don’t care what dark paths you’ve made! I don’t care if you have the help of the Lord of Chaos himself! You will fail and pay for all of your crimes!”

“It appears that even the Lord of Order’s favorites lack purity in their hearts” Sombra commented, still while exchanging blows with Celestia. “I can taste your wrath… and it is delicious!"

Trigged by Sombra’s words, Celestia shouted:

“SILENCE, YOU CUR!”

And she casted a powerful beam of solar beam. Sombra, however, turned into shadow again and dodge, with the beam hitting the crystal that was holding Luna, and he advanced to Celestia and covered her.

The crystal holding Luna cracked, what caused her to wake up. She then looked to where her sister should be, but saw nothing but shadows. The princess of the night knew she was is trouble.

Surrounded by darkness, Celestia said:

“Show yourself!”

She then heard movement and saw a figure that looked like Luna nearby, standing to a window where the night sky could be seen.

“Oh, sister… it’s you” Celestia said, relieved. “Thank goodness…”

But then, something caused Celestia’s face be invaded by shock and despair, while she said with her eyes being invaded by mist of dark magic:

“No… Luna… please… Sister… it doesn’t need to be like this. LUNA!”

In reality, Celestia was lying on the floor, completely under Sombra’s influence, living her worst fear. Before that, he prepared to end her, but, before he can do that, a shadow sword hits him, disappearing after making contact. Sombra, recovering from the blow, looked back and saw Luna, now free from the crystal, landing while waving her sword and summoning more of the shadow swords.

The two shared intense looks and then Luna shot her shadow swords which Sombra defended with a crystal wall, throwing it against Luna who cut it in half with her sword, advancing then. The two adversaries crashed their weapons, starting a brief confrontation that ended with Luna sending Sombra back. He then said:

“Relentless… Why such lengths to protect your petty imperialistic interests?”

“You’re a fool, if you think that’s what I’m trying to protect” Luna replied.

Having said that, Luna used a spell to accelerate her speed and made some attacks on Sombra, leaving some damages, but, eventually, he managed to catch her and subdue her, making her sword land at some distance away.

“I already faced Heartbeat’s swift nature and you’re not at her level” the unicorn king told to the alicorn princess.

He then noticed her eyes and realized she was using her magic. He looked up and then saw it: a bigger shadow sword falling over him. With quick reflexes, Sombra dodged the shadow sword. With the two of them taking their time to stare each other while taking their breath, Luna and Sombra healed their respective wounds. Then Luna tried to take her sword, but Sombra made it disappear and summoned crystals around Luna, creating a cage for her.

“Release me now” Luna demanded.

Sombra chuckled and then replied:

“In due time. I was curious to know the Lord of Chaos’ interest in you. But then again, after seeing how your sister fears you, I guess I don’t have to theorize the reason.”

“She doesn’t fear me” Luna responded.

Approaching Luna, always chuckling, Sombra said:

“You’re not the first sister that she fears. You shall see that before long. Do you think she honestly understands the night and all its glory? Not even that Lord of Order of yours values it, as he only sees it only as a way to balance the day.”

“Do not pretend that you do in turn” Luna replied.

“Oh, I understand perfectly” Sombra answered. “You find me a tyrant, and yet the best kind of slave is one who is willing.”

With rage bubbling, Luna shouted:

“SILENCE!”

And she unleashed a powerful wave of magic that, despite being able to shake the crystal holding her, wasn’t able to free her. Still with his cocky smile, Sombra replied:

“You can deny my warnings as you wish. It won’t change your fate. If I was able to force Princess Aurora to freeze the Light Kingdom and all the light ponies, tell me what can two little princesses do against me?”

“Save your breath” Luna said, giving a smirk to Sombra.

“Even if by some miracle you were to defeat me, you will only fall to your sister’s will” Sombra told. “It has been always like that, isn’t it? She is always the one getting the glory, while you just ask for the others to notice you. I, for one, find that pathetic.”

Luna could feel her anger and her hate being provoked.

“Silence…”

“Would not make sense for us to stand together, strong and powerful?”

“We would rather take our own lives than submit to you or your master” Luna said.

“Submit?” Sombra repeated. “Just like you did to your sister?”

That caused Luna to remain silent, as Sombra continued saying:

“I admire your resolve. You’re strong, unlike your sister. Far more fit to rule than her and far more deserving of respect. You have the opportunity now to take her place. Together, we can show everyone what it is to fear the night.”

There was a pause, where Luna had her head down. It was then that she said:

“You’re a fool…”

And, stomping her hooves, she unleased her magic in a way that broke the crystal, with her eyes full of fury shining with her magical aura. She was ready to fight.

“So be it” Sombra said, smiling.

And he turned into shadow and the two advanced to face each other. But that shock ended with Luna falling in the floor in the same state as Celestia, but being able to still be conscious.

“Such a shame…” Sombra said.

Luna painted heavily, while trying to fight Sombra’s magic. But then she stopped and started laughing manically, much to Sombra’s confusion. The princess of the night got up and started advancing, with her face covered by darkness, while saying:

“You think you’ve found an ally in darkness? Do you even comprehend the gift your master gave you? The same gift I was born with?”

And she let light illuminate her face, revealing eyes with slit pupils.

“Where do you think the shadows go to hide from the precious light?” Luna continued, while continuing advancing and getting Sombra’s scythe. “Just who do you think stands against them? What you possess can’t even compare to their might, the same one that I stand unyielding against each and every night.”

Sombra could feel the negative aura and power that Luna was emanating and that really scared him.

“Stay back!” he shouted, while charging his horn with dark magic.

He attacked, but Luna blocked the attack with great ease and she continued:

“You’re nothing compared to them… You’re nothing compared to ME!”

And she prepared to attack him, but then she heard movement. It was Celestia that had been able to free herself from Sombra’s influence and was starting to get up.

“Sister…” she said.

Taking advantage of that distraction, Sombra attacked Luna again. When she noticed that, it was too late for her to even create a defense. However, Celestia appeared just in time to protect her sister with a protective barrier.

“Are you okay, Luna?” Celestia asked.

“Yes…” she replied. “Thank you, sister.”

“Well, let’s go” Celestia said. “It’s time to end this, once and for all.”

She rose up in the air and Luna followed her exemple. They then summoned the Elements of Harmony and made them circle them in a way that created a glowing rainbow circle. Seeing that, and knowing what happened with Discord, Sombra attacked the two princesses, but is attack was quickly nullified by the power of the elements. Knowing he would be able to defeat them, Sombra said to them:

“You may win this battle, but you can be sure that you won’t save the Crystal Empire and I will return to claim what’s mine!”

Celestia and Luna ignored him and, with their eyes glowing with the power of the elements, they joined the tip of their horns and shot a rainbow beam against Sombra. It hit him and the dark king screamed in agony, as the elements sent him away, opening a rift right in the Artic North and throwing him there, closing it soon after. The two sisters ended the magic and landed, smiling at each other, happy that they defeated Sombra, avenging Princess Aurora.

But, suddenly, the ground started shaking.

“What’s happening?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know” Celestia replied.

There was a flash a light that blinded Celestia and Luna for a few moments, with them shielding each other, and, when everything was over, they couldn’t believe what had just happened. The Crystal Empire had disappeared, along with the crystal ponies. The only ones that continued there were the alicorn sisters and the dark ponies they were able to reverse.

“But… what happened?” Luna asked. “Where’s the Crystal Empire… and the crystal ponies?”

Celestia looked around and, despite not knowing what happened, one thing was certain to her.

“Looks like Sombra was able to still curse the Crystal Empire and all its inhabitants” she said.

She noticed something, hidden in the snow. Celestia took it and saw that it was a crystal, the only physical evidence of the existence of the Crystal Empire.

“He was right” Celestia said. “We may have won the battle, but we didn’t save the Crystal Empire.”

Seeing that scene through one of his mirros was the Lord of Chaos, sitting on his throne.

“So right you are, dear Celestia” he said. “Sombra had already cursed the Crystal Empire to disappear in case he ever got defeated. I have to said that was the best plan I ever made. But the best part is that Sombra was able to plant the seed that will allow me to unbalance Equestria.”

And he laught maniacally, while he looked to none other than Luna.

Author's Note

The battle between the alicorn sisters and Sombra is based on the video "Fall of the Crystal Empire", belonging to SFS Animation

The Raising of the Shadow

It was evening and Luna was preparing to raise the moon as the sun was getting down by her sister. After the moon was at the sky, Celestia approached her younger sister and said:

“Sister, I hope you’re able to catch Oogie Boogie. He’s terrorizing the ponies. They can’t sleep well and that’s affecting them physically.”

“Don’t worry, I will catch him” Luna reassure. “And I will make sure his days roaming in the Dream World are over.”

Celestia smiled and nodded at her, saying while placing a hoof over her shoulder:

“I trust in you, Luna, as well our subjects.”

When Celestia said that, Luna almost opened up to her about how she had been feeling, how she felt that ponies didn’t appreciate her work. They played and laughed during her sister’s day, while sleeping during her night, unaware of the terrible threats she had to fight alone, both in the physical plane and in the Dream World.

Ever since their fight with Sombra that those feelings were stronger and more intense, harder to avoid thinking about them. Also, that moment when she was dominated by her own darkness scared Luna. She didn’t know she could be like that. Luna knew she had to talk with Celestia about what happened, but she feared that her older sister wouldn’t understand, or worse, she could start to fear her.

After Celestia went to bed, Luna went to the balcony of the highest tower of the castle, in order to look upon Canterlot. She saw as the lights in each house disappear, meaning that the inhabitants went to sleep. Once again, nopony dared to come out and enjoy the beauty of her night. Luna was the sole pony awake.

Sighing, the princess of night tried to keep those thoughts and feelings away. The only thing she needed to think about was the job that was ahead of her. So, she charged her horn and it didn’t take long for her to be in the Dream World, patrolling the infinite halls full of doors leading to the dreams of all the beings in existence.

It was then that she sensed him… Oogie Boogie was near. Flying as fast as she could, Luna passed through the halls until reaching a slightly opened dream door that was white with golden markings looking like the sun. It was Celestia’s.

“Oh, don’t even think about it, you nasty spirit” Luna said, hasting to get in.

Once there, Luna found herself in the throne room of her castle. It was dark there due to the nightly sky outside, but because she was used to the darkness, she could see as if it was day. She then saw her sister, with a devastated looking. Curious to know about what was leaving like that, Luna looked ahead and couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Oh no…”

“No… Luna… please… Sister… it doesn’t need to be like this. LUNA!”

“Celestia, please, you can’t believe in that” Luna said, approaching her sister. “It’s just a nightmare…”

But before she could touch her shoulder, Luna stepped upon a trap that was triggered and incased her in a spherical rock prison that went up hooves away from the floor.

“What… What happened… Oogie Boogie!”

And she heard a laugh and the irritating voice that belonged to the evil spirit said:

“Well, well, well, could it be that the great Princess of the Night is losing her touch?”

And he appeared before Luna, continuing to say:

“Now, Luna, how could my archenemy be able to fall for such pity trick?”

“Your rascal… You’ll regret having getting in my sister’s dreams and turned them into a nightmare!” Luna exclaimed.

It was then that Oogie Boogie started to laugh.

“Do you really think I’m responsible for this?” he asked. “Please, I would be much more creative when it comes to the Lord of Chaos’ greatest enemies. No, this one has your sister’s hooves all over it. It looks like her encounter with Sombra really scarred her.”

Listening that, Luna looked to her sister with worry. Could it be that Celestia’s fear that her fate would be the same as Ingrid’s was really that big that she couldn’t find peace during her sleep.

“You know, I’m surprised that you haven’t noticed it yet” Oogie Boogie commented. “Or you really are too busy dealing with my nightmare-making spree, what I consider to be a compliment to my ability, or you don’t really care about your sister to watch over her dreams.”

Those hurtful remarks from Oogie Boogie were really upsetting Luna, who started to concentrate her fury that allowed her to concentrate a mass of magic on her horn.

“Don’t… you… dare… talking to me… LIKE THAT!”

The spirit of nightmares couldn’t believe as Luna unleased the magic that she was concentrating that created a big explosion that destroyed Oogie Boogie’s prison and blasted him against a wall. He fell to the ground, only to be caught by light blue chains that completely subdued him.

“No, no, no, no… NOO!!” he shouted, while trying to get rid of those chains, only to not avail. “Release me!”

“I’m afraid not” Luna replied, while descending from the air. “You’re playtime is over, Oogie Boogie. It’s time for a very long time-out.”

Returning to the real world with Oogie Boogie, Luna appeared with him at the entrance of cave, getting in soon after. Growls were heard, along with heavy steps, and, to Oogie Boogie discomfort, Cerberus appeared.

“Great…” he said. “Now I have to endure dog smell.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be for long” Luna replied.

She advanced with Oogie Boogie and, once reaching Cerberus, she pet each head and told him:

“Good boy… Look, I have a new prisioner for you.”

Luna pointed to Oogie Boogie who was smelled by Cerberus who then growled at him. Then, he let them pass and Luna moved own, forcing Oogie Boogie to follow her. At end of the cave where there were huge gold gates.

“Sorry to burst your bubble… actually I’m not, but only the General of Peace can open those gates” Oogie Boogie said. “So, I guess you’ll have to…”

But Luna summoned Golden Paladin’s key to Tartarus.

“And you have the key… great” the boogeypony said.

Luna inserted the key in the lock and ran it to the left. It was heard the click and the gates opened, revealing Tartarus. Luna advanced with Oogie Boogie, while using her magic to conjure the bridge of yellow bricks to cross over the moat, with it getting undone afterwards. Getting into Tartarus, Luna led Oogie Boogie to one of the empty cells at the top and, after he was locked and chained up, the boogeypony said, while Luna prepared to leave:

“You know what’s the bright side on all this? It’s that I know nopony will not give you the acknowledgment you truly deserve for having defeated the boogeypony.”

Luna gave him a look and then replied:

“If you think those words will affect me, you’re very wrong.”

“I’m stating a fact” Oogie Boogie said, while starting to get comfortable on his cell. “My fate may be staying in this cell, in this prison sheltered from the decaying power of time, but your fate will be being the unappreciated princess who always does her best to keep her kingdom and subjects safe every night, while her sister gets all the glory and adoration.”

“My subjects respect me” Luna said. “They know I do my best to keep them safe.”

“Well, if you really believe that, I guess I don’t have anything more to say” Oogie Boogie told in a mocking tone.

Luna was to replied his cynical remarks, but she then noticed Oogie Boogie was trying to get to her.

“You know what, I’m losing precious time by being here talking to you” she said. “I’ve already done my part and put you where you belong. Enjoy your stay, Oogie Boogie. Believe when I say you’ll stay here for a very long time.”

And she made pillar where she was to descend.

“Yeah, let’s see how long that time will be” the spirit of nightmares replied, as his captor moved away.

When she arrived to the castle, the day had already begun. Luna was too tired after her journey to capture Oogie Boogie and then put him in Tartarus, so she was wishful for a good sleep. But when she was heading towards her chambers, Luna noticed through a window her sister strolling at the gardens with some emissaries that were visiting the castle.

She saw how they were laughing and enjoying themselves and then observed how the emissaries were really adoring Celestia. It was then that a feeling of jealousy started moving in her heart. Noticing that, Luna blushed, ashamed for feeling something like that for her sister.

But then she remembered how she feared her, how she feared her power and thought she could turn evil, just like their older sister. Sombra and Oogie Boogie’s words started to resonate in her head like bells. Confusion grew like weeds, clouding her reason. Fearing to lost herself in her petty thoughts, Luna hasted to arrive to her room. Cleary she needed her rest in order to put her thoughts back together.

The Lord of Chaos was watching her, while sitting on her throne. An evil chuckle was heard coming from him and he said:

“That’s it, Luna. Keep feeding those resentments of yours for your sister. It will be pretty useful to me. In matter of time, darkness will fall upon Equestria. And no matter what the outcome will be, I will have some profit.”

The Nightmare of the Night, Part I

With the end of one more night, Luna returned to the castle, having come from the Dream World. Despite the end of Oogie Boogie’s reign of nightmares, she still had to deal with the aftermatch of that. Ponies still had nightmares out of fear that the spirit of nightmares would terrorize them again.

Tired and with deep dark circles on his eyes, Luna advanced through the halls, only wanting to reach her bed. It was then that she crossed path with Celestia who greeted her with a big smile:

“Good morning, sister.”

But Luna ignored her completely, passing by her and continued to walk.

“Luna…” Celestia said a little worried. “Are you okay?”

“Too tired” she replied. “I’m going to bed.”

And the princess of the night continued her way. Celestia looked at her, noticing how tired she was. Indeed she had worked without stop ever since she defeated Oogie Boogie. Despite knowing she had to fix all the damages he has done, the princess of the sun didn’t know why she was tiring herself up like that.

“Celestia?” a voice called.

She got out of her thinking state only to find her brother, Orion.

“Are you okay, big sister?” he asked.

“Yes, Orion, it’s just…” she started. “Well, I’m a little worried with Luna. She doesn’t seems so well.”

“Having in count that she stays wake up all night fighting nightmares and other things, I would be that tired as well” Orion replied. “Hey, are you ready for tomorrow? It’s the beginning of summer, the longest day of the year. Everypony wants to celebrate that.”

“I don’t know about that, Orion” Celestia told. “Celebrating something that I normally do…”

“Come on, sis, it’s the longest day” Orion said. “If we’re not celebrating you raising the sun, then we do it for the beginning of summer. Besides, I invited Rose Quartz to the party. She really needs to cheer up after losing her family and kingdom.”

“And also because of another little thing, right?” Celestia asked, with a suggestive smile.

“Well, maybe I can try my luck with her” Orion admitted.

“And I’m certain she feels the same about you” Celestia said, starting to think again about Luna. “You know, maybe I can get Luna to come to the party. She really needs to have some fun.”

“Good luck with that” Orion said. “You know how she is serious about her job.”

“Yes, but somethings is good to make a pause and enjoy the moment” Celestia replied. “And it doesn’t hurt to try to convince her.”

A little later after the talk, Celestia went to Luna’s room and knocked. It took a little, but the door opened slightly and Luna’s face, that looked gloomy, appeared.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Sister, our subjects are going to make a party for the beginning of summer” Celestia said. “Orion is going with Rose Quartz and I will attend too. And I thought that maybe you could come. It would really be good for you, as you’ve been working so…”

“Let me guess it straight” Luna said. “You want me to go to a party that is to celebrate longest day at the night before it? No, thanks.”

“Luna, don’t be like that” Celestia told. “I know that you think your work is being unappreciated by our subjects, but I can guarantee you if you go to the party, you can show them the wonders of your night and…”

But, before she could end, Luna closed the door at her face. Celestia hesitated in knocking again, but she reconsidered, thinking it was best to leave her sister alone.

Later, at the party that was being hold at the nearest village, Celestia was talking joyfully with some ponies, before finishing the conversation and moving away. When there was nopony looking, Celestia adopted a saddened look. Looking to the castle, she wondered what she could do to bring her out of that depression she was starting to get into to.

However, despite all her worries with Luna, Celestia couldn’t let her subjects to notice the troubles that was existing between her and her sister, as they were the great pillars that sustained the all kingdom, after everything that happened with Ingrid, Discord and Sombra. That was the reason why Celestia had to hold on her smile and try to enjoy the party.

At the castle, as the sun started to go down, Luna appeared before a window, looking at the ponies enjoying the party, while waiting for the longest day and adoring her sister. It was then that she started to sing, singing about the beauty of night, how the sky gets full of the light of the stars and how everything gets colored with soft shades, while wondering thought the halls. She sang about why the ponies of Equestria would lock themselves away from her night, only to wait for her sister’s sunny day.

Arriving to the throne room, Luna started to ask if she was wrong to wish see things like her and love her, wondering if that wasn’t her right, while finding herself invaded by images of ponies bowing to her, only to disappear and reappeared nearby bowing to an image of her sister, as if they preferred her over her.

Turning to an open balcony, Luna sang, while raising the moon, that she and her light weren’t less and, if the sun would threat the moon, the latter would stand her ground. And Luna casted a magic that would prevent the moon from being moved by any force, including her sister’s, singing the moment had come for her not yield the sky and that if the ponies would only love only one princess, she would make them see the wonders of her nightly sky. Walking to the thrones, she told, directing to her subjects, to say goodnight to the sun, as that would be the last sunset, as the tomorrow would dawn in darkness. After finishing the song, she started to laugh in an evil way.

At the party, the time has come for Celestia to finally raise the sun. Getting to the podium, she gave one last look to the castle and her sister, before sighing and turning to her subjects with her forced smile. Between the crowd, she could see Orion with Rose Quartz. It would appear their relationship had evolved. Taking a deep breath, she said:

“My dear ponies, you can’t imagine the honor I feel for having you making this celebration for the first day of summer. Just for that, you all have my gratitude. I had a lot of fun sharing this wonderful moment with you.”

The ponies cheered her, while applauding her.

“And now, it’s time for me to raise the sun and beginning this that will be the longest day.”

After the crowd’s cheer ceased, Celestia charged her horn with magic, starting to raise the sun. The great ball of light started to appear on the sky, while the sky started to clear. However, something wrong happened, as the sun stopped rising up and the sky ceased to get clear of the shades of the night.

That event great surprised the ponies who started to talk between each other. Celestia couldn’t believe what had happened.

“I don’t understand…” she said. “This never happened… What could…?”

But then only one explanation appeared on her mind. Luna had to be behind that. So, after excusing herself to her subjects, Celestia teleported herself to the throne room, that was full of shadows.

“Luna?” she called, at the center of the room and looking around. “Luna, where are you?”

She started to make a step, but then a voice exclaimed:

“Not a another step.”

Celestia turned and saw Luna coming from behind her throne and going to half way to Celestia’s, standing behind the handrail.

“Luna, you have explanations to make” Celestia said to her sister. “Why haven’t you downed the moon?”

“Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they are basked in your precious light?” Luna asked back.

“Luna, please, you can’t do this” Celestia said. “We are the princess of Equestria. We…”

“There can only be one princess in Equestria… and that princess… will be ME!” Luna shouted.

She stomped hard on the handrail, while charging her magic, destroying it and causing cracks that climbed up the wall until a window, breaking it and creating a big hole. The sun could be seen from it, but Luna soon made the moon cover it, creating an eclipse that unleased a torrent of shadows that started to involve Luna in some kind of cocoon. When it popped, Luna got out of there, but she was not the same.

She was bigger (having Celestia’s size), her coat was black with a mane that more looked like bluish smoke with a blue helmet and fangs could be seen instead of teeth, while her eyes had split pupils. Luna, in her new form, landed and then started to laugh manically, while thunder started to be heard and her mane expanded in a swirl.

Celestia couldn’t help but staying where she was, without reaction to what had just happened…

Author's Note

The scene where Luna sings, as well the song, is based on the video “The Moon Rises. Animation” that belongs to Duo Cartoonist. The scene where Luna turns into Nightmare Moon is taken from the season 4 episode "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 1" of the series.

The Nightmare of the Night, Part II

The Lord of Chaos watched that scene through one of his mirrors and he couldn’t be happier.

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Finally she snapped. And now Celestia is the only obstacle remaining. Once she is out of picture, the Pony Reality will be submerged in an eternal darkness.”

And he laughed.

Once Luna stopped laughing, she looked angrily to Celestia, firing then a beam that hit a statue and then moved it up to the ceiling, causing it to collapse. Celestia dodge easily the debris by taking flight and watched as Luna walked through the smoke. The latter launched another beam to Celestia who dodged it, creating another hole that let the moonlight get in. The princess of the sun landed and then said:

“Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!”

“Luna?” her sister replied. “I am… Nightmare Moon!”

Celestia couldn’t believe what was happening. The way Luna, or rather Nightmare Moon, was talking was similar to Ingrid when she became the Snow Queen. But Celestia was determined to not let the same thing happening.

“I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!” Nightmare Moon exclaimed, casting another magic beam.

Celestia dodged, taking flight and flying away by getting out through the big hole at the ceiling.

“And where do you think you're going?” Nightmare Moon asked, taking flight as well to follow her.

Nightmare Moon went after Celestia, firing magic beams at her, only for the princess of the sun to dodge, while trying to escape. The continuing firing of Nightmare Moon started to cause some damages to the castle, but it was then that Celestia was hit, releasing a moan of pain and falling into the throne room through the hole. Before that, Nightmare Moon laughed and then moved away, going in direction of the party.

Celestia, despite the nasty hit and fall, was able to get up. However, she could feel her heart broken, as she had lost the only sister she still had. It was just like how it happened with Ingrid. Now what could she do to save her?

“I can hear your call for help, my child” a voice said.

Celestia looked up and saw the Lord of Order.

“My Lord!” she exclaimed. “It’s so good that you’re here. My sister, Luna, she…”

“I know, but, as you may know, I can’t interfere in the affairs of ponies” the Lord of Order replied.

“But I need to save Luna” Celestia said. “She has to hear the voice of reason.”

“Your love for your sister is commendable, Celestia, but just like you did with Ingrid, you have to think of your subjects first” the Lord of Order told.

“But…”

“Your sister’s heart, right now, is consumed by darkness. My brother planned each course of action, starting with Sombra and then Oogie Boogie. They both made her vulnerable to her jealousy and I’m afraid right now you don’t have the power to bring her back.”

“But there must be a way” Celestia said.

“The only thing you can do is this” the Lord of Order said, pointing his spear.

A mechanism opened on the floor and so the same device that had the Elements of Harmony at the cave came out, with each element in its rightful place with the Element of Magic inside the stone sphere. Realizing what the Lord of Order wanted her to do, Celestia reacted in the only way she could:

“No… No, I can’t do that! I can’t trap my sister using the elements. It would make her be like Discord and Sombra. I know I can still reach her and I will prove it.”

Having said that, she took flight, following her sister. The Lord of Order watched her for a few seconds before disappearing.

At the party, Orion was a little worried because of the way Celestia had teleported away. Noticing his look, Rose Quartz approached him and asked:

“Are you okay, Orion?”

“I don’t know…” he said. “Something is happening. The fact the moon didn’t low and how Celestia went away without saying anything… I just have a bad feeling about this.”

It was then that screams were heard, with hooves pointing to the sky. Orion and Rose Quartz looked at the sky and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Nightmare Moon was hovering at the sky, looking down to her subjects with a wicked smile. Using her Royal Voice, she declared:

“Greetings, my dear subjects. Listen well, because I have announcement to all of you. From this day on, the night will last… forever!”

And she unleashed a wicked smile, while her misty mane extended and flowed and thunder was heard. Ponies started to tremble in fear. Moving to face her sister, Orion asked:

“Luna, what are you doing?”

“I’ll tell you what I said to that despicable sun princess of yours” Nightmare Moon replied. “I’m not Luna, but Nightmare Moon. And I will impose the eternal night to all of you. And the ones who dare to defy me will pay with their nightmares.”

In order to make an example to everypony, Nightmare Moon charged her horn and created a pulse of magic that hit everyone there. All the ponies started to be invaded mentally by their worst nightmares. It was just like when they were sleeping, excepting the nightmares were more vivid and the ponies couldn’t escape them.

“Don’t worry, the nightmares will pass, as soon you recognize me as your sole princess and start adoring my night” Nightmare Moon said to the ponies.

“Luna!” a voice called.

Celestia appeared, hovering a few hooves away from Nightmare Moon. Indifferent to her presence, the latter said:

“So, I see you still have the courage to defy me. Pity… I was hoping you would be reasonable and run when I gave you that chance.”

“This has to stop, Luna” Celestia said. “I know that is not you. You can’t be this thing you’re showing.”

“You can bet I am, sister” Nightmare Moon replied. “And I have to thank you for that. You made all our subjects to love your dear precious light and despise my beautiful dark sky. It was all that what allowed me to become who I am now.”

“That’s not true” Celestia said. “Nopony despises your night, Luna, and I did everything I could to make sure both our rules in this world were celebrated.”

“Enough with your lies” Nightmare Moon told. “It’s time to end this… once and for all!”

Having said that, Nightmare Moon fired another beam to Celestia. She dodged and continued to do the same with her sister’s next attacks. However, it came to a moment Celestia couldn’t hold herself any longer.

The two sisters started to shock against each other while charged with their respective magic, while attacking each other physically with each contact. Nightmare Moon was the one with the most ferocious attacks, causing Celestia to defend herself.

It was then that the two sisters casted against each other with beams, starting to measure strengths. With tears at her eyes, Celestia gave everything she had to defeat Nightmare Moon so she could get her sister back, but the villainess’ hate was so great that allowed her to overcome Celestia’s attack and hit her.

The explosion casted Celestia against the castle, falling in the throne room and hitting the structure where the elements were. The shock caused the Element of Magic to get out of the stone sphere and fall beside Celestia, who noticed it. She then saw Nightmare Moon to head towards her, while breaking through a window grass.

In an act of impulse and with more tears on her eyes, Celestia hold the Element of Magic and channeled its magic along with the power of the other five and that created a powerful wave that hit Nightmare Moon and launched her away, while making the most powerful element disappear. Nightmare Moon then disappeared and the image of a mare appeared on the moon. She had been sealed in the same thing she used to raise to bring the calmness and tranquility.

Horrified by what she had done, Celestia was overcome with pain and grief and screamed:

“LUNA!”

With the disappearance of Nightmare Moon, everypony that had been put under her influence had been released. Despite her actions had freed everypony, Celestia couldn’t feel good in any way. She had lost her two dearest sisters, the same ones she used to play and laugh with. Their lives used to be so simple and pure, but everything changed for the worse. She saw them turning into villains and being defeated, one trapped in a urn in Tartarus, while the other was sealed in the moon.

A hand was placed on her shoulder and Celestia knew by the presence to whom that hand belonged.

“Why it had to be this way?” Celestia asked.

“Because if you hadn’t done that, Equestria and all the Pony Reality would suffer” the Lord of Order said.

“Yes, but saving this reality had a terrible cost” Celestia said, while raising up. “Not only I lost the Element of Magic, but I’ve lost the only sister I had… and it was all my fault.”

“You may have suffer a great lost, but you haven’t lose everything” the Lord of Order said. “You still have your brother and this kingdom.”

“What’s the meaning of that without having Ingrid or Luna to share with?” Celestia asked.

There was a silence and then the Lord of Order said:

“Celestia, do you know why the day was meant for ponies to play and laugh, while the night was meant for them to sleep and dream? It has a more profound meaning than just because of balance. It’s because the shiny light of the day allows them to be happy, while the soft shade of the moon gives them tranquility and safety. You can’t responsible yourself for the actions of your sister. She made her choice… Perhaps manipulated by my brother’s minions, but she made her choice. And I hope you also make yours, Celestia, one that is right and not selfish.”

Those words from the Lord of Order really affected Celestia. Despite the sadness she was feeling, she knew he was right. She shouldn’t carry the weight of all the guilt she was feeling.

“You’re right, my lord” she said. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

The Lord of Order nodded and said:

“That’s the Celestia I know. And as a reward for that resolution of yours, I will share you a prophecy.”

“A prophecy?”

“The power of the elements won’t last forever” the Lord of Order said. “Eventually, it will wear off.”

“You mean…” Celestia started. “You mean Luna will return.”

“Yes, and she will still be Nightmare Moon” the Lord of Order replied. “And everything will happen on the longest day of the thousandth year. The stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.”

“But how can I stop her if I don’t have the elements?” Celestia asked. “She’s too powerful to me to handle.”

“The magic of the Elements of Harmony will be revealed to you” the Lord of Order told. “You will know when the light of the sixth element appears. When that happens, you will groom that light and join it with the rest of the others. Don’t worry, this will make sense to you once that day arrives. Now, Celestia, I believe it’s time to raise your sun for the longest day.”

“But, without Luna, how will the night and the moon be raised?” Celestia asked.

The Lord of Order didn’t reply right away, only tipping his finger at the tip of Celestia’s horn that glowed momentarily with the same aura as Luna’s.

“From now on, until the return of your sister… your real sister Luna, you’ll be responsible for both the sun and the moon” he declared. “I just hope you’re up to my expectations.”

“Don’t worry, I will” Celestia replied.

The Creator nodded to her and disappeared in a burst of light.

Celestia looked to the moon and the mare on it.

“Don’t worry, Luna. One day, we will be together again, little sister.”

And so, she started to sing a song. It was a lullaby for her little sister, where she showed the remorse she was feeling and how she regretted not being able to help her. The lullaby also had the hope she had of being reunited with her, adding how those thousand winters would pass slow to her.

Celestia wished a good night sleep to Luna, before lowing the moon and raising the sun, initiating a new day…

Author's Note

The song Celestia sings to Luna as a lullaby is taken from the video “Lullaby for a Princess” that belongs to ponyphonic. The scene where Luna declares herself as Nightmare Moon and has her first battle with Celestia is taken from the season 4 episode "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Part 2" of the series.

Celestia and Hepheus, Part I - Infiltration and Deception

Ever since Celestia defeated and sealed Nightmare Moon on the moon, Equestria entered in a period of peace equal to the one that there was during the rule of its previous rulers, without wars with neighbor kingdoms, without evil spirits wanting to turn everything upside-down and without corrupted princesses wanting to submerge the world in an eternal winter or night.

The day that started to be a celebration to the beginning of summer became a day to celebrate the defeat of Nightmare Moon. Despite the joy of the Equestrians over Celestia’s victory, she couldn’t celebrate anything, being able to make nothing more than an empty smile to her subjects while she cried in the inside the loss of the sisters that had been her best friends during all of her life. She even decided to move to Canterlot, abandoning her castle and not bothering to let it be repaired.

The only pony that could understand all of her feelings was Orion who, just like her, had lost two sisters, even if he had spent most of his life without knowing one of them. However, with time, Celestia had to stop counting with the constant support of her dear little brother, as he started to follow ahead with his life.

Orion and Rose Quartz eventually got married and settled down in a small country outside Equestria that, with effort and work, they were able to transform in an independent kingdom called Britally. Even with the visits Celestia paid to her brother and his growing family, the princess of the sun felt a hole in her heart that she couldn’t fill.

Attentive to all of this was the Lord of Chaos who was waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to defeat Celestia and, in that way, take down the last pillar that protected his brother’s perfect world from falling into his evil influence.

At that moment, the Lord of Chaos observed Celestia while she was dealing with all the bureaucracy of the day.

“Just look at you, my dear Celestia” the Lord of Chaos said. “Disguising that emptiness you feel in your heart with distractions and that hope of yours that persists in not wilt away… Well, you can smile all you want, but you can ignore all that sadness you’re feeling. However, that hole still exists… and I can take advantage of that to finally make Equestria and all of Pony World bow to my will.”

Turning around to one of his mirrors, he called:

“Chrysalis!”

The image of the Queen of Changelings appeared on the mirror and the Lord of Chaos asked:

“Tell me, are your changelings on position?”

“Of course, my lord” Chrysalis replied. “And they can’t wait to start.”

“And what about our special friend?”

“He is also prepared. All of us are just waiting for your signal.”

“Great!” the Lord of Chaos exclaimed, satisfied. “Well, if the preparations are done, I don’t see a reason to keep our guests waiting. Let the party begin!”

Chrysalis bowed her head respectfully to her lord and master and then her image disappeared from the mirror.

“I hope you enjoy this little gift of mine, dear Celestia, as it will be your last moment of happiness.”

In Canterlot, Celestia, just like the mirror of the Lord of Chaos showed, she was dealing with all the bureaucracy. After making one last signature, her secretary said:

“And that was the last one, Your Highness.”

“Finally!” Celestia sighed. “Please, see if you validate all that as fast as possible.”

“Certainly, Your Highness” the secretary replied, while bowing her head.

She headed to the exit, taking with her the parchments that Celestia had signed. It was then that, suddenly, the doors opened and a guard got in, heading towards Celestia, exclaiming:

“Princess Celestia! It is horrible!”

“What happened?” she asked.

“A disaster, princesss!” the guard said. “Queen Chrysalis and her changelings are attacking a village at the eastern borders.”

“What?!” Celestia asked, standing up. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Then the changelings decided to strike again…” Celestia said. “Now that the Light Kingdom is petrified and I’m the only alicorn in the Pony Reality, they might think that it’s safe get out and do whatever they want.”

“What are your orders?” the guard asked.

“Gather a small squad of your best guards” Celestia ordered. “Put them at the outskirts of the village and order them to ambush all and any changeling that pass there. I will take care of Chrysalis myself.”

“Yes, Your Highness” the guard replied, making a bow and getting out.

After the guard got out, Celestia thought about that sudden attack from Chrysalis. Of course that it was no uncommon having attacks from changelings from time to time, but normally their queen wouldn’t take part of it, being that the reason why Celestia knew that should exist another reason behind all that beyond being just a hunt for love.

At the village mentioned by the guard, Chrysalis was conducting the attack with her changelings, terrorizing the villagers and trying to feed on their love. Chrysalis then immerged from an alley, accompanied by two changelings, and took a deep breath and, after that, she said:

“It feels so good hearing the screams of despair of ponies by the morning.”

“Chrysalis!” a voice called.

Celestia appeared, descending from the sky. The changelings that were nearby stopped after seeing the appearance of the princess of the sun.

“Celestia!” the queen of the changelings exclaimed, cynically. “How are you? I heard that you and Luna had a little… disagreement. What a shame… And it had to be between two lovely sisters! Terrible…”

“Spare me of your cynicisms, Chrysalis” Celestia replied, trying all her best to control her anger. “Get out from the village, Chrysalis. You know that neither you or your changelings are welcome to Equestria. Return to the Desolate Zone and both sides won’t have to suffer any casualties. You and your subjects had fed enough already.”

“Do you really think that I will submit to your demands just because it’s you who is telling them?” Chrysalis asked. “If you want me to get out, then you’ll have to do it in the old fashioned way: forcing me. Unless you have lost some qualities after your little fight with your dear moony little sister… my dear Celestia.”

With her rage boiling, Celestia advanced against Chrysalis and they collided their horns against one another. The princess commented:

“If you really refuse to retreat. Then it would appear I don’t have any other choice.”

“It would appear you do not” Chrysalis agreed.

The two regents retreated and then looked to each other for some moments and then each one shot a magic beam. The two attacks collided and started competing between each other. But Celestia’s attack rapidly got the advantage. Chrysalis, realizing this, broke the connection and opted for a physical attack, ending with the two colliding their horns again and start measuring their strengths.

“I have to admit, alicorns are pretty strong” Chrysalis confessed.

“That’s why it’s fruitless to resist, Chrysalis” Celestia responded. “I ask you again: take your changelings and return to the Desolate Zone.”

“I’m sorry, my dear, but that will not happen” the queen of the changelings declared. “I may have the disadvantage, but I learned to pass over it with numbers.”

Listening this, Celestia noted through the corner of her eye two changelings preparing themselves to attack her. Reacting to that, Celestia pushed Chrysalis back so that she could repel the changelings. However, as soon she did that, Chrysalis was able to execute another magic beam. After repelling the changelings, Celestia turned to Chrysalis and realized she would be able to dodge that attack.

Suddenly, a pegasus stallion put himself in front of her and took Chrysalis’ violent attack. He had a moderate red coat with a pair of wings sided by gusts of wind as a Cutie Mark, a brilliant red mane, reddish brown hooves and deep blue eyes. When he was hit, he fell by Celestia’s hooves. Seeing this, somepony becoming a shield to protect her from Chrysalis, the princess of the son become enfuriated with the queen of the changelings.

“NO!” she screamed, launching a concentrated attack against Chrysalis.

She was thrown against the ground, but, seconds later, she stood up, panting. Making an angry look to Celestia, Chrysalis told her:

“You will pay for this, Celestia! You can be sure of that!”

After saying that, she called her changelings and then took flight, moving away with them.

When Chrysalis was far away and didn’t represented a threat, Celestia turned to the pony that had saved her. He needed medical care at once.

A guard (the same one that had come to announce Chrysalis’ attack) arrived and said to Celestia:

“Your Highness, we were able to capture some of the changelings. What do you wish to do… But who is this?”

He was referring to the unconscious pony.

“He saved me from Chrysalis” Celestia replied. “I’ll go ahead to take him to the castle so that he can receive medical care. Please, round up the changelings and lock them in the dungeons until further notice.”

“Yes, Your Highness” the guard replied, bowing his head.

And so Celestia, putting her hoof over the shoulder of the stallion that had protected her from Chrysalis, she teleported away with him.

When the stallion came to his senses, he noticed that he was on a bed in an infirmary. It didn’t take long for the nurse to come see him and go inform Princess Celestia that he had awaken. Moments later, Celestia arrived.

“Princess Celestia…” the stallion said, while bowing his head to her.

“Please, I should be the one to bow” she replied. “You saved my life and, because of that, you ended up getting hurt… I’m sorry, I still don’t know who to thank.”

“Hepheus” he said. “My name is Hepheus, Your Highness.”

“And my name is Celestia” she said. “After your act of true courage, there’s no need for so many formalities.”

“I just did what any other pony would do.”

“Very few are the ones that would dare to face the Queen of the Changelings, much less serve as a shield to another against one of her attacks.”

“I’m honoured to hear your kind words, prin…” Hepheus started, seeing then Celestia’s look. “I mean… Celestia.”

“That’s better” Celestia said. “Now, you don’t have to worry about a thing, Hepheus. After what you did for me, I insist that you stay in this castle until you recover. You will be my guest.”

“I appreciate your kindness… Celestia” Hepheus replied.

And so Celestia moved away and got out of the infirmary. However, as soon she got out, Hepheus manifested a smile a little diabolical.

The Lord of Chaos was at that moment observing that same scene through his mirrors. He then released a chuckle and said:

“Celestia… so naïve… You didn’t even realize that all of this was planned by me. Now, I have a spy inside of your castle. And believe me that I will make you suffer on the cruelest way possible!”

And the great Destroyer released one of his evil laughs.