Obscurum Descensus

"I was much smaller than my sister when I was born in one of the beds in Everfree Castle’s medical wing. My mother held me in her arms and showed me off to my father and little Celestia with a warm smile on her face, never taking her eyes off of me. She kissed me and soothed me and then passed me off to Celestia. Then to Father. I was the newest edition to the only Alicorns in the known world.

"Growing up in Everfree was wonderful. The forest was tamed, beautiful, sprawling with life and colors and animals. Magnificent birds flew through the air in graceful flocks while large fish swam through the clear rivers and sparkling lakes. The city that surrounded the castle was small but it was always teeming with life with the bustle of the market place and several taverns. Ponies came and went on a daily bases, bringing in news from the surrounding villages and cities that made up the small nation of Equestria.

"Celestia and I would often play in the castle gardens, pulling pranks on the various guards that were told to watch over us. I remember the one time when we tricked the Captain of the Royal Guard. Statues dotted the entire garden and Celestia was hopping from one statue to the next with unmatched grace, ignoring the protests from the captain. Eventually, her hoof slipped and she felt straight to the ground with an exaggerated scream next to a puddle of mud. The captain came rushing over and started fretting over Celestia and asking if she was okay. My sister asked him to go get her mother but when the captain turned around he fell flat on his face in the mud from a trip wire I had sneakily placed behind him. We both ran away laughing like the little fillies we were.

"I wasn’t exactly a… normal filly, however. Sure, I am an alicorn but I had attributes that were strange for even our race to display. I had fits of horrible nightmares that had me wake up screaming most nights. Many ponies may receive Night Terrors when they are young but the severity of my case caused the medical staff to think there was something else causing these nightmares.

"I was given stress remedies, diets, sleep medicine. Nothing worked and eventually I was brought before the High Unicorn Council by my parents so that it may be determined what was to be done about my nightmares. The council consisted of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria, more powerful than any unicorns today including the Element of Magic Twilight Sparkle, and helped my mother and father govern Equestria along side the Pegasus Hierarchy and Association of Earth Ponies.

"In order for the unicorns to help me they had to dive into my mind and find the source of what was causing the horrific and recurring nightmares. The spell had never been performed on an Alicorn before and the High Unicorn Council was unsure if they should proceed even with the reassurances from the King and Queen. An Alicorn’s mind is more powerful and intricate than any mortal pony’s and no doubt consisted of powerful wards that would block any mental attack.

"Finally the High Unicorn Council agreed to try to enter my mind. Being that I was still a young filly the unicorns thought that perhaps my mental defenses were not entirely in place yet. I was brought into a large room in a section of the castle I had never been before. The most powerful of the unicorns, Star Swirl the Bearded, offered to be the pony to attempt to read an Alicorn’s mind for the first time. He began the spell by muttering some incantations.

"Not long after Star Swirl had started did I start to feel something penetrating into my skull. It felt like a drill and I was afraid my head was going to be split open. I tried to lash back but suddenly a tidal wave of serenity washed over me as I felt my mother grasping my shoulders. I relented and my outer defenses into the interior of my mind fell, allowing the unicorn to delve deeper.

"For what seemed like an hour Star Swirl continued to poke and prod at my mind, defusing defenses while looking for the source of where my nightmares were located. Nothing was safe from his investigation of my mind. I watched the powerful unicorn.

"Suddenly his facial expressions darkened and his eyes shot open. His pupils shrank and his body started to shake. The other members of the council started to rush forward to help Star Swirl when suddenly something inside of me triggered. I exploded into a fit of rage and threw all of my mental defenses back up, locking his inner conscience inside of mine.

"My wings shot open and my eyes flared white as I shot Star Swirl’s inner conscience out of my mind, killing him. He slumped to the floor as blood trickled out of his mouth, eyes, ears, and wherever else blood could escape without a wound on your body. My horn lit up with a blue hue as energy started to build up around me.

"And then just as suddenly as it started it stopped. The energy dissipated and I slumped to the floor as my anger subsided.

"He had touched the Nightmare.

"The rest of the High Unicorn Council had visible looks of fear on their faces as they all stared at me. Celestia was absent, thankfully, but my mother and father had watched the whole ordeal of me killing Star Swirl the Bearded, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. My mother took me from the room as quickly as she could.

"I cried, realizing what I had just done.

"The news of the death of Star Swirl the Bearded and his killer were spread across Equestria and the lands beyond. From then on I was either feared or mocked. I no longer could walk the streets of Everfree without ponies shying away from me or pointing at me with a smile on their face. The guards took to talking behind my back about how much of a troubled child I was or how afraid they were when it was their turn to watch over Celestia and I. I even remember them asking why I still existed.

"Mother started to keep me more sheltered from the public. She wasn’t afraid of showing me off, she loved me with every ounce of love she could give but she was afraid for my safety. Mobs of ponies started to form in the cities of Equestria that protested against my life. Hundreds of thousands of ponies wanted me dead in return for the loss of Star Swirl.

"The riots were short lived, however, when smoke began to rise from the entire nation of Eternal Valley, the home of the Flutterponies. The distant sky was tinted red for all of Equestria to see. Reports started to come from the distant towns in Equestria talking of a strange creature wreaking havoc and chaos upon the peaceful Flutterponies home. Not long after the reports there was a letter from Queen Cocoon herself requesting help from their pony allies immediately. My father decided to lead the Royal Pegasus Army there himself.

"Weeks passed and we never heard from Father again nor did we get another letter from the Queen of the Flutterponies. All was silent as we assumed the worst. I remember crying for days with my sister when the news was finally broken to us that Father wasn’t returning home.

"Two months after my father had left Everfree to go and assist the Flutterponies in Eternal Valley, a lone and battered Pegasus Lieutenant came to the Everfree Castle gates. He came to my mother baring horrible news. The Flutterpony kingdom had fallen to some creature that was made up of the head of a pony with antelope and reindeer antlers, arms of a lion and bird, the body and tail of a snake, and legs of a dragon and a donkey. He called himself Discord.

"Discord had ravaged the Royal Pegasus Army with an army of his own and mounted the skin of my father atop the now crumbling Flutterpony castle. The lieutenant managed to escape only because his company had been told to rout and retreat back to Equestria with the news. Discord planned to move onto Equestria next.

"My mother had a nervous break down. She would not hold court or leave her quarters so it was up to my sister to take control of the Day Court while the Night Courts were closed and I was to try and bring our mother back to her royal duties. Nothing I did seemed to work.

"Shortly thereafter there were more reports coming in that Discord had finally started his attack on Equestria, plunging our borders into chaos with his magic. With our armies gone, Equestria melted to Discords conquest for total chaos over the known world and it wasn’t long until he was literally knocking on the gates of Everfree Castle.

"My mother met Discord at the base of Everfree Castle and they fought. For hours the battle raged on between the two most powerful beings in Equestria that devastated the city of Everfree along with the castle in its center. Celestia and I hid up at the tallest spire of our tower and watched as the battle trudged on.

"That’s when Discord noticed us. Realizing that he could not defeat Galactica he teleported to our tower and proceeded to try and ransom us for Galatica’s surrender.

"My mother realized she could not surrender. Not to Discord. She exposed her defenses and used a long distance teleportation spell on us to save us. 'Find the Elements' were her last words to us. We never saw Mother again.

"I was… never the same after that day. I felt angry and lost.

"Our search for the Elements was fruitless for several months. There was nothing on these mysterious artifacts and nopony knew what we were talking about when asked. It wasn’t until we arrived at the unicorn town of Canterlot where a few of the High Unicorn Council fled to did we find some answers.

"We were searching for the Elements of Harmony and the Element of Chaos. Only together could the artifacts stop Discord and reverse the effects of his chaos on Equestria. They were located at the peak of the mountain Canterlot was built into.

"Celestia and I made the ascent to the peak to retrieve the Elements.

"Each Element reacted differently to our magic.

"The Element of Chaos reacted to my magic.

"Imagine power; unlimited power that was just out of reach of your hooves. You felt like you could do anything, be anyone, control whatever you wanted. You felt weighted down and only through action of your hopes and dreams could you achieve the goal of ultimate power that was just out of reach. By doing what you wanted your hoof would grow long enough to reach that power.

"That is what the Element of Chaos felt like. I wanted power. I wanted revenge.

"We returned to Discord and his seat of power at the shattered city of Everfree. Using the combined powers of the Elements, Celestia and I turned Discord to stone and returned the parts of Equestria that were thrown into chaos back to harmony.

"We tried to rule together and rebuild Equestria together but the anger and the Nightmare had already consumed me. I rose up against my sister and formed the New Lunar Republic while she formed the Solar Empire. This I’m sure you know the tale of if you took basic Equestrian history.

"I wanted Father back. He was the only colt in my life who made me laugh at his terrible jokes. He taught me how to fly from one spire to the next with incredible speeds and how to steal candy from the kitchen without getting caught by Mother. We would go on nature hikes through the Everfree forest and watch the birds or little bunnies as they traversed through the undergrowth. Now his coat was decorating a fallen castle in a fallen land.

"I wanted Mother back. She was the one who taught me how to use magic and style my hair into beautiful swirls. She led me through the Everfree market on our weekly shopping trips and introduced me to my very first Equestrian Carnival. She protected me from the ponies who wanted me dead. She took to my defense even if it was unpopular. I couldn’t do the same.

"I was distraught. I was dangerous. I was broken.

"And then I was banished."