The Seventh Element

Delusions of Grandeur

The pair were walking to the main chamber where their Princess was. They had spent hours discussing it and had agreed on a plan, but Twilight was getting cold hooves.

"But Rainbow Dash, she is the Princess! She may be acting a little out of character, but she has been alive and led us longer than anypony can remember! We should be able to trust that what she's doing is right..."

"You know as well as I do that what she's doing is wrong Twilight! She can't just control ponies like this, even if she can justify the Solar Empire that doesn't excuse everything it does. Forcing ponies to join the military-"

"-We need more soldiers!"

"-forcing earth ponies to work in the new war factories-"

"-they can do the heavy lifting needed to make weapons and armor-"

"-forcing Cloudsdale to change the weather to fit her needs!-"

"-she can drought her enemies and give us an agricultural advantage if this war drags out-"

"declaring marital law-"

"-there has to be order, otherwise Luna could spread her influence inside our Empire!"

Rainbow Dash was getting frustrated with Twilight, it was all she could do to not yell at her friend.

"-and what about the experiments she has the unicorns doing! What they're doing down there isn't science or magic, it's sick! How could you even defend her knowing what they're doing to those poor ponies downstairs?"

They had stopped walking and Twilight just looked at Rainbow Dash with a pained expression on her face.

"She's my Princess... I grew up with her. There has to be a reason Rainbow Dash, there just has to be!"

Tears were welling up in Twilight's eyes. Rainbow sincerely hoped that her friend was right.

"Come on Twilight. We'll get this figured out."

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Twilight and Rainbow Dash approached Princess Celestia in the main meeting chamber where she was writing on a large scroll of parchment.

"E-Excuse me, Princess Celestia?"

"Yes, my faithful student?" She looked up from her writing and smiled.

Twilight didn't smile back, but instead spoke clumsily on.

"May we speak to you? Do you have a moment?"

Celestia looked at the two curiously.

"Princess, we just wanted to-.... Well, were wondering if-"

Rainbow spoke loud and clear, her tone made sure Celestia understood their disapproval.

"We need to talk about the way you've been acting Princess, martial law, forcing the earth ponies to work in your factories. I know that we're at war, but some of things you're doing... They aren't right."

Celestia kept her smile as stood up and walked over to one of the stained glass windows.

"Come here, will you?"

The young mares looked at each other and cautiously walked over to the Princess' side. They followed Celestia's gaze to the story depicted on the window, this one showed Luna being banished and then her defeat by the elements of harmony wielded by Twilight, Rainbow Dash and their friends.

"Whenever a Kingdom or Nation is threatened, its leader must take action to defend their subjects. Long before Nightmare Moon, Discord terrorized this land. He did unspeakable things to the Alicorns and created terrible chaos wherever he went. When Luna and I stepped up as leaders for Equestria and defeated Discord, its citizens knew that they could trust us.

Years later, when my sister became jealous and transformed in to the Mare of Darkness, Nightmare Moon, she bathed the land in eternal night, so I took steps to defend my Kingdom. I sought out my sister and defeated her in battle using the Elements of Harmony. But being one mare, I had no way to transform her back, so I sent her to the moon in the hopes that, with time, she would return to her normal self. The ponies of the time were wary of me for banishing my own sister, questioning my motives, but in the end when they found out, they were grateful and were again reminded that they could trust me." She paused for a moment, thinking about the past.

"Ponies wondered why we closed our borders to the Gryphon Kingdom. Shortly afterwords, they launched a vicious invasion in to Equestria. Luckily I had been warned in time and we were able to halt them at our Northern borders, narrowly avoiding destruction. For a third time, the ponies of Equestria were shown that they could trust their leader...

A thousand years later my sister returned, this time stronger than she was before. I couldn't defeat her by myself, but I knew of the Elements of Harmony and I knew that if anypony could find them, bring them together and use them to their full potential, that it was you Twilight." Twilight blushed as Celestia smiled down at her.

"The six of you defeated Nightmare Moon just as I knew you would and again Equestrians knew they could trust, not just me to know how to protect them, but the Elements of Harmony."

Princess Celestia walked back to her table and looked at the two friends.

"Equestria trusts me. They know that the Solar Empire is for the best, they know that since we are at war, they will have to focus on helping our soldiers by making war materials. The unicorns in the dungeons downstairs are doing experiments as kindly as possible and the ponies they are preforming them on all volunteered. They are becoming the ponies we need them to be, instead of fearing for them, you should be proud of them. They are sacrificing a lot so future generations can live free."

"On the other hoof however, my sister has done terrible things in the last two months or so with this rebellion of hers. Not only is she forcing us to fight our fellow brothers and sisters, but she has gained the support of a major economic power in Equestria, she has support of the Star Swirl Society and there are reports of an ancient race of ponies from deep within the WhiteTail Woods on her side."

Twilight stared at Celestia, at a loss for words.

"The entire Star Swirl Society!? But- but... All of- of course! Trixie is in charge of them, no wonder they joined Luna... Wait, what about their library! All of those poor defenseless magical books..."

"Not only that, but the Northern Wall is late with their monthly report. I had sent a full battalion and then some! It's been far too long with no contact, we must assume that they were defeated. It was the only thing defending us from the gryphons, it is also safe to assume that she has allied herself with them. This will be a fierce battle young ones, there will be much blood spilled on both sides...I can't bear to think of what is to come, but there is truly no hope for her..." A sincere tear rolled down Celestia's cheek.

Twilight accepted Celestia's explanations easily, and she had some good points, but Rainbow Dash was a bit more hesitant. There had to be more to the story, how could Applejack join somepony so evil? They had known each other long enough and Rainbow Dash knew that her AJ was the most honest pony alive, which meant she was good at spotting lies. As if on cue a faint scream floated up to them from below the castle. Rainbow Dash shuddered as she looked out the window, she could see almost all of Equestria from here...

She spoke under her breath, "If I knew where you were AJ..."

Princess Celestia

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She hadn't lied to them really... Well maybe about the dungeon ponies, but everything else was more or less the truth. Celestia was absolutely positive that the Gryphon Kingdom had invaded and she knew that there was no hope for her sister. If the Elements of Harmony couldn't save Luna from Nightmare Moon, then there was really only one thing left to do about it...

Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't like thinking about the final battle with her beloved sister.

When they were young foals she and her sister had been the best of friends. She and Luna couldn't be separated for hardly anything! They played games, explored the nearby forest, shared secrets and went on all sorts of wonderful adventures! There was nopony she loved more than her sister.

Thousands of years later after their childhood friend, Discord, had caused the deaths and near extinction of the Alicorns, Celestia and her sister had used their powers to breath new life in to the land and bring order and harmony to Equestria. Together, they saved every living being in existence and defeated Discord by themselves.

She loved her sister and it broke her heart when, many millenia later, she was forced to banish the Mare of Darkness that Luna had become to the moon. After that day she was determined to discover what had changed her sister and to never let it happen to herself. After nearly two hundred years of research and experiments, she made a breakthrough.

Luna had become jealous of her sister because nopony was ever awake to enjoy her beautiful night. This jealousy was in direct opposition to the Elements of Harmony, specifically loyalty. To be loyal is to be trusting and jealousy was the opposite of trust. Opposing the elements in such a way had caused her to feel resentment and hate towards Celestia. She kept the feelings bottled inside, trying to hide them from her sister and their subjects. Eventually she couldn't any longer and her sark feellings spread through her body like a virus! Amplified by her Alicorn magic, her feelings manifested themselves outwardly in her personality and in appearance.

Luna hadn't wanted to worry her sister and Celestia felt sure she was ashamed of how she felt. The transformation was slow and steady, the evil affecting every part of her being, forming a sort of second personality that overtook the kind and sweet Luna that Celestia grew up with.

At the end, Luna still believed that she was the same old Princess she used to be, completely unaware of the evil that had consumed her.

'I'm sorry I couldn't help you sister...' she thought to herself.

She walked over to the mirror and began brushing her mane as she looked at the desk.

The banishment was only temporary. Deep down inside, Celestia knew that it would eventually come down to this, down to the only solution available. The only way to rid Equestria of the Nightmare Moon within Luna was to kill her and Celestia had to be the one to do it. Of course nopony would be happy about it and she knew that her allies would see it as an attempt to take the throne for herself, they would think Celestia was trying to become a dictator. They would attack and try to remove her from power, so what else could she do, but create an army to defend herself? Now that her sister had created a rebellion, this army was even more necessary, and there was no other way to get the soldiers needed other than restructure the Kingdom.

'That's why I made the Empire. They may not like it and some may think me crazy for it, but sometimes the leader knows best. If only these ponies knew what would happen if I let them do as they pleased...'

The Solar Empire had declared martial law in many major cities, imprisoning anypony who was convicted of conspiracy against the Empire or who had broken any of the new laws created by their Princess. Nopony was allowed to meet in groups larger than five in public. Ponies weren't allowed to wander the streets without purpose, or be out past curfew. Nopony could go outside without being stopped by soldiers.

'Without the Empire we would be in danger of crumbling from the inside, we need to keep control! I can't let her gain more support. Necessary, yes... Necessary...' She continued to unconsciously brush her mane, but unknown to her thin coils of magic were coming off of the aura surrounding the brush. They snaked through her mane, weaving themselves in between the hairs and beginning to glow a soft red-orange.

It was all for the best. She had been leading Equestria for over one thousand years by herself and it had been near paradise this whole time, this was just a hiccup in her rule. Afterwords though, she may have to make sure nopony so much as thinks of standing up to her again and perhaps the gryphons could be taught their place...

'If I can't help my sister, at least I can learn from her. I swear -'

She put the brush down and looked in the mirror.

Tendrils of magic were still weaving around her body, but her hair had already been converted in to a mane of bright orange flames that fluttered in a wind that wasn't there. Her coat was now a pale yellow that seemed to give off its own light.

She smiled as she spoke to her reflection.

"I'll never end up like her..."