A State of Mind

She should have seen it coming. She most likely did and made a choice to ignore the facts. Celestia sucked in a deep painful breath as she stumbled into one of the few corridors that wasn't damaged in...Luna...No, Nightmare Moon's rampage. Celestia, who once thought the night sky was beautiful, looked out the nearest window to the moon with guilt, rage and confusion. She flinched as the screams of the Bat Pony and Solar guards clashing could be heard throughout the night.

It all happened so quickly that Celestia was still struggling to understand it all. She had been up all night, working on the plans for construction for Canterlot with a few Nobels when she rose the sun for the day. When she entered the throne room she remembered feeling cold, unsafe. She looked up to the two thrones, ignoring the questions as to why she stopped to the Nobels behind her when Luna appeared from behind her own throne with a dark scowl.

"Luna?" Celestia asked, sensing something wasn't right. Knowing something was going to go wrong. Luna gave a smile, not the comforting sort. She gave a low chuckle.

"You brought this on yourself, Tia. All the deaths today will be on your hooves!"

The Nobels demanded, in their usual uptight and annoying tones, to know what was going on. Celestia couldn't answer them as she didn't understand herself. Luna moved to stand between the thrones on a small platform, she reared up and slammed back down, the platform cracked, the floor around Luna cracked. The wall behind her cracked until it reached the window above her, shattering into pieces to show the sun. Luna took one large flap of her wings to move into the air.

"Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light? You are weak! Pathetic! Unworthy of truly leading Equestria to greatness! I will stand for it no more! It is time Equestria had a true leader."

"Luna! Luna, stop!" Celestia cried out in desperation. She could hear the guards running into the room, she looked out of the corner of her eye to see only the Solar guards when she was yanked back to the sky to see Luna using her magic to move the moon to replace the sun. "NO!"

Luna's eyes grew green and red as a dark orb formed around her, Celestia stumbled back barely noticing the Nobels were being pushed out of the throne room by her guards, not that they needed much convincing. Celestia had to close her eyes for a moment as the ord exploded. What came out was...not her sister.

Whatever...Whatever monster Luna transformed into was, slammed back down to the platform between the thrones. Laughing maniacally as darkness fell across Equestria. As the Night replaced the Day.

"L-Luna, I-I won't fight you!" Celestia called out, trying to keep her composure. "You must lower the moon! It is your duty."

But her words fell on deaf ears as the monster Luna transformed into sneered down at her with sharp teeth.

"Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!"

Celestia rolled out of the way to dodge a blast from Nightmare Moon which misfired to hit the ceiling. She gave a passing glance to the sky now above her to see her pegasi guards and bat pony guard engaged in the war above. She flew into the air, dodging both her guards and bat ponies as they engaged in their own battles. She heard a furious cry from below, she did a sharp turn in the sky, heading towards the Library for a place to hid in her private room, a place to think of a way to bring her sister back when she felt a sharp object stab into her. She cried out as it was yanked back out, as her wings faltered, she saw a bat pony with a bloodied spear looking at her with an evil spear before one of the Solar Guards tackled him out of the sky, followed by two others.

She collapsed into the castle's gardens, her body became bruised when she came crashing down on a fountain, slamming into the ground a few meters further. Through thick thorn bushes into a clearing. Celestia groaned when she was finally able to open her eyes again. Tears poured out when she cried out in pain in her attempt to move.

She struggled to breathe as she watched the grass around her grow red from the blood that poured out of her side. For a fleeting moment, she considered simply allowing herself to die. A selfish moment. But the screams of her guards brought her back to the reason she had to exist. The reason she was an alicorn for not only raising the sun. Protecting Equestria.

She cried out in pain again as she forced herself, with the help of her wings to push herself up, Her eyes grew wide as she realized where she landed. She knew the area. She painfully looked behind herself to see the statue that haunted her nightmares.

Discord.

"Dizzy?"

She coughed, blood dripping from her mouth before she wiped it away with her hoof. She stared at her hoofs for a moment, covered with her usual golden shoes. She quickly latched onto them and tossed them aside, followed by her necklace and crown. They were causing weight. Unnecessary weight to her body. Making it more of a struggle to fly.

She quickly tried to think of plans of action, of ways she could calm her sister down. To force the dark magic out of her sister's body. But she had never seen anything like that before, this wasn't like Sombra's magic. It was more advanced. More fueled by emotions.

Her eyes drifted back to the dreaded statue. The statue of her love who she was forced to imprison as she found herself not just being unable to move, but to breathe.

"No, no, no, I-I c-can't."

The only conclusion she could have come up with was the elements. The damned elements. She sucked back a sob as she stared at Discord. His eyes still shut, his pose still showing his final moments when he let out a dramatic fake laugh as he tried to call their bluff.

"Please, not again. Not again."

She steadied herself on her four hoofs. She spat out blood from her mouth to mix with the bloodstain on the ground. She stumbled away from the clearing, through the garden, having to stop momentarily as bat ponies and her Solar Guard engaged in battle on the ground. That is where she stumbled into one of the few corridors left that were damaged.

She shook her head, choosing to focus on the rumbling of the walls from explosions in the castle instead of the awful turn of events. She flared her horn for a brief moment, lighting up the dark area she was in more than she wanted to, to attempt a basic healing spell on the hole in her body. She closed up the injury enough to hopefully avoid infection. But she knew she was bleeding internally.

"P-Princess! Thank the gods!"

She felt a hoof pressed comfortingly against her chest, she looked up to her loyal assistant. Who's mane was a mess, had cuts and bruises on her body and looked absolutely terrified. Her assistant's eyes drifted to the hole in her side and her multiple other injuries.

"Quill, is your family out of the castle? Is your son safe?" Celestia pleaded. Her assistant nodded frantically.

"Yes, yes. W-We have to get you and Princess Luna out of here! I do-"

"You don't understand, L-Luna isn't...Herself anymore."

"What?" Her assistant blinked a few times slowly. "What are you talking about? That...thing in the sky can't be Princess Luna! That monster is trying to kill you!"

"I will explain on the way."

"On the way to where?"

Celestia grabbed her assistant with her magic, placing her gently on her back between her wings.

"Elements."

Celestia pushed herself into the air, with her assistant's help, she glided through the chaos. Her assistant uses her unicorn powers to knock the bat ponies attempting to knock her out of the sky, down. During this, Celestia did her best to summarize what had happened in the past hour, her growing theories on why Luna turned. From the Discord battle years ago, to the Crystal war two years ago and the secrets her sister had been keeping since then.

Her assistant tried to argue this wasn't her fault. But Celestia knew better, her assistant was biased towards the situation. She didn't see the whole picture.

"There you are!" The pair looked to the source of the sound. Nightmare Moon came flying towards them with her horn powering up for a final blow.

"Hold on!"

Her assistant held onto her with a tight grip, mostly fueled by pure fear as Celestia took sharp turns to avoid the blasts behind her. Nightmare Moon screamed in anger as they came closer to the throne room where the elements were currently hidden.

Nightmare Moon let out another blast, larger than the other ones. Celestia flew backwards to counter it but realized she didn't have enough time. All she was able to do was teleport her assistant into the throne room before the spell slammed into her chest.

She screamed as it ripped through her. Her chest felt as if someone set her on fire, she was sure her heart stopped for a moment when she went spiralling to the ground. Her vision went black when she felt herself connect to the ground, she knew her body couldn't take much more injuries. She was an alicorn, but she could still be killed.

"Princess! Princess Celestia! C-Come on! She is coming! Get up! Get up please!"

Celestia groaned when she opened her eyes again. She saw her assistant, through blur vision using her magic to keep a shield around them. Using the rest of her available magic to try to heal some of Alicorn's injuries. As her vision cleared more, her assistant reached out to shake her again as tears poured down her face.

"Come on! Wake up!"

"Q-Quill?"

Her assistant let out a relieved gasp before glancing up to the hole above them and her face immediately changed back to fear.

"Please, please, s-she is coming! I-I will help you up! We have to get to those elements!"

Celestia cried out when her assistant forcefully pushed her up as best as she could. Celestia slowly stumbled to her hoofs when she heard Nightmare Moon forcefully crash to the ground. They both looked to see Nightmare Moon glaring at them a few meters away. Her assistant did her best to keep the shield up.

"I am giving you one chance. Join the future of Equestria. Live in the knowledge that I will lead Equestria to a better future than she ever could. A future where the night reigns supreme. Or...die." Nightmare Moon snapped to her Assistant.

"I rather die." Her assistant snapped back. Nightmare Moon gave a slow chuckle.

"So be it."

Nightmare Moon conjured a spear, throwing it full force towards the forcefield, her assistant had no chance when it smashed through her weak shield. Unable to hold against Alicorn's magic, as the shield shattered as the spear drove itself straight into her assistant's chest before Celestia could react.

Her assistant let out an ear-shattering scream before it turned into a gurgle when blood came out of her mouth. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head when she collapsed. The spear embedded into her chest disappeared, allowing the blood to spill over the floor. Quickly reaching and staining Celestia's own hoofs.

"Quill!" Celestia ignored the blood when she fell to hold her dying assistant, her dying friend in her hoofs and wings. Quill seemed to be struggling to live as she opened her eyes half-open, clearly in shock, to look at Celestia's eyes with a small smile. "Don- Don't you dare die, Quill Inkwell!" Celestia ordered as blood continued to pour out of the unicorn's body. "Please!"

"I-It was an honour." Her assistant spat out blood before giving her another small bloodied smile, "To serve...you..."

Her voice trailed off when she faded from the living world, her body went limp. Her eyes looked to the ceiling. Cold. Dead. Celestia was left holding a corpse. Celestia used one of her wings to close the unicorn's eyes for the final time when she heard the monster's magic flare up again.

"Now. To finally finish the job."

Celestia ignited her own magic, she was ending it. Now. No matter the consequences. She dragged open the panel in the floor behind her, allowing the Elements of Harmony to rise. She carefully maneuvered around her assistant's dead body when she stared down at her sister.

"I am sorry, Luna."

She wasn't even sure it was going to work, but she didn't have a choice. She yanked the elements towards her, followed by the element of magic powering up. She felt the crushing weight of magic as she flew into the air. Nightmare Moon's face fell to fear as she watched what Celestia was doing.

Nightmare Moon flew into the air to meet her at her level. The light of the moon shined down on her as she powered a final spell using the power of the moon. More tears poured down when Celestia pointed her magic to Nightmare Moon. She could tell that the elements weren't reacting as they normally would. One-half of the users were corrupted, the magic hurt. It was unstable. But they had to work. Or Equestris was doomed.

There was a large explosion when the two types of magic met. All of the fightings from the ground and sky paused as the two immortal alicorns fought against each other. Nightmare Moon was able to hold her own for a few precious moments before she was overpowered, screaming one last time as they slammed into her. There was a bright flash in the sky from the moon. Where a symbol now was clear. A unicorn head.

She banished her sister to the moon.

Celestia was now truly alone.

-End of Chapter Four-