“...And thank you, everypony, for this spectacular party!” Princess Celestia politely said to all the ponies that were leaving her castle. There were hundreds of ponies crammed inside of her castle, and Celestia tried her best to keep a straight face as she rushed them out. She didnt want to admit it, but after 8 hours of dancing and talking, Celestia was well worn out. It was quite clear the most ponies didn't want to leave from the look of sadness on everypony's faces. Celestia really wanted to let them stay longer, but she everytime she blinked, she nearly fell asleep. As Celestia looked to her side, she noticed Luna was absent.
She couldn't see her anywhere. Celestia decided that she would look for her later. She couldn’t make a scene and she needed everybody out now. As the last person walked through that front door, she sighed in relief and turned around to see if they were any die-hard party ponies left.
As she turned around to look for others, she found one of Twilight's friends staring up at her.
“Hi Princess!” Pinkie Pie screamed. Celestia was startled and jumped back, then that Twilight and her friends stuck around.
“Pinkie Pie! Get back here!” Twilight hissed. She looked at Celestia apologetically.
Celestia smiled and said “I'm so sorry, my dear pupil, but I'm afraid I can't stick around. You see, I'm terribly tired”.
“Oh! That’s fine. I don’t mean to impose! C’mon guys. We have to go.” Pinkie Pie looked heartbroken from the idea of leaving a party, but followed Twilight regardlessly. As the last of Twilight and her friends left, Princess Celestia shut the door with her glowing horn, and she looked around for her sister. She remembered telling Luna that she wanted her right by her side as all the guests left the castle.
Celestia searched around for her dear sister almost everywhere in the ballroom and decided to ask one of the guards for her. The guard told her she was in her bedroom for a large part of the party. Celestia quickly ran to her sister’s room, wondering why she left without even telling her. She found her lying on her bed in the dark. Celestia quickly flipped the switch and saw Luna sprawled on her bed, her entire body was convulsing with each breath she took. Her dark eyes were flowing with hatred and fear. Her face looked old and worn.
“Luna... Luna! Are… are you ok?”
Princess Luna looked at her with a frightened look. She hadn’t even realized Celestia was there.
“I-I'm f-fine.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Her sister looked at her with a look of disdain and hate, and then her face softened to a look of fear.
“Tia... I don't... I don't really want to talk about it. Can you please leave?"
Celestia understood her sister's request and shut turned around and walked
Tears of Celestias own nearly sprung to her eyes, but she shut off the lights and said, “Sweet dreams my dear, dear sister.”
As Celestia left the room, Luna quietly said to herself, “I don't think I will be having sweet dreams for a while.”
Luna looked up. She wasn't in the castle. She wasn't even in Equestria, but she knew where she was. She had to go through this dream every night. She wandered around. If she had to describe it, it looked just like the Everfree Forest. But at the same time, it didn't.
Everything was hazy, constantly moving, and the sky was black with red clouds.
Somehow it was all terrifying.
When she arrived in the dream it was one clear stone path that was straight and surrounded by tall oak trees. She could get off the path if she wanted to, but it didn't do any good. She tried that once, but she got lost in the unnaturally large expanse of oak trees, and had to spend a miserable amount of time in that forest. She even tried using her wings and horn, but it never did any good. Her wings were numb when she came to the dream, and she could never seem to concentrate enough to use her magic.
Luna never got the point of this dream until yesterday. She arrived there as normal, and decided to walk straight ahead. Most of the time, she just tried to find out what the point of the dream was and wandering through the trees, looking for clues.
But not this time.
She remembered it all. As she walked farther and farther, she started hearing noises. She couldn't tell what they were, she just felt sadness as the noises started to come. But when walked about a mile, she could see. They were screams. Screams of ponies. Terrible, terrible blood curdling screams.
She could smell blood whenever a scream echoed throughout the landscape. She ran to the source of the noise to try to help them, to see if they were even real, but she never found it. It kept going farther and farther away. She usually couldn't take it anymore and curled up in a fetal position and cried until she woke up.
But this night was going to be different. She put her head high and started to run as fast as she could. For a whole hour, she strained her legs in hopes of finding why she keeps being sent to this living hell each night. And then she started to hear the screams. They were unnaturally loud; the screams could have been coming from a pony right next to her.
She started to shed tears again, but she kept running. She tried focusing on the different things, like the pounding of her hooves on the stone walkway, or the way the wind made her mane flow in the air. But the screams started to become even louder, if that was even possible. She started to see small blood splatters on the stone pathway. Gradually they became larger until the gray stone became stained with pure red.
Luna couldnt take it anymore. She slowed down to a walk and looked down as the smell and sight of the blood and the screaming overtook her. She wanted to stop. Stop forever. Luna's heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst out of her chest.
Luna looked up again. There was no end. It went on forever.
She stopped and stared at the expanse ahead. It went on forever. It was an endless walkway of hell, blood and torture. She wanted to stop and curl up again.
No. She could do this. She just needed a moment to collect her thoughts.
She looked up at sky. It looked terrifying. Red clouds dotted the sky up top, making it look like an absurd mockery of reality. But whenever the clouds didn't cover up the sky, the ugly black sky stared back at her and she could feel energy being drained out of her.
The screams were everywhere. She couldn't breathe. She fell into the stone walkway on the ground shaking, closing her eyes and begging to every god she knew. She screamed in fear, frustration and every negative emotion in her body.
Her eyes were filled with tears until the voices suddenly stopped. She opened her eyes. Her tears blurred her vision. She was back in her bed. The screams were now only echoes of what they were. She had come back to the real world.
In the morning, Luna crawled out of bed and wandered towards the royal kitchen. She squinted as the light of several pots reflected on her face and she made her way to the dining room where she found her sister.
Luna sat down and started to eat the hay that was given too her. Celestia stared at her as she chewed. As she finished her food, she looked up and mumbled “What?”
“Do you want to talk about last night?”
Luna looked at her and said, “As a matter of fact, no. I do not wish to talk about it.”
Celestia stared at her with a look of affection and said, “You know you're being difficult.”
Luna did not return the feelings and promptly left the table and went onto the balcony. Celestia quietly followed her.
As Luna stared at the expanse of land below her that was Ponyville, Celestia noticed a tear running down her cheek and she was biting her lip in frustration.
“You know... the sun sure is beautiful today.” Celestia mumbled to Luna.
Luna's face softened, then suddenly became full of disdain again. She whirled around and smacked Celestia across the face. Celestia recoiled in shock and Luna faced her. “STOP ACTING LIKE NOTHING IS WRONG, CELESTIA. JUST... JUST STOP. I SPENT 1000 YEARS LOCKED AWAY IN A PRISON BECAUSE OF YOU, AND YOU CAN'T JUST...”
Luna's face contorted with anger and hate as she looked at her sister.
She looked like she was about to say something, but instead just turned around and silently walked back into the castle.
Celestia looked at Luna with a feeling disappointment, not anger, as she walked away. Although it was clear that her sister was troubled with something, lashing out this way was certain proof. She stared down in the expanse of land that was Ponyville, wondering what had triggered such a violent eruption. Celestia played the scene over in her head. Then she realized something. Luna wasn't looking at Ponyville. She was looking at the Everfree Forest.
Celestia knew what she was about to do was cruel, but she had to know if her suspicion was right. She searched around for her sister and found her lying down in the library, reading a book. Celestia wondered if she really had to do this. She knew she had to, though. She cleared her throat and said, “So, Luna... I was wondering if we had any Cloverflower?”
Luna narrowed her eyes and mumbled, “No, I don't think we do.”
Why was Celestia talking to me just after a fight? thought Luna. She usually lets me cool down after we have a spat.
“Well, that's too bad. I sure am craving some! I guess I'll go send my scouts to the Everfree Forest to get some.”
Luna twitched as the word flooded her brain with memories of her dream. A walkway bathed in blood, the blood curdling screams of tortured ponies, the black sky, and the feelings of hopelessness and frustration.
No. I'm not going to let her drag my thoughts out of me thought Luna as she forced a smile. “Th-that's good. I-I have been craving some too.”
Celestia frowned at her for a second, then said, “Good! Well, would you like to come with me to the Everfree Forest to get some? You know how the food scouts are. They can barely recognize a dandelion from a slice of bread!”
Luna bit her lip as her eyes started to water. This time she realized that Celestia was clearly emphasizing the words “Everfree Forest”. Or maybe it was in her head. Her legs started to wobble and she started to breathe harder. “N-N-No! I-It's fine! You c-can go on without me. I have a b-book to read a-anyway...” she said as she weakly gestured at her book.
Celestia bit her lip as well. No need to go through with the rest of this. I already have my proof that whatever is wrong with her has something to do with the Everfree Forest. she thought as she gazed upon her beloved sister's face. She cried inside because of what was happening to her sister. She mustered up her courage and said, “Okay. I'll be in the Everfree Forest if you need me.” Celestia looked at Luna. She was shaking and her eyes were glassy. It's completely obvious now. She stared at Luna for a second and left.
Luna panted and tears poured down her cheeks uncontrollably. She was nearly hysterical. She didn't want these thoughts. She wanted them OUT OF HER HEAD.
Luna galloped around the room, knocking over tables and firing black lightning bolts everywhere from her glowing horn. She didnt even understand why she was wrecking a place she loved. All she remembered was her body filling upped to the brim with negative emotions. She jabbed her horn at the table, cracking it in half and setting it ablaze. She was so enraged, she was destroying things with her magic without even thinking about it. After she levitated almost 30 books and fried them to a crisp, she stopped and looked around.
. The entire library was was in ruins. Hundreds on books lay flaming on the ground, and Luna could feet the smell of burnt wood and paper in her nostrils. She bit back her tears and walked out of the Library, emotions bursting, and heart racing. Whatever remaining control over herself was cracked open as she left the behind the carnage of burning books and broken wood.
Princess Celestia was in her room as Luna wrecked the library, silently regretting over what she has done.She had searched all of her precious books for information about what is happening to Luna. Admittedly, she knew that she didnt have much to work with. She only knew two things, one:Its related to the Evergreen Forest. Two, whatever it is, it is slowly destroying Lunas mind. The Princess closed the book and sighed. “I could have found what I was looking for and not even realized it” she silently thought to herself. “I dont even know whats happening to her. Trying to look for things that I havent a clue about is just foalish. But... I...I need to help her in some way.”
Finally, Celestia's logical side won over her compassionate side and she slowly lowered the book down. Her horn glowed as she levitated it onto her small wooden shelf next to her bed. She got up, walked outside of her bright yellow room, and walked to the kitchen. She was so worried about Luna that she almost forgot lunch. As she walked past the library, Celestia saw fat globs of smoke slinking out of the library and she curiously sniffed the air. Immediately she caught the musky odor of burning oak. She quickly poked her head through the door. Celestias pupils grew 2 times bigger as she curiously opened the door of the library and peered inside.
It was a mess. Hundreds of books lay flaming on the ground, their pages torn and in pieces, and the antique book shelves were burning and cracking under their own weight. And in the center of the chaos, there was a large circular table that was cracked open. Celestia remembered that table. It was a gift from her father thousands of years ago. A large sun was supposed to be in the middle of the table. But now it was in pieces. It was clear to know who did this. Luna. Something in her snapped. Yet Celestia wasnt outraged or even sad. She was....scared. Scared for her sister. As she silently looked around the room she heard one of the royal guards scream for help.
Celestia quickly teleported to the source of the noise with her magic and looked in horror at the carnage around her. Dozens of guards were lying on the ground weak. They looked beaten. Covered with burns and their fur was wet with blood, the former strong,regal, and nobel soldier was reduced to a shivering body, clad in scratched armor. Hundreds more were crowded around something, Celestia guessed it was Luna, in the corner Out of the blue, one of the guards were knocked into her and knocked Celestia to the ground painfully.
Celestia quickly stood up, her left shoulder flooding with pain as her muscles tried to repair itself with magic. But her bone was broken, she needed to rest for this kind of repair. Walking around would make it worse and more painful. But she needed to stop this. As Celestia's vision blurred and faded, her horn glowed with a black tinge. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, all that was keeping her from slipping into sweet, peaceful sleep was the thought that hundreds will be massacred if she didn't do this. She licked her lips, put on a brave, peaceful smile and let her magic loose.
“Princess? Prince
ss?”
“Princess C-Celestia, please wake up..”
“ I..I need you....”
Celestia opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, but she could see Twilight and her dragon, Spike looking at her with watery eyes. As her vision slowly improved, only Spike had watery eyes. Twilight had tears flowing down her cheeks as she gazed upon the pony she considered her role model and near-mother.
Celestia herself allowed a couple of tears to flow from her eyes as he pulled Twilight and Spike close to her warm body, and as her wings slowly folded over them, Twilight smiled. Celestia was going to be ok. Everything was going to be just fine. As both of them slowly slid out of each others embraced, Twilights curiosity took over.
“Princess...what happened that ended you up in here?”
Celestia bit her lip as she looked around. She was in the royal hospital, and her left front leg was in a cast, also, her horn was surrounded by a wet towel. Celestia gingerly touched her cast and her whole body shuddered with intense pain. Silently she wondered why her magic didn't heal her body instantly. But then her memories came flooding back to her. She remembered Luna, killing or injuring hundreds of guards. She knew she had to stop her. But what she did was unforgivable.
Celestia had used black magic against her sister.
A handful of people knew about black magic, and only half of those handful of ponies could even use it. Celestia was one of them. Her learning of black magic was accidental. As a filly, barely older then Applebloom, she went searching around in her teachers room for something to eat. As she was opening drawers in search for something to chew, she stumbled across an awfully dusty and old book. It was titled, “BM, The Complete Guide”. As the cover was adorned with mystic gems and trinkets, filly Celestia's curiosity got the best of her, and she slowly opened the cover. Not knowing what terrible, and dangerous the spells were, she looked a small incantation labled, “Door to the Netherworld”.
“Huh? W-what?”
“Shh, Spike. Nothing..Are you ok? Do you need anything?” Twilight said as she plastered on a smile.
Celestia herself smiled and slowly shook her head now. She curled up in a small, cushy chair and looked up at her.
“ So...If you wouldnt mind me asking again....What happened that ended you up in her?”
Celestia bit her lip and looked the other way.
“ Is-Is it because Spike is here? I could tell him to leave.”
“ Aw, c’mon, I should know too!”
As Twilight and Spike bickered, Celestia wondered what to do. Would Twilight loath her for actually using BLACK MAGIC against her sister? It doesn't matter, she had to tell somebody. Why not it be her faithful student?
“Twilight. Spike.”, Celestia mumbled.
The duo quickly stopped arguing for a second and looked at Celestia.
“Y-yes Princess?” Spike murmured.
“Please stop arguing for my sake. I...I’ll tell you what happened.”
Twilight stared at Celestia with eyes at big as plates, and turned her ears towards her, while Spike crawled up onto a small green chair in the room and look at her aswell.
Celestia bit her lip as she looked at the pupil and her assistant.
“ T-Twilight...I used Black Magic against Luna.”
Twilights face didnt change, and instead of her eyes flowing with terror and hate at her teacher, they were instead filled with curiosity.
“ Whats Black Magic anyway?”, both Twilight and Spike said to the hospitalized pony.
In her mind, Celestias sighed with relief. Twilight didnt know about Black Magic. If she did, Celestia would have nearly cried, knowing that her pupil experienced the horror's of what Celestia had seen in the book. As she thought about how to explain the terrible thing that is Black Magic, Celestias head flashed back about 1000 years ago.
Filly Celestia could barely contain her excitement. Just like Twilight, when Celestia was young, she had an intense thirst for knowledge. Finding a book that was full of shiny jewels and words that she had never laid her eyes upon, made her squeal. As she stared down the spell called, “Door To The Netherworld.” Unlike now, when she actually read the description of the spell to avoid disastrous results, she simply read the spell with some bumbling effort, and concentrated.
“Aloo, Dijina Lan Dor Ki-”, Celestia quietly mumbled to herself.
“ Uh...Princess?”, Spike called out too Celestia.
“Whu-what?”
“You were about to tell us what this “Black Magic” is.”, Twilight said to her. Celestia's pupil looked her teacher with sadness and terror. She silently wondered why Celestia kept blacking out like that while she was talking to them. Were her and Twilight stressing her out? Or was it a side effect of a few of the medicines of the medicines she was given? Twilight banished the thought from her mind, she knew it wasnt a good idea to stress her out, but the thought of not knowing something would drive her crazy.
“Oh...Yes...Black Magic. Terrible thing, it is.” Celestia mumbled.
Spike frowned and looked at Twilight. She just shrugged and decided that she couldnt tire out Celestia anymore. She could deal with her growing curiosity in the morning. As much as it hurt her, Twilight closed her eyes and mumbled a sleeping spell. As the purple magic began to envelope Celestias still body, she tried to say something, but the magic passed though her pelt, and she slept.
“What?? Aw, c’mon Twilight, she was just about to tell us what this, “Black Magic” stuff is all about!.” Spike said with an angry face.
“ Spike....Look at her! She kept on blacking out whenever she was talking to us, obviously she was in no condition to talk to us!”
Spikes face didnt grow any softer, but he didnt ask anymore. As they were walking out, a nurse pony bumped into Twilight, and both ponies went tumbling to the floor.
“Oh dear! I'm so sorry Twilight! I guess I should look up from my clipboard more!”, the earth pony said as she hopped around, gathering up her papers that were flying around everwhere.
“Oh no Crossbeat! It was my fault! I was just...thinking.”
“Oh really? About what, my dear?”
“Err.....What happened with Princess Celestia?”
Crossbeats smile faltered, and she bit her lip.
“I...I....Ok, fine. Come with me, quickly!”
Twilight simply followed without further question, and as Spike hopped onto her back, he attempted to ask why she was just following her blindly, but he never got an answer.
Crossbeat lead them into a dimly lit room, filled with mops and other janitorial devices. “Okay Twilight...You see...Luna went hydra-crazy today.” Crossbeat said with a grim face.
“Wait, what? What does that have to do with Celestia?” Spike said.
“Spike, let her finish the story..” Twilight said while looking at Spike.
“ Thank you Twilight. So, Luna completly DESTROYED the royal library, then just went on a complete rampage against the royal guards. Then while the guards were being tossed around like dolls, Celestia came in and-”
“WAIT! Why did she attack the library and guards for no reason?!?” Spike yelled out.
“Spike....she’s going to get to that..” Twilight said while face hoofing.
“Indeed I shall. So Celestia just walks in and....something strange happens here. You see, Celestia cast a spell, but it wasnt an ordinary spell. All the guards and even some in Ponyvile, reported coughing up blood, feeling naesous or just feeling an absolute dread in their hearts. Nobody even saw what she did, they just felt it. But whatever it was, it worked. The second she cast it, Luna just went unconscious. It was a good thing she came in at that time! She could have destroyed all of Canterlot if she didnt walk in at that time.
Both Twilight and Spike just stared at her as Crossbeat finished.
With a half-smile, Crossbeat said, “ Spike, you can ask questions now.”
“YES! Okay, okay. So why did Luna attack everybody and the library, and why is Celestia in the hospital?”
Crossbeat looked at Twilight, she asked if she had any questions. Twilight just shook her head, no.
“Okay Spike. We have tried to ask Luna why she attacked, but all she does when we ask, is just put her head down, and say, “ I dont want to hear that word anymore.”, and the reason Celestia is in the hospitle, is first off, because her left shoulder was broken. We dont know the cause yet, but that is the least of our
problems. Um....Celestia’s horn was shattered. Before you ask, no, we have no clue why it broke. But we DO have some hope in restoring it. But its going to take a while.”
“HER HORN IS BROKEN??” Twilight almost screamed.
“ Relax! Unicorns horn can crack open easily if they do a spell that is too hard for them, and we know a way to fix it. But...an ALICORNS horn...We’re testing ways to put it back together, but its going to take at the very least, a week. In the meantime, we can get the leg fixed by tomorrow. Thank goodness she didnt her horn didn't completely break. Fixing her leg would take months without a bit of her magic getting through.”
“I see.. Well, thanks for the information Crossbeat! Can I visit her tomorrow?”
“ Of course you can! She wants to see you anyway! Also, remember, you didn't hear that stuff from me, right?” Crossbeat said with a smile and a wink.”
“ Sure we didn't Crossbeat!” Spike and Twilight said with a smile.
As Twilight, Spike and Crossbeat left the room, Crossbeat muttered something something about doing a surgery on a Pegasus’s wing, and left Twilight and Spike.
“Its getting a little dark...Do you think we should go home?”Spike said to Twilight.
“ I guess so... Not much else for us to do around here. C’mon Spike. Its a long walk home.”
Celestia lay in bed, pain flooding into her left shoulder. In almost 1000 years she hadn't experienced pain, as she was an Alicorn, all injuries were healed before she could feel them. To a normal earth pony, this would be a dull throb. But to Celestia, it felt like molten lava was being poured into her shoulder. The combination of the pain and overall stress she felt, triggered another flashback.
“Aloo, Dijina Lan Dor Kirang Dau-Dan Kie Raun!” Filly Celestia said with joy. As she said the words, her horn began to glow even brighter. It was like a small sun was hiding inside her horn. The words were complex and long, but she continued saying it, with certainty that she was doing it right. The spell was nearly one page long, and the words were becoming harder...but regardless, she kept saying them. “Araongana, Ratenay Yognao. Trappre Gramdi Dei.” Celestia said with dread. She felt sad all of a sudden. And devoid of energy. But something was pushing her along to say those words. She no longer had a will. The words become even worse, and were incredibly hard to say now. “ Rangsantodao, Zrehya Den Tadonraya.” The words became ridiculous, becoming impossible for her to even say. All she could do is try. And she did, until she reached the end. At that point, she lay on the ground, exhausted, from saying the words and the feeling within her. But it was over now. Celestia’s face changed into a giggle, knowing that the worse part was over. It wasn't.
“Finally! We’re home. That walk really drained me. Im gonna go look in the kitchen for some gems. You go ahead and sleep Twilight! Im REALLY hungry.
“Uh..Ok Spike. Dont stay up too long!” Twilight said as she walked into her bed. The oddly comforting sound of Spike eating the gems noisily, and the wind softly blowing over her mane, led her to peaceful sleep.
