Scenes of Immortalityby KytinChaptersBody HorrorUndeniable EvidenceHonorary RoyaltyThe NightmareAdditional ChangesBody Horror"Alright Luna, what did you want to talk about?" Celestia asked her sister. The two sisters were in Celestias room. It was evening and Luna had just raised the moon. Celestia had been approached by Luna, who asked for a private conversation. Luna hesitated before replying. Celestia was her sister and she knew she could trust her with anything, but she felt awkward voicing her suspicions out loud. This was just so strange, and she wasn't sure she could explain herself clearly. "I spoke with HoneySeed last night." Luna finally began. She felt it would be best if she explained how her own thoughts had started down this path. "Oh?" Inquired Celestia. "How is she?" "She is doing well. Her eldest is infatuated with some farmers daughter apparently." Luna dutifully relayed the news of their mutual acquaintance. "Aw, that's cute." Celestia said with a smile. "Um, yes." Luna paused to re-rail her train of thought. "I was speaking to her and it struck me that... well... she's starting to look old." "Having foals will do that to you." Celestias smile shifted into a smirk. "She's younger than us." Luna replied with irritation. Celestia just gave her sister a puzzled look, clearly not understanding what Lunas point was supposed to be. Luna gave a sigh. "She's starting to look old... and we're not." "Like I said," Celestia responded with a shrug. "Foals." "It's more than that." Luna insisted. "After I talked with her, I took a careful look in my mirror. Not a single wrinkle or gray hair or... anything." "You make it sound like you want to get old." Celestia was now amused as well as puzzled. "I don't. It's just... I feel like something is wrong. Like... something is happening that I don't understand." Luna looked down at the floor unhappily. Celestia gave her sister a long look of concern. "This really bothers you, doesn't it?" She said. Luna nodded silently. Celestia stepped beside her sister and wrapped a wing around her. "I think you're working yourself up over nothing." Said the elder alicorn. "But even if it is something, would it really be a bad thing if you stayed pretty forever?" Luna fixed her eyes on the floor. "I'm not that pretty." She muttered. "Of course you are. Why you're probably the most beautiful mare in Equestria!" Luna gave her sister a sideways glance. "Prettier than you?" She asked with a sly smile. "Sure. You were always the pretty one, Luna." Luna flushed and looked away from her sister. "Ok, now you're just making stuff up." "No I'm not. Why, I bet that there's dozens of colts writing poems about how beautiful you are right now." Celestia grinned at her sister. That prompted a snort of amusement from the darker alicorn. "Stop it. Although... there do seem to be a lot of would-be poets around these days." Luna sniggered. "There's probably at least three poems about your wings. And two about your horn. And another three about how the wind blows through your mane." Celestias teasing prompted a giggle from the younger sister. "Oh, and five or six about your eyes of course." Luna laughed again, and looked over at Celestias bedroom mirror. She wondered if anypony would really write a poem about her looks. They probably would. She was a princess now after all, and she did look quite nice in the evening light, with that slight breeze blowing her mane away from her face. With her wing over Lunas shoulder, Celestia was immediately aware of the the sudden tension in her sister. Luna stood straight and looked around the room in apparent alarm. "Luna? What's the matter now?" Said Celestia in surprise. Luna forced herself to stay calm. It might be nothing. She could be imagining it. "Is there a draft in here?" "What?" Celestia found her sisters abrupt change in behavior confusing and alarming. "No, of course not. They would never allow something like that in a princesses chamber." "And none of the windows are open..." Luna murmured quietly. She turned to face Celestia. "So why is my mane moving?" "What? No it's not." Celestia responded automatically. She took a step closer and focused her attention on her sisters mane. Lunas mane was the the same pale blue it had always been. It flowed down her head to shoulders in a beautiful cascade, a few stray hairs waving in a gentle breeze. Except there was no breeze. "Okay... " Celestia said slowly. "That is really creepy." "Really?!" Lunas voice rose in pitch as fear began to take over. "Thanks for telling me! I thought it was completely normal!" Luna always got sarcastic when she was scared. Discord had found it endlessly amusing. "Okay, just calm down Luna. We will figure this out." Celestia attempted to comfort her little sister. "Easy for you to say! Your mane isn't going to come to life and strangle you in your sleep!" "You are not going to be strangled." Celestia said firmly. "If worst comes to worst, we'll just cut it off." "Okay... okay... " Luna put her head down and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "Luna." Celestia called to her sister. "Luna, look at me." Luna raised her head and looked into her sisters face with wide frightened eyes. "We are going to get through this, Luna." Celestia stated. "We will find out what is going on and fix it." Luna stared at her sister for several long seconds before her face seemed to soften. "Oh, no." Whispered the Princess of the Moon. "What?" This was not the reaction Celestia had been attempting to provoke. "Your mane." Luna said in a quiet breathy voice. "You've got it too." "What?" Celestia turned to her mirror in alarm. The two pony princesses stared at the silvered glass side by side for a long moment before Celestia spoke. "What is happening to us?" Celestia felt a small twinge of pride at how steady her voice was. "I don't know." Said Luna. "But like you said, we'll figure it out." Undeniable EvidenceCelestia stared at the corpse lying on the ground before her. Her expression was one of utter shock and disbelief. "Did I kill him?" She said quietly, her voice that of a mare stunned by the unthinkable. She slowed the beating of her wings and began to drift back down toward the ground. As she got closer, she realized she could see through the blackened hole in her victims face to the dirt beneath. "I... I really killed him." Completely stunned by what had just happened, she finally dropped onto her hooves and folded her wings. "I killed him." She repeated, as if saying it again would make it more believable. She carefully nudged the body of the dragon with a hoof. The corpse did not react. Her expression finally shifted from stunned disbelief to surprised delight. "I killed him! Luna! Luna, did you see that? I... Luna?" Celestia turned her head one way then the other, searching for her sister in the devastated landscape. She failed to spy any trace of her sibling. "Luna!" Celestia cried out desperately as she searched through the wreckage that had once been a well tended farm. "Oh please be okay." "I'm here." The Princess of the Moon called out as she finished struggling out from under the claw of the dead dragon. "I'm fine." "Oh thank goodness!" Celestia swiftly flew over to her little sister. "For a minute there I thought... heh. Well, it looks like I saved your life again." Luna glared at Celestia before raising a hoof and striking her sister along the side of her head. "Ow! What was that for?" Celestia yelped while rubbing the side of her face. "For dragging me into this mess in the first place!" Lunas voice took on a mocking imitation of her sister. "Come on Luna, we're going to go kill a dragon." "You didn't have to come." Celestia grumbled. "Celestia, if I hadn't been here that dragon would have squashed you flat the moment your first 'plan' failed." Luna retorted. "Hey, it was a perfectly good plan! It's not my fault the stupid Element didn't work." said Celestia sourly. "Uh... I don't suppose you know where it went?" Luna gave her sister a look of disbelief. "You lost the Element of Magic?" "I was kind of busy saving your life." Celestia replied in irritation. "You're welcome, by the way." "I saved yours first!" The Princess of the Moon protested. Celestia turned away and began looking around. Luna huffed in frustration then took her first good look at the wound that had slain the monster. Luna stared at the corpse for nearly a full minute before she spoke again. "What... what did you do?" She asked with an unmistakable tremor of fear. Celestia abandoned her halfhearted search to return to he sisters side. "I... uh... okay. When that thing grabbed you I kind of panicked a little and threw the Element of Magic at him." Celestia began. "And that did this?" Luna turned to face her sister with wide eyes, and waved a hoof at the hole that had been burned through the dragons eye and out the back of his head. "What? No, it just bounced off. But it did distract him a little, and when he turned to look at me I summoned the brightest sunbeam I could to try and blind him." Celestia shifted uncomfortably. "It, uh, was a bit brighter than I expected." "A bit brighter than you expected?" Luna repeated numbly. "Celestia, you just burned a hole through the head of a dragon." "Yeah, I was pretty worried about you, so I didn't hold back." Celestia said solemnly. "No, you just burned a hole through the head of a dragon." Luna replied, her voice rising in pitch. "Nopony has ever done that before. Ever. I didn't even think it could be done! I mean... are you sure the element of magic didn't do something?" "I didn't feel it activate or anything." Celestia replied with a frown. "And didn't you say that the Elements couldn't be used to kill anything? That's why we have a Discord statue instead of an urn full of ash." "But... there had to have been something." Luna spoke desperately, searching for an explanation that would allow her world to make sense again. "Ponies just don't have this kind of power. There must have been something else that made it stronger or... or gave you more power or... something." She looked at her sister, eyes filled with pleading. "Uh..." Celestia wanted to comfort her sister and give her the explanation she wanted, but her ego was not yet ready to give up the credit for the victory. "Well, we aren't exactly ordinary ponies, remember? We're the ones that found the Elements of Harmony and stopped Discord. The 'Fated Heroes of Equestria', right? Maybe we really are just that powerful." Luna stared at Celestia with her mouth open. She looked as if she wanted to protest, but no words came out. Eventually, Luna closed her mouth and looked away. She spoke in a quiet voice, as if only to herself. "Our manes blow in a wind that doesn't exist, and we aren't getting older..." She shivered as if from a sudden chill. "What are we?" "Ponies?" Celestia guessed. She wasn't quite sure why this bothered her sister so much. The thing with their manes was a bit freaky at first, but on the whole it was kind of cool. And staying young and having immense magical power were both good things right? "Ponies get old. Ponies don't blow up dragon heads by accident." Luna continued to stare into the distance. "Really cool ponies?" Celestia hazarded. Luna gave her sister a long look that was meant to be solemn, but was rather spoiled by the twitching at the corners of her mouth. "Damnit Celestia!" Luna exclaimed as she failed to hold back the laughter. "Can't you take anything seriously?" "Not if I can help it!" Celestia replied cheerfully. She was happy and rather pleased with herself that she was able to break her sisters dark mood. "Now come and help me find that stupid Element of Magic." Honorary Royalty"Ah, Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. How kind of you to join us after the crisis is resolved." An earth pony with a deep brown coat growled at the Alicorn sisters as they entered the Royal Council chamber. "What?" Celestia was taken off guard by the hostility Nut Loaf was directing at them. He was normally much more friendly than the other nobleponies. "What crisis?" She blurted without thinking. "The succession crisis!" Nut Loaf snapped. There were bags under his eyes and his mane could have used a comb. "Or were you somehow unaware that the royal family was murdered by the dragon ravaging my lands?" "I... yes, I heard about that." Celestia replied awkwardly. She glanced over to The pegasus Lord Storm Mane and unicorn Lady Fire Ruby, but they seemed to be too busy insulting each other to pay any attention to the tardy Princesses. Nut Loaf followed Celestias gaze to the other two nobleponies. "So you just decided to leave it to me to keep these idiots from starting a civil war?" His irritation showed no signs of lessening, but at least it was no longer wholly directed at the alicorn sisters. "A war? Why?" Celestia cried in alarm. "Because they both think that they are the only one fit to rule Equestria." Nut Loaf replied, his frown deepening. "And both of them would make a mess of it if they did." Luna finally spoke up. "But you said that the situation was resolved." "Yes." Lord Nut Loaf sighed and some of his anger drained away leaving a pony that just seemed very tired. "I managed to convince them to agree that we would all swear fealty to whoever killed the beast that murdered the royal family." "What?" Celestias startled exclamation caused the other two bickering nobleponies to glance at her, but they quickly resumed their argument. "I know, it's not ideal." Nut Loaf continued. "But it's a better use for their armies than killing each other. And if somepony doesn't deal with that dragon soon then it won't matter to my ponies who rules Equestria." "But we already killed the dragon!" This time Celestias cry caused the arguing ponies to stop and stare at the princess. Nut Loaf also stared at her for a long moment. A smile slowly formed on his face, and he began a deep, long laugh. "It's not funny!" Celestia began to panic. "I can't rule Equestria! I don't know what to do! I'll mess it up! I'm no good at being in charge! I'm not even a real princess! Luna, tell them!" "I don't know." Said Luna thoughtfully. "You're pretty good at telling me what to do." She added with a smirk. Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Fine then. If you think this is so funny, you can rule Equestria with me." "What?" Luna gave her sister a surprised blink. "You were there with me. We killed that dragon together, remember? Besides, you're better at this stuff than I am." Celestia replied. "And what makes you think that I would bow to either of you?" Lord Storm Mane snapped. "The fact that you gave your word that you would." Lord Nut Loaf replied sharply. "Or do your oaths mean nothing to you?" "And what of the oaths given by the honorary princesses?" Asked Lady Fire Ruby. "If I recall correctly, they swore that neither of them would become queen." "We did?" Said Celestia with a mixture of surprise and relief. "...And we shall take no title higher than that which has been granted to us by our Lord the King." Luna quoted. "It was part of our oaths when King Keystone made us princesses, remember?" "Which means that you two are not eligible to rule Equestria." Lady Fire Ruby stated with satisfaction. Lord Nut Loaf frowned. "Technically, they could take the throne. They just can't take any title other than 'Princess'." Lady Fire Ruby snorted with derision. "A flimsy pretext at best." She stated. "The king would hardly have made that part of the oaths if he did not wish to keep them from usurping his line." "It's impossible not to usurp his line." Countered Nut Loaf. "With the royal line destroyed, anypony that takes the throne will be a 'usurper'." "Well I for one refuse to consider allowing these trumped-up commoners to rule over us." Storm Mane declared. "How do we even know that they have done what they said? The dragon could still be out there. I doubt that a pair of pampered so-called princesses would be capable of defeating such a beast." "You have no idea what we are capable of." Luna muttered darkly. "But if they are telling the truth?" Questioned Nut Loaf. "Will you keep your word and swear fealty to them?" "None of you have the power to enforce that agreement anyway." Storm Mane snorted. "So what then? You would start a civil war to enforce your claim to the throne?" Asked Nut Loaf. "Only if you fools refuse to acknowledge my claim." Storm Mane replied haughtily. "You have no claim." Lady Fire Ruby responded. "What on earth makes you think that the crown should be yours?" "Simple. I have the largest army of anypony here, therefore I have the best claim." Storm mane sneered. "What about the Princesses?" Nut loaf asked quietly. Storm Mane gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? They don't have any army at all." "What makes you think we need one?" Luna said menacingly. The light in the room seemed to fade. Shadows seemed to move in the corners. "As I recall, armies were of little use against Discord. You can see what became of him if you visit the Canterlot gardens." "Your magic might work well enough against one menace, but are you sure you can defeat an army of trained warriors?" Storm Mane blustered. Luna paused to carefully consider the question. Did she really think that the strange changes she and her sister were experiencing would give them enough strength to fight an army? The image of a dragon corpse with a blackened hole through its brain flashed through her mind. "Yes." She replied. "And they would not be alone." Nut Loaf added. "Because I, for one, intend to keep my oath." "But..." Lady Fire Ruby began a protest. "...oh, very well. I suppose I shall also keep our agreement." "What?" Storm Mane cried in surprise as he turned toward the noblemare. "As much as I would love to be queen, I am not willing to tear Equestria apart to do so." Stated Fire Ruby. "And aside from myself, I can think of nopony better suited to the position than the Fated Heroes of Equestria. The common ponies will certainly love it." Storm Mane looked back and forth between all the ponies that were now united against him as if searching for an option that would allow him to escape the increasingly inevitable conclusion. They stared back stonily until he finally lowed his head and spoke. "Fine. All hail Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, rulers of Equestria." The NightmareCelestia staggered up the stairs, beaten and bruised. The feathers of her wings were ruffled and she limped with each step. However, her mane and tail continued to flare upward like the flames they so resembled, unconcerned with her sorry state. There was a loud crash from elsewhere in the castle. Celestia flinched. She looked around, fearing that her sister had found her. For several long seconds she waited as nothing happened. She relaxed and continued onwards. It was not long before she reached her goal, the Elements of Harmony. Celestia smiled to herself as she opened the chest that contained them.. It would be best to take all of them, she decided. She didn't want them to turn useless like the Elemnt of Magic had when she had fought the dragon. Of course, they wouldn't give her the power to kill her sister, but that was okay. They could be used in other ways to ensure victory. Celestia continued to smile to herself, thinking about where she would place her new Nightmare Moon statue. In the castle courtyard where everypony could see her victory perhaps? In the gardens with Discord? Or... Celestia glanced out of a window at the night sky. Her smile broadened. She had a better idea. She heard the clopping of hoves behind her. When she turned around she saw the pony that had taken to calling herself Nighmare Moon. "Ah, there you are Celestia. Were you attempting to hide like a coward? It would be the smart thing to do, but smart isn't your usual style." Nightmare moon smirked at her. "Are you ready to bow before me and submit to my rule?" Celestia refused to show any weakness, despite the fact that their last encounter had definitively shown that Nightmare Moon was stronger than her. "Actually, sister, I had a better idea. You see, you have inspired me." Celestia replied with a confident smile. "Oh?" Nightmare Moon frowned down at her elder sister. "Explain youself." "I am going to get rid of you and your beloved night. Once I have defeated you I will bring about an endless day." Using her telekinesis, Celestia levitated the Elements of Harmony around her head. "Really, I don't know why I didn't think of this before." "Wait. Are those the Eleme-" A beam of pure white light shone from Celestia's horn and struck Nightmare Moon in the chest. Nightmare Moon screamed in outrage. Celestia tuned it out, focused on ending her sibling rivalry problem permanently. Nightmare Moon writhed and cursed in the beam of light but was unable to escape it. Helpless, she lay pinned to the floor. Celestia realized something was wrong. The Elements were resisting her. She focused harder and felt a slight give in whatever was blocking the full release of power. Nightmare Moon was saying something now, but Celestia didn't pay any attention to it. She needed all her concentration to overcome this resistance. She could feel it weaken under her relentless assault. Just one more push and... Something broke. **************************************************** Celestia groaned as consciousness returned to her. Her head ached and her thoughts didn't seem to be flowing the way they should. She struggled to think of what she should be doing. Something about Luna? Celestia slowly raised her head and looked around the ruined room, brushing limp pink hair from her eyes. Where was Luna? Why did the room seem bigger than it should? And what caused those massive holes in the walls? Celestia lurched to her hooves and stumbled over to the largest hole feeling very weak. Her eyes gazed through what should have been solid stone into the night sky. Looking up she could see Lunas's moon hanging in the sky. Something was wrong with the moon. Celestia's heart beat faster and her breathing quickened as she stared at the image of a mare that had seemingly been burned into the surface of her sister's favorite feature of the night sky. Memories came rushing back along with a sickening sense of guilt. "No. Nonono... nonononono..." Celestial backed away from the sight mindlessly. This had to be a bad dream. She would never do that to her loving sister. She would never use the Elements to... The Elements! Hope flared in Celestia's chest. If the Elements of Harmony were capable of banishing her sister to the moon, then they should be able to bring her back. They could probably even fix the strange madness that had afflicted her. Everything was going to be ok, she told herself. Everything could be fixed. Celestia rushed back to the place where she had woken up. She could see the gemstones glittering dimly in the moonlight. As she got closer she slowed her mad scramble and attempted to calm herself. Was this all of them? Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Magic... wait. Horror gripped Celestia's heart as she looked at the massive crack in the Element of Magic. She remembered the sensation of something breaking as she banished her sister. The Elements were the embodiment of friendship and she had used them to drive away the one pony she cared about most. She had broken the Elements of Harmony. Celestia clung to a tiny spark of hope. Maybe the damage wasn't so bad. Maybe she could get one last use out of them to bring her sister back. Carefully, she reached out with her telekinesis to pick up the Element of Magic. The moment the Element of Magic left the ground it split completely in half. The two halves hovered for a second before crumbling into dust which was blown away on the wind. As she watched the remaining Elements transformed themselves from glittering gemstones into lifeless rocks. Celestia could have sworn her heart had done the same. Completely stripped of hope, Celestia hung her head and let the tears come. Brokenly, she wept for the sister she would see every night but never again hold. Author's Note Those of you that have read some of my other fics may have noticed that this chapter is a slightly edited version of the prologue of Immortal Madness. That doesn't mean that I intend to go the same route with this. Immortal madness was intended to be an epic adventure, but after a few chapters I realized it wasn't actually very good. I did like the premise though, so I scrapped that story for parts and started over again from an earlier point. Additional Changes"Luna, what on earth happened to your guardsponies?" Celestia questioned with a small note of alarm in her voice. The guardsponies in question looked something like dark grey pegasi, but with black, batlike wings instead of feathered ones. "Impressive, huh?" Luna replied cheerfully. "I made them wings out of shadows and moonbeams." Celestia frowned and took a closer look. "I don't see why you bothered." She replied. "We already have pegasi guardsponies. Enchanted wings or not, there's no way an earth pony will be able to fly as well as a pony that has been doing it their whole life." "Yes, but my pegasi keep falling asleep on duty." Luna replied with a frown. "Unicorns too. The earth ponies seem have better stamina. Besides, if I promise enchanted wings to my guardsponies, I might actually get some ponies that want to be in the lunar guard." Celestia gave her sister a puzzled look. "Being in a princesses personal guard is a highly prestigious position, or so I'm told. I would have thought that any guardspony would want to be in the lunar guard." "No, they want to be in the solar guard." Luna replied. "The lunar guard is second pick. Nopony works all night and sleeps during the day if they can help it." She paused before adding "It doesn't leave much time for family." "Ah." Celestia responded awkwardly. An uncomfortable silence followed. "I'm thinking I will need to make an enchantment for their eyes too." Luna finally said. "When we were testing the wings last night they kept on flying into things in the dark." "I'm sure you will figure it out." Celestia replied encouragingly. Luna looked away from her sister and her gaze became distant. "I was brushing my tail earlier, and I noticed something. I think my cutie mark is getting bigger." "Your what?" Celestia blinked in surprise. Luna turned so that her flank was clearly visible to her sister. "You see the black part? I think it's spreading." "Huh." Celestia commented. "I don't have anything like that happening, although I think my mane is shifting color again." "The new colored streaks, or all of it?" Luna queried. "All of it." Celestia replied. "At least I think so. It's bit hard to tell yet. And I think it's 'blowing' harder than it was before." "Hmm. I haven't noticed any new changes in mine, but I will keep an eye on it." said Luna. "You haven't figured out what is causing it yet, have you?" asked Celestia. Luna shook her head. "No, but it doesn't bother me as much anymore. It doesn't seem to be harmful, whatever it is." Author's Note I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, but it conveys everything I wanted it to, and I don't like adding words just to stretch things out.
Body Horror"Alright Luna, what did you want to talk about?" Celestia asked her sister. The two sisters were in Celestias room. It was evening and Luna had just raised the moon. Celestia had been approached by Luna, who asked for a private conversation. Luna hesitated before replying. Celestia was her sister and she knew she could trust her with anything, but she felt awkward voicing her suspicions out loud. This was just so strange, and she wasn't sure she could explain herself clearly. "I spoke with HoneySeed last night." Luna finally began. She felt it would be best if she explained how her own thoughts had started down this path. "Oh?" Inquired Celestia. "How is she?" "She is doing well. Her eldest is infatuated with some farmers daughter apparently." Luna dutifully relayed the news of their mutual acquaintance. "Aw, that's cute." Celestia said with a smile. "Um, yes." Luna paused to re-rail her train of thought. "I was speaking to her and it struck me that... well... she's starting to look old." "Having foals will do that to you." Celestias smile shifted into a smirk. "She's younger than us." Luna replied with irritation. Celestia just gave her sister a puzzled look, clearly not understanding what Lunas point was supposed to be. Luna gave a sigh. "She's starting to look old... and we're not." "Like I said," Celestia responded with a shrug. "Foals." "It's more than that." Luna insisted. "After I talked with her, I took a careful look in my mirror. Not a single wrinkle or gray hair or... anything." "You make it sound like you want to get old." Celestia was now amused as well as puzzled. "I don't. It's just... I feel like something is wrong. Like... something is happening that I don't understand." Luna looked down at the floor unhappily. Celestia gave her sister a long look of concern. "This really bothers you, doesn't it?" She said. Luna nodded silently. Celestia stepped beside her sister and wrapped a wing around her. "I think you're working yourself up over nothing." Said the elder alicorn. "But even if it is something, would it really be a bad thing if you stayed pretty forever?" Luna fixed her eyes on the floor. "I'm not that pretty." She muttered. "Of course you are. Why you're probably the most beautiful mare in Equestria!" Luna gave her sister a sideways glance. "Prettier than you?" She asked with a sly smile. "Sure. You were always the pretty one, Luna." Luna flushed and looked away from her sister. "Ok, now you're just making stuff up." "No I'm not. Why, I bet that there's dozens of colts writing poems about how beautiful you are right now." Celestia grinned at her sister. That prompted a snort of amusement from the darker alicorn. "Stop it. Although... there do seem to be a lot of would-be poets around these days." Luna sniggered. "There's probably at least three poems about your wings. And two about your horn. And another three about how the wind blows through your mane." Celestias teasing prompted a giggle from the younger sister. "Oh, and five or six about your eyes of course." Luna laughed again, and looked over at Celestias bedroom mirror. She wondered if anypony would really write a poem about her looks. They probably would. She was a princess now after all, and she did look quite nice in the evening light, with that slight breeze blowing her mane away from her face. With her wing over Lunas shoulder, Celestia was immediately aware of the the sudden tension in her sister. Luna stood straight and looked around the room in apparent alarm. "Luna? What's the matter now?" Said Celestia in surprise. Luna forced herself to stay calm. It might be nothing. She could be imagining it. "Is there a draft in here?" "What?" Celestia found her sisters abrupt change in behavior confusing and alarming. "No, of course not. They would never allow something like that in a princesses chamber." "And none of the windows are open..." Luna murmured quietly. She turned to face Celestia. "So why is my mane moving?" "What? No it's not." Celestia responded automatically. She took a step closer and focused her attention on her sisters mane. Lunas mane was the the same pale blue it had always been. It flowed down her head to shoulders in a beautiful cascade, a few stray hairs waving in a gentle breeze. Except there was no breeze. "Okay... " Celestia said slowly. "That is really creepy." "Really?!" Lunas voice rose in pitch as fear began to take over. "Thanks for telling me! I thought it was completely normal!" Luna always got sarcastic when she was scared. Discord had found it endlessly amusing. "Okay, just calm down Luna. We will figure this out." Celestia attempted to comfort her little sister. "Easy for you to say! Your mane isn't going to come to life and strangle you in your sleep!" "You are not going to be strangled." Celestia said firmly. "If worst comes to worst, we'll just cut it off." "Okay... okay... " Luna put her head down and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "Luna." Celestia called to her sister. "Luna, look at me." Luna raised her head and looked into her sisters face with wide frightened eyes. "We are going to get through this, Luna." Celestia stated. "We will find out what is going on and fix it." Luna stared at her sister for several long seconds before her face seemed to soften. "Oh, no." Whispered the Princess of the Moon. "What?" This was not the reaction Celestia had been attempting to provoke. "Your mane." Luna said in a quiet breathy voice. "You've got it too." "What?" Celestia turned to her mirror in alarm. The two pony princesses stared at the silvered glass side by side for a long moment before Celestia spoke. "What is happening to us?" Celestia felt a small twinge of pride at how steady her voice was. "I don't know." Said Luna. "But like you said, we'll figure it out."
Undeniable EvidenceCelestia stared at the corpse lying on the ground before her. Her expression was one of utter shock and disbelief. "Did I kill him?" She said quietly, her voice that of a mare stunned by the unthinkable. She slowed the beating of her wings and began to drift back down toward the ground. As she got closer, she realized she could see through the blackened hole in her victims face to the dirt beneath. "I... I really killed him." Completely stunned by what had just happened, she finally dropped onto her hooves and folded her wings. "I killed him." She repeated, as if saying it again would make it more believable. She carefully nudged the body of the dragon with a hoof. The corpse did not react. Her expression finally shifted from stunned disbelief to surprised delight. "I killed him! Luna! Luna, did you see that? I... Luna?" Celestia turned her head one way then the other, searching for her sister in the devastated landscape. She failed to spy any trace of her sibling. "Luna!" Celestia cried out desperately as she searched through the wreckage that had once been a well tended farm. "Oh please be okay." "I'm here." The Princess of the Moon called out as she finished struggling out from under the claw of the dead dragon. "I'm fine." "Oh thank goodness!" Celestia swiftly flew over to her little sister. "For a minute there I thought... heh. Well, it looks like I saved your life again." Luna glared at Celestia before raising a hoof and striking her sister along the side of her head. "Ow! What was that for?" Celestia yelped while rubbing the side of her face. "For dragging me into this mess in the first place!" Lunas voice took on a mocking imitation of her sister. "Come on Luna, we're going to go kill a dragon." "You didn't have to come." Celestia grumbled. "Celestia, if I hadn't been here that dragon would have squashed you flat the moment your first 'plan' failed." Luna retorted. "Hey, it was a perfectly good plan! It's not my fault the stupid Element didn't work." said Celestia sourly. "Uh... I don't suppose you know where it went?" Luna gave her sister a look of disbelief. "You lost the Element of Magic?" "I was kind of busy saving your life." Celestia replied in irritation. "You're welcome, by the way." "I saved yours first!" The Princess of the Moon protested. Celestia turned away and began looking around. Luna huffed in frustration then took her first good look at the wound that had slain the monster. Luna stared at the corpse for nearly a full minute before she spoke again. "What... what did you do?" She asked with an unmistakable tremor of fear. Celestia abandoned her halfhearted search to return to he sisters side. "I... uh... okay. When that thing grabbed you I kind of panicked a little and threw the Element of Magic at him." Celestia began. "And that did this?" Luna turned to face her sister with wide eyes, and waved a hoof at the hole that had been burned through the dragons eye and out the back of his head. "What? No, it just bounced off. But it did distract him a little, and when he turned to look at me I summoned the brightest sunbeam I could to try and blind him." Celestia shifted uncomfortably. "It, uh, was a bit brighter than I expected." "A bit brighter than you expected?" Luna repeated numbly. "Celestia, you just burned a hole through the head of a dragon." "Yeah, I was pretty worried about you, so I didn't hold back." Celestia said solemnly. "No, you just burned a hole through the head of a dragon." Luna replied, her voice rising in pitch. "Nopony has ever done that before. Ever. I didn't even think it could be done! I mean... are you sure the element of magic didn't do something?" "I didn't feel it activate or anything." Celestia replied with a frown. "And didn't you say that the Elements couldn't be used to kill anything? That's why we have a Discord statue instead of an urn full of ash." "But... there had to have been something." Luna spoke desperately, searching for an explanation that would allow her world to make sense again. "Ponies just don't have this kind of power. There must have been something else that made it stronger or... or gave you more power or... something." She looked at her sister, eyes filled with pleading. "Uh..." Celestia wanted to comfort her sister and give her the explanation she wanted, but her ego was not yet ready to give up the credit for the victory. "Well, we aren't exactly ordinary ponies, remember? We're the ones that found the Elements of Harmony and stopped Discord. The 'Fated Heroes of Equestria', right? Maybe we really are just that powerful." Luna stared at Celestia with her mouth open. She looked as if she wanted to protest, but no words came out. Eventually, Luna closed her mouth and looked away. She spoke in a quiet voice, as if only to herself. "Our manes blow in a wind that doesn't exist, and we aren't getting older..." She shivered as if from a sudden chill. "What are we?" "Ponies?" Celestia guessed. She wasn't quite sure why this bothered her sister so much. The thing with their manes was a bit freaky at first, but on the whole it was kind of cool. And staying young and having immense magical power were both good things right? "Ponies get old. Ponies don't blow up dragon heads by accident." Luna continued to stare into the distance. "Really cool ponies?" Celestia hazarded. Luna gave her sister a long look that was meant to be solemn, but was rather spoiled by the twitching at the corners of her mouth. "Damnit Celestia!" Luna exclaimed as she failed to hold back the laughter. "Can't you take anything seriously?" "Not if I can help it!" Celestia replied cheerfully. She was happy and rather pleased with herself that she was able to break her sisters dark mood. "Now come and help me find that stupid Element of Magic."
Honorary Royalty"Ah, Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. How kind of you to join us after the crisis is resolved." An earth pony with a deep brown coat growled at the Alicorn sisters as they entered the Royal Council chamber. "What?" Celestia was taken off guard by the hostility Nut Loaf was directing at them. He was normally much more friendly than the other nobleponies. "What crisis?" She blurted without thinking. "The succession crisis!" Nut Loaf snapped. There were bags under his eyes and his mane could have used a comb. "Or were you somehow unaware that the royal family was murdered by the dragon ravaging my lands?" "I... yes, I heard about that." Celestia replied awkwardly. She glanced over to The pegasus Lord Storm Mane and unicorn Lady Fire Ruby, but they seemed to be too busy insulting each other to pay any attention to the tardy Princesses. Nut Loaf followed Celestias gaze to the other two nobleponies. "So you just decided to leave it to me to keep these idiots from starting a civil war?" His irritation showed no signs of lessening, but at least it was no longer wholly directed at the alicorn sisters. "A war? Why?" Celestia cried in alarm. "Because they both think that they are the only one fit to rule Equestria." Nut Loaf replied, his frown deepening. "And both of them would make a mess of it if they did." Luna finally spoke up. "But you said that the situation was resolved." "Yes." Lord Nut Loaf sighed and some of his anger drained away leaving a pony that just seemed very tired. "I managed to convince them to agree that we would all swear fealty to whoever killed the beast that murdered the royal family." "What?" Celestias startled exclamation caused the other two bickering nobleponies to glance at her, but they quickly resumed their argument. "I know, it's not ideal." Nut Loaf continued. "But it's a better use for their armies than killing each other. And if somepony doesn't deal with that dragon soon then it won't matter to my ponies who rules Equestria." "But we already killed the dragon!" This time Celestias cry caused the arguing ponies to stop and stare at the princess. Nut Loaf also stared at her for a long moment. A smile slowly formed on his face, and he began a deep, long laugh. "It's not funny!" Celestia began to panic. "I can't rule Equestria! I don't know what to do! I'll mess it up! I'm no good at being in charge! I'm not even a real princess! Luna, tell them!" "I don't know." Said Luna thoughtfully. "You're pretty good at telling me what to do." She added with a smirk. Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Fine then. If you think this is so funny, you can rule Equestria with me." "What?" Luna gave her sister a surprised blink. "You were there with me. We killed that dragon together, remember? Besides, you're better at this stuff than I am." Celestia replied. "And what makes you think that I would bow to either of you?" Lord Storm Mane snapped. "The fact that you gave your word that you would." Lord Nut Loaf replied sharply. "Or do your oaths mean nothing to you?" "And what of the oaths given by the honorary princesses?" Asked Lady Fire Ruby. "If I recall correctly, they swore that neither of them would become queen." "We did?" Said Celestia with a mixture of surprise and relief. "...And we shall take no title higher than that which has been granted to us by our Lord the King." Luna quoted. "It was part of our oaths when King Keystone made us princesses, remember?" "Which means that you two are not eligible to rule Equestria." Lady Fire Ruby stated with satisfaction. Lord Nut Loaf frowned. "Technically, they could take the throne. They just can't take any title other than 'Princess'." Lady Fire Ruby snorted with derision. "A flimsy pretext at best." She stated. "The king would hardly have made that part of the oaths if he did not wish to keep them from usurping his line." "It's impossible not to usurp his line." Countered Nut Loaf. "With the royal line destroyed, anypony that takes the throne will be a 'usurper'." "Well I for one refuse to consider allowing these trumped-up commoners to rule over us." Storm Mane declared. "How do we even know that they have done what they said? The dragon could still be out there. I doubt that a pair of pampered so-called princesses would be capable of defeating such a beast." "You have no idea what we are capable of." Luna muttered darkly. "But if they are telling the truth?" Questioned Nut Loaf. "Will you keep your word and swear fealty to them?" "None of you have the power to enforce that agreement anyway." Storm Mane snorted. "So what then? You would start a civil war to enforce your claim to the throne?" Asked Nut Loaf. "Only if you fools refuse to acknowledge my claim." Storm Mane replied haughtily. "You have no claim." Lady Fire Ruby responded. "What on earth makes you think that the crown should be yours?" "Simple. I have the largest army of anypony here, therefore I have the best claim." Storm mane sneered. "What about the Princesses?" Nut loaf asked quietly. Storm Mane gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? They don't have any army at all." "What makes you think we need one?" Luna said menacingly. The light in the room seemed to fade. Shadows seemed to move in the corners. "As I recall, armies were of little use against Discord. You can see what became of him if you visit the Canterlot gardens." "Your magic might work well enough against one menace, but are you sure you can defeat an army of trained warriors?" Storm Mane blustered. Luna paused to carefully consider the question. Did she really think that the strange changes she and her sister were experiencing would give them enough strength to fight an army? The image of a dragon corpse with a blackened hole through its brain flashed through her mind. "Yes." She replied. "And they would not be alone." Nut Loaf added. "Because I, for one, intend to keep my oath." "But..." Lady Fire Ruby began a protest. "...oh, very well. I suppose I shall also keep our agreement." "What?" Storm Mane cried in surprise as he turned toward the noblemare. "As much as I would love to be queen, I am not willing to tear Equestria apart to do so." Stated Fire Ruby. "And aside from myself, I can think of nopony better suited to the position than the Fated Heroes of Equestria. The common ponies will certainly love it." Storm Mane looked back and forth between all the ponies that were now united against him as if searching for an option that would allow him to escape the increasingly inevitable conclusion. They stared back stonily until he finally lowed his head and spoke. "Fine. All hail Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, rulers of Equestria."
The NightmareCelestia staggered up the stairs, beaten and bruised. The feathers of her wings were ruffled and she limped with each step. However, her mane and tail continued to flare upward like the flames they so resembled, unconcerned with her sorry state. There was a loud crash from elsewhere in the castle. Celestia flinched. She looked around, fearing that her sister had found her. For several long seconds she waited as nothing happened. She relaxed and continued onwards. It was not long before she reached her goal, the Elements of Harmony. Celestia smiled to herself as she opened the chest that contained them.. It would be best to take all of them, she decided. She didn't want them to turn useless like the Elemnt of Magic had when she had fought the dragon. Of course, they wouldn't give her the power to kill her sister, but that was okay. They could be used in other ways to ensure victory. Celestia continued to smile to herself, thinking about where she would place her new Nightmare Moon statue. In the castle courtyard where everypony could see her victory perhaps? In the gardens with Discord? Or... Celestia glanced out of a window at the night sky. Her smile broadened. She had a better idea. She heard the clopping of hoves behind her. When she turned around she saw the pony that had taken to calling herself Nighmare Moon. "Ah, there you are Celestia. Were you attempting to hide like a coward? It would be the smart thing to do, but smart isn't your usual style." Nightmare moon smirked at her. "Are you ready to bow before me and submit to my rule?" Celestia refused to show any weakness, despite the fact that their last encounter had definitively shown that Nightmare Moon was stronger than her. "Actually, sister, I had a better idea. You see, you have inspired me." Celestia replied with a confident smile. "Oh?" Nightmare Moon frowned down at her elder sister. "Explain youself." "I am going to get rid of you and your beloved night. Once I have defeated you I will bring about an endless day." Using her telekinesis, Celestia levitated the Elements of Harmony around her head. "Really, I don't know why I didn't think of this before." "Wait. Are those the Eleme-" A beam of pure white light shone from Celestia's horn and struck Nightmare Moon in the chest. Nightmare Moon screamed in outrage. Celestia tuned it out, focused on ending her sibling rivalry problem permanently. Nightmare Moon writhed and cursed in the beam of light but was unable to escape it. Helpless, she lay pinned to the floor. Celestia realized something was wrong. The Elements were resisting her. She focused harder and felt a slight give in whatever was blocking the full release of power. Nightmare Moon was saying something now, but Celestia didn't pay any attention to it. She needed all her concentration to overcome this resistance. She could feel it weaken under her relentless assault. Just one more push and... Something broke. **************************************************** Celestia groaned as consciousness returned to her. Her head ached and her thoughts didn't seem to be flowing the way they should. She struggled to think of what she should be doing. Something about Luna? Celestia slowly raised her head and looked around the ruined room, brushing limp pink hair from her eyes. Where was Luna? Why did the room seem bigger than it should? And what caused those massive holes in the walls? Celestia lurched to her hooves and stumbled over to the largest hole feeling very weak. Her eyes gazed through what should have been solid stone into the night sky. Looking up she could see Lunas's moon hanging in the sky. Something was wrong with the moon. Celestia's heart beat faster and her breathing quickened as she stared at the image of a mare that had seemingly been burned into the surface of her sister's favorite feature of the night sky. Memories came rushing back along with a sickening sense of guilt. "No. Nonono... nonononono..." Celestial backed away from the sight mindlessly. This had to be a bad dream. She would never do that to her loving sister. She would never use the Elements to... The Elements! Hope flared in Celestia's chest. If the Elements of Harmony were capable of banishing her sister to the moon, then they should be able to bring her back. They could probably even fix the strange madness that had afflicted her. Everything was going to be ok, she told herself. Everything could be fixed. Celestia rushed back to the place where she had woken up. She could see the gemstones glittering dimly in the moonlight. As she got closer she slowed her mad scramble and attempted to calm herself. Was this all of them? Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Magic... wait. Horror gripped Celestia's heart as she looked at the massive crack in the Element of Magic. She remembered the sensation of something breaking as she banished her sister. The Elements were the embodiment of friendship and she had used them to drive away the one pony she cared about most. She had broken the Elements of Harmony. Celestia clung to a tiny spark of hope. Maybe the damage wasn't so bad. Maybe she could get one last use out of them to bring her sister back. Carefully, she reached out with her telekinesis to pick up the Element of Magic. The moment the Element of Magic left the ground it split completely in half. The two halves hovered for a second before crumbling into dust which was blown away on the wind. As she watched the remaining Elements transformed themselves from glittering gemstones into lifeless rocks. Celestia could have sworn her heart had done the same. Completely stripped of hope, Celestia hung her head and let the tears come. Brokenly, she wept for the sister she would see every night but never again hold. Author's Note Those of you that have read some of my other fics may have noticed that this chapter is a slightly edited version of the prologue of Immortal Madness. That doesn't mean that I intend to go the same route with this. Immortal madness was intended to be an epic adventure, but after a few chapters I realized it wasn't actually very good. I did like the premise though, so I scrapped that story for parts and started over again from an earlier point.
Additional Changes"Luna, what on earth happened to your guardsponies?" Celestia questioned with a small note of alarm in her voice. The guardsponies in question looked something like dark grey pegasi, but with black, batlike wings instead of feathered ones. "Impressive, huh?" Luna replied cheerfully. "I made them wings out of shadows and moonbeams." Celestia frowned and took a closer look. "I don't see why you bothered." She replied. "We already have pegasi guardsponies. Enchanted wings or not, there's no way an earth pony will be able to fly as well as a pony that has been doing it their whole life." "Yes, but my pegasi keep falling asleep on duty." Luna replied with a frown. "Unicorns too. The earth ponies seem have better stamina. Besides, if I promise enchanted wings to my guardsponies, I might actually get some ponies that want to be in the lunar guard." Celestia gave her sister a puzzled look. "Being in a princesses personal guard is a highly prestigious position, or so I'm told. I would have thought that any guardspony would want to be in the lunar guard." "No, they want to be in the solar guard." Luna replied. "The lunar guard is second pick. Nopony works all night and sleeps during the day if they can help it." She paused before adding "It doesn't leave much time for family." "Ah." Celestia responded awkwardly. An uncomfortable silence followed. "I'm thinking I will need to make an enchantment for their eyes too." Luna finally said. "When we were testing the wings last night they kept on flying into things in the dark." "I'm sure you will figure it out." Celestia replied encouragingly. Luna looked away from her sister and her gaze became distant. "I was brushing my tail earlier, and I noticed something. I think my cutie mark is getting bigger." "Your what?" Celestia blinked in surprise. Luna turned so that her flank was clearly visible to her sister. "You see the black part? I think it's spreading." "Huh." Celestia commented. "I don't have anything like that happening, although I think my mane is shifting color again." "The new colored streaks, or all of it?" Luna queried. "All of it." Celestia replied. "At least I think so. It's bit hard to tell yet. And I think it's 'blowing' harder than it was before." "Hmm. I haven't noticed any new changes in mine, but I will keep an eye on it." said Luna. "You haven't figured out what is causing it yet, have you?" asked Celestia. Luna shook her head. "No, but it doesn't bother me as much anymore. It doesn't seem to be harmful, whatever it is." Author's Note I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, but it conveys everything I wanted it to, and I don't like adding words just to stretch things out.
