Prologue
The former Princess Luna gazed over the Everfree Forest from her room in the old castle as night settled over the land of Equestria. Normally such a sight would have been a welcome momentary release from her envy and hatred, but her sister had taken on the responsibilities of the night, and was now in charge of both the celestial bodies. Now, as she watched her beloved moon creep up into sky, without her…
She ground her teeth and her mane and tail thrashed at the thought of it being handled by her dear sister.
With a scoff she turned and paced back into the interior of her new home. After the dealing she had had with… well, after she had changed into Nightmare Moon and had disappeared into the forest, she had wandered aimlessly for some time before she remembered that Celestia had said something about there being a castle in the deepest part of the woods. It took a bit longer than she had thought previously to find it, but find it she did.
As the days passed with her living in self-exile, she had been experimenting with her new powers, learning to control them, to mold her mane and tail into weapons. She had also learned that she was able to turn herself into a cloud of darkness, and slip through the night silently, even being able to change her own form and to enter other sentient beings’ consciousness.
She became convinced that there was no possible way Celestia was able to do these things. Celestia had never had to go through the hardships she had endured. She had never been so deeply in love with somepony that she would have died for them, only to have that same person crush your heart and soul in one fell swoop.
No. Her elder sister had never dealt with the heartache and anguish she had lived with since that night. Anger had given her a new insight into a newer, more powerful kind of magic. And she was positive that with this magic, she would be able to beat Celestia and take control of Equestria.
Then the night would last forever.
Nightmare Moons’ dragon eyes glinted with malicious pleasure as the thought of eternal darkness waltzed through the most intimate corners of her mind. She could think of nothing more beautiful than the sight of endless stars and an unending moon hanging in the sky.
Her hoofsteps echoed throughout the halls of the empty castle as she walked slowly to the room she had claimed as her sleeping quarters. She was still thinking of the best way to go about defeating the Sun Princess. Besides the obvious fact that even though she was more powerful than Celestia, the white alicorn would still put up a bit of a fight. Then there was the entire royal guard that she might have to deal with. But that could be dealt with easily enough. All she had to do was to get an army of her own. Some monsters in the forest along with some of the ne’er do well ponies scattered throughout the land; the malcontents, the exiled, mercenaries, ponies like that, and she would have a decent enough army to take with her to Canterlot.
Then it wouldn’t take long until she was Queen of Equestria.
The Mistress of Darkness sighed as she crawled up into her bed, thoughts and plans buzzing around her head like so many bees. She would have to make sure everything was perfect, that every angle was thought of, that every discrepancy was accounted for before she could even think about making her first move.
She wasn’t worried though. Celestia had never been one for any sort of fighting, even when they were fillies. While Celestia had always tried to solve everypony’s problems through diplomacy and negotiations, Luna had always preferred things to be handled a little less… tactfully. Show of force was the only real way to make sure anything got done the way you wanted it. So even if, When, Nightmare Moon corrected herself, Celestia tried to smooth things over with talking, she had the upper hand, no matter how she looked at it.
Another sigh escaped her mouth. She couldn’t help but remember the good times while thinking about when they were younger; when she and Tia were the best of friends. But when their parents died and Celestia had taken up the mantle of responsibility until Luna could help… they had started to drift apart. Celestia began spending less and less time with her in order to do her duties as Princess. It had hurt her more than she had thought.
And finally when Luna was old enough to become the caretaker of the moon, the ponies of Equestria shunned the gift she had given to them night after night.
Nightmare Moon’s brow furrowed as she frowned. Honestly, what was so great about the sun anyway? How is it that everypony thought that her sisters’ work was so much better? They knew nothing about beauty.
But again, that would all change soon enough.
In the morning she go out and collect warriors for her army. She would travel cloaked, hidden from the world as she visited the seediest bars, the filthiest hovels, and the darkest holes for any and all ponies that she could use against Celestia. Money would buy the loyalty of most of them, and those who couldn’t be bought… she could always persuade to see things her way, just another benefit from her new powers. And next would come the beasts; hydras, dragons, timber wolves, manticores, minotaurs, and anything else she could find.
Her grin was chilling as she thought of the entire population of Equestria bowing at her feet and finally giving her and her night sky the respect and reverence that they deserved. Before the season was out, it would come to pass. She was sure of it.
“And my dear, sweet sister… you’ll have the best seat in the house when I finally banish your sun; your rightful seat… under my hoof.” Her laugh was ominous and menacing as it reverberated through her room and out into the night.
Tomorrow, her revolution would begin.
“No, no, no! Absolutely not!”
Celestia was furious. The members of her council were insisting that she do something that was impossible. They wanted her to confront her sister, and destroy her.
The pony making the argument, a pegasus named Barricade, her Captain of the Guard, slammed a hoof on the table. “But Princess, surely you can see that as long as your sister, now turned evil, is out there, the possibility of her staging an attack on the castle and the ponies of your kingdom is well above something that might happen. Indeed, I say it is safe to assume that it is going to happen, and soon!”
The rest of the council all grumbled their agreement as they heard the Captains’ speech. As soon as Celestia and Luna had defeated Discord and the newly born Nightmare Moon had disappeared, the whole castle had become a hive of action as the ponies demanded that she be dealt with.
And still Celestia would hear nothing of it.
“Believe me Captain; I am fully aware of what my sister has become and what she is capable of. But there is no chance that I will go after my own flesh and blood in such a manner.” Using her magic, she picked up the two tiaras holding the Elements of Harmony and placed them on the table. “Luckily when Luna left, she discarded her three Elements, giving us more of a chance to help her see what she has become and turn her back to her real self.” She turned and looked at the most powerful unicorn at the table, besides herself, Starswirl the Bearded. “Starswirl, surely you can help me think of a way to use these to help her.”
The old unicorn only sat for a moment, stroking his infamous beard in thought before answering. “It is indeed a possibility that we might be able to help her using the Elements, but seeing as we know very little of their power, or what they or your sister is capable of, it will take time to figure out just what exactly it is that we can do.”
Celestia closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “And time is something that is not on our side.” She picked her head up and looked at the Captain of the Guard. “Captain, double the security; I want everypony on full alert and every member of the army has a partner from now on. Also,” Her gaze turned deadly as she warned the Pegasus. “No harm is to befall my sister, you will only capture her. If she is hurt in any way, it will be your head. Understood?”
He saluted. “Yes Princess.” He and his Lieutenants turned and walked out of the council room.
The Princess of Day turned back to the other Councilponies. “As for the rest of you, you should make sure to stay within the castle walls until this is all over. Spread the word. Dismissed.”
She gathered up the two tiaras and started walking out the door. “Starswirl,” She looked over her shoulder and addressed the old unicorn. “Would you please join me in my study?”
“Of course Princess.” With a quick trot, the unicorn was at her side.
They walked in silence on their way to Celestia’s stateroom, neither having to speak, each knowing the severity of the situation and the dire consequences should they fail in their mission. The doors opened as they entered the room, and were securely closed and locked as soon as they were on the other side.
“These are troubling times old friend. First the business with that fiend Discord, and now, mere days after that battle, my own sister has turned into a wicked and twisted shadow of her former self and I am sure she is intent on total domination.” With a sigh, Celestia dropped the tiaras onto the table and seated herself, motioning Starswirl to do the same.
“And just how do you plan on confronting her, your highness?” The unicorn was stroking his beard absently with a hoof, his gray eyes practically swimming with the depth of his knowledge.
Tia could only shake her head. “I’m not sure,” She started. “I know she will not listen to reason, so she is beyond trying to come to some sort of an agreement with me. I do not want to hurt her, but I fear that might be a resort I shall have to consider.” Her eyes fell on the twin tiaras in front of her. “The Elements of Harmony might be able to help me, but I still don’t know enough about them to try them out. I don’t know how to control them, or even if I can. And if by some miracle I do gain control, what will happen to my sister? Will she turn to stone like Discord? I don’t even think they can be wielded by any single pony.” She laid her head and forelegs on the table as tears started to form in her eyes. “It’s just too much Starswirl. And I know that I could have prevented all of this if I hadn’t been so blind. If I had just paid her more attention.”
“Try not to let it all come down on what the cause might have been. There were many varying factors that simply proved to be too much. She was, shall we say, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” Starswirl conjured two cups of tea, setting them on the table. He had been one of Celestia’s closest friends and confidants for many years, as well as her partner for any magical experiments she was intent on trying. He knew her better than almost anyone, and he had never seen her brought to such a state before.
“I could have still done something!” The princess’s horn flared as she flung the contents of the table across the room, anger now starting to build up along with her sorrow.
With a huff of frustration and pain she pushed herself away and began pacing the circular room, her steps echoing off of the walls. “There were signs! More than signs! And right under my nose, no less! But still, I was unable to help her at all in the end. I couldn’t even reach the reasonable side of her that I know still lives and breathes in her heart.” She looked up at her friend, tears falling freely down her cheeks. “What should I do Starswirl? What can I do?!”
Starswirl wisely stayed silent for a moment, contemplating on what his response should be before answering. “It seems to me,” he started, “That you should continue with your original plan. Attempt to reason with her, and if that fails, well, drastic steps might indeed be needed to be called upon.”
Silent sobs racked Celestia’s body. She knew his words to be true. But it still pained her. Knowing her sister, she wouldn’t listen at all to reason. No words could be said now to alleviate the younger princess’ anger and feelings of betrayal. Slowly but surely, Celestia began planning for what her next step should be. And her plan started, and would more than likely end with, the Elements of Harmony.
Her agreement came out in a deep sigh. “Very well, I’ll see what I can do. But I still need to find out more about the Elements before I can do anything.”
Starswirl was already nodding and making his way across the room. “Of course, of course. There is something that might be able to help. I ran across something when you had first ordered me to research them.” Using his magic, he pulled down an old, dusty, broken tome from one of the highest shelves lining the room. “While perusing some of the older writings around the castle, I came across this.” He gently laid the book on the table and opened it to a page with a roughly drawn picture of a group of ponies wearing a multitude of animal skins in a cave. On the opposite page there was what looked like directions or coordinates.
“What is this?” Celestia asked.
“This…” Starswirl gently laid a hoof on the book, “This tells of a pony living deep within Froggy Bottom Bogg. Supposedly this pony is said to be descendent of the very first ponies to discover Equestria and therefore knows its oldest and most closely guarded secrets.”
“And you think this pony knows more about the Elements of Harmony?”
Starswirl shrugged. “I couldn’t say. But it is worth a shot. Not to mention it’s the best option that we have thus far.”
It was a few minutes before Celestia spoke again. One could practically hear the gears turning in her head. She took another deep breath and looked at Starswirl. “Pack for a trip Starswirl; we leave at dawn.”
