Forgotten Dawn

"Bow down to your Queen, little ponies!"

Phaedra snarled and crackled with unparalleled power. Her mane and tail wafted towards the ceiling, feeding on the heat around it. She loomed over the two smaller ponies, and they took a few steps back. Luna stared up at her once sister, and all the feelings she had shoved down and pushed away came swarming back into focus.

And she was angry.

"You think you can just waltz in here, and expect me to listen to you? After all you've done? You killed so many innocent ponies, and burned down their homes. You don't deserve that title. You call yourself a queen, but you are nothing more than a spoiled brat! Look at the Elements! Look at your Elements! See how tarnished they are? You did this to them with your cruelty, your selfishness and your disloyalty. Celestia, what have you done?"

Luna's anger faded away with her moment of bravado as Phaedra rose up to her full height. Lightning crackled and shot around the room with booms and crashes. Phaedra called on even more power from the sun, bringing the temperature from unpleasant to boiling.

"Celestia is gone, little Luna! I am all that is left of her. All the parts that were worth keeping. Those Elements are worthless! They held us back! Now I have true power, and you would be a fool to ignore me! I can kill you a flick of my hoof. A tiny fraction of my magic can remove you from existence. You and and your friend are worthless, ants beneath my hooves! I...urgh."

Phaedra grimaced and fell to her knees. Lightning shot over her body, burning her coat and singeing the flesh underneath. There was too much power contained in too small a place. That much power was never meant to be held by a single living pony. Phaedra called out behind her.

"Get in here! Stop them from reaching the Elements of Harmony!"

A grey unicorn with burning bright eyes bolted into the room. He wore a blue gown and hat with bells on it, and they clattered and clanged and he charged. Luna recognized him immediately.

Swirling Star, Grand Mage of the University of Magic. Father of the amniomorphic spell, and other high power attack spells. He was one of the most dangerous ponies of the time.

And he was under Phaedra's complete control.

Swirling Star galloped towards the two smaller ponies, how he knew where they were Luna had no idea, but she took to the air with Ulysses just as he reached them, cutting them off from the Elements. The Grand Mage opened himself up to the flow and shot spell after spell anywhere, everywhere, trying to hit what he could not see. Ulysses dived down and smashed his hoof into Swirling Star's hat, hitting his horn and stopping the spells abruptly. Swirling Star fell to the ground and growled as Ulysses pounced. Luna landed next to Phaedra as she trembled under the weight of the sun's full power.

"Celestia..."

Phaedra gnashed her teeth together and tried to stand. Swirling Star rolled over Ulysses and held him to the ground. His horn lit up but Ulysses grabbed it in his mouth and pulled, throwing the mage off him, and pulled himself up before charging at the unicorn.

"Celestia. Please. We grew up together. We watched generations of peaceful ponies grow and live and die. We haven't fought like this since Discord. Things have gotten bad again- real bad- because we're fighting. We've lost Harmony, sister, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to restore it."

Phaedra gasped and her pupils turned to pin pricks.

"Luna... I..."

Luna smiled stepped closer. Maybe things didn't have to be terrible after all. Maybe they could fix this-

Luna howled in agony as as something sharp penetrated her neck. A horn- a grey horn, had cut through her flesh as if it were nothing. Luna turned her head and looked at Swirling Star, who stood next to her, covered in her blood. She saw Ulysses form laying very still on the ground. The world seemed to grow darker and she fell to one knee.

No.

Betrayal...

There was no way... She never thought... Her sister...A monster...

But she was. Now there was only one way to restore Harmony.

Luna slowly got to her feet. She felt herself growing weaker by the second, her life's blood draining away through her neck. She breathed deeply and walked past Swirling Star, who was rooted to the spot. Whether Phaedra had lost control or he was fighting against it, she had no idea. She didn't care. She just put one hoof in front of the other until one clattered against the other and she fell. She saw red trickle towards Phaedra, but she was beyond feeling any pain now. There was just a fog and a fuzzy cold feeling in her neck. She saw Phaedra struggle to her feet and start walking towards her. This filled her with fear,but she couldn't remember why. There was just the world getting less and less clear...

Some instinct deep down inside lit up Luna's horn, the instinct for self preservation. One spark, tiny and weak, fluttered out from her horn and floated towards the six gemstones on the ground. It brushed against one before fading out of existence.

Then Luna's world began to shine.

The fog rushed away and clear understanding flooded in. Her elements filled her and lifted her up above the ground, buoyed up with the promise of restoring Harmony. Time slowed down as to become almost still, and Luna took a second to watch Phaedra's mane ripple upwards so very slowly. A clear voice spoke up from somewhere in the depths of her mind.

Welcome young Star Watcher. We know what you need to do.

"I just want to get my sister back... I need her more than I realised. I would do anything!"

Luna's elements paused for thought. They seemed hesitant.

We... Cannot do that. Your control over Us is not complete, and divided. You also lack control over all of Us. The other Elements have been almost completely corrupted by Phaedra's dark thoughts and actions. We can't stop her.

"But there must be something you can do! You're the Elements of Harmony! You're Honesty, Laughter and Magic. You have to do something. You're the only thing left that can help her."

Luna bowed her head and closed her eyes. She missed Phaedra's horn start to light up and glow. Luna's elements spoke up once more.

There is... One thing We can do. While We lack the power to cleanse Phaedra of her evil, we can keep her safe until the time comes when there is someone capable of controlling Us properly. We can also keep Our other parts safe until that time comes. We do not know how long it will take to find a new Bearer of the Elements, but when We do they will be strong enough to reunite you with Celestia.

Phaedra had finished preparing her spell. A beam of bright white light slowly made its way towards Luna, burning the air around it.

"I'll do it! I'll do anything! I just want to see Celestia again..."

Very well.

Just before the beam of light hit her, Luna opened her eyes and they shone with an intensity unseen by mortal eyes. A rainbow shot out of the six Elements and spread its light across the cavern, circling around the ponies. The rainbow speared the burning light spell and it scattered across the room. Time returned to normal speed with a small pop and Luna felt energized, felt as if this was how she was meant to feel, in Harmony with her body, mind and soul. She smiled, and then turned to Phaedra.

Or what used to be Phaedra.

In the middle of the swirling rainbow sat Celestia, looking more alone and vulnerable than Luna had seen in decades. Celestia stared wide eyed at Luna, looking terrified.

"Luna! Where am I? What are you doing? Are those the Elements of Harmony?"

"Celestia-Celly, this is for your own good. For the good of Equestria. I'm so sorry."

Luna didn't know what to think. Was this really Celestia, or was it a horrible trick by Phaedra? Luna's eyes lost their intensity and she felt all her aches and pains come back. Her eyes grew teary and she bowed her head. How could she do this to her own sister? Her own flesh and blood, who'd stood by her side through the centuries, and held her when she was feeling her worst, or made sweet cakes on her birthday, and stayed with her when she couldn't sleep? What kind of monster does that to her sister?

Celestia's eyes turned cold. She spat at Luna.

"You are a fool to think this will stop me. You mean to kill me or cleanse me. Well I'm not the one that needs to be cleaned! It's you! You're a monster! A murderer! We're family Luna!"

"...I'm so sorry..."

The swirling rainbow spiraled one last time and then shot skywards, taking Phaedra with it. Luna refused to think of it Celestia. The light from the rainbow faded, leaving only the glow of the magma. The Elements had stopped shining and turned into stone. Luna wearily walked towards where Ulysses was laying. She nudged him with her horn and he stirred. The magic of the Elements had healed him, and it had at least stopped the bleeding from her neck. Ulysses started to stand up but almost fell until a coating of grey magic lifted him up proper and gently put him on his feet. Swirling Star stood off a little to the side, eyes returned to normal and looking guilty. Luna nodded at him and he bowed his head to her.

It was over.

They had won.

Then why wasn't she feeling any relief?

364 days later...

Luna woke up shivering and drenched with sweat. Another nightmare. She didn't have as much control over her night anymore- she'd been devoting too much energy to running a country. In the nightmare, she'd been the one to be consumed by evil, not Celestia. She had brought about everlasting night until Celestia had stopped her.

Celestia....

It had been a year since Luna had seen her last. Luna missed her every day, not just in the way she ran Equestria or raised the sun, but also in being the only pony who ever came close to understanding her. There was now no one like her at all, not in all the known world.

She just wished that Celestia would hurry up and come back. Luna needed her, more than she realized before. Every day felt like a thousand years. Luna shook her head to clear away the blue thoughts. She couldn't have them swarming around her head on a day like today. Today was going to be a day of celebration, not sadness.

The first months had been the hardest. Ponies wailing with grief, wandering around looking confused and scared and wondering why Celestia wasn't there to make everything alright. Luna tried to console them the best she could but she had other things on her mind, such as trying to keep the rest of Equestria from falling into anarchy. It was an impossible task to do by a single pony and Luna was lucky to have Swirling Star by her side. At least now the worst was over, and she could focus on rebuilding. Not only fixing broken homes and rooms in the palace, but the relationship between her subjects and the sun. Today was going to be the first step in fixing that relationship. Luna crawled out of bed and pulled on her ceremonial gown. She walked down the stairs of her tower and through several halls and corridors until she came to the main hall. She waited there until ponies started to trickle in and take their places around the hall. The ceremony was about to begin.

Luna smiled when the procession started and the group slowly made its way towards the very end of the room, where she was standing. The sides were lined with ponies, but not as many as Luna would have liked. There were still many ponies in mourning and cleaning up the last of the destruction. The main hall had finally been cleared of all the scorch marks and holes that had been made almost a year ago. Ponies were calling it the Eternal Day as the fires seemed to last forever, and burn so brightly as to replicate sunlight. Usually these thoughts would turn Luna's stomach but today was day for celebration. Normality had returned to Canterlot and the ponies insisted on a holiday from clearing rubble and burnt houses. Luna had agreed and today was the first annual Summer Sun Celebration. A short ceremony would take place and then Luna would raise the sun in front of every pony.

The procession stopped and one heavily armored pony walked a few more step before bowing towards the single princess. The figure knelt. Luna flipped a few strands of ethereal hair out of her face before she started speaking.

" Today is a day not for mourning and misery, but instead a day for remembrance and triumph..."

Luna was barely listening to what she was saying to the crowd. Her mind was elsewhere, thinking about the events that had transpired a year ago. It was only because of the gathered ponies around her, looking to her for support and guidance, that she did not start crying then and there. She had to be strong- for them. She discreetly looked up at the moon, which was still in the sky despite dawn being so close. Instead of its usually smooth surface it was covered in pits and potholes arranged to look like the face of a pony. An alicorn pony.

"So instead of fighting against the day I propose we instead look for more ways to use it to our advantage. There is still so much to discover..."

Luna had also grown a few hoof spans as well as getting her new hair. Her coat was also a dark blue. Luna had woken up a few mornings after the incident with all these changes, presumably during the night Swirling Star had put the old Elements into their final resting place. Luna had asked him to move them someplace far away, because they were no longer powerful, and mere trinkets to remind her about what had happened. They always brought up painful memories whenever she looked at them. Swirling Star had found them interesting enough however and she'd allowed him to write a book about them.

"Please rise, Prince Ulysses Blueblood, and celebrate the first annual Summer Sun Celebration!"

A great cheer rose up out of crowds and Luna opened her wings and few up towards the ceiling. Her shadow flew over a newly installed stained glass window of two ponies facing a figure of fire. Luna lit her horn and the sun appeared over the horizon. The sun was met with, for the first time, the cheers and applause from the masses.

The sunlight reflected off the stained glass window and for a fraction of a second, the eye in the fiery form was glinting.