“And so, by the power invested in us, we grant, Dike, daughter of Nox Star, and Brilliance, son of Cobalt and Golden Vein, bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the titles of prince and princess, in reward for their courage and service to home and country during the events of Nightmare Night. These titles are for them and for their progeny to be remembered for all of history.”
A great fanfare of trumpets erupted as from the Grand Hall of Audiences entered two regally dressed ponies. The stallion, a young golden earth pony wearing a white military coat with bronze buttons, leftover from his short stint in the guards, tall, lean, and powerful looking, smiled modestly, in an effort to meet all the eyes in the room. Visibly baffled at whom he had smiled at and who he hadn’t, his bright green eyes sparkled as he shrugged, flipped his chestnut brown mane (always the golden boy), and walked to the throne.
Dikes ascent to the feet of Celestia was much more sedate and regal, much like Luna’s had been, the Princess recalled. She wore a trailing white gown, the same color as her mane, bony off-white, inlaid with pearls and golden embroidery around the bodice, and down the hem of the train. Seams of the same color of the dress streamlined her back. (this was the Magnum Opus of the greatest clothier of the time, Glitter Belle. She later went on to claim, as her popularity faded, that the muse had simply vanished after the making of this dress.) Both wore their elements around their neck, Dike’s burden being a golden choker bejeweled with a glittering scale, half ruby, half heliodor (her aunt’s favorite), and Brilliance’s a medallion on a long golden chain, bearing a strange beryl stone (at the time it appeared to be an emerald), and a sapphire, two halves of a tenor clef.
“We also make each head of house, to pass their title to their progeny to the end of Equestria.”
The crowd hushed for just a moment, whispering amongst itself. Celestia herself had borne the element of Generosity (as well as the sixth element), but this seemed too generous. Never had a stallion been designated a head of a noble house, except in dire circumstances. Not to mention their parentage! Brilliance’s parents owned a refinery of rare metals, wealthy, but seen as crass, and earth ponies to boot; as for Dike, well, Celestia knew who her mother was, but her father was Chief Steward of the Palace, a servant, and also an earth pony.
If the princess felt their discomfort, she did not show it. Making no effort to amend what she had done, she called the two up the steps.
“Kneel before us for the last time.”
Both ponies, though shocked and slightly embarrassed at the action, obeyed. Celestia touched the tip of her horn to Dike’s forelock, at the base of her horn, and to Brilliance’s forelock, placing her right hoof on their left shoulder in turn. Removing herself she bade them rise.
“We pronounce you prince Brilliance and princess Dike, our nephew and niece.”
All eyes were immediately upon the new princess, so very small for her age, as she turned to them and addressed them with a nod. She turned to her best friend, co-defender of Equestria, a real smile on her face, something he hadn’t seen in a long while. He couldn’t help but smile back, open-mouthed as he was. The pair walked back up the aisle together, managing to keep their conversation unnoticed as they nodded their heads to the many cheering ponies, trying to acknowledge all that they could.
“We have a lot to be thankful for today, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” The mare answered quietly.
“I mean, to finally be claimed as family, if only by assumption. Titles. It’s a little overwhelming isn’t it? And amazing. Never thought I’d get in on this. Silver Step is going to be so--”
“’Lance?”
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” She paused, and gave him a very eloquent look. “We have time to talk later. Why don’t we just sit back and enjoy?”
“You know as well as I do that we are going to get hounded by well-wishers the moment we step out of here, most of them looking for royal favors. Welcome to the rat race, and all. So, I would rather get in a few words edge-wise here, than get it all misconstrued trying to shout over a crowd.”
Dike managed another look that seemed to say ‘Like you’re doing now?’, and answered “You talk too much.”
“Maybe.”
“With this,” Celestia boomed, “we conclude the final ceremony in the Royal Palace in the City of the Royal Pony Sisters.” Symbolically, she dropped the Royal we, dropping all the connotations of dual rulers, no more 'sister and I', “I beseech you, my little ponies, let us leave this place of sadness and destruction, and move forward into a bright new age of hope, prosperity, and of harmony.”
Thunderous applause; no one wanted to be left behind in a city cursed by memory. The Sun Princess smiled.
“Let the exodus begin! Onward to Canterlot!”
Three days later, after the final audience had been granted and all officials and citizens had been quickly removed to the new capitol, three ponies and a small contingent of guards were all the life that remained. Everything was empty, clean and pristine, giving the eerie effect that perhaps the owners would return. But nopony was going to come back here, not for a thousand years.
In the hall of the elements, Celestia, Dike, and Brilliance stood in the pace they had three years prior, facing the greatest threat to Equestrian society since Discord. It was in that place the elements chose their bearers, and true friendship was tested. It was there a princess lost her throne. Dike tried violently to shut out the flashbacks that plagued her, all in vain. Tears dripped from her eyes as she tried to stifle herself, mind wandering to the hated Nightmare Night.
“Luna, you don’t have to do this. Come back home, fight this monster. We can forget this ever happened.”
“Can we though?” the inky black caricature of grandeur rebutted. “Oh, sister. Now you feign appreciation, but the truth is, you fear me. Nobody loved Luna. Nobody but the Nightmare.”
“That is a lie! What about us? Celestia, your sister, came to talk to you, to get you back before you hurt yourself. Dike, your daughter, forever willing to take you back. Nox. Myself. We only want to help you.”
The Nightmare wheeled on Brilliance, scowling. “Half-truths. You do not know us, earth pony. Our sister came here to make sure we did not steal the elements away from her, and further more she is the one who wrote the curfews that kept ponies out of my night! The love of a child is foalish. It is not enough. Soon, Nightmare Moon will make all the ponies love her.”
“Foalish? You think a daughter’s love is foalish?” Dike stepped out from behind her aunt, pain and betrayal showing their wounds in her eyes. The nighmare seemed to struggle within itself, suppressing something. Dike took that chance to run to the thing that was once her mother and nuzzle her.
“Please, come home mommy. We still love you. We need you.” For a moment, the black alicorn seemed to respond to the affection, bending her neck around Dike’s. Then, two shocks of sharp pain rocketed down Dike’s neck, to her hooves and tail. Screaming, she felt herself lifted from the ground, and hurtling through the air, stopped suddenly by the appearance of the pedestal of elements. She and the Elements of harmony fell to the ground.
“Dike!” Three voices cried at once. Brilliance was the first to her side.
As of their own volition, the stone spheres began to orbit the three against nightmare moon.
To dike, all that remained was a blur. The light came too quickly; the last clear memory of the even she had was watching the rainbow colored light dissolve away the feline eyes and black hide, leaving her mother’s teal eyes, pained and panicked by what she had done, crying and screaming as she was sent to the moon.
The sixth element had disappeared as quickly as it appeared, a mystery to all but Celestia. No one else had taken note; Dike was too busy pawing the earth, looking for something, anything that remained of her mother, desperately fighting Brilliance’s strong forelegs as she stamped the ground with a hoof over and over again.
Suddenly, Dike felt herself being held tightly. Thinking it some malevolent ghost or memory, she struggled to get free, until she recognized the golden fetlocks stroking her mane. Uncharacteristically silent, Brilliance pulled the sitting mare into his shoulder. She could bear it no longer; the sobs escaped her body, shaking her like a leaf, burying her head deeper into her friend’s chest.
Celestia could do precious little for her niece. There was still too much pain in her heart to properly comfort her. All they could do was leave the pain behind.
“It is time.”
Dike levitated her and Brilliance’s elements back to the pedestal: Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness. Celestia did the same with Generosity. Immediately they reverted to stone form. Here they would be stay; here they would be safe.
Royal guards waited outside to escort the new nobles back to the capitol and their homes, and were soon off. The Princess, they explained, had to say her goodbyes alone.
Of course, she wept. This was the home she had shared with her sister for most of their lives, and as long as it stood it would be a painful reminder of her immense mistake. Luna had been so hungry for love from her subjects; it was foalish to think that anything would ever be enough. Nothing could condone her actions, but they could have helped sooner, instead of playing the game of ‘everything is fine’.
Before she could set the sun and raise the moon, one very important task had to be completed. Celestia had to clear the slate of this tortured land. Flying high above the towers, and using the last bit of sunlight she could channel, she broke the magical wards that had kept the forest in check for so long.
“I name you, forest, Everfree. Grow in your tangles, hide the strange fantastic creatures we ponies fear that you once sheltered. Be the buffer between the old and the new. Erase the misdeeds of the past, and safeguard the relics of harmony and the magic of friendship!”
With those words, she dropped the sun into the western horizon, hiding from prying eyes the resurgence of growth and the silent call on the wind to estranged animals, come home. In time, the city’s and the forest’s original names would be lost, and all memory of the events of a thousand years past would disappear. The last tear slid from Celestia's cheek, falling to earth with a profound silence. The twilight lasted for what seemed like forever as the alabaster alicorn flew the short journey north to Canterlot.