Chapter 8
After a few moments of hurried preparation they set out, galloping beneath the stars along the winding path through the field behind Fluttershy's house toward the expectant blackness of the Everfree forest. Each carried one of the mysterious white stones in their saddlebags, along with other hastily gathered necessities for a trip into the unknown. They paused at the natural gateway formed by a pair of large, gnarled trees.
Dash turned to her fellow pegasus, her brushed steel barding gleaming in the moonlight. "All right, Fluttershy. You know these woods better than anypony alive. Lead the way."
The pale yellow mare ruffled her wings and took a cautious step forward, peering into the gaping maw of shadow before her and seeing nothing but vague, threatening outlines within. She'd never ventured into the forest at night, at least never without the softly gleaming, protective presence of Celestia at her side.
But now it was only her and five other frail, fallible little ponies, going forth in a desperate bid to come to the aid of her mentor. She pawed at the hazy line formed by the cold light of the moon and stars above shining upon the dirt of the path beneath her, working up the courage to take the first step on a very urgent and unexpected adventure.
Fluttershy became aware of a two softly glowing lights in her peripheral vision, one a purplish pink and one a pale blue, accompanied by the low thrumming sound of unicorn magic at work. She looked to see Twilight and Rarity smiling expectantly at her, their shining horns surrounding them with a cheerful light.
She felt the solid thud of earth pony hooves beside her, and turned to meet Applejack's earnest gaze. The blonde salesmare gave her a stern nod. "This is probably th' dumbest thing any of us ever did, but I got yer back. Let's do this."
A light, springy bounce of hooves on her other side made her turn to face Pinkie Pie. The frizzy maned waitress hopped in place, like a pink basketball being dribbled in anticipation of charging the hoop. "I laugh in the face of danger! But then again I laugh in the face of danishes, so take that with a grain of salt. Or don't, 'cos salt doesn't really taste good on danishes. Not even cheese ones."
Fluttershy smiled at them all, and felt that uncanny connection stronger than ever, stronger even than the feeling of safety she felt at Celestia's side. She drew herself up with a confident nod to her friends and beckoned them with a flick of her tail. "Follow me."
With that, they galloped headlong into the dark forest.
***
They came to a stop at the edge of a yawning chasm full of roiling mists. Across the way, the shattered spires and crumbling walls of an ancient castle stood, barren and stark like bones rising from the tangle of vines and scrub that choked its foundations, the shadows filling every vacant window and archway with a brooding air of menace.
The little band of mares had braved many dangers as they sallied forth on their expedition through the forest.
They had picked their careful way down treacherous cliff faces where a wrong step could potentially cause a deadly avalanche.
They had walked on tip hoofs and kept low as a huge carnivorous beast that shook the ground with its tread and caused the bushes to rustle and snap stalked past on a nocturnal hunt, the wickedly curving stinger of a giant scorpion tail arching beneath the treetops.
They had woven cautiously through the dense thickets and clattering groves of gnarled trees that seemed to leer hatefully at them with ghost lights flickering in the knotholes and crannies of their weathered trunks.
They had slowly forded a wide, chilly river, not daring to make a ripple if they could help it lest they draw the attention of a towering serpent who seemed preoccupied with grooming a flowing mustache that draped from the end of its snout.
All of these terrors, however, paled in comparison to the blank face of the moon that greeted them as they stepped out of the deep shadows cast by the trees and into its cold, unblinking light. The familiar profile of the Mare in the Moon was completely gone.
Twilight's ears levered back against her head as she stared up at it, the pale celestial orb hanging reflected in the wide irises of her eyes. "G... girls? D-d-do you see what I see? Or d-d-don't see up there?"
Dash lashed her tail as she hovered over her companions, her brow furrowed intently as she stared up at the vacant moon. "Looks like we got here just in time."
Applejack pursed her lips as she scanned the edge of the chasm. "Ya seem to be workin' from a totally different definition of "gettin' there" than I am, flathoof. How do we get across?"
Fluttershy pawed at the ground. "Celestia and I always just flew over."
Pinkies voice came from a few yards away. "Hey guys! There's a rope bridge over here!"
Rarity trotted over to join her, and the two mares craned their necks over the ledge. The alabaster unicorn gravely shook her head as her pale blue light illuminated the ancient support poles that framed the bridge's entry. "Well, half of one at any rate."
Rainbow Dash gave a nod and reached back to root through her saddlebags, bringing a forth a cardboard cylinder that she held between her fore hoofs as she tugged at a tab at its end. It flared with a bright, glaring white light that made the shadows around them flicker. Gripping it in her teeth, she turned to Fluttershy and jerked her head toward the chasm. "C'mon, lets see if we can find the other half and connect 'em up."
Working together, the two pegasus mares managed to locate the other half of the collapsed bridge and haul the two sides together, splicing the frayed ends with some high test cable from the Sky Ranger's emergency kit. With Fluttershy and Dash watchfully hovering overhead, the rest of the group made their way gingerly across the fragile, swaying span. Gathering on the far side, they trotted warily in through the ancient ruin's front gate into the overgrown courtyard beyond.
A distant sound of rumbling thunder echoed dully overhead as black tendrils of cloud snaked across the sky, spiraling toward a point over the castle.
***
Their hoof steps echoed on the cracked marble like pebbles clattering down the rocky face of a mountain, heralding a catastrophic landslide. Otherwise, all was deathly still, the very air seeming like it was holding its breath. The stars gleamed brightly overhead, illuminating the purple depths of the sky beyond the skeletal silhouettes of the castle's roof beams.
Twilight's voice was tiny, as if it she were speaking from far off even though she was all but huddling against Fluttershy as they all glanced furtively around the imposing ruins. "Where do you think she might be?"
The pale yellow pegasus replied with an undertone of uncertainty. "I don't know. Whenever I came to see her it was usually in the gardens she keeps outside the east wall. She never invited me inside the castle."
Most of them let out yells or squeals of alarm as a booming voice echoed against the crumbling walls around them. "That was because it is dangerous in here, tonight even more so than you mortals could possibly imagine! WHY did you come here?"
They wheeled, and saw her standing at the head of a grand staircase that was collapsing under the weight of the dirt and weather streaked marble of its own steps. Her pale, shaggy coat gleamed like a white hot poker in the moonlight, and her ethereal, multicolored locks flickered and danced around her head like fiery auroras. Her red rimmed, rose colored eyes flared as she descended with hoof falls they could feel all the way up their legs, the stones cracking and crumbling beneath her heavy tread.
Twilight's eyes went as wide as saucers and she pointed a shaking hoof at her, each successive breath wedging in her throat and causing a pileup as she tried to speak. "It's... hahhh.... it's haahhh... the... hmahhh...Whahhh! The Whahaaahhha hah hah. The whah mhhaahhh!" She let out a giddy, giggling wheeze before her eyes rolled back into their sockets and she toppled over like a flipped table with her legs held rigidly in the air.
Rarity let out a cry and was at her side in an instant, propping her up on frantic fore hooves as she shook her. "Good heavens! Breathe, darling! Breathe!"
She fell silent with the others, huddling back behind Fluttershy with her overwhelmed fellow unicorn hugged tightly to her chest as the towering creature came to a stop, regarding the little pegasus with a melange of anger, fear, and sadness playing across her features.
Fluttershy gave a tiny squeak as the giantess reached out a trembling hoof and lifted her chin, barely sparing the others a second glance. "Why are you doing this to me? Why did you not obey my wishes and stay away?"
The young mare smiled shyly up at her longtime mentor. "Because you taught me so much and gave me the strength and confidence to help whoever I could when the need arose. For probably the first time in a thousand years, you need somepony at your side. Maybe more than ever before."
A sob caught in Celestia's throat. "You... you are too little, and too late. You might think you are helping, but you have no idea the heartache you are causing me by coming here. I must face the Nightmare alone."
At this Twilight snapped out of her hyperventilating fit and shook out of Rarity's supporting embrace, clambering shakily to her feet. "A-alone, maybe, but not unarmed!"
She all but tore open her satchel, dumping one of the white spheres they'd carried through the dangerous wood onto the moss covered marble at the towering creature's hooves. "We brought you the Elements of Harmony! You can use them to defeat your sister again!"
Fluttershy's eyes flared as she rounded on her. "Twilight! Think about what you're saying!"
The lavender unicorn blanched to a pale shade of iris, and offered the incredulous White Mare a weak smile and a strained chuckle as she half crouched in an awkward bow. "I... I'm sorry. But... um... they can't hurt to have, right?"
Celestia took several staggering steps back, her mouth hanging open as one by one the little ponies turned out their bags and laid the softly gleaming white spheres before her. "You... you..."
Her eyes flared as the tips of her mane and tail flickered with tongues of flame. "YOU FOALS!"
Her face contorted in desperation and dismay as she glanced up at the crack of thunder that answered from the growing black clouds spiraling overhead, then looked back at the cringing little huddle of mares before her.
She fixed Fluttershy with a smoldering gaze. "The reason I hid the Elements in thy chicken coop is because I CANNOT USE THEM! My link to their power is severed since the night I wielded them to banish my treacherous sister! They are as dead to me as thy misguided ancestors who crowned me a princess lo these many ages ago!"
Fluttershy looked up at her, using all the courage she could muster to look her in the eyes. "But..."
Celestia emphatically shook her head. "No! You do not realize what you have done! I do not want to even think of what would happen if the Nightmare got the Elements of Harmony in her wicked clutches. As if Equestria were not doomed enough! I cannot allow it!"
Striking with the suddenness of lightning, she reared up with flaring wings and brought her front hooves down like a pair of sledgehammers, shattering the spheres into thousands of gleaming, multicolored shards. The six mares stared in wide eyed disbelief as the pieces rained down upon the cratered marble floor in a ringing cascade, bounced, scattered, and lay still.
The towering mare stepped over them and bent down to take her stunned protege in a brief hug. "I had hoped to spare myself this pain, of having to see the look on your sweet face as I said farewell, but alas it seems it is my lot to suffer. Goodbye, dear Fluttershy."
With that, she stepped back again and sparked her horn to life, its golden glow intensifying as spheres of sparkling light enveloped them all and lifted them off their hooves.
Twilight's voice rose in panic. "She's gonna teleport us!"
Dash shouted in desperation. "Wait, your highness! Don't do this!"
Fluttershy reached out with her hooves. "Celestia! P-please!"
The ancient, immortal recluse closed her eyes and looked away. "I am sorry. It is for the best."
A bolt of crackling energy so black it seemed like a mote of concentrated blindness slashing across everypony's vision slammed into Celestia's chest, sending her plummeting backwards with the force of its impact. She crashed into the staircase with a tremendous crunch, and lay still with splayed wings in a cloud of dust and loose white feathers.
The spheres of the teleportation spell flickered out and dropped Fluttershy and her companions back onto their hooves with a jarring clatter, and they turned as one at the sound of a mirthless, gutteral laugh, like the growl of a panther, coming from behind them.
The spiral of black clouds overhead irised open to reveal a starry void, and a dark winged silhouette descended from the hole in the night sky, thrown into sharp contrast but not illuminated by a cascade of lightning bolts that lit the underside of the vast blot of a thunderhead like blue flames.
A deep, feminine voice coalesced from the gloating laughter. "I would say I missed thee sister, but clearly my aim hasn't suffered much from a thousand years of exile."
The creature that alighted on the weathered flagstones was of the same towering height and impressive wingspan as Celestia, with an ebon horn of equal length to the reclusive giantess' pearlescent one, but otherwise she was a study in terrible opposites to the mare who had banished her a millennium ago.
She was glossy and sleek, like highly polished obsidian glass, and went girded in elegantly sharp edged armor that glittered like icicles in the strobing lightning. Rather than the gentle sadness and familiarity that Fluttershy had come to know in Celestia's gaze, the monster's turquoise eyes were slitted like a predator's, and the cold light of a sort of manic aggression danced madly in their deepest depths.
Nightmare Moon drew herself up imperiously and brought a hoof to the metallic peytral on her chest. "Behold, o unworthy subjects! Your TRUE ruler... has... returned?"
She trailed off, a note of uncertainty edging into her sonorous voice as she looked around the ruins of the castle for the first time. "But... something is amiss. Where are the stout walls and proud banners? I see nought but crumbling piles of stone and veils of ivy. Where are the clear fountains and bounteous gardens? I see nought but fetid pools choked with slime and tangles of thorns and brambles."
The dark figure advanced as the six young mares shied back in terror. "Where is my sister's court with all their pomp and pageantry? Where are the clever courtiers and learned mages? The proud knights and stallions at arms? The matriarchs, mavens, and mares-in-waiting? The trumpeters and troubadours? All I see is a small rabble of lowly peasants before me!"
Fluttershy recoiled into the midst of her small huddle of friends as the ancient enemy of day leaned in to Stare into her wavering eyes. "What has happened to my realm while I was gone?"
The Nightmare looked up sharply as Celestia's rough edged voice sounded behind the six little ponies, accompanied by the clatter of broken shards of marble as the elder sister climbed painfully to her hooves. "No longer your realm nor mine, sister."
Fluttershy caught the barest glimpse of something peeking out from behind the hatred burning in the dark giantess' turquoise eyes. "T-tia? You look terrible. What happened to you?"
In a flick of an ear it was gone again. "What have you done with your crown?"
Celestia met her long lost sibling's gaze as she made her unsteady way down the rest of the stairs. "I cast it aside after I banished you to the moon for your betrayal, sister."
Nightmare Moon's jaw dropped and her razor sharp wings drooped down at her sides. "Wh-what?"
She composed herself and gave her former co-ruler an archly deadpan look. "You're kidding... You're kidding, right?"
Equestria's erstwhile sun princess shook her head slowly. "I'm afraid not. Our former subjects have long since forgotten us, we are but legends and old pony tales to most of them now."
The tiny stars sparkling in the Nightmare's nebulous mane flared brightly as cold flames appeared in her eyes and her sharp pointed teeth clenched. "How dare you? How DARE you?"
She reared back, pointing an accusing hoof at Celestia. "You cast me into the moon for trying to take sole possession of the throne, and then once you have it you have the bottomless gall to dethrone yourself as soon as I am gone?"
The White Mare's eyes flashed with a manic gleam that flickered like a candle flame in their depths. "How dare YOU play the aggrieved one? You drove me to this! This is YOUR fault!"
Nightmare Moon brought her hoof down as thunder pealed overhead, causing the little ponies between her and her sister to flinch as they crouched in terror. "I spent a thousand years frozen in limbo, set like a mosaic into the face of my moon while your accursed sunrises trickled past like sand grains through an hourglass. All for nothing! It's not FAIR!"
Celestia's mane crackled and flared into coruscating whirls of red, orange, and yellow, her shaggy coat glowing like steel in a forge. "I spent those years living like an animal in the ruins you made of our palace, seeing to it that both sun and moon rose over a land that doesn't even remember our names. Do not whine to me of fairness!"
The swirling, sparkling nebula of the Nightmare's mane began to spiral like a funnel cloud over her indignantly raised head. Her voice deepened into a primal growl as her turquoise eyes flared with the piercing brightness of the lightning that crackled along her smokey tendrils. "I'm going to cast you into the sun, where I hope you burn in agony for eternity. Then I shall untether it from this world and send it hurtling into the outer darkness. Then, when my light is the only one that shines upon Equestria, I shall rule this realm as unchallenged Empress of the Eternal Night!"
Golden fire flared around Celestia's horn as she pursed her lips and gave an almost casual flick of her head. Huge slabs of the shattered marble staircase behind her, wreathed in the shimmering yellow glow, wrenched themselves free and flew at the shadowy creature, striking her with pile driver force before she could even let out a startled yelp. She flew across the vaulted hall, a limp silhouette among a hail of alabaster rubble, and slammed into the far wall, causing it to collapse in a heap beneath a bloom of billowing masonry dust.
The pale giantess ruffled her wings as she strode purposefully forward, a hopelessly grim expression on her face. Her gruff voice came with a coldness that belied her fiery aspect. "I'm not going to waste my breath talking about what I will do. By the powers, I see now that it is what I should have done lo these many centuries ago."
She paused, a distant look in her gleaming eyes, as Fluttershy reared up before her, her soft yellow wings spread wide as if to block her. "C-celestia, no! You... you mustn't! She's your sister!"
The towering alicorn's face softened ever so slightly. "Step aside, child. You know nothing of what transpires here."
Fluttershy didn't move, holding her head high as she gazed up at her mentor with tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "All I know is you're hurting each other, and you have to stop."
Celestia lashed her flaming tail. "As I said when first we met, filly, I do not have to do aught but what I deem be done."
Her own flickering red gaze intensified as fixed her protege with a forceful Stare. "Now... step... aside..."
The soft yellow pegasus hiked her tail and stood her ground, in spite of every instinct begging her to give way, to shrink back with a bowed head and an apology. The strident pleading of her shy, submissive heart was silenced as she felt the hoof falls at her side, and felt the presence of her friends standing around her once more.
Applejack peered out from beneath the brim of her straw boater with earnest green eyes. "Nothin' doin'! Ya don't treat family that way! All I'm seein' here is a stupid slap fight between two dizzy dames that oughta know better."
Twilight Sparkle raised her head and fixed the White Mare with a disdainful gaze. "I would have thought that two immortal demi-goddesses would be something more than a pair of bitter, squabbling old nags. I must say I'm very disappointed in you Celestia."
Rarity gave a toss of her mane and looked up at the hermit princess with a cool gleam in her eye. "You're both being terribly selfish. Forgiveness is a gift to both sides of an argument. And it certainly shows much more class than brawling like hooligans in a condemned building."
Pinkie hopped solemnly in place as she kept her limpid eyed gaze steady on the giantess' face. "Being angry is no fun at all! You should think about all the good times you had together rather than staying sad or mad about stuff that happened in the past! Or even better, have some new good times to give you more to remember!"
Rainbow Dash rose above them in a hover on her cyan wings, her smoldering glare fixed on her former ruler. "It's bad enough that you and your sister each turned on your own flesh and blood, but you're both letting down Equestria BIG TIME fighting like this. All we ponies in the guard wanted to do was look out for you! We kept the faith for a thousand years while you moped in the woods like a big baby foal! Then you just shove us aside like a spent rain cloud! Well I think that stinks on ice, and you better just check before you wreck, princess!"
Celestia quailed ever so slightly before the intense Stare of the six young mares who stood before her. She spluttered, a slightly plaintive note in her voice. "B-but... But I only did what I had to do... I..."
She looked up sharply at the sound of masonry sliding and clattering, to see the Nightmare unearthing herself from the rubble pile and lurching to her hooves, her ebon hide marred by grey dust and her gleaming armor dented and awry as she weaved on shaky legs.
With a final glance into Fluttershy's pleading face before averting her eyes from the gentle pegasus' steady gaze, she gave a small shake of her head and vanished in a spherical burst of golden light, appearing behind the brave little phalanx of mares. She flicked her tail as she advanced on her estranged sister, muttering half to herself. "Enough… I will not stand to be lectured by mayflies..."
The light eating blackness crackled around Nightmare Moon's horn as she narrowed her slitted, turquoise eyes and spat a pointed tooth on the ground before Celestia's advance. "My… My magic has waxed greatly with my wrath. You cannot hope to defeat me with my moon and stars ascendant above us!"
The White Mare scowled at her, the flames licking through her mane going brighter as she narrowed her eyes in return. "Shut up!"
With that she surged forward with a mighty beat of her wings that nearly blew Fluttershy and her friends off of their hooves with their backwash. She flew at the dark giantess and laid into her with all the force of her earlier onslaught of hurled marble slabs, striking her foe's ebon horn with a lashing hoof and dissipating the magic before it could be used to strike back.
The six mortal ponies wheeled and stared in horror as Celestia proceeded to brutally savage her sister, bludgeoning, beating, and biting with horn and hooves, wings and teeth.
Screeching in rage and shock, the Nightmare tried repeatedly to muster her dark magic, only to have it broken into tatters by a swift, resounding blow to her horn before it could fully manifest. Her sibling foe was fighting for keeps, bringing all the savagery of her rough life in the Everfree to bear.
Soon, the shadowy mare gave out and fought back on pure instinct, biting, gouging, and kicking her pale reflection as they rolled and thrashed in the dust and rubble amid flying feathers, scraps of ethereal gossamer, and splattering divine blood that smoked and hissed as it struck the stones.
Fluttershy's face contorted in anguish, and she rose above her cohorts on her soft yellow wings. She shouted at the warring immortals, louder than the thunder that cracked and split the roiling sky above. "STOP IT! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! STOP HURTING EACH OTHER!"
Her five friends and allies looked around them as the scattered shards of the Elements of Harmony began to gleam with multicolored light. They felt a buoyant feeling in their chests, that flowed to the tips of their hooves, horns, pinions, and every follicle in their manes and tails and lifted them off the ground as the mysterious connection between them vibrated with a growing surge of primal power.
Fluttershy's eyes glowed like beacons as that power expanded inside her, using her to give a voice to its clarion call. "You... have to... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!"
The shattered Elements of Harmony exploded into a blinding cloud of glowing, rainbow hued butterflies that filled their vision, fluttering their coruscating wings as they swarmed and whirled like a glittering cyclone. It spun and shimmered, enveloping the grunting, struggling, bruised and beaten alicorns before they even knew what had befallen them.
The winged colors swirled and coalesced into a purifying burst of all encompassing white light.
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That cliffhanger.
Ooo, that's different.
Oh, you.
Darn! That's an evil place for a cliffhanger, and no mistaking it. Even though the resolution is pretty much a forgone conclusion, it is still an evil place to finish. Can't wait for the next chapter (well, that's a lie; I can wait, I just don't want to).
Hm, interesting developments.
That's six prepositional phrases in a row. My grammar sense is giving me an aneurysm.
Also, here's to hoping this ends well. I'm kind of worried about Fluttershy's last words. Assuming the Elements have the power to change personalities in the interest of Harmony, that might not end well
Guess we'll just have to wait and see
3983746 What?
I did not see this coming. This is a really unique and original take on retelling the first episodes. Brava!!
3983908
I do not make that assumption about the Elements. They're not a mind control device. At most I view them as working like a dimmer switch on a pony's personality: upping the brightness, not changing the bulb.
And what is it about prepositional phrases that's pushing your pedantry pedal? Prepositions are where it's at!
Does this seem like she's forcing her will into others? Isn't that ethically wrong or something?
3983978
Ah. Well that's a relief
And sure, prepositions are great. But when you get that many in a row? It just starts to sound repetitive haha
3984269
I'm kinda nonplussed that this invocation of the EoH is flipping people's "mind control/personality alteration" switch.
I see it as a statement of an ideal that fits with Fluttershy's element of kindness and catalyses the Elements of Harmony. How is it different than Twilight invoking the spark of friendship and driving the darkness and resentment out of Nightmare Moon/Luna?
Maybe it's my worldview talking, but telling two sisters who are bludgeoning the crap out of each other with intent to maim & murder that it would be better if they treated one another with love doesn't seem that totalitarian to me.
I have to admit, I chuckled a bit at Nightmare Moon's entrance. If you didn't, you either have a low tolerance toward puns or probably just missed the joke.
I have to admit, I chuckled a bit at Nightmare Moon's entrance. If you didn't, you either have a low tolerance toward puns or probably just missed the joke.
Celestia has heeded the words of Tuco
3984314
It doesn’t seem fundamentally different from a bouncer getting two belligerent drunks to stop fighting, even if he has to beat the crap out of them to do it.
Also, many thanks to you for writing this story regardless of whether or not you intend to write more stories in the same universe later. It actually helps me feel more confident about my own.
3984384
"Um... Out you pixies go. Thru the door or thru the window... If that's okay with you..."
Flutterbouncer needs to be a thing.
YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE EACH OTHER
If that's alright with you I mean.
And poor Celestia and Luna... I mean... I just... this has to be one of the most tragic possible alternate universe in terms of how it depicts the aftermath of Nightmare Moon's rise...
OK, best case scenario, Luna and Celestia reconcile.
Worst case scenario, Nightmare Moon and the White Mare reconcile.
Either way, the Sisters are reconciled, but that doesn't leave the rest of Equestria free and clear yet.
3984539
I don't know, I'm kind of partial to your worst case scenario.
3984314
I'm not so much surprised that it's flipping some people's switch as that it would do so more than canon, which I sometimes feel dubious about but have learned to live with.
Also, because I feel like it:
In his prison of stone, dead Discord waits laughing.
Interesting choice to skip all the original trials of friendship.
That's an unusual choice it's nice to see Luna's still in there somewhere and cares for her sister.
Wow, those mares have balls (metaphorically speaking).
And, ouch that was a really beat down from Celestia, so if the 6 didn't turn up it just looks like Celestia would have killed Luna and then slumped into even deeper depression (Possibly even giving up moving the sun and moon) so depending on where this goes the story is actually more about Celestia's redemption than Luna's which is an interesting way of looking at it.
3984751
If you look at it from the perspective of the nightmare as a malevolent, invading entity, this still isn’t about flipping personality switches. After all, who to say that a malevolent, invading entity is restricted to influencing only a single pony at one time?
Ouch, that was brutal... and not in the metal kind of way...
3984920
No canon support for that one, though. No, the comics don't count, they've been shown to contradict show canon already. Evidence against is also sparse, I suppose but the 'origin story' in the myth lays the blame solely on Luna and no later episode, not even the flashback one ever mentions any other cause. Really, given hundreds of years, jealousy could easily fester into madness. Of course, myths can be inaccurate but the idea of a possessing entity was wholly made up by the fans and contradicts Occam's razor. Once you go down the path of making up invisible demons to explain bad events, that's a slippery slope.
The way I generally try to look at it is that madness can be thought of as a disease of the mind and the elements as a cure. Or basically really fast therapy.
3985164
I'm with you on this interpretation. It is my headcanon.
My viewpoint on the royal sisters (and I suppose alicorns in general) is that they are goddesses, but in the Ancient Greek sense of the term, wherein they're essentially "human" writ large with powers and authority beyond that of even kings and queens. They have flaws and virtues just like mortals but they are grand and melodramatic and affect things on a worldwide stage. A mortal's jealousy and resentment would make them act mean or petty to those around them, a goddess' jealousy and resentment would cause her to transform into a terrifying creature of darkness and threaten to plunge the land into eternal night.
I think there's plenty inside Luna's head to make her what she is. I don't really put much credence in shadowy possessing forces. (Although just you watch the show's runners make that the explanation someday.
)
"The devil made me do it." kind of subverts the idea of free will. In fiction I think a character is much more interesting if it's their own choices and views that make them do good or evil.
3984856
Well, since all the trials were caused by Nightmare Moon trying to keep them from getting the elements, and since circumstances in this story are very different (A: They already have the elements. B: Nightmare Moon hasn't arrived yet and hadn't defeated her sister and hadn't been privy to the Mane Six making plans to get the Elements in the library.) I thought it made sense.
I considered coming up with other angles on the trials, but it seemed like unnecessary padding to me. I hope giving more weight to the conflict between the sisters is a workable substitute.
If she wasn't and didn't the Elements wouldn't really have too much to work with.
Yeah, they did until Celestia busted 'em.
Yeah, one of them would have ended the other and things would have gone sharply downhill from there. The Celestia in this story is much weaker, emotionally, and more flawed than mainline canon. She succumbed to despair just as Luna succumbed to jealousy and spite. They were both in need of an attitude adjustment.
3984841
Well, just try to stay focused when a large horse is kicking you repeatedly in the forehead.
I'm not planning on dealing with it in this particular story, but maybe someday we'll just have to see what happened to ol' Ramshackle since there's no royal sculpture garden for him to be scaring the pidgeons in.
Off the top of my head I envision a huge warehouse full of crates a la the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but that's just one possible storage location.
3984539
Middle term: Both are turned into fillies with Fluttershy and the others as caretakers.
Tia: "Momma, Woona has stolen my cupcakes again!"
Luna: "Neigh! They belong to the Woona Republic!"
P.E: errata.
3985471
aught1
ôt/
archaic
pronoun
pronoun: aught; pronoun: ought
1.
anything at all.
"know you aught of this fellow, young sir?"
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3985476
Nice idea! In this version of the world, both Celestia and Luna have darkness of which they must be cleansed. I'm wondering what will be seen after the power of the Elements has passed? Maybe a filly!Celestia and filly!Luna that will need six very special ponies to care for them and help them find a place in this very different world?
BTW - Nightmare Moon came across in this as a petulant three-year-old... but then again, in so many ways, that is what she was, wasn't she? A jealous, petty younger sister ready to destroy everything just because "everypony loves my older sister more"! So, your characterisation of her here was just right.
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ABBALANCHE!
3986037 Oh wait, dragonshy reference right?
3985164
I’ll give you this one, without fuss. A big part of the issue, I think, is that there is no real explanation for what the Elements actually do. They turn Nightmare Moon back into Luna, and turn Discord into stone, and back to flesh again. They turn Twilight into an alicorn. The Element of Magic could have been used to turn Canterlot High into mind slaves of Sunset Shimmer.
Really, it seems less like the Elements actually do anything by themselves, and simply act as a focus that allows for a huge volume of magic to be effectively harnessed and controlled. They don’t “restore harmony,” but allow their bearers to “make harmony.”
I, actually think I like this interpretation, because it doesn’t cast the Elements themselves as explicitly good or evil. They are simply a tool, and everything that comes about from them is what ponies themselves make happen.
Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon not because Celestia wanted to, but because she wanted to protect her ponies, and all she could think of was sending NMN “some place far away.” She then had to deal with the consequences, for good or bad.
Princess Luna was restored because the Mane 6 wanted her to “go away.” The Nightmare was sent away, leaving Luna, and they had to deal with the consequences, for good or bad.
Discord was turned to stone because they wanted him to “be turned back into stone and not hurt ponies.” And then back to flesh because they “wanted him to release from his petrification.”
Twilight became an alicorn because her friends wanted “everypony to know just how amazing she was.” The Elements can hardly be faulted for turning Twilight into an alicorn instead of, you know, publishing her thesis on friendship when they were given such vague instructions.
3984744
Of course you do, down that path lies a longer, more dramatic story! And with a cliffhanger like this, I would be stupefied if this didn't go wrong SOMEHOW!
And I look forward to seeing our little ponies fix it.
Well, that's one way to activate the Elements: the desire to beat both sisters over the head with love and tolerance. I can't help but wonder who got what, since it seems Fluttershy may or may not have received Magic. That, or Kindness is taking the lead in this iteration.
In any case, I look forward to the aftereffects, especially since it seems both princesses are going to be experiencing an Element-engendered downgrade. Seeing how both they and Equestria react should be fascinating.
Also:
That is funnier than it has any right to be.
Huh, looks like this particular application of the Elements is a two-for-one special.
3990954 My slash fiction sense is going off.
3986037
3985395 of course, if it's "I let the Devil have the reins," then it is still the character's choice that decided things.
3994646
obligatory
3994735
Mayhap perchance this is so, but honestly what's the point of having a metaphysical middle man in that equation?
Either way, its still an attempt to dodge personal responsibility for the actions taken by attributing said actions to an outside force.
3986878 Problem with Sunset Satan and the Element of Ex Machina: It was only one Element. They can't do crap on their own.
THAT is internal canon. Breaking that creates a PLOT HOLE.
Which must have somethin long and hard shoved into it.
I was clearly talking about a writing implement just then... you know... to rewrite the movie and correct the plot hole.
What were YOU pervs thinking?
3985395 Ah yes, 'human' gods. How fortiutous that I am a God god.
*Alondro ascends unto the heavens in cosmic energy form*
Like this!
sp3.yimg.com/ib/th?id=H.4763570975015715&pid=15.1
4003606
I wonder 'bout you, son. Nothing serious, mind you, but sometimes, I wonder.
THIS.
This is how an alternate universe should be made.
Thank you for not going through the trouble of re-enacting every challenge the Mane 6 had to go through in the show. That would have been extremely tedious.
I wish you'd stop referring to their looks as 'Stares.' There is only one Stare, and it is a very specific tool used in a very specific way for a very express purpose. You make it sound like anyone can do it, and that ruins the whole point of it. calling every dark look a Stare does nothing to heighten its effect; if anything, it's distracting and annoys people.
I like that you've completely altered Celestia's view of things in light of the different way she lived the past 1,000 years. the only thing that really bugs me about all of this is that Celestia's resorting to physical combat instead of magical, but I suppose if she knows Nightmare's more powerful than her right now... Still, it seems like the way the elements are being used right now is a bit off.