Remember the Moon

by Leviathan

A Long Time Coming

...

Celestia stood tall on the podium and addressed the great number of ponies gathered below Canterlot Castle. They were assembled in the courtyard and surrounding area. There were so many they were practically on top of each other.

“Greetings citizens of Equestria!” Her voice reached the ears of ponies throughout Canterlot. She was met with loud cheers and cries of excitement.

“We have gathered here today to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Return of Harmony.” More cheers resounded from the courtyard. Celestia held up her hoof for silence before continuing.

“Thirty years ago my sister and I wielded the Elements of Harmony against evil. We banished the draconqeuus Discord back to the Ether and restored Equestria to a state of harmony.” She paused for a moment before continuing.

“It was not just my sister and I who wielded the elements that day, however. No, we were not nearly powerful enough to combat Discord, even with the Elements of Harmony. It was through the united qualities of every Equestrian citizen that we were able to defeat him. It was you all, ponies of Equestria, who gave us the magic we needed to succeed.” The world was silent except for the breathing of the gathered ponies.

“And I just want to say thank you. Thank you, for helping us make Equestria great!” The crowd exploded in cheers and shouts of bliss. Standing next to Celestia I was once again amazed by her abilities to command a crowd.

“Now then, let us create the eclipse and celebrate!” Even more jubilant roars and cheers rose out of the crowd. Celestia gave me a wink and a nod. Taking the cue I slid into my position on a nearby podium.

We were both to stand on two podiums, one that bore the symbol of the sun, and one that bore the symbol of the Moon. They sat an equal distance apart from the main platform Celestia had spoken from. Both were about eight feet in diameter and sixteen to twenty feet off the ground. They were tall enough so that the audience could see the cylindrical platforms and what they represented.

My sister and I walked over to our respective platforms and began the ritual (well technically we flew). First she would raise the Sun then I would raise the Moon. The sun was already out, considering it was mid-morning. Celestia used her magic to help raise it into its position. More cheers came from the crowd when the sun was into position.

I was not to be showed up, though. I started my presentation by releasing small clouds of starlight. They hung in the air for a bit before dissipating and leaving behind faint twinkles. Next I began to raise my Moon. I brought it to attention steadily, but allowed for its pace to gradually increase in tempo.

Nebulae formed around the celestial body as it rose from its position. Colors and constellations streamed around, shooting in every direction; all of them exploding into smaller, more colorful versions of the original. When the Moon was locked in place everything faded away. The Moon was not yet in front of the sun, just near it. I was to wait for Celestia’s signal before I completed the eclipse.

I looked to the crowd. They did not cheer for me as they had for Celestia. There was applause, of course, but it lacked...spirit. A few of them gazed at the sky in vague interest but for the most part they simply focused on Celestia and the sun. My jealousies boiled within me. Celestia was the only one who seemed truly awed by what I had just done.

My presentation had obviously outdone Celestia’s yet here my subjects sat, disinterested. Whatever anxious feelings I had towards abstaining from my plan disintegrated.

Celestia coughed once, drawing the attention of the spectators. “Now behold, the eclipse!!!” As Celestia spoke she pointed a hoof skyward towards the sight. She gave me a wink, indicating it was time for me to nudge the Moon an inch, placing it directly in front of the sun.

Everypony gasped at the sight of the eclipse. It was simply marvelous; it was a perfect mixture of both light and dark, Night and Day, Moon and sun, intelligence and majesty.

Celestia once again spoke to draw the attention of the onlookers. “Now please, enjoy the festivities!” With that the festival began, and the beginnings of my plan ensued.

...

I stood by my sister for very little of the festivities. We kept on two different sides of the courtyard and hardly saw each other. It was probably better that way. Talking to her would only have made my plan more difficult.

The celebration wasn’t remarkable in the slightest. They went as one would expect. Lots of hay. Lots of drinks. Lots of ponies getting slightly inebriated. Lots of drunken, heart-felt confessions. Lots of crying. Lots of celebrating. And then more drinks came, of course.

Some of the finer ponies would try to entrap my sister in a conversation. But my sister has been attending parties and celebrations like these for years. She knows how to avoid someone in a crowd.

Once they fail to locate her or she brushes them off they turn to me. They settle to speak to the other princess at the festival. It was usually a horrible conversation that ensued, too.

They usually start off with some offhand remark about my sister being busy then ask me how I am. I grace them with a fake smile and talk of things which I do not really care for. They then proceed to tell me about themselves whether I care or not. Then, after they finish speaking they move on to locate somepony they know and the cycle begins anew with another pompous foal.

It was rather relieving when one of the guards tapped me on the shoulder and told me that Celestia and I were to come back to the podium. I started to trot towards the thick wooden stage. On my way there my sister appeared by my side.

“Hi, Luna! How are you enjoying yourself?” Celestia gave me a curious smile that simply glowed.

“I am enjoying this participation in merriment. In the future I may be more open to it.” I returned her smile with one of my own, although it was far less radiant.

“That is wonderful news, sister! I only wish that we had more time to spend together during the celebration.”

“I am satisfied with the amount of communication we have shared. I cannot always be in your shadow, you know.” I gave her a playful shove. Which proved rather difficult due to the giant crowd that was around us.

She returned the shove with a telekinetic push of her own. “I love this next part. All of the ponies reaction is just magnificent, isn’t it?” I kept silent, as the question was obviously rhetorical. “Perhaps you could stay after you have lowered the Moon. Even if it does disrupt your sleep schedule. We’ll have much more time to talk then.”

I gave her a smirk and nodded. Little did she know what would happen next. It seemed as if I had everypony fooled. In mere minutes I would create an eternal Night. It was all I could do not to laugh.

The royal guards pushed the crowd away from the stage as we got closer. Celestia turned to me and said, “Let’s break a leg!”

“Will do, Tia.”

I climbed the stage. It was much taller than I had originally thought. I found myself out of breath upon reaching the summit. When I reached the top I saw Celestia perched on her sun podium looking over to me with an amused expression. “What is it?” I asked.

“You do know you have wings, right?” She gave me a wry smile, and I felt a bit foalish. I stretched my wings, grumbling. I actually had forgotten I had those with the stress and whatnot.

I went over my plan once more in my head and waited for the royal horn to sound. I held my breath, hardly able to hide the anticipation I was feeling. I was quite sure that if anyone looked upon me then, they would see through my entire scheme.

Then a familiar piercing noise broke my train of thought...

DOOO-DAAAA-DOOO!!!

The sound the Royal Horn produced was always rather comical. But it drew the crowd’s attention, which was its purpose. The gathered audience stopped chatting and communicating. An expectant silence fell over all of those in the immediate vicinity of the horn. Soon the entire courtyard, and its surrounding areas, were silent. Every soul looked to the stage expectantly, waiting for something amazing, something incredible.

Celestia and I were supposed to remain silent for this portion of the celebration. The Royal Scribe, Falling Leaf, stood in the center of the stage and used a spell to increase the volume of his voice. He was a light-green unicorn with a dark green mane. His cutie mark was that of a silhouette of a pony against a background of a browning leaf. He made a conscious effort to host charity events in the less fortunate areas of Equestria. This made him quite popular. He was a good politician, and more importantly a good pony. I had already decided that he would be a part of my new regime.

“Hello citizens. I am Falling Leaf, envoy of the Equestrian government and leader of its scribes.” Most ponies in Equestria knew him, but it was tradition for the speaker to announce his title. “We are gathered here to witness the change of seasons, the fall of Discord, and the implementation of Harmony.” He took a moment to breath.

“Watch as Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night, Delegate of the Moon, the darker half of our royal leaders, lowers the Moon.” He bowed out and gave a sideways glance at me. Everypony turned their attention towards me.

I knew this was the definitive moment. This was when every single pony in Equestria had their attention on me. This was the moment where none of them could deny my existence. This was the moment I enacted the first part of my plan.

I stood tall in front of the gathered ponies. I lifted a hoof and watched as their eyes followed it expectantly. I took a deep breath and focused. I made it appear as if long tendrils of magic were encircling my form. Lengthy, starry tendrils that appeared similar to the Night.

I heard several ponies give out loud gasps as I let the tendrils slowly extend outwards, irradiating deep hues of purple and violet. Then I let all of it go. The Moon began to shake as if it were going to fall. It vibrated; It appeared to vibrate, more accurately.

Then I let it all go.

___

“Wait, what do you mean you let it go?” Rainfall asked.

“I let all the illusionary magic I had shot into the air disintegrate. I basically made everything disappear. It was a grand illusion meant to elicit some confusion.”

“Why would you want to confuse them? I thought you were trying to change the government.” Rainfall was not satisfied with my answer.

“I reasoned that it would be easiest to take over the situation if everypony was dazed. I could swoop in and appear more logical.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean by ‘logical?’” Rainfall sounded puzzled.

“I was no foal. I figured that ponies would not likely take to the idea of an eternal Night instantaneously. I thought that if I instituted a little confusion prior to the incident any explanation I gave would seem reasonable in comparison. It would also serve to draw some more attention towards me.”

“Why did you need attention?”

I paused before answering. “Because somepony had to pay attention to me.”

She merely gave me a confused look that said, elaborate, please.

“I was not popular. That much you know. If my plan was to succeed in the way that I wanted it to, I would need for everypony to be focused on me. That is why I picked the festival to unleash eternal Night, for nopony could ignore me then.”

Rainfall stared at me for a moment. Then she opened her mouth and said, “That’s brilliant, yet really depressing...” Her voice faded off. She even shed a tear. Ha, a pony had shed a tear for me, that’s new. Probably not a feeling I should get used to.

“Anyways let us continue on with my tale...”

___

The ensuing results of my performance left a gaping crowd. At first they simply stared at me, wondering if something had gone wrong with the performance. There were whispers throughout the masses, all of them confused.

The rangers who stood on the stage looked ahead with unfazed expressions. They kept their composure, but their bodies shook a little bit. They were right to anticipate something.

Falling Leaf and several other higher ranking members of the royal office looked at me, perplexed by my sudden conclusion. None of them seemed to quite understand the situation. Even Celestia looked to me, baffled. Her expression was that of mixed apprehension and bewilderment. I suppose it was a reserved suspicion.

It was a few minutes before anyone worked up the courage to speak. One of the few nobility addressed me in rather timid voice. “E-e-excuse me Princess? What seems to be the errr... problem? With the Moon I mean...”

I gave pause for a moment. I faced the crowd, cooled every emotion within myself, and gave as simplistic a reply as I could. “There is no problem. The Moon is where it should be.” Confused chatter erupted from the crowd and even some of the rangers began to look uneasy.

Celestia turned to me. “What do you mean, Princess Luna?”

I did not turn to face my sister I just stood stock still and maintained my frigid demeanor. “The Moon is where it should be.” The confusion grew. “From now on, that is where the Moon shall be.” The ponies below me began to break out in anxious whispers.

“I-I don’t understand, Luna.” Celestia sounded shocked, to say the least.

“The Moon will stay in that position from this point forward. Night will not end.” I kept my tone casual to indicate my seriousness.

One pegasi managed to gather the courage to fly above the line of ponies and shout a question at me. “You must be joking!?!” I glared at the pony in question. I let my icy eyes force him into submission. The pegasi in question lowered himself back into the sea of ponies with a look a terror on his face.

Celestia yelled, “Luna!” She stared at me in shock for a moment. “You can’t be serious? You have to lower the Moon, it’s tradition! Why do you think we’re gathered here!?!”

“Night will be eternal and unending. Today I bring a new age to Equestria.” I backed my words with a steely posture and unmoving expression. It was best to reveal little and keep what I said short and concise. “Today I...” I was unable to continue speaking due to the volume the crowd had reached. What had originally been whispers and mutters had erupted into shouting and bickering. I stood a moment and gathered my energy. The spell I was about to perform would be sure to gather their attention.

I stood on my hind legs for a moment. I focused all of my energy into my horn and let the power flow throughout my body, using my extremities as beacons to unleash the energy. I came down upon the ground with my front two hooves and yelled, “I AM TALKING!!!”

A massive tremor passed through the streets. A dark pulse vibrated from an epicenter (me), causing everything in the nearby vicinity to shake. I could feel the power of my voice reverberating throughout my entire body.

I even changed my form (slightly) to make myself more intimidating. My dark body cast an elongated shadow that passed over the entirety of Canterlot. My mane had grown twice as long and shone twice as bright, only serving to highlight the outlines of my form. I projected my cutie mark on the ‘background’ in a large formation. My tiara had started to emit a dark aura which engulfed my form. I cast an illusionary spell to make my eyes appear similar to those of a demon. My entire body emanated pure and unrivaled power.

Everyone had fallen silent and simply stared at me. The power that I felt at that moment was glorious. Nothing quite rivals the feeling of complete power. In fact, the only thing I have ever found to be remotely close to thrill of power is the feeling of complete control and domination.

“From this day forth there shall be an eternal Night. The Moon will stand where it is right now, forevermore. You will live in Moonlight, you will bathe in Moonlight, you will bask in Moonlight, you will sleep in Moonlight, you will work in Moonlight, you will die in Moonlight.” I breathed and let the idea settle among the crowd. “Not only that, but there shall be some reforms to our government.”

The captain of the guard, Silverlight, spoke up. “What sort of reforms, Miss Luna?” His voice was full of apprehension.

I did not turn my head to look at him I merely continued looking into the distance. “From now on we are no longer operating under our dual-monarchy system. Nor will the armada exist. Nor will the royal advisory board exist. Nor will the council exist.”

Another pony spoke up. “What do you mean they won’t exist?” Her voice was fearful and weak.

“They will cease to subsist. They will be dissolved. All of these departments will be broken down and used for fodder. Fodder for a new regime, a new form of government.”

Celestia was next to speak up. “I don’t think I understand, sister? What could you possibly mean?”

It was proving rather difficult to get my points across so I had to resort to some more basic wordplay. There was a chance what I said next would anger a few of the onlookers so I prepared my magic. I was quite confident in my ability to handle any threats that came near me.

“The government we are currently using is ineffective. Ponies remain sick, hungry, and nearly dead. Corrupt officials fill the council halls, using their status to elevate their own personal welfare. Royal guards take bribes and participate in basic sensual activities while on duty. It’s complete debauchery and a perversion of the fundamental elements Equestria is based on. I will not stand idly by as this grand nation is turned to filth. That is not right. So there will be changes!”

One of the council, Sparkling Rain, spoke up. “You can’t possibly expect us to believe that you’re going to destroy our government, can you?” She sounded repulsed by my words.

I turned to face her and drew a somber expression. “Believe, or do not. It is of no consequence to me whether you are aware of change.” I faced the crowd and continued onwards with my speech.

“From now there shall be no council. I will personally hand-pick ponies from its ranks who will serve on my terms. The royal guards shall be reformed; everypony among its ranks will be forced into a relative fitness and morality test to determine whether they are worthy of defending Equestria. The idea of a dual-monarchy where my sister and I listen to the problems of each individual pony will also be dissolved. Instead the entire idea of a monarchy will destroyed. I will lead the land not as a queen or a princess, but as a singular body who controls every aspect of the state. My sister will be my right-hoof helper.”

It took a moment for the entirety of my words to pass its way through the minds of the gathered ponies. Eventually, my words struck them, though. There were murmurs throughout the entire crowd. Some of fear, some of revolt, some of bewilderment, some even hoped it was all a joke.

Celestia was merely staring at me for a moment. “Luna...you can’t possibly- I mean you can’t seriously...what in the hay do you think you’re doing...?” She looked visibly shaken by my words. The flow of her mane stopped and it seemed normal for once.

“I am leading Equestria back towards the light, Tia.”

“Luna, this is insane. You-you do see that right? We couldn’t possibly...I mean there is no way we could implement this...” Her voice trailed off. She obviously didn’t like addressing me in such a way.

“I was not asking for your permission, Celestia.” I lavished the speech with emphasis to reinforce my position.

“But we simply can’t change the way things have been for decades, Luna. It doesn’t make sense!!!” Her voice was full of confusion. I do not think my words had fully dawned on her.

I turned my full attention to her. I let my entire presence reveal itself. My body was tall, elegant, dark, starry, and as intimidating as a manticore. And I let it show then. I unfurled my long bat-like wings and let them beat against the small podium, creating a miniaturized hurricane of dust. My horn was glowing intensely and disseminated my exceptionally powerful magic.

“Change is inevitable, Celestia! Do you dare oppose me!?!”

She looked me in the eye. “Luna, I cannot allow you to do this, I-I’m sorry. You will stop this nonsense, NOW.” Celestia voice was strong and determined, but her eyes betrayed her true feelings. She was afraid. Afraid for me. Afraid of hurting tiny, little, helpless Luna. I would not allow her, nor anypony, to pity me...

“No. This ‘nonsense’ is the future. If you are too obstinate to see that Equestria is falling then I shall not hesitate to crush you.” It hurt saying such things to Celestia, but it was the way it had to be. I could not show hesitation or kindness, lest I lose my dominance in the conversation.

“I-I do not wish to fight you. So I beg of you, Luna- You must cease these insane actions. Lower the Moon! Please, Luna...just concede...”

I stood my ground and glared at her, maintaining a look of icy hatred. I did not make a noise and neither did the crowd. They merely stared at the exchange between my sister and I, their faces devoid of anything but anticipation. Eventually, Celestia got the message.

Celestia’s lower lip quivered, but she did not renege on her statement. “Very well then. Guards, assemble!” The guards looked to each other in confusion at first but quickly got ahold of themselves and moved into the phalanx formation. “Prepare yourselves, Magical Squads.”

The unicorns among the Royal Guard all stepped out of formation and bore looks of mixed determination and hesitancy. “Now, please...subdue Princess Luna.” Celestia’s voice came out in shambles on the last few words.

I smirked as I saw each of the unicorns horns glow brightly. They truly thought they could beat me. “I shall not be broken so easily, Celestia.” I threw my hoof to the side in an indolent manner. Instantly all of the unicorns magic evaporated. A few of them looked about in surprise as they saw their magic fail.

Celestia looked a bit taken aback. She knew that I was a powerful alicorn, of course, but for me to be able to subdue an entire blockade of magical guards with the flick of a hoof was shocking. She regained her composure quite quickly though. “Foot soldiers, restrain the Princess!”

The group of armored wardens came towards me. I sent a dark blue blast of magic out of my horn that left them all on the ground winded. I followed up by casting a spell I had learned from the library which increased the force of gravity. Shouts of “I can’t move!” and “what’s happening!?” could be heard from the guards. That and mingled cries of pain.

I looked at Celestia once again. “If you wish to challenge me, Tia, then you shall face me, and you shall face me alone.”
“Release that infantry, Luna! You’re harming them!” She wore a look of concern for the pained ponies.

“Agree to my terms.”

“Luna!!!”

“Choose, Celestia.”

“They’re your subjects, Luna! What are you doing!?!”

“I can apply more pressure.”

“Just let them go!”

“Only if you agree to keep this challenge for the whole of Equestria between us!”

Celestia bit her lip. I increased the pressure of the spell and more shouts of pain came from the guards. “Fine, Luna, you win! Just me and you. Now let those ponies go!” I complied.

The guard lifted themselves off the ground and sprinted in every direction, for fear that I would change my mind and entrap them again. Pathetic. None of them even attempted to help their ruler, they just ran. The gathered audience tried to flee as well; they saw that this was escalating.

“No pony shall leave these grounds! You are all to bear witness to the glorious remaking of Equestria!” I cast a long-range boundary spell to ensure my decree was followed. Thick walls of shadow burst from the ground, heading for the skies. They came from every direction, walling in everypony within Canterlot. I did not want anypony to doubt my authority after I conquered my sister.

“Celestia!” I screamed.

“What?”

“We do battle to decide who rightfully rules Equestria. We do battle to determine what this government is, and forever shall be! We do battle to find out who is weak and who is strong! The outcome of this fight will decide the fate of everypony in Equestria! Do you accept these terms?” I spat the words out.

“Please, Luna. Please don’t do this.” Celestia’s voice was broken and I could hear the misery spewing from within her soul. It was almost enough to make me reconsider. Almost.

“Do you accept these terms?” My voice was wretched. It was callous and savage. Not the voice of a pony anymore, but the voice of a tyrant.

Celestia released a long sigh. “Yes...” Her voice trailed off.

“Then prepare yourself, sister!”

Celestia looked up at me. “You’ve brought this upon yourself, then.” She released a heavy sigh. “En Garde!!!”

Celestia wasted no time in preparing herself. She spread her wings out as far as they could. Then with one powerful shove she launched herself at me. And so it began.

I barely had time to evade the speedy assault as Celestia reached me within the space of a few seconds. Her long, drill-like horn pierced the air where I had sat moments ago. I hovered over her for less than a second before she turned her gaze upwards and spotted me.

Before she could propel herself towards me again I unleashed a dark haze to mask my presence. I could not risk being impaled, now could I? I flew away from my previous position. As I did I could here the air cracking as Celestia flew through the spot I had inhabited only moments ago. Excellent, she was likely puzzled as to where she was now.

I took advantage of the momentary break in combat to focus energy into my horn. My next spell would shoot a concentrated beam if I used it correctly. By the time I had completed my preparations for the spell Celestia had found her way out of the haze.

A black jet of violet shot out of my horn and was sighted on Celestia. She barely had time to duck out of the way before the ray sliced through the thick pillar behind her. I redirected the direction of the beam to follow her fleeing form. She managed to elude it each time it got neared her, but only by the breadth of an inch.

Eventually, she found the space and time to create a rainbow-colored bubble to shield herself. The beam struck against it uselessly. Unfazed by this I let the beam evolve from its previous form and stick to the bubble. Slowly the dark presence of it wrapped around the bubble. The black aura made it impossible to see the inside of the bubble. I let loose a burst of magic and the darkness surrounding the bubble constricted and shrunk.

I could see the bubble being forcibly crushed, as well as any inhabitants within it. There was an audible noise as the shield became smaller and smaller, obviously against the will of the pony who controlled it. Even a shield created by the mighty Celestia could not withstand the enormous pressure of my magic. There was a sickening crunch as the shield was compressed into oblivion.

There were a few gasps among the crowded ponies, who obviously thought that was the end of the duel. I knew better, though. I felt the presence of the sun leave my improvised prison. Celestia had managed to port out of her protective spell.

I looked around frantically trying to find any sign of her. I did not want to give her any time to build up a magical entity. I was worrying about the wrong aspect of my sister’s combat prowess, however.

Something big hit me in the side and I soared back, winded. Celestia had charged me rather than charge herself. As I fell through the air, attempting to recover from the force of impact, she was soaring towards me.

I barely had time to recover before her shining horn came down upon me. I formed a make-shift shield out of the particles in the air around me. It absorbed most of the blow, but tremors of the dynamic strike vibrated throughout my body, causing me to pause for a moment.

Celestia capitalized on the opportunity and closed the distance between the ground and myself with a sharp blow of her front hooves. I landed with no small amount of pain and could see her rocketing towards me at an unimaginably fast speed.

There was no time to duck out of the way or take to the air so I had to improvise. Using my magic, I propelled my back hooves upwards to meet my sister. She was moving fast and unable to pull away in time. There was a resounding thud as her jaw met my back hooves. She shot back a few feet.

I flipped completely over and cast another spell. Four tendrils extended out of the ground and shot towards my sister. The tentacles were a pale red color, dotted with blue specks. My distinctive dark blue magic surrounded the arms, though. The only action she was able to manage was another bubble shield. I anticipated the action however.

The tendrils that were heading towards her were not purely offensive. They were actually a complex spell I had read about in the Library of the Night. If a spell were to be cast and the slender appendages were to connect with said spell then they would clasp onto the magic’s source. From there they could drain the caster of their mana. It could also attach to a pony directly. This would leave them Dazed and Confused. In other words, they would be vulnerable for a few minutes as their power recharged. I found the spell in an ancient text entitled “Leechity Snicket’s A Series of Excellent Spells.”

The tentacles pierced the shield, causing it to fall apart, and latched onto her. From the way her face contorted it was obviously quite the surprise to her. The appendages slowly worked their way up her flank and Celestia was growing visibly weaker as they got higher.

She worked up enough physical strength to speak. “What is this magic!?!”

She struggled in vain to free herself from the lengthy tendrils. Her horn gave off faint sparks, but they just seemed to encourage the monstrous energy-sappers. Her face contorted in pain.

“It’s my magic. This is my power, Tia. Behold what your dear little sister has accomplished!” It felt wonderful to unleash my magic. To show someone the knowledge I had been keeping.

“Agh!!!” The tendrils had completely cloaked themselves around my sister.

“Come now! I at least expected a challenge, Celestia. I wanted to show you what I have learned. How much I have grown!” I loosed a wicked grin on the last sentence.

Celestia had been drained of her mana. Her unicorn magic would be useless for the next few hours, maybe even days. The tendrils released her and faded into the wind. Celestia was left to fall to the cobblestone streets. She caught herself midway and began to hover, though. Her breaths came out as heavy pants, but a look a of pure determination was evident on her face.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Much better!” Celestia glared at me.

I focused another blast of energy into my horn to launch at Celestia. I discharged a large, black sphere towards her. It moved fast and let a trail of starlight behind it’s position. Celestia evaded the projectile. She looked as if she was about to charge at me again until the projectile changed course and once again shot towards her. She barely evaded the shade the second time around, as it came as a surprise.

Once again, the projectile changed its course and rocketed towards Celestia. This time it was faster than before. She dodged it a third time. This would continue for as long as I was able to keep the projectile in existence.

This was a spell of my own creation. As long as I focused my energy towards the sphere, no matter how minimal the amount of energy, it would follow its target. I could also control the speed at which it progressed.

I focused my full attention on the orb and Celestia. It was gradually increasing the speed at which it flew, but it could not keep up with Celestia. Whenever I managed to get it close she would prance away or duck away. I did not stress my magic, however, as Celestia was still recovering from her mana being drained. It was inevitable that she would slip up and my aura sphere would reach her.

And once the sphere reached her...well that is best left unsaid...

I did not give Celestia enough credit, however. She is quite brilliant. As she saw the orb gaining on her inch by inch she drew herself closer to me. I did not really notice, as my attention was more focused on formulating a way to once again trap Celestia.

In my distraction I did not notice her slip behind me. She rocketed towards me and grasped onto me. She locked her hooves around me and made sure I couldn’t move.

“Wha-” Was all I could manage to say.

Celestia flipped me over during my confusion to face the giant glowing orb of death. I struggled in vain to break free, she was much larger and stronger than me. The sphere was rocketing towards us, too fast for me to change its direction again. All I could do was cancel the spell and let the sphere evaporate. That would, however, leave me at Celestia’s mercy.

I did not have any other course of action, unfortunately, so I canceled the effect of the sphere. Celestia smirked. She whispered a short little phrase into my ear, “Lets make this quick, eh? We still have a festival to finish.” She clasped her hooves around my wings pinning them as well. Then she simply stopped flapping her wings.

We started to plummet towards the Royal Garden at an alarmingly fast pace. The wind rushed around us and I did my best to break free of Celestia’s grip. As the ground came closer and closer, Celestia loosened her grip more and more. Once we were within six feet of the ground she released me and flew upwards saving herself. I was not quite as quick.

I crashed into the ground and heard a crunch as gravity acted its will upon my body. The best I had been able to do before landing was twist my body to cushion my fall with my wings. It shielded my more vital internal organs but my wings were, however, obliterated.

The pain in my body was immense. I stood up with the support of magic. I looked myself over. My hooves, head, and flank were somewhat fine, due to my wings having absorbed the fall. I looked at my wings and winced. One was twisted at an unusual angle that looked just to be dislocated. While painful, that could be fixed. The other did not look as if it would be quite so lucky. It bent backwards at a sickening angle and attempts at moving or touching it left me cringing at an intense agony.

I looked up. Celestia was hovering above me looking down with a somber expression. “Do you concede now, Luna?”

“Never.” The pain in my wings was unbearable. My entire body ached and I was positive that more than a few bones had been broken. But I would not lose this duel. I could not lose this duel. The very fate of Equestria rested upon me. I could not let it succumb to the corruption it had already been subjected to.

“Just give in! You’re broken! Your wings are completely out of place. Your body is covered in cuts and I’m sure you have more than a few broken bones! just give up. You made a mistake. We all make mistakes, Luna.”

I glared at her. Then I did something that my sister, to this day, believes to be the dumbest, most insane action ever performed. I focused all of my magical energy and let it flow through my body. I let the entirety of my magic, of my essence, envelop me. I released all of my aura and magic in one single stroke. A strange mist surrounded me. The mist was the color of the Night sky and had twinkles of stars and such in it. It held the constellations I had created and it was full of life. That mist was me, my mind, my magic, my darkness in the light.

I absorbed all of it, breathing it in. With as much focus as I could muster, I directed it towards my wings and midsection. I felt my dislocated wing snap back into place and muffled a painful groan.

My broken wing was an agony to heal, though. I pooled my magic and concentrated on it. First it snapped back into place, which left me screaming in pain. Next I aligned the shattered remains of bone within my wing. The pure and unadulterated stab of anguish that ripped through it stained my cheeks with tears. I held the bones in place with magic.

My eyes had flooded with tears. Their saline tang burned the cuts on my face, but I could not help it. I simply could not lose my ability to fly. It was too big an advantage for Celestia. I flapped the improvised wing once. The pain was unimaginably horrible, but, it would work. I allowed a small smirk to mark my features.

This was not a trick I had learned through my studies, no, this was the result of pure and unaltered willpower. What I had learned may have contributed to my achievement, but no texts I had read had ever listed medicinal magic of this sort. This was the result of decades of training. This was the product of sheer passion. My sister showed concern at my yelped pains, despite her being the cause.

Celestia had just hovered there, watching me heal brace a broken bone through the use of magic. A feat which was considered impossible at the time. She was practically gaping at me. I stared at her with as cold and icy an expression as I could assemble.

“Do not mistake me for weak, Celestia! I am much more powerful than you think!” I coated my voice with magic to not only increase its volume, but to make it sound far deeper and resonating.

I took to the skies and hovered parallel to her. “Now, I once again say, prepare yourself!”

...

Comments

[Everwinter]

Interesting so far. Will watch.