It finally happened. I turned traitor on Nightmare Moon, and zapped her with the Elements of Harmony. Well, she turned on me first!
"She has been cleansed."
It's over.
The white glow from my eyes faded, and I could see normally again. I was still floating above the theater seats, and was looking down into the pile of crushed seats that served as the grave of Nightmare Moon. I noted that the Elements were still glowing, so I knew they were still active. But I couldn't feel their presence inside of me anymore. At the same time. my ears twitched to the sound of crying. I looked down to the stage, and saw Celestia with her head buried under her hooves. Her body hitched up and down in time with her sobs. Twilight was trying to comfort her mentor, but looked really uncomfortable doing it. I imagined that the role reversal was hard for her to do. The other ponies either looked sad, uncomfortable at seeing Celestia cry, or both. I couldn't help but comment on the dramatic display.
"Wow Celestia, you sure are a drama queen."
The snow-white mare looked up at me, tears staining her face and anger burning in her eyes.
"MAY I BE ALLOWED TO MOURN THE DEATH OF MY SISTER IN PEACE?!"
"I guess. But she's not dead."
A collective shout came from the ponies on the stage.
"WHAT?!"
I looked back down to the pile of crushed seats, and nestled beneath the pieces of Nightmare Moon's armor was something blue and breathing. I used my magic to push the armor pieces aside, and a sleeping blue filly with a light blue mane and tail was revealed. And she had a black cutie mark with a white moon embedded in it.
Ah, Woona is as adorable as I thought she'd be.
I picked up Woona in my magic, and pulled her into my arms like one would cradle a human baby. Then I addressed the ponies on the stage.
"See? She's just been drained of magic."
Celestia's expression was priceless. Surprise and hope turned to elation as the alabaster mare jumped off of the stage and ran up the aisle to meet me. For my part, I floated back to the aisle and lowered myself until my feet touched the carpet. Now that she was closer, I could see that Celestia's tears had smeared her eye makeup so bad that she looked like a gothic reject. The messy makeup mare craned her neck down to look at her now-baby sister, and cooed.
"Aw, she looks just like she did when she was a baby!"
Tears of happiness poured down her face and dripped down upon Woona's face and chest.
"Shame on you, Celestia. The Elements of Harmony cannot be used to destroy or kill."
The Sun Goddess did not answer, but merely sniffled and cried more happiness onto her sister. Without warning, Woona's muzzle wrinkled in discomfort; her wings fluttered in my arms. Her eyes fluttered open, then opened wide. The first thing she focused on was Celestia's face, matted wet with tears and streaked makeup. The little filly cried out in fear, in an adorable squeaky voice.
"Waaa! Ahh!
"Whuh, Celly? Is that you?"
Celestia was smiling so wide she could only nod in response.
"Oh. Why are you so big?"
The maternal alicorn gave off this sobbing laugh.
"Oh Lulu, I'm not that big. It's you that is small."
Woona looked down at her hooves, and gave a start as she realized that she was a filly once again.
"Ahh! How did this happen?!"
I spoke up.
"Don't you remember? I blasted you with the Elements of Harmony."
"Oh.
"Yes, I remember now."
Woona turned to face her sister.
"I'm so sorry Celly! I was just so angry at you ignoring me for so long that I just couldn't let it go!"
Celestia wiped her tears of happiness away with a fetlock.
"I-I know, Lulu. It was all my fault for ignoring you. You were right to be angry."
Woona reached up and placed a tiny hoof on Celestia's tear-streaked cheek. The mare opened her eyes wide in surprise. She then closed them briefly and smiled wide, then set her hoof on top of Woona's. The tiny filly spoke up.
"Can-can we start over? Try again to be good sisters to each other?"
Celestia began to openly weep and sob, yet her smile got just a bit wider.
"Of course, of course! That's all I ever wanted for the past thousand years!"
Woona looked down at her tiny body.
"But I don't want to start all the way over! Do I have to go back to Magic Kindergarten again?"
Celestia laughed out loud and sprayed tiny droplets of tears all over Woona and me.
"No, you don't have to. You're just that small because you've been drained of magic. You'll get your adult body back again when your magic returns."
"I think I can help with that."
Both mares turned to me, surprise all over their muzzles.
"I drained a lot of magic off Luna when I fought her, and I still have that magic. I can give it back to her if you think it will help."
Celestia spoke up.
"But, there's no spell to give magic to a pony."
"Actually Celly, he figured out how to reverse the 'Mana Transfer' spell and transferred magic from some gemstones into me. I originally thought he was attacking me, but I was amazed when I realized what was really happening."
Wonder washed over Celestia's muzzle as she turned back to me.
"You can do this?"
"Of course."
The alabaster mare backed away from Luna and me.
"Then, please do."
I set Woona down onto her hooves, then backed up a couple of steps. Next, I cast a receiver 'node' into Woona's body then a transmitter 'node' into mine. Finally, I took a deep breath and re-connected to the Elements. I could feel all of their untapped power, along with all the magic I had drained from Nightmare Moon. The Elements 'pulsed' in my mind; magic began to flow from them, through me and into Woona. The little filly closed her eyes as her body began to glow. In seconds, the light was too bright for even my magical sight and I had to cover my eyes with an arm. The light flashed pure white for a moment, then the flow of magic abruptly stopped. The bright light faded away, and I noticed that the Elements had gone dark. I looked up to see what Woona had become.
And what a sight! I was expecting Season Two Luna, who was a bit shorter than Celestia with a dark blue coat and starry mane. What I got was even better. Luna was taller than I expected, at about Nightmare Moon's height. Her coat was darker, more of a midnight blue, and it shone with a deep brightness that almost looked lit from within. Her mane and tail were filled with stars as in the show, but they waved in the same unseen wind that Celestia's did. In fact, a glance at Celestia showed that their manes were waving in sync with each other. Or close enough that I couldn't tell the difference. The Princess Luna from the show was stern and emotionless at times, yet shy and vulnerable at others. This Luna looked serene, calm and confident. Before me stood a true princess.
"Whoa, damn Luna. You look hot."
Princess Luna turned to me, a small smile on her muzzle.
"I am glad that you approve. Very glad, in fact."
I could feel a blush burn across my face.
"Oh?"
The midnight blue mare moved to stand in front of me, and brought her muzzle close to mine. She gave me a sultry smile before continuing.
"Yes. You have taken good care of me these past months, and I am forever grateful."
Then she leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. She lingered for a few passionate moments, then pulled back.
"There will be more of that, later."
I did not reply, her kiss had scrambled my brain again. Luna stared at me for a moment longer, then let out a soft giggle.
"I love it when you look like that!"
She reached out and gave my chest a nudge with a hoof, which was enough to break me out of my daze.
"Whuh? Huh?
"Oh. Oh!"
My cheeks flushed once again as Luna let out another cute giggle.
"Yes, well. I see Luna's back to normal."
"Y'all call that normal?"
I turned to face Applejack, who along with the rest of the mares had walked up to meet Celestia's sister.
"Yeah. Well, normal for me and her anyway."
Applejack looked dubious, while Fluttershy blushed and Pinkie cheered. Rarity's reaction was worrisome, as she had stars shining in her eyes. She approached Luna with a gleeful expression on her muzzle.
"Oh, Princess Luna! You must let me design your wedding dress!"
I snapped my head around to object with the fashonista.
"Now, wait a second! We're not getting married!"
Luna turned back to me with this sultry look in her eyes that said in no uncertain terms, 'not yet.'
Oh. Guess we're skipping the 'consort' part.
I felt a hoof tap me on my leg, and I looked down to see Twilight Sparkle standing next to me.
"If you're done with those, can we have our Elements back?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure. I'm done with them."
I took the Element of Magic off of my helmet, and handed it to Twilight who took it with her magic. For convenience's sake, I gave each Element to Twilight. She then returned each Element to its Bearer and affixed the necklaces around their necks. Immediately after returning the last Element, Twilight and the girls began to back away from me while Celestia pulled her sister back.
"Wait Celly, what are you doing?"
"Now, girls!"
Twilight's shout coincided with the Mane Six activating the Elements of Harmony. Luna's cries were ignored as the Rainbow of Light appeared. It did not arch up in the air like it did in the cartoon, but instead blasted out directly at me. I could only think of one thing as my vision was filled with rainbow magic.
Well, shit.
The Rainbow of Light blasted me backwards down the aisle, smashed through the double doors at the end, then crashed through another set of doors and I was outside. The magical energy cut off right as my body left the theater building, but my momentum carried me out into the street. I hit the blacktop hard, then skipped twice across its surface before smashing through the brick wall of the warehouse across the street. My back slammed into something hard and solid, and my body collapsed painfully onto a cold concrete floor. I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath, while I laid there on the floor.
Ow.
Ow.
Ow.
That sucked.
I opened my eyes again and took in a big breath of air. My aches and pains were already fading, thanks to my donated alicorn magic. I didn't feel drained of magic or worn out, and everything looked to be about the same size. I brought my hand up to my face, and after a moment I flexed my hand to release my claws.
Well, my hand is still a cat paw or something. And my arm still has its armor on.
I rolled my arm over to inspect the chevrons strapped to my forearm.
Well, that's different. The armor's no longer silver in color, it's now a dark blue. It has some minor scratches on it, but it's not broken. And the color is in the new scratches, so I don't think it's anodized or painted. Weird.
I pushed myself up to a sitting position, then ran my hands over my body and armor looking for any other changes.
Okay, I'm still a cat-man. My face still has a muzzle, and even though this room is pretty dark I can still see everything nice and clear. So my magical night vision is still working. My chest armor and shin armor is the same blue as the forearm pieces, and the gemstone is now a light blue instead of teal. The leather underneath seems to be a darker blue instead of brown. Darker then the armor, but not as dark as my fur.
To finish my inspection, I clambered to my feet and made sure everything was still okay.
Yup, I look the same but I'm black and blue instead of black and silver. Great, I'm colored like a bruise now. Did my magic change color, too?
I summoned my wings, and they felt just like they always did - an extension of my body, even though they were a magical creation. I curled both wings around my body and ran my fingers through their feathers.
Nope, they're still crimson. Good. Might as well check my normal magic.
I let my wings fade away, then summoned magic into my hands. Its color confirmed, I let the magic disperse.
Still crimson. So, the only thing changed was the color of my armor? Huh.
Well, Princess Luna's Night Guard in the show was a dark blue. Maybe the Elements decided to change my armor to show my new allegiance to Luna?
Ah, I don't know. What I do know is, I'm really pissed at Twilight and her friends for blasting me.
The hole in the wall was big enough for me to walk through if I ducked down, so I did so and immediately jogged across the street. While I did, I cast the 'Clean and Polish' spell on my armor to get rid of the scratches and scuffs it got when I skipped across the street. I idly noticed that while the spell worked, my armor was still colored dark blue. I also noticed that the wrecked car was still sitting in the street, though the puddle of fluids beneath it had gotten bigger. Once across the street, I strode through the ruined doorway. But after a moment's thought, I turned left to enter the theater through the other set of doors. I wanted to slam the doors open for dramatic effect, but I couldn't do that on the right because the doorway was destroyed. By me being tossed through them, of course. I reached the left set of doors, made sure they weren't locked, then yanked them open as hard as I could. The solid wooden doors slammed open with a satisfying BOOM!
"What the heck did you think you were doing?!"
The eight ponies on the other side of the theater turned to look at the noise. The Mane Six and Celestia looked shocked to see me, as I expected. But Luna looked up at me through tear-streaked eyes. As soon as she saw me unharmed, she brightened up in an instant.
"My Captain! You are alive!"
I noted that Twilight was whispering to her friends, and they all struck a pose.
"Of course! The Elements wouldn't harm me."
Twilight and her friends looked surprised when nothing happened. Were they trying to activate the Elements again? My dramatic entrance was over, so I unfurled my wings and flew over to the other side of the theater. I landed in about the same spot I was standing where the Bearers had blasted me with the Rainbow of Light. At least this time, I knew they couldn't do it again. I turned to Twilight and her friends to address them.
"Idiots. Did you really think that would work? I just activated the Elements myself! Did you really think they would do anything to me after deciding I was worthy?!"
The ponies had the decency to look ashamed. I then turned to Celestia to berate her.
"Was this your idea?"
"No, it was not. They acted on their own.
"Though I will admit that I was considering it."
"Celly!"
Luna's shout of outraged was music to my ears.
"What? I said I was considering it. He wasn't acting like a threat, but I was watching in case he became one."
"Hmph, fine. But we will discuss this later."
Luna turned to me and pounced! Her upper forelegs hooked over my shoulders in her species' version of a hug. Then she gave me a hard buss on the lips, which sent little stars popping inside my head as her kisses always did.
"I am so glad to see you are unhurt!"
"Woah, I don't think I'll ever get used to those."
Luna giggled cutely at my dopey expression, and gently pressed her nose to mine.
"There will be many more of them, so you will have plenty of chances to 'get used to them'."
The midnight blue mare slipped her forelegs from around my shoulders, and stood back on the ground. Then she gave me a good look up and down.
"Hmm, I like the new look. I think I will use the design for my own royal guards."
"But sister, we have plenty of Royal guards. I can just assign some of them to you."
Luna turned to look at her sister.
"Thank you sister, but those are your guards. I presume their armor was crafted with solar motifs? I shall not be seen to be guarded by my sister's guards. While I am sure they are competent, being seen guarded by solar guards puts me subservient to you in the public eye. I am a princess in my own right, and as such I will be guarded by guards of my own choosing."
"But sister!"
"Do not 'but sister' me! I deferred to you before because I was young, and you see where that got us."
Celestia's ears twitched backwards, but gave no other outward sign of the rebuke.
"I will not allow that to happen again. You WILL treat me as an equal, in public and in private. Anything else is an insult."
"I...understand, Luna."
Luna smiled and nuzzled her sister affectionately.
"I look forward to learning how you have changed over the past millennia. And to being sisters again, instead of rivals."