//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Immortal Madness // by Kytin //------------------------------// 1000 years ago Celestia staggered up the stairs, beaten and bruised. The feathers of her wings were ruffled and she limped with each step. However, her mane and tail continued to flare upward like the flames they so resembled, unconcerned with her sorry state. A loud crash from elsewhere in the castle made her flinch. She looked around, fearing that her sister had found her. For several long seconds she waited as nothing happened. She relaxed and continued onwards. It was not long before she reached her goal, the Elements of Harmony. Celestia smiled to herself. They would give her the power she needed to defeat Nightmare Moon. Technically she only need the Element of Magic, but none of the strange artifacts seemed to work without the presence of the others. It was one of their many annoying limitations. The limitation that irritated her the most at the moment was the fact that they were incapable of being used in a lethal manner. The Elements of Harmony simply would not respond to any attempt to use them to kill. That little detail had almost resulted in Celestia and Luna's defeat when they had attempted to use them on Discord. Only Luna's quick thinking had saved them there, using them to permanently imprison him rather than kill outright. And now she was going to use them on her sister. Celestia smiled to herself, thinking about where she would place her new Nightmare Moon statue. In the castle courtyard where everypony could see her victory perhaps? In the gardens with Discord? Or... Celestia glanced out of a window at the night sky. Her smile broadened. She had a better idea. ************************************* "Ah, there you are Celestia. I had though you had run off like a coward. Are you ready to bow before me and submit to my rule?" Nightmare moon smirked at her. Celestia refused to show any weakness, despite the fact that their last encounter had definitively shown that Nightmare Moon was stronger than her. "Actually, sister, I had a better idea. You see, you have inspired me." Celestia replied with a confidant smile. "Oh?" Nightmare Moon frowned down at her elder sister. "Explain youself." "I am going to get rid of you and your beloved night. Once I have defeated you I will bring about an endless day." Using her telekinesis, Celestia levitated the Elements of Harmony around her head. "Really, I don't know why I didn't think of this before." "Wait. Are those the Eleme-" A beam of pure white light shone from Celestia's horn and struck Nightmare Moon in the chest. Nightmare Moon screamed in outrage. Celestia tuned it out, focused on ending her sibling rivalry problem permanently. Nightmare Moon writhed and cursed in the beam of light but was unable to escape it. Helpless, she lay pinned to the floor. Celestia realized something was wrong. The Elements were resisting her. She focused harder and felt a slight give in whatever was blocking the full release of power. Nightmare Moon was saying something now, but Celestia didn't pay any attention to it. She needed all her concentration to overcome this resistance. She could feel it weaken under her relentless assault. Just one more push and... Something broke. **************************************************** Celestia groaned as consciousness returned to her. Her head ached and her thoughts didn't seem to be flowing the way they should. She struggled to think of what she should be doing. Something about Luna? Celestia slowly raised her head and looked around the ruined room, brushing limp pink hair from her eyes. Where was Luna? Why did the room seem bigger than it should? And what caused those massive holes in the walls? Celestia lurched to her hooves and stumbled over to the largest hole feeling very weak. Her eyes gazed through what should have been solid stone into the night sky. Looking up she could see Lunas's moon hanging in the sky. Something was wrong with the moon. Celestia's heart beat faster and her breathing quickened as she stared at the image of a mare that had seemingly been burned into the surface of her sister's favorite feature of the night sky. Memories came rushing back along with a sickening sense of guilt. "No. Nonono... nonononono..." Celestial backed away from the sight mindlessly. This had to be a bad dream. She would never do that to her loving sister. She would never use the Elements to... The Elements! Hope flared in Celestia's chest. If the Elements of Harmony were capable of banishing her sister to the moon, then they should be able to bring her back. They could probably even fix the strange madness that had afflicted her. Everything was going to be ok, she told herself. Everything could be fixed. Celestia rushed back to the place where she had woken up. She could see the gemstones glittering dimly in the moonlight. As she got closer she slowed her mad scramble and attempted to calm herself. Was this all of them? Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, Magic... wait. Horror gripped Celestia's heart as she looked at the massive crack in the Element of Magic. She remembered the sensation of something breaking as she banished her sister. The Elements were the embodiment of friendship and she had used them to drive away the one pony she cared about most. She had broken the Elements of Harmony. Celestia clung to a tiny spark of hope. Maybe the damage wasn't so bad. Maybe she could get one last use out of them to bring her sister back. Carefully, she reached out with her telekinesis to pick up the Element of Magic. The moment the Element of Magic left the ground it split completely in half. The two halves hovered for a second before crumbling into dust which was blown away on the wind. As she watched the remaining Elements transformed themselves from glittering gemstones into lifeless rocks. Celestia could have sworn her heart had done the same. Completely stripped of hope, Celestia hung her head and let the tears come. Brokenly, she wept for the sister she would see every night but never again hold.