//------------------------------// // Chapter Three – Moon // Story: A Study on Alicorns: Cause and Effect // by Jaelommiss //------------------------------// Chapter Three – Moon Celestia, Cadence and Chrysalis stood as one and walked through a door at the back of the room, leaving Twilight alone with Princess Luna. Twilight had not noticed the door when she first came in because it was hidden behind the massive center chair. Only when it clicked shut did Luna finally speak. “We shall interview thou one by one. We are first. The others have not told us who is next.” She looked down at Twilight, still sitting on the stone floor, and pulled over a wooden chair with her magic. “Sit. We shall be a while.” Twilight followed the order, trying hard not to give any reason for Luna to doubt her eligibility. “Not that I have decided to try the spell yet; I just want to keep my options open,” she thought to herself. Once Twilight had gotten comfortable, or as comfortable as she could on the hard wooden surface, Luna continued. “We should thank thou, Twilight. It has been a long time since We have had an opportunity to join in the Committee.” She nodded towards the door the others had gone through. “That is partly because somepony sent Us to the moon for a time out.” There was no venom in her voice. She was just stating the fact. “You’re welcome, Princess.” “There is no need for titles amongst us, Twilight. Unlike our sister, We have no need to advertise our superiority over other ponies. She was the same before Changing.” Luna shook her head with a small smile, as if remembering a naughty student. The revelation stunned Twilight for a moment. “You knew the Princess before she became an alicorn? But I thought you were the younger sister?” Other, ruder, questions were in her mind but she managed to suppress them. She was certain that her teacher would not appreciate being the subject for gossip. “She is older. She Changed first, thus older. We were older before the change, her mentor in fact, but she Changed first. ” “Her mentor? She was studying magic before finding the book? Did she discover the spell?” The parallels to Twilight’s own life were uncanny. Luna shook her head as she spoke, “No, she wrote the book. She was given the spell by its creators. And yes, We were her mentor for a time, teaching her magic. At least, until the Element chose her. She was far too busy after that to study much.” “Element? The Elements of Harmony? By creators do you mean the dragons? Why was she given a spell from the dragons? And why did she write it into a book?” Twilight was starting to hate how ignorant she seemed. Next time she was just going to nod politely. “It is not Our place to answer most of those questions, child. We can tell thee that she only held the Element of Magic at the time. The others belonged to five other ponies after certain adventures that they had together. After Changing, the Element of Magic passed to us, like it will pass to another after thou Changes. After We Changed, we too lost control of the Element.” Twilight blinked twice while trying to understand what the Prince– No, what Luna had just said. ‘Focus, Twilight. “No need for titles”, she said,’ the unicorn reprimanded herself mentally. It coincidentally gave her more time to try to figure out what was going on. It was a solid minute before Luna next opened her mouth, “Take your time, Child. It is a lot to take in.” “So… I will lose control of the Element of Magic if I attempt the spell? Why?” the unicorn spoke slowly, still coming to terms with the concept. The Element of Magic was a symbol of extreme magical prowess. Surely increasing her power would make her more eligible for it, not less. She couldn’t deny that if that were true, then Celestia would still be in control of it. “Again, it is not Our place to tell you. Another will explain it further. It will make sense in time.” After a moment, “Did you have any other questions for Us?” Twilight shook her head. Luna looked at her disappointedly for a moment before getting up and walking towards the door at the back of the room. Twilight’s voice rang out after her, “Wait! I have one last question, Luna.” She turned back and returned to her chair, looking smug. No, closer to proud. A mixture of both, perhaps. “Go on.” “I was just wondering…” Twilight trailed off, “No. It’s silly.” “Tell us.” “Um… Well, I was wondering how is it you stay sane over eternity? Silly, I know. It was sorta bugging me.” “Thou wanted to ask Us how We, a pony who had a psychotic break and attempted to plunge the world into eternal night (twice!), managed to stay sane?” Luna looked amused as Twilight blushed madly and looked down at her hooves.  “Uhm… Er… Yes? I think so?” The alicorn giggled at her before answering. “To put it simply, we play a game. All of us.” “Game?” “Yes, a game. A game of power and intellect. Are you familiar with the concept of chess?” “Two players have a simulated battle to capture the opposing king, symbolizing the player controlling that team.” Twilight regularly played the game with Spike in the library when it was quiet. Well, quieter than usual. The dragon never put up much of a challenge, but she would sometimes let him win by ‘accident’. “Something like that, although we are not constrained to board and wooden figures. We wage war on one another using our powers. The goal is to defeat the ruler of Equestria. This can be done by capturing her, banishing her, or simply making her unable to continue ruling. The alicorn who achieves this becomes the new ruler and the game begins again. Celestia won last time (with Our help), and so took control. That was somewhere around fifteen hundred years ago.” Twilight had assumed something along the lines of writing books or secret concubines. Nothing could have prepared her for the truth. “Alicorns wage war for fun,” she realized. Just as the blocks were starting to fall into place, Luna continued. “Shortly after helping her take power, We realized that We still had to play. We had not won, Celestia had. We were still in the game. It was far easier to analyze her from the safety of Canterlot than the mountains We had dwelt in prior to helping her win. We uncovered a weakness that We had not noticed before. She could not raise the sun while Our moon was up. Over the course of four hundred years We planned and waited.” Luna conjured up a glass of water and took a sip before going on. “Two other alicorns tried to take over during that time. Chrysalis was first, leading a rebellion from the western parts of Equestria. You have not yet met the second alicorn. She attempted a head on assault by herself. Both times, Celestia and ourselves brought them low and expelled them from these lands. It was necessary to fully gain her trust. She would not have trusted another alicorn, but her former mentor? Perhaps. Surely We would not ever try to usurp Our student? Or so We thought.” Another sip. “Even alicorns are not immune to the occasional cold. When Celestia took ill, We slipped a powerful sedative into her tea that evening, designed to sap both magic and physical strength. With the assurance We would manage both sun and moon until her return to strength, she retired to her room. We assumed she would drink her tea that night. She didn’t. Her natural rest alleviated her illness and upon learning of our plan, rushed to stop us. It had been night for over forty-eight hours by that time.” Two sips this time. “Rioting and widespread panics had begun. Ponies were cursing Celestia, for they knew not that We controlled the moon. They had turned against her. Even her most valued assets betrayed her. Although she had rejuvenated greatly from her rest, We were still more powerful by far. All that remained was to smite her down in public view and restore daylight to Equestria. Her subjects would adore us and she would be banished from these shores. Victory was assured, along with the undying loyalty of every pony in the land. That had never occurred before. Somepony always remembered and challenged the new ruler in the past. We had but to confront and strike down our beloved pupil and We would win the round.” Luna drained what was left in the glass and tossed it aside. It poofed out of existence before it could shatter against the wall. Anger directed towards herself was evident in her voice now. “But, We had forgotten something. A very important something. As We mentioned earlier, the elements of harmony pass to other ponies after the Spell is cast. Other ponies had control of them not long before my attempt. The last of them had perished a year or two prior to our attempt and We had forgotten one of the many rules of the elements. When none of them are controlled, they all pass back to the ruler of Equestria until new bearers rise up. We confronted Our sister in the front courtyard of the castle and everything was going to plan. We had laid her low and turned her subjects against her. Victory was at hand, but then something happened. It took Us years to discover what it was and why it waited ‘til then. The elements returned to Celestia, curing her entirely and doubling her powers. Already tired from our previous duel, We were annihilated in a blinding flash of magic. We awoke on the moon, and there dwelt for a thousand years.” The room was silent after she finished. A silver tear slid down her cheek, although Luna was not crying. Twilight dared to break the silence, “Luna, that’s…” she swallowed and pushed on,” That’s awful. The books never mentioned any of that.” She placed what she hoped was a comforting hoof on the larger pony. “History is written by the victors, Twilight. Sooner or later that harsh reality will  find you and tear you apart. What happens next will be up to you. Do you expect that Celestia would be remembered for her five hundred years of peace if We had been successful? Neigh, she would have been a tyrant overthrown by her righteous sister. Sound familiar?” Twilight nodded. The version of Equestria’s history she had learnt as a foal matched this perfectly. “Our story doesn’t end there, for We returned. There had been many unsuccessful attempts to overthrow Celestia during our captivity and We had a front row seat to see what did and didn’t work. The elements passed from and back to her a dozen times in our exile. We knew We had to wait until they chose a new bearer before trying to return. That is why We returned when We did. Celestia had lost them to you and your friends, although you did not know it. What better time to strike?” She would have continued, but Twilight interrupted her. “Why did you return directly from the moon? Why not travel elsewhere and regain your strength, even get followers before attacking?” “We did not because we could not, child. Celestia had placed spells over our prison to alert her if we tried to use our magic to teleport away, amongst other spells. She would know when we left and teleport us to her should we flee anywhere other than Equestria. She sent us a note shortly into our exile to tell us this.” Twilight nodded slightly and let her continue with her tale. “As We mentioned, We had an excellent view of Equestria during our exile and saw the lay of the land change over time. We also saw where the elements returned after Celestia lost them.” “The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters,” suggested the unicorn. “That is one name for the place. It is where ponies first received the Elements of Harmony. We returned there because it was both inside Equestria, thus avoiding Celestia’s spell, and contained the only magic We suspected could stop us. We did not prepare for thy resilience and fortitude. Thou knowst the rest. Celestia again took us under her wing, although We understood not why at the time. We now know it pertains to this meeting and thy opportunity.” Luna stood from her chair and walked to the door at the back of the room. Before she could disappear inside, Twilight asked one more question, “Luna, if you were under Celestia’s care because you were defeated, does that mean that Cadence also tried, and failed, to defeat her?” Luna paused in mid-stride, “It is not our place to answer that, Twilight.” She walked through the door and closed it behind her with a click.