The Monster We Made

by Corah Il Cappo


Downfall

We were once gods. We were the sun and the moon. Rulers of a kingdom built on kindness, love, and friendship. Our subjects lived in peace. Mortals and immortals coexisted peacefully. It was harmony defined.

Then along came a unicorn.

She was nothing special then. Just another unicorn applying for lessons in magic. They came by the thousands everyday. They were filed away in various colleges and classes, trained in magic, and never heard from again. They were not special. This unicorn was different. The raw amount of power she exerted... it was exhilarating. Nopony had demonstrated this level of sheer magical ability since Starswirl the Bearded.

Naturally, she became a student. Not just any student. She became a student to the Sun herself. For years, she studied and trained and honed her magical abilities, until she was the most skilled magician in Canterlot.

That was not enough.

We had seen her talent. Her talent was magic, and magic, as we all know, is friendship.

She was shipped out at once. Sent to Ponyville with the task of making friends. It was a test. She did make friends, though not of her own volition. When push came to shove however, she came through. She, along with her five friends, defeated Nightmare Moon. Nightmare moon was an Alicorn. A god.

The six had felled a god.

From then on, she became our champion. She and the five faced dragons, hydras, manticores, sea serpents, parasprites. They faced everything. And they grew stronger. Every encounter brought them closer together. It strengthened their friendship.

It strengthened their magic.

Their next task was to face off with an ancient opponent of ours. Discord. He was chaos incarnate. The epitome of wickedness. The ultimate enemy. Again, the six felled him. They then faced off with the Changeling Queen herself, and again defeated her. Then, it was King Sombra. Again, the six were victorious.

They were unstoppable.

This was where harmony began to dissolve.

We recognized that she was beyond the normal limits for a unicorn, even an exceptional one. My sister and I gazed with pride over the student we had created. Admired her the way an artist admire's his painting. She was beautiful. She was powerful. She was magic.

She WAS magic.

It was her destiny. It always had been. She had become her talent.

"She's magic, Luna. Just as you're the moon and I'm the sun. She's become like us, sister. She's become... godlike."

She was godlike alright, but she was no god. This was something we sought to rectify. And so we did. She passed from unicorn to Alicorn. From mortal to Immortal.

From the creation, to a creator.

She ascended to the pantheon. She had become royalty. She had become a god.

She worked tirelessly for years as the mortal's new god. A god of friendship and harmony. A god of magic. She was beloved by all. The ponies exalted her, cried her name as she walked past, praised her from the rooftops and on the street corners. The mortals loved their new god.

It was then that she made a simple request. She wanted a kingdom.

"Nothing too large or too fancy. Just a little slice of Equestria to call my own."

We gave in to her. How could we refuse? She was our greatest triumph. Our hearts swelled with pride at the sound of her name.

We spoiled her.

She came to expect getting her way. After all, she was a goddess. The mortals never refused her, and the we the immortals always bowed to her demands. She had proven to be reliable in the past, why should we have doubted her now? Her every whim was met, either by us or by the mortals.

Then she made the request we could not meet.

"After all, I am the element of Magic. Shouldn't I be the one to decide what magic the mortals can use?"

She had gone too far. She wished to exercise control over the mortals. Our subjects. She was a god. She had her own kingdom. She had no right to demand of us.

Oh but she did. She was now our equal. We had no right to demand of her. The only way to demand now, was by force.

She was a fast learner.

My sister spoke out against her, demanded that she respect her fellow Alicorns, but to no avail. There was a shattering of glass, a sickening crunch, and an earsplitting scream. Thus ended the reign of my sister.

The creation rebelled against its creator.

I attempted to undo what she had done, but it was too late. The sun lay dead, and the moon was waning. Cadence made her own valiant effort to stop the student, but she too was crushed beneath the hooves of the usurper. I was the only one remaining, and I am ashamed to say that I fled rather than fought. I fled to find the remaining five elements.

Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, and Kindness remained.

They came to my aid in a heartbeat. None of them wished to strike down their former friend. Understandable.

But the friend they had known did not exist. She was dead now. All that remained was the goddess. A twisted malformation of magic. Twisted, dark magic, but magic incarnate nonetheless.

Our quest failed.

She could not be reasoned with.

She could not be destroyed.

Without magic to hold them all together, the elements were useless. The remaining five bearers were struck down where they stood. Canterlot's throne room ran red with their blood. With them, all hope died.

I was forced to flee for my life. My only hope is that this memoir survives. If anypony can read this, learn from our mistake.

Friendship and Magic are one and the same, and both can turn dark in an instant.

Signed by,
Luna the Last True Goddess of Equestria