in the beginning the world was in chaos, Discord ruled and all creatures were his playthings. Seeing the misery this brought to all ponies, the goddesses willed themselves into existence and together, using the powers of the Elements of Harmony, they banished Discord form the land. Seeing the land still in chaos, the sister goddesses combined their magic with the magic of the Elements to being peace and Harmony to the world. For time unaccountable the pony sisters ruled over the land, the elder ruling over the sun and the day, and the younger ruling over the Moon and the night.
But the younger sister became jealous.
Ponies played and worked during the day, but during the night they slept, ignoring her work. One day she refused to lower the Moon and let the sun come up; she had succumbed to the Nightmare and became a creature of jealously, Nightmare Moon. Her sister tried to reason with her, but the younger goddess’ heart had become cold and her sister’s pleas fell on deaf ears. For an immeasurable time the pony sisters fought. The magic of the world tore and warped as they did so, until eventually the elder sister realized that the world would no longer stand the conflict...
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The midnight black alicorn flicked her head and sent a bolt of power streaking at Celestia. She twisted her shield and the missile ricocheted away, arching high and landing in the mountain side, blasting a large hole in it. Several more followed the first and Celestia was forced to fling them wildly across the land.
“You must be getting tired by now, sister,” the creature that called itself Nightmare Moon said as it strode around the clearing. It put stress on the word ‘sister’, and Celestia knew it was trying to get under her skin, but it had been doing that for too long now for it to it to have any effect. Luna was gone; this thing was not her.
“So must you,” Celestia hissed back. She twisted her own magic and jagged lines of white hot fire streaked out, reaching for the back armoured figure. As they struck, its shield flared, a sphere of force around her bouncing them off, burning great rents in the ground.
“I can keep it up for as long as you can,” it replied. The two alicorns circled each other, looking for a weakness in the other’s defenses. A vulnerability, however slight, a way to tip the stalemate they had been locked into for a time uncountable. In the sky above them the sun and the Moon also danced, a visible echo of the titanic battle on the world below. Ever since Luna had fallen to the Nightmare and refused to lower the Moon, and Celestia had raised the sun to match it, the two heavenly orbs had vied for control of the sky as their avatars had vied for control of the land below.
Time had long ago ceased to have any meaning for the land of Equestria. Day and night were a thing of the past. No days, no weeks, no months, just endless conflict. The fallout from the conflict had wrecked a lot of the land; soon enough there would be very little of the world for the victor to rule over. Celestia knew this and it was for this reason she had again sought direct conflict, no matter how violent or dangerous it was. This had to be ended soon.
Celestia’s attention strayed for a brief second to the things she had with her. The ultimate in power. With them she could end this, but at what cost? Nightmare Moon saw Celestia’s attention wander and she struck again with a lance of white hot fire. It struck Celestia’s defences, wrapping itself around them. Celestia threw her magic at it and with an explosion of light the fire was flung off into the forest around them.
“Give in,” Celestia yelled at the Nightmare given form. “You cannot defeat me -- I am the elder sister and the stronger power. The magic of the sun is greater than that of the Moon.”
The back alicorn on the far side of the clearing gritted its teeth and its eyes hardened. “Yes, sister, you were always more powerful and more popular and more loved. They loved your day, the brightness and warmth you gave them, but they shunned me, hid from my beautiful night, but no more. Now they will see, now they will love me and only me!” The shadows from the trees around Celestia reached out to grasp her. She summoned tongues of flame and drove the shadows back.
“No,” she pleaded, “it was not like that, they loved us both. Please, you must see that,” she begged, even though she knew it was useless. This was an argument she had had with her sister even before she had succumbed to the Nightmare, and the thing facing her now was not even her sister.
Nightmare Moon laughed bitterly. “Oh yes, I remember how they loved us both equally. How you where worshiped and how I was forgotten. Well, now they remember, now they will know me. After you are gone they will learn to love Me.” More bolts of fire erupted from the dark alicorn and the magic battle resumed.
The forest was mess. The ground was crater-pocked and trees had been either burnt or flung far and wide. The river that had flowed peacefully through it had burst out of its bank and now wandered through the ruins of the once peaceful place. The two goddesses stood in the flood and starred at each other.
“You are powerful, sister no doubt about it,” Nightmare Moon said, “but you cannot win.”
“Neither can you, Nightmare,” Celestia spat back, again weaving her magic to lash out at the dark creature.
“Oh, I think I can. You see, I know your weakness, Celestia. You are powerful, but you are also kind. You love. You care about every pony and you can’t bear to see them hurt.” There was a flash of back and the midnight alicorn disappeared into a trail of smoke that darted off through what remained of the forest. Celestia cursed under her breath and followed her.
The twin lines of smoke, one midnight back, one noon bright, darted and flitted through the world. This was a game that the sisters had played many times before, chasing each other through the world, but this time it was deadly. Magic spat and hissed as they sped, soon they left the great forest behind and emerged onto the grasslands.
As they sped on, Celestia saw the damage the conflict had been doing to the world. When the Nightmare had struck Luna down it had bent the Harmony that she and Celestia had used to rebuild the world, and with the balance shaken the chaos was returning to the land. But that was not all. The conflict itself had been taking its toil; great parts of the land where burnt or wrecked. More of it was dead and lifeless, the natural magic gone, used up as the sisters fought, or twisted as the old chaos returned. Creatures large and small lay dead as they passed, victims of the fighting or just dead from the effects of it. The land was dying and evidence lay all round them.
A deserted griffin aviary. A field of flowers, all gray and broken. A stand of trees bent and twisted. A Breese mound, now still and lifeless; that last saddened Celestia the most. The little pony sprites had been one of the first casualties of the war. As the first clashes drained the magic from the land, the ethereal creatures had literally been sucked dry. They had been the first of the magic creatures to die, but not the last.
The Nightmare flicked back into shape and Celestia pulled herself back into her body as well. As she did so, a whip of force cracked out at her. She cried out as it bludgeoned its way past her half formed defences and she was thrown back. She tumbled in the air and crashed through the brick wall of a building. Rubble rained down on her, burying her. She took a grip on her magic and threw the rubble off. It exploded outwards and she leapt to her hooves, jumping out of the ruins of the building and into the street to confront the Nightmare again.
They were standing in the middle of a village, she realised. Probably an earth pony village, she could see crop fields surrounding it, now all withered and gray. Around them she could hear the screams of ponies and the thunder of hooves on the ground as the ponies of the village fled from the titanic conflict that had invaded their lives. The Nightmare struck out again as Celestia emerged, lances of black fire speared towards her, but she had her defences up now and they deflected off her shields, crashing into the buildings around them.
Celestia held her magic back and did not return the barrage; she did not want to damage the village more than was necessary, if she could avoid it.
“See, sister, that is your weakness. Even now you cannot even risk harming one pony.” The Nightmare leered at her. “But you cannot save them. You cannot even save one of them.”
The smoke and stars that surrounded the creature shot out and grabbed at one of the ponies that was running past. Celestia tried to break the weaves of night, but Nightmare Moon had known what she was about to do, and as she did it she snapped a spell at Celestia, forcing her to defend herself. “You see, sister, you cannot even save this one pony.” The Nightmare held the struggling pony up in front of her. Celestia saw in shock it was a young filly. The filly struggled and writhed desperately in the grip of the dark smoke, its mouth open to scream, but no sound came out.
Nightmare Moon laughed harshly. “Go on, sister, show your loving ponies how powerful your are. Save this pony that loved you so very much. I will even make it easier for you.” With a powerful downstroke the black alicorn leapt into the sky. Celestia leapt after her leaving the terrified village behind.
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A speck of darkness speared into the strangely lit sky. A speck of fire following it, the two specks twisted upwards, sparks flashing between them until they settled just above the clouds.
“You see, sister, you cannot do it,” the Nightmare gloated as she hung in the sky. “You cannot even save one little pony.” The pony in question hung in front of her, squirming in the grip of the smoky magic.
Celestia looked at the thing that had been her sister and at the filly struggling in front of it, and all the indecision she had felt before faded. This creature had proved it was incapable of any compassion, and she had seen what its presence was doing to her world, to her ponies. No matter what she felt and no matter what it cost, she had to deal with it. “I can,” she said slowly and coldly, “with these I can.” She opened the flap on her saddle bags and the world was filled with a rainbow light.
Shock flashed across Nightmare Moon’s face before being replaced with confidence. “The Elements of Harmony,” she said almost dismissively as the six brilliantly faceted gems floated up from Celestia’s saddle bags and took up an orbit around her. Each of the jewels glowed with a different colour and they were all bright and radiant. “You can’t use them against me.”
“I can,” Celestia said with force. “I am the elder, I am the fulcrum. They respond to me.”
Nightmare Moon waved a hoof dismissively. “You can use them, but you won’t. We both know what would happen if you did. They are tied to me as well as to you, and through us they are tied to the balance of the world. If you used Harmony against itself the balance would be shattered. Chaos would reign again.”
“I can do it I can hold the balance within me and keep the chaos at bay. The damage would be less than if I allow you to keep doing what you are doing.”
“You won’t,” the Nightmare sneered at Celestia, “the damage to the world would be too great, even then. You won’t do it, you care too much to hurt ponies like that.”
Celestia looked at the struggling pony and then looked the thing that had been her beloved sister straight in its eyes “Yes,” she said slowly, “I care,” as she drew the power of the Elements of Harmony into her and struck.
A brilliant rainbow arched out and struck the Nightmare; its defences blistered and warped under the onslaught.
“I care about my world,” Celestia screamed as the world shook and trembled. The land tore itself apart; mountains fell and seas boiled. Celestia felt the balance shatter as she struggled to hold onto it, to buffer it from the shock and pain as she unleashed the Elements of Harmony.
“I care about my ponies.”
The defences cracked and were blown apart as the power blasted outwards. Nightmare Moon screamed as the full force of Harmony was turned on her and Celestia felt reality buck and writhe as Harmony fought itself; she clung to it, pulling it together. As it tore she felt Discord through the tatters of it. She strained more and thrust him back as the power of Harmony tore at the Nightmare and she tried to keep the fabric of the world from pulling itself apart.
“And... I... care... for... Luna...” Celestia spat through clenched teeth as the pain of the world flowed through her. But now as well she could feel the Nightmare through the Elements. With the power she thrust at it, pushing past the dark layers of anger and hatred, looking for the ‘place’ where the Nightmare became Luna. There it was, deep at the core, a difference in the shade of the darkness. The darkness of the Nightmare tied around the different shade that was her sister. She pushed the power forwards, throwing it into the knot of the two shades trying to wrench the two apart. She could not. She tried again; the power rushed forward, but the control was not there. She could wield the power like a club, but not like a scalpel. She screamed as the world under her twisted. It would not survive this much longer; she needed to end this now. Desperately she struck out again at the knot of shades; even as she did so she realised with a chill why she was failing to separate Luna from the Nightmare.
She could not do it.
Luna was her friend, her sister, the other half of her. On her own the Elements of Harmony would not respond with the control she needed to pull the two apart. It would hurt Luna too much and in her heart she could not bring herself to do that. She flung the power wildly at the junction of the two selves and screamed at herself. She could not do; it she could not destroy the Nightmare, she could not save Luna, and if she kept trying the balance would crumble and the world would revert to chaos. Even now she could feel Discord pressing at the rents in reality. But she could not let up, she could not leave Nightmare Moon free to roam. She could not -- would not! -- let that happen. Her flailing magic caught the edge of smoothing and Celestia’s mind jolted. That was the edge of the bond with the Moon. She knew it, she felt the solar twin within her. Maybe she could not save her sister, but she could save her world from her.
The world tore beneath them as for one last time she wielded the power of the Elements of Harmony. She wielded the power like a club, pushing and shoving, forcing the essence of the dark creature into the Moon. Nightmare Moon screamed again and for a moment it sounded like Luna. Celestia hardened her heart. “I am sorry,” she whispered and with a last burst of power sealed the dark Nightmare in the heart of the Moon.
The power faded from Celestia and she slumped on her wings. The Nightmare was gone, but as it had said, the world had been very nearly torn asunder by the process. Celestia knew this, she could feel Harmony torn. With one last effort she used her magic to pull the balance back together, to seal up the rips that she had put in the world. She knew they would not be perfect. It would never be, she was alone without Luna and now without the Elements of Harmony. In the battle with the Nightmare they had been scattered, but she did the best she could.
It was done, that was it. She looked up and realised that there was one more thing she was going to have to do. In the sky above her the sun and the Moon still hung. Now still and waiting. The sun looked like it always had, but the Moon had changed. Instead of the silvery, crater pocked face it had shown before, there was a shadow across it; the face of the Nightmare. Celestia shuddered as she looked at that frozen reminder of what she had been forced to do, but it reminded her of her next task. She had to set the moon. The sun and the moon needed control, and with her sister no longer around Celestia would have to take on the task herself. Gingerly she reached out her mind and felt where she had felt the Moon’s bond before. Shock battered its way into her exhausted mind. Through the bond with the Moon she felt the Nightmare trapped inside it. She could feel its anger and its hate as it lashed at her. It was powerless, trapped behind the barriers that Celestia and the Elements of Harmony had erected, but it was still there. Slowly, carefully she reached past the impotent voice and grasped the Moon. She felt the power and chill of the heavenly orb roll through her, so different and yet so similar to the sun, and ever so carefully she set it.
For the first time since the Nightmare had taken her sister, the moon set and it was a new day. With the moon asleep the echoing shouts of the Nightmare faded in Celestia’s mind -- they were still there, but she could ignore them. Slowly and with a bone deep weariness Celestia glided back towards the ground.
She glided down to where the earth pony village was. To where the earth pony village had been. There was nothing left of it now. When she had broken the balance the ground beneath them had shattered and the village had been swallowed up. As she flew low she saw some rubble and the remains of a field that was all that was left of the place. Her heart grew colder and then she spotted something else lying on the rocks; it looked like a patch of colour. Curious, she swooped lower and landed near the thing. It looked like a patch of fur, but it was not until she got close that her weary mind finely realised what it was.
It was the filly that Nightmare Moon had been holding.
Celestia reared back. The filly had fallen from the sky. When she had hit the Nightmare with the power of the Elements of Harmony it had lost its grip on the poor little thing and it had fallen. In her effort to defeat the Nightmare she had not even noticed her or remembered about her until now. The ice cold determination in Celestia’s heart shattered and her mind reeled. She had not been able to save her either.
She had failed.
She had failed to save her world. She had failed to save her sister and she had even failed to save one little pony. Her eyes filled with tears as the events of the past caught up with her. She could not face it, she could not face the ruin that she had left of the world that she had loved.
Celestia spun around and leapt into the sky. She could not face her ponies knowing what she had done, what she had been forced to do. She could not. Wings beating furiously and tears flowing from her eyes, Celestia fled her world.