"Come Little Children"
By: Blue Eyed Melloon
Chapter Eleven

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon.

It turned out that Celestia didn't have to go far to find Nightmare Moon. She was done making her rounds for the moment, and was on her way back to the castle. There was much work to be done, and it all started with one task.

She dove through the hole in the ceiling, landing with a crash that shook the rafters.

“Celestia?” She shouted, turning in a circle. “Come out! I have business to attend with you!” The faded light of the eclipse drenched the hall in shadows. It felt as if the room were filled to capacity, even though no other soul inhabited it. Nightmare Moon glared, turning again. “Celestia! Show yourself!”

There was a flash of light above. Nightmare Moon covered her eyes with a blackened wing to prevent being blinded. Celestia crashed through the same hole her sister had come through, pulling her wings downward to slow her decent. Her face was set into determination; it held none of the love she felt tug at her heart even as she looked upon the creature that Luna had become. The golden crown atop her head glittered, and Nightmare Moon eyed it with arrogance.

“So you've finally shown up.” She took a couple of steps toward her elder sister, twisted horn glowing with a fearful blue hue. “Excellent. Now we can show thee the power we have obtained!”

“I will not fight you Luna!” Celestia said, “This will not end in one of us being destroyed!”

“That is exactly how this will end!” Nightmare Moon snarled, firing a blast of magic toward the white alicorn. Celestia's own horn shown with gold, and the floor rose up to shield her, rubble blasting sideways as the magic hit. The rocks bounced, some hitting windows, and others shattering them. Falling glass created even more noise that combined with another blast from Nightmare Moon. This time Celestia jumped upwards, letting the wall behind explode in a shower of rocks. Nightmare Moon watched her sister rise into the air, and fired a single beam toward the ceiling. The rocks splintered, creating a hole that followed the beam across the ceiling. Celestia looked up in fear. She was trying to collapse the ceiling on top of her! She dove, shooting upwards into the open sky as the roof began to rumble, dropping giant boulders on the hallway below.

The guards throughout the castle looked toward the commotion, seeing part of the castle crumble. They began to shout, and ran throughout the remaining halls evacuating anypony they found. A flash of blue caused a few to pause and look toward the sky. Nightmare Moon chased Celestia around the turrets, magical blasts thundering through the air. The sky became a battlefield, the castle an unfortunate civilian casualty. An entire turret swayed, the roof falling over end over end and crashing to the ground. There was the steady drumbeat of magic blasts for the screams of the ponies below to contend with. Magical residue made the air sparkle and crackle with energy.

Nightmare Moon snarled, throwing her head in frustration. “Stop running you coward!” she screamed, pouring energy into her wings to catch up with Celestia. “FACE ME!”

She fired yet another blast, and this time, the energy flew true, striking Celestia in the wing. Now it was her turn to scream as the wing muscles seized and locked, making her left wing useless. She spiraled downward, flapping her other wing to try and slow her body's decent. The pain made her see spots, and then everything went black as she crashed into the floor below.

Nightmare Moon stared from above, watching the dust settle around her sister's body. When Celestia did not rise, a grin showed the evil princess's newly sharpened teeth. She laughed, a deep booming threat to all those who heard it. “You see!? I am stronger than my sister! I have always been stronger! Now you will all BOW. TO. ME!” Her laughter echoed through the magic-filled air. The few ponies that had yet to escape the grounds stared in horror as the night seemed to grow darker. Nightmare Moon's glittering mane and tail wound its way around the mare as if it had a life of it's own.

The world was nothing but a mass of dark shapes. Celestia blinked rapidly, but the actual shapes of things didn't come into focus until much later. The pain came first.

It started as a weak thrum in her side. Then it hitched the ride through her veins, and soon each feather seemed to be aflame. Celestia moaned, rolling to her stomach and looking at her battered wing. It hung limply from her side until with great effort, she managed to tuck it away. Her ears rang from the crash, and much of her body sported an assortment of cuts and bruises.

The laughter reached her ears from above, and she lifted her head to see who it was. “Luna...?”

The reality of the situation hit her with enough force to bring spots back to her eyes. No! She wasn't Luna any longer. This was Nightmare Moon, and it was up to Celestia to defeat her. The battered alicorn shivered, feeling her aching muscles protest even that slight movement. Her white coat rippled with another shiver as she gathered her hooves underneath her body. With shaking legs, Celestia rose to her hooves, head facing downward as she grunted with the effort. Her crown containing the Elements of Harmony lay a few yards from her, knocked off of her head by the impact. She limped to it, lifting it to her head with shaky magic. The Element magic seeped into her body, easing the smaller of her aches and pains. The next shiver was one of relief. Celestia again looked at her sister above, laughing maniacally.

Her flapping was weak, but it got her into the sky. Soon she was level again with Nightmare Moon, who stopped laughing to look at Celestia with what seemed to be pity.

Celestia called upon the magic of the Elements, which reacted by glowing brightly. The removed themselves from the crown, circling the alicorn.

Now Nightmare Moon looked taken aback. What magic was Celestia using? How pitiful! Locked away inside, Luna felt the presence of the Elements, and knew what was happening. She shrunk further in on herself, knowing that she had failed her sister.

Celestia felt the magic reach it's peak, and began to direct toward Nightmare Moon. This wouldn't save her sister, it couldn't free her. It could only prevent further destruction of their kingdom. Tears welled into her sorrowful eyes and fell unnoticed.

The rainbow beam flew with such speed that Nightmare Moon had no time to react except to scream. She felt the burn of the magic as it swept her up, pulling her in and transporting her away. She shouted her defiance, the voice lost in the roar of the spell. Now a golden comet with a rainbow tail, Nightmare Moon was shot into the sky, and with a thud that that whole world felt, landing upon the moon. Her collision created a crater, and moved great boulders. The landscape of the moon was forever changed; it now held the image of a unicorn.

The spell completed, Celestia fell to the ground, too exhausted to maintain her alititude. The Elements shone, and lowered her gently to the earth, where she collapsed into a ball. Were there anypony about, they would have heard the most agonized scream ever released from one pony's mouth. Celestia's grief overwhelmed her, and all she could do was shout as the tears streamed from her eyes.

Come Little Children

by BlueEyedMelloon

Chapter 11