Loop Reset
Six jewels known collectively as the elements of harmony floated lazily in Celestia's magic as they returned to the saddlebag the white alicorn pulled them from. Ponies of all three tribes were starting to gather around her and her sister, many were shaking their head as if waking up from a dream and many stared in disbelief at the draconequs shaped statue that stood in front of the two alicorn siblings.
Luna watched in mild amusement as a small colt or curious filly sniffed or nibbled at the grass beneath their hooves, with the few adults who had regained their senses quickly scolded the children and then became flustered as they tried to recall fuzzy, half forgotten memories of grass told by their grandparents to answer the curiosity of the foals around them. The starry maned alicorn turned to watch her 'older' sister as Celestia moved to announce Discord's defeat to the gathering, to confirm that 'yes Disocrd is gone for good', and to answer the questions that would surely from the masses as they were left in a world so utterly different than the ever changing landscape the ponies of Equestria had grown up with for several generations.
Soon the populace was calmed, places of permanent residence were in the process of being built and the party celebrating freedom was in full swing less than a few hours later (thanks to a pony named Surprise, who had hoarded the more edible results of Discord's chaos in her travels and was more than happy to share the food for the party). Improvised instruments and games were put together and the two who had saved all of ponydom from the clutches of chaos had a brief respite before the mountain of work that was waiting for them at the end of it all. Luna liked the party, she always did. Between the foals running rampart, the food (which she swore was a different mix of treats and sweets last time) and the beginning of a government that was being formed right in front of her, there was always something different to do.
She looked up at the sky and waited, in a half an hour somepony would realize the sun and moon were not moving, everypony would panic and in an effort to calm the masses, a group of unicorns would attempt to bring order to the sky above, only to realize the knowledge to do so had long since been lost. She wasn't willing to deal with that again, so with a calm sweep across the crowd and another look at the heavens, she nudged the moon to it's proper place, which signaled the approach of midnight, pushed the sun beneath the horizon and waited as the stars put themselves in their places. She added an aurora for an extra flair and went back to the festivities. She heard hoofsteps approach and looked to the side to see Celestia as she walked up to her. With a nod of acknowledgement the two alicorns sat side-by-side and gazed up into the first true night sky the land had seen in years.
"A fine night you've created Luna" Celestia said warmly with a soft smile. "What do the stars say tonight?"
What they have always said this night Luna thought and looked over at her sister. Should I tell her everything this time?
"Luna, is everything alright?" Celestia asked, a hint of concern upon on her face as she studied the younger sibling.
"I'm fine, it has been a long day after all" the moon princess replied and looked bck up at the sky.
There must be a way to break this....curse without troubling her. I will find a way she thought and smiled reassuringly as she turned back towards Celestia.
"The stars say we will bring about an age of peace my sister, our subjects will thrive and the madness of these past years nothing more than a foals tale"
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One thousand years later
Chocolate milk poured down from the pink, cotton candy clouds that covered the sky, the ground was a patchwork of different terrain that ranged from grass, to rock and even checkered material. Buffalo's danced around wearing pink tutu's that clashed with their war paint and a hailstorm of pies covered areas of the sky that weren't home to clouds made of confectionery.
Within this realm of nonsense Princess Luna grumbled under her breath and battered way the parasprite trying eat her crown. Discord has, as expected, broken free and immobilized her sister, hidden the elements of harmony and was now ruling over Equestria. Despite her efforts to pinpoint when he broke loose, minimize the damage to her kingdom and subjects, as well as warn her sister to take action just before he attacked and had the elements on hoof before he spirited them away, she had failed.
In a vain hope to save the land she played his game, answered his riddle and was now making her way to the Everfree Forest. Her ear flicked in irritation as she glided down the cliff made of wooden blocks with 'jenga' written on them, she ignored the singing manticore, jumped over the river made of chocolate sauce and teleported past the bridge blocked by a ogre and a talking donkey.
She sighed in relief as she made her way to her old home, to the castle of the royal pony sisters. The stone walls showed signs of erosion after a thousand years of decay, tapestries hung in tatters on the walls, windows were broken and the signs of bats inhabiting the place were littered across the floor.
The fight with Tirek did much damage to this place she mused as her hoofsteps echoed loudly in the quiet of the abandoned castle. Hopefully it won't take to long to find where Discord hid the elements.
Something darted past in the corner of her vision and Luna darted around to see the shape of a pony flee down a corridor. With the knowledge that this was bait to lure her in, the starry maned alicorn gave chase. her wings were spread slightly to make turns at full gallop, light spells to reveal her target fell short, as did her attempts to catch up. She sprinted down hallways, through rooms that filled with the rotting remains of artworks and rusted suits of armor until the chase came to a halt at the throne room near the center of the castle.
While this room was the one that was the most intact, the red carpet lined with gold was still frayed at the edges and riddled with holes, the windows that once depicted the images of the day or night lay in shattered fragments on the ground and the stone throne was chipped in places and had clearly seen better days. This meant nothing to Luna, for the only thing that left her in slack-jawed shock, something she did not see coming despite the five times she had lived through these events, was standing in front of the throne.
An alicorn with fur darker than the night sky and a stature as tall as Celestia stood before her. A star filled mane and tail moved in a nonexistent breeze, while the steel blue armor that covered her head, chest and hooves glinted in the moonlight. The new alicorn gave Luna a dark smile as six jewels appeared in her magic, each one encompassed in a dark blue glow. The sight of the elements snapped the moon princess out of her shock and she drew herself to her full height and did her best to appear regal.
"Who are you?" she asked.
The other alicorn chuckled, a flash of insanity splashed across her face before it was replaced with mild amusement.
"Oh poor Princess, looking for these?" she asked and idly motioned to the elements. "They won't help you know, nothing will"
"I ask again, who are you?"
"I could tell you I'm an apparition created by Discord, as that is what you assume I am, heheh But I am so much better than something that silly spirit could create".
Luna narrowed her eyes, a spell at the ready on the end of her horn. The other alicorn raised an eyebrow at the display of aggression.
"You're kidding right?" she said and smirked. "If you wish to know so badly little Princess, I am Nightmare moon!"
Nightmare moon turned to side to reveal her cutie mark, the spell Luna had charged fizzled out, the will to fight, to even stop Discord left her as shock overtook her mind.
How is that...She can't be..How is that me?!
Maniacal laughter filled the air and a ring of light surrounded Nightmare Moon as she activated the elements.
"You will not win Luna, you never will!"
Luna didn't even register the Elements of Harmony firing at her.
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Loop Reset
Luna found herself surrounded by ponies, the sky above her was in disarray and Celestia was next to her, placing the elements back into her saddlebag as the younger alicorn stared at the petrified from of Discord.
What sorcery was that? she wondered. ...No matter, this time I will succeed and save Equestria from Discord
With that idea in mind, she decided to enjoy the celebration.
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One thousand years later
Luna ran through the castle of the pony sisters once more, with every step she cursed the chaos spirit in every way she could think of and all the while the mad creature's riddle danced through her head.
'Twists and turns are my master plan, find the missing elements back where you began'. There is no other place I can think of than here but why here and why in the wide world of Equis does that insane beast act differently every time he escapes? First he changes the weather and then goes my sister, this time he turns her to stone and and then turns every single road in Equestria into chocolate bars. Why?! How?!
This must end.
The throne room came into view, the Elements lay in a circle before the throne. She rushed forward to grab them in her levitation field. Excitement clouded her mind and she failed to notice the distorted shapes of the jewels she had grasped in her magic.
"Finally I have the ele-ments?" She frowned as a hissing noise seemed to come from the jewels and their shaped warped even more.
"What-?"
The Elements of Harmony exploded into a shower of confetti and cake batter with enough force to send Luna through the walls of the castle and drop her several meters to the forest floor. A second later Discord teleported into the room with a 'pop' and looked down through the alicorn shaped hole in the wall.
"Perhaps a bit too much funpowder..." he mused. "Oh well, back to ruling Equestria!"
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Loop Reset
Luna was surrounded by the colts and fillies that had been born before Discord's defeat, each one fidgeted as they waited to ask her a question while Celestia answered the questions of their parents and grandparents of what to do in this brave, new world. Unlike the generation before them, the younger ponies asked far more interesting questions.
"Princess Luna, what are stars made of?"
"When a pony dies, their spirit rises to the sky above us and becomes a star. They will always look down upon Equestria and help all the ponies who need them to guide them" Luna answered.
"How do they do that?" a colt asked.
"While I can hear their whispers, follow their warnings and advice, many ponies often hear them in their dreams" she answered with a smile.
The group looked up at the sky in wonder, the idea of pony ghosts helping them in their dreams was, as many would say, awesome.
"Um Princess, how does Surprise do that?" one filly asked and pointed over to the white coated pegasus, who was pulling plates of sweets from her mane and handing them out to everypony.
"An interesting question, many could see this as impossible but everypony, no matter how young or old, be they earth pony, unicorn or pegasus, has a small mount of their magic connected a tiny hole in space where they can store whatever they want" Luna explained. "We call it a pocket dimension".
"How does the food not go bad?"
"Time doesn't exist in the pocket dimension, Let me show you" Luna replied and reached her mane and concentrated on the dimension attached to her. A list of items stored within it appeared in her mind's eye and she reached for the cookie she had stored there as a filly, pulled it out to the astonishment of the crowd and gave it to one of the children.
Hm, I could have sworn I had less items in there, I wonder...
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In the royal kitchens of Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia looked slightly worried as her younger sister rummaged through the cabinets, cupboards and three different pantries on her quest for sweets. The staff had been scared off long ago and the sun princess was sure flour wasn't supposed to be all over the floor. A small purple unicorn filly with a navy blue mane and tail peeked out from behind her legs, only to scurry back and hide behind the white alicorn's tail as a pot went flying past.
Luna was admittedly having too much fun in her endeavor to see how much food she could store in her Pocket and see if it carried across to the past, but when you dealt with the incarnation of chaos on a regular basis, it was best to find a solution in any way, regardless of how strange it appeared to be.
"Luna...are you alright?" Celestia asked.
"I am fine my sister! Soon I will have enough sugary delights to drown Discord in his own ramblings!"
"i-I see. Why don't you take a break and come walk with me for a bit?"
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"Of course she would see my attempt at saving Equestria from Discord as a little unorthodox, yet I did not think she would go this far...." Luna mused while she stared at the white padded walls that surrounded her. She ignored the itch in her bound up wings and continued to focus on trying to overload the magic suppressor ring around her horn.
That loop ended when Discord took over Equestria, found Luna in her little padded cell and turned her into a plush toy.