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// The sixth element 
// Story: The Force of the Elements 
// by LuminousRabbit 
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Chapter two: The sixth element
Nightmare Moon soared through the sky. Their wounds had healed, quicker than most ponies would. Nightmare Moon was not just anypony. The lacerations had left scars, buteven those would be gone in a few hours. The smaller part, Luna, felt the pain of flying with tender skin, but Nightmare Moon couldn't even feel Luna anymore. Luna was now irrelevant, and the only role she played was holding back the empathetic thoughts. Nightmare Moon closed off that part of her mind. She was one pony now. Luna was the place she sent unwanted thoughts.
It was a beautiful night. The only thing Nightmare Moon recognised beauty in was the night. Nightmare Moon knew that Celestia was the same. The darker part of Celestia's mind was disgusted by the earth ponies, pegasuses and unicorns. The only thing she saw beauty in was the sun. As a child, Luna had not wanted to believe the corruption she saw in her parents. But the corruption had rooted itself inside her, and Nightmare Moon emerged.
Celestia, in a way, was far stronger than Luna could ever be. She had pushed away the dark thoughts for the good of Equestria. Her mind was strong, and the temptation huge. Eventually they would eat each other up, and Nightmare Moon would be triumphant.
The only question was how long it would take, and in the meantime Nightmare Moon could have fun.
She was enjoying being one entity, a new feeling. She had not experienced this since she was a child, but back then she was Luna.
Nightmare Moon scanned the landscape for signs of activity. Aha! In the distance, asmall cottage with a light on. Fun! (AN: 10 points if you get that reference)
She swooped down, but her wings exploded in pain. Even the Luna part could not hold the pain, and so Nightmare Moon felt it.
She managed to regain control of one of her wings, but found out the reason ponies are made with two.
Nightmare Moon dropped like a rock. But she was high up, and still had some time to think before she crashed. Cause of pain? No physical injuries, so magic then. A perimeter? Around the cottage? Ha. Nightmare Moon traced the magic back to it's source, and cut off the flow.
Her wing righted itself immediately. But there was something else. The flow was still there. She traced it back, this time curious. She felt herself reach the source of the flow, but went deeper, inside the mind of the unicorn. Felt his fear. His confusion.
It was delicious.
She drank it up, and when it was no more, neither was the unicorn's conciousness. All his loves, hates, pride.
All gone.
Nightmare Moon had consumed the soul of another pony, and she had loved every second of it.
She went down to the cottage.
Inside she found the body of a stallion. He was lying on the floor, not a mark on his body. His cutie mark was queer- a force field.
That would explain the magic, Nightmare Moon thought. She went to the other rooms,but there was no sign of life. There was a problem, however. There were two beds in the house. Two beds meant two ponies, and Nightmare Moon was not going to let the other escape.
She went back to the kitchen. Standing there was the pony she was looking for.
He was barely more than a colt, still young, but he definetely knew what was going on.He stared at her in defiance, not cowering or giving in. His coat was red, his mane was a deep blue, and his cutie mark was also a curious one. Gold stars in a swirled pattern.
Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. This one could prove a challenge.
His red horn started glowing, but before the magic did anything Nightmare Moon cut off the flow, and took herself back the source.
His pupils dilated as he became one with another pony. Without hesitating, Nightmare Moon turned away from him and bucked her legs into his face.
The blood ran down the colt's face, dark and sticky. He was holding his head in an interesting way, tilted slightly. Nightmare Moon had at least strained it. Perhaps it was splintered, maybe even snapped. It was delicious, seeing,feeling his pain, and Nightmare Moon couldn't get enough of it. The red colt's jaw was hanging off, and one of his eyes was full of blood. The other eye still stared at Nightmare Moon, courageous, invincible. Nightmare Moon's eyes flicked to the fireplace, and his remaining eye opened wide, the fear finally showing. She conjured a poker from mid air. It was shaped like a moon. She took it to the fire, adding heat to the flame with her magic. She put the poker in the fire, and made the colt watch as it turned from silver to red. She put more magic in the flame, turning it blue, and the poker literally became white-hot.
She felt the colt squirming. She retracted the poker from the flame, bringing it closer and further away from him. Nightmare Moon felt the perfect, amazing fear and pain.
She circled him, drawing out the fear hidden deep within. Eventually she decided, and stabbed the poker at his cutie mark.
Still no cry.
But Nightmare Moon could see it. The blackened flesh and singed fur. The colt's cutie mark replaced with a moon. Perfection.
She levitated him ouside, sustaining his life, forcing him to live. A part of him wanted to give up, and it might just be a strong enough part to kill him.
But Nightmare Moon hadn't finished with the colt yet.
Using her magic, she sent him higher and higher. So far up, so far to the ground. Then she released the magic.
The colt crashed to the ground, and broke all four of his legs.
'I hate you', he whispered, and Nightmare Moon flashed away into the night.
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Celestia had made a decision. She needed the sixth element. It was clear from the remnants of Manehatten that whatever used to be her sister could not be reasoned with. Celestia had to use force, or at least threaten Nightmare Moon into giving up.
Celestia needed to find the source of magic in Equestria, and the sixth element would be there.
Mind penetration was also a danger, and so Celestia gathered a group of royal guards, the best unicorns she could find. They were each assigned to a carriage, which some pegasus ponies drew for them.
Such flaws. It is a shame the age of alicorns has come to an end, Celestia thought to herself. The unicorns stood steady, ready and willing to sacrifice themselves for her. Celestia was glad, but also felt guilty, as some might not ever see their families again. But it was their job, and they had willingly signed up for it.
They took off from Canterlot as soon as they were ready, for time was irrelelvant in everlasting night.
Celestia flew in the centre of a 'v' formation, searching for powerful sources of magic all across the land. She ordered the group of guards accompanying her towards the nearest one, which was about halfway between Manehatten and Fillydelphia. But something was wrong. The magic was diminishing. Getting weaker, smaller.
'Faster!' she ordered the guards, but it was clear that they couldn't match her speed.
'I'll go on ahead. It's a direct route, so you shouldn't miss me,' she told them.
They nodded. As much as they hated to think it, the guards were mostly for decoration only . Celestia was more than capable of taking care of herself. And if Celestia couldn't deal with something, the guards definetely couldn't.
Celestia increased her speed of flight as much as she could, leaving the guards far behind. In the distance she could see farming lands, but there was something else.
As she got closer, she could see it. A small cottage.
The magic was nearly gone by now, but traces of it pointed to just outside the cottage. Lying on the ground was the body of a pony. Celestia approached slowly, respecting thedead. The red fur was hardly recognisable beneath the deeper shade of red - blood.
It was gruesome. The jaw was broken off, all the legs were broken, tangled in a mess. Many bones were sharply poking out of places they shouldn't be. The worst part was the cutie mark. It had been replaced with a blackened, burnt symbol. Celestia edged forwards, trying to get a closer look.
A moon.
The red pony sharply inhaled and moaned. Celestia rushed to his side, already healing him with her magic.
He smiled. 'I heard a rumour you met the princess in heaven,' he said softly.
'You're not dead,' Celestia told him, 'But I need your help. Equestria needs you, and for that you need to live.'
'To defeat Nightmare Moon?'
'Yes.'
Another smile, and Celestia felt his life force grow stronger. They worked together for about ten minutes, then the royal guards arrived and silently joined in with the healing.
After about half an hour later, the unicorn was returned to full strength.
'Nightmare Moon has to be stopped,' he said. 'She tortured me and left me to die. But I was powerless against her. You must have some plan, yes?'
'Yes I do,' said Celestia, 'But first let's start with your name.'
'My apologies. I'm Dragonsilver, and my new life purpose is to stop Nightmare Moon.' he said.
'Excellent. I have found a way to stop her, but it requires assistance from six ponies,' Celestia told him.
He wrinkled his nose.
'I'm not good with people. How many other ponies have you found?'
'Not a whole lot.'
'Have you found any?'Dragonsilver asked.
'Uh, no.'
He paused.
'Excellent. Where's the next?'
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Dragonsilver shared a carriage with Celesia's best unicorn guard. They decided to search for the pony of laughter next. While they headed en route, Celestia explained the situation to Dragonsilver.
'...I can harness the power of the elements, but to do that I need to establish a mental link with the ponies that embody the elements. They have to be physically close, and I need them to trust me,' she said.
Dragonsilver nodded. He seemed to be following very well.
'...Once I've done that, I should be able to at least trap Nightmare Moon.'
'And what then?'
'What do you mean?' Celestia's brow furrowed.
'Equestria isn't exactly in it's prime,' Dragonsilver said. 'What are you going to do about that?'
Ashtonishingly, Celestia hadn't even considered the furture of Equestria.
'We'll deal with that problem when it arises,' she told him.
'How about your authority? If one princess loses it, how long can the next last after the crisis is avoided? Ponies will call for a democracy, and unless you have the forces to hold back them all, that's what's going to happen.'
'Quiet! Who are you to question my authority?' Celestia was letting anger get the better of her. She needed to be more careful.
'That's what ponies will do. Do you really want to rule after this is over? Because if you force it upon them, you'll be no better than Nightmare Moon.'
'If the ponies really don't want me any more, I will step down.'
'And that is exactly why they haven't made you step down before now. Congratulations, princess, you're officially incorruptable,' he told her, and smiled.
She laughed a bit. 'I'm not incorruptable, I just havn't been corrupted yet. Do you want some food?'
'Yes, please.'

AN: Woo hoo! Two chapters, and still going strong! I'm happy for any crticism, anything to help me improve my story. I'll definetely be continuing this one, it's going pretty well. Apologies for any spelling or grammar mistakes.