Chapter 12 - This is Where it Ends
Do you ever look back on a decision and spend hours of your time questioning it? Endless time spent thinking of ways you could have altered the flow of events? One decision or a thousand? A million? Perhaps one day you simply sit back and wonder how things would have gone if you had done everything different?
Do you ever look back on a decision and realize that it was the right one, and yet things still went wrong? Do you ever fail to see a way to have changed things for the better and it frustrates you, eating away at you from inside? Do you wonder, perhaps, if things might have been different if you simply hadn't tried at all?
This is the story of how I died.
One need not go any further back than the fire. Surrounding two infinitely powerful beings, capable of altering the course of celestial bodies, the roaring fire burned like a hungry beast. Heat radiated off of the old stone walls, and the fire crept along the ground towards its prey. It is infinitely fitting that our battlefield was surrounded by fire. Burning, hungry, and full of desire, that is what we had both become.
Celestia had been glaring at me, that same fire burning in her eyes, and she made the first move. With a loud clash of arcane swords, the true battle began.
The battle that killed me.
The thrill of combat quickly returned to me as I danced back along the expansive hallway. Celestia followed after me like a furious yak warrior, swinging her sword with near reckless abandon. I effortlessly blocked all of her strikes, and then used my telekinesis to fling a full suit of armour at her. The heavy decorative piece clattered off her shield but left her stunned.
The first of many walls crumbled as I fired an offensive strike at the disoriented mare, sending her crashing through to the room beyond. I followed after, picking her up in my magic, twirling her around, and flung her through yet another wall.
When the dust settled, we found ourselves in a large, open room. Torches lined the walls, providing the light that she so desperately needed. Behind us, however, the fire roared to life thanks to the many more torches that had fallen to the ground.
Celestia was not fazed by these strikes against her, and quickly circled around through the air to attack me. The room had a high ceiling, allowing the two of us to flit through the air as we fought. I continued to block as many of her strikes as I could, focusing carefully and striking out when I could.
My suspicions about Celestia were true, however. The damned mare was not holding anything back. No matter what I threw at her, she refused to be knocked down. Quite a number of strikes resounded off of my armour, and one or two lucky shots with her sword managed to draw a little blood.
A decorative statue flew through the air at a frightening velocity. I quickly teleported out of the way, letting it crash into the wall behind us. The entire wall crumbled, revealing the next room. The two of us continued dueling, and at some point ended up making our way into this adjoining room.
Celestia was proving difficult to fight. Compared to our previous engagements, she was allowing much less harm to come to her. For every strike against her that I managed to make, she would eventually be able to make one of her own against me. I refused to admit it, but some pessimistic part of my head was telling me that in this fight we were evenly matched.
I decided to silence that part of my brain. Distracting Celestia with our dueling swords, I charged up a massive electric spell and unleashed it when I was right next to her. It struck her square in the chest, reducing her chestplate to a singed mess, and launching her back through another wall. I heard her cry out in pain.
I calmly followed her through the hole in the wall, only to find that she had landed in the centre of a burning room. The fire from the torches was spreading, slowing engulfing this wing of the castle and destroying it all.
I honestly didn't care in the least. I quickly leapt through the hungry flames and tried to pin Celestia to the ground. She teleported away, but found the fire licking at her sides. She gasped in distress and tried to back away.
I stood up and gave her a predatory grin, watching her amidst the destructive flames. "Look at you!" I called out, "You're already starting to get worn out!"
Celestia had her teeth gritted and was panting as she carefully stepped back from the fire.
"It will be a pleasure to watch you burn."
She cried out in surprise as the fire suddenly sprung to life, guided by my magic, and snaked through the air directly towards her. She furiously backpedalled, but the stream of flames managed to lash out against her, drawing another painful cry.
The route she took actually surprised me. With her horn pointed straight upwards, she unleashed a bolt of magic. The roof above her crumbled, collapsing and bouncing off of the shield she had summoned, while she unfurled her wings and flew through the newly formed hole. I growled and gave chase.
Our dance continued in this room and the many beyond it. Most of the rooms and halls in this castle were expansive enough to allow us to duel, while providing an interesting battlefield for each of us to take advantage of. Our swords continued to clash, sometimes the two of us coming mere inches away from each other's faces, and every so often they drew blood. Magic spells lit up the air, and walls came crashing down one way or another.
We eventually came to one of the castle's expansive staircases. Celestia tried to force me up onto it so as to put me in a disadvantaged position. Instead, I lured her onto the stairs, teleported upwards, and then came crashing back down with my forehooves. With a painful-sounding crunch, I slammed her down into the stairs, painting them red.
Painful, yes, but she was back on her hooves soon after. Such was just one tidbit of our battle as we moved through the castle. I tossed her directly through a window, skewering her with broken glass, while she dropped an entire chandelier on me. Our attacks were brutal, but neither of us would accept defeat.
Celestia was most definitely exhausted, and I could see it even from afar. She was breathing heavily and dripping sweat. However, what set her apart from weaker ponies was that she was not letting it affect her. Despite the exhaustion, she was fighting back just as hard. The damage she had managed to do to me was evidence of that.
It was as if we were experimenting to see just how much abuse an alicorn body could possibly take.
Celestia tumbled down a long flight of stairs, her remaining armour clanking loudly against the uncarpeted marble. I grinned and flew down to the bottom ahead of her, where I grabbed her in my magic and tossed her right back up to the top. She impacted the wall and went straight through it, bringing down the walls around it as well. I was not surprised when I saw her stand up only a few seconds later, glaring at me and daring me to make another move.
As we cavorted through the castle, the fire slowly followed us. It wasn't long before the entire eastern wing was ablaze. I could hear the sounds of structures loudly collapsing in the background as I duelled. Even if not for the fire, our fighting was causing widespread destruction through the whole castle.
I smashed Celestia through another wall, ripped an entire column out of the wall to my right, and tossed it at her. I glared as she blocked it with a shield, reducing it to rubble without causing her any damage. There was a scowl on my face, my teeth barred, and I breathed like a hungry animal.
If the entire castle was destroyed, then I was fine with it. So long as this Tartarus-damned mare was destroyed!
Through yet another wall and into what had once been the castle's open court room. It was wide, spacious, and half consumed by fire. Before she even had a chance to react, I teleported to her side and struck her with a kinetic blast. It knocked her off of her hooves and she rolled right towards the fire.
Celestia cried out, scrambling to her hooves as quickly as she could while the fire attacked her. With a quick spell she doused herself, but I grinned victoriously at the burns that had been left. She then took to the air, once again showing not a single ounce of exhaustion, and dove right for me.
Another aerial battle commenced as we flitted about, darting back and forth and striking out with magic. Fire burned along the ground, and the walls collapsed as they were hit with all of the spells that missed their targets. It wasn't long before the roof itself collapsed. The two of us, however, simply darted around the falling debris and continued our duel.
On and on it went, through room after room after room. Blood covered both of our coats, our bodies painted with bruises and burns. Time moved on, unaware of the duelling goddesses. I have no idea how long we were fighting for. It almost seemed endless.
One could watch from afar as Canterlot Castle, beacon of pride and symbol of the rulers of Equestria, slowly burned and crumbled to the ground. The two of us were still fighting at full strength by the time the entire eastern half of the castle was in ruins. All that remained were unstable pillars and structures.
The two of us moved down one of the main hallways, moving through the centre of the castle. I glared at Celestia as we fought, watching her every move and studying every detail about her. The mare's eyes told a thousand silent tales. I could see immense exhaustion in them, masked by a burning rage and unbreakable determination. She fought with a scowl on her face, something she usually did not do. With every strike against me, she grit her teeth and glared down at me.
The grand entryway passed by in a flash. Celestia dodged a massive energy spell from me, which instead reduced the surrounding balconies to pieces. She rebounded off of a pillar, sailing through the air towards me with her sword. It tore through the hanging banners once I teleported out of the way. Seconds later, Celestia found herself thrown through one of the gigantic decorative pillars and smashed into the one behind it. A deep rumble resounded from within the castle, but neither of us paid it any mind.
Celestia, covered in blood and injuries, picked herself up from the ruins of the pillar and glared at me.
"Heavens be damned!" I cursed, "Would you just die?!"
"I cannot die, or so shall Equestria," she replied in a deep tone, "I will not allow this land to crumble."
I simply let out a vicious cry and charged at her. When she teleported away to the top of the nearby stairs, I quickly retaliated by hurling an arcane spear at her. She dodged it, but never saw the second one coming. It smashed into one of her leg guards, tearing it off and leaving a bloody gash behind.
"Do you enjoy this? Give up!" I shouted, "The longer you fight back, the longer you shall suffer, Celestia!"
I then quickly dashed up, slashing my sword directly for her throat. She blocked with her own, and the momentum carried the two of us through the large ornate doors behind her. Seconds afterwards, the entire entryway collapsed.
The castle was falling apart around us, and the fire was only growing faster. We now ended up in another half-destroyed room that was partially surrounded by flames. Celestia was focused on stepping away from the flames, so I quickly took the opportunity to fire a bolt of lightning directly at her. It struck her in the side of her torso, making her cry out in pain and tumble to the ground.
She simply stood back up. Her face was grimaced in pain, but still she didn't slow down. For a moment, I stopped and simply looked at this pony. Still defiant to me, refusing to allow herself to be defeated. No matter how many times I knocked this pony down, she just got right back up.
Even beyond this fight, the same was true. Ever since this had all started, way back on that last fateful sunset, I had been doing nothing but constantly knocking Celestia down. Every time, to my frustration, anger and suffering, she would just get back up. What was it about this pony that refused to just give up? Didn't she see that this whole thing was pointless? Just looking at her made me feel angry.
I had taken the throne. I had defeated the sun. I had won the war. Though Celestia refused to admit it, this was over!
I let loose a loud growl, filled with frustration and rage. In a flash, a burning black aura surrounded me. Celestia took a hesitant step back in surprise. "Enough of this!!" I shouted, magic already swirling around my horn. A brilliant silver glow quickly grew in size, making Celestia stare up in shock. She quickly took to the air, but I followed her every move.
"Just die!!"
The beam of pure, magical energy that I unleashed from my horn was bigger than anything I had ever cast before. It was blinding to look at, and it shook the castle to its very foundations. Entire rooms were vaporized as the beam cut through the structure of the castle, effectively slicing off a portion and letting even more of the magnificent structure crumble to the ground.
When the beam dissipated, I found Celestia a few floors above me through the holes in the ceilings. As I had expected, there was a spherical shield surrounding her that she had no doubt used to protect herself from my spell.
I didn't give her the time to catch her breath. She cried out in surprise as I suddenly rammed into her, surrounded by a sphere of magic. Just like before when we had fought near the mountain, I dashed towards her while letting the burning sphere of my magic smash into her. She quickly swapped her shield for an energy sphere of her own and started fighting back.
I could see her panting, though. To be uninjured after a magic beam of that caliber would have required an extensively powerful magical shield. I smashed into her, sending her flying back. Walls, floors and ceilings fell before us like mere paper as we circled around, occasionally colliding with one another. Every time we came into contact, I got another good look at her. Even though the burning magical wisps of the two energy spheres being forced against one another, I could see it on her face. By now, she was beyond exhausted. I watched as her movements became sloppy, and before long her energy shield was flickering.
Perhaps a third of the castle still stood untouched. The rest was a burning pile of stone and wood. Celestia cried out in surprise as her sphere bounced along the ground where parts of the castle had once stood, carrying her with it like an unfortunate hamster, and then disintegrated.
I flew down to meet her, but this time she was slower in getting to her hooves. She was still able to perfectly block my sword strikes, and determination was still shown in her expression.
I pushed back from her, standing still against the burning flames. Celestia stood still as well, panting and glaring at me. A strange silence passed between us. The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. The ground we stood on was ashen, and the fire encircled us like a blazing ring.
"Why won't you die…?" I spoke. It didn't even feel like my own voice. "Why won't you die? Why do you still live? What is it about you?!"
She faced me for a moment, staring and panting heavily. "Do you understand now?"
I growled. "Understand what?!" I spat back at her.
"Do you understand who I am? Do you understand what it is I represent?"
I furrowed my brow further, glaring at her. I had no idea what she was talking about.
She set one of her hooves onto the ground firmly, taking a symbolic stance against me. "Nightmare Moon, I represent Equestria!"
Again, I growled. "Enough of your false hopes! I rule Equestria now! It is mine!"
She shook her head. "No! That's not what I'm talking about. I represent all of the ponies in Equestria. Every single citizen, be they young or old, big or small, pony or otherwise. I represent our nation of citizens, the ones who are struggling and suffering. Nightmare Moon, I am Princess Celestia and I represent the spirit of Equestria."
Her glare grew darker. "And…" she continued, "just as the spirit of Equestria shall live on forever and never be defeated, neither shall I."
I simply scoffed, then encased her in my magic's grip and tossed her unsuspecting form back towards the castle. She cried out in surprise as she was sent hurtling towards half-destroyed walls, crashing through them.
I teleported to where she would have landed, but was surprised by a large piece of rubble striking me in the chest. I grunted in discomfort, and then Celestia leapt from off the ground and tackled into me. I quickly recovered, but then grunted as an arcane spear gouged into my side, letting out a river of blood.
I saw Celestia standing in the ruined hallway a few metres away, and she stared right back at me. I decided not to give her a chance to act, quickly powering up my magic and then unleashing a beam directly at her.
There was a deafening sound as the magical beam collided with an identical beam being fired from Celestia's horn. Like a mirror image, she had done the exact same thing I had done, and now these two unstoppable beams of magic were being forced directly into one another. Sparks and arcane flames erupted from the meeting point, as each powerful force refused to yield. I saw pained determination in Celestia's expression, while I simply gritted my teeth and concentrated.
The impasse didn't last long. With neither side being forced back and nowhere for the excess energy to go, the large explosion was inevitable. When I saw that it was about to happen, I quickly cast an intangibility spell and stood there as the explosion passed through me. A complex spell, it lasted just long enough to avoid the concussive wave of force. A smirk came to my lips when I saw that Celestia was not able to defend herself in a similar way beyond a hastily-cast shield, and watched as she was sent reeling back through at least five walls.
Once the explosion had cleared, leaving destroyed structures, pillars and suits of armour to clatter to the ground, I calmly flew through the five perfect holes Celestia had left. I alighted in another expansive room of the castle and saw her lying on the ground in a painful heap.
As I had pessimistically expected, she got right back to her hooves and stood defiantly against me. Her movements were much slower than before, however.
She spat blood on the ground and glared at me. "I will not be defeated…" she spoke in a low tone.
I laughed. "It's so funny the way you cling to empty optimism," I said to her with a sneer, "You are not invincible, Celestia. You will fall by my hooves." I paused and took a look at the room where we were currently standing. Though fire was burning in one corner and one of the walls was now destroyed, it was still an iconic room that could easily be recognized.
Celestia glanced around as well, apparently not recognizing the room.
"Don't you know where we are, Celestia?" I asked in a playful tone, "Isn't this room familiar to you?"
She glanced around again, but kept a careful eye on me.
"This is where it all started, Celestia," I reminded her, "It was in this room that you set the sun for the last time, and where my glorious transformation took place."
I watched her eyes slowly widen as faint recognition began to come to her.
"Do you ever reflect on a decision and wish you had not made it? This is the room where I gave you the offer to surrender…and you refused. From here the battle commenced, and you were defeated."
Celestia definitely recognized the room now. Though she dared not look behind her, for fear of lowering her defenses, I'm sure she knew that sitting behind her was my throne. There had been two there once, but now there was only one sitting below a beautiful banner of blue night skies. The large window above, I had left shattered as a symbol of my ascension.
"This is where the war started, Celestia."
I took a step towards her, but she didn't move. She didn't even focus her gaze on me completely.
"Do you remember…Celestia?"
Then, I saw it. For only a brief second had it lasted, but I had definitely seen it. Celestia's entire body had shivered. I took another step forward to recapture her attention, but when her eyes returned to look at me they were not the same. They were wide, pupils shrunk to dots, and she had this lazy half-frown. Gone was the determination, gone was the fire in her eyes, and gone was her rage.
I grinned as I watched the alicorn get shaken to the core, grinning in satisfaction.
"Is something wrong, Tia?" I asked.
Another shiver passed through her body. She was breathing heavily, staring straight at me but not making a single move.
"Awww…" I cooed in a dark tone, "Did I dig up some bad memories? Was this something you didn't want to remember?"
She took a single step back. I saw her gulp, and could see that she was trying to refocus herself and get back into the proper mindset. It was easy to see that she was having trouble.
I chuckled. "Such a glorious battle, was it not? I remember it like it was yesterday. I think we should take a stroll down memory lane. How about I break that horn of yours right off this time?"
"Silence," Celestia finally spoke, "Your words mean nothing. Fight me or surrender." She got into a battle-ready stance and narrowed her eyes at me, but I could still see the little signs of trepidation that she was trying to hide. This was exactly what I needed.
"This is where it all started, Celestia." I said with a hint of finality in my tone. I lifted up both of my swords and pointed them directly at her, giving her a menacing grin.
"…And this is where it ends!"
She pulled up a shield, but not even a second had passed before I dashed over and utterly shattered it with a crossing slash of my swords. I moved quickly into a flurry of slashes, forcing her to move her own sword around like mad to block them all. With a final, powerful strike to the side, Celestia's sword twirled through the air and landed on the opposite end of the room.
This was followed by a short burst of magic right to her chest.
Celestia was thrown back right into the raised dais, knocking the wind out of her. I glided across the room quickly and swung my sword in a broad, downward arc. She barely had time to react, and was only able to teleport away after my sword had cut through her flesh slightly. She was left with a bleeding wound on her barrel as she appeared on staggering hooves to my left.
"Wai-"
Celestia reeled from the punch to the face. She grunted in pain and quickly brought up a shield, which I shattered with magic. Multiple short bursts of powerful magic shot forth from my horn, striking her body and causing her to scream. With one particularly powerful strike to the side, she toppled to the ground.
"Please! I-"
The alicorn let out a horrifying scream as her entire body was subject to an electrocution spell. Smoke filled the air as I glared down, white bolts dancing off my horn as well as my victim. My swords dissipated due to the amount of magic I was using, but I didn't care.
When that spell ended, I lifted her with my magic and tossed her into one of the room's columns. She smashed into it hard, leaving a bloody splatter. Before her limp body could even fall back down I had her encased in my magic once more. This time, I put more force into my telekinesis and tossed her straight upwards. She smashed through the roof, sailing up to strike painfully against the roof of the floor above.
Another horrifyingly loud scream pierced the air a moment later after I tossed the arcane spear directly at her. It had pierced directly through her wing, though not through the feathers but straight through the flesh of the limb itself and between the bones. The pitiful alicorn was left hanging with her wing effectively nailed to the roof.
I paused for just a brief moment to catch my breath and regain my energy. Celestia struggled to free herself, groaning loudly as the weight of her body yanked painfully on the trapped wing. I wondered if it would be torn off, or if she herself would tear it off in desperation. Tears formed in her eyes as unimaginable pain rippled through her body while she futilely continued to get free.
I darted up through the hole in the roof. She managed to teleport away just moments before I struck her, which was a notable feat given how difficult it would be to focus on a spell in her situation. Predictably, it was a feeble teleport and she stumbled to the ground next to me. I picked her up with my magic and slammed her into the ground, making her cough up more blood.
I held her there for a moment. Her entire body was bloodied and bruised and her left wing was completely mangled and useless. It hung limply at her side. She had one eye clenched closed, while the other was looking up at me in fear. Aside from the beginning, she hadn't even been attempting to use any shields.
I smirked. "Well?" I asked, "Is this it? Do you surrender?"
She simply stared back. I subtly nudged a suit of armour nearby, letting an iron sword fall to the ground next to her head. It was well within reach for her to quickly lift it with her magic and plunge it right between my eyes, and it would have only taken a miniscule amount of magical energy.
Nothing happened. She simply stared at me, nothing but fear on her face. From that moment, I knew that this was it. The battle was over.
Celestia gasped and then screamed as I picked her up suddenly and tossed her right through the nearby window. Broken glass tore through her, leaving a trail of blood as she sailed through the open air outside. After a moment, her screams died on her lips.
I teleported next to her and held her aloft in the air, a great height above the castle grounds below. She had a distant look in her eyes that turned to pain once I started repeatedly striking her with both hooves and blasts of magic. Like a common street thug, I pummelled her for a good minute or two. She didn't make a sound throughout. Then, with one powerful uppercut, I sent her sailing upwards through the air.
I watched her for a moment as she flew helplessly upwards, rising to the tallest part of the castle that still stood and continuing up higher. A trail of blood followed her like a morbid contrail. When the momentum finally ran out and she reached the peak of her little flight, I teleported myself above her. For a brief moment, time stood still. I glared down at Celestia, hanging limply in the air with all six limbs dangling uselessly, a faraway look on her face, and more blood on her coat than white. The only sign of life was the glow of magic from my horn reflected in her eyes.
"Goodnight, Celestia."
The powerful beam of pure magic struck her right in the chest, vaporizing most of her remaining armour and sending her plummeting straight back down towards the castle. She sailed through the air at a velocity that would be terminal for any mortal being. It was incredibly satisfying to watch her smash through the roof with a tremendous crash, followed by the repeated rumbling of her near-lifeless body tumbling through each and every floor of the castle without stopping.
A huge cloud of dust filled the air, and then all sound but the crackling of the bonfire ceased. I hovered in the air for a moment, staring down at the hole in the roof with a huge grin on my face. I remember thinking at that moment that I had no idea whether or not Celestia had survived that, but was planning to do the same thing over and over again until she didn't.
In all of our encounters, that had been the most damage I had ever managed to inflict upon her, and she had barely fought back. This, I had definitely known. I had already won the battle, but in the moment I hadn't wanted to just kill her. I had wanted to make her suffer, and having achieved that brought a great sense of satisfaction.
A dark chuckle escaped my lips.
Finally, I gently dove through the air and descended to the hole in the castle's roof. I peered inside as I entered, marvelling upon the perfectly lined-up set of holes in the floors below, as if a magic beam had pierced the castle itself. I flapped downwards, passing five, six, seven, at least eight floors.
When I reached the castle's second floor, however, I hesitated. Below me were two more holes, indicating that Celestia had been blasted below the ground level. I briefly entertained the thought that I had sent her straight to the castle's dungeons.
As I gazed through the hole to the ground floor, however, my good spirits started to vanish and be replaced by curiosity and confoundment. I immediately recognized the room beneath me. I had trod its floor many times before.
It wasn't possible. It simply wasn't possible!
The room below me was empty, as it had always been since the castle had originally been built. Where once an intricate mark adorned the floor there was now a crumbling hole to the underground room below. It was the room above the chamber housing the Elements, which meant that Celestia was now in the chamber.
I was struck with sheer disbelief, hovering in place like a befuddled idiot. Ever since the Elements had sealed themselves in that chamber, who knows how many years ago, not a single thing had ever managed to penetrate the room. Every attempt, from the simplest tools to the most powerful alicorn magic, was met with failure. Celestia had tried more than anypony else, but to no avail. For the longest time, the Elements had been locked away from the outside world.
Now the top of the chamber had simply shattered like it was made of clay. It didn't make sense. It was impossible.
I heard quiet grunting and saw a flash of light, which shook me from my stupor. I quickly dove through the air, flying cleanly through the two holes and entering the underground chamber. I quickly took in my surroundings, finding a vast but simple room with intricately carved stone walls and a strange-looking dais in the centre. Everything had been slowly eaten away by the ravages of time.
The room was alit with a bright glow and I quickly turned around. Standing across the room, only a yard away, was Celestia. She was miraculously on her hooves, though she truly did not look well. Her injured wing hung limp and mangled at her side, coated completely in blood. There was more red than white on her fur, her mane was a mess, and only two small crumpled pieces of armour were still attached to her body. She looked frail and exhausted. She stood on quavering hooves, she looked like she could barely keep both eyes open, and her whole body trembled with every shuddering breath.
Her teeth were grit and there was a heavy amount of strain in her expression. Her horn glowed with a slightly flickering golden glow, though the objects she held aloft remained dutifully floating in the air.
Celestia was surrounded by six fairly large spherical rocks. Each one was grey in colour, and they all had a crude symbol carved into them. Five depicted a simple emerald-cut jewel, while the sixth had a six-pointed star shape on it. They were large, heavy-looking, and cleanly carved, but that is all that they were. Just rocks.
I took a quick glance at the dais, seeing once again that it was empty. I knew that the dais was where the Elements should have been. It seemed too fantastic to be true, but I realized that what Celestia was holding were the Elements. What had happened to them? When they had been originally discovered, they were rock-like but they didn't look like boulders. Furthermore, I couldn't feel an ounce of magical energy in the entire room.
Celestia heaved heavy breaths while I simply stood there and tried to understand what was happening.
"I…"
I almost didn't hear her. Celestia's voice was so weak and quiet.
"I will…defeat you…"
My lips were pursed as I calmly assessed the situation. Celestia had broken through the unbreakable barrier and was now in possession of the Elements. But…were they the Elements?
"I will defend Equestria…" she continued, "If…you leave me no choice…If you don't…surrender…I will use them."
I didn't reply.
"I will…use the Elements on you, Nightmare Moon."
Still, I did not reply. I simply growled defiantly and stood my ground. I tried to analyze the situation presented to me, but for the first time in such a long time, I felt anxious. Of the hundreds or even thousands of scenarios I had envisioned, this had not been one of them. Never had I expected that Celestia would manage to break into the chamber and reclaim the Elements.
As I have said before, the Elements are unusual but they are most definitely dangerous. With little effort, they had imprisoned the untouchable, all-powerful god of chaos in an unbreakable stone prison. Celestia was threatening to do the same to me, and I could not allow that to happen.
I didn't make any sudden moves. For the first time, it seemed, I did not want to provoke her. In the mere blink of an eye, the tables had turned and Celestia now held the advantage for the first time in this long war. For the first time, I could feel the weight of the possibility that I could lose.
Yet, I found myself wondering if I could lose. The Elements seemed as if they were themselves in stone prisons. Why did they look like that? Previously, even being in the same room as the elements felt like walking through a manifested dizzy spell. Now, there was nothing. There was only stillness to the room.
Celestia was staring at me with those eyes. She was still panting heavily, and I could see that it was causing her a great deal of strain just to keep the heavy boulders elevated. She was brandishing what could have been ultimately powerful weapons, and yet she appeared more like a child trapped in a corner. There was no ferocity in her eyes. No will to dominate, succeed or even survive.
Stealthily, I started to form the spell I had come up with ages ago to break free from a stone prison. Even if they did work, I would not allow myself to be defeated so easily.
I took a step forward. She took a step back. "Stop!" she shouted.
Regarding her closely, I spoke in a quiet voice. "How did you get in here?"
She shook her head but kept her eyes on me. "Don't try to distract me. Surrender or…or suffer!"
Tears were running down her cheeks. Her whole body was still trembling as she stared up at me. Her head was lowered and her eyes seemed fearful, like a submissive wolf pup. The more she spoke and the more time passed, the more it seemed like her threats were empty.
I decided to explore this a little more. "So…This is where it ends, is it?" I said, still speaking quietly, "You're going to encase me in stone…forever?"
I could almost see the shiver run through her body. "Y-yes…"
A grin snuck onto my face. "Such a shame…" I lamented, "Your poor little sister, trapped forever within a statue, and by her own sister's hooves no less."
I took another step forward, and this time she took two steps back. She lifted the rocks up higher, as if to physically shield herself. "No…!" She half-shouted, "Don't try to trick me! Luna is gone! You're not Luna!"
"Which is why you are going to use the Elements, yes?"
"Yes!"
"Are you quite sure?"
More tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the blood in her fur and making a mess. She shuddered for a moment, the glow from her horn fading even more. Still, though, she managed to keep them all aloft.
"I…"
"You won't use the Elements on me," I said confidently with another step towards her, "I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your soul, Celestia. You don't have it in you. You used the elements to defeat something that was completely evil."
"Y-you are completely evil!"
I stood still and arched an eyebrow. "Am I?"
Celestia's eyes grew wide. That's when I took my chance. I knew that my life could have ended at this very moment, but Celestia truly had backed me into a corner, loathe as I was to admit it. I had to take the risk. I quickly aimed my horn directly at her and unleashed a bolt of lightning.
She lifted some of the stones up to block the strike, which dissipated against them completely. I saw her continue to cast magic into the stones, her horn glowing slightly brighter. I didn't give her a chance to act any further. I ducked to the side and aimed my horn lower, firing another bolt of lightning that managed to strike her in the torso.
Celestia cried out in strangled screams of pain as the electricity coursed through her whole body. She screamed to the heavens for a few moments, her body jittering, and then she immediately collapsed into a smoking heap on the ground. All traces of her golden magic vanished. As a consequence, the six large stones suddenly fell to the ground and gently rolled away. One of them landed on her outstretched hoof, drawing out another loud, painful shout.
I watched as one of the stones lazily rolled straight towards me. When it was before me, I picked it up in my own magic. I gazed at it, smiling as a sense of renewed vigor filled me. The stone floated before me, held in my magic's aura, but it did nothing more than any other stone.
"My, how unfortunate for you…" I mused with a chuckle. I turned to look at Celestia, seeing her lying on the floor and quivering in pain. "The Elements are completely inert," I continued, "I can't feel a trace of magical energy in them. Time must have taken its toll, Celestia. They're nothing more than rocks now."
Celestia had one eye wrenched open and staring up at me. I saw a deep seeded fear in her gaze, like an overwhelming sense of defeat. The Elements had been her last, desperate chance and now they were useless to her. She couldn't even stand up. She was through.
"A pity that means I cannot use them on you instead, but oh well…" I chuckled again and gave her a smug look. "I have other ways of dealing with you. Perhaps I should just get it over with and use one of these things to smash your little head in?"
She was still crying as she lay there. As I spoke, she stared up at me with that one big eye. Just like before, I had beaten her. The fight was gone, and all I saw now was a plea for mercy. After a few moments, however, her gaze was drawn elsewhere. She started looking at the stone I was holding, and her eye opened even wider in astonishment.
I gazed back down at the stone. "What…?" Confusion filled me as I watched my magic aura grow darker ever so slowly. From the point closest to my horn, a dark colour seemed to expand and snake outwards to cover the surface of the stone. As we both watched, this darkness covered more than half of the sphere.
Then it started glowing. It was a dim glow, pure white in colour, but it slowly started to grow brighter. It started to light up the room, and the darkness that was covering it stopped. Brighter and brighter the sphere got, and the darkness of my aura started to recede. I watched in stunned astonishment. It was like two opposing forces, and this new lighter force was prevailing.
"Wh…What is this…?!"
I realized that the stone was also growing hot. It took me a moment to truly comprehend that fact, since I wasn't actually touching it. Somehow, I could feel the stone's heat through my magic alone. The dark colour continued to recede, getting smaller and smaller, until it shrank to a single point. The sphere was almost blinding at this point.
"Ah!"
My magic faltered as a painful jolt of heat ran down my horn. The sphere dropped from my grasp, landing on the ground at my hooves. I winced in pain for a second and then looked down at it. It shined brighter and brighter, as if it were simply brimming with energy. Then, a moment later, it shattered.
I reflexively shielded myself with both my wing and a spell, but kept my eye on it. From within the remains of the shattered rock emerged a glowing red crystal that I recognized immediately. It was one of the Elements! A split-second later, it zipped across the room faster than my eyes could follow it.
The air was filled with an ear-splitting scream from Celestia. When I turned my head up to look at her, my eyes shot open wide. She was floating, suspended in the air by a white aura, with her mane and wings fluttering as if in a gentle breeze. Her eyes were clenched shut and her mouth hung open as she screamed in pain. The Element was affixed to a spot on her chest, and was glowing brightly.
Before I could try to understand what was happening, I noticed more glowing in my peripheral vision. I quickly glanced around and saw that the other stone spheres were glowing as well. One by one, I watched them grow brighter and shatter, revealing one of the Elements within which would immediately fly to Celestia. In desperation, I tried to reach out with my magic and grab the last sphere. I yelped as the same spike of hot pain shot down my horn.
Once all six Elements had attached themselves to Celestia, she stopped screaming. She was nearly too bright to look at. Through squinted eyes, I saw that her mouth was still open but no sound was coming out. The Elements were all glowing brightly, encasing her body in a multicoloured aura. A moment later she opened her eyes, and they were glowing pure white.
This had all transpired so quickly. A sense of panic had been building within me, but when I saw Celestia and the Elements together, that's when I felt afraid. For the first time, through all the pain, strife and troubles, I felt afraid. "No!" I shouted and took a few hasty steps towards her, but I was then blinded by a painfully bright flash.
When my vision cleared, I quickly looked back towards Celestia. My heart nearly stopped. She was still suspended in the air, but now her limbs were outstretched prominently as if she were standing on thin air. Her injured wing, though not healed, was surrounded in a golden glow and extended to its full length. Her other injuries remained, but the blood on her fur had vanished. Instead, her coat almost glowed a pristine white. Her mane fluttered on an invisible breeze, emblazoned with four vibrant colours. The elements were no longer stuck to her chest, but were now orbiting around her midsection.
I took a step back, fear sweeping through me. Celestia hovered before me, staring ahead with those empty white eyes, powered by the Elements themselves. Any of the damage I had done to her was meaningless now. With the Elements empowering her, especially with all six of them, she was now far more powerful than she ever was before. In the span of only a couple minutes, the tide of battle had completely shifted leaving me standing there with absolutely no idea what to do.
At the time, I had no idea what was going on. Moments ago, the Elements had been completely inert. Then I had picked them up and suddenly this was happening. I can look back on it now and perhaps try to understand. When I picked one of them up with my magic, the Element could perhaps sense the 'disharmony' within me. Harmony is such a faded, pointless concept but that is what the Elements are attuned with, and there is no question about how 'harmonious' I was being. With my magic's aura surrounding the one, the Elements knew that there was something to right and were drawn to the only other master they'd had before; Celestia.
I had tried everything I could think of to break into this room and utilize the Elements to kill Celestia and ultimately rule the world. Now, however, I stood facing against them.
Celestia let out a strangled, confused-sounding gasp and her eyes returned to normal. She gazed around for a moment, as if she wasn't sure what was going on. She took notice of the Elements encircling her and no doubt could feel the new surge of power within her.
I growled and adopted a defensive stance, managing to quell the fear within me. I had come so damn far, and I would not allow myself to be defeated so quickly. There had to be a solution. This was not a foregone conclusion. The spell to free me from a stone prison was ready to cast. I knew not how effective it would be, and understood that I might possibly be trapped in stone for an extended period of time, but I refused to be another Discord.
Celestia breathed deeply for a moment, and then she turned to look down at me. I was struck by her expression. Still, she looked sad and remorseful. Was she still crying?
"The…Elements…" she spoke softly.
I channeled powerful magic through my horn. "Do not think I am defeated just yet," I responded in a bold tone, "Do not forget who you are dealing with!"
Celestia closed her eyes, a heavy frown on her face. "The Elements are here…with me. You… You have caused so much pain and destruction…" Tears ran down her cheeks. She was crying. "Now…I have the power to end it all."
"You know not what power you yield!" I shot back, "You are just as clueless as when you used them on Discord. I doubt you have the ability to simply bend them to your own will! Do you even risk using all six at once? You may tear yourself apart, Celestia! You are weak!" These were a few of but a thousand doubts in my head, though honestly they spoke with such soft voices.
"N…N…" I saw her shiver. "Nightmare Moon…These words have been repeated often…with such little value behind them…but now, I speak them one last time." She opened her eyes and faced me. "I give you one chance to stand down. One chance, right now, and your…your life will be spared."
"You must be dreaming!" I shouted, "Even if you strike me down, I shall not be defeated! Even if I have to start all over again from the beginning, I'll do it!! Your victories are Pyrrhic, you fool! Long as I live, long as you live…long as this whole damn world lives, I will never surrender! Do you hear me, Celestia?? One way or another, the night shall last forever!!!"
"Then…you leave me no choice…"
I stared at her. She stared right back at me. The elements continued to swirl and she continued to glow and shimmer like a deity. Some time passed and she said nothing. Still, there was not an ounce of confrontation to be seen in her eyes. There was no conviction. She wore the face of the saddest pony in the entire world, lip quivering and on the edge of tears. The more I studied her, the more I realized how little had changed.
Even with the fully activated power of the Elements coursing through her, she still couldn't bring herself to use them. Her threats were empty.
"Well?" I broke the silence, "Do you plan to simply bore me to death?"
She shook her head gently. "You are a monster…You have destroyed this nation…I will use the Elements and I will defeat you."
I smirked. "Then go ahead."
More silence passed. I triple-checked to make sure the stone prison escape spell was still ready.
"I…"
"All of the cards are in your hooves now, Tia. You have all six Elements at your command! There is truly nothing I can do to stop you, so do it! Use them! Claim your victory, however empty it may be!"
"I…I-I…" she stuttered.
"Hurry now, before I strike you or perhaps run away."
"…" I could see so much turmoil in her expression.
"Well?!"
"Please…!" The tearful plea suddenly burst from her lips.
"It is just as I thought!" I quickly switched to an offensive stance and aimed my horn directly at her. "You simply can't!"
"Please!! I-"
From my horn erupted a powerful stream of magic that darted through the air directly towards her heart. Celestia winced and cowered. The Elements then suddenly spun faster and a rainbow-hued shield encircled her in the span of a moment. My spell impacted it, and then the world suddenly became a blur.
I was aware of a powerful outburst of energy, and a split-second later my hooves no longer touched the ground. I felt the air rush past me for a moment, and then my body impacted something hard and I fell to the ground in a heap. I struggled to quickly regain my senses, finding myself at the base of a ruined statue one floor up. I had been blown clear through the hole in the ceiling.
I quickly got to my hooves, but a moment later Celestia levitated out of the hole with the Elements still encircling her. I could see a faint aura, almost like golden fire, that was surrounding her. The Elements were feeding more power into her, and I had just gotten a taste of what they could do. It had hurt.
Celestia stared down at me with a strained, conflicted expression. I barely had a couple seconds to look at her before the Elements glowed and a bright red beam was fired directly at me. I swiftly dodged to the side with a flap of my wings and cast another spell at her. A blue beam met my spell halfway and nullified it, while a yellow beam was shot at me. More multicoloured beams of magic flew through the air as I struggled to dodge and shield them all.
Damnit!! My mind was running a mile a minute. She's nigh untouchable now! I can feel the raw power against my shields.
I put my agility to the test as I circled around her, dodging her attacks and watching carefully for an opening. Celestia simply floated there in the middle, not moving and watching me with those sad eyes. Occasionally she grit her teeth and looked strained for a moment, but most of my attention was drawn to the raw power I could actually see emanating from her.
I continued to throw attacks at her whenever I could, but nothing managed to touch her. Everything was blocked by a rainbow shield, an opposing colourful beam, or one of the Elements itself acting as a physical shield.
One beam caught me off guard and I was only able to half-cast the shield spell. I was unharmed, but the sheer concussive force blasted me back through the wall. I artfully righted myself in the air and skidded to a stop on my hooves. From the fairly undamaged and empty room, I now stood amongst rubble. What had once been multiple rooms of the castle was now a burning wasteland of debris. Celestia floated through the hole in the wall after me.
Another beam was fired at me and I blocked it with a powerful shield. Afterwards, I stood glaring at her and catching my breath. My mind was scrambling to come up with ideas but not having much luck. I growled like a trapped beast, feeling my hatred for this pony burn within me like the flames that surrounded us.
"P-please…" Celestia murmured once again.
"I will not surrender, you damn fool!" I shouted back.
Celestia strained and groaned for a moment and then looked down at me with tear-filled eyes. "Please…!" she pleaded more loudly, "Don't…Don't make me…"
The Elements started glowing again, and I dropped into a defensive stance while still eying her.
A sob escaped her lips. "Don't make me do it!"
My ears perked and I raised my head slightly.
Celestia appeared terrified, her cheeks stained by her tears. "I…I can't c-control them!!"
I hopped back into the air just in time to avoid the sudden white-hot beam of powerful magic as it struck the ground. Instead of landing, I unfurled my wings and started flying around the area at high speed. More attacks were thrown at me, and I had to use all of my skills and agility to carefully weave through them.
'Can't control them'? Did that mean the Elements were somehow doing this on their own? Celestia clearly was not in a state of mind to use them, but if she couldn't stop herself from doing so then that was an entirely different matter.
The fire-lit ruins of the castle was like an illusion spell gone wild, with multicoloured beams and bolts of magic zipping through the air in every direction. I was exhausting myself in trying to dodge them all. Being in the air gave me a lot more mobility, but I was still just barely escaping without charred fur. It was as if the more time passed, the harder these things were trying to kill me.
I tried as hard as I could, but at this point I couldn't even find a spare moment to counterattack. I saw that Celestia was watching my every move, but the golden energy surrounding her was almost blinding to look at, and the Elements were cycling around her at a dizzying pace. Rocks on the ground fizzled and vanished when she hovered near.
At that moment, I finally made an important decision. It was something I never thought that I would ever have to do, but the Elements were making Celestia more powerful by the minute. These things had not been fully understood when last they were used, so I honestly had no idea what I was going up against. Celestia somehow getting her hooves on them was a powerful strike against me, but I was coming to grips with the fact that I couldn't do anything about it for the time being.
It was time to flee.
Running away like a coward was the last thing I wanted to do, but I decided that it was the only way to keep the reign of the night from dying along with me. Nothing in this world is completely infallible. There had to be a way to combat the Elements, so all I needed to do was find it.
Simply flying away would have been suicide, so I carefully built up a powerful teleportation spell. It took all of my concentration, but I needed to mix in masking charms as well so the damn mare couldn't simply follow me. It was a massive pain to do so while still holding on to the stone prison escape spell, but I managed.
Then, when I was just about to cast it, Celestia finally scored a hit. While flying up above her, my world suddenly erupted in searing pain. A bright purple beam of magic cut through the air and went straight through one of my wings. In seconds it was broken and mangled. Fate had chosen to deliver an ironic punishment, and I fell through the air to the ground below.
I ended up on my back, my right wing laying spread next to me in a sickening display. Pain unlike I had ever felt before rippled through my whole body, threatening to make me pass out. My body ached further from the painful impact with the ground, my armour was cracked, and worst of all my pride was bruised.
I growled and focused through the pain. I still had the teleportation spell ready. Injured or not, I could still cast it. Before I could, however, I felt the powerful sensation of something impact my head. It didn't hurt me, but it felt like a jolt of electricity ran down my horn. Suddenly, the teleport spell was completely gone.
I gasped as a second wave of shock ran down my horn, dissipating the escape spell as well. After a third more powerful and more painful jolt, I felt a massive outburst of magic in the air. Above in the sky, I saw the waxing moon suddenly reappear. Then, with one more very painful jolt, I was left feeling numb.
I scrambled to get to my hooves, but I was panicking now. My magic was gone. Actually, it wasn't gone, but I could feel all of my magic powers being suppressed. I couldn't even cast a simple light spell or telekinesis. My magic had dissipated, even revealing the moon in the skies once again, and it left me defenseless.
Absolutely defenseless.
Irony did indeed seem to be the current attraction. For I now stood on trembling legs with a mangled wing, a pure mirror image of what I had earlier reduced Celestia to. The mare in question descended slowly to the ground in front of me. I took a few steps back defensively, but already I knew it was useless.
It was all useless. Just like that, I knew it was over. I had no magic and I couldn't fly. In mere minutes, the Elements had crippled me. There wasn't a way to escape; I could only stare ahead at my oncoming doom. My mind refused to accept it. Furiously and unceasingly it searched for an answer. For all I had worked so hard for and all I had accomplished, this was where it was all going to come to an end? To be destroyed by some shiny toys?!
I glared venomously at Celestia. She was completely surrounded by a fiery golden aura at this point and her eyes were glowing white, though I could still see her pupils. Her expression was unchanged. If anything, she looked more distressed than before.
"Surrender…" She spoke up, her voice quivering, "I-It might be the only way…to save you."
"I would rather die," I spat back.
Tears filled her eyes. "P-please…" she said for about the millionth time. She shook her head, flinging tears about. "Don't make me do it!" she then suddenly shouted, "Please don't make me do it! Don't…make me kill you!"
I simply stood there and regarded her with hatred. Still I searched for escape and still I found none. I was about to become a stone statue or worse. It felt like a bad dream, to be honest.
The aura grew brighter and the Elements swirled faster. "I…I can't stop it!" she shouted, "I… It's like they know! If you surrender now, they…might stop…"
"You cannot destroy me. You cannot kill me, Celestia. No matter how much you strike me down, I will find a way to return. I will never surrender. One way or another, the night shall last forever."
She was openly crying now. "I never meant for any of this to happen! I…I never meant for you to be hurt! After all that I've done…it was me. It was never you!" A loud sob escaped her lips as the light grew more blinding. "Please don't make me kill you, Luna!!"
My eyes shot open wide. That's it! I knew it was desperate, but it was my last chance of salvation. "Celestia!" I addressed her, "Do you understand what you are about to do? If you destroy me…then you destroy your sister!"
"No!" she shouted, shaking her head, "It doesn't have to be like this! We can just…start over! We'll do everything different! I just…I don't want to lose you!"
"If you want to save Luna's life," I proclaimed, "Then you will cast aside the Elements!"
"But I can't!"
"Then you will leave! Flee and take them with you!"
"I…I…"
I stood tall and firm to get my point across. I wasn't even exactly sure what I was saying, but I was desperate at this point. Despite my bravado, I could see the Elements were gradually glowing brighter and moving faster.
A bright flash suddenly lit up the area, and Celestia cried out in surprise. Through the blinding light, I could barely see her writhing around as the Elements hovered around her. I was almost like she was imprisoned within them.
"No!!" she shouted, "You can't! She's my sister!"
I cautiously backed away, but something inside of me told me that time was up.
"I thought I could destroy her, but I can't!!" Celestia cried out in pain. "Luna!!"
I held up a wing as a feeble effort of defense, but my confidence was shot. I was watching the Elements activate themselves and prepare to cast the most powerful magic known to this world. Surely, this is what Discord saw in his last moments. The horrible fact that there was simply no escape made me shiver. It made me feel like a little foal, lost and alone in the world. I had come so far, and now I was going to die.
Celestia was sobbing in heartbreak. She couldn't even bear to open her eyes, much less look at me. "I can't stop them…" she murmured in an eerily calm voice, "You are a terrible evil upon this land, and…you must be dealt with." She let out a quiet whimper, and then spoke once more.
"I never meant for it to end like this…"
I watched as the Elements started to shine a multicoloured hue, and a swirling trail of rainbow started to cast out from them.
I growled and glared at Celestia. I stared at the mare who was about to kill me. The mare who would be my downfall, and she was crying like a baby. It was maddening, it was humiliating, and it was utterly unacceptable. I had overthrown her. I had taken the crown. I had defeated the sun!
"This is no end!" I shouted angrily, "This shall never end!!"
The rainbow contrails swirled into one another, creating a visual spectacle in the form of a helix. I could feel the raw energy emanating throughout the whole area. Celestia was looking straight up, her mouth hanging open uselessly and her eyes glowing pure white.
She couldn't win. This was the era of the night! "I will not allow you to defeat me! I will not!!" I started galloping straight towards her. "The night shall last forever! Forever!!"
The Elements angled themselves, as if forming an invisible shield in front of Celestia, though I knew it was rather a way of aiming. Rainbow colours were swirling all around now. It was hard to see anything.
"I am Nightmare Moon, ruler of the night!!" I stopped a few metres away from her and pounced, sailing through the air like a jungle predator with my teeth barred. "And I won't rest until you are dead!!" I aimed straight for her neck.
And then, a single moment later, the entire world around me shattered. I felt the impact of powerful magic completely halt my momentum and throw me back. For a brief moment my vision was filled with rainbows, and then everything faded to white. I felt myself suspended. I couldn't even feel the air around me.
All I felt was the pain.
I screamed loudly. I cried out louder than ever before as the crippling pain ripped through my body. It felt like I was being torn apart from both the outside and inside at the same time. The pain was unimaginable. I screamed and screamed until I ran out of breath. Then, I took a breath and screamed some more.
I couldn't see or hear Celestia. I couldn't see anything. It was painful to keep my eyes open, but I couldn't muster the strength to keep them shut. It hurt straight through to the core of my being. It felt like my soul itself was in pain. I thought I could hear Celestia crying, but then the sobering reality hit me as I realized it was me.
Still the pain continued. I couldn't think. I could hardly breathe. All I knew was that no form of torture could ever measure up to this. The Elements were slowly killing me; this I knew. I was about to die. My plans, my dreams and aspirations…They were all about to simply die.
Then, a moment later, everything stopped. The world faded away. The pain vanished too, but so did all feeling in my body. There was just blackness. Darkness. Nothingness…
…
…
And that was it.
That was how I died. It feels like it was only a few minutes before, but truly it was so long ago. In the briefest span, the tiniest moment in time, I lost everything and the Elements destroyed me. I don't really know if they killed me…but I must be dead, because…
…
…because I don't know where I am.
It's dark. It's empty. There's nothing here. I am not even sure that I am here. I cannot feel anything, but I also cannot feel myself. I have no sense of movement. I cannot feel the air, and I cannot feel gravity. It feels like I do not exist.
But I can think. I can speak, though sometimes I'm not sure if I can hear the words. If everything else truly is gone, I am fairly certain that my mind remains. My memories are all there. I can think, I can remember, and I still feel emotions.
…
My mind is all that I have.
…
…
I don't know where I am…
I don't know what happened. All I know is that I was defeated. I have no magic within me. That familiar sense of alicorn magic is simply gone. I cannot see my body, and I cannot feel my body. I do not have a body any longer. It must be true.
It's over. It's all over! It makes me angry. So incredibly angry and furious. I had in some way known that defeat was always going to be a possibility, but it all happened so suddenly. Struck down and trapped, and just like that it's all over!!
I still can't believe it…
Time passes, and yet I have no sense of time. With nothing to mark its passage, I have no idea how much time has passed. What could have been an hour may well have been a whole month. I am certain that years have passed. Years and years and years…
…
…and…years…
…
…years and years…and I don't know…
…
…
…I…
…
…I don't know where I…am…
…
Sometimes…Sometimes I can see…Just, every so often…amidst days and weeks of darkness, I get this…vision of the world. Like an observer. Often, the images are blurry and unfocused, and time moves at a strange pace. Other than these brief, vague glimpse though…there is nothing.
The first one I saw was only a few weeks after my downfall, and what I saw made me angry and upset. The war had ended. I was looking at the aftermath. My blood boiled when I saw that the sun was high in the sky once again, and the ponies were tending to the land and rebuilding. I caught a glimpse of Celestia, stony-faced as ever as she led her subjects onward.
I didn't see any of my soldiers anywhere.
I can predict with almost absolute certainty what had transpired. Upon my defeat and the dissolution of all of my magic, Celestia was able to set the moon and raise the sun immediately. This would be the largest of the many daggers thrown into the heart of my army. Their leader was gone and the empowering magical influence she had given them was gone too. Severely weakened, I could picture them all cringing and shying away as the sunlight returned. Sunlight was their weakness. None of them could stand it.
…I imagine it only took a few days for my army to be defeated entirely.
That vision had left me so unbelievably angry and frustrated. I was cursing Celestia and berating myself for all of the mistakes I had made. In the end, I had been an utter failure. I had seen that Equestria was on the road to recovery, and my poor bats were simply gone.
…
Gone…
I suppose it's only fitting. I was their leader…their…mother, in a way. I am gone…so…
…
…It's been so long…
…How long have I been gone?
…
…
I have seen more, however. Time passes in Equestria, and every so often I am able to see a tiny slice.
I saw the land return to what it once was before I had even set my hooves on the ground as Nightmare Moon. The ponies frolicked in happiness and the country flourished. The citizens had all worked together to rebuild, and Celestia was now leading the nation on her own.
…I had set out to take her down, and in the end the reverse had happened.
…She doesn't deserve…
…
Night still exists. I saw it. The land was bathed in the shadows of night, and the ponies were all safely tucked away in their homes. It brought me some small amount of satisfaction to see that Celestia at least had the decency to let the night continue as it once had. Though, it angered me to realize that she must be the one controlling the moon now. She had stolen it from my cold, dead hooves.
I could only imagine its pain.
…I saw it once. I saw the full moon high in the sky. It appeared exactly as it should, except for one thing. There were strange markings on the light side of the moon. Black marks, or perhaps craters, that seemed to form the shape of a mare's head. I have spent seemingly forever trying to figure out what it means.
Celestia probably put it there. Celestia!! She is- She…I…
…Mnn…
I…
…The castle was never rebuilt. As years went by and I caught glimpses further and further into the future, I saw that a massive, tangled forest had grown around it. Perhaps the two of us had used so much untamed magic that it was unstable now. Slowly it grew until it consumed the old city of Canterlot entirely.
It was gone. All gone.
…
G…Gone…
Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone…
…
Gone!!
Yes…! Yes, well it's…Celestia built a new castle…and a new city. I saw it a few times. She had chosen to build this new city on the top of Canterlot Mountain itself. On the flat plateau that we had created during our battle, an extravagant city now stood. Since the castle is there too, I can only imagine it is the new capital of the land.
It is just like her to make such a big, grand, vainglorious spectacle of the whole thing. Just like Celestia.
Just like Celestia.
I see her. She is everywhere. No, she is nowhere. She is quiet and distant. I can see how she rules the ponies. She has the power. All of the power. That power is not hers! That power should have been-!
…
…
I…
Aah…Nghh…Tartarus be damned…
I…I am…I know who I am. I just…don't know where I am. I don't know where I am but I'm here.
I'm here!!
…
I'm here…
…
…I…
…
…I see…my family. I have seen my soldiers, and it makes me weep.
I saw that they were treated as war criminals after the wars were over. In my second vision, only a mere month or so after the battles had ended, I could hear the voice of an official drifting on the wind. He commented that most of them had been executed already.
…However…They survive.
I think…I think the ones that used to be a pony got their old memories and personalities back once my magic vanished, but they retained their forms. The ones that had been bats hadn't changed, yet I saw less and less of them with every fleeting glance.
Years later and my family still survives. The ponies call them 'bat ponies', and they are treated like second-class citizens. I see them huddled inside of dark dwellings, much too small and poorly constructed. They live amongst the ponies, but…
Years and years and years…
I see their descendants. Time passes. Equestria slowly comes to accept the 'bat ponies' more and more. It seems, though they have lost me, my family has managed to carve out a comfortable life for themselves.
That makes me feel happy.
It is perhaps the only thing that makes me feel okay. I was a ruthless killer on the battlefield, but I…I loved my soldiers. I love my family. With any luck, they will still be there when I come…
…
…back?
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…Ngah!!
I…I am still here. There is nothing, but I am here. I feel nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing, I sense nothing, I am noth- No!
No!
…
…No.
…
…The words…
…Words in my head. Is that all they are? I can't feel my head. Is my head there? There is no-one here to talk to, and yet I continue to speak. I have been talking for so long. I lost track of time before a single year had passed, and it has been an infinitely long time beyond that.
…
I-
…
…
…I…
…
I am…
…
…Nightmare Moon.
I feel like I am dead. I am convinced that I am dead. Yet the world continues on before me, so I have…
…hope?
I don't know where I am.
…
…There is just nothing. I am nowhere. I don't know where I am because I am nowhere. There is nothing around me but the empty, infinite expanse of space. I'm not even sure if space itself is there. I can't move, I can't feel myself breathing. I have no perception of my own body, and…
It's all swirling around in a sea of nothingness. Darker than night. Emptier than space. A lonely purgatory of never-ending nothing. The brief glimpses of Equestria are nice. They are wonderful. Yet they come about once every twenty years, if I had to guess. As time rolls on, I am certain the visions are less plentiful. It's like it's all drifting away.
Drifting away to the empty expanse of swirling empty black nothingness that swirls and churns and holds me here forever in a place where I cannot feel myself though if there is nothing to feel then there is nothing there to feel where my body is gone and my senses are gone and I am gone and there's nothing left and nothing and nothing and nothing and nothing and nothing-
Gah! Ah…Hah…
…
N…
…
…
…N-nothing…
…
I have nothing but my voice…my thoughts…
…
I cannot forget my thoughts. With my thoughts, there is my mind and my soul. I am still here.
I am Nightmare Moon.
…
I…
…
Every time…I feel a little more insane.
Every time…I try and I fail to mark the passage of time.
Every…time…and yet, I can't stop…
I mustn't stop…
Or…
…
…I'll…
…
…
…
…
…
…I'll be gone…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…Help.
…
…
…
…
…
I…
…
I…I…
…
I am…Nightmare Moon…and…I…
…
I-I…
…
…
I…levitated up the headpiece with my magic.
…Slowly.
…Meticulously.
…
Such a simple piece of armour it was, yet so striking and fearful. This simple piece of metal.
…It meant war. It meant destruction. It meant death. The headpiece was an iconic symbol amongst the ponies of this land, and all who were weak at heart fled from its very sight. There were many like it, but this one was mine…