Equestria Without Harmony: Mistakes

by EclipseSight

Mistakes of the Past:Conflict Part 2

Equestria without Harmony.

Mistakes of the Past: Conflict Part 2

Princess Celestia turned her head away from the eruption of colour, raising her wing in front of her face. The ponies on the ground had to dig in, protecting the wounded Twilight with their bodies. Luna held on by sticking her hooves to the ground with magic. The princess of the night then erected a wall of magic to keep the other ponies from being blown away.

When the explosion dissipated the solar princess lowered her wings to look upon the scene. Rainbow Dash was breathing heavily, several burns marring her cyan coat. Her usually unkempt mane had been swept into disarray and was also singed.

"That was unexpected..." Slasher said in a clipped tone, steadying himself before he took the long plunge down to the earth. The sonic rainboom was an ancient art, and had only been used as a weapon once before, long before even he or the princesses had come into the world. The results apparently eclipsed what he had just felt several times.

"I won't let you hurt anyone!" Rainbow snarled, giving a weak flap of her wings in order to stay airborne. She was starting to wish that she had been a little less reckless. The voice of Applejack's concern and scolding rang out in Rainbow's ears.

"What in tarnations are ya doing? Trying to get herself hurt! Get back , down here now!"

The cyan Pegasus would have ignored the voice, but a gentle aura of sunshine yellow pushed her down into the ground. Celestia gave a soft sigh as she pushed the mare to earth. All the little ponies were so brave, and many a time Celestia had been forced to see them hurt for the safety of Equestria. Even her precious student was laying in the grass.
This had gone on too far...

Luna stretched her wings, confirming that nothing was damaged. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding in her chest for so long that she felt it would burst out. A distraction tore her attention away from the beating organ. Three small warm bodies were pressing into her legs, shaking lightly.

"You should not be here little ones..." Luna said gently, turning her teal eyes in the cutie mark crusaders.

"We heard all the commotion and guessed that Applejack and the others would be right in the middle of it," Applebloom explained, her thick accent making Luna think entirely of the aforementioned farm pony.

Sweetie Belle nodded. "We thought they could use some help. We didn't know that you and princess Celestia were already here."

"So, just what is going on?" Scootaloo asked, wanting to get straight to the point. They could all see how much their friends and family were in pain and stress and wanted to help as much as possible.

"It is a long story... Something bad happened in the past..." she said, trying to be as vague as possible. She did not want to get into such a discussion with the fillies, no matter how much she liked them.

"But if it's in the past, why is it such problem now?" Applebloom asked. "Ponies should just talk things over, not fight and hurt other ponies..."

"Who are they fighting with anyway?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes narrowed at the dragon who was rather patiently waiting on Celestia and the others to try and convince Rainbow Dash to back down.

"An old friend of ours..." she said, referring to herself and Celestia. "From a very long time ago..." Luna continued, laying down and putting her head in her hooves. She looked pathetic, slumped down like a child in front of three actual children. The princess felt even worse than she looked. Every moment of her indecision was hurting ponies she cared about. That should have spurred her into action...but instead it just caused her to fall deeper into her selfish despair.

"Applebloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!" two voices yelled, as the farm pony and the fashionista hurried over to the group.

"You ain't supposed to be out here Applebloom! It's dangerous," Applejack said sharply. "And neither should you two!"

"But we were worried Applejack!" Applebloom protested. "Y'all keep doing all this dangerous stuff and we never know if you're all gonna be okay or not!"

Scootaloo nodded. "The rest of Equestria may forget it all! But we don't! Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Sombra, the Everfree forest... It's always you! Why can't someone else do it for a change?!"

Everyone was more than a little taken aback by the outburst but Scootaloo wasn't finished yet.She quickly rounded on Luna, yelling once again.

"That's your sister up there! What's keeping you down here!? If you're scared...then...then...you need to face it! You can't wait on things to just fix themselves!"

"Scootaloo! That is no way to talk to Princess Luna!" Rarity scolded.

Scootaloo was about to respond heatedly, when Rainbow Dash limped over to them, having heard ,the yelling and walked over. The sounds of the overhead clash were heard again. The cyan Pegasus gave a sigh and sat down next to Scootaloo, in the same manner that Applejack and Rarity were sitting beside their sisters.
All eyes were on the pegasus, who was suffering clearly from her attempt to attack the dragon. They didn't say anything though, as the mare began to speak.

"I may be a lot newer to this big sister thing than you two. But... I do know that things can go very wrong... Maybe not this wrong... But it's just one more thing you deal with. Balancing friends and family is hard, and I think Applejack is the best to answer that."
Applejack had to wait a moment to take in what was being said. Rainbow was the last one she would expect to say something like that. Clearing her throat, she looked towards Luna who was watching her with wide, almost pleading eyes.
The farm pony gave a small sigh and nodded.

"Family are basically the first set of friends you ever have... They're always there, whether you want them or not. Sometimes they let us down, and sometimes they are the best ponies to have around. You gotta take the good with the bad."

"I think I've given a lot more bad than good between Celestia and I..." Luna said bitterly.

"Maybe... But now she needs your help. If you three were close... Then it'll take three of you to put it right."
Rarity said gently, bringing her hoof around Luna's shoulder.

"That...yes...we should have thought about this," Luna murmured, pulling herself to her feet. She felt a little stronger... But the knot in her stomach was still there.
"I should have stopped this one thousand years ago... It stops now..."

Princess Luna flicked out her wings. The alicorn took to the air, the wind rushing through her mane. This would not be the last consequence of her descent into Nightmare Moon, and she could only hope that she would be able to face what was next. However, thanks to the help of her sister's- no, her friends she would put an end to this.
Both combatants were oblivious to the events below them. Both were panting, and Slasher had been unable to find an opening to sap more energy from his crystal. If he didn't replenish himself soon, all this would be for naught, and all his promises empty and cold. He wanted to rage and rampage in his hatred for the whole situation. However, he had to keep his cool and look for an opening. He winced as he was clipped by a white hot beam of sunlight energy. Yet another smouldering burn marred his black scales. This was going so wrong, he should be able to win with the advantage he had given himself, and yet Celestia was able to fight him easily. She looked to be tiring, and most likely was, but every blow of her hoof and crackle of her magic was overwhelming. He had gravely miscalculated the gap between their powers.

Celestia was about to let loose another blast when a familiar flash of dark blue obscured her target. Luna put herself directly between them, halting the fight. Neither of the combatants moved, the new development startling them both.

"Luna?" Celestia asked, not allowing herself to relax just yet. She had the upper hand but all that could change if her adversary took hold of the chance to replenish himself rather than listen what Luna had to say.

"What are you doing?"

"Ending this fight..." Luna said softly. "It should never have started in the first place. If either of you needed help you used to be able to go to the other...or me... Now you are both
tearing each other to pieces... And I cannot watch anymore."

Celestia and Slasher both felt a pressure on their backs, gently pushing them down to the ground. Celestia felt her hooves hit the ground. She sank into the grass, her churning stomach resting on the earth. Slasher was much more resistant, using his huge wings to stave off the now rather forceful push. Luna gave a gentle sigh and moved over to him.
The dragon kept his head to the ground and his eyes firmly shut as he drove his wing muscles to exhaustion. The pressure released, and a much gentler, warm push fell down upon him.

"Please..." Luna murmured into his ear.

The familiar voice made the darkness behind his eyes flash with memories. Memories of all the good times... And of what had been destroyed, perhaps irreversibly so.

"Please," Luna repeated. "We can all fix this together... None of us have to be alone anymore..."
Without his conscious consent, Slasher's muscles relaxed, allowing Luna to easily guide him towards the ground. Once down he did as Celestia had, and sunk to the ground. The battle had been twisting in Celestia's favour... A few more minutes without chance to draw more energy and Celestia would have overwhelmed him. He still didn't understand
how Celestia could be so far above him. She could push him around as easily as she would an earth pony.

The dragon almost spat, his hackles raising as all his scales started to raise up off the leathery skin they were embedded in. The thought that she could play with him made him angry. He had spent six hundred years preparing so this didn't happen. He looked down at the red glimmer still in his claws grasp. He had the opportunity now to drain the energy he needed from it but instead he simply let it fall to the grass. Maybe it would help, maybe it wouldn't but if he drained it all now, he would be a useless wreck, win or lose.

He was snapped from his thoughts when Luna spoke, her voice heavy.
"I never thought the day would come when we would be so split apart that this would become the first alternative... What happened..."

Here she stumbled, not sure how she should put something like this. She had only been around for what was the causation or catalyst.. No, she had been that catalyst. All of her jealousy had caused this and now it would have to be fixed. She glanced around her, and immediately saw three familiar little fillies giving her reassuring grins.
Luna smiled slightly before moving so that she made up a triangle the black dragon and white alicorn. They both turned to look at her, pink eyes and silver both being met with teal.

"When I became Nightmare Moon, it was my fault and mine alone... It was I who let jealousy overtake me, and it was I who was too weak to resist the nightmare forces when they weaved their temptations. The repercussions should have mine alone as well, but now I see you both, fighting to the bitter end because of my mistake."
Slasher shook his head wearily, feeling his waning strength struggle with even that simple act.

"You forget that it was we who ignored your plight and allowed you to descend into the darkness. Celestia and I both deserve what happened here today and more. Today is not about what should and should not happen. I cannot just allow the suffering of the spirits I was designated to protect. If there is still breath in my body then I must continue."

Limbs shaking he started to rise, visibly struggling with the task. Celestia was about to rise as well, prepared to stop repel any recklessness he was likely to show. Luna was quicker, and a swift buck with her ornamented hooves knocked the dragon down. The night princess then used her body weight to pin the dragon, laying down on top of him and making sure to restrain his wings and tail.

"I thought you learned this lesson..." she murmured, barely audible to the onlookers.

When Slasher didn't respond, Luna continued.

"Can we not try to put this behind us? We have all been alone for so long, is it not time for that loneliness to end... No matter what you have done, or been planning out of desperation... All of that can be discarded. You have me now and I am sure everyone else will be willing to help. I will not speak for them, but Twilight Sparkle and her friends are all good ponies. You also already know that deep down my sister would always have helped you... And if she had come asking... You would still aid her to your utmost. Whether you believe it or not... I know it to be true."

Here Luna moved away in order to lay next to the dragon, who had his head buried in his huge wings, eyes firmly shut, blocking out the world. The mare felt warmth beside her and did not have to look to know that Celestia had moved over next to her.

"This is not something you have to do on your own... If you still insist on trying... I will not think any less of you, but I will have to strike you down...past friendships forgotten."

Celestia's words struck a chord in the black dragon's mund, reverberating all the way down into his heart. He had to do something, but they were right... He'd never had to do it alone. However, there was still something he had to ask, before he would ever ask them for aid.

"What happens if the only option is to do as I planned to and doom all of Equestria?"

Hardened silver eyes locked with the two princesses. He desperately wanted to dispense with this and rush forward and hug the two he had been driven from these past centuries but his duties came first... Just as theirs did. It was how things always would be.

Luna found herself unable to answer and turned to the solar princess. Celestia's shoulders heaved as she sighed heavily. "I do not think it will come to that. In the event that it does and you must go with your oath, we will bring our full might to bear against you in order to save Equestria, unless a compromise can be reached beforehand."

"I...I think I like that idea a lot more than my original plan..." Slasher said faintly, swaying slightly as he moved into a sitting position.

"You both should rest..." Luna suggested.

"No time... I stalled for much too long already..."

"I thought you would,say that... Luna murmured before she swiftly moved forward and gathered the dragon in a long long overdue hug.
Slasher started for barely a moment before he wrapped his forelegs around the mare's shoulder, just above the wing joint.

"I was hoping you would save me the embarrassment of having to initiate that," he chuckled dryly.

"Oh shut up or I will do just that!" Luna huffed, squeezing to the side in order to allow Celestia's larger frame into the symbol of friendship.

"Does this mean I get to plan another party!?" a certain bubblegum pink pony asked, having hopped over to the scene.

"Yes, I think that may be in order for later," Celestia smiled, once again having had another huge weight removed from her shoulders.

"Before then, there is something I would like all of you to help with...if you are willing."

None of the ponies spoke. They all wanted to help, but Slasher had hurt Twilight. No matter his motives and reasons they could not just let go. All eyes slowly turned to the newest princess.

Twilight was already on her feet, not looking anywhere but her own hooves. Everything that had happened to her, had been her own fault. She had been reckless and foolish, just as a certain dragon had been. Everyone made mistakes but all mistakes could be rectified with the help of friends and any friend of the princesses was a friend of hers.

"What do we need to do?"