• Published 25th Oct 2011
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A Journey through Memories - Centauri



Luna's lately been growing depressed, and manages to find some help from an unexpected source.

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Prologue

A Journey through Memories


Prologue

I navigated the twists and turns in the tower leading to the closest friend I once had. We had shared many centuries together, but she could not see that time as something I cherished. I never wanted to forget this; I never wanted to forget her for who she was. She saw it as... a burden? A time of rejection from the subjects she loved as I did? As she was now, I had no way to tell. My sister had changed far too much for that. I closed my eyes as I contemplated what I wanted to do, as her sister; and what I should do, for all Equestria’s sake.

I was lost in thought, but so aware of the world around me. I realised that, after this hour, I may not appreciate any of my... or rather, our, creation again. Equestria was a beautiful country, as was the world around it. Still, after this endless night, I would have any other pony – even just one – appreciate our work. As I saw the door at the top flight of steps, I knew I was at the point of no return, but did I want to go on?

I had no choice.

I hated myself for it.

I was afraid. But I had to be ready.

I opened the door.

Inside the top room of the large keep, I saw a tall, midnight-coated mare. She had a blue mane, wings to rival my own and a horn to match them. Her back was turned to me. Despite the circumstances, this slight rejection pained me so much. In this mare, I wanted to see the alicorn I loved; I wanted to see a friend I laughed with, cried with, and shared many lifetimes’ worth of memories with. But I saw none of these in the mare in front of me. I only saw hatred in her cold demeanour towards me.

“Why are you here, Celestia?” My sister asked. She did not seem to be patronizing, nor, even at this point, angry.

“Can’t you guess?” I paused, and my sister did not answer. “You’re hurting ponies everywhere. Can’t you see the pain you are causing them? Can’t you see the pain you’re causing me? I remember that, once, my sister loved her subjects; she would do whatever they asked of her if it was meant to help somepony. Where has that friend of mine gone? I can tell you that she is in this tower, standing across the room to me. All she has to do is stop. Stop this pain; stop this madness. I beg of you that you stop. I beg this of you as your sister.” I did not dare acknowledge the tear threatening to crawl down my face. I wanted to be a role model for my sister, even now: acting in the best interests of the ponies you love even if it means you have to do something you may hate yourself for.

My sister had turned at my words. “All of my life, I was simply the ‘younger sister’; I was the princess who didn’t have the responsibility” – she hissed the word – “to watch over the day. All my subjects do is sleep through my domain. They live happily in yours, my dear sister; they refuse to acknowledge the beauty of the night.

“Look out this window. Can’t you see the stars, suspended in the sky? I gave a constellation to all the people I have met, known, and befriended. Look: Ironclaw, the griffin who kept peace between our nations; Orion, who helped both our domains out of his own kindness. I even made a constellation for the two sisters, Celestia. Just there, can’t you see? The two sisters who shaped Equestria together. Do you not want to be recognised and admired by the ponies who you so dearly love?”

“If you look at works of art for too long, then they lose their beauty, don’t you agree? I see the night’s beauty as something which should be admired sparingly. I encourage my students to watch the night, and I cannot tell you how many times they have thanked me for it. They see your hard work in every star, in every planet outside our own. In the moon, they see a calm sun which does not burn them. In every star shower, they know you shaped each one of those rocks for them and all of their friends.” Tears were streaming unbidden down my face, and I saw my sister’s expression soften. I thought that now we could escape without a fight. “Please, Luna, can’t you see...”

“That is not my name!” The mare that once was Luna raged. “Your students are few of many! How many ponies would admire my night over your own day?! How many would appreciate the night if it lasted forever?! I can tell you, my dear sister, that we are very close to finding out! I am Nightmare Moon, and I will hold the beauty of the night sky over their heads forevermore!” At these words, Nightmare Moon conjured a spear from the shadows and sent it flying towards me. It was only an attack out of frustration, but now I knew that my sister did not care whether it hurt me or not. As it was, I lighted my horn and deflected it easily. However, the pain inside me now pained me more than any spear could.

“My dear sister,” I began, my voice quavering, “I know what I have to do, for everypony’s sake, but that does not mean it’s any easier. Goodbye, Luna. I don’t know if I’ll see you again, but let us both pray I do.”

At these words, we readied ourselves for a battle which could take us both to the brink of an endless oblivion. I knew that after this battle, a scar would be left on the world by its two creators. I conjured a spear of light, and held many more at the ready using my horn. Nightmare Moon followed suit, and the battle began.

Nightmare was the first to move. She sent a dark spear flying towards me. It wasn’t frustrated this time, but very cold, and very calculated. I moved at the last moment, and knocked the spear down with one of my own, and proceeded to barrage her mind with magic, trying – not to kill her – but to knock her unconscious. As she sought to erect a defence for my new line of attack, I threw one of my own spears at her. Fear shook my aim, however, and the only surprise I might of gained with the mental attack was lost with a stray javelin. It flew out of the tower and into the city below.

I felt Nightmare trying to send an icy wind to bar my concentration from magic: it’s very difficult to perform any magic if you are frozen, quite literally, I might add, to the bone. I sent a hot air back to counter the chill and redoubled my effort as Nightmare persisted. She, however, had magic to match my own, and the power was increased on both sides, until fire met blizzard in a deadly display of nature’s dangers in an epic display.

Darkness enveloped the room. I had not expected this and so when I tried to conjure a light to counter this, I felt a piercing impact in my side. I screamed in agony, and far away I could hear a high, cold laughter, coming from a mare who knew that her attack had found its mark. On top of maintaining my fire for her ice, and the light for her dark, I managed to remove the spear from my side and quickly patch the grievous wound over. I would fix it later... if indeed there was a later for me.

I concentrated all the magic I could spare into a cone focusing onto one sharp point and threw it towards Nightmare. She was not expecting this, and it smashed through her defences with little difficulty. I heard her scream, and the magic she was performing lessened as she attempted to recuperate mid-battle. I saw my opening and concentrated all my power on the fire. The blizzard melted before the inferno and I formed a whirlwind to envelope Nightmare Moon in. I knew that this attack would have to pay out very swiftly, because I knew I could not maintain the writhing furnace around Nightmare for long.

While the attack was grievous, it would not be deadly to an alicorn with as much magical ability as Nightmare, and so she formed a protective barrier around herself. This protection, however, used massive amounts of energy. We were both tired out magically, but my magic gave out first. Nightmare sent one last gust at me before bucking me in the face. Through the ringing in my ears, I realised that this contest was one now of physical ability and endurance; thus, I lowered my head and charged Nightmare. She was recovering from her earlier buck, and so it caught her full in the side and we both fell over the tower railing and into the night sky.

Being an alicorn has its advantages; however, as I was focusing all my attention on trying to kick Nightmare, I only unfurled my wings at the last second. The jolt from stopping gravity’s work so quickly nearly dislocated my shoulders, but I had to keep flying and fighting. Seeing Nightmare rise from below, I took a chance: I swung my rear hoof wildly in an attempt to damage her wing. Feeling contact with something and the accompanying scream, I knew my objective had paid off. I had seen pegasi in the hospital during one of my routine visits which had fallen unconscious with the shock of having a wing broken, and I saw that it had the similar affect on alicorns as Nightmare fell below me.

I dove. I did not want her to die. She was far too precious to me for that. I caught up to her when it was almost too late, and carried her with magic back to the room at the top of the keep. I left her on the floor as I readied the Elements of Harmony. Before I was ready, though, Nightmare opened one of her eyes and launched herself to her hooves. I fired another psychic cone towards her, but this time she was ready: she threw a similar cone back at me, and a battle of sheer will commenced.

My mind strained against me. It recognised my sister for who she was to me.

I grunted with the effort I was exerting.

It was almost too much. My body was shivering violently and sweating beyond belief.

I could not hold onto the magic much longer, so I pushed with all my might and released the magic. Nightmare pulled the same tactic, and the resulting shockwave spread over the forest around the tower. I felt the many screams of the ponies that lived peacefully in this forest, and I knew that the animals and even the trees would run unchecked about their ways in this forest for as long as I could foretell.

Both of us lay on the ground, panting. I could barely bring myself to stand before Nightmare Moon. What I had, however, was the Elements of Harmony. They were encouraging me to do what I had to do. It was only this power which let me stand; I could not have done it any other way. Nightmare Moon was still on the ground, physically incapable of rising. I knew what I had to do. I readied the Elements of Harmony one more time. As Nightmare realised what I was doing, she knew she could not stop me by force. She did not want to resign, though. She staggered to her feet, to be banished with dignity. When she knew that I would not relent, the charade dropped, and she drooped as she realised her defeat was so close.

“Celestia...” At Nightmare’s frantic plea, I drew upon the power of the Element of Magic. A sphere formed around Nightmare Moon, swirling with the colours of all the elements. As I formed the spell to banish Nightmare to her namesake, the sphere settled upon an eerie, silver glow. I could see Nightmare Moon begging me to stop, but I could not hear her. With tears streaming down my face, I sent the sphere on its journey into the night sky.

“Godspeed, Luna,” I whispered as the sphere rose above me. “Return to your own world when you are ready.”

As the navy blue of the canvas above me flashed with the same light as the moon, I knew my work was complete. I curled up into a ball on the floor and mourned for the loss of a friend as the moon malevolently stared down at me. My sister was up there, and she hated me for what I had done.

It was that very moon I raised every night for the next thousand years, and every time I raised it, it stared at me with loathing.