The Blackened Skies

by gosha305

Celestial Mistake...

The Canterlot Castle was quiet. So quiet even, that it almost felt lifeless. The hypnotized servants walked its corridors, endlessly repeating their assigned tasks as mindless automatons. Their empty gazes sometimes stopped on an unremarkable wall or rock in the ruined city outside, their conscience attempting to peek through the spell's influence.

The once great capital of Ponykind now stood ruined and empty. Or perhaps it only seemed empty, as myriads of dormant citizens, their minds as barren as the outside streets, slumbered somewhere within these ruins. This peace and calm however, was only an illusion, as in the Castle's higher rooms, a determined Princess sought vengeance... and power...

---

The plan. It was done. Everything was done. She was ready. Everything was ready. She planned everything. She did it all by herself. The plan was perfect. She was worthy of her status. She wasn't useless. The revenge was near. Soon, the Entity would fall. She would defeat it. Everything would soon be over...

All this suffering, all this pain, all this madness... It was all leading to this point: the point of no return. But no return would be required. She had everything she needed. This book was the final element of her plan, and she had finally managed to put her hoof on it.

The spells she found inside let her access endless power. Power none had ever used before. Forbidden power... But at what cost?

No, the cost had no importance. It was the entire world that had to be rescued. The lives of several ponies or even several thousands of ponies were nothing compared to such a stake. She was ready to pay it.

---

"Sometimes, leaders must make sacrifices..." Celestia mumbled as she sorrowfully watched her sister's sleeping figure.

As she turned her gaze away, the bitterness in her eyes faded out, cold determination taking its place once again. Without looking back, the Solar Princess exited Luna's room, heading towards a chamber none other than her had the knowledge of.

At first glance, the place had nothing special to it. Actually, it didn't have many things in it whatsoever. In the middle, stood an ancient stone table. The concrete it was carved in was so old and worn off, that erosion had left an enormous mark on this piece of furniture.

But why would such a mundane antiquity remain mysterious to all besides Celestia herself? In fact, this wasn't just any table. It was an altar. An altar that bore a dark and malicious past. This was the altar that Luna once used to become Nightmare Moon.

She had never truly understood why, but Celestia transported this stonework to the new Castle, for some reason willing to keep this shaded construction with her after her sister's fall.

And perhaps this wasn't a bad decision after all... Without this artifact, the spells she needed to perform could not be channeled properly. In addition, the eldritch might trapped inside this relic would be a great help in Celestia's quest for power.

But despite her determination, just seeing this wicked altar made the Sun Princess shiver. There was something wrong with this table, something inherently evil in its very aura.

No, now was not the time to turn back, not the time to hesitate! She needed to do it. It was the only way...

---

Putting her hooves upon the frigid stone, Celestia started the incantations. There was in fact several spells to perform. Several enchantments to cast. Several levels of death and destruction to shed upon the Equestrian land...

At first, the unpleasant sensation of Dark magic washed upon her whole being, the pure negativity and wickedness overwhelming her senses to a point she nearly stopped. But she didn't.

Rapidly, her body accommodated to the evil, as the amount of pure and unconstrained power clouded and corrupted her mind, washing away all bad thoughts and fears. Only one thing remained: determination.

With her psyche now cleaned of any remorse, there was nothing that could stop her from performing the spells. She started reciting the thaumatic matrices, as she suddenly sensed a great influx of magic in the world.

The immense amount of mana just called her. It was perfect. The plan was going even better than expected.

Concentrating on her siphoning spell, Celestia found executing it quite easy, the dark might of the ancient artifact highly facilitating her task.

All of a sudden, a loud crack could be heard. The altar broke. But this wasn't even a setback. A humming noise filled the air, mana started manifesting itself, forming blueish crackles everywhere.

The Solar Princess sent all her newfound might towards the power-source she had just detected. Feasting avidly upon its thaumatic essence, she consumed its power with twisted pleasure. The feeling of satisfaction filled Celestia, surpassing all others within the confines of her mind. An impression of fullness and peace overtook her as she absorbed this being's magic. She felt new strength course through her. She felt its magic becoming hers. It was extremely satisfying.

But as the spell went on, the magic in this being —even abundant as it was— started to dry up. Soon, its corpse contained not even the slightest hint of thaumatic power. However, this didn't stop Celestia in her momentum. When no more magic remained, she went on with absorbing its vital essence.

As its life left the creature's frame, the Sun Princess drunk it with ruthless delight. The lively stream continued from some time, but as the energetic flow stopped, a bitter sentiment of regret crawled to the periphery of Celestia's mind. She had just killed someone. The realization was quite hard to take in, but it nothing but truth.

The mighty Princess of the Sun, leader of Equestria, protector of the innocent had just killed someone. Perhaps she wasn't that great of a leader after all. Perhaps the cultists were right. Perhaps she was wrong...

NO! It was the cost to pay! She had already gotten over this. There was no turning back. And besides, it just felt so good...

As regret left her once again, a new feeling added itself to the usual determination. She wanted more power. She needed more power. It was all that there was left to acquire in order to beat the Entity. It the final objective.

---

Refocusing on her task, Celestia prepared for a new —much more massive— spell. Even though they were much weaker than the one she had just absorbed, the Castle was surrounded by countless sources of magic and life essence. Numerous living beings —were they hypnotized servants, wild animals or even Princess Luna— remained, their might still waiting to be consumed.

Concentrating all of her newfound potency, the Celestial Princess called upon the surrounding mana. She concentrated all her will and sent innumerable magical surges in all directions, bending the mana to her whim. As the siphoning process started, the overflowing stream of purloined power washed over Celestia, overwhelming her senses completely. It was here, all this might. It was flowing through her, gorging every inch of her body.

But as the infinitely vast amount of mana converged towards the Sun Princess, her mortal frame came to an inevitable breaking point. As her whole skin covered up with cracks, violet and blue vapors of pure magic emanating from them, Celestia as a pony no longer was. She was now a creature of pure mana, a being with a power surpassing all others.

Sensing her now disembodied self elevate from the Castle floor she once stood on, the sentiment of concrete almightiness rose up in her psyche. She could see the world from above, she could feel the power to content any of her whims. She felt the might to defeat the Entity.

However, her plan was not completed yet. She knew quite well that there was no chance to beat the Entity now, but in the past...

If she returned to the moment the Entity had just entered their world, there was no doubt she would be able to confront it. No doubt of her victory.

---

During all her immensely long life, time travel seemed complex and difficult to execute. And yet, now that she had the power of a true god, it was easy as the most mundane task.

A tunnel-like portal appeared just in from of her gaze, spiraling vortexes escaping from its concave interior. Concentrating her will, the entity that was once called Celestia clustered all her immense amount of thaumatic might, plunging into the temporal gateway before her with cold determination. The last step of her plan could commence...

---

The Sun

The mighty star held itself proudly in the blue sky.

Clouds

White and pure, they slowly drifted through the air, their massive forms still obeying the whim of winds and pegasi.

This was a truly magnificent sight.

Then, it all vanished. A violet haze, of stars and smoke submerged this idyllic picture covering up the beautiful colors it once bore. And it all seemed to come from a strange portal, its form quickly covered by the very mist that emanated from it.

---

Celestia had arrived to this world. The world she tried to protect. The world that she once walked. The world she lived in just several days ago. It all felt so familiar and yet so different. It was the past. It was this cursed moment the being that destroyed her life came to invade this land. The true moment of no return.

And yet, there was no one else in the atmosphere. Celestia was sure she didn't sense any being powerful enough to be the Entity. None, except herself.

It at that moment that a painful memory emerged in her ethereal mind. A sentence she had never forgotten. A sentence that had driven her to do all this.

"YOU will be the cause of your subjects' doom."

Now that she saw her former self coming to the balcony of her Castle, observe her new self in shock and disbelief, these words took a whole new meaning that she would have never imagined...

Author's Note:

Well, this was something, wasn't it? The concept of such an ending was the very thing that gave me the motivation to write this fic in the first place, so I really hope it didn't end up being bad.

This whole story was quite fun and interesting to write. I really enjoyed creating something I could call my own work. It was a great experience. Once again, thank you for actually bothering to read this thing. I hope you liked doing it.

Not that this is done, I have one last thing I would like to ask you. Could you please write a comment?
I know I already asked you to do it, but it really is my greatest desire. I don't ask you to write anything meaningful or long, but just something. This is probably very annoying, so I'll stop my rant here. Thanks for reading it up to this point!