The Lost

by Lux

Coruption

Chapter 14 – Corruption

“Now you have heard how Twist became the monster Discord,” Luna said, “This story is almost over, but there is one final piece that must be shown before my sister and I conclude. You know, Twilight, that Discord was defeated by the Elements of Harmony the first time, just like he was by you and your friends. The historians, although they tried their best, failed to describe the gravity of the situation. Defeating Discord was harder than simply using the Elements on him, harder than even we could imagine.”

“Now what you need to understand about the Elements,” Celestia said to her student, “is that when we were in control of them, half of them were used by Luna and half by me. This was determined not by us but by the Elements themselves to share the power and promote unity.”

“But what about when you used them on…” Twilight quickly halted as for a split second she forgot that Luna was in the room.
“That was an exception to the rule and went against the wishes of the Elements. But that’s a story for another time. What I can say is that Discord knew about the Elements of Harmony and their power. What scared him the most was the possibility of another pony having greater power than him.”

“How did Discord know,” Twilight said.

“I told him in my teaching,” Luna said, “We were studying magical artifacts for the day. Observe.”

A scene appeared with Twist younger and still in his original unicorn form sitting at a desk in Luna’s magic classroom.

“Now the next set of magical artifacts that I will discuss are the Elements of Harmony,” the younger Princess Luna said to her student, “There are six Elements: Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic. Separately, they are powerful, but when used together, they can defeat many evils of the world that threaten its harmony. Now the Elements themselves select a Bearer who best represents a certain quality. Today, my sister possesses the Elements of Honesty, Kindness, and Generosity while I possess the Elements of Loyalty, Laughter, and Magic.”

“So you see,” Luna said as the image faded away, “that he remembered that lesson with me when he assaulted Ponytopia. He knew that no magic other than ours and the Elements could stop him, and he was going to make sure that they would not be used.”

A new image appeared that was quite different from that of the pleasant study scent between Luna and Twist. Twilight and the two princesses were now observing from a balcony of the castle, overlooking the city. Once used as a place to raise and lower the sun and moon and to address the citizens of Ponytopia, it had become a place to watch the events that were happening. Buildings were being changed into strange objects or just disappearing entirely. Ponies were running away in fear, desperately trying to get away from the spreading chaos. All the while, the two young princesses could hear the unmistakable laughter of Twist as he leisurely made his way towards the castle unhindered and victorious.

“Luna,” the younger Celestia said, trying to remain calm but clearly filled with anger, sadness and terror, “Go get your Elements.”

“Sister, isn’t there anything else we can do to stop him?”

“No, Luna. I know he is… was our student, but we cannot just let him destroy what we’ve worked so hard to build and maintain: a haven of harmony where no pony should feel afraid. Believe me when I say that I’ve considered every other option, but I know none can work to stop him. He is now too strong.”

“I understand,” Luna said, “I’ll go get them.”

“Meet me in the throne room where we will end this once and for all.”

With that Luna turned and galloped away from the balcony, before Celestia did the same to find her Elements.
“And so, the two of us split up to find our Elements,” Celestia said, “Yet what we did not know was that Discord was waiting for us to do just that.”

The Princess of the Sun turned to her sister with a look of care and concern.

“Luna, are you ready to show Twilight what happened? I know that this has caused you harm that you still have yet to completely recover from, so I’m leaving the choice up to you. If you want to just tell your story, that will be fine.”
“No sister,” Luna said, “I think Twilight will benefit from what I experienced.”

With that Luna gathered her strength and steeled her mind as she produced a memory image for the three of them. They were now looking at the catacombs under the castle where Luna was galloping to collect her pieces of the Elements of Harmony. On an inconspicuous part of the stone wall, the Princess of the moon searched for a carving of a crescent moon. Finding it, she touched her horn to the moon, and an outline of a door was traced in blue magic aura. Moments later, the new door opened, revealing an ornate wooden box containing the Elements.

Luna hastily collected the three stones and turned to head back towards the throne room when she heard an echoing laughter that shook her to the core.

“Who’s there,” Luna demanded, “Show yourself!”

“Oh but what would be the fun in that,” the voice said.

“Twist, is that you?”

“Twist is no more. He died when you and your precious sister cast him out of Equestria. But in dying he was reborn into something more, something better. And that, dear Princess is me! Therefore, call me by my new name: Discord. It has a nice ring to it.”

“What do you want?”

“It’s not about what I want -- it’s about what you want.”

“What I want? What do you mean by this?”

“Oh come now dear! Are you so blind to the truth, blind with what your sister has been doing to you?”

“My sister has been nothing but loving and kind to me, something that you know nothing about.”

“That is all a façade, dear Luna, and a clever one at that. In reality, your sister has you trapped under her hoof, just where she wants you. Face it, dear Princess Celestia doesn’t want to share her power with any pony. Not even you.”

“Lies! How dare you say such slanderous things to me about her?”

“Think about it: during the day, the ponies of Ponytopia are out living their lives to their heart’s content, enjoying the sun that your sister is known for. But what happens when you bring out your glorious night? Oh that’s right, the ponies go to sleep! They don’t even recognize your talent. All they do is look up to her and her sun. Even in the pageants and proclamations they see only her. You are nothing but a ghost. And that’s what your sister wants: all the attention and all the glory. And as long as she keeps feeding you empty lies about how you are equal with her and you naively swallow them, she has you just where she wants: subservient to her!”

“No, no! You’re lying! I cannot believe this! I refuse to believe this.”

“Oh but you see, you already are,” Discord said as he appeared behind the trembling Princess, “The seed had been planted, and now I will help it grow.”

And with that, Discord touched Luna on her forehead and her body began to turn a dark grey like the stones of the catacombs. Luna desperately tried to fight it with all of her might and all of her magic, but her mind could not forget what Discord had said. And with doubt in her mind distracting her, her horn, the last bit of her body left uncorrupted turned grey.

The scene abruptly ended as Luna collapsed to the floor, lightly sobbing.

“Luna,” Princess Celestia said as she ran to her sister with Twilight looking on, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you share that.”

“It’s ok… sister,” Luna said softly, “It needed to be shown. I just need to rest here for a moment. Finish the story for Twilight. She needs to know how it ends.”

Celestia lifted her sister up with her magic and placed her on the couch to be more comfortable as she recovered.

“Rest now, sister. I will finish the story.”

Comments

[Lux]

I want to give a shout out to a friend and a very immportant person who has helped me with the entire process of making The Lost. His name is Robert Waldbauer, and before I went about this crazy idea of a fanfic, I collaborated with him at a convention back in May (gosh, how time flies). Hearing my initial idea we ping ponged some ideas oof each other which turned into what you see here. During the creation of The Lost, Robert has assisted in editing the story to make sure that in my excitement I don't totally goof the grammar.

So thanks Robert for helping to create what I hope is an wonderfully epic story for you dear readers.

And thanks for being a friend too!