Genesis

by Helrael

4 - Three Immortals Joined

Genesis
Chapter 4 – Three Immortals Joined

“Dinner is served, Your Highnesses,” Iovos, the chief waiter of the palace kitchen, greeted the royal family as he alighted on the small terrace connected to both the King’s Spire and the Dawn Tower, suspended more than a hundred feet above the two towers’ base. With him he carried three platters, bearing a small variety of brightly colored peppers. With a neat flourish of the vermilion stallion’s magic, the three dishes found themselves on the table before the royal family.

“I don’t believe you have ever served us this particular dish before,” Anancita commented, gazing curiously at the hollowed out vegetables filled to the brim with fried rice.

“It will be your aperitif this beautiful evening,” Iovos began explaining, but was silenced by Ignis.

“Celestia,” the white king said, turning toward his daughter. “You can tell us what this is, can you not?”

“This…” For a moment, the Solar Princess stared quizzically at the peppers, shooting a quick glance at her mother, who only shrugged. Her features eventually brightened and she adopted a proud smile, though she still deliberated for a few more seconds. “Aren’t they just called stuffed peppers? A dish from our southern provinces?”

“Where exactly?” Ignis asked, showing no indication of whether she was right or wrong. His own pepper glowed gold for a moment, his magic slicing apart the vegetable before popping a piece into his mouth.

Anancita and Celestia did the same, the latter staring hard at her pepper as she chewed. “Glutinous rice,” she declared as she finished her bite. “Mixed with almonds and apricot... One of the dishes typically served in Meridien, the southernmost city of our civilization.”

The waiter nodded, looking impressed. “You are very right, Princess Celestia. Beauty, power, and knowledge to name but a few of your virtues. Surely you will grow up to become a blessing to our world!”

“I am grown up!” the Solar Princess objected, earning a chuckle from her parents.

“You are only thirty-eight years old, Celestia,” Ignis reminded her. “You may have achieved Ascension at a young age, but you still lack oceans of wisdom. And manners, it would seem.” He turned his head to the waiter and nodded briefly. “You are most kind, Iovos. I am sure my daughter is grateful for your flattery. We will call upon you when we are ready for the main course.” The vermillion alicorn bowed respectfully and turned to leave, flaring his wings as he prepared to leap off the terrace.

“Iovos, a moment if you please,” Anancita called out to the servant.

The stallion seemed to halt in midair and instantly turned around again at her call. “Is there anything you require, your Highness?”

“I recently learned that you are to become a father, is it not so?” Before the waiter could answer, a necklace of diamonds formed out of thin air and hovered before his eyes. “Extend my congratulations to the mother.”

“My queen is most gracious! Thank you very much!” Iovos exclaimed, bowing deeply once more before finally taking off. The queen turned to face her daughter.

“You surprise me, Celetia” Anancita admitted in an impressed tone. “It seems I can no longer keep up with the speed at which our empire expands.”

“Meridia is but a year old, and this dish only half a year,” Ignis assured the silver mare. “Celestia and I went there a few months ago.”

“You should not understate Celestia’s accomplishments,” Anancita admonished the white king and smiled at the princess. “We have a brilliant daughter and you rule a land that will always continue to grow.”

“It is a land we both rule,” Ignis reminded her, leaning in to give her a kiss. “…My queen.”

“A hundred and thirty-eight years,” the Alicorn of Diamonds sighed. “You cannot imagine how happy those two words still make me feel when you say them.”

“My queen…” the Alicorn of Light repeated in a seductive growl that made Anancita laugh. His magic tugged at her as she was pulled into another kiss with the king. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Celestia roll her eyes and open her mouth to protest. She was promptly silenced, however, by a chunk of pepper stuffed into her mouth by the mother’s magic.

“Alright, my king,” the silver mare said, breaking the kiss. “Enough food for you. Some of us are hungry and do not feed on love.” She pulled away from the king and returned to the dish set in front of her, lifting another slice to her mouth. However, it wasn’t long before her eyes found themselves drawn to the late evening sun, still shining brilliant white as it hovered above the horizon. Her brow creased as she looked at the flaming orb, some deep sense of foreboding gripping her. After trying to ignore the feeling for several minutes, she finally dropped the clump of rice she had been about to eat, gaining the attention of the two white alicorns, who had already finished their modest meals. “Something’s wrong,” she said, looking back at the darkening evening sky to the east. “Should the sun not be setting about now? I have seen neither hide nor hair of Luna since yesterday morning.”

“It is hardly a rare occurrence,” Ignis pointed out. “There was that time she stayed down in her tower for an entire week.”

“Or locked herself up in the palace dungeons!” Celestia laughed, although her smile faded at her mother’s serious expression. “I don’t feel the night pushing against my sky,” the princess told her. “It’s as if she’s not trying to raise the moon.”

“She must still be sleeping. You must at least allow her such small eccentricities, my dear. She does not have much else,” the white king said, stacking his and Celestia’s plates together.

“Perhaps you are right,” Anancita yielded, gulping down her final bite of pepper. And yet I have never felt this way before. Could something have happened to her? She seems so frail... She might have been hurt, she might have run away. After another few minutes of torturing herself with ever grimmer scenarios of what could have befallen her youngest daughter, she finally rose from the table. “Excuse me, but… call it a mother’s instinct, but I need to make sure she’s alright.”

A few quick steps and a bound later, the Alicorn of Diamonds was soaring through the air, weaving in and out among the spires of the palace until she landed upon one of the small balconies leading into the interior of Luna’s tower. As she entered, the constant light surrounding Orien quickly melted away, replaced by the odd, liquid shadows that seemed to have a life of their own, all creations of her daughter’s pseudo-manifest passive powers. It was rumored amongst the serving people that the Dusk Tower was haunted by the forces of darkness, a rumor that Anancita had always fought to quash, although walking the dark and abandoned halls of the Lunar Princess’ home, the shadows about her sighing gently in her ears and whispering in unknown tongues, she had little difficulty imagining why she had been so unsuccessful in those efforts. Luna’s attitude did little to abate the servants’ fears either, the mother had to admit.

If only a mother’s love was all that a foal needed. If only I had the power to overcome all the hatred my people can bear against one princess.

She arrived at the blackened oak door that led to Luna’s chamber and gave it a quick knock. When no answer came, she knocked again, calling out Luna’s name. When she was met by silence again, the queen finally used her magic to unlock and open the door.

“Luna?” she called out again as she entered the room warily, casting her head about for any sign of life in the dark chamber. “Are you in here?” A pink light shone forth from the silver mare’s horn and banished the shadows clinging almost unnaturally to the walls. It was then the queen noticed the black tiara lying abandoned on the floor and the wide open doors to the balcony.

The tomb of the black king had been silent for more than a century, its awning long since sealed away beneath a small but ornate dome of diamond. No living creature dared approach the resting place, as if knowing what lay beneath the ground and knowing that to fear it was the wisest thing to do. Discord, however, felt no such reservations as evidenced by the dull flashes of yellow and red that now lit up the diamond structure from below.

Yes! Yield to me! Yield to Discord! To change! To chaos!

The monumental stone mound upon which the tomb had been situated heaved once as a massive release of energy rippled across the borders of existence and inexistence, a shrill sound echoing throughout the empty landscape as the sparkling spires and figurines decorating the dome began vibrating all on their own, cracks and fissures opening in the several feet thick layer of diamond. The energy continued to build until the grave finally erupted in a dazzling display of lightning and shimmering sparkles, a column of unrestrained power punching through the adamantine dome effortlessly. The column collapsed into a shower of liquid, white-hot fire, peppering the ground below as a roiling vortex of pure energy rose out of the ground, intensifying in size and strength as the spirit of chaos transcended from one plane into another, warping the blazing rock and stone surrounding him far beyond the point of recognition.

Yes! “Yes!” Yes! “Yes!” the spirit cheered, his voice sounding both within the oblivion in which he had first been born and in the existence he now sought to enter. The vortex reversed, drawing in the power of itself and amassing it all within its center, where a figure forged from the life force of the beings Discord had consumed began to take shape. A serpentine body grew out of the chaotic mist of pure energy, sprouting two wings only a moment later. A head and a tail formed, and soon arms, legs, and horns grew from the roughhewn body. Above him, night became day and day became night as the process of his incarnation wore on, the life force slowly and quickly transforming into flesh and blood and bone and the mind of Discord slowly settling within the new vessel that would carry his power through the realm of the living and existing.

The transformation finally complete, the ties that had bound him to the void were much too suddenly severed, Discord’s whole world shifting as he fully entered life. His senses, developed and employed within the realm of inexistence, faded from his grasp as he gained eyes, ears, and nerves, all reacting violently to the stimulants of his new world and filling his mind with images far more vibrant and powerful than he had believed possible. His perception of time was altered dramatically; where days and nights had before passed in the blink of an eye, the spirit now found himself measuring time in his ragged gasps for air, the sun and moon now moving painfully slowly across the sky in comparison. The vortex that breached the barrier between the two planes of inexistence and existence finally collapsed, depositing Discord on the ground not far from the black alicorn’s warped and ruined tomb.

For days and days, the spirit made flesh lay upon the flattened mountain, twitching and convulsing violently as he fought to gain control of the confusing mesh of muscles and nerves he had become. As time passed, however, his eyes soon adjusted to the light of day and the dark of night, and his mind developed an understanding of the subtle differences between sight and hearing, feeling and tasting. And as he began to sense, as the world around him became more and more apparent, he began to move about, crawling at first, but eventually rising up on his mismatched hind legs and walking about.

For a long time, for days and nights, he simply walked, leaving behind the barren rock upon which he had been born and venturing out into the crater-like area that lay beyond the tomb, it too devoid of any signs of life. He marvelled at first as the stone beneath his feet gave way to blackened and burned earth, its many differences from what he had seen so far leaving him preoccupied for hours. And as he entered into the vast and untamed forests beyond his birthplace, he entered into world of amazing wonders, the realm of life truly opening up to him as he had dreamed it would for the past two decades. Every tree and plant, every leaf, fruit, and root, every creature he met, no matter its size: Nothing was undeserving of Discord’s fascination and curiosity. Where before his world had been full of nothing but that accursed gray and empty of all but him and the fleeting and taunting ghosts of life and death, his new world was a place abundant in life, abundant in color, abundant in a completeness that was almost incomprehensible to the spirit. And he changed all that he saw. He knew not how, only that whenever his gaze fell upon anything that existed, it would change before his very eyes. The vegetation surrounding him would grow black and twisted, leaves would turn to spikes, beasts and creatures would turn to wood as trees turned to bone, and the ground would heave and roil beneath his feet.

The farther he travelled, the more he began to realize that there was something around him, something that followed him wherever he went. It was not air and it was not solid, nor anything in between. But as he turned his gaze back upon the path he had trodden, he could sense it. A strange entity, a power that clung to him and saturated everything and anything in his tracks, seeping into the ground and the trees and into the very air, distorting that which the spirit had already changed. Without seeing or hearing, he sensed great billowing clouds of what he decided to call magic drifting up and out of the woods he travelled to touch the heavens themselves, saturating them as it did the rest of the world surrounding Discord.

Now... what is this? Distracted from the excitement of exploring his new home and all that it held for him, the spirit began tracing his footsteps back to where he had first been conceived, the power growing more and more palpable to him with every step he took. It clings to my footprints. It flows through this realm like nothing else. What is it? Tentatively, the spirit pressed a leonine paw against the trunk of a tree, and it turned to stone. More of the magic now seeped from the tree, which soon transformed again, morphing into an enormous mushroom.

This power... It comes from myself... Of course! I have his power! His might! Mine now! I am change! I wonder...

Discord focused upon the energy swirling around him, attempting to control it, to bend it, to somehow influence it. He reached out a claw as if to touch the almost imperceivable force, but as he did so, the limb blackened and burst into flames, the recoil blasting the spirit several hundred feet forward and thoroughly embedding his horns in a tree which immediately shriveled away to nothing but a puddle of brown milk.

For a moment, the spirit was silent, his face submerged in the strange liquid his magic had created.

His magic.

Discord chuckled, the chocolate milk beneath him frothing violently as he rose. As he reached out to his magic and felt another limb blackening, he burst with laughter.

“Splendid,” Nimba remarked cynically as the evening sun without warning dropped out of the sky after having lingered on the horizon for almost half a day. As the black moon rose, the waning light of Celestia’s day was extinguished, plunging the mountains below the four alicorns into a darkness only Luna was capable of conceiving. “Just splendid. How are we supposed to find her now?”

Despite what her mother had insisted was a serious situation, the Solar Princess smirked. “I think you might be forgetting who you’re flying with!” Her horn blazed a brilliant blue, and her body began exuding a radiance that could only be matched by Ignis. Within seconds, the princess had woven the light about herself and her surroundings in such a way that the shadows within several miles of the group of alicorns were driven away, but without blinding her three companions.

“Guess I did...” Nimba replied to the impressive display of magic, but then sighed in exasperation. “But why are we even looking for her? We have soldiers for that!”

“Not enough, it would seem,” Celestia answered, rolling her eyes. “Mother’s growing desperate... Nearly every soldier in Orien have been sent out to retrieve Luna, but she’s somehow certain that I will be able to find her.”

“Even if she is the princess, she can hardly refuse the queen in a matter like this,” Neapentha pointed out from her position beneath the two. “Just as we can’t say no to the princess of the sun when she is in want of our company.”

“I know...” Nimba relented. “But I still think this is a waste of time.”

“We all do,” the princess reassured her friend and shook her head at no one in particular. “When I find that pestiferous sister of mine, she will have a lot to answer for!”

The princess, her friends, and the single guard accompanying them flew on in silence for a while longer before Celestia’s eyes were drawn to the blacker-than-black sphere poised upon the hastily darkened sky. Her brow creased as she realized that the moon had travelled across the sky at an alarming rate, having already covered a quarter of its journey after only a few minutes.

Now why would she do that? She already delayed the coming of dusk by several hours. Why would she willingly shorten the night when it is what sustains her? Perhaps she is being forced to do so. Or... perhaps she finds some perverted pleasure in seeing it upon the sky; perhaps she is indeed somewhere among these mountains, sheltered from the east horizon so that she cannot see it rise. That... that might very well be. With renewed resolve, the princess began scanning the mountains around her, searching for any areas in which the eastern sky would be blocked from view. “I think she might be somewhere over there!” Celestia told the others, pointing in the direction of an especially tall cluster of peaks to her right. Without further explanation, she dove under the guard flanking her and banked right, picking up the pace so as to get the search over with as quickly as possible.

A gentle but insistent tugging finally won out over the tranquil fog of her near comatose state, and the Lunar Princess finally regained consciousness. For a long while, she remained where she was, some insurmountable and incomprehensible fatigue rendering her unable of even thinking about opening her eyes. After what Luna could only guess to be several hours, however, the tugging that had deprived her of her sleep robbed her of her lethargy as well, its frustrating persistence replacing her exhaustion with vexation at the interruption to her slumber.

Met by silence when I desire love and companionship. Met with... this... accursed tugging when I desire peace!

As far back as the princess could remember, she had never been bothered by anyone in her tower. There were her servants, who flinched under the dark alicorn’s gaze and occasionally there was her mother, who was always a welcome guest but would never disturb her. For the first time in her entire life it seemed, someone wanted her to get out of bed. Luna attempted to open her eyes, trying her best to force back the shrouds of blackness that still clouded her mind and her vision.

Someone wishes for me to wake up... For once, they do not wish for me to lock myself away within my chambers. Today of all days... For once, they do not wish for me to simply throw myself off a cliff...

Her eyes opened fully, and instead of the soft pillow and mattress she found herself on every morning, there were only rocks and empty air surrounding her.

Cliffs... Falling... Wait...

Like a curtain being pulled aside to banish the shadows with the light of the sun, the remaining fogginess of her mind melted away, the waking world bringing nothing but sickening waves of pain coursing throughout all of her body. She screamed through a broken jaw and instinctively tried freeing herself of whatever crushing force was bearing down on her, only to realize that the bones in her legs had snapped almost completely. The weight pressing down on her was only imaginary, she soon realized, the sensation brought on from having almost every bone in her body broken by her long fall last night.

Night. Night!

Gasping for air with almost useless lungs, the Lunar Princess forced her attention away from her own broken body and toward the source of the tugging sensation which had woken her. With the aid of her magic, the moon finally broke through the east horizon after hours of persistent insisting. Making up for the delay, the black orb shot across the heavens, climbing over the mountains that surrounded the dark alicorn in a matter of minutes and obscuring the blue sky with its tenebrous veil of night, its deepening shadows soon caressing the princess gently and dulling her pains. The effects of being completely submerged in her hated element were almost immediately apparent as her groaning and desperate gasping turned into a strained but steady breathing. Grunts of pain escaped her lips as she felt her bones and squashed muscles shifting beneath her skin, her body healing as fast as only a daughter of Ignis’ could.

No one is here... the princess thought dismally as she realized what had woken her, propping herself up against a rocky wall that carried the metallic tang of her own blood. She found herself upon a large outcropping of a cliff suspended high above a shadowed valley, the mountains surrounding her blocking out the majority of her own sky. She turned her gaze to the moon, its terrible blackness faintly visible against the darkness of the sudden night. Except you. The evil that plagues our world. Why do you side with she who desires not your company? Why are you my only friend?

The princess punched a healing hoof into the ground in frustration, wincing at the pain as tears flowed from her eyes. A dead rock in the sky, a homage to the greatest evil known to alicorn kind! A suitable companion indeed!

“I hate you!” the alicorn screamed at her heavenly counterpart, though her crushed lungs prevented the shout from becoming any more than a garbled mass of chokes and coughs. I deserve no companionship other than that of demons, do I? Demons and rocks are all that I can ever know the love of. And as I have just proved, this solitude will last forever! Luna threw her head back against the bloodied rock, her consciousness slipping for a moment from the force of the impact. “Why can I not die?” the princess whispered to herself morosely, her lungs having already recovered significantly. “Why must I be the counterpart of Celestia and Ignis? Why must I be the evil one? When will I be able to look anyone in the eye? When will the self-loathing stop?” The princess returned her gaze to the cliffs surrounding her and sighed. Perhaps I should stay here. Where there are no alicorns and there is only stone and shadow as far as the eye can see. Let them turn my tower into a dungeon. Let them wonder what became of me, let them celebrate my disappearance. At least that way I can finally bring someone happiness. I will stay here, alone and loved by all the nothingness around me.

The Lunar Princess slumped to the ground, allowing her surprisingly intact wings some space as she closed her eyes, trying her best to welcome the feeling of the cold rock against her fur. She closed her eyes, and although the lingering aches of her recent extreme physical trauma rendered her incapable of sleeping, she remained where she was, having no idea of how to begin her new life.

The incessant but somehow soothing sound of some foreign insect’s chirping could be heard throughout the valley Luna found herself above by the time the faint beating of wings brought her out of her reverie. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, only to wish that she had never done so.

Anyone but her, Luna thought dismally as she rose to her weak hooves, grimacing at what was to come. Let it be Ignis, wroth at his dark daughter, Umbraeus, resurrected and vengeful, a hungry dragon, anyone but Celestia!

Through the blinding glare lighting up the entire valley, Luna saw the eyes of her sister finally lock on to her, her face twisting into an angry scowl immediately. “Luna!” she shouted vehemently at her younger sister, and the Lunar Princess briefly considered taking another plunge toward the ground that was still rather far below her. “Do you have the faintest idea how much trouble you have put the entirety of Orien through?” The white alicorn landed firmly on the shelf, dwarfing the younger princess in both size and brilliance. Nimba followed soon after, wearing something between a satisfied smirk and an annoyed frown on her face as she landed behind Luna. Meanwhile, the Solar Princess massaged her temple with a hoof, the harsh light surrounding her figure fading as she ceased her spell. “I am so tired of this, Luna. You are eighteen years old, yet you must always act like a foal! You refuse to dine with your family, you lock yourself away within your empty tower, and now you run away without telling anyone! When I was your age, I was assisting Father with nearly every aspect of ruling the world, not driving our mother crazy with worry!”

Luna said nothing, eyeing the precipice a few steps to her right as she suffered her sister’s admonishments. Could I outfly the true daughter of Ignis? She glanced back at Nimba, who had apparently caught on to what she was thinking, cerulean wings flared and ready for take-off. Or perhaps it is her I should worry about. Doesn’t she live in the clouds surrounding the palace?

“Are you even listening?” Celestia demanded, forcing Luna to pull her gaze away from her surroundings, facing her sister once more.

The Lunar Princess bit her lip. “You hate me,” she summarized briefly. “Everyone hates me. I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“Even she agrees,” Nimba chuckled, ruffling her wings. “Can we go home now?”

“Signal the others,” Celestia told her friend after recovering from the slight surprise of her sister’s quick surrender. “I think even Mother will agree we’ve been too lenient toward you after this,” she told Luna sternly. “Guards shall be posted outside your quarters both day and night and you will have an escort following you at all times if you leave the Tower of Dusk.”

“Good luck finding anyone willing to do that,” Nimba laughed lightly as a multi-hued light began streaming from her horn and into the sky, spawning a vortex of clouds in all the colors of the rainbow. “I mean, who would want to protect something like her?”

You know, they are right... Celestia and Ignis’ voice sounded within Luna’s mind.

“Not protecting but... shall we say ‘keeping an eye on’?” the white alicorn corrected her friend. “There is a difference. You protect those you hold dear. You keep an eye on... creatures of the night.”

They call you a monster, but you know they exaggerate.

Monster would imply I am a threat...

You know they see you as an annoyance. A burden. The chains that hold the denizens of light trapped within darkness. You are the Night Mare.

Then why am I being dragged back to Orien!?

Why indeed?

I bring darkness. I have lived my life in darkness. I belong in darkness. Yet my family insists that I must teeter on the edge between both! They hate darkness and yet refuse to accept me into light! Why have I been chosen to lead this cursed life!? It’s infuriating!

Then sever your ties. Abandon light and never set hoof within it again. Is it that difficult?

The dark alicorn thought for a moment on the life she had led so far, comparing it with her imaginings of a life in darkness. She looked briefly at Celestia, the Solar Princess distracted by a conversation with Nimba, although she still bore the hint of the scowl she had first greeted her sister with. No doubt Ignis would be a true terror to face after what she had done.

Her mind made up, Luna turned away from her elders and faced the edge of the cliff she stood upon, flaring her wings as she prepared to leap. Nimba was quick to react, however, pushing the young princess back roughly.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked of the Lunar Princess, making a poor effort at concealing her laughter.

How far are you willing to go? To show them the truth?

Luna’s eyes narrowed as she turned her gaze to Nimba, misery turning into resolve. “D-don’t touch me.”

“Don’t presume you have any rights after what you just did,” Celestia warned her. “Do you have any idea of how long we’ve been searching for you? Nimba is far more responsible and mature than you, and she may lay a hoof on you if she deems it necessary. Now stay still while we wait for Neapentha and Tegos.”

The young princess ignored her sister stubbornly, attempting to leap off the cliff again. This time, however, it was Celestia who stopped her, a gilded hoof smacking roughly into her chest and a firm magical tug on her wings sending her flying back against the wall. “Luna, so help me, I will drag you back by the horn if you keep this up! Stay still!”

Luna whimpered softly as she struck the stone wall, though the pain was nothing compared to what she had endured just a few moments ago. As she scowled at her sister, Celestia’s voice laughed at her mockingly within her mind. Are you as timid as you are hated?

They call me Night Mare. They call me a monster. Perhaps I...

She got to her hooves once more and in return felt Nimba’s forehoof press down on her back to restrain her. “Honestly,” the blue mare complained. “Just stand still, you little brat! You aren’t going anywhere!”

Perhaps I should give them what they want!

As Luna was pushed to the ground, her horn lit up without warning, unleashing a blast of magic that sent Nimba hurtling off the cliff and caused the shelf to destabilize and collapse. The younger sister barreled past the shocked princess of the sun and launched herself into the air, hoping that Celestia would be too distracted with saving her friend to chase after her.

“Luna!” she heard Celestia roar in anger, and the night princess doubled her speed, straining her wings to the limit until the ground below her was nothing but a blur.

Clouds!

As the spirit thrusted a claw forwards and unclenched his fist, the odd glass sculpture in front of him vaporized into several wisps of purple fluff, slowly drifting apart before Discord’s magic took hold of them again.

Fire!

One cloud sped out of his grasp in response, joining its brethren in the swirling vortex that seemed to linger above the spirit of chaos at all times. The remaining clouds he held failed to comply as well, solidifying into giant golden spheres instead.

Now that was something new, the spirit commented to himself as he approached one of the spheres, the golden mass as tall as himself. If these powers are mine, then why can’t I control them? I want this, but I get that. He frowned, thinking of some explanation as he had done so many times before. But as always, he could think of nothing. It doesn’t make sense! he lamented, tapping the sphere before him with his claw. It responded by cracking in two, exploding in a whirlwind of flower petals as a titanic bird burst from its center. As he stared at the majestic being soaring across the night sky and disappearing into the clouds, he found himself smiling. Then again, what fun is there in making sense? Perhaps it is not such a bad thing after all... He could only watch as a second golden bird of monstrous size burst from its egg while three other spheres grew legs and danced away into the forest. Control. Is it that important?

Discord turned away from the final egg as it spawned a monstrous being covered in tentacles, the spirit leaving the blue and yellow clearing in which his magic had taken firmly hold. Change is important. The place I entered existence, it did not change. Without change, everything becomes gray. Without change, everything becomes the void. Discord shuddered at the memories of his time as an incorporeal being, and the ground he walked upon became a steep hill, forcing him to crawl up an almost vertical incline. Change is change and control is control. Change is important, and if control is not change, then it is not important. If control is not change... then control is bad.

Gravity shifted around the spirit and he rose to his feet, opting to go around what had now become a hundred foot tall spire of forest floor. Was that the void, then? A place of control? A realm where there is nothing and nothing can change? So... existence is change and change is existence. Control, lack of change, is nothingness, is death. Change is life and life is change. Yes, that makes sense. I was different from nothing because I was alive, wasn’t I?

He stopped at the base of a tree, rooted firmly in the vertical ground. Life... It is the very essence of change, isn’t it? Or is it the other way around? So many shades and nuances, such variety! The spirit chittered softly, and a squirrel scurried down the trunk of the tree, leaping onto his outstretched paw. These... animals. Squirrels and wolves and eagles. They change so fast, so rapidly! Blood pulses in their veins, they feel and see everything that is around them, they move about freely within the realm of existence. And then there are these... He turned his attention from the squirrel in his palm to the tree standing beside him. Trees, plants and flowers. The same in so many ways, alive like myself but different all the same. Their change... it is slow. Does that make it any less worth than other kinds of change?

The spirit pondered this for a while. As he sat down on the grassy column rearing above the rest of the forest around him, the squirrel grew wings and flew off the palm of his paw, though Discord hardly noticed. Time... It is something perceived, not something that is, isn’t it? Before night came to be, time went by faster than it did later. When I was born, time slowed even further, I realize that now. What I now see as days and nights passed by in the blink of an eye when I didn’t exist. If I had seen the trees then, they would have appeared alive like the creatures.

But now... He rose to his feet, regarding the tree once again. Now, the change is slow. When it is slow, it is hardly change at all. If something moves an inch after a thousand years, it hardly moves. The slower the change, the less change there is. But change is good, he reminded himself, running a claw down the length of the tree. Then... that is why I am here. To change the world. Give existence a little... push in the right direction.

A large fissure formed along the line he had traced down the trunk of the tree, opening up to allow a flood of kumquats to pour sideways onto the ground the tree was rooted in, piling up all around the thin spire of earth Discord stood upon. The small fruits soon dissolved into the grass they rested upon, eating away at the column until the majority of the spire had been separated from the ground below. The spirit snapped his fingers, and the spire rocketed off toward the heavens, exploding as it impacted upon the clouds amassing far above him and temporarily clearing the sky.

It was then he saw it. Far away, beyond the mountains to the west, a brilliant light shone forth, shattering into a glittering cascade that fell upwards to strike the very fabric of the black night sky.

That is... magic. Someone’s power, but not my own. Or is it? No, no. That is something else. But... it is change as well. It’s good. This magic... belongs to the alicorns!

And he remembered. Through eyes that were not his own, he saw thousands upon thousands of images, some faded from millennia of negligence, others vivid with fire and destruction. As the part of him that was Umbraeus stirred at the sight of the familiar magic, Discord recalled events and persons that had never been among his memories.

A white one. An alicorn. His light shines brighter than even the sun.

Myself. No, him. But now myself? Argh, who!? Umbraeus, yes. Before... before myself. Him when he was himself. Opposite. Darkness. Darker than the night and feared.

A hundred alicorns. Hundreds! A thousand!? Are they all here? In the realm of existence? Where? Why is it only now that I see them? Such power these alicorns possess, their life is not like that of the tree, nor the squirrel. Theirs is like... my own. Their power equals mine, they can change what is! Like me, they bring change!

…

A war? The lesser ones fight amongst each other, falling upon their own kin with... hatred. Above them all, I battle Ignis. Umbraeus battles Ignis. This change they bring... Waste and destruction...

Discord tore his gaze away from the light in the west and regarded the area in which he had been born. Although it was still quite a few miles away, his vantage point upon the remains of the spire he had spawned allowed him to see its pale and lifeless grayness reflecting the glow cast by the magic of the alicorns.

They brought change. Swift change. The spirit’s brow furrowed. That was good, wasn’t it? The best change there is? Then... then why does it feel wrong? Because of the grayness... They brought nothingness! The power to change the world, the power to turn wood to gold and flesh to glass, to build and improve and reimagine all that is around them and they choose to transform existence, my existence, into the void! The grayness! The nothingness! Why!?

Hatred. Greed. Fear. Pain. Distrust... Betrayal... Misery... Vengeance.

Everywhere, the light burns and the darkness suffocates. In the end, the fires of enmity destroy all that there is and leave behind nothing. Is this life? Struggling for survival and tearing itself apart? Perhaps I am different. The squirrel eats of the tree. The snake eats the squirrel. Where there is life, there is death. But the animals are balanced; they do not have the power of the alicorns or myself. The alicorns are unbalanced; their power wreak havoc on existence. But... balance, with balance, change is slow! The squirrel and the tree change, but oh, so slow! Without power, existence remains... static. With power... destruction and grayness. But... I have power. I have changed the world. I build and I improve and I reimagine! Then why do the alicorns not?

No... Discord’s eyes were once again drawn to the night sky, where the blackness was now pierced by thousands of flickering lights. Some do build. Some improve and reimagine. But if now, then why not then? If there, why not here?

For several hours, the spirit sat upon the hill he had unintentionally raised, watching the stars be sprinkled across the sky and the moon, which had before been as dark as Umbraeus, take on a brilliant glow that thoroughly banished the deepest shadows of the night.

I have to go to them, he realized, and rose once more to his feet, the steep hill lowering him gracefully to the ground as it slowly decomposed into a flurry of bubbles. We are both beings of power. I must find the ones who use their powers for good, and I must stop the others from bringing the void here. We are similar in so many ways and yet I am unique. Where there is life, there is death, but I am alive and neither kill nor die. Is it because I went the other way? Went from inexistence to existence? I don’t understand, but I must. Understand fear and hatred and misery. Understand life and death.

Darkening the sky every night for eighteen years. Banishing the sun and bringing the moon every evening, disregarding everyone in the world but herself, and now this! Assaulting a member of my own court! She could have murdered Nimba had I not been there! She has gone much, much too far this time!

The furious Solar Princess tilted her wings and neatly dove beneath an arcane bolt flung carelessly over Luna’s shoulder, the white alicorn’s sister obviously just as infuriated as herself. “Leave me alone!” the Lunar Princess screamed at the top of her lungs, but Celestia was not about to take any orders from the little beast.

Surprising her yet again, Luna’s wings began beating even faster, forcing the Solar Princess to her very limits just to keep up, the wind howling in her ears and ripping and tearing at her abused plumage. I wasn’t meant for this kind of flying, she chastised herself, willing herself to not lose her little sister. They were nearing the western outskirts of the great mountain range that extended northwards from Orien, and the great ocean that seemed to constitute the majority of the world’s surface appeared beyond the final ridges, its inky darkness blending perfectly with the black sky. I should have sent Tegos to chase her down and stayed with Nimba instead. “Land, Luna! Or I will force you!”

The alarming speed at which the two were flying had already halved the distance between themselves and the massive body of water, and it was at this point Luna simply dipped out of the air, plummeting towards the ground as she accelerated even further, a cone of vapor cloaking her body as she approached a speed Celestia had only believed her father and the most elite fliers of Orien capable of.

The wrath of the sun is nothing to be taken lightly. Do not say I did not warn you.

The Solar Princess’ horn let forth a dazzling light that would have blinded anyone looking, her magic surging up into the farthest reaches of the heavens as she called down a powerful bolt of lightning to strike her own sister. A loud snap rang throughout the air as Luna pulled out of her steep dive and rocketed away from her enraged sister, but even the speed of sound could not help her escape the elder princess’ wrath. The spell hit with impeccable accuracy, striking down just between the dark princess’ wings, although the sheer size of the bolt caused her entire body to be enveloped in its blaze. When the glare of the lightning had faded, the dark princess was still speeding ahead, though upon closer inspection, her wings were now hanging limply along her sides, her momentum carrying her out upon the sea where she skidded across the dark water twice before finally crashing fully.

Perhaps that was a little too rough, the Solar Princess thought to herself, diving down in pursuit of her sister. I wouldn’t have caught her had I not struck her down, though. As the white alicorn approached her sister’s crash site, it wasn’t long before she was enveloped in the dense mist of the water that had been thrown into the air by the force of Luna’s impact upon the ocean. I told her to stop! I warned her! She attacked Nimba! She has forced the majority of Orien’s protectors to leave the city and journey out across the entire world in search of her! Besides, bringing her home will be so much easier if she is unconscious.

A powerful burst of crackling lightning erupted from beneath Celestia, striking her hard in the chest and causing her to grunt in pain as her own wings faltered for a moment. The white alicorn’s horn blazed gold once more, and the mist surrounding her burned away to nothing, revealing the younger princess, cold blue eyes riveted on the elder sister as she tried in vain to move her paralyzed wings and escape the chilling embrace of the waves washing over her.

The dark alicorn gasped in pain as her sister’s magic took hold of her surroundings, freezing the water around her body solid and trapping her so thoroughly that she could hardly even move her head. The ice gained a life of its own and crept swiftly up her neck and enveloped her horn, the numbing cold making it almost impossible for her to focus on her magic.

“You’re coming back with me, Night Mare,” Celestia said, exhaustion clear in her voice as she landed lightly upon the still growing mass of ice encasing her sister. “Whether you want it or not.”

“No! Leave me alone!” the dark princess screamed in defiance, the muscles in her neck bulging as she tried to break free of her restraints.

Celestia’s horn glowed again, and the bulk of ice rose out of the water and began floating back toward the coast. “That is obviously not in the interest of our civilization, but we’ll have to see what Ignis says.”

“Wh-why!?” Luna stammered, her horn flickering and sputtering within its icy cage as she fought to free herself. “Why d-d-do you want me in O-Orien!? I am hated. Mother loves y-you more than she d-does me. F-Father pr-pretends I do not exist. You w-w-wish Neapentha and Nimba t-to be your sisters instead of me!”

“My si...? How would you know that?” the white princess asked, her eyes narrowing at her sister.

Luna’s gaze fell to the ice. “I l-listen... occasionally... in the shadows.”

Celestia gave a disgusted sigh and turned her back on her sister. “Do you want to know why I am loved and you are not? Because I commit myself to improve this world. I banished the darkness native to this world and I help Father in any way I can. I found cities and I do what I can to make my subjects happy. I even rescue my sister from herself.”

“Rescue!?” Luna demanded angrily. “You and Nimba t-tried your best to hu-hu-humiliate me! Y-you struck me down with a bolt of lightning! You... you have encased me in ice! H-had I not been Ignis’ daughter, I-I would have died!”

“Had I not been Ignis’ daughter, Nimba would have died!” Celestia retorted and pointed a hoof back at the direction Luna had flown before crashing. “Had I not apprehended you, you would have intruded upon established dragon territory! That could very well have resulted in an all out war for which we are not yet prepared! I think of others than myself. You, on the other hoof, lock yourself away in your tower, caring about nothing else than yourself and your precious night!”

“You think that is who I am!?” The trapped princess asked of her sister, becoming livid almost instantly. “You think that is what I think!? I am a monster! I am a beast! I am the evil spawn of Umbraeus! The false daughter of Ignis! The selfish narcissist who plunges the world into darkness so that she may continue her feeble existence! I am evil! You think I don’t know that!? You think I take enjoyment in that fact!? You think I want any of this!?”

Celestia turned back toward her sister, surprised at the outburst, but the dark alicorn had already calmed, a somber look in her eyes as she once again gazed at the ice encasing her. “No matter how much you hate the night, sister, I guarantee you: I hate it more. No matter the hatred any subject bears me, I guarantee you: My self-loathing is far greater.” The Solar Princess gave the trapped alicorn a skeptical gaze, finding it hard to believe the words her sister had spoken.

She hates herself? The Night Mare?

Luna failed to continue, and the oppressive silence soon compelled Celestia to speak. “You hate the night?” She forced a light chuckle. “Forgive me if I do not believe you. You are the Lunar Princess. You created the moon and the night sky; they are what keep you alive.”

“They are what make me the most hated being in the world,” Luna insisted. “Is any life worth living if you are never loved? If you have no prospect of ever being loved?” The princess burst into tears. “When all look upon you with scorn and disdain? Had I not been a princess, you would have killed me long ago, wouldn’t you?”

Celestia didn’t answer, eyeing her sister as she sensed some sort of trap. She is full of surprises tonight. She may just be luring me into lowering my guard.

“No, I fail to see life as a gift,” Luna continued morosely. “Immortality is but another curse the night has put upon me.” Both princesses were silent again as the mass of ice left behind the ocean and changed course to levitate southwards along the mountain range not far away. One waited for her younger sister to continue while the other debated whether or not to do so. “I am doomed to carry the burden of the night forever. At first I tried to relieve myself of this evil I carry...” The Lunar Princess sighed. “Is it true we cannot die, Celestia?”

“Luna..!” Celestia gasped, taken aback by what her sister had just revealed. “You didn’t!”

“My bones had finished healing when you and Nimba found me,” the dark alicorn revealed. “I saw no reason not to. Why not end it? Why not simply die? But Ignis’ heritage prevents such a mercy! Failing that, I wished to live out the rest of eternity away from... everything... But even that you deny me!”

“I only...”

“No matter,” Luna interrupted her sister dejectedly. “‘Tis but another drop of sadness in a sea of sorrow. A sea that is of no concern for you denizens of light.”

The Solar Princess was silent for a while as the two travelled onwards on their strange vessel. “Why..? Why should I believe you?” she finally asked, a deep sense of regret entering her mind as she looked upon her frozen sister.

Perhaps... I was wrong. Perhaps her evil is not fully intended. Ugh, how could I believe such a thing in the first place? No, there must be more to this Night Mare than I thought.

Luna made an attempt at a wry smile, although the coldness was slowly numbing her facial muscles. “W-why should you listen? I... I-I no longer care. I thought I was worth saving, that I deserved to be rid of this Night Mare I am. B-but... it matters l-little, does it? My sorrow concerns none.”

One chance. If this is a ruse, she will suffer greatly.

The Lunar Princess flinched as her prison shuddered violently, the large mass of ice landing heavily upon the ground as the glow in Celestia’s horn was cut off abruptly. Luna’s eyes cast about warily for any signs of danger, but the white alicorn had eyes only for her sister, the creature she had so thoroughly misunderstood for eighteen years. “Your sorrow is of my concern,” she finally said, drawing the attention of her sister once more. “It is the concern of us all.”

Luna sighed unhappily. “I know. Our soldiers and subjects are all out searching for me. My burden becomes your burden. It is exactly what I tried to prevent.” The ice vanished in a blinding burst of the Solar Princess’ magic, evaporating instantly without harming either of the alicorns. When the dark princess recovered from the bright flash, she found herself in the tight embrace of her elder sister. “What are you doing!?” Luna cried out, struggling weakly to escape her sister’s tight hold around her chest.

“I’m hugging you, silly!” Celestia half-laughed, half-cried into the soft azure mane. Has she never experienced such a gesture? “I have wronged you, Luna,” she continued in a much more serious tone of voice as Luna ceased her struggling. “Irreparably so. I never understood you nor did I ever attempt to. I... I believed what you brought to be what you were... and I hated you for it. I told others to hate you as well... I daresay I have been spreading nearly as much darkness as you yourself have.” The white alicorn’s horn pulsed once, and her sister’s freezing body was warmed instantly. “I... I’m sorry...” she sobbed, crying in earnest now as she held her still immobile sister in her forelegs.

Celestia gave an inaudible gasp of surprise as her sister returned the embrace, the dark princess sobbing wordlessly against her elder sister’s white fur.

I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, then, Celestia thought to herself, smiling at her younger sister.

“I always thought I hated you,” she said, more to herself than her sister. “But... I didn’t know you. Eighteen years and you are still a stranger to me.” Her musings were met only by another series of indecipherable choked sobs. “But maybe I should take the time to get to know my own sister,” the white alicorn said, stroking her sister’s mane comfortingly. “You have shown me a light deep within you. One that I would hate to see extinguished. You don’t belong in darkness, Luna.”

“B-but th-th-th-they-they h-hate me!” Luna finally managed to croak out after several failed attempts. “I do not belong in light either!”

“They hate the night,” Celestia insisted. “They think the night is who you are. From what you have shown me, that seems not to be the case.” The white alicorn broke out of the embrace and her sister followed suit a few seconds later. “Make a gesture for all to see,” she told her little sister. “One that will grant you the favor and admiration of our people.”

“I... I’m the spawn of Umbraeus,” Luna countered. “What gesture could possibly give me the favor of our people? Everything I do brings misery.”

“Join our family as a bringer of light,” Celestia suggested. “Light up the night sky.”

“I can’t!” Luna whimpered. “I’ve tried and tried, but the night swallows all light! I-I don’t know how to...”

The Solar Princess shushed her reassuringly. “Then it is good I am here to help you. I will show you the way; you bring the light.”

“I-I don’t have any...” Luna muttered despondently as Celestia lowered her horn to hers.

“You do,” the white alicorn insisted once more. “Look deep within yourself. I know that you are a lot stronger than you let on.” Celestia’s horn glowed a soft gold, and the younger sister gasped at what the Solar Princess presumed to be her first time pooling magic with another alicorn. “Show me who you are,” she encouraged her sister once more, feeling the beginnings of Luna’s magic joining her own. “Show the world.”

“I’ll... I’ll try.”

Power flowed into the union as the young alicorn’s inhibitions slowly melted away, Celestia focusing on channeling her sister’s magic into the heavens while Luna struggled to wield the superior element. Both soon felt themselves shrinking to an immeasurable size as their consciousness merged with the ethereal canvas above, spanning the world from horizon to horizon and far beyond.

Massive amounts of power began flowing through the bond as Luna succeeded in finding her light, her progress translating into large, flowing wisps of pure light that zoomed upwards to strike the sky, although the night remained dark. “It is not working!” Luna complained after a few minutes of making no progress, her efforts already weakening as despair overtook her. “I cannot bring light!”

Celestia said nothing, but instead let loose her own power, using her bond with Luna to force her magic into the strange sky as best she could, emboldening Luna’s attempts as the two worked together to brighten what was black. After a while, however, even the Solar Princess had to quit. “You’re right; your night sky seems content to swallow all the light we meet it with.” She pondered the problem for a moment while Luna slumped to the ground in defeat. “A different approach,” she finally suggested. “Pierce the sky. Bring light to one pinprick of darkness at a time and keep that light burning.”

Luna got to her hooves. “I shall try,” she answered hesitantly, summoning her powers once more to join Celestia’s and seeking out single points upon the sky, the two alicorns firing blazing comets of light into the air that tore apart the darkness upon which they landed and nestled themselves amid the blackness.

Spurred on by the initial success, the dark princess redoubled her efforts, her horn giving birth to a flurry of the brilliant white sparks that erupted into a shimmering column of light before branching outwards, the orbs of light falling gently upwards to touch the night sky. In little more than an hour, the entire breadth of the night sky been sprinkled with twinkling stars that glowed as brightly as the little princess’ eyes as she gazed upon her work in wonder.

“It’s beautiful...” she breathed when Celestia finally broke contact, lifting her head so she could see the sky for herself. “Wh-why are we stopping?”

“We have expended much of our power,” the white princess told her sister, smiling with satisfaction at their progress. “And there is one last thing I thought we should try to do. Transform the moon. Make it not a herald of light’s doom, but a beacon in the darkness.”

“You can do that?”

“Only with your help,” she reminded her sister, quieting as she once again thought of how best to overcome the darkness that was somehow darker than the black sky. “Now, imagine the moon is not a disc fixed to the fabric of the sky, but a globe floating far above us. Imagine it has two halves: One darker than night upon which we now gaze, and another side, hidden from us below behind the moon’s shadowy, terrible face. One that shines as brightly as Orien... perhaps even as the sun itself. Are you ready?” she asked of her sister, looking down at her again as she brought her horn within reach of Luna’s.

”I don’t know...” the dark princess replied shakily, touching her horn to her sister’s. “The moon cannot shine, Celestia! It devours all light! It is stronger than both you and Ignis!”

“The moon is yours,” the Solar Princess only told her sister, summoning her powers for one last joint effort.

For the next many hours, the two princesses toiled away at the night sky, pouring everything they had into the dark orb above, though the moon, true to Luna’s words, swallowed every speck of light they threw at it. It was not until the moon had entered into the final quarter of its journey across the sky and a despondent Luna had been comforted several times that a thin sliver of pale and bright light finally emerged along the right side of the black sphere. The light slowly grew brighter and larger as the sisters renewed their efforts, pouring what remained of their powers into their extensive spell until it had finally driven away the darkest darkness alicorns had ever known.

“There.” Celestia said, sitting back on her haunches and gazing up at the bright moon. “In but a single night, we have banished the strongest shadows of this world.”

“I can’t believe it...” Luna muttered, sitting down beside her sister as she shook her head slowly, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. “The night has been tormenting me for years, but now... is it finally over?”

“The night has changed,” Celestia said as tears of joy and relief ran from her little sister’s eyes. “The moon itself has changed.” She gestured at Luna’s flank. “And it shows on your person as well.” Upon the black splotch that had previously been the only feature to adorn the young princess’ flank now was the image of a bright crescent, much akin to the shape the moon had assumed while waxing.

“I’m... I’m a bringer of light?” Luna whispered in amazement, staring first at the crescent upon her flank and then the full moon. “No longer a demon, no longer a monster or a spawn of Umbraeus?”

“You have never been any of those things,” Celestia insisted, wrapping a foreleg around her sister affectionately. “You might even have grown a little just now,” she said as she noticed the younger princess’ visibly larger frame. “Stand up, let me have a proper look at you.”

Luna did as she was told and stood, adopting an expression of both bemusement and excitement as she twisted and turned her neck to inspect herself. Almost a foot higher, Celestia marvelled as she regarded her sister curiously. The mane has grown a lot longer as well. And... is it developing the ethereal quality possessed by Father and myself? Is she finally nearing her Ascension? One can no longer call her a filly, that’s for certain. Strange how she has matured so slowly.Then again, indirectly, I may be the one to blame for that.

“I’m sorry,” the Solar Princess blurted out, and the younger sister gave her a quizzical look.

“Why? What for? You just...”

“I should have paid more attention to you. If I had... you would not have been driven to attempted suicide.”

Luna was silent at the confession, no doubt, Celestia assumed, because she couldn’t argue with what had been said.

“You have always lived in the shadow I cast,” she continued apologetically. “And that is a vast darkness to be born into. I should have been there for you as Mother was. For eighteen years, you suffered so because of mine and all others’ neglect and scorn. I should have shown you the light earlier... Can... can you forgive me?”

Luna smiled warmly, a sight Celestia doubted even her mother had seen. “You lit up my night,” she whispered, taking a quick glance at the sky, as if to make certain the stars were still there. “Of course I forgive you!”

“Thank you,” Celestia said, spreading out her wings as she adopted her sister’s smile. “Should we return to Orien, then?”

---

The two sisters were met with a brilliant ray of light leaping into the sky and spreading bright ripples of Ignis’ magic to the farthest corners of the world as they neared Orien, signalling the return of the Lunar Princess to everyone out searching for her.

Although Celestia had hated to do so, she had decided to take her sister straight to the capital instead of returning to where she had left Nimba. It did, however, seem the best possible option at the time, given the tension that would no doubt be present between her and Luna. The bright clouds the sky alicorn had summoned prior to the assault should have led Neapentha and Tegos to her position, Celestia assured herself as she glided past the walls surrounding Orien. By now, the two alicorns would have healed any injuries Nimba had sustained and seen Ignis’ signal for them to return home.

The Solar Princess looked at her sister with a reassuring smile as they neared the palace, only to find that she was no longer flying beside her. She gazed at the streets below her and found the dark princess landing gracefully before a large group of alicorns. “The princesses have returned!” they cheered, letting forth a dazzling display of light from their horns in celebration.

How much she has changed. Yesterday she shunned and feared our subjects just as they did her, but today she approaches them with a smile.

The Solar Princess halted in midair, both excited and trepidatious as to how Luna would cope with such a large crowd. It never proved to be a problem, however, as the alicorns below took Celestia’s stopping above them as an invitation for them to join her, all of them taking wing and leaving behind the dark princess below.

“The Solar Princess has brought light to the night!” a stallion ahead of the others shouted excitedly.

“She has tamed Princess Luna!” another declared.

“Truly a daughter of Ignis!”

“She has spread the superior element even farther than he!”

Oh dear... the white alicorn thought with worry as she was soon surrounded by congratulating alicorns. Lighting the night seemed to have changed nothing.

“Th-thank you!” she responded to her admirers distractedly, smiling politely as she tried to look past those gathered below her and catch sight of Luna.

“Is the sky yours once more?” An excited mare asked from somewhere to her right.

“Will the age of light begin anew?”

“I-it never truly ended,” Celestia insisted, though even she herself doubted those words. “I really just helped... Luna!” she called out as she saw a dark shape silhouetted against the light emanating from the palace, the Lunar Princess already closing in on the Dusk Tower. The white alicorn became wreathed in light and vanished, appearing outside the gathered throng of her subjects and chasing after her sister for the second time that night. “Luna!” she shouted once more, but the dark princess either ignored her or didn’t hear, delving into her tower without looking back. She heard a muffled explosion, and the dimly glowing diamond-marble around the entrance collapsed behind Luna, barring access to anyone attempting to follow her. Celestia sighed with exasperation as she found an alternate route into her sister’s home. The light of her horn, at first banishing the unnatural shadows clinging to the walls around her, dimmed as she ventured further and further into the dark and unfamiliar corridors, the curse of darkness pervading the air soon overcoming even the Solar Princess’ power.

“Betrayal... Trust none... Monster... Love... Never...” The white princess shook her head, trying to rid herself of the disconcerting and disembodied voices all around her, the animated shadows murmuring and moaning from the anguish Luna felt.

When she finally found the black doors leading to her sister’s bedroom, she found it wreathed in the Lunar Princess’ magic, crackling dangerously with the power of an alicorn who could move the heavens.

“Luna! Come out!” Celestia begged of her sister, but was met only by the sound of the rushing arcane currents that comprised the barrier surrounding the young princess’ chambers. “They misunderstood! You misunderstood! Show them the real you and you’ll find that they’ll love you as I have learned to do!”

“Lies...”

“Lower your barrier, Luna! You’re acting like a foal! This time I mean it! Come out, and we’ll explain everything to them!” Celestia sighed at the unwavering transparent blue screen before her. “I can’t very well tell everyone that you were the main driving force behind lighting the night and refer them to an impassable barrier!”

Silence. Nothing but the fragmented whispers of darkness.

“Can you even hear me!?” The white princess touched a gilded hoof to the force field and yelped as the vast amounts of arcane energy pent up within the wall lashed out at her, flinging her against the wall behind her with enough force to break any mortal alicorn’s wings.

The princess resisted the urge to scream, not out of pain, but out of frustration, picking herself up from the floor. “Lower that barrier!” Her powers weakened by her recent lighting of the night sky, the princess unleashed the most devastating lightning bolt at her disposal, though the force field only trembled slightly under her onslaught. “Lun...” The glowing wall of energy became abruptly incandescent as it returned the full force of Celestia’s attack, a blast of lightning sending Celestia hurtling through the same wall she had struck just a few seconds ago, ending up in a small library.

“Not welcome... Leave...”

“Fine!” she shrieked furiously as she picked herself up from the floor, now littered with dimly glowing rubble and ruined books. “Stay in there! I lit the night for you, but you refuse to accept the gift I give you!”

I can’t believe her! the white alicorn thought to herself angrily after realizing Luna was probably unable to hear her. Of course they are bound to think I lit the night! What did she expect!? What did I expect..? But will she stay and let me explain the situation? Will she do anything to help her own damn self? No! Ten seconds of things not going as she had expected, and she locks herself away inside her tower! So much for the self-pitying and self-loathing! If she truly dislikes her life as it is, she must be the greatest masochist I have ever known!

The white alicorn fumed silently for a few more minutes until she finally managed to find a way out of the increasingly dark tower. I’ve had quite enough of dealing with darkness for the time being. It is high time I raised the sun!

Comments

[Helrael]

Alright, couldn't think of a symbol fitting Discord since he doesn't have a cutie mark, so I suppose Eris' Golden Apple of Discord will have to do. Also, it was kind of fun noticing that Ignis lives on the exact same diet as changelings... Coincidence?

Finally, just to shamelessly advertise my other stories: To the readers who have not yet noticed, Succession is finally out. It continues from where the old version of Genesis' epilogues left off, and makes use of the history as established in this story, so I guess you could call it a sequel. Might be worth a read.

[BarrenBaron]

Well took my forever to find this again, but it was worth it in the end...gotta say Celestia is even more of a bitch in this one it seems... it might just be her getting more dialogue but she really layed the hate on thick.

Ah well, she and Luna made Progress!

[Helrael]

2005914
Hopefully she'll improve over time. At least, she seems less bitchy in my notes...
It might be a while before I continue this, though. I'm very wrapped up in my other writing project, and when I return to this, it'll probably be to spruce up the current chapters for EQD publishing.

[Laluzi]

Mrmm. :c This chapter was so heartwarming, and then it had to end on that note. Poor Luna.

[Helrael]

3856039 Oh yeah, that's right. People are still reading this thing.
I'm really not that pleased with how this iteration of the story came out, so I'm kinda working on a remake. Again.
Should probably put something in the description about it...
Sorry! Story will be roughly the same, just with a different pacing.

[Laluzi]

Well, I'm reading your past version now (I wanted some backstory - I figured the dark alicorn of your other story, which I just found today, came from this), and this has definitely improved considerably. You've done an excellent job - especially since dealing with OC alicorns is a tricky business.

[Helrael]

3856417 Black alicorn OC, mind you!
I still can't believe I haven't gotten a single complaint about that. Must be doing something right.

Wait, you mean you're reading the original original? In the Google docs? Huh... Isn't that horribly unformatted?

And thank you! The next version should be even better!

[FortuneWriter]

I came here looking for the story's old version to download the ebook of it and now I feel greatly upset, yet at the same time not so...