The Scar behind the Crest

I never wanted it to come to this. She was still my sister deep inside, and I never wanted to harm her. All I could do was flee to prevent any further damage, but it was not to be. As I flew away to dodge her attacks, Lu—I mean, Nightmare Moon dealt horrible damage to the castle—our home.

But just as I stopped for a mere second to catch my breath, I was blindsided, struck directly in chest by my sister. The burning pain was unbearable as I screamed in agony, plummeting through the hole in the castle roof and into the throne room below.

I hadn't noticed it until much later, but Nightmare Moon's dark magic had burnt right through my golden crest; the resulting blast even left a horrible gash across my chest, and streams of blood leaked down my forelegs.

I knew that this had gone too far. As much as I refused, I knew it was for the greater good. "I'm sorry, Luna—you leave me no other choice."

I swallowed back salty tears that threatened to spill from my eyes, as I quickly made my way to a certain spot on the grand rug in the throne room. Using my magic, I summoned a great stone pedestal hidden within a secret chamber in the floor. Placed upon the pedestal were six round stones, but they contained something much greater than just stone inside.

Six colorful gems were pulled from the stones at my will, but the last one was bigger and very uniquely shaped. These colorful gems were the Elements of Harmony, the same elements in which I had harvested from the Tree of Harmony with Luna—but I knew that at this very moment, my dear sister was no more. There was only darkness, and that darkness could only be defeated by the most powerful light magic of all.

I opened my wings and took to the air once more, and I was instantly greeted by a cackling Nightmare Moon silhouette in front of the eclipsed moon. But as easy as the darkness in her was to see, I could still only see Luna.

I continued to hover, my mind and heart debating with each other; my head told me to banish the evil mare that was once my sister, but my heart told me to come to better terms for the sake of my sister. It was nearly impossible to decide…but then…something inside me snapped.

When I saw Nightmare Moon's horn glow with dark magic once more, I realized I could never appeal to her better nature, at least not now. She was clearly far from agreeing with sharing the kingdom and the skies with me anymore…which truly left me no other choice.

As my horn fired up to counter Nightmare Moon's magic, the burning in my chest increased. But as me chest began to sear…it didn't hurt me. All I knew was that I needed to banish the evil before me.

I could no longer hold back my tears, and the pain in my chest burned like the sun, a bright fire encasing my crest and crown as a threw my head back and harnessed the power of the elements. Soon after, a ray of rainbow colors burst from my horn, and Nightmare Moon tried to use her own black magic to counter my attack…but it was futile.

The elements' magic quickly and effortlessly pushed Nightmare Moon's magic back and burst through her shield of protection, the rainbow spiraling around her in light and colors before exploding her into oblivion.

I dared not to look at first as I clenched my eyes shut and wiped my tears, the elements around me were slowly cooling down after the immense surge of power.

"I-I…I'm sorry…Dear Sister…please, forgive me," I meekly sniffled, finally gathering the courage to lift my head and see the new pony head shape in the beautiful full moon…but I could no longer feel calm and serenity from the sight of her, and instead only regret and sorrow.

I slowly descended and stumbled onto the courtyard behind the castle, closing my eyes and lowering my head as well as dropping the elements like bricks. I could not care less if they shattered from the drop. I only wanted my dear Luna.

But as realization washed over me once more, another painful twinge stirred inside of me. I tried my best to ignore it, but it just kept coming to me. It was fire within my heart that I could not douse, and I did not know what had ignited it. But it would not go away.