Ever since Celestia had banished Luna on the satellite of the same name, the Elements of Harmony had gone missing and nobody in a millennium had found them again; with the passage of time, their reminiscence had turned into legend.
Celestia was the only one who knew the truth, that is, the Elements had become corrupted by being in contact with herself and Luna: devoured by the negative feelings of the nocturnal pony and the neglect of the daytime pony towards the sororal problems, those precious artifacts had ended up wearing out, becoming obscure and the opposite of what they previously depicted.
Magic had become Black Magic, Honesty Deceit; Kindness had given way to Insult and Generosity had withered into Avarice.
There was no longer any trace of Laughter, but of Crying, just as Loyalty no longer existed, but Opportunism does.
The Elements had cracked after Luna's exile and had been thrown around the world. Celestia didn't care about recover them as they were, they could be considered dead by now and she herself no longer possessed the qualities necessary for their restoration, having emptied herself of positivity after her sister's forced estrangement.
In her heart, however, she still harbored the hope of being able to restore harmony in the lands of Equestria, and beyond.
The thousandth year of Luna's exile was approaching, and Celestia had gathered some promising young ponies in her school for unicorns with abilities beyond the norm. She had made up her mind to form six unicorns that could purify the Elements and bring the balance back into order.
The most promising fillies in her class were between six and ten years old.
There was Twilight Sparkle, an eight year old lilac unicorn, diligent and prepared; sitting next to her there was a filly of the same age who imitated her in hairdo. Her name was Moon Dancer.
Lemon Hearts was a gentle seven-year-old filly, with a yellow coat and pretty turquoise curls; she sat at the desk with Twinkleshine, who was two years older and was considered the beauty of the class with her hair that resembled one of a fairy.
Finally, the little girl of the class, with her fresh six years: Minuette. She was a light blue little pony who always laughed and was helped by the oldest one, Lyra Heartstrings, ten years old and teal furred.
"Twilight, will you come and play with us after class?" Moon Dancer asked her partner, her purple eyes shining with trepidation.
"No, I'm going home to Spike."
Moon Dancer sighed in disappointment; Twilight had magically hatched that little dragon's egg during the school entrance test, and the little boy who came out of it had been adopted in all respects by the Sparkles.
Twilight loved spending time with her little brother, and together with Shining Armor, the elder of the three with his fourteen years, was busy giving him milk with the fragments of his favorite gems inside, changing his diaper and singing a thousand funny songs.
As soon as the final bell rang, Twilight took the backpack and rushed home, which was not too far away.
Moon Dancer saw her run away with a sad look.
"Hm? Twilight is not coming to play with us? " Lyra asked.
"No... She goes to her brother."
"She's always busy..."
There was a note of reproach in the voice of the snow-haired unicorn, but immediately afterwards it dissipated, offering Moon a nice cup of rose tea. In the afternoon they would meet right at Lyra's house.
Celestia stood watching the girls galloping away happily. How far away was the golden age of her foalhood, when she and her sisters got along and no cloud was on the horizon ready to darken their joy and their laughter.
Meridia... The only one of the three sisters who inherited their parents' "normal" genes, which were common earth ponies. Celestia and Luna... the older sisters... Born alicorns, with a great future in store.
Yeah…
"Maybe it would have been better to live Meridia's life..." Celestia whispered to herself, remembering that light indigo-colored pony, who had lived in peace and died of old age, in her bed, just as the things between her perennially young sisters were falling apart.