Celestial Judgement
Two words, no soul wishes to hear
The words entered the ears of Nightmare Moon. Her attention turned over to the entrance where they came through and she held her charge upon the sight of her sister and Starswirl. With her eyes she watched over them like she was the devil herself. Though she discharged her horn and allowed the vast amounts of magic that were stored within it to travel through her body, down her legs and eventually disappearing into the ground. All that remained were sparks of electricity. Sparks that served as a wakeup call for the Forces.
"My dear, sweet, big sister," mocked Nightmare towards Celestia. She did a persuading step over into the direction of her sister. "Has been too long, hasn't it? We mean, the sun stood on the skies like it had been for six days. Either time went really slow for us, or you broke your own rules. Which one is it? I do dare to say that we both know the answer to that one." She took another step into the direction of Celestia and a deadly smirk came to her face.
"I only did that what I had to do, Nightmare," Celestia pleaded in her defense. There was then a roll of thunder that did its turn through the nightly skies. "I couldn't let it risk that my subjects would suffer under your despair. I simply would not have done that." Starswirl on the other end simply watched over the arguing sisters before his eyes trailed off in a window.
At first the stallion wasn't able to notice anything due to the darkness in the skies but it was only after he gave his eyes the better look that he saw just what happened. Within his eyes he caught the forces of Nightmare Moon that all got powered up from the electrical sparks and were racing through the skies as if they were going to create something.
"Oh please, this again? To protect your subjects? What happened to our subjects? Or have you finally gotten the guts to tell us the truth as it is?" Nightmare continued to taunt as she kept her eyes on the armor of her sister. "Looks like somepony is ready for an all out war, what do you hope to achieve by beheading us? Do you really think that will deliver peace to this torn country?"
"I don't wish to achieve anything by it as I am not going to behead you. The sentence of death hasn't been given to any pony since our parents took the throne," Celestia replied as she charged up her horn. In response Nightmare did a couple steps back and growled while she managed to wait. "Easy," spoke Celestia while her armor slowly removed itself from her body. All of the pieces gathered themselves together and eventually disappeared due to a teleportation orb. The sword happened to be included. Not a single piece of armor was to be found by the alicorn as her mighty white wings spread themselves as a beacon for something.
Starswirl wasn't fond of the ideas as a while and he whispered within the ear of Celestia. "You sure this is a good idea? I mean not to offend you, but it is Luna we are talking to."
"It's Luna we are talking to. That's why it's a good idea," Celestia countered in a whisper before she turned her head back to the dark coated alicorn with the misty mane.
"You made the day last for six days straight, without a break. Now you either give us that what we want: six days of night. Or it will be you who is to blame, for the locking of the moon," Nightmare spoke to Celestia. The further she spoke her words, the more threatening her voice became. Moon wanted to work Celestia in a corner from which she couldn't escape. The stallion caught the words and released a quiet groan to them while he stroked his beard. Something wasn't sitting him right about the whole matter, but the guts to talk to Celestia in the matter he lacked.
"No Nightmare. I only made the day last for such a long time due to the fact you wouldn't be causing any trouble for the subjects. The routine will continue as it always did. The routine our parents had given to us," Celestia said for herself, hoping Nightmare could be reasoned with.
"Will you please hold that, for crying out loud!" Nightmare shouted in return. She had more than enough for everything in the moment. "But so be it. If you don't want to agree with us, then you are going to be for blame for the locking of the moon. Forever."
"No! You don't know what you will cause upon the land! Eternal darkness only comes with one thing and Father warned you about it. Only death will come from it!" Celestia pleaded as she almost spoke in a begging tone to her changed sister.
Nightmare had the perfect counter for the argument inside of her head. One which she spoke without shame in her voice. Hoping to anger Celestia with it. "Life, will find a way."
Wires snapped within the head of Celestia when she saw the play before her eyes. Thousands of ponies would be begging for the sun because nothing would grow on the lands. Families would be torn apart and villages utterly destroyed. It truly was the worst possible scenario. The alicorn of the sun shook her head and she let it fall upon the stallion next to her.
Starswirl looked into the eyes of Celestia with his own and words didn't had to be spoken by either of the parties. For he saw that the kind princess he had known since her own foalhood, had traveled down the path of oblivion. Instead she would handle the situation with something that was new for her. Something that was impossible to expect from a mare of caliber. The whole fact that she would lower everything she stood for and use brute force to tackle Nightmare Moon.
"Starswirl," she started to speak in a tone that said utmost seriousness, "I know you have been by my side in many battles. Most notably against Discord. But this battle, is going to be that has to be fought out by two ponies. Myself, and her. I am asking you, to leave this room now and whatever happens, don't return to here in order to help out. The power that two alicorn can commence is even for you too much to handle. Go old friend, for me. Please." During the words had the princess laid a hoof on the back to the stallion to give him the last push of comfort. It was unknown to Celestia herself if she would even return from the encounter with a mare as dark as that she had become. The unicorn king was easily to be dealt with given the circumstances. Nightmare Moon on the other end, was somepony a whole lot more complicated.
"I wish you the best of luck, your highness," replied Starswirl before he gave a nod to the spoken words. The two ponies hugged each other for a short time but then he really had to move away and make room. Make room for the titan forces that would be released in the passage of time.
As fast as his elder legs could carry him, the stallion left the room and through the hallway. Memories of long forgotten pasts rushed back to him as he remembered the many days within the old castle itself. Times of joy and serenity that almost seemed to be too good to be true.
"Oh where has the time come too..?" he questioned himself out loud while he walked out of the front gate of the castle and up to the bridges. But as he passed the bridges, the stallion could feel that there was off about the entire atmosphere. He felt it but in his eyes he couldn't quite see it. And that was what was wrong. Not just castle felt more darker with her inside, but the surrounding area as well. The trees already had lost their leaves and appeared to be dying, the canyons the surrounded the castle seemed to be going even deeper. Not wanting to figure out whatever was going to happen, Starswirl hurried himself over the bridge and prayed he wasn't going to be attacked by anything.
Much to his luck it wasn't though. All that caught the better of him was a gust of wind that caused his hat to fall into the ravine. "No!" he shouted to himself as his horn charged itself up. The plan was to get the hat before it was out of range, but it didn't matter, for that happened. The hat was out of range of his magic almost in a second and under a sigh the horn got discharged.
Muttering along the way further to the solid side he wasn't all too happy that he had lost his signature headgear. "Maybe, the seamstress in Canterlot can make a new one for me. She always was that generous to those in need, and her taste is refined for a mare like herself," he mumbled to himself while he walked up to a rock. A rock that would be his seating for the events to come One that had an excellent view on the Old Castle yet was far enough away to not be a bother to either of the rampaging mares.
He sat down on the rock and gave his old eyes the cost to look around. While he did that, he did a scary discovery. One he rather didn't had made. For in the ravine that surrounded the castle for defense reasoning, the forces of Nightmare Moon were swirling around in silence like a vortex. Invisible to the naked eye as the only things that gave it away were the sparks of electricity that went through them every now and then.
The same sparks that left when Nightmare discharged her horn after the immense power that had been stored in it. "Oh no... What did she do!?" he questioned in a raised voice while he stood up from the rock and went over to the edge. "Im-Impossible..." Starswirl muttered to himself. He charged up his horn and tried to lock upon the forces to get some reading from them. The stallion managed to do it, but had to quickly break the connection due to a raging headache within his brain. "This is, these, off the charts," he said to himself beore the horn discharged and he started the explanation to himself. "Of course, the magical currents from Nightmare's horn... She never wanted to blow up the orbs, it was the starting signal for, this..."
"Darkness, will fall," were the words faintly whispered and repeated into the ears of Starswirl. Very vaguely at first but it became louder the more he stared at the slow vortex. But the voices were dark and eerie, the perfect fuel for nightmares.
The stallion shook his head and walked back to the, oddly enough, comfortable rock he sat on before and gave his eyes the cost to look up to the moon. The bright full moon made it unnecessary to charge a horn for light. The old eyes closed themselves as a smile came to his face. "I'll never forget the day you rose the moon for the first time, Luna, it had to be one of the best moments in your life," he whispered to not only to himself, not to everypony that wanted to hear him either. His words were mostly aimed towards the moon itself. Almost as if he himself sought comfort for that what came. Starswirl was rarely clueless, but in that moment he was pretty clueless.
"Darkness, will fall," was the only response he got and it broke his heart a bit. Under a deep sigh that left through his mouth, he turned back over to the castle and waited to that what came.
"I hope you will do what is right, Celestia," he spoke as a final support.
Nightmare watched the doors fall back in their locks after Starswirl had made his she turned her head back to Celestia and continued to grin and smirk like the devil she was. "Well, well, well, the most powerful unicorn in the land –if not existence– and you were together, you just let him run away like a coward. Afraid you might harm his old fragile bones, or do you want to spare him the sight when you watch the lock?" she taunted to her sister. She continued to take steps further up to her and the grin only grew in size as the candles within the room lit themselves up. But not by the powers of Nightmare. The dark alicorn looked to the flames and the words left her. "So, you finally decided to release of your own demons, sister? About time you did something fun."
"No, sister, I am just going to spare an old friend of mine, the destruction you caused within the soul of a mare who wanted nothing but the best. When a good mare goes to war, the world shall tremble on its foundation," replied Celestia when her horn was charged within the golden aura to let the flames ignite. But instead of discharging, the humming only became louder and louder. "Not to mention, a princess in despair forms possibly the greatest threat any opposition may discover."
Knowing that the words spoken were right deep within her soul, Nightmare made the wise decision of taking steps back from Celestia. Not just a couple, but almost the entire room. But as she took the steps, her horn charged itself as well and they both hummed with the greatest of power. The magic flowing through their horns and body at equal strength as Nightmare had when the elder sister bursted into the room. "En garde," spoke Celestia with a simple tone in her voice before she released the beam.
Nightmare did the same thing but added the sounds of a terrifying roar of power. The two beams, one golden and the other black clashed against one another there their struggled to go past the other. Both of the forces gave everything they had within themselves already but it wouldn't be enough to overthrow the other. And the worst part was, both knew that.
Celestia added more power to her beam to make it gain ground over Nightmare, who did the same to return it. It was a powerful tug of war that didn't looked like it could be won by either parties. Lessening the power would mean the defeat, instead only more power got added. Powers that were of devastating levels for a normal unicorn. For when they entered the fifth minute of the battle, their strengths were on the size of raising the heavenly bodies.
"Give it up Celestia, you can't win this," growled Nightmare Moon. Though she was having some difficulty to keep the beam of her sister in tome. "We, we are impressed here, never did we expect you to carry such powers..." Without a warning given did the alicorn of darkness gave everything she got in her might to overthrow the other.
"You'll be surprised what I'm capable off, Nightmare," replied Celestia to her. But it were her words that caused her downfall. For in that moment she replied, her magic levels dropped a little bit to focus on the talking. Right on the moment that Nightmare gave everything she had.
The dark beam rushed right at Celestia and before she knew it, she was hit by it and flung like a ragdoll over to the wall of the room. The very wall that stood before the elemental statue. With the sight of the harmonious mare being defeated erupted Nightmare out in a deep laughter as she discharged her horn. Some smoke left the extended body part as she turned herself around.
"It's free game now. Celestia is knocked out and the moon is in the perfect position. The time for the lock has fallen upon us. The time to topple the land in eternal darkness. Finally the subjects will know the true power of the night and they will worship it. As it is the last they will see," she spoke in a tone of revenge, hatred and hidden agony. "The time has fallen upon us, my forces! Darkness, shall, fall!" she shouted as her horn charged itself up and sent a blast through the wall of the castle. A blast acted as the final blow for the forces.
All of the circling forces gathered themselves upward and thus created a vortex of darkness that surrounded the entire castle. All of the torches extinguished themselves due to the created wind. The shadows managed to tear holes through the stone as they came by. Within seconds the whole building was damaged. But Nightmare Moon didn't care. She only looked at the visible moon high above themselves. It was the only part of the skies that was actually visible. The rock in the skies and some of the space that was around it. The swirling of the vortex wouldn't be enough to keep the thing in place. No, it would act as a conductor. But first Nightmare had to join herself with her forces to bring it up to the optimal speed to release the blast through.
The mare of hatred dissolved her body into the shadows while the laughter of the devil herself took it's turn through the room. A laughter that went through marrow and bone of every create that heard it. Especially through Celestia.
Even though the almighty princess of the sun was knocked out against the wall, she regained some of her knowledge thanks to the laughter. Initially she didn't manage to get herself standing again, but the thought of her land, their shared land, only seeing the darkness of the night for all eternity, was something she couldn't even think off. Thus with all of the strength in her body she managed to hoist herself up and lay her eyes upon the shattered stained glass that laid on the floor. "N-No...this is..." she managed to mumble before her eyes caught the darkness she was in. A darkness that even got under her skin.
"I won't, let this, happen," she spoke as her horn gathered so much power, in so little time that her eye lost all of their coloring and turned completely white. Her regally flowing mane gradually turned themselves over into a fire that could only be matched by the sun. Though it was only its waving pattern became like that for as the coloring was held the same. With another nod of her head, a sphere created itself around Celestia that caused her to drift up to the vortex and with her piercing white eyes just stared at it.
But then the words left her, were words spoken in a demanding yet harmonious tone. Words that were loud enough to come over the sounds of the vortex and the voices within. "You may vanquish the sun from the skies, but you shall never vanquish it out of the hearts of the subjects. Once gone from the skies, they shall only wish more upon it, leaving you again where you were. Or better said, where you think you are."
The words were spoken so loud that even Starswirl himself could hear them. As they echoed within his mind he was happy for them. Because that was the Celestia he knew and loved. The princess had returned in his eyes. Little did he knew just what was going to happen next.
Nightmare Moon left the swirling shadow mass and merged within the physical realm again. She used clouds of shadow to walk over to the alicorn in the sphere. Despite the clouds being fluffy of their nature, each step that was taken still sounded like a metal thung. A sound that was originated by the shoes she wore. A sounds the announced her arrival whether she was wanted or not.
"Well, well, well, look at we have here, my sister finally mad enough to show her other side. Been a while hasn't it, Solarflare. But, we're not the most craziest of mares. We are giving you the choice to stay with us, and live to watch your reign crumble and mine grow. What's it going to be, Celestia? Join us and rule together, or perish like Mother and Father!" Nightmare spoke in a dead serious tone to the other mare. Her cat-like eyes glared over her sister. Neither of them were playing games, not anymore. The stakes were too high and the powers racing through their veins were at their peaks. The both of them ticking time bombs waiting to burst and the land would feel the result.
But Celestia knew better than anypony that the words couldn't be believed. They didn't add up in the mind of the alicorn. The only possibility of her joining Nightmare, would be as a living trophy for her to claim. A thing that was not going to happen. "Enough of your ticks, Nightmare Moon!" the booming voice of the alicorn spoke as she drifted over to the middle of the room. "The trial against you, shall begin now."
"What? Trial!?" Nightmare spoke up in confusion as she looked around herself. It was only seconds after it that she erupted out in dark laughter. "Oh, oh, oh, now that's a good one!"
"Silence!" boomed through the room. Loud enough to not only make Nightmare gone silent, but the vortex as well.
The old stallion on the rock shocked up as well from the outburst and looked horrified into the direction of it. "By the love of sun and moon, what's happening in there?" he questioned himself as everything went silent. If he had dropped a rock, the two mares in the castle would have been able to hear it. In his mind he wanted to help the princess and his muscles were even ready to do so. But his heart countered the wounds as he promised her not to interfere. Torn apart by the epic and everlasting choice between good and evil.
"For your acts against the law of Equestria, by planning to lock the moon into the skies and the stonification of several guards who did nothing except their given job, you shall receive the heaviest of punishment that can be given to any soul," spoke Celestia to Nightmare Moon. Her eyes locked on those of Nightmare and her wings spread out and the sphere broke itself apart.
"And that being, death? You're going to kill your own sister now?" the dark alicorn questioned with a smirk on her face.
"No, banishment. You shall spend one thousand years upon the rock that you once considered to be locking. This judgement is spoken, as a celestial judgement!" the voice continued to boom as Celestia charged up her horn.
The eyes of Nightmare grew both big and small as she could only accept that came. A celestial judgement is the highest class of judgement that can be given and can't be broken by anything except time. Yet as deceiving as she was, she still tried to find a way out of it. There had to be an exit somewhere, a gap, anything.
But it was all too late. For the horn of Celestia was charged up more than enough to cast the spell that would banish her own sister to the moon. Without any mercy it got released as one mighty white beam that shot towards Nightmare Moon, through the vortex and then proceeded up to the moon. Nightmare screamed and screeched as she was sent to the moon bit by bit.
"Sister, help me! You got it wrong!" faintly echoed within the ear of Celestia who continued to blast the being of hatred. Though the words kept echoing within her head.
It was only after the monster had been vanquished as a whole, that Celestia discharged her horn and both her mane and eyes returned to their normal state but the voice still rang in her head. When she finally understood that what it said, she didn't make a second go to waste and looked out of all of the windows.
Where she thought that her view was going to be blocked by the enormous amount of Nightmare Forces or even that she had to fight all of them, they did something unusual. They dissolved themselves into nothing more than what they were, shadows. Shadows of everyday items that didn't and couldn't do any harm. With Nightmare gone, their existence was useless. But the fear struck Celestia first, she couldn't bare looking at the moon. Not when she saw the state the Old Castle itself was in. It broke her heart once she noticed just how much damage was done to the once so lovely place. "No," she managed to bring out.
With a deep gulp in her throat did Celestia finally turn herself over to the moon. But the sight she caught wasn't one she liked to see. "No, no, no, no," she repeated while tears built up below her eyes and eventually ran out of them. She couldn't believe it. The mare couldn't believe the fact that she had spoken the celestial judgement over her sister who was by that forced to spend a millennium on the moon itself.
With one final glimpse of the –soon to be– legendary mare in the moon, her shadow, the elder sister lowered her head in defeat. She regretted her done solution almost right away and just continued to cry more tears in silence. Neither of the sisters had gained in their battle. They paid a price higher than anything and only lost that what they loved most. They had lost, each other.