Once upon a time, the world was a bleak, bleak place with no living things. One morning, though, an alicorn named Evergreen brought life throughout the land, covering it in green. Thinking she was the only pony around, she declared herself ruler. Little did she know there were two siblings of her kind living there too.

One, named Nightingale, was creator of space, the moon, the sun, and all other stars. The younger, Nyx, didn’t have a special talent yet.

One morning, Nightingale and Evergreen crossed paths and instantly fell in love. Nyx grew jealous because she rarely ever got any attention anymore, and finally snapped when the couple married and declared themselves king and queen. It was then she realized what her special talent was: revenge.

The now wicked mare kidnapped Evergreen and threatened to kill all the lush plants and creatures the queen had ever so delicately created. Luckily, King Nightingale managed to rescue his maiden and turned Nyx into a purple mist as punishment. She retreated into the forest and was not seen again until one fateful day.

After the events of Hearth’s Warming Eve and Discord, the royal family is in control once again...

“Ok, Tia, it’s getting about time to raise the moon now, I’ll be right back!” Luna told her sister.

“Alright, but you forgot your lucky locket!” Celestia said, and handed her a silver necklace. Inside there were two portraits of their parents.
“I miss Mom and Dad,” sighed Luna.
“Me too, Luna, me too,” her sister replied.
“Well, bye,” Luna said, and flew off into the Everfree Forest.
The night princess ventured for the perfect spot to raise the moon. She then took a deep breath, glowed her horn, and floated up into the air. Even though the magic was doing it, she could feel the sun being pushed under the horizon and the moon being lifted into the sky. Success!

Luna walked around a bit to find a clear spot in the trees so she could fly out, not noticing a mist following her.
Hello, spoke the purple mist. “Who are you?” asked the confused princess.
I am Nightmare Moon, but since I can tell we’ll be such good friends, you can call me Moony, it answered.
“NightMARE Moon? But you’re not a pony.”
No, but I could be with your help, said the creature, brushing against Luna, who was now creeped out.
“What are you-”
Suddenly it started to wrap around her, making her start to panic. Then it was devouring her! Before being taken over by the beast, she screamed at the top of her lungs, “TIAAAAA!!!!!!”

“Luna!” exclaimed Celestia, hearing her sister’s cry for help. “I’m coming!”, shouted the sun princess and flew as fast as she could.

Meanwhile, the purple mist was transforming Luna, and taking over her body. She grew taller, changed color, her mane and eyes changed, and she obtained armor.
Almost instantly her sister arrived. “Luna, I’m....here?”

Before her no longer stood her sister. Instead there was an evil, almost pitch black alicorn in purple armor.

“You’re too late Celestia, and now the sun will never rise again!”

“What did that thing do with my sister? And how does she know who I am?” pondered Princess Celestia as she paced the hallways of her palace. “Never mind, this is no time for questions; I need to save Luna! Save Equestria! Mother and Father worked so hard to create this land, and I cannot let it slip through my hooves!”

All of a sudden, an idea popped up. “Wait, that’s it- Mother and Father! There’s a spell that can bring them back to life for a couple minutes, but I’ve been too afraid to try it. But this is an emergency so I’ll do it anyway.”

The princess practiced the spell all day, and eventually got it. She then went to the two gravestones where her parents rested, an area she’d been too depressed to visit for months.

“Come on..please work...” Celestia mumbled to herself while preparing the spell. After a few minutes, two ghostly figures appeared. In place of back legs they had ghost tails. One, her mother, looked angelic, and it wasn’t because she was dead. She had long light green hair that flowed a bit from her head, a snow white coat, and slippers with vines that twisted and turned up her legs. Her cutie mark was a planet earth. The other spirit, her father, had a very dark blue coat, and white hair that looked like a comet shooting across the sky. His cutie mark was a clump of seven stars.

“Mother! Father!” the delighted princess said.

“Tia! We’ve missed you so much!” Queen Evergreen replied. King Nightingale simply nodded; he was a stallion of few words.

“I have summoned you for help with an emergency. Luna has been hurt.” Celestia told her parents in a somber tone.

“Oh no! What happened?”

“Well I had sent her out to raise the moon in the Everfree Forest when suddenly I heard her calling me for help. By the time I got there an alicorn the same size as me was there. She said something about how the sun would never rise again, and somehow she has prevented the moon from going down. I thought only Father and Luna had that power since it was taken away from the unicorns. Is there something I don’t know?”

The king’s expression froze. “What did the mare look like?”

“Almost black coat, purple mist like mane and tail, catlike eyes.”

Then Nightingale’s face twisted into an expression of pure terror. “Oh no.”

After a brief summary of what had happened all those years ago, Celestia’s father finished, “Nyx has likely taken over Luna’s body for revenge. You must wield the elements upon her to get your sister back.”

Aghast at the fact she would have to use something she used against her worst enemy, the princess asked, “Are you sure?”

“It is the only option. Hopefully they will put Luna in control again and force Nyx out, but they could also do something else entirely. You will have to risk it.”

“Fine. Where can I find the elements?”

“In the castle ~~~~~,” Evergreen answered. She and the king seemed a bit more transparent.

“The castle what?” a confused Celestia asked. Then she realized. “Oh no! They’re fading away! The few minutes are almost up!”

“WAAAAITTTT!” she reached her hoof her hoof out, but her parents had vanished. “Horse feathers. I can’t use the spell again for at least a week. But I can’t wait that long. Nightmare Moon may be too powerful by then. I have to find the elements myself.”

After a long day of searching the castle’s every corner to no avail, the alicorn was just about ready to give up on finding the Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, she realized that maybe instead of the castle, they could be in the forest surrounding it. “Wait, that reminds me...I think I know where they are.”

Celestia ventured out and left the guards to the castle. She ran over to one of the most respected monuments of Canterlot: The Castle’s Tree of Passion. It was the very tree where the king and queen had first met, still standing strong after all those years. Legends said it was because the neverending love between Evergreen and Nightingale kept it alive.

On the tree there was a heart shaped carving into the bark. Under it was a hole. The pink maned princess put her horn in the hole to unlock it. The heart carving glowed pink, much like the Fire of Friendship, and slid open. Normally this space was used as a mini vault for royalty, for things like emergency food if there was a shortage, but this time it held something different: the elements.

“Ugh, how am gonna fit all these necklaces on? It was much easier when Luna and I split them.”

It took a bit of work but she managed to get them all on. The element of magic transformed into a tiara replacing her own, with a magenta sparkle attached to it. The other elements turned into gems that floated around her.

“Well that’s convenient.”

Now to just get back to the castle to prepare for a sneak attack, thought Celestia as she trotted over to the entrance.

The two guards stood there. “Excuse me-” the mare began, but was interrupted by a HISS!

She then realized the guards looked different. They had pointed ears, sharp teeth and bat wings. One had purple armor and the other donned blue. They were both gray in color.

Oh no! Nightmare Moon took over the guards too! Celestia realized.

She ran away and tried to get in through the windows, but they were locked. She couldn’t crash through either, they were covered by a spell.

The princess then noticed that Nightmare Moon herself was inside. So much for that sneak attack.

Celestia had no choice. Somehow, she had to turn the guards back to good. I can’t use the elements against them, they’re so powerful they could kill them. I don’t want to do that. But what if I strike an offer with them?

“Hello, I believe we’ve had a rough start. I can tell by how strong you guys are that I shouldn’t be on your bad side.”

The guards blushed.

“Here’s a proposition. If I beat you in a magic contest, you guys will work for me. I’ll put a spell on both of you so you temporarily have as much power as me. Sound fair?”

The guards grunted with approval.

“Okay, here we go.” Celestia’s horn glowed, and suddenly the two guards grew horns of their own, just as powerful as the princesses’. A “life” bar appeared above each pony. “Three, two, one, fight!”

Suddenly rays of purple, blue, and light pink started firing. One hit the guard in blue armor. The life bar above him decreased.

The other shot back at Celestia, hitting her right in the flank. Ugh, I won’t be able to sit down for weeks, she thought.

The purple guard, now healed, hit the princess again. While she was unable to move, the two guards started firing all at once. Her life bar was almost depleted. But she was not foolish.

Suddenly, the guards’ temporary horns disappeared, giving Celestia time to recover, and fire as she pleased.

After a few hits, their coats turned white again. Their armor returned to normal. And their bat wings were replaced with their normal pegasus wings.

“Well played princess, well played indeed,” commented one.

Now able to get inside, the pink maned alicorn was ready.

“Ah, about time you arrived,” said Nightmare Moon, standing just yards from Celestia.

“Look, I’m sorry about what my father did to you. Could you please let my sister go and maybe then you could be ruler with us?”

“Hah! A little late for that! Unlike those featherbrained foals of guards you just defeated, I am not taking up any offers. I am much more powerful than you! Just look!”

The evil enchantress shot lightning at the white alicorn, sending her flying across the room.

Cornering the weakened princess, Nightmare Moon spoke, “Give up, Celestia. It’s over.”

“Luna, don’t make me use these.”

“I am NOT Luna! I’m Nightmare Moon! And those stupid gems cannot defeat me!”

“Fine, you asked for it.”

Celestia’s tiara began to glow, along with the elements beside her. She was lifted into the air, a pink aura surrounding her. Suddenly, one of the elements, laughter, shot a blue beam of light at her mane and tail. They were now colored pink with two blue stripes. Another element, honesty, shot another beam, adding green to her mane. Finally, a third, generosity, shot a purple beam, adding a final color.

The remaining three elements, loyalty, kindness, and magic, shot beams at Nightmare Moon, trapping her in the spot she was in. Then, all six elements shot a rainbow similar to Celestia’s new mane color at Nightmare Moon, who disappeared.

“Where did she go?!” said the princess to no one in particular. She looked up at the moon and saw what looked like a pony head on it. “Oh no...no...no! I sent my sister to the moon! And Nightmare Moon still controls her! I have to bring her back so I can properly separate them!

Sudddenly, the floating elements turned to stones and dropped to the ground. The sixth element disappeared completely, rendering the others useless.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“And that’s what happened,” Celestia finished her story to her parents.

“We’re really sorry, sweetie. Consider this our fault,” her mother apologized.

“It’s okay. Is there any way to bring Luna back?”

“Only the stars can bring her back. But they will only do it on the hundredth day of the thousandth year,” replied her father.

“A thousand years....oh no.”

“Also, when she comes back, she will still be Nightmare Moon,” her mother continued. “If you wield the elements on her again, she could be sent back to the moon. So you must find somepony else.”

“But who?”

“Trust me dear, you will know them when you meet them.....”