Lament of the Fallen

by Jinzou

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy
Length: 1862

First person limited veiw of Luna throughout the change to Nightmare Moon

Luna has always been living in the shadow of her sister, and is fed up with it. Join her as she transforms from the ignored, unappreciated Princess Luna, to the feared Nightmare Moon.

This is my first story, so please leave constructive criticism.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-01 04:50:02 UTC

Chapter 1

I remember a white flash.

Our leader had fallen. The sun, under the influence of our leader, had gone complexly white after the fall. The ancient magic had died out, and as a result, all had started to become undone. There were explosions in the streets, and bodies littered the vacant areas, with only warm flames hungrily licking at their flesh, and the bodies of their friends and kin to keep them company. There were screams and begs for mercy, and at the center of it all, stood me.

The end of the world had begun

And it was all my fault.

I suppose I should start at the beginning.

My name is- well, that’s not important right now. The important thing is what led up to these disastrous events, and my role in them. Back, before this all started, I had been experimenting with alliteration magic. At the moment, I was trying to alter plants so they didn’t need light, so they could grow anywhere, in blazing sunlight, or in the dead of night. Needless to say, I was not very successful. My sister cast me a sympathetic gaze, she didn’t know why I wanted to alter flora like this, but she could see how much this meant to me, and how aggravating it was that attempt after attempt failed.

Well, I wasn’t losing without a fight. I focused again, and focused the magic to the simple potted plant. Again, a small flash of blue, and nothing. Angrily, I stomped off. Why did life deny me of my one true goal? I only wanted one thing, and I was denied it, time and time again! I collapsed onto my bed, knowing fully well that nobody cared enough about me to come and try to comfort me. Not even sister. She tried to be good, but nobody even cast a second glace my way when sister was around. She had always overshadowed me, and it burnt me up.

After a while I fell into a dreamless sleep. I couldn’t give up, but the effort of carrying on this seemingly impossible task weighed me down like a rock. I peeked out a window, all was quiet and at rest. Sunset. I walked outside; hoping the cool silence of the night would clear my head. I had always loved the night, much more than the day. The ignorance of the beauty of this time from everyone else annoyed me. Why could they never appreciate anything worthwhile? It was all sunshine and meaningless daily tasks to them. I sighed; I had been over this conversation many times in my head. I felt the nighttime was just as overlooked as I was, if not more so.

It seems all my days were spent the same, fruitlessly try to succeed at the one thing I yearned for, wait until sunset, and spend the night in total solitude, ready to give the spell another try in the morning. I was trapped in a never ending loop. And day after miserable day, I was shunned and ignored, and my sister, the one they always revered, did nothing for me. Why, she was no better than the rest! I seriously doubted that her sisterly affection was nothing but a front! She kept me around for… for what? Amusement? Just to use me? But what could I do about it? My sister had more power over me than I realized. I couldn’t just run away, not away from my duties. I walked to my room, collapsed onto my bed, and tried to sleep.But, instead of falling into dreamless sleep, I lay awake, fuming.

I think my main motivation behind trying to alter the plants was coming from my own problems. If I could change a plant, I could change the minds of all the ponies who ignored me, who doubted me. Maybe I could get a little appreciation while I was at it. I mean, how is it fair that my sister got all the attention, when I did just as much as she did? Yet I was denied the smallest amount of victory. And if I couldn't even change something small like that, how could I change the mind of a whole village? Was I doomed to live in my sister's shadow forever? Why did nobody even care about me?

Hours turned into days, which turned into weeks, which gave way to months. I was still trapped in the same old routine, but my fury only grew. It felt like there was a presence… a voice whispering all the injustice of my life sweetly into my ear. I kept searching for something, anything I could do to get some freedom, some appreciation… some love.

And day after day, ponies looked up to my sister, the great warrior, the born leader. And day after day, they ignored me. The struggling fighter who could only dream of being recognized. Even after my sister and I had won many battles, battles she could not win alone, I was still here, trying to change something that could not be changed, as my sister savored the praise of others.

On some days I just felt as if it would be better to just go, ignore what I had to do and go. Who would miss me? My own family didn't even care about me it seemed. If only father and mother were still here, they would know what to do. But they had passed on, just like the hopes and dreams of a downtrodden pony, who distractedly looked out her window, watching the sun light up the sky. What was the point in even continuing? Why did I even want to get the attention of such... horrible creatures. And as for my sister, why did she even keep up the act? Why doesn't she just shun me like everybody else I knew? On these sort of days I just kept to myself, sleeping through the day, and walking through the fields at night, angrily pacing, wondering what I was to do next.

It was on one such day when I decided I could wait no longer. I felt if I was to wait any longer, I would go insane. This was all the fault of my accursed sister, I felt my muscles tighten and flex as I imagined confronting her, making her change. Showing her, and the rest of this accursed village what I could really do. Speaking of the devil, my sister chose that exact moment to enter my room, probably wanting me to do some menial task for her, one that she was too lazy to do herself. Is that all the use I was to her anymore? Just to do her dirty work?

“Good morning sist-“ She stopped midsentence. After a moment, she continued.

“What’s with the new look?” She asked cautiously, looking a little bit nervous

I didn’t pay attention to her words, I was glaring straight into her eyes, all my anger rising to the surface. I took an angry step forward and raised my voice.

“What do you want, sister?” My every syllable dripping with venom.

Seemingly having recovered herself, she spoke slowly, as if she was well aware of my degrading mental state.

“What seems to be the problem? Why are you so upset?”

Pfft, as if she didn’t know. I responded, raising my voice even higher

“The problem? YOU are the problem sister!  It was you who has damned me to this eternal punishment! If you hadn’t, I would be loved, loved like you! You sent me into the damned loop of misery! And now, it’s time to make you feel some of my pain!”

Without thinking, I launched myself at my sister, slamming her into a wall.

“I will be overshadowed by you no longer!”

A beam of dark magic shot from my horn, my sister barely managing to send out a light green beam in time to defend herself. The point where our magic met started to hiss and send out sparks. I broke the beam, angling for another attack, but the beam breaking resulted in a shockwave that pushed me against the wall, and blew a giant hole in the roof. I went out the hole, followed closely by my sister, who finally looked ready for battle. We exchanged arcane blows, but my sister’s magic was stronger.

Our attacks lit up the night like fireworks, I briefly wondered what the ponies below were seeing. Given that it was night, they were probably blissfully unaware that their doom was fighting, miles above, waiting to exact her revenge. Unfortunately, my sister used my lap in concentration to hit me with a spell, I reeled back, dazed, and continued to battle.

My sister had gotten a good hit on my eye and stomach, I hadn't gotten her anywhere. Here it was again, even when challenging her, she was overshadowing me. And the ponies were still ignoring me! Will it never change? Infuriated, I aimed a blast at the village, away from my sister. Looking shocked, she rushed toward the blast, summoning some kind of sheild to deflect it back at me. It hit me straight in the head and sent me reeling back.

I wasn’t going to lose that easily. I rushed at her as I began casting my next attack. A white flash emitted from her horn, blinding me temporarily. When I had recovered, she was nowhere to be seen. I roared in frustration.

“Coward! You dare run from battle?”

I began blasting holes in the roof, hoping to flush her out. Maybe she had gone back thought the original hole, preparing a sneak attack? I jumped in the air, diving for the hole, when something hit me in the gut very hard. I shook my head, my vision blurred, as my sister flew at me with a number of small glowing items flying right next to her. I sent a spell at her, and she dodged it easily. My aim was off and my vision was still swimming. I realized what she was doing too late. The flying objects cast a collective beam of light at me, there was a flash of light, and everything went deadly quiet.

I woke on an alien plane. I have spent a thousand winters on this plane, lamenting what I’ve done. How could I have been so foolish? I ruined the one relationship that had actually mattered, hurt the only one who actually cared for me. How could I have been so stupid?

But still, I couldn’t forgive all that she did. I trained my magic, preparing again for the battle that would ensue upon my return. But that’s a different story. I will not settle to be just another legend in a dusty old tome! I will return, I will defeat my wretched sister, and then the world will know my fury, when I trap the world in complete darkness! So say goodbye to the final setting of the sun, say goodbye to this world sister, and prepare yourself, dear sister, because I will topple your throne and send you into darkness. So prepare yourself... Celestia.