The Sisters' Coronet

by Fable Scroll

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna
Length: 1943

A collection of poems about the royal sisters and their strife.

A collection of poems about Luna's growing discontent, her fall, and her eventual return and redemption. This is by no means meant to offer a narrative take on these events, though the poems are arranged in what may be considered a chronological order. Instead, they are meant to reflect on the emotional experience of the sisters during these events. The framing device should hopefully offer a little more insight into the idea behind these.

Thanks to Ponyphonic with the wonderful songs The Moon Rises and Lullaby for a Princess for inspiring this in the first place, and to Defoloce with his Six Deeds of Harmony for inspiring me to actually go through with this crazy idea.
Many thanks to Eustatian Wings on Ponychan for the invaluable feedback he provided on my first draft.

EDIT (12th April 2014):
- completely rewritten introduction
- rearranged poems to place the first framing poem at the beginning, rather than second to last
- major revisions to Sonnets 2, 7, 12
- moderate revisions to Sonnets 3, 6, 8, 11, 14
- minor revisions to all others

Published 2014-01-20 21:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-20 21:00:02 UTC

Sonnet 1

Two regal sisters rein in heaven's flight
That sun will touch the earth with amber ray
While Moon descends upon the mortal play
To lift her charges up to greater height.

In twilight, royal hosts in battle meet
Celestial orbs deciding mortals' fates.
The lady's faults the moon shows indiscreet:
The silver orb reflects what gold donates.

Were shooting stars that streak in dying flame
Cast out upon the starless, vast expanse?
A single, golden star makes lonesome claim
While stars are locked in hidden, skybound frame.
When mourning lights at far horizons dance
New dawn reveals the paths of steadfast aim.

Sonnet 2

Two regal sisters rein in heaven's flight
To keep the sun and moon on proper course.
They give to tide and seasons even source
And spread the brilliant tapestry of night.

Yet gods will lend an ear to mortal plight
To soothe all pains with care and heal remorse.
Both guide their subjects with a subtle force
And guard their peace against old chaos' might.

Why ruling gods would suffer crippling blows
To shelter all their mortal subjects' hearts,
Can never be expressed on mortal ground.
The might they bring to bear upon their foes
Does grow from love and care in equal parts
As sisters are in chains of fealty bound.

Sonnet 3

That sun will touch the earth with amber ray
To wake all creatures up to daily toil
And fill with warmth the sky, the sea, the soil
To nurture tiny seeds to bales of hay.

Their subjects hide as daytime fades away
And keep out cold by light of burning oil.
To them the nightly chill brings deathly coil
‘Til night's pale glow is held in grave dismay.

The silent guard will never catch their eyes,
Yet shrouds the beds in which they sow their dreams
While withering light reveals their parched demise.
The nightly blooms escape the daily guise,
Rejecting subtle shades for radiant streams.
They cast off crowns, and part with brighter ties.

Sonnet 4

While Moon descends upon the mortal play
And fits her lines upon the common page,
Not ruler then, but friend and humble sage,
She sooner puts on coarse than bright array.

Her acts delight and wane above the fray,
So actors bow and tumble off the stage
Mistaking royal poise for covered rage,
Though night still hopes their fear to praise will sway

Her audience left and spurned what she would teach
So none record her solitary speech,
Her face transfigured to a black disguise.
None stayed to listen when the artists preach
And fellow actress drifted out of reach
Until familiar line, abandoned, dies.

Sonnet 5

To lift her charges up to greater height
One desperate goddess pleads for help and time.
To prove her worth and thus be judged sublime
She summons courts and bares her work to sight.

Yet all her efforts met contempt and spite
Of pleas unheeded, like a distant chime
Her sister's stoic face betrayed in rime
As she denies the force to given right.

The goddess' callous words left her alone
Though faint appeals inscribed a gate of sound
Locked tight by pride no common passion found.
Her musings peered outside with darker tone
Until one lonely mind sat on the throne,
With guilt alone, another sov’reign crowned.

Sonnet 6

In twilight, royal hosts in battle meet
To draw the lines of heaven end to end.
Still blackened orb will never rule portend.
The grey invader mars the azure sheet.

No forces shift for single mind's conceit
And borders lie where hist'ry may contend
Those vain ambitions justice will commend
To fall when loyal subjects urge defeat.

The field of battle grows no peaceful fruit.
No point of blade has ever treaties signed.
A single blow forever takes up root
Until the lines they drew are left behind.
The rulers shackled like a vicious brute,
Removed to where no solace they will find.

Sonnet 7

Celestial orbs deciding mortals' fates
Through sun and moon are bound to watch alone,
Confused and dazed at acts they can't condone:
Their subjects freely run to ruined states.

Clear skies should guide all ships through any straits;
The lost ones follow them on paths unknown.
Their acts should hold the torch that briefly shone
And stride ahead until black chance abates.

Not helping friends, their hope would starve and die;
With little faith their aid would wither dry.
Without command all queens are brought down low
While brazen subjects do unruly grow,
As none will catch them if they fail to fly
Still webbed in dreams, denied the lighter sky.

Sonnet 8

The lady's faults the moon shows indiscreet
Much like a mask of white that bears a crack
Which hides a greater flaw behind its back
Although its face still keeps their fame complete.

These hidden, ancient faults will never meet
Their judge, nor fear the dutiful attack
By faithful souls the acts put on the rack
To render acts of grace a risky feat.

The smoothest face is easily wiped clean,
For through it only chosen acts are seen.
In storms the polished mask remains unmoved
And shows what rare and common eyes approved.
The porcelain divides the low and high.
Their gazes roam, yet never find their eye.

Sonnet 9

The silver orb reflects what gold donates
As mirrors turn around what light presents,
Yet never pierce the outer ornaments
That twist the core that lies beyond the gates.

The waves disrupt all sights the lake creates;
The drifting mirror nevermore relents.
Beneath the glare wait hidden elements
Though frozen images betray still traits.

With passing time reflections change and age.
They're never still until the watcher rests
Though mirrors surface offers constant stage
Like secrets they concealed within their breasts.
A practiced eye does not unveil their mind
Until profane illusion strikes them blind.

Sonnet 10

Were shooting stars that streak in dying flame
Expelled from lofty heaven by their peers?
Have they been stripped of glory's bitter name,
Cast down and out, exposed by common fears?

In soaring flight of pride their wings were clipped.
The crack of bones avenged their haughty leap,
While bound to earth they are of power stripped,
Their frame by dismal ruin buried deep.

When walls come down in choking clouds of ash
The gods and guards are forced to watch in dread
Till painful echoes rise below the crash
With lords and ladies likewise trapped and bled.
Like rubble, actions past oppress her thought
As goddess carries fates her subjects wrought.

Sonnet 11

Cast out upon the starless, vast expanse
The senses find no purchase and grow numb.
The blackness turns the eye to inward glance
From whence the deeply mended visions come.

No sight, no sound: The language falls all still.
Without disturbance mind and ear grow keen
To listen to the heartblood's thund'rous trill
That echoes warped yet clear off walls unseen.

The barren wasteland feeds no healthy fruit
Beneath the castles that on mountains loom
And blacken Sol in power’s mad pursuit
To force heart’s tithe from those who face their doom.
The gods condemn the rulers of this place.
The saints may not deserve ill-gotten grace.

Sonnet 12

A single, golden star makes lonesome claim
To days and shrivels shades in parching heat.
White arcs that heaven’s tears have born will maim
Their prey and split dark clouds in wild retreat.

Impurities succumb to furnace wrath
Until the gleaming core lies fully bare.
The iron hammered in the forge’s path
Meets any wicked blow the villains dare

The shield, in fighting chaos often tried,
Can not deflect the aftermath of war,
Nor catch the tears of wounded soldier’s pride
Or scattered final breaths at heaven’s door.
As dust reveals the loneliness it brought,
The last survivor faces fate, distraught.

Sonnet 13

While stars are locked in hidden, skybound frame
They can not meddle in the course of time
As prisoners of closely guarded shame
Left chained alone for near forgotten crime.

The throes of creeping years the queen can’t stand,
Still tied in stocks and rack without her crown,
Rebuked by fading yet familiar brand
And weight that holds until her sorrows drown.

She flings vile spit and curses at her guard.
Her shifting form defies her constant cell.
She seeks her acts in those who hold her barred
While reason passed the wronged by when she fell.
Restraints may give at sense's graceful pace
As painful bonds forever fix her place.

Sonnet 14

When mourning lights at far horizons dance
They chase away all freezing nightmare shade.
The flowing twilight melts the icy lance
And wards the haven where new life is laid.

New flowers bloom in gently waning shade,
Well nurtured in the cooling, faded ash,
That drifts in winds that sweep the barren glade
And carry seeds of sleeping nature's cache.

Once blackest clouds have met in roaring clash
They yield embattled sites to gentle rains
To quench their thirst at river’s lively splash
And cross the bridge where tender light remains.
The starving soils catch water, ash, and seed
To praise return, forgiving past misdeed.

Sonnet 15

New dawn reveals the paths of steadfast aim
Through fallen walls of ancient nations' keeps.
The crumbling stone holds words of paling fame
And woeful strife eternal mourners weep.

Remembered days leave tracks to future sweep;
Their weathered signs reveal deceiving ways.
The heirs rebuild on ruined glory's heap
To claim what foolish greed had cast astray.

On slippery ground and ancestor's decay
They craft a stronger home to brave the world,
Securely resting on the works of older days
To walk the brighter path the past unfurled.
Reborn on time-worn stones, new kin succeed
And joyously embrace new hope's clear lead.

Sonnet 16

As sisters are in chains of fealty bound
They cast off crowns, and part with brighter ties
Until familiar line, abandoned, dies:
With guilt alone, another sov’reign crowned.

Removed to where no solace they will find,
Still webbed in dreams, denied the lighter sky,
Their gazes roam, yet never find their eye.
Until profane illusion strikes them blind.

As goddess carries fates her subjects wrought,
The saints may not deserve ill-gotten grace.
The last survivor faces fate, distraught,
As painful bonds forever fix her place.
To praise return, forgiving past misdeed,
And joyously embrace new hope's clear lead!

Introduction

I’ve found these poems scribbled into various books on astronomy and mythology in the Canterlot Archives, though none of them bore a title. Even though the poems are between only a few and almost a thousand years old, they all show similarities in writing and have all been signed with the until now unknown name Sun Net, likely a pun on their form of the poems, if somewhat inappropriate for their content. Though not connected through re-used first and last lines as in a traditional Crown of Sonnets, the poems are nonetheless connected and structured by the youngest pair of poems, composed respectively of the first and last lines of the other poems. Whether these two poems are the result of an intentional effort by the various authors or a lucky coincidence noticed by the last to take that mantle, I have arranged the other poems according to them, which also places them in chronological order. Though I have no proof to back my theories about why the name Sun Net stayed in use for such a long time, I nonetheless publish these poems with the blessing and indeed encouragement of Princess Celestia herself.

Editor,
Fable Scroll