The Alternate Plot - Prologue

by Dream Wishes

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Nightmare Moon
Length: 1493

AU. A thousand years ago, there were two queens protecting Equestria...

AU. A thousand years ago, there were two queens protecting Equestria
While the elder's stories are well known even to this day, the younger queen's legends have faded with the passage of time
This is Queen Selena's final legend before her fall from grace and her decent into a being who would become a legend for eternity

Published 2014-01-21 15:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-21 15:10:02 UTC

1 - The Forgotten Queen

As long as any pony can remember, there have been two eternal royal sisters ruling over Equestria
The eldest, Queen Celestia, embodying the sun and bringing forth the day, watched over her subjects and wisely used her great powers assuring all was well as they went about their daily lives.
The younger, Queen Selena embodying the moon and bringing forth the night , had the duty of watching over the dreamscape and protecting all the ponies while they slept
Any threat or danger to the ponies they protected was met by their combined force
Thus the two sisters maintained balance, peace and harmony for all their subjects for millennia.
For all pony great and small

This should be common knowledge to every pony in Equestria, Queen Selena thought

Something that should be in every history book

But as the midnight blue queen looked through the newest book chronicling the biggest events in Equestria she sighed

For centuries, the amount of ponies telling stories about her had waned and, despite what she did for her subjects both in and out of the dreamscape, she had gone practically unnoticed

Queen Selena stared at the pages, hardly finding any mention of her at all

Even stories about times she and her sister had to stand up to great threats to the land told more about her sister, leaving Selena a measly paragraph at most

The younger queen grit her teeth as she thought about turning the useless book to ash

Was she really so obscure now to the citizens of Equestria that her very legends had faded into nothing?

Not wanting to read any more about how great her sister was and how obscure she was, Selena closed the book and angrily left her room to return the book to the castle library

Although, it really didn’t deserve to be placed on such a prestigious shelf as the castle’s

The book was junk pure and simple, the way it painted Celestia as the sole protector of Equestria

Garbage! Selena was as much Equestria’s protector as her sister

As Selena walked down the winding staircase she faintly heard something happening outside

Flying to a nearby window, she peered outside to see what was going on

It appeared that the citizens of Equestria were gifting Celestia with a statue

A statue that appeared to be made out of pure white marble and gold

How ridiculously extravagant

Selena glared at her sister and the ponies outside.

Celestia would just say the same thing in her royal voice like she always did when she received a gift

‘We thanketh thou for the gift, though ye needn’t trouble yourself further’

Then she’d blab on and on about if they made it through the trail to the castle okay or if they’d wandered into the forest by accident and gotten hurt

After that, she’d offer them food and bedding before they went back to whatever town they crawled from

Selena snapped out of her thoughts when she realised the book she was holding with her magic was beginning to smoulder

Quickly eliminating the smoke and repairing the damage with restoration magic, Selena did her best to calm herself and resumed walking back to the library

Really this wasn’t any way for a queen to behave

So what if no pony ever gave her gifts anymore

So what if she barely even communicated with any of her subjects other than the nocturne ponies

Being free from physical possessions and the arrogance one could get when showered with too much praise was a gift in itself

It’s what she always told herself when she got jealous

Finally reaching the library, Selena trotted to the history section

She reminded herself not to read any more of these new history books, they just stirred up bad feelings

It was getting harder to keep these emotions in check

Great Cosmos forbid if they kept her from performing her royal duties or hurt her sister in any way

Though she was envious of the attention Celestia got, she still loved her dearly

Selena knew that centuries of bottling up her emotions like this wasn’t good for her, but she’d never forgive herself if her sister found out she felt this way

The last thing Equestria needed was both royal sisters to fall into despair

Selena sighed as she re-shelved the book

She had felt so neglected for so many years that her despair over being forgotten eventually turned into jealousy towards her beloved sister

Selena had made a promise with herself not to let Celestia experience the horrible feelings she suffered

Leaving the library, Selena saw her sister in the corner of her eye

“Ah dear sister!” Selena called out to her

Celestia looked to her younger sister and smiled

“Oh little sister, I did not see you there. Reading again?”

Selena frowned, but then gave a smile, making sure Celestia did not pick up on her lingering envy

“I was, but I have grown bored of the particular story I was reading. It was… not a very good read”

Selena tried to change the subject. She was trying to forget the jealousy that the lacking history book brought on
“By the way, it is nearly time to shift day to night is it not?”

Celestia nodded

“Very soon, but not quite yet. You may go to the grand balcony and wait for me. I need to ensure the ponies who have arrived here are properly accommodated.”

Selena tried her best not to sigh

“Yes I saw the gift they brought you. It is lovely”

Celestia smiled

“I do wish they wouldn’t trouble themselves with bringing it here. I would have gladly taken it in pony if they had sent a letter”

Selena just nodded. She really didn’t know what to say. Or rather she was afraid of what would come out of her mouth

The elder queen was thankfully still oblivious to the younger’s feelings

“I must continue tending to our guests, but don’t fret. I wont be a second late to lower the sun little sister”

Selena gave a smile

“I shall wait for you on the grand balcony then”

Celestia nodded and walked off

Selena finally released her long held sigh and began to walk to the grand balcony where she and her sister summoned the sun and moon
Seeing an open window, Selena decided to take a shortcut by flying there

Of course Celestia wouldn’t be late to lower the sun, it was her duty after all

Every pony loved it when the sun set. There would be artists trying to capture the colours on canvas as Celestia lowered the sun

Landing on the grand balcony, Selena decided to lay on her knees for a bit. There was still a while until her sister arrived

Even the nocturne ponies found the sunset far more enchanting than her moon

Because the stars were up there all night

Because the rare shooting stars that were only visible during Selena’s night weren’t as interesting as changing colours in the sky that came the same time every time

Because the suns light was SO much grander than the moon’s glow!

BECAUSE NO PONY GAVE A-

Selena shook her head trying to banish her thoughts before they got out of hoof

‘No way for a queen to act, be glad I’m not getting too arrogant’ Selena repeated to herself over and over

“Selena, is everything all right?” she heard Celestia ask

Selena turned to face her sister

She vaguely wondered how long she had been lost in her thoughts before her sister showed up

Selena shook her head

“Nothing is wrong sister” she smiled as she rose to her hooves

“I must be eager for the night. It seems I was already entering the dreamscape, well mine at least”

Celestia gave a chuckle

“Well then I’ll let you start the night right away”

The elder queen walked to the grand balcony’s edge and began her ritual of lowering the sun

No doubt the citizens of Equestria were taking in the sunset

But Selena would protect them during the time they were most vulnerable, both from beasts of the night and the terrors of the dreamscape.

As Celestia finished lowering the sun, she smiled at her sister as she returned inside

Selena then walked up to the grand balcony’s edge herself and began her own ritual of raising the moon

She had already felt a few night terrors lurking around in the dreamscape, but as the saying went - 'Sleep not in fear, for our Queen shall protect your slumber'

And maybe, just maybe, she would become a legend once again.

Author's Note

First in the alternate plot!

I hope to make this a series that follows the original incarnations of the mane six, also this is an AU, so although it may be similar to canon, there will be some changes