The Hunger

by sash

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Adventure, Tragedy
Length: 1811

What if there was another story behind Nightmare Moon? What if something else corrupted Luna? This is another look at Celestia and Luna's past...with a slight twist.

Everypony knows about Princesses Celestia and Luna, and some may even know of their parents, but next to nopony knows about the third sister–Aurora. This is her story.

Published 2014-11-10 08:20:09 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-10 08:20:09 UTC

Chapter 1

Many, many, long years ago, stood a mountain. It was unfathomably tall, and down each side was a silver-blue waterfall, with jagged rocks pushing the water in zig-zag paths. On top of the mountain was a pristine, white palace. The domed roofs were golden, and the doors arched gracefully. The sky was a pale blue, with fluffy white clouds, and the light of the sun filtering through the clouds bathed the whole scene in a golden glow. Atop the mountain, on a balcony facing the cerulean sea, stood a majestic and awe-inspiring alicorn. The stallion’s coat was the dark gray of the cosmos, and shone with a brilliance that made it seem as though he had been constructed of the night sky itself. His regal golden mane was brilliant, reflecting the light of the sun and every star beyond, the gleam of which were visible in his bottomless golden eyes. He took a few steps toward the rail at the edge of the balcony, and with each movement, his considerable muscles rippled, and it was as though the infiniteness of space was visible through his very being. He looked towards the sky, blinking slowly in the light of the sun as his horn lit with the golden light of his magic. The sun began its descent through the sky, and the moon chased it through the air and took its place. Now in the dark, the alicorn smiled faintly before pushing off from the balcony and shooting into the night sky in a glimmer of darkness. He soared through the cool air for many moments before diving like a bird towards the sea. As he hurtled straight for uncharted water, a dome of royal blue magic lit up in the water, slowly hauling an entire island to the surface. The alicorn landed gracefully on a large, gold-topped, white pedestal, and moved to the center of a large carving that held three circles. He closed his eyes for a moment, and listened to the rush of the sea.

“Brother.”

“Hello, Poseidon.” The alicorn smiled and opened his eyes, nodding his head in greeting to the dark blue alicorn that had landed on another circle in the carving. He appeared slick with moisture, and his multi-tonal blue mane rippled with the texture of water. The moonlight gleamed off both his perpetually wet coat and the golden trident secured tightly beneath his wing. Both sat in silence for a few moments, before the elder brother gestured to the blue alicorn as white smoke slowly began to appear around the final circle. Eventually, a jet black alicorn with silver eyes as cold as stone appeared amidst the haze; his smoky mane drifting lazily around his body.

“Brothers. I trust we can make this quick.” said Hades, the youngest brother. The first alicorn nodded curtly, before lighting his horn, and waiting for his siblings to do the same. The sky above the ocean was soon filled with golden, blue, and silver light, twisting and dancing through the sky before forming pictures of the past, present, and future. You see, these were no ordinary alicorns–these were the first.

***

The eldest alicorn, borne from Cronos and Rhea, the formless titans, was Zeus, the king of Mount Olympus–where the gods currently resided. He, along with his two younger brothers, Poseidon and Hades, were placed on earth, after defeating the titans, and were each given one of the three realms to defend and rule. Zeus was the eldest, and thus became ruler of the first realm– the sky. The middle brother, Poseidon, was given the sea, and all water to control, and the youngest brother, Hades, was given the most loathsome, but possibly the most important realm of dominion; the Underworld. Together, these three brothers created balance and order from nothingness, and were the structure on which all the other gods based their gifts. Without the three brothers, the universe should certainly be lost to the void again.

The three brothers watched their magic unfold, and looked towards a picture forming out of Hades’ silver magic. It was of the past, of every moment since the creation, up to the seconds that had just passed. The three saw everything, and were only able to stare into the time stream due to their terrible gifts. As Poseidon’s blue magic slowly formed an image of the present, the brothers turned their heads to gaze at the currently unfolding scenarios. The final picture made of Zeus’ golden magic was available limitedly to his brothers, as he was the only one strong enough to witness every possible coming reality. Since it had not yet happened, everything was in flux. There were too many possibilities for the others to withstand, so Zeus took it alone. Suddenly, something unexplainable happened. The silver and blue magic shot into the golden image, intertwining, until it formed one clear image that all three brothers were able to see. They saw, for the first time, a future that was certain. They saw the end of their reign as preservers of order.

The three brothers saw a terrible darkness overtaking the land, and the destruction of everything, both good and evil–the world falling back into the void. The great nothingness was coming, and this prophecy guaranteed it. It was awe-inspiring and horrible.

The image progressed and then diverged into many scenes. They had options. They could find a way to preserve the future. The eldest stamped his regal hoof as he focused on the best looking path. The path of the three sisters. He knew what they had to do.

“My brothers,” he began solemnly, “We have all seen the future, and I know what we must do. We control order, and with the help of the other Gods, we maintain balance in our land. When the time comes for us to fight, we mustn’t. The reign of the Gods of Olympus must end for Equestria to live on.” He was met by a look of disbelief from Hades, and a cold stare from Poseidon. “We the gods,” he continued, “must become one with our domains. We will give up our corporeal forms to support this planet.” His brothers silently listened. “I will give up my body and become one with the cosmos, while each of you will become one with your own realms.”

“No.” Hades said as he stamped his hoof. “Without us ruling over Equestria, who will maintain order?”

“Perhaps I may answer that.” Poseidon chimed in. “We shall create two heirs, who will be given enough power to maintain control, and from their children shall spring forth the future inhabitants of Equestria.”

“I’m glad you thought of that, my brother.” exclaimed Zeus, and he continued to reveal that he had seen Poseidon’s suggestion in the future, and knew it was the only way for their land to survive. From these heirs would come the three sisters who would maintain balance through the troubled times of the future.

It was the last night of the dominion of the Gods, and they had all gathered to watch Zeus lower the sun for the last time. As he used his golden magic lower the gleaming star from the sky, he plucked two pieces of the heavens from the sky. One from the russet-toned sunset, and another from the darkest night. He, his brothers, and every other god and goddess used their magic to give part of their powers and their corporeal form to these two pieces of sky. Zeus slowly became a part of each planet and star, Poseidon turned to water, and Hades sank beneath the earth, becoming one with the Underworld. The two pieces of sky, now imbued with the magic of the most powerful creatures, became two majestic alicorns. From the sunset came Queen Galaxia, and from the night came her husband, Lord Cosmos. These two ruled Equestria for many years to come, thanks to the gifts of their predecessors.

Author's Note

Ah! Here it is! I mixed Greek mythology with MLP, and this is what I got. This is all from my head, and I'm really new to this, so I hope you like it! Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

Prologue

Princess Celestia slowly stepped onto her balcony overlooking Canterlot. She looked towards the infinite night sky, and saw Luna standing on the top of a tower a distance away, slowly preparing to lower the moon. As her sister's magic slowly brought the glowing orb into sight, Celestia froze time across Equestria, one of the most powerful spells she knew, that she only ever used on this day every year. She stood, looking at the colorful sky, with both the sun and moon visible, and slowly rose the stars, one at a time. Gently, she flapped her wings to propel herself into the air, and stayed that way for a moment, before unfreezing her younger sister. Luna took to the sky as well, and joined her sister above Canterlot, overlooking the gorgeous tableau in the sky. The russet-colored sunset blended gracefully with the cool-toned night, creating nearly a rainbow across the sky. Silver stars dappled the marble sky, creating a trifecta with the sun and moon. Celestia bowed her head, tears entering her eyes, and as Luna caught sight of this, she gently placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. As their eyes met, Celestia felt renewed with will power, and almost imperceptibly nodded, and the two took off at a great speed directly up into the sky. When they were many miles above the city, the two looked again to the heavens, as their horns lit up with blue and yellow magic. Their magic swirled through the sky, picking up sun, star, and moon, and created a glorious dance of lights and magic as the celestial bodies soared through the cosmos. Many long minutes later, the two alicorns began their descent towards the ground, both covered in a light sweat. When their hooves touched the ground, they each took one last moment to admire the sky before unfreezing time. With a sigh, Luna put a wing around her sister, and the two princesses walked back into the castle with their solemn heads together.

For most ponies, they looked up to the sky once a year and saw what they assumed to be a cosmological phenomenon. The sun and moon both lay in the sky on an equal level, right next to each other, while millions of stars formed a complex, eight-pointed swirl, that resembled a large star overlapping the two bright orbs behind it. To most, it meant little to nothing–just an appealing arrangement of celestial bodies–but for the two royal sisters, the arrangement of the stars was a tribute, a nod to a fallen alicorn. It was the anniversary of the loss of the third sister princess, Aurora.