The Changing of the Guard
Rays of fire reach up into the sky
Raging inferno reaching for domination
Reaching to overtake the serenity of the shadows
Of the moon and stars
A white alicorn princess, horn alight with power
Watches the skies battle for control
Wishing, hoping, dreaming
That this could be the day
The day her soul’s deepest desire could be fulfilled
The night her biggest mistake could be rectified
The dawn of the end of her never-ending heartache
The twilight of her era of self-induced agony
Resolute she stands
As she has always stood
Each and every day, twice a day
As she is forced to relive her worst memory
The memory of the night she lost her entire world
Yet to the ponies of Equestria, all she had lost was one pony
A pony they feared and ignored all she had tried to do
A pony they had driven to become a monster
Once a princess like the one whom they worship so
Albeit a darker color and the ruler of the darker dominion of life
Still only a pony who wished to be treated equally
And was instead shunned by all
Made out to be somepony she was not
At least, not who she was at the start
For as time passed, the hatred only grew
Driving her to the brink of insanity
Could she have been helped? Been saved from herself?
Nopony shall ever know
For the one she called a sister
Did nothing to help the younger
Choosing only to watch from the sidelines
As the one she claimed to love more than anypony else
Descended farther and farther
Into the depths of darkness and dementia
Never making a move until it was too late
The damage was already done
The pony she had called a sister was gone
Consumed by dark forces beyond her knowledge
A nightmare now stood before her
In the place where her dearest sister had once been
“Luna!” she had cried, “Why?”
Why had this happened?
The dark mare before her only laughed
Laughed at her elder sister’s naivety
At her blindness, her refusal to accept what had occurred
Her own aura had cast a fog over her younger sister’s reality
The elder mare had shone too brightly for far too long
By the time she understood, it was too late
Too late for a savior to emerge
Only one option remained open to her
Though she knew she had no choice
It was with a heavy heart that the elder lit her horn
With the Elements of Harmony to aid her, she knew
Knew there was no way she could lose
And yet, a part of her
A fraction of her heart wished that she would
To fail would mean that she wouldn’t have to lose her sister
But, could the mare she faced really be considered her sister?
The little sister she loved would never have become a monster
Her dearest Luna would never have turned against her
Would never have called herself Nightmare Moon
Or…or would she?
Tears had parted her pristine white fur
Her heart had split in two, for now,
Now she could truly see,
See what she had forced the mare she loved most to do
But it was too late to even try to fix her mistake
The biggest mistake of her long life
For she had already cast the spell
Already doomed her sister; not a monster, but her baby sister
Her sister was gone
Gone for a thousand years
And she would be alone
Alone at the head of all Equestria
How would she manage?
The prospect was daunting
To rule alone for so long…
Could she even do it?
Could she hold together Equestria for that long?
Nearly three hundred years it had been
Equestria was stronger than ever, and yet
Celestia? What was she?
As she stands on her balcony
Watching the sun rise to overtake what had once been Luna’s
She struggles to keep her composure
To keep the mask in place
To the ponies of Equestria,
Celestia was perfect, a Goddess, if you will
But to her, on the inside,
She knew she was the exact opposite
So long had she been alive
So many cycles of life had she seen
Nopony else noticed them
Those changes of the guard
But ever since that one fateful night
Celestia’s eyes had been opened
Opened to all the wonders of the world
She only wished her little sister could see them too
Every second, every minute, every hour
Time moved forward
Reaching for another alteration
Another switching of the guard
The determined dawn rose up from the ashes
Covering the remaining shadows of the night
Shedding light on all of Equestria
Letting Celestia see clearly once again
This was truly her domain now
She was meant to rule over this
Lifting her head to the sky
She reveled in the thin whisper of the wind
Barely, needlessly, wondrously,
She ended the sunrise with a flourish
The stray shafts of sunlight illuminating all that she loved
The entirety of Equestria was hers once more
Though had it really ever left her control?
As much as she wishes that the night was not hers
The moment she cast that spell, all those years ago
She had ensured that her shift would be constant
Constant for a thousand years
A thousand days and nights she must own
For there was nopony else who could
She was the sole princess in Equestria
The soft morning breeze blew serenely around her
Gently caressing her fur
Her mane floating in its grasp
To anypony looking, she was the epitome of beauty
Only Celestia herself could feel the truth
A feeling so crystal clear
That feeling of heartbreak and regret
Was doomed to stay with her for many more years
She would endure the agony in silence though
For it was nopony’s fault but her own
If her sister must suffer for a thousand years
Then so would she
Celestia’s eyes gleamed in vibrant light
Her light
She might be forced to rule over the night, but
It was never and will never be truly hers
Seven hundred more years
Seven centuries she had left
Only then could her dearest Luna return
Only then would the guard finally change once again.
