Birth of the Night

by 2006midnight

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Princess Luna
Length: 1272

The night is cold, dark, and lonely, but what happens when the stars come to life?

Over a thousand years ago, before Nightmare Moon came to be, the night sky was dark and empty aside from the moon. Ponies feared the blackness, feared what could happen within a cloak of shadows. Seeing this, Princess Luna made a decision, a sacrifice. But was it really worth it?

Cover art is not mine.

Published 2018-05-14 22:00:12 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-14 22:00:12 UTC

How the Stars Came to Be

Shadows danced round and round
To an unheard melody of silence
Yet no living being could be seen
In the dark depths of the night

All Light had forsaken
That which lay beneath its gaze
Leaving only the moon
And the endless black expanse

That became the sky
As the Sun Herself slept
Leaving Her sister, the Moon
To watch over the sleeping nation

A nation that ignored the Moon,
Naming Her the lesser of their sovereigns
Nothing more than an accessory
To stand in shadow of the Glorious Sun

The Moon knew what was said
Knew the ponies’ terror
Of what She brought forth
Of what She tried to contribute

And yet knowing did not deter
Her efforts to alleviate their fear
To gain their respect
To become loved as the Sun

She was the Moon
Yet it was no sun
It could not shed light,
Could only offer reflections

Reflections which were too dim
Too meager to ever satisfy
For the ponies’ fear was too great
Too powerful for all but total Light

The night was lonely,
Empty with nopony around
And if the ponies wanted Light
Then She would give them Light

If Light could bring life to Her night,
Chase away Her loneliness,
If Light could make them love Her equally
Then She would give them Light

So She spent months
Trying to accomplish what
Many would claim to be impossible
Trying to bring Light to the night

Until finally She thought there could be a way
A spell She had made
That only She could use
A spell that would create something new

New additions to Her night
Additions that would, alone,
Only bring minute fractions of Light
Yet with thousands,

Thousands all together
Each contributing a little
Could join to bring the impossible
To bring Light to the darkest of nights

So She stood silent
Looking out from the balcony
Waiting for all to sleep
That Her new creations could be a surprise

As the last vestiges of the Sun
Slid ‘neath the horizon
Her Mystic Majesty lit Her horn
To begin the gloaming of a new era

Her moon shone briefly brighter
As Her magic pulled some Light
Light that coalesced in transparent silver mist
That grew more luminous with more magic

As the mist increased
She forced it into a sphere
Held between Her hooves
Where its size grew with its luminescence

‘Til no more mist could be added
Whereupon Her horn flared brilliantly
Milk white tears streaked down Her face
As Her pale blue aura surrounded the sphere

A small fraction of Her moon grew black
Its Light the sphere in Her hooves
The sphere that She reverently released
Watching it float to its place in the sky

As it settled into position
Near the moon, yet still far
So that its Light could still be seen
So that the moon's sacrifice was not in vain

Even as the Moon shed Her tears
Her eyes filled with love
For She had not failed
And Caelas was born

Hope blossomed for the first time
Since She had worn the crown
Since the Moon had become
Her Mystic Majesty of the Equestrian Diarchy

Horn lit once more
She began the process anew
Reshaping the mists of Light
To become Amoras

All the night She spent
Giving new sources of Light
To aid Her beloved moon
Vespera, Umbra, Decoras,

Gemma, Aethereus, Cande
All in the name of Love
To earn the ponies’ trust,
To stop being the monster of the night

As Dawn was soon to arrive
She gazed upon Her precious moon
Let out a sorrowful cry
Seeing what She had done

Her moon was changed,
Smaller in the Light it had to give
For a minuscule crescent on the edge
Had turned to shadow, its Light given away

Turning aside, Her horn lit
She softly slid Her moon
‘Neath the horizon, making way for the sun
For the cause of Her moon’s sacrifice

Her new creations faded away
Overwhelmed by the sun’s Light
By the Light of the Glorious Sun
Who had captured the ponies’ love

Not able to bear watching Equestria awaken
The Moon went to Her darkened chambers
Collapsed upon Her bed
Tears still falling for Her moon’s sacrifice

Yet still, the next night, and every night after
For nearly two dozen months
Her moon lost Light every night
As Her night gained Light in Her creations

Thousands filled the sky over hundreds of nights
Nebula, Cometa, Glacia, Flos, Dea,
Spes, Praelia, Miles, Corona, Crepuscula,
Gasosa, Magica, Serena, Perpetua, Somnium

‘Til the night Her moon was almost out of Light
A tiny, almost invisible sliver was left
Just enough to illuminate a final few
And She would make them perfection

The ghost of smile on Her lips
The Moon, struck by Her Love
Bathed the next in an orange hue
For it was to be Soror Sol

And the next, which was to join her
She bathed in a far more brilliant white
Than all the rest, using Light enough for two
For it was Soror Luna

Yet no night sky could be complete
Without Her moon in its midst
Her moon that She just rendered invisible
Leaving a black hole in the twinkling sky

Lighting Her horn once more
She enveloped the moon in Her magic
Spinning it till the moon filled the sky again
Taking its place amidst Her creations

A broken smile flashed on Her features
She had done the impossible
Doubled the Light in the night
Yet the moon now had a dark side

Her moon now mirrored Her soul
Mirrored the cycle of day and night
Yet She allowed hope to bloom in Her heart
Hope that in filling the sky, She too could be loved

Though She feared She had not done enough
Even as She crafted Her new night
Ponies had whispered in fear
Speculating over the cause of the change

Yet nopony ever asked
Nopony tried to learn the truth
Only assumed She was a monster
Never saw She only dreamt of their Love

So, years down the line
She finally proved them right
If they would not love Her
Then She would be their monster

But even then, nopony cared
Not even Her sister, the Sun
Rather love Her, Her own sister
Chose to overshadow Her for the ponies' love

The world needed both of them
Night and Day, or so She had thought
But the ponies chose the Glorious Sun
Who would be their hero

As the Elements of Harmony
Locked Her in Her own moon
For the next thousand years
'Till Her sons and daughters would aid in Her escape.

Author's Note

Caelas - Heavens
Amoras - Love
Vespera - Evening-Star
Umbra - Shadow
Decoras - Beautiful
Gemma - Gem
Aethereus - Ethereal
Cande - (To) Be of Brilliant Whiteness
Nebula - Mist
Cometa - Comet
Glacia - Ice
Flos - Flower
Dea - Goddess
Spes - Hope
Praelia - Battles
Miles - Soldier
Corona - Crown
Crepuscula - Twilight/Dusk
Gasosa - Sparkling
Magica - Magic
Serena - Serene
Perpetua - Everlasting
Somnium - Dreams
Soror Sol - Sister Sun
Soror Luna - Sister Moon

The different names for the stars are intentional, though I originally thought about using the real names for the stars. However, I decided that they should be different since Luna is the one creating them. I feel like she would have a personal connection with them, and have had her own names for the stars as she created them, but would have kept those names to herself.