Poignancy, Prayer and Peace

Led astray by a demon's call

Orchestrating young Luna's fall

To darkness and corruption of her soul,

Possessed by both envy and hate

Banishment was her final fate

Her sister forced to pay this horrid toll.

These events are well known to all

The Moon Princess's rise and fall

A tragic tale and a warning as well,

And yet there still is much unsaid

More of this story to be read

Of the time after Princess Luna fell...

Luna now banished for all time

Final victim of Nightmare's crime

Celestia's warmed heart began to chill,

She knew that what she'd done was right

Sending away Princess of Night

Yet still this knowledge was a bitter pill.

And for days Celestia wept

From when she woke to when she slept

But she continued her appointed task,

She wished that she could change the past

But soon accepted this at last

And hid her grief beneath an aloof mask.

So came the day, so came the night

The moon's dim glow, the bright sunlight

And Celestia sat upon her throne,

Second to minute then to hour

Hour to day within her tower

Soon she no longer cared she was alone.

Within her oubliette locked tight

Corrupted Princess of the Night

Looked down upon her lost world with a sneer,

She thought of the Princess of Day

The traitor who sent her away

Nightmare’s hatred of her grew year to year.

This was all Celestia's fault

T'was she who locked her in this vault

So all attention would be hers alone,

And when she tried to have her say

Her sister then sent her away

To this prison of dust, craters and stone

One day, atop her tall tower

In the cooling breeze of dawn's hour

Celestia heard voices call her name,

The voices began at dawn's light

And they went silent come the night

Come the next day and still more voices came.

She found from whence the voices came

The folk below who called her name

And she watched them, curiosity piqued,

Caught in the depth of her sorrow

She'd ignored the ponies below

And so upon their lives the Princess peeked...

Three tribes were once segregated

Their tribe best, the others hated

And for some time this was the way of things,

They fought and cursed and threatened war

The cycle then began once more

A symbol of the chaos hatred brings.

Celestia watched with dismay

As the three tribes fought night and day

And more than once she thought to intervene,

But she chose to just watch and wait

Observe but not participate

It was safer to see but not be seen.

She knew if she became involved

Things would not be truly resolved

She'd merely scare them into making peace,

But members of the tribes below

Worked to end this hate and sorrow

Together as siblings to make this cease.

Soon came the Priesthood of the Sun

Aiding all those they came upon

For all were equal in the Priesthood's view,

Showing kindness in word and deed

A helping hoof in time of need

Or a smile and a friendly word or two.

Working in the Holy Sun's name

They fed the hungry, healed the lame

And spread the word of her with every deed,

They fought the hardships they would face

To make the world a better place

Their pilgrims set forth, sowing friendship's seed.

And so they traveled night and day

Gaining converts along the way

From tribes of earth, of magic and of sky,

Ones who felt for the greater good

To join the cause of the Priesthood

And render themselves deaf to hatred's lie.

The Priesthood had a second goal:

To shatter bigotry's control

And show the tribes the damage it had done,

They should accept and tolerate

Spreading friendship and not just hate

And then they could live together as one.

They were different, one can't deny

One used magic and one could fly

And one could tame the earth and make crops grow,

But in their souls they were the same

Only different in form and name

And this was a fact that they hoped to show.

And so they offered aid to all

And slowly tore down distrust's wall

And soon the three tribes felt their hatred die,

For the Priesthood had shown the way

And thus they cast their past away

And in the end the three asked themselves: Why?

"Why did we do what we had done

Why did we hate, why did we shun

Why did we three do all these foolish things?

"From the beginning, we tribes three

Should all have lived in harmony

And basked in all the joy that that would bring!"

"What were we thinking? We were fools

All that we cared of was who rules

Who stood above the others in the end,

Instead of hatching plot and scheme

And bolstering our self-esteem

We could have spent that time making a friend."

And thus the three tribes joined as one

All were equal under the sun

A fact that they should have known all along,

So now the three stand side to side

Discrimination pushed aside

For together they stand three times as strong.

Word of praise from across her land

Spoken by one or by a band

Extolling the virtues of Princess fair,

Their voices soon were raised in song

All Equestria sang along

They sang their love of her while deep in prayer.

Earth ponies and the pegasi

And unicorns prayed to the sky

The three pony tribes sang in harmony,

She was the glory of the sun

Gave warmth and life to everyone

And so they worshiped her with melody.

The Princess smiled from high above

As ponyfolk shared peace and love

And she felt the cold in her heart dissolve,

For watching the three tribes make peace

Conferred on her blessed release

And on that day she came to a resolve.

The Sun Princess Celestia

Would travel to Equestria

In answer to the three tribes' prayer and song,

Yet she would go there in disguise

Hiding her true form from their eyes

To see just how well the three got along.

The earth pony strode into town

Her mane yellow, coat mottled brown

And on her side there hung a threadbare pack,

She spied an Inn in which to stay

And call an end to her long day

But first came to a halt to stretch her back.

Many ponies bade her good day

As they continued on their way

Some waved a hoof and some gave her a smile,

One offered to help with her pack

To relieve her tired ribs and back

For it was clear she'd traveled for a while.

"Thank you sir, that is very kind

Are you certain that you don't mind?

My saddlebag is quite heavy, you see,"

The pegasus who'd offered aid

Gave the mare a kind laugh and said

"I am quite strong - this weight won't bother me."

The bag was taken from her side

The earth pony happily sighed

And together they trotted down the road,

But the pack weighed more than he thought

He thought it light, but it was not

And soon he struggled beneath the pack's load.

The Princess was raising its mass

For she saw that they would soon pass

A light green unicorn with mane pure white,

This was a test so she could see

What the pony's response would be

Upon seeing her winged companion's plight.

The unicorn shortly came by

With a concerned look in her eye

She saw the pegasus began to list,

The unicorn mare stopped to ask

"May I give you aid with your task?

You seem exhausted, please let me assist!"

The unicorn then cast a spell

To help carry the weight as well

The pegasus thanked her for her kind act,

His ribs and back were growing sore

He couldn't hold the weight much more

He had almost reached his limit, in fact.

The three stopped at the village Inn

The saddlebag was bundled in

And the glow faded from their helper's horn,

After a stretch of wings and back

Responding with a hearty crack

The pegasus turned to the unicorn.

"Thank you, ma'am, you were very kind

To help we two out of that bind

It seems I'm not as strong as I had thought,

That will teach me I should not boast

I'd nearly given up the ghost

And I appreciate your help a lot."

"Think nothing of it" she replied

"For I was happy to provide

Assistance to the both of you, good sir,

"And I see here a brand new face

Somepony new's come to this place

Pray let me introduce myself to her."

The unicorn's name was Limecream,

The pegasus was named Jet Streem,

They welcomed hidden Princess with a smile,

She told them her name was Sunray

And she had traveled all the day

And so she planned to stay here for a while.

They spoke for a while with Sunray

But soon the two went on their way

They bid farewell, she thanked the two once more,

So far the Princess was impressed

Limecream and Jet had passed her test

So she decided that she would explore.

She saw the three tribes mingled free

In some cases intimately

Many were married with foals by their side,

And thus the Princess of the Sun

Had proof the three were now as one

And so decided to no longer hide.

She trotted into the town square

A pale glow surrounding the mare

And soon all attention was on Sunray,

"I'm certain you can no doubt see

I'm not quite who I seem to be

And there is something that I wish to say.

"I've misled you these three days past

Sunray naught but a role I've cast

I am not the pony that I appear,

"Yet my deception was benign

A part of a greater design

And I intend to unmask myself here."

Sunray raised her head to the sky

And then let out a wordless cry

A blinding burst of sunlight filled the square,

The bright light focused on Sunray

The earth pony melted away

And instead a statuesque mare stood there.

She was a beauty to behold

Her rainbow mane, her hooves shod gold

Her violet eyes, her coat of silken white,

And then wings unfurled from her side

And the Princess stretched them out wide

Her body glowed as if filled by sunlight.

And yet nopony was afraid

Instead rapt attention was paid

Nopony balked, nopony broke to run,

"I am the Bringer of the Day

I am she to whom you all pray

I am Celestia, Princess of Sun!"

She told then the tale of her life

Of loneliness, love, hate and strife

The rise and fall of Luna of the Moon,

Of what she'd gained and what she'd lost

And just how much this loss had cost

And how she had stopped caring all too soon.

"One day I heard you call to me

And I watched over your tribes three

And how you three fought all your night and days,

"And then the Priesthood of Sun came

And bound you three under my name

And showed you the foolishness of your ways.

"Your rivalries came to an end

An enemy became a friend

This victory was yours and yours alone,

"And seeing you working as one

Seeing hatred being undone

Brought life once again to my heart of stone.

"I am proud of you, one and all

And so I now answer the call

Made by ponies all across this nation,

"I should have done this long ago

I waited far too long, I know

So to you I make this proclamation:

"You need no longer pray to me

I shall come forth for all to see

From this day on I will not hide away,

"I'll leave my castle's gloomy hall,

For somewhere seen by one and all."

The plans for Canterlot were born that day.

In her lunar cell locked and closed,

The demon Nightmare Moon reposed,

Visions of Celestia filled her dreams,

Her betrayal would be repaid

She'd stab her heart and twist the blade

And relish in her sister's tortured screams.

But she'd not raise a hoof to her

The torture that she would endure

Would bring her sister Princess to her knees,

Nightmare would call a wind that chilled

A wind that burned, a wind that killed

And Celestia would watch her land freeze.

The sun would fall and never rise

She would be the Queen of the Skies

And she would release the Forever Night,

The ponyfolk would scrape and plead

And beg her for the warmth they need

And cower in fear beneath her moon's light.

Her castle hung from mountain high

Landmark to every pony eye

She built Canterlot for the sake of all,

A place of marble purest white

It glowed by day, shimmered at night

From its cobbled streets to its towers tall.

A city grew  'round castle grand

Now the Capital of the land

The greatest city in Equestria,

And to the three pony races

Was the holiest of places

As the home of Princess Celestia.

And thus the days, they came and went

The ponies of the land content

Life for them was both joyful and serene,

But on the thousandth year, some say

These happy times would fall away

And an evil darkness would intervene.

Nightmare Moon would then reappear

Demon Princess of dark and fear

And she would bring with her eternal night,

Nightmare would then strike dead the sun

Nightmare would see the day undone

Nightmare would forever destroy daylight.

Most thought this was an old mare's tale

A story penned to make foals pale

Nopony believed Evernight would fall,

They spurned this dark tale of Nightmare

Little were the ponies aware

There was truth to this fable after all.

Still asleep in her airless tomb

Deep within the moon's dark cold womb

Nightmare dreamt on - her dreams wicked and vile,

Soon her slumber was forsaken

And she began to awaken

And to her lips there came an evil smile.

The magic that held her at bay

Was growing weaker day by day

So she fought against the diminished spell,

And she would break free of the moon

And she would return all too soon

And she would make the world a sunless hell...