Princess of Shadows, Darkness, and Light

by jwizard

Chapter One: Garden of the Lost

Equestria, 05-27-00 AD(After Discord)

“Sister, please!!”

“Nay Luna, this is not something we need to discuss. All ponies are needed to rebuild Equestria. There is simply nothing we can do.”

It had been five months since Discord had been sealed in stone by the Elements of Harmony. In the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters, Luna was once again arguing for the need of a new colony, one where the ponies could rebuild; of course, this one would be shielded from those that wished to harm the broken nation by the powers of the Princess of the Night.

Naturally, Celestia rejected it, simply because she was only seeing the larger picture. For Luna, the nightmares of all the little foals that had lost loved ones in the fight against Discord were particularly harsh. Though there weren’t many of them, there were enough to form the beginnings of a colony. Luna wasn’t stupid; she didn’t intend to not have any parental supervision to protect them. That, however, was the crux of the problem.

Luna had managed to secure several volunteers; however, the Equestrian Council refused to allow any of them to leave to attend orphans; regrettably, Celestia was in agreement, though not for those same reasons. In her mind, the orphans were being well cared for, so there was no need. Luna, however, knew the truth; the orphans were being neglected outright. Only a few had homes, and they were routinely teased by those who still had their families. None of this was coming to Celestia’s attention for the simple reason that the Council was keeping the information from the Princesses.

“Sister, I know that you may not think this is needed, and you are right.” Luna looked up to see her elder sister smiling gently. “Could you at least give your blessing that I can take care of them in some way?”

Thinking quickly, Celestia realized that her sister’s suggestion wasn’t actually a bad idea. “Lulu, as long as you can guarantee the safety of the foals, then I see no problem with that.”

Luna smiled, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Oh sister, I guarantee they will be well cared for. I promise.”

---

Later that evening, on her balcony, Luna stood and began to sing a lullaby. Her eyes glowed with a radiance; using her magic, she pulled each lost filly and colt- as well as the three pegasus volunteers that were exiles -into her dreams. The song ensured that even Celestia would be unawares. She also left a scroll containing the evidence of the Council's’ duplicity on Celestia’s desk before turning in.

---

Equestria, 07-27-289 A.D.(After Discord)

Celestia, in what took an effort of extreme willpower, peacefully stared down the latest useless member of the Blueblood family, an offshoot of House Belle.

“I must insist that you inform your sister that she is to divulge the locations of all the foals she swore to protect!! The have all disappeared, without even you being aware. Where are they Celestia?! Your sister knows, and the Council DEMANDS an answer!!”

With a smirk on her muzzle that instantly struck terror into the heart of the stallion, Celestia gave her answer.

“Oh, but she has preserved them. Where, I do not know nor do I care to. What should matter is WHY there continues to be this large amount of orphans. I can only think that it is the unreasonable demands of the Council to keep our forces so close to the Castle and forest, causing the smaller settlements to spend inglorious amounts of time defending themselves when most do not have the numbers. Much as it distresses me, I am once again forced to act autocratically to absolve this situation. All Equestrian soldiers are hereby removed from the authority of the Council of Equestria and placed into the authority of myself and my sister, until such time as the current situation between our borders and those of the Gryphon Empire, Minotaur Republic, and Zebra Confederation are secured. Furthermore, the Equestrian Council is FORBIDDEN to make ANY further demands from either myself or my sister for one hundred years; if broken, I will PERMANENTLY dissolve said Council of all rights, titles, lands, fortunes, and authority until such time as Solaris herself no longer shines.”

With this, Celestia stood, and shouted in her version of the Royal Voice: ”THIS SESSION OF THE DAY COURT IS ADJOURNED. ANY FURTHER BUSINESS CAN WAIT UNTIL TWO WEEKS FROM NOW, AS I AM SURE THAT MY SISTER WILL CALL TO ARMS TO SECURE EQUESTRIA’S SAFETY!!”

Days later, this is when the muttering against the Night Princess began, and when the ponies of many of the Noble Houses began to coerce the populace to shun her night and her presence.

---

Equestria, 07-27-05, A.L.F (After Luna’s Fall)

It was a somber day in Canterlot, as the ponies of Equestria once again paid homage to their savior, who defeated the renegade Nightmare Moon and kept Eternal Night from truly coming to pass. Princess Celestia had spent the last several years after her sisters’ defeat doing all she could to undermine the damage her neglect of the rumors had done to her sister’s reputation, as well as shoring up the wounds to her heart. This had pushed her to create the Summer Sun Celebration, a remembrance of her sister only to have the Council forbid ponies from celebrating it.

As the crowd gathered, they wondered at the presence of both the Solar and Lunar Guard. Was the Princess really going to disobey the direct order of the Council? Or were the rumors true; was she going to provide a way for the Equestrian High Council to continue, yet remove from power those who had done so much damage? They were true, of course; she had spread those rumors herself, in preparation of her change to policy governing the aristocracy.

As the ponies all pondered this, they saw their beloved Princess, wearing the scowl that had been on her face for the last three years, ascend to the balcony overlooking Canterlot. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I do give my apologies for my expression; however, I can assure you that this is the last time you will see it.” She then smiled what could only be described as a Cheshire cat-like grin, before dropping the proverbial bomb on the Council.

“I, Celestia, Duchess of Everfree, Steward of Canterlot, and Princess of Equestria, have but three announcements to make. First, all laws that the Equestrian Council has made in the last five years are hereby declared null and void. Secondly, all territories that have been established outside Canterlot’s jurisdiction have FULL authority and autonomy in the setting of their own laws and customs, so long as said laws and customs do not violate the Rights of the Citizens that the Council of the Six first set forth, at Equestria’s Founding. And last, but certainly not least I hereby decree a new policy regarding aristocracy. From this day forward, ALL members of the royal houses must prove their worth BEFORE they can take their hereditary seats on the Council. In response to this, I am furthering this change to a meritocracy by announcing that the Council is hereby COMMANDED to establish four new seats, to be filled by members of the other tribes. These seats will also be hereditary, and will also be decided by merit. Good day all, and please enjoy the celebration My Little Ponies.”

With this, Celestia walked from the balcony, having preserved Equestria for the day when her sister would return- and having eased the burden of sorrows that she had. For once, she would sleep better than she had in five years.

---

Author's Note:

So here it is, my first published chapter of a totally unprepared fic. This just popped in my head as I was watching the Youtube video called Children of the Night. I tried to use all original ideas I could; the only reason why I linked the video is because it was my inspiration. I've always thought this song was both beautiful and haunting, and I'm glad that this, at least, is my first published fimfic.

Please like and comment; all CONSTRUCTIVE criticism would be appreciated. Trolls, I will say this here and now, that I won't dignify any posts you make with a response, so don't bother.

Please, don't MOAR me with updates, as I plan to get the second chapter up as soon as possible. I'm inconsistent as a writer, and I also have to edit what I'm writing. I do, however, want opinions for later chapters, so if you want to join my pre-reading crew, PM either me or Kodeake.

Also, I'm looking for cover art that matches the atmosphere of both the video, and my fic. If anybody has any, or has suggestions of where I can find some, please PM me or post in the comments. Only thing is, I can't afford to pay, so I'm not asking for a commission or anything.

Comments

[SoralTheSol]

See, I know that children of the Night is ment to be peaceful... However Hocus Pocus is still one of my favorite halloween movies. So there is that little voice in the back of my head "What if luna used the children to gain power as Nightmare Moon?"

[ZanarNaryon]

I love this first chapter. There's a lot of art and fanfics about Celestia's personal struggles after Luna's fall from grace, but I haven't seen that much of the political ramifications in the immediate aftermath

[Idkwhattobe]

I just finished reading the prequel and I’m definitely looking forward to this one