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// Prologue - Legend of The Lunar Chalice 
// Story: The Lunar Chalice 
// by Spirals95 
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The Lunar Chalice


By Spirals 95



Prologue


Over a millennium ago...

A secretive inn sat in the reclusive deep woods just outside of Equestria's borders. The log and thatch building, large and imposing with a stone chimney that burned wood day and night, was well protected by the heavy evergreen trees surrounding it, casting shade and darkness over the tavern despite the afternoon sun's best efforts to shine light on it. A pony who stumbled upon the inn might think it was the den of a wealthy thief lord or some other kind of lowlife, but it was merely a hunting lodge and bar that escaped the "Solar Tax" that Celestia had imposed on any place of business that stayed open after the sun had set. While that law was "in the best interest of safety" and heavily favored by the wealthy and the ponies who basked in the glow of Celestia's favor, those who enjoyed the night life felt cheated by it. But here was a rustic and inviting place outside the borders that felt like home to the unfavored.

Arpeggio Inkwell, a loud and pompous unicorn stallion of white coat and blue eyes, approached the building, hugging a green patched cloak to his body to conceal his identity, while struggling to keep his messy black and gray mane hair tucked underneath as well. He approached the large wooden door that permitted entry to the lodge, and knocked with a front hoof. A small trap door opened on the face of the entry way, and a soft pair of pink eyes scanned him over before closing the safety hatch again. The door opened, and Arpeggio entered.

The inside of the tavern turned out to be rather extravagant. Besides the log walls, fancy furs, tapestries, and lit chandeliers that hung from the slanted ceiling, many tables with soft white tablecloths were spaced out in the room. Smaller candles in glass bottles were placed at each table, and the front of the building featured a large mahogany wooden throne decorated with antlers, likely shed by foreigner bucks who had come to the woods to do their yearly drop of their antlers in privacy.

Each pony in the room was also wearing a hoof, and was focused forward on the throne, empty currently. Arpeggio took his seat near the front, sitting on an empty wooden chair, and kept quiet, just like the others in the room. Very little conversation short of whispers was happening.

"I cannot believe I have agreed to this..." he thought aloud, looking around the room.

Ponies of every trot of life were around him, from poor farmers to some of the most wealthy individuals he had known about. Rich and poor sat at the same table, treating each other as equals. After all, they were there for the same reason.

Rebellion.

The chandeliers in the room blew out suddenly, darkening the tavern and silencing all in the room, the only remaining light coming from the candles on the tables. With a loud bang and a flash of blue energy, Princess Luna appeared on the rustic throne, sitting and staring out at her subjects. To her flanks appeared four dark pegasus guards, armored in silver, with wings like bats.

"Remove thy cloaks, let me see your faces!" bellowed Luna, raising her left hoof.

Every pony in the room dropped their hoods, including Arpeggio, whose mane bounced freely out of the cloth in its curls. At his table turned out to be a group of merchants, unicorns and earth ponies mostly, who looked forward at Luna with the same lack of contentment.

"A good afternoon, my most loyal followers," bellowed the Princess of the Night, standing up from her throne, an angry look on her face, "our time has finally come. For almost a century, mine own kindred hath brought tyranny and despair to Equestria. Laws that punish those that favor the night, taxes that squeeze the wealth out of the successful, and favors to the servants of the Sun!"

The four guards left her side, and brought in a large pewter cauldron, whose legs curled down to the floor, and an engraving of a dragon on the front let the group know the sinister intent of the magical cookware.

Princess Luna continued her monologue in her loud tone, "We are the ones who go unloved while those of the day continue to gain all the fame and glory! We are the ones who work while others sleep. Celestia's birthday is celebrated with a festival of roses, whilst I receive nothing. The guards who put their lives on the line for my sister during the day receive double the pay and honors than the ones who protect us from bandits in the darkness. Celestia's greed and corruption must be punished!"

Arpeggio felt extremely uncomfortable and wish he hadn't have come to this diabolic meeting. He was the court composer of the Princesses, but had spent more time with Luna as Celestia paid no attention to his music. Yet he could not find fault with the Princess of the Sun. He knew that the reason Princess Luna went ignored was not because Celestia was corrupt herself, but the lack of gratitude of Equestria as a whole.

The problem had begun centuries ago. At the start, the Two Sisters ruled Equestria with the Harmony their family had discovered, and all was well between them. Back then, most ponies were just hoping to be able to survive, with the number of bloodthirsty monsters and the threat of starvation looming. Every pony was thankful for both Celestia's work and Luna's, Celestia's sun provided their crops with the light needed to grow, and Luna's watch of the night protected them from the monsters, bandits, and the icy cold. But things had changed over the hundreds of years, technology and the advent of a more modern economy meant businesses that opened only during the day, and a taboo for ones open during the night like bars and inns. Most of the more ferocious monsters had been cast into the prison Tartarus by Equestria's allies, the wraiths who lived just to fight monsters for fun.

These strong changes led to heavy division in Equestria, and Harmony itself seemed to be threatened. Ponies who worked during the day looked down upon the night life, especially the wealthy elites who chose to suck up to Princess Celestia, and even bribe their way into getting minor nobles to pass laws taxing establishments they found "distasteful", again, the places of the evening Luna's friends and followers enjoyed. They could care less that what they were doing was destroying Princess Luna's life, and making a lot of Equestria miserable.

"Everything is about to change on this evening," continued Luna, interrupting Arpeggio's inner monologue, "for today the Eclipse shall blot out the Sun, and the night shall last forever!“

The room burst into cheers, except for the musician, who sat there dumbfounded. Were they really going through with this plan a few years in the making? A plot to overthrow Celestia?

The cauldron was already half filled with a whitish liquid, likely just milk, but the guards returned, carting in an object covered with a velvet cloth. The covered object was presented to the Princess of the Night, who laughed and removed the cover with a quick swish of her magic. It was a large silver chalice, dotted with gemstones on the long neck, with an insignia of her crescent moon on the front of it.

"Behold!" said one of her guards, "The Lunar Chalice! Forged by your strongest unicorns using dark magic forbidden by our disgusting Enemy, it will corrupt any potion whose ingredients are measured by its cup! Concoct our drink for the evening, your Majesty, and let us taste true power!"

Princess Luna hovered the cup over the cauldron of common milk, and with a flash of energy summoned a vial of potion catalyst she had hidden underneath the floorboards of the establishment, teleporting it from underneath the building to just about the chalice. The cork came out, the bottle surrounded by her aura, and she poured the contents into the chalice, a light blue liquid. As soon as it hit the inside of the cup, the fluid darkened to a pitch black, the cup's moon glowing white. Princess Luna then poured the fluid, dark as motor oil, into the milk, and a wide cone of dark energy surged from the cauldron as the milk was turned into a mutagen by the effects of the chemical from the chalice.

The guards approached the cauldron, and started to fill wooden cups with the potion, using the dragon's mouth carving as a spigot. Soon a glass of the potion was available to every pony in the room. But the Lunar Chalice was empty again, and Luna held it, she was not going to partake in the drink at all. Instead, she was given by one of her unicorn guards a greenish bottle, a wine decades old that Luna loved very much, expensive and rare, but perfect for the occasion.

She uncorked the bottle, and poured the wine into her chalice, which did not recognize it as a potion ingredient and therefore didn't react. Now she too had a drink like her followers, who raised their cups, along with Arpeggio, who was not too eager to drink.

Princess Luna raised the chalice, "Drink hearty, my friends! For after, we will vanquish the day, and bring forward a new Equestria!"

The ponies tipped their glasses and finished their potions as Luna consumed her glass of wine, but Arpeggio let his spill on the floor while pretending to drink the potion near the edge of his table. Around him, the potion took effect on the others, changing them into creatures of the night. Their wings became sharpened and bat-like, and their irises became diamond shaped. Sharp teeth replaced their ordinary bite, and they laughed at their new forms darkly, knowing the royal guard was in for a shock.

"The distraction hath been set," whispered a guard to Luna, "the hydra has been released and most of the royal guard has left to dispatch of the beast."

"Equestrians of the Night!" shouted Luna, dropping the cup to the ground, "We strike now! To the castle where my foolish Sister knows not what is coming! Equestria shall be ours!"

Princess Luna's horn erupted a beam of blue energy, destroying the ceiling and flying through with her guards and the supporting pegasus ponies. The others galloped out of the inn to follow, leaving Arpeggio alone and miserable in the empty bar. He slowly walked up to the chalice, left on the ground with a few drops of wine leaking out, and stared at it.

With a soft glow of magic, the unicorn picked up the magical cup, and hoped there would be peace after this evening. This cup would serve as a reminder of what happened that fateful night, he believed, as he tucked it away underneath his cloak, and turned to go watch the battle from a mountain near the castle.

Of course, we know how the story goes from there...