//------------------------------//
// The Mare in the Moon 
// Story: A Compilation of Pony Poetry 
// by TheKissoftheVoid 
//------------------------------//

Many thousands of years ago
Long before thoughts of you or I
Two gifted sibling alicorns
In harmony governed the sky

Celestia, the elder mare
Summoned the sun's light and warm beams,
While Luna of the twinkling mane
Brought forth the moon, bright stars, and dreams

And for time immemorial
These sisters sought to balance keep
Until the roots of discontent
In Luna's heart began to creep

For though she labored every dusk
To place the moon and stars on high
All ponies shunned to grace her night
None admired her dazzling sky!

Her shining stars! Her blazing moon!
Their beauty lost on every one
Of those same ponies who, each dawn,
Rose joyously to greet the sun

For decades she her silence kept
Hoping time would bring remedy
But all the while, through her heart spread
The dark venom of jealousy

And too soon envy turned to greed,
And greed grew into coveting
And her covet became her need,
Until she had no other thing

But to FORCE night upon the land
And with her heart by spite consumed
She proclaimed that Equestria
To everlasting night was doomed


Her heart grown cold, her powers did
With madness and evil attune
And into shadow Luna fell
And in her wake rose Nightmare Moon


Celestia, reluctantly,
Tried reasoning the Nightmare down,
But no appeasing could be done
For Nightmare scorned her sister's crown

Celestia, of course, refused
To abandon the land to night
Thus began the Great Sky Battle
Where darkness clashed with blazing light

The earth trembled, the heavens quaked,
The oceans roiled, the mountains wept
Bolts of fell lightning split the sky
And thunder through the torn land swept

How long they fought is still unknown
For though Celestia's skill was great
She could not overcome Nightmare
Who's strength waxed greater with her hate

And so, with no other recourse,
Celestia, sorrowfully,
Unleashed the greatest magic known
The Elements of Harmony

For though Nightmare's power ran deep
As the blackness of the night sky
Harmony's strength was far too much
For even darkness to defy

Thus with her power overcome
The nightmare queen was bound and chained
And banished to a prison in
The very moon o'er once she'd reigned

The darkness gone, Celestia,
With leaden heart and tearing eyes,
Took up her fallen sister's task
And brought night and day to the skies.


Since that dark day an age has passed
An age of plenty, peace, and love
Where ponies laugh at old mares' tales
And do not fear the moon above

Scoffing at ancient prophecy
Ignoring signs from star and moon
Heedless of the clarion call
That someday coming, someday soon

Some day heralding the Spring's end
Will be the day that, loyally,
The stars will shatter Nightmare's chains
And set the Queen of Darkness free

And, full of vengeance, she'll return
To see at last her dark will done
She'll usher in her endless night
And banish evermore the sun.


Many have laughed, and many jeered,
And many mock the things I've said,
But children, hear me when I voice
The thought that chills my heart with dread;

A thousand years to dwell on hate,
Twisted dreams, rage, and memories ill
A thousand years of maddened thoughts,
A thousand years to hone her skill

And when that grim day comes to pass
Can even fair Celestia
Hope to hold back the ebon tide
From shrouding all Equestria?

I have no answer children, but
Know the lesson this tale imparts
Harmony kept Nightmare at bay,
So hold it ever in your hearts

And should you see the sky grow dark
With no sign of a rising sun
Stand hoof to hoof with cherished friends
Hearts bound together, strong as one!

One of the tales of Longmane the Woodswalker at the Canterlot Festival of Foals, approximately three years before the millenial anniversary of the Solar Reign.