Chapter 1: Prologue

When Equestria was founded, there were three ponies who dictated how the kingdom would be ruled. There was an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. Over time however they could not agree on certain things and it was decided that there should be only 2 rulers instead of three. There was much arguing over the right to rule Equestria. Then he appeared, Discord; he fed off of the power of chaos and disharmony and twisted the kingdom to his own desires. The two unicorns whose job it was to maintain day and night were the only ones to stand against him. During the battle they discovered the true meaning of harmony and ascended to become alicorns. The legendary Elements of Harmony revealed themselves to the two who were worthy of wielding their power.

Using the elements and their newfound power as alicorns they defeated discord and sealed him away in stone. The two unicorns that defeated him were crowned the rulers of Equestria, for they had saved the kingdom. They were known as Celestia, who raised the sun and held the elements of Magic Generosity and laughter; and Luna, who raised the moon and held the elements of Honesty, Loyalty, and Kindness. Due to the massive power contained within the elements of harmony Celestia and Luna were changed, their manes and tails consistently flowing and they found that they did not age. The elements of harmony had granted them eternal youth.

Not long after the defeat of Discord, darkness spread across Equestria once again, this time from an outside source. The princesses knew what had to be done, so they took off towards the source of the darkness where they discovered The Crystal Empire under the rule of the evil King Sombra. At the behest of the crystal ponies, Celestia and Luna battled Sombra to rid Equestria of darkness; they cast a spell on him to turn him into shadow and trap him deep in the frozen north, but in his final moments he cast a curse on the crystal empire. After he was banished the entire Crystal Empire disappeared into thin air leaving nothing but a pink pegasus foal trapped in dark crystal. The princesses brought the foal back with them, knowing that if Sombra ever returned, the curse on the empire would be lifted and this foal would be free.

With peace restored to Equestria, the Elements of Harmony were enshrined in the princesses’ castle. Equestria enjoyed years of peace and prosperity under the wise rule of Celestia and Luna; and eventually founded a new colony, Canterlot. Princess Celestia would protect Equestria from outside threats and raise the sun every morning while Princess Luna would guard her subject’s dreams as they slept and raise the moon every evening. They ruled jointly over matters of state and the land was delighted with their decisions. Each princess had dedicated guards to protect them in case of an emergency, Sunlight Shine was a message runner for the Celestian Defense Force; and that is where this tale begins.

It was a warm spring night, with summer just around the corner. The moist air was heavy and made it harder to breathe while the insect chorus was nearly deafening. Moon light shone down through a clear sky, stars shining bright against the darkness of the night. Sunlight Shine walked through the forest path that led to the castle of the royal pony sisters, she crossed the chasm bridge as the castle came into sight. Her golden coat stood out in the darkness and almost shined under the moonlight and her pure white mane and tail shined even brighter. She flexed her wings; they had gotten stiff after all this walking. Pegasi were meant to fly fairly often, but she was simply too tired.

She passed the guards on the way into the castle, their dark coats and blue armor marking them as night guards. Stepping into the castle at night was like stepping into another world; the dark forest replaced by gray stone walls illuminated with enough torches that the room was as bright as daytime. The elements of harmony sat on a large stone display in front of her; they were Equestria’s greatest means of defense. Twin staircases curved around the display and rejoined on the second floor to become a larger, single staircase that led up to the third floor that exited to the throne room in the back of the castle. Sunlight Shine walked up the right staircase and up further to the third floor. She followed the large stone corridor to the throne room where Princess Luna awaited her arrival. The throne room itself was decorated in dark blue lined with silver on the right side and crimson lined with gold on the left. Sunlight Shine walked up the center of the throne room, where an odd 2-sided rug ran the length of the room.

“Princess” Sunlight Shine said as she kneeled in front of the princess of the night, her always flowing otherworldly mane and tail resembling the night sky itself. “I have returned with my report”

“Good, please continue, we are eager to hear it.” Princess Luna replied.

“Yes, your highness. It appears that all is well within Equestria for the moment, the forest is calm and the citizens are happy.” Sunlight Shine reported dutifully.

“It is good to know that the land is peaceful, you have once again performed a service for all of Equestria by bringing us this report. I shall relay this to our sister when it is time for the dawn, please return to your regular duties for now.” The princess replied.

“Yes, your highness” Sunlight said with a bow as she turned and exited the throne room.

Sunlight exited the castle and flew back to the village that resided in the forest that surrounded the castle and her residence was even farther away than most. She flew over the foggy forest as the sun began to rise in the east and shine brightly on Equestria. She landed in front of a modest wooden home built with just enough space for her, her earth pony husband Steel Forge and her son Midnight Star who was a pegasus like herself. She stepped in the creaky doorway as quietly as possible and snuck into her bedroom, trying not to wake Steel Forge. Midnight was nearly an adult already, how fast he grew up always took her by surprise.

The sunset peeking in through her window woke her up. She walked out to the kitchen to find Steel Forge and Midnight already at the table.

“Mom, I’m joining the Lunarian defense force” Midnight blurted rather awkwardly

“Why would you want to join the Lunarian defense force?!” Sunlight asked angrily.

“We never know when another catastrophe might occur, and when one does, I want to help stop it. I want to protect people.” Midnight replied, sounding very practiced.

“Well, I’m not going to try and stop you, because I know I couldn’t if I tried. But I don’t approve of your decision” Sunlight replied coldly.

“Fine by me, you’ve never approved of anything I’ve done!” Midnight finished as he stormed off to his room.

Sunlight sighed and ate her breakfast in silence before leaving for work. This was almost a daily occurrence; they had fights about almost everything. She decided it was better to just leave him alone.

Three Years Later…

Midnight Star had become a high-ranking officer in the Lunarian Defense force, far outranking his mother, whom he had not talked to since the day he left his home. She never tried to contact him either, so it felt mutual. The princesses decided to found a new city to expand the kingdom; it came to be named Canterlot. In the last three years it had become a beacon of higher society and civilization compared to the smaller village in the forest that had been named Everfree Village after the forest itself. It was decided that Princess Celestia should rule over Canterlot and Princess Luna would rule over Everfree Village. However, most of the populace from Everfree had left to live in Canterlot; leaving the village nearly abandoned.

Midnight Star walked down the halls of Everfree Castle, his midnight blue coat fitting in well with the silver-lined blackness of the castles interior. His mane and tail were both white, but with stripes of ice blue on either side. His cutie mark was a shooting star, which he acquired after pulling out of a near deadly free fall and discovering how much he loved flying. He took his job very seriously, and wore his armor at all times. Most of his peers in the Lunarian Defense Force kept telling him he needed to loosen up and relax, but he would have none of it.

The princess had become very distant over the last year as everypony left to live in Canterlot. She often neglected her duties as the guardian of dreams because nopony appreciated her hard work. She would spend most of her time in her quarters and deny entry to anyone who approached.

The sound of approaching hooves set Midnight on edge, most sounds put him on edge, it was in his instincts. This had the effect of him seeming easily startled but in truth he was simply always on edge and unexplained sounds simply extenuated that fact. Out of the darkness of the castle corridor one of the message runners approached him.

“Please come quickly sir! Something is wrong with the princess!” the messenger shouted to him

The messenger barely had time to drop to the ground as Midnight flew over his head at incredible speed. He maneuvered the corridors at top speed easily since he knew them well. He reached the princesses quarters in moments to find a few guards gathered outside the door.

“What is the situation? What’s wrong with the princess?” he demanded of them.

“That’s just the thing sir, we don’t know. But she won’t answer anyone and we can’t get inside. Also there are strange noises every few minutes.” One of the guards answered.

“I’ll fly around and try to get in the window, you men stay here and guard this entrance.” He ordered and was received with a unanimous “Yes sir!”

Midnight ran down the hallway to the next door but it was locked so he went to the next door which went to his quarters and rushed inside. He opened the window and jumped out into a short nosedive before pulling up and flying to the princess’s balcony. The door into the princess’s room was shut but not locked so he pushed it open calmly, not wanting to startle the princess. He stepped inside and saw not his princess, but a large mare with a pitch black coat and a mane and tail like ever-flowing purple smoke.

“Who are you and where is our princess?!” he demanded of her. She turned around and faced him and he could see that she was also an alicorn.

“What do you mean? Do you not recognize your own princess?” the dark mare replied.

“Princess Luna? I’m sorry I did not recognize you, my lady” he said as he kneeled before her.

“Fear not, my faithful subject. We have changed much in such a short time. It is only natural for you to not recognize us.” She said with a voice that practically slithered.

“Thank you, my lady.” He said feeling embarrassed.

“There is much work to be done to prepare. Come with me” she said as she walked towards the door, unlocking it with magic and stepping into the hallway as the guards stood bewildered.

“Where are we going? What are we preparing for my lady?” he said as respectfully as possible.

“You will see soon enough, my faithful subject.” She said as she walked into the blackness of the corridor that led to the castle tower. Midnight chased after her to see what she meant, but he had a bad idea of what it might be. They reached the top of the tower, the full moon shining in a clear sky directly overhead. The princess stepped forward to look over the surrounding forest and began to cast a spell.

An inky blackness emanated from his princess’s magic. Her whites of her eyes turned black and dark smoke trails began trailing from them. He looked back and was shocked and terrified as the scene straight out of some terrible nightmare unfolded before him; the beautiful oak trees were becoming warped and dark. They started growing incredibly fast, easily overgrowing the meager homes in the forest. The dark magic covered the trees and became totally blackened, and dark creatures began terrorizing the remaining ponies.

The entirety of the forest had become dark and twisted; wolves made from the very timber of the forest began attacking anything that moved. Ponies were fleeing for their lives everywhere.

Midnight Star was so shocked he couldn’t speak; His princess had corrupted the entire forest with dark magic.

“Wh-Why would you do this?!” he asked of her

“Why? Because they’ve never appreciated what we’ve done for them, it’s time we got what we deserve!” She shouted at him.

“Get what you deserve how?!” Midnight asked, although he already knew the answer.

“We are going to defeat our sister and rule Equestria in eternal night!” she said with an evil laugh.

“I cannot let you do that; I’ll stop you if I have to.” Midnight retorted, taking a defensive stance atop the tower.

“You cannot dream of stopping US! Guards, restrain this traitor!” she roared. 5 guards with dark armor and bat wings descended down from above him. She had corrupted even her most faithful to serve her. She began concentrating on a spell as midnight struggled to fight off the guards, but he was too outnumbered. They knocked him nearly unconscious and held him up to present to their dark ruler.

“We am no longer little Princess Luna. We are now Nightmare Moon! And you will do well to remember how you were helpless to stop me.” She said with a laugh as she unleashed a bolt of energy at him. When it collided with his body he began a slow petrification.

“Why must you do this? Can’t you see that we were always loyal to you! That we always revered you!” he yelled with tears in his eyes.

“I’m sorry!” he yelled his last words as he became completely petrified.

“What a foolish little foal!” she said with a dark laugh.

Just then, a great orb of light appeared in the sky, illuminating the area like the sun itself. The orb descended to the ground in front of Nightmare Moon as she attempted to shield herself from the light with a great black wing. The orb dissipated and showed Princess Celestia and Sunlight Shine together, standing before the dark alicorn. Sunlight had been motivated by her son’s progression in his career and worked hard to get promoted up to guard commander. She spotted the petrified pony laying a short distance away. As she looked closer she could see that it was her son, Midnight Star. She rushed over and knocked out the guards that had ambushed him.

“Princess, is there anything you can do for my son?” she asked to Princess Celestia

“Not for the moment, we must deal with Nightmare Moon first. I am sorry” she princess replied somberly.

“No, you’re right, let us deal with her quickly then.” Sunlight said with increased vigor. As she returned to her princess’s side.

“I’ll need you to hold her off until I am ready, I’m afraid this will be the only way to stop her.” The princess whispered to her.

“I understand princess, I’m on it.” Sunlight replied and took off straight at the dark alicorn.

Princess Celestia kneeled down and began concentrating as Sunlight rushed at Nightmare Moon. Sunlight weaved back and forth to avoid any magic Nightmare might launch at her; she rushed up close to her and nearly flew past her, but spun around at the last moment and kicked Nightmare directly in her chest plate. Nightmare howled as she slid backwards from the impact.

“You shall pay dearly for that!!” Nightmare roared as she charged the golden pegasus. Nightmare began firing off powerful blasts of magic and rushing at her, trying to make her panic and get caught by one of the blasts. At the last moment as Sunlight was about to fly past her, she launched a blast of magic that knocked her across the floor. It shattered her armor and damaged her chest. She could feel the magic from the blast burning through her.

Nightmare moon began to approach her, but Princess Celestia stood up and shot a beam up into the sky, at the moon.

“You will not harm another of my subjects!” She declared at Nightmare, as great silver chains descended from the moon itself and wrapped around Nightmare. She howled with rage as the chains drug her up into the sky, all the way to the moon. The moon shone brightly then a dark silhouette appeared on the surface of the moon, reflecting the one who was imprisoned there.

Sunlight crawled over to her son’s petrified body, determined to spend what little time she had left, with him.

“I’m sorry son; I shouldn’t have driven you away like I did. Maybe if I hadn’t, then you wouldn’t be like this.” she said quietly to him as her eyes welled with tears.

“I am sorry, Sunlight. There is nothing I can do for him. The spell he is under can only be lifted by the one who cast it.” Princess Celestia said to her somberly.

“It’s alright princess, I know if there was something you could do, you would do it. You have an important job to do. You have a moon to set and a sun to rise and a country to rule. I’m going to lay here for a while and rest” Sunlight replied. She watched as the princess nodded and began the spell to change day and night. She watched as the sun began to rise in the east, and as the moon set in the west. Her vision faded and her heart stopped as the last shard of the moon disappeared into the horizon.

The next day in Canterlot, it was announced that there was a catastrophe in the forest that corrupted everything and made the forest unsafe to enter for anyone and that a much worse catastrophe was avoided and there would be a celebration held on the first day of summer, the Summer Sun Celebration. In celebration that the sun was able to rise again thanks to the heroic sacrifice of Sunlight Shine. She was commemorated with a great statue in Canterlot Town Square. Midnight Star was taken back to Canterlot and enshrined in the castle gardens. The area around the castle was known henceforth only as the Everfree Forest, and that it was too dangerous for anypony to enter.

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