> The Changing of the Guard > by 2006midnight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Downfall of Sun and Moon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rays of fire reach up into the sky Raging inferno reaching for domination Reaching to overtake the serenity of the shadows Of the moon and stars A white alicorn princess, horn alight with power Watches the skies battle for control Wishing, hoping, dreaming That this could be the day The day her soul’s deepest desire could be fulfilled The night her biggest mistake could be rectified The dawn of the end of her never-ending heartache The twilight of her era of self-induced agony Resolute she stands As she has always stood Each and every day, twice a day As she is forced to relive her worst memory The memory of the night she lost her entire world Yet to the ponies of Equestria, all she had lost was one pony A pony they feared and ignored all she had tried to do A pony they had driven to become a monster Once a princess like the one whom they worship so Albeit a darker color and the ruler of the darker dominion of life Still only a pony who wished to be treated equally And was instead shunned by all Made out to be somepony she was not At least, not who she was at the start For as time passed, the hatred only grew Driving her to the brink of insanity Could she have been helped? Been saved from herself? Nopony shall ever know For the one she called a sister Did nothing to help the younger Choosing only to watch from the sidelines As the one she claimed to love more than anypony else Descended farther and farther Into the depths of darkness and dementia Never making a move until it was too late The damage was already done The pony she had called a sister was gone Consumed by dark forces beyond her knowledge A nightmare now stood before her In the place where her dearest sister had once been “Luna!” she had cried, “Why?” Why had this happened? The dark mare before her only laughed Laughed at her elder sister’s naivety At her blindness, her refusal to accept what had occurred Her own aura had cast a fog over her younger sister’s reality The elder mare had shone too brightly for far too long By the time she understood, it was too late Too late for a savior to emerge Only one option remained open to her Though she knew she had no choice It was with a heavy heart that the elder lit her horn With the Elements of Harmony to aid her, she knew Knew there was no way she could lose And yet, a part of her A fraction of her heart wished that she would To fail would mean that she wouldn’t have to lose her sister But, could the mare she faced really be considered her sister? The little sister she loved would never have become a monster Her dearest Luna would never have turned against her Would never have called herself Nightmare Moon Or…or would she? Tears had parted her pristine white fur Her heart had split in two, for now, Now she could truly see, See what she had forced the mare she loved most to do But it was too late to even try to fix her mistake The biggest mistake of her long life For she had already cast the spell Already doomed her sister; not a monster, but her baby sister Her sister was gone Gone for a thousand years And she would be alone Alone at the head of all Equestria How would she manage? The prospect was daunting To rule alone for so long… Could she even do it? Could she hold together Equestria for that long? Nearly three hundred years it had been Equestria was stronger than ever, and yet Celestia? What was she? As she stands on her balcony Watching the sun rise to overtake what had once been Luna’s She struggles to keep her composure To keep the mask in place To the ponies of Equestria, Celestia was perfect, a Goddess, if you will But to her, on the inside, She knew she was the exact opposite So long had she been alive So many cycles of life had she seen Nopony else noticed them Those changes of the guard But ever since that one fateful night Celestia’s eyes had been opened Opened to all the wonders of the world She only wished her little sister could see them too Every second, every minute, every hour Time moved forward Reaching for another alteration Another switching of the guard The determined dawn rose up from the ashes Covering the remaining shadows of the night Shedding light on all of Equestria Letting Celestia see clearly once again This was truly her domain now She was meant to rule over this Lifting her head to the sky She reveled in the thin whisper of the wind Barely, needlessly, wondrously, She ended the sunrise with a flourish The stray shafts of sunlight illuminating all that she loved The entirety of Equestria was hers once more Though had it really ever left her control? As much as she wishes that the night was not hers The moment she cast that spell, all those years ago She had ensured that her shift would be constant Constant for a thousand years A thousand days and nights she must own For there was nopony else who could She was the sole princess in Equestria The soft morning breeze blew serenely around her Gently caressing her fur Her mane floating in its grasp To anypony looking, she was the epitome of beauty Only Celestia herself could feel the truth A feeling so crystal clear That feeling of heartbreak and regret Was doomed to stay with her for many more years She would endure the agony in silence though For it was nopony’s fault but her own If her sister must suffer for a thousand years Then so would she Celestia’s eyes gleamed in vibrant light Her light She might be forced to rule over the night, but It was never and will never be truly hers Seven hundred more years Seven centuries she had left Only then could her dearest Luna return Only then would the guard finally change once again.