> A Compilation of Pony Poetry
>  by TheKissoftheVoid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Mare in the Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
> Darkened Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It began with attempt to drown the sun
An irony as cold as glacial ice
It ended bleakly as oblivion
By terrible, unforseen sacrifice

The song of the single breath that was drawn
And followed by the stark silence of Dawn

Equestria was safe with little lost
But, right though Celestia's actions had been
She never knew the true terrible cost
Of the cruel event she had helped begin

Unwittingly Celestia was a pawn
In the grim twist of fate that darkened Dawn

Upon the moon the Nightmare had been bound
Trapped on the endless, grey-duned lunar shore
With helpless rage filling her heart she frowned
Ignorant of the budding life she bore

Mind still on vengeance, she thought only on
Her failed attempt to stop her sister's dawn.

Soon though she saw the signs she was with foal
Which filled Luna with strength as ne'er before
With iron will she wrested back control
And renewed by protective love she swore

"When my newborn foal's face I look upon
Nightmare will fade in the glow of my Dawn"

The spite of Nightmare proved a fortune fair
For, knowing she'd failed to bring low the sun
She'd filled her lungs with Equestrian air
A single breath in petty vengeance won

A breath that Luna now set hope upon
To breathe lasting light and warmth into Dawn

As her belly grew swollen Luna thrived
On magic, hope, and steel resolve alone
And when at last her birthing day arrived
Her heart, though eager, grew as hard as stone

For no matter the pain, the breath she'd drawn
Would not pass her lips unto lifting Dawn

In labor's pain, though wrenching agony
Each pang a dissonance both loud and long
She ignored her flesh's cacophony
Wearing visage grim, determined and strong

Through crawling hours, mind held fast upon
The tender, peaceful, warming touch of Dawn

At last upon the ageless sands of grey
With a crimson rush and a soundless thud
Came a foal colored as the blooming day
Upon a tide of pain, release, and blood

And though drained, twas air Luna pranced upon
As her loving gaze met the infant Dawn

Starlight glistening on her pink, still-wet coat
And silent coughs wracking her tiny frame
Until magic gently opened her throat
And warm air rushed in exhaled with her name

Her miniscule chest rose, her first breath drawn
And Luna's heart soared as the sun at dawn

As she'd held it, Luna'd the breath infused
With every trace of magic she could spare
In order it could be endlessly used
Til her foal grew beyond the need for air

But, by the dark plan of a foe thought gone
That breath had not the power to raise Dawn

Though buried, Nightmare had not been destroyed,
And deep in Luna's mind began to plot
Setting a trap Luna could not avoid
Through subtle whispers of misleading thought

Thus in secret Nightmare had slowly drawn
The vital magic from the breath of Dawn

At Dawn's first gasp Luna froze, petrified,
Her mind in the tumult of shock and fear
Until with all her lingering strength she cried
A cry she begged would reach Celestia's ear

A desperate plea that, the cold moon upon
The Sun Princess would save her sister's Dawn

But by the spell that Harmony had wrought
Nightmare's prison was unbreachabley sealed
And even Luna's desperate might could not
Drive her voice through the Elemental shield

Thus was she forced to look helplessly on
As the light slowly faded from her Dawn

Too soon the newborn's coat ebbed cold and pale
Her chest rose once more with that hollow breath
Then fell as she passed through the mortal veil
And sank into the still embrace of Death

And Luna, heart by disbelief withdrawn
Softly whispered "You were to be my Dawn. . ."

As the loss at last struck home Luna screamed
The foundations of her hope blown apart
A flood of shining tears down her face streamed
As Nightmare's laughter echoed in her heart

No crueler irony e'er did fate spawn
Than the triumph of Nightmare over Dawn

Thus with the fragments of her hope and joy
Engulfed in the crushing maw of despair
Luna was lost, her body but a toy
To be used by the cold hate of Nightmare

For the last spark of her great love was gone
Lost in darkness eternal with no Dawn
> The Northern Wastes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go not into the blight of the northern white
and the frigid wastes of old
Full of vicious beasts who will gladly feast
on a traveler's corpse gone cold
Most of all beware of the caverns there
'neath the wind and ice and snow
Where the Dark King sleeps, and the land still weeps
for the gem lost long ago

 Equestrian folk saying, circa Year 520 of Celestia's reign
> A Thestral Love Song
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sad, Romance, Slice-of-Life

Lover of mine, I fear I've dreamed
That our love was not as it seemed
We fell apart, two shattered hearts
And in my sleep I screamed

What, ask you, was my dream about?
It started with accusing shout
From angered eyes that demonized
Our love that was found out

Within a circle then we stood
Ringed by ponies in cloak and hood
Demanding we walk separately
Upon life's path for good

Protective love within me burned
I thought it equally returned
But to my grief and disbelief
Away from me you turned

I called your name, I begged you stay
You listened through a haze of grey
Then closed sad eyes, apologized
And, head down, walked away

I've not known peace since that dread eve
"Tis but a dream, your fears relieve!"
These words I sigh, a calming lie
I wish I could believe

For in thestrals night magics dwell
Given by moonlight, fair and fell
We sometimes see what may yet be
Our dreams can futures tell

Tis a gift from our Lady lost
To greed and heart grown cold as frost
Although she's gone, her gifts live on
In us, despite the cost

And so, my heart, I now contrive
Some way to keep our love alive
And bring request, one that will test
What our love can survive

You are my lady of the sky
Snow and lightning gleam in your eye
Heart fierce and wild, soul kind and mild
On wind's own wings you fly

I am your stallion of the dark
For Nightmare's shame, I bear the mark
But I'll still love my darling dove
Be fortune fair or stark

I know you hold your loved ones dear
And only ask for certain fear
That they'll despise the love we prize
And seek to break it sheer

And thus I ask, before we're found
and drums of racial outrage pound
Let us save heart, let us depart
To where hate makes no sound

A place without judgmental glare
From ignorant stallion and mare
And harmony is verily
Lived by all dwelling there

We'll soar upon the sun rays bright
And equally in ebon night
Through lightning cloud and thunder loud
To the limits of sight!

And tender times, beneath our sheet
Where hooves and hearts together beat
Where feather wing and leather ring
Our faces as lips meet

Our love cannot grow in this land
For, in hate of me, all shall stand
But it is ours, and by our powers
Our fate by us is planned

My love, let us together flee
Some place that we're forever free
For I mock death with every breath
So long as you're with me

You tell me no. . . tis no you say. . .
I. . . did not know you'd feel this way
Am I so slow? Please, help me know
Where my thoughts went astray

. . . How can you say that they were right?
We don't neglect, nor do we fight,
No secrets kept, happy tears wept
How have I earned such spite?

Of course together we belong!
It's been years, yet our love is strong
Whatever they, bigoted, say,
How can you think this wrong?

You say your feelings have not changed
But a wedding has been arranged
And to your kin, you've given in
Rather than be estranged?

Is our love so paltry to you
That you won't fight to see it through?
You'd rather stay, and him obey
Than to your heart be true?

I. . . suppose I thought we were more
And you past the need to explore
Whether twas I for whom you'd die,
As you have said before

If that be false. . . goodbye my dear
You'll not see me again, I fear
For if our hearts must stand apart
There's nothing for me here

I go to rejoin brethren
In the hidden caves of my kin
For all I feel can never heal
While you're my sight within

Save your platitudes and your plea
For any fool but you can see
You've betrayed us, cowardly, thus
Your heart is dead to me

And as into the rain I fly
I hear your sobbing, broken cry
The smell of tears and fulfilled fears
Follows me through the sky

Thus, in my secret heart I'll strive
To keep my foalish hope alive
That you might come, that we'll be one
That love we might revive

But I do not expect it, dove
For long as Luna's trapped above,
They've made it clear, my kind is fear
And fear cannot know love
> Shopone Love Song
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fair is the warm smile of friendship
And the rainbow rushing to sky's end
Fair is the orchard in autumn
And a heart pure as any gem

But She is fairer, She is dearer,
She, my heart's friend

Fair is the pure peal of laughter 
And embrace given by kind friend
Fair is the lake 'neath the moonlight
And the warmth that the sun does send

But She is fairer, She is dearer,
She, my heart's friend

She is fairer, more worth loving,
She, my heart's friend

> A Slave's Tear (A FoE Poem)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I watch her shed a single tear
Her face is stained, but it is clear
I see despair and hatred there
Beneath the sheath of fear

It glimmers once, reminding me
Of when our land was pure and free
Where we stood tall, where one and all
Lived blissful harmony

They came like the unyielding ground
Exploding forth without a sound
And what remains are only stains
Where once beauty was found

Now all of us are slaves and tools
For selfish, vain, and hateful fools
Our bodies used, our minds abused
As master laughs and drools

She slips away with hanging head
Uncaring of the gem she shed
The stain soon dries, to my sad eyes
Like hope; vanished and dead

> The Queen of Barren Hearts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the wastes the mare came bleakly
Full of anguish, tears, and more
One more victim of love's failures
Just like all who've come before

Through my caverns she came meekly
Plead her case before my throne
She wished to fill her empty heart
And I, to make her all my own

"Lonesome love will cut you deeply
A truth now I'm sure you trust
So discard you, be born anew
And abandon 'you' in us"
> Through Ashes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neath burning skies and ashen clouds
The grimace of a world chagrined
The phantoms of the quailing crowds
Still whisper on the hollow wind

A chorus to the counterpoint
Of hooves that beat forward and on
From out another darkless night
And unto one more shrouded dawn

Steady and hard they tread the path
And though each bears a different name
Be it Terror or Hope or Wrath
Each road is trodden just the same

But soon the beat of steps will go
And with them the course that was laid
And stillness will hang soft and low
And silence call to be obeyed

For in the limbo we have made
All things fade, all things fade