The Bells' Toll

On this 400^th anniversary of the Crimson Week, the Canterlot Archives is proud to present Poet Laureate Songbird’s most famous work. Written for Princess Celestia over the summer of 617 during her melancholic “Rump Regency,” it details the origins of that horrible week and was an attempt in Songbird’s own words “to be a balm on the wounds that continue to plague us today.”

Please enjoy this all-time classic from the Darkened Sun era of Equestria's literary canon.

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Starlight Nova

Starlight Nova #1 · Jul 30th, 2023 · 5 · ·

Written for Princess Celestia over the summer of 617 during her melancholic “Rump Regency,”

How can something with a name like THAT be sad?

oblivion2k

oblivion2k #2 · Jul 30th, 2023 · 3 · ·

Read this while listening to deathcore, it was an experience.

Rain_Flick3r

Rain_Flick3r #3 · Aug 1st, 2023 · · ·

Oooooo, I do love this poem.

Bicyclette

Bicyclette #4 · Sep 18th, 2023 · · ·

Love, hope, and kindness, His followers did sing
Is the heart of this Cure, so hear its great ring
It’s but a simple magic, most ordinary

aww that does sound like the good ol’ Magic of Friendship so far!

The Lordmages fought hard, to their dying breath
For the world would burn if the ringing cured death
But their fate seemed sealed, the Cure now primary

ooh, the Cure being undeath?

He thought he could tame it, he thought he could win
Pride, after all, is ponykind’s greatest sin
He imagined himself as a true visionary
When the bells tolled anew for the Apothecary

that is true, a lot of pony problems do seem to originate in that

He tempted the Sun with powers perverse
For immortality is nothing but a tragic curse
But she swept him aside, like a small wood fairy
When the bells tolled anew for the Apothecary

Celestia W

The cocky among you may smirk and be smarmy
This is only a poem, its words cannot harm me.
This poet is mad, she thinks repetition is scary?
When the bells again toll for the Apothecary.

the repeated line carrying into the thoughts of the cocky among us is really quite something

The Sun will sear and the Guard will bleed
But its magic will never bow nor heed
No mage or knight can hope to parry
When the bells again toll for the Apothecary

so much for simply parrying the undead

Ignore the screams, drown out the pleas
You must only do one thing and flee
Escape the city to your sanctuary
When the bells again toll for the Apothecary

a sage warning or an induction of panic?

It’s slumbering now, but it will return
And once it does the whole world will burn
So stay sharp and alert, the ringing will vary
When the bells again toll for the Apothecary

and who knows just how many previously vanquished Equestria-ending threats still remain just waiting to be revived again? Celestia’s long reign sure seems to be chock-full of those, especially given how many natural cycles of civilizational collapse and rebirth that it spans. thank you for writing!

FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #5 · Sep 18th, 2023 · 1 · ·

One could make a tasteless joke about Celestia’s Rump Regency, and I imagine many Canterlot academics have over the centuries.

Overall, this is a great bit of narrative verse, but the meter is inconsistent at times. Reading it aloud reveals the iffy spots. Still, no mean undertaking here, and a haunting tale besides. As horror it arguably leaves too much to the imagination, but there’s incredible dramatic heft. Thank you for it.

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