Friendship is Magic: How it all Began

by Ryebuck Coppercap

Prologue II: A Brave Face, A Charred Sun

~ ~

"NOOOOOO!" thy shriek of pain reverberated across the whole castle.

I breathed heavily, taking in the eerie silence left afterwards. The world was silent, as if nothing had transpired. The leaves rustled and the wind whistled, refusing to acknowledge the battle that just happened.

In the ruins of our home, lost in both gaze and thought, I sat. My eyes were over the elements, those cursed relics that never worked how one wanted them to. They were supposed to bring harmony, were they not?

My vision blurred. "Oh Luna, how can I have sent thee away?"

As I looked upon the moon, with tears across my face, I saw thy silhouette. My thoughts ruminated on our last conversation. Thou saidst thou wert sorry, but the fault was mine, not thine. I should have been a better sister, I should have seen thy jealousy —but nay, I was foalish and blind to thy pain.

With a heavy heart and a mewling sob, the sun rose once again: it pained me to lower thy moon.

---

The nobles bickered as always, but I wasn't listening: my heart was not in here.

After court finished, I went to check with the Arcanum. Mages rushed to and fro, some trying to reactivate the elements and others experimenting with unbanishment spells. It was no use.

Sleep did not come to me that night.

---

I took my quill in trembling golden magic and wrote to thee again.

My dearest sister,

Still not one thing we've yet to try has been able to release thee of thy prison. Wherefore did those wretched elements have to banish thee to the moon? Why not petrification, where I could have let thee free again, or better yet, why not clean thy corruption? Those crooked rocks took thee away!

I struck through the last sentence and started anew.

Nay. It wasn't the fault of the elements, it was mine. I should have found another avenue, I should have reasoned with thee. Oh, how I crave to see thee again...

I miss thy constant jests and pranks; thine endless, boundless wit. I miss our meals together, and I miss thy night sky: mine will never be as beautiful as thine.

Forgive me, and I hope to see thee again.

With love, Tia

---

I gazed upon the sky as I sung to the silent night, hoping thou could hear me.

Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
Rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space

Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
Forgive me for being so blind

Only the wind answered.

---

My birthday came again.

Once, it was a day of joy; but having to banish thee last year on the same day made it feel painful.

---

Our little ponies told stories in Nightmare Night, but none was truer than yours.

Once did a pony who shone like the sun
Look out on her kingdom and sigh
She smiled and said, "Surely, there is no pony
So lovely and so well beloved as I"

So great was her reign and so brilliant her glory
That long was the shadow she cast
Which fell dark upon the young sister she loved
And grew only darker as days and nights passed

Soon did that pony take notice that others
Did not give her sister her due
And neither had she loved her as she deserved
She watched as her sister's unhappiness grew

I made sure thou are remembered well.

---

"Over nine hundred winters, Cadance, and I miss her more than ever," was what I said to my niece, who was holding my trembling form.

The Crystal Mirror stood there; reminding me of both my biggest failures.

I wouldn't fail again.

---

I watched the filly bounce in joy.

I hope someday to be as happy as her, I hope someday I see your smile again.

Sleep well, Lulu.

---

A thousand years... A thousand years since I've seen you. Are you ever coming back, Luna?

Incoming mail interrupted both my meal and my musings.

My dearest teacher,

My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that your sister Luna is about to return to Equestria as Nightmare Moon, and bring with her eternal night! It is imper Something must be done to make sure she is cleansed of The Nightmare's corruption so her plan does not come to frooi true. I await your quick response.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

I penned my response and sighed. I hope you're right, Twilight; I hope you're right.

Author's Note:

So here's the promised second chapter, a bit later than I hoped for though

I'm not quite satisfied with the way it turned out, so any criticism is appreciated. It was quite a doozy to write, but also quite fun! I tried to convey Celestia's thousand year solitude in a series of vignettes that show her day to day life, but I think it could be heavily improved upon.

In other news, I turned 21 last week and I'm starting uni again next Monday, which doesn't really change much tbh since even with the time I had due to the holidays I didn't write that much

Thanks for reading, and see you next time folks!

---

Lyrics to Lullaby for a Princess by ponyphonic used under their guidelines.

The use of Celestia's Cutie Mark to indicate her narration is inspired by Never Alone by SoloBrony, with the Cutie Mark itself being vectorized by BlackGryph0n.

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Haven't read it yet, but is Spike gonna be treated better than in the show?
Since the show had a nasty habit of shafting him since he's not allowed to be in the Mane 6's bond because of not being an Element Bearer

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

11570668
I'm planning on it! For this AU I plan to have Twilight and Spike have a big sister, younger brother relationship more like the last seasons of FiM where they stopped treating Spike as the butt-monkey of the group.

That doesn't mean bad things can't happen to Spike, but instead of, "haha, funny lizard man squished by door opening, injury is funny," he'll be treated with respect

[nightshroud96]

11570677
He won't get excluded from the "chosen ones" Mane 6 then?

[Ryebuck Coppercap]

11570695
I honestly don't know yet, as I'm making the AU up as I go. What I do know is that he will have an important B plot in this story while the girls are in the everfree forest instead of just disappearing until Luna's party, and in the future I plan to have him often join the Crusader's shenanigans

[nightshroud96]

11570711
Ok.

Wonder if a 7th Element thing happens