Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and controlled all the land with their fearsome power. After all, the eldest had dominion over the sun, and could bring forth the most scorching droughts and terrible fires, while the younger ruled the moon and prowled the secret realm of dreams. Thus, all the different types of ponies had no choice but to bow before them, and any rebellion was easily crushed.

But as anyone knows, no system where power is shared can truly be strong or lasting. in time, the younger sister became confused by the phantoms she saw in dreams, and began to doubt her own right to rule. She first thought, then spoke, of a most heretical idea - that the ponies be allowed to govern themselves, and merely pay for the raising of the sun and moon with an annual tribute.

Of course, by showing such weakness as caring for her subjects wishes, she had obviously proven herself unworthy to reign, and her sister naturally moved to destroy her and take the whole land for herself. But said weakness had not robbed all her cunning, and even though she should have been no match, the Traitor Princess was able to hold her own against her sister for a time. Of course, the one certain in her own right to command all would have surely prevailed - but not before the spirit of rebellion was kindled across the land. She needed to make a decisive end of it - an example to all who would dare to follow in her sister's hoofsteps.

Reluctantly (for using any power not her own might also be mistaken as a sign of weakness), the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Tyranny. She intended to use her magic to either reduce her sister to a powerless state, or destroy her outright. And in other books you may have read that she did so - incinerated her with such force that the moon itself was scorched. But that was but the tale told - the true secret is written here, and be warned, to know it is to be marked for death.

The moon had always been the Traitor Princess's domain, and as she felt the power of the Elements descending on her there, she was able to use her bond with the satellite to withstand their power. Indeed, she stole some of it, and used it to reforge the lunar sphere into her own fortress, where she could rest and regain her strength.

Even now, she likely lies there, spying on ponies' dreams and planting seeds of rebellion against Her Most Glorious Majesty. And it is said by some that her last words wore a promise to return "a thousand years hence". Surely to do so would be to face her doom - but then, that was how it seemed the first time. So even if the Empress would have her mistake forgotten, I feel I must leave this record - so that perhaps somepony will be ready, if the worst comes to pass...

Midnight Sparkle looked up from the heretical text that she had put quite some effort into obtaining without the knowledge of her mistress, the Empress Celestia. "Well now. Isn't that interesting..."

(Comment if interested! Crossposted on Dark!)

6960945
Interesting idea.
I might want to play with this.

6961341
Feel free to ask questions, give suggestions and take inspiration!

6961355
It was a wonderful day in Ponyville. The ravens croaked as they pecked at the dead ponies in golden cages that were hung all around the market. The magic in the sun-forged iron enhanced the heat of the sun turning each cage into small ovens. So the ravens were getting a nice hot meal. A side effect was that no pony needed to smell wet rotten flesh, just dry rot. Midnight Sparkle automatically thought about praising the Ministry of Freedom for their tireless efforts to keep all ponies free.

There were a few live prisoners that gasped and waited for death, but Midnight just gave them the briefest of glances. Such was the fate of those that tried to resist the most beneficent Celestia.

6961781
Very in-tone for this setting! (At least as long as Midnight's thoughts are read with biting sarcasm.)

An outline of what follows from the above...

Midnight Sparkle returns to her tower sanctum and begins searching for any reference to the Elements of Tyranny and the Traitor Princess. She has just found one pointing towards the old Everwild castle when her abused dragon slave Spike brings a sealed letter from the Empress detailing a mission for Midnight. After reading (and incinerating) it, Midnight announces that she has been instructed to leave at once to oversee the Celestial Tribute celebrations in... pay no attention to her checking that map... the garrison town of Ponyville!

Spike has learned the hard way not to ask questions, so he doesn't ask about that or why they're taking a private air taxi rather than an Imperial chariot. No sooner than they arrive, however, her Imperial apprentice status is "accidentally" revealed to the whole town square by a sullen-looking pink earthpony slave - and in a way that Midnight can't even justifiably punish her! (Not that she usually needs a reason, but she was trying to keep a low profile...)

Subtlety off the table, a slightly more nervous-seeming Midnight begins her "official task" of checking the Tribute preparations. Her first stop is Blood Apple Acres, Empire-wide source of the titular delicacies. And the first thing she sees there is the eldest daughter of the household, Applejack, whipping one of her many field slaves bloody while giving an utterly-sincere sounding explanation of how it's all their own fault for not picking enough apples. The fact that she admits to Midnight that this was total hogwash as soon as the slave has returned to work sets the bar for how much the unicorn trusts her follow-up report on the preparations for the Tribute feast. But really, she's more interested in finding out about local history - and there are plenty of Apples around to ask over lunch.

Leaving the farm, Midnight is virtually assaulted by the head of the local militia, Rainbow Dash, on grounds of being a "suspicious character" (She missed the whole "Imperial apprentice" thing.) After teaching the insolent pegasus a lesson about her power, Midnight checks that she has enough prisoners saved up for the execution portion of the Tribute before ridiculing her dream of ever becoming a Terrorbolt - the Empress's elite shock troops - and stalking off in something of a huff.

Through all this Spike has just been trudging along at his mistress's side, nabbing leftover bits of lunch and snickering mentally (not out loud) at her run-in with Rainbow. But when they arrive at the main tribute site, he is actually moved by something other than the fear of punishment for once - the sight of the unicorn mare Rarity exactingly directing slaves in the decorating of the stage. Seeing her waving a crop about and hearing her talk only about how to inflate her fee while spending as little as possible ignited a perverse and impossible lust in his draconic heart. Impossible because he was a mere slave and she virtually a goddess - and perverse because the idea of him rising had been so far beaten out of him that the only way he can see to close that agonising gap is for her to fall to slavery hereself. From that point, his secret goal is to see her brought as low as he is - her brilliant white coat dragged in the mud until he can forget how unworthy he is of her.

Of course while all this is going on silently in his head, Rarity catches sight of Midnight and (correctly) marks her as very wealthy. And being a mare who sees the wealth of others as merely taking a break on it's journey to her own coffers, she immediately leaves the decorating work to her slaves (who know better than to do less than perfectly) and focuses entirely on selling the visitor from Canterlot luxurious-yet-still-overpriced goods. And those are with the "Imperial apprentice who could have a mere clothier skinned if she felt like it" discount! Amazingly,she throws in a couple of tips for free - where to find the mare handling the other half of the tribute feast and that no sensible pony would want to.

But it's an excuse to scope out the edge of the Everwild Forest, so Midnight drags Spike off that way anyway. She didn't actually plan to run into Fluttershy, but she happened upon the mare and her hunting beasts hauling their latest kills for the Tribute feast out of the forest and agreed to help with the butchering in exchange for information on the interior. What Fluttershy was really interested in, though - what got her to say more than a few taciturn words - was how Midnight had managed to break a dragon slave, which should by all rights be impossible given their fearsome nature and formidable bodies. At first Midnight though this interest was a little strange, as the pegasus could hardly replicate her magic-heavy methods herself, but she soon came to realise that what her conversation partner was really after was the loving description of the pain she had inflicted as part of the process. It was also about that point where she realised that the three strange pink lines that formed the mare's cutie mark were actually butterflies.