memorychains | ► fourteenth sketch [Video]

► fourteenth sketch [Video]

[It's been a while since Namine has drawn on the network. And her pokemon feels the need to correct this. So the gear perches itself mysteriously held by one of her pokemon as she sketches out something from something she's been recently told.]

... the tale of Snow White. I wonder if there are any other... tales out there like this.

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Huh. That kind of looks like the stained glass windows in the palace back home. You're very skilled.

... As for stories, I know a few. I'm not all that good a storyteller, but if you want to hear one, I could try a hoof at it.

[Hoof. Ah, she's seen these ponies around.]

I was just curious to some of them, seems they're about some of the places in our own world. Can you describe me one?

Hmmm... Well, there's the story of Nightmare Moon. That's probably the one I could do the best at.

[Yes, because you were there for about the last half of the story, Twi.]

It started a long, long time ago, over a thousand years in fact. In the land of Equestria where I come from. Equestria was ruled by two princesses, the elder one who governed the sun and gave the ponies who lived with her daytime, and the younger one who controlled the moon and gave them night. The two sisters ruled in harmony for many years.

I'm willing to listen.

[And she does.]

... they could control the sun and moon? They... sound really powerful.

Indeed. They were the most powerful, magical ponies in all of Equestria. So long as they ruled together, nothing could harm the kingdom.

But something went wrong. The younger sister looked out at her kingdom, and she realized something. The ponies were playing and working all through the daytime, enjoying themselves greatly under the light of her sister's sun. But when the moon came out, and her nighttime came upon the land... they all went to sleep. Nopony stayed out to watch her beautiful night, which she worked so hard at.

[Seriously, nopony. Apparently the graveyard shift does not exist in Equestria.]

Bitterness and jealousy seeped into the younger sister's heart, and grew little by little, until one day the unthinkable happened. When it came time for her to lower the moon to make way for her sister's dawn... she refused to.

So they had no choice but to endure the Darkness?

[Guys, night life is fun, okay. Wow, ponies. Rude.]

Yes. She decided that if they wouldn't see the beauty of her night on their own, she would force them to, by any means necessary. Her sister tried to make her see reason, but it was far too late. Her emotions had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness... Nightmare Moon.

[Nightmare Moon = Heartless?]

In her anger and jealousy, Nightmare Moon declared that the ponies would never see the sun again... that the night would last forever.

[You gotta control that Darkness, pony. Otherwise it would consume you!]

... what else did her sister do?

Her sister was not strong enough to overcome Nightmare Moon on her own. She had only one choice. To unleash the most powerful magic known to ponykind. The legendary Elements of Harmony.

Though it grieved her to use such a mighty power against her sister, the princess of the sun knew that if left underneath the rule of Nightmare Moon, her beloved little ponies could not survive. She had no choice. With the Elements beside her, she sealed her sister away... trapped within the very moon she had once commanded. With her sister gone, she had to take control of the moon as well, and so she became ruler of both night and day.

But even as Nightmare Moon was sealed, a prophecy was made, though who it was who made it is a mystery lost to time. It said that a thousand years in the future, the stars would aid in her escape... and if not stopped again, she would bring about nighttime eternal.

... it's sort of similar to our own world. Were the people-- I'm sorry, I mean, the ponies in your world... scared of the night?

They were, yes, but that was only part of the problem. The plants we ponies grow for food need the energy of the sun to grow. Without it, they wither and die. And if the food died off, the ponies would have soon followed. Nightmare Moon, it seems, was too far gone to realize this, or so consumed with hate that it was what she wanted. I genuinely hope it was the former, but... there's no way to know for sure.

There are good thing about the night too. I suppose it really was unfair on her end. I feel sorry for her.

Well, you aren't the only one who feels that way, when it comes down to it.

Maybe that's why the story didn't end there.

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