Luna's Reply

UPDATE

Thanks to the talented MsIkarishipper, this alternate version of the song has been recorded and posted on youtube. Visit this link and offer her some kudos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=waPvh7…

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If you've been checking my favorites box recently (for whatever reason), you'll probably know I'm a brony. I entered the fandom last year after I saw the multitudinous output of the fan community; I found the main characters relateable and complex, and these and several other factors have led me back to writing. None of my output between then and now will likely be posted soon, if you were looking forward to that: almost everything I've written is part of one long prose story or another. I've more or less quit writing poetry.

This piece, of course, would be an exception to that. The reason I wrote this is because this song, Ponyphonic's "Lullaby for a Princess", would not leave my head: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4tyvJ…

I suppose I should explain, for the benefit of the laymen. (If you're already a fan, skip this paragraph, and maybe even the next one; you know all this already.) The world of MLP:FiM, Equestria, is resided over by two immortal, goddess-like figures who move and govern the celestial bodies: Princess Celestia, associated with the sun and daytime, and Princess Luna, associated with the moon and night. A thousand years prior to the current timeline of Friendship is Magic, Luna, disheartened by the fact that none of the populace stayed awake to enjoy her night (and likely deeply depressed), allowed her bitter feelings to consume her and became Nightmare Moon, vowing to never let the sun rise again. Celestia met her corrupted sister in battle, and banished her to the moon using artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. The two sisters had once wielded them to restore order to the world, but their bonds now broken, the Elements became depowered. The first two episodes of Friendship is Magic deal with the return of Nightmare Moon, and the efforts of our six protagonists to defeat this threat and restore Luna to her uncorrupted state.

The Elements of Harmony, of course, require their wielders to share close bonds with each other. Celestia and Luna were no different, and many fans would agree that such a sundering of their bonds as had occurred a thousand years ago in the story must have been devastating to Celestia. "Lullaby for a Princess" captures and records the emotions of the solar princess as she sings to her distant, banished sister, though Celestia can only hope Luna would be able to feel the things she conveys in her words, and find some measure of peace.

Which brings us to the lyrics you now have in front of you. In tribute to the people behind Ponyphonic, I wrote an alternate set of lyrics to "Lullaby for a Princess", from Luna's voice; Celestia's song did indeed reach the lunar princess, and this is her reply.

The way I interpreted Luna's character might be slightly different from what you're used to if you're a fan. I see Luna as someone who understands what rulers must do in the governance of their country, who knows that sometimes the harsh decisions must be made; while it was her unbearable emotional isolation and withdrawal that made her lash out at everything around her, deep down she understands that her outburst should not have occurred, and that her banishment is harsh but just--she does not want Celestia to feel guilty about what had happened, and is willing to bear the burden of her crime by herself. Celestia, of course, loves her far too much to let her suffer alone.

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Edit: Another clarification I should perhaps add is my thoughts on how Luna's corruption works. She was obviously in Nightmare Moon mode when she was first released from banishment, though she would have been lucid and repentant when she made her reply to Celestia. Drawing from real-life experiences with depression, I interpret her as being in a constant internal struggle: some days, resentment and anger drive her mad, and the darker side of her dominates her. On days like these she stares with baleful eyes onto Equestria, wishing for destruction. Some days, she understands why everything is the way it is, and rationalizes her situation while remaining emotionally distant from it. Some days, she just wants to go home, but she knows she can't because she must be punished--which makes her mind spiral between guilt, repentance, and despair. Her state of mind was a mix of the last two when she composed this reply.

When the magic enforcing her banishment broke, some of Luna's emotional restraint may have broken as well, leading to her going Nightmare Moon mode. I suspect, though, that Luna did not lose all of her mind to resentment, and may have been sabotaging herself from the inside in her second attempt to bring the world to eternal night, ending with the Elements giving her a jolt out of her negative emotional cycle in addition to purging her of any external dark influences. Much of her subsequent absence from the show was spent in catching up to the times (to a degree) and getting much-needed emotional healing. All of this, though, is neither here nor there.

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I tried my best to match the rhythm and meter of the original song. Some lines may not fit perfectly, but should still flow well enough over the music. Regardless, edits may be forthcoming.

"Lullaby for a Princess" was made by Ponyphonic, and performed by Christina Larson.
MLP:FiM belongs to and .