I'm on deviantart now! Check me out! /)^.^(\

This story is modeled heavily after "The Lady of Shalott."

For Jade, my little sister who I hope to meet again someday.

For Patricia, because she's the only reason I live and breathe today.

For Adam, who is almost like my clone, and therefore a great person.

Also for Sylvester, my deceased house cat. I really miss him.

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Some ponies look at stories as a means of escaping life,

going to a world holding love and kindness, not hate and strife.

Upon finishing these stories, our respite is severed by a knife;

This knife is called reality, and it is not pleasant, believe it or not.

The following is a tale less pleasant, one that is much less likely

to lift your spirits or brighten your day, but the ending is happy.

Read on, my fellow Equestrians, and learn of our past; It is quite sappy.

This is the Epic of Canterlot...

...Equestria today is peaceful; This you cannot deny.

Unicorns and earth ponies coexist below the graceful pegasi.

The land is still wrought with harmony, and few understand why:

A sacrifice from our Celestia, who reigns from Canterlot.

The goddess of the sun has lived for untold centuries,

raising generation after generation of kind, thriving, ponies.

Each wave of life is born without hate or hostilities,

and everypony looks out for one another, and they love their friends a lot.

The Equestrian people thrive while the goddess brings the day.

Her fiery orb shines down on the world, and everything is okay.

When Nightmare Moon was sealed, all the land's troubles went away.

The Princess remembers; Harmony did not always thrive, believe it or not.

Before our goddes took over the land of love,

there was war, famine, and sickness, and it came from the sky above.

The land was inflicted by a malady whose nature was not known of;

The Plague from the Stars turned her people against Canterlot.

They descended as luminous orbs and their colors lit up the night.

Ponies from everywhere came out to see if their eyes were right;

Indeed, a star had shattered, dusting Equestria with its waning cosmic light.

Some refused to look; In the hearts of the others, chaos was wrought.

The ponies who stayed inside kept their wits and maintained their sanity

while the rest became wild and strange; They all cackled maniacally.

They danced in the streets, only seeing those who were inflicted by the malady.

This was their final night of joy; They were dying inside, believe it or not.

Without warning, all happineness was gone, leaving ponies who were sad,

leaving angry earth ponies, sickly pegasi, and unicorns who had gone mad.

Since that woeful day, no sickness more terrible has ever been had.

Few remember the Plague from the stars, but Celestia has not forgot.

For day after day, the earth ponies succumbed to their pall of depression.

The unicorns could do nothing to stop the Plague's dark progression.

Instead, they turned their magic to the sky, hoping to cure the infection.

Not even Chaos or Disharmony could work with such a lack of thought.

The Plague festered, and even the fauna were affected,

beavers built dams across the earth, their objectives undirected.

What happened next was horrid, and none of it was expected:

Equestria itself turned against Celestia and besieged good Canterlot.

The Princess was blamed, and no longer could she save her subjects.

She could not afford to stand idly by as their anger churns and collects.

She tried one last time; She spoke to everypony, her efforts having no effects.

The unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi marched on Canterlot.

There was naught that she could do; Even after so many years

of caring for these ponies, their emotions she could not steer.

Celestia had to do what hurt her so much; To this day, she still sheds tears.

The sun goddess rose from her throne to defend Canterlot.

The unicorns wielded dark magic, hurling their might against the city walls,

making way for earth ponies, who charged, roaring with demented calls.

The pegasi rose in numbers that blocked out the sky, having no regard at all

for their friends or their own lives; This day, Celestia would stand for Canterlot.

The Princess rose high in the sky, and she looked down in dismay.

Her subjects would destroy the world if they were allowed to have their way.

Celestia recognized every face, every member of the pony race.

She had no choice; She had to fight, be it bearable or not.

Leagues of ponies came running with lust and hatred in their eyes.

Unicorns cast dark magic, and the pegasi blotted out the skies.

Celestia waited no longer; Her magic would arise:

She would purge the whole of Canterlot.

The Princess kept her wit, and she grimaced as her horn flared.

Still they charged toward her; Not a single pony was scared.

Their thoughtlessness and their pointless rage was shared.

For the first time in years, she unleashed her arcane fury, and no lesson was taught.

The legions of ponies fell before their miserable monarch; She shed tears of agony.

She longed to stop the fighting, to end the slaughter, but she stood firm for harmony.

The battle lasted only minutes, and their numbers dropped drastically.

The Mad Ones had been slain, their husks littering Canterlot...

...Slowly, over many years, a few of the races rose to outlive the last,

eager to weave a world brighter than this dark, morbid past.

Celestia wiped their memories of that day, and not a question was asked.

Harmony had been restored; Peace had returned to Canterlot.

The remaining ponies multiplied, and families were again born,

leading happy, prosperous lives under their sun goddess, forlorn.

She did the right thing, but forever her heart would be torn.

For those who fell in Canterlot.

The goddess we know lives happily today,

living immortally, watching the days pass away.

She remembers what she did, and without regret.

It was a day of her life that she shall not soon forget.

Many good ponies were slain upon that day,

slain by the Princess to take their pain away.

From then on, she has done her best, ruling from Canterlot.

The alicorn sisters watch over their land

and see the families lead lives so grand.

Happiness reigns, and smiles hold the faces

of each and every member of all the pony races.

Slowly, surely, they ponies are rising again

to be the great pony people that they have always been.

In the coming centuries, many lessons of friendship will be taught.

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This did NOT turn out the way I expected, but I don't really feel like editing it... So, I'll write an explanation of the story in case anything didn't make sense.

1. Everything's good.

2. Everypony goes crazy.

3. Princess Celestia tries to save them.

4. Everypony blames the Princess and attacks Canterlot.

5. Celestia has no choice but to exterminate the crazy ponies.

6. Ponies who weren't crazy have babies whose descendants we read about in fan fictions today.

I'm not hoping for this to get anywhere near as popular as my last story, and as such, I'll be writing another one which I hope to be better than the last one.

Thank you, my readers... So much. /)