The story of Nightmare Moon
It was cold and dark, unlike anything that would be on earth. The ground was gray and covered in rocks and dust. Lying on the ground was a single blue pony; Luna.
She started to regain consciousness, but had no idea where she was. All she could see was the gray rocks and dust going on for miles. Where am I? She thought to herself. What happened?
She got up and began to wonder around. As she was walking about, she looked up and could not believe what her eyes were showing her. It was earth.
"How is this possible?" she now was speaking to herself.
Starring at the earth, she finally managed to pull her eyes away and continue walking. She was walking for no more than ten minutes when she stumbled on something that was buried in the dust. Using her magic, she pulled it up and shook all of the dust off. It was her crown. She looked at it for a few seconds, and then placed it back on her head.
She looked back up, not expecting to see anything more. But she was wrong. She saw one more thing that was wedged into the ground. Luna used her magic once more to pull it up. It was something that looked like it would fit on the hoof of a pony, maybe for armor. It went from the bottom of the hoof to what she figured would be the knee.
"Could this be mine as well?" she couldn't help but think to herself.
She set it straight up and down in front of her. It looked a little bigger, but she slowly put her hoof in to compare. When she touched it, she began to remember something. She stared wide-eyed as words came into her mind that sounded like it was a song. After that, she began to fall back into her memories.
I am the one who brings eternal night
I cause all your fear and then feed on your fright
I am the one who will bring you your nightmare
In quick time to come so you better prepare
It was almost time to raise the moon. All Luna had to do was wait for her sister to lower the sun in a few hours. She was standing on the deck outside her room watching everypony outside. They enjoyed the time of day. When Luna raised the moon for nighttime, they would all go inside. It was all just a part of the normal routine. Luna was really the only one who ever stayed up during the night.
She stepped off the deck and went back into her room.
"Luna," she heard a voice coming from behind the closed door. "Tis almost time for dinner."
"Very well."
Luna closed the door to the deck, and then opened her bedroom door. Her older sister, Celestia, was standing on the other side.
"Let us go," Luna said.
The two of them were walking down the halls in silence. Luna was lost in her thoughts, as Celestia was paying more attention to the paintings on the walls. Although she saw them almost daily, she had to do something to pass the time.
"Celestia," Luna finally said.
"Yes Luna?"
"I cannot help but think, what is it like to be awake during the day?"
"What by that do you mean? You are awake right now, are you not?"
"Yes, but responsibility to awaken a few hours before I raise the moon. What I mean is what is it like to be awake during daytime. During the time of which I slumber."
"I would assume not much different from your night," Celestia responded.
"And just what is that supposed to mean? The night is dark while the daytime is not. People are awake during the daytime, while they slumber during the night," Luna explained to her sister.
Not knowing how to answer, she asked Luna the same thing.
"Well, what is it like being up during the night?"
Luna looked down for a while before responding.
"Lonely. There is no one to talk to. Throughout the whole castle I am the only one awake. The only thing I can do is wonder aimlessly throughout the halls. I might see a guard or two, but no one else," she said.
Celestia said nothing more. They continued walking and a few seconds they arrived at the dining hall. Throughout dinner, Luna said nothing. Celestia, however, was as she normally was. Not hesitating to talk to the other princes and princesses.
"Celestia," Luna tried to get her sister's attention.
"Yes, Luna?"
"I am going to leave now. I have some things that I need to do."
"Is something wrong, Luna?" Celestia asked.
"No. I just need to get some things dealt with. Nothing more," Luna reassured.
"That is it?" Luna asked to herself as the flashback faded away. "Well, if this is mine, then the other three must be here somewhere too. If I can find the rest of them, maybe it will give me back the rest of the memories."
She kept that piece with her, and continued to look for the rest of them. She looked far and wide, but saw nothing. Just the same gray rocks going on for miles. At this point, she at least knew that she was indeed on the moon.
When she wasn't out looking for more of the armor, she was inside a cave that she made. Days passed. Those days turned into years.
The princess was looking for the rest of the armor, when she began to wonder if her family or the guards in Canterlot or the citizens forgot about her. She stopped, for the very thought of not seeing them brought tears to her eyes. She fell to her knees not wanting to get up.
Just when she had lost all hope in finding the rest of the armor, she looked up and saw another hoof piece buried in the lunar dust. Quickly getting up, she ran over to the piece of armor and shook all the dust off.
"If this works, maybe I can find out what happened and get back to Equestria!" she exclaimed to herself.
She put her hoof on the armor piece, and again, she stared wide-eyed as another part of the song came into her head. After the song, the memories crept their way in as they did years before.
Hide in your houses and cover in fear
For when I get close all you ponies shall hear
I am your ruler this is what I've to say
Nighttime's eternal there is no more day
Luna was in her room. She was beginning to think about the ponies and how they slept through her night.
"Why?" she asked herself. "Why does everypony sleep through the night that I bring them? Do they not appreciate me? Is my sister's daytime simply just better?"
She paused and began to think some more.
"Or maybe… Maybe my sister meant for it to be this way. Maybe she porously did this to me!"
Angry, Luna opened up a closet with wooden doors. Inside was a suit of armor. It was made just for her when she was older. She reached her hoof out, but had to resist. She wanted ponies to appreciate her night, but she did not want it to be like that.
Luna pulled herself away and lied on her straw bed. With all the thoughts that were going through her mind, she broke into tears. Just then she heard a knocking on the door.
"Luna? Are you in there?" the voice from behind it called.
Luna knew that it was Celestia. Not wanting to talk, she flew out the window. As she flew away, Celestia opened the door. She saw nothing, so figured she was somewhere else.
Luna flew as far as possible. She flew so far she could not see Canterlot anymore. She could only try to escape the feeling that everypony rejected her and the night that she brought. She was out for many days.
Celestia began to worry about her sister's disappearance. She arranged search parties and sent them out all over Equestria. The next day, all of them came back without any sign of the princess. Celestia went outside on her own deck that was facing the mountains. On the summit of one of the mountains, she saw the silhouette of a pony.
"Luna?" Celestia shouted in high hopes.
Celestia flew up to the pony, and saw not Princess Luna, but Nightmare Moon.
"Hello, Celestia," she said.
"What? Who are you?"
"Do you not recognize me? Your own sister? Figures," Nightmare Moon replied.
"What? Luna? That can't be you!"
"I have been thinking, Celestia. People enjoy your daytime, but sleep through my nighttime. It is time I change that,"
That was all. The memories began to fade.
"T-That cannot be true! But… it is," Luna tried to deny it, but the memories were too clear.
The memories were too painful. Luna did not want to go on now that she knew what the armor came from. But she still hadn't figured out how she got to the moon, and finding the armor was the only way to.
Luna looked all over again. She found the other two hoof pieces, but none of them held any memories. The next thing she found was the piece that went around her neck. That too held no memories.
"It is useless!" she yelled. "How will I ever get the other memories?"
Exhausted from years of searching, Luna finally collapsed. At that point, she had lost all hope of seeing her family again. She cried harder then she had ever before, thinking that she would be trapped on the moon forever.
The days passed and Luna had stopped her search. At least for a while. Every day before she went to sleep, she thought about what her sister must have been thinking. Did she do something to make her mad? Did she send here to the moon?
After a while, Luna began her search again. She went on for miles, and saw nothing. She went on and on, but no matter how hard she looked, all she saw was moon rocks and dust. No sign of the last piece.
She walked on for miles, and then finally, she saw something buried under moon dust. Luna picked it up and saw that it was a helmet. It had two holes for ears and another one for a horn.
"This is it!" she said.
She put her hoof on it, and unlike the last few times, the rest of the song started to play inside her head. After the song came the memories.
I'll make you suffer though everlasting darkness
I'll make you suffer through horrible nights
Cold blooded cold hearted you reject my kindness
Now I am forced to feed off your fright.
"Luna," Celestia cried, "what has happened? Are you not going to lower the moon to make way for dawn?"
"No. That is just it, Celestia! People sleep during the night, so now, I shall make nighttime eternal. It is time they enjoy what their princess has to offer them!"
"Luna, please try to understand that…"
"Luna…"Nightmare Moon cut her off. "Luna is no more."
"What?"
"I am Nightmare Moon! And I shall rule Equestria from now on! Tis you who will be living in the shadows!"
Nightmare Moon flew up off the mountain while storm clouds shooting lightning followed. She used her power and made one of the towers of Canterlot Castle collapse, breaking it to pieces.
"Luna, stop!" Celestia shouted.
Soon, Nightmare Moon began to light the buildings on fire.
"Luna, please!" her sister kept trying to persuade. "Listen to me!"
"No, Celestia! For too long I have lived in your shadow."
Princess Celestia could not watch her sister destroy Canterlot anymore. With her eyes flooding with tears, she started to use her unicorn magic. She was forced to banish her sister to the only place she felt was safe; the moon.
Celestia transported Nightmare Moon as far as she could. She was nearly a mile from the moon's surface. Nightmare Moon turned back into Princess Luna, and her armor and crown flew off. The last memory Luna had was when she crashed.
"So… It was Celestia all along. She is the one who sent me here."
Luna picked up the helmet and brought it back to where she had the rest of the armor.
"Very well then. If you sent me here, then I shall have my revenge," Luna spoke to herself putting the armor on. "Nightmare Moon is back."