Roughly One Thousand Years Ago:
As Celestia summoned the elements of harmony, Nightmare Moon gasped. She hadn't expected her sister to wield them against her, and when she realized her sister was serious, she knelt low to the ground in a gesture of surrender.
But it was too late.
In a burst of blinding light, Nightmare moon was pulled into the far away moon. She dug in her hooves and pleaded with her sister, but to no avail. Her sorrowful tears were pulled to the earth as she was pulled into the night. One hoof faltered, and her legs fell from under her. She crashed flank-first through the stained-glass palace window behind her and released a final plea.
"Please, sister! I'm sorry!"
Eight Days Later:
As Celestia left the Council hall, the young unicorn Council member, Polity Clemence, followed after her. He knew that Nightmare Moon's - no, Luna's - banishment weighed heavily on the princess, and had an idea as to how he and the other Council member's could relieve the princess of her other worries, if only for enough time that she could come to terms with what she had needed to do.
"Excuse me, Princess?" She turned her head to the green colt and sighed.
"What is it, Polity? We are most tired from our duties and wish to rest." Seeing his opportunity, Polity galloped up to her side.
"Yes, well Princess that is exactly what I was hoping to discuss with see, the other Council members and I were thinking about how difficult it must be for you to be ruling like this so soon after the loss of your dear sister, and I would like to offer the Council's services to rule Equestria in your stead to give you time to heal from your loss." Celestia turned to face him fully, and was quiet for a while.
"Who of the Council supports this?"
"All three of us your majesty. We all wish to help you however we can." Celestia began to walk away and glanced back at Polity.
"We would like the three of you to join us in the throne room tomorrow." The unicorn bowed with a barely contained air of excitement.
"Yes, your majesty!"
The next morning, the three Council members, Lauren Order, Evan Hoofed, and Polity Clemence, walked in awe into the Princess' throne room. There were two guards at each window and door, and four by the splendorous princess herself. The three ponies bowed deeply to the Princess to whom they had dedicated their lives.
"Polity Clemence," She began, in a tone that brokered no argument, "Lauren Order and Evan Hoofed, We, Princess Celestia of this realm Equestria, hearby sentence you to eternal exile to the Everfree Forrest." The three loyal ponies stood up from their knelt positions and searched their ruler for some hint of humor. They found none. "You have betrayed your country in an attempt to overthrow us, and as punishment are no longer of this country. You will never return to Equestria, under threat of Death." Polity stepped forward to plead for his fellow Council members, and Celestia rose from her throne. "Polity Clemence, come hither." He did, and knelt once again in front of the Princess.
There was an echoing crack and a bloodcurdling, wretched scream as Celestia brought her hoof down on Polity's horn, shattering most of the length of it and leaving a broken half-horn behind. The unicorn rose and staggered, the aftershocks of the stabbing pain shooting through his blood and bones knocking him from his hooves. He fell down the steps to Celesta's throne, and Lauren wrapped a wing around the shaking, sobbing stallion.
"Leave our Kingdom," Celestia said, her back to the former Council members. The exiled ponies bowed to their Princess, even Polity, whose hooves were still failing from the pain.
Punky Print's Log; Day 1:
Today, my sister, Inky Pie, brought home a book from the library. This wasn't really out of the ordinary, because my sister loves to read, but this book was definitely different.
"Hey Punky," She said when she came in the house, "check out this book I found at the library!" I turned to see her holding up a large book with a title that read The Comprehensive Equestrian History of Princess Celestia. I rolled my eyes.
"Inky, everypony learns about the Princesses in their first year of school. Why is this huge book on one Princess so great? You already know everything in it." I turned back to the book I was writing and she galloped up to my desk and pushed the book on to it.
"No, this book is different," Inky insisted as she flipped through the pages with her ink black muzzle. "When the book talks about Nightmare Moon's imprisonment, there's something that isn't in any of the other books!"After finding the page, my sister pointed to a passage that described Nightmare Moon's surrender.
I picked up the book with my magic and brought it closer to my eyes to make sure I was reading it right. I checked again. And again.
"What the buck...?" I turned and came muzzle to muzzle with my sister's freckled blue face. "Is this legit?"
"It seems so, but there's no way to confirm it without asking either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna."
"Is the whole book like this?"
"Well, not all of is unconfirmed. There's parts that everypony knows, but they're cast in a really different light after reading the other parts." I closed the book and set it back down on my desk.
"Are you done with it yet?"
"No, but I should be by tomorrow."
"Okay, just don't stay up all night reading it," I said, even though I know she will.
"Sure. Night, Punky."
"Night, Inky."
I'm not sure what to do about this book. If what is written in it's pages is the truth, then I think Equestria needs to know. I think Inky Pie would agree. But the only way to know whether or not it's true is to ask the princesses themselves. I have an idea that might just work, but if it goes wrong, I'm not sure I should let Inky Pie help me.
I've been looking after my little sister since our dad was finally buried under the hooves of Manehattan, and I know better than to think she'd stay behind if I go to interrogate Celestia. She was always the truly brave one after all, the one who made herself known and heard no matter what the consequences.
The more I think on this, the more afraid I am.