After Celestia humiliates her at a dinner, Luna storms off and ends up snooping around in her sister's room. There, she stumbles upon the journal Celestia kept immediately after the banishment of Nightmare Moon.

Cover art by bunnish on dA.
This story now has a reading by Craft Arts. Go check it out!
Featured on Equestria Daily on August 22, 2013.

They warn you not to look at the Sun, and you avert your eyes in reverence and fear.

They never warn you not to stand too close, however.

A thousand years ago, jealousy transformed me into a creature of darkness named Nightmare Moon, and I attempted to plunge the world into eternal night. In order to protect Equestria and her little ponies, Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to banish me. This is the story as you have heard it.

The story is not entirely false. I became Nightmare Moon, I rebelled against my sister, and in the end, I was banished by the Elements of Harmony. But time has eroded the story, and much of it has been forgotten.

This is the story of Nightmare Moon as told by the only one who remembers the truth.

"One day, I swear to you, I will stand in the ashes of the Elements of Harmony themselves and proclaim a new world." -Starswirl the Bearded.

This is the story of Princess Celestia: her origin, the battles she fought, her betrayals, her adventures, the friends she made along the way, her one great love, and her ultimate destiny.

Now on Equestria Daily!

[Thanks to _Medicshy for his faithful editing and input. And to Heliostorm as of chapter 13.]

[Cover image by tamponandtwilaloop on deviantart, used by permission.]

Warning: updates irregularly lately.