One hundred years.
I’ve been imprisoned on the moon for one hundred years, with cold and darkness as my only companions. How I missed the night sky of Equestria, a black canvas for me to paint with the beautiful shimmering of distant stars… all gone now.
What have I done to deserve this?
My sister had everything! Respect, loving subjects and a prosperous kingdom. Everything I ever had was my night! And yet, she took it away from me. My precious night … destined to fade under the blinding presence of her sun.
The first ten years were hard, my powers were stripped away from me, leaving my ethereal mane so short that I might as well be bald. Hunger and thirst drove me to the brink of madness but never claimed my life… it would be too easy if they did. Now I was a pile of bones and dry flesh, so weak I was unable to move.
In my time here I was constantly reminded of my sister, her sun would bathe me in its warmth for weeks on end, long enough to severely burn my black coat and accentuate the following weeks of darkness, when the intense cold would pierce my fragile flesh and freeze my bones… but again, I wasn’t allowed to die. I was completely under Celestia’s control.
I managed to keep my sanity despite this torture, but recently, I began hearing voices, distant and quiet, but present. Did I finally lose my mind? On the same night, every year, the voices returned. Their tone soft, happy and… alluring? It was almost like… they were calling me…
No, I must be going mad, nopony ever bothered to remember me, why would they do now?
I ignored the voices, but they were growing louder and louder every year, until finally, I heard, as clear as the silver moonlight that brings life into dark nights, “Princess Luna.”
What was that? Somepony called me?
More and more voices joined the first, echoing its calls like a chorus.
“Princess Luna.”
“Princess Luna.”
Raising my head, I gazed into Equis, only to see Equestria full of lights, full of life…
How could that be? They should be sleeping right now… I need to see what’s happening!
I focused what was left of my magic, sparks of energy flying from my horn. My ethereal mane and tail began to grow and surround my body, charging it with magic for the long journey.
This is it! I’m getting out!
But halfway through my horn failed me, dissipating the collected magic. Golden shackles materialized beneath me and bound my hooves to the ground.
Damn you, Celestia! You won’t keep me away from this!
My anger boosted my magic, dark blue stardust emanating from my horn, forming an alicorn-shaped silhouette.
If I can’t get out of here, I’ll send something in my place instead.
The silhouette, now completely formed, bowed at me and took flight, reaching for Equestria with the urgency of the prospect of relief after one hundred years of imprisonment. It could not be seen or interact with anything, but it would be my eyes and ears.
I didn’t know what to expect down there, but even if I did… I wouldn’t be prepared for what I saw.
Canterlot was bursting with activity. Fillies and colts ran up and down the streets illuminated by thousands of colorful and intricate lanterns. I followed the playing foals, marveling at the simple, small mountain village I once knew, now completely different with all the colorful decorations. The mares and stallions wore elegant and beautiful traditional, ceremonial dresses, much like I used to wear during royal events.
My wondering daze was interrupted by the enthusiastic voice of the filly I was following. “I gotta go, my family’s waiting for me for dinner.”
The colt she was playing with frowned sadly but nodded his head in understanding. “Aww, okay… I’ll be waiting for you at the princess’ statue!” he said as he ran off, waving his goodbye.
“Okay!” The filly returned his goodbye with her own wave and smile.
After a few minutes of walking, she reached her home. Her family was sitting at a dining table outside, waiting for her. Salad and a bland-looking cake, with a crescent moon emblazoned on top of it, sat upon the table.
“Silverlight, we were waiting for you!” a dark gray pegasus mare said, judging by the similarities, she had to be her mother.
“Sorry mama, I was playing with Steady Pace,” the filly said, coyly, with her ears flat against her head and tail slightly between her legs.
The mother smiled and wrapped her under her wing, guiding her to the dining table. “Don’t worry darling, come now.”
It was a lovely family. Daughter, mother, father and grandfather, all eating and chatting with warm smiles on their faces.
That brought back memories, bittersweet memories about mom and dad… how mom would help me when I struggled to raise and lower the moon and how dad would stay awake late at night to make sure I’m alright, always with a smile on his face. Those are I memories I will never forget. I miss them so much…
I returned from my trip down memory lane, not wanting to delve into the events of the past.
I brought my attention back to the family. After they finished their dinner and shared some of that “mooncake”, each member took multiple slices of said pastry and went off through the neighborhood, sharing it with their friends and showing their appreciation for each other.
As Silverlight was walking along the street, giving mooncake to her friends, she found Steady Pace. She ran towards him and passed right through me, reminding me that I wasn’t really there. They swapped their last slices of mooncake and together they went to the plaza.
The plaza was lit by thousands of lanterns, more than the whole village! Fillies and colts brought more and more lanterns to join their brethren.
But what was in the center of the plaza completely took my breath away. It was a statue… my statue.
The statue portrayed me in a sitting position, looking down to everypony like I was watching over them from the moon, it was elegant and beautiful. A small altar was placed in front of it, burning incense adding a mystic feeling to the statue.
I was so awestruck by the statue that I failed to notice a gorgeous mare at my side, she wore a long, dark blue traditional dress with a silver necklace and an eye shadow.
She bowed before the crowd in front of her and said, “Hello mares and gentlecolts! It’s good to see all of you here!”
The crowd cheered back, eager to continue the ceremony.
“One hundred years ago, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled together as equals, caring for and protecting their subjects, but they were not loved equally in return. Our kingdom grew under Princess Celestia’s sun, but we forgot the importance of Princess Luna’s moon, and due to our negligence and ungratefulness, she paid the ultimate price. Banishment to the moon.”
The crowd was silent, hanging on her every word.
“But even on the moon, she had never forsaken us for she still watches over our dreams!” She said, raising her hooves to the moon in praise.
The dream realm! My greatest joy and pride. I couldn’t reach it in my weakened state, but I could feel my connection to it strengthening over the years.
“Now, every year we have this celebration, the Lunar Festival. A time for us to show our appreciation for each other, the night, and wish for our princess’ safe return!”
The crowd cheered again, fillies and colts ran around the plaza, searching for a place to hang their lanterns. I saw some foals writing something on them, and went to inspect what it was.
“We miss you, Princess Luna.” was written there in shaky letters, probably written by the mouth of a very young foal.
I inspected another lantern.
“Come back soon!” Candle light flickered through a hole in the exclamation point dot, the writer applying too much force and paint there.
And another.
“Thank you for giving me good dreams.” stood there, a slightly tilted crescent moon drawn beside the note.
And another.
“Your night is beautiful!” adorned the paper with stars replacing the dots above the i’s.
Every single one of them had messages… for me…
I stood there, tears of joy and sorrow ran down my cheeks as I read through the messages.
As the foals hung their lanterns, they went back to their families and together they lay on the ground to watch the night sky.
Hours have passed, sunlight crept over the hill, announcing the arrival of morning. Ponies have long since gone back to sleep, but I stood there, reading through every single message, until finally, my magic gave out, and my consciousness returned to the moon.
The intense cold returned to remind me where I was, and where I’ll be for whoever knows how long. But now I had hope… hope that I could put my past behind me and live a joyous life, hope that I would bring those foals beautiful dreams, hope that I’ll make their wishes come true… hope that I would return one day and be loved.
Exhausted from the abuse I caused on my magic, I closed my eyes. Concentrating through a migraine, I promised, “I’ll return.”
It took almost one hundred years for my magic to recover, I guess that damned shackles kept it away, but it did, and so, every one hundred years I would return to Equis, every time at a different place, on that same night. It was what kept me going, but lately… it started to feel… off.
The traditional clothing was turning more colorful and less elegant, the lanterns were gone and there was no more mooncake, pumpkin carving and games took its place. I know time changes everything… but it felt like… it was turning into something else... like it was lost.
Tonight will mark the one thousand years I’m locked here. I can feel my powers returning, the dream realm is almost within my reach, but tonight is the night of my descent.
I’m worried about what I may find…
Again, I focused my magic and sent the alicorn silhouette to Equis, my consciousness going away with it. This time my magic was strong enough to empower my spell and enable it to connect to all my senses. When I arrived at Equestria, I was hit like by a stone brick.
I arrived at the Everfree Forest, the dim silver light of the moon bringing a mystical aura to the forest. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, finally able to breathe over one thousand years on the moon, focusing on the world around me. I could feel the humidity of the air enveloping my fur. The sweet fragrance of flowers attracted me closer to them like nectar attracts bees. The singing of birds and cicadas provided a relaxing white noise against the silence of the forest, the grass massaged my hooves on each step I took.
Oh, how I missed the grass.
For a moment, I just lay there, nature embracing me like a lover would embrace their partner. But I couldn’t stay long, I had to find the new town by the name of Ponyville.
It took me a while to walk out of the forest. Since Celestia moved her castle to Canterlot, the forest slowly reclaimed its territory, hiding the old roads and paths.
The sound of music and giggles filled the air and guided my steps towards the village.
At least some things never change.
When I reached the village, it was completely different. It was more like a small town than a village, more and more ponies were moving to Ponyville the last fifty years.
The cheap and creepy decorations were complemented by dim streetlights and stalls with common carnival fare. Fillies and colts wearing silly costumes went from door to door asking for candy while chanting, “Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!”
Nightmare Night?
I followed the foals to the plaza, a big stage had musicians playing music for the crowd that came to enjoy the countless booths of games and candy.
Bobbing for apples in a tub, throwing spider plushies into a fake web, hitting targets with a pumpkin using a catapult… what happened to the incenses? The sharing of cake? The lanterns?
All gone…
I paced down the street aimlessly, the Lunar Festival was gone, and this Nightmare Night took its place… why?
“Now children, who wants to hear the story of Nightmare Night?” A voice came from my side. A mare wearing a mummy costume led a group of foals around me.
“We do!” The foals shouted in unison, eager to hear her story.
I followed them through a side street that lead to an old plaza, similar to the main plaza in the old Canterlot.
I remembered the place, a small smile creeping on my face, maybe something survived from the Lunar Festival? But my happiness turned into shock when I saw a statue in its center. It was an imposing alicorn figure, its flowing tail helping to support the statue’s rearing pose.
But it wasn’t me, nor Celestia.
It was Nightmare Moon.
Moss and vines claimed the statue for their own as nopony bothered to maintain it, just as nopony bothered to maintain the Lunar Festival.
“Now everypony, do you know who this is?” the mare asked her little audience.
‘Luna!’ I shouted, but my voice couldn’t be heard.
“Nightmare Moon!” the foals replied.
“That’s right! A thousand years ago, after the three pony tribes had finally united under the banner of Princess Celestia, a new kingdom was established, the kingdom of Equestria. The princess’ sun brought warmth and prosperity to the growing kingdom, but there was a shadow. A shadow in the darkness of night that hated the kingdom’s light. One day, the shadow took the form of a dark alicorn, Nightmare Moon and blocked the sun with the moon, creating an everlasting eclipse that promised to destroy everything in Equestria.”
The foals gasped.
No! It isn’t true!
“But,” the mare continued, “with the power of the Elements of Harmony, Princess Celestia was able to contain the shadow, and lock it away on the moon, marking it forever with the “Mare in the Moon”.” She pointed up, showing said mark.
I looked up at the moon, immediately recognizing what she was talking about. The dark alicorn shape that was imprinted on the moon as my powers were torn away from me.
“Will she ever escape?” A filly asked from the back of the group, frightened.
“No one knows for certain. Princess Celestia’s magic is strong, but there are rumors that the shadow has friends among the stars...” the mare answered, building up tension among the group.
“W-what happens if she escapes? W-will she come after us?” A colt asked, as frightened as all the others.
“Some say that Nightmare Moon knows each and every one of our fears and that the only way to hide from her wrath is to disguise ourselves with these costumes…”
“But if we can hide from her, why do we need to offer her candy?” Another colt interrupted.
“Well, the shadow demands tribute, so if you don’t offer her candy, she might come down from the moon… and consume you!” The mare screamed, scaring everypony.
“Hehe, calm down children, it’s okay. Nightmare Moon is just a myth, a story to scare little foals. She’s not real.” The mare embraced her group of foals in a big hug, the foals clinging to her like their lives depended on it.
I-I couldn’t stay there. I ran away and back to the streets, passing through ponies wearing vampire, timberwolf and all kinds of other monster costumes, all that to try to fool another monster, Nightmare Moon. Everywhere I looked, the whole town had Nightmare Moon’s insignia for decoration.
I canceled the spell, breathing heavily.
How could they! Everything was so perfect! After so many years living in the shadow of my sister, I finally had everything I wanted!
Tears poured from my eyes, soaking my fur.
Why?
What have I done to deserve being forgotten?
Every year my powers grew stronger, every year, their giggling and laughter taunted and mocked me.
One thousand years it has been. Not a single soul remembered who I was… I guess not even I remember who I am anymore…
I guess that’s what fate had in store for me.
Less than a memory… only a shadow.
No right to be loved… or feared…
It’s night in Equestria, tomorrow is Nightmare Night.
Ha ha, ironic… there are no nightmares during “Nightmare Night”, they’ve forgotten about them too...
I reached for the dream realm. Fillies and colts slept soundly through the night, dreaming about the games they’ll play tomorrow, the costumes they'll wear, and the pranks they’ll pull off.
Not a single trace of me… or Luna…
I froze, looking at my black coat.
Princess Luna… I almost forgot about her… like they forgot about me…
I’m only a shadow…
A shadow…
The mare’s voice echoed in my head. “One day, the shadow took the form of a dark alicorn, Nightmare Moon.”
I am a shadow.
“Some say that Nightmare Moon knows each and every one of our fears.”
I know their fears…
I reached for the dream realm again. Millions of bubbles surrounded me, each one representing a dreaming child.
Those ungrateful fools dare to mock and humiliate me in my realm?
They forgot what a real nightmare looks like!
I extended my wings, shadowy tendrils invading every bubble, turning into a replica of me.
They’ll never forget me…
I WILL MAKE THEM REMEMBER!