//------------------------------//
// Sharing the secret 
// Story: Luna Comes Clean 
// by TalB 
//------------------------------//

Over at the family farm, it was the middle of the night. However, a certain noise woke up Megan Williams. She decided to get out of her bed, put on her slippers, grab a rifle, and take a flashlight to see what was going on. When she got out, it was very difficult to actually see the creature.  "It must be blending into the dark" Megan thought.  She was ready to load up her rifle to shoot at the suspicious creature. But then, Megan turned on her flashlight only find out that it was a familiar face.

"Oh! I’m so sorry! I was about to shoot you Princess Luna!” Luna mildly nervously chuckled heheh, and really should work on not sneaking up on people like that...while Megan was just embarrassed. “But you did scare me coming up like that." Megan continued.

"That's alright Megan. I didn't mean to approach you like that." 
Megan put down her rifle and asked, "What brings you here at this time of night? Don't you have dreams to enter or something like that?" 

Luna then explained, "For some reason, no pony is having any nightmares or any other important dreams for me to enter tonight, so I thought I would come to you."

"Is there a reason why you chose to come over to my farm?" Megan asked.

"I would like you to come back to the castle with me. There is something... important I want to tell you." said Luna.

"Why can't you just tell me right here and right now?", asked Megan.

"I think it would be better if I took you back. My room is pretty private so I won't have to worry about anyone else hearing about it." explained Luna.

Megan then agreed and said, "Alright, I will go with you. But please let me change first! I'm currently in my nightgown."

Luna waited outside the house as Megan put on her clothes and was ready to go. As they were leaving, Megan was amazed to see what Equestria looked like at night. When she looked down upon entering, she noticed what looked like a construction project towards the base of the Rainbow Bridge. She was very curious about what was there.

"What do you think is being built down there?" asked Megan.

"In all honesty, I have no idea. But I guess we won't know until it's done and we're told about it." answered Luna.

Luna kept flying until they reached Canterlot Castle and got into her room. As they entered Luna's room, she told Megan, "Believe it or not, we do have something in common."

Megan then asked, "And what’s that?"

Luna's answer came as, "Both of us haven't been around here for at least a thousand years."

Feeling a bit confused, Megan said, "I'm not getting at what you're trying to say."

"What can you tell me about Nightmare Moon?" asked Luna.

"From what I heard, she was regarded as a monster that tried to overthrow Princess Celestia by trying to kill her and almost succeeded in doing so. However, she was banished to the moon for about a thousand years by the Elements of Harmony hopefully never to be seen again, though it would be nice to know why you were asking about that."

After hearing this, Luna said, "Now that you know about that pony, I would like to you tell you something. But, please promise not to freak out when I tell you about it."

Megan then asked, "Are you saying that you also had to fight Nightmare Moon yourself?”

"Not quite” responded Luna.

"Maybe Nightmare Moon just chased you around a few times just to scare you for the fun of it." thought Megan.

Now a bit annoyed, Luna then said, "That didn't happen either, and PLEASE listen right now to what I'm about to say!"

After calming down, Megan asked, "What is it that you are going to tell me about Nightmare Moon from your encounter with her?"

Luna then sighed, "Megan, remember when you felt sad and started to cry after hearing what both me and Celestia told you about Ponyland’s condition after you no longer came back? Finding out that it was left in ruins after Grogar and his army destroyed much of it and that you weren't even there to witness it first hand?"

Megan answered, "I thought that both of you would have thought less of me being Ponyland's savior by making such a scene."

"Yes. But, in reality, we didn't and we understood how you felt about not knowing about it until recently.” Luna paused for a moment. “Now, it's time for me to tell you about why I mentioned Nightmare Moon to you and why that was so important in how you viewed such a monster like her."

Now coming to an understanding, Megan then said, "Please tell me why you asked me about my view about Nightmare Moon and what it had to do with you. I promise I won't freak out about it."

Luna then started to close her eyes with tears coming out and nearly shouted, "I WAS THAT MONSTER! Nightmare Moon was a dark manifestation that took over all of my negative thoughts and made me that way. In other words, I was never attacked or chased by Nightmare Moon, I WAS Nightmare Moon!"

Megan then came over to Luna to both hug and pet her in hoping that it would make her feel better after hearing this.

Megan asked, "Princess Luna, why are you telling me this? What happened?"

Luna answered, "I thought it would be important that you, being the savior of Ponyland, should be one of the few to know this secret."

Megan then said, "Does anyone else know about this?"

"No. The only others who know about this to date is my sister along with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Other than that, nopony else knows about this" replied Luna.

Megan then asked, "What's the reason to why it was kept a secret from so many?"

Luna proceeded to explain. "My sister thought that, with best interests, nobody else should know. If they did, just about every pony I saw would always have a negative reaction towards me whenever I pass by them. I could even imagine constant protests outside the castle of ponies wanting me either imprisoned, exiled, or even killed for what I did as Nightmare Moon. Even worse, Tia herself would run the risk of getting herself caught in the crossfire with other ponies demanding for her to be removed, just for harboring a former monster."

"If your own sister can forgive you despite what you did along with Twilight and her friends, then I don't see why the rest of Equestria can't do the same.” Megan stated. “Let's not forget others such as Discord, Thorax, Trixie, and Starlight Glimmer did bad things as well, yet everyone now forgives them.”

“Well true, but-“, Luna mentioned.

“Even Twilight forgave Sunset Shimmer and became best friends with her despite the fact that she stole her crown and took it back with her into a portal where she became humanized.  Overall, I can't understand why you can't just be forgiven for what you did."

Luna sighed. "It's not that simple Megan. When I was Nightmare Moon, I was feared by many. Also, there's a good chance that even if I were to come clean about this, it won't change what I did."

"Princess Luna, nobody is telling you to change the past. I feel that if you were to apologize for what you did and explain everything from your side, then the others might possibly understand that you weren't solely responsible for your actions when you were Nightmare Moon." explained Megan.

Luna pondered this before saying, "Perhaps I should give you the explanation as to why I became Nightmare Moon in the first place. Then you might understand why asking for forgiveness on this may not be so easy."