Canterlot, One Thousand Years ago, three weeks before Nightmare Moon's creation.
Exma walked around Canterlot in another disguise, a unicorn noble with an alabaster coat and a orange-red mane. She walked through the streets like any other pony and, much to the distaste of the other nobles, mingling with the commoners like equals. She was never really a fan of the social status BS and so she always talked to the lower class ponies. She was one of the more likable nobles among the commoners and one of the dislikable nobles among the nobles. But Exma really didn't care what those snobs thought because they were all literally beneath her in the evolutionary chain but she didn't want to act all high and mighty about herself.
She was walking right by the castle when Princess Celestia walked through the front gates. She bowed to her and greeted her formally. She returned the greeting and wished her a wonderful day before walking into the direction of the jewel shop. Exma sighed wondering if she should tell Celestia she was still around but decided against it preferring to stay in the shadows and observe both of the princesses.
She noticed Luna walking from the gate and greeted her with the same formal greeting. Luna sighed and walked in the direction of her sister without saying a word, a heavy forebodding cloud hanging above her head. Exma was concerned for the lunar princess fearing that she was jealous of her sisters fame and how much everypony enjoyed the daytime. She feared that Luna would soon let that jealousy grow to the point where it would take her over.
"I need to let Celestia know about this." She thought and was about to head towards Celestia but stopped, "But I don't know how she'd react to it... damnit."
Exma cursed herself before walking to her home planning to visit Celestia in the middle of the night to warn her of Luna's sorrow. Later that night Exma snuck into the castle, barely avoiding guards, and snuck into Princess Celestia's royal bedchamber. She looked upon the sleeping sun princess wondering what to tell her, if anything at all. She looked down at her before sitting on the bed. Exma gently stroked Celestia's cheek, sighing as the memory of her as a child entering her mind. She smiled at her reaction and sighed.
"Oh Celestia," she said as she looked out the window at the serene night sky. "I.... fear that your sister Luna may be growing jealous and bitter of you and your days. Her sorrow and resentment is growing and i fear if it grows too much it may consume her and cause her to do something..... regrettable." Exma looked at Celestia, who was sleeping soundly oblivious to the immortal. "Please help her before she, or you, do something that cannot be undone."
Exma kissed her cheek and disappeared just as Celestia sat up and looked around the room. She shook her head and went back to sleep, feeling the kiss on her cheek.
"Was that voice i heard..." She thought before drifting back to sleep.
The next day Exma wandered Cantorlot with a sigh of content. She hoped that her warning to Celestia embedded itself in her thoughts. A crowd began forming in front of the castle as Celestia and Luna appeared on the balcony, Celestia waving to the crowd with Luna standing behind her enough to still be in view. Exma noticed Luna was depressed and again sighed. Her stomach heaved as she felt an ominous aura coming off Luna, much darker than the cloud she felt yesterday, an aura that loomed over Luna and threatened to overtake her. Exma knew in her heart that whatever she felt was about to happen was going to happen that very night, an event that would change the lives of both sisters. Celestia looked down on the crowd and spotted Exma among the ponies, looking at alabaster mare with a sense of familiarity. She rubbed her cheek as the mare walked away from the crowd towards the marketplace. She tried to shake the familiarity off but was unable to before she walked into the castle. Exma walked through the center of the marketplace, the feeling of dread, despair, and possible rebellion against Celestia. She gripped her stomach, which was dancing a very dangerous tango, before she stopped at a citrus fruit stand.
"Oh good day Gemini." the stallion behind the stand greeted her, "The usual for you?"
Exma nodded and the stallion reached under the stand pulling out a bag of oranges and limes. Exma gave the owner what she owed and said goodbye before she walked off. In her mind she was contemplating if she should go see Luna in an attempt to quell the aura threatening to consume her. She was interrupted from her thoughts by someone clearing their throat behind her. She turned around and was surprised to see two royal guards standing there.
"The princess has requested your presence immediately and has asked us to escort you to the castle." The guard on the left said keeping his straight posture.
Exma sighed and gestured them to lead on, slightly glad that it isn't in a rough manner unlike the last time she was there. Exma soon found herself in the very throne room that had once been the site of her beheading and revealing as the immortal maiden. Upon the twin thrones sat the princess of the sun and moon, all grown up making Exma's heart flutter in joy. She bowed as she approached the princesses.
"Please stand." Celestia asked and Exma stood up.
"What do I owe the honor of being summoned by Princess Celestia to the castle?" Exma simply asked, a thought of why entering her head.
Celestia stood from her throne and approached the noblemare making Exma a little uncomfortable. Celestia put her face three inches from Exma's, getting a clear look at her the sense of familiarity very strong now.
"I feel as if I know you," Celestia said as she stood back, "I don't know why but ever since my dream last night I have had this strange sense about you."
Exma knew that this would be a good time to reveal herself but she decided against it because she needed to try quelling the impending situation before anything happened that would change the princesses.
"I'm sorry princess but I don't really understand what you're talking about." Exma said not showing any sign of acknowledgement.
Celestia frowned at the answer and just sighed before she dismissed Exma from the throne room apologizing for the inconvenience. Exma bowed and left the castle letting out a huge sigh of relief. She tried to still her rapidly beating heart as she made a beeline for her home that sat on the border of the 'rich' part of town and the 'common' part of town, her only sanctuary to which she could shed her persona and be her usual scalie self. Within ten minutes she returned to her home, a small manor, and approached the front door. The lock for her front door was a special kind she had made herself that used a single barb from her head to unlock. She looked around before reaching into her mane and pulling out one of her barbs, with a twinge of pain, before using it to unlock her home. With a twist of the ornate doorknob she entered her home that housed a number of her 'mementos', relics that were from the civilization that existed before what Exma liked to call the Equestrian Era, a large portion of which were reminders of some of her past 'lives'. She kicked the door closed and the lock re-engaged as she walked past the foyer. She shed the persona and her clawed toes clacked against the marbled floor as she scratched one of the scars that decorated her muzzle, her heart starting to calm down.
'I need to make sure to try quelling the dark aura surrounding Luna or she'll....' Exma thought to herself, 'But i'll have to risk exposing myself to her in order to do so.'
She scratched her neck before heading upstairs to wash the day away with the plan for the night dancing around in her head like a grand ball. Later she was drying herself off when she saw the sun start to set outside of her bathroom window, the mingling of night and day in that instance was always a wonderful sight to her no matter the era. She let out a sigh before she got herself ready, putting on her tattered cloak as well as a brown suit she got from the human era. Tugging the hood over her head she exited her home and made her way to the castle under the cover of shadow, a means she was all too familiar with. She arrived at the left side of the castle and scaled the wall using her claws on her hands and feet, soon landing on the grass on the other side. Looking around the garden, making sure there aren't any other guards around before she proceeded through the lush green foliage on her way to the castle, keeping to the shadows as best as she could. Soon she found herself underneath the tower that Luna's bedroom resided in (because she's been there multiple times mind you) and looked up.
'Luna please be in your right mind right now...' Exma thought as she started scaling the wall of the tower.
Luna stood on the balcony from her bedroom, the same balcony she used for the raising of the moon for the past four thousand years since she and Celestia inherited the kingdom from their parents as well as the duty of control of the celestial bodies, gazing over the beautiful night that she's created and her thoughts turned dark as she thought about the ponies that slept during this time. She wished that the ponies of Equestria would appreciate the nights she works so hard to make as much as they praise her sister. She glared out onto Equestria before she turned to return inside.
"Why must they be so ungrateful." She said to herself as she entered the room, "Doesn't anypony appreciate my nights?!"
"I do Lulu." came a voice behind Luna, a soft and familiar voice from her childhood.
Luna quickly turned around, ready to face the intruder, and stopped when she saw a figure in a tattered, old robe the color of sand, brown covering legs that ended in two yellow-green scaled feet with four inch black claws extending from the toes, five in total on each foot, and a long scaled tail that had small spines (much like an alligators) running down from under the robe sitting on the railing of the balcony. Luna's body didn't dare move not in fear but in pure curiosity over the figure, a wave of something she couldn't describe rising through her nerves as Exma just sat there looking at Luna through the hood of the robe.
"Only four individuals know that...... nickname," Luna said to Exma, her body posture still tense and seeming to not change until she was sure that Exma wasn't a threat, "My mother, my father, my sister, and....."
As she trailed off she remembered where she'd heard the voice before, five thousand years ago on the day her parents executed the one creature that existed and had an entire story written about her (out of context). Her body relaxed and her eyes started to water as Exma pulled the hood back to show her smiling face.
"Hello again Luna." Exma said, her ruby eyes glowing in the moonlight.
She stepped down from her seat and was met by the embrace of the princess of the night, the dark aura around her lightening a little at the happy reunion. With a smile she returned the hug and softly pet the mane of the younger alicorn, who looked at her with tears of joy and one of the widest smiles ever seen on a pony. Luna stepped back and tried to regain her composure with very little success.
"It has been too long Ms. Immortalis," Luna said in a very formal tone, her voice a little excited, "My sister and I have missed you greatly."
"Well you know me exploring Equestria and the lands beyond," Exma smiled at Luna, "Died a few times to a handful of nasty creatures and the such, got caught on more than one occasion, became a queen for a few years for the gryphons' than left a successor to the throne, that kind of stuff."
Luna's eyes widened at the answer the eternal maiden gave, astounded by what she's done. She never expected Exma to have been busy in the last five thousand years. She noticed a few scars on the exposed parts of Exma's skin that weren't there when she saw her last, most likely from the afore mentioned deaths. Exma noticed her wandering eyes and laughed causing Luna to become confused.
"Yeah I've gained some new trophies from my exploits in the past four thousand years," Exma laughed as she scratched a scar on her left lip closest to her nostrils, "But hey I wear these scars with pride."
Luna giggled before remembering what Exma said before the happy reunion and looked at Exma, who was popping her back and sighing in relief from it.
"What did you mean by you enjoy my nights?" Luna bluntly asked Exma.
"Hmm?" Exma looked at Luna with one eye closed, "Oh right. I absolutely enjoy the nights as much as the day because it feels more serene as well as brings out some of the true meaning of nature, in my opinion."
Luna felt her heart flutter at Exma's words, something she hasn't felt since her parents were living. The dark aura around her lightened even further, much to Exma's joy and she reached into her robe, pulling out a crystal that was auqa in coloring. She hands it to Luna, who takes it with enthusiasm, and looks it over in her hand curiously.
"What's this?" Luna asks curiously.
"A very special type of crystal I got from the Crystal Empire before that jerk Sombra took over." Exma said causing Luna to flinch at the name of the unicorn that caused so much problem for the crystal ponies.
"W-What does it do?" she asked still observing the crystal closely.
"I'll show you." Exma said holding out her hand politely asking for crystal.
Luna handed Exma the colored crystal and she held it in her fingers with the most delicate of care. With a little concentration the crystal starts to glow and an image projects from the end pointing up, an image of a grand ball among the royalty of the Gryphon kingdom. Luna's jaw dropped as she saw a male gryphon dressed in clothes resembling a generals outfit dancing with an all white gryphon female in an elegant dress matching her coloring, the eyes ruby in color.
"Is that...?" she asks pointing to the all white hen and Exma nods.
"That was my disguise when I was in the gryphon kingdom under the guise of the wife of one of their most revered generals." Exma said as she looked at the projection. "This crystal is one that can take any memory chosen by the one holding it and project it so that the user and anyone around the user can see the memory."
As she explained the crystals use the projection showed the general and the hen embracing and kissing each other causing Exma to shed a tear. Luna notices the tear and looks at Exma who shakes her head.
"Did you love him?" Luna asked
"Y-Yes I did but for me this is....." Exma paused wiping a tear from her cheek, "I've had many partners, husbands, and lovers in my existence and have lost all of them in some way."
Luna hesitates for a minute before she decided to ask.
"What happened to him?"
"He was..... assassinated in his sleep by a jealous subordinate." Exma said and the crystal seemed to change the scene to the horror of that night.
The scene showed a grey and brown gryphon sneaking into the bedroom of the couple, a knife held firmly in his hand. He approached the general and brought the knife to his throat, dragging it across as a steady flow of blood trailed behind the knifes path. The generals eyes opened in horror as well as the hen's before he grabbed it, choking on his own blood and staring up at his assassin before turning to his wife. Some scarlet decorates the white gryphons face and feathers as she stared in horror. After a few seconds the generals beak formed a small sentence before he slumped back on the bed, his body limp. The assassin turns towards the wife and moves to her, his intention being to silence her. Instead of a helpless hen who saw her husband die, what the assassin got was an enraged immortal that charged the assassin with her face twisted in anger and her fingers outstretched, aiming for his throat. The projection darkened for a brief moment before an image of Exma in her true form, her nightgown and body covered in blood and cuts as well as the body of the assassin, her eyes different, more feral. The projection fades and Exma hands the crystal back to Luna, who looked at Exma with a combination of horror and sadness.
"At that point I decided to make it seem as though i managed to escape but......,"Exma looked down at the floor her eyes watering. "I didn't want to leave him laying in bed like he was and decided to........ burn our home."
Exma just sighed at the memory before wiping her eyes. She looked at Luna, who was trying her best not to show her sympathy. Exma wiped a tear from Luna's eyes, giving her a warm smile.
"Lulu I'm giving you this crystal," She gestures to the crystal in Luna's hand, "So you can remember the good times that you've had in times you get negative thoughts. Just be positive ok?"
Luna looked at the crystal before looking up at Exma before nodding.
"What about you Exma?" She simply asks.
"Don't worry about me Lulu," Exma smirks before ruffling her mane, "I'll be around to make sure you and your sister are happy."
Luna felt a little embarrassed at having Exma ruffle her mane like she was a little filly again but sucked it up since it was Exma. Exma gave her a hug before she disappeared, the crystal in her hand warming up. Luna went through the encounter in her head and wondered if she should tell Celestia or not. After a small debate to herself she decided against it and went off to do her usual things.
Three weeks later, the day of Nightmare Moon's creation.
Exma was proud of the progress that Luna had since her visit three weeks ago. Every time she saw Luna, even with Celestia, she saw that the aura around her was almost non existent. Exma smiled to herself and took one step when her body shook and a vision played in front of her. The scene in front of her looked like the old throne room of their parents only faded and unkept with crumbling walls and vines decorating the room. Exma saw Celestia standing next to where she was standing, her face one of fear and sadness as tears stained her cheeks. Exma followed the alicon's line of sight and spotted a black figure standing by the throne, an etheral mane that flowed like a river of stars coming out of an azure colored helmet, the same kind of armor decorating the black mare.
"Luna it's me your sister!" Celestia yelled at the figure, Exma's eyes widening.
The figure glared at Celestia her wings spreading as a maniacal laugh escapes her lips. Exma couldn't believe what she heard Celestia say, the sentence still echoing in her head. How was this dark mare Luna? What was going on? So many questions reeled through Exma's head as the dark mare laughed more.
"I am no longer Luna dear 'sister'," the dark mare sneered at the word sister, narrowing her eyes, "I have become the very thing you and all of Equestria have shunned, I am Nightmare Moon!!!"
The vision soon fades and Exma found herself on the ground surrounded by a crowd. She quickly gets up and rushes to her home in a huff, leaving the crowd behind in confusion. Exma ran like the wind as the image of this 'Nightmare Moon' continued to dance in her head, the laugh echoing in the back of her head. As she rushed to the front door tears had already started to flow from her eyes as she plucked a barb and unlocked the door.
"Nonononononononono," She kept repeating to herself as she rushed up to her bedroom, to the very back of it where she kept her old gear. "Luna couldn't become that she..."
Exma stopped herself and stood in the middle of her back room as something occurred to her. From the time she's been alive there have been individuals that have been able to hide their pain, anger, and sorrow behind a smile until they were ready to make their plans know. Maybe on that night she visited Luna she had already been taken over by the darkness in her heart and the aura she saw lightening was that of Luna's old self.
"I'm such a fool," Exma chastised herself, holding her head in her hands, "Why didn't I notice that sooner?!"
Exma felt as if the event was about to happen and she grabbed her leather armor and her robe, putting them both on with lightning fast speed. She opens the window and launches herself into the final rays of the quickly setting sun, landing with a soft thud onto the ground before rushing off in the direction of the Everfree forest, the feeling of dread coming from that direction the strongest. She ran as fast as her legs could take her as she rushed through the one part of Equestria that did not rely on earth ponies, pegasi or unicorns to grow.
'Damnit why didn't I do anything about this,' she screamed at herself in her head, 'Why didn't I see the signs!'
Soon Exma found herself standing before the decaying ruins that once made up the capital of Equestria five thousand years ago, the old castle of the royal family. She just stood there staring when she suddenly saw a brilliant flash of light causing her to rush into the ruins only one thought in her head.
'Please Celestia, Please don't let what I think happened have happened.'
She soon found herself in the throne room from her vision with one significant difference, Celestia is on her side near the thrones with six stone spheres around her, sobs escaping her form. Exma looked around the room for any sign of Luna or Nightmare Moon until she looked up and saw a sight that made her collapse to her knees. She saw the image that would be seen in the moon for the next one thousand years, the image of nightmare moon staring down at the world she was banished from.
"Celestia..." Exma quietly said to herself, "What have you done?"
Exma looked at the sobbing alicorn and couldn't help but cry. Celestia had done what Exma had tried to prevent, she had to banish her own sister, her own flesh and blood, to the moon to prevent her from making the night eternal. Exma stood up and walked to the princess who had passed out from the severity of what she had done, kneeling down and picking her up holding her head to hers.
"I'm sorry Luna," Exma said with her voice catching between sobs, "I wanted to stop this from happening. I wanted you to see that ponies still loved you, that I loved you like a daughter, that your sister loved you. I..."
Exma's train of thought was interrupted as she spotted something glistening in Celestia's hand, something that was the color of auqa. Exma saw the crystal she had given Luna gripped tightly in Celestia's hand, the gift she'd given the night princess in the hopes that she wouldn't be bitter towards the ponies of Equestria or her sister, the hope that she'd be happy.
"Luna...." Exma started but couldn't finish her thought, looking down at Celestia.
Exma turned and started to walk through the ruins of the old castle towards its entrance, holding Celestia in her arms. She looked at the old castle once more before she found herself in Celestia's bedroom with nothing but a thought. She set the sleeping princess in her bed, tucking her in much like a mother to their young filly. After making sure she was safely tucked in Exma sits at the side of the bed, her hands together as she can't help but sigh. She looks to Celestia one last time before leaning down to kiss her cheek, whispering for her to think happy memories before she disappeared.
Over the past thousand years Exma had been keeping an eye on Celestia from the shadows, at every opportunity she had she'd send her reminders of the happier times she's had. On her first Hearth's Warming she sent Celestia the same kind of crystal she'd given Luna as well as a note explaining the use of the crystal signed under the single initial, E.
When Celestia looked as if she could do without Exma's help she once again started to wander the land of Equestria and beyond making sure to occasionally check in on Celestia until one day when she checked in she saw a sight she didn't think she'd ever see again, the sight of Luna in her form before she was banished. Exma almost wanted to go to Luna and express her own welcoming but refrained from doing so. With that final check in Exma once again wandered the world.