Chapter 1
A vast black ocean stretched out before her, an ocean filled with tiny motes of light and a large pale white circle. Staring into the night sky, transfixed by the vast emptiness of space, a violet unicorn lay on her back in a field just little ways outside of Ponyville. She often came out here just to stargaze. The lights of Ponyville, small though they were, interfered with her view of the sky. Not to mention she enjoyed the secluded nature of the field she had chosen to stargaze in. She did not dislike the company of other ponies, she just preferred to stargaze alone. She had brought her friends with her before but none of them seemed to enjoy themselves as much as she had. From then on she had decided to just go alone. Admittedly however, being out in an empty field in the middle of the night alone was rather... lonely. She often wished there was somepony who appreciated the night as much as she did.
Sighing quietly to herself, Twilight slowly rolled over and stood up. It was getting rather late and she had promised Spike she wouldn't be gone long. She began to leave, making her way back towards the library that she called home. Looking back over her shoulder as she walked away Twilight couldn't help but notice something strange about the moon. She turned around to get a better look at it, and couldn't help but notice that moon looked slightly peculiar. She couldn't put her hoof on it for sure but if she had to guess she would say that the moon looked... lonely, like it was wishing for her to notice it, to be noticed be anypony. Woosh. A gust of wind suddenly blew past her and made her shiver from the cold. “Twilight you silly filly,” she giggled to herself, “ it is the middle of winter, I really should have worn a coat or something.”
Turning back towards Ponyville, her thoughts turned back to the moon and she wondered why it looked like it did. Woosh. Another gust of wind quickly put that thought out of her mind as now she was beginning to notice just how cold it had gotten. She had completely lost herself in her excitement. Stargazing often had that effect on her and on more than one occasion Twilight had caught a cold from staying out so late. Normally a very practical pony Twilight was not one to fall victim to such silly mistakes as forgetting a coat or staying out too late. But something about the night sky made her forget all about practicality. Twilight had always felt a special connection to the stars and moon, and nighttime in general. It was not something she could explain, which bothered her somewhat. She just felt instinctively drawn to the night. Perhaps that was why her cutie mark took the shape of a group of stars. None of this mattered right now however because Twilight was now intensely aware of how cold it was. She hurried back to her house and was greeted by a frowning purple and green dragon.
“Maybe you forgot Twilight,” began Spike, “but it is the middle of winter.” Twilight smiled sheepishly at him. “Are you trying to catch a cold? Again?”
“Look Spike I'm really sorry but you know how it is, I just get so caught up in the excitement I sometimes forget.”
“Sometimes? Would it kill you to bring a coat with you? And come back at a reasonable hour? Besides you know what day tomorrow is, it would be bad if you got sick right before the celebration.”
“Oh Spike, you worry too much. I'll be fine”. Spike sighed and shook his head. “Well in any case I need to get some rest, tomorrow is the beginning of the first ever...”
“...Winter Moon Celebration” said Luna to nopony in particular, “tomorrow is the first ever Winter Moon Celebration and I still don't know what I'm going to do”. Luna sighed quietly, she sat alone in her room staring out the window at the moon. It looked so innocent hanging there in the sky, just a big white circle. For Luna however, the moon was much more than just another object out there in the void. It had been her prison for a thousand years, well not just her prison. Nightmare Moon had shared it with her. For centuries she had corrupted Luna, filled her thoughts of revenge. Through her poisonous words she had made Luna grow to hate Celestia and eventually there was no Luna, only Nightmare Moon. She spent years plotting her revenge, and when the stars finally aided her in her escape it seemed as if night would reign eternal and Luna would be trapped forever inside herself as Nightmare Moon. Were it not for the Elements of Harmony and their new found friendship she might have been successful. Luna owed more to the Elements than she could ever repay, they saved Equestria and they saved her. Lost in thought, Luna turned away from the window and lay down on her bed. She began recalling the day she had been freed from Nightmare Moon.
Darkness surrounded her, as it had ever since the evil mare had fully taken control of Luna. She could see nothing, just an impenetrable blackness all around her. Luna and Nightmare Moon may have shared a body but when Nightmare Moon took control Luna had been left with only her own consciousness. She didn't know how long things had been this way, for all she could remember it had always been like this. Luna felt nothing, other than the intense loneliness and sadness that now seeped through her. She was trapped in her own mind, confined by Nightmare Moon. A prison within her prison on the Moon. Looking around again she saw only the same blackness she had always seen, except this time she noticed something off in the distance. Looking closer Luna could see that a tiny speck of light had broken into her dark prison. Moving to investigate she noticed that as she got closer it had begun to grow in size. By the time she was right in front of it the speck of light had become a large column of light illuminating the black surrounding her. She could feel something coming through the light, it was a voice. Though not an actual voice rather another pony's magic reaching out to her. As the light's intensity increased it turned violet and it felt warm and welcoming. Luna approached the light and felt her feelings of loneliness and sadness disappear, replaced by love and happiness. The warmth she had felt before permeated her entire consciousness, now fully engulfed in light Luna felt another pony's consciousness but she couldn't quite make out whose it was. Before she could probe deeper the previously violet light suddenly changed into a rainbow of colors and swirled around her like a vortex. Then... a flash and Luna felt herself regain control of her body. She lay on the floor of an ancient building surrounded by ponies she didn't recognize. Examining her surroundings she noticed a familiar figure approaching her.
“Princess Luna,” said the figure, “it has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us, we were meant to rule together little sister. Will you accept my friendship?”
Luna could feel all the memories, a thousand years old, flooding back. She remembered everything, tears began to well up in her eyes. She couldn't find the words to say what she felt at that moment. Luna galloped to over to her sister and nuzzled her, putting her head under Celestia's.
“I'm so sorry! I missed you so much big sister.” Luna cried into her sister's shoulder. At this Celestia began to tear up as well.
“I've missed you too.” She cried happily, nuzzling Luna back.
Luna wiped away her tears, and smiled to herself. Her sister really was an amazing pony. After everything she did, after Nightmare Moon she was still able to look past all of that and forgive her and welcome her back with open arms. Luna felt stupid for ever being jealous of her sister, she felt so sorry for everything that had happened. But now that Nightmare Moon was gone she would never let something like that happen again, never let darkness enter her heart like before when she felt only jealousy and resentment towards her sister instead of the love she felt now. Luna bitterly recalled a thousand year old memory she had wished to never remember.
“No”
“but Sist-”
“Luna, I said no”
“It's not fair, everypony loves your days but they sleep through my nights. Nopony appreciates them, there is even a celebration held every year in honor of your days. I get nothing, no recognition, no praise, nothing. You bask in our subjects praise while I am forced to play the villain that brings an end to each day that the ponies love so much. All I want is equality, to share in the same praise and admiration that you receive. Let me have a week of full darkness, I want our subjects to be able to appreciate my night. I want them to see all the beautiful artwork I've created with the stars. Let me have this chance to show them that my nights can be just as beautiful as your days.”
“Dear sister, I've already told you no. It is impossible. To do such a thing would upset the balance that having both days and nights creates. Neither you nor I possess the power required to stop the cycle even if I wanted to do this for you. I understand what you want, but you must understand that what you ask is foolish. Imagine how the daily lives of our little ponies would be affected if you took away their daylight, even if only for a week. Crops, and in fact all plants, would be harmed for they require my sunlight to grow. With your moon being ever present in the sky the tides would be altered and would seriously affect the lives of anypony living near the sea. The weather too, would be changed. It would be cold all the time and continue to grow colder everyday without my sun to providing its warmth. Are you willing to force this upon our subjects just to earn their praise?”
“You just don't understand what it feels like to not be loved. In fact I am even feared by some. There are ponies who are afraid of my nights and fear me because of it, nopony loves my nights, nopony looks forward to them. They all hate me because I end your days that they love so dearly. Have you ever witnessed a pony that was too scared to sleep because they were terrified of your days? Or have you ever had to see the hate in a pony's eyes when they look up at your sun? Do you know what it feels like to be hated?”
“Nopony hates you Luna, you are wrong if you think that ponies fear your night, or resent you for ending my days.”
“You don't get it do you? You can't possibly understand, how could you? You've never felt anything but love from our subjects, you don't know what it feels like to be hated. Fine. I won't ask you again then, things will continue as the always have. Good night sister.”
“Luna I-”
Luna winked out of existence before she could hear what Celestia had to say. In a flash of light she appeared back in her room. She began angrily pacing back and forth, fuming over her sister's words. She began speaking aloud to herself.
“Why did I expect Celestia to understand? She doesn't have to know hate, she only has to bask in the love of our subjects. Hmph”
Luna threw herself onto her bed and began to cry softly into her pillow. As she cried a dark shadow began to form beside her bed.
“My little pony, why are you crying?”
“Celestia doesn't understand, she wouldn't listen to me.”
“Did you really think that foal Celestia would understand?”
“I thought that she would at least listen to me, I thought she cared about my feelings. I thought she cared about me”
“Ha! Nopony cares about you, I am the only one who looks out for you. It is only because of me that you are still around now. Without me Celestia surely would have cast you aside to rule by herself.”
“Do you really think she would do that?” said Luna wiping tears from her eyes.
“Of course, she barely lets you have any power as it is. She chose the the better part of the day and night cycle for herself, but I can see she wants more. All you wanted was to be treated fairly, and immediately she turned you down. She wants all the power for herself, but she hasn't gathered enough strength to dethrone you... yet. I can see it in her eyes, she means to rid herself of you. You must strike before she does, you must remove her. She is standing in the way of your goal, and we can't have that.”
“Do you want me to kill her?”
“No, nothing so crude. Merely remove her from the equation so to speak.”
“I'm not sure I can do that. I don't think I have the strength I would need to challenge her.”
“You won't be alone, you'll have me. I will lend you my strength, but in return when we depose Celestia then you will allow me to rule along side you in the regime. I will of course let you have the day, and I will take the night. Together you and I will rule Equestria, and you will finally get the love and admiration you so desire.”
“I will finally be loved? Okay, if this is what I must do then so be it. Thank you, sometimes I think you are my only friend Nightmare Moon.”
“My dear I live only for you.”
Luna rolled over in her bed. She thought about Nightmare Moon, back in those days it really felt like she was her only friend. But now she had Celestia, she had someone who she knew loved her. It felt good to be loved, though she still felt alone most of the time. She hoped that she could make a good impression at the Winter Moon Celebration so she could be admired and loved like her sister. With that thought firmly planted in her head she decided to go back to her desk and keep working on ideas for her performance at the celebration later today. Walking over to her desk she happened to glance out her window. She trotted over and used her magic to open the window and reveal her balcony. She stepped onto the vine covered platform and stared into the night sky. Looking directly at the moon, she smiled softly, “I hope that after tonight everypony will see how beautiful you are, and then maybe they will love me.” She turned back to her room and moved over to her desk. Her horn glowed dark blue and she lifted a quill, some ink, and parchment out of one of the drawers. Setting them onto her desk she dipped the quill in the ink and began to write.
Winter Moon Celebration Ideas
1 - Make giant catapult to launch ponies to the moon
2 -