1000 Years Ago

by Charles Spratt

The start

It was New Year's Eve. Celestia was sitting out on a railing, watching as the ponies below gathered in Canterlot square for the countdown. After a few minutes, the ball was lowered, and the countdown began.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!" Yelled everypony in Equestria, as fireworks shot out on the count of zero, prompting a celebration that almost reached Pinkie Pie levels of insane. Almost. Celestia smiled, then walked back into her bedroom. She tried to sleep, but for some reason was just too pumped up to do so on this night. After twenty minutes of futile tossing and turning, she got up and decided to head to Luna for a talk, hoping that eventually the conversation would be enough to get her at least a little bit tired. She walked to the balcony Luna was standing on, and knocked on the glass pane between her and her sister. Luna turned around and opened the door. Celestia then walked in and said, "Hello, Luna."

"Hello, Celestia. Having trouble sleeping?" asked Luna.

"Yes. For some reason, I just can't convince myself that I'm tired" Celestia explained.

Luna grinned and said, "Well, New Years Eve has that effect sometimes." Celestia didn't answer, instead staring at Luna. Luna stared back for a moment, before asking, "Is there something else that is bothering you, sister?"

"No, there's not. It's just..." Celestia began before stopping for a moment.

"Just what?" asked Luna.

"It's just... it feels like forever since we actually talked about anything just for fun."

"What do you mean? The last time we did that was only..." Luna started, before she stopped to start counting. After a moment, her eyes widened as she slowly let out the answer: "..1003 years ago."

"Exactly. Due to my job raising the sun, and your job raising the moon, we have very rarely been awake at the same time to talk about anything, and when we did, it was for some sort of matter of security, like for the Crystal Empire, for example. We are sisters, yet we rarely speak to one another casually. I would like to change that, if you aren't too busy." said Celestia.

"I agree" said Luna. "I don't have to move the moon for another 5 hours, so I really don't have anything to do. Let's change our silence!" Both nodded, then stared at each other for a few seconds, ironically not knowing how to start the conversation. Thankfully, Celestia quickly came up with a question.

"Luna, do you remember what happened at the point we just call '1000 years ago'?"

"What didn't happen on that year? I mean, we got swarmed with villians! Tirek, Sombra, Discord, and..." said Luna, who paused for a moment before saying, "...and me."

Celestia nodded, and said, "Indeed, that was a hard year for the both of us. However, I never really understood the timing of your change."

"Huh?"

"Let's think about this. You have always said that the change was due to jealousy of your beautiful night being shunned by ponies in favor of my beautiful day. However, it seems a bit odd that you only chose to do that on the same year that three other villians invaded. I mean, there's not much chance that you'd be able to think about your resentment when we're constantly getting invaded, and have your attempt to... disempower me, I suppose is the best word, happen only a week after we took down Sombra" said Celestia calmly.

Luna looked down, apparently trying to hold back some tears. Celestia sat down next to her sister, and put a hoof around her, while calmly asking, "It wasn't just a coincidence, was it, Luna?"

Luna looked at the party in Canterlot for a moment, before saying, "No, it wasn't. "

"Something happened to you during our attempt to save the Crystal Empire. Am I right?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, it's true. Something did happen during that trip. I just never told you because I didn't think it would be that important. That moment of weakness..." said Luna as she looked down and to the side, a few tears running down her face. Celestia softly hugged her little sister, who offered no resistance. After a bit, Celestia said, "Can you please tell me what happened on that day?"

Luna nodded, and then asked, "Is it okay if I tell the whole story, including the parts you know? I mean, you were there, so you know the basics, but I just need to get all of this out."

Celestia nodded and said, "It's your story, Luna. Tell it however you feel like telling it."

Luna nodded and said, "Before I begin, I'd like to get one thing out of the way: I had no intention of ever becoming Nightmare Moon before our crusade. While it's true that ponies still preferred the shine of your day to the shade of my night, it wasn't something that bothered me. It allowed me to see the dreams of ponies, after all, which taught me a ton about others. However, that contention with my role wouldn't last after I first met King Sombra face to face..." said Luna.

Celestia gasped and said, "You met Sombra face to face? When was this??"

"I'll get to it all in time, dear sister. Please do not rush me."

"I'm sorry. Please begin when you're ready."

"Very well..." said Luna, who began telling her story...