• Published 2nd May 2012
  • 1,762 Views, 14 Comments

1000 Years - Paraturtle



Luna's descends into the depths of The Moon, only to find she is delving into herself.

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Chapter 1 (Day 1-4)

Are you reading this in your cozy home? Or are you roaming the internet looking for things to keep your mind off home? Where are you? Does it really matter whether you’re away from home or not? I mean, you’re going to end up sleeping in your warm bed at home soon, right?

There is something nice about home. It’s just so secure and safe. Everything you need is in your home. No one is there to make you angry or to push you to your limits. It’s just a relaxing, loving place.

Somepony might consider the world her home. She might find that it provides all she needs, even the things she wants. Everything she can think of is in her home. Sometimes she can feel like royalty.

And then sometimes, she won’t.


Day 1/365,250

“…Thou think We can’t? We’ll show thee—!” Luna was cut short. Everypony seemed to disappear, as if out of thin air. 'Where did everypony go?' she thought. “Alright then! Thou can run! It’ll still be nighttime!” She stomped her hoof against the ground in emphasis, but all she heard was the echo in the ballroom.

Tall pillars stood besides her, leading to a gorgeous artwork above her: Ponies dancing in the sunlight, trees standing tall and fruitful. She scoffed at it. Her horn glowed and black ink spread across the painting, starting from the sun.

“We win, Celestia! We’re better than thou ever was! Nighttime will exist over all of Equestria forever!” Laughing as she celebrated her victory, she bolted through the air with her powerful wings! With her magic, she threw open the doors to the hallway and blazed through them!

“Thou hadst better get out of our way, subjects! We’re not stopping for anypony!” Flying faster than ever, Luna shot through the hallways. The wind kicking off of her was so powerful that it knocked over tables and flung doors flew open. The first few rooms were barren, and as she progressed, the other rooms seem to be the same. Nopony was around?

Luna slowed down to a hover. “Where has everypony gone? Why is nopony here!?” Luna was yelling, but was once again met only by her echo. Her hooves touched the ground and she walked over to a room on her right. The door was locked. “Aha! Thou hast hidden thyself from Us!” There was no reply. She stepped up to the door and her horn began to glow. Her magic unlocked the door and swung it open. She jumped in. “Dost thou have anything to say before We send thee out into…!” Nopony was there to fear her.

The dark mare searched around the room: under the tables, the chairs, and inside the closets. ‘Where has everypony gone?’ She repeated the question, but this time it echoed in the confines of her own mind. She went to the doorway and poked her head out. Looking left and right down the hallway, she saw nopony. ‘Did they all disappear? What has thou done, Celestia?’

Princess Luna began walking down the hall checking rooms, her pace quickening slightly to a slow gallop. Not a single pony showed up. She kept galloping until she ran to the front door of the palace. ‘There must be somepony outside.’ She jumped into the air, ready to fly around and show off her awesome power and flying skills once the doors flew open. Luna was ready to bring fear to everypony of Canterlot. Her horn glowed a dark blue; armor appeared across her body.

Putting forth magic, the doors opened, hitting the sides of the palace and shaking the walls! Flying through into the dead of night, she announced, “Hear me, Canterlot! Thine Princess Celestia has vanished!” Luna twirled in the air as lightning cracked through the sky!

“She hast left thee to be lost in darkness for all of eternity! We art thine new leader, and thou art Our subjects!” Princess Luna looked down after showing off, and was amazed to see nopony was there. She was baffled. “Where is everypony!”

Thunder cracked and it began pouring rain. As her mane became heavy and her wings tired, Luna landed on the ground and looked around. The raindrops were hitting her armor. Pang pang pang.

The princess flung her head to the side, setting her soaking wet mane upon the ground to keep it from dragging in the ground. Hoisting her tail up for the same reason, she trotted around the courtyard.

She walked by Old Jimmy’s Rustlin’ Bakery. The usual smell of apple pies wasn’t spewing from the windows. She walked over to peer through the windows but only saw an empty bakery. There wasn't a single pastry. She then turned around to look in Teresa’s Mane Studio, but only saw empty chairs and old appliances.

The rain was coming down like a heavy blanket. Where were the pegasi to get rid of the rain clouds? Luna knew she could stop the rain, but she liked the sounds it made: Pang pang pang on her armor, splish splash sploosh in the fountain, tink tenk tink on the rooftops.

Everypony being gone put Luna on edge. She looked around with wide eyes. ‘Is this one of thine tricks Celestia? Art thou going to ambush me?’ Luna was on the vigilant side now. She was scanning everything she saw in case there was something out of the ordinary.

Rain was hitting a billboard atop the many buildings. The board had fresh paint on it, and as the rain poured itself upon it, the paint began to pour down as well. It was advertising peace amongst the three races of pony. It had been put up when Canterlot had been founded many a year ago, and refurbished recently to keep its spirit alive. It was a memento of their coming together after years of quarreling. But now it was washing away. She found that offsetting.

Luna began to grow cold. The rain was coming down harder than it ever had before, and it was starting to get under her armor. Luna galloped to the nearest home. She stood at the door and tapped her horn against it.

“Hello there! Wouldst thou kindly open the door for Us? We promise to invite thou to the next royal feast! Our coat is wet, and We’re cold!” She knew nopony would let her in unless she used common courtesy. But she also knew she wasn’t the kind of person to let somepony in the lower class sit at her table.

“Fine, We’ll open it Ourselves!” She then kicked the door down with her hoof and charged in. There was nopony inside, and even though this kept happening, it still caught her off guard.

Horn turning a dark blue, her armor disappeared from her body, and She was back to her original size. Luna, using her magic, lifted the water off from her coat. She then walked forward and turned around to look at her liquidy self where the water floated in place as a perfect replica of her. She stared at it for a couple seconds, and then hit it with her hoof. The water poured across the floor and she hovered above it to keep her hooves from getting wet.

Luna looked out the window. The rain was coming down hard, and there was no way she was going back out. She tried using her magic to rid the sky of the clouds, but she had already used too much. The strain on her body and mind was to much to keep using magic. She decided that she would go up and sleep on one of the beds till the rain passed by.

The room she stepped into was a small cramped room with a dresser, mirror, and bed. ‘No personal closet or bathroom? How do these ponies live like this?’ She bent down to look under the bed for anything out of the ordinary. Her childhood fear of monsters under the bed never went away, even if she was scarier than what might be under the bed. She pushed the sheets off the bed, climbed in, and rested her head on the pillow. It smelled of caramel. Luna pulled the sheets back up with what little magic she had, and rested.

‘Where is everypony…?’


Day 2/365,250

Princess Luna could still hear the pitter patter of rain outside. The sun wasn’t up, just the way she liked it. She had no idea what time it was though. She stepped out of the bed and shook her head. ‘We’re not sure how anypony could sleep in that.’ Her mane was flowing every which way. Her horn began to glow and her blue hair went back to its rightful position.

Luna walked downstairs; the floor still soaking wet. She looked out the window. The rain hadn’t let up, but she had enough magic to blow the storm clouds away. She walked out the door she had previously kicked in, and stepped into the rain. She looked up, and her horn began to glow. The wind began to pick up, blowing ravenously. The rain began to lessen as the clouds flew overtop Canterlot. Luna was always amazed by magic, but she never would show it. Small breaks in the clouds revealed something disheartening though: sunlight.

“What in all of Equestria…!” Princess Luna was astonished! Wasn’t it always nighttime? Hadn’t Luna won? Where was the moon?

The clouds were far off in the distance now, nowhere near Canterlot. The sun beat down upon Luna’s back, and she hated that.

“Celestia! What hast thou done to Us!” She stared up into the sky, yelling back at the sun. “Where is everypony, Celestia!? What dost thou have planned!?” Luna fell on her chest and held her head between her legs. “What has thou done…” she said quietly, holding back tears. She was scared, a feeling she only felt before checking her bed. She was choked up, and laid there for quite some time. She didn’t know what to do, but most of all, she felt lonely.

The hopeless alicorn wallowed there for some time, unsure of what to do. When Luna stood up, she realized something: Nopony is around to stop her from doing anything she wanted. What seemed like all of Canterlot was hers. She could do anything she wanted without having her sister ruin things for her.

Luna’s stomach grumbled. This set her first objective: to find food! She flew into the air, and from a birds eye view, scoped out where to eat. Pete’s Pizza? Sam’s Spaghetti? Bonny’s Buffet? Old Jimmy’s Rustlin’ Bakery? 'But there was no food there last time We checked.' Luna thought. She decided to check anyway. Maybe there was some cake in the back room.

To her avail, there had been some pastries in the backroom. They hadn’t been covered, so they were a bit stiff, not more than a day though. She munched on a delicious strawberry crumpet. Luna never found crumpets all that appealing, but she loved strawberries, and there weren’t any other pastries other then crumpets. ‘Why so many crumpets?’ She looked around for some sugar. The crumpet wasn’t in any way sweetened enough. She went towards the front of the shop hoping there might be sugar in a pantry. No luck.

The lonely mare sat on her rump and looked outside. ‘Why is the sun out…’ She stuffed what was left of the crumpet in her mouth. It sat on her tongue while she looked outside. What next? She thought of things she could do. ‘Make it forever night; learn how to juggle, travel. Hmm… how about juggling?’

Luna rose up and walked out the bakery. ‘Now what should We practice juggling with?’ Eggs popped into her mind, but that didn’t seem practical. She stood there looking around and thinking of what would be good to juggle. In truth, she didn’t really want to juggle that badly. Luna just didn’t want to think of how lonely she was.

She gave up on juggling. It just seemed to much of a hassle to find something to juggle. That's when it struck her: Why not get rid of the sun now? Nopony could stop her. Nopony is around.

Luna stood as prostrate as she could, channeling all her magic to move the sun and allow for the moon to take over the skies. Her hair flew all directions as her horn began to glow a misty faded gray. The sun began to move ever so slowly. Baring her teeth, eyes shut, hooves pressed to the ground, she pushed all the magic she had into this celestial movement. The sun began to accelerate across the sky, slowly still, but more noticeable now. The shadows began to expand as it dropped down towards the horizon like a filly jumping into water. No moon had appeared yet.

Luna was grunting and gasping for breath. It took a lot of magic to move both the sun and the moon. Normally she wouldn’t be moving them both. If it were nighttime, she would only hold them in place for a time till they couldn’t move anymore. Celestia would always set them back into motion, but Celestia wasn’t here.

The Moon Princess, squeezing every last bit of magic she had, plunged the Sun below the horizon. She fell on her side, eyes closed and breathing heavily. She laid there resting for a while. Nopony would tell her to get off the road. Between breaths, she said quietly:

“Good… Job…”


Day 3/365,250


Not a moonlit sky, but a starry night is what Luna awoke to, after only just three hours of sleep. Her body shivered so much it had woke her. She got up wuth wings wrapped around her underbelly to keep herself warm, and she walked into the nearest home. There was a nice thick gray wool jacket she took off a hook.

Stepping out of the home, she looked around. It was hard to see anywhere in this kind of darkness. Without the moonlight, she had no way of seeing any further then five or six meters.

Walking back inside the home, Luna searched for some sort of portable light source. There was a lantern beneath on of the tables. A blanket and some toys were also under the table. ‘A little filly must have used it for a fort.’ The toys were miniature ponies. Celestia and Luna were there, as well as Star Swirl the Bearded. She grabbed the lantern with her teeth and holstered it to her jacket. Looking at the toys, she reached under the table again with her hoof and brought out the two princesses. She lifted them up with her magic, which she found quite difficult after using so much magic last night, and put them in her jacket pocket.

Stepping out once more, Luna lit the lantern using the last of her magic. She could now see out past twelve to fourteen meters. ‘It is enough.’ She thought.

The now-warm mare turned left and strolled out into the night. She could travel now, wherever her heart pleased. No more works or meetings to discuss the lack in chocolate for an upcoming event with Celestia. No more getting dressed up for a ball that wasn’t in any way interesting for Luna. No more anything. She could do what she wanted to do. Explore the world outside Canterlot on her own time. But once again, the question begged: What first?

Princess Luna thought as she walked, and realized she really didn’t know anywhere outside Canterlot. Sure, Celestia and she have visited other towns, but she had not known any of their names. That was Celestia’s job, everything was.

Luna came to the conclusion that aimlessly exploring seemed the most exciting. She began flapping her wings, but those too were quite tired from last night. She hadn’t really thought about it, but her body was pretty sore. Her magic must not have been enough to move the sun alone. It must have used some physical strength as well. Whether that was true or not didn’t change the fact she had minimal magic and barely enough strength to go adventuring.

that did not stop her, though.

She continued down the road, occasionally looking up at the stars. ‘We wonder if We could someday reach those.’ She added “Walk Amongst the Stars” to her mental list of things to do.

Luna was at the front gate to Canterlot, which was slightly opened. Chills skipped across her spine. Something about leaving felt scary. It seemed almost inevitable that she would leave Canterlot, one way or another, populated or not. But looking out, it seemed hostile. Almost as if everything out there was something she shouldn’t bargain with. What was there to be afraid of?

Her whole body was now outside Canterlot. But where had the time gone between exiting the gate? It seemed her initial fear took over her senses, but she made it out, and that’s what mattered. Now she was her own pony.

There was enough starlight to see out to horizon. The road wound its way around the mountain in weird patterns. It was actually quite irritating to Luna, having to turn left, then right, then u-turn left, then right again. It was quite the sight, though. She saw a rock perching itself out from the mountain. The view at the end of it was exquisite, and she couldn’t help but lie down at the end.

‘Where else is there to travel when We can see it all here?’ She folded her hooves and rested her head on them, looking out over all of Equestria.

The grassy plains below the mountain soaked in new life as the mountains above breathed wind across the Equestrian canvas. The trees swayed as if a sonnet was being played aloud by the Canterlot falls. Those falls could be heard dropping down to Earth with a deep bellowing laugh the whole way down as if it were a carnival ride. The water stomped upon the stones below and dispersed all over, but once settled at the lake below, it reflected the stars high above.

Something crawled into Luna that night, that night when she was alone and stuck inside her own head. It may have been from the choreography of the trees, or the breaths of the Earth, or the power of the mountain, or even the humbleness of the Falls, but Luna was at peace.

‘This is Our home.’


Day 4/365,250


Wind circled Luna as she opened her eyes halfway. It was still dark; just the way it should be. The moon had not shown its face yet. She lifted her head and looked around. ‘Nothing to see.’ She rested her head back on her hooves and shut her eyes. It was nice resting and listening.

Equestria was alive; it never rested. But it's sources of life will eventually stop. Without the sun, the plants will die and the water will freeze. Luna knew this, but didn’t want to think about it.

‘There will be enough food.’ She reassured herself quickly. ‘Even with no sun, I can get by.’ she also knew this wasn’t true, and quite honestly had no idea how to fix it. ‘Oh joy, a new problem…’ She began running ideas on how to fix her problem.

The falls were still laughing deeply, but a higher tone flew down. Intrigued, Luna opened an eye slightly and looked over. There was a darker spot flowing down, and she could have sworn she heard somepony yelling. Did somepony just ride the Canterlot falls? She turned and lifted her head and followed the dark spot until it hit the water below with a smack that rang all the way to her. The first pony she had seen in four days jumps into a waterfall. That is, if it was even real.

She had more energy than before, but was still very tired. Luna stood up and stretched her legs. The lantern was long burned out. She attempted to light it again, but it wouldn’t. She stretched her wings out wide and stepped off the stone. Gliding down, the wind whistled against her ears. She stopped above the lake and waited.

‘Maybe I was just seeing things…’ She was scared to go down, but it wouldn’t hurt, would it? She listened as the falls pushed downward beside her. It was a very powerful thing to experience, and it being her first time, she was quite impressed. She moved closer to the falls and reached her hoof in. It was kicked down and out. She had not been expecting so much force!

She looked down again. Something had rippled the water moving outward from the falls. The star's reflection off the water was being distorted, but the falls didn’t reach so far out. Luna's decision was made: she was to go down. She dived down towards the water. The falls next to her seemed to not move as she caught up with them. Right before hitting the water she swooped forward and chased the unknown swimmer.

“Hey! Stop!” Whatever was starting those ripples seemed to slow down. In fact, they seemed to stop outright. She came to a halt above where the swimmer should have been, but nothing was there. ‘Maybe it dove below.’

She went as close to the water as she could, but nothing seemed to be underneath the surface. She brought her head back up, and swinging her mane back, and came back to a familiar question. ‘What now?’

“Well maybe you could go adventure out further, but I’m not sure you will find it any fun alone.” Somepony was behind her. Luna turned quickly to see who had just spoken to her, but nothing was there. “Oh I’m over here sweetie.” She turned to her right. “No not there, down here.” She turned to look down and saw her own wide eyed reflection. “Oh silly me, I’ll stop playing with you, I’m up here.” She aimed her head up and touched noses with another pony. He had a dark brownish red coat and a dirty tan mane with matching tail. It was messy, and his horn pushed through it. His eyes were a soft but piercing blue. “Hello there.” He smiled and gave Luna a quick peck on the nose and disappeared.

Luna quickly rubbed her nose clean from his mouth. Disgusted and full of questions, she called to him. “Hey! Where hast thou gone!? I demand thee to come back!”

“But why would I do that?” The mysterious stallion was now standing on dry land, brushing his mane back, but then disappeared quickly.

“Because We have said so! And We are very confused!” Luna was distressed, and not sure what in all of Equestria was going on. She could have sworn that there were wings on him, but there weren't very many alicorns left in existence, either.

“So you’re confused, and you want my help? How do you know I’ll be of any help to you?” He was now right in front of her, touching noses again. He did not disappear this time.

“Because We haven’t seen anypony for three days, and the moon is not in the sky where We placed it.”

“I’m offended! ‘Nopony around’ she says, but what about me! I’m right here!” He turned his body and pantomime walked in the air away from Luna as his wings flapped.

“But where hast everypony else gone!” She was talking with a slight panic in her voice, and was almost submissive. She was very eager to find out what was going on.

“They haven’t gone anywhere my love.” She scrunched her face.

“Why dost thou keep calling Us such informal names?” The alicorn turned his head to look at her.

“Just being polite, 'Oh High Exalted One.'”

“Thou must have Us confused with Our sister.”

“Oh no I mean you, Luna.” She kept looking at him intently, though she was still somewhat frightened.

“Where is everypony?”

“Enjoying a shiny day in Canterlot.”

“There is nopony in Canterlot and there is most certainly no sunlight shining upon it.”

“And that is where you are mistaken.” He disappeared, and then reappeared beside the lake. Luna flew over to him, but soon found her wings were still tired, and alighted back on the ground.

“Alright fine, If thou wants to be difficult, We shall move onto a different question. Where is the moon?”

“Closer than you think.” He walked up to her and knocked a hoof on her head. “You do that right? You know, think?”

“We thought thou was going to be polite”

“I have my limits, honey.”

She was blown away by this peculiar Alicorn Nothing he said made much sense. She continued to look at him with amazement, and he was aware of it - and enjoying it.

“At least tell Us what’s going on,” she finally said.

“Do you have eyes? Can’t you see?” He tilted his head and moved in closer while extending the ‘eeeeee’ till Luna gave him a glare that could stop a Minotaur. Stepping back, his face became alarmingly serious. "Tell me what is going on,” he said with a much more stern voice. His eyes showed that he had stopped kidding around.

The Princess was taken back. He had become serious like the flip of a switch. “What?” she asked with a puzzled and somewhat wary face.

“Tell me what is going on.” He stepped forward slightly, and did not let up on his gaze. Luna felt intimidated.

“Well We were arguing with Celestia, and We were about to put Our plan into effect to make it always nighttime. Just before We could, everypony disappeared. We’re not sure what happened, but We know Celestia did something."

"Since then, We’ve gotten rid of the sun. The moon should be in it’s place, but it isn’t. We aren’t sure how, or why, but it just isn’t. We even used all our magic two days ago. We know for a fact We moved the moon but it just isn’t in the sky.”

"So yesterday We decided that We would go adventuring; see the world. We only made it so far on hoof until We fell asleep up on the mountain.” She turned and pointed to the rock. He did not look away from her. “Then when We awoke, We listened to Equestria. The sounds it makes are amazing! Hast thou ever just listened to it?" The alicorn smirked at Luna as she went on.

“Anyway, We noticed an unknown sound coming from the falls. It sounded of screaming.” The last word crawled its way out her mouth as he began to chuckle.

“Haha! I wasn’t screaming out of fear, if that was what you were wondering! I’m a thrill seeker! I love finding new ways to get the adrenaline pumping!” He stood on two hoofs and tensed his fore-arms, trying to showing off his non-existent muscles.

“We would be impressed, If thou had any muscles.” He stepped back down on all four hooves and his face became that serious look again as he came dangerously close to her. She felt uneasy.

“Would ‘thou’ like for me to have muscles?” She wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that question. "Because I can do anything. I can give you anything you want.” That really sent a strike through her bones. Even the air seemed to feel awkward.

“What… dost thou mean ‘I can give you anything you want.'” she said slowly, picking her words carefully. Backing up, she lowered herself a little out of fear, if only to show him that she was submitting.

“It means exactly how it sounds. Do you want me to have more muscle and be the most handsome colt in all of Equestria? I can do that in an instant. Do you want sugar on those bland strawberry crumpets you ate earlier?” Crumpets appeared with sugar being poured onto it by the spoonful. They were rotating around her head. “I can give you that, too.”

Luna was left aloof. She wasn’t sure how to act around this colt. He had a certain aura that was terrifying, and yet, it was very inviting. She knew she was giving into him, but she didn’t want to fight it. She just wanted to be with somepony. Being alone for three days was too much. She didn’t want to scare this pony away.

“But of course why would you want those things, right?” He jumped back, and with a wide grin, made the crumpets and sugar disappear “Why don’t we go adventuring first?” He turned around and jumped right into the air, speeding away at an unbelievable rate!

Luna was still a bit lowered, and she looked around. It was still dark, and she was afraid. ‘Why are We so scared…’ She slowly raised her neck. This new alicorn was the first to appear in three days, and that was after everypony else had disappeared. Luna tried to stay courageous, but being so shaken up by somepony she had never met before really unsettled her. She fell to the ground once more. Shoving her face between her folded hooves, she cried.

Luna wasn’t sure of anything, and she knew it. Even when she tried to make sense of it, or ignore it, she was only lying to herself. She knew that too. When she finally had left Canterlot and rested on that projected stone, she felt so much of that confusion leave her body. She had been peace, but now the confusion crawled back in like it had before, and she was scared it wasn’t going to leave.

“I’m sorry, I am truly, truly sorry,” a voice said in a calm, warming tone. The mysterious colt had returned, and he settled down next to her, resting his head on his own hooves. “I don’t like this, I really don’t. Please believe me.” Luna continued sobbing while he just rested there looking at her with his soft eyes, watching.

“How about I tell you about myself. better now than never right?” He grinned a small grin, but Luna didn’t let up, so he put his grin away for another time. “I’m not a doctor, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t make the pain go away, or keep you from ever getting hurt. I’m more of a surgeon. Ponies might come to me asking ‘Oh please sir! My leg has been broken for so long! Every time I walk it hurts! Please help me!’ And I tell them ‘That bone has been healed over incorrectly. I’m going to need to need to break it again to put it back in place’.”

"Someponies turn away and say they don’t want to relive the pain, and that they will deal with it. Others agree, and allow me to make their legs perfect again. The pain these ponies face after having their legs broken a second time is unbearable, but afterwords they are new ponies.”

“Why are you telling me this…” Luna’s voice was muffled underneath her hooves, but he knew what she had said.

“I know you think I ruined what you had going. You felt perfect, and you were going to adventure around Equestria, but you still knew something was wrong. Even if exploring would hide it, you still had it sitting in your head.”

"I’m here to make things better, Luna. But things only become better after they are worse.”

She looked up; her folded legs were wet, and her eyes filled with tears still. Her mouth was open, with teeth bared, but eyes silently pleading for help. Even now, she had a defense against him: She wanted to scare him away. That’s what she did with anypony she didn’t like.

But he only looked at her, as pathetic as she looked; trying to look intimidating with eyes screaming for redemption. His face did not move. He just sat there looking back at her. “But only if you say ‘please.'”

Luna reached with her arms around his neck and squeezed with all the pleases she could show. This lonely Canterlot wasn't so lonely anymore. He rested his head on her shoulder and returned the hug. Luna pressed her mouth against his ear. Quietly, as to let not a single soul hear, she whispered:

“Please…”