Lunar Eclipse

by CutieMarkChallenged

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Sad, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Nightmare Moon
Length: 1067

''I wanted eternal night. Looks like I got it.'' The story of how and why Nightmare Moon was created.

I wanted eternal night. Looks like I got it.
Luna sits on the moon, mentally recapping how and why she got sent there.

(Cover art done by MsLilly on deviantart)

Published 2013-07-03 01:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-03 01:20:02 UTC

Chapter 1

I wanted eternal night. It looks like I got it.

I sit on the cold ground, talking to myself inside my mind. I suppose I could talk out loud, nopony else is here to judge me for it. Sitting here, in my prison, I wonder how it all started. What could have possibly made this escalate so far that something that I love so much would be punishment?

Yes, I loved my night, but I wasn’t obsessed. At least, not completely... not at first. I was named after the moon, it is my destiny. Its magic and wonder shared with me. It made me special, it made me who I am. But, who am I? I was once ‘Little Luna’ I was once ‘Her Majesty Princess Luna’, I was even once ‘Nightmare Moon’. Who am I now? Surely not the last one. That would truly be a nightmare.

Nightmare Moon is speculated to be cruel, hateful, and uncaring. She is called greedy and evil, rumored to want to take away all that is good and joyous. That is not I. It never was, and it never shall be. I do not gobble ponies, I do not demand sacrifices from afar. I do not wish to harm anypony, let alone everypony. I am not some evil villain that stars in fillies’ worst nightmares. I do not wish to be perceived as such, yet I can not stop it. This is what ponies are taught from foalhood, they have no evidence otherwise. Who are they to believe, their beloved sun princess, or some stranger nopony has ever met?

Oh how different things are now. Nothing now feels like it could moderately resemble the time I first rose the moon. How could it? Things were different then, I was different then.

“I did it! I can’t believe I did it! I did it! Tia, I did it! I did it!” I bounced up and down. This was so exciting! I rose the moon! All by myself! I could barely contain my joy. “Look, Tia, I did it! Do you see it?! I did it! I rose the moon! It’s right there! Up in the sky! Shining and everything! Do you see it?! Do you see it?!”

The sky was magnificent. The moon stood silently, watching over all the little ponies below while millions of stars twinkled like jewels. The sky was a deep blue-ish-purple, the perfect backdrop as the scene set the mood. Yes, this night was amazing. Not only was it the first night I had made myself, but it was also one of the best nights I had ever seen. And I was ecstatic to have the knowledge that I could do this over and over again, every night. This feeling would never get old, and it would never go away. It was mine forever, it was my destiny.

Celestia laughed, amused by my frantic display. “Yes, Luna, I see it. Good job. It’s really beautiful.” She lifted a hoof and messed up my mane. “Congratulations, little sister.”

This was the first night of my new life. From this very point I was no longer just ‘Princess Luna’. I was ‘Luna, Alicorn Princess of the Night. Riser of the Moon and Stars.’ A shiver went up my spine. My life was perfect. I was sitting on one of the castle’s terraces, spending time with my big sister and basking in my night. This was the single greatest moment of my life.

My heart felt heavy. Yes, things had changed immensely. I wish that there were some way to change that. Some way to turn back time; stop this from happening. Alas, some wishes never do come true.

After that, the years had passed favorably. I lived my life blissfully oblivious to the fact that my moon revolved around the world, not the other way around. I laughed, I played, and tried every sunset to make each night even better than the last. I always seemed to amuse myself this way. I would spend minutes, sometimes hours, trying to think of ways that it could be better. Sometimes I even snuck out of bed, in the middle of the night, just so I could stare out the window. I didn’t care that I would need sleep to operate in the morning. Sometimes some things are more important than otherponies’ opinions.

I didn’t quite realize that somewhere along the line, Celestia had become distant, and was turning increasingly so. Soon, we were no longer playing in the yard together, laughing and making jokes. I was sitting in the garden, waiting for her to come out in ‘just a minute’ while she finish some ‘really quick paperwork’. Often this took hours, sometimes even a whole day. When she came out, she would be too exhausted to play. Instead she would politely wait for me to start the night, and then go to bed. Weeks passed like this, which then turned to months. Eventually I stopped waiting in the garden, and looked for some other fillies to play with.

That was hard. As a young princess, I wasn’t to leave the castle grounds alone, and I seldom found someone to go with me. There weren’t children around the castle, mostly a bunch of adults who were too busy working to stop and entertain a filly. Every once in awhile I went to the library to read some books. Often I would play card games, or draw pictures with crayons. Most of which would end up in a box. That’s where Tia said I should put them so she could look at them ‘later.’

Most of the time, I spent thinking about the sky. Tia said her job was to start the day and ‘handle’ things that happened during it. One time I asked if I could have a job too. She said that my job was to raise the moon and stars, the prettier the better. Just like everypony else in the castle, I wanted to be good at my job. I spent lots of time trying to come up with ways to make every night different, but still beautiful each time. Sometimes I drew pictures with the stars, sometimes I wrote words like ‘fun’ and ‘love’ and ‘peace’. I thought I was very clever.

It wasn’t until years later that I found out that nopony noticed.