Echoes of the Past

Princess Celestia sat waiting. She knew that one of two things were about to happen. She was ether going to have a surprise guest or one or her guards would inform her that a young pony tried to break into the castle. She closed her book and her eyes and hoped there is not a knock on her door.

That's when I said with my face nearly touching her mane "Beautiful night isn't it Princess?" I was smart enough to back away as Princess Celestia spun her body around creating a mess of mane and tail.

She said to me gasping for breath "OH MY..." For moment I thought she was going to drop a legendary Canterlot swear word. But she regained her posture too quickly for that. "...goodness you gave me quite a scare." I frowned, she recovered so quickly I could barley have any fun with her. She couldn’t actually see my face yet as I still had my hood covering it. The princess said in her elegant voice "Now take off that mask and let us... talk."
I raised my hood and stared into what was to be the first of many times I stare into that unfathomable face. Her first question was the one I was expecting the most "How did you get in here?"

"A thief does not reveal its secrets"

"Very well, By now you should know I have an assignment for you... I need you to spy on somepony."

"Ahhhhhh. So who did you have in mind?"

Celestia paused then sighed and said grimly. "My sister"

Surprised I responded "Princess Luna? Why her?"

"She has returned from the moon very recently. I can't be completely certain she is on our side. Recently I have gotten this hunch that Luna may be up to something. I want you to eavesdrop on her and find out if she is up to anything or if she really has changed. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course but every pony has their price."

"I will grant you basic access to the castle so that you can go to nearly every part to get any information that you need. I will also pay for whatever information you can find out. Finally you can't tell any other pony what we are up to. So, is it a deal?" She did not give me much to think about. I quickly came up with a yes and we shook on that.

Celestia sat up and shuffled toward her large ornate window and looked out. She said to me in that smooth voice "Good, now I would like you to start tonight. Head to Luna's bedroom and find out what she was doing."

I immediately came up with two questions. "Won't Luna be sleeping? Also where is her bedroom?"

The Princess did not need think for the answer. "My sister's bedroom is on top of the observation tower she lives in the cone roof of that tower. You will find the entrance on the bottom edge of the cone. And Luna won't be asleep she is the Mare of the moon after all. Good Luck." Celestia finished with great certainty.

I sat up and said "I just hope she has changed" Then I spread out my wings and lowered my hood. Just before I took off I asked the princess "And would you kindly leave that sun roof unlocked?" I did not get a response as I was already outside once again.

The tower was farther away than I thought. At the cone's base it was about thirty feet in diameter and about a hundred feet tall. I took me awhile to find the entrance. I circled that thing three times until I found the opening. I was well hidden since all of the wood looked exactly the same. The entrance was quite large given it was supposed to be a secret. Large enough to allow space for my wings. I entered without touching the floor, walls, of ceiling. I was used to this; I didn't let a creaky floor give me away. Moving slowly I entered the room.

Princess Luna's room was not as wide as Celestia's but it was much taller. It was also very dark the only light was coming from a round window. There I saw Luna looking into a telescope. She looked just as I remembered when a saw her on Nightmare Night. A sapphire coat with blue eyes. I quickly glided to a darker part of the room behind a shelf. Luna did not notice a thing. There, I took a look at my surroundings.

The room was round and there was a spiral staircase in the middle. There were various bookshelves, tables, cupboards, and chairs. Then I looked up. The room was narrower the higher up you went. The oddest thing I saw was several feet above me were all these floating objects. But then I realized they were standing on a clear floor, not sure what the floor is actually made of but it appeared nearly invisible. Then I stopped focusing what I was inside and started focusing on why I was inside.

Princess Luna was still looking through her telescope. I can't really make anything of it. Then she stared out the window and back to her telescope. Now she lowered her telescope so she can see higher in the sky. She kept lowering it until the eye piece was almost touching the ground. She was so low I was wondering if she could actually see into the telescope. Then in an in an instant Luna's horn glowed and the shelf I was hiding behind was thrown away. I heard a door slam and a light was now shining brightly on me.

Luna spun around and pounced toward me. Her eyes were glowing a bright white and her coat was a solid black. No! Princess Luna was still evil. Is the end? Was I going be gobbled up by Nightmare Moon? I did not expect what actually happened. She shot at me with a loud aggressive shout "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

I don't know what was going through my head but I managed to surprise myself at what came out of my mouth. "How did you find me?" Sure I've been caught before but not like this. Ponies have found me when I got cocky or when I'm not taking my job seriously enough. Not when I'm at my absolute best, not when it's certainly the most important job I will ever have.

Strangely enough Luna did answer me. Even odder her eyes stopped glowing and her coat returned to it's usual navy blue. She used her much calmer, silky tone of voice too "One listens quite a bit harder once they've spent a millennium on the moon."

Then she said something even more dismaying "Please I want to talk to you. I need your help." Was that begging I heard? A princess begging for help? Already intrigued not to mention seeing no other way out I obeyed and removed my hood yet again.

Luna began, "Of course you were sent by Celestia..."

"How did you..."

"My sister is the only pony who knows were I sleep; it's quite obvious she wanted you to spy on me correct?"

I nodded and she continued "So she doesn't trust me eh? Well that's reasonable. I need to show you that Princess Celestia is nowhere near who you think she is"

This was getting more and more interesting by the second I responded "So then who is she?"

Luna began talking in slower manner "She has led a dark past and I fear she is leading us to an even darker future and she has forced me to carry this terrible secret. No more, let me show you her true past: