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...
"It was when we first flew into the Empire. After fighting with the enormous black fog that surrounded the empire, we flew down to the ground, as to avoid detection from the sky patrol. However, we had gotten attacked by one of the crystal pon... actually, let's call them what they were: crystal slaves. We managed to put her to sleep and away from the fight, but by that point the alarm had already sounded off, alerting Sombra to our presence. At that point, you quickly yelled out, "Luna, teleport inside the castle! I'll find you, and then we'll take down Sombra together!!" I nodded and tried to teleport, but found that I couldn't! At that point, I just remember you looking at my horn in horror. I glanced but couldn't quite tell what you saw. However, I did see a bit of black fog, which I'm guessing is both what you saw, and the reason that I was unable to teleport. Is that correct, Celestia?"
Celestia nodded and said, "Indeed, I saw that fog surrounding your horn, looking almost like a demonic halo. I would guess that's why you couldn't teleport. Seeing that, I teleported you into the castle."
"Well, that explains why next thing I knew, I was in the castle." said Luna "However, why did you choose to teleport me into the castle, Celestia? Why didn't you choose to switch the roles?"
"There were a couple reasons why. Firstly, I was worried that we'd be swarmed before I would have the chance to mention a change of plans. Secondly, I noticed that everypony in this empire had some sort of black smoke, either floating near them in some sort of shape, or coming out of their bodies, like a leaky pipe. If you had that fog ring near you, then you could potentially blend in with the other castle figures, which I could not. Thirdly, I knew you weren't defenseless. You'd already magic beamed an incoming guard and put that crystal slave to sleep, and that was with the ring of smoke. I knew you'd be prepared for combat, if the need arose. Finally, I thought that I would have a better chance fighting off the invading swarm then you would, considering it was daytime at that point" Explained Celestia. Luna nodded at her sister's logical explanation, and continued her story.
"After I opened my eyes, I discovered that I was in the castle. Immediatly, I started searching for the throne room, which is where I figured Sombra would be. After some exploration, I discovered a room that seemed large enough to be the throne room, considering that it was not only an enormous door, but it had 4 guards in front of it, two of which appeared to be elementals, except made of the shadow fog outside. The second they saw me, the two elementals grabbed me by my forelegs and lifted me off the ground.
The crystal guards then immediatly said to me, 'Are you the diplomat from Canterlot??' I nodded, deciding that two elementals and two elite guards would be far too risky to take on alone. The elementals then put me down, and engulfed me in their bodies.
"What are you two doing???" I yelled at them in my royal voice. Then I heard one of the elementals say in a very gruff voice, "Just relax. This is just a security precaution, to make sure you actually came here from Canterlot. Now please close your eyes for a second. If you don't, you will be assumed to be an intruder, and will be devoured by the dark smoke you're standing in." I closed my eyes, figuring that a slim chance of getting through was better than no chance at all. Right after I closed my eyes, I suddenly felt different, like the fog was gone. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the throne room. Apparently, I passed the diplomacy process. I called out for King Sombra, who suddenly appeared in front of me from out of nowhere.
He looked me over, and said, "Princess Luna, I presume?"
I was taken aback by this. It was like he knew that I would get to him. I blinked twice, then said, "You are correct, Sombra. I am Princess Luna of Equestria."
Sombra released a wicked grin and said, "I'm glad you came, Luna. I am very interested in that talk."
"I'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual, you eye shadowed abomination!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, blasting him with my magic at close range. This knocked him back a few feet. He got up and glared at me, clearly ready for a fight. I was happy to oblige. Unfortunatly, I soon discovered that I wasn't prepared for him. He summoned a large flurry of crystals, and had them surround him. Then he came right at me with hoofs of fire. He whaled away on me for a bit before I jumped back and blasted him with a magic beam. However he quickly blocked the beam with a crystal while moving several other crystals to various spots. The beam was reflected from crystal to crystal, until it eventually hit me. I writhed in pain, and felt my horn hurt a little. I then tried to out fight him in melee combat, but that didn't work either. With his crystals, he had a way to block my strikes, and an alternate form of attack if the situation called for it. I tried everything I had, but no matter what I tried, he had a counter for it. Everytime he countered with those crystals, I felt the pain in my horn increase. After a bit, he grabbed me in his hooves, using the crystals to pin the rest of my body down. He then flashed a wicked grin, licked his lips, and opened his jaws, apparently wanting to take a bite out of me. I blasted my strongest magic into his mouth. That appeared to do him in, as the crystals surrounding me dissapated and he started gagging, like he was choking. Then, he passed out.
I walked over to him with the intent of finishing him off, when suddenly, I tripped. I tried to fly back up, but found I was being pinned down by some dark crystals. I looked back at Sombra, who had teleported right next to me. He then grabbed my throat, and quietly whispered into my ear, "Gotcha, moonbeam." before putting one of the crystals in front of his horn and firing a dark beam at it. The crystal worked like a prism, intensifying the blast straight at me. He held me for a second, then let go, allowing the beam to knock me to the wall. Before I hit though, Sombra teleported behind me and slammed me with a fist he made of his crystals, launching me to the center of the room. When I landed, I felt my horn pain intensify to unbearable levels. I screamed in agony, while Sombra just sat and watched. The pain lasted for what felt like an eternity before it finally subdued. I tried to get up, but was unable to. It felt like my legs were paralyzed. I then tried to blast the now wide grinned Sombra. However, nothing came out of my horn. I looked up and saw that my horn was now gone! I then looked back and saw that my wings had also disappeared! I then looked at King Sombra, who had stopped smiling and was now just staring. I then closed my eyes and braced myself for his final attack. However, what I heard instead blew my mind. I heard Sombra say, "Oh my. Did I do that? I'm sorry, Luna." When I heard that, I opened my eyes and stared at Sombra. He actually looked legitimately sad.
"I don't believe your lies, Demon. You are glad you did this. Stop monolouging and send me to the afterlife already" I said with what little strength I had left.
Sombra shook his head and said, "You don't have to believe me, but I didn't want you to get this badly hurt. I just wanted to knock you around a bit. I suppose I went a bit overboard."
"You're taunting me. You're enjoying seeing me at your feet and helpless, kind of like most princesses. You are proud that you now have one of the strongest forces in Equestria at your mercy. I'd spit on you if I could stand, you monster" I said to him.
Sombra then glared at me and said, "I'm no monster, Luna." After saying that his horn began to glow with an odd black and green energy. I closed my eyes as I felt myself rise up, toward the heavens. I then felt my strength return to me, including my wings and horn. Then, I was on solid ground. I opened my eyes to take my first look at what heaven looked like... only to find Sombra staring at me with a slight grin on his face.
"Feeling better, Luna?" asked Sombra. I glared at him, and blasted him with my magic. However, the shot dissipated before it got to him.
"Clearly your magic is back to normal, as are your wings. I'd say you're A-OK!" Sombra said in a somewhat happy voice. I looked at him in complete confusion. I was completely baffled as to why this king of evil just healed me, someone who flat out attacked him! "Why?" I managed to get out.
Sombra blinked and said, "Apparently, you weren't listening when I first talked to you. I have no intention of killing you, I just wish to talk. Nothing more." I looked around, and wondered what was keeping you so long, dear sister. However, until you came, I decided I may as well humor him.
"Very well, Sombra, what did you wish to discuss?"
Sombra released a grin again, and said, "Well, I was going to talk about territorial negotiations, but since you obviously aren't a diplomat, there's no real point in that, now is there?"
"Stop wasting my time. What is it you wish to discuss?" I asked, as I was really in no mood to beat around the bush.
"I'd like to talk about you, of course. You seem like a very interesting pony, but nopony would ever know it since you're only out at night. When we're all sleeping" said Sombra.
I winced at that statement, but quickly shook it off and asked, "What about me do you wish to know?"
"Mostly about your feelings about your role."
"I am perfectly content with my role. The night is beautiful, and the dreams of others are quite intriguing." I said.
"I would imagine so. Dreams can be quite fascinating. However, I wasn't referring to your role as a night guardian. I was more referring to your role as second fiddle."
"I AM SECOND FIDDLE TO NOPONY!" I yelled in my royal voice.
"Oh really? What about your older sister?" he asked. I was taken aback. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and I quickly went defensive.
"I am not second fiddle to my sister, you liar." I said to Sombra.
"So you're superior to her?" he asked calmly.
"No, we are equals. We have always been equals." I said to him.
"Really? There's no advantage to her or you? The times are equal?"
"They are equal, to the second! Twelve hours each!"
"I see. You truly are a short sighted and gullible mare."
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!" I said to him as loudly as I could. Sombra then jumped back and said, "I'm sorry, Princess Luna! That was just a slip of the tounge! I gladly take it back!"
"Good." I said. Sombra then relaxed and sat back down. "What could possess you to call me short sighted and gullible, though?" I asked.
He put a hoof to his chin and looked up and to the left, as if he was going deep into thought about the whole thing. After a moment, he said, "Well, I just wondered if you were considering quality, not just quantity. You clearly didn't consider quality in your statement."
"You know not what you talk about, Sombra. Day and night both have their own charms. There is equal beauty in both!"
"Perhaps, but there is one thing that day has that night does not. Do you know what that thing is?" asked Sombra. I opened my mouth to answer, but he answered first.
"That thing, Princess Luna, is observers. The world is watching the wonders of the day, but sleeps when the night comes in. It's a bit like two equally marvelous paintings. If you store one painting in a spot which the public can't see, then no matter how beautiful that second painting is, only the staff will know about its existence, giving it a public portrayal of 'inferiority', whether or not that's actually deserved. Your sister knew this, and gave you that 'inferior' painting called the night as your own. You may know how beautiful it is, but it's still in the shadow of your sister's painting." I just stared at Sombra. I could tell he was trying to manipulate me, and it was starting to work. However, for whatever reason, I chose to not flee. I'm not sure why I chose to stay, but that's what I did.
"That's not true. There are still observers of the night, such as stargazers. There are many who know the value of the night's wonders!" I said to him.
"Now that's true." Said Sombra calmly. I was shocked that he was actually agreeing with me! "Most ponies do know the beauty of the night. However, even they still value the day more."
"WHAT!?" I yelled at him.
Sombra calmly nodded his head and said, "Now, you no doubt wonder why I believe that. There is one simple reason why: time observed. For many ponies, they may see the night, and praise it for its beauty, but what do they do at some point? They sleep. Now let's compare that to your sister's day. Most ponies are awake for the entire day. They stay for all of your sister's art, but sleep before they're done with your art. It hardly seems fair." I tried to say something in response to him, but for some reason I just couldn't. He then said, "Besides, there's one other thing that your sister had in mind when choosing to control the day."
"You don't know what she was thinking!" I said angrily to him. These lies were beginning to make my blood boil, and I really wanted to smack him across the room. However, I knew that if I did so alone, I would get defeated again, and possibly killed. So I kept my rage down and listened to his next sentence.
"Don't I?" he said in a calmly confident voice which made me start to see red. He then said, "That one thing that was on her mind, I'm guessing was fear. Fear of being forgotten."
"How would that influence her to choose the day over the night??" I asked him. I began to wonder if he was just talking out of his butt, as fear of being forgotten equals day over night just didn't add up.
"It's simple, Princess Luna. Your sister didn't want to live her life in anypony's shadow, and as a result, decided she had to pass that distinction onto you. To do so, she chose a time where she controlled the shadows. If you came out during the day, you'd be in her shadow. However, there are no shadows at night, so if she came out at night, she wouldn't be in your shadow. That way, no matter what, Celestia would be the more well known name in Equestria, and Luna would be the obscure one, ensuring her fear would never come true. She passed her fear onto you, and hoped you wouldn't notice, which you clearly haven't. I'd also guess that's why there's no queen in Equestria. Celestia could've easily claimed the spot of queen for herself, as she was active when her subjects were, but worried that you'd notice the patterns if she were called a queen, and you were just called a princess."
"No, that's not why we have no queens, you ignorant demon! We have no queens because the term queen promotes corruption, as we learned when our parents sacrificed their lives to seal away Queen Chrysalis and her army of changlings! Even if we did have queens, we'd both be called queens!" I yelled in response.
However, when I mentioned our parents, I started to tear up. Sombra didn't seem to notice (or maybe he did, but was just using it to his advantage) and said, "Even still, two queens can't rule the same country. One would naturally have a higher rank than the other. Celestia didn't want you to notice that, so she kept both terms as princess, as to indicate equality better, since a country can have more than one princess and have them still seem like the same rank." said Sombra. I tried my hardest to keep my tears at bay as I glared at Sombra. I truly didn't want to believe what he was saying was true, I didn't want to believe that you'd do that, but it seemed to make a lot of sense.
"So, can you please answer my first question now, Princess Luna?" asked Sombra "Y'know, about being 2nd fiddle?"
"I...I'm not second fiddle..." I said, trying my hardest to sound confident, but failing miserably.
Sombra shook his head and said, "You're clearly a loyal mare, Luna. Quite the respectable trait in a leader. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll ever be a leader as long as your sister is holding you in the position of 2nd fiddle. You'll always be second best as long as Celestia's around. I'm sorry that has to be so."
"No... I'm still a leader... I just know it..." I managed to get out. Sombra looked at me and said, "I'm sorry you have to hear the truth, Luna. I know it must be hard for you to hear. I just hope that you are able to accept your role..." I tried my hardest to respond, but I just couldn't. Suddenly, I saw a beam of light shoot through the window, and hit Sombra square in the jaw, knocking him across the room. Then, you burst through the window, and said, "Are you alright, Luna?? I tried to communicate via telepathy, but I couldn't get to you!" As you probably remember, I flew to you and gave you a hug, saying, "Thank the stars you found me! I'm alright, but I wasn't going to be for much longer!" You nodded, and the rest is history. We beat Sombra together, saved the crystal empire, all of that good stuff. However, it wasn't over. Every day afterwards, I had nightmares (or daymares, I suppose) about Sombra's words. I looked over the night, and slowly began to believe them myself. I slowly lost my mind, eventually getting to the point where I wanted you dead, so my night could get the attention I thought it deserved. And then... You know the rest." said Luna softly.
After Luna had finished telling her story, she looked up at Celestia. She stared at her for a moment, then started bawling as she grabbed her into a hug. Celestia let Luna cry, then asked, "How long did you harbor these feelings of despise for me?"
"From that talk with Sombra to when I was bested by the Mane 6." Luna said sniffling
"So, you truly felt that I had given you the night just to keep you down? And you believed it for over a thousand years?" asked Celestia
"I did, Celestia." said Luna, who started sobbing again.
"I see." said Celestia "Do you still feel that way?"
"No, my sister, I know you'd never be that cruel!" said Luna
"So, it's all because you fell for Sombra's words?" asked Celestia
"Yes, I'm so sorry I fell for it, Celestia. I shouldn't have fallen for it..." said Luna between tears. Celestia let Luna cry for a moment, then said, "Luna?"
"Y-yes?"
"I just wanted to say, I understand."
"H-huh??" asked Luna, who was clearly expecting a different response.
"If I had been in that situation, I don't think I could've resisted those words either. I'm proud that you were able to think that strongly of me for as long as you did, even with everything Sombra said. I've already forgiven you for the Nightmare Moon incident, but I'll say it one more time: I forgive you." said Celestia
"Thank you, dear sister..." said Luna. The two sat there for a while, untill 6 bell tolls were heard. At that point, Luna gasped and said, "It's six??? The sun isn't up yet!"
"I realize this, Luna." said Celestia
"Well, can you raise the sun? Like right now???" said Luna in panic. Celestia horn then started to glow. However, the body that was moving wasn't the sun, but rather the moon! Once the moon was lowered, Celestia turned to Luna and asked, "Would you like to raise the sun this time?"
Luna gasped and said, "Really? You're asking me if I wish to?"
"I feel that you should at least try it once." Celestia said calmly
"But, is that even possible??"
Celestia shrugged and said, "Why not? I raised both the sun and the moon for a thousand years after you left."
"I... I would be honored to do so!"
"Then make it so."
Luna nodded, and her horn began to glow. At first, it seemed to be too much for Luna to handle. After a minute though, light started streaking across the town, awakening Equestria once more. After it was raised, Luna looked at Celestia and nodded. Celestia nodded back, and Luna flew off, ready to raise the moon again when the time came. Celestia watched her leave, then looked down, pondering all that had transpired during the previous night.
