Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger alicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn.
The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.
She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.
Very few have ever looked into this story, but even so, none would know that before Luna's corruption, there was somepony that gave the love and praise for her lovely night.
This is the story of Artemas the human.
~
More than a thousand years ago, before the 'Mare in the Moon' was even a thought, there was a little filly and a teenage mare in a castle as old as Uncle Father Time. The teenage mare was as white as snow, her mane being a beautiful pastel pink. Behind this mare was a young looking filly. This one had a coat of dark blue, her mane being a lighter shade.
"Come on Luna! Catch me if you can!" The white filly shouted, her wings ruffling as she galloped, the wind also showing more of her white horn that was poking out from her mane.
"I'm trying!" The blue filly named Luna shouted. "Slow down, Tia!"
"Sorry, but you gotta catch me! That's the whole part of the game!" Tia replied.
"Can... can we take a break?" Luna asked, slowing down.
"Okay fine. But you really need to work on your running." Tia said, walking up to the young alicorn.
"I don't like this game." Luna said. "It's too hard."
"Well games wouldn't be fun if it was easy." Tia said.
"I guess your right." Luna said. "Can we go through the garden?"
"Well, I kinda have to get back to my room." Tia said. "I still need to be tutored for when I become the new ruler of Equestria!"
"Oh, okay..." Luna said, her ears pointing downwards and a cute sad face adorned on her face,
"Don't worry! When I'm finished, I'll look for you in the garden. I promise." Tia said, lifting Luna's spirits.
"Yay! I can't wait!" Luna cheered.
"Why don't you explore a bit in the garden while I'm gone." Tia recommended.
"Are you sure?" Luna asked.
"Eeyup! Now go before mom or dad might see you." Tia shouted.
"O-okay!" That was then, Luna scurried trough the castle halls, making sure that she wasn't seen by her mommy or daddy.
Thankfully, she arrived at the garden without nopony noticing her. She scurried through the field, chasing any butterfly or bee she saw, and sometimes just rolled on the grass, feeling it's soft texture.
Luna giggled at her fun antics and starred onto her father's beautiful moon. Sometimes she would hear her dad say that someday, that big moon will be hers to control. For some reason, that brought a frown on her muzzle. She knew that when that time came, their would be no more freedom and fun for both her and her big sis.
"I don't wanna be a ruler of Equestria." Luna said out loud. "I wanna have fun."
~
Since then, Luna always went to the garden to speak to herself, making the garden more wonderful for the blue mare. She didn't know how long she kept at this, but before she knew it, she was as old as her big sis was.
At this moment, both sisters now had there Cutie Marks. Tia's being a simple symbol of the sun while Luna's was of a crescent moon and a lone star. For some reason, Luna's flank was now covered with a black mass, but it just made her Cutie Mark more alluring.
Also, at this point in time, their parent stepped down from their thrown, making room for the two now rulers.
Tia may be excited about this, but Luna dreaded this moment in her life. She knew that when this happened, their would be no more fun or freedom for the two of them.
After the coordination, both of Luna and Tia's parent explained to them that now they would have to become the stars. And by that, they meant that they had to join Uncle Father Time deep within space, and help him keep the balance between good an evil.
They said they would come and visit; but very rarely.
It has been five years since their departure, and they never came to visit throughout those years. Of course, Luna knew not to get her hopes up for that.
Throughout these five years, Tia, or more well known as Celestia, has been taking more of the important jobs of being a ruler, while Luna just stayed in the sidelines if she ever needed help.
At that, Luna started feeling a bit useless.
Every night, she would always see that her subjects slept through her wonderful night. And just knowing that she wasn't needed as much made it worse.
Luna was now laying in the garden, her two fore-hooves in the small pond she sat upon. Her hooves were making ripples, the moonlight shining off, making a peaceful feel to it. Luna looked over to the full moon in the sky, it's white glow making enough light to both show the lovely castle, while making sure not to bother nopony with it's white hue.
Luna then turned her head towards the castle, the moonlight glistening off the blue mare's small crown. She watched as a silhouette was being shown, the silhouette being her big sister, probably still working on some politics or something.
Luna then brought one of her hooves out of the water, a single drop coming off her hoof that made more ripples. She then place that hoof on her chin, ignoring it's rather cold water still on it.
"Do I still have a purpose?" Luna asked to nopony in particular.
"I don't think so." A voice answered.
"Huh?" Luna quickly got up, looking around her and not seeing anypony. "Who said that?" Luna asked.
"Me." said the voice.
"Who's me?" Luna asked.
"A friend of yours." the voice answered.
"I have no friend." Luna spoke.
"Come on! We're best friends. One in the same." The voice explained. "My name is Nightmare Moon, and I'm here to help give your life a purpose."
"W-what do you mean?" Luna asked.
"I heard what you said. Asking if you even had a purpose due to your big sis being in charge while you wait in the sidelines." Nightmare Moon explained. "I'm here to help you have something that Celestia has, and that you want."
"And that is..?" Luna asked.
"The love that Celestia gets and you don't."
Luna just stood there, slowly thinking over what this 'Nightmare Moon' explained. She knew that this is what she wanted; she wanted to be loved by her subjects. Even if it was just one pony, she would be satisfied.
'I-I do want this, but what if there is already somepony out there loving my night? Would I really need help to be loved?'
"Take your time." Nightmare Moon spoke. "When the time comes, I'll be here for you." Her voice now started to fade.
"Wait!" Luna shouted.
"Yes?" Nightmare asked.
"I-I think that maybe w-we cou-" But before Luna could finish, she heard some rustling somewhere within the garden. At this point, she could feel that Nightmare Moon left her mind. The rustling continued, but this time, Luna started walking towards the sound, seeing a large bush being shaken.
Luna slowly approached the bush, a bit wary of who or what is in the bush.
Luna was close enough to see a large figure that was stuck in the bush.
Luna then looked inside.
A pair of icy-blue eyes that illuminated within the darkness