All around there was nothing but darkness. It had all the sounds of a cave, the dripping of water, the splash of underground lakes, scurrying of whatever animals were silly enough to venture here. The walls were made of crystal that reflected everything. Beautiful gems that lured travelers here, only to get lost. These caves were the tombs of many a selfish pony.
Including one, poor, forgotten, selfish pony. I'm not selfish she told herself, I just wanted to be with my sisters.
The pain had not faded over the years. Centuries, millenniums, she had no idea how long it had been. It was too long. Too long to be alone, too long to be stuck in the darkness with nothing but pain inside. Nothing but pain and a broken heart.
"Why did she do this to me?" she asked out loud. "Why did she imprison me here? Why did she forget me?" There was no response from the darkness. Just silence and the dripping from the walls. She hung her head and cried. As her tears dripped to the crystal floor of the cave, she repeated, "Why did she forget me?"
A beautiful alicorn stood tall. Her huge, flowing mane was a blackish-midnight blue and her hide was pitch black. Her cutie mark was a silvery-white full moon with stars around it and her eyes were a pale blue-gray. She was standing on a balcony that overlooked her beautiful city of Canterlot, and even beyond. She could see so far, but no other towns or cities for miles. There was the infamous Everfree forest, but nothing else.
"Princess Artemis?" a voice called.
Turning around to face the marvelous glass doors that led to the inside of her castle, the alicorn saw a small, gray unicorn mare peeking out. "Yes, Frill?" she asked.
The unicorn, apparently named Frill, said, "Princess Artemis, Prince Solar Ray and the foals are back."
"Thank you, Frill." Princess Artemis said, slipping inside into the brightly lit room and leaving the night sky behind. The room was basically one huge bedroom- a dressed-up bed with patterned sheets and many pillows, a dazzling black dresser that was expertly carved from wood sat against the star-patterned wall, and up in the corner was a stunning light made to look like the moon.
In the room were several maids. They were all watching Princess Artemis, waiting for her to dismiss them. She did so by waving a hoof in their direction before trotting towards four ponies who sat near the door. One was a full-grown male alicorn with a yellow hide and a flowing white mane and tail. His cutie mark was a decorative version of the sun. On each side of him was a little alicorn filly and on his back was a baby- carrier with a small, pale blue filly in it.
"Solar Ray!" Artemis greeted her husband. Then she looked at the two small fillies, one white, one dark blue. "Celestia, Luna, did you enjoy yourselves?"
"We had so much fun, mom!" the dark blue one responded excitedly.
"How was Astro?" Artemis asked Solar Ray.
Solar Ray turned to reveal the baby carrier with the pale blue pony in it. "She slept the whole time." he smiled.
Artemis sat on the floor and used silver magic to pull her foal out of the carrier. She held her baby in her front hooves and rocked her back and forth gently. "My three daughters," she murmured to herself, "three future rulers of Equestria. The sun, moon and stars."
The mare in the caves remembered how much she had been loved. That was before the incident with Nightmare Moon.
Astro, for it was she, considered using her magic to light up the cave. She didn't do it that much- her heart was dark, so why not her surroundings? But, today, she wanted to see herself. she wanted to make sure she still looked the same. She wanted to make sure she was the same pony.
She gathered her magic, which was hard as she hadn't used it in a long time, and soon there was a faint blue glow. Blinking her eyes open, Astro saw her reflection in the nearest crystal wall. Her once beautiful, pale blue hide was now dirty and matted with mud. Her mane and tail, once flowing with black and white streaks in them, were tangled so badly that brushing for a thousand years wouldn't fix them. Her huge, alicorn wings had broken and bent feathers (probably from when she trashed around in her sleep). Lastly, her pretty teal eyes, once happy and glimmering with laughter, were now dull and bloodshot from crying.
"They've forgotten me, haven't they?" Astro asked herself out loud, "They've abandoned me, they've left me, they've forgotten me. I'm alone, trapped in a cave, unloved, alone. Everypony has forgotten their beloved Princess of the Stars."
How could they have forgotten her? Why didn't they love her anymore?
Why didn't Celestia love her anymore?
Why didn't Luna love her anymore?
"Will I ever know?" Astro asked the darkness. "Will I ever know why my beloved sister has imprisoned me here?"
She did know, though. Celestia had put her subjects above her sister. she thought Astro would betray them and plunge them into everlasting night.
"Why, 'Tia?" Astro asked, looking up into the darkness above. "Why did you think I would do something so terrible?"
Celestia, Luna and Astro waved from the balcony at a passing pony below. They were now full-grown, and Luna would have to raise the moon soon, and Astro would have to raise the stars.
"Come on, Astro." Luna smiled happily, pointing towards the sky. "Let's bring forth the night."
"I'll be back, I must check on the maids." Celestia said, turning and trotting back inside.
"'k 'Tia." Luna and Astro said at the same time. then they both concentrated their magic, focusing on the night sky. As the magic glowed, the sun sank and the moon rose slowly into the sky and stars blinked out of the darkness. It was a beautiful night.
"Is something wrong?" Astro asked Luna, who looked a bit down.
"Oh, it's just that all the ponies go to sleep at night." Luna sighed, "They all sleep, ignoring how hard we work on the night sky. They all play in 'Tia's day, but shun our night. It makes me feel... ignored. Forgotten."
"I should have comforted her." Astro sighed, "We could have avoided this whole thing."
She reached up a muddy hoof and touched her pale blue horn.
"I don't want to be able to control the stars." she murmured sadly. She dropped her hoof back to the crystal floor and leaned her head against the wall.
Celestia was weighed down by stress. The prophecy, prophecy, could it be true? "The stars will aid in her escape." She had just imprisoned her beloved sister in the moon, but could her other sister be another danger? If the stars really aided in nightmare moon's escape, it would mean Astro was letting Nightmare run free. It would make everything Celestia had fought for useless.
The huge white alicorn looked up at her pale blue sister. Astro was looking miserable, teal eyes filled with grief and pain. "I miss Luna." she would say every once in awhile.
Celestia looked out the glass window at Canterlot below. She couldn't risk it. But she would be sister-less!
Below, in the city of Canterlot, innocent ponies were shopping and chatting, going about their daily business. These were millions of innocent ponies, was it worth it to have a sister if it meant to suffering of innocents?
Finally, after a long time of thought, Celestia decided. It was too much of a risk. She turned to her youngest sister. "My dear Astro." she smiled sadly, tears in her eyes.
Astro looked up. "What's wrong, 'Tia?" she asked.
Those teal eyes were not the eyes of an evil pony. But she had to, she had to for the sake of the innocent.
"I love you, my sister." Celestia said. Her horn glowed with magic, and the world went black for Astro as she was sealed in darkness.
"She forgot me." Astro cried, heaving with sobs, "she forgot me down here, everypony forgot me. They abandoned me down in these caves. I'm forgotten and abandoned." She touched her hoof to her horn again. "Forgotten... abandoned...they're not just words." she murmured, "They're the source of all my pain."
She had been sealed here, forgotten, abandoned, because of her ability to control the stars. This ability had caused all her pain- magic had caused all of this.
With a sudden burst of anger, Astro smashed her head against the crystal wall.
There was a crack.
The light went out.
Astro was left in darkness once more, feeling the spot on her head where her horn had once been.
In her prison in the moon, Nightmare Moon paced. she was pacing as had done all day, everyday for one thousand years. She watched from the sky, she watched the land below where her sister was ruling. She was not known by ponies anymore- supposedly, she was an old pony's tale.
She watched the Summer Sun Celebration below. She waited, evil in heart.
Suddenly, great magic was all around her. Surprised, she looked around. The stars had surrounded the moon, and magic was simply loose all over them. "Astro is not controlling the magic of the stars!" she gasped, "This is my chance!"
Gathering all her magic and the magic of the surrounding stars, Nightmare became powerful. More powerful than ever before. If her eyes had been open, she would have seen the magic glowing around the moon. She would have seen her image flash away, and she would have seen the earth materialize around her.
Once the glow had faded, Nightmare opened her eyes. She was free.
The stars had aided in her escape.
