Chapters Over at the family farm, it was the middle of the night. However, a certain noise woke up Megan Williams. She decided to get out of her bed, put on her slippers, grab a rifle, and take a flashlight to see what was going on. When she got out, it was very difficult to actually see the creature. "It must be blending into the dark" Megan thought. She was ready to load up her rifle to shoot at the suspicious creature. But then, Megan turned on her flashlight only find out that it was a familiar face.
"Oh! I’m so sorry! I was about to shoot you Princess Luna!” Luna mildly nervously chuckled heheh, and really should work on not sneaking up on people like that...while Megan was just embarrassed. “But you did scare me coming up like that." Megan continued.
"That's alright Megan. I didn't mean to approach you like that."
Luna then explained, "For some reason, no pony is having any nightmares or any other important dreams for me to enter tonight, so I thought I would come to you."
"Is there a reason why you chose to come over to my farm?" Megan asked.
"I would like you to come back to the castle with me. There is something... important I want to tell you." said Luna.
"Why can't you just tell me right here and right now?", asked Megan.
"I think it would be better if I took you back. My room is pretty private so I won't have to worry about anyone else hearing about it." explained Luna.
Megan then agreed and said, "Alright, I will go with you. But please let me change first! I'm currently in my nightgown."
Luna waited outside the house as Megan put on her clothes and was ready to go. As they were leaving, Megan was amazed to see what Equestria looked like at night. When she looked down upon entering, she noticed what looked like a construction project towards the base of the Rainbow Bridge. She was very curious about what was there.
"What do you think is being built down there?" asked Megan.
"In all honesty, I have no idea. But I guess we won't know until it's done and we're told about it." answered Luna.
Luna kept flying until they reached Canterlot Castle and got into her room. As they entered Luna's room, she told Megan, "Believe it or not, we do have something in common."
Megan then asked, "And what’s that?"
Luna's answer came as, "Both of us haven't been around here for at least a thousand years."
Feeling a bit confused, Megan said, "I'm not getting at what you're trying to say."
"What can you tell me about Nightmare Moon?" asked Luna.
"From what I heard, she was regarded as a monster that tried to overthrow Princess Celestia by trying to kill her and almost succeeded in doing so. However, she was banished to the moon for about a thousand years by the Elements of Harmony hopefully never to be seen again, though it would be nice to know why you were asking about that."
After hearing this, Luna said, "Now that you know about that pony, I would like to you tell you something. But, please promise not to freak out when I tell you about it."
Megan then asked, "Are you saying that you also had to fight Nightmare Moon yourself?”
"Not quite” responded Luna.
"Maybe Nightmare Moon just chased you around a few times just to scare you for the fun of it." thought Megan.
Now a bit annoyed, Luna then said, "That didn't happen either, and PLEASE listen right now to what I'm about to say!"
After calming down, Megan asked, "What is it that you are going to tell me about Nightmare Moon from your encounter with her?"
Luna then sighed, "Megan, remember when you felt sad and started to cry after hearing what both me and Celestia told you about Ponyland’s condition after you no longer came back? Finding out that it was left in ruins after Grogar and his army destroyed much of it and that you weren't even there to witness it first hand?"
Megan answered, "I thought that both of you would have thought less of me being Ponyland's savior by making such a scene."
"Yes. But, in reality, we didn't and we understood how you felt about not knowing about it until recently.” Luna paused for a moment. “Now, it's time for me to tell you about why I mentioned Nightmare Moon to you and why that was so important in how you viewed such a monster like her."
Now coming to an understanding, Megan then said, "Please tell me why you asked me about my view about Nightmare Moon and what it had to do with you. I promise I won't freak out about it."
Luna then started to close her eyes with tears coming out and nearly shouted, "I WAS THAT MONSTER! Nightmare Moon was a dark manifestation that took over all of my negative thoughts and made me that way. In other words, I was never attacked or chased by Nightmare Moon, I WAS Nightmare Moon!"
Megan then came over to Luna to both hug and pet her in hoping that it would make her feel better after hearing this.
Megan asked, "Princess Luna, why are you telling me this? What happened?"
Luna answered, "I thought it would be important that you, being the savior of Ponyland, should be one of the few to know this secret."
Megan then said, "Does anyone else know about this?"
"No. The only others who know about this to date is my sister along with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Other than that, nopony else knows about this" replied Luna.
Megan then asked, "What's the reason to why it was kept a secret from so many?"
Luna proceeded to explain. "My sister thought that, with best interests, nobody else should know. If they did, just about every pony I saw would always have a negative reaction towards me whenever I pass by them. I could even imagine constant protests outside the castle of ponies wanting me either imprisoned, exiled, or even killed for what I did as Nightmare Moon. Even worse, Tia herself would run the risk of getting herself caught in the crossfire with other ponies demanding for her to be removed, just for harboring a former monster."
"If your own sister can forgive you despite what you did along with Twilight and her friends, then I don't see why the rest of Equestria can't do the same.” Megan stated. “Let's not forget others such as Discord, Thorax, Trixie, and Starlight Glimmer did bad things as well, yet everyone now forgives them.”
“Well true, but-“, Luna mentioned.
“Even Twilight forgave Sunset Shimmer and became best friends with her despite the fact that she stole her crown and took it back with her into a portal where she became humanized. Overall, I can't understand why you can't just be forgiven for what you did."
Luna sighed. "It's not that simple Megan. When I was Nightmare Moon, I was feared by many. Also, there's a good chance that even if I were to come clean about this, it won't change what I did."
"Princess Luna, nobody is telling you to change the past. I feel that if you were to apologize for what you did and explain everything from your side, then the others might possibly understand that you weren't solely responsible for your actions when you were Nightmare Moon." explained Megan.
Luna pondered this before saying, "Perhaps I should give you the explanation as to why I became Nightmare Moon in the first place. Then you might understand why asking for forgiveness on this may not be so easy."
Luna started to explain to Megan why she became Nightmare Moon.
"I always thought that you and Celestia always got along together." Megan said.
"For a while that was true, but as time grew by, that was no longer the case." Luna explained.
Megan then asked, "Didn't you both share the throne equally as the new rulers of Equestria?"
"Not exactly. Celestia believed that since she was the oldest, she should be the official ruler of Equestria while I just sat beside her." answered Luna.
Megan mentioned, "I get that it sounds unfair, but that doesn't seem to explain how you wound up becoming Nightmare Moon."
Luna explained, "I became Nightmare Moon over the course of time. I felt left out due to neglect of my own sister. I was also known for singing a song known as “The Moon Rises” to express how I felt. There was even a time when we were giving each other the cold shoulder when passing by. At the time, Celestia thought that I was just going through a phase and believed that I would get over it at one point."
Megan related to this by saying, "I will admit that problems with siblings exists even with us humans. There were times when I gave Danny or Molly the cold shoulder for a time when they annoyed me, though sometimes they could be the ones giving me the cold shoulder as well."
Luna then said, "Maybe. But to make matters worse, I let my anger towards her get the better of me."
Megan then thought, "So, from what I’m hearing, Nightmare Moon is your Mr. Hyde to your Dr. Jekyll."
Not understanding what Megan just mentioned, Luna asked, "Can you tell me what you mean by this Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?"
"These two are characters written from a novel known as “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson back in 1886. Mr. Hyde represented the dark side that Dr. Jekyll had created through a serum to separate that side from himself. Only, it took control of him later on." explained Megan.
"How does any of this relate to me?" asked Luna.
As Megan explained further, "Just like how you mentioned Nightmare Moon being a manifestation of yourself, the same applies to Dr. Jekyll with Mr. Hyde. Unlike him, you were able to overcome this thanks to Twilight and her friends changing you back to yourself with the Elements of Harmony. However, Dr. Jekyll could never do that. He had to write a letter saying that he was gone forever because his latest transformation to Mr. Hyde had become permanent."
Now with a better understanding, Luna then said, "At least now I know what you meant by that. But that still won't change what I did when I was... her.”
"What exactly did you do that makes it so difficult for you to be forgiven for being Nightmare Moon? I'm sure if you can prove to everyone else that you have changed since then, they can forgive you despite all of that.” Luna was about to say something when Megan continued saying, “Keep in mind that you are known for going into their dreams on most nights when they are asleep to see what's going and even helping them when they have certain nightmares. Are you afraid that if you come clean on this, they will no longer let you into their dreams?”
"If you were to know the rest of that song I was known for singing, it starts to take a more... aggressive approach.” Luna paused for a moment. “Later on, I added lyrics such as not being the lesser light and having followers similar to my what sister has. I even mentioned how it will be the final setting of the sun along with eternal lullabies."
After hearing that Megan said, "Huh, hearing this almost made me think about my first adventure when I came to Ponyland and battled Tirac, the ancestor of the Tirek you know. Just like your dark form, he also wanted to have eternal darkness, but this differed with that he needed four certain ponies to turn into dragons to help him achieve his goal. But I was able to stop him and destroy him before he could do that just by taking his rainbow and having it absorb into the Rainbow of Light. The result of his death lead to everything he changed including Scorpan, who was really a human prince, to change back. However, you're not like Tirac. That is why neither your sister or Twilight and her friends wanted to kill you. Instead, they got you back to being yourself again in the belief that there was still some good left in you."
"So I can see that this wasn't something new." noted Luna.
After making that analogy, Megan then wondered about the song and asked, "How did that part of the song lead to you becoming that monster?"
"It was then that came the night where I refused to allow for the moon to set. I was really showing my true colors. Everything on my body started to change.” Luna had to pause once more, bracing herself for what had to be said next. “My fur turned to black, my teeth became razor sharp, my wings became those of a bat, my horn got longer, I was about my sister's size, and my crown and regalia became a helmet and armor. After that, I was no longer like myself."
"Why couldn't you just fight that urge?" asked Megan.
Luna then said, "It was very hard to fight it as long as I kept having all those negative emotions. I even got angry at my own sister! That lead to me constantly shouting at her or even trying to throw things at her, though other times I just slammed the doors in her face."
Megan then noted, "It seems that despite all that, your sister still forgave you in the end after you were back to yourself."
Luna mentioned, "You are aware about how you mentioned that I nearly killed her and would have succeeded in doing so."
"Didn't other creatures in the past try to kill her as well?" asked Megan.
"None of them have ever came as close to doing that as much as I did." said Luna, once again feeling ready to cry.
Megan then petted Luna and reminded her, "But she still forgives you! That alone should show that someone really does care for you despite all of that."
"Maybe she should have killed me when she had to the chance!” said Luna.
“Luna, no. Don’t go there-“ replied Megan.
Luna continued with, “Then I could have been put out of my misery. Perhaps, I should have been imprisoned after all that I did! Better yet, turning me into a statue would have been the better choice so that I can always be beside her. Then again, I was probably better off staying on the moon so that I couldn’t be a threat. Any of those are likely better than just having to live with all that guilt and having to keep it a secret. I can’t stand this feeling inside of me! Now you probably think less of me..."
Megan petted a crying Luna as she responded, "You and Celestia didn't think less of me when I found out that there wasn't anything I could have done to stop Grogar. When I could no longer come back until only recently, I felt so ashamed about everything despite it not being my fault, but you two still saw me as the savior of Ponyland despite that. I don't see why I should think less of you for all of your actions you did as Nightmare Moon.”
“Megan, I-“ as Luna tried to explain.
“I can't even believe you said all of that after all this time! If anything, you should think about the fact that you're still alive today! You get to hit a reset button and start over with your life." explained Megan.
Luna was silent for a moment before responding, "Megan, you just don't understand what that put me through."
Megan answered back with, "Where I'm from, there are people who can still move on with their lives even if they were convicted felons, as long as they can prove that they have changed. Stop thinking that you are still Nightmare Moon. You’re Princess Luna, and you always will be. The only reason you still feel this way is because you allow it to haunt you. You need to learn how to move on from this."
After hearing all of that, Luna started to feel a little better about herself.
Author's Note
You can go over to Youtube to watch a fan made video of The Moon Rises.
What Luna and Megan didn't know was that Celestia was sort of eavesdropping on them. At first, she got up and ignored what she heard while going into the kitchen to get some cake due to feeling the urge for a midnight snack. As she passed Luna's room again, she decided to enter and give her take on what happened when Luna was Nightmare Moon and explain to Megan what happened from her side.
"I can see that my sister brought you over to tell you about her dark side." said Celestia.
"Was she not supposed to do this?" replied Megan.
Luna then said, "I'm very sorry sister for telling her this when it's supposed to be a secret to most."
Celestia responded with, "That's alright Luna. Since Megan was Ponyland's savior, she was going to know about this sooner or later."
Megan then asked Celestia, "What was it like to face your sister when she was in that form?"
Celestia starting to feel sad said, "I wasn't just sad seeing my sister that way, but also scared having to actually fight her when I really didn't want to."
Now feeling curious, Megan asked, "Do you have an idea why did she become Nightmare Moon?"
Celestia's reply came as, "It was sort of my fault that she wound up that way. If I had devoted some of my time to her while performing my duties as the ruler of Equestria, I could have probably stopped this from happening altogether. However, I just left her alone most of the time, and though she might have been going through a phase in that interfering would just make it worse, which is why I chose to stay out of it originally.
Megan then said, "What about her song, The Moon Rises? Did you ever hear it at certain points and thought it could have meant something?"
Celestia answered with, "At first, I thought that Luna was just venting her anger when I heard that song especially when she referred to me as Sister Sunny Day or even to make the claim that she isn't the lesser light. When I heard her singing that song more times, I noticed more words added such as claiming that it will be the final setting of the sun and even the mentioning of eternal lullabies, but I couldn't put my hoof to what she really meant when she sang that. However, when I did, I was too late and she became Nightmare Moon."
"Nowadays, I don't sing that song anymore, because it only made me feel worse and made me refuse to lower moon for real when I really started to feel lonely, neglected, and even furious." responded Luna.
Megan then said, "There was a time I sort of felt that way when it seemed as if I was no longer needed to come back to what was then Ponyland and had to resume my normal life as if coming her was an escape from reality."
Celestia continued the conversation with, "Getting back to what happened, even though she tried to kill me, I just couldn't kill her back. There was even a point where my horn glowed so much that one blast would have done the job, but I just couldn't do it especially because she was still my sister despite that. Instead, I just did the next best thing and used the Elements of Harmony to banish her to the Moon, which resulted in turning my mane to way you see it now as a side effect to that."
Megan then asked, "Did you miss her even after all of that?"
Celestia answered back with, "Yes I did. I even sang a special lullaby that in disguise was my confession to what she became of. However, just like your return to Equestria, I was still hoping that I would be able to see her again and she would be back to herself."
Luna then said, "When I was on the Moon, I had a lullaby of my own, but this one made me feel both neglected and angry. In a way, I did want to have my revenge for what happened, but I also wanted the love and respect I didn't have originally."
Megan then asked, "Who was in charge of making the Moon both rise and set while she was banished there?"
Celestia then answered, "I pretty much did it myself even though it's normally not my ability to do so, but there is a possibility I did it with a spell to make my sister work with me so that it could work that way while she was there."
After hearing all of that Megan said, "Princess Luna, I can understand what it's like to be someone like you, but you shouldn't always allow for that to get the better of you."
Luna then said, "Maybe Celestia did care about me after deciding to release me from the Moon?"
Celestia replied with, "For some reason, I don't recall releasing you at any point."
Feeling puzzled, Megan asked, "If you didn't release her, then who did?"
Luna responded with, "I guess we'll never know who really released me. but I do know that when I was released, I found myself over at town hall in Ponyville introducing myself to all the ponies there and striking fear to all of them."
Celestia then said, "Nonetheless, Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to help change her back, and I was willing to accept her forgiveness despite what she did."
Megan said, "That's very touching to hear about how after what you two went through, you managed to get back together again."
Luna then said, "They could have at least helped me return to myself without taking off so many centuries of my life and making me end up as a foal."
Celestia then responded with, "I'm sorry that they overdid it, but the Elements of Harmony were still new to them, plus you should be glad that I found a spell that allowed for your current age to be restored even if it meant you had to wait some time for it to fully work and not leave the castle until it was done."
Megan then asked, "Why was having this dark side kept a secret?"
Celestia then answered, "I felt that it would be for the better if fewer knew, and I did that for Luna's sake."
Megan replied with, "Deep down inside, she doesn't feel very comfortable with this and she even told me how all those other things would have been better for her than having to live with that secret."
Celestia then mentioned, "First off all, I did overhear all of that, and I would never do any of those things to her no matter what the cause was. Secondly, Luna isn't the only one here with a dark side, because I have one as well. When Starlight Glimmer had me switch roles with my sister, I saw my dark side known as Daybreaker in the dream realm. Unlike Nightmare Moon, this one can form if I can get express a high amount of rage with my mane and tail turning into a fire. Fortunately for me, there hasn't been anything that can make me mad enough to become that. If I did and Twilight and her friends would help me change back to myself again, I also would have aske my sister for forgiveness as well."
Megan then thought, "Maybe if Princess Luna had a good amount of friends by her side, she might just be able to apologize and ask for forgiveness for all the actions she did as Nightmare Moon and not feel feared in doing so."
"Do you think it will work?" asked Celestia.
"I hope you're right." replied Luna.
Celestia then said, "Now that we have settled this, let's all go back to sleep and have you go back home in the morning."
Celestia went back to her room to sleep for the rest of the night while Megan was given the guest's room for her to sleep while saying good night to Luna as they both left her room.
Author's Note
You can over here to see the fan version of Celestia's song Lullaby for a Princess.
Also, you can go here to hear them both at the same time, though I can't seem to find a video with Luna's version anywhere there.
Making the big announcement
The Royal Sisters woke up Megan and performed their duties as morning came to Equestia with her witnessing the sun and moon moving. Just after having breakfast, Luna was ready to take Megan back home, but then Twilight showed up to mention what she and her friends were building over by the Rainbow Bridge.
"I would like to announce that the portal over by the Rainbow Bridge has finally been completed." said Twilight.
"So that's what I saw when I came here last night." replied Megan.
Feeling surprised, Twilight then said, "Megan, I didn't realize that you were here last night, because I was to cross it later on to tell you about it, but seeing that you're here, that's no longer the case."
Megan responded with, "The only reason I was here last night was because Princess Luna brought me over to share her secret of when she was Nightmare Moon."
"I don't see why she had to tell you that." replied Twilight.
Luna weighed in with, "I just felt that since she was someone important, it would only be right that she would know about that."
"I feel that you should get your friends to help Luna apologize and asks for forgiveness for all her actions she did as Nightmare Moon so that she won't have to feel ridiculed when doing so." explained Megan.
Twilight then said, "Don't worry, I will do that, but now I want to show you what was built by the Rainbow Bridge."
Twilight, Celestia, and Luna flew Megan over to where the Rainbow Bridge was to show what was being built there.
"With this portal, you and your siblings can now cross into Equestria without the need of any pegasus or alicorn to bring you." explained Twilight.
Megan then asked, "I won't turn into anything when I cross this portal as you did when you entered that special world to originally go after Sunset Shimmer for taking your crown?"
Twilight then answered, "We tested this a few times when crossing into your world, and I even looked into the river to see if I looked different after seeing my reflection, and as it turned out, that wasn't the case."
Megan raised up another question and asked, "Will this portal only be open at certain times?"
Twilight answered back with, "Just like the portal that goes to that special world, I used a spell that will make it always work, so that you and your siblings can come in anytime you want to."
Megan then waved good-bye and crossed the portal to notice Danny and Molly waiting for her and feeling surprised that she didn't have any pony there to take her back.
Danny asked, "What were you doing in Equestria last night?"
Megan answered, "I was taken there last night by Princess Luna, who wanted to tell me her darkest secret."
Molly then asked, "What was that dark secret she was hiding?"
Megan then explained, "First of all, this is supposed to be a secret, so please don't share this with anyone. Also, don't freak out on what I'm going to tell you."
They both promised to keep their lips sealed about it as well as not make any huge reactions as Megan told them that Luna was Nightmare Moon.
Molly thought, "I always believed that Princess Luna was very nice, but hearing this makes me as there might have been something wrong with her at one point."
Danny weighed in with, "What exactly made her become Nightmare Moon?"
Megan answered back with, "She mentioned to me that it was a buildup of her negative emotions that occurred over time that made her into that very monster."
Molly then asked, "How come she still gets to sit beside Princess Celestia even after what she went through?"
Megan replied with, "That's because she still felt that even as that monster, she was still her sister, and she just couldn't kill her no matter what. Also, she felt that her sister wasn't solely responsible for her actions, and even felt that what she went through in that form was punishment enough."
Changing the subject, Danny then decided to ask, "Now, I would like to know how you managed to get back here without the need of any pegasi or alicorn in that matter?"
Megan answered, "Twilight just built a portal that will allow for us to go to Equestria whenever we want to on our own, and from what I was told, crossing this portal won't turn us into ponies when we enter it."
The next day, the three decided to go through the portal to enter Equestria only to notice Twilight along with both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as if they were expecting them.
Twilight said, "We would like you three to hop on each of us, and we'll take you over to the Castle of the Two Sisters, because they would like to have you all there."
As Megan got on Twilight, Danny then shouted, "I call riding on Rainbow Dash, while you have to take Fluttershy."
Molly then said, "I was going to ride on Fluttershy anyway."
Although Danny wanted Rainbow Dash to fly fast and even do a sonic rainboom, she claimed that she it was best it wouldn't be done especially since it was never done with someone riding her. They all landed on the balcony of the castle as Twilight joined the other royals along with Megan. Danny and Molly went with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to join the rest of the Mane 6 nearby. Meanwhile, the reformed villains stood at the balcony as well. Even Sunset Shimmer herself came and showed Megan a picture in her journal that she uses to communicate with Twilight to give her an idea of what she looked when humanized. After all of that, Celestia approaches the balcony to give her opening speech.
"I would like all citizens of Equestria to hear what my sister has to say to all of you." said Celestia.
Luna then said over the crowd, "I'm very sorry for all the things I did to all of you when I was Nightmare Moon. Ever since I became myself again, I have been feeling very remorseful especially after what I went through in that form. I just couldn't get over all the negativity I had to face that lead me to becoming such a monster, but that has changed ever since. Now, I have changed, and I'm a much different pony than I was before. In return, I will ask for all of you to forgive me."
The crowd started to get angry towards her until Celestia fired back with, "The last thing my sister needs is to be ridiculed after what she had to go through. More importantly, I could have originally stopped her from taking that form if I cared for her when she really needed it, but I didn't, which is what lead her to becoming such in first place making it sort of my fault.
Princess Cadence came next and spoke. "She may have been a monster, but she is still my aunt, nonetheless. Even I learned that anyone could have a dark side no matter who. Sometimes, the positives can outweigh the negatives. If we always looked at everyone in a negative way, then we could never trust anyone."
Twilight was ready to take the stand and said, "You have forgiven those such as Discord, Trixie, Starlight Glimmer, and Thorax despite what they were known for doing. I even forgave Sunset Shimmer and Tempest Shadow for what they did to me, and I have been friends with them since. I don't see why Princess Luna can't be forgiven the same way!"
Megan was then told to speak out and mentioned, "Being a human, we are known for making mistakes, but we can always learn from them. I'm not saying that I'm without flaws, but I don't let that get in the way of how I should live my life. As a matter of fact, this whole announcement was my idea, and I felt that if Princess Luna had the support from others to back her up, she wouldn't have to feel the fear of being persecuted for such. The last thing she needs right now is more hatred, because that's what got her to become Nightmare Moon in the first place. What I'm asking all of you to do right now is to forgive her after she gave her apology and welcome her with a clean slate as she has changed ever since. BTW, having her enter your dreams and trying to help some of you overcome your nightmares is actually one of the things she does to redeem herself."
The crowd starts to have mixed reactions after hearing each of them, but then Megan decides to place her phone by the microphone with the song, I'll Stand by You, by The Pretenders and had everyone else sing the song, which started to help Luna feel better about herself as everyone forgave her in the end. Although Luna looked like she had tears, they wear tears of joy.
After going through though that event Luna then said, "Now, that it doesn't need to be a secret anymore, I'm starting to feel much better about no longer having to hide it, and I couldn't have done it with you, Megan."
Megan then replied with, "You're welcomed for agreeing to go along with this, and that's what friends are for."
The three each hugged and petted each of the royal ponies and then waved good-bye as they were taken back to the portal by the same ponies that brought them so that they can go back home.
Author's Note
You can go over here to see the music video I'll Stand by You by The Pretenders and understand why I used that.
