Dear Princess Celestia,

The past few weeks I have been working on translating the Lunar Diary from Old Equus. During that time, I found multiple discrepancies with what Princess Luna told us and what she wrote. She claimed that what little time she was conscious on the moon, she was plotting on how to overthrow you. She also claimed that she wrote this after we reformed her, as a way to preserve her memories of the past. I believe she misled us; the entries are purely about her experience on the moon. I was first tipped off by the number of entries:730500. I was wondering why she would stop at that number, since the last entry doesn't cover her return to Equestria. I started playing with the numbers, trying to find a pattern. I eventually found it, it's actually quite simple: 730500/2=365250

The thing that startled me the most is that the first three numbers are the amount of days in a year; that can't be a coincidence. I wondered if maybe the number represented days, so I tested my theory: 365250/365=1000,684932: almost a thousand years.

The Lunar Diary has enough entries to have been written in twice a day for a little more than a millennium. I decided to factor in leap years and run the equation again: (365250-1000/4)/365=1000 The exact amount of time Princess Luna was on the moon. Two entries a day for a thousand years is 730500 entries.

A few other things I found when trying to find out the number's secrets

7+3+0+5+0+0=15 The number of centuries between the first time she noticed that ponies liked you better, to having Nightmare Moon removed from her psych.

7*3*5=105

1+0+5=6 The number of elements.

Once I discovered that the diary could have been written during the time Princess Luna was on the moon, I searched each entry for hidden text or codes. I found it in this entry.

Diary of the Lunar Princess: entry 73050

Original entry from my first diary, with some punctuation added.

Today Year 213:

Today I made a new friend is his name is Sparkling Sree; He's the an earth pony. Me and my sister were at Prince Bright Eye's hundredth thousandth birthday. It was also our parents ten thousandth anniversary. Tia says this isn't the proper spelling, she will find it of for me later. My sister my is so smart; she knows everything. She taught me that the banished. Changelings were banished by mom. She's so A strong, she controls Hundred every star in the sky. In years, the future, I hope to do the same. Dad says we shouldn't feel trapped limited by our cutie marks, but I know I want on to control my mom's moon. night. We got our marks a few decades ago. I know We don't know any other Alicorn fillies who got their marks as soon as I us. Uncle tells us we should shouldn't brag, but it but does make me be feel special. Quite a few of the other angry fillies are angry that they or don't have their marks yet. They get so mad. upset. I feel sad, so very sad. Actually, I've I find it hilarious they get so distraught. It's almost time for lessons, how I wish I could spend this time play instead. But apparently I have to watching listen to our the tutor ramble on about ponies history. I wish I was an grow, adult; they do what they want and. I guess they have to do it things too. This saddens me. makes me sad. They Adults might actually almost have more rules than us fillies. I don't want to lost lose the chance to have fun almost the all the time. Chance I won't have a second chance to become at my fillyhood. I would do something anything to stay care free, all the grown seem so better, bitter at times. I guess lessons are simply just a necessity because I wanted of being a filly. The only thing I want from growing up is power and authority. respect. Tia Celestia just told me power corrupts ponies, I know we don't want that. You've We've always had power, it's how we use it that matters. Spent these past years We've spent the past few years learning magic. I can lift a herd of cows, almost. They didn't blaming blame me when I dropped them. I still blame yourself myself for it, I got distracted by a passing cart. I was so scared when I dropped them, I ran into the forest. I thought they would punish me for my descent into Nightmare Moon. for messing up. I wish I wish I had stayed the instruct was going to congratulate me on just managing to lift them. I could I can't fix that now. My parents talk to you,talked tell you to me about how sorry I am how worried they were. That it wasn't your fault. That it wasn't my fault I dropped the cows. There may or may not have been things There was nothing I could have done to keep the cows up. You could have done to help me. Tia was reading over my shoulder. That will teach her to try and read my diary. I really have to get going. I'm going to encrypt the rest of the entry with a there are a few things a don't want ponies to read.

B32x2

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The first half is a simple code, the crossed out words are the real diary entry. The second half was a lot harder. I eventually figured out it was a Base64 encryption. Here is a fully decoded version.

Diary of the Lunar Princess: entry 36500

Today is the hundredth anniversary of my banishment. A hundred years, trapped on my moon. I know I should be angry or mad, but I'm not. I'm sad, so very sad. I've spent this time watching our ponies grow, and it saddens me. They almost lost the chance to become something better, simply because I wanted power and authority. Tia, I know you've spent these past years blaming yourself for my descent into Nightmare Moon. I wish I could talk to you, tell you how sorry I am. That it was not your fault. There may or may not have been things you could have done to help me. That doesn't change the fact that I chose my fate. I chose to let my bitterness and jealousy grow. I chose to use forbidden magic to increase my power. I chose to ignore my morals and kill thousands of innocent ponies. You are not to blame for anything I did. I am solely responsible for my actions. I can and will bear the burden of my guilt for all eternity. I would like to thank you, sister. When you banished me, you not only saved our ponies, you saved me from a fate worse than death. In a nine-hundred years, I will return a wiser and happier pony. I must cease writing now, I have a meteor shower to prepare. I send one stone to earth for each pony I hurt. It assures I can never forget why I'm here, nor what I've done. I hope to see you soon, sister. I miss you so much.

There is one thing I don't understand. If Luna viewed her actions as morally wrong, why did she come back to Equuis as Nightmare Moon? What happen up there? Maybe later entries will tell me.

Twilight gave Spike her finished letter. "Please send this to Princess Celestia. I made a break-through on the Lunar Diaries."

Spike sent the letter. Almost immediately, he belched a small scrap of paper. "Twilight! You got a reply."

Twilight rushed over. "Already? That was very fast, even for Cel—"

Twilight Sparkle, start running. She is coming to kill you, just as she tried to erase and kill me. Meet me at our spot. Hurry. Luna.

Twilight stared at the letter for a few seconds. A faint whistling broke the silence. She dropped the scroll and ran towards her balcony. She jumped off onto the ground and started running. An explosion knocked her flying forwards. Getting back to her hooves, Twilight looked behind her. The library was a flaming wreck.

"Twilight Sparkle, do not run from me!" Celestia's voice thundered across the silent town. "Surrender and I will be merciful. You cannot escape the sun!"

Twilight started running again weaving through alleyways and jumping over fences. Behind her, building after building blew up, showering the town with burning chunks of wood. Ponies were running around, screaming. "Get to the Everfree Forest!" she shouted to the ponies nearest to her. The group ran to the edge of the residential area, stopping at the field that stretched between them and the forest. "Unicorns, cast shield spells or pick up piles of debris. We need to get to the forest without being cooked by whatever's up there." The unicorns complied. Soon the group was protected by a dome of garbage and magic. They took off across the field.

"Foolish ponies! You think you can outrun me?" Fireball after fireball hit the dome, obliterating the debris and pushing the magic to its limit. Unicorns passed out, pegasi were hit with cross gusts and earth ponies triped on rubble. As the shield shattered, the remainder of the group made it to the forest.

"Scatter!" Twilight and the rest of the group broke apart and ran deeper into the forest. She soon lost sight of the rest of the ponies. After a good twenty minutes of running, Twilight slowed down to a light trot. "Why would Celestia attack like that? She destroyed half the town. I really hope nopony was killed." Twilight continued along the moonlit trail, musing over the events of the last few days. Her train of thought was interrupted as she walked into something hard.

"Nopony was killed, but many were injured. Celestia wanted to incapacitate you and destroy any notes you had. It is very good you ran when you did. I do not know if I would have been abled to protect both you and your papers." Luna looked at the scared unicorn cowering before her. "My dear Twilight, I will not harm you."

Twilight jumped up and hugged Luna, sobbing quietly. "Why is this happening to me? All I wanted to do was learn new things. Now I'm fighting monsters and evil rulers every other week," she whispered. "I just want to relax and read a book."

Luna held her for a moment. "I understand. You will have time to mourn your loss of innocence later. For now, we must get to safety." Luna extracted herself from Twilight's grip and nudged her along the path.

Twilight took a deep breath, and started walking beside Luna. "What do we do now? And where are we going?"

"Now, we plan our rebellion. I have gathered numerous allies over the centuries. We need to be smart about our attacks. Being captured is worse than death. We are going to my old castle."

Twilight stopped walking. "How did you find me? In fact, how can either of you know what ponies do so fast? It's crazy for her to have read that long letter then teleport to Ponyville that fast. It's physically impossible for you to even know what was written in that letter."

Luna looked back at Twilight. "Have you forgot my power source? Anywhere the moon touches, I can see. I watched you write that report. As for Celestia, you do not think she has a spell that allows her to read paperwork at the speed of light? She handled the paperwork of all of Equestria and the surrounding lands for a thousand years, alone. I'm sure that you have many questions. I will try to answer them better at HQ, since we're almost there."

Twilight grumbled and trotted to catch up with Luna.

The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters had been renovated. It looked more like a fortress than a palace. The ravine had been extended to circle the entire castle. All vegetation had been cleared away and trenches were dug. Large earth ponies patrolled the perimeter while pegasi and bat-ponies flew overhead. Inside the walls, various tents were set up. Twilight saw a blacksmith, a hospital, a mess, an armory and others she had no names for. Hundreds of creatures rushed from place to place. There were ponies of all three tribes, bat-ponies, dragons, griffins, minotaurs, timberwolves and even changeling.

Luna was heading straight for the Castle doors. "We set up our war room inside, for added protection. My generals are waiting for us." Twilight followed her inside.

Several ponies were crowded around a low table, arguing loudly. A large bat-pony noticed Luna's entry. "Gerneral on deck! Room!" All personnelle in the room turned to face Luna and saluted.

"At easy, comrades. Celestia has mobilized her troops. They will be here by morning. Silver Spike, Fiery Tail, get companies Alpha through Golf ready for battle."

"We have no time for them. We must decide on a course of act—" A loud explosion sounds through the cavern. Luna spun towards the entrance. "84756, 210043, 645244, 730250, 74. Remember and run. Don't let her catch you."

Several Night Guards ran into the cavern. "She's here! We need to go now, tele—"

A flash of light blinded Twilight. When her eyes re-adjusted to the dark cave, she gasped. Celestia stood over the bodies of the soldiers, grinning from ear to ear. "Hello, sister. I just saved these ponies. Why don't you let me save save Twilight too? I'm sure she would thank you after. You don't want her to die, right?"