Once upon a Time, the living creatures of the Earth lived in complete harmony. There was only light on Earth, and no one needed any shelter, for the Sun was illuminating all the time, until one day, when something happened in the realm of the Universe.
In the vast Kingdom of the Sun, there was so much work to do in maintaining the life of Earth that the old King, named Sun, felt overwhelmed with the tasks, so he entrusted his daughter, the Moon, to watch over Earth. Her mother was a mortal which the Sun met when he was sent to Earth by the Creator at the beginning of creation to help the living things on Earth grow, and his task was to touch each one of them with his multitude of rays to maintain life. Whilst being down on Earth, he met a beautiful woman with golden hair, emerald eyes, and a svelte body. They met at the river of life in the forest of the spirits. He fell in love with her, and they had a daughter together, the Moon. Her mother passed away when she was giving birth to Moon, and she grew up in the care of the Mighty White Stag family that was populating the forest. She grew up ten times bigger than the other children of her age. The Sun always kept watching over her from above, and because she was different from any other Earth child, he decided to take her into his kingdom.
One day, as she was watching over the Earth, she noticed a young man taking his horse to the same river her parents met to give the winged horse the water of life to drink. She used to watch that river many times as it reminded her of her life on Earth, and she often cried because of her mother's tragic story. She immediately remembered that her father forbade her to get involved with the living creatures, and she was promised to one of the charming princes in her realm anyway; the King only had to finally decide which one would be more suitable for her. She knew his fear was not to lose her as he had lost his wife too.
She carried on watching over Earth, promising herself that she would not break her father's rule. But the Moon couldn't forget that young man and his immortal winged horse stolen from the Gods, and after long consideration, she decided she would sneak this one time on Earth in the form of a human princess just to meet him. And so she did; she tiptoed out of the Sun's kingdom when he was resting; she took the form of a beautiful golden hair young woman and put on a shimmering silver silk dress with a green leaf's velvety pattern. She grabbed the finest pearls she could find on the bottom of the ocean, and she was ready to meet the mortal Prince. She knew where to find him, so she waited for him by the river with the white stag near her. When the prince arrived, he was stunned by the Moon's beauty. A golden glow surrounded her body, and the Prince immediately fell in love. He decided to approach her, so he went closer and whispered timidly: " Today the forest seems more enchanting than ever! " whilst his winged horse threw a wondering look at the white stag. " Indeed!" Replied the Moon with a shy tone. "Are you lost?" asked the prince. The Moon was quiet for a second as she didn't know what was best to reply. She feared that if she replied "no," the Prince would leave and continue his journey. She knew the forest better than any living creature on Earth. But she replied: " Yes, I am lost. Would you be kind to show me the way to the FutureTelling Fountain? I've heard about it, and I embarked on a journey to find it. " that was the only place it came in her mind, as ages ago the fountain told her she would meet someone she will fall in love with, and if she goes along with it, it will bring a curse upon the whole living creatures from this realm. She didn't believe it at the time, but now, she knew she needed to revisit the fountain for advice, and the prince was accompanying her.
Whilst they were walking and talking for hours, her father woke up. He had a strange feeling that something would happen, so he called his daughter to bring him a glass of water. But she was nowhere to be found, so he sent his servants to search for her in the whole kingdom. No one could find her, so he knew she must have gone back to Earth. He grabbed his binoculars and looked exactly where his wife died, but the Moon wasn't there, so he looked in the surrounding area, and he saw her and the Prince walking through the forest. He could see they were in love and listened to their amorous glimmers whilst they shared a kiss too. The winged horse and the white stag pretended not to see. The King Sun was furious; he felt so betrayed, so he grabbed his lightning bolt and threw it exactly in the middle of them, and the whole Earth was shaken so hard that all the animals got scared and felt his fury. She found herself thrown into the forest by the impact, and the charming Prince was nowhere to be found. His winged horse must have been wounded, but he wasn't there; only a few feathers stained with blood remained behind. She thought her prince must have also been wounded, as the lightning bolt hit the Earth so hard that in the place where the impact was, there was a crater bigger than ten villages altogether. She never reached the Future telling fountain as her father sent an imperial Eagle to bring her back into the Sun's Kingdom.
When she arrived, the Sun was red, furious, crying with lava tears that can be seen even today boiling deep in the Earth. He promised himself he would punish the Moon, so he cast her Light away and sent her in isolation far away from his Kingdom. She felt so disappointed for failing her father and knew how much he loved her. In the following days, the Sun sent his servant to accompany the Moon into a deep darkness she had never seen before; she was terrified. After living in Light for so long now, she was in the pitch-black darkness alone with her servant, and she could only hear some kind of wind howling like a giant cosmic beast. She lived like this for a while, crying every day to be forgiven by the Sun.
The King could hear her tormenting cry and finally asked his servants to give her a message in which he said: " My dear Moon, you have disappointed me, and heavens know how much I love you, but they also know I never break my word either. I heard your cry, and I felt devastated. After all, I am your father, and you are my beloved daughter. So I decided I would shine my light upon you. Remember, though, all the living creatures will face my punishment, too, because of what the mortal Prince has done. Although he is innocent, his fate has placed him in a trap, and now all the living creatures on Earth will know what darkness is. Whenever I see the prince and his immortal winged horse, I will withdraw my light from that part of the world. Even when the prince dies, his horse will still carry the burden of his master's sin. This is so both the Eartly creatures and the gods above will remember that these two worlds can never mix. You may use my limited light as you wish. Farewell, my dear Moon! ".
As the Moon was reading his letter was happy to learn her prince was not dead, but a deep sorrow installed in her heart, feeling guilty for what she had done to the poor living creatures on Earth, to her beloved prince, and her White Stag. She cried for days thinking perhaps she could persuade the Sun to change his mind. She sent numerous messages with a star with tales from her exile but no answer. In the meantime, she could hear the wolf's howl asking her for help, as none of the creatures knew how to survive in darkness. After a while, she remembered her father saying to her she may use his light that was illuminating her in the night, and so, she thought she would send some on Earth in the part where the darkness became night. Not only to help all the living creatures survive but to bring comfort to her beloved one. The least she could do was to make him see her reflection in the waters of the forest and the dim light of the night. Poor prince has heard the story from his winged horse and grew old watching her shine in the night sky, wanting to see her one more time. The Sun noticed what she had done, so he didn't intervene, but there are times when, for a little while, he is so upset for losing his wife and daughter he withdraws his light from the Moon too, not because he wants to, but more because he becomes very weak from sorrow. This is how the day and night were formed.
The prince has left the living world, but the winged horse is still roaming the forests free even today in search of a master that will set things right with the Sun. There is a story that goes on for centuries. This master will come and save all the living creatures, and a new world will be formed.