Day court began as it always did- with a noble who had something to say.
Celestia's duties could not wait any longer. Day court had to be held, everypony who had been waiting for it to reopen was lined up in front of the castle. The purpose of day court was to listen to her subject's problems personally. While Celestia wanted to listen to her subject's problems and find solutions to them, it unfortunately gave the nobles an excuse to speak with her directly. With them came all their ridiculous attempts at grabbing wealth.
"-there is the problem of the ponies who live there, but with a little help from your majesty I am sure this little problem can be easily solved." The heavily mustached noble finished his speech on why he should be able to build a massive factory in the middle of Canterlot.
"Those have been the homes of ponies for generations. Why should I tell them to move out of the homes that their grandparents built?" Celestia glared down at him from her throne.
"Why, the money we could generate for your majesty would be-"
"If you are able to get every pony in the area to sign a petition to move out, I will consider it." Celestia said. "You are a valuable asset to the economy of Canterlot, but I cannot crush the homes of my ponies to make room for industry."
The noble opened his mouth to say something but stopped.
"I will see myself out." The noble walked out with his head down.
Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The ridiculous requests of the nobles were always quite something to hear. It did kind of make her feel a little bad seeing the noble walk out with his head down. A little. A grain of sand on the beach little.
"Send in the next pony please!" Celestia called to her guards.
It was hard to focus for Celestia. There was much to think on, Nightmare Moon and Void most of all, but she was stuck in day court. It was necessary to hear her subjects but with every lull in speaking her thoughts couldn't help but go back to the two.
The rest of day court passed in slow suffering. She wanted to see Luna but the waves of ponies coming in made such a thing impossible. For hours she sat and spoke. Thoughts of Nightmare Moon and the horrible things she might do clouded her mind. The end of day-court couldn't come soon enough. When day court finally ended, her patience worn thin but never shown, she made her way to her office. Unfortunately, she now had to work on documents.
Later that day Celestia was in her office reading documents. As she sifted through them her hoof knocked over a letter. Curious as to why an opened letter was still on her desk, she turned it over to read it. It said something about an old amulet with two alicorn's on it. Then, Celestia remembered.
It was the amulet she had told the merchant to bury. She had told herself before that she would handle it if she returned from saving her sister. It would be buried if the merchant followed her advice.
She set the letter back down. What was done was done, no sense in digging it up now.
"You are just so boring." Void sighed in her head. "Are you serious? Didn't you say that you were going to take care of that after dealing with Luna's return?"
"Some things are best left buried." Celestia said.
"Just like Luna right, and Discord? How about the uncountable ancient evils you banished that are just waiting to be released into an unsuspecting pony populace?"
"That is different." Celestia shook her head. "I didn't have a choice."
"And you don't have a choice with this one either?"
"Enough, Void, I have things to take care of and your voice is distracting me."
"Fine, but don't come crying to me when all the things you locked away come bursting out at the seams."
Celestia sighed as his voice faded from her head. It was necessary that these evils were locked away. What other choice did she have? Once again, this was just another one of Void's games. She would endure this one as well. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if Void was right. When did she start locking problems away instead of dealing with them?
She tried to keep signing documents and writing but couldn't get her mind off Void's words. After staring at a document for an unhealthy amount of time, Celestia stood and walked to the kitchen. Maybe some cake would soothe her mind.
As she drew closer to the kitchen she could hear giggling. It was a strange sound to hear in Canterlot castle. There was usually little time or place for joy as a princess.
"We are interested in this manner of device." Luna's voice was muffled through the wooden door.
"It sure does spin fast. What do I do now, stick it in the dough?" Nightmare Moon, her voice just the slightest bit harsher than Luna's, spoke from the other side of the door.
"We believe so. Stand thee back and prepare for the mixing!" Luna shouted.
If Nightmare Moon was with her sister, then she should at least make sure she wasn't doing anything suspicious. She was a servant of Void, if anything was amiss then Celestia had to catch it. Otherwise, Void might get the upper hoof in this game of theirs.
She couldn't help but stop for a second and listen to their laughing and giggling. Why didn't her sister laugh like that when with her? Hearing a sound she treasured being directed at the servant of Void hurt. No pony every laughed with her anymore.
Celestia knew the reason Luna didn't laugh with her anymore. The reason Luna always had walls up around her. The reason she hid Nightmare Moon from her. Celestia had banished her sister to the moon for a thousand years. The scars of that would never heal, would they? To Luna she was a threat, a jailor, a tyrant.
She turned away from the door. Cake could wait until the two were done.
Instead of getting cake, Celestia walked back to her office. Once she was there, she closed the door and sealed it shut. For a long moment she stood alone in her office and looked out the window. Her ponies walked the streets in the lone sun, joking, laughing, playing together. This was the peaceful kingdom she had created, a kingdom that she rose from the earth with her own blood and sacrifice, a kingdom with loving ponies that would always be just out of reach. A kingdom with ponies that she just kept failing over and over again.
Celestia cast a silence spell on the room around her. Then, she turned to her desk. It was a good desk, a desk made of sturdy wood and crafted by fine artisans. It was a thing of simple and elegant beauty, and it was something she treasured. This desk would probably last for more than a hundred years if it was treated right.
A scream of rage left her throat as she reared up into the air. With one single earthshattering stomp the desk exploded into a million different shards. Papers went flying everywhere like startled doves.
Celestia glared at the shards.
"What did that poor desk ever do to you?" Void hummed. "Was it the slightly wobbly leg? I mean, I understand that a wobbly leg can be annoying but to smash the poor thing..."
"Shut your insolent mouth, Void. I won't tolerate your blabbering any longer." Celestia stomped on one of the wood shards again, turning it to mere fibers and sending cracks up the stone wall. "This is all your fault. How dare you trick my sister with that... thing!"
"Trick? Their friendship is no trick. Just accept it Celestia, they are friends, and you aren't included. Too much baggage I would say, it really sours in the whole flavor. Don't worry though, I love you all the same."
"Baggage?! What baggage do I have?!" Celestia snarled.
"With how often you put things off the baggage is really piling up. Princess-ly duties, ancient evils wanting your head. I mean, I could go on forever, but it all comes down to the fact that you don't do anything besides sit on your deliciously plump rump all day."
"I am the princess of a kingdom. Every hour of my waking day is spent speaking with my subjects and solving problems."
"Not those problems my dear. I mean the forgotten problems, the old problems, the problems you refuse to confront. If you really want to get rid of your baggage, then that it where you need to start."
"Why are you trying to help me? We are enemies, bitter enemies." Celestia asked.
"Why are we enemies?"
"Because... because you are my enemy." The words almost died in Celestia's throat. It was a question she had never asked herself before. Why were they even fighting? Why did she never even question it?
"You don't even remember why we are fighting, do you?" Void said.
Celestia said nothing. How could she have forgotten why they were fighting? It just didn't make any sense. Trying to think about it just made her head hurt.
"Why are we fighting?" Celestia's head was throbbing. "Why do I hate you so much, why are you playing these games with me?"
For a long moment nothing was said between them. The air was still, and the room was silent. The only sound that could be heard was from Celestia's ragged breathing.
"Because I love you."
Celestia felt the presence of Void leave her mind again. Her heart throbbed painfully at the words though she didn't understand why.
It was nothing new that Void had said. It was something she had heard a thousand times before. Now though, now she was actually thinking about it. Why did he love her? Attraction? How could a voice in her head be attracted to her? It wasn't true, it was just another one of his games. One more tally on his side in this eternal war of theirs.
Celestia lifted her hoof from the fractured stone beneath her. Her single stomp had shattered the stone floor. Cracks ran up the wall and all over the room from the impact.
Stuck to her hoof, miraculously in one piece, was a familiar letter. On it was a drawing of a dual sided alicorn amulet. Void was a trickster, a manipulator, a charlatan. But- he also spoke the truth. Celestia could not remember the last time he had lied to her directly.
If Void was right about one thing, it was her inaction. For too long she had been letting these greater problems grow beneath her watch, it was time to do something. She would show Luna that Nightmare Moon was a menace. She would root out Void's intentions and malice. She would show Luna that she was good, that she had the best intentions at heart.
The amulet reminded her of something. The stained-glass window with two alicorns on it. It had to be connected to Void in some way. This amulet would be that ignition point. If she could deal with this amulet, then she could deal with Nightmare Moon is her castle and restore her relationship with Luna.
She would end Void's plans once and for all.
Celestia grabbed her quill and a fresh sheet of paper. Then, she began to write.
"Dear Dust Mane, it has come to my attention that you are in possession of a dual sided alicorn amulet which I previously told you to bury..."