• Published 26th Jun 2016
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Day Break - Chicago Ted



Per an ancient law, Princess Celestia must spend today off from work.

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Required Recreation

After Celestia had finished preparing herself for the day, which included her millennia-old tradition of raising the Sun to signal the start of the day in Equestria, she knew exactly what to do. There was a massive backlog full of legislative bills (some of which were already ratified by Luna), treaties, letters of grievance, and the occasional delegate who may have waited weeks or even months to speak with the Solar Princess on some matter or other. A great deal of it was pushed back into the recesses of her mind, with more pressing matters taking greater priority. She had resolved some moons ago to spend this single day to try to resolve as much of the backlog as was possible.

She had already spoken to Luna about her plans to get some especially important progress done. She wondered if Luna had already began to resolve some of the backlog—or had a backlog herself. Whichever was the case, Luna sounded eager to help Celestia when the latter brought up the issue at the breakfast table.

Her brow furrowed. What if she could call in some extra help with dealing with the backlog—her student and protégé, Princess Twilight Sparkle, would most certainly be an excellent choice, given her skill as an organizer, if her memory of a certain Winter Wrap Up in Ponyville served her correctly. But then, she may be busy with some issues of her own, likely involving her pantheon of friends.

As she opened the door to the hall to begin her Day Court, she was stopped at the door by her aide, Raven, who was flanked on either side by Celestia’s own Royal Guard. None of the lot were permitting Celestia entry into the hall. “What is the meaning of this, Raven?” asked Celestia.

“With all due respect, Princess Celestia,” stated Raven, “I am required to inform you that the Time of Personal Recreation Act has come into force on this date. You shall not be spending this day with your duties other than maintaining the Sun.”

This was a law deep within the Equestrian Code, so deep that many of Equestria’s best lawyers lived in total ignorance of it—this was safe enough for them, for it only applied to only two ponies. It was written and enacted in the early days of Equestria’s founding, long before Nightmare Moon’s banishment. Whole lifetimes can, and have, come and gone since the law had been invoked. It has been all but relegated to an obscure footnote in Equestria’s law books. The law is this:

1. For every five hundred (500) years of Service to the Public, it is the responsibility of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to relegate Time of Personal Recreation.

1.1. This Time of Personal Recreation shall be at least one (1) day in length, but not more than seven (7) days in length.

1.1.1. A day is defined as one (1) act of raising and one (1) act of setting of the Sun, and one (1) act of raising and one (1) act of setting of the Moon, in this order.

2. During such Time of Personal Recreation, all Duties exempting those outlined in Section 3.1 hereinafter will be conducted by the Royal Staffs acting in their stead, with the interests of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna kept aware.

3. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are prohibited from carrying out any Duties exempting those outlined in Section 3.1 hereinafter during their Time of Personal Recreation.

3.1. The acts of raising the Sun, setting the Sun, raising the Moon, and setting the Moon are exempt from this law, as these are considered Inalienable Duties of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

4. During such Time of Personal Recreation, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are subject to all laws applying to Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth-Ponies, and other Tribes.

5. This law shall be suspended during Events of Danger to the Public.

6. This law shall be considered null and void unless it has been ratified by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna within three days after its ratification by the Council.

Celestia found that she never really enjoyed it very much—she much preferred to serve the public, which was why she wanted to omit Section 3 of that obscure Time of Personal Recreation Act. But, then again, it could very well be her maternal instinct who wanted to nullify Section 3—as much as she hated to admit it, she felt refreshed after only a single required day. However, guilt set in not long after, as she usually felt that she should have been helping her dear subjects.

Luna, meanwhile, revelled in her Recreation. It only occurred once every five hundred years, so she usually spent the whole seven days trying to catch up with a new society that had sprung up around her without her knowing. Usually she disguised herself, since she did not want anyone to be biased.

Princess Celestia sighed. “Had it been so long?” asked she. “It feels like it was only yesterday when the law was last in force. . . .” She trailed off, searching her own memories.

“Five hundred years,” Raven stated flatly. Her stance remained firm. “You’ve been alive since its enactment; surely you would remember it.”

“Well then, I trust that you will keep Equestria afloat,” Celestia said. “If there is one thing that you must know, it is that I was planning on resolving a rather sizable accumulation of court work. I was wondering if you could sort through that for me.”

“We shall do our best,” replied Raven. “If you need anything from us, we shall still be at your service.” The door then shut, punctuating her pronouncement.

And with that, Princess Celestia left the hall, with her head hung low, and a slight blush of embarrassment. She had planned this day to get rid of a large backlog of duties—but, now it seemed that that now had to wait. Whether she liked it or not—and she most certainly didn’t—she had to take the day off.