The hit new video game Helldivers 2™ has just released, and Luna is desperate to play it. However, this excitement doesn't last long, as the servers appear to be full. Now stuck in a seemingly endless queue, Luna needs to find some way to kill time.

She'd rather be killing space bugs.

Far from civilization, in places still left blank on all maps, one can sometimes find wonders of magic that predate even Equestria. Beautiful and dangerous, they’re a silent reminder of the world as it once was. But they’re also a threat to the travelers from the growing Principality of Equestria, so when Princess Luna discovers an unnatural blemish in the texture of her dreamscape, she doesn’t wait to investigate it.

Little does she know that the creator of that blemish is already waiting for her.

A reading performed by Skijarama!

Twilight is the new Princess of Equestria, and she's hosting her first Grand Galloping Gala. Celestia joins her, and Twilight asks her why she and Luna stepped down as Princesses. Celestia decides she's ready to answer.

Princess Twilight Sparkle has been faced with a difficult decision. Unsure of what to do, she seeks advice from her old mentor, Celestia. The ex-ruler of Equestria may not have an answer for her, but she does have a story. A story about guilt. A story about the greater good.

A story about the day after the worst day of her life.

Princess Luna doesn't only visit nightmares.

Second place in the 13th Quills and Sofas Speedwriting contest. The prompt was "Drifting Away."

Princess Luna has a problem. Her elder sister is nowhere to be found, and it's almost time to raise the sun! The clues in her room point to one obvious conclusion, but in her sister's absence, Luna must assume her duties. The night princess can think of but one pony perfect for the task of tracking down her sister: her most faithful student.

(I know some folks have been wanting a Celestia chapter of my fic 'A Pony Walks into a Bar', so think of this as kind of a spiritual successor to that hypothetical chapter.)

How can this be true? When the sun was later in rising than it should have been, Princess Luna became concerned for her older sister. No pony had seen her since Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's reception had ended late the night before. However when Luna went to urge the moon down hoping to nudge Celestia into completing the cycle, her magic brushed against an aura she had hoped and prayed to never glimpse again.

Had her inability to protect the ponies she cares so deeply for, driven Princess Celestia to do... The unthinkable?

Celestia: a filly of twelve. A cynical, hungry pauper, with a young sister to protect and feed.

But the food has run out. Winter has gripped the land for too long, and now the pair face starvation.

The cynic in Celestia knows she can't move the sun. But the child in her wonders... and so she tries.

(Inspired by the Donovan song of the same name.)

(Now with a dramatic reading here, by Crafty Arts, and here, by KeyframeProductions.)

(Now with a Spanish translation here.)

Celestia receives a letter from Twilight, the first in a long time.

A letter about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and how Twilight has changed since her arrival in Ponyville.

It makes a seemingly solitary Celestia think...

Edited by the fantastic GaleSinger

Art belongs Nadnerbd

Presenting Princess Celestia, fair and beloved ruler of Equestria, and her daughters, Luna and Twilight, heirs to the Equestrian throne.

Wait, what was that last bit?

Due to an unknown spell, Princess Celestia must take care of her new young daughters as she fights her stronger-than-ever motherly instincts while finding a way to return everything back to normal.

Now with 20% more cover image thanks to the wonderful LevelDasher!!

FEATURED BEYBAH!
03/23/15-10/16/15
It was featured again while cancelled lol (19/10/20)
Thank you, everyone!
This was adopted from TheFaceOfMercy