Princess Celestia left her office long after she had raised the moon this night. Her talk with Sunset Shimmer had taken more time than she expected, but she gladly sacrificed some of her free time for this. Sunset had a few valid points and she hoped that together, they could work on getting her talented student on a more promising route again.
Her step was heavier tonight, though. Not only did she have to work longer, some of the things she had to tell Sunset left her mind troubled even now. She walked past the night guards that patrolled the entrance to her personal wing of the palace and walked along the hallway to her bedroom. She didn’t need any light to find her path, she had been living in this palace for centuries after all, so she knew every cranny in the marble floors.
Tonight though, she saw something she hadn’t seen before.
She noticed a pony sitting on one of the balconies and staring at the nightly sky. Intrigued by this, Princess Celesatia slowly stepped closer. The pony didn’t notice her, as the mare’s whole attention seemed on the bright moon in the middle of the sky.
Princess Celestia was not concerned. If this pony were a visitor or even an intruder, her guard would have informed her. Besides, she only knew so many mares who seemed to sparkle when they stood in the light.
She cleared her throat as she walked onto the balcony and the mare’s head snapped towards her. As soon as she recognized the princess, Crystal Note threw herself on the floor in an overly formal bow, shivering to her bones. Princess Celestia held back the sigh and gently touched the mare’s back with one of her wings
“Please, Crystal Note. You don’t have to bow when we are not in public.”
“Apologies, Your Highness.”
Crystal Note’s voice was barely even a whisper and trembling just like the mare. Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes and searched for Crystal Note’s gaze
“You are afraid of me. May I ask why, my little pony?”
Crystal Note kept her eyes low and mumbled
“I only wish to treat you with all the respect you deserve, Your Highness.”
“Crystal Note!”
The mare kept her head low but glanced upwards to look at the alicorn princess
“I am not the Dark King. I do not wish to be feared and obeyed as did he. And if you wish to show me respect, look at me when we are talking instead of mumbling at the flooring.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Crystal Note finally sat up again, glancing shyly at Celestia
“As you wish, Your Highness.”
The princess smiled kindly and any harshness she had shown just moment earlier was gone
“Much better. Now, I assume your unplanned nap this afternoon left you unable to fall asleep just yet?”
Crystal Note blushed and shook her head
“No, Your Highness. I just barely sleep.”
“Oh? That is certainly not good for you.”
Celestia waited for a response, but when she didn't get one she just continued
"I suppose being trapped in a crystal for a thousand years is not very helpful either."
Again, Crystal Note stayed silent, but at least she bowed her head for a nod this time.
"Are you avoiding sleep, Crystal Note?"
The mare shuddered but she whispered
"Yes, Your Highness. When I close my eyes, I keep seeing things."
Celestia sighed deeply and moved to sit next to the mare, so they could both look at the moon
"I understand. Nightmares can be very troubling."
"I've never had nightmares like those, Your Highness. They feel so different. Everything is different."
The princess didn't reply as this was the most words she ever heard from the mare and clearly, Crystal Note was not finished yet
"My bed doesn't feel like a bed, everything I eat tastes strange, ponies talk differently. Even the moon looks different."
She looked up and Celestia knew she was staring at the mare in the moon right now
"How can the moon and the stars change so much? Even if it has been a thousand years."
Celestia followed to mare's gaze to the moon and the image of the mare sealed in it and just now realized that Crystal Note was the only pony alive who had ever seen the moon as it once was, fair and bright and unblemished. The memory of that brought tears to her eyes, but she fought them back with centuries of practice
"The world keeps changing around us all the time, my little pony. Nopony can stop this. Most ponies don't even recognize the changes anymore."
Crystal Note’s eye stayed on the moon and the distinct image of the mare in the moon
“I wonder how she ended up there.”
Princess Celestia remained silent, as she had from aeons whenever she had been asked of this. Of course she was aware of the legends and rumours that had spread during the years, but she did not intend to let any pony ever find out the truth. So instead, she asked with a soft voice that well hid the tears she refused to cry
“Why do you want to know, my little pony?”
“Because it’s so sad.”
Princess Celestia watched the crystal pony beside her with some surprise, while the mare just kept staring and continued
“I’ve heard the rumours from the maid that cleans Sunset’s room, she told me a wicked fiend was trapped inside the moon as punishment for attacking Equestria nearly a thousand years ago. But a guard told me, that the mare in the moon was really a victim of that fiend who had tried to protect her sister from darkness. And now that she’s trapped inside the moon, all she can do is stare at the world from a distance but never reach her sister.”
Princess Celestia swallowed hard. For some reason, they way Crystal Note retold those ancient stories touched her more than she expected, even though she had heard them hundreds of times before. Something in Crystal Note’s voice just reached through all of her barriers without even trying.
“What do you think is true, Crystal Note?”
“I think it’s sad, either way.”
Celestia’s eyes widened slightly
“How so?”
“Either way, somepony is trapped and can’t do anything but watch terrible things happen. Even if she ever gets free, it’s been so long already and so much has changed. How could she not be bitter when she returns? And if she really had to watch her sister from so far with no way to contact her… if she had to watch her pass away, I think I would have died from sadness.”
At some point, the two stories had mixed up, but Princess Celestia barely even noticed. She too was now staring at the moon and whispered
“But what if her sister was still there and she had to see how she lives on, without her? How she seems to live a happy life and not care about how her sister was trapped? Wouldn’t she hate her sister for that even more?”
“I could never hate my sister, no matter how much we argue every day. I love her more than anything else in the world.”
Princess Celestia flinched at those words and now openly stared at the small crystal pony next to her. Crystal Note’s eyes were wide open as well, but she was staring blank ahead, unseeing. Panic took hold of the alicorn and thoughts rushed through her head. How much does she know? How did she find out? What am I going to do?
Crystal Note remained completely frozen, however. After a minute that seemed like an eternity, she mumbled a single word
“Sister.”
Princess Celestia stood on her hooves, desperately looking for any explanation, but stopped when the crystal pony in front of her broke into tears and lost all light in her eyes and coat
“I have a sister! I have a sister and I didn’t even remember.”
The princess sighed in relief that her secret remained uncovered. At the very next moment, she felt bad for it as she could feel relief while the mare in front of her broke apart. She pushed away her own feelings and focused on the crystal pony instead. Her wing flexed for a gentle pat on the mare’s back
“There, there. I know how irritating this all has to be for you, Crystal Note. Rest assured, Sunset Shimmer will do everything she can to help you remember.”
Crystal Note only cried harder
“Even if I remember, what good does it to me? I’ll never see my sister again! Everypony I knew is lost!”
Maybe not, the princess thought, if one crystal pony returned, Sombra’s curse might break sooner than we expected.
She did not say anything to Crystal Note, though. She did not want to raise any hopes for the crystal pony, just in case she might be wrong. Even if the curse would eventually break, it might be decades from today. Crystal Note would spend her whole life hoping and waiting for something that might never happen, when she should live and find new happiness instead.
So all she did was comfort the crying mare with her wing wrapped around the smaller pony, shielding her from the cold of the night. Eventually, Crystal Note’s sorrow was reduced to desperate sobs and sniffles
“Apologies, Your Highness. I shouldn’t bother you with petty concerns such as mine.”
“Never apologize for tears spilled out of love, Crystal Note. There is no pettiness in that.”
Crystal Note shyly looked up, only to find Princess Celestia was staring at the moon again and her voice was tired and sad
“Sometimes, the loss of a loved one hurts near endlessly and the burden weighs too heavy on your soul. But behind every dark light lies the promise of a new day to shine. Mourn, as you must, Crystal Note, seek solace and comfort in the stillness of the night. But also know when to let go and move on, back into the light. You are not alone on this path and never will be.”
Crystal Note said nothing as the princess’ words made their way through her mind while her tears dried on her cheeks. Celestia kept her eyes on the moon, lost in her own thoughts. She only looked away when Crystal Note moved back to her hooves next to her. As she turned her head, the crystal pony bowed deeply before her, just like on the first day they had met. Princess Celestia noticed that any fear or anxiety had left the mare’s posture as she bowed with her forehead touching the floor in front of her hooves. She easily understood how the gesture had changed from a sign of fear and submission to a way to show admiration towards the mare she had so long thought of as an enemy. Princess Celestia stood up and flared her great wings appropriately, her head lowering to a nod as she acknowledged the crystal pony’s silent vow of loyalty and gratitude. Even if she didn’t appreciate that kind of behaviour anymore, not after a thousand years of ruling, she knew very well how much this would mean to the crystal pony.
Crystal Note stayed bowed down for a little while, before she sat up again and met Princess Celestia’s gaze with glittering gemstone eyes
“Your Highness.”
The princess nodded with her kind and benevolent smile gracing her features
“Today has been very taxing for you. Go rest now, my little pony.”
“Yes, my Princess. Thank you.”
Princess Celestia watched as Crystal Note bowed once again, before her newest subject turned around and vanished through the doorway.
Once alone, Celestia looked up at the moon once more
“I think you would approve. And I hope the time comes soon that I will be able to say this to you again. I love you more than anything else in the world. Goodnight, Sister.”