Luna drifted into memory…….
They had originally been relatively normal two ponies that had been found with horns, wings and showed signs of earth pony strength, full alicorns. This was an extremely rare but not entirely unheard of birth race. Celestia had a white coat and pink mane while Luna's coat was a deep blue with a periwinkle mane . What was strange was their lack of cutie marks with both sisters being in adolescence, Luna just beginning and Celestia closer to adulthood. The two sisters came into the fold during the height of Discord’s chaotic age and quickly made their impact by being the first ponies in an impossibly long time to activate the elements of harmony.
Every changed in the days immediately after they had defeated Discord. They began to grow in size, soon surpassing most average mares. To accompany this, their basic pony abilities became greatly enhanced, especially their unicorn magic. Both sister took these developments in a different manner. Celestia wished to see how much she come accomplish where as Luna preferred to experiment or have fun with her power.
With her great powers, Celestia often assisted the ponies of the small village of Whitetail of which she called home. In the eyes of the villagers, the current King of Equestria, Irregular Pearl always seemed to overlook the problems of common villages as he focused on grand projects such as roads and aqueducts. Celestia at the time was young, confident and very ambitious, Her exploits would soon get her into competition with Irregular Pearl, whom did not want to be outdone by a commoner, even if she was an extremely powerful commoner. Celestia had dreams to someday beating Pearl at his own game and leading Equestrian in a manner beneficial for all ponies and not just the “egos of nobility” as she would say.
Luna, being more easygoing then her sister, did not think pearl was such a bad ruler like many in the village. He could be somewhat egocentric, but many of his “Grand projects” had in fact brought work to many ponies who had recently begun to recover from Discords chaotic age. The Grand projects, when finished, would bring forth many benefits to the entire kingdom even if they were part of pearl proving himself to the nobility.
Everything changed one day five years after Discord's defeat when Irregular Pearl decreed that a few houses in Whitetail would need to be razed to make way for the current aqueduct project. The residents of said homes were not willing to leave and the King began to grow impatient. He had offered those effected new places to live that were in fact better furnished than the current houses. Despite this, the residents still refused to leave. If he did not clear a path, a town to the south would go without water. He was at this point too stubborn and frustrated to try finding other ways around. So he sent royal guards to enforce his eviction decree.
He did not wish to tarnish his image by folding to commoners.
It was that day Celestia would stand up for those villagers and prevent the guards from completing their evictions. This had made Irregular pearl furious. He dispatched a second wave of guards on the next day and personally accompanied them to the site. When Celestia once again refused to budge, Pearl briefly considered deploying his army to run everyone from the town and burn it to the ground. Before a fight could break out, Luna came forth to suggest that a challenge be held to decide the matter. Both her sister and King Pearl showed interest in the idea and Pearl quickly proclaimed that he would only back away if Celestia could do something that only the King could currently organize: Moving the heavenly bodies to cycle day and night.
At the time, the unicorn nobility of Equestria were responsible in organizing a large team of the most powerful unicorns to all join together in powering the day-night cycle. This was done by grasping either the sun or moon with a concentrated plume of Unicorn energy and forcing them to move. This task often required a few hundred full grown ponies to execute within ten minutes.
The challenge was simple. Celestia, along with a team of any Unicorns that were willing to join her, would need to raise the sun as well as or faster than the current Royal regiment could. However Celestia, despite her friends offering their help, chose to take on this challenge alone. She felt confident that as the most powerful pony ever known, she could leave the King with no excuses and smash his over-sized ego as much as possible. To this end Celestia honed her magical prowess for nearly two weeks until it was time.
Luna recalled the morning of pearl’s challenge clearly even though it was now over 300 years in the past and 4 years after the fall of discord. It began and ended much like some idealistic foals tale. Many ponies that had heard of the rapidly growing power of the two Alicorn sisters gathered in the courtyard of the old Canterlot Keep that preceded the current Canterlot castle. This included common ponies, nobility and the current teams of ponies tasked with cycling day and night. Celestia was exited and Luna was uneasy with all the attention.
LOCATION: UNKNOWN
/COORDINATES/
S:???/???/???,
T:???/???/???
C:??/??/??
DOMINION: UNKNOWN
DATE: UNKNOWN : OFFSET – 263 I.C.Y
LOCAL TIME: 5:00 AM
Upon the start of the event, Celestia with an aura of confidence trotted to the center. Many of her close friends and neighbors were their cheering her on. She began to focus a telekinetic field into a large plume and fired in toward the sun to beckon its rise. Her execution of the technique was flawless but try as she might, the sun refused to budge faster than a snail’s pace. This was far too slow and would take hours to bring the Sun into position. With all this happening Luna felt like something was stabbing into the back of her head but felt nothing strange when she rubbed her hoof over it. She figured she was just having a neck cramp from looking up so much and began to stretch some to loosen the pain.
Celestia strained as hard as she could. While many were impressed that one pony could move the sun at a fraction of the speed that the current unicorn regiment could, Irregular Pearl glanced around to ponies watching with an confident, maybe boastful, expression that said “I told you so”. He was about to declare that challenge over.
Luna could see that her sister’s confidence was beginning to fail. While Luna mostly stayed to herself, she did not like seeing ponies sad if she could help it, especially like how she now saw her sister. Luna went to her sister’s side as she finished her last attempt and dropped to her haunches in embarrassment. Conveniently enough, the pressure in the back of Luna’s head had vanished as she made her way over to Celestia.
“Luna… I thought I could do this.”
“Well I think you did quite well for a single pony. You did manage to move the sun…. slowly”
“May this be a reminder to all that it takes more than brute force to accomplish great things! Maybe more with see that I cannot be replaced so easily. I hope the villager will better appreciate the services devised under my leadership such as cycling the skies!” Proclaimed Pearl to the whole audience.
Celestia was at wits end trying to find a new path forward. “But it doesn’t matter now, I could not prove Pearl wrong and he will now have his way. Luna….. do you have any idea what I should now do? Maybe I should just tell King Pearl to shove his challenge up his….” Luna gently placed her hoof to her sister’s muzzle.
King Pearl continuing his speech to the assembled nobility, Celestia and Luna continued to pay no attention.
“I suppose all I could think to suggest is simply not to worry about it”
Celestia did a double take. “But Luna, some of our good friends will soon lose their homes! Do you even care?”
“Well Pearl did offer them new homes and other towns need the aqueduct, to me it appears that everything will end as well as it started if you do not try to make it worse.”
“That is not why I resist him Luna. If he is allowed to push ponies around then he will only get worse as time goes on. I want to make the most of my gifts to be sure that does not happen! I desire to make the most of who I am. I just do not see how you can be so carefree when we have such powerful gifts. Do you not feel any obligations?”
“I do not want my past to control my future, sister. There are so many things to explore and enjoy in this world besides making a name for one ’s self. Being such a powerful pony just happens to bring forth even more.”
Celestia, now calming down, began to ponder Luna’s point of view. “I envy you, sister. Does anything ever gnaw at your mind?
“I just to this day see nothing dear that is at risk. Discord is sealed away and no ponies are in true danger No matter what daily squabbles I may face I will still be an Alicorn with the power to make things right the next day. …..and I will still have you who I can fall back to no matter what happens.”
Luna’s words sunk in, Celestia felt that she could understand her sister’s point of view. Maybe she could finish her work in Whitetail and then just take a break from the fast-paced, high-productivity life she once felt she had to live to be worthy of her magical gifts. To be honest, she was quite tired of worry. Perhaps the citizens of Whitetail and Equestria proper could handle themselves. Perhaps the King of Equestrian really did have positive intentions. Maybe she could spend more time with Luna and explore the world with her. Just to let everypony do their jobs and not get so worked up over matters that did not really require her interference.
Celestia for the first time in her life was in a state of mind free of all doubt, of all hindering feelings. Luna now felt the same upon sensing the connection in understanding she now had with her sister. Both felt from now being in each other company a happiness that was absolute. All of the commotion from the ponies around them was shut out as the two sisters gazed at the sun peeking over the horizon. They could see where the skies of day met the stars of night. It was a beautiful sight.
“Tia?”
“What is it sister?”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could fly over there to where the day meets the stars, and then just fly with it as circles the world? Not a care in the world. We could get to see so many things. We could even find where morning dew comes from!” Luna let out a giggle
“That could be fun. We could give it a try considering our gifts.” Celestia replied with new found enthusiasm. “
“Then we should get over there before the Royal Sky teams move it again! Onward sister!” Luna took to the air grabbing Celestia’s hoof.
Luna darted for the horizon and Celestia, not to be outdone chased after her as fast as possible.
The two Alicorns continued to fly….
Faster…..
And faster…. And faster and faster…..
Faster than any known Pegasus could muster….
Faster……
Faster……
Faster……
To the point that all they could focus on was the Horizon and the line between the skies of day and night
So faster that everything around them was nothing but a blur.
….and in no time at all that had apparently traversed a few thousand miles in a little over a minute’s time. However, the two sisters were too lost in their trance of enjoyment to comprehend what they had just done.
“Sister, Look!” Luna pointed to the point in from of then where the darkness met the light.
The border of day and night appeared as an ocean of sunlight with the winds whipping up waves. Luna absent mindedly landed on a morning star now positioned as a small island in this sea of sky. Her sister soon joined her.
They could see the sun submerged in this strange ocean. They could taste the ocean spray, it tasted like the perfect blend of liquid sugar: not too sweet and not too dull.
“I was not expecting to find what looks like at ocean?, What could this all be, Luna?”
“I would not know Tia, maybe you should go jump into it and find out.” Luna gave a tone of playful curiosity.
“I am not sure that if that would be a safe idea.”
Her mind was telling her that jumping into this strange ocean, somehow suspended in the sky could possibly be dangerous. Logic told her that she had no idea what this place was or what it could do it her.
Luna looked around, contemplating her sister’s realization. She could see stars, near or far, above her and an endless ocean of daylight below her. To her right was an boundless expanse of stars and daylight meeting at this ocean he now found herself on. To her left was a curved rolling landmass that she knew was the world she called home. When she looked closer, she could faintly make out the villages of Equestria in the distance. But those were so far away, how did Celestia and herself even get here?
Maybe it was all a dream. Stars did not taste like sugar, or at least that is what a scholar once told her. Nothing was real and nothing could harm her, she figured. That seemed like a good enough excuse.
With her doubts mercilessly cast out, Luna made a graceful leap before plunging into the strange ocean below. Celestia, who had watched, briefly panicked until Luna had surfaced.
“Luna!” Celestia called out with a disapproving tone.
“No worries sister, I believe we happen to be within some sort of dream! Please feel free to join me!”
It seemed like a too quick dismissal at first to Celestia, but Luna’s quick theory made some sense. Only a little sense is what Celestia required to leap into the ocean after her sister.
Both ponies swam and dived through the ocean of sunlight for an indeterminable amount of time. Neither sister seemed to be in a state of mind to really care where they were or what was happening to them but they did eventually grow bored of swimming. They soon moved on to manipulating their surroundings as their playthings. It WAS a dream after all. Was it not? They started by forming artwork out of stars. Then they were able to collect plumes of liquid daylight and warp then into all sorts of shapes such as statues of ponies or various woodland creatures. While such activities yielded a few more indeterminable spans of entertainment, boredom soon returned until Luna had one last really farfetched idea…
“Luna, what should we do now? We already made a castle out of stars and that ocean liquid. We even found that spot where the ocean falls to the ground as morning dew. I cannot conceive of anything else to do. Do you think we will ever wake up?” Celestia said while lying on her back.
“Why don’t we try moving the sun and moon around” Luna said matter-of-factually.
With Luna’s new suggestion, Celestia was quickly reminded of her previous failure to move the Sun as a part of the Kings challenge. These thoughts made her heart sink as if were tied to an anchor. At least she could dream about succeeding…..
“You should try to move the sun while I will go to move the moon. They seem so lonely being so far away from each other. I say we bring them together!” Luna suggested as he headed off to find the Moon.
Luna, after a few minutes of flying across the horizon, was able to find the Moon resting among the stars. She approached the ivory sphere anticipation growing with every inch forward. Luna still felt like she could accomplish anything she desired and quickly dove in to give the moon a big push.
As she sped towards the moon however, she began to feel a strange force push back at her. When she finally got to push on the moon, it budged at first only to soon push itself back to its starting location. It was as if the moon was being tied down by ropes. Luna began puzzled by this new sensation she felt. She continued to deepen her focus on this strange feeling as he pushed until most of her vision began to go dark and any sounds began to become muffled. It was like the world was disappearing around her, gravity giving up its tug on her and all air particles no longer pressing against her body. The only things Luna could now feel were a sensation within herself and another sensation noticeably originating near her sister’s location. Her own sensation felt somewhat like an upwelling of sorts, like steam expanding from a kettle. The other, external feeling felt like she was completely wrapped in excessively tight clothing. When she first noticed these strange sensations, Luna quickly panicked, not sure what was happening to her. Spooked from her strange trance, the surrounding reality quickly returned.
Luna hovered in place for a long moment not sure what had just happened. These feelings were unlike anything she had previously experienced. They did not touch her skin, prick her ears or strike her eyes. Or at least that is what it she though she felt. She only entered that strange state of consciousness for a second or two. If only she could have had more time to assess it more completely. Her curiosity was now once again building.
Without any further hesitation, Luna once again began to search for that “tug” she had felt before while pushing on the moon. Upon moving closer to the moon’s surface, she could begin to feel the familiar resistive force push on her once again and quickly tried to focus on it.
Luna dived deeper and deeper, barely catching notice of her surroundings once again disappearing into nothingness. The strange feelings within and around her returned and this time Luna was prepared to dive even deeper to inspect them.
She first noticed her body, while still shaped like a slightly over-sized alicorn mare, now had a volume taken up by a rapidly flowing red-orange aura. The way it moved outward from her core resembled a powerful geyser. Luna then moved her attention to her surroundings that were now an interlocking mesh of deep blue, bubble-like particles. When Luna reached out her ethereal hoof to stir them, they pushed back somewhat and left a rippling wave of brown-yellow aura to spread out from the point of contact. Luna could feel the slight pressure of this rippling disturbance as it impacted other parts of her body. It must be the same forces that are holding the moon in place! Maybe if she were to….
Luna lost her train of thought as another of force or aura once again tugged on her sharply. It felt like a combination of the welling red force from within her and a more unfamiliar sensation that pulled rather than pressured.
Luna quickly turned around to location the source of this new disturbance. She could see a mixture of blue, green, and red auras emanating from a bright point on the other side of the horizon. The blue aura radiated outward steadily while the red and green auras would appear in erratic bursts.
The combination of auras somehow projected a feeling not unlike sorrow, anxiety or yearning. It felt like somepony was sad and Luna deepened her focus on the point in the distance even further.
Luna wanted a closer look…..
She wanted to move closer….
Closer…..
The point began to grow larger to Luna’s vision…..
Closer….
The point began to take shape into…..
A pony?.....
As the figure became clearer, she could see that the pony had wings….. and a horn? She could also notice that the figure was in a sitting position with its head drooping somewhat.
The pony looked quite familiar and Luna could hear a voice accompanying the pulses of energy released from it.
“What kind of pony am I supposed to be!”
The it dawned on Luna that the pony in front of her was her sister. With this, the blue alicorn called out to her.
“Sister!” The surrounding world faded into Luna’s view once again as she was lifted from her trance.
“Luna?” Celestia Looked up at her sister
“Tia, are you all right?”Luna looked concerned
“I am well enough, but I was unable to move the sun in the slightest.” Celestia let out a sigh.
“I had some success with the moon. It seems some other force is at work in this strange place however, one that has a hold on the moon and perhaps the sun as well.” Luna put her hoof to her chin.
“Sister, what do you think is our purpose for being the kind of ponies we are?” Celestia finally asked her sister.
“What makes you ask that Tia?”
Celestia proceeded to release her frustration “We were gifted with so much. We can wield the elements of Harmony. We have the strength and grace others could only dream of. So why does it not feel like enough to make a difference? I always felt that you and I were destined for something spectacular and that is why I did everything I could to help ponies. But I was not able to help anypony today, no matter how much of my strength I brought to bear. After so much hard work and training for this day! I could not even make the Sun move in this…. dream world or where ever we are. It continues to mock me Luna, like I am sure King Irregular Pearl will whenever we decide to wake up. IS MY LIFE SOME SORT OF CRUEL JOKE!?!” Celestia huffed a few times after violently stomping her hoof.
Luna took in her the true extent of her sister’s feelings. The only thing she could think of was to give her sister a warm hug. “ I would not think so. You are not the only powerful alicorn here. To be honest, I would like it if more ponies we know did not try to take advantage of my power. But you have always been there to understand what a pony like me has to go through, even if you tend to like such attention more than I. You are not some joke to me, you simply may not have explored what else you could do with you power. We could use own “gifts” to have fun together!” Luna said calmly with a pleasant tone.
“I truly am fortunate that I am not nearly one-of-a-kind, otherwise I would have gone insane” Celestia said with a small smile.
“I could easily say the same for myself.” Luna replied
Both ponies paused for a few short moments, unsure of what would could next.
….
“So Luna, what did you have in mind for this ‘fun’ you spoke of?”
Luna began to think for a few more moments, taking in all that had happened so far.
….
“I think I know how we could move the sun and moon around. “
“But Luna, we already attempted that and they do not budge much at all.” Celestia’s expression sunk somewhat.
“We may have looked at how the sun and moon move in the wrong way. I recall that the moon seemed to be bound in place by some elastic field. Perhaps that such field is actually the night sky itself; perhaps the spheres are directly attached to the skies they reside in. Suppose we both attempt to push on both spheres in the same direction at the same time. We could consider the sun and moon like handles on a wooden crank. Maybe that is how the cycling of the sky actually happens.” Luna was showing growing excitement at the thought.
“That… actually seems like a very plausible theory Luna! You should join me in my magical studies more often!” Celestia rubbed her forehoof on Luna’s forehead playfully.
“Shall we give it an effort sister? I say we should try to end this…… weird daydream with some excitement. Let’s see how fast we can get the skies to cycle!” Luna asked with some confidence
“It could end up being humorous, so why not?” Celestia joined in.
“Right then, Tia, you prepare to push on the Sun while I push on the moon. Push the sun towards the surface of the ocean we found in the sky. That may be the border between day and night. When you are in position, cast a magical signal and then start pushing with all your strength once I cast my signal! Do not stop until we end up waking.” Luna rubbed her hoofs together repeatedly, only able to think that…….. this was going to be fun.
“Oh, and Celestia?”
“Yes, sister?”
“We. Will. Do. This. Attempt to enjoy yourself!”
Celestia gave a brightened expression.
Without any second thoughts, the two sisters diverged to their planned positions next to the heavenly bodies, Celestia behind the sun and Luna by the moon.
The skies around Luna darkened as she flew quickly back to the part of the sky farthest away from the sun. It only took a few minutes approach the position. Celestia had to dive into the depths of the daylight ocean once again to find the sun waiting in an upside-down sky The moon was as cold as the sun was hot, but neither seemed to effect the two sisters at all as they approached their respective spheres.
Celestia with her powerful unicorn abilities was then able to fire a large bright flare far enough across the horizon that a watchful Luna was just barely able to spot it. With this Luna fired her own flare spell as far as possible towards her sisters estimated position and quickly began to push at the Moon with all her might.
At first, the moon refused to move at all. However Luna then began to feel herself accelerate. It must be working , Celestia must have now started to push the sun in the same direction!
They were soon able to move the spheres faster and faster. Both sisters took notice as they redoubled their efforts at accelerating the heavenly bodies.
Faster and faster, round and round the world they flew.
They continued accelerating until the skies were nothing but a blur of lights and streaks. Clouds dispersed, the winds below started to chase after the vacuum trails left in the wake of the rapidly moving spheres. The whole land below began to be pulled into the rapid orbiting of the sun and moon. But with all this happening the two alicorns never took notice for they had be now pushing so hard on the heavenly spheres that they began to sink into them.
Both sisters soon found themselves pushing INTO the sun and moon respectively. It started with their forehooves and ended with their tails until then where now completely absorbed. Even with this, Luna and Celestia continued to push.They were entranced by the strange feelings welling though their bodies. They eventually pushed their ways though the spheres until they finally broke through the front facing sides.
Caught off guard by the disappearance of resistance, the two mares shot forth at incredible speeds, streaking away from the landmass they called home until their vision began to white-out and their heads filled with overwhelming pain.
...........
Both sisters winched violently and found themselves sitting next to each other back in the courtyard of Canterlot Keep.
Every pony there was now staring directly at them with an expression of pure aw. Both sisters, still coming back to their senses, looked around first at their surrounding then at their bodies to locate the source of the crowd’s attention.
The first thing that they noticed was that the sky was now a blur of light, as if the sun and stars had been rapidly mixed into a fine soup. The two sisters simply sat there for a few moments watching the sky. What had happened while they were “dreaming”?
Finally both sisters stared back at each other to find something else amiss.
“Luna…. Your…. Your…” Celestia trailed off
“You mane is glowing Tia!” Luna finally spat out in astonishment.
“S-s-s-so is yours Luna! Stars! Your mane is filled with tiny sparkling stars!”
Celestia’s once bright-pink mane was now flowing with a shimmer of blues greens and pinks. Luna’s light blue mane was now a deep transparent blue and was dotted with sparkling stars. The manes of both sisters would now flow and wave as if they were in high winds even though the air was still within the Canterlot Keep Courtyard.
Soon enough, a good friend of the Alicorn sisters by the name of Bubble Blossom pushed her way through the crowd.
“Celestia! Luna ! Are you both feeling well?!” Blossom called out with great concern.
“I… think so. I believe Luna and I may have dosed off. What happened while we were sleeping? How long WERE we sleeping?”
“Well it looked like you two were simply sitting there. We tried to stir you both but nothing was effective. Not too long afterward, the skies began to move around wildly on their own. The King’s day and night regiments combined could do nothing to correct the problem. You both started to squirm as if you were being tortured and then started to glow with the brightest light I had ever seen! When that light faded, both of your manes and tails changed to what they are now. Within a minute later, you both awoke from your trance.”
Both sisters were shocked and puzzled at this development. Especially Celestia, who had studied many works on the theories of the magic found in ponies and other creatures. Nothing like this had ever been documented. Then again, she and her sister were by a huge margin the most powerful and strangest ponies in recorded history. Did this possibly have something to do with Discord? The Elements of Harmony?
“Tia, we may have not been dreaming after all. Perhaps we actually did this to the skies while we were in a trance! I wonder if we could possibly correct this… problem.” Luna whispered to her sister with a sense of amazement.
“ I had fun when I could think of it as a dream, but this could not possibly be our doing, could it? The amount of power such a feat would require! We have nowhere near the magical strength necessary to do something like THIS, Every with us possessing the power of a hundred ponies. This seems like something Discord could possibly do, he may have somehow escaped!.” Celestia responded, still in shock.
Luna glanced back at her sister with reluctant sincerity and pointed to her flank. When Celestia examined it, she found a cutie mark in the form of the sun. Luna now had a cutie mark as well in the form of a moon-lit night sky.Luna could see that her sister was actually beginning to panic at what these new cutie marks were implying.
“Luna! I relished our gifts for magic but what would everypony think of us now?! When I desired to be strong enough to make a difference I never once wished for something like this! What if ponies begin to look at you and I as monsters!? We may have just done something that discord would have done. What if we are going to change into draconiuses!? ” Celestia frantically whispered to her sister.
Celestia did make sense and Luna began to worry if they really would become monsters.
“We need to somehow correct out mistake Luna, I do not wish to be a monster! Quickly Luna, latch onto the moon with you magic!”
Celestia began to charge another spell to grasp the sun. At first she had difficulty grabbing hold with the Sun whirling around the sky so fast but soon she was able to hit her mark. She recoiled for a moment when her magical grasp hit the fast and massive sphere but soon began to push back with all her might. Luna quickly followed, and after some initial misses, was able to get a magical hold on the moon.
Both sisters poured every bit of their magical energy reserves into slowing the two heavenly spheres. Their eyes were glowing and huge plumes of magical energy two time their height erupted from their foreheads. Their horns were quickly burning from the strain. Even after noticing that their magical output had seemed to double after their new-found transformation, the two alicorns were only making slow progress. Finally after ten minutes or so at full power, the sisters were successful in returning the skies to a steady daylight. With their task now complete, the two sisters willingly blacked out from exhaustion.
…..
The crowd was utterly amazed at the demonstration of the true abilities of the two Alicorn sisters. Celestia and Luna would soon master the process of moving the skies and take full duty of this task from the King's unicorn regiments at the request of the nobility. Many of the nobility began to wonder if these powerful ponies would be more fit to project leadership over Equestria than its current ruler. Pearl, who did not take long to catch wind of these speculations, began to slowly become more neurotic as the fame of these alicorns and his own jealousy increased. Despite anything he then tried to accomplish, most ponies never seemed to take much notice anymore.
It was about two years later that Pearl was pushed as far as to plot an elaborate assassination of Luna and Celestia involving poisoning followed by hired assassins. This plan would ultimately fail when Luna miraculously resisted the poison and was able to apprehend the assassins before they could harm her or an incapacitated Celestia. The plan up to that point was executed perfectly with no one taking much notice of Irregular Pearl but no pony could ever explain how Luna was resistant to the special poison of which its killing power was fueled by a targets magical strength. Thanks to this, Celestia was able to be treated before the poison reached its full effects and somehow fully recovered.
Pearl however, was not so fortunate. His plan was quickly revealed from the captured assassins and a mob of angry ponies supported by about a third of the nobility stormed Canterlot keep and ousted Pearl from power. He was given one final grace when Celestia intervened before he could be executed and instead suggested he be exiled from the Kingdom of Equestria.
Within a day later, Celestia and reluctantly, Luna, were crowned Co-ruling Princesses of Equestria. In the decades to come, the two sisters noticed that they would not physically age at all since they were crowned. For the next 200 years, Equestria would experience a period of prosperity mainly due to the skillful rule of the sisters and the confidence ponies would feel knowing that two impossibly powerful Alicorns were watching over them. Even Irregular Pearl shortly before his death was able to reconcile with the Princesses which in the end put his mind at peace. Everything in the end turned out better than anyone expected….
For a while anyway…..