“Sister?”
The recently freed Princess Luna knocked on her sister’s golden bedroom doors. When she was answered with silence, she sighed. This was becoming too common of an occurrence.
There were days where Celestia would either cancel Court or cut it short so she could spend the entire day in her room, doing absolutely nothing. That left all the extra paperwork to Luna, which she found most annoying. At least five times this month, her sister had done this, and she was willing to respect her boundaries.
But that no longer stood, mainly because her sister had run out of an important political meeting with griffon ambassadors, leaving Luna alone to try and negotiate while explaining that her sister had something pressing to attend to.
Lying to her allies was the last straw, so she was going to find out what was going on before it got any worse. She was supposed to be the emotionally distressed sister who needs solace right now, not the other way around.
She knocked again on the doors, getting the same response as before. She pressed an ear to one of the doors, straining to hear anything from inside. She was expecting her sister to be fooling around, eating cake, or something of the sort, but instead, she heard silence. The one familiar thing she heard was the crackling of a burning fireplace.
“We know you’re in there,” she shouted through the door. Being met once again with silence, she had to resort to teasing. “We hope thou is not engaging in scandalous acts,” she sing-songed. It surprised her to not get a chuckle out of Celestia, let alone nothing.
“I can wait,” she said, sitting down and clopping her hooves on the floor to make her point. Still pressing her ear on the door, she heard quiet sniffling from her sister, something very unexpected.
“I’m coming in.”
Luna reached for the handles, twisting them so she could throw them open, but the handles did not turn. Lifting an eyebrow, she turned them again, finding them locked. She jiggled them loudly.
“G-go away,” Celestia said from her bedroom, trying to sound like her normally collected self. It failed miserably, as Luna could hear the effects hours of crying had on her sister’s voice. To any other pony, she would sound the same, just tired, but her sister noticed it instantly.
Luna walked away from the bedroom, going down the halls to her own room and going up to the highest floor of her tower. As she went inside, she headed for the large windows that overlooked the land. With a click, she unlatched them, letting them swing open. The chilly nighttime breeze swept in, making the fur on her back stand up.
Ignoring it, she jumped out the window. The sheer wind brushed over her face as she fell from the top of the tower in a graceful manner. The ground got closer and closer, but she smiled. She pushed her wings open, letting them unfurl to their full length.
With a downward thrust, she shot upwards, soaring over the land below.
Besides her sister and control of her own body, flying was the thing Luna missed most during her banishment. She loved everything about it, the precise movements you make, the relaxing wind that hits your body with a slight tinge, the speed, the view—everything. It was also the only thing that had not changed since she was sent to the moon.
She found herself having quick getaways from the castle before bed a few times a week. It was a nice way to clear her head and calm down before sleeping—something she desperately needed.
As she flew around her personal tower, she started towards the one next to hers. She angled herself down as she spiraled around the spire, getting closer to the bottom.
She slowed herself as she came in for a landing outside her sister’s window. Making sure to stay quiet, her hooves gently hit the ground. She went over to the large windows, unlocking them with her magic.
With a light push, they swung open, revealing the scene inside.
The room was completely dark except for the fireplace that offered flickers of illumination. Her eyes adjusted, letting her see the paperwork scattered across the floor. Bedsheets were also here and there, some ripped apart and some with scorch marks on them. It looked like a brawl had occurred in the room.
She then shifted her gaze to the bed, seeing her sister lying there in a wrapped-up position that resembled a ball. Celestia was whimpering to herself, but she swiftly turned to look at who entered her window. She was surprised to see her sister.
Luna saw the redness of her sister’s eyes, the dampness of her cheeks, and the sad way she sat in her bed, all of them making Luna’s heart sink.
“What is it, sister?” she asked, going over to the edge of the giant bed and sitting down on it. “We are sisters again, so please,” she continued after seeing her sister shy away, “tell us what plagues you so.”
“I-I don’t feel like myself anymore. As simple as that sounds, it’s horrifying. Ever since the Gala, I have been questioning myself.” She hesitated for a second before speaking again. “Someone or something is torturing me.”
“What do you mean?” Luna asked, confused and worried at the same time.
“It makes me feel like a monster, makes me want to hurt and kill again. It makes me feel like I’m being watched when I’m alone, hated when I’m loved—and it’s getting worse.
“That’s why I have been hiding out in my room recently: because I can’t handle all the doubt I feel.” Luna listened intently, trying to understand what her sister was telling her. “I feel like I’m the captain of a ship that just got capsized, and the crew is trying to drown me in a sea of crimson.”
“Hast thou been around our tongue too much?” Luna said, trying to lighten the mood some.
“No,” Celestia softly said, chuckling briefly, “I’m just trapped in my thoughts right now.” She sighed, sinking deeper into the bed as her tears welled up.
“What is doing this to you?”
She simply shifted, looking away and out the window. “I-I—” she tried to start, suddenly not able to continue.
“Sister?”
Celestia continued to stare into the distance as her tormentor stirred, his voice permeating her thoughts.
All she wants is to find your weakness and use it against you, rising once again as the tyrant of the night. She will betray you. Do not let her know…
Luna crawled over, pulling her sister’s face towards her. Celestia let out a breath she did not know she was holding. “I can’t say.”
“What does thou mean?”
“I can’t.” Her head sank. “I know you may not understand, but I just can’t.” She braced for her sister’s anger, but it never came. Instead, a tender hoof touched her shoulder.
“I may not understand that, but I understand you,” Luna kindly said. “Just know that we’ll be here whenever you need us, and when thou is ready to tell us, then we will be there.”
“Thank you, i-it means a lot,” Celestia said, pulling her sister into a tight hug. “I’m sorry about all this, by the way. I hope you haven’t been overloaded with my paperwork.”
“Not at all.”
“So you won’t mind doing it again tomorrow?” she asked, shooting puppy eyes at her sister.
“We suppose not,” Luna said with an eye roll, “but be sure this fails to become a habit.”
“No promises,” Celestia replied, tightening the hug. A smile crept onto both of their faces.
“Uggghhhh,” Luna groaned out. “We’ve been at this all day.”
The lunar alicorn trotted down the hall with one of Celestia’s advisors. The entire day had been spent doing Celestia’s daily tasks, each of them equally boring and exhausting.
“If it isn’t a royal farewell or greeting, it’s a committee meeting,” Luna ranted. “How can our sister endure this all day, every day, nonstop?”
“She says it’s easier when it comes from the heart,” the mare answered, looking over her clipboard. “In fact, she added some of these things on here just because she wanted to do them.”
Luna scowled, abruptly stopping and shoving her head into the advisor’s face.
“Is thou insinuating that we do not care about our sister’s ponies?” she questioned, making the advisor shake nervously.
“N-no, your highness.”
“Good.” She saw the look on the mare’s face that meant she had more to say. “Yes?”
“Nothing,” the mare gulped nervously.
Luna proceeded to push into her face harder.
“I-It’s just that you called them your ‘sister’s ponies.’”
“And?”
“Aren’t they your ponies too?”
Luna paused at that, pursing her lips. The mare was right; they were her ponies, as well as Celestia’s. Ever since her return, she has felt out of place, but maybe that was because she felt out of place. If given the chance, maybe her ponies would accept her.
“We suppose,” she finally answered, pulling her face away from the startled mare. She started up her trot as she went through the castle, the advisor walking with her again.
“So,” she began, “what remains on our list of tasks?”
“Uh,” the mare said, flipping through the clipboard, “only two things, actually.”
Luna perked up, relieved to be near done with the drudge work for today. She intently waited for the last two.
“The first one is simple: close the castle for the day and say goodnight, and the second is changing the sun and moon.
“Luckily, we are right next to the front gate so we can get task number one out the way.”
Luna broke into a sprint towards the castle entrance, wanting the day to end as soon as possible. The guards in the halls looked at her in confusion, while some tried to hold in their laughter. Once she reached it, she told the two guards there to get ready to seal the gate.
Marching just outside the castle, she looked around at the small number of ponies who had gathered around the castle. She took a deep breath as she prepared the Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Citizens of Canterlot,” she shouted, getting everypony’s attention, “the royal castle is closed for the night. We wish thee a goodnight and a good rest.”
Upon finishing, she turned around and headed back inside to the warmth of the castle. The giant metal gate closed behind her, closing off the capital of Equestria.
She went up to the advisor, this time with a smile. “We thank thee for thy assistance, but we can take it from here.”
“All right then, have a goodnight, Princess Luna.” The advisor walked away and down a set of stairs, undoubtedly headed to her room. Luna did the same, starting towards the royal bedrooms.
The walk to them was enjoyable for once as she looked around, seeing the daily maintenance of the castle that nearly no pony got to see. She had to admit that there was never a speck of dirt on the wall or an unpolished stone the entire time she had lived in the majestic building. Everything was pristine under her sister’s guidance, and that’s how it has always been.
At last, she stood in the hall that contained all of the royal rooms. Her sister and Prince Blueblood had their own rooms, each of them as equally large and lavish as her own.
Deciding to visit her sister a final time for the night, she went to the golden doors, opening them quietly. She closed them behind her as she went over to her sister’s bed, sitting on it.
“Ready to lower the moon?” Celestia asked.
Luna nodded, and the two closed their eyes as they concentrated on moving their celestial body. She grabbed onto the moon, tugging it through the air and into the starry sky. Celestia did the same with the sun, just moving it below the horizon instead.
Like a game of tug of war, they had to battle for control over the movement of the bodies, meaning they had to pull harder than the bodies did to move them. Over the many years, they had mastered this practice.
The two orbs swapped places, night overtaking the city. The sisters took in a breath of fresh air, recovering from the slight strain of their daily charge.
“We have been thinking lately, and we wish to get… closer to our subjects.”
“Oh?”
“Yes,” Luna answered, “we are going to take a trip down to Ponyville within the next few days.”
Celestia swallowed nervously. “Do you know what tomorrow is?”
“No?”
“Tomorrow is Nightmare Night.”
“Nightmare Night?” Luna repeated.
Her sister shifted. “It’s when ponies go out to get candy from each other and play festive games of the holiday’s spooky theme. It’s popular with the foals, but the only thing is that the holiday revolves around Nightmare Moon.”
“What?!” Luna retorted.
“To stop ‘Nightmare Moon’ from eating them all up, they give part of their candy stash to a statue of her.”
“That is preposterous! Why would there be a holiday dedicated to the evil that inhabited our body?!”
“I don’t know how the tradition started, but it’s one of our most popular holidays,” Celestia offered.
“That makes us feel so much better,” Luna deadpanned. She let out a sigh. “At least we can amend this transgression by visiting our little ponies and showing them the real us so as to get rid of this offensive festival.”
Celestia tried to smile.
“Thank you for this information, sister, and we will see you tomorrow morning.” With that, Luna made for the exit. She clicked the doors closed and went down the hall to her bedroom.
“We shall see thee later!” Luna told the ponies who had come to see her off. She draped a dark cloak over her back and climbed into the chariot. She pulled up her hood, waving farewell as the chariot went into motion.