Celestia teleported to her room in a mild panic. She's never experienced anxiety like that, much less with Twilight of all ponies. Something must have gone wrong with the spell. The alicorn took a few minutes to calm down and slow her breathing. She was hyperventilating; another strange experience she was not used to. Lighting her horn, she did a quick scan of her body for magical anomalies, but even that proved challenging. Nagging thoughts plagued her mind now.
What if I find something dangerous? Will anything even show up? What if one of the maids come in and start worrying about me? I hope there's nothing wrong with me. IS there something wrong with me?
The thoughts in her mind completely distracted her from analyzing the results of her scan. Sighing, Celestia decided it would be best to just stop for now and lower the sun for her sister. A good night's rest should help clear her mind from whatever these feelings of anxiety were. Lighting her horn, she nudged at the orange colored sky to will the sun to make way for her sister's moon. Usually the process was organic, her sun in perfect harmony with her magic. However, this time it fought back. It felt hotter than anything possible, and pushed against her like a bully in a schoolyard. As a result, her horn began to feel like it was on fire. Grunting, she exerted herself to show that molten brat in the sky that she wasn't going to be easily pushed around. Relenting, the sun finally began to inch its way off the horizon and Luna's moon began to peek up.
Sighing in relief, the pearl alicorn took off her regalia and crawled into her bed. It never seemed as warm and inviting as it did now.
Once Celestia drifted off to sleep, her sister Luna began her nightly patrol of the dream realm. Most nights were peaceful, and gave no cause for her to be on guard from the nightmares plaguing denizens of Equestria. Tonight was different, however. Walking through the dream realm, she always noticed minor nightmares just on the outside of many dreams. Everypony had their worries and dark thoughts, but most never let them twist their precious dreams. It was organic, and knowing what she knew from her experiences from the Tantabus incident, Luna contended to let them be. A pony's mind doesn't need coddling, but will seek guidance when necessary. This time however, none of the minor nightmares were present with the residents' dreams. Instead, they seemed to flock around a particular dream bearing the sigil of her sister's Cutie Mark. many were still trying to pierce the dream, but some had succeeded, forcing the Princess to intervene. Stepping closer, she peered into the orb of the evolving nightmare:
"But I'm being honest, Ms. Cheerilee! My dog really DID eat my homework!" A young unicorn filly with a pink mane and tail whined.
"No excuses young lady! Now I expect you to write an apology to the principal on why your homework wasn't turned in." a stern looking Cheerilee glared at the child. Many of the students in the filly's classroom began to chuckle and guffaw at her being ousted in front of the whole class.
Tears began to run down her face as the background of the classroom faded like a smudge on parchment paper.
"Strange, Celestia has never dreamt of nightmares such as this before. Most times it is painful memories or her flank's impossible proportions." Luna mumbled, glancing back into the dream:
The dream evolved into a large door bearing the words "Principal Twilight, school of friendship" and the young filly stood before its menacing presence, parchment in hoof. Three knocks, intending to be silent echoed like sledgehammers to concrete.
"Come in." A voice spoke on the other side. Taking a deep breath, the filly turned the knob and instead of walking in, the door collapsed into mist and transformed into the Principal's office around her. Behind the impossibly tall shadowy desk sat the Principal of the school, reading and stamping various essays with her seal of approval. "Sit." A chair materialized underneath the young unicorn, and she began to shake with fear.
Clearing her throat, the Principal set her stamps down and peered over the desk at the young filly. "Ms. Cheerilee tells me you've neglected to turn in your homework. Can you tell me why?" She peered through the child like she was nothing.
"I-I was going to, b-but my d-dog snatched it out of my bags a-and-"
"I will stop you right there, young lady." Principal Twilight interrupted. "Not a single word of that sentence was true and you know it."
"B-but I wasn't-!"
"You know that it's false because I used the same excuse when I was your age, remember?"
"N-no, Twilight, I didn't-"
"BELIEVE ME?!" Well, now you know how it feels to have YOUR homework eaten by a dog!" The dream began to crumble, Celestia was waking up. "Remember that next time I say my dog ate my homework!"
"Noooooooo-"
"Ooooooo-oh?" Celestia awoke in the dead of night, sweat matting her sheets. Her heart was beating like drums, each thump making her gasp for more air than the last. the Princess of Equestria rarely has bad dreams, and when she does Luna is normally there to help her through them. Tonight however, not only was the nightmare stranger than her usual annual repertoire of past mistakes and bad memories, but her sister was not there to guide her through the problems she was having. In fact, she elected to call the dream a fluke, nopony, especially one of her standing would ever dream her student was berating her for having a dog eat her homework. "I-I'm a Princess of Equestria, I wouldn't let a dog eat my homework, made-up or not!" She huffed.
"Regardless, it's almost time for the sun to rise." Igniting her horn, she willed the sun to rise, but nothing happened. Growling, Celestia put more effort into her spell. Still, the moon shone down and the sun remained stubborn and defiant. If it was like a schoolyard bully yesterday, today it's like the bully became bold and began to shake her loose of any lunch money. There would be no milk to drink today, it seemed. Sighing, she opened her nightstand and used the Sundial that was created eons ago to lower and raise the sun and moon before she and her sister appeared in Equestria. "I can't believe i have to use this..." Turning the dial with her magic, the sun rose with ease. "Here's hoping Luna didn't notice..."
Once the sun was up, Celestia began her morning routine. She bathed herself, combed her ethereal mane, and donned her regalia. Unfortunately, no matter how many times she tried, her mane refused to cooperate and her regalia chafed and itched like it was the first time putting them on. In fact, looking at her overall appearance in the mirror set her nerves on edge and once more, those nagging thoughts burst forth.
Will anyone notice? What would the Royals think? What would my SISTER think?! Oh my, I hope I can fix this...
Huffing, she decided it was good enough for the public and walked out her bedroom and into the halls of Canterlot Castle. The thoughts didn't vanish, but were muted for now. Going through the halls was a routine she was used to centuries ago, but being greeted by the various staff walking about unnerved her in ways she had never experienced. Every "Hello" and "How are you?" added another layer of anxiousness to her psyche. It was as if she became an entirely different pony overnight. Even going outside to visit the gardens, a wonderful experience she used to adore, became a frightening thought to consider. It was as if the world was a new and terrifying experience to behold. She dreaded how the requests in the throne room would be, but nevertheless Celestia pushed on, trying to bury the new and strange thoughts she now has.
She was almost to the throne room, a few more turns and-
"Good morning, Sister!" Princess Luna greeted from behind her.
Celestia leapt in fear, clutching to a chandelier several feet above the floor. Shaking like a leaf, she looked every way out of paranoia before settling onto her younger sister's eyes. "O-oh. It's you, sister." Clearing her throat and gaining a nice rosy hue to her cheeks, the once regal looking alicorn flew back down to greet her sibling. "G-good morning. Y-your'e up early for a change!"
It was worse than Luna thought. "Yes. I was...Concerned about you."
Her blush worsened out of embarrassment. "M-me? I'm perfectly alright!" Celestia stamped her hoof indignantly, setting her tiara askew. Clearing her throat, she continued. "It just so happens that I am on my way to Day Court, sister. So if you'll excuse me-" A blue wing blocked her escape route around her sister.
"You had a nightmare last night."
The pearl alicorn had no words, only another blush of embarrassment. "...I did."
Luna inched closer, arching an eyebrow. "And it wasn't your usual nightmare, wasn't it?"
"M-maybe, but that's not-"
"Furthermore, your dream was the only one plagued with nightmares. Care to elaborate?" The midnight Princess crossed her hooves.
"I-I...N-no, not really." Celestia avoided eye contact as her sister inched even closer. It looked almost comical from an outsider's point of view, where the older of the two practically shrank away, despite the size difference between them.
Luna didn't buy her sister's fib. "I see. Shall I fetch the Principal then, so she can lecture you on being an honest student again?" It might have seemed harsh, but the mare knew better. A little tough love would sort this out.
Normally, Celestia would have stood her ground, chewing Luna's ear out for being so bold, but the words wouldn't come out. She was frozen in fear, not because of her sister's defiance but because of how Luna might think of her acting this way. Suddenly a blue aura washed over, and she instantly curled down on her hooves and huddled her head close to her body. "Stop! I'm sorry!" she practically yelled out.
The spell instantly ended once she heard her older sister cry out like that. "Are you alright, sister?"
"Don't send me to the moon, please! I'm sorry, I'll be better." It was like she regressed into a filly. Now Luna knew where her sister's student got her knack for overreactions.
"W-what? Why wouldst thou think We would do that?!" The reaction was so shocking, Luna spoke in old Equestrian.
"Y-you seemed mad at me..." Celestia spoke above a whisper.
"Celly, I would never be as mad as to send you away..."
Choking up, the white alicorn began to hug her sister tightly. "S-something's wrong with me!" The roles were completely reversed; the older sister was comforting the younger in a warm embrace, using soft and welcoming words.
"Shh, it's okay, Celly. We'll cancel Day Court and see what exactly is going on, okay?" The two stood there silently for a time, just taking time to embrace one another.