//------------------------------// // A Silent Castle // Story: And so I left // by CrimsonS4ge //------------------------------// It was a cool evening in the Everfree castle with the near total silence being broken only by the sound of a single pony’s hoof steps, the metallic sound being produced by metal shoes at the cadence of a slow walk. This section of castle was near empty, as was much of the rest of the castle at this hour, as most ponies belonging to her sister’s much larger ‘Day Staff’ had already turned in for the night. The majority of the castle was now only occupied by the near skeleton staff of the Night Princess, since most ponies were unable or completely unwilling to work the night shift. That single set of hoof steps belonged to the Lunar Princess as she made her way across the interior of the castle. Luna had always been calmed by the quiet of the night, the peaceful tranquility and stillness allowed for her to sink into quiet contemplation and thought. Before her life had become consumed by her royal responsibilities and her time monopolized by her near endless duties, Luna had once been a poet and a writer, with some of her best works being written by soft candlelight beneath her most beloved stars that would dot and illuminate her infinite velveteen sky. Those days were long behind her however and now the silence of the castle has become almost oppressive. Where once she actively enjoyed taking in the quiet of a still autumn night, now it only served as an ever present reminder of her isolation. She stopped her slow march at a nearby window and took a moment to glance outside. The large and growing settlement that had formed around their castle stood still and lifeless with not a single pony within eyesight. The population having returned home from a long day’s work and now fast asleep. Luna had hoped that at least some ponies would have stayed up to gaze at her night, but as usual scarcely a single soul outside of herself bore witness to the stars tonight. It was especially a pity tonight, because as to celebrate the changing of the seasons, she had expended the extra effort to create an Aurora. Luna watched as the beautiful waves of color and light rolled across the sky as she struggled to quell a welling of bitterness and disappointment inside of her as she watched hours of careful celestial craftsmanship pass by completely unnoticed. The small city was illuminated only by newly erected street-lanterns that softly flickered with burning oil. The lanterns were Luna’s own invention, designed and crafted in her private workshop/laboratory. It was personally one of her proudest recent accomplishments and excited her to no end with the possibility that her darkness fearing ponies would be enticed outside to enjoy her night underneath the protective illumination of her lanterns. In the end it had been an entirely pointless endeavor that once again dashed her hopes against the rocks, as her deeds went ignored and unappreciated as her ponies stayed home at night. The only ponies that did take note of her project were the ruling council of nobles who criticized her reckless use of taxpayer money for a pointless and frivolous personal project, and her sister who and lectured her on fiscal responsibility. As if that unmitigated failure wasn’t enough, Luna soon received even worse news. As her mentor Starswirl once said ‘when it rains, it pours’, because as it happened, her failed lantern project and unnoticed aurora were not the only recent disappointments that raged and simmered in her mind. The cancellation of her Winter Moon celebrations was a wound still fresh in her mind as she fought not to grind her teeth in frustration and anger when she recalled the meeting she had with her sister and the council. As Celestia presided over the Summer Sun Festival on the summer solstice, so too did Luna preside over the Winter Moon festive on the winter solstice. Her festival’s popularity had been in an ever steady decline over the years as the popularity of the Summer Sun had only increased. Luna had planned to change that this year, she was determined to show her ponies the beauty and splendor of the night and this year’s festival seemed like an excellent opportunity to finally turn things around. She had planned for months in preparation, she had worked closely with the newly opened weather factory in Cloudsdale to form a weather schedule that would allow a for a few days of mild temperatures during the festival, so as not to deter her ponies with very cold weather. She had planned to expand and improve her yearly meteor shower on the solstice to truly spectacular levels, she had even begun to divert a nearby comet to pass over Equestria during the festival. Less than two months from the festival not only had Celestia severely gutted the budget for the Winter Moon festival to compensate for Luna’s failed lantern project, but she had told Luna about the meeting that she had had with a delegation from Saddle Arabia that had come to Equestria to discuss potentially opening valuable trade routes. She informed Luna that the Arabians had negotiated several concessions from her, one of which had been that Luna would not interfere with the night’s stars at all during the solstice. Apparently the highly religious and superstitious Saddle Arabians worshiped a religious holiday on the solstice and viewed such things as meteor showers and comets, not as beautiful and wondrous, but rather as bad omens, and as such despised Luna’s manipulation of the astral bodies on their most holy of days. It nearly made Luna’s blood boil in rage as thought about how these foreign ponies would dictate to her how she should manage her dominion over the stars. It enraged her even further that Celestia had immediately agreed to their demands WITHOUT EVEN CONSULTING HER! It went against one of the oldest agreements that the sisters had ever made with each other, that they would never interfere with the celestial domain of the other. When Luna had heatedly confronted her sister over the issue. Celestia, as dismissive and aloof as ever, had simply and calmly told Luna that those trade routes as well as maintaining good relations with Saddle Arabia were simply too valuable to the future prosperity of Equestria to forsake over a single holiday. Celestia went further and told Luna that her lack of tact, diplomatic grace and her likely opposition to the deal, would have sabotaged the whole arrangement. Which was why she had not been told of the meetings. It took nearly all of Luna’s self control not to explode with rage at that point. The worst part of it was that Celestia probably wasn’t even aware of how callous and condescending she was in that moment. All of her slights against Luna probably made some sort sense according to her own twisted logic and perhaps it did make a sort of sense according to a purely utilitarian perspective, but Celestia knew how important this festival was to Luna. And chose to not only cancel it without consolidating with her, but also override her sister’s authority as diarch by completely excluding her from important diplomatic talks that she wasn’t even informed were taking place! It was simply a step too far! The stone windowsill started to crack from the shear force that Luna was gripping it with her hoof as she worked herself up into an even more agitated and enraged mood, while she gazed outwards at the quiet city. Luna forced herself to take deep, shuddering breaths in an attempt to calm herself. It’s not the first time Celestia has undercut Luna’s authority, but it was the latest and most blatant in a long trend, becoming more and more common as her fame and popularity grew. It disheartened and enraged Luna to see her sister become self deluded with her own supposed infinite wisdom, so wrapped up and consumed with the praise of her subjects that she had come to believe the myths that her ponies told about her infallibility and greatness. She simply did not consider the thoughts and feelings of those around her as she single-mindedly pursued what ever goals and objectives she deemed worthy. That attitude didn’t much bother her subjects as they were happy to kiss the ground she walked on and did as she commanded without complaint, but to her own sister, her supposed ‘equal’. To disregard Luna’s opinions, feelings and personal projects as “necessary sacrifices” to Celestia’s ‘greater good’. It only served to highlight her staggering arrogance. Luna was supposed to be her equal, her counterbalance and most importantly, her sister. Yet with each day that passes she treated Luna more like a servant that was simply supposed to smile, nod and do as she was commanded. It seemed like so long ago that they were once loving sisters that loved and supported each other no matter what, but those days were gone. Now Luna found herself completely alone in an empty corridor as her ponies, country and sister seemed to turn against her as all of her dreams seemed to be crumbling down around her. With her internal contemplations growing too painful, Luna forced her attention away from the window and continued her journey through the sprawling castle. As she walked, she would occasionally stumble across the odd cleaner or guard that diligently carried out their duties even in this late hour. They would bow respectfully as she passed and she in turn would give a kind smile and acknowledging nod of gratitude, occasionally stopping for a brief chat. It wasn’t much, but these short interactions with her staff was the majority of the social interaction she received nowadays. Luna eventually came to stop in front of she sister’s bedroom door. The door was thick and a rich shade of mahogany. It had a stylized symbol of her sister’s talent mark on the door. Luna did not want to see her sister at the moment, not at all, but the processes of government did not cease simply because Luna was not pleased with her sister at the moment. She needed to discuss a new tax reform law that she had been reviewing recently. The fact that Luna had to discuss and get approval from her sister for any law that she wanted to enact, while Celestia could do as she wished without input from Luna, still immensely irritated the younger princess, but there could be nothing done about that at the moment. The council of nobles simply would not enforce any law or royal decree that had not been signed off by the older princess. Hoping that this would be a short meeting, Luna raised her hoof and knocked three times on the large door. Luna winced internally as the knocks came out much louder and harsher than she intended. She patiently waited for a response from her sister.