The skies were golden in the afternoon light. Princess Celestia had just received and excused the last petitioner of the day from her court twenty minutes previous, but she remained seated on her throne. She glanced toward the setting sun through the large windows in the western wall. Melancholy had not been something that the Regent of the Sun was used to, but in the days following Princess Luna’s declaration of their severed kinship, she had found just what the sad state of mind felt like. She had expected her sister to have remained angry for several months, and then things would just settle back into normalcy, and all this mess would be a forgotten part of the court’s history. It had been nearly three years to the day since she had truly seen or heard from her sister, and even though physically they were still very near to each other, their relationship had been anything from close.
The Princess sighed deeply and leaned back into her seat; she’d had a kingdom to run, and subjects to take care of! Surely Luna understood that? Her sister comprehended sacrifice, but only that of blood and sweat. While her sister had been fighting monsters deep in the Everfree forest and along the borders, she did not understand there was a homefront to maintain. That she had always overlooked; the people needed not only a protector, but a shepherd as well. The greatest virtue any shepherd must know is patience, and the sacrifice of time that is an integral part of it. Princess Celestia’s herd, her children, were slow to learn, that much was true. Deep down, though, in spite of all their flaws, she believed that her ponies were good; they had just succumbed to..confusion, that was all.
“Your Majesty?”
Princess Celestia snapped from her introspective stupor to find that the cleaning staff had come to tidy up the room.
“Are you all right, your Grace?” one of the maids asked her with deep set concern.
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry to have held you up in your duties,” the Princess murmurred and faintly smiled.
“Oh, not at all, your Majesty! Please do not feel rushed to leave. We can work around you, if you’d like.”
“No,” the Princess stood from her throne, “I believe it’s time I should leave. I have other duties that need attending to.”
“Your Grace,” the cleaning crew bowed as the Princess processed out of the court.
The Princess began to walk to her chamber to carry out her duties of lowering the sun, when she paused. A kingdom is only as strong as its two members; the ruler and the ruled. In Equestria’s case, there were three, with two rulers and the ruled. Was it not each ruler’s duty to safeguard the other, so that no harm would come to the system as a whole? Yes. It was her duty to try to reach out to her co-ruler, and it was her duty as an elder sister to look out for her younger sibling.
She strode with determination toward her sister’s chambers, but all that courage seemed to drain away the closer she got to her sister’s door. Had Luna’s anger dulled at all? Was there any real possibility of reconciliation?
The Princess leaned in toward the dark oak door, “Lulu, are you there?”
Silence was the only response she received.
She sighed as she continued, “I just wanted to say I was sorry for not looking out for you as an elder sister should. I haven’t been there for you when you needed me, and I didn’t defend you when you were being attacked.”
The silence remained.
“I realize I have not been the best sister I could be to you, and I’ve allowed our herd to come between us. Could we please start again? I want to try to understand you and what you care about now. Will you please help me to understand?”
Nothing happened.
“Please Luna, answer me!” the Sun Princess begged with all her heart.
No reply came to her.
She sighed in defeat, and placed her head against the door and spread her forelegs to the door frame, as if she was trying to project an embrace into her sister’s room, “Good night, Luna.” She left her sister’s quarters in grief to lower the sun from her own.
Five minutes later, Princess Luna returned from the library with several tomes she had sorely needed for the final phases of her plan. Before entering her chambers, she noticed a slight disturbance in the ether around her door; Celestia had been here very recently. Her face hardened into a stony expression; no doubt her dear sister had been trying to spy on her. Fortunately, the precautionary wards she placed on her door could keep out any kind of nosy individual, especially the self-righteous, arrogant white nose of her sister. She quickly forced the door open and then closed it shut behind her. There could be no interruptions now; the Summer Sun Celebration was only a five days away after all.