Several mares, Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi, bustled about the dark purple nursery. In the center of the room lay a dark blue foal cradle. Inside, was a newborn filly, entirely light blue, excluding a strange black splotch that adorned her flank on both sides, squalling her head off. A very tired looking Alicorn mare walked in, followed by her husband, also a very tired Alicorn. The mare was solid white, except for an orange and purple sunburst on her hind quarters; her cutie mark, while the stallion was a deep, almost black, blue, his cutie mark a dark circle with a white halo around it, symbolizing a lunar eclipse. The mare trotted over to the cradle and looked down at the filly. A castle maid walked to her and bowed.
“What else should we try, Your Majesty?” she questioned. The taller mare reached up and ran a hoof through her mane, an aurora of magic, the colors of the sunset, and sighed.
“What else IS there to try?” she looked at the light green mare beside her. The maid wore the navy blue uniform that all the maids wore, and her blue mane and tail were tied into messy buns. “She won’t take a bottle, her diaper’s been changed, and she just had a nap.” The mare Alicorn’s horn lit up as she levitated the squalling infant from her cradle. Plopping down on the floor, she placed the child in her forelegs and attempted to comfort her. Her husband sat beside her, lifted a foreleg to help hold the foal, and spread a wing over his wife.
There was a sudden knock at the door, and it opened with a quiet squeak. All eyes turned to the young stallion in the doorway, the newest member of the Royal Guard, Lightyear. He winced at the noise, and took off his helmet, a traditional part of his armored uniform. Holding it against his chest, he cleared his throat.
“I have a message for the King and Queen?” his voice was hoarse and nervous. The king stood up.
“Come, Sunniva,” he addressed his wife, “Let’s see what he wants.” The mare nodded, and placed the still crying foal back into her cradle, where the same maid from before proceeded to rock her. They walked to the guard. After hearing his message, they were quiet for a moment. Queen Sunniva was the first to break the short silence.
“What do you think, Eclipse?” She turned to her husband.
“What have we got to lose? It might get her to calm down.” he answered. The two rulers walked down the corridor, to another bedroom, and Lightyear stepped into the nursery. After explaining to the maids what was going on, they all left the room.
A few moments later, the king and queen stood side by side in front of the nursery door. The filly inside could be heard from where they stood, as she was still crying. Another filly, about the age of four, stood between them. She had a solid white coat, and a light pink mane and tail. A golden sun adorned her flank. The older ponies looked at her.
“Are you ready, Celestia?” Sunniva asked.
“Yes, Mommy.” The foal answered. She turned to the door. She was more excited than she had ever been. She was about to meet her little sister for the first time. Her parents nodded to each other and flared their magic to life. The double doors opened with ease.
The heart-wrenching sound of crying hit them full blast, as it was no longer muffled by closed doors. Celestia walked towards the cradle. A stool had been left beside it by one of the maids for her to stand on. Her parents watched from the doorway as she hoisted herself onto the stool, knocking her little tiara to the side of her head. She placed her fore hooves on the side of the cradle and peeked inside. The younger filly looked up at her and stopped crying almost instantly.
“Hello, Luna.” She whispered “I’m your big sister, Celestia.” Her parents smiled at their two girls. Eclipse draped a wing over his wife and they walked away, shutting the door to give the girls some privacy. “You’re a princess, you know. Just like me!” Celestia continued, her voice going back to normal as she gained more confidence. “Bet you’re thinking that’s pretty cool, right? Wrong! Well, sorta. It’s pretty cool in some ways, but every pony just seems to expect a lot from you. They even say there are certain ways a princess should act, and that there are things she should and shouldn’t do!” she looked around, as if someone might over hear her. “But you and me, well…..” she leaned up to her sister’s ear and her voice lowered to a whisper “we know better.”
Ever since that day, the sisters were inseparable, and did everything together. One day, when Luna was six months old, Celestia skipped happily into the nursery. She pushed a stool over to the crib and peeked inside. Luna, quickly recognizing her sister, giggled, and reached out. Celestia responded by lifting the foal from the crib.
“Hey you!” she giggled “Mommy said I could play with you. I think I’m gonna teach you how to walk!” She placed Luna on the floor. She went to the door and shut it, so Luna couldn’t get out and hurt herself. “Okay, now how did Daddy say to do this? Oh yeah!” she helped Luna balance herself on her feet, and then backed a few feet away. “C’mere, Luna!” Celestia giggled as Luna crouched back down and tried to crawl to her sister.
“No, no, Luna.” She said, helping her back to her feet. “Try again!” Pretty soon, Luna figured out that she shouldn’t try to crawl, but move the way everypony else did. Only, she couldn’t quite get the hang of it. She would usually catch herself if she fell, landing in a crawling position, and Celestia would help her up. Once, though, she landed on her hindquarters. Tears began to well up it the tiny filly’s eyes, her bottom lip trembled, and she started to whimper. Celestia hurried over and picked her up.
“Shh, it’s okay, little one.” She rubbed Luna’s back until she calmed down. Then, she set her down to try again. Their parents walked in a few minutes later.
“How’s the lesson coming?” Sunniva asked.
“Almost there, I can feel it!” was Celestia’s answer. “One more time, okay Luna?” Luna lifted a shaky hoof moved it a few inches, the put it down. This action was repeated until she tumbled into Celestia’s lap. A cheer went up from the little family.
“You did it, Luna!” said Celestia.
“Great job sweetheart!” her father congratulated.
“You’re a wonderful teacher, Celestia” their mother praised.
And Luna, who had never uttered a single word in her short life, looked up and her big sister, gave a toothless grin, and opened her mouth. “Cwestia!”
A few years later, a three-year-old Luna stood on the balcony of the room she shared with her sister. She watched as the Sun moved closer to the west. Soon, her mother would lower it. Celestia stepped out onto the balcony and sat beside her sister. “Hey, Luna.”
“Hi, Tia.” came the reply. After Luna had learned to talk, ‘Cwestia’ was changed to ‘Tia’. It was easier for her to say, and the nickname had stuck. They watched as the Sun came closer to the west horizon. Luna glanced at her sister’s cutie mark. “Will you tell me how you got your cutie mark, again?” Her sister smiled.
“I was just about your age, give or take a few months, and one morning, Mom said that I could try to raise the Sun if I wanted to. I decided to give it a try. I stood on the balcony, closed my eyes, and flared up my horn. I could feel something in my magic. It was big, and felt very hot.”
“The Sun.” said Luna.
“The Sun.” her sister agreed. “I tried to pull it up, but it didn’t move. Mom apparently knew I had hold of the Sun, because she told me not to pull, but to try to coax it out. It actually worked. I hadn’t opened my eyes yet, but I felt the light on my face. When I did open my eyes, I saw that I was flying several feet above the balcony. To this day, I still don’t remember unfolding my wings. I saw a little flash out of the corner of my eye, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. Mom told me to come down, and when I did she pointed to my flank. This,” she gestured to her cutie mark “was all I saw.”
Luna nodded. “Papa said that I could help him raise the Moon tonight.”
“I know.” Celestia responded “He told me. I asked if I could wait out here with you, and he said it was fine as long as I got him if you needed help.” Luna smiled at her sister. She then turned to the sky. It was time. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and flared her horn to life. Just as Celestia had said, she felt something big in her magic, only this object was cool instead of hot. She didn’t pull, but coaxed the Moon out. She knew she would also need to pull out the stars. Those were a bit harder, but not as hard as you’d think. There were a lot of them, but they were easier to come out than the Moon had been.
After a few moments, night had begun. She however didn’t notice, as her eyes were still closed. Celestia spread her wings and wobbled through the air to her sister, who had taken to the skies without even noticing. Luna also didn’t notice the white flash near her flank. Celestia laid a gentle hoof on Luna’s shoulder.
“Did I do it? Is it there?” Luna was now safely on the balcony, but had yet to open her eyes.
“Why don’t you open your eyes and see for yourself?” Luna slowly opened one eye and glanced up, then started bouncing around in a sort of crazy happy dance.
“I did it! I did it! I did it!” she shouted.
“That’s not all.” Celestia said, gesturing a hoof at Luna flank. With a confused look, Luna turned her head to see what her sister was talking about. Where there used to be a simple black splotch disrupting her light blue coat, a white crescent moon now gave an extra design to the black. This simple mark that would seal her destiny.
Two excited squeals could be heard from the castle balcony that night.
Celestia and Luna chased each other up and down the castle hallways, giggling along the way. Soon, they slid to a stop, turning while sliding to end up facing each other. In sync, they lifted their left hooves in a jumping motion, leaning on their right hooves, then repeating the motion in the opposite way, leaning on their left hooves, and then back to being on all fours, finally sliding their legs in so all four of their hooves touched.
“One, two, three, together!” they chanted while doing so. The sisters then each plopped into a sitting position and placed their front hooves against the other’s front hooves. “Clap together!” they shouted. Throwing their heads back, eyes closed, they flared their horns to life. “Flash together!” Standing back up, they place their right hoof against the other’s right hoof, “You,” and against their own chest, “and me,” back with all four feet on the ground. “together!” They crouched down so that both of one’s front knees touched the other’s “Knees together,” then the sisters each struck an adorably dramatic pose, “freeze together!” They each reared up, “Up,” again, they crouched, “and down, together!” They sat again and pretended to adjust their tiny tiaras, “Princess crown together!” They stood and looked each other in the eye. “Always be together” They each placed their right hoof against the other’s right hoof, “You,” then on their own chest. “and me!”
The hoofshake was repeated, and, having spent a lot of time practicing and perfecting it, the girls completed the whole thing in a matter of seconds. Laughing they continued down the hall. Celestia, now twelve years old, decided to start their favorite game: listing off the things that everypony thought a princess should be, say, or do.
“They say a princess is super graceful, and very charming.” She started.
“I heard that she always knows her place!” Luna joined in. They presently sat down at the dining room table, where their nanny set out some wheat toast for them.
“They say that we’re supposed to be total girly-girls, and wear frilly pink dresses.” Celestia spoke. She was drinking some milk just as Luna made a really funny face by crossing her eyes, sticking out her tongue, and waving her fore legs around, causing her to do a spit-take. Luna busted out laughing.
“They definitely don’t do that!” she squealed. Their nanny rolled her eyes and, being a Unicorn, levitated a napkin to clean up the mess. After it was cleaned, she levitated Celestia’s glass and walked towards the kitchen to refill it.
“A princess is also kind, and very calm.” she piped in. Luna leaned towards her sister.
“I’ll bet a princess never shoots stars at her nanny.” She whispered. Snickers left both girls as Luna flared her horn, took aim, and fired a stream of stars at their nanny. She squealed as the stars hit, making her long blue skirt smoke for a few seconds and nearly dropped the glass.
“LUNA!” she snapped, turning a glare to the fillies, who were erupting with giggles. She sighed and shook her head. “You girls are more trouble than you’re worth, sometimes!”
“But you love us, anyway.” Celestia replied. Their nanny giggled.
“That I do.” She headed back into the kitchen “Now hurry and finish eating if you want to play some more before you’re tutor arrives.”
“Yes, ma’am” the girls said in union. A few minutes later they had almost finished eating. Luna had a serious look on her face.
“What’cha thinking?” Celestia asked, seeing her sister’s face.
“I was just thinking, well, how come your Cutie Mark is the Sun, and mine’s the Moon? I mean, how was it decided? How was it decided that I, of all ponies, was destined to be able to take over the Moon?”
“I dunno.” Clelestia interrupted her sister’s rant “Weird how that works, though.” Luna continued to ponder this thought in her head. She wasn’t normally the deep thinker of the two, but when she got a thought in her head, she would squeeze any information out of it. Celestia glanced around the room for something to distract Luna, so they could play some more before their tutor arrived. Her eyes rested on two cardboard swords on the floor, hand-me-downs from some older cousins.
“You know…” she said, sliding down from her seat, and levitating the swords towards herself “I bet a princess is super sweet.” A sickly sweet smile spread across both faces.
“You’re quite right.” Luna agreed, sliding down. Celestia tossed her one of the swords and Luna, who, flaring her horn, caught it midair.
“She would never even dream of fighting.” She poked at her hair and tried to mimic the voice of Princess Platinum, a friend of their parents. “She might mess her pretty hair!” The foals burst into laughter, and began to play fight with the swords. Until their tutor arrived, that is.
Luna had her text book up on her desk, expertly concealing her journal from the tutor, who was going on and on about how her parents’ will stated that when she was twenty and Celestia was twenty-four, they would take over the kingdom, and that this was done in order to avoid a case of ‘The heir and the spare’, whatever that was. She was copying a map of Equestria into her Traveling Journal, as she called it. This was her private book that only she and Celestia could look at. She always figured that she could raise and lower the Moon and watch over the Night from anywhere in Equestria, so she planned to travel around the kingdom, and beyond. She looked up from her fantasies, however, when a waded up paper hit her in the head, landing on her desk.
She glanced at her sister, who suddenly was staring forward, before opening the paper. ‘What are you drawing?’ was written on the paper. Taking care not to get caught, she replied with, ‘A map of Equestria.’
Celestia read the note, then smiled and nodded. Luna finished up her drawing, not even caring about whatever their tutor was trying to teach them. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote, ‘I bet a princess wouldn’t scrape her knee trying to climb one of the trees in the courtyard.’ She threw the note at her sister.
Reading it, Celestia glanced at the bandage on Luna’s knee, remembering the day before, when Luna had done just that. ‘I’ll bet she doesn’t boil her tutor’s tea.’ Came her reply.
Luna gave her a confused look. ‘Watch this!’ Celestia mouthed. She flared her horn and took their tutor’s teacup in her magic, heating it until it bubbled. No sooner than she set it down did the tutor lift it back up to take a sip. She stopped, though, when she heard the bubbles popping.
“Celestia!” she snapped in her posh Trottingham accent. The girls burst into giggles and the tutor sighed. I suppose you’ve had enough of your lessons for today?” The foals nodded their heads eagerly. “Right then, class dismissed! And don’t forget: your research papers on the founding of Equestria are due tomorrow!”
“Yes, Miss Alma!” The girls said in unison. They each began grabbing their things and took off from the old office that served as their classroom.
“A princess is always poised!” Luna shouted as they ran down the hall.
“And fair!” Celestia yelled, tripping Luna as she ran by. Luna quickly recovered from her spill and flapped her tiny wings in an effort to catch up. Laughing, they tumbled out onto one of the many balconies. Their parents stood on the balcony above them. Luna ran to the rail to watch the Sunset, though she couldn’t quite see over the top. Celestia snuck up behind Luna and lifted her onto her back, just in between her light pink saddle bags. Luna moved to her sister’s shoulders and placed her front hoofs on Celestia’s head.
They watched as the Sun made its decent. Then, just before it dipped below the horizon, in the midst of that one moment where time seems to stand still, the day’s last rays illuminated the entire kingdom, city to countryside. They could see everything for that one moment, like a painting frozen on a canvas. Luna grabbed her Travel Journal out of her midnight blue saddle bags and hugged it against her chest.
“I bet a princess never longs to see the world.” She whispered, mostly to herself. Celestia knew her sister wanted nothing more than to travel the world, and see all there was to see. But she also knew that Luna was worried that she might never get the chance.
“One day,” she began, “We’ll rule Equestria, side by side. I’ll be the Solar Queen.”
“And I’ll be the Lunar one.” Luna joined in.
“And you’ll travel throughout the kingdom.” Celestia promised. Luna grinned and nodded. “What will you tell them? All those ponies you’ll meet?” Luna was quiet for a moment, pondering the question.
“I’ll tell them all about my sister,” She paused, then gestured to the Sunset, and to the Moon rising overhead, “And all the magic things that we do.” She was quiet again. “What will you do? When I’m gone, I mean.”
“I’ll look after the kingdom. They’re all gonna love us. Know why?”
“Cause we’ll be the best queens ever!”
“Right on!”
“Tia?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re my sister.”
“And I’m glad you’re mine.”