Princess Luna rolled over in her bed and looked out her window at the sky. Upon realizing that it was streaked with deep oranges, reds, and purples the princess of the night groaned. Lethargically, she forced herself to get out of her soft bed and walked to the mirror on her wall. Still moving fairly slowly, the dark blue alicorn levitated her brush over to her and gave her ethereal hair just enough strokes for it to start flowing as it normally did. To make herself wake up faster, Luna walked into her bathroom and splashed her face with cold water a couple times until her eyes stopped drooping. Lastly, she used her magic to put on her crown, necklace, and shoes once again. With a last cursory glance at her appearance, Luna walked out of her bedchambers and set off through the hallways of Canterlot Castle towards the dining hall.
It only took her a few minutes to reach it, and once she had, she entered without knocking. As her younger sister stepped inside the large dining hall, Princess Celestia looked around, as if she had been startled by the sudden opening of the door, from her position by the wall. “Oh, sister. I wasn’t expecting you this early.”
Luna snorted in mild amusement, “Your blazing ball of heat woke me up sooner than I had planned to get up Tia. I figured I might as well come to our dinner early and give us some more time together, rather than fruitlessly attempt to continue sleeping.”
A slight blush appeared on Celestia’s cheeks as she turned away from the painting she had been studying and went to sit down at the large table in the center of the room. Chuckling under her breath, Luna followed her older sister’s example and they both sat down at opposite ends of the table. Almost immediately two servants placed the Royal Sisters’ dinners in front of them. When neither alicorn requested that anything further be brought to them, both ponies retreated out of the dining hall, leaving the two sisters in peace.
Both ponies are in silence for a few minutes, until Luna raised her gaze to look towards her older sister. To her surprise, she found her eyes meeting Celestia's. "Is something wrong Tia? You look as if you are troubled."
The princess of the sun shook her head, as if she was awakening from a deep sleep. "I was just thinking about the difference between the day and the night. You don't have to worry about me Lulu, I'm quite alright."
Luna got up from her chair and walked over to her sister. Gently draping a wing around the elder alicorn's shoulders, the princess of the night said, in a voice so quiet Celestia could barely hear her, "I can tell that you're not alright sister. That might fool everypony else, but I've known you for far too long for that to work." Her voice faltered slightly as she continued, "Please, let me help you. I don't want to see you this way."
Turning her head to face her younger sister, Celestia sighed, "I just...I don't feel like I've ever appreciates you or what you do for Equestria as much as I should've. If I'd paid more attention to how beautiful your night was then maybe we could have worked something out."
Luna's voice had a slight tremor to it as she said, "That's all in the past Tia. I've forgiven you; now you need to forgive yourself."
The princess of the sun shrugged off her sister's wing and stood up. Silently, she strode over to the windows and gestured towards the sky. Puzzled, Luna joined her older sister and looked where she had motioned. The horizon was glowing a bright reddish orange color as the sun had almost set entirely by now. Casting a quick glance at her younger sister, the sun princess closed her eyes as she began to speak. "I never realized how beautiful the night is when you tend to it until you were no longer here to do so. For the thousand years that I raised the moon and stars, the night was a mere shadow of its full glory. While you were here, I took what you did for granted. I didn't respect you like I should have, and..."
Celestia broke off, a slight tremor in her wings, and squeezed her eyes shut more tightly. Instantly, Luna grabbed her elder sister and pulled her into a tight hug. The princess of the night’s voice was soft as she said, “Tia, it really is alright. I’ve gotten over that now. I was young and stupid when I let my jealously turn me into Nightmare Moon. You don’t have to keep blaming yourself. Please, just accept that you cannot change the past, only do your best to move forward. I know you hate that you didn’t see how I was feeling, but you’ve got to control that hatred. You need to find a way to forgive yourself for this, and, at the very least, let me help you try. I don’t want to see you like this, you’re my sister, and I love you. I always have and always will, no matter what happens, I promise.”
Celestia raised her head, her cheeks slightly wet, and almost whispered, “I…I just don’t know yet Luna. I need some time to think about all this. Can you give me that much? Please?”
A small, sad smile graced the dark blue alicorn’s lips, “Alright Tia, I understand. Just…know that I’ll be here whenever you need me.”
Smiling slightly as well, Celestia nodded and walked out of the dining hall and back towards her bedchambers. As she watched her sister go, Luna’s smile fell. Turning her gaze back to the scene outside the windows, she felt her throat constrict and felt herself fighting to maintain her composure even though there was no one to see. But she could hold back no longer and soon felt icy cold rivers of pain running down her cheeks.
What have I done?