The light of the sun brought much for the now rising citizens of the ancient land of Equestria. For all it was the start of a brand new day to renew work that had been paused the previous day when night had fallen. For some it was a chance to meet with friends and neighbors alike and share the latest gossip. For the youth of Equestria, it was time to go and continue their education or socialize with those of their age groups. However, on this particular morning, the sun's rays brought not joy nor renewed energy, but rather it brought pain and sorrow of the most indescribable kind. This pain was being felt by a certain white Alicorn who at that very moment sat alone in the vast halls of a now ruined castle deep within the beautiful forest nestled in the valley below Canterlot Mountain.
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Celestia could not stop crying. She wouldn't stop crying. She didn't care if anypony found her in her disheveled, battle-scarred and broken state as she lay among the dust and debris of what was her and her sister Luna's great throne room. She had cried before the sun had come up after she had seen her sister's face being imprinted on the surface of the moon after she had unwillingly banished her in an attempt to purge her of the darkness that had implanted itself in her. She had cried even harder when the sun had risen and the moon had vanished below the horizon which had confirmed to her the horrible truth, that her dear sister, her Little Lulu, was gone. Gone.
Celestia wailed when this revelation played over in her head. What also play over in her head was what had lead up to this tragedy. All those times that Luna had come to her voicing concerns over their subjects' opinions towards their Princess of the Night. All those times she had told her she was being silly. All those times she had heard whispers behind her and Luna's back questioning the need for a second princess or even the night at all. All those times she had believed they would go away. All those time she had found Luna lying in her room sobbing into her hooves about how the ponies hated her and her night and called her a witch of nightmares. All those times Celestia refused to believe something so brazen. Each one of those times she had failed. Failed to reassure her sister correctly, failed to silence those foolish and near traitorous voices of dissent, failure to investigate into the accusations and insults that had been hurled at her sister, and above all failure at being a sibling. A sibling that Luna had desperately needed. Now she was lost to the darkness and Celestia had no idea of when her beloved sister would return if she was returned at all.
Sitting up from the floor, she grabbed the shining Elements of Harmony, the objects that had sent her sister away, and glared at them with all the rage a deity of the sun could muster. If they were not indestructible, they would have certainly melted under her seething rage.
"WHY!!!????" She cried out. "WHY DID YOU SEND HER AWAY???!!!! WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE HER???!!!!! WHY???!!!!!! WHY????!!!!! WHY????!!!!! WHHHHYYYYYYYYYY????!!!!!!
With the last cry, she flung the crystals across to the other end of the throne room where they impacted the stone floor with a loud crash. It was then that Celestia knew that it was not the Elements alone that were to blame for her sister being lost. A great deal of the blame rested on her shoulders, the weight of which caused even more tears to flow from her already drenched eyes. However Celestia also knew that some blame rested on others' shoulders as well. A new glare formed on her face as she got up and walked slowly out of the throne room to inform those with blame on their hooves what had occurred.
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In Canterlot, the city was alive with rumors. Why had the night fallen so early yesterday? Where was their beloved ruler Celestia? What had been the commotion reported by ponies from deeper in the valley?
Their answer came in the form of a bright flash of white light that suddenly appeared in the center of the city square. Ponies shielded their eyes as the light flared and then at last died away to reveal standing before all that could see Princess Celestia of the Sun. Immediately ponies began to bow in reverence of their beloved Solar Goddess.
"Rise ponies." The ponies looked up in surprise when they heard not the soft and almost motherly tone that the Princess of the Sun usually used when addressing her subjects, but instead one that was edged and icy as if one were greatly disappointed with another. When the ponies looked up they were shocked by the state their beloved ruler was in. Her feathers were ruffled and bent, the horn was charred, streaks of dust and dirt crossed over her freshly scarred body. The most striking detail however were the Princess's tear stained cheeks.
"Ponies of Canterlot." Celestia spoke to the crowd. "Late last night, my sister, Princess Luna of the Night, was corrupted by dark forces that preyed on her sorrow and anger." The crowd was even more puzzled as Celestia's lips seemed to quiver. "She was transformed into a being of nightmares and attempted to make the night last for all eternity. I pleaded with her to stop and listen but we were forced to duel. In the end I..."
Celestia paused as she breathed to compose herself.
"In the end, I used the Elements of Harmony on her in an attempt to purge her of the corrupt forces. Instead the Elements chose to banish her, body and soul, to the surface of the moon." Again she breathed. "Princess Luna is gone." She finished quietly.
For a few seconds no noise was made. Then suddenly, everypony in the square cheered. They were cheering! Celestia was horrified! They were cheering the loss of their Princess! Suddenly she began to here shouts of "the witch is no more" and "daytime eternal" and "long live Princess Celestia!" But their was one particular shout that made Celestia's blood boil over; "May that monster of a mare rot on the moon!"
"SILENCE!!!!!!"
All cheering came to a screeching halt as the echoes of Celestia's shout rang in ponies ears. They looked up at their princess as her eyes seethed with a fury they had never seen before.
"How could you?!!?" Celestia cried. "How could you so easily abandon her?!? How could so easily vilify her?!?! Why?!? Why did you all do it?!? WHY?!?!"
To say that everypony was shocked would be an understatement. They hadn't expected this sort of reaction to their celebrations. They had expected that their ruler would be glad to be rid of such a monster. Not be angry at them for cheering her success.\
At last the tense silence was ended by a yellow unicorn noble dressed in a blue coat who was nearest to Celestia.
"But your majesty, is this not joyous news?" He questioned. "You have rid from us a true terror of Equestria. You have protected us from a horrible beast. Is that not cause to celebrate?"
If ponies didn't think that Celestia could look even more angry than she was now, they were wrong. For ponies believed that after the unicorn noble had finished speaking, he would catch fire from Celestia's fiery gaze.
Just as it appeared that she was about to do so, Celestia's glared suddenly turned to an expression of pure grief and anguish. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she sobbed quietly before all the ponies in the crowd. They had never seen their princess break down emotionally before them.
"How could I have been so blind?" Celestia whispered. "How could I?" She then raised her head to look at her ponies, tears still flowing.
"Do you not realize what you have lost? What I have lost?! You have lost your guardian over the night and I......I have lost..."
"So what if she's gone? We are better off without her anyway!"
Celestia's rage returned when she heard the comment from the crowd. "I WILL NOT HEAR ANYMORE SUCH SLANDEROUS ATTACKS ON MY SISTER!!! ANYPONY WHO MAKES ANY SUCH REMARKS FROM NOW ON WILL BE CHARGED WITH TREASON!!!!"
The ponies gasped in shock at their princess's threat. They had never seen her so angry before. They didn't have much time to think about it as Celestia continued to speak.
"You have no idea what you have lost!!! You all called her a witch!!! Said you had no need for a second princess in Equestria and no need for a night even!!! Well tell me, what allows the earth to rest and heal after the toils and struggles of the day!?! Who made the stars of the night bright enough to guide ponies home?! Who watched over your dreams so that you would not be driven to insanity by plagues of nightmares?!?"
The ponies all looked at each other at the last question. Had Princess Luna really been responsible for making sure that all of their dreams were peaceful and joyous at night? Had they really been ignorant of that?
"Luna never sought recognition for her actions, because she did them believing it was just the right thing to do! And how did you thank her?! You labeled her a witch when she did not seek out the limelight of the day! You branded her a monster just because of her domain!?!? You drove her from your hearts and denied her friendship, the very thing this nation is founded upon!!!!! You have all betrayed her!!!"
For a few moments, the ponies did nothing but stare at their seething sun goddess, until the words she threw at them were processed in their minds, at which point, heads began to bow in shame. Shame at their actions, done and undone. Shame at their words, both spoken and unspoken. Shame coursed through the hearts of everypony present.
Celestia sighed as her anger subsided and hung her head in grief. "But the blame does not all lie with you. I am as much to blame as any one of you. For I disregarded my sister's concerns, ignored your words and refused to believe her sorrow had any basis. I just had too much faith in my ponies. Now I see that I was a fool."
Celestia raised her head with a look of determination before continuing. "But a fool I shall no longer be. I may have lost my sister tonight, but I will move all of the earth and all of the heavens to have her in my hooves again! I do not care how long it takes, I will wait and wait! And so will you my ponies!" She said pointing to the crowd with her hoof. "You will all remember this day as the day that we lost a beloved ruler and fellow pony! There will be a national day of mourning each year on this day to remember the Princess that we lost! But it shall also be a national day of prayer. For we will pray to the heavens and the Elements that our fair Luna is returned to us someday. Someday in the future she will return to us and I swear upon my Parents Souls and all that they created, she will return to a new Equestria! One where her beautiful night is held in the same reverence as my cursed sun! She will return to open hooves from all of us. She will be welcomed home, whenever that may be. I can wait. Can you all?"
With that question still hanging in the air, Celestia lit her horn and vanished a flash of white, leaving the crowds to reflect on their mistakes and consider their future actions.