From the Eternal Love of a Sister

by Scootareader

2 - Dear Sister

The Night Guard stand watch over my sister's room, as they always have while the ponies sleep. They do not question our reason for being here, simply nodding an affirmation of existence. They know better than to question their very own Princess of the Night.

Quietly, they open the door, admitting us into the bedchamber. We wait for the latch to click, signifying that there will be nothing overheard, then clear my throat. “Sister?”

There is a vague stir in the shadows. A quiet sigh escapes my sister's lips. “What is it, Luna?” She sounds somewhat annoyed, as if we are trying her patience.

“You seem tired. For what reason do you become so exhausted?”

“Because I do a lot when I'm awake.” She seems to have become more exasperated at our question. “Don't you have work to do, too?”

“Not enough. That is why we are here.” We plop my small body next to her larger one, feeling her warmth spread through my bones. “We ask for additional responsibility.”

She sighs once more, angrily this time. “You're too young, and you can't even take care of your own duties. I feel like I have to play clean-up with your messes in the morning. Go, let me sleep.”

“You play clean-up with our messes because we have never learned how to clean them up, sister. My duty is to protect the citizens of Equestria when the shadows cover all, but we have never been given the light to vanquish them.” Her words have hurt me. She knows as well as we do why we do so little, and her bitterness about such matters is unfair. “Teach us responsibility; we will remain awake in the morning to receive instruction as is your duty—”

“No, no, no. Don't you remember the last time you tried to help?”

“Of course.” Without adequate instruction or information, we had mistakenly complicated the crops of the local farmponies by ordering an emergency storm to lower the airborne pollution of Canterlot. “You can hardly blame us for—”

“I'm not blaming you; I'm being reasonable, Luna. You haven't given me any evidence that you're fit for responsibility.”

Her words are a weight tied around our neck. “We have no chance to prove ourselves without duties which exercise these skills.”

She embraces me briefly and closes her eyes once more, lying upon her mattress. “Once you're older, I'll give you all the responsibility you want. For now, though, I think it's in the best interests of Equestria to keep important matters in my hooves.” She appears to be regretful, but we have known her long enough to know this is naught but condescension. “I'm sorry, Luna, but not everypony can have what they want when they want it. You'll have to be patient.”

There is a lengthy silence. Perhaps she has fallen asleep. We arise once more and approach the door. Turning my head, we mutter, “As you wish, sister.”

We open the door and pass between my Guard, still vigilant as ever. We bid them good night and retire once more to our chambers, to mull over what has just transpired.

On the one hoof, my sister knows we are malcontent with current matters. She is wiser than we, and knows that delegation of responsibility would lighten her workload, but burden us with unfamiliar tasks while she slumbers.

On the other hoof, she also should know that we simply thirst for a chance to prove ourselves. Perhaps something simple, with little chance of error, and which only affects a few hundred.

She simply refuses to entertain that we may be better at something than her. She is terrified that we will outperform her and have to begin delegating responsibility to her, rather than her deigning to delegate to us. She is cunning, yes; she feigns concern and understanding for her younger sister, but she knows as well as we do that she is afraid of those things with which we are capable.

She called our last delegation a mistake; we call it a positive learning experience. Pollution levels in Canterlot were reaching near-poisonous, dramatically increasing risk of sickness in all ponies and birth defects in newborn foals. Were we to sacrifice our capital city so that our surplus of grains may swell a little more? We simply let the rain continue without ceasing for too long, eroding soil and drowning plants in the surrounding area. Time-controlled rains would be an obvious step to take in the future.

It feels as if we are unable to make mistakes before her presence. She expects us to be an infallible princess, just as she is. Such notions disgust us. We know her for the pathetic creature she is.

We wish to command others with the sway that she holds. We wish to hear cries of joy from townsponies upon our approaching of the podium, not calculated silence. We yearn for smiles of delight, not stares of disrespect.

Yet, we are only Luna. Younger sister Luna, who rules the night only in name, not in act. The sister who knows nothing of life, of her citizens, of her nation.

This is unfair. We are little more than offal in a prized cow's pen.

You can be more.

We ignore the dark whispers again. They have plagued us since before we can remember, promising greatness and power like we have desired for so long. We wish to banish these notions forever... but these whispers know our wishes better than we do, and they seductively offer the exact things we want. Such darkness will never disappear from our heart.

Perhaps it is time to begin paying attention to what they tell us.

Author's Note:

I think we can all see where this is going.

--Scootareader

Comments

[vampyr-pony]

No luna!!!! Ignore the voices!!!

[Hanh17]

it's too late vampyr-pony

[PaulAsaran]

There's nothing new about this concept, but it is far more direct than what I usually see. I'm liking this, but the chapters... so short.