From the Eternal Love of a Sister

by Scootareader

The Moon's Gaze

We gaze disinterestedly at the floor. Our life has remained unchanged, stagnating. We still have no royal duties, despite months earlier ensuring our sister knew of our willingness to shoulder additional responsibilities.

She seems bent on ruling all by herself, as if any threat to her duties were naught but a drain. We accept that she can perform the tasks well enough on her own; were we in her position, we likely would have fallen long ago.

You can become stronger than her.

The voices speak to us again, promising power, more than my sister could ever hope to attain in her lifetime. They have become increasingly insistent, akin to Everfree Piranhas tasting blood in the water. They circle our conscience, awaiting the crumbling of our final resolve.

We know it is coming, yet we are powerless to stop it. Perhaps we may still find a peaceful way to get our sister's attention. We know it to be a fruitless hope, but it is all we can tell ourselves to refrain from acknowledging the pressing darkness.

We gaze up at the night sky. She has nearly completed Her arc over the sky, heralding the lowering once more of Her majesty. We have never been late to greet Her with a good night, nor have we ever been late to wish Her a good morning as She dips below the horizon.

We wonder briefly if She would do it regardless of what we ask. Perhaps we would learn something more of our duties. Perhaps my sister would as well.

Ask her to stay.

The darkness begs our attention once more... but this is different. It wishes what we wish, to leave the Moon in the sky past Her hour of departure.

What harm would it bring Equestria? Perhaps a brief panic for the early risers; we do not intend to leave it as such. Never would we endanger our citizens.

We raise our voice to the sky. “Moon, we request of you this night to remain where you are. We wish the subjects of Equestria to see you to greet them in the morning. Please, make no efforts to entertain our sister's notions that she may rule by force.”

As our voice disappears upon a cool breeze, we feel as if we have done our part. We flare our magic briefly to thank her for her service this night, then let the magic dissipate, rather than wrap around Her.

For the first time in my life, we have forsaken our royal duties.

---

I wake up, blinking sleepily. Time to raise the Sun.

I drag myself from my comfortable bed, thankful for the beautiful night's sleep. Today, as every day before it, is going to be busy. First things first, I need to start the day, though.

I open the glass doors which lead to my balcony, giving me a clear view of the sky. I flare my magic for a moment, letting the Sun know that it is time to rise and shine.

Immediately, something feels wrong. I look into the sky to see thousands of twinkling stars greeting me, the Moon as large as ever.

One task, and Luna has failed at it.

I sigh in disapproval. She will need a lecture on this... but after the day has started.

I flare my magic, differently this time. I let the Moon know that it's time to sleep, and tell the stars that they must follow. Then, I wait a few moments for them to comply.

Strangely enough, nothing moves.

I flare my magic again, harder this time, lowering the Moon below the horizon. On days that the Sun is being particularly stubborn, I must do this.

Still, nothing happens. Try as I might, the Moon will not go down. This has Luna's magic written all over it. What's gotten into her?

I use my magic to augment my voice, the spell that only she and I know. “Princess Luna, come see your sister in the throne room at once!”

---

She thinks she will be able to convince us to lower the Moon, we think.

She is probably right. Whenever Celestia insists upon anything, we cannot find it in our heart to deny her. We will crumble, as always, and let her win.

We do not want to lose this battle.

And you don't have to.

The realization jars me. All this time, I could have beaten my sister. I only need accept the powers that the darkness promises. No longer do I wonder what hides in the shadow... for I am the shadow, am I not?

Silently, weakly, my heart opens to the darkness. It envelops me, giving me the strength to resist. My sister will not win this time.

Perhaps she will never win again.

Author's Note:

We're not done yet, don't you worry.

--Scootareader

Comments

[Corporal Fluttershy]

Bitesize chapters, but excellent narrative. Your portrayal of the Nightmare is interesting; it's not nearly so bellicose and evoking of the image of a moustache-twirling-villain than in many other tales. It seems a reflection of Luna's own growing desperation. It's not promising anything ridiculous more than respect, appreciation, strength.

Keep up the good work. I'm very interested to see how you potray Celestia in the coming conflict. Will she too have more nuances, more complexity than at first appears?

Who knows.

[PaulAsaran]

We finally get a glimpse of Celesita's views, and it's about as damning as Luna imagines. Too bad, I was kind of hoping that my own preconceptions of Celestia were improper.