> Guilt > by NotanImportantPony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Guilt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Princess Celestia, May guilt plague you for your great crime and until your blinded eyes can see your own lies the stars will recount her last days. - Sir Gallant Tre         So it was with a rustle of parchment, a flick of the quill, a drop of ink, and a soft thunk of an improvised paper weight I set down my last letter upon Celestia’s desk. A desk upon which I saw her commit a great many deeds to parchment and mind. A desk which rests in a room where many ‘fun times’ were had by a scant few, often to the detriment of many. Now I sit here in her ruined bedroom recounting the years that I spent wasting away while I was under her service. Princess Celestia was a great ruler for some and a blatant floozy for others. She was a mother to me and I loved her and I guess that is what made me blind to the plight of her sister, Princess Luna. Luna, ‘Princess of the Night’, that was her royal title. Her Royal Duty was to raise and lower the Moon and Stars while her sister Princess Celestia raised and lowered the Sun. Her other duties were few, oversee those dreamers dreams in order to bring peace to the dreams of those innocent sleepers. Oversee the Night Court and attend to any issues that may arise during it. Unfortunately the issues that required her full attention were few and far between leaving her bored and wishful, two dangerous things for a Princess to be. And indeed they were, for in time her mood soured as numerous sessions of the Night Court proved to be vacant, empty affairs. All too soon her growing unease and anger became directed at the glowing figure that was her sister. In truth, Celestia envied Luna and her relaxing Night Courts but for the Lunar Princess the opposite proved just as true. With neither party talking to the other it came down to intermediaries like me. Six of us were chosen to help the Princesses, three ponies from Princess Luna’s staff and three from Princess Celestia’s staff. I had served the Solar Princess for years and she saw to it that my skills were put to use in negotiating with her sister. For the life of us our small group couldn’t make heads nor tails of the situation as the sister’s moods worsened. We tried to convey the others requests in as plain a manner of possible but nothing worked ad despite our best effort rumors quickly trickled down from the Nobility to the Commoners leading to a jagged divide amongst the citizens of Equestria. One of the rumors that I was most concerned with was about the statue of the great Draconequus, Discord. Rumor had it that he was somehow influencing the minds of ponies around him. The stone monolith had been in the main castle courtyard for years and despite being exposed to the elements for so long the beasts stone hide had grown neither mold nor moss. Any attempts to move it were proven null and void, while the Princesses forbade the statue to be moved some did try, they were met with mixed results. Unfortunately there was a particular instance where members of Princess Luna's Night Guards were caught trying to remove the statue. That incident helped solidify the Nobles and Commoners positions against Princess Luna. While in truth it was an honest effort without any guile nor underhoofedness, the rumor mills took to that act like a vulture on carrion. Very soon the rumors grew from small things about a rogue group trying to abduct a national relic to a group of Special Forces trying to undermine Celestia by taking the statue and bringing back Discord as a servant of Princess Luna. All of those small mistakes, all of those rumors built up until even we couldn’t hold them back so when Celestia and Luna heard the rumors they thoughtlessly tore at each other’s throats. That was what led to this night, a long night, one full of Nightmares and fighting. The soldiers took up arms against each other, mother and father fought against son and daughter. The fighting of mortals was nothing compared to the battle shaking the foundations of the Castle. The two sisters fought without reservation, their beams of magic destroyed walls and blew up rooms. Then without warning a beam which held the colors of the rainbow pierced the night sky headed straight for the looming moon. Even as the momentous after-shock of the two sisters fight settled over the populace many saw the new face on the surface of the moon. A dark impression ran the length of the moon, a Unicorn, one with a long graceful horn. Rumors abound then were put to rest when Princess Celestia admitted that she had banished her deranged sister to the moon. That morning brought with it a mass route of all the Lunar forces and their affiliates. They were herded like vermin and forced out into the wild lands south of Equestria. The maps for all of that were still hung up in Celestia’s bedroom. She kept those maps as a reminder of what happened and how she planned to right the wrongs that were made that fateful night. That is why I am standing before her desk. It is an oak desk in a spartan room, the only things in it were a bed, a fireplace, and the desk. A desk, that, quite frankly disgusted me. Having accomplished what I came to do, albeit with a heavy heart, I turned away from her desk with a sardonic chuckle, reminiscing on times past. Shuffling towards the crumbling hole in the wall of Celestia’s bedroom tower I looked through that hole and saw the future. A grey clouded sky, broken towers and ruined courtyards, then in the center of the chapel, the site of the Princesses final battle I saw six lights each the color of a rainbow. And I was filled with hope.