When her sister isn’t feeling well, Princess Luna offers to take over her duties for the day, but finds her help is not appreciated.
When Princess Celestia falls ill, Princess Luna immediately volunteers to perform her sick sister’s duties so she can rest. But Princess Celestia is not so appreciative of her sister’s help, especially as Luna is fairly unfamiliar with the work. Will she learn something about friendship and appreciation?
Princess Luna sat at the long royal table, idly munching on a peach pit (she’d already eaten the peach). The sun was rising, it was a beautiful day, so naturally she was scowling- it had been a very long night. A bunch of Unicorns were dreaming about starting a secessionist movement, and harmony only knows how she had managed to derail their plans. That, and the fact that the Night Court had dragged on longer than usual, had put her in her usual bad morning mood. Still, she would try to put on a happy face for Celestia, who deserved to be greeted more kindly than Luna was in the mood to. Come to think of it, where was Celestia? She was always at the table far before Luna- and with a new delicious breakfast cooked as well. And it wasn’t like her to be late.
“Morning, Sister,” she suddenly heard a voice say. There was the Sun Princess, with bags under her eyes and her mane dragging limply on the ground behind her.
“Why Celestia,” Luna giggled, “You look even worse than I do this morning. What was so exhausting about a full night’s sleep?” she teased.
Celestia groaned in response. “I don’t know, I just woke up like this, but I feel awful. And I have so many things to do today....” She unraveled a long scroll.
Luna studied her carefully, “You look awful,” she said. She reached out and put her hoof onto her sister’s forehead. “You feel a little feverish, too.”
Celestia sighed. “Just what I needed today. I don’t have time to be sick.”
Luna looked over at her sister. “Perhaps... I should take over some of your duties for the day?” she asked uncertainly.
“That’s kind of you to offer, Luna, but I haven’t taken a sick day in more than a thousand years and I’m not about to start now.” her elder sister responded resolutely. She stood up from the table slowly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make you breakfast- err dinner- today, but if you really want to assist me, you could help me find my medical potion.”
Luna got up and trotted briskly behind Celestia as they went to the potions lab. It was a smallish room at the end of a winding corridor, and so disorganized it would make Twilight Sparkle faint on the spot. Some cupboards overflowed with odd ingredients, while others were locked tightly. Fur, feathers, hair and who knows what else was strewn all over the floor. “‘Tia, I did not know you dabbled in the healing arts?” Luna asked, rather excitedly.
“What? No.” Celestia rummaged through drawers that looked as though they hadn’t been opened in centuries. “It’s just one ‘cure-all’ potion- but I can’t seem to find- ah, here it is!” she proclaimed. She held out her prize, a vial containing a viscous, brown, awful-smelling liquid. To Luna’s horror, she could spot discrete chunks of... something... floating around the bottle.
“Sister, that looks vile. I implore you not to ingest that.” she said nervously.
“Oh, it is vile,” Celestia said, apparently unperturbed by this fact.
“Pray tell, ‘Tia, what is even in that? I’ve never even heard of a ‘cure-all’ potion?”
Celestia giggled. “I don’t even know what’s in it at this point. I always leave a little over from the last batch when I create a new one, and I’ve been making it for centuries.”
“Oh, Celestia,” Luna moaned. “Drinking whatever THAT is will probably make you sicker than you already are!”
“I know,” Celestia said.
“Then why in Equestria would you DRINK IT?” Luna yelled.
“Because, Luna, the effects of this potion last about half and hour. And after half and hour of suffering through the agony brought on by my potion, my original ailment becomes a lot more bearable.”
Luna sighed. “Celestia, that is the equivalent of banging your head against the wall to distract yourself from a headache.”
“What?” Celestia stopped banging her head into the wall and turned to Luna.
“I have an idea that doesn’t involve anypony suffering through agony.” Luna said, teleporting herself and Celestia to her sister’s quarters. She made sure to leave the potion behind. She set Celestia down on her bed, tied her limp mane back behind her head, and placed a thermometer into her mouth. She removed it after a few minutes and laughed. “122. Not a very high fever for you, Sister, but for regular ponies, quite concerning.”
“I feel so much better now that you tied my hair back. When it isn’t flowing and carrying itself, it is actually quite heavy.” Celestia admitted. “But Luna, we can’t do this. I have to work. And last time you took over for me it didn’t work out so well.”
“Celestia, you deserve to rest once in a thousand years. And I know what to expect now.” Luna covered Celestia up with her blankets and gently laid her head on her pillow. “Come on, ‘Tia, that feels good, does it not?” She could sense her sister’s resolve dissipating.
Celestia groaned. “Okay, Luna, you win. I shouldn’t let you do this but I will. But you must report back to me periodically throughout the day so I know how you’re doing.”
“Agreed,” Luna said.
“Feel better, ‘Tia,” she said softly, but her sister didn’t respond. She was already asleep.
After informing the core Castle staff about the changes for the day, Luna trotted back to the dining area to fetch her sister’s list. The first few items of business weren’t too bad- raise the sun (already done), cook breakfast (too late for that now), and attend a tree planting ceremony (boring, but doable). It was the next task on the list that really filled her stomach with a sense of dread: Review Tax Policy Changes With Paper Cut in Meeting Room 3.
Paper Cut was the Royal Tax advisor and he was about as pleasant as his name suggested. He was a short, stocky Unicorn with a pale gray coat, stringy blue hair, and a sheath of papers for his cutie mark. He was already sitting in Meeting Room 3 with some others, in a plain gray room with a long table and some graphs up, which just about represented his personality. When he saw the Lunar Princess enter the room he frowned.
Try to be pleasant, Luna heard Celestia’s voice in her head, and resisted the urge to return his gesture. With a forced smile on her face, she said, “Good morning, Paper Cut. I am here to discuss the finalization of some policy changes regarding the-“ she glanced down at the list- “tax status of ancient buildings in Canterlot that have been converted.” Well, at least I know ancient buildings, she thought gamely.
Paper Cut ignored her attempts at friendliness and stared at her, “Princess Luna, where is Princess Celestia? I was under the impression she would be leading this forum?” His tone was quite accusatory.
Luna did not attempt to transfigure him into one of his precious piles of paper, which she would then flush down a toilet. Instead, she straightened her back and stated calmly, “My sister was not feeling well this morning, so I am filling in for her. I do hope that is alright with all of you. Now, to business!”
Paper Cut reacted to the news with dismay. “The Princess is ill? I have known her for many, many years now and she has never been ill. This is quite concerning... if it is indeed true.” Luna did not miss the subtext at the end of his comment.
“I didn’t even know Alicorns could get sick!” somepony said, who Luna later recognized as the deputy governor of Canterlot, Turning Gears.
“Has she seen a doctor? Is it serious?” somepony else asked.
“Ponies.” Luna said firmly. “My sister and I can take ill, just like any other pony in Equestria, but it happens quite rarely, only once or twice a century perhaps, so it makes sense that none of you are familiar with it happening. It is not a cause for alarm. Celestia has not seen a doctor, but I can assure you, should she need one, she has access to the best medical care in Equestria. I would like to repeat that this is not a cause for alarm. Now, if we could begin going over the upcoming policy changes....”
Paper Cut sighed, “If the Princess is truly sick, I would prefer to hear so from her personal physician- or at the very least, to see a document from him attesting to her condition. Nevertheless- let us begin.”
Luna tried her best to pay attention to the monotonous conversation that followed, but participating in a discussion on something extremely boring, that one is also unfamiliar with, can be quite difficult.
“Now, Canterlot buildings normally are under the jurisdiction of the Canterlot Municipality, but some of these buildings are so old they are from the time that Canterlot Castle controlled the city directly,” Turning Gears began. “That means they follow the rules of Part 1, Section IV, subclause B.2 in the Equestrian tax code. But Canterlot buildings follow the Canterlot Municipality tax code rather than federal law, and Canterlot law also governs building renovations. The question is at what point is something considered a new building? And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Preservation of Equestrian Architecture Act of 883 CE (Celestial Era) which also governs...”
Luna could feel her lack of sleep catching up to her as he droned on. Pay attention! she chastised herself, but it was hard to muster up the ability to care about which tax systems some old buildings in Canterlot followed.
“...and of course, if you destroy everything but only keep part of the foundations it can’t really be considered the same building,” Straight Corner, who had introduced himself as an architect and historian, continued. “But a lot of the owners want to keep the benefits of part B.2.2, so they’ll claim it is. Now, the Equestrian Architectural Society released new guidelines 5 years ago on when a building can be considered new or not, so if we incorporate that into B.2...”
“...amending B.2.2 will be complicated because of the exceptions to B.2a, but I think this can work out.” Paper Cut finished. He raised his eyebrow at Luna. “Well? What do you think? Do you approve?”
Luna looked around quickly, at all the ponies staring at her expectantly. “Uhh, yes, it sounds- wonderful! Thank you so much everypony for your hard work, and now I am ready to dismiss this meeting. Dismissed!” She galloped out of Meeting Room 3 as fast as she could.
The next item on the list was to greet the patrons coming to meet Celestia in the throne room. Some of them wanted pardons, others wanted her blessings on newborn foals, some brought gifts. This was one task nopony could substitute in for. Luna had her own time for patrons in the night, and the ones coming in during the day wanted to meet with Celestia specifically. Knowing this, when she informed the Castle staff that she was taking her sister’s place, they made sure to cancel the event. Nonetheless, some of the most persistent petitioners had still shown up and were refusing to leave the throne room. Luna figured now was a good time to check in with her sister about how the day was progressing.
She knocked delicately on the doors to her sister’s bedchambers, flicking her ears back to listen for a response. She thought she heard the faint stirrings of a pony who had just been woken. Feeling guilty, she tried to quietly slink away, but then she heard a voice say “Sister?” Resigning herself to the fact that she had awoken her sister, she responded, “Yes, it is I. May I enter?”
“You may,” the voice replied, so she trotted in.
Celestia was sitting up in her bed, so perhaps she hadn’t just woken up. “How are you feeling, Sister?” Luna asked.
“About the same as before,” Celestia admitted. “But I will grant you, it is a good deal more pleasant to be in bed.”
Luna smiled, “I am glad I could help.”
Celestia looked intently at Luna. “But enough about me. Tell me how the day is going. I assume my patrons have been told to leave?”
“Yes, as early as possible, although some of them still insisted on showing up to nothing. They could not believe you were absent. I believe some of them are still here.”
Celestia sighed. “I expected as much. I hope everything else has gone well?”
“I think so,” Luna said. “The tree planting was uneventful, and the tax meeting was fine, although Paper Cut was rather rude to me. He implied I had made up your illness and demanded I produce a doctor’s note. Truthfully, I do not know how you tolerate him.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Celestia said. “I do hope you didn’t take it personally. He treats most ponies like that. In any case, I’m glad to hear the meeting went well. We’ve been working on that for so long. I assume that means they’ve been able to resolve the issues of B.2.2?”
“Uhh... yes?” Luna guessed. She hadn’t expected to be quizzed on the meeting.
“Luna,” a harsh note entered Celestia’s voice. “Did you pay attention at the meeting?”
“Kind of?” Luna admitted. “I tried to pay attention, ‘Tia, but it was so long and boring, and I hardly knew what they were talking about anyways. Why does it matter so much?”
Celestia looked angry. “Because you are supposed to be helping me by reducing my work, not creating more. This is an extremely complex topic that needed to be handled carefully and you didn’t do that. Now I’m going to have to deal with a mess after problems inevitably arise.”
“I cannot do everything perfectly on my first try, Celestia!” Luna said in frustration. “But do remember that I am only trying to help you!”
Celestia sighed. “I know. That’s why I said that letting you run things was a bad idea, so I guess I’ve only got myself to blame for this. It’s not really your fault.”
For some reason, being absolved of guilt made Luna feel worse. Was that truly how her sister viewed her? As inevitably doomed to mess things up? She felt both a rush of determination to show Celestia that she could do things right, that her sister could rely on her, as well as as a burning tiredness and a desire to quit while she was ahead. The feelings mixed to combine into a righteous anger, and she narrowed her eyes at her sister defiantly. “I will ask one of the waiters to fetch you some soup, and I will continue with your duties. I am perfectly capable of performing them, and you should rest instead of complaining so much. Goodbye!” She cantered out gaily, as if Celestia wasn’t even there and nothing had upset her. When she saw the door about to slam behind her, she made no attempt to stop it.
Luna enjoyed the chocolate cherry milkshake she had picked up in the kitchens when she went to ask them to serve her sister lunch. The chefs were loathe to allow a Princess to leave emptyhooved, so she had accepted the milkshake, and it was delicious. It improved her mood and made her feel a good deal more awake, which was important considering the next thing on her sister’s to-do list: Day Court. Luna already ran her own Night Court, so she knew what to expect, but she also knew that one couldn’t hold court without a clear mind. And she was going to do a perfect job in court, she told herself. This was one task she couldn’t afford mistakes in, so she had best be as prepared as possible. If a chocolate cherry milkshake was part of that preparation, so be it.
Most of the ponies looked quite surprised to see the Princess of the Night stride in to the Day Court. “I will be convening the Day Court today, as my sister is- she cannot attend.” Luna announced. She decided not to mention Celestia’s illness, as she was worried about causing a ruckus. “I take it that this is alright with everypony?” The looks on some of the faces of the ponies in front of her suggested that not everypony was alright with this, but none of them dared contradict the Lunar Princess. “Very well then, who is first?” Luna asked, gesturing for whoever it were to come forward. A pair of Pegasi trotted up, and Court began.
Although the Day Court was exhausting, Luna was enjoying herself. She settled into it easily, and there were some interesting cases. There were the regular property disputes, of course, a couple of murders, and now she was listening to a fascinating case about an enchanted diamond. Two families claimed ownership of it, each presenting documents that supported their ownership. Apparently, the diamond’s enchantment functioned as a protection for its home, and that was where the troubles began. One family had owned both the diamond and its original house, and then sold the house to others. The diamond had refused to budge from its spot on the wall, and the original family wanted to cut it out of the wall. They had only sold the house, they claimed, not the diamond. The buyers countered that cutting through the wall would destroy part of their house and it was unclear if it would even work. Furthermore, the diamond was clearly magically connected to the house, so as owners of the house, they should be considered the owners of it as well.
Luna considered both sides, but in the end she proclaimed, “An inanimate object, no matter how magical, has no agency and cannot choose its owners, at least not in the eyes of the law. The law respects the rights and agencies of ponies, who also understand their responsibilities, but not the rights of an object with no conscience. Therefore the sellers of the home are the diamond’s true owners.” She turned to the jubilant party and tempered their celebration, warning, “I would caution you to hire somepony well-versed in spell-breaking to retrieve it, rather than destroying the house, and you are still liable for any damages the house incurs in the process of removing the gem. Of course, you can still consider bequeathing or selling the diamond to the buyers of your house, as its ‘will’ seems to be.”
After that case she raised up her hoof, “The Day Court will adjourn now. All petitioners may return tomorrow. Thank you!” She cantered out and the petitioners walked out after her, with all the muttering that she was so familiar with from the Night Court.
Next on the list was a flyover in the new Canterlot stadium of the Wonderbolts. This was one activity she did not have to fake excitement for- it was nice to say hello to her friend Rainbow Dash and besides, this was genuinely fun.
This was the kind of moment she had always been jealous of Celestia because of. She loved the cheering, albeit slightly surprised, when she sat down at the stadium with her guards. She loved watching the Wonderbolts fly around, and whenever they passed her, they sped up just a bit, and did an extra flip, just to impress her. She loved the feeling that this was her Equestria, that they were doing this in the world she maintained, that somehow, it was her accomplishment as well. She knew, instinctively, that this was how Celestia felt at her best, and that this was what kept her going throughout all the rest of the days dealing with Paper Cut and his ilk.
It was after experiencing this, as well as her pride about how she’d handled Court, that Luna decided to report back to her sister. It would feel good to prove to Celestia her competency in rulership. She teleported just outside her sister’s room, and rapped on the ivory double doors just a bit enthusiastically. “Luna? Is that you?” her sister’s voice rang out.
“It is, Sister. I would like to report to you on your duties.”
“Do come in then.”
She pushed through the doors and trotted in, and gazed at her sister, who was shivering in bed quietly. Luna lifted her hoof onto the white Alicorn’s forehead, just under her long, regal horn, and sighed. “Celestia, you’re still warm.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Celestia responded quickly. “Tell me how things went.”
Luna related excitedly the goings on of the Day Court, and of the case of the enchanted diamond, and her decision. She looked at Celestia earnestly, but Celestia frowned instead. “Luna, why did you have to delve into the agency of magical objects? The legal precedent you have set here is massive, when before it was far more vague. You could’ve pointed out instead that the buyers clearly didn’t purchase the diamond with the house because it wasn’t included in the title deed. Or you could’ve said that the buyers had a legitimate claim because the protection the diamond offered was part of the deal with the house. There was no need to delve into the nature of the diamond itself. We know there are magic objects that do choose their owners, in a sense, and we don’t want the law to get in the way of that!”
The rebuke stung, and Luna wasn’t sure how to react. She had felt so proud and accomplished, and in a second it was gone. Meekly she conveyed over her visit to the Wonderbolts show, and Celestia nodded. “I wish I could’ve been there. It was months of work to get that new stadium built in Canterlot. This was the opening show, and I didn’t get to see it. I’m glad you had fun, though.”
Oh. So it hadn’t been for her at all. Luna hadn’t made anything happen; the show had truly belonged to Celestia. The pain in her heart grew larger and angrier, and she had sudden desire to leave this room now.
Her sister, unaware of these thoughts, chose this moment to announce to Luna, “Maybe I should take over now. I appreciate that you’re trying, but I think there are some things that only I should do....”
“Oh no, I insist you stay in bed and rest!” Luna said through gritted teeth. She had started this job, damnit, and she was going to finish it, even if all the enjoyment had been sucked out, and she just wanted to go to sleep. At this point she was doing it only for herself, as it was clear that nothing she would do would be good enough for Celestia.
Not waiting for her sister to respond, Luna trotted out sadly to complete the list.
Luna was lucky that the last items on the list were also some of the easiest, since her heart was no longer in it. She had a meeting scheduled with some officials from Fillydelphia, where they mainly prattled on about nothing over tea and crumpets. All she had to do was nod and pretend to listen. Then she had to sign some decrees that had already been finalized for weeks. Finally, there was dinner and lowering the sun. Luna suspected that Celestia would still like to lower the sun herself, so she went over to the dining area to eat. She hoped to finish the meal quickly, so she could report to Celestia post-haste and then try to catch a quick nap before her night shift began. Otherwise, she’d be working for 36 hours straight!
In the meantime, her sister slumbered on, as she had done for most of the day. Her sleep was interrupted, however, by the sounds of soft hoofsteps entering her room. Celestia, a notoriously light sleeper, sat up beleagueredly and blinked. Standing in front of her were not one but two ponies- she recognized her trusted head maid, Spotless, a pink Earth pony with a cutie mark of a plain white square, but there was also a yellow pony so young she did not yet have a cutie mark. Both shared the same coral manes and purple eyes, so she guessed that they were related in some way.
It took a few seconds for Spotless to look up from her dusting and notice her Princess staring at her, but when she did her eyes widened in shock, “Ohmygoodness Princess I had no idea you were still in here- you were so quiet- I just wanted to clean up for the day... Princess Celestia, I am so, so, so sorry- I would never have come in if I knew you were in here- a thousand apologies-“
Celestia cut her off, raising a hoof firmly, “It’s alright, Spotless. I know you’d never enter my room without my permission knowingly.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Princess!” Spotless exclaimed. She frowned, “Did you sleep the whole day?”
Celestia nodded. “Most of it.”
“Oh, you poor thing! I heard you were feeling a bit under the weather but I assumed it was regular princess stuff- I know it’s a lot of work- and I thought to myself, Spotless, it’s a good thing Celestia is taking a little break from running Equestria, because that filly works too much. And everypony has to know their limits, even Princess Celestia. I never realized you were actually sick!”
Celestia giggled when Spotless referred to her as a filly- she was more than a millennium older than her for harmony’s sake- but she did not attempt to correct the maid. Aside from Luna of course, and to a lesser extent Twilight Sparkle, the ponies closest to her were her personnel. They worked with her intimately, and for so many years, that the barriers of the “Princess” title simply had to come down, to be replaced with something more casual, and in her opinion, far better. In Spotless’s case, she often thought of herself as a mother figure to the Princess, and liked to dote on her, as she was doing now.
In response to the maid’s concerns, Celestia simply shrugged, “Well, Spotless, it happens to the best of us.”
“Oh, I suppose,” Spotless said, rushing over to Celestia’s bedside. She placed her hoof on the Princess’s forehead and clicked her tongue in disapproval, “Yes, you definitely have a fever. Well, at least you had the sense to stay in bed. I wouldn’t put it past you to try to power through it all- I know how obsessed you get over your royal duties- I guess somepony else is taking over?”
Turning her face away to hide her embarrassed smile (Spotless knew her too well sometimes), Celestia simply answered, “Luna.”
“Oh, she’s such a dear,” Spotless gushed. “She works too hard, just like you, but she’s such a dear. I imagine she must very exhausted- she’s already worked the whole night- but anything for her big sister, of course!” She gestured to the yellow foal next to her, “My youngest, Fluffy Quilt, is exactly the same way- always wants to help out the older ponies, she begged me to take her here today just to help clean your room, of all things,” she leaned in to Celestia at this, whispering, “the truth is she doesn’t really know what she’s doing, and I often have to redo everything she’s ‘cleaned’ but it just makes her so happy to help out, and who can say no to that? I mean, what is family for?”
“Of course,” said Celestia slowly, deep in thought. “Fluffy Quilt sounds like a wonderful little pony.”
“Yes, I am lucky to have her,” Spotless grinned. “And you’re lucky to have Luna. You tell her thank you from me, okay? And I’m going to come early tomorrow; if you’re feeling better I can catch up on cleaning and if not I’ll at least make sure you stay in bed. And if you’re still sick, I’m going to make sure the doctor has a look at you, you understand?” she said sternly.
“Yes, Spotless,” Celestia said.
“Well alright then, feel better, Princess,” Spotless said, and then left with Fluffy.
Celestia stood up from her bed and walked over to the large window overlooking Canterlot to lower the sun, thinking about Spotless’s words. “You’re lucky to have Luna.” She was, wasn’t she? She began to feel a little guilty. Luna had been trying her best to help out, and she had been nothing but critical. She hadn’t even considered how difficult working a double shift would have been to her sister. The only things she had thought about were how Luna’s minor mistakes would affect her own workload. I’m sorry, Sister, she though silently, finishing the sunset and trotting back to bed.
A few minutes later Celestia heard a knock on the door. “Who is it?” she asked, although she was pretty sure she already knew.
“Princess Luna,” her sister responded. “May I enter? I have brought you dinner.”
“Please come in, Sister,” Celestia responded. Luna came in and levitated down a silver tray with a bowl of soup onto the bed. “Oh, mushroom barley soup, my favorite!” Celestia said happily.
“I know,” Luna said. “That is why I requested the chefs prepare it this afternoon.”
“Oh, Luna,” Celestia said, “Thank you! That was so thoughtful of you.”
Luna dismissed her thanks, “It was not any trouble to make a request when I was already in the kitchens. Anyhow, were you performing your duties as per the usual, you could have made the request yourself. So me doing so is only fulfilling my obligations.”
Celestia could sense an undercurrent of hurt in Luna’s statement. “Luna...” she began, “I want to thank you for how hard you’ve worked doing my duties today. I know I haven’t seemed very appreciative, and I want to apologize for that. You’ve done a great job, going above and beyond anything reasonably expected of you.”
Luna looked at her skeptically, “That is nice of you to say so, ‘Tia, but I know the truth.” She hung her head. “What of Paper Cut and the tax meeting, or the enchanted diamond ruling?”
Celestia smiled at her earnestly, “So you weren’t perfect? Neither am I, and I’ve been doing this for centuries. But Luna, you know what matters to me more than property taxes or diamonds? Having a sister who cares about me, and insists on taking care of me, even when,” her voice shrank a little, “I don’t treat her very nicely or appreciate her help the way I should.”
Luna looked up and gazed at her sister uncertainly, “Truly?”
“Truly,” Celestia said. Her horn glowed and she levitated her sister over to her. She held Luna closely, nuzzling her head over her, and wrapped her large wing around her tightly, “I love you, little sister.”
Luna flew out of Celestia’s hooves as fast as her wings could carry her. “Celestia! Are you trying to get me sick, too? You are contagious!” She stared at her sister sternly, but then smiled, “Sister, I love you, too.”
