A pair of blue eyes glinted in the gently flickering candlelight, the blue coat of the alicorn was barely distinguishable from the near pitch blackness of the room around her. Haphazardly spread across the desk were a variety of legal documents, accompanied by the near constant scratching of a quill which only stopped to be dipped in ink.
The scratching stopped and a hoof found it's way to it's owners forehead. Luna sighed and squeezed her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to rid herself of mental exhaustion she was experiencing. It didn't help. She cast her tired gaze off to the side and stared into the abyss of darkness at the barely illuminated corners of the room. The summer sun celebration was coming up soon, very soon. The princess of the night had only recently learned that her sister had not completed nor even started the mountains of paper work for an event in her own honour, she'd said she'd been busy touring, visiting sick foals in hospitals and the like.
Luna told herself it didn't matter, it was just tia being tia, the energetic, impulsive and headstrong princess of the realm. But despite all her attempts at swallowing the situation she still felt a cold, wet sting settle in her chest. This cold lump frustrated her to no end, she was being childish. She was too old to be slighted by something so trivial as a mere 3 more hours of paperwork, 3 hours were nothing at all. The memory of her sister asking her to cover in a very nonchalant manner forced it's way into her head involuntarily, had it been that her sister acted without due consideration. Again, why was this bothering her, she was a princess, princesses couldn't let such trivial things bother them, besides, her sister cared for her immensely. Celestia obviously thought her ponies deserved more attention then paper work, luna couldn't agree more.
And yet she felt the pain worm itself deeper into her chest. What was this feeling... it seemed so eerily familiar, oh no, no she could not. She was jealous. Her? What kind of horribly selfish and self absorbed pony was she, she already ruled half the country, and now she wanted more? No, she told herself. 'I am not jealous of my sister', what an utterly ridiculous sentiment. She had no right to be jealous of anything, she was better than that. Still she couldn't help feel a small bout of self loathing coming on, nearby the candlelight flickered out. She could have sworn there had been another hour in it at least.
The princess of the night resisted the urge to yawn as she walked down the everfree hallways, alongside the clopping of hooves were the muffled echoes of celebration and merriment taking place outside. On both sides of the hallway were banners depicting the equestrian diarchy, a rather unnecessary show of might in luna's opinion but who was she to complain.
By her left side and in the middle of the hallway her sister walked on a red carpet with an oblivious smile on her face, whilst luna's right set of hooves were clopping onto the cold stone. She was agitated, which in turn frustrated her more because she didn't want to be agitated over something so trivial, it wasn't like her sister was doing it on purpose. As they walked down the hallway the servants bowed to them, but luna couldn't help but notice how they bowed in the direction of her sister. Her ears lowered, partly due to her jealousy, partly due to self-directed reprimandation.
Luna slowed as something caught her attention, a strange painting hung by the wall depicting a brown stallion in front of an apple tree. It must have been imported from some art gallery, come to think of it parts of the hallway seemed unfamiliar, she'd never seen that worn pattern carved into the bottom pillars before. The white alicorn stopped, craning her head around to look upon her sister, a questioning expression on her face. "Something wrong sister?"
Luna looked up from the floors marbles, "No, no nothing is wrong dear sister we- Did you order a redecoration lately?". Her sister returned a puzzled gaze
"Not that we know of? ...why do you ask?"
"We- no, it matters not. Shall we carry on?"
The two continued down the hallway, the sounds of celebration grew and with it so did Celestia's smile. The hallway began to get brighter as they approached the open roofed area supported by white columns, giving anypony who walked by an extraordinary view of the plaza. It seemed too bright in fact, it made luna squint.
"What a glorious day it is, isn't it lulu?" Celestia spoke up, suddenly ecstatic as she walked into the beams of sunlight. Luna was trailing behind whilst her sister had sped up. She blinked her eyes a few times yet they did not adjust to the blinding light.
"Yes, indeed dear sister" Luna agreed enthusiastically.
Hesitantly she stepped forward into the light, it felt rather uncomfortable yet she followed her sister anyway. She had to make an appearence, this was a diarchy after all.As luna trotted by she caught sight of the masses of ponies, some airborn, all were happy and were waving various banners to show their support for her sister. The crowd began to roar as they spotted Celestia trotting quickly along the walkway and coming fully into the warm, open air of the gleaming white balcony. She turned her head impatiently and made a gesture for luna to hurry up.
Luna began to quicken her pace, worry worming it's way into her heart as the uncomfortable feeling from the sunlight turned into itching. Finally she came out onto the balcony to join her sister, she immediately shielded her face using a wing. The sun, the marble, everything just seemed so blinding white. It felt like it was burning her. Together they ascended the pedestal as the crowd roared beneath them. Ears flat against her head, the princess of the night clenched her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the sunlight, they still hurt. Instead she settled for letting her eyelids flicker as she desperately attempted to keep her eyes open.
When Celestia began her speech, luna didn't notice. The itching had become nearly unbearable, it permeated her entire body, making her wings flutter in annoyance. Against her better judgement she gave her foreleg a very rough scratch. She knew she shouldn't have done that, she had an example to set. What would ponies think of a princess who scratched herself in front of her subjects. She suddenly felt the crowds eyes upon her, judging her. The air seemed to swelter with scorn and silence, all luna could do is stand there shaking with effort to not scratch herself. They were all looking at her and judging, they hated her, they wanted her dead-
"Luna?"
Everything seemed to recede, she no longer felt like she was being watched but the itching was as strong as ever. Shakily she replied "huh?"
"We said lets go, you silly" Celestia seemed to be basking in the afterglow of the speech, taking in the noises of the festival below.
Luna felt a wing on her neck encouraging her forward, it made her feel sick, physically sick. She resisted the urge to retch as hurried into the shade, drawing the attention of her sister. Luna cast her gaze onto the ground, everything was still too bright, she was sweating. What had just happened, why did the sun cause this kind of reaction. She lifted a shaking hoof up to her face, concentrating on it entirely, noticing all the tiny hairs curling around each other to create her coat. Everything was silent, the outside world was near blinding white and all luna could see was her hoof. It was all there was. All their would be.
A white hoof took her by the jaw and turned her head to face a pair of lavender eyes. "Luna!"
Celestia's voice betrayed her concern, "...I asked if you were alright" abandoning royal customs showed just how distressed celestia was, and the worry showed in her voice, almost making her sound upset.
Luna gulped then took in a deep breath of air, she looked off to the side in bewilderment. "W-we ...are not feeling very well"
Celestia nuzzled her gently, rapping an arm around her in a hug and making her feel infinitely better. Luna returned it and they sat together in a sisterly embrace, seconds passed before Celestia broke the bond.
"Apparently not, perhaps you should get some rest little sister".
"Yes, t-that would probably be for the best..." She glanced around. Everything seemed just fine.
