Tribulated Darkness

“If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?”

― Jodi Picoult

Two

"Dear Ladies and Gentlecolts, may I pronounce to you, my sister, your princess, and our family, Princess Luna! Ruler of the Night!" Cheers bombed the plaza, streamers flew every which way. Luna nervously walked up to the edge of the terrace, which stood out high above the marble plaza.

Luna's eyes glistened with tears of joy, and her lips perched a smile that stretched for miles. She stood near the railing, and poked her head over. The crowd roared. Her horn began to glow a dark, strong blue and she opened her mouth to speak.

Her voiced boomed over the crowd's enormous cheers, "Good Evening, everypony!" The crowd cheered more. "We are Luna, Celestia's dear sister. As she rules the day, and her cutiemark surely tells the tale, one can only guess what I do," She stated, as huge posters of her cutiemark rolled straight against the castle wall. "I rule the night." She smiled.

The introduction of Luna was set at the perfect time, right when sun when down the horizon, Luna would raise the moon and show what she had made for these ponies. The sun dipped below, and she began to surge her magic into the moon, willing it to raise. This was no easy feet of course, and Luna began to struggle. Her forehead beaded with sweat, and her eyes began to clamp shut harder and harder. Celestia joined in, letting her sister draw magic from herself. Luna grunted, but pushed on. The moon slowly slid into position, and locked. Luna collapsed.

"Notebook.. Have you ever seen the night sky without any light pollution? It is the most beautiful thing.." Celestia asked me. I thought deep back into my memories, but couldn't find any that had what she asked. "No.. I haven't." I answered, sulking slightly. "You're missing out, my friend." Celestia smiled. "The light that plagues this world, is not what it once was, a thousand or so years ago. You could see the Monkey-Head Galaxy through a telescope, and shooting stars were as common as rain. It was a beautiful world."

Thoughts were racing through my mind. If her night was so beautiful, why did nopony enjoy them? I jotted down my thoughts and returning questions I had onto my notepad. I started this story thinking I'd become one of the most respected journalists to ever grace this land, and for my work I'd be given a golden medal and forever alive in a marble statue in the Writer's Hall of Fame... But such were dreams of a young pony, a pony who didn't think too far ahead, to what his actions may cause. Especially to a Princess. I decided to refrain from these thoughts and let her continue. I need the story first.

"SIster, my night court is so unintelligent. It's as if all the stupor ponies come unto my court, just to bother me!" Luna joked. Celestia gazed at her dark blue sibling, and let out a laugh. "You have but to learn youngling! They will challenge you in any way they can..even if that means being excruciatingly drunk! You just never know with our little ponies." She managed to get out, between chuckles. Seeing her sister in what she had to go through everyday made her happy, yet sad at the same moment. She wanted her sister to do what she was meant to do, but she also wanted her to live a peaceful life. Sadly though, some things do not come as we want them, she thought.

"You just need to listen to them, see what they want, refuse that, and send them out! It's easy enough to learn, but you must be careful to not use it against import matters though. I've made many a squabbles and let too many trade agreements get by. You just never know where something will end up, but you must always act with your better judgement for what is good for not just you, but for your ponies as well. They are the most important thing to us." Celestia advised her sister. The blue mare nodding her head in understanding.

"I told her everything I knew, Notebook, but the lessons I taught her never seemed to creep into her mind when they were dearly needed... we fought a war because of her insolence, but it ended only a few days later, as the enemy all met with Equestria's formidable army of.. what say.. six-thousand pegasi, eight-thousand earthponies, and twenty-five hundred unicorns? They were flattened out faster than they could react back." She grimaced at the dark memories of a war her sister had started. "But that is not what we are discussing, now was it Notebook?" I nodded. "Then allow me to continue, a few years later, Luna got very mad that the ponies weren't paying attention to her nights as much as she wanted.."

"...I worked so hard on it sister! And all they do is go inside, lock their doors, and hope they make it through the night, even though it is even more peaceful than your day!" Luna screamed. Her yelling with her sister had been going on for half an hour, with Celestia just nodding and voicing her opinion on the matter when it arose. She knew that this was going to happen, and she expected it fully at anytime. "I just don't know why I worked so hard on it, if they just go inside, and try to survive another day! It makes me irate! These ponies are so ignorant of what I've done for them, how I protect them, and what I am trying to accomplish to make sure that their houses aren't burned to the ground by the griffins!" Celestia only continued to nod her head, knowing that her sisters rant was almost to a close. She looked at her azure sister, noticing the rivers of tears streaming down her cheeks, flooding everything in it's path. "..They..They just don't know how hard being a princess is! They think it's all glamour shots and being nice! But it isn't! It.. it makes me wish that.. that.. I could bring night on forever to make them suffer!" She cold-bloodily screamed. Her voice doused in truth, Luna's horn began to glow a deep blue, deeper than her normal color. She screamed again, her voice amplified by magic. Celestia was stunned. What her sister had said, was beyond rational thinking. She kept thinking back to that one phrase, "bring night on forever to make them suffer". It was a dark way of saying death. A slow, agonizing death that would slowly wipe out everyone. Even the blue mare who would've caused it all.

"Sister! You cannot say that! You are not in your right of mind!" Celestia said, pouncing at her sister to break her concentration on whatever spell she was casting. Celestia's front hooves collided with her sister's right knee, snapping it backwards, to the point of a tendon being ripped, causing Luna's spell to break, and her voice to get even louder. "AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!" Luna screamed, for good reason. Celestia looked over at her sister, who sat awkwardly on the floor trying to no avail to grab her knee. "AAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!" Luna screamed again, tears streaming from her eyes. A small pool of blood began to form around her broken joint, where her older sister's hooves had pinched to skin into breaking. Celestia, seemingly unaffected by this, stood up in front of the fallen mare and yelled in a commanding voice she had learned from the countless years of being a leader of this nation, "YOU WILL NOT EVER, EVER, THREATEN MY PONIES WITH DEATH. I GAVE YOU THIS POSITION, AND I CAN TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU. I HAVE MUCH MORE WORTHY PONIES WHOM WILL GLADLY LEAVE THEIR SPOTS TO BECOME A RULER OF EQUESTRIA. YOU MAY BE MY SISTER, BUT IF YOU EVER ARE TO SPEAK LIKE THAT AGAIN OR EVER HURT ANYPONY, YOU WILL FACE ME, AND I WILL BRING WHAT YOU GAVE THEM, UNTO YOU." Celestia's face reddened from a loss of oxygen, and she began to breath heavily. She looked at her sister, who was staring right back at her, tears flowing endlessly. "...I'm.. sorry..." Luna said, before teleporting away to an unknown destination. Celestia looked at the disappearing blue haze in front of her, and fell on her haunches. Tears began to cascade from her own eyes onto the floor. "Luna..I..I...please..." Celestia whimpered softly, tears beginning to flow from streams into rivers.