The Sun was shining, the birds were singing, the ponies were playing and all was right with the world. It was late afternoon in the kingdom of the Royal Pony Sisters and to everypony it seemed like a perfectly normal day. However Princess Celestia knew better; she knew that this was no ordinary day, in fact she knew that today was...

"WAKE UP IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!" Screamed Celestia whom was standing in the doorway of Princess Luna's bedroom.

Luna shot up in bed with a pillow held over her head and a hoof extended towards the door to help her aim. Her mane was ragged and her breathing was as well.

"Don't ever wake me like that again, EVER!" threatened Luna.

"Sorry, I guess I should have remembered from last year, and the year before that and the year before that..." Said Celestia, looking up reverently with a nostalgic smile on her face

The serene tranquility of her pose was somewhat ruined by the pillow landing on her face. Celestia stood still for a moment as Luna snickered on her bed. Once the moment had passed, however, Celestia picked up the pillow with her magic and a sly grin spread across her face.

"So finally taking a run at your big sis' huh?" Challenged Celestia.

"You want to go? I'll take you out!" Returned Luna, picking up the other pillow on the bed and assuming a more ready stance.

Celestia grinned wickedly before her pillow made a sudden move for Luna's head. Before the pillow could impact Luna she had disappeared in a flash of purple light. Celestia looked from side to side rapidly to see where her sister had gone, but wasn't fast enough to see the pillow before it smacked her in the back of the head. Celestia turned to see her sister standing behind her, snickering.

"Nice mane, Tia" called Luna.

Celestia looked past her sister to the mirror on the wall behind her to see that her man was sticking up in the strangest ways, resembling a rainbow explosion of some description. She turned back to her sister who was still giggling uncontrollably.

"At least I didn't wake up like this" replied Celestia smirking.

Luna stopped for a moment and turned so she could see the mirror and saw how bedraggled her mane was. She quickly used her magic to comb her hair as Celestia giggled behind her. Once she was finished she happily silenced Celestia with a pillow in the mouth.

"That's three to zero, Tia darling," mocked Luna.

As the pillow floated away from Celestia's face, it revealed a very unimpressed expression. Luna simply smiled and batted her eye lashes as she made a halo appear over her head. Celestia pursed her lips and raised her eyebrow; not impressed by her sister's display. She would have looked more authoritative had her pillow not floated up at an equal level with her eye brow. Celestia hurled her pillow with all the speed she could at Luna. However, again the Princess of the Night was gone before the pillow could make an impression.

Celestia turned to see where her sister had gone again and saw her standing on her bed, just before a pillow once again rapidly obscured her vision. The pillow fell to the floor revealing Luna standing on the bed with a ridiculous grin. Luna's grin faded a touch, however, when Celestia began to grin deviously. This time Luna had no time to react when the sheets she was standing on were suddenly seized by Celestia's magic and wrapped themselves around her. Once she had Luna wrapped up tight she went and stood over her, a smug grin on her face.

"Gotcha!" Beamed Celestia.

Luna merely smiled as she levitated her pillow and smacked it over Celestia's head again.

"Five nil!" Smiled Luna.

"Nil!?" Gasped Celestia. "But... But I got you!" She whined as she brushed her mane from her face.

Luna was about to answer when she saw how Celestia's mane had fallen and had to scrunch up her snout in an attempt to suppress her laughter, but ended up snickering.

"What's so funny?" Demanded Celestia.

Luna wriggled free one of her hooves and made a wiping motion on her top lip. Celestia didn't understand so she levitated the mirror from the other side of the room to see. Upon closer inspection it seemed as if a rather thick piece of Celestia's mane had remained behind when she had brushed it away and the remnants rested on her top lip.

"Nice mustache, Tia!" Mocked Luna.

Celestia looked into the mirror for a moment more before bursting out laughing and falling onto the bare mattress. Luna couldn't stop herself from joining in and soon both the princesses were rolling on Luna's bed laughing until their lungs hurt. After a few minutes the two princesses calmed down and simply lay there catching their breath.

"Hey Lulu, guess what?" said Celestia.

"What?" asked Luna.

"It's your birthday," smiled Celestia as she booped her little sister on the nose.

"You don't say!?" Luna sarcastically replied as she teleported herself out from her cocoon of bed sheets.

"Oh I do say indeed," said Celestia as she trotted past Luna towards the door. "Do you know what else I say?"

"Hmm?" Hummed Luna, as she followed her sister.

"I say it's time for cake!"

"YAAAAAY!" cheered Luna "Cake for breakfast!"

"When was the last time you were up early enough for breakfast?" Asked Celestia as the two trotted down the hall.

"When was the last time you were up all night to enjoy my night sky?" Retorted Luna

"Well I'd hate to bore you with the intimate details of my night life," replied Celestia, giving a mischievous little wink.

"Oh hush up, Tia, I've seen your dreams," Luna added with a sly grin. "Why do you think the servants' nickname for you is both Banana Butt and Sun Butt?"

They both shared a laugh at that last comment. While it was true that their relative duties meant they could only spend a few waking hours together, Luna's dream-walking powers allowed them to spend hours playing together in the unrestricted dream space at night. They did this every night, so Luna knew that Celestia hadn't had a natural dream for decades.

~~~***~~~

The two sisters bathed in the afternoon sun as they sat on a picnic blanket in the middle of the Royal gardens. Between the two sat a large plate that, until recently, held a three tier cake that had written upon the sides; 'Happy Birthday Woona'. Celestia had still never forgotten how Luna used to pronounce her name when she was just a filly. Those were the days, before they had their royal duties, when they could just play together all day and all night without a care in the world. Now they could barely make a few hours for each other even though they lived in the same castle and their bedrooms and offices were right next to each other. Luna noticed that Celestia's silence had shifted from enjoying the peace and quiet to brooding silence.

"What's wrong Tia?" Asked Luna a little concerned for her sister.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing you should worry about," assured Celestia.

"You know I'm only too happy to help with the running of the kingdom, if you just leave some work for me I'll get to it" said Luna "You don't have to do it all alone"

"No, no I would hate to burden you with all that paper work" said Celestia "I have something much better to give you"

"Oh?" asked Luna

One flash of light later and a colourful box was floating in front of Luna.

"Your birthday present!"

Luna quickly grabbed the box and had the wrapping paper torn from it in ribbons, in moments. With a huge grin on her face she lifted the lid off of the box and looked inside. The smile soon fell from her face as she saw what was inside; A Complete Guide to Origami.

"What is this?" Luna asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"It's A Complete Guide to Origami!" Said Celestia, a little surprised by the question. "I know you have an interest in it so I thought I'd get you a book on it."

"I just made you a shower of origami swans for your last birthday..." Luna said half-heartedly.

"I remember, they were beautiful. They put the biggest smile on my face. That's how I knew you had an interest."

"I made hundreds of those things," spite beginning to creep into her voice. "They took me forever."

"Yes, I know," Celestia said, still confused by the conversation. She tried explaining what the book was in more detail. "This book has all kinds of things you can make; things for all skill levels so, when you get better, there will still be things to challenge you; more elaborate things to craft too!"

Luna's eyes shrank in disbelief as her body began to twitch from holding back the frustration building inside of her. She wanted to yell, to scream at Tia; she didn't care about origami but she had taken the time—three days, eight hours, twenty-six minutes and eighteen seconds to be precise—to fold all those little swans and then release them at just the right moment at twilight so that the glitter she had sprinkled on them made the paper birds shimmer and sparkle in the evening light. What had her sister done? She bought a book. A book...

Instead, Luna simply said; "Thank you, sister, however I think I have to get back to work now."

"What?" Celestia said in disbelief. "I thought we could spend some more time together, sunset isn't for another two hours," she pleaded.

"I have to go, now." Luna said flatly as she stood up, stretched her wings, and unceremoniously flew back to the palace.

Celestia sat alone with sheer and utter disbelief on her face, stunned somewhat by the events just passed, wondering what had gotten into her sister. She looked over at the box and saw that her card had been forgotten amongst the paper and, realized that Luna hadn't read it. She picked it up and re-read the message she'd written the day before.

Dear Luna

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Always remember you should never limit yourself. You have the potential to do things that we could never even imagine. One day I know that you'll get there.

Love, Tia

~~~***~~~

"Who does she think she is?" Spat Luna as she walked back into her room. "I spend three days folding stupid little origami swans and she spends five seconds telling a servant go get a damned book!?" Luna's horn lit up with her aura, using her magic to remake her bed that the both of them had messed up earlier. "Is she too good to put any actual effort into making a gift?" Luna continued to rant as she replaced the mirror Celestia had moved to look at her faux mustache. "No she's too perfect for that, it's just how bad my swans were." The thought of Celestia mentioning that Luna could get better really made her fuse shorten rather rapidly. "WHEN I GET BETTER MY FLANK!"

Luna's gaze turned to the huge blank canvas that is her bedroom wall.

'Calm down Luna, you shouldn't work when you're angry..' She said to herself as she began to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. "Maybe Tia just didn't understand; she's probably too busy running the kingdom to make an overly elaborate gift," Luna seethed. She looked behind herself and out the window on the other side of the room where the sun was beginning to hang low in the sky, dropping behind the hills off in the distance.

"I should do more to help her," sighed Luna, finally getting calm. The next sentence to escape herself lit a small fire in the back of her mind. "If she'd just let me..."

She let out one last deep breath and picked up a paint brush. She began with a base of a dark purple, then, using her magic, dried the paint quickly and began to paint over it. She did miniature brush strokes to get every spot just right, even though the canvas she had to cover was huge. As she began to move faster and faster, the image began to come to light; cascading blues of every shade twisted and swirled like spirals and whirlpools across the canvas. They moved through and around golden yellow orbs that poured a beautiful, yellow-white light across the canvas lighting up starry night sky. As the painting began to come together, Luna backed away into a corner, shunned away in the majesty of her masterpiece.

She painted the golden crescent moon and the vast amount of light that it emitted. She worked furiously for and soon enough she was done. She stepped back and looked at her work; the cosmos arranged by nothing but her brush. Some of the star patterns look similar to those that she had used in constructing the night sky last week and she wondered if the stargazers club in the village would notice. Maybe she should sneak a little message into the sky one night. The anniversary of their club's founding was coming up, so maybe she could say 'Happy Anniversary' in a constellation. They were getting that good that the club would probably see it. Luna turned to look out the window and saw that the sun was on the verge of setting, she had been painting for hours. It was worth it though; this was one of her best works.

She hoped they would like it.

~~~***~~~

Celestia signed the last document as her servants carried the large stacks of paper work out of her office. Now she could finally relax. She was finally able to think of something other than taxes and industrial investment plans, and her mind turned to her sister. This was certainly the worst birthday she'd ever thrown her sister now that she thought of it. Somehow it was even worse than the time she had had to go deal with that one particular crisis in that little village in Manehatten, leaving Luna alone for the entire day.

Why did she only get her a book? Luna deserved more, she always put so much effort into everything but recognition never came. With Celestia it was just sun up, sun down, and mundanities inbetween. But Luna, Luna managed to make the sky a veritable work of art every night. Even though she knew that orchestrating such a brilliant night then safe guarding it was a demanding job, Luna still asked to do more. Luna hated seeing Celestia run down and tired from all her work, but what she didn't realize was that Celestia didn't want her to feel the same. Running a kingdom was so boring, so tedious; Celestia didn't want to see her sister's creativity stifled by endless bureaucracy.

"I love her too much to let her waste her life behind a desk," Celestia whispered to nopony in particular

'But did you ever tell her that?' A voice asked in the back of Celestia's head

Celestia suddenly shot up straight and began wracking her brains to see if she had ever told Luna that. She realized she hadn't and quickly leapt over her desk and galloped out into the hall. She halted out-side of Luna's door and gathered her breath before opening it slowly.

"I should do more to help her," said Luna. "If she'd just let me."

Celestia stood still, her head poking through the ajar door. She was about to say something; to try comfort her sister. Right as she was about to do that, Celestia saw the brush Luna was holding with her magic as it began to dart across the canvas of her bedroom wall. She'd interrupted her sister when she was working once before, thus she knew not to do it again. Instead, she just waited and watched. Some hours later Luna finally stepped away from her work and seemed to think about it for a moment.

"It's beautiful," said Celestia, opening the door and stepping in.

Luna spun around in shock. "T-Tia how long have you been there?"

"A few hours," she replied.

"Why did you come?" Asked a visibly stiffening Luna.

"I came because... You know how you always ask if you can help running the kingdom?" Celestia began.

"Yes..." Said Luna, a hint of hope in her voice.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know why I said no."

Luna's head dropped. "Oh..."

"I do it because I don't want the work to crush your creativity," said Celestia, relieved that it was finally out.

"What? You don't think I can handle it?" Luna began, clearly outraged.

"No Luna, that's not what I meant!" Celestia begged.

"No it is, IT'S ALWAYS WHAT YOU MEAN!" Screamed Luna; years of frustration pouring out "YOU NEVER THOUGHT I WAS GOOD ENOUGH"

"Luna that's not true!" Celestia began pleading for her sister to listen.

"I'VE ALWAYS JUST BEEN YOUR GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, ANNOYING LITTLE SISTER!" Luna continued, screaming as tears began to run down her cheeks.

"THAT IS NOT TRUE, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO PICK A FIGHT WITH EVERYTHING I SAY?!" Celestia screamed back. Celestia realized she shouldn't have said that, and was about to apologize. Before she could, she was flung through the door way and smashed into the wall outside. She looked up from her now prone position on the floor to see her sister standing in the doorway, tears running freely and a look of utter hatred plastered across her face.

"L-, Luna please!" Pleaded Celestia

"You must think I'm worthless. Don't think I can handle it? I'll show you what I can do and then you'll regret ever doubting me."

"Is... Is that a threat?" Celestia asked, taken aback.

"No," replied Luna. "It's a promise!" Luna before her door and slammed it shut, leaving Celestia alone in the hall bathed in the evening light streaming in from the window high on the wall as the sun set and the darkness of the night began to fall across Equestria.

~~~***~~~

Luna stood in the center of her room, equal distance from the window on one side and the canvas on the other. She took a deep breath and began to channel her magic. Her horn glowed a soft blue and her eyes an intense, furious white as the last rays of sun shine disappeared over the horizon. She tilted her head back until her horn was directly perpendicular to the horizon and began to cast her spell. The room filled with swirling shades of blue and purple that moved towards her painting. They coated the painting in shadow and connected to her horn once more. For a second, all seemed still; but that changed suddenly when the shadows peeled the paint from the canvas and pulled it back into a tiny orb at the tip of her horn.

Another moment of quiet before the once painting became a beam and blasted straight out the window into the dark world beyond. As it flew the beam split into dozens of tendrils that spun, twirled and swirled around the sky as the moon began to rise and return light into the darkness of the world. Once the moon reached its proper place, the tendrils shot out into the sky. Luna's starry night was recreated from her painting as the night sky slowly began to take shape as each tendril left parts of the painting hanging in the heavens. The last of the tendrils disappeared into the portrait and the moonrise was complete, Luna's night was on display for all to see and she smiled contentedly.

Luna looked through the window at the Equestrian landscape bathed in the shimmering silver and faint gold of the light from the stars and the moon. Empty fields cast in dramatic light, villages coated in her gentle glow and she closed her eyes before casting her spirit out into the night. She galloped across the sky, her spirit from floating without even the flap of its wings, and raced to the familiar spot on the moon. As she approached she bid greetings to the four star spirits that lived about the moon.

"A beautiful night, your majesty," complimented Polaris.

"Another triumph," added Sirius.

"It is a shame for those young ones that have been sent to bed so early," pitied Canis.

"An insult from those who willingly shun the sky by hiding in their dwellings," spat Centauri as a look of contempt covered him.

"It is the way things are, my friends," said Luna, completing a ritual conversation that they had been happening every night since the fall of Discord.

"And yet this night is different," Polaris commented, deviating from the script.

"What do you mean?" Quizzed Luna.

"I look down and I can see a very lovely message upon the ground," said Sirius.

"A note from some admirers, perhaps?" Asked Canis.

"I see it too," said Centauri, gesturing to the ground.

Luna turned and saw down below an organization of lamps sprawled across the land. This arrangement that spelled a simple message.

Happy Birthday Luna

It was right outside the village that the stargazers club was located. In fact Luna could see them setting up their telescope.

"What pleasant ponies," remarked Polaris.

"So caring to remember," added Sirius.

"Such a thoughtful gift," noticed Canis.

"Harder to arrange than a book," mused Centauri.

"You know..." Sighed Luna.

"Apollo sees all in the day," said Polaris.

"He told us of your argument," commented Sirius.

"We are so sorry to hear," sympathized Canis.

"And yet fair points were made on both sides," noted Centauri.

"She does not respect you; she thinks you are weak, that you would make good on your promise for a display of power, or else these events you will be forced to repeat, that you must hold the night past the dawning hour" chorused Polaris, Sirius, Canis and Centauri in unison.

"What do you mean, I was just angry I didn't mean it!" Cried Luna

"False promises from a feeble mouth, is that all you are, you must take her respect and not cower above the sky; you must show her you are the best princess by far, and unleash your great power. Power that Celestia could only dream of wielding," chorused Polaris, Sirius, Canis and Centauri again.

"I could never to anything like that to Tia," said an aghast Luna.

"Look at her now, alone in her bed, waiting for you to play and not work. Instead, she derides your work and you, her love for you is not true" said Polaris, Sirius, Canis and Centauri.

"No, she does love me," protested Luna, unwilling to give in to the star's game.

"Apollo hears her thoughts and he tells; 'Why does my sister repeat her request and annoy me so?’. The contempt in her heart for you grows. It is time; SHE MUST GO" said Polaris, Sirius, Canis and Centauri once more in unison.

"She does love me I KNOW SHE DOES!" Screamed Luna, her convictions ebbing.

"Do you?" asked Polaris, Sirius, Canis and Centauri together again.

Luna was about to protest but found no argument for which to use as rebuttal. She stood still, shocked at what the stars had said and even more so that she could not contradict them. As she began to shake she felt a steady hand upon her shoulder.

"Come with us," said Polaris.

"We will help you," said Sirius.

"We have prepared something," said Canis.

"For our favorite Princess," added Centauri.

Luna allowed herself to be led down to the surface to where the Princess' castle stood.

"Why have you brought me here?" Demanded Luna.

"Our gift is inside," said the four star spirits.

Luna still remembered the days that she and her sister had spent in this place. They had played in the castle grounds and in the myriad of secret passages and trap doors. When Celestia had had to leave for work, Luna had insisted on coming with her.

"So long ago..." Reminisced Luna

The star spirits led Luna deeper into the palace to the dual throne room. Luna began to wonder what there gift might be when she saw it standing on the plinth between the thrones; the Barding of Hades himself.

"It cannot be!" Gasped Luna. "It was banished with Hades when he was sent down the river Styx!"

"He sends her regards," said the star spirits.

Luna stepped towards the amour tentatively; its power was legendary but its reputation abominable and no doubt evil. She looked back to where the star spirits stood, and the four encouraged her. In doing so, Luna reached out her hoof and touched the amour.

From the moment, that her unshielded spirit and unleashed a manifestation of evil the Princess of the Night's fate was sealed.

~~~***~~~

Celestia awoke slowly; the night had been long, and, to her surprise, Luna had not shared any part of it with her. Things must have really be bad if Luna did not share her dreams. She should talk to Luna again, and maybe they could straighten things out. Celestia looked out her window and her blood ran cold. Sitting on the window sill was a small elderly man with a crooked staff, and a beard so long it hung from his chin and tickled the cold stone floor.

"What business have you here, Ra?" demanded Celestia.

"Please, Princess when will you call me Apollo?" He asked.

"Tell me!" demanded Celestia again.

"Very well, you have been challenged for the throne of Equestria," said Apollo.

"WHAT!" yelled Celestia "What trickery have you pulled on me now, Apollo?"

"Not I, Princess" said Apollo as he showed his shackles to her. "Your chains still bind me."

"Then whom?" asked Celestia.

"Your dearest sister, Luna, your majesty," answered Apollo, grinning wickedly.

"YOU LIE!" Screamed Celestia.

Apollo cackled maniacally at Celestia's fury. "In the room of days past shall the rule of days' future be shown."

With that Apollo disappeared out the window, leaving Celestia to ponder his little riddle and the impact of what he had said. Quickly, Celestia discarded the thought that he might be telling the truth. But, she still wondered why he would be doing this now of all times.

"He just wants to escape and he's using the fight Luna and I had yesterday to do it; to pit us against one another," Celestia tried to tell herself. Something nagged at the back of her mind; something wasn't quite right.

Celestia looked for something to distract her and saw the clock on the wall. It was nearly dawn. She left her room and went up the stairs to the tallest spire in the castle, and from there she looked out over the land still shrouded in night. Celestia looked up at the sky.

"So beautiful, she has so much talent," Celestia mused.

She was about to begin her spell when she realized what was wrong. A chill ran down her spine, she quickly looked again, then rubbed her eyes and looked again but the image wouldn't change.

The Moon wasn't setting.

"This cannot be," gasped Celestia, knowing it was impossible for this to be an illusion. "Dearest Luna what have you done?"

Celestia looked around herself desperately, as if searching for something that would tell her that everything would be all right. Instead, she saw something that saddened her heart. The lights were on in the throne room. Celestia bowed her head and shed a single tear, what lay ahead would require more strength than she was sure she could muster. When she was as ready as she could be, she took wing and headed for the room of days past.

Past the sound of her wings beating and the rushing air, she could still hear the cackling of that wicked Apollo.

~~~***~~~

"Not another step," warned Luna as her sister entered the throne room. "Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?"

Luna moved to the plinth between the thrones and felt the energy of the mystic amour fill her.

"There can only be one Princess in Equestria and that princess, WILL BE ME!" Screamed Luna as she crushed the plinth with her newly found strength.

Her eyes glowed as the amour bonded to the hatred inside her; fueling the fire. As it grew stronger and more robust, the world around it seemed to get darker. The wall behind her cracked, the brickwork spiderwebbing, breaking, revealing the night sky where the moon still sat high and proud. Luna rose from where she stood, and as she did the moon waxed from a thin crescent to a silver orb as the dark light of the Barding of Hades' power streamed outwards in tendrils from it. The light turned back on Luna and wrapped itself around her. She rose higher and higher and the amour set upon her; the helm, the chest plate, the greaves all set their place but deeper her body began to change.

Her fur coat turned black, her pupils to slits and her teeth became like daggers. She returned to the ground and it trembled under her power as she cackled with intoxication. Soon the thrill of the power passed and she remembered the alicorn that stood before her. She snarled at Celestia before shattering a statue of her that stood on the wall and destroying a section of the roof. Celestia stepped forward, undeterred by her sisters posing and Luna did the same. Celestia rose up in the air, intent on beseeching her sister to stop, but had to move quickly as Luna let loose another bolt of energy.

"Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon; it is your duty!" Celestia called desperately, helplessly knowing it was in vain.

"Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon", rebuked the transformed Luna. "I have but one royal duty now; TO DESTROY YOU!"

With that she released another beam of energy that struck the ground that Celestia had been standing on moments before. Still unwilling to fight, Celestia fled through the hole that Nightmare Moon had made in the ceiling just moments ago.

"And where do you think you're going?" Called Nightmare Moon, taking flight, following her sister-turned-enemy.

Nightmare Moon caught up to Celestia and began to bombard her with beams of energy, but Celestia was swift and avoided her attacks. Again and again Nightmare fired but again and again Celestia fled until Nightmare finally landed a telling blow and sent Celestia plummeting back to the ground with a shriek of pain. As she fell the cacophony sound of her sisters cackling filled her ears and she could almost mistake it for that of that wicked Apollo. So hard was her impact that Celestia was stunned for a moment but eventually managed to return to her hooves.

"Sister, I am sorry but you have given me no choice but to use... These!" Said Celestia as she revealed the elements of harmony where she left them decades before.

One by one Celestia picked up the elements with her magic and aligned them around herself before returning to the skies. Celestia prepared a spell that she had wished she had never learned, and even more-so that she had never had to use. In response Nightmare channeled all her magic she could muster to counter her sister's spell. Aligning the elements, she cast the spell that shot forth in a hurricane of rainbow light and clashed with a channel of blue energy from her sister's horn. Tears ran down her cheeks as the banishment spell overpowered her sister. Even bolstered by the Barding of Hades, Nightmare could not withstand the elements.

Soon the spell consumed her and cast her body and soul to the moon that still hung in the sky. As the spell completed, the moon pulsed with a rainbow light and the elements of harmony became dull; all their magic seeming to fade. Even as the elements faded and Celestia began the flight back to the castle she could still hear that wicked Apollo cackling in the night.

~~~***~~~

A loud pounding came from the doors, and the ponies on the other side voiced their pleas for Celestia to allow them in, but she did not listen. It had been a mere two days since Celestia had banished her beloved sister. Had it not been for her alicorn physiology she would have been crippled by hunger, but instead she simply continued to strive to her goal; to paint the night sky the way Luna had. She had put out a night sky every night since her confrontation with Luna but she had yet to orchestrate one as majestic as those of her sister or even one that was more than a few dots peppered across a black canvas. She had shunned her normal duties completely consumed by the need to make a sky worthy to play host to her sister's moon, to play host to her sister.

"No matter how many times you paint that same old sky it won't bring her back," said Apollo whom had spent the last few days watching Celestia struggle.

"Not now Ra, I'm busy," hissed Celestia, not looking away from the blank canvas.

"The ponies out there wish you were busy with something else," teased Apollo.

"They don't understand" muttered Celestia.

"I don't think you understand, Celestia".

"What does that mean?" Snapped Celestia, not taking her eyes off the canvas.

"Manehatten is still awaiting approval to invest in that new building they’re calling a 'Sky Scraper'. Cloudsdale is still waiting for that long promised marriage-reform act, and they're starting to get antsy. The kingdom is grinding to a halt because you're not there," explained Apollo.

"I need to do this," Celestia said sternly.

"You cannot do both duties and there is no one to take your place behind the big desk," hissed Apollo. "But I have a solution"

Celestia thought on his offer for a moment, the first moment she had thought of anything other than her sister for days.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Celestia with a sigh.

Even though she couldn't see him, she knew Apollo was smiling.

"The stars have arranged themselves since long before you were born, so let them do it again," said Apollo. "All you need to do is forget about painting the night."

"Forget?" Celestia almost whimpered "How could I forget?"

"You can't, but I can," whispered Apollo as his breath grew heavy on Celestia's neck. Still she did not turn.

Celestia weighed her options but in her desperation couldn't see that she had any.

"Okay," she breathed.

If he had been smiling before, surely now his beaming grin must spread from ear to ear. Still she did not turn. Apollo reached his hand behind Celestia's head and pulled away and a string of golden thread came with it. As he held it the thread began to form words; a prophecy.

On the longest day of the thousandth year the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about night time eternal.

"There we go," said Apollo as he slipped the words into a book he found in his hand and threw it away. "Enjoy a thousand years of guilt-free living."

Suddenly realizing the mistake she had made, Celestia turned and screamed "WAIT!", but she was alone and she couldn't remember who she had been talking to or why she was yelling. There came a knock on the door and Celestia went to answer it.

"My lady the paper work is staking up, I beseech you please return to your desk," begged one of several pones who stood outside the door.

"Very well," said Celestia unsure of why her secretary was acting so hysterical.

So Celestia returned to her duties and harmony was returned to Equestria. However in one small village in the country side of Equestria three ponies sat and exchanged confused looks and worried faces as they wondered; where had their starry night sky gone?

Author's Note

I'm thinking of maybe writing some prequels (about how Celestia met Luna and how they became master of the day and night) and a sequel about Luna's return. Please tell me what you think.