“Princess?”
Princess Celestia gave Twilight Sparkle a look. Twilight fidgeted for a second or two before realizing what she had done wrong and flushing.
“Celestia,” she corrected awkwardly.
Celestia smiled and nodded for her to proceed.
“Ever since I learned about Luna I’ve wondered. Your special talent is raising the sun and moving it across the sky.”
Celestia nodded. “That’s right.”
“And Luna’s special talent is raising and lowering the moon.”
“Of course.”
“And before the two of you discovered your talents regular unicorns were responsible for the sun and moon, and it took groups of them working in concert to do it and the strain gradually destroyed their capacity to use magic, right?”
Celestia got a far off look in her eyes before turning her attention back to the present.
“Yes,” she said. Her voice was quieter than before, softer and a bit sad.
“Well,” Twilight began hesitantly. “After Luna…” Twilight trailed off and tried to think of a good way phrase it.
“After she attacked me and I banished her,” Celestia said in a not quite curt tone. “You don’t have to dance around it Twilight. We both know what you mean,”
Twilight flushed again. “Right. Well, after that you took responsibility for sun and moon and you handled both for a thousand years until Luna came back.”
Celestia sighed. “What are you trying to ask, Twilight?”
“What can Luna do with the moon that you can’t?” Twilight blurted.
Celestia stood stockstill. More words tumbled out of Twilight’s mouth in a rush.
“I mean, even though it isn’t your special talent you’ve handled the moon all on your own for a thousand years. Which means that you were powerful and skilled enough to do it without the consequences regular unicorns faced. And I haven’t noticed any difference with how the moon or the night looks since Luna came back and resumed her duties. So...what exactly does Luna’s special talent let her do that you can’t?”
Celestia was quiet for awhile after that. Just as Twilight finished formulating an apology she spoke.
“Twilight, have you ever wondered why so few unicorns learn to use their magic for more than levitation and one or two spells related to their special talent?”
Twilight opened her mouth and then shut it. After a moment’s reflection she said in a careful tone, “I never really thought about it. I suppose I assumed they weren’t interested.”
Celestia snorted. Twilight flinched and her eyes went wide.
“Twilight, unicorn magic can be used to fly, teleport, control minds and find precious gems just to name a few of the possibilities. If do you really think that anypony would just not bother to take the time to learn how to do those sorts of things if they could?”
Twilight thought about that for a moment. Celestia continued.
“It wasn’t always like that. Princess Platinum had an entire academy dedicated to training unicorns just so there would be a steady supply of unicorns with the skill to ensure the continuation of day and night. There had to be. You just said it yourself; regular unicorns can’t withstand the strain of moving celestial bodies indefinitely. Not even in groups.”
Twilight took that in. A queasy feeling appeared in her stomach.
“My special talent means that I can move the sun easily and without adverse consequences. But as you just said, my talent has nothing to do with the moon. When it comes to that I’m no better off than anypony. I can do it alone, but the cost…it’s still there Twilight.”
“I’ve never been able to find out how the sun and moon were raised back then,” Twilight said slowly. “I searched the library, I went through the archives but I could never find the spell described. I had wondered if the whole thing was just a legend.”
Celestia looked sad.
“I could not let my little ponies sacrifice themselves like that again. Not because of my mistake. Not because I failed to see what Luna was going through before it was too late.”
Twilight started to say something but Celestia kept going.
“But at the same time doing it myself wasn’t an option. I would burn myself out, sooner or later, and then Equestria would be in the same situation as before. And the moon has to rise at night, otherwise…”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “Otherwise what?”
Celestia shook her head. “It’s complicated. You’ll understand how it works one day but you’re not ready. Suffice to say that there needs to be a moon or very bad things will happen.”
Twilight clearly wasn’t satisfied with that answer but she forced herself to swallow her questions and nod.
“So doing it on my own was not an option,” Celestia went on. “Letting others do it was also unacceptable. And not doing it at all would have meant disaster. I decided the only viable course of action was to minimize the harm done.”
“That’s why you knew how to cast that spell,” Twilight said with dawning realization. “The one you used to give your magic to me to hide it from Tirek.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes Twilight,” she said with a note of approval in her voice. “That spell was the starting point. I developed it into something inspired by the Crystal Heart, with myself as the focus. But the scale was much, much larger.”
“But how?” Twilight said, clearly struggling to wrap her mind around the concept. “When the Crystal Heart is activated the entire city lights up. Nopony could miss it!”
“Because I do it every day Twilight,” Celestia said sadly. “Because instead of a gem I use something that shines even brighter.”
Twilight’s eyes were so wide they looked like they were going to roll out of her skull and plop onto the ground. A hint of a smile crossed Celestia’s face at the sight.
“Every day when the sun rises I draw some of Equestria’s magic through it and channel it into myself,” she explained. “Every night when it sets I do the same. I use...I used rather, I used that magic to move the moon without exhausting my own magic.”
Celestia’s words hung in the air for what seemed like a long, long time. When Twilight responded it wasn’t with shock or horror like Celestia had expected.
“That’s not all, is it?”
A tear rolled down Celestia’s face.
“She fought me, Twilight. Every night she fought me for control. Every hour, every minute from dusk to dawn I could feel how much she hated me. I could feel her trying to stop me from touching her moon. It was…” Celestia stopped and her chest heaved. She struggled to regain the reserve she had spent so many centuries perfecting.
“So now you know Twilight. I suppose I always knew you’d figure it out one day. I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me, but please try to—”
Celestia gave a startled whoof as Twilight slammed into her for a full body hug, hooves and wings wrapping around her chest in a death grip.
“I’m so sorry,” Twilight whispered. “I’m so sorry you had to make that decision.”
Once she realized what was happening Celestia returned the hug gratefully. They held the pose for another unaccountably long period of time. Finally Celestia realized that Twilight was struggling to breath and let her go. She laughed as Twilight began sucking in air like she was about to be banished to the moon herself, and the laughter felt good. Twilight smiled at her once the world stopped spinning around her.
“So why am I different?” Twilight said finally.
Celestia smiled fondly. “Because you have a magic that is stronger than mine.”
Twilight blushed. “The magic of friendship?”
Celestia nodded.
Another long silence. Twilight was the one to break it this time.
“What will happen now that Luna is back?”
The sad look returned but this time it was mixed with pride.
“Gradually Equestria’s magic will recover. It will take generations, but eventually my little ponies will once again be all that they can be.”
Celestia paused. “And you, Twilight, will be the greatest of us all.”
Twilight looked confused. “What do you mean?”
Celestia smiled again. The expression only made the sadness more pronounced. “Even with Equestria’s magic behind me the moon was never meant for me to move. Equestria will recover. I never will.”
Twilight gasped. Celestia chuckled.
“What did you think I was doing the night Luna came back?” she asked chidingly. "Once we were equals. Now...I couldn’t have fought Nightmare Moon, Twilight. It would have been no contest. Not even close.”
Twilight looked stricken. “So if I had failed…”
“You didn’t,” Celestia said firmly.
Twilight took that in. Finally she said in a small voice, “Cadance and I will be in charge one day, won’t we?”
Celestia draped a wing over Twilight and pulled her in for another hug.
“Neither of us are what we once were,” she said. “Myself or Luna both. Everypony has a history. Everypony has to live with the consequences of that history. But I wouldn’t trade you for any of it Twilight. Every time I look at you I know that for all the mistakes I’ve made I managed to do one thing right. Nopony is perfect. But I don’t think anypony is going to top you.
