“Princess Celestia! Please! You should come inside!”
The newly established Earth-Unicorn-Pegasus Guard had many rules but the most paramount was ensuring the safety of their beloved ruler. At this late hour, the captain of the guard expected her to be sleeping comfortably in her quarters. This night had been particularly long, the castle having been open to revelers welcoming the New Year with dancing and music. For the first time since anypony remembered in these lands, Celestia gave her welcome to the New Year message from the highest balcony without Luna by her side or as the denizens knew her now, Nightmare Moon. Nothing seemed different from last year except that the princess remained where she stood once she finished her speech, two hours ago.
“My lady,” the armored stallion pleaded from the last step of the staircase. “If your worry is about Nightmare Moon’s return, I assure you that we will be ready. You need not stand guard like this.”
“But I do,” Celestia answered in a hushed voice, keeping her vigil at the cratered body floating alongside the stars. “But it’s not for the reasons that you believe, Sir Barrier.”
He politely bowed. “Princess, if you believe we do not have the strength to withstand Nightmare Moon, I can understand. But I can schedule more training sessions so that you can—”
“It’s not that at all, Sir Barrier. You have my confidence that if she returns before we believe she will, the EUP Guard will protect Equestria to the best of their abilities. You may go, now.”
The unicorn would’ve pressed on except he noticed something sparkling fall from her cheek before the wind whisked it from sight. Her long flowing hair remained true in its form although the colors had lost some of its luster. He could only take a guess at the princess’ purpose for staying but out of respect, he bid her farewell on this night plus every night afterward when he found her alone like this.
“You did not dine tonight, Princess.” He wheeled in a small cart with a plate of cookies, a teapot and matching cup, “Please? If you will not come down, at least have a little something to carry you through the night.”
After a few seconds of silence, her elegant horn brimmed with magic and prepared a cup. “I appreciate the gesture, Sir Barrier.” She took a sip and sighed. “If you could, please send my compliments to whoever prepared this delicious tea. This flavor was my sister’s favorite.”
“As you command, Princess.”
Tea, cake, blankets, this captain would bring her anything she requested but despite the passing years, he sustained in placing emphasis on her protection.
“The conditions are deplorable!” Sir Barrier walked out into the balcony, struggling to see through a sea of dust blowing all around him. “The moon, you cannot even see it, Princess!”
Celestia nodded slowly but otherwise stood her ground against the elements. “I’m well aware of that but I did raise it this evening, just like I’ve done every night since I banished my sister.”
This stallion knew that all too well. He was the first to arrive on the scene at the old castle that fateful night. The Elements of Harmony, he witnessed Princess Celestia wielding them at their full power, sending Nightmare Moon to her orbital prison. Never would he forget that moment in history and yet, his fellow ponies started to, even the new generation of Guards ready to take over command.
“I have told my unit every drop of wisdom and knowledge that I have,” said a wrinkled faced stallion standing tall next to his forever-young ruler. “However, I fear they may one day forget about Nightmare… my apologies. Our once Princess Luna.”
A smile, all these years and just for this one moment, he saw the smallest appear on Celestia on this balcony. “I wouldn’t worry about that, Sir Barrier. Remembering my sister is my duty and I will continue serving that duty until the day she returns. As for the Guard, they need only serve for the good of Equestria. I cannot ask anything more than that from them, nor can I ask any more from you.” She knelt to the shocked stallion. “I am at your debt for your service. My wish is that your remaining years are full of love and friendship.”
“I’m unworthy of such humbling praise, Princess,” he answered, taking off his helmet and placing it over his chest. “I wish you a peaceful evening and many more.”
Many more evenings, yes of course. There would be many more. Celestia continued her nightly vigil of the moon long after Sir Barrier became another chapter in the grand book of honorable Guard captains. His successors certainly kept an eye on her as he did but as the honorable stallion warned, each generation knew less about the mare imprisoned above their heads.
“Impossible! Surely, you jest, Princess,” a female pegasus clad in a gown-like armor uttered in shock. “This Nightmare Moon was your sister?”
Celestia nodded but told her little else. What else was there to say if time would take away the memory that was her sister anyways, she thought. Already, history had all but wiped away what she once was — the former ruler of the night — and replaced it with frightening folklore. Until Luna returned, Celestia’s best option was to watch the moon, even in times when Equestrian matters made that impossible.
“Thou shant be out here!” A slender earth stallion walked to the edge of a cliff where Princess Celestia sat. Even with the shroud of darkness cast over the land, outlines of canyons populated the horizon along with the silhouettes of griffons patrolling the area. “Thy friendship between Equestria and the griffons is not universally accepted. Trouble may be hiding where we can’t see it.”
The princess raised a hoof, “I assure you I can fend for myself, if needed.”
“If thou concern is about this… tall tale about this Nightmare Moon—”
That was a new one, tall tale. After a few centuries, she had to chuckle at that one. Alas, the next time Luna got a mention within earshot was not even from a Guard member but from a hobbling historian wanting to confirm a living source for his upcoming Predictions and Prophecies book.
“Mare in the Moon,” the white bearded pony wheezed as he wrote it on a page. “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it, Princess?”
Any more generic and her sister’s name would be anonymous. She agreed to it anyways, a broad term being an improvement over a malevolent one.
Once she made that choice, her sister was just an old pony’s tale written in pages in a book tucked away in the deepest part of the Canterlot Library. It was for the best, anything to sever the connection between the alicorn that threatened Equestria with eternal night and her closest family. Her escapades to the balcony after raising the moon, nothing more than an odd ritual to any observing pony.
In truth, this space was her personal prison for memories and regrets. The sentence, one thousand years, and she served every one with the occasional visitor unaware of the weight of the chains holding her in place until the sun melted them into dust. On a fortunate evening, she would spend the twilight hours in an uneasy slumber. Otherwise, she relived her crime in her dreams from start to finish, unable to change history despite her efforts otherwise. No, she would have to wait until the longest day of the thousandth year before the window of opportunity would swing open.
“W–what’s this?”
A scroll suddenly emerged on the balcony’s railing. By chance, she detoured to this spot on an afternoon when her most faithful student warned her of a terrible prophecy. At long last, the date circled on her calendar was fast approaching, only that it was not her destiny to save her younger sister. The Elements of Harmony, they were not hers to wield anymore. In her heart, she trusted one Twilight Sparkle, the pony with the magic that held the keys to salvation. She sent her off on her way to find friends and waited.
What an agonizing wait it was, even if it was a small sliver of a millennium. While Nightmare Moon finally made her return in Ponyville, she was at the familiar balcony at the castle grounds. She could not show her face for it was not her battle to wage. Instead, she disguised her presence behind a magical barrier courtesy of the stallion next in line to be captain of the Royal Guard.
“I don’t understand, Princess,” Shining Armor said in a fluster, his hooves buckling under the stress placed on his horn. “Forgive me if I’m out of line but shouldn’t we be out there trying to defeat Nightmare Moon? I mean, my sister, she’s over there! I know my duty is to protect you but—”
Celestia cradled him with her lustrous wing, “I know this is difficult on you, Shining Armor. In time, I will explain everything to you. Just have faith in Twilight as I do. She’ll be all right.”
Hours later, miles away from the castle, a Rainbow light emanated from the castle ruins deep within the Everfree Forest. That was the sign she needed to raise the sun and make her arrival at the scene. The six element bearers, she would have her eternal thanks for fulfilling their role. As for her sister, there she was in a state not quite as she remembered. Powerless and fragile she was, the result of the Elements, but that was of little consequence. Closure, she wanted nothing more than that but even after a tearful reunion, she couldn’t have it just yet. She’d had to be patient just a little longer.
Again, she returned to the balcony and continued the routine of raising the moon and keeping watch over it. Meanwhile, Luna slowly regained her former strength and acclimated to what must have been a foreign Equestrian world. To Celestia’s surprise, not once did Luna question her behavior. “On New Year’s Eve, I will explain,” she told her younger sister and that’s all she needed until the final sunset of the current year.
Luna climbed the long flight of stairs to reach the top of the highest spire in the grounds. There, Celestia dipped the sun to the bottom of the horizon and held it there. Without a word, she rested on the railing and acknowledged Luna’s arrival with a simple nod.
“You do realize why I’m here at this hour, sister,” said Luna, joining her in watching over the plaza bustling with preparations for another year-end festival.
Celestia took a moment to breathe in the cool winter air. “Yes. It is finally your turn to raise the moon again but there is something else. Something I have been waiting a thousand years to tell you. I—” Luna touched her hoof. “Sister?”
“You do not need to tell me what I already know,” she answered, a smile breaking through her standard distant expression. “I saw you, my dear sister. I saw you from the moon. You kept watch over me every night, didn’t you?”
Celestia let out a gasp. “Luna.”
“But you didn’t at first. You refused to even look at me the first few months after you sent me away and then, on this day ages ago, something changed.”
She did nothing to withhold the flow of pain and anguish running down her face. “I couldn’t bear it, sister. My duty to Equestria meant that I had to banish you and every time I raised the moon, I had to face that harsh reality. I couldn’t, not until I made a resolution.”
Her head tilted quizzically. “Resolution?”
“Yes. Just because I banished you didn’t mean I stopped loving you, Luna.” She flicked off some tears. “While it was your duty as a royal princess to raise and lower the moon, it was also my duty as your older sister to notice the growing bitterness that grew in your heart. I failed. I failed to understand you and the jealously you had for those that didn’t appreciate the night and because of that, I lost you. That’s why at the end of that year, I promised myself to watch not just over you but the night itself.”
Luna cusped her mouth. “The night?”
“I wanted to see the beauty hidden in the darkness, Luna. From the faintest star to the brightest, every creature that roamed after sunset, the few ponies that welcomed the nighttime every time it arrived. I wanted to miss none of that so I made the same resolution every New Year’s Eve.”
“One thousand times over,” she said in a whisper.
“Yes and do you know what I learned? The night is absolutely gorgeous, Luna. It’s full of wondrous hidden treasures and no matter how often I stood here, I always found a new appreciation for it. I’m envious that it is now yours again. I’ve waited all this time to tell you.”
“Sister? Sister!” She threw herself into her embrace and wept. “Thank you! Thank you. I knew. I knew that too but to hear those words from you, thank you.”
Another gasp. “How?”
She nuzzled against Celestia’s chest. “Even from far away, I sensed it. I was so alone up there and so cold. Nightmare Moon, it would’ve taken over me completely but then you started to watch me. It brought me just enough warmth and hope to hold on, to try reaching out to you, to try and understand you as well. That’s why the Elements of Harmony saved me, sister. It pushed out my jealousy, leaving behind the part of me that still loved you, the part that wanted to apologize to you for not fulfilling my duty.”
“But I’m the one that banished you,” Celestia spoke in between sobs. “I’m the one that should be asking for your forgiveness.”
“And you have it, sister.” She embraced her tighter. “You’ve always had it.”
One thousand years, Celestia had raised the moon and kept vigil over it and the night that came with it. Tonight, it was Luna’s turn to do the same but with her sister firmly at her side. They remained at the balcony throughout the entire New Year celebration — Luna taking half an hour to finish her speech — and well afterwards until Celestia stumbled from exhaustion. Before she could say anything, Luna carried her toward the staircase.
“Luna? It’s all right. I can still—”
“No more, sister.” She brushed against her face. “You need not keep your resolution any longer. Equestria needs the sun and for you to rule the day.”
There it was again, another pony concerned about her welfare. It took a millennium but finally, she had her reason to oblige.
Sweet dreams, Princess Celestia.
