"Your moon is beautiful tonight, Luna."
"You tell me this every night, 'Tia. I am well aware of it by now."
A small smile split the Sun Goddess's face. "I feel like it is my duty to remind you daily that your night is gorgeous."
"Still fretting over Nightmare Moon, are you, sister?" The other mare grimaced.
Celestia hesitated before letting out a sigh, "I am. I still regret it to this very day."
"You did what you had to. I would have done the same thing, dear sister. I was blind to my actions... I let my anger take over..."
"I was just as blind as you were. I should've paid more attention to you, rather than myself... and I would hope you mean you'd also send me to the moon. Banished or not, I'd never return from the sun."
Luna let out a small giggle, a smile playing on her face. "Of course~"
The white mare couldn't help but laugh a little herself, afterward letting out a sigh.
"You really shouldn't, though. It's been nearly four hundred years since my return. I've long forgiven you by now."
"Yes, I know. I just love you enough to remind you anyways."
Luna looked up at her elder sister. She secretly hated that Celestia would be forever taller than she, but didn't mind it all that much.
She frowned slightly as she studied her sister's features. Whether Celestia wanted to admit it or not, she was getting old. The bags beneath her eyes were becoming more and more visible with every passing year. Even the colors in her mane had dulled significantly, glazed over with a pale silver sheen. It truly pained her to see her get this way, but alas, even princesses didn't live forever, and she really dreaded the day that she'd start looking the same way.
"Perhaps you should rest, 'Tia..." She offered, but the larger pony shook her head. "I have to raise the sun in a few minutes, you know that."
"You look exhausted. I can do it just fine." She pressed, a bit forcefully. She wasn't really asking. She knew for a fact that she needed a good, long rest. It seemed the older Celestia got, the more she did. "You need rest. You've overworked yourself today, and here it is early morning and you still haven't slept. You're going to kill yourself."
The princess shrugged. "I'm perfectly fine currently."
"Liar..." She muttered, glancing back up at the sky. Blue light illuminated around her horn and the moon slowly began to fall shortly afterward. "You overwork yourself and you know it. Usually, when a pony gets older--a normal pony, anyway--they don't push themselves as hard and enjoy their retirement and golden years."
"Well, Luna, I am no normal pony, now am I?" She waited patiently for the moon to completely vanish. Her horn then began glowing as well, the sun very, very slowly appearing from over the horizon. "I have a duty, and I cannot stop, unlike normal ponies. If I did, normal ponies would not be able to see."
"'Tia, I am more than capable of raising your sun. You rose my moon for a thousand years. You could even ask Twilight Sparkle to replace you."
"Princess Twilight has her own duties. Nopony is going to replace me. They can't, and I refuse to stop until my very last breath..." She grunted, seeming pained.
The moon pony sighed. Even her magic was becoming too much for her...
She fired up her horn again, a faint blue light wrapping around the golden yellow one already encasing the fiery orb, it rising much faster now. Once it was placed properly, she released. "See? I can do it fine."
"You did nothing, you merely helped," Celestia mumbled.
Luna rolled her eyes and playfully slapped her forearm with a hoof. "Go to bed, 'Tia. The sun is up. Your job is done, now rest."
The mare raised an eyebrow "Luna, my work is...." and yawned, regrettably nodding. "...never done... but maybe you're right... Now that I think about it, I am really tired..."
"As I said. Now go. I will have Twilight fill your place today, you needn't worry."
"Who said I was worried? I have no doubts on Twilight's abilities. I know she'll do well."
Luna suddenly looked annoyed and Celestia laughed, rising to her hooves and turned. "Good morning, Luna. I'll see you sometime tonight." She smiled faintly, slowly and tiredly trudging to her chambers.
Luna held her smile until she disappeared, then her face fell. When would that mare learn that she couldn't hold up her destiny anymore? Was she really that stubborn? There were plenty of other ponies who could raise the sun in her place.
She huffed, standing up herself. "Maybe if she did not refuse an heir so much, we wouldn't be in this mess.." The night princess muttered to herself, trotting over to her throne and taking a seat.
It looked like she'd have to govern the day.
Again.
"Lower the moon, Luna!" Celestia's voice echoed loudly throughout the castle's throne room.
"'Tia, you need to stop! We are through trying to reason with you! It's over, can't you see that?! You no longer have to do your duty! You've done so for thousands of years! You can finally be at peace and rest, Twilight has already agreed to take your place!" Luna snapped, her magic wrapped tightly around her beloved moon to prevent any attempt her sister may have tried to lower it herself.
"NEVER! I'm not dead yet! I still have many years in me!"
"Then lay-to them wisely! Relax and enjoy the rest of thy life! Get a mate and produce an heir in thy name!" She snarled, her ancient accent slipping slightly into her speech.
Celestia stood tall and glared down at her. "I do not need an heir! I am perfectly capable of doing it myself!"
"And then who will take thy place when thou perishes, 'Tia?! If thou refuses to properly teach another pony how to raise and lower thy glorious traveling lamp, then how will anypony carry on in thy name?! Nopony but ourself and Twilight Sparkle hast any idea on whence to yea start in making the sun rise!" She challenged, her eyes glowing in her rage. Ever since Nightmare Moon, the slightest bit of anger instantly sparked and awakened the demon within her.
The elder sister didn't respond, growling loudly.
"As we thought." The Moon Goddess stood up tall. "Ye are pushing thyself too hard, 'Tia. 'Tis time to resign, whe'r thou agree with it 'r not."
"I am not finish--"
"'Tis not thy choice any longer! Thou art done!" She roared, baring her now slightly pointed teeth.
Celestia noticed this and kept her mouth shut. The last thing anypony needed was another Nightmare Moon episode, especially since she knew she wouldn't be around another thousand years to help convert her sister yet again.
She stared deeply into the fiery blue orbs, slowly narrowing her eyes. After a long pause between them, Celestia turned and stormed out, making sure to slam the large doors behind her.
Luna narrowed her own eyes and slowly turned, too angry to bother making the gateway from night to dawn as beautiful as she normally would and forcefully pulled the moon down, then replaced it with its fiery counterpart.
She truly feared for this country. It fell apart more and more each day, all because her sister refused to just quit. Destiny or not, her days as a princess had come to an end. This made Luna grimace greatly, the realization that until everything could be settled properly, it was all up to her hitting her like a train. Yes, she had the help of Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence if she really needed it, but as Celestia had said before many times, they both had their own duties to tend to.
The moon pony huffed. If she wanted something done right, she had to do it herself. Even if that meant finding and/or having her own heir. If she was going to replace her sister, then she needed somepony to replace her.
Luna sighed heavily, knowing very well getting her sister to breed was an even bigger chore than raising both the moon and the sun at the same time, and she certainly wasn't ready for children of her own yet.
She looked toward the doors as they opened, a lithe lavender pony stepping through, a worried look on her face.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle."
"Hey... What's happening?" She slowly made her way over, sitting beside the mare.
Twilight Sparkle had aged significantly herself, now much taller than the structure of a regular pony, with a longer horn and much larger wings. A more pointed face with more divine features. She truly looked like a princess now.
The blue pony sighed, "'Tia is at it again. I am getting really tired of arguing with her."
"Then stop." She frowned slightly.
"You do not understand, Twilight Sparkle. If 'Tia does not stop, she will work herself to death. It is even worse since she refuses to produce an heir to replace her."
"Can you really blame her? She's too old to bear a foal. Even if she could, it would be extremely weak and probably wouldn't survive."
"Then it is her duty to appoint someone new, but she cannot do that either. There are no other vacant ponies of the royal status."
"I already told you I'll help out."
"Yes, but it will become overwhelming. You have your own business, as do I, and as does Cadence. There needs to be one, just as tradition."
Twilight was silent for a moment, looking up at the sun before back at her higher up. "Why don't you produce an heir, then?"
She shrugged, "I do not wish to bear children."
"But if it's that important, don't you kind of have to?"
"Perhaps...."
"I would but... I know I'd be a terrible parent... and I don't exactly have a mate... not anymore at least..." The lavender alicorn grimaced.
"Do not feel responsible. I do not wish to push this unto you, nor Cadence. So I have to ask you to leave her out of this. This is solely between 'Tia and I. Nopony else."
Twilight slowly nodded, the Princess of Friendship rising to her hooves. "I won't. But... I am here to help, regardless of my duties. If you ever need anything, just ask me."
She slowly nodded. "I shall."
Twilight smiled faintly, gently nuzzling her cheek before turning and leaving once more.
Luna sighed heavily and got up herself, following after her. She had to find a way to reason with her sister, no matter what the cost. It wasn't just about her health anymore. It was now becoming an issue for all of Equestria. If Celestia didn't retire and either produce or teach and appoint a new heir, there would be no more sun.
Not that the thought of everlasting night bothered Luna, but she knew many ponies wouldn't appreciate it.
She pushed her sister's bedroom doors and paused in the doorway. Celestia laid on her bed, a book levitating in front of her face.
"'Tia."
"I have nothing to say to you, Luna."
"This is serious, why can't you see that? This isn't just about you anymore! You're going to damage our country!"
"Everything will be just fine." She growled.
"And about when you finally die? What will we do then? There will be more sun!"
"Oh? I thought you were 'more than capable of raising my sun'? What happened to you doing it, Luna?"
The blue mare glared. "I can not raise the sun forever. Somepony has to replace you at some point--"
"Then find somepony!" She snapped. "I am not quitting until I am no longer breathing, and that's final!"
Luna growled. "Fine. I will find a replacement, and you will stop when I say so!"
"You have no authority over me."
She narrowed her eyes and turned, quickly storming out and slamming the doors behind her.
"If thou insists that I find an heir myself, then so be it." She bared her teeth, stomping furiously to her room.
The Goddess of the Moon irritably paced back and forth behind the closed doors of her bedroom, wracking her brain for any sort of easy solution out of this mess. Any way to finally convince Celestia that her time was coming to an end.
She stopped and looked out her window. By now, it was night once more. Well, it was supposed to be, anyway. She just couldn't be bothered to actually officially make it so for the night. The sun was lowered; however, so was the moon, so it was just a vast and blank sky. It wasn't too bright, not too dark... Just a perfect, pale shade of indigo to indicate the mixture of night and day.
Luna furrowed her brow, knowing everypony was probably confused out of their minds, but it didn't matter. There were far more important things at hoof than the moon--and that was something she thought she'd never had to admit.
She really hated this. She hated being torn away from her own duties, just because her sister was so damn stubborn. Her loved her job, and she'd do anything in the world to keep it.
She narrowed her eyes, "Way to be a hypocrite, Luna..." She muttered. At least she would know when to stop. An ability her sister seemed not to possess.
The princess grunted, glancing back at the sky and wondering if she should raise her moon, but decided against it. It was a long day and she just didn't have the energy, nor did she have the motivation to do so. She just wanted to sleep, wanted to escape the living hell she was currently in, even if only for a little while.
She exhaled heavily and slowly made her way to her bed, pulling herself up onto it and proceeding to nose her way underneath her blankets, afterward curling into a comfortably positioned ball.
All was well and she was dozing off.... until a bright light shone brightly through the covers.
She groaned, slowly lifting her head, the blankets only leaving her horn and muzzle visible. Everything else was still secured in their warm embrace. She struggled slightly to move them by only shaking her head, once succeeded, she squinted in the light curiously.
It took her a moment, but she finally managed to make out a small black shape in her doorway, instantly making the connection. "....Hello, Delta... What is it?"
".... I.... um... Princess... Ponies are getting upset. Ponies are getting confused about no moon ... " The tiny Changeling stuttered.
Luna had found him shortly after the attack all those years ago. He--or it, she classified it as a he--was much smaller than the others, a baby, she had assumed. Perhaps one who snuck out on the mission. When the rest of his kind were run out of Equestria, he remained behind, separated and lost from his hive. Anypony could have seen that he was just alone and scared, so the mare had decided not to put the poor thing out of its misery. Instead, she brought him back, named it, gave him a gender, and now considered him like a pet. He certainly acted like one. Celestia was never happy about it, but the moon pony made it clear that she didn't care. Besides, she had learned much about the bug ponies from this little one. For starters, they never seemed to age. She had him for over four hundred years now, and he hadn't grown more than two inches, at the least. She suspected that with enough love, they had eternal youth. And with enough love, they became useless and mindless creatures, rather than the violent and malicious creatures everypony had witnessed. This was the main reason why Luna treated him as some type of dog.
"Yes, I figured. There will be no moon tonight. The sky is currently pretty enough without it." she laid her head back down, closing her eyes again.
The bug shook his head, stepping closer. "There is a riot outside..! Ponies demanding an answer! Guards getting overrun. Ponies fear the Trumpet of Doom..!" He whimpered.
Luna's ear twitched. "Trumpet of Doom? I can assure you, doomsday is very far off. Just say it's.. a reverse eclipse."
Delta tilted his head in confusion. He hardly understood the word 'eclipse', let alone what in her name a 'reverse eclipse' was.
The mare opened an eye at the silence, seeing his confusion. "Don't worry about the meaning, just say it."
He slowly started to nod, any minor confidence he had gained in that split second instantly vanished as hoofsteps thundered down the hall, followed by a loud and furious voice.
"LUNA!"
The night princess groaned and hid back under her blanket as the door flew open the rest of the way, Delta scurrying beneath his master's bed in terror.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EQUESTRIA ARE YOU DOING!?" Celestia roared, a bright aura wrapping around her younger sister and levitating her flailing form in the air. She shook her out of the blanket, the pony crashing onto her bed. "I was sleeping!"
"Why isn't the moon up!? Do you have any idea how many horrified ponies are at our gates!? Half our force is down because so many guards are being trampled over!"
Luna flattened her ears, glaring daggers at her. "A single night without the moon means not a thing, 'Tia!"
"They don't know that! As far as everypony in Equestria is concerned, the world is coming to an end!"
"Then wherefore doth thou not be the almighty ruler thou hast been trying to be and arguing with us about f'r the past three weeks and betoken them that nothing will happen?! Thou wants to be in control, so thou hath to fix it! We art deeply sorry that we art too tir'd to raise our moon because we've been too busy doing thy chores and duties because thou refuses to stop overworking thyself 'til the point that thou passes out!"
"You know nothing of exhaustion, Luna!"
"And neither shouldst ye! But it dost not stop thou, dost it? Thou sit hither and yell at us f'r overworking ourselves when thou doth the same thing!"
"What else am I supposed to do?! I cannot just give it all up, Luna! I cannot just appoint another pony to take my place! I know, okay?! I know what you're saying, believe me! I know!"
Luna narrowed her eyes, her teeth bared.
"It isn't that easy... If I could not do so within a thousand years, what makes you so sure that I can in the hundred or so that I have left?"
"Wherefore would thou leave such a burden on us?"
"You're going to replace me, Luna! You're so much better at teaching these things than I am! I was hoping you'd figure that out! I honestly thought that you were smarter than this, that you'd realise I've been depending on you to appoint somepony in your place when you took mine!"
"'Tia, we doth not want thy place! We like our role plenty! The rising of thy lamp is nay business f'r one who adores the moon!"
"Then find somepony for me! I can't do it on my own! I sent Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville for a reason. She learned everything she needed to know from her own will to learn! I only helped with her transformation, and I nearly screwed that up!"
The moon mare was silent for a few moments, slowly relaxing. "If you know you are at an end, why do you keep digging?"
"I want to give you a chance to replace me and prove to you that I can still do this. I still want to do this! I have many more years in me, Luna."
"'Tia, you've been raising the sun since you were a mere foal. That was over six thousand years ago, if not longer. You needn't carry on any longer. Why can you not just rest and die in peace?"
"Luna, it is peace! It makes me happy! It makes everypone else happy! I want to please them for as long as my body lets me!"
"Yes, but you're going about it the wrong way--!"
"No, I am not! You don't understand, Luna! I will not stop for you or anypony! I love it too much to give it up! The sun and I are only separable by death, why can't you just understand that?!"
"Your death will arrive early if you do not quit! I do not mind the raising and lower of the sun, my only concern is you feel the need to keep up with everything else at the same time!"
"I do!" Celestia wailed, desperate.
"No, you do not!" Her sister snapped, her loud voice echoing off the walls, silencing her elder sibling. "If it keeps up, it will not be death who finds you, 'Tia! It'll be you who finds death!"
The former white mare flattened her ears and half collapsed into a sloppy sitting position, her legs wobbly.
"...'Tia, I only want what is best for you. You're not making any of this easier on me."
"I know, Luna..." She whispered, "I'm sorry..."
Luna grimaced, at the same time her ear flicking at the sound of hooves rapidly clopping through the long hallway. She looked up, just in time to see a frantic Cadence stumble through the door, her breaths coming in short, heavily gasps as she struggled to catch her breath. "......L....L-Luna..! C..Celes...tia! Y-You have to do something...! So much f..fighting... fighting outside! The ponies... Nopony knows what to believe...! They.. They're trying to break down the doors..! Our guards... the guards can barely hold them back..!"
Luna's eyes widened slightly and she jumped up, forcing passed the pink alicorns and galloping down the hall. Celestia wasn't far behind, being tailed by her niece--who was the one helping her keep up in the first place.
But Luna didn't slow. She just wanted to sleep and the sooner she fixed whatever issue there was outside, the sooner she could do just that.
This is the last thing anypony needs!
The sound of the enraged crowd grew louder as the blue mare approached the doors. Her magic tinted the doors blue as she threw them open, galloping out them and skidding to a halt beside a frantic Twilight Sparkle.
Luna looked on in pure shock. Nearly the entire population of Canterlot was at their doorstep, a multitude trying to overrun the guards in large waves. Those stallions were strong, but they could only hold the angry mob back for so long. Other ponies stayed back, merely yelling in a frenzied panic and demanding answers. The mare bit her lip and looked around at all the horrified ponies, trying her best to process each question thrown at her.
Twilight stood beside her, raising her voice and shouting reassurances out to the crowd, but it proved useless. Her voice was easily drowned out.
Pegasi who were in the air above them, half of them barely even able to properly fly in their panic, took notice of Luna's presence and began screaming down at her, frantically demanding that the moon princess tell them what was happening. A few were even trying to fly down and over the guard line in attempts to reach, she assumed, her, but were easily knocked back by quickly conjured barriers, courtesy of the unicorn guards. In response to the reflection, unicorns began using their magic to aid the earth ponies in their violent pushing and shoving; some tried to disperse the forcefield via their own magic and others simply charged horn-first at the magical block.
"Everypony, please!" Twilight called out, desperately trying to reach her voice over the crowd. "Everything is fine, I'm sure of it!"
Celestia and Cadence shortly joined the two, the eldest mare panting heavily while Cadence's breathing came in short breaths. She looked between her aunts expectantly, "Wh..Wh-What do we do...?!" She mouthed, her voice completely drowned out.
As expected, Luna didn't hear a word she said. She could barely decipher what Twilight was saying, and she was barely a hoof away from her. She gnawed on her bottom lip and just barely opened her wings, light blue circling her horn as she gently pushed off the ground and into the sky. What she had intended to be reassuring just intimidated the helpless civilians even more. Even in the sky, she could hear them as clear as day.
Thoroughly exhausted, the mare struggled to begin raising her moon, the blue-tinted orb slowly coming up from over the horizon. However, it only made it half way before she called it quits. Surely this was enough to convince them that the cycle still existed? She was partially right at least. Many began to calm at the sight of the moon, but not enough.
"Luna, what are you doing? Raise the moon!" Twilight attempted to call up to her. Barely able to hear her, Luna only looked down at her, grimacing and shaking her head. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't. She didn't have the energy. She slowly fluttered back down, inhaling deeply before speaking out to the crowd in her loud, court-like tone. "Citizens of Equestria! All of you must leave immediately!" Her voice boomed, every pony within the vicinity falling silent. "There will be no moon tonight! If you happen to see another night such as this, do not be alarmed, for I am currently raising and lowering both my moon and 'Tia's sun!"
The mare was cut off, Celestia stumbling over and harshly butting her shoulder to silence her.
Faint murmurs and whispers started up, a few ponies puzzled by the last statement made by the princess.
Princess Luna was raising the sun? That wasn't right...
"My little ponies, please do not fear" Celestia rasped, "everything will be just fine! Luna is merely doing too much! I do not need her help, she just insists on doing so--"
"Don't need my help?" The blue mare interjected, "'Tia, you're sick! You're going to work yourself to death, you do need my help!"
The lavender alicorn stepped forward, "Luna, I really don't think this is the time to be--"
"Silence, Twilight Sparkle! Everypony should know just what is going on!" She turned to face the crowd once more, "Everypony, take a good, long look at her! She's turned pink! Do you know what that means? She's getting weaker! The older she gets, the darker her coat will become!" She snapped, pointing a hoof at her irritable, elder sister, whom quickly smacked it away. "Luna! Knock it off!"
"No, 'Tia! You do not understand what you are doing!"
"...Excuse me, Your Majesties, I do not mean to interrupt but" a young stallion stepped forward, the guards instantly stepping forward to usher him back. He looked no older than sixteen, at the least. "Princess Luna, why are you doing your sister's job? Just because she's aging... that doesn't mean you have to raise the sun..."
The night mare narrowed her eyes, turning and calmly walking down the steps to meet him, the guards stepping aside. "You do not understand. Do not get involved in what you do not know." She hissed, the stallion flattening his ears slightly, "...M..My apologies, Your Highness..."
Celestia growled deeply. "Luna, you are not going to belittle me behind closed doors any longer, and definitely not in front of my kingdom!"
Luna narrowed her eyes, "You can not stop me--"
"Stop it!" Cadence stepped between the two, "This is not a thing to be discussed right now! We don't need to worry everypony! Deal with this later!"
Twilight hesitantly stepped forward, "Everypony... Please go home... Everything will be fine."
One by one, the crowd of ponies began to slowly disperse, each and every one of them wearing a look of doubt on their face, or at least something similar to one. All while the ancient mares glared daggers at each other, teeth bared threateningly.
The mares of Friendship and Love looked on sadly at the two, both with one initial thought;
What were they supposed to do to fix this?
Cadence sat calmly upon Celestia's throne, legs folded comfortably beneath her as she watched Twilight Sparkle pace the throne room back and forth restlessly. "Twilight, you should probably sit for a little while. You don't want to wear yourself out."
"Not an option, Cadence. We have to figure out a way to fix this! We can't have them fighting, it might cause another Nightmare Moon incident! Or maybe something even worse. What if Celestia has her own dark version? She may be weak but if she were to obtain such dark magic, it wouldn't matter! She'd be unstoppable!"
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself..." The pink mare frowned, "Maybe Starlight Glimmer can help us out. I can even write to Flurry Heart! I bet she'd be more than happy to aid us."
"No, the Crystal Empire needs both of you. In fact, you should probably return soon. Starlight and I have things under control."
"It doesn't really seem like it. Perhaps I can cast a bonding spell, to force them to make up and work together."
"I don't think it would work. To an extent maybe, but not fully."
"Why do you say that?"
"Think about it. Both Celestia and Luna are powerful ponies. They have magic way more advanced than ours will be for a long while. Your magic is good, but I don't think it's strong enough to take complete control over them. If anything, it'd work for a day or so before wearing off. They'd be back to fighting in no time."
Cadence grimaced, "I suppose you're right..."
"However... Starlight has her own advanced magic, magic Celestia herself said she had never seen before. Magic that could rip away what made a pony special."
"What? Twilight! You can't have her take away Celestia's cutie mark!"
"No, no, I'd never do that! What I mean is, what if there's some other spell she can cast? One with... similar effects?"
"I'm sorry, I don't follow..."
"If she can manipulate talents, maybe she can also manipulate minds!" Twilight grinned, "Maybe she can convince Celestia to mellow down!"
After giving it some thought, the love mare began to nod, a smile slowly spread across her face. "Yeah.. Yeah. I guess that could work!"
She nodded, her grin growing even wider. "She should be back tomorrow evening, so I'll have plenty of time to discuss it with her!"
"It's worth a try. I'll do whatever you need me to do to help."
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I have a plan!" Twilight excitedly shuffled on her hooves, turning and galloping out the door.
This would work! It had to work!
