Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land.
"Look, sister. These ponies may be small, but they still love us, no matter what may happen to us.
"Indeed, sister...if one could call it love..."
"Ugh...Luna-"
"I shall be in my room."
To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.
"Luna, what are you doing up so late?"
"..."
"...look, I know you're upset about what happened today. I should not have snapped at you at dinner. But you must consider the simple fact that you are not-"
"Are not what, dear sister? Not important enough to share the spotlight with the likes of you? Not as loved as your fellow ponies?!
"Luna-!"
"Not as able to perform my duties, is that what you were going to say, Celestia?!
"You- just- I cannot-"
"Cannot what? Face the truth? You cannot even speak your mind, because you have been led astray by your POOR, MISLED, STUPID-"
*Slap*
"YOU DO NOT SPEAK OF MY SUBJECTS THAT WAY, LUNA! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
"..."
"Wha- bu- no. No. No, wait. I- I didn't mean to hurt you Luna, I didn't-"
"You very clearly never meant to do a lot of things, Celestia."
"And now it's too late to do them."
*flap*
"...no. What have I done?"
One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.
"Luna? Luna, where are you? D-don't do anything rash, we can figure this-"
"Not. Another. Step."
"Luna! Oh, thank goodness you are alright! Let's get back, and then we can...Luna? What are you doing?"
"Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?"
"...NO! LUNA, PLEASE! PLEASE COME BACK! WE CAN REALLY RULE TOGETHER THIS TIME!"
"There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be me!"
"LUNA!"
"Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!"
"Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you! And where do you think you're going?"
"Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO-"
Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both the sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria ever since...
*Gasp*
The white-furred, rainbow-maned mare jolted awake from the sudden end of the dream. Her breathing took a full minute to fully slow down to a normal speed. When her heart stopped threatening to beat out of her chest, she took a deep sigh.
One thousand years...
One thousand years since the banishment of Nightma- Luna to the far reaches of the moon. One thousand years of having the same dream every night while putting on a brave face during the day. One thousand years, and nopony even remembered the second princess who would lead Equestria. They only remembered the Nightmare.
Princess Celestia wiped the tears from off of her cheeks, and just in time, because her servants had just begun to enter her room.
"Good morning, Your Highness!" a voice chirped to her left. Sunny Skies was a very cream-colored earth pony, just the type of servant a princess could ask for: well-adjusted, chipper, always ready to please in any way she could.
Goddess, how Celestia hated it.
But somehow, (as she always did), she managed to smile and look Sunny in the eyes.
"And a very good morning to you as well, Miss Skies." Celestia rose from her queen-size bed to make ready for her day. "Tell me, what is on the schedule today?" she asked as two guards placed her shoes on the floor and readied her royal regalia.
"Um, schedule, schedule...Ah, uh, it was here somewhere..." Sunny muttered and began searching her bags for the very important thing that the princess needed before she was banished to- "Hay, I found it!"
"My schedule?"
"Nope! That leftover pizza I saved from lunch a couple of days ago! And it's still good!"
"Ahem."
Sunny turned slowly as she faced her most high along with two guards, who had faces that would not have been called 'amused' (especially given the fact that Sunny always took the pizza for herself).
"...right. Schedule." She dug in some more, past the twenty-something breadsticks in her bag and pulled out a slightly grease-covered list of items. She cleared her throat and began to speak:
"First off, the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia wish to have their favorite restaurant booked. Again. That, along with Blueblood's royal announcement of his eleventh bride-to-be should take up most of the morning. You have a luncheon with a Mr. Filthy Rich who wishes to..."
Celestia's thoughts drifted off as her sunny servant rambled off what she was doing today. She sighed inwardly at her life-long predicament. To put it simply, she absolutely hated being told what to do every day of every month of every year. She only wished to be back with her ponies, not as royalty, as Celestia, a pony who only wanted to have fun. Alas, it was never meant to be. Ever since that fateful day when she had assumed the duties of both the sun and the moon, her royal council had insisted that she gain extra protection, and that she should never be left alone, except in her most private moments.
She hated it all. She hated not being able to eat ice cream or visit a park or simply fly away and for one day, just one stupid day, she wouldn't have to be-
"Princess Celestia?"
Her mind jolted back to reality, and she then stated a very important fact to Sunny: "Habuzewa?"
...smooth.
Sunny held a very concerned look on her face, which matched her highness' scowl.
"You, uh, are you feeling okay?"
Celestia gave a sigh. It simply would not do to let a princess be emotional. After all, it was always about her royal subjects, never about her.
"It's nothing, Sunny. I'm fine." she lied. She noticed her guards had fallen asleep on both sides of her, each holding a piece of royal regalia and snoring like a Breezy with a lost voice. She stamped her hooves, and the sound resonated through the room.
"I love you, Tom!"
"I never get pizza!"
...very smooth.
Both guards immediately realized what had just happened and snapped back into their places holding Celestia's crown and necklace, one looking more uncomfortable than the other (1) . She slipped into the golden gear and raised her head and grinned.
"I'm ready for a new day."
"Oh, wait!" cried out Sunny Skies, before Celestia could walk out of the door. "In a couple of days, the one-thousandth Summer Sun Celebration is coming!"
Celestia froze. She turned to look at Sunny.
"...what?"
Sunny, while a bit intimidated, responded with all of the enthusiasm she could muster: "In two days, it will be one thousand years since the defeat of the evil Nightmare Moon! Don't you remember?"
Celestia did not remember. While she knew it was one thousand years since she had taken on her doubled responsibilities, she had completely forgotten the date. Two days until the anniversary of the most evil pony known to ponykind. Two days until she had been banished for a millennium. Two days until she would come back.
"...Luna?"
