It was a cold night. The wind blew softly through the trees throughout the forests, making a soft musical sound as the stars twinkled in the sky, showing themselves off to everypony in the world. The constellations were set perfectly as they should be and the occasional star would shoot through the sky.
The beautiful full moon shone down upon the lands of Equestria, filling the sky with its soft light.
Princess Luna walked through the castle admiring her night through the huge stained glass windows. She walked towards the window as she sighed, looking up at the moon. It had been an uneventful night so far which slightly bored her. Nopony seemed to be having nightmares so she saw no point in going into the dream dimension.
Luna thought of what to do as she walked towards her bedroom. Maybe she would head towards the Everfree Forest. There was always a creature lurking in the shadows in there.
Luna shook the thought away, dismissing it as she turned the corner nearing her bedroom. Then she stopped and glanced over to where her own sister’s room was. She noticed the door was slightly ajar and that the guards were not standing in front of her door as they usually did. Hmmm. Strange.
She walked towards the room then peeked in. She didn't see anypony in there and she couldn't hear anything either. I wonder where she could be at this time of night? Curiosity got the best of her and she walked into Celestia’s room.
Upon entering Luna saw that the room was quite clean except for the few books that were scattered across the floor. She found it a bit fascinating as she picked up a few of the books examining them, she remembered her sister being a bit more disorganized when they were younger. It seemed to her that Celestia may have changed that habit over the millennia she was gone.
Luna smirked and was about to leave the room when a book caught her attention. It seemed like a rather old brown leather book with something that looked like Celestia’s cutie mark on its cover. It sat by her sister’s bed, with a red quill sitting next to it along with an ink jar.
She knew deep down inside her what it may be, but she wanted to check to be absolutely sure.
She walked to where the book was then saw that it had Celestia’s name imprinted on the cover at the bottom corner of it. Luna knew very well that it was frowned upon to snoop in other ponies’ business, but curiosity got the best of her.
Was this what she believed it to be? What would her sister have to say about things when she thought no pony was looking?
Luna levitated the book towards her then opened it to the first page. The pages were filled with a grand amount of elaborate doodles along the edges of the paper to where Celestia’s writing was confined in the middle.
“’Tis obvious that sister was either really bored or she decided to put her talent in drawing to use.” Luna thought to herself.
She chuckled softly then began to read, trying to ignore the long vines that occasionally tangled themselves into the writing.
“Dearest Luna,”
Luna blinked before she glanced at it again. Did that say?
“Dearest Luna,”
She was confused. If this was Celestia’s journal why did she start it with “Dearest Luna”? That was not the proper way to begin a journal entry, was it? Unless things had simply changed in Equestria while she was gone, which she doubted.
Luna shook her head and read.
Dearest Luna,
This is simply the most horrible thing I have ever done in my lifetime. I know I cannot write to you or contact you where you are, but I need to say this. I must. If I do not then I may lose my mind from simply being silent as I have for far too long. So I shall say it.
Then for the love of moonlight say it, Celestia! Luna thought of how she would poke fun at her sister for being a bit dramatic in her way of speaking, then continued reading.
First of all, no pony knows the truth behind what happened. They all believe that you rebelled against me for no reason, they say that you were simply selfish and wished to rule Equestria for yourself as Sombra did before us. I wanted to explain everything to them...to tell them that the fault has never been yours, that everything you have done is my own fault. But I feel that no matter what I say they shall not listen. All they see is a savior that has banished a monster, where I see the exact opposite.
I should have seen the signs, I should have talked to you and tried to help you. Oh my dear sister, if only I had been there for you, then maybe we would not be in the place we are in.
I never imagined that I would rule on my own. I thought that we would always be together, sharing the weight of the crown we were bestowed with after we defeated Discord.
But it seems that that is not the case. Now I must carry this burden myself and rule our beautiful land of Equestria.
I rose the moon for the first time the other day, Luna. You were right, the feeling that runs through your body as you feel its lunar magic grab ahold of you is simply unbelievable. ‘Tis so different from raising the sun. I find myself quite jealous of your night. The beauty of it is almost indescribable at times. Unlike my day, which burns with the same light every day, easily manipulated by the weather pegasi when they please, the night is much stronger than that. A beautiful day can be ruined by a rainstorm, but a night can be the most wonderful one ever when those soft droplets of rain gently lull ponies into a deep sleep.
I'm sitting outside right now as I write to you, the moon is full tonight, shining its beautiful light throughout the lands. I look up at the moon and I think of you. The image of you in the moon breaks my heart...I try to hold back my tears every time I raise or lower it.
If only I could just take you from it, rescue you from the darkness that eats at you. But I know that I cannot. We must wait for a thousand winters to pass until we see each other again.
Do you realize how hard this is? To look up and to see where you are banished every night, to know that I am the reason you are there in the first place? I didn't know, sister! I promise you that I had no idea what the Elements were going to do to you.
I thought they would simply cleanse you of the magic that had corrupted you, but now I see that it was more than this. They decided that in order to restore harmony you had to leave. Perhaps this is because they sensed that they were fighting one of their bearers, so they saw that if we were not worthy of using them then we should never be allowed to have any connection to them ever again.
They have hidden themselves in stone, which means Equestria is left without a precious mean of defense which we have used. I hope and pray that I have no use for them in the future. I am sure deep down you wish the same as I.
Oh Luna... you have no idea how much I blame myself for this. I was stupid and naive.
I thought myself an immortal among our subjects as they showered me with praise and admiration. I was so proud to be the Princess of the Sun, to see the smiles I brought to everypony by simply showing myself to them.
Never did I think of what little they said if you, all I could think of was myself.
I'm sorry I never defended you, Luna. Now I see how badly they mistreated you. I also see how badly I myself mistreated you,
By towering over you and constantly gaining praise for every little thing I did and receiving credit even for things I did not always do, I soon cast a shadow so great that it made you almost disappear completely.
It was too late when I finally took notice of how depressed you were, and of how the ponies took so little notice of the Princess who was responsible to giving them their beautiful night and for protecting them in their dreams.
I didn't love you as much as I should have. I should have she showed you how much you meant to me. There was so many things that I should have done that may have saved you. But I did not. Your selfish sister simply walked away. I left you to your tears and sorrow instead of comforting you. Holding you as you cried, telling you how much you’re loved, protecting you from the darkness that threatened you, making sure you were given your dues as you deserved.
Luna. My precious little sister. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the ways I have done you wrong. I'm sorry I couldn't save you…
How could I have sent you away? How could I have done this to you? My baby sister. My only family I have left? You are my everything, yet I have banished you for a thousand years.
Oh by Tarturas!
Um… did sister just use foul language? Luna peered at the scribbled out line closer then chuckled. “I shall definitely have to chastise her for this later.”
The stars are shining brighter now. I remember when you created these constellations. That is one of my greatest memories of you. Watching you in your room carefully planning these constellations, every single star had to be in its proper place or you would lose your mind. It was funny when I moved your stars a bit to annoy you. You were so angry with me, but we both soon laughed it off.
Ha. I miss those times. Our useless fights we would have. The long talks we would have in our little secret room. The time we ran throughout our castle, determined to find every single one of the secret passageways. That was fun, was it not Luna?
I remember one time when I had gotten lost in one of the tunnels and you had to find me. It was hilarious for you, but I damaged my pride quite a bit when I couldn't find my way out of a simple tunnel. Then to top it off you set a group of vampire bats loose in the tunnels scaring the living daylights out of me! It was absolutely hilarious for you, but ’twas not for me. My pride was damaged beyond anything, yet you still found a way to cheer me up and make me get over the fact you had tricked me.
Ah. Luna laughed to herself, remembering.
“Yes. That was quite funny.” she admitted to herself then continued to read.
It seems it is time for me to raise the sun. I honestly do not wish to today, sister. I am quite fond of this particular night. I have no idea why, is this perhaps your influence?
Ha. If only it were true….
Oh my dear Luna…
— a couple of obvious teardrops were dribbled on the pages making the next couple of sentences a bit illegible, so Luna skipped to where she could read —
Fate is a cruel thing, is it not?
If only it could be changed…
Luna, before I lower the moon I wish to say at least one last thing to you.
I'm sorry for being so foolish and not seeing that you needed me as much as you did.
Luna, you are so loved, please know this.
I love you so very much.
Forgive me. I implore you.
I must lower the moon, Lulu.
Tomorrow night I shall go out and fly with you in our dreams. It will be great fun.
And in a thousand years I shall see you again.
Until then, fare thee well.
With Love, Tia
Luna felt a tear run down her cheek as she finished reading the entry. She ran her hoof over Celestia’s beautiful signature in admiration and love.
Sweet Celestia. To think that I ever doubted you.
She lowered her head away from the desk and breathed deeply, hoping that she hadn't stained the book with fresh tears. This was simply too precious to ruin.
Suddenly a hoof resting on her shoulder surprised her. She looked up, her eyes wide as if she had been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. Celestia stood before her, a couple of tears running down her own cheeks.
Not a word was spoken, they simply stared at each other. Luna closed the book with her magic then forced herself to smile, hoping to fight through the barrel of emotions that were trying to overtake her.
Celestia smiled a sweet smile as she ran a hoof through her sister’s mane in a caring way.
They didn't seem to wish to break the silence, Luna simply pushed Celestia’s hoof away then nuzzled her affectionately before she hugged her. Celestia wrapped her hooves around her and let her tears fall.
“I forgive you Tia.” Luna whispered.
Author's Note
As you may have guessed, I was inspired to write this after I listened to "Lullaby for a Princess".
Thanks for reading
