Princess Celestia smiled as she trotted down the halls of her castle. Today was going to be a long, bright summer day, so she decided to make the day extra warm and special. It was still in the early morning, so few other ponies were up. She passed the study where her most faithful student spent countless hours pouring over the books. She smiled at the fond memories as she continued on her way.
After about an hour, she saw a pony she did not expect to see up so early.
"My dear sister, you're not usually up this early. How are you?" She asked Princess Luna.
Luna turned to Celestia with a smile, "Oh, hello, sister. I'm feeling wonderful! How about yourself?" The dark blue pony replied with an uncharacteristic cheer about her.
"I'm doing fine. It's a pleasure to hear you're feeling wonderful! Might I ask why?" Celestia probed. She was curious as to her sister's cheer.
Luna almost seemed confused for a split second, but returned to her smile, "Oh, no reason. It's just a good day." She looked around, "Well, you must be busy. I should let you go." Luna said as she trotted off along her own way.
Celestia couldn't help but worry about that moment of confusion. But, she decided she would ask her about it this night. It was true that Celestia was busy; all the subjects who came to the castle seemed to only show up during the day, and almost nopony came at night. At least it would mean that she would have a chance to talk to Luna.
As Luna continued along the hallways of the castle, she spotted six familiar faces: The six ponies who held the elements of harmony. Upon seeing them, the princess nearly galloped to them, looking very happy to see them.
"Twilight Sparkle, it's nice of you to make it! And it's wonderful to see your friends could come too!" Luna said, excited.
Twilight nodded, "Of course we made it! It's not every day Celestia invites you to tour the castle!"
The ponies could almost swear they saw Luna's eye twitch slightly, "Y-yes! I'm very glad you all could come on the tour." She said, the excitement slowly diminishing, "But there's a lot of castle to see. Celestia recently renovated the observatory. Perhaps you would like to see it tonight?" She offered.
Twilight nodded, "Of course we'd like to see it. It'd be great to see your beautiful night from the royal observatory!"
This seemed to make Luna's excitement stop diminishing, but it didn't go back to its original high, "Alright, I will be sure to make the night extra special then!" Luna looked at the clock on the wall, "Oh, I have to be going. I'll talk to you all later! Make sure to come during the evening, so you can see the moon rise!" She said as she trotted off down the hallway,
"Alright! We'll see you then!" Twilight called out back to Luna.
The royal chef was busy preparing the meal for Celestia and her guests from Ponyville, but he wasn't expecting to receive a visit from Princess Luna, so he was reasonably shocked as she entered the kitchen, walking around as if expecting something. The chef glanced over to her a few times before approaching,
"Excuse me, Princess Luna, but may I ask why you're in the kitchen. You look like you're looking for something.
Luna looked to him, and glanced around at the kitchen counters. She seemed like she couldn't find what she was looking for, "No, it's nothing." She said as she trotted out of the kitchen, her step losing a bit of it's cheer.
Luna hurried to the castle gates. The mail to the castle would always arrive precisely on time. She hadn't met the mailpony yet, but Celestia told her that she was one of the more… "special" of her subjects.
As Luna awaited by the royal mailbox, she saw a figure in the distant sky, and realized why Celestia called her "special." The mailpony was flying in odd little loops and twirls, almost upside down. But the most odd thing was her eyes; Luna could only describe them as "derpy."
"Carrot the spaces!" The mailpony said as she landed in front of Luna, and reaching into her saddlebag. She pulled out a very large stack of mail, and set them in front of Luna.
"Um, yes, thank you." She managed to say, a little confused and creeped out by the odd pony.
"Magic the pumpkin skin! Sunshine uncommon." The mailpony said, as if she were asking something.
Luna was still very confused and uncomfortable, "Um, yes…" She said, "Well, I guess I should be going…"
The mail pony smiled as she picked up her bag and took off again, "Rodeo circumference!" She called out behind her as she flew off.
"Celestia… Celestia… Bill… Celestia… Celestia… Celestia… Celestia… Me!" Luna said excitedly as she filtered through the mail. She sorted it into two piles; mail addressed to her, and mail not addressed to her. She carried her mail to her room and got to work opening them up. She left the massive amount of mail behind, bringing six letters up to her room.
Once she was up there, she instantly used her magic to open them up. She read the first one, and sighed, throwing it aside. She did the same for the other five. All of them had turned out to be very basic and mandatory letters from various ponies giving updates about Equestria. Same thing every day.
Luna sighed as she left her room, her good mood obviously completely torn. She made her way to a few other places around the castle, growing more and more sad with each visit. As the day drew on into the evening, she sat in the observatory, awaiting what she anticipated would be the only good part of the day. She sat in the observatory for an hour, watching Celestia lower the sun. She had to hurry down there soon so she could raise the moon. But she wanted to wait for Twilight and her friends to come to the observatory first. She looked all around the castle grounds, until she saw the familiar lavender pelt in a window on the other side of the castle. She could see that the ponies were having a party of sorts in that room, Twilight obviously too engrossed in a conversation to intend on leaving soon.
Luna sadly and slowly made her way to the throne room, passing few ponies on the way. Everpony always seemed to be up during the daytime. She found herself entering the throne room, tired from being up all day. But she still had to be up all night to control the moon and give audience to her subjects that never came to her.
The thoughts in her head almost caused her to cry as she made her way to the throne. She took a deep breath and put on her best calm face; Luna was quite skilled at hiding her emotions. She didn't want her sister to see her so sad.
She finally made her way to the throne and smiled a fake smile at Celestia, "Good evening, Luna. Have you had a nice day?" Celestia asked, cheerful yet tired.
Luna nodded, "Yes, I have. It was nice to see the daytime, seeing as everypony but I see it every day." She said, keeping the façade.
Celestia nodded as she left the throne, "That's very good to hear." She said, "I hope you have a wonderful night. I'm off to talk to Twilight Sparkle and her friends."
Luna nodded, "Oh, send them my regards." She spoke as she ascended the throne.
"I will." Celestia said as she trotted off towards the guest's quarters.
Once Celestia was gone, Luna glanced at the observatory. In the glass room of the observatory, any occupant would easily be seen from the throne. But Luna didn't see a single pony. She looked to the throne room. During the day, masses would flock to hail Celestia, and pay their reverence and respect. But during the night, there wasn't a soul to keep her company.
Luna looked to the cold, hard ground as she used her magic to raise the moon. Normally, she would spend the entire day dreaming of what to include in the night. She would put her entire being, her entire soul, her every breath into making the night beautiful. But tonight, the moon was hardly visible, the stars invisible, not a single one shining through. The night sky was covered in a black shroud of darkness; the beautiful hues of violet and blue completely missing. The faint glow of the night was gone, and equestrian had no lights from above, only was no heart put into this night. There was no thought, no care, no consideration, no love.
Luna cried to herself in the dark, cold throne room, her tears falling from her face to the majestic carpet under her. Through her soft crying, she sang a sad song. She had sung this song to herself every year for one thousand years while she was alone on the moon. She had thought that this year, she could have others sing it. She thought she could feel warmth on this day. But that would not happen. She sang the song quietly, and even if she sang it loud, nopony would hear her,
"Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear Luna, happy birthday to me…"
...
Celestia awoke just before the dawn, as she always had. It was nearing the time when she
needed to raise the sun. She clambered out of her bed and worked on making herself look as elegant
and regal as ever. She had such a very fun night, partying with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. She
suggested that next time Luna should attend, to which they heartily agreed.
She exited her quarters to find the castle in a panic; At first she thought they were under attack.
She hurried to a guardspony and questioned him.
“What is the meaning of this chaos?” She asked, her gentle demeanor replaced by her
protective personality.
The guard looked to Celestia, “Oh thank, Celestia, er, Celestia.” He said, relieved, “After we
found out about this incident, we were worried if something happened to you.”
Celestia looked around, “Incident? What incident?”
“It’s Princess Luna, your highness! She’s missing!” The guard told her, “But that’s not the worst
of it! We suspect she was kidnapped!”
“Kidnapped? Who would dare kidnap a princess?” Celestia demanded.
“I-I don’t know, you’re highness. We suspect she was kidnapped due to the flaming hole in the
wall of the throne room!”
“Flaming what?!” Celestia demanded as she galloped to the throne room.
As Celestia entered the throne room, she could easily see the damage. And indeed, there was a
flaming hole in the throne room wall. A few yards of the wall was completely blown apart, obviously by
some magic. She hurried to the damage, but was stopped when she heard a familiar voice call out from
behind her.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called out as she and her friends hurried to her, “The guards told us
to stay in our rooms because of some incident, so we ignored them and went to look for you. What
happened?” She asked, shaken and worried.
“I’m sorry to say, Twilight, but Princess Luna has been kidnapped.” Celestia said, regrettably.
“Kidnapped? What kind of monstrosity would kidnap a princess?” Rarity asked.
“I don’t know. Equestria doesn’t have any enemies currently. It must be somepony with a
grudge against either Luna or myself.” Celestia concluded.
“Well, what are we waiting for? We have to go rescue Princess Luna!” Rainbow Dash asserted.
“Yeah, we can’t just sit by and let this happen. It ain’t right!” Applejack agreed.
“Normally, I would say that we should wait, but I don’t think we have that luxury. I agree with
Applejack and Dash.” Twilight said.
Celestia just nodded, “Yes, you’re right. I want you six to go and find Princess Luna, and bring
her kidnapper to justice!” Celestia said, fighting tears.
Twilight Sparkle came closer to the princess. There were few ponies who were close enough to
read the princess’s emotions like Twilight could, “Princess Celestia, are you alright?”
Celestia shook her head, “Honestly, I’m not. I’m afraid for my sister. I care about her as much as
I care about my kingdom.” She said, shaking her head once more, “But I cannot let the public see me like
this. In these rare times of worry, I have to be strong for my subjects.” She said as she trotted up to the
throne.
“I can’t believe they made such a mess too!” Rarity remarked at the damage done to the
beautiful throne room.
“I know! This is probably the messiest kidnapping I’ve ever seen! Well, it’s the only kidnapping
I’ve ever seen, and I hope it stays that way.” Pinkie replied, “I mean, kidnapping is so mean! I bet Luna is
crying her eyes out right now!”
...
“I hate them!” Princess Luna screamed as she flew rapidly through the dense forest, her tears
streaming behind her. She was well away from Canterlot by now, almost out of Equestria. She carried
nothing but her crown and necklace, and a single saddlebag.
She tore through the forest, using her magic to demolish every tree, stone and bush in her path,
leaving an evident and powerful destruction in her wake. She reached a small clearing in the woods,
next to a river.
“They forgot my birthday!” She screamed, “My birthday!” She cried.
Luna couldn’t forgive Celestia for this. It’s not like her birthday was a secret. She had told
Celestia at least twelve times the prior week, but she hadn’t told her for a few days now. And Luna
remembered Celestia’s birthday. She even baked a cake all on her own and surprised Celestia by waking
her up.
“But she wouldn’t do the same for you, would she? I bet she doesn’t even care about you!” A
sinister voice sounded.
Luna knew that voice, “Go away! I don’t need you!” She shouted angrily.
The voice cackled madly, “You need me just as much as I need you.” It replied.
Luna walked to the river and looked to her reflection, “Why don’t you leave me alone?”
Her reflection morphed into the shape of Nightmare Moon, “I won’t leave you alone because
you won’t let go of me. You miss the power I gave you, even more so now that your own sister, and the
closest things you had to friends completely forgot about you.”
“I-I don’t care. I don’t need you with me!” Luna fought back.
“It’s too late, my dear. You’ve already let me in once. I can get in again. And you’ll be just as
willing as you were the first time.”
“No! I don’t need you, go away!” Luna screamed as she used her magic to crash a small boulder
into the reflection of Nightmare Moon, “I don’t need you…” She repeated to herself as she whimpered.
“You’ll come to me in time, my dear…” Nightmare moon whispered into her ear as she departed
for now.
Luna decided not to stick around any longer. It was clear that somepony with powerful magic
had been here. She rose back into the air and flew off, much more discreet this time, South towards
whatever lie ahead.
Celestia, after raising the sun, had left the throne room and entered Luna’s quarters. The room
looked immaculate and untouched; still perfectly clean, the way Luna always had her room. She looked
around for any sign, and signal, but could find none.
It wasn’t until she turned to leave her room when her eyes were attracted to something. She
looked at what hung on the wall: a calendar with days crossed off in dark blue ink. Celestia looked at the
dates that the crossmarks led up to. The second her eyes read the words that Luna had written, her eyes
dilated in shock.
“Oh dear…”
