A Cuckoo in the Nest

Staring down over the edge of the cloud, the white alicorn watched as the dark blue Princess led one of Celestia’s chariots up towards the cloud she was on. She allowed herself one more throaty cackle before flexing her majestic white wings and setting off to intercept the party coming towards her.

Luna looked up and was confused. Why had her sister left the clearly exhausted Sunchaser to come down and meet her?

“Sister, Sister!” called the white alicorn “Something terrible has happened – Sunchaser vanished as she lay on the cloud recovering! I feel so awful, as if I am responsible … I just don’t know what to say; one minute she was there, and the next she had gone. I’m so, so sorry …”
“Do not blame yourself, Sister” calmed Luna “There is strange magic afoot. If you will allow, I can cast a spell which may reveal what has happened.”

The shapeshifter thought fast, realising that Luna would probably be able to detect the fresh residue of the magic she had used only a matter of minutes ago.
“Sister, I … I’m not feeling so good” she acted “I … I don’t know what’s wrong, but I suddenly feel dizzy …”
“Sister, we must get you to the Royal Physician without delay!” instructed Luna rallying to her sister’s aid “It is lucky we have a chariot here for you.”
“Don’t … don’t leave my side, Luna …”
“Of course, Sister” replied Luna, now suddenly feeling concerned for her safety; such a request had never left her lips before, so her need was clearly great.

“Sirs!” she barked to the charioteers who had parked on the cloud “Celestia is unwell and I think it has something to do with the strange magic we have seen this morning. I must stay with her in the back and comfort her.”
Both charioteers looked at the Princess of the Night and then at each other, both poised resolutely for whatever duties they had to perform to protect the Princesses.

Luna did not want to catalyse any further mishaps with the magic flying around today and elected to carry her sister manually to the chariot rather than use a levitation spell that would have been considerably easier. Celestia was her sister and even though she had sent Luna to the moon for a thousand years, the bond was very strong and she lovingly carried the much heavier pony over to the waiting chariot, gently resting her down before climbing in herself and giving the order to go.

The white alicorn suppressed a malevolent grin as Luna fussed over her and reassured her that she would soon be receiving the best medical attention in Equestria, never leaving her side for an instant. For some reason, Luna found her energy depleting in close proximity to her sister, but put it down to yet another effect of the weird magic that had been in evidence this morning. At the same time, the white alicorn almost purred with the love she was drawing into her veins.

The charioteers made a perfect landing with no hint of a bump, coming to a stop in the courtyard of the Royal Castle as close as they could to the infirmary. Despite her sudden tiredness, Luna sprang out and hustled the orderlies, demanding the immediate presence of the Royal Physician and ordering in no uncertain terms that he was to be pulled from his bed if it was necessary. She was a whirlwind of activity, but once everypony had been alerted to the medical emergency and for whom their services were required, she returned to supervise the white alicorn being unloaded from the chariot, casting a protective eye and daring anypony to face her wrath if they caused any further harm. Whilst she had once craved Equestria for herself, she knew now this was not the right path and would forevermore be prepared to fight to the death to protect her sister.

A crowd soon formed as would-be helpers jostled amongst each other to offer their services, none remaining unmoved by the sight of Princess Celestia, their brave defender, being handled from the chariot. Sure, they knew she was immortal, but what if the prophecy was wrong? What if they were watching the last moments of the Sun Princess? No matter what hardships she had faced, nopony had ever seen her fail to carry herself with regal statesmanship; this was surely a constitutional crisis unfolding before their eyes!

A blanket was thrown over her white body and a drip plunged into her foreleg with an orderly carrying the attached bottle aloft as she was manoeuvred carefully inside, ponies scuttling in every direction. With the body gently placed on an operating table, the Royal Physician, still in his nightshirt was seen to force his way through the crowd.

“Only those on the Resus Team with me, everypony else OUT!” he demanded, then adding in a much more reverential tone “Except for you Princess Luna, if you would like to stay.”

She looked into his eyes and knew that her hanging about would only complicate matters, so out of respect for the job he had to do, she filed out with the others, the Physician giving her a grateful nod of thanks as she departed. As Luna watched from the viewing gallery, she sensed that something was wrong, but couldn’t put her finger on it. Whatever it was, it was going to bug her for some time to come.

High above Canterlot a cloud coated with magic residue dissipated, removing all evidence of what had happened.

***

Luna was kept busy with taking on responsibilities for controlling the disparate functions during both day and night; keeping oiled the mechanisms that allowed ponies’ daily lives to progress smoothly. Controlling the sun and moon was the easy part; moreover it was the politics of holding Court that really dragged her down. She was an artist, not a politician and found it difficult to decipher the hidden meanings behind the words and actions that appeared so positive on the surface, but yet were barbed with unannounced and unintended consequences. She developed a much more acute respect for her sister’s abilities now she was the one upon whom total responsibility fell, very much as Celestia had for a thousand years without her support, and this was only the first day.

As Luna turned day into night, she felt drawn between the two emotions of wanting to do a beautiful job of painting the night sky, yet also craving a few hours sleep. In the end, her nocturnal body clock prevailed and she carried out the roles of both sky artist and dream walker, but neither to a degree that satisfied her own personal standards.

Soon it was time for dawn and she set about nudging the moon down to rest, rest she had not had herself, before raising the sun for the daily rituals of courtly life to begin over. She was tired; her body conspiring with the worries she had for her sister to leave her exhausted with a full day of commitments ahead.

Word had been relayed every hour round the clock to advise that her sister was making a steady recovery, but only now was she finally allowed to go visit. The Royal Physician had, of course, granted Luna access at any hour as she chose, but she waited out of professional courtesy to be summoned at a time that suited both him and his patient.

The Royal Physician’s invitation had been received during a particularly dull political debate about a proposed new colour scheme for the post boxes in Equestria, a subject that gave opposing politicians the opportunity to make long impassioned speeches that ultimately led nowhere of consequence, but had to be played out anyway. Escape could not come soon enough.

She politely thanked the page who had come with the notification and tendered her apologies to all present, those who had not yet spoken being particularly crestfallen that their well-rehearsed and long-winded rhetorical prowess would not be heard by the Princess today.

Although she wanted to race to her sister’s side, she appreciated that any serious change in her condition would have been met with a much more urgent request for her attendance, so restrained her eager hoofsteps as befitted royalty within the castle.

The Royal Physician stood ready to intercept her and drew the Princess to one side, leading her into his office.
“Your Majesty, the Princess Celestia is recovering well, but rejects even the smallest amounts of food. Not only that, but she keeps making elementary lapses in judgement and comment, almost as if parts of her memory are missing. I cannot be certain how the events you described affected her, but she is not yet herself; however, she is insistent on returning to duty, so I cannot refuse her. I would suggest that you shadow her in her duties, just for the time being to ensure that her recent lapses do not lead to significant embarrassment within the Court and beyond.”

“Thank you; you serve us well” said Luna “The integrity of her judgement has never been called into question before, but none of us knows exactly what happened when Sunchaser vanished.”

The Royal Physician bowed and led Luna onward to where his patient waited.