Princess Celestia loved sunrise.
When she was younger, it had been difficult to get up at dawn every day to raise the sun. Of course, back then everypony got up at dawn, so it wasn’t as difficult as modern ponies would assume. Still, it had taken her more than a century to really settle into the routine. But that was all in the past.
Now it was her favorite part of the day. Just her and her star, no audiences, no formality, no duties, just a powerful magic emanating from her horn and soul. Celestia tilted her head back as she felt herself floating above the balcony, her wings flapping ever so slightly. She could feel the light spreading over her from the heavens. The reds and pinks and purples dripping across the sky as the rooster crowed, interrupting the beautiful silence. Satisfied with her work, she slowly floated back to the ground and smiled at the Day she had created. She relished the wonderful feeling of fulfilling her purpose in life as she trotted back inside.
Still feeling the warm afterglow of the sun’s magic, she levitated over her crown, chestplate, and horseshoes, and delicately placed them onto herself, laying them just so. They matched perfectly the paintings of her from centuries ago. Not even bothering to look into a mirror, Celestia trotted out of her room gracefully and pushed open the doors.
“Good morning, Princess Celestia,” her loyal guards greeted her.
“Thank you,” she said demurely. “Good morning to you, too, Bravehoof, Gold Plate.”
The guards exchanged nervous glances with each other. “Your Highness,” said Gold Plate softly, “With all due respect, I am Gleaming Shield. I do not know who Gold Plate is.”
“And I am Spearpoint, Your Majesty,” said the other. “But I have heard of Bravehoof. He was your personal guard before he became Captain of the Guard- three hundred years ago.”
“Oh! Gleaming Shield, Spearpoint, I am so sorry,” she said. “You’re right of course. Something must have come over me for a second there.”
“No harm done, Your Highness,” said Not-Bravehoof. “If anything, it’s an honor to be compared to Bravehoof. He was one of the greatest guards who ever lived.”
“We just want to make sure you are alright,” added Not-Gold Plate.
“Oh, I am fine,” she said calmly. “Just a slip of the mind, that is all.”
“Happens to us all,” chuckled Not-Bravehoof. “Have a good day, Princess.”
“Thank you, Spearpoint, Gleaming Shield,” she said as she left for breakfast.
The day progressed with the boring disputes and policy meetings that all mixed with each other and all the meetings from the past centuries to bleed into one giant meeting that never ended. Now she was having tea and crumpets with some ponies over some issue that was very important to somepony. Not to her, though. Perhaps it should be. She is the Princess, after all. She looked up to the ponies who were talking and smiled. There was Straight Cut, the diamond dealer. He was looking at her with that friendly face, a real one, not the smile-for-the-Princess face that she saw from most ponies. “And how are you doing, Straight Cut?” she asked.
He laughed. “Honestly, Princess? I’m a bit tired. Emerald Shard made a huge mess in my living room and it was quite difficult to clean up. Well, baby Unicorns and their magic, it can’t be helped. I wouldn’t trade him for the world. But it can be quite a lot of work.”
She chuckled in response, glad he was comfortable enough to speak with her so casually. Not many ponies were. “Yes, that’s how Unicorn foals are,” she agreed. She paused. “Straight Cut, I didn’t know you and Diamond Dust had another foal. Congratulations!”
“Oh, no!” he laughed. “Another foal? I can’t imagine! No, Emerald is my grandson. Though I’m honored Her Highness thinks of me and Diamond Dust as young enough to still be having foals. I couldn’t do it- I’m an old stallion now and I’m tired.”
“Of course,” she said diplomatically, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from being a bit downcast. It is going to be one of those days, then.
The rest of the early morning activities passed by in a blur. They weren’t fast, exactly, but nor could they be described as slow. Her last item of business before her lunch break was the beginnings of negotiations about a bridge between Baltimare and Fillydelphia. She listened intently to the govornors of both municipalities as well as the other advisors at the meeting. Suddenly a thought struck her. “Why do we even need this bridge? There is the path around the Fillydelphia lake that is really not that far. We could just spruce that up and direct ponies there.”
An awkward silence filled the room. Finally the governor of Baltimare spoke up. “Ahem... Princess Celestia... most of that path has been developed over. Ponies started using that land maybe... a hundred years ago or so? I mean, other than that it’s a great idea....”
“Oh. Yes, you’re right,” she said. She sat silently for the rest of the meeting and allowed the ponies to converse amongst themselves.
When the meeting ended and everypony had left, she turned to her assistant. “Raven, please cancel the rest of my engagements for the day.”
Raven’s eyes popped out a bit. “Cancel your engagements? Your Highness, there is so much to do! And a lot of these issues are rather urgent.”
She laughed humorlessly. “Trust me, my dear Raven, there is nothing on this list so urgent that it must be dealt with now. Please cancel everything.”
“I- of course, Princess.”
“Thank you.” She trotted out of the room and toward her own chambers. Once upon a time, many centuries ago, she would have tried to work through a day like this. Now she knew better. She stood in front of her room, to her guards’ intense surprise, and said, “Gleaming Shield, Spearpoint, please make sure I am not disturbed for any reason by anypony. Thank you.”
She then trotted off into her quarters, sighed, and took off her crown and the rest of her regalia. She stepped out onto the balcony, sat down on her haunches, and stared dolefully out into the sky without moving.
“Hello, Celestia,”
She turned her head. “Luna. Didn’t my guards tell you I didn’t want visitors?”
“Yes, but I am a princess. They could not exactly block me from entering,” her sister responded coyly.
“I know. That’s why I hoped you would stay out simply because I requested it.”
Luna flew over and sat down next to her sister. “Celestia, I did not want to disturb you. But you canceled all your activities for the day. A lot of ponies were quite shocked. And you had a tea party with Twilight Sparkle scheduled for the day. She was devastated that you canceled. She is convinced that you are angry with her. As your former student, she would never deign to disturb you. But I am your sister and have no such obligations. I promised her I would try to figure out was wrong, although I tried to reassure her it was not her fault.”
Celestia looked at Luna for a long time. “I forgot about that tea party. Of course Twilight Sparkle blames herself. And of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with her.”
Luna looked at Celestia intently. “Well, then, dear Sister, what is bothering you so?”
Rather than respond directly, Celestia said, “If you are so intent on playing messenger, Luna, then tell Twilight Sparkle that I am a very old, very tired mare and I simply do not have the energy today to perform my duties or attend social gatherings.”
Luna draped her wing over her sister gently. “Having one of those days?”
Celestia sighed. “Sometimes I wonder why all of my days have not turned into ‘one of those days’ by now.”
Luna got up. “I am going to come back, Sister, after I speak to Twilight Sparkle. Although I am not sure she will understand what you mean when you put it like that. I shall tell her you are a bit upset at the moment.”
“Thank you, Luna, but there is no need for you return here. I am fine by myself.”
“No, you are not.” Luna said authoritatively and exited.
Celestia was surprised when not one but two Alicorns came out to her on the balcony. Luna was there, of course, but she brought with her a shorter, purple Alicorn whose eyes were a bit reddened. “Princess Celestia!”
Celestia turned when her former student called out her name. “Twilight Sparkle. Please do not think I canceled our tea party because of anything you did. I simply was not feeling up to it.”
Twilight trotted up to her mentor slowly. “Princess, I’m sorry you’re feeling sad. Do you... want to to talk about it?”
Celestia looked away from her. “It is something you could never understand. At least, I hope you never can.”
“In that case...” Twilight reached out and gave Celestia a tight hug.
Celestia blinked in surprise. “Oh! Umm, thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” She reached out and hugged her back.
“I bet that was unexpected,” Luna said smugly. “Has anypony ever done that before?”
“Not on one of these days,” Celestia admitted.
Luna sat down next to her sister and gestured at Twilight to sit on the other side. “Well, then, dear Sister, even now, you never know for certain what is going to happen. But we are going to stay here and sit next to you.”
“Alright,” said Celestia softly.
And they did.