The stars shine brightest on the darkest nights.

Princess Luna, Mistress of the Night, Lady of dreams and nightmares, Mare of the Moon, and younger of The Two Sisters, did not say a word as she stood silently and surveyed what was before her. All those years of military struggle and royal etiquette in the previous centuries did not just go away naturally, and now they gave her the appropriate state of mind and self-control to keep from doing or saying anything that might make the situation worse than it already was.

She stood just outside of Canterlot Castle, in the large new grass field, or Courtyard, that now was added to Castle grounds.
Here, there had recently been a large new statue of the Mane Six, the heroes of the nation of Equestria and the entire continent of Equus. They were all together in their own iconic formation.
(Y’all know, the pic that Celestia smiles at during the ending of the opening credits of the first few seasons, where Dash is the highest and has her hoof in Twilight’s head, and Fluttershy is sitting on her legs like the adorable little pony she is)

And in front of the statue was her older sister. Celestia had been here for over an hour now, either standing or sitting silently and maybe shedding a tear or two before regaining her composure, or saying a few personal things to the statue, referring to the six ponies themselves.

But now, though, she was talking more openly, and Luna could tell that her sister’s resolve to stay any longer was waning and that she wanted to get it ALL off her chest. Her voice was low and pained, like Luna hadn’t heard it in so very long.

“I saw this all coming, you see,” she said heavily, looking mostly at the part of the statue that was Twilight.
“I’ve had visions and dreams about the future, I still do, and can see when something is about to happen and… and who will do it. Especially after I exiled my sister, I gained that ability.”

She swallowed thickly, taking a few moments to breath before starting to speak again.

“I’ve always been able to clearly see things some time before they arrive or occur, since then. Every single foe you’ve ever faced, every single challenge you’ve overcome… I saw it beforehoof, and I…”

She seemed to have trouble saying anything for a little while.
The Princess of the Sun’s voice was getting heavier, and Luna could practically hear and SMELL the tears.

“… I MOVED things and ponies into the places where I knew they’d be the most efficient to achieve the best outcome. I treated you all like pieces on a stupid game board!”
She cried out those words, and then her legs seemed to collapse under her own weight and she crumpled down, just staying there like a nervous filly at the foot of the cold, silent, un-answering stone. Luna felt the urge to go right now and comfort her poor sister, but her logical side held her back.
She knew that Celestia needed this. To get it all out and stop holding anything else inside anymore.

“I… I always have had faith in you. In ALL of you, after you all came together and… did what I could not. And so I… knew that one day something would happen. Something terrible, that neither myself nor my fellow princesses nor anypony else would ever be able to overcome. And so I did all of this.”
She spoke, her words gaining a bit of clarity back.

“I pretended to be weaker then so many of the threats that came up, old and new. Sure, I could have lost had I faced them alone. But I also had chances to win as well, and I KNOW that I could have kept Equestria safe without you all needing… without needing to get involved so often.”

This was not news to Luna. She may not have been as mighty as her older sister, but she was not that far off from her level either. And Celestia was not bragging about her strength or being delusional, Luna knew.
She had ruled and kept this land safe alone for 10 centuries, after all.

“But I knew that I and the others couldn’t keep this up forever. And so I cruelly played this long game, without telling any of you why I did this. I trained you and prepared you, so that you, Twilight, could one day take my place as the chief ruler of this great land and I myself could work from the shadows…”

Luna didn’t smile at the irony of the Mistress of the Day choosing to “work from the shadows”. This wasn’t the time to smile.

“But at last, the day that I dreaded the most, finally arrived. THAT DAY, the one thing that neither I nor Luna nor Cadence nor Starswirl not ANYCREATURE could ever hope to stop, either together or alone. The day that this… this CURSE came. All this time I trained you, increase your experience and your knowledge, built you into the very best you could be. I could have taken a more direct role in your lives, I know, but from what I learned and observed… the way I did, while not perfect, was the best I could have done.”

She breathed heavily, her voice increasingly pained and thick.

“It is the one of the worst things to ever go through, to cursed with knowledge. To know that, even if only a little, something so horribly wrong is going to happen to everypony around you, to those you love… and to be trapped unable to do a single thing to stop it. None at all.”

Celestia’s head was low, hanging heavily on her shoulders as if it wear a great burden that she was struggling to keep aloft.
Her wings, normally glorious and lovely, were hanging just a little loosely out at her sides, as if she didn’t even have the energy to tuck them in properly.

Her mane and tail, normally so naturally vibrant and so alive, seemed to have lost their color almost entirely, the colors faded significantly. Her normally silvery coat was now a more dull shade of white, the faintest hint of gray instead appearing, and her voice… her voice sounded like a mother who’d lost her children/foals. She sat there on the ground, all her legs folded under herself, her eyes weary and her voice even more-so.
It would be virtually impossible for anycreature who might see her to believe that THIS was immortal, wise, powerful ruler of the grand pony nation of Equestria. This sad, broken, lonely mare who knelt out here on the ground before the statue of six very special ponies on this night under the light of the moon, and spoke to the statue like it was a dear friend.

“But I will not pretend to… to even have the slightest idea of the torment that you all… must carry with you now…”

And now she could not say anymore, as she choked up and began to sob.

Luna stepped forward now, crossing the soft grass swiftly and reaching her sister.
The Alicorn reached her arms forward, and wrapped the larger one in a hug, tight and soft simultaneously, gently stroking her mane and hold her close.

And there, on the cool grass under the moon and in front of the statue of the greatest heroes to ever live in Equestria’s history,
in the arms of her loving sister… Celestia of the Sun lifted up her voice, and wept.