Royal Workhorse

Princess Celestia was painfully aware she was in a dream. As much as she wanted to believe it, sitting with the two-hundred-year-dead mayor of Hoofington in a modern-day theater simply wasn't realistic. They were watching Pinkie Pie on the screen doing some wonderful tricks, but the Princess could feel her eyes tightly shut. No matter, she was more interested in hearing what her dear old friend had to say than what was on the screen. Even though his words echoed in her mind, none of them truly passed through her ears to begin with. She ached to hear his voice again, just this once. Why couldn't she have just this one time?

The magic pulling at her horn, a magic older and more powerful than even her, told her that she must raise the sun instead. She tried to ignore it, to turn away from it, but for every second she delayed it only tugged harder. She covered her head with a pillow, hoping to block its signal. The theater was fading. What had the mayor just said? What was that final message she never got to hear, too delicate for the written word?

And then it was gone. Her eyes were open and she would never get to hear what he had said.

Despite her size, the Princess' bed was too big for her. Even with her limbs fully spread out as they were, she couldn't reach from side to side. With a flick of her magic, she pulled the pillow off of her face and tossed it across the room. No need to go get it, she had six others that she slept with already.

Groggily, she pulled herself out of bed and stretched her limbs. The sun was still calling to her fondly, and it's pull only got stronger the more she delayed. But the Princess had not spent over a thousand years simply giving into the sun's commands – she was the ruler of this plane, and she would take all the time she pleased.

Taking only a moment to glance at her tattered mane and bloodshot eyes in the mirror, Celestia pulled open the large glass double-doors to her balcony. Standing out there was a silhouette, standing tall and patient in the dying moonlight. When the elder Princess stepped outside and came closer, she could see that Luna herself looked ready for a good rest.

But at Celestia's approach, Luna only smiled and asked, “Sleep well, my sister? If you need your beauty sleep, I believe I am fully capable of handling your morning duties.”

Celestia was quick to respond. “Maybe you're right. After all, I've been doing both our jobs for a thousand years; I could use a vacation to the moon for a while. You raise the sun, I'll begin packing.”

The sun was practically screaming at her now, demanding – like a child – to be let up so it could gaze across Equestria. Deciding not to delay any longer, Celestia took a place next to her sister and asked, “Ready?” Luna nodded and began summoning her own magic to lower the moon.

Celestia turned her attention to the sun and closed her eyes. It was a simple task. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the ill-tempered fireball with her magic and began pulling. Keeping her breath steady, she moved the sun along a straight, well-defined line, the same one for over a thousand years. It had to be exact every day, otherwise there would be too much or too little sunlight for this time of year or, worse yet, complaints from the court astronomers.

Sunlight broke the horizon, and as soon as those delicate rays fell on Celestia she began to feel something stir within. She felt more rested, stronger, more sure of herself. She opened her eyes to follow its progress, a small disk of immense power. How few ponies would ever know the true strength that it held back in order to keep from consuming them in its passion and rage? Her heart began to pound faster and faster as it ascended, and when the orb was fully over the horizon a burst of ecstasy flowed through her, turning her knees to jello. She wasn't just awake, she was alive!

Celestia let go, allowing the sun to rest where it was for now. The pull on her horn was gone; they had reached a point of mutual satisfaction. Grinning, the Princess turned to Luna, who was sporting a slight smile of her own.

“You look better,” she observed.

“And you look as awake as ever,” Celestia replied, turning to walk back in, “How is it that you can go so many hours at a time without sleep?”

Luna answered as she followed the elder Princess down the wide tower staircase, “It's all about timing, sister. I have several strategic naps placed appropriately throughout the day to keep my energy levels up when I need them, as I work both day and night.”

“Indeed!” Celestia laughed, “I would surely love to pitch the idea to my advisors. I wonder, if I napped in the day, do you think the sun would darken without me to keep it in check?”

“Perhaps. After all, many of the stars did stray from their course in my absence.”

“I was just never as good with them as you were.”

“Nor shall you ever be, Tia.”

Celestia gave her sister a playful shove, and in reply Luna simply stuck her tongue out at her. The two broke out into a fit of giggles before Celestia took off at a swift trot down the rest of the stairs.

“Hurry up, slowpoke!” she called back, “Breakfast won't wait forever!”'

But it would wait for them. And Luna knew it would wait for them, being one of the only things that did. Yet she still took after her sister, laughing along with her as they ran as fast as they could through the halls of the residential wing. Had anypony's schedule allowed them to sleep past sunrise, they would have had a rather rude awakening as two full grown horses trampled through the halls laughing at the top of their lungs.

***

They had settled down long before reaching the dining hall. Two assistants were already waiting there for Princess Celestia, who failed to suppress a sigh at the sight of them. Luna raised an eyebrow at her response, but said nothing. Tia took her seat at the head of the table, and Luna, instead of walking the eight to ten yards to the other side of the extended table and taking the seat specially designated for her, settled into the spot just to her right.

The chef must have known they were coming, because no sooner had Luna's hide touched the pillow that the door to the kitchen burst open revealing a pony pushing a cart with two trays. The sisters acknowledged his presence, but continued their discussion in spite of the food now present.

Luna continued describing some of the dreams she had seen the night before. “And poor Wuthering Heights, she never really recovered from her incident last spring. Continues having nightmares about falling, and that sound – that terrible whooshing sound as she falls. She can't even hear me over the sound. I'm useless to her.”

“You're never useless, my dear,” Celestia cooed, glancing worriedly at the first of her assistants began stepping forward. Cautiously, she picked up a fork, one of three distinct forks laid before her – as if she cared which fork was the appropriate tool to use for her breakfast entrée – with her magic and began funneling the breakfast into her mouth.

“I know, my sister,” Luna replied, “But some cases are tougher than others.”

Celestia's aid leaned in and whispered something into her ear. The Princess pretended to listen to her, not particularly interested in the supposed tension between the rhino tribes and the Gryphon Empire. Why any creature would give up their horn to be powdered and sold in the first place was beyond her, let alone why they would allow the griffins sole trading rights.

Luna took another bite of her own meal and said, “Some of the guards have complained about their armor failing, I hear.”

“Is that so?” Celestia asked, her first aid stepping away so the second could take her place. A brief glance towards the door showed two newly arrived ponies standing near the doorway waiting for their own turn.

“They didn't come to me directly, of course, but I had the foresight to look into it personally. They believed it to be related to the condensation of morning dew, and the spells to protect against such rusting did not help as much as they had hoped.”

Celestia nodded to show she was listening and then immediately turned away to hear what her assistant had to say. Luna sighed and returned to her meal, chancing a look at the door herself to see yet another three ponies that she could swear hadn't been there a moment ago.

And by the time the assistants stopped coming Luna's plate had been emptied and whisked away. Occasionally Tia would turn to her and mention something, but it was only little nothings that were meant to assure Luna that her sister cared enough to pay attention. At some point Luna simply stole the rest of her sister's meal. After all, she'd had a long night, and it's not like her sister had the opportunity to pick her fork up again.

Fortunately there were no eager aids standing in the halls when they left. Once they were safely away from unwanted ears, Luna let out a little burp.

“Nasty!” Celestia cried out, wrinkling her nose.

“Ha! Do not feign innocence at me, Tia” Luna scolded, “I've seen you spit into that favorite potted plant of yours when you thought nopony was looking.”

“Prove it.”

“Nay. I think I shall retire for the morning. I have a meeting I need to be well-rested for.”

“One of those 'strategic naps' of yours?”

“Indeed it is.”

The two sisters parted ways and returned to their respective towers. When Celestia opened the door to her room she could feel her warm and soft bed beckoning to her, the same as every morning. With a sigh she turned from it and towards the bathroom.