Dear Princess Luna

Dear Princess Luna

Special thanks to TheDarkAngel for making this less bad.

        The sound of hooves colliding on freshly cleaned stone resonated pleasantly throughout the  massive hallway a servant found herself trotting through. Beside her floated a sterling silver tray complete with a very neat pile of envelopes and scrolls. The wielder of the plate, a bright silver unicorn, paced the halls of the castle in an effort to find the sisters.

        The sisters resided on a balcony that adorned the tallest tower of the castle, a common bonding place for the two. Their favorite pastime since the younger’s arrival to the country would be sitting atop the highest point in their tower as the older explained what had changed in her millenium of absence. The look of wonder that adorned the younger’s face during the catch-up sessions was, to the teacher, absolutely priceless. She took pride in her country, after all. That and her student, of which she was explicit in explaining to the eager listener, who would smile and nod in admiration that unicorns had grown so powerful since her... time away.

“Princesses!” An exhausted voice erupted from behind them. They turned to find the source, a pony struggling to levitate the tray above the ground breathing heavily. “I... have... the mail,” she gasped once all attention had been diverted to her.

“Thank you Silver Platter,” Princess Celestia smiled warmly at the panting pony. The aura of the tray shifted from a sparkling silver to a bright, regal white as it floated from the hunched figure  to the poised one. “You can go now, we will look over the mail.”

“Yes... Princess.” She smiled gratefully before trudging back down the hall.

        Celestia returned to her sister and placed the sterling silver tray between then. Luna looked down with wonder and a hint of restricted excitement. Ever since her first arrival the news of her return has been spreading like a wildfire in the Everfree, but not once has she gotten a letter welcoming her back. Each day a stack of envelopes and scrolls graced Celestia’s presence, and each day she would hover just behind, silently hoping that for once Celestia would turn around with an excited squeal.

“This is addressed to you!” She would exclaim in amazement.

“Finally! We have a letter!” She would respond, grabbing the letter from Celestia’s magic and opening it with unbridled glee.

        The letter would never be shown to Luna, in her fantasies. She prefered waiting for the first actual letter to reveal its contents rather than dressing the possibilities up only to be disappointed later on. Secretly, however, in the deepest depth of her heart, she always wished to find a love letter. A childish fantasy, she had to admit, she clinged to, but one that would always send her heart aflutter with every delivery.

“Hmm, Luna... Luna?” Celestia turned to find her sister staring absently at the falling sun, a reserved smile controlling her lips. Clearing her throat, she tried again for her sister’s attention, “Luna.”

“Hmm?” She swam back to reality and rose a quizzical eyebrow to her sister.

“You’ve got a letter,” she informed the daydreaming demigod with the nonchalance one would find from any other pony going through their mail.

“R-really?” Luna gaped in amazement at Celestia’s words. Albeit her sister is not a excited as she would have hoped, she could not contain her joy upon hearing those words! “Oh Wonderful day! A pony has finally decided to write us!”

“I’m very happy for you, Luna. It’s about time that somepony has decided to write you.”

        A dark blue aura enwrapped the scroll that had been placed so tantalizingly in front of her face. Without skipping a beat, the dark blue ribbon used to seal the milky white parchment fell idly to the floor and the sound of disrupted paper filled the room.

“Dear Princess Luna,” she read aloud, giddiness causing her voice to waver heavily. An encouraging nod from her sister drove her onward. “Might I say it is an honor to have you as a co-ruler of equestria! I know the girls and I are... enjoyed your Nightmare Night costume... look forward to seeing you...” Her voice rose just above a whisper every so often, but most of the letter was read in her head. “Your loyal subject, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh, a message from my faithful student!” praised Celestia. “I was wondering when she would send you a letter.”

“Sister...” Luna’s voice floated meekly before falling flat against the granite they sat upon. “Sister, please be honest with us. Did you put Twilight Sparkle up to this letter?”

“What? I would never do such a thing!” Celestia’s calm demeanor melted into a self-defensive edge. “Why would you accuse me of such?”

“Sister please, do not toy with us. We are too old for such games.”

Celestia tried to argue further, but found difficulty when facing her sister. After all, it was not anger or fury that sharpened Luna's words that dug so deep into her heart, it was resignation. It drove a pain into her very core to realize that her sister had altogether abandoned the hope, that unbridled hope Luna never quite abandoned and, in truth, Celestia always admired her for, like an ember in a storm.

“Luna, please. Try to understand, Twilight only meant the best in her efforts,” Celestia tried her best to explain.

Luna rose to her hooves, deaf to Celestia's words and numb to her crushed emotions, and left without so much of a word of argument. Her words were going to be wasted on her sister, anyway; she couldn't understand what Luna was going through. She was too loved by everypony.

The grand oak door shut behind her, whether by her own subconscious doing or her sister’s in attempt to provide privacy she was unsure, but she found herself alone in the marble hallway with nothing but the letter floating beside her. An exasperated breath flowed unsteadily from her nostrils as she struggled desperately to suppress a scream of repressed fury.

Perhaps, it seemed, she was not meant to be loved by her people. Forever cast into a state of ostracization and exile for her previous actions. A concrete lump stopped in her throat and blocked her train of thought. Could the ponies still not have forgiven her for her actions in a previous life? Could they really still be mad at her? Impossible! Celestia had made sure that ponies over the generations have been taught, above all, forgiveness and compassion towards one another, so surely they should accept her... Right?

She shook the malicious thoughts from her head and in turn revitalized herself to face the day, or night in her case, with a proud, royal demeanor. She brought the letter, previously crumpled from frustration and betrayal, and unfolded the scroll to it former glory. She had to commend Twilight Sparkle on her efforts. At least she took the time to write a letter towards the Princess and sounded sincere enough.

Either way, is was unbecoming of a princess to worry and act out over such frivolous things. She retreated to her room for just a moment to deposit the letter in a safety drawer in her dresser, then emerged soon after with a new coat of positivity draped over her figure. Her legs gave out in replacement of her wings, which now propelled her through the grand hall.

The reddening marble around her queued her in that is was time for the daily shifting of the sun and moon. Both sisters flying in opposite directions emerged from the castle and the sky quickly darkened to match the younger’s coat. As if synchronized, the bright red ball of light sank below the horizon and the bright white pearl rose from behind the mountain.

As soon as Celestia returned to the castle, she retreated to her bedchambers to sleep. Try as they might, the Princesses were still equine, and still needed their respective sleep. Luna slept during the day and Celestia during the night; the only time they had to talk to each other were in the simple times of twilight, just before any discernable time could be determined.

Luna arrived just in time to hear the grand oak door close to Celestia’s room, leaving her alone until dawn. Her lips pursed into a reserved smirk. Her favorite time, being left alone to rule the country. Gleeful trots resonated down the empty corridors as the Princess of the Night made her way around the castle, her castle - at least until Celestia woke up again.

The various structures flew passed her as she made her way through: Celestia’s bedroom door, of which Luna was very careful to creep across so as not to wake her irritable sister; the dining hall, where a grand spread was being laid out in preparations for her breakfast; the innumerable stain glass window painting, a particular favorite of the Sun Goddess, but completely useless to the ruler of the night.

The darkening interior shrouded the trotting pony in a veil of darkness. Only in the exalted moonlight could Luna feel her best, and only when traveling through the black of the normally white halls could she feel her power return to her. However, her enjoyment was cut short when the entire hall was bathed in a sparkling, green light. Her natural thought was, of course, Queen Chrysalis, but no pony, even with the aid of her natural night vision, could be seen throughout the empty corridor.

In fact, the only thing she could see was a small parchment, dark as her coat and decorated like the sky she so proudly displayed every night.