Celestia stood on top of her observatory and wondered why. No pony ever wanted to see her sun because they were lazy and didn't want to work. They had no idea what she had to sacrifice to give them the life giving warmth they so obviously took for granted.

It was a wonder she even bothered at all. Maybe tomorrow she wouldn't raise the sun, just to see what happened.

And that's exactly what she did. The sun started to rise like it always did, but instead of guiding it she pushed it back under the horizon, letting only a red glow wash over the landscape. This gave just enough light to see by, but a far cry from what was necessary to heat up the ground, or enough for the plants to live on. As the morning hours progressed, ponies became more and more worried as the air continued to cool down, leaving much of the land covered in frost even though it was halfway through spring. Her guards begged and pleaded with her, to please raise the sun, please, because their families would freeze if she didn't, having used up their reserves of wood and coal for the winter. She shook her head and sent them away. By the evening it was so cold that no pony went outside and instead huddled close to fires they had made out of their furniture. The night was the coldest one on record, and it only got colder still when morning should have come around.

The force of keeping the sun just below the horizon had a constant pressure on Celestia's mind, and it left her feeling bothered and aggressive all day. She snapped at ponies for no reason, and fired a number of the kitchen staff. She even locked up a few of the more vocal nobles who complained to her about the cold.

Scarlet Letter, Celestia's adviser, eventually worked up the courage to go against Celestia's decision to lock Luna in the dungeon. Luna immediately stormed out and demanded to speak to her sister. Guards took her to her sister's room.

"Celestia! What is the meaning of this? Have you lost your mind?!"

"Nay, sister. I just thought it was about time to see how much my subjects appreciated my day."

"What you are doing is killing the land and all the plants. Have you not proved your point?"

"No. They still don't understand."

"Sister.... You have responsibilities. You owe these ponies to give them light and in t\return they made you royalty. They-"

"Who art thou to speak of responsibilities? You, who shirks every opportunity to do some actual work, and instead makes her older sister carry the burden alone. You have grown lazy and insolent. I do not regret locking you up in that dungeon! It was something I should have done long ago! There is no justice in this world!"

The shouting quickly stopped as Celestia realized what she had said. After a slightly too long pause, Luna spoke softly.

"I know you do not mean what you say. Something is different about you. You lack something you held within your heart. I do not know what it is, but you must stop this selfish behavior. Ponies are going to die if you do not raise the sun. Crops will not grow. The ponies will turn on one another and then soon turn on us. You have to give up these selfish ways before more damage is done."

"Selfish? I don't care if I'm being selfish. This is what they deserve after how they treated my day! This is their comeuppance! I deserve to decide whether or not I raise the sun! it's MY sun, and I shall do with it what I WISH!"

The room grew silent again, save for Celestia's frantic breathing. Luna had shied away from her sister, in fear that she might hit the younger sibling. Celestia lowered her outstretched hoof as she realized what she might have done.

"You promised."

"Oh you sound just like a little filly. As if you actually thought I was going to-"

"You're not my sister."

Luna walked out of the room with as much calm as she could muster, and gently the door closed behind her. She didn't see Celestia drop her head down to the floor. She didn't hear her mutter under her breath, what am I doing wrong? Why can no one SEE?. She certainly didn't feel the tear slide down Celestia's cheek. She also didn't see the gemstone far under Canterlot lose its shine and turn grey, or sprout little dark crystals.

But she did feel the sun's rays after the longest night in Equestria's history.

Luna had not laid eyes on her not-sister in almost a month. After they had made a public appearance to the Canterlotians about the disappearance of the sun (Celestia had fallen ill, but now she was fully recovered.) the princesses had refused to talk to one another and pretended that nothing had ever happened in Celestia's chambers. Celestia's words had left an impact on Luna, but the young Alicorn would never admit it. She took her responsibilities more seriously, staying up late some nights to finish work and making public appearances. She shied away from the nobles who she'd usually drink with and instead went down to the library to read away afternoons. After the attack, Luna had been left skittish, and vowed to become more responsible and be ready if such a thing ever happened again. She learned all that was known about combat magic, and sparred with the palace guard. Luna's anger at Celestia fueled her desire to become something greater than what she was before.

Celestia had not been idle either.

Bitter and angry, Celestia had thrown herself into gaining more control over the ponies around her. She increased her guard tenfold to intimidate any pony she came across. Discussions and debates turned into Celestia making all decisions as the nobleponies cowered before her power and anger. A pony that went against Celestia's demands would find themselves banished to the Everfree Forest, never to be seen again. Monstrous projects were initiated under Celestia's new way of government, terrible war machines designed and deployed around the country's boarder. Military was deployed at main access roads into Equestria and dictated the flow of trade and immigrants. Weather was tightly controlled and rain only fell in tightly controlled locations. Food was seized and brought into large collection areas for it to be distributed evenly. Riots broke out in cities as ponies grew angry about the forced extra labor. They had enough hardship trying to live as it was. A tight grip on the country's economy would choke Equestria and bring it to its knees.

Celestia paced in the throne room and muttered to herself, feeding the dark thoughts that lurched around in not quite the corner of her mind.

"I don't need Luna I can do this all myself-" YOU ARE A GOD YOU CRUSH THOSE WHO OPPOSE YOU LUNA IS A COWARD "And the ponies now see what I can do if they don't respect me and give me what-" DEMAND SATISFACTION CONTROL THEM THEIR LIVES ARE YOURS "I deserve."

Her mutterings were cut off as Luna stormed into the room. She could take it no more. This terrible silence and lack of boundaries was killing Equestria and shaping it to some mad ponies' whims. Celestia had gone too far. She was not a princess any more. She was a tyrant.

"Explain to me, little sister, how now the ponies produce twice as much grain as they did last year?"

'You whip them until they collapse from blood loss or exhaustion."

"And don't they work so much faster now? Gone is their laziness, their complaining, their idiocy. All it took was a firm hand to push them in the right direction."

"And you think this is the right way to go about such things? You overstep your bounds! You raise the sun! Your special talent is raising the sun! Nothing more!"

"Well well- the little foal has grown up in the past month. Its time you grew up some more. The world isn't perfect, Luna! Ponies hurt other ponies! But I guess you already knew that, didn't you?" Celestia chuckled and laughed in a way Luna had never seen her do so before. It was sinister and dark. Luna flinched away from the words, still very sour about what had happened. Celestia continued.

"Eventually a pony has to take charge, and that pony is the strongest and most respected. I am a God, little Luna, and I control life itself. You control the moon, a reflection of the sun, nothing more,"

"The moon was once the earth and is therefore more grounded. It is only through a reflection that one can see their true self. I don't know what you have done done with my sister but I demand you give her back! You are a monster! Traitor! Deceiver!"

"LIES!"

Celestia struck her sister with the back of her hoof. Luna stared at her in shock, mouth agape, and began to back away. Celestia had broken her promise. Celestia began to draw on the essence of the sun. She was too far gone to stop now. Everything was telling her to go on, to take the next step, to show the world exactly how powerful she was.

So she did.

"Begone, Luna! I have banished thee from Canterlot, and all of Equestria! Thou shalt never return!"

Energy that was so bright and yet so dark surrounded the Princess of the Sun, and she began to cackle and shake. Luna bolted from the room, tore down the steps and left the palace, just as lightning started to arc outside the throne room. Celestia continued to laugh and laugh as the guards came running in to see what the commotion was about. She threw them to the walls. The energy coated her body and transformed her with the brightest of light, so bright that ponies resting in their homes were concerned and flocked to the streets. The light faded and Celestia was no more.

There was only Phaedra.

The twelve foot high God stood in the wreckage of the throne room. Her mane flickered in solar winds detectable only by her. A touch would burn the skin, as it was made of the plasma of the sun. She wore the sun's armor that protected it from space. A helmet adorned her head and horn, and it was made of the strongest of materials. Her wings grew sharp and jagged, her eyes piercing. Phaedra was the exact image of a vengeful God.

"HEAR ME, PEASANTS! THE WEAK CELESTIA IS NO MORE! THERE IS ONLY PHAEDRA!"

The ponies on the streets started to panic, running this way and that, as their new God showed them her power, burning and blinding any pony that she could find. Luna darted around the screaming crowds, trying to find a way out of the city. The dusk sky turned fiery as large sections of the city caught fire.

"TODAY SHALL BE THE START OF A NEW BEGINNING!"

Luna pulled a burning mare out of her way-

"THERE WILL BE ORDER!"

Jumped over some fallen barrels, ponies, it didn't matter anymore-

"JUSTICE!"

Skirt around a group of royal guards beating back a group of attacking ponies-

"AND CONTROL!"

Pushed through the body of a crowed and found the cliff edge-

And fell.

Author's Note

Phaedra means Overlord in Latin.
I have a cover image, but I'm having a lot of difficulty uploading it. Dammit.