Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own MLP:FIM.

Princess Celestia trudged down the hallways of the palace, gradually making her way toward the kitchens. She knew how extremely unladylike it was for a princess to be doing something such as trudging, but she couldn't help it. Everypony has bad days, and she was no exception to the rule.

Today was a particularly bad day.

The day court had been exceedingly unbearable. She loved her little ponies, but by Luna's moon they brought some of the most vapid things to her court. To be truthful, the greater majority of the cases the petitioners brought to her attention could easily be solved by common sense. Even more so, you certainly do not need to tell your sovereign that, "The unicorn race is evil and uses witchcraft," and should, "be exiled from Equestria with utmost celerity." This is an exceptionally bad idea when the princess you are speaking with happens to be part unicorn.

Honestly, some ponies can be so dense sometimes.

Princess Celestia pushed her way into the royal dining room and sat down in the seat adjacent to her sister. Just as her own day was ending, Princess Luna had likely just gotten out of bed; they kept opposite sleep cycles so that one of them was always available for the ponies of Equestria. Though the system served it's purpose, it had a major drawback. The only times she was able to see her sister were at breakfast, which was her sister's dinner, and her dinner, which was her sister's breakfast. They worked through it, but still— it would be nice to see her sister more often.

Princess Luna was currently shoveling cereal into her mouth with all the princess-like grace of a hippopotamus.

Celestia tried to stifle her giggling, but it was to no avail. Eventually she gave in and let her light laughter fill the whole room.

Luna looked up from her bowl and shot Celestia a sheepish smile before continuing to eat her breakfast at a much more relaxed pace.

"Why the rush, Lulu?" she asked.

Luna sighed. "Sorry, Tia. It's just that I am starving! I hadn't eaten much for dinner yesterday because I wasn't hungry at the time, but I regret that decision now."

Celestia smiled at her little sister. She had grown up so much in the past year since her return. She had been working fervently to catch up with the modern-day customs and traditions, and she has getting better and better by the day. After much hard work, she had finally stopped with the 'Royal Canterlot Voice' all together. Now she was practically one-hundred percent modernized, but it was clear that she still hadn't readjusted completely to being the coregent of a whole nation. If only she would reach out to the ponies of Equestria, Celestia was sure they would be more than willing to meet her halfway.

But Luna had to make that decision on her own. As much as Celestia was loath to admit it, Luna was a grown mare now and she deserved to make her own choices. But no matter what Luna did, she would still always be Celestia's little sister.

"How was the day court?" Luna managed between spoonfuls of cereal.

Celestia sighed. "It was particularly trying today. Oh well, at least it's over now."

Luna eyed her curiously. "What happened?"

"Oh, just the usual. The weather ponies and farmers are going at it again, and this time it's about the rationing of rain clouds. Apparently the weather teams in Trottingham have been stingy with the rainclouds recently, and the farmers' crops aren't getting enough water. The weather pegasi say that the rain needs to be distributed evenly throughout the town, but honestly, it's just a bitter rivalry between the two races rearing its ugly head. They all just need to work together and everything will sort itself out. Age-old grudges get you nowhere."

Luna, who had been listening intently the whole time, said, "Sounds like an interesting day. I just wish more ponies came to my night court… It get's awful boring sitting there alone all night."

Celestia frowned. "Maybe I could get the royal planners to spread the petitioners more evenly between the two of us. I can get pretty overloaded sometimes, so it would be nice to have less on my plate."

Luna smiled. "That would be very nice."

"It's only fair that the workload is spread evenly between us," Celestia stated plainly.

Her comment had come off much more caustically than she had intended it to. She regretted saying it immediately

She was just about to retract her remark, when Luna murmured, "You… you think I have it off easy?" The raw pain in her voice was enough to make a grown colt break down.

"Lulu, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You know I appreciate everything you do around here—"

"You didn't answer my question," Luna interrupted. "Do you think I have it off easy?"

Princess Celestia thought carefully about what she was about to say next. She certainly didn't want to lie to her sister, but she absolutely didn't want to hurt her feelings. "Of course you don't have it easy. What I meant to say is that you have it off a little bit easier than I."

"So you do think I have it off easy?"

Celestia's frown deepened. "Lulu—"

"Don't call me that!" she demanded. "I don't have it off easy!"

"Well, I do have more royal duties than you do, Luna."

"It's not all about royal duties! The ponies revere you, Celestia! All I am to them is the other princess…"

The two ponies frowned at each other from across the table. Celestia wasn't happy. Did this count as a fight? If so, this was the first fight they had gotten into in…two millennia? She didn't like it, but if she let Luna win, Luna might start walking all over her. She couldn't let that happen.

"Luna, you don't have as much work as me. How could you possibly have it worse off?"

Luna scowled at her. "If you think my job is so easy, then why don't you try it for yourself?"

Just then, the elderly servant who was bringing out Celestia's food spoke up. "Your Highnesses, if you don't mind me butting in, I think you two can do just that. If my memory isn't failing me, I believe there is a spell that can be used for ponies to switch bodies for a day. It's called the 'Walk in Your Shoes' spell, and it enables the users to experience each other's lives."

The two princesses looked at the servant, up at each other, then back at the servant again. Celestia was the first to speak up. "T-Thank you, I'm sure that will be of help. What is your name?"

He beamed at them. "Soup Ladle. My name is Soup Ladle."

"Thank you, Mister Ladle," Luna said.

The servant bowed deeply and backpedalled out of the dining room and into the kitchens.

Luna looked up at her expectantly. "So… are we going to try this spell?"

Celestia mulled it over in her head. No harm could come out of it, so why not? "I suppose it can't hurt. We'll do it first thing in the morning. Meet me in my bedchambers then."

Luna nodded solemnly and excused herself from the table. Just as she was about to leave the room, Celestia began, "I thought you said you were hungry."

Princess Luna turned around and looked her sister straight in the eyes. "I'm not hungry any more."

---

Luna begrudgingly plodded down the halls of the palace, slowly making her way over to Celestia's bedchambers. Celestia was the just about the last pony she wanted to see right now. She supposed she should have expected that Celestia wouldn't understand her point of view, but still, the least she could've done was listen.

Eventually Luna reached the door to her sister's bedchambers. She was about to knock on the door, but then she stopped herself. Did she really want to go through with this? There were so many different ways this could go wrong. She wasn't a foal— she had seen all of the movies.

Just as she decided she was going to follow through with the spell, Celestia pulled open the door open from the inside. "Good, you're here. Follow me," she said, turning and walking back into her room. "I've researched the spell, and it turns out it can only be done between unicorns—or alicorns—because both users have to cast the spell at the same time."

Celestia turned and looked Luna in the eyes. "Before we begin, I need to make sure you actually want to go through with this."

Luna held her gaze. "Yes, I do."

She smiled. "Good. The spell itself is easy, but the timing is hard. We have to cast it at exactly the same time or we risk… complications."

She passed the spellbook to Luna. "Here is the spell. Let me know when you're ready to start."

Luna looked down at the spell. Just as her sister had said, it wasn't over complicated by any means. It was a simple possession spell with a few minor tweaks and adjustments to make it more 'user-friendly.' After memorizing the spell, she looked up at her sister and said, "I'm ready."

Celestia nodded and stood across from her. "On the count of three, we'll start casting. One…"

Luna swallowed the lump in her throat. Did she really want to do this? It wasn't too late to back out. She could just apologize to Tia and they could put this whole thing behind them.

"Two…"

No. She wouldn't back out. She couldn't back out. She was tired of being unappreciated. Her sister deserved to know how she felt.

"Three."

Luna tightly closed her eyes and began weaving the spell. She channeled her energy into her horn and released a very fine tendril of magic. Her magic enveloped her sister, and her sisters magic enveloped her. Both of them released a small burst of energy, and the spell started to work its course.

She felt her mind being evicted from her own body. She felt…empty. Her soul needed a body, so it took the first one it noticed: Celestia's. Once she was inside of her sister's body, she crumbled and fell to the floor.

Once she was no longer disoriented, Luna pulled herself back up onto her hooves and looked over at the other pony in the room.

It was a weird feeling, being able to see yourself.

The first thing Luna noticed was that she was a few inches taller than before. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror, and sure enough, she looked exactly like her sister did.

Once they had fully readjusted to their new bodies, the two sisters looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Luna was the first to speak. "This feels… strange."

Celestia nodded in agreement.

Luna shuffled her hooves. "So, uh, what now?"

Celestia looked at her clock, then said, "Well, you have to raise the sun in about five minutes, so I guess your day starts now."

Luna nodded and excused herself from Celestia's bedchambers. Or were they her bedchambers? No, they were definitely not hers. She was Luna in Celestia's body, not Celestia herself.

Just then, a short little stallion with an expensive looking hoofwatch for his cutie mark came trotting down the hall. Luna recognized him as Celestia's personal advisor, Stint Watch. "Ah, Princess! Thank goodness I've found you. You have to raise the sun in precisely three minutes and thirty-seven seconds."

Luna looked around nervously, then replied, "Yes, I will do just that. Because I am definitely Princess Celestia. Not Princess Luna. Heh…"

Stint gave her a concerned look. "Yes, yes you are. Follow me, Princess."

Luna simply nodded and followed the smaller pony. Why was it that Luna didn't have her own personal advisor? Did Celestia think she didn't need one because she 'didn't do any real work?'

The duo eventually reached the place gardens. He gestured to the pedestal where Celestia would raise the sun every morning. After she made no move to walk over to it, he gave her a well-intentioned nudge.

Luna cleared her—er, uh, Celestia's throat and walked over to the pedestal. "Yes, I will raise the sun now. Because I know how to raise the sun, because I do it every day."

Luna could feel her heart sink into her chest. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but it couldn't be all that hard, right? I mean it couldn't be too much different than raising the moon. You know, aside from the fact that the sun is about sixty-four million times larger. No biggie.

Luna took a deep breath and focused all the energy she could on the immense celestial body. It took everything she had just to be able to reach the sun with her magic. Not only was it much larger, but it was much farther away than the moon was. Once she had a good enough hold on the sun with her magic, she pushed upward with everything she had. Sweat began to form on her brow from exertion, but she wasn't about to give up. She was going to show her sister she was capable.

After a few more moments of intense concentration, the sun poked above the horizon. Luna wiped the sweat off of her brow and released her hold on the sun, relieved that she had been able to accomplish the daunting task. Now that the sun was moving, it would continue to do so unless she willed it to stop. She turned back to Stint, awaiting for her next task.

He smiled up at her. "Your power never ceases to amaze me, Princess Celestia."

Luna could feel her face flush from the compliment. "Thank you, Mister Watch. That is very nice of you."

He smiled. "Alright, today is going to be busy, maybe even more so than yesterday. First off, you have to bless some newly born foals. Next, you are going to be giving a speech to the newest Westhoof grads; be sure to thank them for enlisting into the ranks of the royal guards. The nicer you come off, the more loyal they will be to the throne. "

He stopped to make sure she was still listening, then continued, "Then we have normal day court. Afterwards, you will have to file paperwork assigning all of the new guards into squads, along with some other insignificant, lesser paperwork. After that you will be having dinner with your distant nephew Prince Blueblood because today is his birthday."

Luna nodded, trying to take in everything he had just listed. There was absolutely no way she would remember all of that.

"Follow me. Were going to head to the church where you'll bless the newborns," he said while walking down the path.

Luna had to walk at a brisk pace to keep up with the stallion. She had to admit, Celestia did have a pretty full schedule. Not to mention that it definitely wasn't an easy task to raise the sun…

Before she knew it, the duo had made it to the small church. Stint led her inside to the altar where couples were lined up, waiting for her blessing. Or Celestia's blessing, she thought angrily. Nopony ever wanted their foals blessed by the princess of the night.

The first couple nervously walked over and handed her their tiny foal. That was the exact moment when she realized she had absolutely no idea how to bless a foal. She looked over at Stint pleadingly, to which he responded by frantically mouthing words, but all of them were lost on her. She looked over to the parents, and the mother said, "Her name is Night Blossom. We wanted to get her blessed by Princess Luna as well, but we didn't think she ever gave foals her blessing."

Luna felt guilt settle deep in her gut. It wasn't her sister's fault that she didn't dedicate some of her time to blessing foals. That was her own doing. She made a mental note to speak with her sister about it later. "I'm sure I can talk with Luna and convince her to bless your foal," she said with a smile.

Luna shivered. It had been so long since she'd referred to herself in the third person. It felt wrong to be doing it again.

She gently kissed the forehead of the filly in her arms. Night Blossom looked up at her and giggled, and Luna felt her heart soar. Why hadn't she ever done this before? "Night Blossom, you are an astounding filly and will undoubtedly grow up into a wonderful mare someday. I give you my blessing."

The small foal let out a happy cry. Smiling, Luna handed the filly back to her parents. They quickly thanked her and left, not wanting to hold up the line.

Stint looked her up and down then asked, "It hasn't been that long since you've last blessed a foal, Princess. Have you forgotten?"

"No, I didn't forget. But…I suppose a refresher couldn't hurt," she said sheepishly.

He frowned at her. "Are you feeling okay, Princess? You've been acting strangely recently. Yesterday you were very worried about your sister, and now you're starting to forget things…"

Celestia had been worrying about her? "I-I'm fine, Mister Watch."

He sighed. "If you say so, Your Highness." He refocused his attention, "Your first blessing wasn't bad at all, but next time try and be a little bit more… colorful with it. Spruce it up, you know, make it more… interesting."

Luna nodded in affirmation.

Several hours and a few hundred foals later, Stint cut off the line. Although she did enjoy blessing them, there was only a certain number of crying foals you could hold before the novelty of it all wore off.

Before she had a chance to relax, Stint was off again, racing to make it to their next destination on time. Luna struggled to keep up. "Okay, Princess, next up we have the Westhoof graduation. You'll be giving a speech to the graduating cadets. Be sure to thank them for their service to the guard. And remember, your speech doesn't have to be long. Just make sure it's heartfelt."

Luna merely nodded, trying to take everything he said in stride. Literally, as she had to take very large steps just to keep up with the stout stallion.

The two of them reached the carriage and climbed inside. As soon as they were seated, Stint began frantically scribbling on his schedule, rearranging the day's activities so that everything would fit perfectly. This left Luna alone to her thoughts.

Though she admittedly didn't love running around from event to event, it was much better than not having anything to do like she usually did. It was a nice change of pace. She figured if she had to sit through one more night court alone, she would go crazy. Or at least crazier.

The carriage stopped and Stint pushed the door open, holding it for Luna to exit. She smiled and thanked him, and he hurried out after her. The two of them made their way through the empty hallways of the cadet school, Stint taking the lead. Luna admired all of the paintings and murals on the walls of the hallway. If there was one thing ponies cared about most above all else, it was undoubtedly their school system.

The duo made it out into the back courtyard where several hundred young ponies were sitting, anxiously awaiting her arrival. She strided up the stairs onto the stage. She hesitantly levitated the microphone up to her mouth and cleared her throat.

She looked out into the sea of eyes, all staring directly at her. Her heart beat began to pick up. What was she supposed to say to these ponies? She certainly didn't want to do anything to disappoint them. She looked over at Stint, and he gave her a reassuring smile.

She smiled weakly back to him, along with the whole audience behind him. "Hello, my little ponies," she began. "Today is a big day for you all, and I am certain you are nervous—and rightly so. You future is an open book from here on out. You are free ponies, and your fate lies in your own hooves."

She beamed at the onlookers. "However, you have all selflessly chosen enlist into the royal guard, something for which I cannot possibly thank you enough. This is an enormous responsibility, and we can't trust anybody with it. The fate of Equestria lies in your hooves."

She shifted her weight to her right side. "That being said, I have never felt safer than I do right now, knowing that you all will be watching over our great country. You are a wonderful group of valiant and courageous ponies."

She looked out into the spectators. Everypony was watching her intently, patiently waiting for her to continue.

She smiled at them and proudly raised one hoof in the air. "For Equestria."

After a moment of nothing, one lone pony in the middle of the mass people raised his hoof in the air. "For Equestria," he chanted.

All of the ponies quickly began raising their hooves into the air with Luna. They all repeated once more, speaking as one, "For Equestria!"

All of the cadets erupted into boisterous cheers and chants. Luna beamed out at them and stepped away from the podium. She walked down the steps and strided over to Stint. He smiled up at her.

Once they were away from the roaring of the crowd, he whispered, "Excellent speech, Princess. I am impressed."

She felt a familiar heat returning to her cheeks. "Thank you, Mister Watch."

They climbed back into the carriage and took off back to the palace. Luna was actually quite proud of her speech; despite the fact that she was a princess, she hadn't been a public figure since she'd returned. She always told herself that she wasn't ready for publicity, and that she would make a foal of herself by saying something stupid in front of Equestria. This was a real confidence booster for her.

"Next up you have the day court. You know the drill— ponies come in and complain and you try and fix their problems."

She grinned at him. After smiling back, he returned to his clipboard along with the detailed schedule that was attached to it.

She really did need to talk to Tia about getting a personal advisor of her own. Stint was very well-intentioned stallion, and not to mention quite helpful. Luna was willing to bet that without him, her sister would be lost most of the time.

Luna quickly shook her head to dispel the image of her sister as a young filly wandering through Canterlot lost and alone.

How was Celestia doing? Was she enjoying her 'day off?' She was probably sleeping right now. There really wasn't much for the princess of night to do during the day time besides rest.

The carriage screeched to a stop and the two ponies climbed out. Stint briskly led the way back to the palace throne room with Luna in tow.

Luna walked over to the pair of thrones and took her seat, waiting for the petitioners to start pouring in. Stint looked at her confusedly. "Uh, you're sitting on Princess Luna's throne, Your Highness."

Luna jumped up in surprise. How could she have forgotten? She simply sat down there out of habit, completely forgetting the fact that everypony else thought she was Celestia.

Luna's eyes shot open with a sudden realization—this meant that everypony would think it was Celestia who had given the speech to the cadets. She frowned. Celestia was going to get credit for all of her work.

The thought of purposely ruining her sister's reputation to spite her crossed her mind, but she pushed it away as soon as it came. She felt guilty for even thinking about it; she was angry at her sister right now, she wasn't going to resort to something as low as that to get back at her. Despite popular belief, she wasn't that cruel of a pony.

Luna quickly sat down on the proper throne and shifted her weight uncomfortably. It felt… off. It wasn't her throne. This was wrong. This seat was meant for her sister. She shouldn't be sitting here.

She pushed away her discomfort and signalled for Stint to let in the first of the petitioners.

The first ponies to come in were the ones Tia had told her about yesterday: the weather pegasi and the farmers.

It was one of the farmers who spoke up first. He cleared his throat and said, "Princess, have ya made a decision yet?"

Luna's heart sunk into her chest. Made a decision? She hadn't even heard the case in the first place! "Run the story by me one more time, if you wouldn't mind."

One of the weather pegasi butted in, "The farmers say that we aren't giving them enough rain, but the truth of the matter is that we just need to spread the rain evenly throughout Trottingham. Carrot Luck here just never learned how to share."

This seemed to aggravate the farmer. "No, the truth o'the matter is that Lucky Wing here is tryin' ta kill our crops. It's our livelihood and what ya'll eat. Ya'll are only hurtin' yerselves."

The pegasus spun to face the farmer and shoved a hoof in his face. "Hey! You know that's not—"

"Enough!" Luna roared.

The whole throne room went deafeningly silent.

The took a deep breath and addressed the two arguing ponies. "Are you two related in any way?"

They looked to the princess, then to each other, then back to the princess again. "Yes. We're cousins," the pegasus said.

Luna smiled, proud of her deduction skills. Granted, the fact that both of their names had the word 'Lucky' in them was a pretty big tip off, but still. "You are family. Family members are supposed to get along with each other. You did not need to come here and bring your family feud to my attention. Your dispute could have been solved just as easily if you had only just sat down with each other and talked."

Luna's expression softened. "It's not worth fighting over. Take a step back and look at things from each other's shoes— Lucky Wing, isn't it a little unfair that you're killing your cousin's crops, even if it is inadvertently?"

He nodded.

"And Carrot Luck, wouldn't you feel a little upset if your cousin took your work for granted? From the looks of things, it seems like you didn't really take the time to look at how he must feel about you using him for his standing in the weather team. A simple 'thank you' goes a long way."

The farmer nodded as well.

"You don't want to put tension on your relationship like that. Above all else, family is always supposed to be there to support one another," Luna said.

"You two are to work this out on your own. Are we clear?" Luna asked sternly.

The ponies bowed deeply and quickly left the throne room.

Once they were out of sight, Luna frowned. As much as she hated thinking it, she was a hypocrite. Here she was telling her subjects that they needed to see family for what it was worth. She had told them that all they needed to do was talk with each other to resolve their issues, but here she was, having her own petty little argument with her sister. Everything could have been solved if Luna had only spoken up…

Stint continued sending in the petitioners for Luna to speak with, but her heart just wasn't in it.

After several hours of many pointless presentations and arguments, the day court finally drew to a close, much to Luna's delight. The sheer amount of ponies that had come through was daunting enough as it was. If she had to deal with that many ponies on a daily basis for a thousand years all on her own… well, lets just say that Celestia must have had an iron will.

The stack of paperwork that had been hooved Luna's way wasn't any less draining than the day court had been. Although it didn't directly involve social interaction, if she bucked this up, somepony was still bound to get hurt. With assigning the newest guards their stations, their family bloodlines, histories, friends, and enemies needed to be taken into account—all on an individual basis. Despite all of the work, she didn't want to take the easy way out. These ponies deserved the best from her.

A few more than several hours later, Stint Watch found her sitting at Celestia's desk with an increasingly frustrated scowl. Though she had gotten much of the paperwork done, there was still a rather large pile looming over Luna.

"Princess, if we don't leave know, you'll miss your dinner with Prince Blueblood," he stated sternly.

With a sigh, Luna extracted herself from the mess of papers strewn about the workspace. She knew she would have to come back and finish them later, but a break was just what she needed right now. Besides, she was pretty curious about this Blueblood character. She remembered her sister mentioning that her prized pupil had mentioned him in one of her letters, but she couldn't recall what exactly had been said. "Of course. Lead the way," she said with a smile.

Stint lead her down to the carriage and sent me on my way. The plan was to meet Blueblood outside of a restaurant called The Tulip. They would eat dinner together, and then she would return to the palace and finish up her paperwork.

Luna couldn't help but be slightly excited. She hadn't been on any sort of casual outing in so long that the more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea seemed to her. Plus, if Blueblood really was some very distant nephew of Celestia, it would be good to get to know him better—even if at the time he thought she was her sister.

As soon as the carriage pulled to a stop, she immediately pushed open the door and exited, her excitement getting the better of her.

Her excitement quickly deflated, as she was left waiting on the side of the road for Blueblood to arrive. After forty-five minutes of awkward stares and random ponies on the street bowing down to her, Blueblood finally arrived.

"Hello, Princess. Let's get our table, shall we?" His tone of voice positively exuded arrogance. If the time spent waiting for him hadn't done it already, his tone irritated Luna. Not only did he arrive late, but he didn't even offer a simple apology.

Luna chided herself. He was probably just frazzled from running late is all. She wasn't about to go about judging somepony all willy-nilly until she had a good conversation with them first. Plus, it was his birthday; she could hardly judge him on an occasion like this.

"Reservations for two," he told the hostess. "It should be under the name Prince Blueblood." Luna couldn't help but cringe at the way he emphasized his title. Even if you were of royal descent, that didn't give you a right to go around flaunting your title.

The hostess eyed him curiously, then led them to their table, which was all the way at the back of the restaurant. As soon as the mare showed them their seats, Blueblood was fuming. "We can't possibly eat here! I demand you give us a table with a view of Canterlot!" he said with a stamp of his hoof.

Luna said, "Actually, these seats are quite alright—"

"You are dealing with royalty here! I would appreciate it if you would treat us as such," Blueblood demanded.

The hostess' voice faltered. "Y-Yes, uh, right away, sir."

The mare nervously trotted across the restaurant and approached a couple who were dining at a table overlooking the streets of Canterlot. After exchanging a few remarks, all three of them looked over at Blueblood and herself. With a sigh, the couple begrudgingly left their table and were escorted to the back of the restaurant to a new table.

Luna frowned. She didn't want anypony's date being ruined because of her. She needed no special treatment.

Blueblood, completely ignorant to her internal torment, sauntered over to their new table. Luna solemnly followed.

After they took their seats, Blueblood said, "Sorry about that, Celestia."

"We would have been perfectly fine at the other table," Luna muttered.

"I suppose, but as royalty, we deserve to have this one. Some ponies just don't understand that."

Luna's eye twitched. Blueblood didn't notice.

Thankfully, that's when the waitress arrived to take their orders. If she had come a moment later, Luna probably would have started reprimanding Blueblood for his unchecked self-entitlement. Under normal circumstances, she would have already. However, right now she was supposed to be Princess Celestia, not Princess Luna. She wouldn't want to ruin her sister's relationship with her nephew.

The waitress was a pegasus mare with a navy coat and a deep purple mane that was so dark it bordered on black. She was clearly very frazzled by the business of the restaurant. By the looks of things, this was likely her first day on the job. She blew her mane out of her eyes and said, "S-Sorry, um, for the wait. Wh-What would you like to drink?"

Luna felt sorry for the mare. To get stuck waiting on the princess of Equestria on your first day was kind of a rough break. Not to mention she was sure that Blueblood would give her a hard time.

"I'll have water," Blueblood said. Luna was genuinely surprised that he didn't try to order some type of expensive wine. With the way this dinner was going so far, Luna was sorely tempted to order some whiskey herself, but that would definitely look bad on her sister. And plus, when it came to alcohol, Tia was always kind of a featherweight.

"Water is fine for me as well," she said to the waitress with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

The mare rushed off presumably to go get their drinks. Luna turned to Blueblood, who was contemplatingly examining at the menu. Luna picked up her own menu and examined the choices. Fancy restaurants like this had so many different options, none of which had a price listed next to them. From experience, Luna knew that meant that they prices had to be extremely exorbitant. But chances were that since she was a princess, they would refuse to let her pay for dinner. Ponies were funny like that.

Just as she had finally decided on what she wanted to order, some sort of pasta dish that she couldn't even hope to pronounce correctly, the waitress arrived with their drinks. "S-Sorry it took so long… things, uh, are busy tonight. So, um, can I take your orders?"

Blueblood loudly cleared his throat. "I'll have the arugula salad with fennel root and orange with a spice of ginger to start, then for the main course I would like bruschetta sauteed mushrooms with kale and tender artichoke hearts on the side. And a caramel apple martini to drink."

She gave the mare credit. The poor pegasus kept her cool much better than she would have been able to. "Uh, w-would you mind r-repeating that… sir?"

Blueblood looked at her as if she had just committed some horrible crime. "Get your act together. I mean, really. You're making a foal of yourself in front of royalty. I said I'll have the arugula salad with fennel root and orange with a spice of ginger to start, then for the main course I would like bruschetta sauteed mushrooms with kale and tender artichoke hearts on the side. And a caramel apple martini do drink."

The mare still looked very flustered, but did her best to keep her composure. She turned to me, and I pointed to the entrée on the menu I had selected, and she copied it down onto her notepad and scurried off.

Blueblood rolled his eyes. "Some ponies just don't understand."

It took everything she had to not to slap him right then and there.

After twenty or so minutes of infuriating small talk with Blueblood, the waitress arrived with their food. "I'm sorry f-for the wait. If you need anything, d-don't hesitate to call me over."

Blueblood cleared his throat much more loudly than what was necessary. "My water glass has been empty for the past five whole minutes, and you have still yet to refill it. If I have to wait any longer, I am going to get angry. You don't want me angry," he growled.

The volume of Blueblood's voice attracted the attention of the whole restaurant. The waitress nervously looked around, everypony's eyes on her. "Oh no! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"Just. Go." Blueblood seethed.

The waitress let out a nervous squeak and rushed off to get the water pitcher. With a drawn out sigh, Blueblood hesitantly took a small bite of his food, only to immediately spit it right back out. All over Luna.

"ARGH!" he screamed.

The waitress came running back to the table and started filling Blueblood's glass with water. Infuriated, Blueblood swatted the pitcher from her grasp and back at the waitress, drenching her in ice cold water.

"YOU CALL THIS FOOD?! THIS IS HORRIBLE! I DEMAND YOU BRING ME SOMETHING EDIBLE RIGHT THIS MINUTE!"

The mare let out another frightened squeal. "I'm so sorry! I didn't—"

"GO. NOW."

The mare broke down. Tears were heavily flowing down her cheeks and mixing with the water that drenched her coat. She ran out of the restaurant sobbing loudly, leaving an uncomfortably silent restaurant behind her.

Screw formalities. Screw being nice. Screw protecting Celestia's reputation. This ingrateful pony needed to be taught a lesson on humility. Now. "Blueblood, you can't just go around making ponies cry like that! She was doing a fine job and she seemed like a very nice pony! She deserved none of the harassment you were giving her! You are despicable. Honestly, I always figured somebody who was my relative would be behaved better. I guess I was wrong."

The ponies in the restaurant all began to clap and cheer.

Luna wiped the food Blueblood spat on her off of her face. After excusing herself from the table, she went to chase after the poor pegasus. The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon, cascading Canterlot into a dusk-like trance.

It didn't take much searching to find the weeping mare. She had made it all of three blocks down the road before she had stopped running and fallen onto the ground.. Luna hesitantly sat down next to her. "I-I'm sorry about Prince Blueblood," she consoled. "He's far too arrogant and hot-headed for his own good. And, for what it's worth, I think you were a fine waitress."

She looked up from the ground and looked up at her with big, pleading eyes. "D-Do you really think so, Princess?"

Luna smiled and wrapped her wing around her. She looked to be fairly young. She was definitely no older than the bearers of the elements of harmony were, probably about the same age. "I know so. What's your name, sweetie?"

"S-Starlight. My name is Starlight Dancer."

"That's a beautiful name," Luna said, hugging the pegasus closer with her wing.

She smiled weakly, the river of tears flowing down her cheeks running dry.

"How long have you worked at that restaurant?"

"W-Well, uh… today was my first day. But you could have probably figured that out on your own…"

Luna smiled back sheepishly. "So what's a mare your age doing working at a place like that?"

"Well…my parents put up the money for me to come here from our little village on the edge of White Tail Forest. We don't have much money, or much of anything for that matter, but my parents wanted me to have a chance at becoming something great—so they paid for me to come here to the city where dreams can come true. But since my parents could barely scrape up enough money to get me here in the first place, I wouldn't dare ask them for any more money. They've already done so much for me that I just…" she trailed off.

Luna couldn't help but frown. "So where are you staying?"

The unicorn shied away from her. "Well, uh, I just got here a couple days ago and, well, I've been sleeping, uh, on one of the benches in the Royal Gardens. The owner of this restaurant saw me there, and he was nice enough to offer me a job. But I guess I just screwed that up, too…" she said, tears beginning to reform in her eyes.

Luna looked down at Starlight's cutie mark. It was of a moon partially covered by a cloud. Although it was a somewhat rudimentary design, it was still a very impressive looking cutie mark. "What is your special talent?" Luna asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Starlight blushed. "Well, uh, it's kinda corny, but my cutie mark is supposed to symbolize bringing light where there is darkness. Kinda like a creative problem solving type thing."

She frowned. "But as much as I like solving problems, there aren't many career paths that involve it… so that's why I came here. I was hoping that I would be able to pave a path of my own, you know, to do something great. I even told my parents that the next time they heard from me, it would be on the news. I told them I would bring honor to our family, but I kind of bucked that up…"

Luna's eyes shot open, an idea hitting her full force. "Hey, Starlight? Do you consider yourself to be an organized pony?"

She ran her hoof through her mane. "Well, uh, I suppose so, but I don't see how that's—"

"How would you like to be my—er, uh, my sister's personal advisor? We haven't gotten a chance to hire one since she's returned, and you seem like a more than qualified pony."

Starlight was speechless. "I don't… I mean, I can't… but I wouldn't…"

"You can't what?"

"Aren't I far too young? I always thought that the princesses' advisors were, you know, experienced."

Luna smiled. "I bit of fresh blood never hurts. The ideas of the younger generation can actually be quite helpful."

"B-But what if Princess Luna doesn't want me as her advisor? Shouldn't you ask her first?"

"I'm sure she'd love to have you as her advisor. You're a very likeable pony."

Starlight looked up at her with her bright pink eyes. "D-Do you really think Princess Luna would like me?"

"Starlight, I know for a fact she would like you."

The unicorn blushed. "I've always loved the night sky. The stars, the moon… its all so beautiful. It doesn't get nearly as much attention as it deserves," she said honestly.

"But promise you won't tell her I said that last part, please. I would hate for her feelings to get hurt," she hastily added.

Luna couldn't help but laugh. "I promise I won't tell Luna."

The irony of it all wasn't lost on Luna. She knew that her night sky wasn't nearly as revered as Celestia's sun; it was something she had simply come to accept. Ponies had to sleep at some point, so she couldn't really blame them. However, it was still very nice to hear a compliment once in awhile—anything to let her know that somepony was appreciating her hard work.

Luna felt the faintest of blushes taint her cheeks. "Would you like to stay in the castle tonight, Star? You'll get your own room once everything is officialized, but for now you'll have to use one of the guest chambers."

She shuffled her hooves. "T-Thank you, princess. You've been so nice to me…I don't know how I can ever hope to repay—"

"I can hardly leave you to sleep in the Royal Gardens again, now can I? Think nothing of it, Star," Luna said.

The walk back to the Palace was very pleasant for both of them. Luna appreciated the company. Luna had asked her to stop referring to her as princess, and Starlight had been more than compliant. It was nice to have somepony to talk to who didn't treat you differently because you were royalty.

It was funny how Starlight thought she was joking around with Princess Celestia right now. She figured that if Starlight was to be her personal advisor, she would have to find out that she was really Princess Luna at some point, and that time would probably be pretty soon. One awkward conversation with Celestia once she was back in her own body, and both of them were sure to have plenty of questions to ask Luna.

But for now, she was content. After some time, the duo reached the palace. After a large yawn from Starlight, Luna quickly showed her to the guest bedchambers.

"You realize that you're going to have to keep a pretty backwards sleep schedule if you're Luna's advisor, right?" she asked.

Star shrugged it off with the dismissive wave of a hoof. "Bah, I already keep some pretty weird hours anyways. It's not a big deal."

Luna couldn't help but laugh. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to get me, okay?"

"Um, actually princess, if it isn't too much trouble, could I get a piece of paper? I think it's high time I wrote back home to my parents. They're probably worried sick about me."

Luna smiled. Even after everything she had been through today, she was still more concerned for her parents than herself. She was truly a good pony.

After making sure Star was all set with everything she needed, Luna quickly headed back to Celestia's office to finish up her paperwork. But try as she might, she simply could not get into it. There were far too many different thoughts clouding her mind.

Never before had she been so excited for the next day; she finally had a friend.

---

Celestia dragged herself out of bed. She hadn't slept a wink during the day. The oppressive light of her own sun had kept her tossing and turning, never allowing the tendrils of sleep to reach her. The irony of it wasn't lost on her.

With a wistful sigh, she moved to the mirror to make herself look presentable. Or rather, make her sister look presentable. The fact that she wasn't in her own body right now still had not settled with her. It felt wrong on so many levels, but this was the only way their little argument would be put to rest.

The more she had thought about it, the worse she felt. She didn't like arguing with Luna, and it wasn't as if she was out to hurt her sister or anything. It was just a whole big mess that had gotten blown way out of proportion.

Once she deemed herself awake enough to face the night, she trudged out of her sister's bedchambers and into the hallways of the palace.

Celestia stopped in her tracks. What was she supposed to do now? Aside from the occasional guard, the whole castle seemed eerily silent and empty. It was as if she was the only pony awake.

Suddenly, she felt the sensation of the sun beginning to sink below the horizon tugging at the back of her mind. Right. Raising the moon would be a good place to start. Now where exactly did Luna do that from?

She quickly made her way down to the royal gardens where her own pedestal for raising the sun was. Surely Luna would have a similar structure of her own for a similar purpose.

Once she reached her pedestal, she was surprised to find that there was no other pedestal to be found. Celestia's face scrunched up. Did Luna truly not have a place to forge the night sky from?

She stepped up onto her own pedestal and reached out and enveloped the moon with her magic. When she had a firm hold on it, she pushed it up into the sky, the sun sinking below the horizon on the opposite side of Equestria.

She frowned. It had been a year since the last time she'd had to raise the moon, and she was loath to do it again. Luna was back now. She shouldn't be raising her sister's moon.

She looked up at the night to admire her handiwork, but something was missing. The shooting stars, the aurora, the planets—when she made the night sky, it was always missing the little bit of flare Luna always gave it. After a thousand years of trying, she still never managed to figure out exactly how Luna managed to make it so beautiful.

Celestia released her hold on the moon and stepped down from the platform.

What was she supposed to do now? She had been so used to her advisor Stint always being there for her to rely on. Did Luna really not have a personal advisor, even after a whole year of being back? That simply was not fair. She made a mental note to speak with Luna about it later.

Well, the night court was probably as good a place to start as any.

Celestia strided back to the castle and gingerly took a seat on her throne. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall and sat there, patiently waiting for petitioners to arrive. Had she started the night court too early? Celestia made another mental note to thank Stint Watch one this was all over. She would be so lost without him.

She sat there waiting, eyes never leaving the entrance to the room. Every tick of the clock felt like another punch so the gut. She felt awful. Was… was this what the night court was always like? It was so… lonesome. And Luna didn't even have an advisor to keep her company through these long nights…

Had Luna done this every night since she'd returned? Celestia shivered. There was no way she would have been able to put up with that. Although the temporary reprieve from her daily duties was nice, she would still much rather be herself with all of her regular duties—honestly, it wasn't that what Luna did was difficult. It was what she didn't do that was so trying. After a year of nopony showing up to her night court, it was perfectly reasonable for her to be upset with Celestia. It was her who was in the wrong, not Luna.

Celestia had not felt more horrible in her eons of living. She had unwillingly alienated her sister. Her one and only sister. And at what cost? Some petty misplaced mistrust.

She hated to admit it, but once Luna had returned, Celestia always tried to avoid the topic of redistributing the royal duties. As much as she tried to deny it, she was worried that Luna would take her new power and run with it, leaving Celestia to clean up the mess she had created. But what she hadn't realized was that what she thought had been protecting Luna was only hurting her more. In trying to ease her burden, she had subjected Luna to this insufferable loneliness. She had made Luna's life harder and more unbearable instead of helping.

It was Celestia's fault that Luna was distanced from the ponies of Equestria. It was her who didn't let Luna speak at any of the public events they attended. It was her who had buried herself in her own duties to hide from the fact that her sister was unhappy. It was her who had prevented Luna from spreading her wings and becoming the ruler she had the capability to be.

And what's more is that after every long night of bitter loneliness, Luna shelled herself up in the Canterlot Library and studied to try and reconnect with the ponies of Equestria. Luna had been trying to reach out to Celestia and tell her she was ready for her acceptance, and what had she done in response? She had decided that her sister still wasn't ready for it, when in reality, it was Celestia who wasn't ready.

Right about now, she felt like just about the worst big sister in all of Equestria. Tears began heavily flowing down her cheeks, but she paid them no heed. She didn't deserve to wipe them off of her face.

Just then, a group of ponies who looked to be in their teens trotted into the throne room. They began collectively muttering to each other.

"Dude, it's Nightmare Moon!"

"Keep your voice down! She'll probably freak out and send us to the moon or something."

"Bro, I dare you to go and talk to her!"

The pony who looked to be the ring leader of the group fearlessly approached her. "What's up, Nightmare Moon? Do you…" he trailed off.

"Wait, why are you sitting in Princess Celestia's throne?" he asked. "And why are you crying?"

They trio erupted into boisterous laughter. "Are you trying to be like your sister? Because you aren't. You'll never be like her. Sit in your own thrown, princess," he spat venomously.

Celestia's first reaction was disbelief. What the hay were these ponies doing here, and why in Equestria were they challenging the authority of a princess? Granted, they were teenagers, but nopony had a right to patronize another pony like that, princess or no.

Her disbelief soon boiled down into pure rage. These ponies have the gall to refer to her as Nightmare Moon?! Not only that, but they had referred to Luna as subordinate to her, and that couldn't have been further from the truth. Luna was twice the mare she would ever be. The only thing restraining her from lashing out at the colts right now was the fact that it would look bad upon Luna.

"I bet you're not even a real princess," he stated matter-of-factly.

The sheer ignorance in his statement was enough to make her eyes twitch. Celestia absolutely lost it. "How dare you!? I should have half a mind to have you arrested for treason right this very moment!"

She hopped off of her throne and elegantly strided over to the young stallions. She whispered, "You know what? Princess Luna is ten times the pony you foals will ever be. In fact, she would probably even make me promise that I wouldn't lay a hoof on you simply because 'Everypony deserves a second chance.' "

A devilish smile crept across her face. She leaned in until she was inches from one of the stallion's faces. The room was stark silent. She breathed, "Too bad I'm not Princess Luna."

The ponies scrambled back a few steps, trying to distance themselves from the fuming princess.

With the image of Nightmare Moon burned into her mind, it wasn't hard to pull up the illusion. Celetia made her eyes burn a furious red and transformed herself into the likeness of the evil nightmare.

"GET! OUT!" she screamed at the oppressors, her new guise sending the ponies reeling.

Her screaming jerked the ponies from their horrified stupor, and they bolted from the palace proper at speeds that would put a wonderbolt to shame.

Celestia looked down at where the stallions had been standing. Right beneath where the leader of the group had been standing, a small, yellow puddle laid. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. The cleaning staff were definitely in for a treat.

She happily strolled back over to her throne, glad to have warded off the assailants. There was no doubt in her mind that this was not the first time they had come. There was also no doubt in her mind that Luna had refused to kick them out. She was too good of a pony for that.

A grin broke out on Celestia's face. There was no way they would ever dare and come back after that fiasco. And what's more is that if they tried to tell anypony about what had happened, they would all just think them crazy.

Before long, her happy trance sunk into somber loneliness once more. So this is what her sister had to put up with? Taunts and patronization? She would much prefer her regular insufferable day court to this any day.

Just then, yet another stallion confidently strided into the room. Celestia recognized him from somewhere, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it…

He cleared his throat at an unnecessarily obnoxious volume and then bowed far more deeply than what was necessary. "Hello, Princess. I am Swift Hooves, and I have something of utmost importance that I would like to share with you."

"Please, continue."

"I…I have made a frightening discovery about the unicorn race."

Celestia's expression was normally nigh unreadable; she was the impartial coregent of Equestria, so her personal thoughts and opinions needed to remain as such—personal. However, there were rare occasions where her impenetrable mask of unwavering motherly grace failed her, but they were few and far between.

Now was one such occasion.

This stallion was the same exact one who had come into her day court not only a day ago and given a lecture on how the unicorn race was evil and needed to be exterminated.

"You see, the unicorns utilize black magic, witchcraft, if you will, to cast spells. They are evil, and need to be treated as such. This is why I suggest that—"

Celestia was angry. Furious, even. He had failed to get Celestia to agree with him, so what did he do? He blatantly ignored her ruling and approached Luna about it! She and her sister were equals; if one of them made a decision on something, it was to be upheld by both of them. "Mister Swift Hooves," she began, "do you really think if my sister ruled against your little 'extermination attempt', I would rule anything different? Do you really think that we do not speak with each other about these things?"

His false bravado faltered. "Well, I, uh…"

"Celestia ruled that your findings were invalid and immoral. Her decision stands. Get out of my court."

"O-Of course, p-p-princess," he stuttered, quickly backpedaling out of the room.

"And Swift Hooves?" she asked. "Do you really think it was a good idea to denounce unicorns in front of your princesses, who happen to be part unicorn?"

"Well, you see, I… I well, uh… gottagobye!" he stammered before bolting out of the throne room.

Celestia sighed. Equestrian politics was a serious matter. I wasn't like when you were a filly and Mom said no to getting you another toy, so you just went and asked dad. This was a matter of ponies' safety!

However, she couldn't help but feel slightly reproachful about the whole thing. Had she not been in Luna's body, her sister would have had no clue that the crazy stallion had visited her day court. They were supposed to be a team, not individual rulers. If they didn't work together, then how could they expect the ponies of Equestria to do the same?

It was jarring. She and Luna needed to have more frequent talks so they could more successfully rule together. She made a mental note to set aside more time for her and her sister to sit down and talk about everything. Whether they talked about personal issues or matters integral to the fate of their country, Celestia didn't care. She just missed her little sister.

There was no better time than the present. With an exaggerated groan, she pulled herself from Luna's throne and began to slowly make her way out of the throne room. If she ended the night court an hour or two early, she was sure nopony would mind. Besides, if she had to put up with any more crazy ponies, she was sure she would absolutely lose it.

---

Luna was sitting in her sisters office, blankly staring at the wall in front of her. Anything to get her mind off of the tedious paperwork that currently demanded her attention.

Why did princesses even have to do paperwork? Weren't there other ponies who could do that?

Just then, her sister delicately nudged open the office door and carefully walked over to her. It was still an extremely weird experience seeing yourself walking towards you. It wasn't natural.

"Hey, Luna. Can we change back bodies now?"

Something was off. Luna had never heard her sister sound so… resigned before. "Sure, sister. How do we change back?"

The room went so silent you could hear a pin drop. Celestia's face face transformed from that of resignation to terror. "Tia, do you not know how to change us back?" Luna asked anxiously.

"Well, I… uh…"

Luna's face fell. She did not want to live in her sister's body for the rest of her immortal life. One day was quite enough.

Celestia erupted into a fit of giggles. "Oh, Lulu, you should have seen how scared you were! It was precious!" she laughed while trying to imitate Luna's expression.

Luna stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at her sister. "Haha, very funny. Now can we please switch back now?"

"Oh, fine. It's the same spell as before, so just focus on me and everything will work itself out. On three," she said.

"One."

Luna shivered, the strangest sense of deja vu overtaking her.

"Two."

What had she taken from all this? All she really knew was that she wasn't angry at Tia anymore. She was just tired of everything.

"Three."

Luna mindlessly repeated the spell she had used not only twenty-four hours ago. Her magic enveloped her own body, and her soul was evicted from her sister's body. Looking for a home, it took the first one it found: her own.

Luna fell to the ground disoriented. The spinning sensation in her head was dizzying. She pushed herself up onto her hooves and looked over at Celestia, who was now in her own body. She let out a relieved sigh, glad that the whole nightmare was over.

She was suddenly very uncomfortable. What did you say to somepony who'd just been in your body? Was there really even anything she could say?

"Lulu… we need to talk."

"About what?" Luna asked.

"Everything."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we should probably start with the whole 'switching bodies' thing," she amended.

After a moment of nothing, Luna exhaled. "I'll tell you everything that happened first, if you want me to," Luna asked. She wanted to get this off of her chest.

Celestia nodded.

Luna took a deep breath then said, "Well, let me first start off by saying your personal advisor was very helpful. I wouldn't have gotten through everything without him by my side. You should be sure to thank him."

Her sister frowned. "Luna, I'm sorry we never hired you a personal advisor. I forgot that—"

"Let me finish my story first. That problem has already been solved," she interrupted.

Celestia's face contorted into an expression of confusion, but she made no move to say anything more.

"The day started off with me raising the sun, as usual. It was more difficult than I would have anticipated it to be, but I managed. The next thing on the schedule after that was blessing foals. The first couple whose foal I blessed said that they would have liked me to bless their little filly too. I want to set aside time to do that."

Celestia nodded once more.

"Next was the Westhoof graduation. I had to give a speech to the graduating class. Tia, it was exhilarating! I'd never been more happy than when I was when the crowd started cheering for me."

Luna sighed. "Then there was the day court. Let me just say that I had no idea just how many ponies wanted an audience with you. I had always just assumed that your court was only slightly less desolate than mine."

Celestia's ears splayed.

"Most of the ponies weren't very memorable. That is, except for the first pair to enter. They were the ponies you were telling me about, the pegasi and the earth ponies. Well, it turns out that it wasn't a pegasus versus earth pony disagreement like you had thought. It was a family dispute," she explained. "Do you know what I told them, Tia?"

She shook her head.

"I said, 'You don't want to put tension on your relationship like that. Above all else, family is always supposed to be there to support one another.' Do you know how much of a hypocrite that makes me? I told them to love their family, but here we are, fighting about something stupid and pointless."

"Lulu, it's not stupid. You have every right to be angry with me."

Brushing off her sister's comment, she continued, "Then there was the boring paperwork. Tia, how come you didn't even divide up that up with me? I had no idea we even had papers to file!" she said. "Next was dinner with your nephew Blueblood."

Celestia's eyes widened. "Oh goodness! I forgot that was yesterday! I'm so sorry!"

Ignoring her apology, she said, "I had no idea who Blueblood was, or even that you had a nephew. I was excited to meet him. That faded fast. First off, he was forty-five minutes late. Then he demanded we have our table moved to have a view, so the owners had to kick out a couple and ruin their date just because he was being needy. But that wasn't even the worst of it."

Celestia winced.

"When our waitress forgot to fill up his water, he screamed at her demanding he get better wait staff. When she got back, he threw the pitcher of water at her, drenching her. He called her a few choice words, and long story short, she ran out of the restaurant crying."

"Tia, I'm sorry about this next part, but I just couldn't control myself. I might have ruined your relationship with Blueblood, but I couldn't let him get away with making an innocent mare cry. So I called him a few choice names myself and then ran out after the waitress."

To Luna's surprise, Celestia laughed. "It was about time somebody put that foal in his place. He's not even my nephew. I never quite understood how, but apparently his blood somehow earns him the title. If it were up to me, he wouldn't have it. He doesn't deserve it."

Luna released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Good, I'm glad you're not upset," she said. "So I chased after the waitress. I found her crying maybe three blocks away from the restaurant. That's when we started talking."

Luna paused for a moment, staring down at her hooves. "It turns out that her parent's gave her the money to get here so she could make something of herself. But since her family didn't have much money, she didn't want to ask them for more to rent an apartment. So she has been sleeping in the Royal Gardens."

Luna could feel tears pushing at the back of her eyes. "I didn't even know that there were ponies who lived like that, Tia. But despite everything, she was still so happy. She got a lucky break when she stumbled upon the job at the restaurant, but because of Blueblood she probably lost it."

The tears started falling from her eyes. "Tia, her special talent was problem solving. She was young, happy, and in need. So I offered her a job as my advisor."

Celestia wordlessly walked over and pulled Luna into a warm embrace. After a moment of comfortable silence between the two, Celestia said, "I'm proud of you, Lulu. That was the right thing to do."

Luna sniffled. "I offered her a guest room for the night because I couldn't just let her sleep out in the gardens again. Do you know what the first thing she said to me once she got her room was? She asked me for a piece of paper so she could write back home to her parents. She said they were probably worried sick about her, and she wanted to let them know she was doing alright. Even after everything that happened to her, she was still more worried about her parents than herself."

After a few more minutes of sitting there in her sister's embrace, Luna's sniveling came to a stop.

"Do you want to hear about my day?" Celestia asked gently. She could feel Luna's nod against her chest.

"It started with me waking up and not knowing what to do with myself because I didn't have Stint by my side. I'm glad you have an advisor now. They can be so helpful. Anyways, I eventually figured I should start by raising the moon. Let me tell you, I don't know how you do it so well. I can raise the moon just fine, but I can never make the night sky as beautiful as you can. I had a thousand years of practice, but I still couldn't do it right."

Luna smiled.

"Then since I had no idea where to go next, I decided the night court would be a good place to start. It was so… lonely. For the longest time there was nopony. I am to blame for that. I…I was afraid to give you more petitioners because I was irrationally afraid that you would take the power and go crazy with it. I didn't think you were ready, when in reality it was me who wasn't ready."

Luna tensed up. "You…you did everything on purpose?" Her voice was full of raw hurt.

"Lulu—"

"Don't call me that!" she demanded, her ears flattening against her head. "Do you realize everything I have to put up with? They shun me. They brutalize me. They patronize me. Do you know how that feels, Tia? And after all of that, I climb upstairs and shell myself up in the library to study. I study for them, so they might appreciate me. And what do they do? They do the same exact thing the next day."

"Luna—"

"Do you know what yesterday was, Celestia?" she asked quietly, tears running freely down her cheeks again. She made no move to stop them. "Yesterday marked exactly one year since I got back from the moon. Yet they still treat me like I'm a timebomb waiting to explode and kill them all."

Celestia could feel tears beginning to form in her own eyes. She pulled Luna closer to her, but the princess of the night shoved her away.

Fortunately, Celestia knew Luna. She knew that Luna was just angry at everything and that, despite what she said, she really did need her big sister. She pulled Luna back into another warm hug, and this time Luna made no effort to move. She cried on to her sister's shoulder until there were no tears left.

"After some time, a pony did come," Celestia began. "As soon as I saw him, I recognized him, but I couldn't place exactly what I knew him from. Right when he started talking, I remembered. He had come into my day court and tried to convince me the unicorns were evil and should be exiled. Naturally I told him 'No.' "

She sighed. "But here he was, in your night court. He didn't like my decision, so he went to you. We're supposed to be a team, and what one of us says goes. So naturally I called him out and he left, but it got me thinking. Had I not been in your body, you would have had no clue that he had seen me first."

Luna looked up at her curiously.

"Then I realized—we don't work as a team. We're supposed to be corulers and sisters, but because of our conflicting schedules, we hardly get a chance to talk to one another," Celestia said sadly.

"I just miss my little sister," she whispered.

Luna hugged her sister tighter. "I've missed you too, Tia."

Celestia felt herself begin to cry. "We can start right now, Lulu. Just you and me, talking. About anything and everything."

Luna smiled up at her. "That sounds wonderful."

After another moment of companionable silence, Celestia said, "Hey, I wonder what ever happened to that kitchen staff member that told us about the spell. Soup Ladle, I believe his name was."

"I think we both owe him a thank you," Luna said.

"Hey, you!" she called out to one of the servants who was passing by.

The mare came running over as soon as she called her.

"Would you mind bringing the head of the servants over here please?"

The mare nodded and came back several minutes later with a larger stallion by her side. "Hello, Your Highnesses," he bowed, "what can I do for you today?"

"Can you bring us the kitchen servant who goes by the name of Soup Ladle?" Celestia asked.

The stallion scratched his head nervously. "I'm sorry, princesses, but there is no pony by the name of 'Soup Ladle' on staff anywhere."

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Author's Notes: Hey all! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. I have an epilogue written that I'll post a day or so after this, so be on the look out for that.

If you really liked this story, check me out over on fimfiction. Over there I go by 'Avox'. You can search me by name or use the link I have on my profile (hey, I'm entitled to a little bit of shameless self promotion, right?). If it's pony related, it will be posted on that site first. Not to mention that I'm much more active over there.

Thanks again for reading! ^^