Princess Luna stood in the cool night air at the highest parapet of the Royal Castle of the Pony Sisters, her dark feathered wings spread wide. The wind flowed between her feathers and tickled across her lean frame, forcing her to suppress a shiver. With a moment's focus, she ignited her horn.

The Crescent Moon rose up from the horizon at her behest, its silvery light faintly illuminating Equestria while an infinite blanket of stars sparkled into being across the smooth blackness of the sky.

A few moments later Luna's older sister appeared on the nearest parapet in a burst of fiery golden sunlight, the night winds playing at her rosy-pink mane and tail.

"Little sister…I can't let you do this!" the white Alicorn's voice was righteous. Insistent. Indignant, even.

Luna sighed dejectedly. "Big sister, please try to understand..."

Celestia stomped, her bare hoof striking blinding golden sparks off the stone.

"I understand enough already to know you're upsetting the natural order, and breaking ancient laws. And why? Just because you want to prove yourself?"

"Stop talking down to me! You're not Father!" Luna reared, and slammed both front hooves down on the ancient stone. The resulting sparks were small and faint.

The taller Alicorn's expression hardened. "No…I'm not. He's gone. They both are. And I'm glad they aren't around to see –" she gestured broadly with a hoof. "– this!"

Her older sister's words cut Luna like hydra fangs. With a cry of anguish and rage she spread her wings and lunged at her fellow Alicorn, her horn blazing bright.

The echoes of a millennium-old confrontation still rang in Princess Luna's ears as she jerked awake in her bed. Her pulse was pounding, and she was covered in a cold sweat.

Her dreams had been particularly vivid and upsetting of late, often driving her to wake well before sunset. Moving to a new bed chamber had done little to change matters, it seemed. She looked over to the drawn curtains concealing the library-like room's massive west-facing window; the insistent glow of the setting sun still shone from every edge. She scowled.

Sleep was an indulgence for Alicorns. Luna knew that the magic inside her could sustain her for months on end with barely a moment's pause, but since her release she and her sister had returned to the unspoken agreement that it was best to divide the day and night between them. Celestia, it seemed, had mostly kept pretending to need sleep in her absence, as an equine touch to give the masses peace of mind.

Luna dragged herself out of bed and trotted over to her desk, where several half-read books still sat open to this or that page. She sat down on a lushly-padded wooden chair, and magicked three of the volumes into the air. She used a spell to divide her attention, and began speed-reading all three books simultaneously. The pages turned in unison every few seconds.

She was just about to replace A Sociological Treatise on Earth Pony / Unicorn Relations with a different tome when the opening of the outside door caught her attention.

A young white Unicorn with a vibrant fuchsia mane trotted in, magicking a feather duster, dustpan and broom along with her.

Luna turned back to her books. She magicked up an alliteratively-titled Astronomy guide and continued reading.

"Oh…! Begging Your pardon, Your Majesty," said the Unicorn when she spotted Luna, "I'm just here to tidy up. By Your leave…?"

"Mm-hm," said Luna, her eyes still fixed on her books. As the Unicorn busied herself about the room dusting shelves and sweeping the floors, Luna happened to catch a glimpse of the Pony's Cutie Mark out of the corner of her eye: a crescent moon surrounded by tiny stars. Luna's eyes widened; the trio of books fell down onto the table.

The Mark of the Moon Herd! She gasped in disbelief and swooped over to the Unicorn with a single beat of her broad wings.

"YOU!" she boomed at the Unicorn. "Why are you really here? Did she send you? Did my sister notice that I found this place already? Is this her idea of a peace offering? …Or are you a spy? Is that Mark even real?" She jabbed a sapphire-shod hoof at the Unicorn's flank. The Unicorn cowered in terror, covering her head with her front hooves and letting her cleaning tools clatter to the floor. She yelped in fright when she felt Luna's touch.

"ANSWER ME!"

The Unicorn yelped again. "I-I-I'm ss-sorry, Y-your Majesty…!" she stammered. "I d-didn't even know You were staying here! I'm just a P-palace servant! M-my name is Moondancer!" She curled up tighter, too scared to even lay eyes on the furious Alicorn looming over her. "P-please…have mercy!"

Luna felt guilt dissipate her rage. This was no spy of Celestia's; this was just a mortal Pony frightened out of her wits – and bearing an unexpected coincidence on her flanks. After so long, it was no surprise that she didn't understand her heritage. Luna folded her wings and turned away.

"I'm…sorry," she said, somewhat awkwardly. "I…I misunderstood."

Moondancer peeked out from between her hooves. "Your Majesty…?" she squeaked.

"Your Cutie Mark bears the signs of an ancient pact between my Mother and a bloodline of Unicorns. Your ancestors were the Moon Herd – Her personal attendants and bodyguards, and after her…passing, my own."

The Unicorn shakily got to her hooves. "I had no idea!" she whispered, awestruck.

Luna turned to face her. "I fear there is much that has been forgotten in my…absence." A lump threatened to form in Luna's throat as a surge of strictly-controlled emotion partially broke free. She coughed softly. "We would that you acted at Our behest alone, and not that of the palace at large," she intoned, adopting the archaic Royal Vernacular. "From this night forth, We declare this to be so: Moondancer, lost scion of the Moon Herd, is the Royal Princess Luna's personal student and assistant!" She stomped a hoof; a faint rumble of thunder echoed in the vaulted room.

Moondancer stared. Her jaw dropped.

Luna felt the same guilt prod at her once more. She cleared her throat again and looked away, blushing faintly. "…That is…if you would be so inclined," she added.

Moondancer smiled, and nodded quickly. "Of course, Your Majesty…! I'd be delighted!"

Luna's expression brightened. "Splendid! I will teach you about magic, the stars, your ancestors and the ancient times, and you will act as my assistant in all matters. We begin your training tonight!"

Princess Celestia's magic-warded form erupted through the ancient grey wall as if the stone was so much spun glass, sending fractured bricks scattering in all directions as she tumbled into the ballroom. She skidded to a stop and then shakily got to her hooves.

Seconds later, a similarly-warded Luna hovered through the same hole in the wall, her wings carrying her forward with terrible purpose.

"I don't…want to…fight you, sister," said Celestia between panting breaths.

"This isn't ABOUT what you want!" Luna bellowed. Her horn unleashed a dozen lashing tendrils of energy. "You're always the centre of attention – always the special one. Well, no more! When everypony sees what I've done, they'll have no choice but to notice me!" Luna advanced on her sister.

"When they see…what you've done…they'll think you're a monster," said Celestia mournfully. Her horn released pink extrusions of its own.

The streaks of deadly energy lanced out as the two Alicorns' clashed. Parried beams of hardened light cut through the walls, ceiling and floor, leaving molten, orange-glowing holes in the ancient stone.

The Royal Pony Sisters' battle lasted for hours, and took them from one end of the castle to the other. They left a trail of destruction in their wake.

Throughout the castle servants, courtiers and foreign visitors galloped about in a panic and dodged falling debris and stray magical bolts. The Sun Guard and the Moon Herd tried in vain to keep the evacuation sane and safe.

At length, Celestia gained the upper hoof. She flew toward the ceiling while gripping her sister in a half dozen energy tendrils, and then smashed her down into the floor. The flagstones gave way, and Luna disappeared into the shadowy depths of the Castle's basement.

Celestia fought to catch her breath as she let her spells fade. She staggered when her bare hooves touched down on the stone floor; the fight had been exhausting. Her horn was painfully hot, and her flanks shone with sweat. Once the adrenaline surge of the battle began to fade, Celestia's stern expression softened.

She trotted over to the gaping hole in the floor. "Lu-lu…?" she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

Faint, echoing laughter answered back, followed by a low whisper: "…The Vault…"

Celestia craned her neck, angling an ear toward the hole. "…What?"

Shadowy force erupted from the hole like a black geyser, sending Celestia tumbling. When she came to her senses a moment later, she gasped in abject horror at the sight before her.

Princess Celestia mirrored her dream-self's gasp as she awoke. The dreams had been the same almost every night since her sister's return: that same terrible night, played out over and over. She would have simply forgone sleep, but she was reluctant to do so. Mundane habits and routines helped the never-ending parade of days and nights pass more smoothly, and helped keep her grounded.

…And of course, as before, while she and her sister were splitting the day between them she could pretend that it was scheduling and not anything deeper keeping them from speaking.

She rolled over in her opulently-appointed bed and tried to let her mind settle, but it soon became clear that her night's sleep was over even if the night was not. She slipped out from under the pastel-hued covers and got out of bed. In the darkness of her expansive personal chambers, her silhouette seemed small and gangly. Her dainty unshod hooves clicked softly on the stone floor.

Her horn ignited as she magicked up the Regalia of the Day-Mare, lifting the golden yoke, tiara and shoes from their resting place on a nearby vanity and slipping them on. Thusly appointed, she trotted out onto her bedroom's balcony.

Although it was still three hours before Celestia would bring the dawn, the palace was a beehive of activity. Ponies rushed to and fro, consumed by their efforts to complete the last of the repairs after the riotous upheaval that was this year's Grand Galloping Gala before the arrival of the Tsarevna of Stalliongrad and her retinue the next afternoon.

In spite of the bleak mood the dream had put her in, Celestia couldn't help but smile when she thought back to the Gala. Her favourite – and only – student's friends were certainly a lively bunch!

And as for Twilight Sparkle herself, not a day went by that Celestia didn't thank her lucky stars that she'd found her. The young Unicorn had such vast magical talent, and such a keen intellect, yet she was also so endearingly awkward around social situations, as if frustrated that Ponies could not be read as easily as books. She was so very much like–

Celestia hung her head. The bleak mood returned in full force.

Is that why I picked her? she mused silently. Is that why I gave her the Ivory Tower, out of any empty room in the palace? She spread her wings and gracefully took to the air. Is that why I arranged for her to be the one to seek the Elements?

She banked sharply and alighted on the palace's roof. The moon had nearly set but the night sky was still deep and black, the stars staring down as if in judgement.

"I missed you," she whispered to the moon as it slipped past the horizon. "…I still miss you."

Celestia watched the last sliver of moon disappear and then turned her gaze to the stars. She watched them in melancholy silence until the time came for her to sweep them aside with a wave of dawn and day.

Moondancer stared in rapt attention at the shimmering curtain of shadowy moonlight floating before her. The magicked "screen" displayed a phantasmal night sky, with each of the major constellations connected star-to-star by gleaming silvery lines.

Princess Luna stood next to the display, pointing to starry patterns with her glowing horn.

"The…Pegasus," said Moondancer as Luna singled out the constellation.

"Good." Luna nodded slightly, and pointed again.

Moondancer narrowed her eyes in concentration. "The Water Horse…?"

"Yes – excellent. And this one?"

"That's – wait! Your Majesty, I think some stars are missing from the chart. Is that part of the test?"

"What…? Where?" Luna surveyed the illusory display in dismay.

Moondancer pointed with her horn. "Shouldn't there be four bright stars around the moon?"

Luna winced and looked away. The star chart wavered and then vanished.

"Those…those were not actually stars," she said softly. "They were part of my prison – the keys that unbound me when the time came."

"Oh…" said Moondancer. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty…"

Luna shook her head, willing away an upwelling of sadness. "It's alright, my student. You couldn't have known." She looked over to the drawn curtains; their edges were brightening. "Besides, it's daybreak. You've learned enough for one night, I think."

Fatigue struck Moondancer hot on the tail of the realization that she'd spent the entire night under the Princess' tutelage. She stifled a yawn. "Yes, Your Majesty. By Your leave…?"

Luna nodded, and the young Unicorn smiled warmly and backed away for three paces before turning and leaving the Ivory Tower.

In spite of the depressing memories Moondancer's question had stirred, Luna couldn't help but smile slightly as she thought about her new student. She was so polite and earnest, but also lively and witty, with an excellent memory for names and a strong sense of decorum. Why, pale her mane a bit and she could be a younger–

Luna's smile dissolved.

She trotted over to her cluttered table and sat down heavily in her chair. Habit or not, putting the masses at ease or not, promising student or not, she wasn't going to sleep today. Her realization a moment earlier had robbed her of any hope that she wouldn't dream about the confrontation with her older sister again, and she didn't want to face that.

She magicked a narrow pair of magnifying pince-nez glasses onto her nose, and focused on the tiny print of an open volume of Encyclopaedia Equestria.

Princess Celestia returned from Ponyville to her tower-top personal study in a flash of white-hot magic. She felt the accompanying presence of her faithful student, but she held the Unicorn frozen in the spaces between spaces for a moment, buying herself some time to sit down near the window and prepare herself for what was coming.

"You two!" she barked at the Royal Guard Pegasi flanking the study's only door. "Do not forget your orders: do it quickly and cleanly. If you fail me in this endeavour, I will be severely…disappointed."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the guards shouted in unison, snapping to attention.

Celestia took a slow, deep breath, and let out a soft sigh. She knew that, judging from the fracas between Twilight Sparkle's friends which she had interrupted, she could no longer delay explaining the secrets of the Elements of Harmony to her.

She knew that her student's skeptical, probing intellect would jump too quickly to the implications and complications of what she was about to tell her, and fail to stop and let her heart take in the sheer gravity of the fact itself.

She knew that it would take a profound, life-altering shock to shake Twilight Sparkle from her usual investigative manner.

She knew that long ago her Father – peace and joy to Him, forever – had taught her and her younger sister a very similar lesson about the significance of the sheer power that was the birthright of Alicorns.

None of those facts made what she had to do next any easier.

She released Twilight Sparkle from her stasis; the Unicorn flashed into being in the middle of the study. Celestia magicked up a teapot to fill the shallow porcelain cup on the low table beside her.

"Princess Celestia…I can't tell you how sorry I am…" Twilight looked away, and noticed that the door out of the room was flanked by a pair of Royal Guard Pegasi.

Princess Celestia magicked up the cup and took a slow, thoughtful sip of her tea. Her eyes were closed, her face a serene, unreadable mask. She set down the cup, turned toward the guards, opened her eyes, and softly said two words:

"Kill her."

Princess Luna chuckled as she bore down on her fallen older sister. How small and weak the bruised and battered older Alicorn seemed now!

"Have you had enough?" Luna asked, her voice deep and resonant. "Yes? Maybe you should have thought of that before dropping me into the Vault!"

Princess Celestia stirred, and shakily got to her hooves. She spat out a mouthful of sparkling blood and stared defiantly into the blazing turquoise eyes of the towering, pitch black, Equinium-barded monstrosity that until moments before had been her small and skinny younger sister.

"Oh…! Still not backing down?" Luna tittered. "What next? Will you tell me you aren't afraid of me?"

Celestia's lower lip quivered. "You know I can't…" she whispered.

"That's right!" Luna boomed. Lightning lanced between clouds in the night sky; Celestia cringed backward. "Mother's war-mantle won't let you! With the Mantle of the Night-Mare, I AM fear!"

Luna's flowing, starry mane snaked out of its own volition and cupped Celestia's chin. "I tried to get you to see things my way peacefully, but NO!" Her mane slapped her older sister across the cheek. "You had to be stubborn. Well now you're paying for it!"

Celestia's face contorted in a blend of fear and rage. Her horn ignited blazing white; Luna easily recognized the matrix of a teleportation spell forming. She smirked.

"That's all you can do, big sister? Run away? You know I can track you."

"I'm not running," said Celestia gravely. "I'm going to stop you." She vanished in a burst of white-hot magic.

Luna concentrated for a moment, and soon located her sister: Celestia had reappeared two stories up…right outside the Chapel of Harmony.

Luna's eyes widened. "No…!" she shouted to the empty ballroom. "You wouldn't!"

Too shocked to teleport or even fly, Luna galloped up the winding stairs to the chapel. At the first landing she heard a blast of battle-magic blow open the chapel doors. At the second floor she felt the stone beneath her Equinium-shod hooves rumble. At the second landing she was almost blinded by a wave of searing golden light. As Luna climbed the last steps and stood in the entryway to the Chapel of Harmony, she gasped in shock at the terrible beauty of the towering, alabaster, Orichalcum-barded Goddess that stood before her.

"Little sister…" said Celestia, her voice deep and powerful, "…I am not afraid of you."

Six shimmering globes rose up in a halo behind Celestia, and began spinning in a circle faster and faster.

"…NOOOOO!"

Luna jerked upright in her seat, for a moment unsure where – or when – she was. But reality quickly reasserted itself, and she realized that she had dozed off reading the encyclopaedia. She sighed in annoyance with herself and straightened her pince-nez. She hadn't fallen asleep while reading since she was a foal, and the unpleasant dream had only made the situation all the more embarrassing. She redoubled her efforts to get through the weighty tome.

She was only a few more pages into the E section of the encyclopaedia when the outside doors magicked open. Is Moondancer back already? she wondered. It's not even sunset yet! Perhaps the Moon Herd blood is stronger with her than I thought… She turned to the door, already feeling the gloominess fleeing her thoughts – and then her eyes settled on an entirely different Unicorn. The gloominess redoubled its assault.

"Oh…it's you," said Luna as the purple Unicorn approached, only partially concealing her disappointment. She magicked the pince-nez off of her face and set it down on the cluttered table.

It was her sister's favourite; the straight-maned little show-off who'd been living in this very room only a few months earlier, and whose Elemental assault had shattered her Mother's Mantle right off of her hide. Pent-up loathing rose in Luna like a tide of bile. She narrowed her eyes.

She didn't care why the wingless, meddling brat was here. She didn't care that the Unicorn was now the bearer of the Element of Magic, and thus as immortal as any Alicorn. She didn't care how upset her older sister might get. She still resolved to find a way to make the horrid little nag hurt.

Moondancer was unaccustomed to sleeping through the day. She stirred in her bed, beset by sad, disquieting dreams. She awoke just after sunset, and suddenly realized that the cries she'd been hearing were no dream. She trotted groggily to her small third-floor room's window, and nosed open the shutters. What she saw purged the sleepiness from her mind.

Princess Luna was in the gardens below, surrounded by scattered books and bric-a-brac from the Ivory Tower. She was standing before a gilt marble statue of Princess Celestia, looking up at the effigy and shouting through shuddering sobs.

"I h-hate you! I HATE YOU! I didn't 'g-go too fa-ar!' YOU DID! Y-you won't even let me F-FACE you! You just h-hide behind your Regalia and play w-with your special little r-replacem-ment, while I…I…I WISH I'D STAYED UP THERE!"

Luna's horn blazed; a violent eruption of battle-magic detonated the statue, sending smoking shards raining in all directions. Luna collapsed onto her knees and wailed in despair.

Moments later Moondancer emerged from the front door of the servants' quarters and cautiously trotted over to the weeping Alicorn.

"…Your Majesty?"

Luna turned her head aside and wiped her eyes with a wing. She sniffled. "What do you want?" she whimpered, her voice slightly muffled.

Moondancer knelt down next to the Princess. "Begging Your pardon, Your Majesty," she said gently, "but did something happen between Yourself and Princess Celestia?"

"Only what always happens," Luna said bitterly. "I tried to stand up for myself, and she made me out to be the villain for it." Luna's shoulders heaved; she gritted her teeth, holding back fresh tears.

Moondancer couldn't help but rest a comforting hoof across Luna's shoulders. She blushed at the inexcusable breach of protocol. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty…"

The two sat in silence for a long moment, until Moondancer spoke once more: "Your Majesty…if I may ask…" She swallowed. "…did the Royal Pony Sisters clash about the night? Do You still want to make it last forever?"

Luna closed her eyes, and heaved a slow, long-suffering sigh. "…I never did," she whispered. "That wasn't even why she banished me in the first place."

Moondancer's head tilted in confusion. "But, Your Majesty…the legends!"

Luna scoffed. "The legends were written a generation after the fact, by Ponies who weren't even there." She frowned. "…And my sister was content to let history turn me into a monster…and her into a saviour. When I was finally set free, I was so enraged that I decided to give them what they feared so much."

The pale Unicorn's features twisted in sadness. "Oh, Your Majesty…! That's…terrible!"

Luna nodded, fighting to keep from choking up again. "She was a cruel, unforgiving, manipulative tyrant." The Alicorn turned to stare into her student's eyes. "Tell me…what does that make you think of her?"

Moondancer's lavender eyes unfocused for a moment, staring at nothing. "I…I'm sure She did what She thought was right…" she said softly, her voice monotone and distant.

Luna pounded her front hooves on the flagstones, snapping Moondancer out of her reverie.

"THAT is why we clashed!" She shouted. "She used the Elements of Harmony to make a reversed copy of our Mother's war-mantle so she could face me. And because of that Regalia, everypony can't help but love her!"

Luna looked up into the moonless, starless sky. "I seethed with hatred for her when those commoners shattered the Mantle of the Night-Mare, but the moment I laid eyes on her without it, I was forced to forgive her. You can't imagine the effort it took to speak as I did just now…even to a statue of her!"

Luna's student gasped softly. "Your Majesty…!"

Despite her best efforts, fresh tears slid down Luna's indigo cheeks. "Even though I'm free from the moon, I'm still trapped…drowning in my hate because the one who deserves to bear it is always hidden behind a beautiful lie!"

A white flash flickered behind the pair, followed by the jingling clatter of falling metal. A youthful, gentle voice spoke up:

"Not always hidden, little sister."

Luna turned around; her jaw dropped.

Princess Celestia stood bare in the cool evening air, the six golden relics of her Regalia lying in a circle around her. Without their power she stood a scant few inches taller than her younger sister, and her unmoving mane and tail were the pale pink of the dawn.

"F-Forgive me, Your M-Majesty…!" stammered Moondancer to Luna, blushing copiously and averting her gaze. "I mustn't s-see Your Royal Sister like this!" She galloped off toward the servants' quarters in embarrassment.

Luna conquered her shock and narrowed her eyes. "How's your pet Unicorn?" she sneered.

Celestia took the jab in stride. "Twilight Sparkle is resting in my chambers."

Luna scoffed. "What is this, big sister? What are you planning?"

Celestia winced. "Oh, Lu-lu…I'm not planning anything."

Luna rolled her eyes and then cast her gaze down toward the stone beneath her. "Right."

Celestia continued: "Spring is almost over – I don't want another season to go by with this…this distance between us. We've hardly spoken since your birthday, and even then we mostly just made small-talk about the night-sky rainbow I arranged. After what happened today, I decided to give you what you want."

Although she was still suspicious of her sister's motives, Luna couldn't help but take the bait. She faced her sister. "What I want? What do you know about what I want?" She advanced on the white Alicorn. "You think you can make everything all right by just showing me your real face, Celly? YOU SENT ME TO PONY HELL!"

Luna's horn flared and a wave of purple-blue magic hurled Celestia backward into a nearby pillar; the ancient stone cracked from the impact, and Celestia collapsed in a heap at its base. Luna stalked after her sister.

"All I wanted was to make Equestria a better place! My spell was perfect! The seasons, the plants, the animals – even the water and the air – I made a whole forest into one self-sustaining system, ever-free of the need for care! I could have done the same for the whole world! And you BANISHED me for it! You left me to rot in the cold and the dark for A THOUSAND YEARS!"

Luna unleashed another magical blast as her sister struggled to stand. Celestia smashed through the pillar this time. Once again Luna pursued her fallen sister, batting aside falling stonework with flashes of magic.

"And then…THEN…you let everypony think that just because we both left the moon where it was while we fought, I was trying to take over!" Luna was all but screaming now, tears soaking her face. "Why, Celly? WHY?"

Celestia struggled back onto her hooves, already recovering from injuries that would have crippled or killed any mortal Pony. She took a deep breath, and:

"BECAUSE I WAS ANGRY!" Celestia's horn ignited and a chunk of broken pillar twice her height flipped into the air and smashed down onto her younger sister. Luna partially crumbled the stone with a spell before it struck, but she was still left buried under a pile of rubble. Celestia loomed over her.

"You wouldn't listen – you NEVER listen! You thought that just because you were well-read, you had all the answers! You wouldn't even CONSIDER the idea that you could be wrong! But you WERE wrong, Lu-lu! That forest was an ATROCITY!"

Celestia's horn flared once more, and the pile of rubble exploded from the inside. Luna sailed through the air and cried out in pain as she crashed down hard on the age-worn flagstones.

"Did you even look at what you made? Did you see the clouds blindly spitting out lightning at random? Did you see the plants choking the life from each other's roots in competition for soil and water? Did you see the animals eating each other?" Celestia's voice cracked. "Lu-lu…it was horrific!"

Luna groaned, and staggered back onto her hooves. The two bruised and battered Alicorns stared each other down.

"Don't talk to me about horror," Luna snarled. "I spent ten centuries without food, water or even air, living on magic alone, with nothing but HATE to keep me warm, while you sat on your throne and laughed!"

"THAT'S A LIE!" Celestia shouted, tears in her eyes. "I DIED the day I banished you! I regretted it the instant it was done. Not only that, but I used the Elements of Harmony in anger, and all six of them wracked me for it! It was months before I even had the strength to leave the ruins of the Castle – Equestria had nearly fallen to civil war by the time I moved the capital here!"

"It didn't stop you from keeping the Regalia…" muttered Luna.

Celestia looked down, her anger draining away. "The masses needed a Princess they could look up to," she said sheepishly. "I had to give them one."

Luna sighed in frustration, similarly losing her grip on her fury. "Why are you doing this, Celly? Why tell me these things? Do you want me to tell you that you were right all along? Do you want me to apologize? What do you want from me?"

Luna's harsh tone struck Celestia like a knife-edge across a marionette's strings. She sat down heavily on the flagstones. Her wings drooped, and tears wet her face. A sudden surge of feeling boiled up in her, and she wailed:

"I want my sister baaaack!"

She covered her eyes with her hooves and started crying like a lost foal, gasping out deep, heaving, undignified sobs, her usual decorum nowhere to be found.

Luna backed away slightly, profoundly shaken by the sight.

"I missed you, Lu-lu. I missed you so much!" Celestia bawled. "I was afraid to face you while you still wore our Mother's Mantle, so I abandoned our subjects, and condemned my best student and her friends to bear a burden that nearly killed me, just so I could see your real face again!" She crawled toward Luna on her belly, sniffling and trembling. "You're the only real family I have left in the world…I would have done anything to set you free sooner!"

"S-Stop it…" whispered Luna, struggling to keep the quaver out of her voice. How many times had she dreamed of this while she'd been alone on the moon – her proud older sister, bowing and scraping before her, begging for her regard? How often had she practised her most harsh and scathing replies? But now that it was happening, she couldn't seem to summon up the schadenfreude that had helped pass the time during her banishment. In fact, the memory of her previous fantasies almost sickened her.

Celestia crawled closer, reaching for Luna's front hooves with her own. Dust marred her pristine white hide and her rosy mane and tail. "Please, Lu-lu...please forgive me…" she grovelled. "I know I don't deserve it, but pleeeez…"

Luna yelped softly at her sister's touch. She tried to back away further, but her rump struck a large stone planter. "It's a trick…y-you're trying to…" Luna bit her lip, her face contorting from the effort of holding back her emotions.

"I'm sorry, Lu-lu! I'm s-soooorrry!" Celestia's teary eyes seemed as wide as the moon. Luna felt her resolve crumbling.

"…Damn you, Celly!" Luna whimpered, and pulled her older sister up into a hug.

The Royal Pony Sisters wept wordlessly for a long time, sharing their first genuine embrace in more than a millennium.

At length Luna smiled slightly and muttered: "You're pathetic, Celly."

Celestia stroked her sister between her wings with a bare hoof. "I love you too, Lu-lu."

Luna heaved a long, slow sigh. "…All right. Maybe I should have researched the ever-free spell more thoroughly." She quickly added: "…I still haven't forgiven you, though," but the malice had left her voice.

Celestia sniffled and smiled behind Luna's head, and said: "I know, Lu-lu…but I'll do whatever it takes to help you to."

"All right then…you can start right now."

"Anything."

"Stop calling me Lu-lu."

The Alicorns laughed together for the first time in more years than even they could remember. They both ignited their horns and cast their eyes skyward, and the moon rose into the blank night sky. An infinite blanket of stars sparkled into being in its wake.

NEXT APPENDIX - DITZY DOO: MUFFINS