Celestia tiredly climbed the stairs into her ornate room. With a sigh, she lifted her Royal jewelry off and tossed the fine gems in a heap at the edge of her bed. Her head was rolling with the events of the day. She tripped over something.

Celestia landed with a crash. "What on-" she muttered, searching for the thing that made her trip.

And what, send it to the moon? Celestia thought bitterly.

She froze when she finally found the offending object. It was a small, rather beaten up canister. Celestia used magic the open it. Out floated a paper. A drawing of a blue alicorn and a white alicorn with a long pink mane. Luna and Tia, best sisters FOREVER! Read the caption. Celestia teared up and quietly put the paper back into the canister as memories came flooding back.

"Come on, Tia! You're gonna hafta be faster than that to beat me!" crowed Luna as a filly.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Celestia was behind, slowly flying and allowing Luna to win.

Luna landed on a balcony facing the sinking sun. She turned to Celestia. "I'm gonna try it tonight!" she announced excitedly.

"Really? Are you sure you don't need my help?" Celestia asked curiously as she landed on the gray stone. "I'll do mine first, after that's when you can try."

"No! Tia, you said I could do it myself tonight! But you could ah, stand by me." Luna shrank.

"Okay," Celestia flew off the balcony and easily set the sun. She returned .

Luna gulped. "O-okay. I can do this." The much smaller filly flew off and with much effort, it seemed, managed to raise the moon. The young filly flew back exhausted. "Di- did I do it? Is it there?" she panted.

"The moon or your Cutie Mark?" Celestia asked.

"The moon, duh! I don't have a-"Luna's eyes drifted to her flank. "Yeah! I did it; rose the moon and got my Cutie Mark!" she punched the air.

Celestia gazed up at the sky. "The stars aren't out."

Luna groaned. "Do I have to do them, too?"

"Most nights, yes. Tell you what, if I do the stars tonight, you heve to help me with the sun in the morning."

Luna rested her head on her sister's forelegs and closed her eyes. "Okay." she murmured.

Celestia  softly lit her horn and put the stars out. Then she put a wing over her exhausted sister and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Now with tears in her eyes, Celestia walked onto the very balcony from the memory. It was many renovations later, yet she insisted that a gray slab of rock stay. She turn her gaze up the moon. The shadow that was going known as 'The Mare in the Moon' was her sister, and Celestia put her there.

I'm so sorry, Luna Celestia thought. Then words came bubbling up her throat and she couldn't suppress them.

"Now and then I then of when we were together," Celestia began slowly. "Like when you said you were so happy you could die."

"I told myself I were right for you, but I was so lonely in your company," Celestia sang louder, directed to the moon. "But it was a sister's love and it's an ache I still remember."

"You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness. Like resignation to the end." Celestia sang a little lower, not decreasing in volume. "So when we found out how they felt about you, you said we couldn't still be friends, but I'll admit I was kind of glad we were over."

"But you didn't have to cut me off, make it like the reign of us never happened and it was nothing. I think I might need your love, but you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough." Celestia sang loudly. "You didn't have to stoop so low, have your guards collect your records and then change your tune. Guess I still need that, though now you're just somepony that I used to know."

Celestia hung her head as the first teardrop fell. "Now you're just somepony that I used to know." she whispered.