"Our most trusted councilors," the grand white pony began. "The night before last, an event transpired that we must inform you of. We apologize for keeping this information private until today, but we had to take time to recuperate from what has happened."
Princess Celestia's nerves shook as she faced the council before her. Even after quite a few years of service, her meetings with other powerful ponies never failed to frighten her. Though she was Equestria's most powerful government figure, and even physically the largest pony she had met, she felt small and weak among these ponies who had been in service since before she was born. In each of these meetings, she had watched herself intently for the slightest falters in her posture, her speech, her expression, fearing that one slip-up would lead her council members to rethink their choice to make her Equestria's princess. Even now, these fears came to her, when they were the absolute least of her worries. She was about to deliver news that would change her kingdom forever.
"Councilors, before we go on, we must demand that the information we are about to reveal does not leave this room until we say so. Are we understood?" she asked, gazing down from her seat at the height of the meeting table.
"Yes, Princess Celestia," the ponies seated around her chorused.
"Very good." The princess braced herself for what she was about to say. "Two nights ago, Princess Luna… Luna…" Disappeared, she wanted to say. She didn't want to bring herself to admitting the terrible deed her dear sister had committed. But the councilor seated to her right, Star Swirl, noticed the change in the princess' expression and immediately spoke up.
"Forgive the interruption, Princess, but it would appear that you're trying to avoid telling us the whole truth." Star Swirl and Celestia had spent so much time together that he knew her better than any pony, even better than Princess Luna, and he could tell by the simplest of nuances what Celestia was feeling. "You never were the best liar, Princess," he said, winking at her.
Princess Celestia breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The presence of her closest friend and his lightheartedness helped to calm the nerves which threatened to break at any moment. "You are right, Star Swirl. We are…" She took a moment to think of what she wanted to say, not wanting to let on to the council just how disturbed she was. "disconcerted by what has happened, but we do not wish to keep secrets from our council members. Thank you, Star Swirl, for keeping us honest." The old unicorn smiled at the princess as she said this.
"Princess Luna has betrayed us. When we went to speak to her about lowering the moon for the coming morning, she turned on us and attacked us." Gasps came from the ponies around her, but Celestia continued. "That's not all. Princess Luna… she changed somehow. We believe the darkness that caused her to betray us also transformed her. She was strong, and she fought us with a malice that we never knew our sister to have. She would have taken our throne and all of Equestria, and we fear that under the judgment she showed us that night, she would have led the kingdom into an era of chaos."
The councilors began babbling amongst themselves in their shock, Celestia picking up bits of their conversations.
"Princess Luna, a traitor?!"
"She has been quite distant lately… But how could she do such a thing?"
"And to attack Princess Celestia!"
As the councilors hurriedly spoke, Celestia felt hot tears well up behind her eyelids, but she shouted "Stop!" before they could escape. "Enough. Now is not the time to discuss the motivations behind Princess Luna's actions."
"But, Princess," began an earth pony mare on the left side of the table. "Where is Princess Luna now? How did you defend yourself from her attack?"
"There is no need to fear Princess Luna now, or Nightmare Moon, as she now calls herself," Celestia told the councilors. Here it came: the part of her story that she wished were fiction, but that was all too real. "In order to protect our fair kingdom from her tyranny, we used the Elements of Harmony to banish our sister to the moon. To all of our knowledge, her imprisonment shall last for eternity."
The council gazed upon her in silence as she continued. "We shall keep close watch on the moon in the coming weeks, to ensure the finality of Nightmare Moon's imprisonment. But with our sister gone, we will need someponies to take over her nighttime duties." Several ponies seated around the table shook themselves awake to volunteer, and Celestia quickly chose one earth pony, one pegasus, and one unicorn. "This meeting has concluded," she then said. "All of you are dismissed."
The ponies began to file out of the room, but Star Swirl stayed behind with the princess. "Celestia," he addressed her. Though he would never do it in formal company, Star Swirl was one of the few ponies who held the privilege of being close enough to the princess to refer to her without her esteemed title. "Are you going to be alright? This whole event must have been extremely taxing"
"I'll be fine, Star Swirl," Celestia replied, dropping her formal speech in the presence of no ponies except for her friend. The royal Canterlot voice was only considered necessary for official matters, after all. "I will always put the needs of Equestria before my own."
"Are you sure that's wise?" the old unicorn asked. "Your health is important, not only for yourself, but how can anyone expect you to be a good leader if you are troubled out of your wits?"
The words bit Celestia. Had she acted too strangely during the council meeting? "I will be fine, Star Swirl. All I need is some rest and I'll be back to myself again."
The unicorn smiled. "That's good to hear. After all, I wouldn't want to see my favorite student so out of sorts!" He began to leave, and then said, "I do have one more question, Celestia. Will you now take on the duty of raising and lowering the moon as you do with the sun?"
Celestia nodded. She had thought of this before the meeting, and although she had been nervous during said meaning, magic came naturally to her, and she was sure she was up to the task. Star Swirl gave her a look of satisfaction, then left.
Princess Celestia woke with a start. "Luna?" she called into the darkness of her bedroom.
There was no answer. There never would be again.