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Chapter 1: A Great Divide

Within the land of Equestria, all seemed as it had been for the better part of a millennia. The sun rose slowly in to the sky giving warmth and comfort to its citizens, and the slow decent of the moon marked the end of a peaceful night in Celestia and Luna's kingdom.

Within this picturesque day, in the city of Canterlot, the personal aide de pony of Princess Luna slowly walked down the hallway to the princess's room muttering to herself.

"If Luna would cease this childish isolation she's put herself in then these confrontations wouldn't be as common or as unpleasant" the light blue earth pony, with a gray colored mane said under her breath.

"But perhaps its better that it happens this way, If Luna refuses to come out on her own then she should be forced out by any means necessary."

Reaching the door to Luna's chambers, Sky gave a mischievous wink to the Pegasus guards at the door, which was returned with a smile from one of them.

"How are you gentle colts doing this fine morning" she said playfully

"Just fine sky" the guard to the left responded, while the one on the right remained mute. "Here to see Princess Luna?"

"You already know the answer to that one", she replied, "I only come around when Luna calls on me, which is never, or when Celestia wishes to see her sister, in which case I'm simply the messenger."

"Hopefully the princess doesn't put up too much of a fuss then," the guard continued.

"She always does, but requirements of the job I guess," she finished while putting a hoof to the door and giving it three sharp knocks.

"Princess Luna, your sister has called for you."

After a long silence and another round of knocking, she finally heard a reply.

"I do not wish to see Celestia at this moment. Inform her that another time will have to do" was the muffled response through the thick wooden doors.

"Princess," Sky thought and chose carefully her rebuttal, "I was hoof picked by you to be your aide de pony, to assist you in any way I can at your request. I can hardly do my job if you hide in your room all day, isolated from every pony and never allowing me to check in on your health and well-being."

After another long silence that Sky had become all too familiar with in the service of Luna, she slowly turned away from the door. "Nice talking to you guys again", she said to the guards in a defeated tone

"Always a pleasure Miss Sky, hope your day improves."

Just as sky had fully turned around and took her first steps down the hall she heard the sound of a heavy bolt being unlocked. Turning quickly, she watched as the door opened slightly and the guards posture suddenly stiffened up if Luna should exit her room.

Though it was beckoning her in, the prospect of facing Luna still scared her, being royalty, especially in Luna's case could be very intimidating and unpredictable. With a heavy swallow, she forced herself to open the door wider and entered. Having never been in Luna's room before, she took a quick look and realized it was just an entry way.

"Bedroom must be further along," she thought to herself.

Taking a good look around as she slowly approached the cathedral sized doors across the room; she realized the elegance of the princess's lifestyle. Rare blue marble flooring with gems inlaid as stars and a white marble crescent inlaid in the middle of the room.

On seven walls of the octagon shaped room were painting versions of the stained glass windows within the throne room. At each corner was a black granite pillar that held up a dome shaped roof with supports of hoof carved woodwork.

The final striking feature of the entryway was the chandelier that hanging from the ceiling. Consisting of six golden arms, each tipped with the symbols of the modern elements of harmony.

With the wide eyed look of awe still in her eyes she slowly walked across the room.

"I can't imagine living in such luxury….of course I haven't seen Celestia's room yet either," she giggled to herself.

Reaching the large decorated doors, she started another series of knocks, but just as her hoof came into the contact with the door a second time it was pulled open and standing right in the entryway was Princess Luna, leaving sky speechless in the shock of her appearance.

Towering above her, though frightening, was not the pony Sky had expected. The Princess's mane was tangled and unkempt, her coat had grown dull with a lack of brushing or care, and her appearance was altogether disheveled. It matched her room to a T however, with books and scrolls lying about haphazardly. Quickly however, her observations were broken by the voice of the royal sister.

"You had said Celestia wished to see me?"

"Ye..yes your majesty," muttered Sky as she entered a bow.

"You may inform Celestia that I do not wish to be disturbed at this time. You may also tell her you have performed your duty of seeing to my well-being and find me in perfect heath, with the request to be left alone, understood?"

"Uhhhh…..yes princess, but…

The door closed before Sky could finish her response to Luna's statement. Not wanting to give up so soon, Sky was now determined to bring Luna to Celestia, and with new resolve and a little blind courage, she gave another series of knocks on the door.

"What do you want?" came forth Luna's voice, more irritated than before.

"Princess Celestia wishes to see you and I do not intend to tell her that you wish to remain alone. I will tell her however, that you wish to continue this monastic lifestyle but it is my opinion that you require help to ensure your mental fitness if it continues much longer"

"You would disobey an order from me" Luna's voice accused, while whipping the door open.

Knowing it wasn't the best choice of words; Sky still figured that is was too late to back down or be intimidated now.

"No, I would never disobey an order from you Princess Luna, but I would choose to follow an order from Celestia, your sister, before lying to her about your condition at your request."

Glaring at the defiant little earth pony, Luna considered her options and finally arrived at one. "Very well servant," she spat out, "We will go see Celestia."

And with that, Luna marched past Sky into the ante-room and towards the hallway door, nearly running into sky and forcing her to dodge out-of-the-way.

"Princess, shouldn't we get you cleaned up a bit. Too look more presentable?" Sky asked in a quiet obedient tone, hoping to avoid the anger she had stirred up in Luna.

"We are not concerned about our appearance at this time Earth Pony," she replied adding a poison flare to her last words.

Without any delay, she forced the grand hallway doors open with a glowing horn and began a quick paced walk through the room and towards the end of the hall, forcing sky to nearly gallop to keep pace with the long strides of the princess.

Very quickly they reached the dining hall, not soon enough for Sky, as the awkwardness of the silence had been unbearable, and on top of the fact she was nearly out of breath.

Luna, ignoring the protocol of her presence and entrance into the room being announced first, burst in to find Celestia slowly drinking tea. Despite the disheveled appearance of her sister, she remained tranquil in her sister's sudden presence.

"Luna, I'm glad you could come out of your room for breakfast, have some tea and a seat so we can talk a bit."

"No thanks," was the curt reply, "what do you need to speak to me about?"

"Please sit down with me Luna; this is hardly the conversation we need to have across the table or in the presence of others. I just want to talk sister to sister now."

"We waived the right to privacy when we became royalty Celestia. You might as well speak your mind and tell me what's wrong with my behavior this time."

"Please Luna, don't be like this," spoke Celestia with a pleading tone.

"No Tia, we do it my way or not at all" said the adamant princess of the night.

"Very well," responded Celestia with a voice more resolved. "This isolation you have put yourself in is destructive, both to you and Equestria; we are supposed to be co-rulers…

"Wait," interrupted Luna, "if it's such a burden to lift the moon and sun, then why didn't you complain about it when I wasn't around?"

"Luna," came Celestia's voice, suddenly tired and desperate with the repetition of this conversational pattern. "I want us to rule together now that you have returned. I want us to be close again. I want the old Luna back; I want to back to the way things were."

Immediately her eyes widened with the full realization of the volatile response she would receive form Luna. In all of their arguments, she knew this would be the most heated with the utterance of a few simple words.

"Back to the way things were," Luna shouted, anger in her voice, slamming her hoof into the stone floor for emphasis with enough force to crack it.

"You expect me to just forget the past and pretend it didn't happen or doesn't matter?"

"No Luna…. I," plead Celestia, but was interrupted mid-sentence.

"How about we tell you to forget some trauma of your life hmm, oh….wait, up to now it's been picture perfect hasn't it. On top of that why is it that anything you say must happen. If we were truly equal in rule, then you would see I wish to be left alone. But you're inborn superiority complex means that whatever you say is suddenly law. We have nothing more to discuss, good day Celestia."

"Luna, please don't do this," again plead Celestia, "that's not what I meant, please calm down and talk to me."

"I said good day!" She shouted back while slamming the doors shut on her way out, leaving an awkward silence between Celestia, Sky, and the guards in the dining hall. Slowly closing her eyes, Celestia let her head droop feeling a mix of depression and frustration with her sister. Those who remained in the room waited for a cue or sign about what to do next, whether to leave Celestia to herself, or to remain where they were. Sky, after a hard swallow, took the initiative.

"Princess, maybe I can talk to her, try to calm her down" she spoke quietly.

"No, that won't be necessary," was the meek reply. "With time alone she'll calm down and then maybe we can try this again. You are dismissed Sky, thank you for your efforts today."

"It was my pleasure, Princess Celestia."

With that Sky slowly left the dining hall and made her way towards the castles library where she could find some silence to reflect on the situation between the royal sisters.