Princesses - Chapter 6

I am free - but freedom is not what I had imagined.

I returned from the netherworld, full of anger and vengeance, and banished my sister - but my land had changed in
my time of durance. The new laws and system of peerage I had designed had been put in place, and most amazing of
all, my sister had actually found a pupil capable of wielding the Element of Magic.

Twilight Sparkle, you have given my sister hope - and for that, I can never thank you enough.

My sister was changed. I had not expected that. When she struck me down, she was full of power and fire, with the
full radiance of the Sun in her stance and motions. When I returned she was...dimmed. Her motions were slower,
stiffer. To our subjects, of course, the changes had been too gradual to notice - but I, who had seen her when
we were both young and strong, felt my heart break as I saw her.

Tia, please, don't tell me that I returned too late!

My friends, the few who had not been felled beside me, were long gone, and while I looked up their families, I
had no wish to intrude on them in their waking hours. And there was plenty to occupy me - in my absence, the
dreamworld had been largely untended. Celestia had kept the worst of it in check, but ultimately I had to take
it in hand.

My subjects, I have neglected my duties. It will not happen again.

My greatest surprise, however, was that the night hours were no longer shunned! Ponies celebrated and congregated
under my moonlight, and while they initially knew nothing of me, I was happy to teach them the old songs and the
old ways, and they took to them easily enough! While not the main source of my discontent, it was a touching
gesture from my sister, nonetheless.

Then came the morning when my sister failed to raise the sun.

The palace servants were in a panic, as was most of the kingdom. I quickly performed the spell - while I had
never learned it formally, I had seen Celestia perform it thousands of times - and then I went to her rooms, where
I found her sitting in the bathroom attached to her chambers, sobbing almost noiselessly.

My name is Stellara Luna Somniae. And soon I will have my Age of Night, though now I would trade anything to stop it.