Title:           Princesses - Chapter 1
Author:          EvidentPseudonym
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/xWh1MDFX
First Edit:      Tuesday 20th of August 2013 02:15:39 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Tuesday 20th of August 2013 02:15:39 PM CDT

I am Sola Invicta Celestia. My title is Princess of the Day, and I am the ruler of the most populous, most spacious nation in my world. I have a younger sister, Stellara Numina Luna, the Princess of the Night. Recently she has returned to my life, thanks to my own planning and the actions of my faithful and most skilled student.
 
Last week, I found the first mark. The fur covering my body is white, a flawless white, while my mane is tri-toned in soft pastel green, blue, and pink. It was under one of my white-feathered wings, hidden when they are folded.
 
When I found it, I lost track of time.
 
My kingdom is flourishing, and my student has risen to the heights I had hoped she would; soon she will be ready to take the reins of power, and my long stewardship of this land will end.
 
Luna found me sitting on the floor of the bathroom attached to my apartments, when the servants panicked because the sun had not risen at all that day.
 
At long last, we have achieved peace with Saddle Arabia, an old rival, and the Griffin Kingdoms have agreed to a lasting ceasefire - as close to peace as they will ever come. To our north, the Crystal Empire is safe in the hands of my adopted niece and her husband; the shadow that once fell across it has been banished utterly.
 
I am so very tired. Please, Father, let me rest soon.
 
I took the throne of Equestria after the Alliance of Enduring Light collapsed into war and dissension, nearly two thousand years ago. I united the ponies of Equestria against the former Lords of the Light, who in their envy of the alicorns and our longevity, had risen against us with Dark magic and powerful necromancy. In the end, my sister and I were triumphant with the Elements of Harmony and the brave ponies of Equestria. I assumed power to keep the various other kingdoms from exploiting the power vaccuum in the kingdom.
 
The closest I will ever come to a family of my own is the adopted heir to the Crystal Kingdom, who rules in her  rightful place, and my dear student, who has her own friends to make and life to live. She will succeed me, and the world will be put right.
 
Please let it work this time. I have lived too long already.
 
My sister grew concerned with how I consolidated and expanded my power. She brought her concerns to me, but I dismissed her concerns out of hoof; after all, had I not been shown the way things must be? I failed to understand that she had not been given the wisdom of our people before the war engulfed them; she did not know of the Plan. She rose against me, and I won.
 
I did not spare my sister - but her task was unfinished, so I could no more kill her than I could kill the moon itself.
 
Forgive me, Luna. I was so wrong - about so much of it!
 
I signed the Lunar Accords after her defeat; I realized, after our fight, that she had been right about my hoarding power. The laws restricted my power, and gave much of it to the nobles of the three tribes and the parliment chosen by the ponies of Equestria. For a thousand years, I ruled alone, and my kingdom knew peace and prosperity.
 
Forgive me, my subjects. I neglected your growth for too long - I only pray that I have not stunted it forever.
 
At last, she returned from Tartarus - still full of anger, as I knew she would be. But I trusted my student, trusted that she would succeed where I could not, and would bring Luna back to me - and she triumphed.
 
Twilight, you have truly made me proud. When you read this, know that whatever happens next, you are my greatest accomplishment in my three thousand years of life. I know that with Luna's assistance, you will be the ruler Equestria always needed.
 
Disasters that even I had not foreseen beset my kingdom; first an ancient monster of chaos broke loose, devastating my orderly kingdom and ripping apart the fabric of our reality. Scant months after that, and shortly before my preparations to restore the Crystal Kingdom's royalty to their rightful place, we were invaded by the deadly Lilitu, the Changelings in their terrible power. Long believed extinct after the fall of ancient Empire of the Spire, they had survived in the deep places of the world; and they struck now, beneath my very nose. They, too, were turned back, by the love and power of those who I had feared would require my direct intervention.
 
Cadence, Shining Armor, I am glad you both proved me wrong. The rise of the Crystal Queen would mean that Luna and I are no longer the only lights.
 
Father, can you hear me? I am not far now. The fire burns me so - please, let me in.
 
In the end, my student and her friends proved that they would be able to handle anything that arose, when they even turned the Great Beast, Discord, to the betterment of Equestria. I write this now because the time will come when I must follow in the footsteps of my kind, and fade from the world. I pray that my passage is the quiet, unremarkable passage that our mother followed, rather than the tumultuous departure of our father.
 
Mother, Father, please - it hurts so much now. I'm so afraid, please at least let me know that you can hear me.