“Your Summer Wrap Up and Hoedown festival is indeed a marvelous feast!” Princess Luna loudly announced, raising her cider cup as all the ponies around her cheered.
Princess Luna was having the most wonderful of nights. She had spent the entire evening with her subjects, joining in the various activities and games, tasting all the delicious meals and getting used to the changes and innovations in the millennium she was absent.
The atmosphere was remarkably different from her last visit during Nightmare Night. No need for her to pretend to be terrifying, surprising ponies and cackling maniacally behind their backs; they were enjoying her company with no need for those cheap tricks. That is not to say that Luna hated Nightmare Night, in a sense, the festivity was her’s, so she had a sense of pride for it. Additionally, it had a special place in her heart since it was then she met Twilight Sparkle, her sister’s prized pupil and who became Luna’s true first friend since her return.
Since then, she had managed to make several more friends or at least acquaintances. One that had stuck with her particularly was a tall but quiet farmer. He had insisted on helping her with the physical trials and had been a most formidable companion. Luna was so comfortable with his presence that she dared steal a quick kiss to his cheek while riding the rollercoaster. Luna smiled, remembering that, a little devilry she was proud of.
Luna could tell her personal guards were not very pleased to have him around, constantly scowling in the presence of the stallion. Luna smiled again, happy with the childish loyalty her soldiers have with her. Now they were grinning with satisfaction, enjoying the defeat the farmer suffered at the hooves of her sister, Princess Celestia, who had just bested him on a hoof wrestle game.
“Anypony else wants to have a try?” Celestia asked the crowd of muscular stallions.
They all backed down, citing a number of excuses from stomach ache to an excessively muscled pegasus who just screamed like a filly and ran away.
Luna smiled, not surprised at all by Celestia’s victory. Even as foals, her big sister had always been the stronger of the two. Always excelling in jousting and fencing and even able to lift heavy statues without the aid of magic. Indeed, despite her graceful appearance Celestia was anything but delicate, having the same mettle that any member of her Royal Guard, a Guard that Luna felt neither sister required. Both were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and Celestia in particular, had powerful magic to match her strength of hooves…
“I am sorry, but you have given me no choice…”
Luna shook her head, dispelling the painful memory. She remembered being on the receiving of her sister’s beam and wished to never be in that same position. The guards noted her distress and offered to carry her back home but Luna dismissed them and walked next to a drinks stand, wishing for a refreshment. While there, Luna overheard two ponies having a conversation.
“Did you see Princess Luna in the seven legged race? She made the other ponies eat her dust!”
“And during the tug of war? She basically won by herself!”
Luna remembered all those competitions and smiled; the fun still fresh on her mind.
“Hey, did you see her t-shirt? It changed all the time! That was so rad!”
While Luna was still a bit unfamiliar with the modern language, she could still recognize a compliment when received. She looked at her shirt, which had changed to show a message that said “Science is cool!”
“My favorite was the Blame my Sister one.”
“Hehe yeah, mine too.”
“You know, I do that all the time.”
“Don’t we all?”
At hearing this, Luna froze and spilled part of her drink.
“The other day I was tending to my farm and found a bunch of moles had infested the place. I was like, why doesn't Celestia takes care of these things?”
“Yeah, and last month when the Baltimare Broncos lost the game? I blamed Celestia for that too, I mean, if you ask her for something isn't she supposed to deliver?”
Princess Luna boiled with rage, her teeth turning sharp and her wings speaking. She couldn't believe those ponies’ words. Their insolence, laughing out loud while saying those awful things about her sibling.
“YOU INSOLENT PEASANTS!”
The ponies cowered in fear at the sight of the enraged Princess Luna. She had a pretty good idea why, her appearance right now was far different from her usual regal self. Ever since she returned, whenever she lost composure, Princess Luna turned to the shape of the dreadful Nightmare Moon. She could invoke it at will, usually to scare some foals, but when overcome with rage the change was involuntary. It was naught but an illusion, but the simple visage of the Mare of Nightmares was enough to send ponies in a terrified flight.
Looking at them, trembling and in terror, Princess Luna could felt an old feeling crawling up from inside her heart. She could remember, long ago, when she let the anger and jealousy take control of her and dictate her actions. When she tried to enslave the ponies in a world of darkness and nightmares, where they could never contradict her word. Now, looming over these two petrified ponies, she almost felt like repeating her actions and then, she saw Celestia.
Princess Celestia was standing next to them, looking at Luna with a disapproving look. She didn't seem angry or upset; she seemed disappointed, scolding Luna like a teacher will with a student that was picking on others on the school grounds. Luna backed down, returning her shape to normal, the two coward ponies taking the chance to flee. Luna watched them bow to Celestia before leaving and she growled, even more furious with them than before. Celestia said nothing and walked away from the fair, Luna chasing after her.
“Celestia! Did you...did you hear what those two, I mean…their words…”
“I heard them fine.” was Celestia’s almost cold response.
“Celestia, what they said...this...t-shirt,” Luna said, stretching said shirt. “It means nothing! It is nothing but a trinket, a novelty! I acquired it at an enchanted comic books store, where they sell tons of these odds and ends!”
“Luna, I know that store very well,” Celestia said, turning over. “I myself have a collection of moving Power Ponies trading cards.”
“You do? Forgive me sister, I never imagined you as the sort to collect this modern nonsense.”
“Then you obviously don't know me very well,” Celestia said.
Those words hurt Luna worse than any magic beam could ever do.
“Celestia, what they said...what this t-shirt said...those are not my true feelings!”
Celestia said nothing, just looked at Luna, trying to come out with the right words.
“I don’t have those feelings anymore. I left behind my pain and resent, you must believe me!” Luna pleaded. “And the words of those peasants...such insolence! I cannot comprehend how they could say such words!”
“I do,” Celestia abruptly said, surprising Luna. “I understand why they said that.”
“And...You approve of this behavior?” Luna asked and Celestia once more kept quiet. “How can you? You are their ruler; you provide them with light and heat! You protect this land and look after everypony and…”
“And they blame me for everything that goes wrong.” Celestia finished.
“But that...that makes no sense!”
“Actually, if you think about it, it’s not so strange. When a child doesn’t get what it wants, what does it do? Blame the parents. Whenever a toy gets broken or they lose a game or just have bad luck, they always blame the parents. The same way, my subjects blame me because they have nothing else to blame. They need to say those things, making me responsible for the things that go wrong with their lives. They don't mean me any disrespect, Luna, they just need to vent frustration and once it’s done they can continue with their day.”
“That is ridiculous! You are their Princess! They should be worshipping you every day when the sun rises!”
“And they do, Luna. Every day I get praises and gifts delivered to the palace. You are in for a real treat once my birthday arrives and you see the effort they go for that one day.”
“One day is not enough, sister! They should be thankful for every day you gave them! Don't they know how much effort you put in bringing them the sun every morning? They don't appreciate you enough!”
“I remember those words.” Celestia said, sounding very sad. “Remember them? Why can’t they love my night?”
“That was…”
Luna looked at Celestia and went quiet. Celestia was now looking at her with something more than disappointment; it was like she was hurt. Luna hated that face, it was worse than when Celestia looked sad or angry, it was the look she had when Luna embraced the darkness in her heart.
Celestia walked next to Luna and placed a hoof on her shoulder. She needed no words; that simple gesture was enough to bring calm to Luna and ask her to let go of all those heavy feelings. Luna leaned her head on Celestia's chest, so affected by this argument that her mane had lost her gleam, turning a pale tone of blue and covering her face.
“I didn't mean any of that, Celestia. I love you.”
“I love you too, Luna.”
They stayed like that for a few moments, just embracing each other during the sunset.
“You say you acquired this t-shirt from the enchanted comic store. What was it called?” Celestia asked.
“The Mood Swing, I believe…” Luna said, a bit doubtful.
“Well, you certainly went through several moods and I believe now it’s showing how you really feel right now.”
Luna took a look at her shirt and gasped, since the shirt now sported an arrow and read “I'm with stupid”
“This...this isn't right! Cursed attire! I command you to stop at once!”
While Luna was enraged, Celestia was laughing out loud with cheerful, harmonious laughter.
“Sister?”
“Oh Luna, for somepony who wishes to delve so much in the modern culture you still have a lot to learn. It comes from a comic store; that is the language they use.”
“You mean...it’s insulting you but it’s supposed to be a compliment?”
“I think so. Sometimes it’s hard to say when they're being sarcastic and when not.”
“In that case...Celestia, you are the stupidest pony in the whole of Equestria!” Luna cheerfully announced.
Unfortunately, a couple onlookers were passing by and they looked at the Princesses confused.
“Is that so?” Celestia said, and visibly offended, walked back to the fair.
Apologizing all the way, Luna followed her to a stand where a new contest had just begun. A pony with a striped jacket and a hat was leaning over a jar full of candies, daring anypony to calculate how many there were inside it.
“Come on Pinkie, the prize is a year supply of Thundercloud Soda, the official drink of the Wonderbolts! I need that! Use your weird psychic abilities and get it!” Rainbow Dash encouraged her friend.
Pinkie Pie had put on her turban and was making a serious effort to concentrate. “I see...I see a number...the number is...eight hundred and sixty two!”
Rainbow looked at the fair pony with a hopeful smile.
“Not even close!” she said, gulping two candies.
Rainbow dropped to the ground while Pinkie put down her turban.
“Hey Twilight, why don't you give it a try?” Applejack nudged her.
“Go on, dear,” Rarity encouraged her with a more gentle push.
“Oh please, it's easy for her! She would just scan it with her horn or something,” Rainbow said while Pinkie checked if her turban was working fine, shaking it up and down.
“Rainbow, I would never cheat!”
“Not that she could, pal. This jar is protected by a magic spell by yours truly to prevent that,” she said, toying with another pair of candies.
“Don't worry Rainbow; I don’t need to use magic. It’s all just a matter of calculations…”
“I'm way ahead of you, Twilight!” Spike said, crawling to count every candy on the jar.
“Spike, that’s not going to work. You'll end up counting the same candy twice. The only useful method is measuring the jar and with its dimensions we’ll get the exact amount of candies that could fit. Let's see…” Twilight said and did some calculations, slightly poking her tongue to do the math. “I'll say...four hundred and sixty two!”
Twilight held her head up, obviously quite proud of herself.
“Close...but nope,” said the fair pony, gulping two more candies.
“What? That’s impossible! I measured the entire jar, I double checked my calculations! This simply cannot be!” Twilight protested but the mare just shrugged.
Before Twilight could go on another rant, her friends already holding her back, Princess Celestia walked on stage.
“I'd like to participate.” she announced, walking with her usual pace, not too formal but not too casual either.
All the ponies bowed in her presence and again, Luna recognized the two ponies from before and she frowned at their presence.
“I’m willing to donate my prize if that’s okay with you.” Celestia said to the fair pony.
“Of course, your highness.” the fair pony said, gulping something a lot harder than the candies.
Luna wondered if the pony was afraid of her sister. Half of the crowd seemed unable to look Celestia right in the eyes. She wondered where was the love that Celestia spoke of just a few moments ago.
Celestia looked at the jar intensively, she studied it from up to down and then raised her head high, very much in the same way as Twilight, to declare, “Four hundred and forty four.”
All the ponies looked at the fair pony, who was sweating profusely. She looked back and forth at the Princess and the crowd and then said, “That...that is correct.”
The crowd started to talk, all impressed at what the Princess had done.
“But Princess, how did you figure it out? My calculations…”
“They were pretty accurate, my student. But you made the mistake of assuming she poured enough candies to fill the jar when that’s not the case. If we open it, we'll find a little extra space.”
“But then how did you...” Luna began.
“Quite simple. Just take a look at those smaller jars next to the box,” Celestia said, nudging her head to something nopony had noticed until then. “She poured the contents of those jars into this bigger one and if we read the label, we see they're all a single flavor and have the exact amount written on it, a hundred fifty units each.”
Luna did the calculations in her head and realized a mistake in Celestia’s declaration.
“But there’s still a few missing!”
“Oh, that has a simple explanation. I assume somepony slipped a few into her pocket and just shrugged it off before closing the cap,” Celestia said, leaning over the fair pony.
She wasn't smiling menacingly, in fact her smile was rather gentle and motherly but still the fair pony was a nervous wreck, handing the remaining candies to the Princess.
“Why, thank you,” Celestia said, eating one and sharing the other with her sister. “Now, I'd like to claim my prize and share it with the entire fair!”
And the crowd erupted in cheer. Luna looked amazed how the ponies changed their behavior, shouting and praising Celestia. For a moment, Luna wondered if they were just pleased for the treat Celestia had offered them, but then she remembered something that had happened earlier, when Celestia had arrived at the fair.
Luna was slightly worried back then, thinking that Celestia wouldn't make it to the celebration. When she left the castle hours earlier, Celestia was buried in paperwork, handling resolutions and sentences, approving new buildings, granting permissions and pardons, paying attention to every single request. Luna had pleaded Celestia to abandon her job for the evening and join her in Ponyville but Celestia insisted that she had to work. Luna remembered being a little disrespectful to her, calling her a variety of flourished adjectives for boring and worrisome and then left. During the course of the day, she became so entertained that she forgot all about it but then, as the night was drawing closer, she wondered if Celestia was offended and had refused to come. And then, she arrived.
When Celestia descended from her carriage, the entire fair turned towards her, all bowing before her and offering her treats and samples of food. Everypony seemed so happy and content. By that point of the day, they were so exhausted by the activities that they were all looking down and sighing, some even announcing they were going home to rest but then Celestia arrived and they all recovered their energies, big smiles covering their faces. Even Luna had to admit being a little tired but immediately lifted up upon seeing her sister’s smile.
Now Luna understood, it wasn't fear that she saw on those ponies. It was shame; they were ashamed that the Princess may be offended if the fair pony had been playing a scam. They could tolerate being played but they would not allow the Princess to be embarrassed. Now she understood the attitude of those two ponies. They could talk poorly of her in a moment of frustration, they would never insult her because they had so much respect for her.
But there was nothing to be worried about. Celestia gave the fair pony the friendliest of compliments and she smiled at the Princess like a child who just got praised by her movements. She then moved to where Twilight Sparkle and her friends were sharing their sodas and asked for one for herself.
Seeing her sister surrounded by so much love made Princess Luna realize how much she meant to her and said realization made her mane grow and glow with the bright of the night sky once more. Luna looked at her t-shirt and smirked, reading her exposed feelings that the enchanted garment had transcribed as “Celly is Best Pony”.
She laughed at this, admitting she still had much to learn from modern language. She then saw Celestia nodding at her to join them and rushed to their side, her shirt now declaring this to the best night ever and she agreed.
