Cosmic Funeral
With a childish giggle, Celestia extended a hoof to the stars, pinpointing one constellation in particular and turning to her sister with curious, wide eyes.
"And that one?"
"That one is called Gemini." Luna said learnedly, a subtle grin betraying her of her attempt to look stoic and philosophical. "I...I forget what that one's namesake is."
"I'm glad I chose to stay up tonight to stargaze with you." Celestia leaned in and gave her sister an affectionate nuzzle. "We should do this more often."
Luna couldn't help but blush, and her previously conspicuous grin intensified to an embarrassed smile. Ever since her return, Celestia had been nothing but overly sentimental, and although it humiliated her to no end, she was incredibly grateful for it. But when she was standing alone on the balcony and Celestia wordlessly brushed past her and looked up into the stars, Luna felt nothing but immense happiness. Then, as if she had been trying as hard as possible to stave back her curiosity, Celestia suddenly began barraging her with a multitude of questions about the night sky. With her excited tone, preceded by nearly five minutes of forced silence, she sounded exactly like a star-struck schoolfilly.
To Luna, the night sky was nothing but the same familiar tapestry of deep blue, with thousands of white pinpricks swirling and sparkling far above. But to Celestia, it was a representation of pure and raw mystery and beauty, a wide expanse of the unexplored, indeed, the unreachable. She looked at it with wonder and curiosity, leaving Luna to wonder if she'd always seen the night sky this way, or if it was only after a thousand years that it finally revealed it's majesty to her.
One of the first things Celestia had done when Luna first settled into the castle at Canterlot was rush her sister to the library, showing her an entire section of hundreds upon hundreds of books devoted to one subject and one subject alone. The shelves were bordered by small crescent moon-like figures, and the section was labelled 'astronomy.' In the time of her banishment, the night had gone from being an interruption in the lives of ponies to a topic of interpretation, examination, and, most touching of all, beauty.
And then here was Celestia, suddenly asking Luna to label each and every constellation in the night sky, relishing in the beauty of the night like everypony else.
"Look Luna!" Celestia said excitedly, the sky above visible in the reflection of her wide eyes. "A shooting star! Make a wish!"
Just as suddenly as the warmth of night had wrapped it's arms around her when Celestia landed on the balcony, it disappeared with that sentence, and Luna shivered as she watched the star burn in a streak of light, for a mere moment, before disappearing completely.
Celestia turned her happy, carefree gaze to Luna, but was shocked to see that instead of sharing her euphoric happiness, Luna was staring at where the star had been with a look of hopeless, poetic grief. She could have sworn she even saw tears welling in Luna's eyes, but before she could tell for sure, she blinked and they were gone.
"Luna! Are you alright?"
"Yes, Celly, thank you. I'm sorry, I think I want to go inside now."
"Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Celestia guiltily mused. "The...the shooting star..."
Despite her previous statement, Luna did not turn around to leave the balcony, she simply remained where she was standing, transfixed on that empty spot in the sky. She did not speak for a long while, leaving Celestia to have to refrain herself from begging her sister to explain what was wrong. She hated seeing the regret and sorrow Luna carried, and was trying at every opportunity to comfort her from it. But this...she could not think of a rational reason why the sight of a shooting star would throw her sister into such a sad state.
"Nopony mourns the shooting stars," Luna said eventually. "We see them, flitting through the sky, and what we don't understand is that we're watching their final dance, before they disappear forever."
Celestia felt a lump in her throat as Luna's words sunk in. She...she hadn't even realized...
"Perhaps I'm just being melodramatic..." Luna shrugged, forming a weak and forced grin.
"What star was it?" Celestia asked glumly.
"It...if I'm not mistaken, that one was called Sirius," Luna responded, heaving a great sigh. "It burnt out long, long ago. What you're seeing is a solar system that's been dead for around three million years. I hate shooting stars. I hate endings, and that's what shooting stars are."
Both Princesses fell deathly silent, both looking up at the sky above. It was well past midnight and the moon was slowly growing brighter and brighter, promising to drown out all the stars in the sky to make way for it's translucent light. Celestia could feel her eyes growing heavy, and knew that in a matter of hours she would have to raise the sun and face the long day ahead. She didn't want to leave Luna, but she also didn't want to be caught falling asleep in the middle of Day Court tomorrow.
"I love you, Luna." Celestia eventually said, turning her gaze back to where the shooting star was. "If you ever need me, I'm always here for you."
"I know, Tia," Luna smiled, nodding her head. Suddenly, her horn started glowing with energy, and she turned her attention to the sky above, closing her eyes as if she was deep in thought. "Thank you for staying up with me."
Heaving another great sigh, Celestia whispered her farewell, before turning and leaving the balcony to start back into her bedroom. Crawling into bed and closing her eyes, Celestia couldn't seem to free her mind from the subject of Luna's sorrow. She had tried so hard to extinguish any doubt that Luna had about being absolved and forgiven, but nonetheless it was never a rare occasion to see Luna suddenly stand and dismiss herself during dinner, or purposefully exclude herself from anything that involved being in a position of respect from the eyes of her own subjects. She noticed her sister apologizing at the end of almost every situation, and although she managed to maintain her regal and dignified composure when around her subjects, her sensitivity never ceased to bubble to the surface.
Waking up a few hours before dawn and unable to clear her mind, Celestia eventually gave up on the fruitless attempt to return to the world of sleep and instead rose from her bed and headed off for the balcony again. When she arrived, she was surprised to see that Luna was still there, standing in the same position with her horn still aglow.
"Luna?!"
"Ah, good morning, sister." Luna muttered absently, more engrossed in whatever she was doing then she was with conversing. "I'm not trying to be rude, but I need to stay focused here."
"Yes, of course." Celestia replied, quickly falling silent. Luna remained fixated on her work, not even opening her eyes once.
It looked as though Luna had lowered the moon a long while ago, because the stars were all once again out and spread across the sky. Celestia took turns looking up at them, and looking at her determined sister. She was incredibly curious as to what Luna was doing, but did not want to interrupt her by asking.
"Celestia!" Luna suddenly exclaimed. Her motionless stature of determination had quickly been replaced by an intensely excited look of pride. "Celestia, come quick! I think you should see this!"
In a heartbeat, she was beside her sister, as her filly-like curiosity reared it's head again. Luna extended a hoof that was shaking with excitement at the same empty spot in the sky, but it wasn't with dread this time that she was looking at that spot.
"What is—"
"Look, look!" Luna giggled.
It started as a barely visible, greyish speck, but as the two sisters stared it gradually grew in intensity until it was another sparkling orb of light in the sea of stars above. It gave off a few playful sparkling flares, as if it was content with it's new place in the sky.
"You...you made a star?" Celestia gasped in amazement. "Where in Equestria did you learn how to do that?!"
"On the moon." Luna replied, but there was no regret or sorrow in her recount of her banishment. "I had to stay occupied somehow, after all. My first star took decades of work, and even then it was a pathetic little red dwarf. I've gotten a lot better now."
"Luna...Luna, that's amazing." Celestia was nearly speechless. "So when you saw that shooting star..."
"Somepony has to fill the void in the sky, even if it takes all night."
Without warning, Luna collapsed to the ground as if she were fainting, but managed to recover herself and orient her body into a comfortable position.
"Are you unwell, sister?!" Celestia fretted, she too sitting on the ground next to Luna.
"No, I am fine. Simply exhausted. Would you mind raising the moon for me tomorrow, Tia?"
Celestia responded with a frenzy of assuring nods and gave her sister a comforting hug just to make sure she really was alright. It was a miracle she was even still conscious after spending so long on such a magical feat.
"You're the first pony to ever bear witness to that new star," Luna said, between a large yawn. "Do you have a name for it?"
"You're letting me name a star?!"
"Of course I am! I read through some of those astronomy books, Tia, and I truly think you could think of something better then those geeky ponies."
Both sisters shared a light chuckle, but internally Celestia was utterly mortified about the prospect of naming a star. What if she screwed up and called it something stupid?
"H...how about..." Celestia blushed intensely. "...I think it should be named after the mare who created it."
"So...Luna? That's a tad ironic, don't you think?"
"Are you going to let me name it or not?"
Luna giggled again and said nothing.
"Will another solar system grow from that star?" Celestia eventually asked.
"I hope so. Many of my stars have."
On the horizon, the first yellowish orange traces of sunlight were poking their way from behind the curtain of dark blue, promising to extinguish all the stars to make way for the day. Celestia realized that for once, her day was that interruption, and not Luna's night. In this one night, she had learned more and saw more beauty than entire sun filled summers under her days. Celestia and Luna's star was one of the many now slowly fading away, if only for a few hours before it would once again be out in it's entirety. A few astronomers would surely notice it tomorrow night, and try to fathom how an entire star had inexplicably appeared in one day.
How many of these stars were Luna's creations? Celestia smiled with pride as she beheld the fading night sky, the hundreds of new candles of light Luna had created over the course of a thousand years.
As Celestia sat contemplated these things, Luna suddenly gave her an aggressive shove to get her attention.
"I think it's about time you raised the sun, big sis."
"Yes, I suppose it is." Celestia agreed. Luna was wearing a content and happy smile, and it looked as though all the previous sorrow had at least dissipated to accommodate the hopeful creation she had made.
Ahead to the East, the sun was slowly and reluctantly guided into the night sky as the moon lowered in reply. A few birds called out the dawn chorus, and the last traces of starlight vanished once and for all.
Author's Note
Quick one shot Celestia/Luna Slice of Life I thought of and decided to write to distract me from my longer works.
Yes, before anyone points out my foolishness, I know that 'Shooting Stars' aren't stars at all, and therefore this fic from a scientific standpoint makes no sense at all. It's a story about candy colored equines though, so...
