Luna twisted and turned, groaning at the terrible weight of her fatigue. It was already late afternoon and like the past fortnight she had not gained a restful day of sleep. Even after three baths complete with a full self-preening, she could feel her sweat sticking like glue between her feathers and the hairs of her coat.
Luna cursed her sister for forbidding her to alter the castle’s internal weather magics, she cursed the maids for tattling on her to Celestia, and she cursed her true enemy.
The enemy that burned the skies with its terrible glow, the enemy that turned fertile ground to sand and great pools of fresh water into empty holes. Her enemy was the sun. Though not the sun specifically.
After all, were it not for the sun, she would never be able to enjoy the beer from the roots or the blackberry pies and iced creams she had come to love. Truly the ponies had grown in cleverness and imagination during her absence.
Though concerning that absence, it seemed that Celestia had let her sun grow fat and lazy and far too hot for life to continue properly. Surely in a few more generations the little ponies of the three tribes would all become fire ponies or be blown away in the wind as not more than ash and dust.
Which meant two things, The Twilight of the Sparkle would be fine as Luna herself had seen the pink one unlock the fiery power locked within the little unicorn and the heat was getting to Luna if she were becoming so poetic about the end of ponies. As for the first, Luna almost smiled at her sister’s choice in apprentice. If the world did not end, The Twilight would soon become something very interesting.
Perhaps a quick parlay with the goddess queen of fire and uncomfortable mugginess over a bowl of raspberry ice cream with the nice chocolate chunks would ease her midday troubles and help her at least sleep a little.
Though her full power had not yet been restored, Luna left her tower by way of the balcony, purposefully leaving her heavy regalia while only carrying her full intention of eating ice cream and declaring war on the sun. The wind in her mane and feathers felt wonderful and she cursed herself for never learning to sleep and fly at the same time. Still now was not the time to dawdle, the open court of the day would be wrapping up soon and it was beyond rude and distasteful to declare war during a princess’s dinner.
Celestia reveled in the heat, for it was her birthright. It was her destiny to be strengthened by the sun and bring light and warmth to her little ponies, but this day was exceptionally hot. While she was not bothered she did see her petitioners and staff members sweating uncomfortably.
Without hesitation Celestia had ordered that cold water would be provided for all ponies within the castle and sent word to Cloudsdale that the two week long heat wave should be ended the next morning with a few hours of heavy rain.
Her attempts had failed. She had worked so hard to—
“Now introducing Her Majesty, the Princess of the Night, Guardian of Dreams and Champion of the Moon, Princess Lunaria Crescendo third daughter of Faust wishes to address Her Majesty, the Princess of the Day, Guardian of the Waking Hours, and Champion of the Sun, Princess Celestia Esperanza, first daughter of Faust.”
The sun itself could not shine as brightly as Celestia’s smile. For Luna to use their full names and titles this would surely be a serious matter, perhaps a challenge of battle or a long winded and tedious debate, or better yet perhaps Luna had learned an exciting new dance meant to summon the rain. Still smiling she spoke without an ounce of restraint, “Come in beloved sister. It is a joyous occasion to see you this day that could only be made greater by a visit from Fantasia.”
Luna rolled her eyes, her second sister was hardly the type of pony to deal with the burdens of reality and Fantasia’s existence or lack thereof was not the point of this dialogue. “Premier Celestia, we have come to parlay the cessation of hostilities enacted by thy charge. Truly this cumbersome heat shall doom us all if allowed to continue. Answer sister! Shall there be peace or shall war against thy sun be our only course?”
“Luna—” Celestia attempted to answer but an adorable glare from her still weakened sister told her to play along. “My apologies; Dearest Premier Lunaria, Dost thou know the actions of our subjects on the warm summer days?”
“Verily Premier Celestia, our subjects work and play in days such as that, but truly this heat must be too much for them. We do not selfishly ask for more night, but our subjects cannot continue if this weather is not stemmed.” Luna answered showing a wonderful concern for her subjects that had not been there when the nightmare had taken her.
Celestia felt a warming pride in her sister’s answer and quickly replied, “Quite true, Premier Lunaria, but dost thou know what a heat wave is?” A simple shake of the head was all the answer Celestia needed to continue, “This weather we have experienced for the two weeks since your return is a heat wave. I have been practicing them for a thousand summers and now I can show you this, the perfect heat wave I have created for you.”
“Tis a cruel jest thou are playing with us, how canst thou say this is for thy sister whom thou knows revels not in the heat and brightness of the sun.” Luna paused only a moment before lowering her ears and letting her expression shift to one that begged for mercy. “Please Tia, end this cruelty, our subjects cannot be expected to work like this and do not deserve to be harmed just to punish me.”
With a raised eyebrow Celestia simply asked, “Have you been giving half measures to your work? Have you been giving less than your all simply because you are hot and tired. Does the night not shine as brightly as it could because you did not wish to put in the effort?”
“Nay sister, we would not dare shirk our duties because of a little discomfort the stars and moon shine more greatly than they have in a thousand years regardless of our momentary troubles! OUR PRIDE DEMANDS THAT WE RESPECT OUR WORK!”
The use of the Royal Canterlot voice shook the ponies who shared the room with the princesses. Nearly all but the guards shrunk with fear of what the princess of the night would do to them if they angered her in such a manner and wondered how Celestia would respond. Celestia trumped all expectations with her equally forceful reply, “IF THIS IS TRUE THEN HOW DARE YOU IMPLY THAT OUR SUBJECTS DO NOT SHARE IN THE PRIDE YOU TAKE IN YOUR OWN WORK.” A short pause allowed Celestia to calm herself before bringing a tall glass of water from the side table. After a delicate sip she lowered the glass, revealing an expression of defeat. “As you wish sister, it will take some time, but I promise that tomorrow the sun will not shine with such heat. However our surrender is not unconditional. We ask one thing, we, the Premier of the Sun, Celestia of the Rebirthing Flame request that Premier Lunaria of the Refining Wind join us for moonrise this evening.”
Luna was taken aback. Celestia used to be so focused on her own work that she always referred to the twilight as sunset. Moonrise... moonrise sounded nice. Luna left her elder sibling with a small smile on her face.
Luna had to hold herself back from skipping along the clouds toward Celestia’s perch. The perch was a high overhang that the elder princess had taken great enjoyment from carving it to be the perfect place to take her students for their Astronomy lessons.
Celestia had only told Luna about it after the younger sibling had agreed to her elder’s terms, but already Luna imagined it would be a glorious place to watch the rising and setting of the moon, a thought that Celestia would have readily agreed with if Luna ever told her.
Luna smiled as she landed beside her sister; the perch was the perfect size for two fully grown Alicorns and a telescope. The telescope pointed down toward the lands of Equestria and before Luna could say a word, Celestia spoke.
“Look down and tell me what you see.”
“I see villages lighting lanterns to prepare for the coming dark.”
Celestia nodded slowly as she lit her horn thanking the sun for lending its strength and embracing its warmth once more before sending it on its journey.
Luna did the same in reverse as if replying to her sister’s celestial dance. There was still a little tension between them, but Celestia could feel that her sister was growing closer to her once again.
“Look once more, but say nothing.” Celestia spoke again once their evening work was complete. She had practiced this speech for centuries and now it was time to reveal everything to her oldest and closest friend. “See how the foals play among the fireflies. Watch as the farmers work the fields that were too hot only a few minutes ago. Do you see all the ponies looking up to see your beautiful tapestry? Do you hear the songs of joy and love for the night? This is my gift and apology to you Luna, to make my days, if only a few, unbearable so your brightness and beauty can be seen by all.”
Luna was speechless. She wanted to thank her sister for everything, but the words only teased her tongue. So without an outlet from her mouth Luna’s emotions flooded from her eyes in fat tears of joy and sorrow and thankfulness. In a flash Luna was like a foal again, wrapping her hooves around her beloved elder sister.
Returning the embrace, Celestia knew that all would be well for Equestria in spite of what was coming because with her sister’s love, there was nothing that could harm her.
