Wakey-Wakey
"It's time!"
Celestia burst through the palace's broad double doors and into her sister's bedchamber. The alicorn's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she rushed over to the bedroom's windows, pulling the curtains wide open with a flick of her horn and a flash of magic. Late morning sunlight blazed in through the spotlessly clear glass, falling over the regal four poster bed in which Luna lay at rest. With a gleeful tune on her lips, Celestia trotted over to her younger sibling's bedside and stood, bouncing up and down with almost childlike glee, as she waited for Luna to rise and join her in enthusiastic anticipation of what was soon to come.
A few seconds passed. Then a few more. Luna rolled over in bed, and Celestia's eyes widened in hopeful excitement.
The dark coated alicorn opened her mouth, and let slip a loud, grunting snore.
Celestia slapped a hoof across her face in dismay, leaning forward and nudging at her sister's still sleeping form with the bridge of her muzzle.
"Hey, sleepyhead. Wake up."
Luna's forelegs flailed slightly, batting Celestia's face away without once opening her eyes. The younger alicorn groaned and stirred, but did not depart from the land of her slumber.
Frowning, Celestia raised one of her own legs and prodded rather more sharply and firmly at Luna's bedsheet covered torso.
"Luna. Don't make me Royal Canterlot Voice you."
At long last, with the combination of Celestia's hoof jabbing at her flank and her sister's less gentle, ever more insistent calls, Luna's eyes fluttered open. She blinked, groaning softly as the bright sunlight from beyond the bedroom window assaulted her sensitive eyes, and to Celestia's dismay rolled over away from both her and the morning light. Levitating a pillow over her own head, Luna waved a dismissive hoof, and muttered as she attempted to return to her dreams.
"Too early. Too bright. Go bother the Sun-Butt."
Rolling her eyes, Celestia's own horn began to glow, tugging the pillow which Luna had placed over her face away from her sister. She snorted with frustration as without even seeming to stir from her continud sleep Luna's own horn blazed with magical power, and the two of them found themselves locked in a magical tug of war over ownership of the younger alicorn's pillow.
"C'mon Luna..."
Whining with that tone which only existed between frustrated siblings, Celestia gave one final tug at the pillow, employing all of her alicorn power in an attempt to wrench it from the snoozing grasp of her sister. To her shock, she succeeded. Luna's own magic gave out, and the pillow went catapulting across the room amidst a blazing golden glow. It shot out through the bedroom's far window, shattering the glass into thousands of fragments, and flew far out into the city of Canterlot itself before finally beginning to arc down towards the ground.
Snapping bolt upright at the sound of the breaking window, Luna's eyes fluttered open. She looked around the room, momentarily dazed by the suddenness of the wake-up, before settling her gaze upon her sister. The younger alicorn looked at the quivering, panting, wide eyed form of her sister. She looked at the broken bedroom window and the blazing sunlight beyond it, then back at Celestia with a weary groan.
"Is it time?"
Celestia said nothing. She simply snorted in frustration, turned away from Luna's bed, and stomped out of the bedchamber. Slipping out of bed, Luna followed her sister, yawning and stretching as she did so.
"Coffee..."
She muttered to herself sleepily.
"Coffee will make everything better."
And it did. At least, for Luna. Soon she and Celestia were sat upon the royal balcony, two cups of steaming coffee levitating in front of them. Neither cup belonged to the elder alicorn though; Luna already half way through one cup after just a few minutes, and convinced that even after downing the content of both she would still be in dire need of further caffination. The younger alicorn still found herself yawning and her eyelids drooping, and she felt her attention drifting in and out of focus as from close by Celestia began to talk. What exactly her sister was saying was lost on Luna, but the calm, cheerful tone Celestia was using told her that there was nothing to worry about. Indeed, if anything it sounded like the voice she used when addressing a large crowd. On special occasions like the Grand Galloping Gala, a royal wedding, or...
Luna never finished that thought, her eyes slipping shut and her consciousness momentarily drawing her back to the comfortable land of slumber which came so naturally to her during the day. The next thing she knew was an all too familiar pain in her flank, jerking back to wakefulness once more as she heard Celestia loudly and pointedly clearing her throat. Emphasising her words clearly, as though repeating them for more than the first time.
"...as I said, now Princess Luna will say a few words."
Blankly, Luna stared at her sister. Celestia nodded at her urgently, and gestured for her to turn her gaze ahead; over the edge of the balcony.
Luna did so, only to baulk at the sight which awaited her. Lining the streets below, heads upturned and eyes glittering expectantly in the morning sunlight, were ponies. Hundreds. Thousands of ponies, gathered below the balcony almost as if present for some royal event. Luna wracked her brain in a split-second, trying to think what it was she was supposed to be doing here. What it was that they were waiting for her to say. Her sleep-deprived brain simply would not co-operate, and all she could think was how much she wanted to down that second mug of coffee hovering just a few inches off the ground in front of her; hidden from view by the balcony's marble railings.
"I..."
Clearing her throat, Luna realised she was going to have to bluff her way through.
"I am so happy to see you all here on this special day. Earth ponies, p-pegasi and unicorns alike. United by this common cause."
They cheered. But not the kind of satisfied, roaring cheer that came from a crowd who'd heard what they had come to hear. They were still waiting for something.
Luna glanced pleadingly to her sister, but Celestia could only nod encouragingly towards the crowd, and towards the sky.
"...u-um... b-before we get started. I would just like to add how much it has meant to me and my sister that over these past few years, you have been able to accept and welcome me as one of you. A citizen of Equestria. I may be a Princess, but I still have a heart like all of you. And that heart is now filled with love for each and every one of you that I have met, and that I desire to meet in the days to come. My friends across this great land. Thank you for making me happy... b-both night and day."
A louder cheer followed, and even Celestia looked proud of her sister for that unplanned show of gratitude and joyous emotion. But still they were waiting for something. Even worse, Luna herself was waiting now too. Feeling as though what was expected of her was right on the tip of her horn. Like it was so close to something she'd already thought about. Something she'd said.
Something about... about the night and day. The moon, and the sun.
About her, and about Celestia.
Luna's eyes bulged, and her mind suddenly, urgently snapped into wakeful realisation.
"I therefore dedicate this day, and this act, to my friends. To everypony in Equestria. To my beloved sister. To all those who bring light to my life."
Closing her eyes, Luna focused. She tapped into her most powerful, ancient magic, and smiled as from all around ponies began to whoop and cheer and gasp in awe as the sky suddenly began to darken. As the moon rose sharply from the horizon, and began to eclipse the sun.
Soon, for a single instant, pitch darkness engulfed the land. The sun's corona blazing white around the moon's opaque silhouette. For just a moment Luna held the moon there, and she smiled as she felt her sister lean up against her in a fond embrace, Celestia's voice whispering in her ear.
"I love you, dear sister. You silly Moon-Butt."
Another moment later, and Luna began to lower the moon once more. Light blazing out over the lands of Equestria once again, and the biggest, most deafening cheer yet ringing out from the crowd below.
Tossing back her head, and wrapping one foreleg around her sister's torso as Celestia did the same, the two alicorns called out together. Their voices ringing out not just over Canterlot, but across all Equestria as the summer sun illuminated the sky once more.
"Happy Summer Sun Celebration, Our Little Ponies."
By Jeeves
