Chapters “Celestia!” A dark coated mare shouted, finally spotting her older sister, who was trotting briskly through the main hall of the castle. She had an escort of several guards and seemed to be rather busy. The younger princess panted a few times before her face formed the irritation she had been too tired to portray a moment before. “Where have you been? You said that we could speak last night, but we never found you!”
The lighter colored unicorn paused, dismissing her escorts. “Oh, Luna...” She responded, pausing to listen to a messenger whispering into her ear, she nodded, told him something, and dismissed him. She then looked back to Luna, “I'm sorry, I've just been so busy lately, we have preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and all.”
“Of course.” Luna said, slowly approaching Celestia. “But if you're so busy, why won't you let us help out? Surely if we had been spending our time doing something useful rather than wasting it searching for you, you would have the time to hear us out?”
Celestia's face flashed with worry for a brief moment. “Well, I had managed to take care of things quite nicely in your absence, I don't see why you can't use your time here for leisure and let me continue to run the kingdom, maybe make some friends, you know?”
Luna was a bit curious, it almost seemed that her sister wanted to work this hard. “Well...we think our time would be better spent helping you, then you could have time for leisure yourself. If we were organized I would think we could both have plenty of time for ourselves.” She paused, remembering the pony that had, in a sense, freed her. “And if you don't want the time for yourself...then I think your pupil Twilight Sparkle would be glad if you were able to spend more time with her.”
“Oh, there's no need to worry about me, little sister, I really do enjoy the work that I must do.” Celestia was still well composed, but her voice now had a worried edge to it. “Perhaps you could help just a little, fill out some forms, something like that.”
Luna looked displeased, she was becoming a bit more aggressive. “Well, we would really rather be more involved in the kingdom...we would also like to make some changes to the way things are run.” The mare was becoming more confident, and she continued on. “We have just as much power as you do, and we believe that we should have just as much say in things as you do.”
A small crowd of guards had gathered, just around the bend from one of the entrances to the hall. They were nervous, and some whispered to one another. Some had noticed that recently Luna was becoming contemptuous of her sister, who for some reason did not seem to trust her enough to allow her to take her old position back. They had heard of the Nightmare Moon incident, and worried that such a thing might happen again.
“Well.” Celestia said, having difficulty finding a response to give. “Look Luna, I really don't need your help, I can handle everything on my own, I've done it for a thousand years, and I can keep doing it for as long as need be, really.” She looked at Luna, her face had a faintly pleading look on it. “There's really no need to worry about me.”
Luna glared back. “We are not saying this for your sake, we do not see why we can't go back to managing the night, as we did before.” She stomped a hoof, no longer caring about appearances. “We don't see why you should find this so unreasonable, we believe we could manage both day and night ourselves, if we had to.”
Celestia's reserved look turned into a fierce glare. “Oh really, you think you could manage that, do you? I'll have you know it's much more difficult than you might think!” She took a deep breath, trying to remain composed. “For now, your magic has simply not recovered enough to do even your own part.”
“Perhaps my magic has not completely returned,” Luna reasoned, “However, that has nothing to do with the majority of the responsibilities you-we , have.”
“But I don't feel you have enough experience yet, and I'm also worried that the dark magic that controlled you before still remains within you. Why can you not wait?” Celestia asked.
“That terrible magic is gone!” Luna shouted, “I have waited long enough, and I will not wait much longer!”
Celestia looked frustrated, “We shall speak more later, younger sister, for now there is much to do. Perhaps I shall see that you have learned from your past mistakes. Until then, however, things will continue as they have been.”
“Very well.” Luna said curtly, turning and leaving the hall. The guards who had been observing the argument sighed, relieved that a conflict hadn't yet occurred. They were still uneasy, knowing that eventually Luna would not be so submissive, but it seemed the tensions hadn't risen as much as they had thought. None of them noticed that Luna had not gone in the direction of her room.
Luna left the hall through the back exit that was mainly used to reach the living quarters; however, that wasn't where she was headed. She circled around and casually walked towards and edge of the castle, looking over the edge as though she were simply enjoying the view. She looked about, quickly seeing if anyone was watching, and dove off the edge. After dropping to a low enough point that she wouldn't be too obvious, she unfurled her wings and flew off.
Back in the hall, Celestia looked hesitant. She knew that her sister was becoming fed up with her situation, and she should have been more trusting, but she still felt betrayed; having been forced to seal her away and do everything alone for a thousand years. She was hesitant to let Luna aid her again, and risk her becoming corrupted yet again. Not only that, but she actually somewhat preferred to do everything on her own. She called her guards back and continued her preparation work. She would have plenty of time to think everything over during the next couple of days.
Back in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle was standing outside of the library, pacing. “Come on Spike, we're going to be late!” She called, pulling the door back open. At Sugarcube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. cake were going to be having a small party and giving free confections to all of the ponies for their hard work preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration. Twilight figured it would be the perfect place to ask how everyone's preparations were coming along.
Spike jumped into the doorway, blocking Twilight from seeing inside. “Sorry Twilight, there's something I, um...forgot to do, I might be a little bit. You go on ahead, I'll catch up.” He replied, pulling the door closed again and looking around. He had accidentally pulled down an entire shelf-full of books trying to get one that Twilight wanted; they were just too tightly packed. He grabbed a book off the floor and pulled the door open again, “Sorry again, here's the book you needed.” handing it to a bemused Twilight.
“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight said dryly, before putting the book into her bag and heading towards town. She had so much to do, having waited until just two days before the Celebration to begin coordinating the efforts. She knew the other ponies could handle everything on their own. After all, every year besides the last she hadn't been around, but it still made her feel uneasy that she had been too busy practicing her magic to check in on the preparations until now.
Upon arriving, Applejack was waiting in front of the shop. “Howdy, Twilight!” she called, raising a hoof in welcome. “I just knew you'd come when there's sweets involved!”
“Oh, well, no...” Twilight responded meekly, not catching the playfulness. “I was coming to check on the preparations, I figured that everyone would be here, so it would make sense. I mean, I don't deserve anything, I haven't been helping out...”
“Come on Twilight, I was only kiddin'! We know you've prob'ly been mighty busy.” Applejack said, pushing Twilight inside. “You've helped with enough stuff already that I'm sure nopony's gonna mind if you take it easy for the Summer Sun Celebration.”
The shop was bustling, filled with excited ponies munching on confections. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had their work cut out for them keeping the sweets out on the tables. Thankfully they had prepared properly, and were still at no risk of running out. “Things like this really make it worth the effort it takes to make these events work.” a stallion remarked.
“You sure got that right!” A pink mare said, bouncing by, “Wait, what work? I don't remember doing any work!” She paused for a moment, “Do parties count as work?” She asked nopony in particular, then started hopping yet again.
“Well Pinkie, I suspect that for ponies other than you, they do.” Twilight responded, giggling, as Pinkie bounced by. Pinkie did a double take, noticing Twilight, and she went back to give a big welcome to her, but the purple unicorn had already slipped back into the crowd; searching for someone else.
“Hey Twilight, where've you been!” A rainbow maned pegasus called from her perch in front of a table. She took a cookie, and shoved it into her mouth. “'S been a while, you must've been studying pretty hard!” She said, swallowing.
“Oh, you know...just standard magic practice.” Twilight replied, “But um, right, I just need to check, you have got the weather under control, right, Rainbow Dash?”
“Well, duh! Won't be a problem,” Rainbow said, then her voice got a bit more serious, “Although it might not seem so obvious, because we're due for some rain tomorrow. Before the Celebration, of course. Hopefully it's not too much of a problem for the preparations.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose it can be worked around, though it would no doubt be good to let everyone know, so nothing gets ruined by it.” She thought aloud, taking a scroll and quill out of her bag, and jotting down a note.
“Hey, um, Twi', sweetie, do you uh, think you could get out here?” Applejack called from the front of the shop. Twilight put her stuff back in her pack, and made her way back to the entrance. There was already a commotion, and many of the colts and fillies were cowering behind older ponies; a fair portion of which seemed to be simply frozen. Others were just murmuring to on another. Above the commotion a voice shouted, “Ooh, something's going on! Wait for me, things that are going on!”
Twilight pushed her way through the last of the crowd and out the door. Outside she found Applejack and Pinkie waiting for her, though both were in awe of the deep blue winged unicorn that was poised in front of them. “Oh, um, Princess Luna, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked, feeling anxious, “Did Celestia um, send you to check on the preparations?” She hoped not, since she hadn't had the time to ready a proper report on the proceedings.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, “No, I have not come by her whim, though I have come due to her.” She looked nervous, not sure what the best course of action would be was to accomplish her goal. As far as she had thought was to get Twilight onto her side, which would hopefully prove something to her sister. “I hate to ask this of you, but I require your assistance.”
Twilight now felt even more uneasy, it sounded as though something might be wrong with Celestia. “W-what is it, Princess? Is Celestia okay? Is something wrong?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“No, Celestia is fine, far as I can tell. This is more related to me...” Luna answered, trying to word what she wanted to say properly, “You see, she does not seem to trust me, and I am not sure how, but I wish to earn her trust yet again.”
Twilight was relieved that Celestia was fine, and furthermore that nopony was considering her lack of involvement in the current preparations. It took her a moment to become serious again and consider Luna's problem, during which time Applejack had responded, “Well maybe if you hadn't gone and caused so much trouble for everypony she'd be a bit more trustin' of you!” She berated.
“Now now, Applejack, I think that's a bit cruel of a thing to say.” Twilight told her, “I don't think Luna really had control of herself when that happened. I just don't think that anypony would go that far, even with a decent reason.” She explained, levitating a book from her pack and opening it, “In fact, I have a theory that Luna was possessed by some sort of malevolent spirit!” She had a proud look on her face. “See, this book has information about spirits that could have caused just what happened.” She added.
“Thank you for the confidence, Twilight.” Luna smiled, happy enough to ignore the question of why Twilight was carrying the book with her in the first place. “Maybe if I can get some ponies to trust me, that will convince Celestia.” She said, partially to herself and partially to the other ponies nearby.
Pinkie suddenly jumped in. “Hey girls? Did you see anything just now?” She asked, “I thought I just saw something, but I guess not!” The other ponies realized she had been awfully quiet for the last little while, and when they looked at her, they noticed she was shivering strongly.
A short while ago, back in Canterlot, Celestia was signing a legal document; the document had a proposal for a large public park to be built in Manehattan. “Um, Princess Celestia, is Princess Luna not working with you?” The messenger, who was new at his job, and too nosy for it, asked.
“Well, for now, she is not, perhaps in the future,” Celestia answered, unconcerned with the class differences. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, I saw her flying down to Ponyville on my way here, and I thought it seemed strange that she didn't have an escort, so I figured she must not have been on official duty,” He said, before an irritated guard escorted him away.
Worry came over Celestia. She did not have time to deal with Luna, but she knew that after the argument they had earlier her sister could be doing any number of things, and leaving her alone was too risky. The kingdom would just have to handle itself for a little bit, she supposed. She dismissed her guards, unconcerned with their protests, and went to fetch a carriage. She would have rather flown on her own, which would have been faster, but such an action would have undoubtedly aroused too much suspicion, and she didn't want to worry her subjects. She told the guard leading the carriage to be as quick as possible, and they were off.
A bit later, they were rolling into Ponyville. Celestia wasn't sure just where Luna might have gone, so she told the stallion to take her to the library, figuring that Twilight would likely be somehow involved, plus the route would take her through most of town.
As they were coming up on Sugarcube Corner, Celestia noticed her sister and pupil conversing, it seemed that Luna wasn't being entirely too brash. She immediately told the guard leading her to turn and go down a side street. The guard obliged, and they were out of sight, hopefully before anyone had seen them. Celestia had a plan.
They stared at Pinkie Pie, “You, uh, cold, Pinkie?” Applejack asked, but that didn't make sense, it was about as hot as it gets in Ponyville during this time of year.
“Maybe she's sick?” Twilight suggested, seeing if she had brought a book about illnesses with her. She hadn't.
“N-n-no, th-that's n-not it you g-guys,” Pinkie said, her body shaking harder. “S-something is g-g-going to h-happen.”
“Oh, right! Pinkie sense, or whatever,” Twilight said, as a rainbow pegasus came out of Sugarcube corner. “It wouldn't happen to be Rainbow Dash taking so long to come out here would it? That's pretty surprising.”
Rainbow was about to reply, but was silenced by the surprise of seeing both of the Princesses. Pinkie's shaking paused “No, but I think that might be!” She gestured behind Luna, where Celestia was now approaching. She looked very upset, and all of the other ponies drew back instinctively, particularly Twilight, who looked as though she wanted to hide.
“I see you have left Canterlot without my permission, sister!” Celestia boomed angrily, pacing in an arc around her subjects and sister. “Not only that, but it appears as though you are plotting something! Do you not respect me, your leader? Do you plan to try yet again to overthrow me?!”
Luna was stunned, and even a bit frightened, she had never seen her sister so angry before. It was entirely unlike her, usually being one of the calmest, wisest, and most forgiving ponies in Equestria. “No, Celestia, we were only trying to make some-”
“Quiet!” Celestia came closer. “In less than two days the longest day of the year shall come, and I shall be at my most powerful.” She stated, “You may spend your time as you wish until then, but you should hope that I will be forgiving when that dawn comes.” She glared at Luna, who despite being very frightened, stood her ground. Celestia then leaned in towards the cowering purple unicorn. “And Twilight, my student, I am ashamed of you for associating with her.” Twilight let out a light squeak and tried to shrink back even further than she already had.
Without another word, Celestia turned and left, leaving her subjects shaken. Twilight and Luna were especially disraught, with Luna looking terribly depressed, and Twilight ranting. “Oh no, oh no, Celestia's not going to send me back to magic kindergarten, she's never going to let me study magic ever again! Maybe I'll be exiled, oh, who knows...” She gloomily began walking back to the library, mentally preparing a list of the stuff she would need if she were forced to leave forever.
“Now now, Twi', I'm sure we'll work this out, I don't think Celestia was quite herself,” Applejack said, following Twilight and trying to comfort her.
“Well gosh...” Rainbow Dash remarked, also leaving, “I wonder what the context for that could have been.”
Luna looked about, dismayed, Pinkie Pie had slipped away at some point, she noticed; not that it mattered. This made no sense to Luna, it was obvious something was wrong with her sister. There was no way Celestia would ever jump to such a terrible conclusion so quickly. Luna could pursue her, but she didn't think it seemed like a good idea to confront her when she was so angry. For now, she would wait. She considered still going back to Canterlot, or perhaps speaking further with Twilight and her friends, but in the end she decided to find her way to the Everfree Forest; as the light of the day was only depressing her even further.
Luna saw a cottage resting at the border between Ponyville and the Everfree forest, she considered how very relaxing it would be to live in such a place, but continued by. She walked under the canopy of the trees and sighed, relieved to be out of the summer sun. She felt very tired, after the day's events, so with nothing else to do, she decided to sleep. She figured that the monsters in the forest probably wouldn't bother someone with her power, and if they did, she didn't really care much right now.
What felt like only moments later, a very gentle nudging awoke Luna. She slowly opened her eyes to see a yellow pegasus in front of her who let out a quiet squeak when Luna stood. “I-I-I'm sorry... I'm not sure how long you've been here, but, you know, it's not very safe here...” it barely managed to say.
“Oh, hello.” Luna responded, trying to recall the pony's identity. “You are Fluttershy, are you not?”
“Um... yes, that is me...” Fluttershy confirmed, hoping that waking Luna hadn't been a mistake; she couldn't just let her sleep in such a dangerous place. “You know, if you needed a place to sleep, I'm sure you could just have asked someone... I mean, you could even sleep at my cottage... that is, if you wanted to...”
“No need to offer that; I wasn't sleeping here because I didn't have anywhere else to sleep, it's simply because I didn't feel like being around anyone at the time.” For that matter, Luna didn't feel much like being around anypony right now either. She didn't tell Fluttershy that though, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
Fluttershy lead Luna back to her home, where Luna was surprised to find it to be very early dawn; she couldn't believe she had slept all night. “You know, I would feel a bit odd being around my friends too right now; I didn't see them yesterday, though I meant to. I was just too busy; all my chickens got out of their pen, and I couldn't leave them to get lost.” The shy pegasus explained, “But... what happened to you, Luna?”
“Well, I was there... Celestia showed up and was very angry; I'm not sure why. I believe Twilight is very upset because of it.” Luna told her, neglecting to mention the specifics, or how upset she was herself.
“Oh my, is she okay?” Fluttershy asked.
Luna thought for a moment. “Yeah, it's difficult to be certain, since Celestia seems to be really strange right now... but I'm rather sure that the only one in much trouble is me.”
Fluttershy paused. “But Luna, how much trouble are you in?”
“I have no idea really, Celestia was not herself at all. I don't know if something was possessing her, or if she has perhaps succumbed to stress.” Luna said, feeling ill, “Either way seems so unlikely.”
“I think she will probably come to her senses.” They arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, but she kept going past, heading into town. “I should... we should maybe talk to Twilight again, she knows Celestia pretty well too.” Although it was difficult for her to imagine Celestia as being angry, Fluttershy didn't want to belittle Luna's problem. She figured that maybe Twilight would have some sort explanation for what was going on, and she wanted to check up on her anyways.
“Very well, we shall head to the library.” Luna said, not really expecting anything good. “If nothing else, we shall be nearer to somewhere we may purchase food.”
“That doesn't sound bad either.” Fluttershy remarked. “Oh, um... you know, if things turn out well. If they don't we should keep, um, doing something.” She added, trying to stay proactive for Luna, who wasn't in the mood to keep the conversation going.
As they went through town, they were surprised by how subdued the ponies were; it was as if some dark cloud were looming above. Perhaps they were shocked by the thought of their ruler being as angry as she was.
They soon found themselves at the library. Fluttershy was about to knock, however she paused when they heard a commotion from within. “Ugh! You're being impossible, Twilight! Just cheer up, for goodness sake, it's not like she actually said you were in any trouble, she was just a bit mad is all.” a frustrated voice called out.
“Well that was because she was in public, I'm sure when she comes for Luna she'll punish me too!” Twilight exclaimed.
“There's just not any point reasoning with you now, I'll speak to you again later!” The door burst open, bopping Fluttershy on the nose. Rarity came out, head held high indignantly. “Oh, I'm sorry Fluttershy, hello Luna,” She greeted the visitors, “I suppose you have come here to check on Twilight? She's not doing too well,” She glanced back, “but there's not much point trying to cheer her up; she simply isn't listening.”
Luna pushed her way past Rarity. “I would like to apologize, Twilight Sparkle. I feel this is somehow my fault.”
Twilight was about to say something snide, but caught herself. “No no, you can't blame yourself, I suppose it's my fault.”
“Dang it Twilight!” Applejack scolded, appearing from around a corner; she looked tired. “If it's anypony's fault it's Celestia's, I just can't believe she would be so harsh for no darn reason!”
When she thought about it, Twilight found that it did seem as though Celestia was the one at fault, but such a thought was impossible for her to comprehend. “Look, It's not that I don't appreciate you all coming here to try to cheer me up, but I need some time to prepare.” She said, urging Applejack and Luna to leave the library, to which they obliged.
Outside, the ponies looked at one another and shrugged. They would just have to wait for Twilight to calm down on her own, or until they met Celestia again tomorrow. “How very frustrating!” Rarity complained.
“You know Twilight, Celestia gave her an awful lot, and I think it's understandable she'd be so worried about losin' it all.” Applejack reasoned, “Well I'm thinkin' I could go for somethin' to eat; I don't think I've had anythin' since yesterday. Would y'all like to come with?”
“Sure,” Rarity and Fluttershy replied. “We should be going...” Was Luna's response, however. She had already spent much more time around ponies today than she had wished to, and she wished to go to confront Celestia.
“Now you wait just a minute, Luna.” Fluttershy scolded. “You said you wanted food earlier, didn't you?”
“Eh...” Luna said sheepishly, “I did say that, didn't I? I must have forgotten about my hunger for a moment...” She sighed, “Very well, I shall accompany you.” The world just didn't want her to be on her own today.
The group sat outside of the cafe, each eating their preferred meal. It took a while for them to order something for Luna, who was unaccustomed to these sorts of foods and insisted on having the exact contents of each explained to her.
“So Luna, would you care to explain why Celestia might be so upset with you?” Rarity asked in a casual manner, “It sounds as though she was mad simply because you were in Ponyville; is there any reason that might be?”
Luna thought for a moment, “Well, we did have an argument beforehand, and I suppose it would be within reason that she would be concerned, even worried, about what I might be doing, going off on my own afterwords.” She reasoned. “But...she has often told me to come here and make friends, something I haven't done because I believed myself too mature for such a thing; I wanted to resume my position at the throne, ruling beside her. I suppose I could have listened to her a bit more than I did.” Luna looked disapprovingly at the pile of vegetables that had spilled from the back of her sandwich. “In any case, I feel that what she said was entirely out of character for her.”
“From what Applejack told me, it most certainly sounds out of character!” Rarity exclaimed, “I would really be quite surprised if she did not come to her senses soon.”
“Um, I think we should find some cover...” Fluttershy suggested; she had been anxiously watching the sky for a bit, but didn't mention anything because she didn't want to interrupt anypony. There were dark clouds covering the sky around Ponyville, and quickly moving in towards them. They were coming in at a much faster rate than usual; quickly enough that most of the ponies who were out and about had stopped what they had been doing just to watch the clouds race through the sky.
The clouds slid over their heads, making everything darker, and rain started pouring down. Everyone looked about as confused as they were irritated about the rain. “Now why in the world would it be rainin' on the day before the Summer Solstice?” Applejack wondered aloud.
The rain stopped falling around their table as quickly as it had began, though they still heard and saw the pittering of it around them. A pegasus descended from the clouds: “Now now, no need to thank me,” it said, taking a seat at their table. “although, would you happen to have any extra food? Today's a busy day, and I haven't had the chance to eat anything!”
“Rainbow Dash, is it?” Luna checked. “You may have what I have not yet eaten.” She pushed her plate over to rainbow dash, glad for an excuse not to finish eating such unfamiliar food.
Rainbow looked bemusedly at the mess Luna had somehow made of her sandwich. “Things are pretty crazy right now, we've got to have it rain right up until nightfall, and clearing stuff up before the Festival means we're going to have to work all night. To make things worse: apparently Celestia hasn't even returned to Canterlot yet, and all the higher-ups are getting worried.”
“So Rainbow, why exactly does it need to rain now? It's right before the festival and it's been so hot lately! It seems so...” Rarity paused, “...unfitting.”
“Don't ask me! Supposedly we decide the weather based on complicated mathematics and magics.” Rainbow Dash made a skeptical face, “If you ask me though, it just seems arbitrary.”
“It's more important than you might think that the weather is as it should be.” Luna said ominously. Everyone looked at her curiously, though they didn't ask anything more; suspecting it wasn't something she could reveal. “Ah, because the rain is necessary for vegetation to grow, as well as for erosion, of course,” she added, realizing that she had said something she ought not to have.
“Well, sure the weather's awful strange and all, but what's that about Celestia not returnin' to Canterlot?” Applejack wondered why everypony was so concerned with the weather; it hadn't rained in a while, so she was glad the plants wouldn't be drying out. “Surely she ain't been in Ponyville this whole time?” She suggested.
“Well I mean, where else could she be?” Rainbow asked. “If she had gone to any of the other cities then someone would have probably reported seeing her, but Ponyville doesn't have many officials, so she would be more likely to go unnoticed.”
“This is quite interesting.” Luna noticed everypony had finished their food by this point. “Do you suppose this might be related to the way in which she threatened me?”
“Don't worry 'bout it, Luna.” Applejack tried to comfort her. “Maybe she's like, watchin' you or somethin', so she'll see you ain't up to anythin', and she'll realize she was just bein' stupid.”
Luna didn't seem any less down. “But I do not wish for her to merely not punish me, I am becoming tired of her failing to take us seriously. I am practically happy that she is not simply ignoring me now.”
“Well, darling, I suspect she simply believes you need a break after all that time banished. You know, so that you can become used to the changes that have occurred during a thousand years.” Rarity guessed. “That, and because you're young, er, relatively so, I'm sure she feels you need some time to grow up properly, now that she's capable of running Equestria by herself.”
Luna still looked doubtful. “I suppose I could see that, but I was capable of co-ruling before I was banished, so how might I prove that I am currently equally capable?”
“W-well, maybe you don't need to,” Fluttershy suggested, “Perhaps you should just do what she wants and just enjoy yourself for a while, wouldn't waiting just a few more years be easy for you? I mean, considering you can live for thousands of years.”
“It would not be unbearable, however it would be quite humiliating to simply back down.” Luna was once again feeling irritated by the ponies she was forced to be in the company of, she did not wish to hear ponies taking her sister's side. “I am equal to my sister, and I do not wish to spend my time simply waiting.”
Applejack sensed Luna's mood was going further south. “Well sure, hun, but you need to understand her thinkin' too.” She said, trying to reason. “Then maybe you can think of a better way to convince her you should be involved.”
“Perhaps. Regardless, something is wrong with her at present.” Luna brought back the larger issue of the encounter they had the other day.
Applejack thought back to then. “No doubt something was wrong with her, but if I was you I wouldn't worry about it. Come tomorrow everythin'll be right as rain. If it ain’t, we'll deal with it when it happens; no sense worryin' about a problem that may or may not actually be, ya hear?”
“Very well, I shall not make an action until tomorrow comes.” Luna confirmed, feeling anxious with the thought. Celestia was not the sort to cause such an uproar and fail to have a reason.
Rarity stood, “Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I really must finish preparing the décor. I suspect some of what has been set up has been ruined by this downpour.” Rarity said, departing.
“Oh, are we separating?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well gosh, I hadn't thought of it, what with Twilight bein' so upset, but I really have gotta go check on the food preparations back at the farm!” Applejack said, rushing off. “I hope they didn't have any trouble while I was sleepin' over at Twi's.” She muttered as she left.
“It goes without saying that I'm too busy to stay any longer!” Rainbow said, before taking off back into the sky. The hole in the clouds sealed, and rain began pouring down upon the table once again.
Fluttershy looked at Luna. “Well, I suppose I had better go too, and make sure the birds are still all together...” She began slowly walking off. “I hope everything turns out alright for you, Luna.” She called back.
Luna was a bit surprised, she had been expecting she might have been stuck with company all day, and finally being left alone didn't leave her as pleased as she had hoped. She wasn't sure quite where to go at this point; it seemed best for her to next meet her sister the following morning, at the celebration, so she couldn't leave Ponyville. In the meantime, she decided to head back to the library. She knew Twilight would not appreciate it, but Luna had found herself unable to think of anything to do with the time remaining in the day, so just reading sounded fine.
As she arrived at the library, she found that, curiously, the door was now ajar. Luna rapped the door as she went by, alerting those inside. Inside were Twilight Sparkle and the bouncing pink one known as Pinkie Pie. Luna was interested to find that Twilight looked a bit less stressed than before; she wondered if Pinkie had somehow cheered her up.
“Heeyyyyy! Luna!” Pinkie called. “I was wondering where you might have wound up after the other day, I thought that it was really lame that I didn't even get to say anything to you! I guess I do now, though!”
Luna let out a small sigh, Pinkie Pie was the last pony she wanted to deal with right now. It would seem as though she simply could not spend the time before tomorrow in peace. “Hello, Pinkie... do you have anything useful to say?” She asked.
Pinkie took that as a cue to talk about everything she thought anyone might want to hear, “Well that depends on what you consider useful, I think I have lots of useful stuff to talk about, like how I made these extra yummy cookies the other day, or how Mr. Cake slipped and his face landed in pie, or how Celestia-”
“Now now, Pinkie,” Twilight interjected, “I don't believe Luna wishes to hear about such trivial things; in fact, I think she might want some time alone, you know?”
Luna was curious: it seemed almost as though Twilight hadn't wanted Pinkie to finish what she had been about to say about Celestia. She supposed an explanation for that would be that Twilight simply didn't want Pinkie to speak more about that odd meeting; still, something seemed off to Luna.
Pinkie started up once again, “Why would anyone want time alone? It's always more fun to spend time with other people! I mean-” She was once again silenced by Twilight, this time with a piercing glare. “Okie dokie, I guess maybe I should go!” she said, taking the hint.
“So Twilight, I take it you are feeling better than before?” Luna asked, still feeling curious.
“Oh, well, yes; I've realized that sometimes it's best not to worry too much about things,” Twilight said, “It's not something that comes easy to me to notice, but I'm thinking maybe I've been overreacting.”
“Truly? That is good to hear, although it seems a bit sudden...” Luna said, walking over to a bookshelf, “In any case, would you mind if I stayed here for a bit and read?”
“I don't see any reason that wouldn't be okay,” Twilight replied, “I actually need to go out and check on the preparations anyways. It's a bit late for it, but I can't let yesterday cause the Celebration to have any problems.”
“Oh, alright then,” Luna said, her voice contained a bit of suspicion. Even though Luna didn't know Twilight very well, it still seemed unlikely that she would be so very upset, and in just a couple of hours be completely fine. There was also something else that seemed a bit off, like she was holding a secret or something. There wasn't an explanation Luna could easily think of; she wondered if perhaps there could be some sort of thing going around, a disease perhaps, causing ponies to act in uncharacteristic ways.
“If I don't come back before it, I'll see you at dawn in the town square,” Twilight said, leaving. Luna considered whether she actually wished to go; Celestia would be there, and the thought of seeing her made Luna's stomach bubble with anxiety. Hiding from her sister wouldn't be any good though, and might even make her become more harsh when they do finally meet.
She stood for a moment, considering things, but then the question of what was going on with Twilight came to her mind. She was acting odd, and perhaps there was a good reason for it. She thought of following her; if the feeling Luna had that she was holding a secret was true, it might reveal something about Celestia as well.
“Luna?” A voice called, “Oh Luuuunaaaaa; Luna, wake up!” it continued.
“I...I fell asleep?” Luna asked, slowly coming back into consciousness. She looked about, but found no sign of anypony nearby. Thinking about it, she realized that the voice sounded like her sister's, but that wouldn't make any sense... perhaps Twilight had come to get something and woke her up on her way back out.
Luna noticed the faintest bit of sunlight coming in through a window. Shock ran through her: it was early dawn; she had slept too long! She threw the book in her lap off to the side and rushed out the door. She was galloping as quickly as she could, trying to reach the town square while Celestia was still there.
She burst through the doors of the pavilion, and immediately wished she had been less obvious. The scene she was welcomed by was fairly normal for the Celebration: Celestia was standing in front of her subjects, presumably about to give a speech. When she noticed Luna her face darkened, “Look who decided to show up,” she said, “I would expect someone as traitorous as you to try to hide.”
“H...huh?” Luna stammered. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but her sister looked frightening.
Applejack came forward out of the crowd, placing herself in front of Luna, “She ain't done anything!” she shouted.
Celestia's eyebrow rose, “Truly? You are covering for her? But Applejack, I thought you were the element of Honesty?”
“Celestia, what in the worldare you doing? This is entirely unlike you,” Rarity said, placing herself by Applejack's side.
“Oh? What am I doing? What are you doing is more like it, aiding someone who wishes to tear this kingdom apart,”
“This is ridiculous! You can’t blame Luna; I don't really know what she's been doing, but you do not speak like that to my friends!” Rainbow dash said, joining Applejack and Rarity.
“Really, Rainbow? Your element is Loyalty, but you aren't even loyal to your ruler!” Celestia glared at the growing group of ponies, causing those in front of Luna to doubt whether their actions were worth making.
“N-n-now, st-stop that, Celestia!” Fluttershy squeaked, summoning every bit of courage and vocal strength she had. She joined the group, standing protectively in front of Luna.
“Wow, even Fluttershy feels strongly enough about this to show that tiny little bit of misguided courage she has,” Celestia said, seeming almost sarcastic in tone now.
“You know what Celestia, you're just being a big meanie!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping in with the others.
“My goodness, that's almost everyone, isn't it?” Celestia said, “Not that it matters, it's not as though you can physically block magic.” Her horn began to glow, and Luna became surrounded with a pink aura as her sister's magic enveloped her.
Twilight Sparkle was still within the crowd, shaking in fear and confusion. She couldn't confront her mentor; Celestia was always right, Celestia always did the right thing. “St...st...” she whimpered, trying to pull herself together and say something.
“Sister, you cannot be doing this!” Luna shouted, finding herself being levitated into the air. She tried to dispel the magic with her own, but her magic had not returned enough to match Celestia's.
“What punishment seems appropriate, I wonder?” Celestia mused, drawing out the tension, “Ah, I know, I'll let you think over what you have done for as long as you need...”
A collective gasp ran through the room, the horror on Luna's face amplified. “You can't mean...”
Celestia smirked. “Oh, but I do; I shall seal you away once again. It'll be another thousand years before you can come back.”
Twilight took a deep breath, her horn beginning to glow. “St...Stop!” she shouted, a blast of magic shooting forth, hitting Luna and dispelling the aura. Luna fell to the ground, accompanied by another collective gasp, Twilight followed by bringing a magical barrier around her.
Celestia's smirk increased even further in size, bringing her face to a maniacal state. “My my, even my very own protegee sides with the traitor? But...it makes no difference to me.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight's friends said together.
“I means it makes little difference to me who is sealed away,”–Celestia's horn began to glow once again–“if Twilight won't let me seal Luna, she is just as much of a traitor. So, I'll just seal her away instead.”
The magical aura began to surround Twilight now. As she began to levitate into the air, her confusion became horror. “No! No! You can't! Not you!” she screamed.
Rainbow Dash bolted towards Celestia, using her wings for added force and adopting a bullet-like posture. Before she reached Celestia, however, she bounced off an invisible shield that surrounded the Princess. She grunted, smashing back into the floor. She was too dazed to be able to stand again, but her ferocity had ignited her friends’ courage, and they all, even Fluttershy, charged in at Celestia. Even with their strength combined they all still rebounded off the barrier, futilely collapsing onto the ground.
Luna's horn was now glowing as she tried spell after spell, but each was suppressed by the her sister's magic, which was currently much stronger than her own. It seemed there was nothing she could do but watch in horror as Twilight rose to Celestia's face; suspended by her head, with her legs kicking at air.
“U...gh...st...” Twilight found herself choking, a black cloud beginning to surround her.
Luna couldn't allow this to happen. Her magic wasn't working, but there was one final thing she could try. She charged forward, leaving the barrier Twilight was still somehow able to keep together. She leapt forward at Twilight head-first. As she reached Twilight, her horn hit the barrier and tore through.
The spell had been broken again, and Twilight collapsed onto the ground, yet still Celestia showed no sign of concern. “So now it's you again, is it, Luna?” she said, once again lifting her sister into the air. Luna hung, accepting what would happen. The moment dragged on, the room hushed, before Celestia began to laugh, not a long evil laugh, but a genuinely amused chuckling. Luna was slowly lowered onto the ground, and Celestia wiped at her eyes with a hoof. “Oh, oh my, I got too carried away, didn't I?”
“W-w-w...” Luna said, words failing her, “What?”
The room was still, everyone frozen in shock, the shock for some fading into relief.
Celestia's face became serious yet again, “This was a test, you see. I wanted to be sure you knew the importance of selflessness.”
“But...this? You went this far?” Luna asked, her mind slowly beginning to comprehend what had just happened. As angry as she felt she should have been at her sister, the relief overpowered it to a much greater degree.
“Well, you said you wouldn't wait to return to your old position. I simply devised a plan to prove beyond all certainty that you are now completely free of evil magics, and, well...” Celestia paused, “...why don't we consider this an inaugural party, starting now?”
Luna found that her relief and excitement was such that; for now, she couldn't be upset with her sister. Later on, she realized just how crazy what had happened was, but it was okay, because she would have plenty of chances to get Celestia back with an even grander scheme in the future.
Luna went to the front door and peeked out; Twilight was still within sight, although soon she would need to turn a corner. Luna took a glance in the opposite direction to make sure nopony was watching, and, only seeing Pinkie Pie prodding at some flowers, set off to follow Twilight as stealthily as she could.
Going from piece of cover to piece of cover, Luna stalked Twilight throughout the town. Mostly she stuck to shadows and went unnoticed, as it was raining and most ponies were inside, but a few still saw her and were confused; after realizing it was Luna they would do a double-take, becoming even more baffled by what they were seeing.
Twilight went first to the town hall, where she had a boring conversation with Rarity about the decorations; apparently much had been ruined by the rain, though it would still be possible, albeit difficult, to have things ready. Heading to her next stop, Twilight muttered angrily under her breath, blaming herself for not having spread the word of the rain.
Twilight went from place to place, all around town, checking on the different ponies. Next to Fluttershy's cottage to check on her and her bird choir, then Sweet Apple Acres to check on Applejack and their food. Everywhere there were varying amounts of trouble caused by the rain, which still showed no sign of stopping, but nowhere was anything interesting said. If anything, what was strange was that neither Twilight nor her friends said anything at all about Celestia.
Some hours had passed, and it was becoming dark, Luna was beginning to realize that her stalking of Twilight was fruitless. Unfortunately the lack of anything significant failed to satisfy Luna's suspicion, but she understood that there was no point in continuing to follow Twilight. She went back to the library, disappointed; she would just have to wait until dawn to see what was going on with Celestia.
Back at the library, Luna browsed the bookshelves, looking for something that seemed worth reading. In the end she chose a book about the movement and phases of the moon; she already knew everything it would contain, but was curious to see just how much the average pony could learn about it. She only read it for perhaps half an hour before falling asleep.
