A Midsummer’s Night Dance
“We think the red one looks better than the yellow,” Luna said to the decorator who was bugging her. The pony had been hounding her almost all day, constantly in the background with some adornment or other, looking for her input on them. She had no idea what it was for, but Celestia had warned her that there would be work crews about the castle, and she had not wanted to appear ignorant of whatever large event would be occurring. As such, she answered all the questions as best she could, and tried to keep her annoyance down.
“An excellent choice, your Highness,” the pony said, bowing his head.
“Is there anything else, Mister Bedazzle? We must be off to meet with my sister soon.”
“Ah, no, that should be all.” He beamed excessively at Luna and bowed with great exaggeration. “I hope the event is as accommodating as it can be, your Highness. Take care.”
As he cantered away with the banner colour of Luna’s choice, she turned around and continued walking towards the private rooms behind the thrones. She reached Celestia’s room, marked by an intricate engraving of her cutie mark carved in the oak of the door, and knocked.
“Sister, it is I. May I come in?”
“Certainly!” came a bubbly reply, and Luna pressed forward inside. Much like the rest of the castle, it was mainly decorated with white marble trimmed in purple and gold, but new decorations--all ones Luna had picked out earlier in the night--hung on the bannisters and pillars, giving the room a certain extravagance. Luna smiled slyly, happy to see that the random decisions she had made had worked together very well.
Celestia herself was standing in front of a vanity, delicately passing a brush through her mane. She turned and smiled at Luna before returning to the mirror and her grooming.
“You know,” Luna chuckled softly, “that it is still waving and curling while you brush?”
“I am aware, but it helps calm me down.” Celestia laughed quietly herself, and then set the brush down. “Tomorrow morning is a big day, and even though I’ve performed the ceremony a thousand times, I’m still nervous about it.”
Luna threw up an eyebrow at that comment. “A thousand years you say? Interesting. I certainly don’t remember any celebration occurring on this date before my, shall I say, troubles. I suspected this had something to do with it being a year since I’ve returned, but with that rather familiar number, I’m inclined to ask. What exactly are we celebrating tomorrow, Celestia?”
The solar alicorn gulped and looked away awkwardly, staring out a window. “Why, sister, it’s the Summer Sun celebration.”
“Mmhmm,” Luna said flatly.
“Celebrating the summer solstice.”
“I see.”
“And of course, you know, you have Nightmare Night, where they celebrate you and your night, right?”
“Mmhmm.”
“So this is the day when they celebrate uh, me, and the day.” She smiled awkwardly.
“Sister,” Luna said disappointedly, “I may have been gone for a long time, but I know you better than this. Much has changed while I was gone, and the consequences were vast. I understand and accept this. What exactly is the Summer Sun Celebration based off of? You know you can tell me, of course.” She moved to Celestia’s bed and sat, and her sister joined her, looking slightly embarrassed.
“W-well, Luna, it’s the commemoration of my defeat of Nightmare Moon.”
Luna looked down, sighing. “I thought as much. Should I participate, then? Perhaps we can hold a reenactment.”
“Sister!”
Luna laughed then, catching Celestia by surprise. “I am kidding, of course. It is natural for the citizens to look forward to any reason to celebrate. I don’t blame you for continuing the ceremony. Do not worry about my feelings, Celestia.”
Luna was quickly pulled aside in a tight embrace, and she stared, startled, at the shoulder of the alicorn hugging her.
“Not worrying about your feelings is why they had something to celebrate in the first place, Luna,” Celestia said, and Luna heard a sniff come from behind her. “I was afraid to bring it up, but I want you to know that it will be different now. I am not celebrating your defeat, and neither will any of the citizens of Equestria.” She let Luna go.
“Hmm, well, that’s quite kind, thank you, but…” Luna stood up and walked towards the door. “As I said. Let them celebrate. It bothers me not.”
“Does it not bother you, or are you pretending it doesn’t, to spare my feelings?”
Luna paused in the threshold.
“Whichever makes you feel better,” she said teasingly, and she continued out into the hall.
It was late the next night when Luna was walking alone through the empty throne room, having just finished watching over dreams. All in all, it had been an easy night; hardly any pony had had a nightmare, and almost every pony stopped dreaming rather early. She looked out a window and gauged the time to be about five in the morning.
“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”
Luna jumped and kicked, startled by the voice so close to her. She whipped around with a whinny to see Celestia standing behind her, covering her laugh with a hoof. She settled, and sat in consternation, before recalling the comment that had shocked her.
“It is, isn’t it? But what are you doing up so early? You have an hour before you even need to be anywhere.”
Celestia walked past her and looked out the window Luna had previously occupied, ignoring her question. “Look, past the mountain, Sister. The aurora is simply stunning. Is that you doing that, or…?”
Luna playfully pushed her sister aside to gaze out with her, noticing the dancing bands of neon and orange just past the northern summit. “It is not me. It’s you, actually,” she said incredulously. “Did you not know?”
“Know what? I’m certainly not doing anything with the sun yet.”
“You don’t have to. Not all that comes from the sun is light, or, light we can see.”
“I’m aware.”
“When some of those rays strike the atmosphere, they charge the air high above, and it glows.”
“Oh! Interesting. Do you mind if I… do something?”
Luna stepped back from the window again, looking curiously at her sister. “What, like, with the sun?”
“Sort of.”
Luna squinted.
“Right now, Luna, thousands of ponies are awake, staring out their windows, waiting for the sun to rise and the moon to set. For a thousand years I’ve moved them both at the same time on this day, but today you and I will be doing it together. You’ve given me an idea, though. I think we shouldn’t just celebrate the day together. We should give them a good show for the night as well.”
“That’s a kind sentiment. Are there really so many ponies looking about right now?”
“Yes. You can tell, generally, how many are sleeping, right?”
“...Correct.” Luna felt out, and realized that Celestia was telling the truth. Most of Equestria was awake already at an hour they would be most snuggled under covers and cosy by dying fires. “Is it really that big of an event?” she whispered, more to herself than Celestia.
“Well, together, we can make it even bigger. But I won’t touch the sun at night without your permission. So may I?”
“Well, now I’m curious. Alright, Sister.”
“Great! Follow me!”
With her shout, Celestia leapt up and trotted happily away, leaving Luna to scramble after her, befuddled. It was already a strange night, and Celestia seemed to be set on making it even weirder. Despite the interruption from routine, Luna grinned. She hadn’t played with her sister in far too long, and she felt--just a bit-- like they were fillies again.
Celestia turned sharply and slid foalishly along the marble before prancing off down a different hall, and Luna followed her, laughing. After a few more minutes of flouncing around the castle, Luna found herself walking out into the private garden at the back of the structure. She slowed down, looking about in awe at her night. It may be egotistical, but she loved it. With the warmth of day long forgotten by this hour, the gentle dew on the grass had settled to wet her hooves, and she delighted in the refreshing feeling. The scent of damp grass and fresh flowers met her nose, and she took a deep breath, relishing in it.
“Open your eyes, silly,” she heard Celestia say, and she complied. Her deep breath had brought her head high, and she found herself looking up towards the summit of Mount Canterlot, its tip just scratching the bottom of her beautiful Moon, framed by a billion specks of glinting stars.
“Alright, they’re open. What’s your plan?”
Celestia closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. Luna stood quietly, watching the moon, curious as to what Celestia would be doing with the sun if she was not raising it. A glint caught her eye, and she turned briefly to see that the magic around her sister’s horn was pulsating; every few seconds or so, the aura would grow and contract quickly. After a minute, she returned her gaze to the sky, and gasped.
The small bands of aurora that had danced lightly under the moon had grown-- no, that wasn’t right. They had multiplied, and expanded, and moved with more energy. Three bands that had started off looking like a billowing curtain had pulsed in time with Celestia’s horn, and with each beat they shifted and changed, until at last the night sky had become a painter’s canvas of colours and lights that few had ever seen before. The effervescent fractals twirled around the moon, and soon the only clear spot in the sky was in front of her. Luna tried to track each wave of aurora as it crashed upon the atmospheric shore, but her vision became blurry, and she realized that she was crying.
For fifteen minutes the aurora whirled and skipped about the sky, before finally they slowly began to fade. Starting at each horizon, the bands seemed to give one last wave of goodbye before they faded, moving in one by one until finally the halo around the moon wisped away, almost reluctantly.
“It’s time now,” Luna heard Celestia say, and she nodded. Together, the two of them flew high into the air, and each grabbed their celestial body in their magic--and each other in their hooves. Luna hugged her sister harder than she could ever remember doing, and as they drifted down towards the garden, the moon set while the sun rose against them. It was beautiful, they noticed, but somehow, it was not as bright as the night had been just five minutes before.
