The morning sun shone all over Equestria, and each and every pony began to wake up to face their days—all except one small, dark blue alicorn. Luna yawned, her mane frazzled and her eyelids half closed. The small filly was beyond ready to hit the hay.
“TIA!” she shouted, her voice echoing throughout the long and narrow hallway of the castle.
Celestia growled sluggishly, letting out a yawn of her own, trying to unwrap herself from her fluffy blankets. She heard Luna calling out to her, but she wasn’t sure what her dearest little sister wanted so early. Did she not know it was only six in the morning?
“Luna… what is it?” Celestia stood up. Lifting a foreleg, she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.
Luna looked up to her sister, lips curling together to form the cutest pout. Her eyes widened and she leapt at her sister, hugging her foreleg.
“Can we please, pretty please go to the park today?” began Luna, inwardly hoping her cute charms would win her sister over.
“Luna, you know I can’t. I have meetings with nobles and other events that I simply cannot miss,” Celestia replied, sighing heavily. She hated seeing the disappointed look on her younger sister’s face, but there really wasn’t a lot she could do in this particular case. Nevertheless, she swore to herself she was going to find a way to make it up to her sister.
Luna pouted. “please?”
“I can’t…” Celestia flatly replied before carefully getting Luna off of her leg. “You should rest; you must be tired from watching over the ponies last night. We’ll talk later, I promise.”
“Okay…” Luna sighed. But as Celestia left, Luna didn’t immediately go to her own room. She instead hopped up onto Celestia’s bed and curled her smaller form into her sister’s blankets. It smelled like a bonfire. The sheets were warm from where her sister had lain, and the blankets added more warmth, providing a very comfortable feeling by the fireplace. Soon enough, Luna was snoring away.
Celestia walked into the meeting room. She wasn’t really aware of who was there waiting for her; she was still thinking about her sister and how sad she had looked. She didn’t even notice when she collided with another pony.
“Ahem,” coughed a voice. “I would think the leader of Equestria would have better manners than to just bump into someone, and then not apologize for such a misdemeanor,” High Riser stated, raising his muzzle and directing his line of sight towards the ceiling of the room.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought,” Celestia apologized. She went to sit in her usual seat. She was still learning so much of what it meant to be the leader of Equestria, let alone knowing all the proper mannerisms. Plus, that pony was just a jerk and she chose to ignore the tone of his disapproval.
“Well, you need to focus on what matters in the here and now. A leader cannot afford to be distracted by anything or anyone.” High Riser leaned towards her, speaking in the same grating tone.
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short by another noble. One far less annoying and way more pleasant to deal with.
“Ah, Celestia, there you are!” declared her tutor, Jelly Belly. “Wow, you certainly are growing up so fast. Soon, you won’t even need a royal advisor. Though, don’t worry, I’ve been training my little filly to be your second in command to help you with anything.
“Oh?” Celestia asked, leaning forward and quite eager to hear more.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Jelly Belly replied gently. “Tell me, what seems to be the problem here?”
Celestia stared at the rude advisor, and then looked towards the stallion whom she actually cared to speak with. "Nothing. Just dealing with bad-mannered nobles."
“Is that all?” asked Jelly Belly, putting a foreleg around her neck. He led her away from the room and out into the hallway. He didn’t say a word otherwise, but Celestia caught him giving a stern look back at High Riser, who simply huffed and trotted off.
Celestia pursed her bottom lip as they exited the room. She looked towards Jelly Belly, who was just here to help her, but her mind was elsewhere. Sister… I hope you aren’t lonely.
“Celestia, listen. I know he has the best of intentions, but if you need me to stand up for you, know that I’m always willing to lead a hoof,” Jelly said.
“I am not offended by his behavior. There are much more prevalent things to fret over, but that is not even on the bottom of my list of priorities.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” Jelly Belly replied, giving Celestia a firm pat on the back with a big grin on his face.
“Sir Jelly, how long do you think these lessons will take?” asked Celestia politely.
“Hmm… why do you ask?”
“It’s my sister. I promised to spend time with her, but ever since these lessons have started, I have found I have less and less time to spend with her, and I feel the weight in my heart.”
“Well, I won’t lie. These things take time, and they are vitally important for you to know. After all, someday soon, you will lead us all to a better Equestria,” Jelly Belly explained, taking a deep breath. “However, I don’t think one day off from lessons will hurt. Why don’t you spend the rest of the day with your sister?”
“Really? Are you sure?” Celestia fidgeted nervously on her hooves. She focused her gaze on Jelly Belly and saw him smile back at her.
“Really, it’s okay, Celestia. Right now the most important thing to me is for you to spend the rest of this day with your beloved little sister. Nothing would make me happier than seeing you two have time to just be family.”
Celestia sensed there was a hidden reason he wasn’t telling her, but she nodded and dashed off to find her sister.
She checked her sister’s bedroom first. Luna wasn’t in her bed. Celestia hummed to herself, putting her hoof against her chin and trying to think. Where else could she be?
Celestia looked around Luna’s room for another second before turning and exiting into the hallway, where she paused and pondered to herself.
“Perhaps she never left my room…” Celestia whispered to herself, before giggling into her hoof. “Oh, how silly of me, here I am talking to myself.”
Celestia walked down the long hallways until she reached her own room. She tiptoed quietly into the room and looked at her bed. Just as she suspected, Luna’s head was visible from the top of the covers. She was snoring so softly, like an angel.
“D’awwwwh.” She cooed as she tiptoed her way to the large bed. Celestia could easily see the rise and fall of Luna’s chest as she slept peacefully. “I’m glad she’s having a good dream, but it’s time I wake her up for her surprise.”
“Luna, wake up. It’s your sister Tia,” she instructed, using her forehoof to give her younger sister a small shake to help her stir from her slumber.
Luna cooed and turned towards Celestia, still fast asleep. “Tia! Wait, come back! Don’t leave me again…” she whimpered, shivering.
Celestia hurriedly shook her sister a bit more forcefully now, not wanting Luna to have a nightmare about this morning.
“Luna, wake up!” Celestia shouted, concerned and a bit guilty for the way this morning had gone. There were times, many times, where she simply wished the two of them could just be sisters. Why did everyone seem to have other plans for them? She never asked to be the future leader of Equestria… Was it too much to not want all the regalia and honor she was receiving in exchange for a normal life with her little sister?
“Tia?” asked Luna, yawning. She reached a hoof up to rub thedust from her eyelids. “Tia, it’s you! You came back, but wait…” Luna paused as she stared out the window for a moment. “It’s not night time quite yet, the sun is still up.”
“Why yes, that is correct my dear sister. The sun is still up, and that means more time to spend with my sweet little Luna,” Celestia said, reaching out and booping Luna’s muzzle.
“Yay!” Luna immediately jumped out of the bed, tackling her sister into a big hug. Celestia took a few steps back, wrapping one of her forelegs around Luna to return the gesture.
“How would you like to go to the park right outside of Canterlot?” Celestia asked, even if she already knew the answer.
Luna, rather than answering her directly, pulled her by her foreleg towards the door in a hurried rush. “Come on, Sister. The more time you stand here, the less time we have to play!”
Celestia chuckled and quickly took Luna onto her back. “Well, if that’s the case we’d better hurry.” Celestia dashed into the hallway, pretending she was a vehicle and her sister the driver. She rounded the corners at the last second, wanting to give her sister quite the thrill.
Luna clutched onto Celestia’s neck tightly as they dashed towards the two royal doors and left the castle. Exiting the castle, Luna let out a delighted gasp, squinting at the bright sunlight shining down on her.
Celestia smiled warmly as she spread her wings out to their full span before taking off into the sky. It wasn’t long before they’d reached the edge of the city. Celestia landed down upon the soft yet firm grass growing next to the park’s entrance. She could already tell just by the silence that most of the ponies who normally visited had already left for the day. This didn’t bother her though; it just meant more one-on-one time with Luna.
“Tia, look at that slide!” Luna stated pointing one of her forelegs towards a twirly slide with a roof over the top.
Celestia looked at the slide, chuckling under her breath. “It looks like a lot of fun, do you want to slide on it?” Celestia knew it was a silly question to ask; the answer was obviously yes.
Luna dashed off towards the slide, and began climbing up the metal stairs towards the top.
Celestia hurried to follow her sister, but waited at the bottom of the slide to catch her or halt her from hitting the ground if she slid down too abruptly. She couldn’t help fretting over her sister like a protective mother would her child.
Luna reached the top of the slide and looked down to see her big sister waiting for her. She huffed, sighing and rolling her eyes. She gave her sister a tiny glare before pushing herself onto the slide and allowing gravity to take full control. She felt how cold the plastic was on her back as she slid around and around until Luna finally reached the bottom, bumping right into her sister.
Luna hurried to scramble to her hooves once more and dashed over towards the monkey bars. She leaped up to reach the first bar, but didn’t quite have the height to reach it on her own.
Celestia walked over towards her sister, getting underneath her, and helping her grasp onto the bars. Before she could even say a word, Luna was already working her way across the monkey bars, giggling as she swung from one bar to the next.
Celestia smiled warmly and followed Luna across the pathway until she reached the end, catching Luna as she dropped down and putting her gently back upon the ground.
Luna raced off towards what looked to Celestia like a giant spider made of metal. Raising an eyebrow, she watched Luna wiggle her way onto the bars and began climbing to the top, and letting out a cheer of delight. “Shooting stars!”
“Are you having fun, Luna?” Celestia asked, looking up at her little sister from the ground. It was kind of refreshing to see Luna above her for once. She sighed heavily, not letting Luna see the worry on her face. She looked over towards the swings, and suddenly had an idea.
“Luna, would you like me to push you on the swings?”
Luna looked down towards Celestia, a wide smile curling up on her lips as she gasped aloud. “I’d love that!” She hurried down the spider bars, and dashed over to the swings, sitting down onto the rubber seat. Luna took hold of the bars with both hooves and then waited for her sister to join her.
“Tia…” Luna began nervously. “Do you think… the ponies like me too?”. She stared down at the pavement of rocks all smashed together underneath her on the park’s ground, and couldn’t look directly at her sister out of fear.
“Of course they love you, sister. Someday, you'll shine brighter than the stars,” Celestia answered as she pulled the swing back as far as she could, and then gave Luna a mighty push forward, aiming to shoot her all the way to the stars above.
Celestia continued pushing Luna every time she came back towards her, attempting to push her even higher each time. Inwardly, she felt guilty about how she was chosen to lead Equestria, and how, because of this, Luna may always feel inferior to her. She swore to shower her little Luna with as much love as she could muster. The only worry she had now was whether it would be enough.
“Tia, push me.” Luna pouted as she came back down. The swing had nearly slowed to a stop, barely swinging back and forth before Celestia snapped out of her thoughts and pushed Luna even higher up towards the sky, hoping that perhaps she could send her to the moon.
“Oh, Luna. I love you so much. I only hope you will remember it, no matter what the future brings for us.”
Celestia didn’t know what the future might bring; she could only hope to enjoy these little moments with her sister for now. She watched the moon rising up into the sky, slowly illuminating the night, and all the stars surrounding it practically made the moon glow. The moonlight shimmered, and Celestia wished upon a star for Luna’s happiness.
