The War for Summer

The sun was setting on Canterlot, and the spiral towers of the white city reflected the lowering sun. There had been no sign of Luna ever since the “double-moon” incident, and after storming out of her throne room Celestia had returned with an even calmer demeanor than before. (To the relief and puzzlement of everypony who understood what had happened.) The moon had been moved from blocking the sun, and before Peri had realized it, the rest of the afternoon had past without interruption so that dinner was already being served.

He had asked to dine with Celestia in hopes getting to watch the fireworks when Luna would reveal herself (probably in some dramatic fashion). Dinner was usually the first meal of the day for the night princess, and she loathed to skip it.

“Have I told you that your patience with your sister is...” Peri paused to think of the right word. “Unique?”

“Hmm? And why is that?” Celestia asked. She placed her fork down, and reached over for the salt on the table. Lightly dusting the fruit on her plate, her bit into her apple slices with a crunch. “I don't think I treat my younger sister any different than I should.”

"No, no. It's more your...tolerance of each other that I find unique. Born antagonists, like I've said.”

“Siblings fight, Peri. Just because we are both princesses doesn't make it any different.”

“Oh, but I get to differ,” he smiled like a cat who had caught a mouse. “Because with power comes the great responsibility. What is the saying? When you have a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail? And there are only so many nails in the world to hammer down...”

Celestia had picked up her fork, but she placed it down with an audible noise.

“Are you accusing me of abusing my elected power?”

Peri let out a jovial chuckle.

“No, far from it. Quite the opposite, really. I'm amazed the two of you have such restraint.”

“Restraint?” The word came out of Celestia's mouth bitterly. She chewed her next bite gruffly, not caring that her mouth was full when she spoke. “Drawing graffiti on the moon's surface like a foal? I should show her my restraint by giving her a spanking on the flank like she deserves.”

“Oh, she'll grow out of it,” Peri laughed some more. “It's just a phase in her immortality. She's only had a thousand years to regret abusing the moon the first time.”

Out of the corner of her eyes she glared at him.  “Peri, if I ever catch you saying that in front of her...”

“I wouldn't dare, Your Grace. But the harsh reality for creatures such as my masters and yourself is that a thousand years is nothing. Relationships will come and go, and new ones will replace them. So long as you allow them to, that is.”

Celestia said nothing in return, continuing to eat her dinner at a steady pace. Around them the staff of the castle went about their business, ferrying items back and forth from the table. Seeing that he was waiting for her to say something, she only passed him a sparing glance.

“I am not in the mood for such discussions tonight, Peri. Save your musings for another night.”

“Oh, very well then,” he huffed in mock pain. Opening his jaws wide, Peri snapped some of the gems piled onto his own plate. He crunched them loudly in his mouth, with little bits of ground gem stones falling messily to the floor. After a moment he swallowed everything in his mouth at once, and licked his jowls with his long split tongue.

To his amusement, the guards and servants in attendance were sweating a little. No doubt imagining themselves in place of his inanimate dinner.

“Pardon me.” Peri gave an evil laugh, eyeing every pony in the room with a predatory gaze. “What I meant before, is that you and your sister never involve your subjects in your vendettas against one another.”

“Vendetta is a bit of a strong word,” Celestia wincing at the thought. The past had left many things unsettled between Luna and herself, but she hoped with the passage of time that they would remained buried. “And of course we would never involve our subjects in our personal affairs. Wouldn't you?”

“I wouldn't be so sure of that,” he answered cryptically. But before Celestia could ask him a question in return, the entire room shook. Everypony present looked around, as little bits of paint and dust from the ceiling rained down when the room shook again.

But after the second tremor, it stopped.

Peri chewed another gem, crunching it loudly.

"...Hmm. Maybe it was nothing?"

"Charges are set... Preparing to enter the room!"

Peri looked around the room, and even under his own two feet.

"...Did anyone else hear that?"

"Three...two...one... BREACHING!"

KAH-BOOM!

Everyone in the room (except for Celestia) jumped when a sudden explosion rocked the room, with servants and guards turning their heads to avoid the spray of broken glass. From the explosion members of the Night Guard burst into the dining hall from shattered windows on both sides. Somepony screamed, and servants began to flee out of the room in a panic, as smoke from the demolition charges began to blow in. In a confused panic the guards immediately ran to Celestia's side to protect her, with the princess still eating her dinner without care. More bat-ponies in armor entered the room, running through the smoke and kicking in the rest of the broken windows for their comrades following.

Peri looked up, and from the windows in the ceiling bat-ponies began to enter the room rappelling down ropes despite having wings to fly with. He watched the second wave coming down break more windows in the ceiling with the ends of their weapons (because why not), sending shards of glass and debris pouring down onto the dinner table. After a few seconds, they landed alongside their comrades that had entered from the side windows.

After the last of the Night Guard had entered, they assembled around the main entrance to the dining hall and waited.

"WE RETURN SISTER! WE WILL NOT EAT OUR DINNER IN FEAR!" The double doors to the dining room flung open with gale-force winds (flattening the closest of Luna's soldiers that had stood too close), and the princess of the night strode in flanked by even more personal guards.

"COME AT US IF YOU DARE! WE SHALL NOT RETREAT FROM THY TYRANNY TONI--"

"If you keep shouting, your dinner will get cold."

Peri watched all of Luna's energy deflate like a popped balloon from her sister's simple statement.

"We..." Luna's lower jaw hung loose. "Huh?"

Celestia continued to eat, picking out a piece of broken window that had falled onto her plate. The acrid and dirty smoke from the demolition charges still hung in the room, obscuring each princesses view of each other.

"I was told by my personal guard that you had fallen asleep down in your little clubhouse. I was wondering if you were going to be awake for dinner, since I was too busy trying to kill you during lunch."

Luna flared her wings out defensively (smacking the two guards closest to her). She narrowed her eyes and an accusing squint, "We see you haven't forgotten about this afternoon."

"It was just this afternoon, Luna." Picking up an apple slice covered with debris Celestia placed it aside. The falling glass had scratched the surface of one of the serving plates on the table, and she sighed in disappointment. "I take it that means you are still set on your foalish idea of changing my summer."

"Perhaps we are." Luna trotted toward her end on the dining room table, opposite of Celestia's. Pulling out her seat, she brushed off some debris with her wing. "Are you still adamant on refusing to accept change?"

"It's my summer Luna and I have no reason to change it. You don't see me demanding warmer winters, do you?"

Luna flinched visibly, gritting her teeth. "Well...no," she faltered. It was true that her sister loathed cold winters as much as she hated hot summers. But length of nights and days aside, Celestia had never challenged Luna to change how winters in Equestria were. Up against a corner, she searched her mind, trying to think of anything she could use to justify her crusade.

Then, it hit her.

"Sister!" Luna slammed her hoof down onto the table. "We challenge thee!"

With her magic, Celestia gathered up the smoke in the room into a miniature whirlwind and blew it out the broken windows in the ceiling. With her magic, Peri watched in awe as her magic began to piece the broken windows in the ceiling and walls pack together slowly piece by piece. Like some kind of reverse rain, hundreds of fragments of glass rose up and began to morph back into solid panes. He wondered silently how often magic like the kind she was casting had been used since Luna's return.

"...To what?"

"To...to...um," Luna scratched her head in thought. She thought to herself for a minute, before clapping her hooves together. "We challenge you to a battle for the seasons!"

"Let me guess," Celestia continued her repairs on the room. "Whatever it will be, if I win you will let me make winters warmer. But if I lose, then you will go through with your insane plan to make summer cooler."

"Yes!" Luna shouted, but then she did a double-take. "Wait, we meant no! But, yes! Or plan is perfectly rational!"

Celestia said nothing, continuing to use her magic to repair the room. She got up from her seat, inspecting her work with a closer eye. Still at table surrounded by her guards, Luna waited for her sister with baited breath. She let out a beastly growl, irritated that she was putting repairing the room above answering her challenge. Shaking some of the dust and broken glass off of himself, Peri in his own place waiting for Celestia's answer as well.

"Luna?" The alicorn of the night almost jumped out of her seat, but then sat back down. "Did I tell you that the kitchen made you a special dessert tonight?"

"Special dessert?" Luna's ears perked up, but then flattened as she looked at her suspiciously.  "What do you mean, 'special'?"

"I felt bad about you missing out on lunch," Celestia remained facing the windows she had just repaired. From his side of the table, Peri could barely see a small smirk on her lips. "So I had the royal kitchen make you a special dessert for dinner tonight. Chocolate pudding is your favorite, right?"

Celestia gave a sharp whistle that made Luna wince, but before she could ask anything further, a servant entered the room pushing past the guards and stepping over debris still on the floor. On his back was a sterling silver tray with a protective top over it. He trotted up to her silently, and pulled the cover off to reveal a large chocolate pudding pie with an even larger amount of whipped cream on its surface. Written in the whipped cream in a chocolate drizzle, were the words: I'm sorry, Luna.

"Oh Tia," Luna mumbled in embarrassment. She looked at the dessert anxiously. "You didn't have to... We mean... This is..."

"Ah! Ah! Not yet," Celestia pointed a hoof toward the bottom of the pie. Luna looked down, and saw a small folded note attached to a string to the pie's tin. "Not until you read that."

"Very well, then." Luna felt her cheeks still burning in embarrassment, but she gently picked up the folded note card with her hoof and opened it up. The card was small, so she had to squint to read the writing inside.

"I," her eyes widened, as she read it, "accept your challenge!?"

Peri swore he heard Luna try to say something. A sound made from a horrific realization? Or maybe she was trying to beg her sister to stop what she knew was coming? Regardless; Celestia grabbed ahold of the pie with her magic, and flung it into the face of her younger sister. The chocolate pudding pie hit her with such a splat that it knocked her over and out of her chair, and into her unsuspecting guards. (Who failed to catch their princess, and were tackled by her instead.)

"MY SUMMER SHALL NEVER BE CONTESTED!" Celestia shouted, loud enough to rival the royal Canterlot voice. "You will be defeated like the foolish miscreants you are! All of you! No one dares challenge the authority of the sun!"

And with a flash of light as bright as the sun, Celestia teleported from the dining room leaving a shining trail in her wake.

After a minute of dead silence, Peri closed his jaw with her foot. He looked around the room, and saw the personal guards of each princess and servants peeking around corners into the room gawking in the same way he had.

"Well," he breathed. "That was...something."

Covered in chocolate pie with her guards sprawled underneath her, Princess Luna gave a groan in agreement.