"Luna, I thought of something the other night before I fell asleep. Care to hear it?"
The Princess of the Night sighed and took another bite out of her donut. It was morning in Equestria, and though this was essentially bed-time for Luna, she had stayed up so she could have breakfast with her sister. It was hard to believe that it had already been two years since her return, yet the calendar in her room clearly said 'June' on it. The young Princess lifted up her glass of orange juice with her magic and took a quick drink before setting it back down upon the table. "Go ahead and tell me, 'Tia."
"Well, I know how eager you are to improve your reputation, and based on what Twilight Sparkle has told me, you enjoyed your time mingling with the citizens of Ponyville." Celestia took a bite out of her own donut, washing it down with some coffee before continuing. "So I figured that perhaps my little sister should do something that combines both of those!"
"And that would be... what, 'Tia?" Luna shoved the rest of the donut in her mouth and slowly chewed it while she listened to the rest of her sister's announcement.
Celestia giggled and grinned. "It's simple. You open a summer camp!"
Luna's eyes shot open and she nearly choked on her donut before quickly spewing the rest of it out onto her plate. "A summer camp?! Celestia, I... but... please tell me you're joking."
"I'm not. Given your situation, little sister, it'd be perfect. You open a summer camp, socialize with some of the citizens of Equestria, and your reputation gets a nice little boost in the process."
"Look... 'Tia." Luna sighed and rubbed her forehead with one of her hooves. "I appreciate you trying to help, and I know you mean well by it. But... a summer camp? I don't even know what a pony does at a summer camp, let alone how to run one. It'd be a complete disaster."
The elder sister took a quick drink from her mug, which was amusingly enough emblazoned with '#1 Co-Princess', and shook her head. "You need to stop being such a pessimist, Luna. Sometimes you just have to take chances, get messy, and make mistakes. That's how you learn. Besides, it's not like the press could try and write it off as being some 'devious plot by the Equestrian Royalty to spirit away your foals! More news at eleven'!"
"...you've been practicing that, haven't you?"
"Maybe. What I'm saying, little sister, is this - I know you're hesitant to do anything that's outside of your comfort zone, but it couldn't hurt to try. Just think about it! If you do a good enough job running the camp, then all the little foals will go home and tell their parents about how wonderful Princess Luna was, and then those parents will tell their friends, and so on. It'd be a fantastic way to improve your reputation."
The younger sister sighed and took another drink of orange juice. "Yeah, I guess. Just... I dunno, 'Tia. This could just as easily hurt my reputation instead. If I screw it up, then all those little foals might instead tell their parents about how I can't do anything right, and then it's just a matter of time until the press is talking about how I'm not fit to help run the kingdom. And then what?"
"Luna, I'm not saying you have to do this. It's just a suggestion, nothing more. I'm simply trying to help you." Celestia stood up and made her way over to her sibling, leaning down to give her a quick nuzzle. "I've got to interview some applicants for the castle staff, so I need to get going. Just go to bed and sleep on it, alright?"
"I will." She stood up and returned the nuzzle, turning towards her sister one last time before leaving for her quarters. "Let me know how the interviews go. Good morning, 'Tia."
"Good morning, Luna." Celestia smiled and watched her sister depart, and the white alicorn soon made her way towards the throne. When Luna had first started using 'Good morning' as her own form of 'Good night', it had initially thrown both Celestia and the entirety of the castle staff for a loop. It did make sense, however - as everypony was waking up, Luna was going to sleep. The elder sister had soon adapted to it, and the staff caught on not long afterwards. It was an unorthodox way to greet and bid each other farewell, but it was theirs. That's what counted. As Celestia took her seat upon the throne, the list of applicants was brought to her, and the parchment was long enough to cascade down the steps to the throne itself. "...guardsman, just how many applicants are on the list?"
The stallion who had brought her the list snapped her a salute and quickly replied. "Four-hundred and sixty-eight, your Majesty. We uh... we actually counted."
Celestia sighed and brought a hoof to her temple, gently rubbing it before turning to the guardsman once more. If this was going to take a while, there was likely going to be one more thing she would need to get through it.
"Bring me another cup of coffee, please."
-----
The next night, Luna certainly kept herself busy during her share of the royal duties, surrounding herself with various books and guides about camps of all kinds. There was one book in particular she had been hesitant to use, but nonetheless found herself returning to it time and time again - Camping 101: All you ever wanted know about camping but were afraid to ask. It was written by the same author who had made Slumber 101, a book Twilight Sparkle had personally advised her to never use, due to 'prior experiences'. Regardless of how mediocre the writing was, Camping 101 had still proven to be fairly useful, and Luna further augmented this knowledge by asking her very own guards. The Princess set down the book and turned to look at the closest guard. "Guardsman, I have a question for you."
The stallion turned in place and saluted her. "Ask away, Luna."
"Ah, good. You remembered." She smiled, pleased that he had actually remembered to forgo the title. "Anyways, I wish to know more about camps. What do you do at a summer camp or something of the sort?"
"Oh! Well, uh... when I was younger, I used to be in the Colt Scouts. 'course, our camps were a bit more 'practical' than most other camps you'll find."
The Princess raised an eyebrow at him. "Practical? Like what?"
"Just survival skills and the like. Making campfires or shelter, preparing food, that sort of thing."
"I see." She frowned and lowered her head, tapping a hoof to her chin as she thought. "That doesn't sound very... fun. No offense or anything, guardsman."
"None taken, your Majesty." The stallion chuckled and turned back around, resuming his duties and leaving Luna to think of some better alternatives. The Princess requested a parchment and quill, and after it was given to her, she began to compile a list of activities she thought other ponies might consider to be fun. It took her much of the night, but before she was due to lower the moon, Luna had finally finished her list. Pleased with herself, she showed it to the other guards, asking for their opinions. Most of them curiously eyed the list, and one of them eventually spoke up.
"Um... Luna?"
"Yes, guardsman? Do you have a question about the list?" She blinked at him, and he nervously glanced about before replying.
"You... you only put four things on the list."
"But that's impossible! I filled the entire parchment!" She pulled it backwards and began to look over the list, unsure of what could have possibly gone wrong. She had spent the entire night on this list, and she knew she had filled it. Luna frantically scanned the document, and she let out a groan as she realized her mistake. "Oh you have got to be kidding me..."
The Princess of the Night had indeed filled the parchment completely, but she had listed the same four things over and over again without even realizing it.
Astronomy
Drawing
Painting
Reading
With a huff, she threw the parchment to the ground and stared out one of the windows present within the throne room. These weren't things other ponies did for fun - these were things she did for fun. Worst of all, she truly didn't even know what ponies normally did during their free time. The only other ponies she had any true experience with were the ones within Canterlot and Ponyville. Canterlot didn't really count, as almost all of them were snobs and spent their free time at art galleries or galas. Ponyville would have been a better example, but Luna had only been there once, and on a holiday no less. She sighed and slowly stood up from the throne, making her way down the stairs so she could begin the spell to lower the moon. At the very least, she would see her sister in just a few minutes. "Celestia will know. With all the time she's spent around the citizens of Equestria, she simply has to know what they do for fun!"
Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, Luna gently rubbed her face with her hooves. "I hope she does, anyways..."
Lowering the moon was suddenly the least of her worries.
-----
"You don't know?! How can you not know?"
Luna was absolutely flabbergasted. Her sister had spent hundreds of years among the citizens of Equestria, yet upon being asked what they did for fun, she had simply shrugged. Fuming, the young Princess took her seat at the table once more and took a bite out of a donut, staring at Celestia as the elder sister took a sip of coffee from her mug.
"Calm down, Luna. I'm saying I don't know what they do for fun because I truly don't know. I was almost always wrapped up in politics, and even if I wasn't, simply visiting or being among my little ponies turned into an event. You should consider yourself lucky that you managed to get the citizens of Ponyville to be as informal as they were." At the mention of that, the elder sibling let out a sigh of disappointment. "I'll admit, little sister, I'm somewhat envious of you because of that. There have been so many times where I've simply wanted to be 'Celestia' rather than 'Princess Celestia'. Even my own student still uses my title."
Luna's expression softened somewhat, and she swallowed the rest of her donut before speaking. "Have you tried just... asking them to be more informal around you?"
"I've tried, believe me. But no matter how much I try to be more easy-going around them, they're stuck in the habit of treating me like royalty. I'm well aware that I am indeed royalty, but I simply want them to loosen up a bit around me. I don't want to be pampered or told how wonderful I am - I just want to relax and have a bit of fun with them. That's a discussion for another time, however. I was going to help you get this camp up and running, and I shall." The white alicorn briefly closed her eyes, and upon opening them, she was already back to her cheery self. "Now then, little sister, what do you have so far?"
"Oh, it's... nothing major. I tried to make a list last night, but I only put down things I liked. I doubt it'd be much fun for other ponies." Luna passed the list over to her sister and nervously stuffed another donut in her mouth, chewing while Celestia looked it over.
The elder sibling looked over it with a scrutinizing eye, but soon passed it back with a smile. "It looks perfect, Luna! When are you going to start?"
"...Perfect?" She blinked at her sister, unsure if she had even heard it right. "How is it perfect? It's only things I like!"
"Exactly. If it's something you like, then you're going to be more passionate about it and you'll want it to be as good as possible. Try to cater to the interests of others, and you'll lose that same passion in the process. Besides, I'd say we have enough camps that involve canoeing and campfire songs, don't you?" Celestia grinned and took a long sip from her mug, leaving her sister to stare at her in astonishment.
Luna knew her sister had her moments of brilliance, and this had been one such moment. She hadn't even noticed that bits of donut had fallen out of her gaping mouth, and it wasn't until Celestia pointed while stifling a giggle that she cleaned up after herself. The Princess of the Night took her list back and finished off the rest of her orange juice before walking over to Celestia's side and giving her a nuzzle. "I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes, 'Tia. I'll go work on some flyers before I go to sleep. Good morning, and... thanks."
"Any time, little sister. Sleep well." Celestia smiled as her younger sibling trotted off, setting down her mug as she finished the rest of her coffee. The white alicorn glanced around the dining room for a moment, and when nopony was watching, she swiped another donut and shoved it into her mouth. Sure, she was due on the throne in a few minutes, but...
...one more wouldn't hurt.
-----
Her drawing and painting had always come so naturally, and yet she was seriously struggling with how to design a simple flyer. Minute after minute, Luna stared at the blank parchment, unsure of where she should even start - or how, for that matter. Irritated, the young Princess wandered about her room, playing with Selene and Philomena or observing her own drawings. She was looking for something, anything that could serve as inspiration. With a sigh, she hopped onto her stool and forced herself to draw. If the inspiration wouldn't come naturally, maybe she could coax it out by working.
It started simple enough - Luna's own cutie mark, at the top and center of the flyer. Below that was the name of her future camp, Luna's Camp for the Arts and Sciences. It wasn't anything overly fancy, but it still got the point across. It would suffice. Continuing onwards, she proceeded to list the activities she had planned. She only had four at the moment, but nothing said she couldn't add more to it at a later date. The contact info was already taken care of, and rather than writing directly to her, those interested would instead send a letter to Luna's contact within the Equestrian Postal Service. The young Princess carefully wrote this at the bottom, and finished it off by covering the rest of the parchment with flowing lines and geometric patterns. Satisfied, she set down her pencil and held the flyer aloft, observing it.
Luna's Camp for the Arts and Sciences
-Astronomy!
-Drawing and Painting!
-Reading!
If interested, send a letter of enquiry to Ditzy Doo at the Equestrian Postal Service.
She smiled and carefully set the flyer down upon her desk, hopping off her stool and making her way over to her bed. Luna crawled under the covers and pulled Selene and Philomena towards herself, snuggling up against them as she slowly fell asleep.
The flyer could wait til nightfall.
Note: This story will contain references to 'Hiatus'. Reading 'Hiatus' beforehand is recommended, but not necessarily required.
Enjoy!
Hurrah.
Yes, finally!
You have a better grip on Luna and Celestia, with only demi-canon personalities, than established characters. And this is why Hiatus was superior to your other fic
I know this is going to be good, and I hope you will sucseed with a (presumably) larger cast.
Good luck!
Looks like the ratebombers are out and about today.
Hurr.
This sounds interesting.....
And now Celestia sends out the prototype flyer in an attempt to be 'helpful'.
Awesome A SEQUAL YAAAAAAAAY
I don't know if I can wait until next christmas to get a #1 Co-Princess mug of my own.
Sir, this story is tracked!
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I'll admit, I had first written that scene with the mug saying "#1 Princess", but I remembered that wasn't exactly fair to Luna. It became "#1 Co-Princess" in the end.
love it
I have to say that I didn't expect this direction to be taken with a continuation of Hiatus, but I'm pumped to see where it goes!
This ought to be interesting! The perfect material for me to read while suffering from a temporal case of insomnia xD
Well, this is quite an interesting direction to take this story.
It's unexpected to say the least, but it shows promise.
It will be fun to see how you have the whole thing play out.
I am a bit worried about Luna's donut intake though.
Is it a possible addiction, just what do they put in those things anyway?
88187
Well, Pony Joe is a unicorn, so... magic, I guess?
And yes, I know it's an unexpected direction to take the story, but I have things planned out.
Luna picks up a new hobby. Time to play the guessing game and see if you folks can figure it out before the next chapter goes up (which is also the first time it's mentioned).
This ought to be interesting!
Waiting patiently for new chapter :3 xD
Incoming Derpy appearance.
Though I personally refer to her as 'Derpy', she'll always be 'Ditzy Doo' whenever she shows up in my fics. 'Derpy' seems more like one of those mean nicknames you use to mock someone, rather than an actual name.
I know this one was going to be good based on you previous work especially sens it being an sequel to Hiatus (best fanfic ever)
and the first chapter did not disappoint me at all, just as expected it was relay!!!! good
I want just want to add that i like the way you portray Luna and Celestia in Hiatus (and this story so far).
relay like you´r interpretation of there personalty´s in making both a bit of a prankster just having fun with each other. but still keep them serious and not completely random, and i like the over all building on Luna´s character, loves studying reading painting etc. its good to see that you take initiative to build on the characters. and last i like the Luna camp idea, first time i ever come across that concept before and im sure its going to be a blast reading it
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i agree whit you Axz, i like to way Luna and Celestia (especially Luna) was in Hiatus and in this one.
To characterizing Luna as a studious bookworm ho struggles a bit whit social interaction skills and her appearance to the people seams to correspond very well whit her appearance in Luna Eclipsed, and i do like seeing Luna that way, i think it somehow fits her quite well.
Btw Vargras i like the idea of making Luna interesting in painting, i think it goes very well in hand whit the way the fan community sees her (and my personal opinion), so thumps up on that one.
I was a bit unsure aboute the hole camp idea first when i read the description, but my fears are long forgotten this chapter was epic cant wait for more keep the awesome chapters coming
great you've opened the door, now to walk through it... is that me in a door frame?
Haven't read it (or the comments) yet, but after Hiatus, this was an insta-follow.
...And now I've read it. In-story, I'd recommend Luna change "Reading" to "Literature", if I were engaged in a conversation over the flyer with her. However, the word "Reading" fits her personality, so I'm not actually suggesting you change it ; I love the story just the way it is. I'm just saying I can follow the organic feel of this story very well.
90320
No one ever said that social interaction was Luna's forte.
It's 6:40 and I should sleep...
Eh -blam!- it, going from the last one I know I will not regret staying awake a bit longer.
Loved 'tia's knowledge on fun, also her longing to be treated more normally was done well. This is not much of a stretch of her established personality (gotcha).
Hope you don't do anything nasty to ditzy... How could you be so mean?
Btw, I lI've your writing style, keep up the good work.
This is just so fucking perfect that god him self should come down and give you a bro hoof for your awesomeness
Enjoying it so far
I wish I didn't read it, so I could read it for the first time again.
I canNOT believe I just noticed this fanfic. I absolutely loved Hiatus, I wish I would have known about the sequel sooner. *sigh* Well whatever, i'm going to need to buy me a lot of energy drinks, i'm staying up tonight until I get to the latest chapter!
t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9J_IIHuLJO7bgxFjtw-BiWud_zuAVvJGwyQCqa4tcaXYodQ76
LOL Magic School Bus quote!
Take chances, Get Messy, Make Mistakes!
My favorite show when I was a kid.
Still wish I had been in Miss Frizzle's class.
YES, a sequel
i didn't know you made a sequel to Hiatus till i checked the Celestia & Luna group earlier
"I'll admit, little sister, I'm somewhat envious of you because of that."
Teasingly: Huh. Envy in the royal family again. Should I warm up the elements?
Not even a chapter in, and i'm hooked
VERY well done Magic Schoolbus quote
classy like a sir
WOO more doughnuts!
I think it's interesting how so many people pick up that Luna's the more artistic of the two, and yet only rarely touch on Music being a part of that.
makes for a very sad 'Tavi
If interested, send a letter of enquiry to Ditzy Doo at the Equestrian Postal Service.
send a letter of enquiry to Ditzy Doo at the
enquiry to Ditzy Doo
Ditzy Doo
Finally!
Lies! you can never have enough canoeing and campfires!
Intriguing premise. I love Luna's adorable nervousness when it comes to approaching her subjects.