“Luna!”
Celestia sprinted forward, towards her sister who emerged from the debris. She looked fairly beaten, but she was alive, limping towards her.
“Thank Mother you’re alright!”
“It seems that I am,” Luna said, smiling weakly.
As they met beneath the solar corona, Celestia resisted the urge to squeeze her sister, scared of furthering her injuries. Instead, she sent out her magic and carefully wrapped it around Luna’s body, cleaning away the dirt and closing her wounds.
“Thank you. For healing me, and for saving me.” Luna bumped their noses together and planted a soft kiss on Celestia’s muzzle.
Celestia gladly returned the favor. “We defeated her together.”
“Indeed. No force in this world or another shall dare to oppose you and me.” She giggled and rested her head on Celestia’s shoulder. Celestia brushed through her sister’s mane, smiling.
She felt for the Moon and the Sun in the sky, deciding to finally let it be night. The Sun slowly sunk towards the horizon, and the light of the eclipse transitioned into a warmer one, as Sun and Moon stood in the sky next to each other. Then, the Sun reddened, and the sky was painted purple, peppered with shaggy little clouds that were the remains of Luna’s thunderstorm.
“How long has it been since we’ve seen the Sun set?” Luna asked.
“Too long. I almost want to keep this up for a while.”
“Maybe you should – just a little longer.”
Celestia grinned and slowed down the movement of the Sun, keeping the world in dusk. “Fine, but only for you, sister.”
They walked towards the edge of the area of destruction and passed through a series of stone arcs, only some of which were broken. In the sinking Sun, they cast long shadows on the ground.
“Look at that,” Luna remarked, pointing ahead. “The castle gardens are almost undamaged.”
Rose stocks lay ahead of them, gray and dead, with dry, crumpled petals. They had not survived the heat of the endless day. This place had a tragic beauty, morbid almost. Luna inched closer to her.
“Tia …” She looked down onto her hooves.
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry to bring this up, but we need to talk about something. We always said that we could be close as sisters and only sisters – that, even as we kissed, we meant nothing of it. And as long as we were both in agreement, nothing would be wrong that, right?”
“Yes. Why do you bring it up?”
“It … it doesn’t feel right anymore.”
Celestia’s ear flopped. “I’m sorry to hear that. I never wanted to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“No – that is not it. I want this, but not if it means nothing. Not if I have to look at you and pretend that I don’t long for you. Pretend that I have not fallen in love with you.”
Silence. The sunset was shining onto Luna’s face, touching her with its soft, warm shine. Celestia stared at Luna for a few seconds. She started giggling, quiet at first, but soon bursting out with laughter.
“Do you understand what this means?” Luna asked.
“It means that you are a very silly pony. Lulu. It always meant something. I cannot put my hoof on when it happened but, yes, I do feel the same way. I thought that was obvious.”
The sunset was reaching its climax, tinting the world in an unreal rose red light. Luna was close, so close now.
“Tia …”
Luna licked her lips.
A pair of hooves grabbed Celestia’s neck. She closed her eyes, letting her sister pull her closer.
“Lulu …”
And as the very last ray of sunlight shot over the horizon, they kissed.