Saturday morning and afternoon came and went. Now, it was night.
Ponyville was festooned up in the Summer Sun Celebration festivities. Yellow banners hung everywhere—from the balconies, the rooftops, the banner posts, the trees, even the clouds. Electro music blared from the speakers installed here and there as Vinyl Scratch, a white unicorn with striped neon blue hair, put on her purple shades and continued her role as a disco jockey over some turntables. Tall cakes were hauled from one place to another as hungry ponies gorged on the plenty of food.
Colorful lights dressed up the town in rays of many hues. Shouts and laughter filled the air.
A magenta unicorn ran up to Mr. Cake who was pulling a wagon full of cakes and pies. "Sir, have you seen Princess Celestia?"
Mr. Cake shook his head. "No, I haven't. Don't you think it's a bit too early to be expecting her? We hit sundown only half an hour ago, Amethyst."
"That's the thing," she said, panic in her eyes. "Is she late? Is she wrapped up in some trouble one of us caused somewhere in some corner of town we haven't checked yet?"
Mr. Cake shook his head again. "Princess Celestia will come when she comes. For now, enjoy the party! This might be the last Summer Sun Celebration we'll have in Ponyville."
Amethyst Star breathed in and breathed out. "I'll take your word, Mr. Cake. Thank you."
"Don't mention it!" Mr. Cake said as she walked away. "Don't let your organizing job get you stressed out!"
Her mane streamed about in the air.
Princess Celestia walked on the fenced dirt path, seeing the excess of apple trees on her left and right, green apple trees.
Alone she was, feeling the cold breeze whip up her mane by an inch or two.
Owl hoots, cricket chirps.
A rabbit hopped across the path, over the fence.
Her surroundings under a deep blue tint.
Looming ahead, the barnhouse.
She sighed.
Walked on.
A minute later, she was at the side door. Through the window, she could see Apple Bloom stir up some apple jam inside a pot with Applejack watching over her.
Knocked on it.
They turned to the door. "Who is it?" Applejack called out.
Celestia giggled. "I think you know."
The two Apple ponies gasped, Apple Bloom almost dropping her stirrer. "Princess Celestia?!" they yelled together.
Apple Bloom galloped to the door, opened it, and bowed down before her. "It's a mighty big thing to be meetin' you, Princess Celestia!"
Applejack gave her a scowl before going to the Princess and bowing down herself, taking her hat off. "Yer' Highness."
Celestia entered their humble abode. "Don't do that for too long. You might cramp your knees."
They stood up, giving the Princess a puzzled look.
She giggled again. "A little royal humor for you."
Then, Apple Bloom jumped up into the air, catching the Princess's attention. "This is gonna be awesome! We have the Princess inside our barn!"
Applejack brushed her sister to the side, putting up a grin for Celestia. "So, what brings ya' here?"
"Oh, I'm here to check on the food for the Summer Sun Celebration. Not a lot else."
The Princess took a good look at Applejack.
She was wearing two hairnets, one for her mane and one for her tail.
Celestia's smile dimmed.
The alicorn and the farmpony strolled about outside, never straying too far from the barn and its lights as they were always in sight. The faint smell of apples could be sensed as they walked on the dirt path.
"Applejack," the Princess began in her regally kind voice, "you've noticed nothing suspicious ever since the start of this war?"
"Nope, yer' Highness," Applejack replied, shaking her head. "Well, other than false alarms 'bout spies in town. That was suspicious, but a fake kind o' suspicious."
"Interesting." She slowly nodded her head, pondering. "What about, hm, your friend Rarity? How is she doing in Manehattan?"
"Her fancy boutique there's doin' swell," the farmpony answered. "I'm surprised that there's still lots of demand for fancy suits an' dresses, considerin' there's a big giant wall of Crystal ponies a pegasus's flight away."
"They're doing their best to retain their dignity at all costs," Celestia explained, her mane glittering under the stars and the moon. "It may not be the best action to pursue, but it is a noble one."
They walked some more, nearer to the barn.
"I assume that the pre-dinner fiesta is done," Celestia spoke. "I must leave you to your duties once again."
"Sure thing, Princess Celestia!" Applejack said, stopping to bow down again. "It's a priv'lige to be before you!"
Celestia smiled. "You don't have to do that all the time."
Under the sparkling night.
"Pardon the thought of it, your Highness," Mayor Mare said as she paced around a single table in town hall's circular chamber of files and cabinets—lit up by several hanging lanterns— "but, I do question your rationale for letting the Summer Sun Celebration go as planned. Is it a bread and circuses ploy?"
"Nothing of the sort, mayor," Celestia said, waving a hoof as if to banish the thought outright. "I don't want to drag our subjects into perpetual dismay. It's not escaping from reality, it's merely facing it head on while smiling and laughing. The war may dampen our moods for the moment, but that shouldn't stop us from enjoying the life that we do have."
The mayor nodded. "Yes, Princess, but some ponies may doubt you on that."
Celestia made a sly smile. "Is that so? I shall speak with my actions and my attitude during the Celebration and beyond, and it'll be up to them to judge."
Mayor Mare shivered a bit. "What if they will conduct a raid in Ponyville? Or, worse, Canterlot?"
"We have them covered," the Princess told, gesturing toward the sky out through the window. "That's why I've brought in additional guards to patrol the village. Canterlot is always on high alert, so there's no need to worry about a surprise attack of Canterlot."
The mayor rested her head on the table, feeling its freezing cold. Shivered some more.
A dark and quiet room. Also small, for the two Princesses had little space between each other.
Some mirrors lying around. Old dusty paintings. An unused bed. A single window that gave the two of them a grand view of the outside night: Ponyville awash in lights of all colors, crowds heading their way to the town hall they were in, the sky in the night's final hour as the moon gradually dipped toward the mountains in the horizon.
Their manes and their tails flowed about, glittering and glimmering.
"This is it, Luna," Celestia said, putting a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "The first Summer Sun Celebration you shall take part in. You will no longer be remembered as an evil legend. You will be remembered as the good, caring, loving pony you've always been, protecting the dream realm and securing the safety of our sleeping ponies."
Tears forming. Silence.
A choke.
Celestia wrapped a leg around her neck. "Don't hold it back, sister." A pause. Closed eyes. "I didn't hold back my joy when you were saved from that monster, when you were redeemed in the eyes of all Equestria."
Sobs, tears streaming. Both of them.
Amidst the happy sorrow: "Luna, this C-Celebration...will n-not celebrate your defeat. No. From th-this day forth...it will celebrate...your r-r-return."
A hug in that dark place, flickers of moonlight shining in reflected by the drops.
"Ahem!"
Everypony in the main hall went quiet.
A red carpet divided the audience into two. Balconies served as the seats for the little orchestra in their disparate places. Banners strewn about from the ceiling, the colossal windows allowing everyone inside a spotless view of the sky about to usher in the morning. Balloons and streamers littered around, though organized enough that they added some taste to the whole occasion.
Murmurs, whispers. Some pegasi flying over the floor and their fellow ponies, the air their "chairs".
Mayor Mare, who was standing on the platform at the end of the hall and under some spotlight, tapped on the microphone. "This thing's on, right?"
The question echoed throughout the room; a few ponies in front covered their ears.
"Whoops!" She adjusted her glasses in shame.
Everypony was silent.
"Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts! In a few minutes, you'll witness the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration, and it's my honor to present to you the very ponies who will start it all.
"But, before I continue any further, I must tell you that this year's Summer Sun Celebration will be very different. There was never a celebration like this one, and there will never be a celebration like it again. 'Why?' you may ask. It's because this Summer Sun Celebration will not only commemorate the beginning of the longest day of the year, but it will also commemorate the return of a dear pony who ought to be—and is now—close to our hearts.
"This pony is Princess Luna herself. Her first year has been a rocky time for all of us, but most especially for our dear Princess. She's returned to a completely different Equestria from the land she once knew, and she had a difficult time adapting to this day and age. However, with the help of every one of us, most of all Princess Celestia herself, she is not only back with full power but she is also more than able to do her duties as the Princess of the Night.
"Above all, this Summer Sun Celebration will celebrate not just the longest day of the year, nor just the fact that Princess Luna is our Princess once again. This Celebration will celebrate the return of our dear Princess Luna, the pony we should've known all these years ago. Thanks to the heroism of none other than Princess Celestia herself, using the Elements of Harmony and even risking their existence to save her very own sister, Equestria is ruled by the two Royal Sisters—as it should be.
"Without further ado, I present to you the ponies who give us the day and the night: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"
The curtains were opened at a higher balcony, revealing the two Princesses standing side-by-side.
Everypony else erupted into cheering roar.
The two sisters looked at each other in the eye.
"Just like old times?" Celestia asked, smiling.
Luna smiled back. "Just like the old times."
Her horn glowed blue.
Her sister's horn glowed yellow.
Everypony looked up, some going out of the town hall to have a clearer glimpse of the sky.
The moon was lowered. Stars twinkled out.
The sky. From blue to a brighter violet to pink.
Moon out.
Bright shining sun in.
Blinding rays.
From pink sky to blue.
Sunrise.