“What was that?” Celestia looked up at the ceiling, which had just rattled violently.
“Perhaps it was the giant wheel of cheese that I so foolishly brought as a gift.”
Celestia sighed. Her eye threatened to twitch, but centuries of dealing with politicians and nobles had long since taught her how to control it. “Luna, for the last time, it was just a joke! Sometimes I think you have no sense of humor at all.”
“That should not surprise you. It is not like I had anypony else to tell jokes to on the moon.”
“Luna, you were possessed by a dark magical force and attempting to bring about an eternal night. You would’ve wiped out all life in Equestria.”
“Why must you always remind me of that? Do you think I do not remember? It was at this very festival in this very building that I attempted my evil plot!”
“Yes, which is why I cannot understand why you’re getting so worked up over the cheese thing.”
Luna snorted. “You and I both know that everypony is going to be thinking of the… incident that happened last year. I had thought that this year I could redeem myself and show that I have truly changed! And now you have made me look like a fool!”
Celestia’s eye twitched. “First of all, I didn’t make you look like anything. Nobody but Twilight and a hooffull of guards even know about it. The general populace is hardly going to think that you’re foolish due to something that they don’t know about.”
“Hmph. I suppose.”
“And second, are you seriously comparing trying to conquer the world to mistakenly giving Twilight a cheese wheel? Even if everypony did know about the cheese, they aren’t going to care.”
“It will only further fuel the rumors concerning my… er….”
“This is about your butt, isn’t it?”
Luna snorted indignantly. “It-it most certainly is not!”
“It is! It isn’t about the Nightmare Moon thing at all! You’re still worried about those rumors!”
“You have one grilled cheese sandwich for a midnight snack and suddenly everypony in Canterlot thinks you eat nothing else…”
“Even if you did what does it matter? There will always be rumors.” Celestia rolled her eyes. “You should hear some of the ridiculous things they’ve come up with about me over the years.”
Luna continued to scowl. “It is easy to say that.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Especially when the rumors are… wholly false.”
“I was right!” Celestia broke into a wide grin. “I knew I smelled grilled cheese when I got up in the morning!”
“The nights are long, and I get hungry! The royal chefs are asleep and I am hardly going to rouse them to make me a snack!” She sat down, careful not to damage the dress. “And you are in no place to mock my need for sustenance. I know how much cake you consume.”
“Yes, and?”
“And-”
The furniture rattled and the support beams in the ceiling creaked.
“And there it is again!”
“I… I cannot believe my eyes!” Rarity blinked and rubbed her eyes to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on her. “I made it all the way here without damaging my mane or my ensemble.”
“Congratulations,” Rainbow Dash grumbled with no attempt to hide her sarcasm. “Now quit staring at yourself and help me check on the cake.”
Rarity sighed, and turned away from the exceptionally shiny platter in which she had been admiring her reflection. She had returned to Town Hall expecting it to be, once again, a disaster. To her surprise, aside from a few straightenings, things seemed to be undisturbed. To her even greater surprise, the cake was somehow safely inside the hall.
“Mmhm.” Rarity stepped gingerly around the cake, wondering whether it was actually in as good condition as it appeared. As far as she could see, it hadn’t been damaged at all. “It appears to be in pristine condition. Either there is something terribly wrong with it that isn’t immediately apparent, or you have somehow pulled off the impossible. However did you manage to get the cake past that DJ?”
“With great difficulty,” Twilight muttered in answer as she stomped through the door..
“Well, that’s awfully vague. I was…” Rarity froze in horror. “What happened to your mane?”
“Supposedly it was music, though it felt more like the shockwave of a large explosion.” She flicked the tip of her mane. Aside from her bangs, the entire thing stood out straight behind her.
“We must certainly take care of it,” Rarity stated firmly. “You simply cannot introduce the princesses looking like that.”
“I don’t have time to have you style my mane!” Twilight protested. “The celebration is scheduled to formally begin in… uh… SPIKE!”
“What is it?” Spike appeared next to her, seemingly out of thin air.
“How long is it until the Summer Sun Celebration is supposed to start? All this business with the cake has preoccupied me so much that I can’t keep my schedule straight.”
“Approximately forty-three minutes,” Spike answered.
“Ah, see?” Rarity said. “Plenty of time to repair your mane.”
“Uh uh,” Twilight held up her hoof. “Spike, what’s left on our last-minute checklist?”
“What isn’t left?” He muttered as he started to unroll a sizeable scroll. “Let’s see. Consulting with the princesses, checking to make sure the food is ready, checking that the bird choir is ready to sing the Princesses’ introductions, warming up your vocal chords in preparation for your introductory speech-”
“Okay, I get it,” Rarity snorted. “You have things to do. But do you really expect to go in front of everypony with your mane like that?”
“No, but I know if I let you work on it now, it’s going to take forever.”
“Perfection takes time.”
“Yes, and I don’t have that much. How about this? I’ll go and take care of the other stuff on my list, and then you can try to fix up my mane before the ceremony starts.”
“I suppose that will have to do.”
Applejack poked her head out from behind the curtain to watch the ponies file into Town Hall. The disaster that had accompanied the previous year’s celebration hadn’t put the slightest dent in attendance. If anything, there were even more ponies crammed in, eager to see what drama would unfold.
“Looks like we got a full house out there,” she said. She glanced at the clock. “We got twelve minutes before we’re supposed to get started. Wonder where Twilight is. I’d have thought that she’d be back by… Rarity, what the hay are you doin’?”
Rarity trotted rapidly back and forth, pausing to tap her hooves rhythmically on the floor, muttering to herself under her breath.
“Rarity!”
“Huh?” She ground to a halt. “Did you need something, Applejack?”
“What’s with all that pacin’? You need to go to the little fillies’ room or something?”
“What? No.” Rarity snorted indignantly at the implication. “I am simply brainstorming potential manestyles for Twilight once she returns from her final checklists. Normally I would simply create it as we go, but that takes time, and we hardly have that.”
“What do you need to come up with manestyles for? Twilight’s just gonna want you to straighten her mane out for her.”
“Pfft,” Rarity shook her head. “Please, Applejack. You ought to know better. I could never allow Twilight to maintain her normal, day-to-day manestyle for a celebration such as this. A special occasion requires a special style."
“Oh, is that so?” Applejack flicked the end of her ponytail. “And I suppose it wasn’t worth the trouble tryin’ to work on my mane?”
“You are being facetious, but we both know that if I attempted to style your mane, it would prove a massive waste of time for both of us.”
Applejack considered the statement for a moment, then nodded. “Yup. What about your mane? You’ve got the same curls you’ve always got. What happened to needin’ a special style for a special occasion?”
Rarity let out a laugh before answering. “Applejack, dear. For me, every day is a special occasion.”
“I kinda figured it would be somethin’ like that. Oh hey, there she is.”
Twilight staggered through the doors, Spike ambling along beside her bearing a long, unrolled scroll that dragged behind him as he walked. One of her eyes was twitching and her mane, while still extended out behind her, was beginning to curl at the ends.
“Oh my,” Rarity said. “I was not expecting the curls. I will have to find a way to incorporate those.”
Applejack just rolled her eyes and headed for Twilight. “You okay, Twi? You look a bit, er… y’know.”
“I… I can’t believe it…” Twilight murmured. “I can’t… I didn’t think it was possible.”
“Oh boy. What happened now?”
“She actually finished her checklist!” Spike triumphantly declared. “Look!” He shoved the list in Applejack’s face. Sure enough, every single item had a large check scrawled beside it. “This hasn’t happened in years! I can’t even remember the last time she actually managed to get to the end of a list without adding more to it!”
“Really?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“You know what this calls for!?” Pinkie poked her head in between them. “A p-”
“Nope!” Applejack put her hoof over Pinkie’s mouth. “Ain’t got time for that now. Go back to guardin’ the cake.” She shoved backwards and hoped that Pinkie would get the hint.
“It’s wonderful that you’ve completed your checklist!” Rarity said, clapping her hooves excitedly. “Now then, about your mane-”
“I can’t believe I actually finished the list!” Twilight interrupted. “I must have missed something!”
“Twilight, we didn’t miss anything,” Spike started rolling up the scroll. “I was double-checking as we went along.”
“I think we need to triple check. Just to make sure. If I hurry, I can-”
“Oh, no you don’t.” Applejack whistled, and Rainbow Dash dropped out of the air next to Twilight. “Dash, make sure she holds still while Rarity gets her mane fixed up.”
“Got it.”
“Fluttershy, your birds are ready to go, right?”
Fluttershy bobbed her head enthusiastically. “Yes, they sound wonderful!”
“Great. Can you try to get Twilight to unwind a bit while she’s gettin’ her mane done? If she’s still all worked up, her mane’s gonna curl up again.”
“Of course. Come on, Twilight. Why don’t you practice giving your speech while Rarity works on your mane?”
Twilight finally stopped muttering to herself. “Yes. Yes, I think that would be fine. Even if there are other things missing from the list, it’s too late to do anything about them now. I’ve done everything I can.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s head over to Rarity’s boutique.”
“Wonderful!” Rarity said. “Your mane is beginning to uncurl!”
“Another checklist, really?” Applejack asked with a groan. “I thought you did all that already?”
“Pfft.” Spike stifled a giggle. “That really shouldn’t surprise you. Twilight always has another checklist. You should know that by now.”
“I suppose so.” Applejack shrugged. “As long as it doesn’t take too long.”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those lists,” Twilight answered. Her mane was still curled at the ends, but this time it was clearly intentional. “It’s just a final check to make sure everything is ready to go. It should only take a minute or two.”
“I sure hope so.”
Twilight nodded. “Fluttershy, are the birds ready to sing?”
“They sure are!”
“Is the cake ready to be served?”
“Yep!” Pinkie nodded so vigorously that she almost hit Twilight in the face with her mane.
“Trixie’s magic show finished on time for everypony to get to Town Hall?”
“Took a few lightning bolts, and a quick downpour, but yeah,” Rainbow Dash said with a wide grin.
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are ready?”
Rarity nodded. “They are on their way up from the changing rooms right now.”
“And all the food is ready?”
“Just got back from checking it,” Applejack said.
“And I’ve got the notes for my speech right here!” Twilight took a small scroll from Spike’s claws and scanned it to make sure that it was the correct one. “And that’s everything! Looks like we’re ready to go!”
“Whoohoo!” Pinkie cartwheeled in a circle around Twilight. “Then let’s get this show on the road!”
“What? We can’t start now!” Twilight stared at Pinkie in the way she usually stared at Pinkie.
“Oh boy.” Applejack groaned. “What is it this time?”
“It’s not scheduled to start for three and a half more minutes.”
“Wait.” Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “The reason we can’t get started is because we’re ahead of schedule?”
“Well, yeah. We have to give everypony time to get in here. We wouldn’t want anypony to miss it.”
“It is pretty unusual to manage to get everything together,” said a voice from behind the group. They turned around to see Celestia and Luna approaching them. “Even official events in Canterlot barely manage to get started on time.” Celestia smiled warmly at Twilight. “You’ve done a wonderful job.”
Twilight bowed. “Thank you.” She glanced at the clock. “Two more minutes. Everypony, it’s time to get into position!”
Trixie pushed her way through the fringes of the crowd gathered in Town Hall. Unable to penetrate the dense mass of ponies that filled the building, she settled for wedging herself in at the edge. If she stretched, she could just barely see the edge of the stage.
“I cannot believe that they interrupted the Great and Powerful Trixie’s performance!” she grumbled, much to the displeasure of most of the ponies crammed in around her. “Trixie was about to perform her most impressive and glorious spell!” She turned to the pony beside her. “Do you know just what it was you missed?”
“Pulling a geode out of a hat?”
“What?” Trixie shook her head, smacking several other ponies with the brim of her hat. “No! Trixie does not waste time performing such cliched tricks as pulling things out of her hat! Especially not a geode! What is a geode anyway?”
“It’s a geological structure consisting of fully enclosed cavity of stone lined with crystalline structures."
“Well, if Trixie was going to pull something out of a hat, she certainly wouldn’t use that. Pulling objects out of hats is an overused illusion anyway.”
“You could pull a geode out of somepony’s ear,” the pony suggested.
“Why would I do that?”
“It would be more impressive, since a geode wouldn’t usually fit in anypony’s ear. So everypony would wonder how you did it. Isn’t that the point of a magic act?”
“Well, yes, but pulling a rock out of somepony’s ear is hardly an act fit for the Great and Powerful Trixie. Then again… you said that geodes are hollow?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm. That does give Trixie an idea. Perhaps some form of disappearing act that ends with me emerging from the geode… that could be quite an impressive trick.”
“I would pay to watch that performance.”
“Where would Trixie go about finding a geode?”
“Underground.”
“Well, yes. I kind of figured that. If you could give me some more specific information about obtaining one-”
Trixie was cut off by a sudden fanfare. The silence after it subsided was so heavy that even Trixie couldn’t bring herself to break it. She could bring herself to wrinkle her snout unhappily as Twilight trotted to center stage.
“Good evening, mares and gentlecolts!” Twilight announced. “I would like to welcome all of you to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration!”
The crowd cheered loudly, except for Trixie, who was still mentally grumbling to herself, and the pony next to Trixie, who just said “whoohoo.”
“You don’t know how much it means to all of us to have you here. I realize that there were a few… complications during last year’s celebration” —a few muffled chuckles emanated from the assembly— “but in the end it just gave us something new to celebrate. For years, the Summer Sun Celebration has simply been an observance of Princess Celestia’s duties. But now, it means more than that. It represents the reconciliation of a family who were kept apart for centuries…” she paused to nod in the direction of the cake, hoping that the ponies would notice the blatant symbolism, “and the redemption and return of our princess.
“We are honored that you have come to take part in celebrating this occasion with us and hope that you will have a wonderful time! It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you the two ponies who have given us so many reasons to celebrate. Please join me in welcoming Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”
She shuffled to the edge of the stage. Over the sound of applause, Fluttershy’s bird chorus could be heard singing as the curtain at the back of the stage slowly raised. Celestia and Luna stood at the center of the stage, facing each other.
“...did not eat your cheesecake!” Celestia was saying. “You probably ate it yourself as a snack and forgot about it!”
“I most certainly did not!” Luna retorted. “I had been saving it for a special occasion! It was a special order all the way from Sugarcube Corner! You are the only pony who could have taken it! It was stored in my personal icebox in my quarters. None of my attendants would’ve taken it.”
“Luna, if I wanted a cheesecake from Sugarcube Corner I would just order one of my own. I wouldn’t steal it out of your icebox!”
“Oh please. A delivery all the way from Ponyville would take far too long to satisfy your cravings! I know all too well of your affinity for cake!”
“You know I prefer normal cakes,” Celestia said with a snort. “Cheese has no place in a cake, anyway. But I suppose that cheese is your specialty, not mine.”
“I already told you, I do not eat that many grilled cheese sandwiches. The incident with the dress was just a-”
They both froze as they realized that the curtain no longer shielded them from the crowd. They quickly glanced at each other. Celestia cleared her throat.
“Welcome, everypony! It is a true honor to be here with all of you.”
Over in the wings, just off the edge of the stage, Twilight was in the middle of a breathing exercise, trying to push her heart rate back down to where it was supposed to be.
“Here.” Spike held out a cup of water.
Twilight gulped it down and sighed. “Thank you. Phew, am I glad that’s all over.”
“You did wonderfully, darling,” Rarity said, patting her on the head. Carefully, so as not to mess up her mane. “A perfect introductory speech.”
“Good. Good,” Twilight managed. “I thought my head was going to explode or something.”
Fluttershy emerged from the backstage darkness with her birds flitting along behind her. “Did we hit our cue okay? I thought we might’ve started half a measure late!”
“You were fine, dear,” Rarity answered. “Perfectly on time. Although the Princesses seemed to have-”
Spike shook his head violently.
“Seemed to have what?” Twilight’s head snapped up, and her eye twitched.
“Seemed to have greatly appreciated your introduction.”
“Oh. Great!” Twilight finally relaxed. It almost made her look like she was melting. “Finally, I’m out of things that I need to worry about!”
“I told you you’d be fine,” Spike said, patting her head. “Now you can just enjoy the rest of the celebration like everypony else.”
“Yeah, it feels pretty good to have everything go off without a hitch,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I wouldn’t say ‘without a hitch’, exactly,” Applejack said. “I’m pretty sure all that stuff with the cake would count as hitches.”
“Okay, so getting everything ready didn’t go so smooth, but the actual thing is going fine.”
“I do have one question, though,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“What did you end up doing with that cheese wheel?”
“Twilight, now’s not the time to worry about that!” Applejack jabbed her lightly in the flank. “You’re done with plannin’ for tonight, okay?”
“I know, I know. I’m just curious. I spent all day trying to think of something to do with it, and I couldn’t come up with anything.”
“Believe me, I’m curious too,” Applejack said.
“But I thought you helped Spike get the cheese ready.”
“I did. That’s why I’m so curious.”
Twilight turned to look at Spike, a confused look on her face.
“Give it a few minutes, you’ll see.”
“I’m not sure I want to, now, but alright.” She turned back to the stage, where Celestia and Luna were just finishing their introductions.
“...with utmost gladness that I am able to receive such a welcome. I realize fully that there have been a few… incidents in my past that would hardly endear me to all of you. That you have looked past my history and accepted me here means much.” She dipped her head deferentially. “I understand that it would be in quite bad taste for me display my power in the same manner that my sister displays her own. However, I still must express my gratitude. As such, I have brought a gift with which to show my thanks.”
“Now!” Spike gave a thumbs-up to the ponies offstage on the other side.
Luna waved towards the top of the stage, casting a shimmering light across it with her horn.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Twilight said.
The cheese descended slowly from the rafters above, swinging slowly as it emerged from the darkness. Celestia took a few steps back from the edge of the stage, chewing on her lip to keep from laughing. The crowd stared at the cheese, trying to decide whether or not they were supposed to laugh. In the end nopony did, though there were a few stifled snorts.
Twilight turned back to Spike. “That was your grand plan to deal with the cheese? Have Luna ‘raise’ it? How in Equestria did you get her to agree to that?”
Spike shrugged. “She loved the idea of taking her gift and incorporating it in. I think it made her feel a little less silly about dragging it all the way down here.”
“But what do we do with it after the ceremony is over?” Applejack asked. “We can’t just leave it hangin’ up there.”
“Already have it figured out,” Spike said. “When the Summer Sun Celebration is over, we’ll cut it up and sell chunks of it as a public fundraiser. To pay for some sort of public work project. Like renovating Town Hall or filling in that smoldering crater where Trixie’s wagon used to be.”
“Oh, right, that.” Twilight’s eye twitched for a second, but then she brightened up. “Mayor Mare is going to have a really busy week coming up.” She ruffled Spike’s head. “You did a great job taking care of the cheese. We’ll have to remember to buy a piece when it goes on sale.”
“I knew it!” Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. Applejack grabbed her by the tail and towed her away from the edge of the stage before she bounded into the view of everypony in the audience. “I knew the moon was made of cheese!”
Twilight began to twitch again. “The moon isn’t actually…” She shook her head. “Nope. I’ve already spent the whole day worrying about things. The festival got off to a good start, and my work for the day is done. If Pinkie wants to think that the moon is really made of cheese, she can go right ahead. I’m just going to enjoy the rest of the Celebration.”
“Well, I think that all went rather well,” Luna said. “Excepting the incident with the curtain raising a tad early.”
“The curtain didn’t raise early,” Celestia answered. “You just weren’t paying attention.” She yawned.
“If I wasn’t paying attention, it was because you were distracting me.” Luna snorted. “And stop yawning. The day has only started.”
“I’m sorry. Some of us aren’t used to spending the whole night awake.” She yawned again, aiming at Luna’s face. “So tell me why we’re going to see a smoking crater?”
“We are not going to see the crater. The crater just happens to be adjacent to our actual destination. And we will hardly be the only ponies there. See?”
Luna waved her hoof at the large crowd of ponies who had gathered in the field, in long rows in front of the remains of Trixie’s wagon. The back corner of it was missing, presumably scattered across the field as splinters, and most of the remainder was black with soot. But by some miracle, the stage facade remained mostly undamaged.
“Ah, is this that magic show you were telling me about?”
“Indeed. I have every reason to believe that it will be quite enjoyable.”
“As long as she doesn’t ask for volunteers,” Celestia answered. “I suppose those are our seats?” She nodded towards a gap near the front where Twilight and her friends were seated. Twilight turned and waved.
“Of course.”
The crowd parted for them as they made their way toward their seats. As they sat, a fanfare began to play. The two princesses looked at each other, then at Twilight.
“Did you arrange for the trumpets?” Celestia asked.
Twilight shook her head. “No, but I don’t think they were meant for you anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
A series of loud pops and flashes erupted from the stage. It wasn’t quite the same as fireworks, but still managed to look somewhat impressive. The facade rocked a little, and chunk of charred wood fell off the back.
“Welcome, mares and gentlecolts, to the Grrrrrreat and Powerful Trixie’s Summer Sun Celebration Extravaganza!” Trixie posed dramatically, using her magic to ensure that her cape billowed appropriately. The portion of the crowd who remembered her last appearance glowered, but luckily for her, they were in the minority. The out-of-town crowd cheered wildly. “And introducing Trixie’s assistant, the Amazing Maud!”
Another poof of smoke revealed Maud standing on the side of the stage, looking exactly as she had earlier on, only with her dress covered with glitter and sequins.
“Huh, I didn’t realize your sister was going to be part of the show,” Twilight whispered.
“Neither did I!” Pinkie whispered back, loud enough that everyone in the row could hear. “This is awesome!”
“Ssshhhh!” Rarity whispered back, for real. “I cannot believe that she’s wearing that.”
“Maud never really did have much of a sense for fashion,” Pinkie said in agreement.
“I still can’t believe you let her put on a show,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Especially after what happened last time.
“I didn’t,” Twilight grumbled.
Applejack shrugged. “I guess it’s alright as long as she learned a bit from what happened last time she was here.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie will…. not require a volunteer.”
There was an audible sigh of relief from everyone who remembered her last visit.
“Maud, if you will, this trick will require a cannon, a bouquet of flowers, and a large geode!”
“You were right, Luna,” Celestia said, grinning. “This looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun!”
Luna gave her a smug smile. “I thought so.”
The train was already waiting at the station when Twilight and the two princesses arrived. It was the first time in a year that it had been on time, largely because it had never actually left after its arrival the previous day. Celestia and Luna had swapped their fancy ensembles for dull cloaks that made them stand out only slightly less from the crowds of ponies streaming out of Ponyville in an effort to avoid having to take part in the cleanup. They also wanted to avoid the inevitable rainstorm that was about to roll over the town. After clearing out the weather for a day, the local pegasi had to make up for lost time. The fact that scrubbing the town with rain and wind was far easier than sweeping the streets was just a bonus. All of the stray garbage that the storm caught up would be dumped in the gulley outside of town and cleaned up all at once.
The first few drops were already starting to fall.
“Is everything loaded?” Celestia asked the porter.
“Just about. We’re still waiting on Princess Luna’s dress.”
“You need not wait for that,” Luna said. “As I likely will not be wearing it to another formal function, I am leaving it in Rarity’s care. She assures me that it will make for a lovely display piece.”
“So basically that dress has given you enough trouble already, so you decided to just ditch it here?” Celestia translated.
“Precisely.”
“So you’re ready to go then?” asked the porter.
Celestia nodded. “It seems we are.”
“Then I’ll go prepare for departure.” He scurried off in the direction of the engine. Celestia watched him go for a moment, then turned back to Twilight.
“Are you glad to be finished with the festival?”
Twilight took a deep breath. “You have no idea. Did I do a good job?”
“You did a wonderful job. It has been many years since everything went so smoothly.”
Twilight blinked. “I don’t know if I’d say smoothly....”
“It certainly was compared to last year,” Luna muttered.
“Don’t be like that,” Celestia said. “You enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did,” Luna said with a nod. “I had quite a wonderful time. And I am not just saying that due to my part in what happened last time.” She yawned. “I am sorry. It is past my bedtime, and I become cranky when I have not gotten enough sleep.”
“We really ought to be on our way,” Celestia added. “As much as we enjoyed ourselves, there is always something else that must be taken care of.”
Twilight shuddered. “Organizing the festival was bad enough. I have no idea how you manage to handle running the whole country.”
“Sometimes neither do I,” Celestia answered with a grin.
“Well, it was great to see you both, and I’m glad that you enjoyed yourselves. Although I would understand… and appreciate, if you chose to hold the Summer Sun Celebration somewhere else next year.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. It has been quite a while since Cloudsdale has hosted it, if I remember right. I assure you that if you attend next year, it will be as a guest.”
“That’s good to know.” Twilight twitched as a large raindrop landed on her head. “It was wonderful to have you here. I’ll make sure to have my next friendship letter on its way by tomorrow.”
Luna suddenly grunted unhappily. Celestia giggled. “I told you she wouldn’t forget!” she said, poking her sister in the flank. “You owe me a hundred bits!” She turned back to Twilight. “After all the hard work you put in this week, I think you deserve a break from your lessons. Your only assignment is to relax. And speaking of relaxing, you aren’t the only one who needs some R&R. We will see you again soon.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “Have a safe trip back to Canterlot.”
“Thank you. Goodbye, Twilight.” Celestia patted her on the head before disappearing into the train.
Luna yawned again. “It seems we must part ways for the time being. Please give all of your friends my greatest thanks for all of their assistance.”
“I sure will,” Twilight answered. “And thank you for being here. And for the cheese. I’m sure everypony will enjoy getting a piece of it.”
“Ah yes. The cheese.” Luna wrinkled her nose. “I will have to discuss that with my sister.”
There was a stifled laugh from inside the train.
“I heard that!” Luna snapped. Then she turned her attention back to Twilight. “And please let Trixie know that I greatly enjoyed her performance.
“Ah. I… suppose I could do that.”
“I still cannot figure out how she managed to get herself inside of that geode. Quite exceptional.”
“I… guess?”
Luna yawned a third time. “Perhaps I will be able to figure it out once I have slept. I am used to staying up all night, but I am also used to going to bed as soon as the sun is up. Attending a citywide party and magic show? Not so much. Not that I didn’t enjoy myself, of course.”
A thunderclap rolled over the town.
“And that is a sign that I really ought to be going. It was lovely seeing you again, and I hope that we will have the opportunity to spend more time together in the future.”
“Me too,” Twilight said. “Although I hope the circumstances are a little bit less stressful. Maybe at the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“I am not sure that would qualify as less stressful, but we would welcome your presence nonetheless, along with that of your friends.”
“We’re already looking forward to it. Have a good trip.”
“I have a bed set up in my personal car. My trip will be quite good. Farewell, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna bowed graciously.
“Farew… er, goodbye, Princess Luna.”
Luna nodded and headed into the train. Twilight waved at her through the windows. A moment later, the train began to groan its way forward out of the station. A moment after that, a large raindrop landed squarely on Twilight’s nose. She looked up, just in time for more raindrops to start pelting her in the face. Lightning flashed above her, and rain began to pour from the sky. She took a second to sigh, and then galloped back home.