The Dance of the Sun
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The Sun Ascendant
Returning to life just before the sun needed to be raised was always a little disconcerting. Celestia pried one eye open and regarded the relative dimness of the sky outside her window, then let her magic flow until the sun rose up and bathed the world in blessed light.
Part of her wanted to just pull the covers over her head and go to sleep until noon, while the rest of her wanted to rise up into the sky and sing until the entire city could hear how happy she was in her heart. The first would only panic the servants, and the second… well, ponies might get ideas about their solemn and calm Princess of the Sun. She snuggled down in the covers a little and giggled. They would be correct ideas, and the only regret that she had was the inordinately large amount of time until her next visit.
“Sister?” The quiet voice from the hallway distracted Celestia from her delightful memories and gave her a moment to straighten up her expression before the bedroom door gave a click of an unlocking spell and Luna’s nose poked inside. “Are you… back?”
“Yes, Luna.” She stretched, feeling the twinges and aches of her night of passion, then vanished under the sheets again. “Give me another hour or twelve.”
The sheets whisked away, and Luna favored her revealed sister with a wry smirk. “Nay, the sun is risen, so you too must rise to meet your responsibilities. Lie slugabed all day, and our subjects might think you have passed away.”
The sisters shared a giggle before Luna hopped up into the bed, shoes and all, in order to cuddle despite Celestia’s weak objections. They shared the gossip that Celestia had learned and talked of their trips to Mortis’ realm until the sun was quite high in the sky. Only then did they reluctantly emerge from her room when the sound of ponies scurrying up to the bedroom door and then scurrying away grew too frequent.
While they were walking back to the court, Luna took a moment in a less-traveled hallway to confess to her sister, “I must say, Celly, that I am glad that you told Mortis of Equestria’s newest alicorns. I would almost have thought you would be too caught up in his embrace to even speak.”
“Oh, we talked. A little. And we danced. As well as… other things this time,” admitted Celestia with a youthful giggle. “I almost think he is looking forward to your visit as much as he enjoyed my own. In a slightly different way, of course.”
“He always makes such a mess of the sky,” admitted Luna. “By the time I have it organized and we discuss the matters which have passed in my absence, it is nearly time for me to return. Besides, I prefer my romantic dalliances to take place for more than one evening every decade or two.”
“That’s your prerogative.” Celestia laughed again with her wings outspread and swirled around the hallway, drifting up into the air and landing gentle as a feather on the carpet. “Oh, I feel positively giddy. I want to take the afternoon off and do all of the things I’ve never done before.”
“The nobles will be aghast,” said Luna, as solemn as she could be with the smile she was concealing rather poorly.
“Let them,” said Celestia. “Come with me, Luna. We’ll dance across the mountaintops and race the wind down into the valley. It will be exciting, much as when we were young.” The newly risen Alicorn of the Sun paused in a wing-spread pose in the middle of the hallway, then settled back down to the marble floor and rubbed her back for a few moments. “Although we might fly a little slower than we did back then.”
It was Luna’s turn to laugh at that. “Oh, Sister. You are such a silly goose.”
Celestia gave out a loud honk that set several nearby guards into startled motion and made a servant drop his stack of paperwork awaiting signatures. While both alicorns laughed, Celestia swept her sister up and danced around the castle corridors, stopping only when they were so out of breath that they could not continue.
“We should continue our dance at this year’s Gala,” said Luna as soon as she could breathe again. “The nobles will certainly wonder what has gotten into you.”
“Again, let them wonder. For now…” Celestia’s magic swept open a nearby window, and she sprang to the sill. “Race you to the mountain peak? Onetwothreego!”
And all of Canterlot looked up with a smile at the sight of their princesses dancing through the sky, ascending until they could no longer be seen, although their laughter danced around the city for the rest of the day, and the night that followed.