ONE WEEK AGO
“This is ridiculous, Celestia,” Luna expressed.
Celestia threw her arms up in an act of impatience and turn towards Luna. Her eyes were eccentric a sharp contrast to her usual calm demeanor. Desperation was seeping in, “What else am I supposed to do?”
Luna just stared at her sister as she continued to dump out the last reminisce of the coffee beans in the nearby trash bin. She breathed out a heavy sigh and shook her head. But she couldn’t help to smile at her sister’s extreme and ostentatious efforts to help Twilight Sparkle. It was genuinely touching, something she didn’t know Celestia was capable of being. Touching, heartwarming, kind, and nice were all expected things for them. It was the fact she was sincere that impressed her.
In the years after her return from her banishment, it was inevitable for Luna to pick up the underlying expressions and feelings within her sister as if they were her own. And how much of a contrast Celestia's world seemed to shake when things were imbalanced with a certain pony.
Luna actually hadn’t thought it was possible after the five-hundredth year of their rule. At some point, they had become a beacon of power and hope, and because of that image, they became utterly untouchable. Being close to others had become impossible. It also didn’t help that they made an effort to be rather distant, though most ponies could not tell whether they were being disingenuous or not, they were always careful to not get too attached.
Well, a lot had changed since the last thousand years she was imprisoned, Luna supposed.
For one, a certain pony became her sister’s personal student. It would’ve been a simple matter to overlook, Celestia had picked up many students over the years. Some stood out more than others, others stood out for the wrong reasons. But none of them were quite like Twilight.
When Luna recognized her cutie-mark as the very symbol of magic it all made sense to her. A quick glance and she instantly connected the dots and more importantly her sister's thoughts. The answer was clear, she had groomed Twilight to perfection, to be a wielder of the element of magic in an effort to bring her back. Luna didn’t pay it too much attention, it wasn’t the first time the two sisters had done something like that, after all, it was for the greater good. As they became older and accessed the consequences and the needs of their subjects sacrifices were expected. Twilight was no different.
However, something irked Luna. Perhaps her being Nightmare Moon for their initial meeting skewed her perception of the young hopeful unicorn. But, Twilight had been the exception. When she saw the unicorn run up to her sister and her sister returned the affection with such sincerity she knew that Twilight wasn’t just a mere weapon as she had thought.
That surprised her. There had been incredible ponies to be brought forth to them, but none of them were able to receive an embrace let alone become close to them. They hated being put on a heavy pedestal, but at last, that was their duty as the rulers and celestial guardians.
Next were the letters. Every Tuesday in the evening without fail Celestia would receive a letter from Twilight Sparkle pertaining to her progress in friendship. Celestia was always excited when the scroll arrived. Sometimes, Luna had gotten the luxury to hear what was written in them.
They were eventful, interesting, and truly displayed the change in the cultures, she would admit that much. But not something to be worried about when one didn’t arrive at its designated time...
THREE YEARS AGO
“What if she got eaten by a manticore! Or pulled into Tartarus!” Celestia cried, she grabbed Luna’s shoulder and shook her with a force she didn’t know Celestia had. She could feel her skull rattle inside of her.
Luna cleared her throat in an effort to ground her sister. She had just woken up from a nap and didn’t have the willpower to soothe her panicked sister just yet. “I’m sure that’s not the case,” she tried to reason.
Celestia glared down at her, which made her shiver a little. A glare wasn’t something she knew Celestia had it in her to possess. She smoothed out her features upon seeing Luna’s brief shock. “Ahem– you’re right, well enjoy the night court. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Yes, farewell!” Luna said, Celestia nodded and left the throne room.
Luna’s gaze lingered at the door glancing at the guards who saw the entire exchange, who remained nonchalant, she gave them a look. “Is this a regular occurrence?” She asked with a light chuckle.
“Yes, Princess,” one of them answered.
The other laughed, “You should have seen what her majesty was like when Twilight moved out, this is nothing compared to that!”
Luna snickered at that sentiment and took her place on the throne. She could only imagine from her assumption how her move to Ponyville would’ve played out.
She recalled vividly just sitting and mulling on the simple question of why. And the next, how come? Why was her sister so distressed over a late letter, and how come Twilight? She would not have acted like that unless it was Twilight specifically.
Until the answer that she was simply worried came to mind. Worried for her well-being because of the love she held within her. Perhaps that love blinded her to thinking rationally and made her become extremely irrational with instances like these. That when we love someone our world and our vision can be consumed.
FOUR YEARS AGO
When she moved back to the castle in Canterlot she saw the presence of Twilight. Although she had long moved to Ponyville Luna could still feel her company. Because everywhere she looked there were vibrant memories attached within the halls or each room. Each was laced with wonderful stories she would hear from the castle staff.
Since she had only lived in a castle in the Everfree Forest everything in the new castle was foreign. And because of her newness to the environment, she would sometimes stumble into rooms she hadn’t meant to enter.
One of which was Twilight’s.
Everything inside was very characteristic for someone with the description of studious and smart. Books lined the walls, rare titles scattered throughout. But what made Luna wonder for a moment was how grand it all was. For a room for a filly, this was beyond most properties in Canterlot. Not even the royal suits could compare to her accommodation.
As Luna wandered around the space she came across photographs. Most featured her family who she had met on one occasion prior, and the others were with her sister.
Her sister, who seemed somewhat unapproachable to most, not because she was intimating, but rather because of the image she needed to uphold, but within these photos she held so much joy. Not the facade she had seen time and time again, but a genuine enjoyment to be with this studious filly.
Building a snow pony, eating donuts, star gazing, a low-quality image of her stars, and tea parties where Twilight seemed to be pictured with a scowl. That one made her laugh when she got to it.
Luna took everything in, discovering the photographs had been as if she unlocked another life Celestia withheld from everyone, including her.
TWO YEARS AGO
The smell of coffee was a stark contrast to her mornings. She was used to them being accompanied by the aroma of light tea, but Celestia had been unpredictable as of late.
She opened the doors to the dining room and as expected there was her sister with a mug of coffee. It had been a week since this change in routine, Luna felt a bit unnerved by it all. Though she had a pretty good guess on why she had adopted this. It was obvious even if her sister never voiced it out.
Luna had once asked her about the coffee beans when she had seen their product code. They were sourced from Vanhoover. When she had confronted her sister about it she merely shrugged and gave her a vague answer, ‘They taste better, Luna.’
So instead she went to the kitchen staff themselves, they were the ones to place the orders for the food that was delivered to the castle, surely they would give her a much better explanation.
‘I noticed that my sister has gotten a particular interest in drinking coffee in the mornings,’ she remembered asking.
‘Oh yeah, we had to stock up on coffee beans, she used to drink earl neigh but I guess things change,’ the chef laughed.
‘I thought we already had coffee beans in stock at all times?’ Luna asked.
‘Princess Celestia likes the ones that you can only get in Vanhoover, we haven’t had to order from all the way in Vanhoover in quite some time,’ she explained.
‘Why though? Couldn’t the coffee we already have suffice?’ She laughed trying to gather the answer she wanted without sounding too suspicious.
‘I know Twilight Sparkle likes them, she was an avid coffee drinker when she lived in the castle— oh! I suppose I frogot to tell you that bit of information, we ordered from Vanhoover years ago for Twilight, she likes them a lot,’ she smiled as she recalled.
Luna nodded absorbing the new revelation, ‘I didn’t know that, thank you…’
And now as she stood before the sun Princess with a raised eye; about to confront her about the atrocious thing she was holding in her grasp she couldn’t help but let her composure slip and out a laugh.
‘Luna,’ Celestia began, bringing a hoof to her mouth to cover the impending smile at the sight of what her sister was holding.
‘What is this?’ Luna mustered in-between gasps.
It was a mug, that part was easy enough to decipher. But what was on it was the better question to ask. If you were to take a small glance it had what looked to be ancient Equestrian figures. If you squinted you could make out an outline of Star Swirl the Bearded.
Celestia took the mug out of her hoof with her magic and inspected it. ‘I made it as a present for someone!’
That made Luna laugh even hard, ‘T-they couldn’t have liked it!’
‘In fact, she did!’
Luna had a hard time grasping that statement, it seemed rather unbelievable. But at least the concept that Celestia held Twilight very dearly was an easy one to understand.