The morning sun streamed through the windows of the Crystal Brighthouse, bathing the kitchen in rainbows of color. Sunny Starscout smiled as she busied herself between mixing bowls, cake pans, and baking sheets, dancing and humming one of Pipp’s latest songs. A timer chimed and she pulled a baking sheet from the oven, inhaling the scent of the half-chocolate, half-lemon cookies.
“Sunny! I’m back early." The door opened and Izzy Moonbow trotted into the room. “Gathering supplies for my project didn’t take long at all. Ooh, that smells wonderful!”
Sunny set the cookies, tray and all, into the fridge. “Oh, Izzy, welcome back.” She sighed. “I kinda wanted these to be a surprise.”
Izzy gasped and covered her eyes with a foreleg. “I saw nothing!” She turned to leave again, but instead bumped into the wall beside the door.
Sunny giggled. “Izzy, it’s alright! Come on back. You can help me finish them… and get the first taste.”
Uncovering her eyes, Izzy bounded back toward her friend. “Ooh, I like the sound of that. What’re you makin’?”
She pushed a bowl and a whisk to Izzy as she approached. “You can mix up the chocolate icing. They’re eclipse cookies! It’s my dad’s recipe.”
“Your dad had the best recipes, Sunny.” Izzy started whisking.
“Yeah, he made the best treats for me.” She added a few drops of lemon oil to her bowl, whisking it in. “I always loved these eclipse cookies the most. I could just feel the love he made them with in every bite.” She watched the icing coming together in her bowl for a moment, enjoying the memory. “We had these cookies for every eclipse.”
Izzy eagerly whisked together the dark chocolate mixture. “I love your stories about your dad. Growing up I had a lot of ponies looking out for me, but nobody so close as that. I wish I’d had someone that special around for a Sisters’ Moon.”
Sunny looked up, smiling. “That’s what we call it, too. How long have unicorns said Sisters’ Moon?”
“Only since forever. At least, as long as I can remember.” With a shrug, Izzy dipped a spoon into the icing and tasted it. “Mmm. I asked one of the elders why it was called that when I was little, but they didn’t know. I thought it was just something everypony knew, like the Jinxies.”
“Huh, I always thought it was an earth pony tradition. During an eclipse everypony expresses their love and affection for everyone close to them. We give treats and little meaningful gifts.”
“Yep, that’s what unicorns do, too.”
Sunny pulled the now-cool cookies from the fridge, setting them between the icing bowls. “Well, we already know ponies aren’t as different as we thought. It’s just a little strange how close your traditions are to ours.”
Izzy smiled at the sight of the cookies. “If it means we get to eat cookies like those, I’m good with it. Oooh, and wait until you see what I unicycled for everypony. You’ll love it!”
Sunny grinned, picking up one of the two-tone cookies. “I know I will, Izzy. Now, the key to these is to glaze each side in the opposite flavor icing, so every bite has both…”
Sparky cooed and giggled as he climbed on top of the counter, grabbing up two of the eclipse cookies in each hand and shoving them in his mouth.
“Sparky!” Hitch called, rushing over and scooping up the baby dragon. “That’s enough cookies for now, buddy. We need to save some for Pipp and Zipp, okay?”
“Aww, don’t worry, Hitch,” Izzy said. “Sunny and I made lots of extras.” She grabbed a balloon decorating the living room and floated it to Sparky who gurgled gleefully, belched fire at it, and turned it into a lollipop on which he started chewing.
Sunny chuckled as she carried another tray of cookies out from the kitchen. “I thought we might need them with everypony coming, so I did a quadruple batch.” Setting them down, she reached over, tickled Sparky’s chin, and offered him another cookie that he eagerly devoured.
Hitch sighed and set Sparky down again, letting him run off some of his energy. “Alright, you win. I’ll work on teaching him restraint after the holiday.” Taking a cookie for himself, he smiled. “I’m just excited, it being the first full eclipse since I found him. I don’t want him to miss it because of a tummy ache.”
Izzy sidled up to him and laid a foreleg over his shoulder. “I don’t think there’s much danger of that. He seems pretty happy, if you ask me.” She pointed to Sparky, who was gleefully pulling down streamers from the ramps to the second floor and chewing on them like long noodles. Hitch nearly choked on his cookie and hurried over to catch his adopted son while the other two laughed.
Moments later the doors opened wide and the princesses hurried in, saddlebags bulging. “Sorry we’re late, everypony,” Zipp said hastily, trotting over to the kitchen counter. “Mom was being a little extra clingy today, so it took a while to get going.”
“Aww, Zipp, give her some slack,” Pipp said, tapping a quick status update on her phone. “She just wanted to get in some time with us since we won’t be watching the eclipse together. You know this is one of mom’s favorite holidays to spend with us.” She raised a brow at her sister. ”It’s one of mine, too. And yours, remember?”
Zipp nodded slowly, holding up a hoof. “Okay, fine, yeah, it’s a little weird not being around mom for a Sisters’ Moon, but I know it’s going to be just as fun sharing it with all of you ponies.”
Sunny’s ears perked up and she looked over at Zipp. “Pegasi call it a Sisters’ Moon?”
The sisters glanced at each other. “Yeah, of course,” Zipp said slowly. “Do you call it something else?”
Hitch chimed in, Sparky finally resting on his back. “I only ever remember calling it a Sisters’ Moon. Everypony in Maretime Bay does.”
“Bridlewood, too,” Izzy added, floating a basket out from her crafting area.
Sunny nodded. “Yes, but does anypony know why we all have the same holiday about eclipses?”
Pipp cocked her head as she set several small boxes from her saddlebags on the counter. “Come to think of it, I never really asked. It’s just what everypony’s called it all my life.”
“Is it really that strange?” Zipp added. “I mean, we all know now that ponies used to live together across Equestria. We even all celebrate Nightmare Night the same way, more or less. Maybe this is just something like that.”
“Hmm, I suppose,” Sunny said. “It’s just with Nightmare Night we all share the same stories and legends about it. Does anypony know why it’s called a Sisters’ Moon? All I learned about it was that it happens on an eclipse and you show your love for the ponies closest to you.”
There were nods all around as they thought about it. “Yep, that’s what I learned back home,” Izzy said. “I asked one of the elders once, but they didn’t know either. It’s just the way it's always been.”
“Doesn’t that seem strange to anypony?” Sunny asked.
Any answer was cut off by the alarm tone on Pipp’s phone. “Oh, the eclipse is about to start! We should go up to the balcony for the best content.”
“You mean the best view?” Zipp asked with a knowing grin.
“That’s what I said.”
They all laughed and headed to the lift with trays of cookies and the pastry boxes Zipp and Pipp brought. “I can’t wait for you to try these,” Pipp said as the lift started to move. “Pegasus moon cakes, straight from the palace kitchens. These are simply the best treat for a Sisters’ Moon! Oh, those cookies smell really good, though…”
They arrived at the balcony just as the sun and moon started to cross. As the ponies hurried to get a good view, Sunny watched her friends all around her, chatting, laughing, and sharing cookies and cakes as they leaned on the railing under the darkening sky. Her smile grew with the warmth inside her as the moon covered the sun. “I love you all, friends,” she said, and moments later she felt her heart leap as four ponies and a baby dragon enveloped her in a hug.
Sunny and Izzy trotted out toward the edge of Maretime Bay, well beyond the old Canterlogic factory. The morning sun warmed their backs as they greeted the few ponies on the streets, all heading back into the busier parts of town. Houses were more spaced out and looking older and older as they went. Some even appeared abandoned with boarded-up windows and unmowed lawns.
“Ooh, this looks so much different than the rest of town,” Izzy said. She smiled and pointed to a particularly dilapidated house. “Can you imagine what I could do with that one? So many unicycling possibilities!”
Sunny giggled and nudged her friend’s shoulder. “You could do wonders, Izzy, but remember that house belongs to somepony. Besides, that’s not why we’re out here.”
Izzy sighed and bobbed her head in time with her words as she answered. “I know. We’re here to visit the pony Grandma Figgy told you about who might know something about the meaning of the Sisters’ Moon.” She smiled and looked at Sunny. “You’ve really been worked up about that since the last eclipse.”
“I just have a feeling it’s important, Izzy. All three pony types share this in common but don’t know why. None of my dad’s research mentions anything about it from the time before Twilight Sparkle locked away all the magic. So where does it come from? It might tell us something more about the time after that.”
“Hmm, that does sound important. In any case, I get to spend the morning with you and meet a new pony! What could be better than that?”
“I’m glad you’re here, too, Izzy. Oh, I hope she knows something about it.”
They turned off onto a side street and approached one of the oldest houses they’d seen yet. While it wasn’t boarded up, the dingy windows looked dark and the lawn was badly overgrown. Walls that must once have been a cheery light blue were now faded to a pale gray. Thick, rain-splattered dust coated the otherwise comfy-looking rocking chair on the porch just below a plaque with the faded image of a small sun shining down on two books.
Sunny stared at the building for a moment before checking the address on her phone. “Yep, this is the one. I didn’t think Grandma Figgy meant this house when she told us where Holly Brightleaf lived.”
“What’s wrong with this house?” Izzy asked, smiling. “I mean, apart from the run-down walls and the tall grass and the dark, spooky windows and the feeling that something is watching you… Oh, I get it!”
“It’s more than that,” Sunny said with a chuckle. “When I was growing up there were weird stories about this house, and nopony ever seemed to see who lives there. It still gives me a shiver now that we’re standing here.”
Izzy trotted up to the door. “Oh, it’ll be fine. I bet the pony living here is really nice, even to weeds.”
Sunny sighed and followed her up the porch. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. There’s no way a pony could be as mean as the stories I heard.” She knocked on the door. They waited. And waited.
“Maybe they aren’t home?” Izzy suggested.
The door opened suddenly and they were met by a dark and scowling old mare. “Why don’t you just leave an old pony alone?” she shouted. “The lawn isn’t my fault!”
“Ahhhh!” Sunny and Izzy both jumped in unison, taking a step back.
The mare’s tone changed instantly, her scowl replaced with a pleasant smile. Her silver-white mane contrasted with her dark gray coat and framed the laugh lines in her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, dears. I thought you were Deputy Sprout come to lecture me about the lawn maintenance ordinance again. What can I do for you fillies?”
They exchanged a glance and Sunny stepped forward. “Um, okay, we didn’t mean to disturb you. Wait, Sprout hasn’t been a deputy in a long time.”
“Not since he tried to take over the town and start a war,” Izzy chimed in helpfully.
She raised a brow, looking between them. “Oh, was that what all the commotion was about? That’s a shame. I always talked Sprout into mowing the lawn for me when he came around. Who’s going to do it now?” She fell silent, looking out over the lawn.
Sunny cleared her throat after a moment. “Ah, we could help you with that, if you want. It’s just, are you Holly Brightleaf? Grandma Figgy told us we could find you here. Oh!” She fished a paper bag out of her satchel. “She sent along some blueberry muffins.”
She looked back at them as if seeing them for the first time. “Oh, are you some of Figgy’s grandkids?” Taking the bag she smiled. “She always sends over the best treats for me.”
“Oh, we’re not her grandkids,” Sunny hurried to say.
Izzy added brightly. “We’re friends of Hitch, so she treats us like family.” She tilted her head. “So I guess you could say we’re kinda like her grandkids in that way.” She gasped. “Sunny, that means we have another grandma! How fantastic is that?”
With a giggle, Sunny nodded. “It’s great, Izzy.” She turned back to Holly. “I’m Sunny Starscout, and this is my friend, Izzy Moonbow. Figgy thought you might be able to help us. We’re trying to find out the story behind the Sisters’ Moon.”
Holly’s smile grew wider. “Oh, the Sisters’ Moon. That was one of my favorite stories when I was young. It’s been a long time since I told that one.” She stepped back, opening the door a little more. “Why don’t you fillies come in and I can tell you what I remember.”
Sunny beamed as they stepped inside. “Thank you, Ms. Brightleaf! I’m really eager to hear it.”
“Oh, call me Smokey, dear. All my friends do.”
“Oh, I get it,” Izzy said with a sly grin. “It’s because of your coat color, right?”
Smokey chuckled. “Ah, no. To be honest, it’s about my cooking.” They exchanged a surprised look and she led them back into the living room. It quickly became clear why the house appeared so dark from outside. Every flat surface was stacked high with books, papers, envelopes, boxes, and knick knacks of all descriptions. Most of the windows were blocked by the stacks and piles of items mounded up between them.
Sunny and Izzy picked their way carefully along while Smokey moved slowly but with practiced ease along a winding path through the belongings. Soon they reached a well-loved stuffed chair and a couch covered in floral-print bedsheets with a low rectangular coffee table between them. Yellow, orange, and green cloths covered the table under stacks of books, papers, and dirty plates. Smokey took a moment to clear a few boxes filled with photo albums off the couch before they could sit.
“It’s, um, a lovely home you have, Smokey,” Sunny said, looking over the stacks and spotting an old television propped up on a slightly older television.
Smokey chuckled, sitting back on her chair. “Oh, that’s sweet of you, Sunny, but it’s a mess and I know it.” She waved a hoof at the stacks of things around the room. “I’ve just gotten so many family heirlooms and memories in these things, it’s hard to let them go.”
Izzy beamed as her eyes darted from pile to pile. “Why would you want to? There’s so many unicycling possibilities here!”
“Izzy, those aren’t yours!” Sunny whispered urgently as her friend floated a little broken statue of a chicken from beside the couch.
“It’s alright, dear. I enjoy the memories these things bring when I see them.” She nodded to the statue. “I used to have that on my desk in my classroom. The children loved it. It was broken when I had to stop a squabble between little Argyle Starshine and Phyllis Cloverleaf.”
Sunny gasped. “That’s my dad! You were his teacher?”
She nodded, smiling. “He was always one of my favorites from my last class. Always so curious about history, and he loved my stories.” She sat and peered at the statue for a long time without speaking.
Sunny and Izzy glanced at each other again. “Um, Smokey?” Sunny said after a moment.
Smokey raised her head, looking at her blankly for a moment. “Hmm? Oh, yes, visitors.” She settled back again, looking expectantly at them.
“Um, you were going to tell us the story of the Sisters’ Moon…” Sunny prompted after a moment.
“Ahh, yes! That was one of my students' favorites. Especially little Argyle. Did I tell you about him?” She sighed after a moment. “Of course I did. You’ll have to forgive me, dears. I’m afraid my memory isn’t what it used to be.”
“Oh, that’s alright,” Izzy said. “I lose track of what I was doing all the time.”
“What’s important is that you remember the story,” Sunny added hopefully. “Right?”
Smokey chuckled. “Of course I do. It’s been one of my favorites since my great grandma Marigold first read it to me as a filly.” She looked off into the distance again.
Sunny leaned in, listening eagerly. As the seconds passed her expression melted into concern. “Smokey? You were going to tell us the story.”
The old mare shook her head like she was clearing away cobwebs. “I’m sorry, dears. I have good days and bad days for my memory, and it looks like you got a bad day. Oh, it’s so frustrating! I remember sitting at Gram’s hoof as she read, and the two sisters and the sun and moon, but the details just won’t focus.”
Sunny’s ears drooped. “That’s alright, Smokey. I was just excited to hear it.”
“Maybe you’ll remember it later,” Izzy offered.
“I wish I could remember where Gran’s storybook went so I could just read it to you.” She stood and walked between several different stacks of books, peering at the spines. “I know I had it when I read the stories to my classes. I might have put it back in Gran’s cedar chest, but I haven’t seen that in ages.” She smiled at Sunny and Izzy. “It was so beautiful, painted deep blue with an orange marigold on the side, like her cutie mark.”
Izzy floated up the edge of a yellow cloth over the not-actually-a-coffee-table. “Oh, you mean like this one?”
Sunny and Smokey gaped at Izzy, who floated all the cups, plates, and other items away with the cloths and settled them over a pile of books. There was the chest, just as Smokey had described it.
Smokey took a moment to find her voice again. “Goodness! I’ve been using that as a table for years. Well, I guess that makes this easier.” She touched the painted marigold for a moment, then lifted the latch on the chest and opened it wide. Sunny and Izzy scooted around to either side, peering inside. She moved aside an old shawl and a photo album before grabbing a thick book and pulling it out. “Aha! There it is. The Complete Fables and Stables of Equestria. Oh, she’d read to us for hours out of this.”
“That’s amazing,” Sunny breathed. “There must be so many stories in there that were lost to us! Do you remember where the story about the Sisters’ Moon is?”
Smokey smirked and turned the book around, holding it out to Sunny, and opened it to the back. “That’s what an index is for, dear. Here, go ahead and find the story you want. My eyes aren’t far behind my memory.”
Sunny cradled the book in her hooves and carefully turned the pages. “Oh, alright. Let’s see, S…. S… ah, here.” She ran a hoof down a column of tiny text. “Sisters… Moon! Page 407!” She paused, brows furrowed. “See also, Royal Sisters?” With a glance between Izzy and Smokey, she flipped a page back. “Royal Sisters… Sisters, birth… Sisters, conflict… here, Sisters, Moon. Same page, but another see also: Sisters, Sacrifice?” Her eyes scanned down the column further. “It’s on the page right before it.” She looked up at Smokey in confusion.
“Go ahead, Sunny. Read it.” Smokey smiled. “It’s the best way to learn it.”
“Yeah, Sunny, read me a story!” Izzy grinned and snuggled into her seat, eyes fixed on her friend.
Sunny puffed a laugh and flipped to page 406. “Alright, let’s see.”
The Sisters' Sacrifice
As the Time of Troubles reached their depths, Twilight Sparkle, the Great Princess of the Age of Harmony, made a terrible choice. Faced with the imminent fall of Equestria and the end of all Ponykind, she decided the only chance to save them was to remove magic from the world until Harmony could be restored.
The threat grew greater by the hour but she hesitated, for the magic of Equestria still controlled the movement of the Sun and the Moon. Without the guidance of pony magic, they would no longer move through the sky and all living things would perish. She searched endlessly for a way to keep the cycle of day and night turning, but to no avail.
When all seemed lost, Twilight Sparkle received an unexpected visit from two very old friends. The sisters Celestia and Luna, the Princesses of the Sun and Moon who had ruled before her, approached her in her library. They both clearly saw the path she must take for the good of Ponykind. Understanding the problem, they offered a solution. To maintain balance, Celestia would join with the Sun, and Luna the Moon. Having become one with them, they would then continue to move Sun and Moon in their endless cycle for all time.
Twilight Sparkle objected, seeking a way that would not part her from her friends or the sisters from each other. She knew of the deep sisterly love the two shared, and how pained they would be to be parted for long. Celestia and Luna remained resolute and admitted that they would deeply miss each other, but they were willing to make this sacrifice for the good of Equestria. While they could not bear to be parted, they could not bear to see their beloved ponies suffer, either.
And so at sunset, when both Sun and Moon touched the horizon, they embraced their friend and successor for the last time. Looking into each other's eyes, their magic surrounded them until only sunlight and moonlight remained. From that moment, Sun and Moon moved on their own.
“Whoa,” Izzy said in an awed whisper. “That’s so sad and beautiful.”
“Read on, Sunny,” Smokey urged, and she did.
The Sisters’ Moon
For many moons the Sisters kept their steady pace through the sky, glimpsing each other for mere moments at dawn and dusk. While they were happy to have helped their ponies, their own hearts ached with their long parting. Celestia especially, having spent a thousand years alone after banishing her sister, found herself longing for Luna’s embrace once more.
(“She banished her sister?!” “Izzy, let me read!” “Oh, sorry.”)
While her duty prevented her from stopping the sun in its path, her love for her sister led her to slow her motion through the skies.
Seeing her sister slowing, Luna quickly realized what her older sister intended. She hurried faster, trying to catch up with Celestia before she changed her mind. The moon appeared in the day and approached the sun.
The first eclipse began as Luna caught up to her sister. They couldn’t touch, but sharing the same part of the sky also let them feel each other’s love. The feeling shone across Equestria, lifting the hearts of everypony who saw them and stirring their own love for those close to them.
But the moon could not block the sun forever, and so the sisters parted again, returning to their steady cycle. Their yearning grew again, though, and months later they passed together another time, and ever since.
Sunny sat back, looking stunned as she turned her head toward Smokey. The older mare smiled back at her. “Thank you, Sunny. It’s been a long time since anyone read that to me.”
“That story is incredible,” Sunny said, looking back at the book. “And there are so many others. It could take months to get through them all.”
“Maybe even years,” Izzy suggested.
Smokey nodded. “That’s why you should take it with you. Read it as much as you like.”
Sunny’s head jerked up, mouth open in surprise. “What? Oh, no, I couldn’t! This is part of your family history. You should keep it.”
“That’s sweet of you, dear, but if I had any family left I would have passed it on years ago. You should take it. I know you’ll appreciate it.” When Sunny started to protest, Smokey held up a hoof. “I insist. It will make me happy to know it’s being read and passed on once more.”
“Wow, that’s really nice of you, Smokey,” Izzy said.
“Yes, thank you,” Sunny managed after a moment. “I promise, I’ll come back and read it to you whenever you like.”
Smokey nodded. “Then it’s settled. Now, about that lawn…”
Months later, the doors of the Brighthouse opened and six ponies entered, all laughing together.
“I can’t wait for you to try my dad’s cookies, Misty,” Sunny said to the unicorn.
“Oh, or our mooncakes!” Pipp added. “This is going to be the best eclipse party ever!”
Misty stopped in her tracks at the word, her eyes widening. “Eclipse? Is that today?” She looked quickly around the room. “I guess it would be less scary together. Where do you all hide?”
Her friends looked at each other in confusion. “Hide?” Zipp asked.
Misty nodded. “You know, so the dark sun won’t drain away your spirit and…” She stopped speaking, met with five blank stares. Her ears drooped. “That’s another of Opaline’s lies, isn’t it?”
“Aww, it’s okay, Misty,” Izzy said and they all moved in to hug her. “We’ll show you what it’s really about.”
Sunny trotted over to a table, picking up the thick book on top of it. “Sit down, Misty. Let me tell you a story.”