Celestia looked to the moon.
No longer was it the prison of her sister, but it was now a beacon of elegant beauty and of hardships gone. There was no voice in her head to mock her introspection either.
Fireworks burst in the around it, sending explosions of color in every direction. It was an amazing display to say the least. Overhead, the Wonderbolts flew leaving storm clouds behind them as they did. They were always something special. The best flyers of her little ponies.
It didn't take long after Celestia and Luna returned to calm the ponies down. In the following days Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker had been introduced to the public. The process of learning that there were two more alicorns in the castle was going slowly, especially with their frankly terrifying appearances. Still, it was progressing. That was what was important.
"Tia?" A knock came at the door behind her. "Are you coming out? It's the Grand Galloping Gala, thou cannot be sleeping surely?"
"I'll be right there Luna." Celestia took one last look at the moon before opening the door behind her. Her sister met her eyes immediately.
"Let us be off then." Luna said.
"I hope this party isn't going to be as boring as always." Celestia said with a sigh.
"Surely not Tia. Do you not remember who is attending?"
"Oh. How could I forget?" Celestia said with a smirk. "Twilight and her friends, Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon, and... Gaiya."
"Then shall we go? Thy ponies are awaiting us." Luna gestured.
"Let's go." Celestia walked side by side with Luna through the halls of the palace.
Guards moved in rank behind them as they walked until an army of armored stallions followed behind. They were as disciplined as always.
"Your majesty." Raven ran up beside her from an adjacent room. She didn't look nearly as tired as before, she actually looked lively for once. More ponies sharing the workload had done wonders for her. "Everything is in order."
"Excellent Raven." Celestia said with a smile. "Make sure to enjoy yourself tonight."
"Yes, your majesty." Raven bowed as she backed away, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. "You enjoy yourself as well."
They continued walking. The halls of the palace were filled with new paintings. Paintings of the moon, sun, earth and stars. Paintings of Daybreaker holding a daisy with a bee on her nose, a painting of Nightmare Moon looking out over the night from a rooftop. There were painting of Celestia and Luna sitting together and looking at an eclipse, hugging each other with their wings.
Then there was a painting of Gaiya as he relaxed in a pool of steaming mineral water, a slightly regal air around him. He had a smug smirk on his face. He insisted the painting be put up, not her.
"Auntie! Luna!" Cadance stuck her head from an adjacent room. "Are you both headed to the party?"
"Indeed, we are." Luna said.
"Join us, it will be more fun" Celestia said. "We can walk there together."
"I think I deserve it after you disappeared. Do you know how stressful it was trying to calm down Canterlot?" Cadance huffed before a smile appeared on her face. "I will take you up on that offer though. Let's go!"
The three entered the throne room together.
Instead of the single throne that sat there before, there were now five. The central throne was her own still, gold and exceedingly comfortable. On both sides of her throne were two more. One throne for Luna, silver and elegant as the night, and another throne for Gaiya, rocky and made of pure crystal.
A level down from the three thrones were two more. On the left side, next to Luna's throne was a throne dark as night. It was a glossy black with blue cushions. A throne for Nightmare Moon.
On the opposite side was the last throne. A throne of gold and fiery orange. On it was a familiar pony. Daybreaker snoozed away as she lounged in her throne, eyes shut and a phoenix sitting on her head. It was Celestia's pet phoenix Philomena. She had taken a liking to Daybreaker. Perhaps due to their sharing of flames.
"Should we wake her up?" Cadance asked.
"Tis the Grand Galloping Gala, we should wake her. It will be her first after all." Luna said.
"I'll go wake her." Celestia said.
She walked forward and admired the surrounding stained-glass windows. Their recent journey had been immortalized in the glass. Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon, Gaiya and the darkness, and Luna and Celestia. Then, the central window, moved up to above the throne instead of behind it had a familiar alicorn remade into it. Three alicorns, one of the sun, one of the moon, and one of the earth. Once again, the window was made whole.
"Daybreaker." Celestia shook her shadow awake. "It's time for the party."
Daybreaker open a single eye then shut it again. A moment later she snorted, a puff of flame coming from her nostrils.
"Come on, this event doesn't happen often." Celestia said. "I want you to be there."
"...Okay." Daybreaker stood with a groan and stretched. "Can I go to the garden after? I want to see the birds."
"Of course you can. The Gala is exceedingly boring, but I want you to see it at least once." Celestia said. "Though... I am sure Twilight Sparkle, and her friends will make it a little more interesting."
"Oh, I can't wait to see Twilight!" Cadance said. "It has been far too long."
"Then shall we go?" Luna said.
"Onward!"
Together they walked from the throne room. They walked further and further until they reached the doors leading to the gala. As they approached a shadowy figure fell from the ceiling onto the ground in front of them.
"Boo!" Nightmare Moon landed on her hooves in front of Luna. She jerked back, her eyes wide. "This night shall last forever!"
"Thou. Art. Not. Funny." Luna said with a straight face before slowly cracking into a smile.
"Very clever." Celestia said. "Now, are we all ready to enjoy the party?"
"Indeed sister."
"You all are no fun."
Celestia opened the doors with her magic.
Before them was a large set of staircases covered in red carpets. Gold lined the walls of the white castle walls. The large ballroom had many of the upper-class ponies milling about and drinking wine from tall thin glasses. Everypony seemed to sparkle. Banners of night and day hung on the walls. As she entered their eyes turned to her.
"Welcome everypony, to the Grand Galloping Gala!" Celestia said. "Let the celebrations begin!"
A cheer rang out in the room as the ponies rushed to greet her. Some shied away from the fleet of alicorns, but many came up to greet her. She addressed them courteously but made sure not to let herself fall back into a facade. She was honest, but kind.
"This is boring." Nightmare Moon said. "Hey, Daybreaker, want to get out of here?"
"Wha?" Daybreaker shook her head as it was drooping. She seemed to be falling asleep.
"You, me, out of here." Nightmare Moon said.
"Yes. To the gardens?"
"To the gardens."
"Go on ahead you two." Celestia said. "Though, Nightmare Moon can I say something?"
"Yes, your majesty." Nightmare Moon bowed.
"Thank you for everything. You allowed my sister and I to reunite and tried to be my friend even after I shunned you." Celestia bowed her head. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"I-It was of no trouble!" Nightmare Moon scratched the back of her head with her hoof. "I must be going now, have fun tonight!"
The two aspects of their darker selves flew over the party in trails of fire and shadow. The ponies screamed as they flew down a nearby hallway, ducking their heads. Celestia couldn't help but let out the smallest chuckle.
"Please don't mind them everypony!" Celestia said. "They are young after all!"
"Tia. We shall be quick to admit as well. The greeting of everypony is quite... boring." Luna said. "We would much prefer to enjoy the party with you."
"I do agree that it is boring." Celestia said. "Well then, shall we see what the party has to offer then?"
"We agree." Luna said.
Celestia and Luna walked down the stairs and into the party. The ponies surrounded them as they walked and Celestia gave them all a pleasant smile and greeting but continued without stopping. She grabbed a slice of cake and sat down at a table. The eyes of the ponies watched her every move.
She took the cake in her magic. And then she ate it. And it was delicious.
The ponies screamed and what seemed like a thousand cameras clicked as she ate the cake. She could see the headlines now, princess enjoys cake, just like us.
"They are quite loud are they not?" Luna asked as she sat at the table as well. "All thou art doing is eating cake..."
"It is not something they see often." Celestia wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Speaking of something you don't see often..."
Cadance had discovered Twilight in the middle of the party. They were doing some kind of dance, clapping their hooves together and shaking their rumps. The ponies around them looked as if they had just seen another eclipse. Their eyes were bugging out of their heads and their jaws practically hit the floor.
Afterwards the two walked over to the table.
"Princess! I'm glad you told me Cadance was going to be here." Twilight smiled. "And I'm glad to see you doing well again."
"And to you as well my most faithful student." Celestia gestured to two more chairs next to her. "Why don't you two sit down?"
They all sat at the table and watched the party go by. Celestia looked at all her friends and family around her and smiled.
"Where have your friends gone Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"Oh, I am sure they are doing fine." Twilight said. "This is a party to remember after all!"
There was a distant crash somewhere in the party.
"I'm not so sure about that." Cadance said. "Should we go find them?"
"Princess Celestia. I wanted to spend time with you." Twilight said with sad eyes. "Especially after what happened."
"You can always spend time with me. In fact, I will always be here. Make sure to treasure your friends." Celestia thought about Twilight's possible alicorn ascension. It was a hard decision to give somepony that. It was a curse as much as it was a blessing. In the end, Celestia decided that it would be up to Twilight to decide if she wanted it or not. That time was still far away though and today was a day for celebration. "Go on Twilight. We can speak tomorrow, I'm just a spell away."
"Yes Princess!" Twilight saluted. "Come on Cadance, before they destroy the party!"
"Haha! This is so much fun!" Cadance chased after Twilight as they ran into the party.
Celestia was left alone with Luna once more. Time passed and they both sat in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. There was still one pony that needed to show up though, one last arrival.
He arrived through the door. The crystal form of Gaiya, wearing a black trench coat and a large top hat. It looked ridiculous. He glanced around the party before his eyes fell onto her. He approached; a new leg made of stone in place of his broken one.
"Gaiya." Celestia said.
"Celestia, Luna." Gaiya tipped his hat to her.
"What art thou wearing?" Luna turned up her nose at him.
"What? This old thing? Picked it up on my travels. Manehattan is quite the place. Full of stone jungles, questionable fashion, and blue coasts as far as the eye can see." Gaiya sat at the table and his eyes went to the cake. "Tia, are you sure..."
Celestia glared.
"Ah, well. I'll have one as well." Gaiya floated a piece of cake over before stuffing his face. "Thats good."
"It is indeed." Celestia smiled.
"I didn't think I would ever be here." Gaiya said. "Thank you for keeping your promise, even if it was a little late."
"A little late?" Celestia sighed. "I should have come for you long ago."
"Then shall we have something we should have had long ago?" Luna grabbed three glasses. "How about a toast to us three and what we have built, what we have sealed away, and what we have finally forgiven and set right?"
"Thats sounds delightful. Hoof over that one." Gaiya snatched a glass with his magic.
"A toast to us then, and to Equestria and kept promises and conquered pasts." Celestia raised a glass of her own.
"An ode to what was and what will be." Gaiya said.
Their glasses clinked together and then the party really started.
That night the sun, moon and earth reunited once more. What was broken was made whole, what was shattered was mended, what was dark was bound once again, what was unforgiveable was forgiven, and what was lonely found solace in another's company.
There was still one last thing to do for Celestia.
Later that night she found herself flying over the gentle night towards a distant place. In her magic was held the shattered and broken Alicorn Amulet that had collapsed in on itself. It was merely a shell of what it once was.
Tired but content, Celestia flew over the badlands and soon saw something amidst the sands. A river, and then a circle of tents. In the center was a burned-out funeral pyre, its inhabitants put to rest. She landed there, her hooves sinking into the sand.
"I knew you would come back." Sandy's voice came from behind her.
She turned to see Sandy. Only, his form was not rotted and withered. He was whole once more, the cloth gone from his body. His pelt was whole, his muscles strong, and his eyes bright.
"I didn't expect you to still be here." Celestia looked down at the amulet. "I just wanted to thank you."
"Thank me? I should thank you. In helping you I could finally forgive myself." Sandy said. "I hope that you find peace in your immortal life, it will not be easy to hold the darkness in eternity."
"With my family and friends, there is nothing I can't handle." Celestia said.
"Then it seems I have done my duty." Sandy sat in the sand and bowed his head. Moonlight glimmered around him, as if the streams of starlight were arriving to pick him up. "Farewell, Princess Celestia."
Celestia watched as he vanished into starlight. He had moved on as well. She looked down at the Alicorn Amulet in her hooves and wondered what to do with it. Only, when she looked down, it was no longer there. Where did it go?
She glanced around her, looking for the amulet. It was nowhere to be found. Well, it was broken anyway, it couldn't cause any problems down the line surely.
Celestia looked towards the moon. Her mane shifted in the starlight, and she raised her wings and started the long flight back to the castle. She would have to raise the sun tomorrow and have day court, but she had Daybreaker, Luna, and Nightmare Moon to help her with all her duties. The council of alicorns would work together to run the nation from now on. Gaiya was still adventuring, but he promised to return once he had come to terms with everything.
Friendships were hard to maintain, but it was worth it. Nopony could handle everything alone, no matter their origin. This was a world best shared with others. It was one where the road was long and unknown, but it was one worth walking with others.
It was time to forgive. Nopony was perfect. The shadows of misdeeds would seethe and fester when left forgotten. They would grow, and ponies would seek to avoid them. Every mistake would claw at them, ripping into what made them whole. Every single ageless regret would forever remain a stain on their soul. However, in each pony, there a graceful and hopeful light. A possibility for redemption and forgiveness that incubated between the grasping shadows of faceless pasts.
The choice to break the cycle, belonged to them.
That night Celestia took flight towards her warm castle full of friends and family, and the world rejoiced.