TMP Prompt #138 - “The Reunion”
Prompt: Princess Luna visits an old friend.
-
Phases of the Sun
“What art thou wearing, sister?”
“This? It’s a banana costume. Oh, right. Sorry. Bananas are a kind of fruit native to the Southern Lands. We discovered them, oh, about three hundred years ago. There’s actually a quite interesting race of sapient birds there, who—”
“Wherefore art thou wearing such ridiculous garb?”
“Pinkie Pie invited me to a party, and it doesn’t matter who you are, you don’t turn down a Pinkie Pie party.”
“I…I see.”
“She invited you. too, but I figured you were still recovering after…”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
“*Ahem* S-so, I’m sure you came by my quarters for a reason, Luna? What did you want to talk about?”
“’Tis nothing of import. I have no wish to keep thee from thy party.”
“Come on, now. I can spare the time for you. I’m your sister!”
“…Art thou truly so?”
“Pardon?”
“’Tis…everything is so different now, Celestia. Certes, I could hardly have expected less, after so long away, but I had hoped thou wouldst at least be the same. The sister who sent me away would ne’er have lowered herself to mingling with common ponies as you do, would ne’er have associated with the Lower Races—”
“Do NOT use that phrase.”
“My apologies. It slipped out.”
“You’re absolutely right, Luna. Neither I, nor pony society, are who we were a thousand years ago. Thank goodness.”
“What changed thee so?”
“Tell me, if it isn’t too painful to recall, why did you rebel, sister?”
“P-ponykind loved thee more than me, so—”
“Wrong. They never loved either of us. We stood above them like towering monuments, like statues. They worshipped us. My gifts were more obvious, more clearly beneficial, so they told themselves they loved me, and you and I believed it, to our detriment, but ‘regard’ and ‘fear’ are poor synonyms for ‘love‘.”
“Would that I had realized that myself.”
“When you were…gone…I realized that we had been going about everything all wrong. We are ponies above all else, you and I, and had we ruled from the inside out, instead of the top down, then they would have come to love us for who we are, and not what we could do for them. “
“And seeing their love, I might never have had cause to turn upon them—or thee.”
“Exactly. So, I acted like a normal pony. I learned my servant’s names. I attended parties. I spoke to ambassadors from foreign countries myself instead of making others do it. I did a thousand little things that I never would before.”
“And you changed.”
“For the better. I am not the Celestia you knew. But I am still your sister, and I hope you will be willing to get to know me all over again.”
“I would like that. Very much.”
“Good. Right now, though, if you don‘t mind, there‘s a Pinkie Pie party out there that‘s missing its banana.”
“Of course, of course! It does mine heart good to see that the tradition of costume parties still continues. I was always quite fond of them.”
“It’s actually a ‘Come-As-You-Are’ party. You have to show up wearing what you had on or doing what you were doing when you received the invitation.”
“Ah.”
“…”
“Wait, what? Art thou jesting with me?”
“I’m just glad I didn’t get the invite twenty minutes earlier, or I’d have had to bring my whole harem, and I’m only allowed ten guests.”
“Prithee, is there a spell which will allow me to burn out the portion of my brain which creates images, that I may return to the blissful life I was living before I heard that?”
“Oh, it‘s going to be fun having you around again…”