The feeling of waking to Twilight wrapped in her arms was growing pleasantly familiar to Luna. She'd had more than a few opportunities to experience it in the past two days, since the alicorns had spent large amounts of time sleeping. This time, though, she finally woke feeling refreshed and recovered from the battle with Dawnbringer. She raised her head slightly and glanced around, finding herself in a pleasantly dark room which she identified after a few seconds as the Books and Branches library. She checked the position of the sun and moon, and found that it was somewhere in the late afternoon. Luna vaguely remembered waking up when light from her sister's horrid ball of fire had blasted into the room, and conjuring a thin sheet of un-light over the window in place of Twilight's wholly inadequate blinds.
She snuggled back down against the sleeping alicorn, in no hurry to rise. Twilight was nearly as tall as she was now, and made an even more satisfying sleeping partner. Now that Luna felt fully restored, she was looking forward to spending some time finding out if Twilight was more satisfying in other ways, as well.
After a few minutes, Twilight began to stir. Grinning devilishly, Luna leaned over and began nibbling on one of her ears. Twilight made a complaining noise and batted halfheartedly at her face. Luna withdrew for a moment, then leaned in even closer and blew straight into the ear.
Twilight jerked up with a small shriek. “Now that was not very nice,” she said, rolling over as Luna giggled. “What time is it, anyway?” asked Twilight, yawning.
“Around four, I'd say,” said Luna. “You could have checked yourself, you know.”
“Oh, right,” said Twilight. She was silent for a moment as she examined the world with her new senses. “It's going to take a while to get used to that,” she said, shivering slightly. “Anyway, I suppose we should get up and see what's gone wrong this time.”
“Oh, I don't think there's any call for that quite yet,” said Luna, pulling her a little bit closer.
“Why not?” asked Twilight obliviously. “You know everypony is barely coping with the destruction of Canterlot, and us being asleep most of the time doesn't help. Besides, I'm feeling much better than I was yesterday.”
“Exactly,” said Luna. “I'm sure everypony will be able to get along without us for another hour or two. In the meantime, there's something I've been meaning to do.”
“What's that? Ah! Oh. Heh heh. Um. You know, being confident and adventurous feels a lot easier with several drinks of whiskey and the threat of imminent death."
Luna giggled. “Have I told you how cute you are when you get embarrased? Remember, it’s important to be confident all the time. Perhaps we could do some... research on it, and you could write me a friendship report.”
“Research. Right. Purely for scientific purposes, of course.”
“Of course,” echoed Luna, starting to lean in again.
There was a noise. Luna almost didn't notice, involved as she was, but the fact that it sounded like a snicker muffled by a hoof drew her attention. She stopped, peering around the dark room. There was a hint of movement in the corner of her eye. “Who's there?” she demanded.
Click.
“SURPRIIIIISE!”
Looking back, Luna could never think of a time in her two thousand years of life when the word “surprise” would have been more applicable. She rocketed straight out of bed in a most unprincess-like manner, with Twilight right behind her. Or, at least, that's what she tried to do. Instead, there was a painful tug on her scalp, and they both fell flat, back where they had started.
“Ooh! Were you surprised? Were you? They looked surprised to me! Did they look surprised enough to you? Sometimes you throw a surprise party for a pony and they come in and you can tell they're not really surprised and they're just trying to make you think they're surprised but sometimes you can tell they're REALLY surprised and I love surprising ponies with parties, but I mean what ELSE would you want to surprise a pony with, although I guess you could–”
“Woah there, sugarcube. I reckon they were pretty surprised, all right. Maybe you outta give 'em a minute or three to catch their breath.”
Slowly, Luna raised her head and took stock of the damage. The lights had been switched on, revealing five ponies and a baby dragon standing around the edge of the room, with various looks of amusement, embarrassment, or cheerful obliviousness on their faces. In addition, her mane appeared to have somehow merged with Twilight's while they were sleeping, with streamers of light waving lazily over her field of stars.
The two alicorns spent several awkward seconds fruitlessly trying to separate their manes. After a moment, Rarity cleared her throat delicately. “Would you two perhaps like some help?”
After a final, fruitless attempt to untangle herself, Twilight gave a shamefaced, “Yes. Thank you.”
“Oh, it's no trouble at all,” said Rarity brusquely, making a brave attempt at diffusing the awkwardness. “I can't say I've ever styled a mane quite like this before, but the principles should be little different. It's simply a matter of... Yes, there we are. That should do the trick.” Luna and Twilight quickly rolled off the bed and stood up, just short of scurrying. “I can teach you how to do it, in case you – Well, in case you should run into any further difficulties.”
“Yes, that might be for the best. Thank you,” replied Luna, gathering what scraps of dignity she could about herself.
“Yeah, I bet it would be for the best, am I right?” interjected Rainbow Dash, abruptly taking up position in midair between Luna and Twilight. “So, spill! You two are, like, an item now? When did this happen? How did this happen? And how come you never let on you were a filly fooler?” Her mind seemed to suddenly catch up with her mouth, and she rapidly sank down to the floor, saying, “I mean, you know, not I would have a reason to care about that, or, uh, anything. Heh heh.”
“Don'tcha think there might be a couple more pressing issues?” asked Applejack, rolling her eyes. “Like maybe exactly what happened to Twilight here?”
“Yeah, right. That too,” said Rainbow. “I guess you guys have had a pretty crazy week, huh?”
“You could say that,” said Twilight. “How much have you guys heard already?”
“Not very much,” murmured Fluttershy. “Princess Celestia talked to us, but she was only awake for a little while.”
“We totally heard about that awesome battle from some of the guards, though,” continued Rainbow. “What's the big idea with telling us to go hide while you guys do all the fighting, anyway?”
“I apologize,” said Luna. “My sister and I wanted to take a more direct approach, and the Elements of Harmony would have been a liability. I would not want you to think I doubted your courage.”
“Oh, um, that's actually alright. I'm okay with hiding,” said Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash grumbled.
“Well, I'm sure it's still an awesome story, even if it doesn't involve me,” said Rainbow Dash. “So are you gonna tell it, or what?”
“Yes, Rainbow. We're going to tell it. Would you mind if we moved out of my bedroom first, though?”
“Oh, right. Heh. Sorry. We'll just wait for you guys to get ready downstairs. Pinkie Pie set up a party.”
“You bet I set up a party! I've never thrown a congratulations-on-becoming-an-alicorn party before, but I figured it's kind of like a birthday party, except with less birthday and more congratulations-on-becoming-an-alicorn.”
“Come on, Pinkie, let's go...”
* * *
Ponies had slowly trickled in over the past few hours, until the floor of the library was absolutely packed. Why do I even bother calling it a library? I doubt I've had this many ponies borrowing books all year. I should just open a club and be done with it, thought Twilight sourly.
At first, it had just been Luna and her friends, and for the first time since they'd found the body in the attic, Twilight had felt like her life was approaching something resembling normalcy. But as the crowd grew, she became more and more uncomfortable. Many were ponies she'd known since moving to Ponyville, by sight if not by name, but all of them now treated her with almost the same air of reverence they gave to Luna. The fact that she suddenly stood half again as tall as them didn't help, either. As the afternoon turned into evening, she became more and more tempted to find a reason to retreat back to her room.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a nudge against her side. She looked down to see Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “Would you perhaps care to go to a quieter venue?” asked Rarity, leaning in to be heard.
“Yes! Thank you,” said Twilight, eternally grateful her friends knew her so well. “Let me just go get Luna.”
“Oh, it's fine, dear, Applejack is already letting her know. She seems just as eager for a bit of peace as you do. Fluttershy already left, the poor thing.”
Twilight followed her friends towards the door, the crowd of ponies parting in front of her. She tried to smile and nod, like Celestia always did, but immediately felt awkward. As soon as she was free of the room, she felt considerably better.
“So, what did you have in mind?” she asked Rarity, sighing slightly in relief.
“Oh, well, I just thought something nice and relaxing might be in order, like a trip to the spa, or-”
“What she means,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, “is, have you tried out those wings yet? Because if not, I totally call dibs on teaching you how to fly. I mean, who better?”
“I believe I can think of somepony,” announced Luna behind Twilight.
“Oh. Yeah. Right,” said Rainbow, deflating slightly. “But I can still give you some pointers on speed, right?”
“Of course,” said Twilight, laughing. She spread her wings curiously. In the time she'd had them, she hadn't been conscious for long enough to thoroughly examine them. They were large, at least as large as Luna's, and the feathers seemed somewhat thicker than normal. “I don't know how much help I'll need, though. I mean, I've read several books on the theory of flight. It shouldn't be overly complicated in practice.”
Rainbow Dash and Luna both raised their hooves and started to object, but Twilight had already given her wings an experimental flap. She promptly shot ten feet into the air, flipped over, and was only saved from landing square on her face by an instinctive teleport. Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, and even Luna couldn't stop herself from snickering.
“On second thought, maybe some help wouldn't be such a bad idea,” she muttered, wincing.
“You must remember that your wings are much more powerful than another pony's,” said Luna, rising slightly into the air. “Even the gentlest flap will be enough to lift you. Try again.”
With some trepidation, Twilight once again spread her wings and gave them a cautious flap. She rose slightly into the air, and then settled back down. “I did it!” she said excitedly.
“You know, it usually helps if you keep flapping them,” said Rainbow.
“One thing at a time, there,” said Applejack. “You weren't doin' sonic rainbooms the first time you flew, now were you?”
“Actually,” began Rainbow Dash, before being subjected to a rather menacing look from the Element of Honesty. “I mean, uh, no, of course not. Heh heh.”
Carefully, Twilight began flapping her wings again, bringing herself to an unsteady hover a few feet off the ground. “Try to relax. If you're too tense, it will throw your balance off,” said Luna. After a few more seconds of wobbling, Twilight began to grow slightly more comfortable with her new airborne state, and her hover grew more stable.
“Don't worry, Twilight. With me and the Princess for teachers, you'll be flying like a pro in no time,” said Rainbow. “Hey, now that you're airborne, we should go hang out at my house!”
“Are you maybe forgettin' that not all of us have wings?” interjected Applejack. “Why don't ya'll come back to the farm with me? I'm sure the family'd love to hear about yer adventure, Twilight.”
“Oh gracious, don't be silly!” said Rarity. “After the ordeal Twilight and Princess Luna have been through, the last thing they need is a trip to a farm. The spa is the place for us.”
“Why would anyone want to go to the spa when they could be chillaxing on a cloud? We can stay low enough that we'll still be able to talk to you guys.”
“Now hold on just a minute...”
Twilight winced as the argument picked up steam. She raised her hoof, trying to get a word in edgewise. Before she could interrupt, though, something like a cross between a chime and a pulse of sunlight made itself known to her higher sense. She glanced at Luna, who nodded.
“I'm sorry girls,” said Twilight, raising her voice slightly, “But Princess Celestia needs us. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty of time for all your ideas tomorrow.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” replied Rarity immediately. “We wouldn't want to take you away from your duties. I'm sure you two have a lot to discuss, what with you becoming a princess and all.”
“Yes, I'm sure there's going to be plenty to – Wait, what? I'm not a princess.”
“Well, of course you are, dear. How many non-princess alicorns have you seen recently?” pointed out Rarity.
“Um, one. Me,” said Twilight.
Rarity was nonplussed. “Why in Equestria wouldn't you want to be, though? Think of the glamor! Think of the balls you could could attend as a guest of honor! Think of your wardrobe!”
“That's why,” said Twilight flatly.
“I have not found attending balls to be a particularly gratifying experience, and this is my entire wardrobe,” piped in Luna, gesturing to her vestments.
“Oh, well, ah, I'm sure you know what's best,” said Rarity, beating a hasty verbal retreat.
“Anyway, I'm sure I'm going to be busy helping Luna and Celestia, but I promise I'll make some time for you girls,” said Twilight.
“Right then, I 'spect we'll see you tomorrow,” said Applejack.
“Yeah, see you later,” said Rainbow, waving.
“Shall we?” asked Luna, rising slightly into the air. Twilight rose hesitantly into the air and cautiously followed her over the rooftops, although she suspected walking would have been faster.
The large part of the refugees had already left, moving on to whatever temporary homes had been organized for them, but a large group of tents still clustered at the edge of town, including Celestia’s large pavilion. Two guards were posted at the entrance, and they nodded to the pair of alicorns as they approached, gesturing for them to enter.
Most of the furniture had been sacrificed along with the rest of the palace, of course, but Celestia had managed to rescue three of her favorite pillows as a small vanity. She looked up and smiled as Twilight and Luna entered.
“I’m glad to see both of you up and about at last,” said Celestia. “I was beginning to wonder if you thought you could make me rebuild the entire country by myself while you two lounged about in bed.”
“You wound me, sister. When have I ever shirked my responsibilities onto you?” replied Luna promptly. Celestia gave her sister a flat stare for several seconds, but Luna kept her flawless mask of polite innocence.
Celestia shook her head with a small smile. “Regardless, there will be plenty of work to go around. Thanks to you two, the number of deaths was far less than what it could have been. Unfortunately, that also means that thousands of ponies have just lost their homes and livelihoods. Combined with the destruction of the wealthiest city in Equestria, we’re looking at the worst depression in several centuries.”
“Surely it isn’t all that bad,” said Luna. “When compared with the unraveling of this entire world, a mere economic setback seems somewhat trivial.”
“It’s true. But keep in mind what this has looked like through the eyes of an average pony,” replied Celestia. “They don’t have the knowledge we do, to make the attack at least understandable. Our prolonged absence hasn’t helped. From what I could gather during the brief periods I was awake, a large number of ponies are still convinced that the world is about to end. There are rumors that we were defeated, and that we’re dying right now. A mass panic would be devastating, especially with so many refugees.”
Luna nodded. “We must make our presence known, then. We need to do what we can to reassure the ponies that everything will soon return to normal.”
“Indeed. In fact, I believe we can do better than that,” said Celestia. “We need to show ponies that even though we’ve lost much, we’ve also gained something.”
Celestia turned to look at Twilight, and Luna followed suit after a moment. Twilight shifted uncomfortably under their sudden attention. “What? Me? What’s so special about me?” she asked.
Celestia gave her a long-suffering look, and Luna rolled her eyes eloquently. “Okay, I guess that was a bad question,” said Twilight, blushing. “But what do you think I can do?”
“The same thing we do,” said Celestia. “One way or another, the next few years will be a time of great turbulence for Equestria. I believe the ponies would benefit from having a third princess to put their faith in.”
Twilight stared blankly. “Princess? As in, me, a princess? But I don’t want to be a princess!”
Celestia gave a humorless laugh. “I’d be concerned if you did. Please understand, Twilight. I’m not trying to give you a reward, I’m asking for your help. You’ll likely find the job as thankless as you fear, but I’m asking you to take it anyway. You could try thinking of it as a new kind of assignment, if it helps.”
“But I don’t know anything about being a princess,” protested Twilight. “What good would I be? You’d just be stuck teaching me princess-y things on top of all your other work.”
“To be perfectly honest,” said Luna, “You’re already better at this sort of thing than I am. I don’t have the patience or the attention to detail to be a good ruler. You’re also better than you think at dealing with ponies, but Celestia and I could do continue to do the majority of public appearances, if it would make you more comfortable.”
“I don’t know...” said Twilight. “I just can’t shake the feeling that something horrible would happen if I became a princess. Can’t I help you without officially become royalty?”
“You could,” said Celestia, “There is another reason, though. As you know, our legitimacy doesn’t just come from our immortality. We are the rulers of not just Equestria, but also of the heavens, or at least that is how the ponies see us. Luna has the moon, and I have the sun. But you have discovered something new, belonging to neither the day nor the night.”
“You mean the lights in the sky?” asked Twilight. “But that was just a side effect from what I did to Dawnbringer.”
“It’s called the Aurora,” said Celestia. “I’ve witnessed it before, although rarely. It can be caused by particularly powerful bursts of magic, although there are more factors which neither of us have ever discovered. However, with your connection to the deep currents, I believe that you should be able to summon it at will, in the same way that Luna controls the moon and I control the sun.”
“So you want me to be the princess of this... Aurora?” asked Twilight.
“Precisely,” said Luna. “I only caught a glimpse of it as I was regaining consciousness. I would most certainly like to see it again, and I doubt I am the only pony who feels that way.”
“Besides,” said Celestia, “You’re going to end up being a princess one way or another. Remember, your brother is technically a prince now. Marrying into royalty makes you royalty as well.”
Twilight was confused for a second, and then nearly swallowed her tongue. “I didn’t- I mean, we haven’t- I mean, I don’t- I mean, how do you even know about that, anyway?”
Celestia managed to keep her calm facade from crumbling into laughter, barely. “You didn’t really think I wouldn’t notice how you two act around each other, did you? Besides, in case you forgot, my tent was right next to Luna’s the night before the battle.”
Twilight felt the sudden, intense desire to melt into the floor. “Oh,” she forced out in a rather strangled voice.
Luna looked as though she were torn between amusement, annoyance, and sympathy for Twilight. After a moment, she settled for, “None of this solves the problem of where the displaced ponies are actually going to go. The other cities can’t play host to them forever, and we can’t go without a capital, either. You were more familiar with Canterlot than I was. How long do you think it will take to rebuild?”
Celestia shook her head. “Unfortunately, I don’t believe rebuilding Canterlot is the correct path of action in this case. The land is going to take years, if not decades, to heal from the battle. Until then, it will remain a blasted wasteland. It’s not an environment to create hope for the future.”
“What, then? None of the other cities are centrally located, and we want to avoid the appearance of favoritism,” replied Luna. "Would you recommend building an entirely new capital?”
“In a manner of speaking,” said Celestia. “Canterlot was always my city. I hoped that it would become yours as well, in time, but now we have an opportunity for something better. I believe the time has come to rebuild our old capital.”
“But the scar there... We tried before, remember? When I first returned,” protested Luna.
Celestia chuckled. “You seem to have forgotten that we now have a third alicorn with us, and one who has already proven herself to be more capable than us at repairing the celestial mechanisms.”
Twilight slowly uncringed as the conversation moved on. “You mean the old castle of the pony sisters in the Everfree Forest?” she asked. “What do you mean, the scar?”
Celestia stayed silent, looking at her sister, and Luna frowned. “The battle against Dawnbringer was bad, but the battle against me was worse. Much worse, in fact. The scar that it left on the world still exists. It twists the energy of the world, which is what creates the Everfree Forest. When I returned, we thought we would finally be able to heal it, but even together, we weren’t strong enough. I... did not handle it very well. The place holds many bad memories for me.”
“And you think I’ll be able to fix it?” asked Twilight nervously. “When Celestia couldn’t figure out how in a thousand years?”
“Remember, Twilight, that neither of us were able to close the rifts Dawnbringer opened, said Celestia. “You did so in mere moments. Every alicorn has an innate understanding of some aspect of the world, and yours appears to be concerned with the flow of magic. If anyone can untwist the energies in the Everfree, it is you.”
“I don’t really remember how I closed the rift,” said Twilight. “I didn’t really think about it, I just kind of did it. I guess I can try, though.”
“Don’t worry, Twilight,” said Celestia. “You’ve already exceeded every expectation I could ever have placed on you, and my expectations were quite high. I think you’ll surprise yourself with your abilities.”
“Alright. If you say so,” said Twilight.
“If that’s settled, I suppose we should start planning,” said Luna, sighing. “As you said, we’ve got a lot of work in front of us. Building an entire city is no small thing.” She suddenly smiled mischievously. “There’s also the matter of Twilight’s coronation, of course,” she said. “If we start preparing now, we should be finished just about the time she finally caves in and agrees.”
Twilight groaned in exasperation. “If you need a new princess so much, why don’t you just get Cadence to do it? She’s good at looking all princess-y.”
“As I said before, Cadence isn’t a true alicorn,” said Luna. “For one thing, she’s not immortal, and she can’t control the heavenly mechanisms, either.” Her grin suddenly grew much wider. “Now that I think about it, I never told you where pegasus-unicorn hybrids come from, did I?”
“Perhaps this is a conversation we should have another time,” broke in Celestia. “As you said, we have a lot of work in front of us.”
Luna’s grin was now positively evil. “But if Twilight is going to be a princess, it’s important that she know these things, don’t you agree? You are, after all, her teacher. You wouldn’t want to withhold any knowledge from her, now would you?”
Celestia covered her face with her hoof. “Oh, get it over with, then. I suppose she would have found out eventually anyway.” Twilight stared at the pair of them in growing confusion.
“You see, Twilight, when a pony becomes an alicorn, the change happens at every level. Normally, when a pony has a colt or a filly, it will be the same species as the parent, or perhaps a grandparent, and it will always be of only one species, even if the parents were different. Alicorns, however, can pass on two of the traits to their children. Which two depends on the species of the alicorn’s partner, but the child will always be a hybrid.”
“I don’t get it,” said Twilight. “I thought Cadence was Celestia’s niece. But... You’re the only other alicorn, and you were still gone when Cadence was born, right? I mean, she’s only a few years older than me.”
“Indeed, you are correct. That would be because Cadence is not actually Celestia’s niece,” said Luna.
Twilight was still confused. “But that still doesn’t make any sense. I mean, if Cadence isn’t related to Celestia, then how could she be a hybrid? Because didn’t you say- oh. OH. Wait. WHAT?”
“I do believe she’s figured it out,” Luna said, smirking. Her sister gave her a look that would have sent any mortal pony fleeing in terror.
Twilight felt as though her mind had run into a brick wall. “But... but... There’s no record of you ever being pregnant, or even having a partner!” she said to her old mentor.
Celestia coughed, flushing slightly. “Yes. Well. With my size, it’s rather easier to hide the early stages, and for the later stages, it’s not particularly hard to arrange some crisis that forces me to leave the capital for a couple of months.”
“But then, who’s the father?” asked Twilight.
“I, ah, I’m not entirely sure,” said Celestia, her blush deepening. “There are... a number of possibilities.”
Luna was barely restraining herself from dissolving in laughter at the look of shock on Twilight’s face. “You see,” she said, “My sister prefers to... What is that delightful phrase all the colts use now? Ah yes, ‘Hit it and quit it.’”
“What my sister is trying to say,” Celestia cut in, “Is that I have learned to love every pony while I can, to avoid becoming dangerously attached to any of them.”
“You have been ruling alone for a thousand years,” said Luna, still struggling not to laugh. “It’s perfectly fair that you’d need to relieve some stress now and then. Besides, your children are always so lovely. What was the name of that delightful earth pony/unicorn hybrid you introduced me to? Blueblood, wasn’t it?”
“Wait. Hold on. Prince Blueblood is your SON?” demanded Twilight.
Celestia sighed heavily, and then simply said, “Yes.”
“I’m... Yeah, I’m going to need a while to get my head around that.”
* * *
Three months later
The setting sun painted the snow laden trees a deep orange as Luna landed in the wide clearing. Winter had come to the Everfree Forest for the first time in centuries, the land grudgingly falling into sync with the rest of Equestria. Already, the forest was tamer than it had been; the supernatural creatures such as the timberwolves were vanishing as the twisted energy that powered them drained away, and the more natural dangers such as the manticores were retreating into the dark depths of the forest and going into hibernation at the unfamiliar cold.
The gathering of ponies that called the clearing their home was still too young to be called anything more than an encampment, but at the current rate, it would grow into a village by summer. For now, taming the forest took priority over beginning construction on the new capital, but soon that would change. Already, tents were giving way to rough wooden cottages, built with the trees harvested as the clearing expanded. Work had slowed with the onset of winter in favor of the heavy blanket of snow that forced the denizens of the Everfree to search for greener pastures, but several hundred ponies still called the camp home. Over the past few days, though, nearly two thousand more had arrived, swelling the clearing with bright pavilions.
Luna’s night guards saluted her as she approached the tent she shared with Twilight. Despite Celestia’s regular nagging, Twilight had point blank refused to have her own guard company formed. During the unfortunately common times that she spent away from Luna, the night and day guards competed over who got to provide her honor guard.
Ducking inside the tent, Luna found Twilight reading some report, as usual. Although the preparations for the celebration were more or less finished, the work never ceased. It seemed to Luna that every time they squelched one crisis, two more sprang up to take its place. All three alicorns spent most of their time flying back and forth across Equestria, putting out fires. Tonight, though, there would be none of that. Tonight was special.
Twilight heard her enter and looked up. A moment later, Luna found herself nearly thrown out of the tent by a flying hug. Fortunately, she’d be expecting it; Twilight still hadn’t gotten used to how powerful her wings were.
“I was starting to worry you wouldn’t make it in time,” said Twilight once she’d released Luna.
“I was as well,” replied Luna. “I was held up for considerably longer than I would have liked in Manehatten. I needed to set the mayor straight about a few things again.”
“Oh, Harmony,” said Twilight, rolling her eyes. “What was it this time?”
“You, actually,” replied Luna. “He was accusing you of favoritism for picking your friends to organize the celebration.”
“What? Has he forgotten that I met my friends while organizing a celebration just like this one?” asked Twilight indignantly.
“It seems so,” said Luna. “I reminded him. Loudly.”
“Well, hopefully we won’t hear from him for at least a couple of months, then. It’ll probably take that long just for his hearing to come back,” said Twilight, laughing. “Anyway, it’s almost time for us to get into position. The sun will be setting in less than an hour.”
Luna nodded, turning and walking back out of the tent. “Where is Celestia?” she asked as they walked.
“Working,” said Twilight. “Don’t worry, she’ll be there, but she wants to keep a low profile. It’s not her celebration, after all.”
“What about you?” asked Luna. “You’re entitled to your own celebration now, after all. You don’t have to share mine.”
Twilight wrapped her wing around the other alicorn. “I’m perfectly happy to share your celebration, Luna. We belong together. Besides, maybe if they give you more attention, they’ll stop gawking at me so much.”
Luna laughed. Twilight had lasted all of two days before giving in to Celestia’s request to be officially coronated as a princess, after the seventh time in a single day a pony had called her one despite her objections.
In the very center of the clearing, a small raised platform had been erected, with a cordoned off walkway leading to a small tent. The crowd was already starting to gather, and they stole looks at the two alicorns, whispering as they passed. Luna hurried along for Twilight’s sake, but inside, she couldn’t help but love the attention. It brought back memories of a time long before her exile, when ponies had craned their necks to get a look at the elusive Princess of the Night, rather than cringing away from her as she passed.
Everyone was waiting for them inside, as Luna had known they would be. Pinkie Pie was the first to get a word in, of course. “Ooh! Look! They’re here, they’re here! Hi Twilight! Hi Luna!”
“Yeah Pinkie, we can see they’re here. Hey Twilight, did I tell you I beat my old record for clearing the sky? Seven seconds flat.”
“Rainbow, darling, this is the fourth time you’ve told us. Some ponies find it rather less tacky to wait for everypony to gather before making announcements regarding their personal accomplishments, so they only have to do so once.”
“Just sayin’, Rarity, but I vaguely recall you tootin’ your own horn pretty darned loud when you got that contract to make all them dresses for the celebration.”
“Yes, well, that was a special case. It was the largest contract I’ve ever sold. I felt an exception was warranted for such an important occasion.”
“Hey, are you saying clearing the sky in seven seconds isn’t a big deal? Do you realize Spitfire’s record is only six and a half seconds? Spitfire!”
“Um, excuse me. I, uh, think Princess Celestia wants to say something. I mean, um, If you guys don’t mind.”
Everyone else immediately muttered apologies and quieted as the sun princess stepped forward with a smile on her face. “It has been one thousand and nine years since the last Winter Moon Celebration. Far too long for one of Equestria’s once most beloved festivals.” Abruptly, she threw her arms around her sister. “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “And I’m sorry I didn’t bring this celebration back sooner. I thought ponies might not be ready for it, but now I see it’s exactly what everypony needed.”
“There is nothing to apologize for,” said Luna, hugging her back. “I’m not sure I would have been ready before. But I’m ready now. Both of us are ready,” she said, looking at Twilight.
“It’s almost time,” said Celestia, stepping back. “This will be a night long remembered.”
“You bet it will be remembered! Just wait until you see the after party I’ve set up! Do you have any idea what I had to do to get Vinyl Scratch to do the 600th episode of A State of Prance from here? Oh, sorry, was I ruining the mood again?”
Everyone rolled their eyes at Pinkie. “Shhh, listen,” said Twilight. “The introduction has started.”
“Go on,” said Celestia. “I will lower the sun at the appropriate moment. Come, everypony. We all have our jobs to do, I believe.”
She exited the tent followed by the rest, giving words of encouragement as they left "It's funny," said Twilight. "It seems like a lifetime ago that I suggested you bring back the Winter Moon Celebration, even though it's only been a few months."
"I believe you made that suggestion in a throne room which no longer exists," replied Luna. "I've lived for thousands of years, but some times feel so much more real than others." She smiled, pulling Twilight close to her.
A few minutes of waiting later, Fluttershy’s birds gave their fanfare. “I believe that is our cue,” said Luna. “Shall we?”
Side by side, they exited the tent to great applause. Luna walked down the corridor, lined on both sides by cheering ponies, and felt complete for the first time in a thousand years. Reaching the stage, Luna raised her hoof, and the ponies quieted, holding their breath in anticipation. Twilight took up position opposite her. Looking into each other’s eyes, they began.
Luna reached out with her senses as she felt the sun disappear from the physical world. The moon was just below the horizon, waiting for her to summon it. She grasped it and spread her wings. As the two alicorns rose into the air, the moon rose with them, framing their silhouettes for the ponies watching.
As the moon reached its zenith, there was a burst of energy from the pony across from her, and the aurora flickered into being, waving its way across the sky until it framed the moon in a brilliant ring of colors and bathing the ponies below in light. For a time, there was nothing but silence. The ponies below stared up, awestruck by the spectacle. Then, in a growing swell, the cheers began, many times louder than they had been before.
Slowly, Luna lowered herself back to the stage, with Twilight beside her. She glanced at her companion and saw delight sparkling in her eyes; even Twilight couldn’t help but take pleasure in the adoration from the beauty they had created. They stood side by side and waved at the crowd before them as the applause went on and on.
Eventually, the crowd began to run out of steam. Luna glanced at Twilight, and she nodded. They faced the crowd, smiling, and bowed to them. Twilight looked down and winked at Pinkie, who bounded off to start the party. Finally, the two alicorns rose into the air. Side by side, they flew away to enjoy the night they had created.
The End