Another day has ended in Equestria.
Celestia let out a sigh as the last rays of the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Right beside her on the look out balcony was Luna, lifting up the moon to take over where the sun left off. Luna couldnt help but chuckle when she heard her older sister let out a yawn. "Long day, Tia?" she asked with a grin on her face.
Celestia gave her little sister a glare through her half closed eyelids. "One night you will feel the wrath of paperwork, sister. Then you will know just how long my days can be."
Luna reached over and gave her sister a loving nuzzle. "Go and get some rest, sister. The villanous documents shall not reach you while you are under your covers."
Celestia returned the nuzzle and sighed, "One can only hope. Have a pleasant night, Lulu."
"You as well, Tia."
Celestia went to walk inside when she stopped and turned back to her sister, "Will you be patrolling the dream realm again, tonight?"
Luna paused, a slight blush appearing in her cheeks, "Perhaps..." she quietly answered.
"Perhaps?" Celestia took a step closer toward her sister. The hesitancy in her little sister's voice was enough to draw her attention away from the bed that was calling her name. "Is something the matter, Lu?"
"Nothing is wrong, per say." Luna allowed herself to smile as she thought about what she witnessed the previous night. A smile that did not go unnoticed by her older sister.
"Did something interesting occur last night?" Celestia walked up to Luna's side and looked at her sister in the face. She was now noticing the blush too. "Something that involves a pony's dream, perchance?"
Luna hummed to herself, as her mind continued to replay the dream, "Maybe..." she said quietly.
Celestia leaned in close to her sister, a smirk beginning to form on her face. It had been a while since she had seen her sister act like this, and the elder princess' mischief making nature was threatening to show. "Holding secrets from your big sister, hmm?" Celestia glided to the front of her sister, that mischievous smile growing slightly bigger. "And here I thought we were beyond that...unless," Celestia leaned her head in close, that smile becoming almost fox like in appearance. Luna had seen that smile too many times to take it for granted.
"Unless what?" Luna took a half step back from her sister.
"Unless it was one of those dreams. And I have to say you of all ponies should know how natural it is to have such desires." Celestia sat back on her haunches and looked up to the sky in reminiscence, "In fact I distinctly remember the one time you told me about the dream you witnessed that involved teenager..."
"WHAT!?! NO! NO, NO, NO!" Luna's face turned a brillant shade of purple, "It was nothing like that. And I thought you promised never to bring that up?" Celestia merely shrugged, that predatory grin still on her face. "This dream," Luna continued, "was something different. It was filled with such strong emotion and such pure passion..."
"So it was one of those dreams!"
"Sister!" Luna scrunched her face up and was glaring at her older sister.
It was all Celestia could do to stop herself from giggling at the sight of her sister being so flustered. "I'm sorry Luna," she apologized, "please continue. No more unnecessary interuptions." She held up a hoof in an honorable gesture.
"Hmph," Luna wasn't sure if she believed Celestia or not but she continued anyway. "It was a musician's dream. In fact, I believe it was one of the ponies who will be performing at the amphitheater's grand opening next month." Luna paused for a moment to think to herself. "Hmm, to be more specific it was the pony that volunteered to compose a piece for the occasion."
"You are referring to Octavia, the cellist," Celestia said with a slight nod. "She is indeed very talented, but she can be rather old fashioned and serious in her habits." Celestia smirked and gave her sister a sideways glance. "Much like a certain somepony that I know."
Luna either did not hear the last part of her sister's comment, or chose not to acknowledge it. "She is very skilled at her craft," she said with an air of dreaminess in her tone. "I have never witnessed music performed like that in over a millennium."
"How do you know," Celestia began, "it was really her performing naturally, and not something that resulted from her wishing for a performance like that to occur?"
"It is...hard to explain. I guess after all this time, I can just tell when the dream is controlling the pony and when the pony is controlling the dream. In this case, the dream was controlling her and she honestly thought she was doing a real performance." Luna sighed and smiled. "And what a performance it was. Oh sister, I wish you could have been there!" Without realizing it, Luna had begun to take flight above the balcony and was now doing her own aerial dance to the music that filled her head as she recounted what she experienced in Octavia's dream.
"I can not even describe it with words, it was so beautiful!" Luna twirled in the air much to Celestia's amusement. "It just poured out of her body through those deep purple eyes of hers and..."
"Purple eyes?" Celestia inquired.
"Yes! Deep purple eyes that were filled with passion and song, Tia! I know this from when she and I locked eyes on one another!"
"I see," Celestia gave her little sister a soft smile. "It seems Miss Octavia has an admirer." Celestia knew she should be going to bed, but she enjoyed seeing her sister this way. Besides, something about the way Luna was acting had peaked her curiosity about something. "So, I am correct in saying that she was able to see you in the dream?"
Luna stopped her solo flying ballet and looked at her sister. "She was, yes."
"And did you wish for her to see you?"
Luna blinked a few times as she realized that she didn't wish for herself to be seen by anypony in the dream. Even in a situation where under normal circumstances she would have been in plain sight, when Luna wants to remain an unknown in a pony's dream she remains an unknown. So the fact that this Octavia was able to pick her out so easily...
"Luna?"
Her sister's voice had knocked Luna off of her train of thought and back into the conversation at hoof.
"Sorry, Tia," Luna spoke with a little bit more reserve in her voice. "I was thinking about what you asked. No I did not wish for her to see me, but..." Luna paused.
"But?" Celestia leaned ever so slightly forward in her spot. She had a feeling where this was headed, but she needed a little bit more information to be sure.
"I can't help but feel glad she did," Luna looked away, a slight blush beginning to come back to her face.
Celestia gave her sister a motherly all knowing type smile and stood up. "I am happy for you, Lu. However, it is getting late. I have a bed that is calling me, and you still have a few stars to call forth."
"Oh basket willows!"
In her excitement she had forgotten that she still had her duties to perform for the night sky. She quickly said her goodnight to her sister and flew straight up into her night sky. Celestia shook her head and chuckled as she watched her sister take flight.
"Perhaps, I should make arrangements for a different princess to be present for the opening of the theatre. It is going to occur at night, after all." With a yawn, Celestia turned to leave the balcony and made her way to her bedchambers.
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Luna flew past what little clouds were in the sky, and into the stratosphere. She stopped and hovered in mid air for a bit before deciding that her position was the perfect spot to do her work. Although, treating the night sky like a giant canvas was hardly work. Luna loved to fill her night sky with the stars and since returning from her banishment and learning of all the ponies who use her stars for so many different reasons, she has found the task more enjoyable than ever.
Luna closed her eyes and summoned the magic in her horn. As she did so, she kept an image in her mind. An image that has been close to heart for as long as anypony could remember. This image contained the blue print of her night: the constellations both their design and locations, the levels of brightness each individual star should have, the blue and red in Orion, the faint orange in Taurus, the near white in Canis Major. As she kept the image in her mind's eye, it was becoming more than a picture in her head. Soon, the night sky itself was coming to life and was being filled with the stars Luna has taken such pride and joy in.
As she was putting the finishing touches on her work of art, Luna couldn't help but wonder why she never used any other colors for her stars. Why not a purple star or two? This stray thought was accompanied with the music of the dream she experienced last night. And just like earlier, it made Luna want to soar higher and express the emotions that it stirred up in her. Her thoughts continued to drift as she began to think about the mare who created the music. The feeling of intense dedication and love for her craft was similar to how Luna felt every night when she filled the sky with her stars. The hesitation and sense of doubt that Octavia felt before she began to play was the same that Luna use to feel for nights leading up to her "change." The sense that her hard work would be for naught. Fear of under appreciation, of rejection. Luna knew what the cellist was going through in that moment. Maybe that was why she seemed to connect with her so.
Yes, there certainly is a kindred soul inside that mare and it made Luna want to see her again. "Perhaps I will visit her dreams again at the end of the night," she thought to herself. "Maybe I should make the bold move and start a conversation with her."
Luna suddenly realized that she still had her spell going, and promptly ended it. When she opened her eyes to view her hoofwork, she gasped and blushed. In the sky, was a new constellation. It was vague, but if a pony was looking closely enough they could see the outline of an earth pony. And at that pony's head, two light purple stars were visible where the eyes would have been. After the initial shock had passed, Luna began to laugh to herself. "She is, rather cute to look at," she thought out loud to herself. Luna stared at her accidental work of art for a few moments before she spoke again, "I better remove this, before somepony has a fit." With a shake of her head and a bit of regret, Luna made the constellation disappear as the stars spread out from where they came from. "I am leaving the purple ones, though," she thought to herself as she proceeded to back to the castle balcony to do her first hour of night watch.