Celestia let out a contented sigh as she gently pushed the sun beneath the horizon. There was a time when she had worried that she would one day tire of this task, but the centuries had fortunately proven those worries untrue. If anything, raising and setting the sun had become more enjoyable now that her sister had returned. During the summer, she was able to commence and end the day without any distractions, since Luna reigned over her Night Court during those times. Now, all that was left for her to do that evening was to sit back and enjoy the twilight’s remaining oranges and purples until her sister brought out the moon and the stars.
However, this evening’s reverie was somewhat short-lived, as Luna strode briskly out onto the observation tower’s balcony, her boots making metallic clacks each time they struck the cobblestones. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, sister, but I must inform you that I will be absent from Canterlot for most of the night.”
This came as a mild surprise to Celestia, as Luna’s sense of duty generally forbade her from missing a scheduled session of her Night Court without a good reason. “Is something wrong?”
“Indeed. Recent developments in regards to the fog recovery effort have necessitated direct Royal participation in regards to the fog specialist’s proposed agendum.”
Celestia couldn’t help but notice that Luna’s sentence had been excessively polysyllabic (even for her), which probably meant that she knew that she didn’t really need to get involved. “A princess is needed to make sure that the Weather Department is doing its job?” Celestia asked with a smirk. “Also, you said ‘in regards to’ twice.”
“I haven’t the time to think of synonyms at the moment,” Luna said with a tight-lipped frown. “And the plan is controversial enough that there must be no doubt that it has Royal approval.”
Celestia, however, wasn’t quite ready to change the subject. “Is the Night Court really that boring?”
Luna stiffened a bit, but then sighed as she adopted a more relaxed posture. “As a matter of fact, it is. Even though I’ve moved my court sessions to the early evening to better accommodate our subjects’ sleep patterns, it seems that most ponies would still rather have you solve their problems.”
“They’re just more familiar with me,” Celestia said with an encouraging smile. “Eventually, they’ll come around.”
“Be that as it may,” Luna replied, attempting to shift the conversation back to its original topic, “there has been enough confusion for one night, particularly since there’s little time to dither around. Fluttershy needs a gale to push that fog over the mountains and into the Everfree forest.”
“Ah, I can see why the department would be hesitant.”
Luna looked askance at her sister. “You are not surprised to learn that Fluttershy is the fog specialist?”
“Oh, no. I have a few private contacts in the Weather Department who can supplement the official reports. Why, were you surprised?”
“More than I should have been, apparently,” Luna grumbled, making a mental note to acquire some informal contacts of her own. “But to return to the point, I still have grave concerns about the plan, and I wish to be in a position where I can not only assist it, but also bring it to a halt if new information confirms my doubts.”
“If you’re so concerned, why didn’t you simply refuse?”
“I did at first, but then the liaison mentioned that it was Fluttershy’s idea. I should think it obvious that any public display that even hints at possible disunity between us and the Element-Bearers is not in Equestria’s best interest. They can not protect harmony in this land unless it is known that we trust them implicitly.”
“And do you?”
“Of course! I am assisting her with the plan, am I not? It’s just... well, I trust that Fluttershy has Equestria’s best interests in mind, but sometimes one needs a bit more than good intentions.”
“I see. Well, if it’s any consolation, I think her idea is a sound one, even if it is based on untested theory. I presume she expects the Everfree to remove the pegasus magic in the fog?”
“I believe so.”
“Then I think you’re taking the best course of action, assuming that somepony can get in touch with you if there is a reason to stop the plan.”
“She can simply have one of her friends go to sleep. I’ll be monitoring the Bearers’ dreams tonight for that purpose. Oh! That reminds me...” Luna produced a small scroll and gave it to her sister. “Would you mind using your connection with young Spike to send this letter to Fluttershy? I can’t exactly wait for her to fall asleep to explain what I’m doing.”
Celestia briefly skimmed over the letter’s contents as Luna raised the moon into the sky. Finding none of the archaic word choices that still occasionally slipped into her sister’s formal writing, she sent it off to to Ponyville in a flash of greenish-yellow light. “Well, I suppose you’ll need to be leaving soon,” she remarked to her sister.
“Indeed,” Luna replied, although her slightly downcast eyes suggested that she wasn’t quite ready to end the conversation just yet. “What do you really think of this plan?”
“Well, at the moment, you know more details than I do, but...”
“Yes?” Luna asked, beckoning her sister to finish her statement.
“...Fluttershy doesn’t seem like the type who’d make a decision like this lightly—not when the wellbeing of others is at stake.”
Luna’s eyelids narrowed in obvious consternation. “You haven’t actually answered my question.”
“I know,” Celestia said with a playful smile. “Now, I believe you have business to attend to in Cloudsdale, correct?”
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes as she exited the room. “Good evening, Celestia.”
September 1– 7:42 PM
By the time the Crusaders had selected their disco ball and brought it back to Sweet Apple Acres, there had only been a few minutes of sunlight left for them to install it, finishing their human trap—with the exception of Mr. Shnookums, who was entitled to spend the night indoors, as per his contract. This, however, brought none of the expected relief and jubilation, as the trio had encountered an unexpected snag.
“What are we gonna do about that party?” Scootaloo asked her friends as they reconvened in their clubhouse. A soft breeze flowed through the open windows, causing the lantern hanging from the ceiling to gently sway back and forth, making the shadows on the floor oscillate and somehow adding gravitas to the young pegasus’ question.
“Who says we gotta do anythin’?” Apple Bloom replied. “I mean, if our trap works, won’t the human be, y’know, trapped?”
“I’m not sure,” Sweetie Belle said. “Bon-Bon did say that humans were really, really smart, and their thumbs are opposable.”
“I thought we agreed that there was going to be a moraloralum on vocab words,” Scootaloo said angrily.
“It’s ‘moratorium,’” Sweetie Belle said indignantly, “and we never agreed to anything. You just don’t want to be reminded that you still have homework to do. Anyway, my point is that the human might be able to think of a way to escape if it’s caught.”
“Well, maybe we can come up with somethin’ that’ll keep it from gettin’ very far even if it does escape,” Apple Bloom suggested.
“You mean like another trap?” Scootaloo asked skeptically. “We don’t have time to come up with a second trap if this one fails.”
“We could go back to my first idea of digging a really big hole,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Alright, so we don’t have time to come up with a second trap that’s cool enough to be a backup to this one,” Scootaloo amended, earning a scornful glare from her friend. “Somepony needs to be around to make sure the human doesn’t get up to no good, and since Mr. Shnookums’ contract is pretty clear on the kinds of jobs we’re allowed to assign him, that somepony will have to be us.”
“But isn’t that a little dangerous?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Maybe, but we’re talking about the safety of Equestria here!” Scootaloo replied, stamping a hoof against the floorboards for emphasis. “Besides, if it gets too hairy, we can just hurry back to the party, right?”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, “but how’re we gonna get away from that party? I mean, the whole point is basically to keep foals from gettin’ out to where the fog might be.” Needless to say, Apple Bloom did not believe that she or her friends deserved to be called “foals,” but evidently their families disagreed.
“Well, maybe we can wait for a break in the party activities and sneak out,” Sweetie Belle said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Apple Bloom said. “Pinkie gave the impression that this was going to be her ‘best party ever,’ and that probably means stuff will be goin’ on nonstop.”
“Well, that’s even better, right?” Scootaloo said. “If there’s tons of stuff happening, that means we’ll be more likely to slip away when Pinkie Pie’s not looking.”
“Except it ain’t just gonna be Pinkie Pie there,” Apple Bloom said earnestly. She leaned forward, causing the shifting shadows on her face to look even more melodramatic. “This party is supposed to be keeping the foals safe, so there’s probably gonna be a bunch of adults around to make sure nopony gets out who’s s’posed ta be stayin’ there. An’ I don’t think even Bon-Bon would let us out if she thought she was puttin’ us in danger, even if it’s to check on the human trap.”
“Well, maybe we can ask Bon-Bon to check it for us,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Scootaloo shook her head. “That won’t work. If something other than a human sets off the trap, we’re the only ones who know how to reset it. It has to be us.”
“Maybe if one of us pretended to be sick, they might let us out to get to the hospital,” Apple Bloom said.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I’m willing to bet that there’s going to be at least one nurse there, just to make sure that nopony has to leave if something happens.”
Silence filled the clubhouse, interrupted only by the creaking of the lantern as it swayed back and forth in the breeze, and the occasional sound of Mr. Shnookums munching on one of the premium food pellets that had been stipulated in his contract.
“You know what?” Apple Bloom finally said. “I think we’re just gonna have to make it up as we go along.”
Scootaloo smirked. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
“What?! No, it doesn’t,” Sweetie Belle countered. “It sounds like a complete lack of a plan.”
“You’ve got a better idea?” Scootaloo said with a glare.
“No... I mean, I don’t have a problem with it. It’s just that it isn’t really a plan, because, you know, we haven’t actually planned anything.”
Scootaloo sighed. “Okay, how about this, then? Tomorrow morning, we double-check the trap to make sure it’s properly set up, then we go to the party, and leave as soon as we can.”
Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin as she thought this over. “That sounds a little bit more like a plan, I guess.”
Apple Bloom extended her hoof between the the three of them. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Go?” she asked.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other for about a second before nodding and adding their hooves to the center. “Go!”