//------------------------------//
// The Next Destination 
// Story: A History of Equestria 
// by Lumosity15 
//------------------------------//

	Luna let out a whoop, as she buzzed her tiny wings in loop-de-loop around the carriage.  I’ve never been this high before! She thought in wonder.  The ponies below her looked like tiny ants crawling around on the ground, though in reality, Luna knew many of them were far bigger than she.  Luna looked behind her, at the occupants of the pegasus-drawn wagon.  Stryker was looking relaxed and confident, as she predicted he normally did, while poor Leaf was even greener than before, and clutching tightly to the side.  Stifling a laugh, Luna sped up to meet her sister.  


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The soon to be Princess Celestia was lost in thought as she flew toward Canterlot.  So much had happened in the last few days, it was becoming hard to keep all the facts straight.  So deep in her own mind was she, she almost didn’t notice her sister flying full speed toward her her until it was too late.  Poor Luna wasn’t able to slow down fast enough, so she tried an in-place spin like her sister had been trying to teach her, but accidentally clipped Celestia’s wing in the process, sending the two alicorns pinwheeling like one-winged pigeons.  

After flapping and flailing for a few moments, Celestia managed to right herself, only to find Luna already flying in dizzyingly tight circles about ten feet above her head.

“LUNA!” Shouted Celestia, “You almost knocked both of us out of the sky!  You need to be more careful, or we won’t even make it to Canterlot, much less the lands beyond!”  Luna had stopped circling, and was hovering next to Celestia.  At these words though, her eyes lit up as bright as the sun.

“Lands beyond!” Neighed Luna,”You mean we're actually going?!” Celestia nodded her head, and Luna started zigzagging all around the sky shouting, ”YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  As usual, and rather unfortunately for the small traveling party, Luna wasn’t looking where she was going, and was starting to come dangerously close to the carriage, while Thunder and Lightning tried their best to dodge the speeding filly.  Leaf was clinging onto the side of the carriage for dear life, somehow turning an even greener shade than normal, as the pegasi struggled to avoid an impending collision. 

“LUNA!” Celestia screamed.  She buzzed her wings like a hummingbird, shooting forward with enough force to push a nearby eagle into a passing cloud, out of which he popped his head, looking indignantly at the pink and white streak that was Celestia.  The white alicorn cried,”Sorry!”, and flew on in her mission to rescue others from her little sister.  

Luna was still flying around, though at a slightly more manageable speed, but still too fast for them both to survive an airborne collision, so Celestia flew slightly above her, fanning out the feathers on the lower half of her wings, but keeping the top half close together so she could hover in one place while implementing for half-formulated plan.  When she was certain she would neither fall, nor be carried up higher than she already was, she started flapping her wings as hard as she possibly could, creating a strong downward breeze.

Thunder and Lightning were the first to react; obviously the breeze would have an effect on the carriage that Celestia hadn’t accounted for.  Silently cursing herself, she looked down at the blue blur that was Luna.  Luckily she was slowing down, the breeze forcing her to concentrate all her strength on just staying aloft.  Seeing that her plan was working, she slowly slowed her wings, and let her feathers return to their normal positions.  Celestia let herself glide slowly down to the carriage, where the occupants and pullers were looking harried but OK.  Checking in quickly, she found that some of their supplies had blown out, but they were otherwise alright, except maybe Leaf, whose hooves were white after clinging to the wall so tightly.  Celestia smiled at them, then gilded down to her sister, eyes hardening as she went.

“You see Luna, Ya’ see!?  This is what happens when you lose control.  It may be fun when we’re playing, but up in the air it’s very dangerous!” 
When Cela paused for a breath, Luna immediately jumped in with a,”But I did-”
“Ba-ba-ba Luna, I don’t want to hear it.” Celestia said, her voice growing colder with each word.  “You can’t react this way to everything that excites you!  You could end up putting other ponies lives in danger!” Celestia’s gaze softened as she sighed,”Oh, Luna, I know you’re young, but it’s time for you to start growing up.  We might become princesses soon an-”
“PRINCESSCES!!”  Luna bounced up a couple feet in the air, like she was about to take off again, then slowly descended back to her sister.  In a very formal tone, she said to Celestia,”Pardon me, please feel free to continue.”  Celestia laughed and pulled her sister close, being careful to avoid her wings.  

“Canterlot Ho!” Shouted Stryker.  Celesia gasped and looked up, noticing for the first time a small blot on the side of the mountain ahead of them, steadily growing larger as the group approached.

“Luna, look!” Neighed Celestia,”It’s Canterlot!  It’s Canterlot!”  Celestia felt like a symphony should start playing.  Her first true glimpse of Canterlot was all she’d ever dreamed without realizing it: Ponies playing together, her sun glinting off the sun encrusted castle.  Luna gave a whoop, and sped up towards the distant city, until Celestia called her back.  “We don’t want to frighten them by just barging in.” She said, trying to formulate an idea of they should arrive in Canterlot,”We’re new to this Equestria an-”

“Uh, Cela?” Smirked Luna,”We’ve lived here our whole lives, remember?”
“Ugh, Luna I know we’ve lived in Equestria our whole lives, but we haven’t live in Equestria our whole lives.” Sighed Celestia.

“Ok, now I’m just confused.”

“Fine, Luna, what I mean is, we haven’t lived around these ponies before, in fact, most of them have probably never even seen an alicorn before.  We need to be calm, and make friends instead of jumping in and becoming dictators.”

“Oh.  Well, when you say it like that...” Luna agreed,”you might just be right.  It is a good idea for us to come in slow.”  Celestia smiled and hugged her sister close again, looking once more at the city that was Canterlot.

“Sorry to interrupt the tender moment highnesses,” Called Striker,” But we are beginning our descent into Canterlot.”

Both sisters gasped, their eyes lighting up with excitement.  Striker could tell they were using all of their self-control just to keep pace with carriage, and not go shooting off.

Sometimes they would lose it, and shoot down like bullets for a few feet, then stop and wait for the others to catch up.  

After what felt felt like hours, but was probably just a minute or two, the traveling party touched down on the cobbled streets of Canterlot.  Celestia quickly brushed a few stray leaves out of her mane, and rubbed some dirt off of Luna’s cheek.  She looked back at the rest of the group; a small cloud of dust showed that Leaf had taken off, most likely in search of the nearest bathroom, while Striker was helping Thunder and Lightning out of their harnesses.  Satisfied that everyone was fine, Cela looked back up, only to see that they were surrounded by a group of open mouthed ponies of all kinds; earth, unicorn, and pegasus.  Well we did it, thought Celestia, We finally arrived!