Luna yawned and stretched her limbs outwards, smacking her lips a few times as she felt the familiar buzzing in her head. Her moon was ready to go to sleep. She cracked her neck and sat up, forcing her eyes open as her blanket fell down around her waist. She then fluffed out her wings and placed her hooves on the floor.
There it hung in the sky; her gorgeous white orb drooping against the red and yellow dawn. Luna had always slept during the day, but after spending several hours in joint-sessions with Celestia and a psychotherapist, it was clear that Luna’s best course of action was to give up being nocturnal and instead stay awake during the day. It was a difficult transition to say the least.
Even still...
Luna trotted into her private washroom, using her magic to turn on the cold water and splash her face. Since keeping the same hours as Tia, we have never been closer. It is wonderful to know she is watching out for me.
Luna placed a bucket under the running water and watched as it filled, marveling at this ‘indoor plumbing’ Celestia had mentioned. Luna personally thought of it as a new form of magic—one she was most pleased with! Once the bucket was full, she switched off the water and grabbed a bottle of baby oil, liberally applying it to her coat. She glanced at the bottle and inhaled its floral scent for a moment before snorting and picking up a scraper which sat beside it.
Luna sat down on her haunches and—very carefully—ran the scraper over her coat. Dirt-tinged oil fell to the floor with every scrape. She soon set the scraper down and stood up, grabbing the bucket of cold water in her magic and dumping it over her coat. She gave a small yipe as the water sunk into her fur, shivering before she gave herself a mighty shake.
After shaking the water all over her bathroom, Luna beamed at herself in the mirror. Much better. Now that I’m clean, I’ll go and join Tia for breakfast before lowering the moon.
Her stomach growled in agreement. Yes—definitely food first.
Luna levitated her peytral onto her neck and clipped it into place before sliding her hooves one at a time into their silver shoes. She reached to open her door—
She brought a hoof softly to her face. Knew I was forgetting something.
Up floated her crown from its resting place upon her vanity. After lowered it onto her head, she gave a small sigh and excited her room. Both of her Lunar Guards outside her door received a royal nod—returning a respectful salute—before she turned right down the hall, well aware of her guards following at a polite distance.
Upon reaching a door emblazoned with the image of the sun, she nodded to the two solar guards on either side of it. Both guards stiffly saluted before the one on the right stepped aside, replaced by one of Luna’s own guards. The remaining two guards went to opposite ends of the hallway.
Luna wanted to roll her eyes at the displays. She had heard Celestia’s reasoning for this several times over, but in Luna’s mind it boiled down to one thing: These mortals felt that her sister and herself were vulnerable.
She wondered idly how the guards would react if they were ever to see Celestia in battle. The thought made her snort back a giggle with a delicate sniff before she opened the door and stepped inside.
Celestia sat at the small table, her pink mane falling over her left eye as she sipped a cup of tea. A newspaper levitated in front of her face, her eyes darting back and forth as she read.
Luna quietly closed the door and smiled as Celestia looked up. “Fair morning to thee, Tia.” She sat down next to her sister and nuzzled into her chest.
Celestia smiled, returning the nuzzle. “Good morning, Lulu. I hope you slept well?”
Luna poured herself a cup of tea, breathing deeply of its savory aroma. “Aye, We slept as a foal, dear Tia. Be’st thine own slumber as peaceful?”
Celestia nodded as a back door opened. A servant walked in, pushing a cart of two domed platters: one was set in front of Luna—who had quickly withdrawn from her sister’s embrace—while the other was placed in front of Celestia. With a small bow, the unicorn swiftly left the room, the door clicking shut behind her.
Luna licked her lips and lifted the dome off of her platter: a stack of oatcakes covered with blueberries, two fried eggs, two small apple tarts, and several strips of hay bacon lay before her, just begging to be devoured.
“My, ’tis quite the repast, Tia! Be’th We celebrating something this morn?”
Celestia’s fork hovered in place halfway to her mouth. “Yes, of course we are, Luna. Today is the morning of Hearth’s Warming Eve.”
Luna took a bite of hay bacon and chewed thoughtfully. She had seen several foals’ dreams over the past week, all of them eagerly anticipating the upcoming holiday. In fact, were mine saviors not in such a relevant play but a few days ago? “Ah, a celebration of our dear Equestria’s founding, We see!”
Celestia blinked. Then she smiled. “Something like that, Luna. But tonight, we will exchange gifts in front of the Hearth’s Warming tree.”
Luna’s eyes widened as she swallowed hard. “G-gift?”
“Oh, yes, Lulu. Family and friends exchange a gift or gifts every year on Hearth’s Warming Day. In fact, our guards should be bringing our tree into our sitting room right about now if you’d like to watch?”
“We… that is to say, We would, however… We shalt remain here and finish Our meal. We should best lower Our moon in addition, ere the hour thou raise thy sun.” Luna glanced towards the window, her horn lighting up. A moment later, the moon sank beneath the horizon. As her sleepy orb vanished from sight, her ethereal mane slowly faded to her straight and normal light-blue hair.
Celestia chewed her lip as she glanced down at Luna. Her own horn lit up, and she lifted the sun. Her mane shimmered, strips of color slowly appearing amongst the pink. “Are you sure you don’t want to watch, Luna?” she asked. “They will be putting up decorations as well.”
“We art without doubt, Tia. Thou mayest depart if that is thy wish, but We shall stay and finish Our meal in a civilized manner.” Luna took a small bite of eggs and chewed slowly, setting her fork down.
Celestia wiped her mouth and stood up. “Well, if you desire company, I’ll be in the sitting room for most of the day.”
Luna nodded once. “Aye, Tia. We will be within yon library most of this day. ’Tis the only responsible thing We can imagine to do until We have learned enough to retake Our place beside thee.”
Celestia smiled fondly. “Oh Luna! Whenever you feel you are ready, I am happy to have you by my side again.” With that she opened the door and trotted out, closing it with a soft click behind her.
Luna watched the door, her ears still tracking Celestia’s hoofsteps as they faded down the hall. Luna's ears fell back against her head and she sighed. Celestia seems to be very involved in this Hearth’s Warming festival. Perhaps I should see exactly what it is? A foal’s dream can only show so much after all. Luna glanced down at her breakfast and licked her lips, hesitant to leave the feast before her. She sighed, then shrugged before wolfing down the remains of her breakfast and tea. Coughing a touch, she shook herself before her magic encircled her body, turning it to an ethereal mist.
Carefully, Luna squeezed under the door and glid past the guards and then down the hall towards the sitting room. There, against the far wall, two guards were levitating a large evergreen tree into some sort of round holder. Celestia stood a bit away watching.
“No no, Starlight. To your left, not Light Tag’s left! There I think... yes, that’s perfect! Well done, my little ponies!”
The guards nodded to each other and the tree stopped moving. They bowed their heads to Celestia, who grinned. “Oh come now! For just today can we not be equals? After all, Hearth Warming celebrates the three tribes coming together in friendship! Does it not?”
One unicorn glanced at the other who shrugged, before both of them removed their helmets, dismissing the enchantment upon them which revealed them to be two mares. One of a lemon yellow coat with a sky blue mane, and the other a dark blue with a silver mane. “As you wish, your highness.”
Celestia took the helmets in her magic, setting them aside. “I take it that calling me Celestia is out of the question?” She chuckled at the horrified looks she received and shook her head. “I thought so. After all, I can’t even get Twilight Sparkle to call me Celestia. Well, the tree is up, but there is still much to be done!”
Luna watched, still safely hidden, as several boxes were discerned. Celestia opened the first one, revealing a green plant of some kind. It was a circle with what seemed to be small balls growing within it. So engrossed in this new plant was she that she failed to notice Celestia approach her hiding spot until it was too late.
Celestia hung up the wreath and smiled down at Luna who was her normal self once more. She had hoped Luna would follow to sate her own curiosity. Perhaps she could even entice her into helping. How best to do it though? Luna is still so nervous around other ponies. Think, Celestia! Think! Ah yes! Slowly she backed away seeing Luna’s attention on the boxes.
“Starlight? Light Tag? I think we should cut some holly leaves and berries to place on the walls. Will you assist me?” Celestia smiled gently and turned to head outside. She was quickly followed by the two guards, who were eager to help.
After a few moments Luna crept into the room and opened the next box. She could barely contain her excited curiosity of what could be inside. Especially after witnessing this new plant that grew without water! Inside the box was some type of long green vine wrapped into a circular shape. Every few inches a colored berry was growing. Luna cocked her head one way and then the next before lifting this strange vine from the box. It was certainly long. She glanced towards the tree then back towards the lights. Do they grow better on the tree? Tia placed that circular plant on the door… this vine seems long enough to wrap around the tree several times let me see.
Luna took a careful look at the vine, then licked one of the red berries and then promptly frowned. She had assumed them to be of a sweet flavor. Maybe they do need to be on the tree to grow? They are rather small after all. She gave a firm nod and with a flap of her wings she placed the end of the vine into the top of the tree and carefully circled the tree. She began to wrap the vine slowly and meticulously around and around doing her best to keep it even in order to promote the best growth. At the end was an odd looking root. She looked it over carefully then perked up, she had seen this type of root before in her room! Her new light had one. She crawled onto her belly searching for the… what had Tia called in? An inlet? There it was! How fascinating this vine is! I hope Tia will share the berries with me when they are ripe! She carefully plugged the vine into the inlet and jumped back, shielding herself with a wing from the bright light that had just appeared. After a moment she lowered her wing and looked at the light. It was coming from the berries and they were glowing a bright luminescent shine. She sat down and simply stared at them How curious! They seem to have a calming effect. Could this be some sort of protective adaptation?
Celestia sat next to Luna, having been watching from the doorway. She wrapped a wing around her and smiled “Thank you for putting the lights on the tree Luna. They look beautiful.”
Luna was startled at Celestia’s sudden appearance, but then she looked up at Celestia and smiled, noticing they were alone. “We art pleased we planted the light vine correctly ‘Tia.”
Celestia opened her mouth to correct Luna but shook her head with a smile. “Say Luna? Would you be willing to do something silly with me?”
Luna cocked her head. She wasn’t certain what this ‘silly’ meant but if it was something Celestia wanted to do, it couldn’t be so bad. “Of course, ‘Tia. We would be overjoyed to perform this silly with thee.”
“We take it back, we art not overjoyed to do this silly!” Luna frowned, putting a hoof to her chin as the picture was taken. Celestia had convinced her to put on fake antlers and a red nose. While Celestia herself had tied on a white beard and placed a red stocking hat on her head. It had white fluff around the brim and a ball of white fluff at the very top.
“Oh come now, Luna. It’s only for us, I promise. Maybe next year if you feel up to it we could visit the foal hospital dressed like this and give out presents!”
“What tis it we are dressed as again?” Luna grumbled, though she had perked up at the mention of helping foals.
“I’m Santa Hooves and you are Rudolph.” Celestia smiled explaining again.
Luna nodded and grabbed the picture as it was ejected from the camera. “We will see thee tonight Tia! We have much work to perform!”
Celestia blinked as Luna galloped away before realizing Luna had the only copy of the picture “Luna!”
Luna frowned down at the paper of construction before her. She had secretly gathered her supplies from throughout the palace. The uncooked pasta was in a bowl on her right while the glue and quill were on her left. There was only one thing still missing. She slammed her hoof onto the table twice and waited. A moment later a nervous unicorn came in and bowed
“Y-yes your highness? What is it that you need?”
“We require copious amounts of what is called ‘glitter’. Fetchest it now, this we command!” Luna turned back to her project as she heard the maid stammer a response and flee. She shook her head Still they run in terror from me. And Tia wonders why I deny to take my place beside her. When Celestia had told her that they would be exchanging gifts that evening Luna had no idea what to do. She did not wish to go to one of the many stalls searching for a gift. She also had no idea how to bake in that new ‘evon’? Iven… something like that. She was so worn out after assisting Celestia with the rest of the planting, Luna had chosen to take a nap and do just a bit of dream walking. Within a young foal’s dream she had found the perfect gift for her sister.
After dipping her quill in the ink she took it within her mouth and sketched out the design. So easy would it be to use her magic and so perfect would her drawing be. However this… this was far too important. After finishing the design she smiled and took the glue in her hooves and began tracing it out. The door opened and the maid slowly stepped in carrying several containers of glitter. “Your Highness?”
Luna looked up, ink covering her muzzle and she smiled “We bid thee set them within our reach then begone with our thanks.”
The maid did so quickly and glanced at her princess. Oddly; with ink on her and a bottle of glue in her hooves, she seemed more approachable. Maybe she always was... The maid shook her head and walked out.
Celestia sat in front of the tree, a small smile on her lips as she poked at the roaring fire. A single gift was beneath the tree, though, she dearly hoped another would join it. Luna had sent one of the maids to inform her that she was busy and would be skipping dinner. That had been a hour ago. Celestia’s shoulders slumped as she glanced down at the two untouched cups of hot chocolate. “Maybe I pushed her too hard, maybe she wasn’t ready for all of this…”
Celestia sighed and started to get up when the door slowly opened. She turned her head to see Luna standing there, with a nervous smile playing on her face. She was covered in ink, glue, and glitter. At any other time Celestia would have found it difficult not to laugh but now she just felt joy at the sight of her.
“You came.”
Luna smiled trotting into the room and placing a poorly wrapped gift under the tree. “Aye We… I would not have missed this. This day of holly it is important to you, yes?”
Celestia simply nodded and Luna smiled, before taking her spot besides her and leaned into her side, nuzzling close. The only sounds were the sounds of the crackling fire. “Then it is important to us. ‘Tia you art so special to us. We hope this simple gift will express our feelings in the smallest manner.”
Celestia beamed. “Well then! Shall we open our gifts?”
Luna nodded, handing Celestia the poorly wrapped flat gift as Celestia handed her a book shaped parcel. Luna smiled. Another history tome maybe? Harmony knows there are so many of them!
“Well go on Lulu! Open your gift.” Celestia chuckled, watching Luna look over the gift, searching for a way to get into it. After a second she shrugged and tore the colorful paper off and froze. It was indeed a book as she had thought, but it was not a history tome nor any educational materials. Luna turned it over, carefully running a hoof over the cover and spine. “How?”
Celestia smiled, “I found it in what was left of your room. Though much of your things were destroyed by the nightmare I was able to salvage this. Merry Hearth's Warming, Lulu.”
Luna swallowed hard and opened the book. Within were her thoughts, her dreams.
“Moonlight doth quake
Snow doth fall
But inside our home.
We art safe from bitter cold.”
Luna giggled. How long ago did I write that? Far before the nightmare was even an idea…
“We-I thank thee. This… this tis something I never thought I twould lay eye upon again.” Luna set the book aside and beamed. “Well Tia! Tis thy turn!”
Celestia smiled and far more carefully unwrapped the gift and turned it over a smile lit up her face as it became apparent why her dear little sister was covered in glitter and glue. “Luna, it’s perfect! Thank you.”
Luna’s smile never wavered as Celestia wrapped her in a tight hug as from outside voices could be heard.
The fire of friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns we cannot drift apart
Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through (will see us through)
We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we'll be to the very end
“Merry Hearth’s warming, ‘Tia.”
“Merry Hearth’s warming, Lulu.”