Interlude
Celestia and Luna had shared the early afternoon in quiet reflection of that horrible, horrible day. Thankful for the lack of disturbances, Luna finally opened her eyes. She had finally run out of tears for the loss of her brothers but could mourn no longer for them. Her grief had faded considerably, but now the questions were coming. As if sensing the incoming inquiries, Celestia too opened her eyes, and the gentlest of smiles crossed her face as she waited for Luna to gather her words.
"Sister," Luna finally began, "how have you managed to continue the duties the six of us performed after that day?"
Celestia slowly rose to all four hooves. "We had anticipated the day that we would be short-handed. Whether we chose to expand our empires or if conflict arose, we would have all of our information in place. Cepheid and Aphelion took extensive notes of how their duties were performed, as they had no backup. While I had Solaris and you had Umbral, we shared our information and combined it into several tomes.
"Thankfully, many citizens in other villages choose to assist when the seasons are changing as there is so little magic to go around. Towns founded by earth ponies get much of the work done for fall and spring, and since winter and summer blend so seamlessly into their preceding seasons, it is not a strain on our resources.
"The pegasus cities have made it their business to assist in weather for many locales, so we have much fewer duties overall. I raise the sun and moon, and use both to guide the tides and seasons. I will be thankful when we will have you resuming your duties with the moon."
"I.... I do look forward to it, but do the ponies even notice...."
"They do, and their assistance in making these seasons blossom and fade - having a hoof in such important matters - only reinforces our harmony. While they cannot move the sun and moon, they can help move the clouds for the sun to shine, they can aid the trees preparing for winter, they can clear their fields and sow their crops for all to prosper."
Luna pondered this as Celestia magically opened the door to another room. "I had your room prepared with some new decorations, sister. It was already designed to your wishes but I have added one thing to the bare west wall."
Curious, Luna carefully slid off her pillow and peeked through the door. While dark, the room itself had welcome hues of midnight blues and night-cloud grays, what little furniture glittered with silvery accents. A single south-facing window gave some of Celestia's charge a peek inside, catching an angled mirror and flickering into a framed stained-glass mosiac, much like the ones that colored the sunlight in the great hall. Luna trotted closer, fascinated by the angling light into the design and an accent of pearlescent light backlighting the image to Luna's delight.
The image was one she had demanded to see earlier - the centerpiece that once adorned the Great hall, an image of Discord, head lowered and eyes crazed, canopied under six pairs of wings. Her gaze traced over the brilliant colors, between the blazing whites of Celestia's and Solaris' wings to the glowing gold of Cepheid's to the twinkling blues and whites of Aphelion's. Hers and Umbral's blue-black wings framed the outside edges of their canopy, and each point punctuated with an actual gemstone instead of glass, highlighting each of their elements that ended the darkness and chaos that established the peace of their world. Luna spread her wings and hovered up closer to the amazing work, her horn reverently touching each stone to add a shimmer to each one. To Celestia's surprise, she did not hesitate for the fallen Cepheid or Aphelion, though her joy did slow as she tapped her amythyst and turned to the single opaque gem in the piece: a darkly mottled sphere of Lapis LAzuli.
Celestia anticipated Luna's answer to this opaque gem; could it be lit? She offered no advice or encouragement, merely letting her sister decide. Luna hovered there for several moments, not looking back to her sister and finally tapping the marbled gem with her horn.
She fluttered away from the mosaic before landing solemnly beside her. "I'm not to mourn for the past...."
"But we have a duty to our own Family, Luna... to never forget, but in time to forgive."