It was a warm and peaceful evening, the one in which our beloved moon pony had been planning something extra special for her dear sister, Celestia. Luna knew very well what tomorrow meant, and it obviously required some amount of thought for such a feat to occur.
She absentmindedly trotted around her room several times, thinking about a simple, yet well-deserved surprise birthday party for her sister. After all, Celestia was turning one thousand years tomorrow, a milestone even the very same Celestia has probably forgotten over time. But in this year, Luna returned and there was /no/ way she was going to miss this birthday. Luckily when she was stuck in the moon for so long, she kept track of mundane things, such as how old her sister was, or how much time had elapsed since her banishment. It was a dark period yes, but Luna knew very well that both of them were sorry about the acts that they did.
Luna bricked that thought out of her mind and continued trotting around her room.
She knew for fact that Celestia absolutely loved cake. Especially a triple frosted strawberry cake. But how could she find that kind of cake when it was so late in the day? She already got the present, yes, but that’d obviously be too dull for a birthday this worthy. Probably she could ask the kitchen staff for their help.
Back when both sisters were still fillies, Celestia would often cling to a certain toy their mother had left behind. Silly as it sounds, it was a cape that held so much meaning to her. On it, both cutie marks of the Royal Sisters were sewn onto the fabric, symbolizing the stability that both sisters would bring to the newly formed Equestria. After so many battles with evil entities, she lost the valuable cape in one of them, never to be found again. Unbeknownst to Celestia, her sister recovered the artefact some years later, it was found ripped into pieces deep down a canyon out of Canterlot limits. Luna knew she couldn’t just give it back to her sister, even though it was a very prized memento of their mother. If she had just barged in and gave the cape to Celestia, she knew very well that she’d wear it everywhere, even causing a public embarrassment up to a point. For so many years she kept the cape hidden behind a bookcase in her room, waiting for the day she thought it was right to give the cape to the owner. After she found the cape though, she made sure to sow it back together, so it would look like new. . . Kind of. As for our little Celly, she got over the lost cape around three weeks. Luna at one point felt attachment to that cape as well, even if she never got to wear it.
She cleared her mind, trying to set her objective straight once and for all. She then proceeded to move various tomes out of the bookcase so she could finally reveal Celestia’s once adored fabric. It was folded inside a chest, so it wouldn’t lose its quality over time. After all, this simple cape has been in that chest for so many years, now it was time to finally bring it to the real world.
Opening the little chest, Luna squeed internally, knowing that her sister would absolutely love this gift. Besides the cake and the cape, Luna would definitely need to set up more decorations for the occasion. She knew her sister adored balloons… Lots of them. During the morning, she asked if the Castle staff could show up at the surprise birthday party. They weren’t hesitant at all, they were actually very surprised that Luna would ask their help building a cake for her dear sister. Luckily for Luna, her sister knew every single staff member of the Castle, so she had no problem with any kind of unknown ponies. Oh, Luna would also invite Twilight and her friends for this, too! One of Twilight’s friends knew a /lot/ about parties, too.
The princess was truly one for the night, so she had no sleep during tonight’s plans. Placing the cape back into a half wrapped box, she began her trek to organize the castle.
~.~.~.~
Princess Celestia was incredibly tired after today’s court sessions. First, she had to attend one pony who has demanding two new whole lots of land after an spontaneous hurricane hit his other piece of land, one that the pony didn’t even /own/ himself. Next she had to fix an issue regarding Prince Blueblood. Oh, wasn’t he such a troublemaker? She then had to attend to a meeting about Equestrian Dentistry for some reason, which during the whole session, she was constantly fighting not to fall asleep. Finally she had to organize a ton of paperwork coming from the Ponyville Mail Department, seeing as their usual deliverer had an ‘emergency’ and had to go to the dentist. Either way, all of this may sound as if it was simple enough…
But Blueblood was definitely a pain in the rump.
After recalling today’s events, the sun princess hurried back to her personal chambers. A nice bath and a good night sleep sounded exquisite for this night. Climbing the staircase leading to her room, Celestia couldn’t stop thinking about how Luna was acting today. During their lunch, Luna kept giggling at something for whatever reason. When Celestia asked her what’s up, Luna just dashed out of the dining room, never to be spotted during the day at all. Haystacks, even the kitchen staff was giggling!
What the actual hay was going on? She didn’t know anything for a fact, that’s for sure. When she tried approaching the kitchen staff, they were gone! Surely they’re up to something.. hmmm. No, they couldn’t! Celestia thought. Luna could be up to something though, she’s always been the prankster type.
After several moments of trotting up the gigantic staircase, she finally arrived to the hallway connecting her chambers. She’s been so used to trotting up the stairs that she doesn’t even need teleportation anymore. Getting closer to her room, her step was abruptly stopped when she noticed Luna’s bedroom just besides hers. She decided not to be snoopy around Luna’s privacy, so she continued her way. She started to get curious about no sound protruding out of her room, though, seeing as Luna is always laughing about a certain joke in a comic or reading books outloud. Who does that nowadays? Celestia shouldn’t be one to judge though, she has and will always love her little sister. <3
Opening the door to her chambers, Celestia mentally sighed when she saw her bedsheets sprawled all over her room. Blueblood didn’t give her any time to start her morning rituals, what a gentlecolt, isn’t he? Her magic filled the entire room, causing bedsheets, makeup accessories, and whatnot to float around the room into their respective places. In minutes her room was all tidied up and her bed was ready to be flopped onto. She smiled at the sight, but she knew she had to take a long and warm shower for a perfect good night sleep, so that’s exactly what she did; she headed to her bathroom, opened the shower’s valves and simply waited for the hot water to rise in the tub. What followed was a soapy and peaceful bath. Luckily for her, she had a rubber ducky that served as company. She held the small toy duck in her magic, making it squeak. She couldn’t help but giggle.
After the not-so-lengthy bath, Celestia returned to her bedroom, all ready to jump into the sacred realm of dreams. She wouldn’t be bothered if Luna would ever look at her dreams, but Celestia was sure that her sister wouldn’t be capable of doing so. In any case, she slowly positioned herself on top of the bed, and lowered her body onto the silky and fluffy sheets. She happily sighed and pulled an extra sheet over her body, just to be sure the coldness doesn’t wake her up of course!
She started staring at the ceiling’s pattern, depicting a beautiful scenery of a sunrise that reminded her when she was a filly. She had lots of fun when she was one, yes, but after certain events that transpired throughout her life she learned to appreciate what she’s gotten as a mare in this lineage of royalty.
Around three minutes had passed and she was already falling asleep,
“What has Luna been planning?” that was the only thought that crossed her mind before giving up to her sleep. . .
~.~.~.~
After several hours of gathering everyone around, Luna finally did it: She decorated the entire main hall with balloons, posters, and hidden confetti cannons! She had to thank Pinkie Pie after this event. Twilight and her friends agreed to come, the staff had no problem helping, and even Shining Armor and Cadance were invited! It was going to be a blast.
There was only one thing left though, getting the cake. She knew Celestia woke up very early in the morning, so the cake should be ready before she’s up.
At first, Luna thought that the ponies helping would either feel forced to help or tired to do so, but she was incorrect. Every single one of them had an ever longing spirit to set up this surprise, even if it meant little to no sleep for them. They appreciated what Celestia had done for them all of these years, so they knew she deserved it. After all, no one knew when Celestia’s birthday was, so this was basically her first happy birthday in centuries.
Everything was ready now. It was very early in dawn, so Luna dismissed all of the Castle’s staff so they could get some sleep. The Mane Six were offered rooms in the Castle, same happened with Shining Armor and Cadance. Everyone planned to wake up just some minutes before Celestia did, so they could have some time to make some minor preparations.
~.~.~.~
Luna shot awake. It was time! She dashed out of her room, down the enormous staircases, and into the main hallway. Surprisingly most of the ponies invited were there already. Luna sent several letters to select ponies, ponies who’ve had some impact in Celestia’s life. She didn’t meant this birthday to be ‘another Canterlot’ reunion, no, she had to get well known ponies invited.
“Princess Luna!” called a mare behind the kitchen counter, “the cake is ready!”
“Excellent, Daisy! I’ll go wake her up. Call the others and stay right behind me.” The princess replied, picking up the cake between her magic. She quickly inspected it to see if everything was in order: Triple Strawberry Frosting? Check. Candles? LOTS of them. Security when lighting up those candles? Probably not, but it was worth a try.
~.~.~.~
There were some birds chirping outside Celestia’s window, and she could faintly hear the clopping of hooves getting closer to her bedroom.
“Errr.. it’s just some ponies walking aroufsfh.” she said to herself. “What time is it anywahys?” she lazily said, between her sheets.
“Nuuuu. . . I want to stay in beeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. . . !”
She ended giving up on her wailings and sat on her bed, rubbing her eyes with her hooves.
“Just another day, I suppo-” her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by her room’s entrance thrown ajar.
“Oh, hey sister! Glad to see you’re up.” Luna said, holding a flaming cake between her hooves and a grin plastered on her face.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS CELESTIA!!!” everyone chimed in, and were about to sing her a song, but Celestia lost it.
“LUNA WHAT IS THAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!” she yelled, completely overwhelmed by the ball of flames sitting right next to her.
“Oops. There were way too many cand-” she was cut out by Celestia spraying extinguisher all over the candles.
Everyone on the room was silent.
“Well that’s one way to blow the candles, sis!” said Luna, wiping some of the extinguisher off her face. “I’m also very sorry for what just.. uh.. happened. . .”
“Wait. . . you said birthday?” asked Celestia, still trying to piece everything together.
“Indeed we did! It’s your birthday, Celly! We couldn’t simply forget something like that!” Luna chuckled, receiving several nods of approval from the ponies behind her.
“But how? No one knew about that.”
“I did! Even after all of these years. Come on, how couldn’t I know about it anyway? I’m supposed to be your sister afterall.”
“Oh.. Luna.”
What followed were two sisters hugging for what seemed eternity. The ponies behind simply went Awww and decided to leave the sisters for the best.
“I’m so sorry if I. . .” Celestia was about to apologize about the incident, but Luna abruptly stopped her.
“It’s fine. Apparently Pinkie Pie made an extra cake knowing something like this would happen. She’s always prepared for anything!”
“That I am, Princess Luna!” Pinkie Pie squeked from the room’s entrance.
“OH! Happy super duper birthday Princess Celestia! I bet having one thousand years feels awfully great, right? Hey you could finally go to clubs and say th-”
Both sisters giggled at this, already knowing the usual Pinkie Pie.
“. . . oh and I’m so happy that we finally get to know your birthday, too!”
“Me too, Pinkie, me too.” she paused for a moment, “I suppose I should’ve not kept something so important like that locked away. I was in fear of losing my appearance as a princess just for a celebration.”
“Don’t be so silly! Even royalty like you deserve a birthday!” Pinkie started bouncing. “We should go to the main hall. There’s so many ponies that want to see youuuu~!” she left the two alone for sure this time, and continued her way down the hall.
“Luna, thanks for this, I really do appreciate it.” Celestia said, hugging her beloved sister once again.
“Don’t worry, sis. I didn’t do it all by myself. Everypony had a small part in this big event. Come on, let’s go to the hall, I’m sure there’s so many ponies that want to wish you a happy birthday.”
The two sisters trotted out of the bedroom, one hoof of each interlocked in a hug. What followed was a peaceful reunion. Celestia got to see her outstanding pupil, her friends, and was wished a happy birthday by many. She thanked the kitchen staff for the cake, even though it was ruined, but it didn’t matter much to them. She thanked the guards for the decorations, invitees for showing up, and so on.
Luna started to feel an itch in the back of her head. She knew she was forgetting something rather important. . . Oh! Her present of course, how could she ever fail to remember about that. She excused herself out of the reunion and flew up into her room to fetch the present. It was already wrapped with a pink ribbon on top of it.
“I hope she’ll like it.” she said under her breath.
She darted out of the room and started her way down the staircase, holding the present in her magic. Eventually she reached the main hall, and to her luck everyone was still there. She got up close to Celestia, and bumped her on the shoulder.
“Hey Celly, I got you something!” Luna started, hovering the present in front of the two.
“Oh? You didn’t have to, Lulu.” Celestia continued, with a slight tone of worry.
“Believe me I had to. “ She paused. “Go on, open it!” Luna giggled.
“Alright, I’ll open it. Let’s see.” Celestia levitated the present in front of her, carefully removing layer after layer of paper wrap. What remained was a box with a note attached on it, “I salvaged this back from we were fillies. You deserve to have it once again. With love, your sister, Luna.”
Celestia opened the box and what was inside had her speechless. She levitated the fabric up into the air, not believing what her eyes were visualizing. All the memories she had when she was a filly started flashing in her eyes, memories of her mother, memories of all the good times she spent with her sister, the foundation of Equestria, and even the memory in which she lost this precious cape. She was awestruck and couldn’t even move a muscle.
“So, you like it?”
“O-of course I do, Luna!” Celestia squaled. She pulled Luna into a deep hug. “Of course I do, my little sister, I do. . .” she was nearly in tears, but she didn’t care. She recovered a piece of her past, but a piece of her future and present was right next to her, hugging her. Celestia couldn’t be more happier than she was right now. She silently broke down into tears, still hugging her dear sister.
“There, there. You know very well mother would be proud of you. What she initially begun was carried on with your creations and this country emerged out of your effort.” Luna said, covering Celestia with her wings.
“L-Luna… I-I..” she was at loss for words for a moment. “Y-you made me go on, sister. You were my inspiration of working on not leaving the living. You kept me alive, Luna. You played a major role when it came to the foundation of Equestria as well. It was a mistake what I did to yo-”
“Ssh. It’s okay. All that matters is that we’re finally together.” Luna wiped a tear off from Celestia’s face, “Don’t worry.”
Everypony around was silent. Not the usual kind of silent though. Some ponies were hugging between each other, and some were crying. It was a sight to respect and everyone quietly enjoyed it. The Mane Six were all cuddling, Shining Armor was about to lose his manliness (Again), and even Cadence was teary-eyed.
Finally dislodging from the hug, Celestia had to ask, “Where exactly did you find this?”
“Oh, I’d stay all of my nights explaining that to you, Celly.”
“I’d be surprised if it ever fits you.” said Luna, pointing a hoof at the cape.
“Well it certainly won’t. I’m just so glad that you found this. Still wondering why you kept it all of this time.. though.”
“Yes, I’d rather keep that a secret too.”
Both sisters giggled and gave each other one more hug.
The End
