Chapter 1

Luna considered the bow she had just tied. It was queer how such a simple thing could be emblematic of so much. That little strip of cloth would once have been a costly thing, a gift of itself, not merely decoration. Even the paper it bound, brightly colored, was one time an expensive thing. That was the price of so long an absence, she supposed, that even ribbon and paper had changed.

Many things had changed. The trees, for instance. Even Celestia didn’t seem to be able to explain it. All the same, everypony insisted on the pine tree that stood, covered in decorations, in her chambers. It was festive looking, Luna had to admit. And it filled her rooms with lovely scent; for the last few days she had foregone her customary incense. It was pleasant, but strange. There was a lot that was also strange, but harder to put into words.

But the gift inside was still familiar. Family and giving and gratitude were just as much parts of the holiday as in her time. And for that she was grateful.

She got up and went to her balcony. She gazed down at the city, at all the homes, lighted and decorated. Their chimneys all trailed curling streamers of smoke that rose high and fast in the cold mountain air.

She was far too used to that, to looking down from above at all the happy, complete families of ponies. For a moment—only the briefest instant—she felt the bitter, sucking cold of the moon sink it’s teeth into her.

But then she looked again at the gift.

If only all the modern inventions included a way to make gift giving easier. Oh, giving to most was easy enough; gold and jewelry had not gone out of fashion. But Celestia was a princess, and despite her sister’s restrained appetites, there were still legions of ponies eager to serve her slightest whim.The rare and costly were not enough for her.

Twilight and her friends had presented a similar problem. There was nothing she could give them that was truly a gift; all that she had, and more, they had earned. Even so, there was enough… distance that the process was simpler. She could delegate, tell a servant to “find something nice” and send that down to Ponyville.

Celestia was more complicated, and always had been. That was the nature of sisters. For her, only something made with Luna’s own hooves would do. And as much as she was an artist, her preferred mediums were dreams, and the night sky, not things that could be wrapped up and given as a gift—not things that could be kept. She was happy to rearrange the stars in her sister’s honor, but sooner than later she would have to put them back. Her gift had to be something that Celestia could keep, something she could remember her by, in case—well, anyhow, something more permanent than her usual talents made for. Celestia would coo over any gift, but Luna wasn’t satisfied with that. She wanted her to be truly joyful.

Luckily the nights were long and she had plenty of time to ponder the matter. She peered into the dreams of countless ponies, doing research, gathering ideas. What views did the ponies who were with her sister in other spheres of life have?

That proved to be little help. Many of those ponies believed that they were hardly worthy of serving the princesses, and whatever they could do to serve them was as much a gift as they could give. Luna shook her head at it. They had never asked for that kind of treatment, yet everypony gave it to them, willingly and without prompting. Celestia, at least, deserved it, Twilight as well, even with so much less time to prove herself.

Luna was distracting herself; it was something she had got very good at. It was getting late, and the night would not last forever. Celestia would be going to bed soon. She picked up the package and trotted out of her room. Even the short hallway between their apartments was enough to clear her mind.

Celestia greeted her with a smile as she entered her chambers. The castle staff had decorated them in an identical manner to Luna’s. And no doubt the same way they had done it (minus the tree) before her banishment. Mortals had a better memory for this sort of thing than her or her sister.

She hugged Celestia. It was a warm embrace that she never got tired of. The comfort of her body heat closed in by soft feather was heightened all the more by the snow falling steadily outside. That Hearth’s Warming meant snow was something Cloudsdale had always prided itself on, even without royal orders. Oh she was an awful sister. Going and thinking about government business when she was supposed to be spending a holiday with her sister. At least she had the consolation of knowing that it was probably even harder for Celestia to stop doing, with so many more years of it behind her.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, sister,” Luna said, getting back to the actual subject at hoof.

“And the same to you,” Celestia said.

It shouldn’t have been possible, after all they had been through—Luna never would have asked or hoped for it at any rate—but there they were, friend and friend, sister and sister, a family once again. And silly old Celestia thought she needed the cheerfully wrapped package sitting next to her! It was nice not to be alone in overthinking the holiday.

She hugged her again. “Thank you.” When they separated, she levitated over her gift. All the thinking and second-guessing was over. All that remained was the hope that Celestia would like it.

Celestia chuckled with that sarcastic laugh of hers. “Silly Luna, didn’t anypony ever teach you that it’s the one who gets the gift that says that? Here, watch: thank you.”

Luna rolled her eyes; Celestia knew perfectly well what she had meant. Older sisters had not changed, she had seen that well enough. Well, two could play that game. She bowed deeply. “The pleasure is mine, my lady. I am honored to—” she broke out giggling. It was simply impossible to say something like that seriously. Celestia joined her in laughter. Being ridiculous had not got old either.

Once they had calmed down, Celestia smiled at her. “Really, thank you. I can’t express how much I missed this.” She opened the present, slowly lifting the result of Luna’s work. It was a pendant, a silver crescent moon with a golden sun disk attached below it with a short chain. It wasn’t complex, even by the standards of Lunas inexpert craftsponyship, but she had made it with her own hooves and horn.

Celestia turned it around several times as she looked at it. She grinned as she fastened it around her neck. The pendant shone bright against her fur. She pulled Luna close, embraced her with her wings, “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Luna nuzzled her sister’s neck. Seeing Celestia so happy made her feel that she was glowing, and it was more than just the downy wings around her that filled her with warmth. A warmth that brought back the warmth she remembered from her very first Hearth’s Warming, effortlessly bridging the cold of all the ones in between.

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