The Voices of Day and Night

by gimmick68

In Which the Royal Sisters Plan the Activities

The morning sun was still casting long shadows when Celestia strode into Luna’s room. She didn’t look up from the scroll she was reading. “Raven has agreed to take up some the lesser paperwork so I should have more time to help plan this round.” She enthusiastically sat at the table in the middle of Luna’s room.

“Wonderful!” exclaimed Luna from the opposite side of the table. “In the meantime, I have drafted a set of rules for our teammates. I think you will find them satisfactory and in keeping with tradition.” Luna proudly floated an exceptionally long scroll over to her sister.

Celestia produced her glasses and began to read through Luna’s list. It wasn’t long before she stopped. “Luna! These rules are ridiculous!”

“What?! Nonsense!” Luna was visibly hurt.

Celestia brought the parchment up to eye level and read aloud: “’The chosen ponies allied with the defeated sister shall be bound into servitude of the victorious sister until the time of the next contest.’ Luna, that’s barbaric!”

“’Tis beneficial to the victorious nonetheless,” Luna defended.

“Not happening!”

“Under what justification?!”

“Outdated understanding of Equestrian laws and ethics.”

Luna huffed loudly.

Celestia rebutted with more recitation: “’Shall a fatality occur, the pony guilty of causation shall be indentured to the family of the deceased pony. Should the family of the deceased pony decline the servitude of the guilty pony…’ I can’t even finish that. Luna, I’m worried about you.”

“’Tis only fair! Pony for a pony. Anypony would agree. You are simply upset you have been unable to conjure such sensible rules.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Sweet tartar sauce on a toothpick,” Celestia groaned, rubbing her temples. “I shall be the one to draft the rules. Luna, why don’t you…” She rummaged through her mind, searching for something for Luna to do that couldn’t be perverted by her outdated understanding of…everything. Sighing in defeat, Celestia voiced her request: “Why don’t you search for our old list of spells we used and pick out some of the best ones. I’m sure that old tome is around this castle somewhere.”

Luna’s face lit up. “A wise decision, sister!” she exclaimed and burst out of the room.

“Good luck,” Celestia mumbled, rolling her eyes.

She knew Luna would have trouble finding the tome in the castle because it wasn’t in the castle. The rule book, along with many of Luna’s belongings, had remained in the Castle of the Two Sisters after Luna was banished to the moon. Celestia nearly felt bad for sending Luna on this wild goose chase but she needed some quiet time. She produced a cup of tea and sipped regally as she began work on drafting rules for the competition.

Several days passed without the presence of Luna, save for her nightly duties. Celestia enjoyed the quiet time and carefully and rationally set the rules. This evening changed, however. In her room, Celestia lay on her bed and began to wonder just how long her sister would search for the tome before she realized it was not in the castle. Putting the thought aside, Celsetia put the final touches on her list of rules and set it aside, preparing for sleep. Suddenly, Luna bounded into the room, skipping proudly up to her sister.

“SISTER!”

“Holy Hell, Luna,” groaned Celestia, cringing from the volume, “take it down a notch.”

“I have reclaimed the tome! BEHOLD!” She held up a large dusty book with her magic. She nearly smooshed it into Celestia’s face before Celestia took it with her own magic and walked over to a table. Luna sidled up next to her and bounced excitedly. Celestia rolled her eyes as she opened the book. She’d never admit it but she was surprised Luna found the book. Maybe it had been in this castle after all. She mentally shrugged off the thought. She flipped to the first page.

“Let’s use this one!” Luna immediately squealed.

“That’s the title page.”

“If you say so,” she said skeptically.

Celestia flipped to the table of contents. “Moving on. Let’s start with protection spells. We’ll need to not only protect ourselves and teammates but also the ponies of Canterlot.”

“Likely the buildings as well,” Luna said. “Remember last time.”

“Yes. However, the destruction of the city was an ally, if I remember correctly.”

“True. Dust and rubble offer hiding places as well as weaponry. Very well, the city shall be destroyed!”

“Well, maybe not destroyed. Perhaps it will just be utilized, which may include destruction. However, we should make sure that cleanup is easier than last time. Let’s find a spell or two to aide with that.” She flipped to the appropriate pages. “Ah, here we are. A little spell to return the city to its condition before the battle. Luna, write this down.”

The next hour saw the sisters flipping through the tome and picking out spells they felt would best aide them. Some spells were for the amplification of their powers, others for shielding. They doubled-up on protection spells for the ponies of Canterlot. After last time they decided they didn’t need the lingering guilt of maiming that many ponies.

“There, that ought to do it,” stated Celestia, closing the book.

“Yes. Although, do you think we may have taken too many precautions. We have assembled an inordinate amount of safety spells.” Luna held up the parchment with their list. “I understand the desire for safety but at what cost? Have we made this too safe? Will we be able to recreate the same level of danger and fun that we originally generated?”

Celestia scratched her chin in thought. “You have a point. I hate that. But how do we remedy it? I think it’s crucial to keep Canterlot ponies as safe as possible. But doing so means we have to temper our own abilities.”

“Especially since we’re using regular ponies as fodder…I mean teammates.”

“Yes. Those poor souls from last time. We’re still paying out reparations to those families.” They both nodded solemnly. “On that topic - the rules I have composed.”

“This should be good,” muttered Luna to herself.

“I think you’ll find them concise and straightforward.” She floated a short scroll over to Luna, who took it with her magic.

“Three rules?! That’s it?”

“That’s all there needs to be.”

Luna eyed Celestia skeptically then recited the rules. “Rule One: No retreating or hiding out of fear. Rule Two: No insulting an opponent’s mother. Rule Three: No killing.” Luna pondering the list for a minute, scratching her chin. “I suppose these cover the most important aspects. Very well, I accept.”

“Especially the no killing part,” Celestia said sternly, eyeing Luna.

“Ugh, yes, sister. No killing.” She pouted a bit but then spoke up. “Since safety seems to be of the utmost concern” – she rolled her eyes – “perhaps we should dispense with the teammates. A princess versus princess battle should be exciting enough.”

“Maybe,” Celestia pondered. The two sisters fell into silence as they considered the options. Minutes ticked by and they exchanged occasional glances and shrugs. Eventually, Celestia spoke.

“Luna, I have had a thought.”

“Odd.”

“What if we were to use…them.”

“Them?”

“Them.”

“We know a lot of thems, sister. To which them are you referring?”

“The ones who are bound to us in perpetuity. The ponies who share a bond of existence.”

Luna perked up. “Them,” she breathed in awe. “Yes.”

“They could handle the magic,” Celestia stated, inspired by Luna’s approval. “Their loyalty to us and each other would make them venerable teammates and fierce opponents. This way we could dispense with shielding spells for our teammates and keep them just for the citizens.”

“And they’ve no choice in the matter!” Luna exclaimed joyfully.

“Technically no, they do not. Though I believe that is not the point. This otherworldly connection they share with us make them the only real option.”

“Regardless, it is settled! The ponies of perpetuity shall rage beside us in destruction and death!”

“Calm down, Luna. You’re getting a tad worked up.”

“Let us gather our teams!”

Comments

[RandomCommentor]

Luna eyed Celestia skeptically then recited the rules. “Rule One: No retreating or hiding out of fear. Rule Two: No insulting an opponent’s mother. Rule Three: No killing.” Luna pondering the list for a minute, scratching her chin. “I suppose these cover the most important aspects. Very well, I accept.”

oh boy rule two.... thats the most important one.