> Empty
>  by Inquisitor M
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> Longing for Memories Past
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The two palace guards maintained a sombre pace. Their passing seemed agonisingly slow, but they didn’t appear to be paying an awful lot of attention.
Luna couldn’t decide whether to be concerned about that, or grateful.
It didn’t even matter that much. It had been six whole minutes since they’d passed by before, and that had meant she’d spent approximately five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, give or take maybe two seconds for errors due to stress, stood in front of Celestia’s door and failed to open it. That meant five minutes and thirty five seconds, giving herself the benefit of the doubt, of feeling like a silly little foal.
Finally, the guards turned the corner and disappeared, traceable only by the fading echoes of their hoofsteps, and Luna released her spell, fading back into sight.
She stepped back across the corridor and raised a hoof towards the door handle. But wait! Maybe she should knock, first? Surely Celestia would welcome her, even at this hour, but perhaps a display of poor etiquette would put her in a less-than-entirely-receptive mood. Luna’s hoof recoiled from the door.
On the other hoof, perhaps Celestia would sleep right through a knock? And how would one determine the difference between the knock failing to rouse its intended recipient and simply not being welcomed. If she were to enter her sister’s chambers after a wilfully ignored knock, what would that say about her? Surely that would give a bad impression, no?
Luna raised her hoof towards the handle, but again she recoiled. It wasn’t enough merely to have her sister’s company; she wanted to feel welcomed into her space – needed, even. It was far from a princess-like desire, but she knew Celestia would understand… unless waking her in the small hours put her in a bad mood. Or entering unannounced. Or knocking and being ignored and then entering anyway.
It could, however, be reasoned that knocking as a stylistic gesture and then proceeding to enter sufficiently quickly that it was never a matter of waiting for her reply would mean that it couldn’t possibly be misinterpreted as ignoring a refusal, except that if she was entering that quickly the knock probably wouldn’t be heard at all and she’d look more like she was just bursting into the room in a most inconsiderate manner and that might put Celestia in a bad mood, and—
Hoofsteps.
Luna recast her cloaking spell and vanished. She’d lost track of time completely. Achingly slowly she backed up, so as no sound came from her hooves on the stone floor, and pressed herself against the far wall as the two guards passed yet again at their languorous gait.
Her racing mind conjured the sensation of pressing herself into Celestia’s coat and that of Celestia’s legs wrapping around her and holding her tightly. ‘I’ve missed you so!’ she would cry out. ‘It has been one thousand Hearth-Warmings since you last crept into my chambers of an eve! One thousand empty Hearth-Warmings denied of thine presence!’
Luna staggered briefly as her senses reasserted themselves. The guards were gone once more and tears ran down her cheeks. She dried herself with a hoof, holding ever-so-tightly to her spell until she was absolutely ready. Such a visage was unbecoming of royalty.
Her heart raced in her chest and blood thumped in her ears. Her head felt stuffy, making it both hard to concentrate and insufferably warm on the inside. Her strength was buckling. It was now or never.
She burst into Celestia’s room.
“Sister! Please forgive me, I—”
The bed was empty, as was the room.
“Celestia?”
All the furnishings were in place, and the bed had been slept in. The topsheet was pulled back into a perfect triangle in the top corner – a very Celestia-like demonstration of precision and grace. The fire had barely the faintest of afterglow, and the heat of the room made her face warmer still.
It had been a lot to ask for Celestia to remember their little ritual after a thousand years, but Luna had hoped. With so much change, she’d hoped for this one thing, one moment of heedless indulgence in what once was.
But that was a long time ago, and everything had changed since then.
Luna took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, exerting control over her chaotic swell of emotions. A little anger peeked through her inner stormclouds, suppressing any dissent with a low growl. It was her own fault, and she would have to get used to it.
She recast her glamour, not wishing to be seen while in such an emotional state, and pulled the door gently to as she stepped back out into the hallway. She carefully dried her eyes again with a hoof and took to the air to make a stealthy exit.
Along the hall, round the corner, up a flight of stairs, then through a door to the outside. She flew to the top of the tower her own bedchamber was in, drinking deeply the cool night air that it might still her heart more quickly.
There was no denying that Canterlot was more beautiful than ever – a sea of colourful lights, festive wreaths, and decorative cloths. That it was far below her felt somehow comfortable and right, as if just beyond her reach.
This wasn’t going to help.
She leapt off the tower and soared down to the entryway. The door opened silently at her command. She could hear the hoofsteps of more guards on patrol, and quickly calculated her route to circumvent them, rather than pass them directly. She flew quickly at first, then slowed and followed, then stopped as they passed her chamber door. She waited patiently for them to round the corner.
As they did, the air shimmered with golden magic and Celestia appeared. She raised a hoof towards the door handle, but paused. The usual brightness in her eyes burned low, her boundless grace and beauty overshadowed by trepidation and doubt. She raised a hoof to knock on the door, instead, but hesitated with an uncharacteristic bite of her lip.
Luna stared for several long moments, a smile, and a very different kind of warmth, spreading across her face. She released her own cloaking spell, and Celestia's eyes snapped up to meet her instantly.
The two sisters froze, caught in each other's gaze, and eventually Celestia smiled too. 
Then, Luna threw herself forwards, wrapping her sister in a tight hug.
It was the best Hearth-Warming present ever.