Dark Sun Rising
Vacations are the best breaks in life. A break away from work, the usual daily routine, and just the everyday surroundings can be just what someone needs. Just ask Celestia and Luna. Their daily schedules involved raising the sun and the moon, running a country mostly by themselves, and stopping a world ending threat every now and then. Nothing could be more boring than that day after day.
Their overdue vacation was just what they needed, even if it got bumpy here and there. Luna might still need to treat those sunburns and Celestia discovered that gothic makeup might not suit her, but it was a fun trip. It was even more fun to come home and save a certain princess from letting the sun and the moon go out of control. It was paradise in Equestria.
What Celestia didn’t count on was reaching the worst part of every vacation: The moment it ends. After the royal sisters fixed the sun and moon, calling it a night, she flopped right into her bed. Her hooves were aching from all the walking and her horn grew sore from putting the sun back into its place, but whatever. That was the last thing she had to do on her list. Her tourist shirt was laid to the side and she pulled out the scrunchie out of her hair. That majestic mane of hers was free to move around in the air again.
While Luna was busy going into the dreamscape, the princess of the sun felt restless and tired at the same time. Was this the post-vacation blues Twilight warned her about? Was this something everypony went through, or was it just alicorns? She didn’t have to think too hard about it, but she was obsessed with it anyway. They just went through a whole week where they could goof off as much as they wanted to, and now she had to go back to normal?
No. She would not. She had no idea what she was going to do, but it wouldn’t be settling back to the way things used to be. There was just that little problem of what to do to get there. As she stretched her hooves in the air, she pondered her options and glanced around the room.
Her calendar was laying off to the side, and the page for tomorrow was up. Judging from the lack of notes, she only had to raise the sun that day. Foal’s play. Other than that, it was 23 hours of whatever she wanted to do. She giggled out in the open; that meant she could do whatever she put her mind to. But what did she want to do? It’s not like Canterlot was a boring city. If she wanted to do something, this was the place to do it.
Desperate for inspiration, she dug out her camera. She went absolutely crazy with it--they ran out of film and tried to buy another roll, only to insist to the shop owner that it was no big deal for a princess to buy from a commoner--so she brought out all the pictures she took. With her magic, she rolled them out into a photo album in the air...probably a good idea not to tell Luna that she really did go over her limit of 200 pictures.
Every picture was a warm reminder of the newly formed memories they shared together. Some of them were exhibit A of the struggles they went through, but most of them made her heart fuzzy, looking at them. Which one should she try to do again? The zipline? Nah, most would freak out over that, especially Luna. Maybe the post office...wait, why did Luna like that again? What about that rock concert with literal rocks--oh wait. That might have been Maud Pie’s picture. Guess the mailmare mixed up the pictures again.
She grumbled and snorted. None of these stood out to her. Either way, they didn’t look appealing, or there would be no way her guards would let her get away with it. Especially that picture with the flamethrower. She had to do something she could get away with in the confines of her own castle.
Then she found the one. That one picture that had the answer to all her problems. “No, that’s silly. I hated that. It doesn’t even look good on me!” she commented. “And yet, nopony would ever expect it from me, because it’s not like me at all! Celestia, you’ve outdone yourself!
“But first...I wonder if Rarity wouldn’t mind working on a princess. I’m sure she won’t think too much of it. It’s just your neighborhood princess asking for help, after all. There’s nothing that separates me from everypony else once you get to know me.”
She would spend most of the following morning with her ears ringing. Never did she think anypony could scream that loud in her life, until she met Rarity.
------
“Just a little higher...higher...there!” Luna admired her handiwork--or was that hoofiwork--as the moon went up where it was supposed to be. All the lights lit up the streets of Canterlot below the castle, and she rarely felt so proud of herself. “It’s good to be back.”
Given it was early in the springtime, she had some time to mess around before she went into ponies’ dreams. It was a weird feeling. It was like she really, really wanted to go back to work as quickly as possible, and she almost went into the dreamscape early because of it. Huh. The vacation might have been right what she needed. She felt five years younger.
Still, there was some time to kill. “Hmm, what to do. I would play that fighting game that just came out, but I know me. I’ll play it for two hours because it’s a new game, and I have a job to do in one hour. Hmm, I wonder if Tiberius needs some care. Ah ha! I’ll play with him until it’s time!”
Triumphant from her brilliant plan, she went back inside her home to find her dear opossum. “Tiberius, where are you this time? Hanging from the chandelier again?” That little critter liked going through every nook and cranny of the castle. She will never forget the time she freaked out from seeing Tiberius playing dead next to the toilet, with a Royal Guard trying to get him out. She nearly demoted the mare, poor thing didn’t know opossums liked playing dead.
Luna couldn’t find him in the hallways, so she asked a few of the guards about the last place they found him. Some claimed he scurried into her chambers, so she headed that way. It didn’t take long for her to get there, and she creaked the door open. “Dear Tiberius, I apologize for my long absence, but I have returned! There is so much to share and--BY THE STARS AND THE MOON ABOVE, WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?”
She caught her dear opossum being petted by a creature she didn’t recognize. This pony had a pitch black mane with streaks of dark purple in it, with heavy black eyeliner along the eyes. And those piercings on the ears, they just didn’t look right. Not to mention, what was that spiked collar on the neck? It didn’t match the pony’s white coat at all.
And then the stranger started to open her voice. “Night is forever long in the winter. It is cold to the touch, yet welcoming in its embrace. And a lot of animals like it, too. Don’t you, Tiberius?” Tiberius was confused by what the hay was going on, but he still hung his tail over her right front hoof.
“Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” Luna barked. She charged into the room and ripped Tiberius from the pony’s grasp, holding her like she was trying to absorb a blow for her poor son.
“Oh, hi Luna! What do you think of the new look?” Celestia gleamed. Luna could see that she dyed her tail the same color. “I don’t know if it looks right on me, but I love it!”
Luna could not describe the shock coursing through her veins right now. Whoever this pony was, there was no way it could be Celestia, but it sounded like her. “Is that really you, dear sister? What happened to you? Did you lose a card game or a bet?”
Despite the dark color scheme, Celestia couldn’t stop giggling like a filly. “I wanted to try something new! You remember when we went to the spa and gave it a try?” She brought out two pictures from the desk and shoved them into Luna’s face. One picture captured that time Luna tried something light and colorful, and the other was...well, Celestia’s dour face when she tried going goth.
The princess of the night glanced at the picture like she was trying to solve an impossible puzzle. “I don’t understand. Look at your face in that picture. You absolutely hated it. Why are you trying it now?”
“I hated it at the time, but I was in a childish mood back then. You remember, we were at each other’s throats, wanting to break it up--”
“Okay okay, I don’t need reminding.” Luna still clutched at Tiberius for dear life, and the poor opossum tried to get out of her tight grip. “So I presume you blame hating it on your dour mood at the time, but now that you’re feeling better, you’re willing to give it a second chance?”
“Exactly!” Celestia smiled. “And now I can’t believe I hated it at all! It feels so different, so mysterious, so atmospheric...I think that’s what they call it. What do you think? Is it good? Is it bad?” She turned around to give Luna a good look at the blackened tail.
Luna’s eyes twitched from the sight. It didn’t feel like she was looking at her sister. It was like some moody teenager trying to cosplay as her, while forgetting to change her mane color. “Ehhh...well…”
The older sister leaned in with a huge grin. “Well, what?”
“I don’t think it suits you. You’ve always been the more cheerful and extroverted mare between us, and that’s what it looks like. Like a cheerful mare trying to go dark and brooding. I’m sorry.”
To her surprise, Celestia wasn’t the least bit deflated. She simply nodded and sat on her haunches. “That makes sense. But it’s not all about the look. I understand that lots of ponies into this ‘goth lifestyle’ like to pen their own poetry.” She brought out five scrolls into the air, all looking rather thick in size. “Would you like me to read you one?”
Luna noticed that Tiberius broke free from her, and he hung on the rafters of her bed. She also caught him nodding, almost like he was suggesting that she give Celestia a shot. “Sure, I guess. This is a mood whiplash, to put it lightly, but I have some time before I go into everypony’s dreams.”
“Oooh, thank you! I think you’ll really like this one.” She cleared her throat and got ready. “I call this one, The Ordeal of The Bat Pony.”
The title alone made Luna wince hard. Her units of guards tended to be manned entirely from bat ponies, so she was a little on edge at the thought of them potentially being insulted.
“Bat ponies are seen as weird and unusual creatures. They sleep all day, take care of the Moon Princess at night. Hey, that’s you!” Celestia cleared her throat once more. “But I don’t think they’re weird at all. They’re really nice when you get to know them, they really like mangoes because of their bat blood, and they enjoy hugs like everypony else!” She glanced over at Luna to see her reaction. “So how was that?”
“Hmm…” Luna had to give it some thought. She could lower the hammer down on poor Tia’s head or be diplomatic about it. It was time to be the more mature pony. “I think my point still stands. You’re trying to go darker with this act, but you’re not. You’re still the same kind hearted and sunny pony as always.”
An ear flickered on Celestia’s head, but she didn’t seem to be too hurt about it. “That just means I’m putting my own spin on things. That’s what we all do with our hobbies, I’ve learned. All the gothic ponies love you, but you have a fuzzy and warmhearted side to you, you know?”
The moon princess looked off to the side. “I suppose so...I can offer hugs if a pony needs it in their dreams…”
“Then there’s nothing to be worried about. Excuse me, I’ve got to look more into this lifestyle. There’s a whole new world of possibilities! My darker side awaits!” She galloped out the door with her scrolls in hoof, looking absolutely thrilled as she went out to explore the world. Tiberius grew curious about this new pony, and he turned to Luna with a begging look.
Luna scoffed a little bit. “Yes, you can go with her. Come back here when you need food.”
Tiberius squeaked in joy from the offer, and he went out to catch up with Celestia. That left the blue alicorn wondering what in Equestria just happened. It almost felt like a fever dream. Maybe it was. Who knows.
Still, with nopony around, she went to her closet to get a new set of hipposandals for the nighttime. This was just a phase. Celestia will get bored of it when she remembers what kind of pony she is, and this night will be something they’ll laugh about weeks from now, right? Right?
Oh Faust, she hoped so.
------
WHEW. Setting the moon was more exhausting than Luna remembered. Maybe she should add some magical exercises to her day whenever she goes out on vacation again. She hoped that she wasn’t feeling sweat on her forehead, but let’s face it, that’s probably what she was. “Come on, you’re better than this! At least you still got it in the dream world, other than Discord. He is a waking nightmare. Oh. You’re talking to yourself again.” Yep, things were back to normal.
In the meantime, Celestia raised the sun in another part of the castle. Good, Luna didn’t want to pull double duty when she was still getting back in the hang of things. She yawned as bags started to form under her eyelids, and it was probably time to crash for the day as usual.
And yet, that’s not what she did. Maybe it was from that time Starlight switched their cutie marks around, but she felt like she should spend some time bonding with her sister, just for a little bit. Even if she was tired, it couldn’t hurt too much, especially now. Her goth phase will already be over and she'll be back to normal...OH PLEASE BE BACK TO NORMAL.
She could always count on finding Celestia in the dining hall, making pancakes with silly faces in the early morning. Her hooves stumbled from side to side just to get there. A little coffee should fix that problem. The door was opened, the guards saluted her as she made her way in, but there was no Celestia there. In fact, the room was completely empty other than the guards, and they weren’t here to eat. Huh.
“Guards. Have you seen Princess Celestia anywhere within the last hour?” she asked them. “She should be here by now.”
“I haven’t seen her all day,” one mare guard reported.
“Hmm, I saw somepony that looked like her…” another guard answered, unconvinced that it was the real deal.
“What do you mean, looked like her?” Luna puzzled. “You either saw her or you didn’t.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. I saw a white alicorn, but she had a black mane and a spiked collar on her neck. I don’t believe that matches her profile.”
The pupils in Luna’s eyes shrunk to the size of peas. “Errr...uhhh….thank you for your service. Keep up the good work!” She trotted out of there in a huff. “Are you SERIOUS? You’re actually keeping this up, Celestia? What has gotten into you?”
With this in mind, she checked out the entire castle for any signs of her sister. She would ask guards, nobles, princes, and anypony else she found. Some of them were freaked out that the princess of the night was talking to them of all ponies, but all would say they didn’t see her. That’s when she remembered that the guards didn’t recognize Celestia when they saw her.
Using her terrible drawing skills, she did an amateur sketch of the ‘sun princess’. Finally, she was getting responses to it. They all described her as a weirdo(how fitting), and they said she went out of the castle to go do stuff. Were things really that quiet around Canterlot this week?
It didn’t matter. She poured herself a full liter of coffee in a mug and high tailed it out of the castle. Her eyes glanced around Canterlot as she went through the streets, trying not to get too carried away from the ponies honored just to set eyes on her. Why was everypony trying to take selfies of her flanks? Was her cutie mark that unique, or was it for...no. Of course they weren’t like that.
The coffee barely kept her awake as she found herself in the middle of a park. It was a corner of Canterlot planted right in the middle, where there was a nice grassy field. Celestia thought it was important to have some form of nature in the city, and it showed here. It was a nice, expansive field, with trees and playgrounds dotting the area. Some of the trees were nearly as huge as the towers of the castle, and she could hear the sounds of children enjoying the playground, lovingly created to look like a miniature castle of its own.
In a field that was this bright and colorful, a certain group of ponies stuck out like a sore hoof. They all sported dark, brooding clothing, some had their manes dyed black, and a lot of them had heavy eyeliner going on. Not all, but a lot of them. The group had to be a dozen ponies big...and one of them was noticeably taller than the rest. Her white coat and long horn gave her away.
“Okay, here’s a good one. Tell me what you guys think.” Celestia unrolled a scroll and glanced over the writings. “This one is called: Shadows of the Night. It has rhymes this time! Shadows of the night, I see them and feel nothing but fright. In the midst of my fear, I forget that it is just an illusion. What my mind will do to me in the midst of the confusion! When I see who is at the shadow’s end, I realize it was just you, my friend. Now come along, let’s go and hang out while it is still nightfall. With a friend in hoof, it is always a ball!” She looked to the rest of them like a child wanting to show their parents how they won first place at the science fair.
The goth ponies clapped their hooves together, pleased with what they heard. “Hey, you even got my name in there!” a blue pegasus with a dark violet mane spoke up. “You know, you might have something there. You said you just started writing yesterday?”
“Indeed. I dabbled here and there in poetry, but never like this. Was it really that good?” Celestia inquired.
“I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, but for a poem that short from a newbie, you got some talent there,” Nightfall critiqued.
Luna was befuddled. This was real. She was going all in with this gothic stuff. Her eyes were twitching from the sight, and not all of it was from the massive amounts of caffeine coursing through her blood. Just about half of it. “Why is life pulling this prank on me? Everypony knows I'm the moody introvert and Celestia’s the happy extrovert, so why is this happening?”
“Mommy, why is Princess Luna staring at those ponies?” a random filly said behind her.
“I dunno, honey. Princesses have lives like everypony else,” her mother explained. “Maybe she has a secret crush. I remember when I gazed at Twilight’s book collection and fell in love...with the books. Not her. Okay, maybe a little.”
That made Luna realize she was standing out in the open. If she was going to eavesdrop on her sister, she had to hide. She disappeared within a teleportation spell, and she reappeared in a bush just a few dozen feet away from Celestia. This would be perfect for what she was going to do.
“I have one more question. What should I wear? I have this collar, but I like the clothes you’re wearing,” Celestia thought. Their clothing was varied, from fishnets to t-shirts to coats. “Is there a right way or wrong way to do it?”
“First of all, it’s an honor you’re asking us. We might be members of the Princess Luna Fan Club, but it’s fun to meet the other princess of Canterlot. I’m Raven Drift,” a pitch black Earth Pony, sporting clothing that had slight hints of racing attire, spoke up. “Here’s how you start. What kind of stuff are you into?”
“Hmm...I like the sun, of course. But it makes me happy when my subjects are happy. Order and harmony are pretty awesome, too, and I love to revisit all the good times I’ve had as your princess.”
“Then go with that. We all like dark clothing, but if you’re serious about going goth, that’s a pretty big part. My daytime job is racing, so you see how I added that detail to my garb?” Among the dark clothes he had, there was a white and black checkered pattern on the side of his shirt. “That’s like a finish line.”
“Oooooh, I get it now. So maybe I could have a black coat with symbols of the old Equestrian days, showing that I like things dark, brooding, but I also enjoy history?”
“She’s getting it!” Nightfall thought. “You think that sounds right, Daylight Bloom?”
Daylight Bloom, a unicorn, sported a bright pink coat along with a shiny purple mane. If it wasn’t for her eyeliner and black spiked shirt, nopony would assume she was part of this group at all. “Yeah, don’t think you have to do it just like us. It’s less fun that way. You can have fun dance parties AND be all gothic. So...what you guys wanna do now?”
“Ooooh, I have an idea,” Celestia gleamed. “Here, you all like Luna’s night, so here’s something that will knock the socks off your hooves!”
But only one pony here is wearing socks, Luna realized, as Daylight sported some shoes with purple socks. Still, she was curious about how this was going. It still felt unnatural to her, but she...didn’t really hate it.
With her horn pointed to the sky, Celestia shot off a blue beam of light. It went up like a firework, and the sparks from the explosion went around the group, forming a magical dome around them. Little did she know that Luna was in this dome with them.
Within a few seconds, the surface of the dome started to take effect. The world outside of the dome looked exactly the same, but it created quite the illusion: Canterlot appeared like it was in the middle of the night. The moon was up, the sky was dark, and even the street lights were turned on.
“Oh my Luna, this is amazing! No offense, Celestia,” Nightfall apologized. He stepped out of the dome to check it out. When he did, he had to shield himself from the sunlight in his eyes. As it turned out, it was all normal when he stepped out of the dome. When he stepped back inside, Canterlot was back to the nighttime illusion.
“None taken. It’s been an illusion spell I’ve been cooking up for months, but I wasn’t sure why I’d need to use it. Then I found you all, and it hit me like Luna’s moon! Do you think it’s cool?”
All the goth ponies were too busy marveling at the sight. They drank in the sights, and Daylight Bloom brought out a scroll of her own. “This might just inspire my own poetry! I’ve got to learn this spell for myself. I bet my kids would love it.”
Even Luna, still hiding in the bushes, was impressed. She couldn’t deny that this was still bizarre, but what the hay. A lot of ponies were enjoying her night, and that’s all she needed to see. It was probably a good idea for her to leave, though, and she didn’t want to intrude on things. She didn’t cast teleportation again, fearful it might disrupt the illusion, so she came out slowly from the bush, taking it one step at a time.
And then she had to step on a branch. A really loud, crunchy branch.
All of a sudden, the eyes of everyone turned right to the bush. “Oh my gosh, THAT’S PRINCESS LUNA! Everypony, this is your chance!” Raven Drift fanboyed. The entire group sans Celestia stampeded over to the bush, and Luna found herself flooded with a ton of #1 fans.
“We love you, Luna!” “Sorry, we didn’t mean to replace you with Celestia in our hearts!” “Your moons are so cool! How do I get a tattoo like that on my flanks?”
“Please, fillies and gentlecolts, this is too much!” Luna pleaded. “I love having followers, but I need to breathe…”
Celestia realized her sister was here, and waved her on. “See? Everypony loves your night.”
“Maybe a little too much…” Luna gasped, reaching out of the crowd with a hoof.
------
Let’s never do that again. That’s what she told herself when she finally pulled away from her fanclub. She might have been thrilled to be reminded that a lot of ponies loved her, but she felt overwhelmed with that many ponies asking how her mane worked. At least it could have been far worse, they were nice after all, and she got the long rest she needed when it was over. Coffee couldn’t keep her awake forever.
Still, she had a good day’s rest before she had to go raise the moon. She still couldn’t shake off what she was seeing from her sister, though. What happened out there convinced her that this wasn’t something to worry about--it was a pretty healthy way to explore a new hobby--but she still pondered where it was coming from. Maybe this was something she needed to let go.
Either way, she had a good few moments with Tiberius before she had to get to work. She noticed that he seemed to be asking about Celestia(she picked up a few things on animal speak from Fluttershy), but he was happy to be with Luna again as well.
Then it was showtime. She rubbed her hooves together as she went to the patio she liked using for her moon raising duties. Surely, Celestia would have finished her chores by then. If anything was to go by, Tia would be more excited for the sun setting than usual. Luna went outside, made sure the sun was setting…
...and saw Celestia standing there instead. Not only had she set the sun, but Luna caught her right in the middle of raising the moon. Her face strained as she did so, and she sported a black jacket with Starswirl’s cutie mark stitched as a pattern on back. Before she could get a word in, the moon raised all the way into place for the day.
“CELESTIA!” Luna barked in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “WHAT DO THOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?”
Celestia gasped when she heard Luna come in from behind. She came around with a face that screamed equal parts excitement and guilt. “Hello, Lulu. Um...I know what this looks like, and I can explain.”
“Yes, please do,” snorted Luna. “The sooner, the better.”
“It’s just that I reminiscenced over the time I rose the moon while you were banished. I hated that you were gone, but there was a certain thrill seeing the day give way to the night, and I’ve been thinking about the nighttime a lot lately, and...okay. I got carried away.”
“You think?” Luna brushed both her forehooves against her face. “This is the most important time every day for me, and it’s a highlight for me. Are you so interested in your newfangled hobby that you’re forgetting this?”
All the excitement drained from Celestia’s face. “I think I did. It’s been really fun for me these last two days, but that’s no excuse for it. It’s just...don’t you get excited when you see your favorite time come to pass?”
Luna didn’t bother opening her eyes, and she rolled her head around her shoulders. “Indeed. I might be acting short tempered, but what will you do next? Look over the dream world in my place?”
That made the princess of the sun mumble under her breath. “No. I won’t.”
“Good. Then it’s settled.” She sighed a little bit. “I don’t hate your new hobby. I’m merely struggling to understand it.”
“No. I understand. I overstepped my boundaries, and I’ll avoid doing it again.” Celestia sighed again and headed for the exit. “I guess you’ll see me in my dreams in a couple of hours.”
“Presumably,” Luna huffed. Deep down, she felt totally justified, but she didn’t want to go too far and become a horse’s ass, either. “Only one question. Why Starswirl’s cutie mark of all things?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a silly thing. He was our teacher, after all. I’ll get out of your mane now.” Celestia passed through the door and left Luna out on the patio.
As Luna was left alone, she puffed and kicked a rock off the floor. It felt right, making sure that this didn’t fester out of control, but she knew it might have been handled better. Still, raising her moon? Reminding her of a really painful time of her life? No. It wasn’t going to happen.
Either way, she had some time to kill. Maybe she should continue her project in her newest game. It wouldn’t hurt to try it out, do what she could to cool down after what happened. They had blow-ups like this before. Their relationship was never damaged for good after them, at least, not since she came back. They’ve been through too much.
One thing was for sure: She would need to check into Celestia’s dreams tonight. Best to make sure she didn’t strain their relationship, rather than hope things were all hokey dory.
At least Luna had one duty that wouldn’t be disrupted tonight. Not like Celestia enjoyed her time going into ponies’ dreams when she tried it once. No no no, she was going to have her moment and enjoy it to the fullest. No weird Tia going around, thinking she was the princess of the night. This was alllll her.
Okay, maybe she was being selfish about it, but whatever. She had a job to do. Her eyes were closed as her horn did the hard work for her. The confines of her castle disappeared into nothing, and it was replaced with a surreal dreamscape. Nothing solid was below her, yet her hooves were pressed against a floor all the same. Whew. This felt normal. Like this was how it was supposed to be.
------
When her eyes opened, she exhaled in delight. The sight of all those dreams orbs felt like paradise in her soul. She looked around to make sure Celestia wasn’t there with her. Nope, she was all alone this time. That was promising. Then she reminded herself that she had a job to do, and she walked around to see if anypony had a nightmare that needed resolving.
So far, it didn’t look that way. There weren’t a lot of dream orbs floating around, as it was still early in the night. She caught that Twilight was asleep, given her dream was nearby. The sight made her think for a bit; it seemed to be the purple alicorn looking at Celestia’s crown, hesitant to put it on but feeling like she needed to. It didn’t take Luna long to think about why she was dreaming about it. Even then, the image of Twilight wearing the crown and looking thrilled about it was heartwarming.
But then there was Rainbow Dash’s dream. Of course she was already here, she loved her naps. It was interesting that she was flying with Smolder of all people. Smolder seemed like a good dragon at heart from what she heard from Twilight, and she did help stop Cozy Glow. Anyone that did something so noble was worth listening to, even if it was “you ever had a fire ruby before? Oh yeah, you’re a pony”.
And then she saw it. THAT dream. She recognized who it belonged to, and she couldn’t believe this pony of all ponies was sound asleep. It was tempting to go inside and see what sight she would find inside, but it was just too wrong. And yet, she couldn’t help it. She had to find out.
“I will be sure to write my apology note in advance,” she noted to herself. She jumped into the dream with one hoof forward, and she went inside without a second thought. Ohhhh, she just had to find out.
When she came to, she wasn’t the least bit surprised at the lack of light. It seemed like she was in a town that Ponyville might become in a few decades: Not quite a small town, and not as big as Canterlot, either. The town stretched out for a few miles in all directions, and the roads were made with cobble. All the buildings were one or two stories, with white stone and traces of hay on the roofs. She would have to go up in the air to be able to see past the town.
Whatever dream this was, it was deep into the night. The moon was a crescent one that day, and it lit up the town as well as a full moon could. There was no need for street lights, which probably explained why none of them were turned on. It was a vividly rendered picture, and it seemed to be rooted in some kind of logic.
“This seems to be the dream of an emotionally well off pony,” Luna noted in surprise. “Perhaps there is nothing to worry about.” Right when she said that, she heard a screech behind her. “Who’s there?” She faced the creature threatening her, only to notice that it was a bat pony mare. Her coat was dark blue with a grey mane, and she was hovering above the ground.
“Hi there, Princess!” the bat pony greeted her. “Sorry, but I gotta go to the thing!” She carried a lot of mangoes in her front hooves, and she drifted past Luna without a care in the world. That left the princess stumped. What was this ‘thing’ the dreamer cooked up? Should she be scared?
She trailed the bat pony at a moderate distance. Maybe if she followed this mango loving bat, she would get some answers. As the bat pony made her rounds, there was a group in front of her. As they got close, Luna saw who was waiting for the mango lover. It consisted of more bat ponies, but that wasn’t the weird part. No, that would probably be the zombie ponies and actual vampire bats. The zombies looked like regular ponies, just with pale green skin and faded out pupils in their eyes. The vampire bats had fangs sticking out one inch out of their mouths.
“Hey guys, sorry it took so long!” the first bat pony apologized. “Just needed to grab a few supplies. You ready to get this show on the road?”
“Hay yeah!” said one zombie pony. “Been looking forward to this shindig all year. Only happens once a year, what’s up with that? Um, is it just me or is somepony with you?”
“Huh?” the bat pony turned around, only to see she was alone. “I thought I bumped into Princess Luna back there. Shame, I think she would have liked this. Anyways, you guys ready to paaaartay?”
The partygoers all shouted together, and they went on their way to the party. As it turned out, Luna hid behind a building so she wouldn’t be seen. If anything, hearing them left her more confused. There was no way the dreamer was really doing this, were they? No. That was foal’s talk. Yet, she knew she had to see for herself to leave all traces of doubt out of her mind.
She flew up and stuck to the rooftops as she went deeper into the town. The streets were full of houses, and all their windows were lit. Even then, she couldn’t see a soul in the streets, save for the group in front of her. As she followed them, she noticed more and more bat ponies, zombies, and vampire bats filling up the town. She noticed that the city was laid out so all the streets led into the town hall at the center...and the crowd there was enormous.
It was so crowded that she could scarcely see the floor by the hall. Within that corner of town, it was packed with hundreds, maybe thousands of all the creatures of the night. Zombies, bat ponies, vampire bats, mummies, fish ponies, werewolves, and even yetis. If you saw a costume for it at Nightmare Night, there was a good chance it was here. They all seemed to be waiting for something to happen, and she was puzzled by it. She perched by a rooftop nearby to watch.
The more she observed, the more it became clear. There were banners for Nightmare Night on the buildings, and the town hall had a stage set up in front of the crowd. It looked massive with a lot of spotlights ready to light it up. The audience was all clapping and shouting “WE WANT TIA! WE WANT TIA!”
Oh. This was really happening. Her eyes were twitching all over the place. She hesitantly brought herself to the ground and got closer to the stage, just to make sure this wasn’t somepony else’s dream. The audience didn’t seem to notice who she was just yet.
The spotlights finally turned on, but Celestia wasn’t there. Instead, a DJ booth was parked in the middle of the stage, with LED boards on the front sides. They lit up with images of a crescent moon, followed by the howl of the werewolf. The DJ in charge, none other than Vinyl Scratch herself, dropped the record into place. She raised her hooves as the first song of her set, an eerie bass thumping track, started to play.
“Once upon a time, Nightmare Moon was the pony every foal was raised to fear,” a deep and foreboding voice spoke. It stood next to the booth, hidden by the shadows. “She would steal your candy and threaten your lives, and her name sent shivers down a pony’s back.” The figure came closer to the front of the stage. The LED boards slowly transitioned to images of the full moon.
Luna stood still as the figure came to light. “Noooooooo!” she screamed. She would recognize that black mane with that white coat anywhere. “Not here, too!”
“Good thing she turned out to be the best sister ever, didn’t she?” the figure interrupted. Just as Luna feared, it was none other than Celestia. Her spiked collar and black coat made its way to the dreamscape. “So let’s stop making this a festival to fear Lulu, and make it one to celebrate the best sister ever! What do you say to that?” She pointed her mic at the mob. The music dropped all pretenses of being scary and started to build to the big drop.
“YEAH!” they shouted back.
“What was that? Do you love your princess?”
“YEAHHHHHHH!!!!!”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about! Come on, everyone, let’s make this a night to remember until the next Nightmare Night!”
After all that buildup, Vinyl let the bass drop. The music blared all around the town with a heavy bass and synth track. It was so intense, Luna’s heart started to beat in her chest from the bass drops. She had to cover her ears just to keep it together. Everyone in the town started jumping in the air, and they hit the floor right away. It felt like an earthquake with how hard they were going at it.
“TIA! TIA!” she shouted at her sister. The music was so loud that she couldn’t even hear herself think. “CELESTIA!” The sun princess couldn’t hear her either, and she went dancing on the stage instead. Her dancing skills were slightly better than Twilight’s, but all she was doing was flailing her hooves in the air. She completely lost herself in the festival of her own making.
Luna tried to get through the crowd. In the midst of all the craziness going on, she was too scared to fly out there, and she didn’t know how it would go if she used a teleportation spell. In a place like this, she had to be careful. She swore that Celestia invited a werewolf and zombie on stage, and they were doing some kind of weird dance together. .
Before she could get far, the worst possible thing happened. “Wait a second, that’s Princess Luna!” “Oh my gosh, it is Luna!” “Lulu, you’re the best!” She was picked up by the creatures before she could shout back at them, and she found herself crowd surfing.
“What is this buffoonery?” she yelled. “Put me down right now! I need to speak to my sister right away.”
“You hear that, everyone? She wants to get down with Celestia. Let’s make it happen!” Against her protests, they kept her surfing above the crowd, gliding her over to the stage. She tried to use a spell to get out of there, but someone would accidentally touch the horn to break her concentration.
In the middle of all the craziness, Celestia noticed Luna surfing her way. She squeed and picked the mic back up. “Oh yeah, we can’t have Nightmare Night without the guest of honor! Ladies and gentlemen, Princess Luna!” Everyone applauded in joy, and so did Celestia. Well, until she started to put one and one together. Then her smile started to fade away.
Luna was dumped into the stage, and she brushed her tail off. “Harumph. About time. Celestia, can I talk to you in private for a moment? There’s something urgent I need to attend to.”
“I already know what it is,” she sighed. “Come here.” She brought Luna out of the party over to the town hall. The reception room was sparse with little detail compared to the rest of the town. It was really just a desk with a few chairs.
“Good, I can finally hear myself talk,” Luna said. “Okay, now that we’re here, are you okay if I speak from my mind?”
“I should have known it was a dream,” Celestia countered her. “The zombies gave it away, I guess. But it’s a really good dream. Is this about me disrupting your moon rising again?”
The moon princess shook her head. “Not at all. I accept your apology. But all this...I’m confused. Where is it coming from? Why do you like it so much?”
Celestia winced. “Is there something wrong with me being interested in this stuff? It might be unorthodox, but I’m being careful with it. Is it offensive or something?”
“Of course not. My confusion has nothing to do with that. But here’s what I don’t get. A gothic lifestyle usually focuses on the darker things of life, at least in my experience. I would know, I’ve been deep in it. Even when you’re deep into it, your real personality shows.”
“What do you mean?”
Luna sighed and parted the curtain to a window. There, they could see the pack of partygoers having a blast. “You’re approaching something like this with your sunny personality. Look out there. They’re all celebrating like anypony would. You even got Vinyl Scratch for your dream!”
“And is there anything wrong with that?” Celestia pointed out. “I get it. This isn’t like me at all, with the dark mane and the clothes and the poetry. But is it so bad that I’m putting my own spin on things like this?”
“Well, when you put that way…” She trailed off when it hit her. All seriousness on her face was replaced with a little bit of horror. “Oh no. I was attacking you over nothing. Where did I go wrong?”
Celestia patted her shoulder softly. “You got weirded out that your sister went goth out of nowhere?”
“Yes, and I realize where I went wrong. My goodness. I was awful to you, wasn’t I?”
“A little bit,” she chuckled. “At least you realized the error of your ways before you crossed the line, like ‘Sister, burn all your clothes this instant’.”
Luna gulped. She had thought about asking the exact same thing at times. “But I don’t get one thing about it. Why are you doing this now? I have no idea why you’re so interested in these things out of the blue.”
“That’s the thing getting you in a tizzy? The guards and nobles are probably confused like you are. I guess...hmm…” She paused to think about it. “I guess I’ve been thinking about life after we got back from our vacation. Retirement life is just around the corner for us.”
That drew a sigh from Luna. “It is. It’s going to be a weird life.”
“I know, right? And we’re about to have a lot more free time. The weight of the world will be taken off our shoulders for the first time in centuries. I guess it made me want to discover who I really am without the crown.”
Luna’s eyebrow raised an inch. “You make it sound like this is a journey of self discovery. I thought you already knew who you were.”
“I do, but I’ve been so defined by the crown that I bought into it myself. There’s more to me than that, and I forget that at times. I guess I’m doing all this…” She combed through her black mane and adjusted her collar. “...to see if this is something I’d like to try out.”
Luna nodded to the words of wisdom. “I think I finally understand. It’s like purchasing a new outfit and see if it fits you better than the clothes you’ve been wearing for a while. That’s what Rarity told me once.”
“And she’s right. I just want to see what is there to Celestia after all this time. You understand what I mean?”
Luna nodded, and she gave her sister a hug. “I think I do. It might look and feel weird at times, but I finally understand. We only have one life, after all. Even if our lives last for centuries.”
Celestia giggled and returned the hug. “You still find it weird, don’t you?”
“You’re wearing black make up and hanging out with zombies in your dreams. I don’t think this is ever going to feel like normal to me.”
That made Celestia laugh even harder. “Normal isn’t really a thing anymore. So, now that we cleared all that up, you want to help me judge who’s a better dancer out there? I’m leaning on the werewolf, but I could use a second opinion to decide.”
“Hmm. I don’t know much about dancing, but I have a good eye for figuring out who’s enjoying herself out there,” she said, booping her sister’s nose.
Celestia’s nose scrunched up from the dreadful boop. “Then let’s get to it! I’m still voting werewolf.”
Without delay, they went back up to the stage. The party didn’t stop one bit while they were gone--there were a few more dancers up on stage now--but they cheered even harder with the royal sisters back up there. Luna looked around the sight, and it warmed her heart to see it. As weird as it was, it reminded her of how much Celestia loved her little sister, with the banners and images of her face hanging around the town.
She wanted to say something to Celestia. Before she could go there, her bigger sister offered her the mic. “I think they’ll want to hear from you,” she egged Luna on.
Luna grinned from the offer, and she picked up the microphone with her magic. “This is unexpected, but it looks like everyone here is having a good time. Is that correct?” The mob shouted “YES” right at her. “I said, am I correct?” They shouted “YES” even louder than before. “Then let’s have a wonderful Nightmare Night together!”
Before she could start dancing, she felt someone tackling her off stage. As she would later find out, it was something called a glomp, also known as a tackle hug. And it was none other than her sister glomping her off stage, so they could crowd surf together. She couldn’t stop grinning as they surfed together, lifted by the creatures of the night.
What a night.
------
What a night.
That’s what Celestia told herself as she stretched out her legs. Even after all that sleep, she could feel the drain from the party she just threw. In her head. With her sister. Yep, that was a normal dream for anypony to have. Perfectly normal Celestia, having a party with zombies and werewolves.
Still, her mane was back to its normal colors as she straightened it out. A bottle of black mane dye sat on the bathroom counter. She smiled from the memories it gave her, but she wouldn’t use it today. It went back into the cabinet. “Maybe next time. I loved every moment with you, but there’s other things I want to try out.”
She popped her neck and rolled her front joints as she placed her royal attire over her frame. As she checked out her closet, she noticed the jacket Rarity made for her just a while ago. That Starswirl icon on the back made her eyes twinkle. “Okay, I’ll try it again tomorrow. There’s just so much to do today.”
It was early in the morning, right before she had to raise the sun. One check on her daily schedule told the whole story. It lasted for two, maybe three pages, and reminded her to meet with Dragon Lord Ember to discuss dragon migration patterns. Life was starting to go back to normal. Well, the last few months of her “normal” life.
Judging from the time, she had one guess what her little sister was up to. By then, it would be that small period after checking up on dreams, and before she had to set the moon. It was the perfect time to talk about what happened in her dreams. She decided to go to Luna’s room to see what was up.
As it turned out, the door to the bedroom was creaked just three inches to the side. Good, that meant Luna wasn’t doing anything that needed privacy. She pushed it open with her magic just enough so she could walk inside. It was so weird to come here when the night wasn’t even over, but whatever. Sisterly bonding it was.
“Hey, Luna, I wanted to say something before I get the sun up,” she spoke softly. “I might shelf the goth thing to try out other things, but it was nice to find out things about myself--WHAT IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU DOING?”
She caught Luna in the most shameful act of all time. It was so shameful, she was tempted to grab a camera and take pictures of it, because nobody in the world would believe what she was seeing if they tried. It was truly awe inspiring.
Luna was in the middle of a recent invention called a “video game”. She screamed from being caught, and she stumbled around on her hooves. Her magic tried to hide the controller in her grip, but the TV was still there, showing the evidence right there on the screen. And ohhhh, was it juicy. And big. Very big.
The game she was playing was a fighting game, and it had weird characters like a blue hedgehog, some sword fighter(which one, Celestia wasn’t sure), a big hammy turtle, and some clumsy bear messing around. But that wasn’t the weird part. No, what was weird was the stage they were on. It consisted of two giant, white orbs...with Celestia’s cutie marks on the side...and Celestia’s head in the background.
It was a stage set on Celestia’s flanks.
“Ah! Sister!” Luna sweated. She tried to pause, only to remember that the pause menu still had the stage in the background. Instead, she popped the device out of its dock so the TV wouldn’t show it. “It’s not what it looks like!”
Rather than being offended or dismayed, Celestia had to use all her might to stop laughing. “Was that what I think it was?”
“N-No, Tia! You know I wouldn’t make a stage called ‘Tia Cake Buns’, I’m more mature than that!” Sweat formed on Luna’s face, and she blushed so hard that her cheeks were more red than blue.
The grin on Celestia’s face only grew wider. “What was that about me having weird habits again? About the poetry? Hmm...let’s just see this again.” She grabbed the device out of Luna’s magic. Luna watched in fear and she tried to grab it again, but Celestia got the jump on her. The system went right back into the dock.
“About what I thought,” Celestia noted, gazing at her virtual cheeks. “I wonder who made this? Could it be somepony that thinks I eat too much cake?”
Luna gulped. It was all there for her partner to see. “I did no such thing!”
“There’s only one way to find out. You’re not the only one who’s played a game before.” She exited out of the fight, went to the stage select, and gazed over to the created stages. There was a name for the level...as well as the username. LuluMoon696969.
The moon princess screamed inside and planted her face right into a pillow. “Fine! I admit my crime to decency! I made a level designed around your posterior!”
“It does look nice,” Celestia comment. “So much attention to detail. I like the cutie marks on the side, nice touch. So, what did we learn about weird hobbies today?”
A grumble came out of the blue alicorn’s throat. “Ponies are weird. We all know that. Your prized pupil is scared of cheese and ladybugs. Mind you, that’s the pony that’s going to succeed us.”
“Exactly. And don’t fret, you are just as weird as me,” Celestia noted, patting Luna’s head softly. “There’s no wrong way to fantasize.”
That made Luna do a double take. “Is that meant to mean what I think it means?”
“I’ll never tell. What can I say, Discord rubbed off on me.” She left the bedroom promptly after, leaving Luna to her shame. The alicorn flopped hard into her pillow, mumbling to herself as she had to deal with the damage.
“Let’s be honest with ourselves. This is still too weird. And I thought you running around in gothic clothes was the most outlandish image possible,” she commented to herself. “At least she didn’t find out about my fan game…”