Wings and Sunflowers
Celestia flew over a field of sunflowers.
The sunflowers were a little smaller than she anticipated, but they looked quite vibrant and alive in the morning sunlight. At this time of day, all the flowers were facing east, but they would faithfully follow the sun’s trajectory in the sky, until it vanished below the horizon.
Celestia landed, folded her wings, and watched the sunflowers turn, ever so slowly, together as one. She thought the view was quite beautiful.
Celestia and Luna walked to their throne room in Everfree Castle.
The sisters were walking side by side, and Celestia could see Luna nervous. She was never comfortable when she’s the center of attention, but this was a grand occasion, so both princesses had to be there in person. Celestia vaguely felt the gazes of hundreds of ponies around them, but she paid them no mind. Compared to the panicked glimpses Luna kept throwing at her, all the anonymous ponies seemed trivial.
After some consideration, Celestia unfolded her wing and draped it across Luna’s back. She could feel the younger princess’s muscles relaxing, just a little. The sisters continued onward, their hoofsteps in unison.
Celestia walked in the destroyed courtyard of Everfree Castle.
Her wings, damaged during the fight, hung limply at her sides. Somepony might have suggested she splint them as quickly as possible, but it was the last thing on her mind. Her eyes slowly swept over the scenes of destruction around her for the umpteenth time, as if trying to find something she knew she couldn’t.
But she did find something. A sunflower, crushed by the falling debris. The majority of the stem and the leaves were buried and nowhere to be seen, but the flower itself remained relatively intact. It lay face down on the ground, unresponsive to the sun rising in the east.
Celestia sat down and cried.
Celestia walked in the hallway of Canterlot Castle.
The newly built royal residence is both elegant and majestic, but it also felt quite barren on the inside. Spacious and monotone hallways seemed to stretch on for eternity. Aside from the occasional guard and maid, the only pony Celestia could see was Scarlet Seal, her advisor, who was struggling to keep up with the gait of an alicorn.
“…And this is all for today’s briefing, Your Highness.”
“Good. I’ll take care of the dispute between the noble houses personally. Have somepony notify them in advance. Also… could you help with getting some decoration for the castle? I’m finding it quite dreary, to be honest.”
“I’ll see it done.” After some consideration, Scarlet Seal spoke again. “However, I’m not sure if my taste in interior design matches your preferences. Do you have any specific request?”
“Hmm, not really. Just put a sunflower on the balcony adjacent to my bedroom. As for the rest, do as you deem fit.” With that, Celestia shifted her gaze straight forward, wings stiffly held against her body. It’s not like she could fly freely in the hallways.
Celestia walked to the balcony where she raised the sun every day.
It was not effortless, but not hard either. She had grown accustomed to this daily task a long time ago, to the point that it barely seemed worth noting. Similarly, she had also grown accustomed to the crowd of ponies gathered on the streets this early just to watch her raise the sun. She couldn’t see them clearly, this high up in her castle, but she imagined them all looking at her expectantly, admiration in their eyes, waiting for the moment to come.
So she opened her majestic wings and made their trip worthwhile.
Once the sun was high and secure in the sky, she folded her wings and turned to leave. The sunflower sitting on the balcony had not been moving much, she idly thought. It’s fully grown and quite a sight to behold, but the flower simply faced east all day long, seemingly unaware of its environment.
Celestia decided to have somepony paint the sunflower, then move it to the gardens. A painting hung on her bedroom wall could preserve the static beauty of the plant for a much longer time. Also, it would be facing her all the time.
Celestia walked to her throne room.
By her side was the griffin ambassador, Guy, who was somewhat surprisingly a polite and pleasant individual even by pony standards. Celestia found herself actually enjoying his company, though she couldn’t say the same for almost all the ambassadors before him.
“…And that is why, I think, recreating what we see with our eyes faithfully shouldn’t be the only goal a painter has in mind. Exaggerate! Accentuate! Beauty does exist in everything we see, but not many creatures can actually find it. That’s the true obligation of an artist: to bring out the beauty and engrave it in the mind of everycreature! Wouldn’t you agree, Your Highness?”
“Very interesting observation, Sir Guy. I’m inclined to agree with you, but my personal take on this matter is that art is only meaningful to somecreature if it can evoke strong emotions in their heart. We ponies might be emotional, but nopony can say they are attached to every single thing they see. There might be a painting that is universally accepted as beautiful, but for some, this word only means ‘pleasant to the eye’, while for others, it may mean so much more.” Celestia glanced around her, trying to find an example. “Ah, for instance, that painting of a sunflower over there.” She stopped and pointed to a painting hung high on the wall.
“Well, at this distance, it’s a little hard to admire the finer details. I can only say the colors look strikingly vibrant. May I fly up to have a closer look, Your Highness?”
“Be my guest. Some time ago a very talented artist painted this sunflower for me. The painting once served as a decoration in my bedroom, but later I felt the need to replace it with one painted by myself. My skill with a brush is nothing to speak of, but I think I can appreciate my own work a bit more.”
Celestia stood on the floor and watched the ambassador flapping his wings and mumbling in front of the painting. She was sure she didn’t need a closer look herself to answer whatever questions the griffon might have. She was quite familiar with it, after all.
Celestia sat in a chariot pulled by her pegasi guards.
Another year, another Summer Sun Celebration. This year’s event was going to be held in Fillydelphia. It was not exactly a short trip, going from Canterlot all the way to the coast, and not for the first time, she thought about potential ways to make it easier for everypony. Theoretically, she could teleport, or better yet, fly to her destination, but doing so would certainly leave her exhausted upon her arrival. Her little ponies didn’t need to see her panting and sweating.
Celestia sighed. Equestria could really use a more efficient transportation system. She had once heard about a recent invention called a train which supposedly could carry hundreds of ponies all at once at a reasonable speed. It sounded very promising, but Celestia doubted her chariot-riding days would end anytime soon. Apparently ponies loved seeing her descending from the sky, even if she hadn’t flapped her wings even once during the whole trip.
Although Celestia had never admitted it, even after all this time she still wasn’t used to flying without really flying, without feeling the air rushing through her feathers. It didn’t feel natural, but natural ponies should only have the power of one tribe, not three. Natural ponies should use their wings to fly, not to make themselves seem bigger than they actually were. Natural ponies had one power so they made the most of it; she had three but it didn’t feel like she was using any of them.
She ruffled her feathers, trying to recall the last time she flew freely. She knew better than to actually spread her wings: it would only make it harder for the chariot-pulling guards. Their job was already demanding enough.
She must have been too lost in her own thoughts to notice they were already beginning to land. Down on the ground, thousands of ponies watched the chariot attentively, their heads turning in perfect unison. She now found their motions somewhat disturbing.
Celestia and Twilight Sparkle walked the well-lit hallways of Canterlot Castle.
She didn’t tell the little filly where they were going. It was a surprise she had prepared for her student, after all. Then again, Twilight was exceptionally smart, so she might have guessed why her mentor would personally wake her up well before sunrise. She was hard working, but not an early riser.
The trip to the balcony was without incident, save for Twilight’s constant yawning. She hadn’t asked many questions, though Celestia was unsure whether it was because she wasn’t awake enough or because she already had a guess in mind and was simply waiting for confirmation. Either way, her gasp when she saw the stairs to Celestia’s bedroom tower meant she knew what was going on.
“Princess Celestia, are we… Are we going to watch the sunrise today?”
“Indeed. Twilight, you have been my student for a year now, and I’m constantly impressed by your passion and your progress. Consider this a little reward, if you will. Now come, if the sun doesn’t appear over the horizon in the next five minutes, ponies are going to worry.”
They arrived at the balcony just in time. Celestia decided against opening her wings as usual; the balcony was not very large and she had a little filly by her side today. She took a deep breath and lit her horn.
Twilight was barely higher than the railing, but still she struggled to peer over it. She watched the sun slowly rising in the east, a thoughtful expression on her face. Celestia couldn’t help but notice the filly wasn’t looking at her, unlike the ponies down in the streets below.
With the sun high in the sky, the light surrounding Celestia’s horn faded. “So, what do you think, Twilight?” She asked.
Twilight flinched. Clearly she wasn’t expecting a question, especially such a simple one. “Sorry Princess I didn’t pay too much attention I was just thinking about how much energy you need to spend in order to raise the sun although I know it’s not really a simple levitation… Silly me.” Embarrassed, she decided to turn around and nearly walked into the sunflower on the balcony.
Celestia chuckled. Twilight was a cute filly, especially when she was mortified for no good reason. Still, she had to lighten her mood quickly, or she would be downcast all day long. “It’s okay, Twilight. You reminded me, I need to water this sunflower today. Why don’t we go get some water together?”
This sunflower had been a somewhat recent addition to the balcony, though she had no idea whether it was a descendent of the original one from nearly a millennium ago. With her wait almost over, her dark and gloomy painting didn’t feel appropriate anymore, and while she couldn’t find the chance to spread her wings freely, trying to use her earth pony powers every now and then was still within her abilities.
Twilight was eager to help her mentor take care of the plant, especially after Celestia confirmed she would do it the earth pony way. After the work was done, Twilight returned to being thoughtful, but on the way to the dining room for breakfast she suddenly spoke up.
“Princess, I think it’s a really smart idea for you to keep this sunflower on your balcony.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Sunflowers follow the sun since they need all the sunlight they can get to grow, but once they mature, they don’t need to do that anymore. Only young sunflowers turn constantly, while mature sunflowers in the wilds always face east. That’s because sunflowers actually prefer sunlight in the morning over sunlight in the afternoon. Surely the balcony where you raise the sun every day would have the most glorious morning sunlight, just perfect for sunflowers!” Twilight beamed, her eyes sparkling.
Celestia extended a wing and draped it across Twilight’s back. “My faithful student, you just taught me something new. I must admit that was not my original intention; I just keep it there because I like seeing it right after sunrise,” She paused. “Thank you, Twilight, for telling me this.”
Celestia and Luna walked in the castle garden.
The faceless moon shone bright in the night sky, accompanied by a spectacular sea of stars. Luna really outdid herself this time. Even after a millennium, Celestia still couldn’t arrange the celestial bodies as artfully as her sister did. Not that she had ever put much effort into it, anyway.
Neither sister spoke, both of them deep in thought. They walked side by side through the meandering paths, hoofsteps neither heavy nor light. In other words, they walked like a normal pair of sisters would. The silence between them was a knowing one.
Finally, it was Luna who broke this silence. “Are you sure you want to do this, sister? The last few years have been… quite eventful, and no doubt it will be even more so in the near future. They might still need you. She might still need you.”
Celestia stopped, looking up at the beautiful starscape. She smiled a tired smile. “The sunflowers have to grow up eventually. But you are the moon, Luna. It is you who doesn’t have to do it.”
Luna said nothing. After several seconds, Celestia felt the warmth of her little sister’s wing on her back.
Celestia and Luna walked alongside a field of sunflowers.
The sunflowers were tall, vibrant, beautiful, and paying no heed to the setting sun over the horizon. The fact that neither Celestia’s nor Luna’s horn was lit at this time of day was of no importance to them. They just stood proudly, ready to embrace the next sunrise.
Soon, the sun vanished completely, but clouds stained by its red glow were still lighting up the sky. Celestia moved her gaze away from the horizon and took a deep breath. She heard Luna’s voice beside her. “Are you ready, Tia?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Both sisters opened their wings and took flight.