The First Morning
"Ignorant fool! Do you really think you have the power to defeat me? I am the manifestation of darkness itself!"
"…Forgive me, Luna."
“There is no Luna, you pathetic worm. There is nothing that you can… What? No… no! N—"
"No!"
Princess Luna thrashed about as she sat up bed, her heart pounding. Her eyes darted back and forth in the darkness; only her staggered, frantic breaths cut through the silence. Her body shook for a few moments until she began to adjust to the pitch-black room. Two shelves lined the far wall, covered in dusty books and mountains of scrolls, and a fireplace long since put out still gave off the faintest radiating heat. Her head turned downwards to look at the bed in which she lay.
"Home," she quietly reminded herself in a whisper. "I'm… I'm home."
The pounding of her heart lessened into a quiet thumping as she looked at the clock on the other side of the room, reading just past five in the morning. It had only been a day since she returned to Equestria, and in that day she had been sapped of almost all her magical power, followed closely by attending several celebrations in her honor, with a long train ride back to Canterlot in between. It had been a lot to handle, and shortly after the final party ended, she went to bed, utterly exhausted.
She carefully sunk back and rested her head down on the pillow, reaching towards the tangled mess of covers and pulling them taut. She could already feel her eyes closing as she stared at the ceiling, then turned her body and dragged the covers all the way up to her neck. She had almost drifted off again when she stopped, eyes open, realizing that something important was missing.
"…Celestia?"
With no room prepared for her, Luna had laid down in Celestia’s bed the night before, and the two had fallen asleep together. Luna sat up and scanned the room again, her breathing quickening. She jumped out of the bed and circled the room to make sure she hadn't missed anything, finding no trace of Celestia. Pausing and taking long breaths to keep herself from panicking, she tried to think of anything her sister had said to her the night before; she had been by her side every moment since her return, but she now found herself completely alone.
Recalling nothing that her sister said about where she would be, Luna walked across the room and nudged the door open. Taking a peek outside, she looked left down the hallway, only seeing a seemingly endless expanse of darkness. She looked to the right and noticed a pony walking away from her.
"Excuse me!" Luna said, chasing after the stallion, who stopped and turned around. Luna opened her mouth again, but now with a better look at the guard, she stared in surprise. The guard's wings were dark, bony and webbed. His black ears frayed off into fuzzy ends and his slit eyes had a faint yellow glow to them. The guard leaned down on his front legs in a bow to the princess as she marveled at him.
Luna took a step back, staring down at the bowing guard. "I was just wondering, have you seen my sister? I woke up and she was gone," she said, her voice shaking.
The guard looked her over for a few moments, before nodding his head and saying, "Princess Celestia awoke twenty minutes ago, as she usually does to tend to her royal duties. She is up on the third floor balcony."
A long, relieved sigh escaped her lips. "Thank you," she said, prompting another nod from the guard. He turned away to continue his patrol, but Luna stepped forward. "Wait!" she called, and the guard turned back to her. "I have to ask: Are you… a sarosian?"
The guard closed his eyes and nodded. "I am."
Luna stared at him aghast, completely stunned. She shook her head, recollecting herself before speaking. "If you don't mind me asking, when did…" she trailed off, trying to find the right words, but the guard stepped forward, a look of understanding clear on his face.
"One hundred years ago, Princess Celestia orchestrated a treaty to once and for all end the conflict between Equestria and the Sarosian Empire. Over the years, some sarosians have migrated into Equestria. Many of us now serve as Lunar Guards here in Canterlot."
She shook her head. "Goodness. A thousand years ago, just before…" she trailed off and turned her head away. After taking in a long breath, she forced the memory out of her mind and turned back to the guard. "Equestrians and sarosians were on the brink of war. The very idea that there could be peace now, it is quite stunning."
The guard's eyes narrowed for a few moments, choosing his words carefully before he spoke again. "Permission to speak freely, your highness."
Luna sighed anxiously. "Of course."
He turned his head up and smiled. "Equestria has changed greatly in the past thousand years. Much of the world is now at peace, your majesty. It would be favorable of you to quickly discover what has changed."
She nodded, blushing slightly. "Yes, of course. Thank you."
As the sarosian bowed once again and returned to his route, Luna turned back and opened the door to the bedroom. She pulled it open and took one step inside, but stopped herself short as she stared around the empty room. A chill shot through her body, and she closed the door and turned around.
"Uh, excuse me, sir guard?"
Halfway down the hall the guard strolled to a stop, craning his neck back around. Luna looked down at the tile floor and scuffed a hoof at it. “Can you tell me how to get to the third floor balcony?”
---
A walk from the royal bedroom to the third floor balcony of Canterlot Castle would normally take just a few minutes. But for Luna, it took much longer than she expected. Every step she took, something in the hallway would distract her. When she had last walked down it, it had been uneven stone and basic flora, but now it was a sleek, perfectly maintained castle. Chandeliers lined the ceiling of the long, carpeted hallway with elegant drapery and stained glass windows adorning all the walls. Her pace slowed as she gaped in wonder at the hallway around her, half expecting that at any minute it would melt away to the old castle that she called home a thousand years ago.
After pausing to admire a large stained glass window on the wall, something out of the corner of her eye grabbed her attention. Outside of a large glass door at the end of the hallway, her sister, Celestia, sat on a small balcony overlooking Canterlot. Her ethereal mane gently swayed in the night air, and her head was turned up, looking towards the sky. Luna took delicate steps to the balcony door and slowly pulled it open to step onto the balcony next to her sister.
"Celestia?"
"Good morning, Luna," Celestia said without her eyes off the night sky. "How did you sleep?"
"Far better than I expected to," Luna replied, sitting down next to her. She looked up at her big sister and smiled, albeit a little surprised to see Celestia still looking into the sky.
"I’m happy to hear that. I figured you would be exhausted following everything that happened as of late."
The two sisters remained silent for a few moments before Luna slid closer to her. "Celestia? When I woke up, I ran into a sarosian. He told me that relations between Equestria and the Sarosian Empire have been mended. Is it really true?"
"Indeed it is," Celestia replied. She was about to turn her head towards Luna, but stopped herself and again turned back to the sky. "Not only is the alliance a peaceful one, but many sarosians now live and work in Equestria. You'll find that the Lunar Guards are comprised almost entirely of sarosians, thanks to their nimble flying and echolocation abilities."
Luna slowly leaned her head down, turning away. "Equestrians and sarosians are living in peace now... So much has changed, and I was gone for all of it..."
"I wish I could disagree, but you have missed much," Celestia replied. A smile slowly appeared on her face. "For example, one thing that has changed is that many ponies now embrace the night."
Luna's eyes widened and she enthusiastically looked back to Celestia. "R-really?"
"Oh, yes. Ponies now see the night as a time not to just sleep and relax, but go out and be with friends and family. Music, dancing, theater: such businesses are now often run at night. Technology has also advanced to help illuminate the night in certain areas. Remind me to take you to Las Pegasus at some point; they call it ‘the cloud that never sleeps.’"
Luna smiled at the thought, bringing her gaze towards the sky as if trying to find the cloud herself. Upon realizing it wasn’t there, she sighed, quietly muttering to herself, “Everything’s just so different now...”
"I'll help to catch you up on as much as I can."
Luna looked back up at Celestia, but it faltered when she saw that her sister’s gaze had not wavered from the sky once during their conversation. Luna shuffled closer to Celestia again, her eyes narrowing in concern.
"Celestia, is everything alright? Have I done something wrong?"
"Nothing of the sort, Luna. You haven't done anything wrong."
There was a long pause until Luna shook her head. "But why haven't you looked at me?"
Celestia let out a sympathetic sigh. "I do apologize, Luna. I assure you, it's nothing you have done. I'm just... this morning, I decided to do something that I haven't done for a thousand years."
"What would that be?"
"Admire the moon."
Luna went quiet, and involuntarily tilted her own head to look at the moon hanging low in the early morning sky, faintly illuminating the ground far below Canterlot castle. She stared at it for a few seconds, shivers overtaking her as more memories from a thousand years ago rushed to her. Trying to force the thoughts out of her head, she said, "You... haven't looked at the moon in a millenium?"
“I have certainly looked at the moon; I've had to for the duties of raising and lowering it every day," Celestia replied, her voice getting quieter. "But it has been so long since I took the time to really appreciate it. I had forgotten how amazing it is, Luna. The light it gives off, the way it illuminates the darkness... it's just so beautiful, so majestic."
As Celestia went quiet again, Luna stared up at her, then returned her own gaze to the moon. After a few seconds of silence, something shot through Luna's mind: darkness. Memories of past conflicts with her sister, which escalated from disagreements to jealousy and anger. Images of the twisted corruption that resulted in a rage-filled war between the two of them that threatened to tear Equestria apart. Images of a final confrontation between them, where Celestia had turned to one final drastic measure to end it once and for all.
Images of a thousand years of nothingness.
Trying to force the memories from her mind, Luna looked away from the moon and towards Celestia, but found that her sister's gaze was still with the sky. A violent shudder ran down her spine, and she leaned in closer to Celestia. Her trembling hoof reached up towards her sister, but she pulled it away in fear that Celestia wouldn't want to be disturbed. After several moments, Celestia spoke up again.
"You know, Luna, I truly believed that I would never appreciate the moon again. Long ago, I accepted the fact that raising and lowering the moon would simply be a duty. Any time that I looked up at it, I saw a dark blemish on it. I saw… your face."
Luna, still shivering, tried once more to look up at the moon, but turned away as soon as she saw it. Sniffling, she tried to get the tremors in her body to stop, but nothing seemed to be working. She opened her mouth to talk again, but Celestia's voice interrupted her before she could say anything.
"I had long accepted that I would never admire the moon again, Luna. But then, something happened."
Celestia sighed, tilting her head downwards. She scuffed a hoof into the ground and continued, her voice notably faint. "Something happened that I never once conceived, Luna. Something that I had long since given up on."
Luna stared at Celestia, taking short breaths to keep herself composed. She tried to speak, but all she was able to get out was, "Celestia…"
"When I woke up this morning…" Celestia trailed off, then finally turned to look at her sister for the first time, causing Luna to gasp. Celestia's eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks and muzzle stained with dry tears. Her lips quaked as more tears welled up in her eyes staring at Luna, and when she finally spoke, her voice was but a quivering whisper.
"…You were there."
Celestia gulped, and before Luna could react, she leapt at her, wrapping her younger sister in a tight hug. Luna’s shivers disappeared as she returned the embrace, burying her face in Celestia’s flowing mane and sniffling.
"I m-missed you so much, Luna. I missed you s-so very, v-very much. I l-love you more th-than life itself," Celestia said through choked sobs, pulling her sister in closer as she gently nuzzled Luna's cheek. "We'll never be apart again, Luna. N-never."
Luna pulled her head away from Celestia, only managing to say, “I love you too," before she went quiet. For minutes, neither sister moved, nor did they speak: they couldn't. They remained locked in the close embrace, neither one willing to be the first to let go, both afraid that if they did, the other would disappear into the night, never to be seen again. Even as the tears dried, neither broke the hug, sitting in silence and quietly nuzzling each other.
Finally, Celestia reluctantly let go of Luna, smiling into her sister's eyes for a few moments before returning her sight up to the starry sky. Slowly, Luna looked up at the moon as well, no longer feeling the chills that had been running through her body since she stepped out onto the balcony. A minute passed before Luna felt her eyelids start to droop, and she let out a long yawn.
Celestia looked down at her little sister. "You should go back to bed, Luna."
Luna shook her head. "I don’t want to."
"Luna, you need to regain your strength. It's best if you sleep in this morning."
Luna's head lowered back to the ground. "B-but… I wanted to watch your sunrise…"
Celestia remained quiet for a moment before kneeling down in front of Luna, placing her hoof on her shoulder and staring into her eyes. "Luna, the sun will rise tomorrow, and the day after that. The sun will rise every day for many, many years to come." Celestia paused, smiling and pulling Luna in closer. "And you are going to be here for every single one of them, Luna. All of them. But for now, you need to rest."
Luna nodded her head in understanding, finally breaking away from Celestia and walking towards the door back into the castle. As she opened it, she was surprised to hear the sound of hoof steps coming from behind her. She turned around to find Celestia right by her side.
"Celestia? What are you doing?"
Celestia smiled. "I'm coming back to bed with you, of course."
"But don't you have royal duties to attend to?"
Luna's question was met with a head shake. "Luna, there is no duty in all of Equestria that would take me away from your side.”
The two slowly trotted through the hallways of Canterlot Castle, with guards and maids bowing down to the two royal sisters. As they arrived back at the bedroom, Luna smiled at the sarosian guard, who responded with a deep bow again, this time looking up with his own smile. She stepped into the bedroom, barely able to keep her eyes open, and she nearly collapsed on the bed. She reached out for the covers, but before she could grab them, a golden glow enveloped them, and they floated up over the bed. Celestia curled up in bed next to her sister, then raised a single majestic wing.
Luna scooted over, cuddling up against Celestia's body as the wing descended and wrapped around her. It only took a few moments for Luna to fall back asleep, the smile still on her face as her head nuzzled Celestia. Looking down at her sister, Celestia felt a knot form in her throat, and as the covers of the bed descended on them, she leaned in and gently kissed her sister on the forehead.
"You were there, Luna… and you'll always be there. I promise."
Celestia turned her head up to the window at the side of the room, her horn giving off a bright yellow glow. After a few moments, the moon began its trek downwards through the night sky. She waited to make sure it was fully in motion before laying her head down on the pillow, reaching her right hoof around and laying it on top of her beloved sister. In just a few minutes, Celestia had fallen asleep as well, and the two reunited sisters remained together in one more embrace as the first rays of the morning sun peaked out over the horizon, slashing through the darkness and illuminating the Equestrian landscape.
----------
Special Thanks: Props, Worsty, Raz, and Ponky