Moon's Favor

Moon's Favor

The Celestian Sun hung in the sky, marking another day to discuss the human sciences and intricacies for comparison and study.  You were Anonymous, the first Human to ever be seen on fair, equine-dominated Equestria.  How you got there was unknown, and at this point, inconsequential.  For now, you were the guest of the Royal Sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, in their capitol city of Canterlot.  The topics you discussed sprawled across all facets of humanity.  History, diet, deism, technology, the works.  Currently, you were in the Canterlot Grand Library, using the orrery to discuss the planets and stars.

"Now, the celestial bodies displayed her are akin to those near Earth, however-"

"Celestial bodies?"

You turned to the interrupting culprit.  Celestia's ears had perked up at your statement, and she eyed you with a happy curiosity.

"Yes, we collectively call the stars, planets, asteroids, and natural satellites the celestial bodies."

"How wonderful!", she titters. "Don't you agree, Luna?"

Luna shyly smiles, "Er, yes, dearest sister, wonderful."

You continue on, talking about how the solar and lunar tides affect the planet.  As you elaborate on the pull of each source, Luna seems to cheer up. Celestia pouts, and leans in slightly.

"The Sun has less affect on the tides than the Moon?", she says.  You could hear a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Well, on Earth, yes. The Moon has significantly stronger force in regards to the oceans."
You glance at the orrery, taking into account it's portrayed distances to each sphere.
"From what I can tell, however, the Moon and Sun here seem eerily the same size and distance away from the planet."

Celestia leans back and smiles. "Equality for Equestria! Splendid!"

Luna returns to looking sullen.  You go on about how your universe had several planets, but only one proven to be habitable. How your kind had sent machines to observe far away stars, look for traces of life, and so on.  The night winds on and Celestia calls to end the session.  You exit the library and head through the personal gardens towards your sleeping quarters.  Walking through the gardens, innumerable of stars dot the endless sky.

And one Moon.

A hooded figure walks up to you, and you turn to greet it.
"Princess Luna."


"How didst thou know?"

"There aren't exactly a bunch of other ponies walking around the personal royal gardens in the middle of the night with the eternal void emanating out of their dock, Princess."

Luna's eye pinprick slightly as she turns to look at the back of her cloak.  Sure enough, the bottom of her tail was bellowing out the back clear as, er, night.

"Fair enough.  As to why we are here, we had more questions about these celestial bodies thou spoke of."

You regale to her all you knew about the sky.  Each detail you give her makes her look more distraught.

"Something the matter, princess?"

Luna sighs, defeatedly.  "By right, our sister controls the Sun and we the Moon.  By extension, Celestia may at will control all the suns - all the stars- in my night sky, leaving me with only my Moon."

"So?"

"How are we supposed to compete with the entirety of the stars themselves if all we have is our Moon? How are pony folk to love us as much as our sister when we have such a meager holding?"

You try to cheer her up with some more facts. "The moon is responsible for all kinds of important things back on Earth! Most importantly, the thousands of pockets dotting its surface are from guarding the world from being dashed by countless asteroids."

Luna gives you a deadpan stare.  "Great. So our big rocks job is to catch all the little rocks that fly by. What an honor."

Well that didn't work.  Thinking hard, you try to come up with something that pony folk would like about the Moon. Something that would make them be fascinated by it. Make them love the Moon as much as the Sun.
...
Got it.

You slowly explain the concept to Luna, her heart racing at the thought of it.

"Oh, Anonymous, that's wonderful!  We will meet you tomorrow on the event grounds - thank you, thank you again!"  The Night Mare flies giddy off to her quarters, leaving you to head for yours and sleep.


It is day. Well, at least it will be in a moment.  More particularly, it's the day of the Summer Sun Celebration - one year since Luna's return.  Taking your place in an honored seat to the side of the event stage, you look upon the crowd.  Ponies from just about every corner of Equestria are here.  Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Appleoosa, Foalsom, Hoofululu - you name it. Ponyville, too, of course. Twilight and her friends reside on the other side of stage in private box marked with a sun. Celestia's, you presume.  You quickly realize you must be in Luna's, and your suspicions are confirmed by the crescent moon markings about it. It's kind of cold in there, actually, and dusty.  Come to think of it, it's stylized a bit rustic, too.  Poor mare - yet another remnant of a very long ago, but not forgotten, past.

Unfortunately your thoughts are disrupted by the trumpeters signaling the start of the celebration. Four of them just so happen to be directly outside your box. Lovely.  Cheering begins at the sound of the trumpets. From your angle, you can see Celestia exiting from a castle side door and nearing the podium.  The crowd lifts into an uproar at her presence, but it quickly subsides when she takes her position.  All kinds of ponies - young, old, local, and far off - have come to see the event.  So have you, you suppose.  Such is the power of a God's presence.

The crowd may have taken hours to form, but the "celebration" itself is rather short.  Celestia rises into the air, takes her pose, and arcs back her head to guide the Sun with her horn.  The Sun pierces the center of the statue behind her. On cue, Celestia spreads her wings wide, letting the sun's rays be splashed radiantly through them.  Then just like that, it was done. The ponies were enthralled at the sight. It was only done so gloriously once every year, after all. Foals started mingling - there was still plenty of partying and celebrating to do now that the main event was over.

But not quite.

"CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA!"

The voice boomed with the strength of a God. Not surprising, really. After all, you helped plan the introduction.

"FOR A THOUSAND YEARS SINCE WE FELL FROM GRACE, FOR A MILLENNIUM YOU HAVE WATCHED IN AWE AT THE SKY'S GRAND SPECTACLE."

The ponies looked on for their speaker, but could not find her. Celestia had taken a few steps away from the center of the podium, both concern and intrigue showing on her face.

"BUT THIS YEAR, WE HAVE RETURNED RENEWED! SET FREE FROM THE SHACKLES OF OUR MIND'S OWN ENSLAVEMENT!  THE ANNIVERSARY OF SUCH AN EVENT, THE REUNIFICATION OF SISTERS DAY AND NIGHT, CANNOT BE CELEBRATED SOLELY BY THE SUN!  NEIGH! JUST AS OUR HEARTS AND SOULS ARE REUNITED, SO SHALL OUR DUTIES BE! SO SHALL OUR CHARGES."

With that, she appeared.  Luna, wearing a shroud of night, flew through the center of the Sun Statue to stand before the crowd.  Dusk surrounded the stage as Luna flared her wings, her mane uplifted by the circling fog.

"KNOW NOW A SIGHT GREATER THAN YOUR SUN CAN CREATE. THAT ONLY THE POWER WE TWO SISTERS HOLD TOGETHER CAN FORM.  GAZE UPON THE SKY'S GREATEST CREATION!"

Luna rose, and the fog swirled in fervor.  The night froth curled and splintered to make both night and day. Half dusk, half dawn, Luna rose higher, her head arced.  As she returned her white-eyed gaze back to the public, so did her Moon return to the sky.  Matching her gaze, it set above the Sun in the statue's circlet. The Sun's rays spread about the edge's of its new, dark face. The glistening, eerie light played delicately across its edges.

It was a beautiful sight.

The ponies weren't immediate to agree. Still shocked by all of what was going on, the crowd was in a response-free stupor.  Fixable enough.  You stand up, clapping as hard as your hands will let you and as slow as you can. The Elements in the box adjacent to you pick it up first at your gaze, wholeheartedly coming to your aid and upping the clapping pace. Slowly, everyone else comes out of it. The clapping spreads, and soon the entire audience is in bedazzled bliss.  The white aura of Luna's eye's fades out. She's nearly in tears from the response. She looks to you for support.  Knowingly, you walk out of the private booth and onto the stage. Clapping the entire way, you take stand at Luna's side, make clear eye contact, and smile.  Now she's got you tearing up, too.

Standing in front of the audience, you both take your bows. The crowd is loving every second of it. Celestia walks forward from the back of the stage to her sister and bows her head.  More cheering erupts from the crowd. This is more than Luna could ever have hoped for - that you could ever have hoped for. The nighted day was perfect. Celestia turns to you.

"Whatever do you call it?"

"A solar eclipse!" you say, nearly laughing.  Tears are starting to stream down your face.  You look over the crowd and back to the Moon-covered Sun.  It's as if the moon was growing enough to fill the entire sky with its glory. As you stared through the center of the statue, light started playing over the edges, shifting in intensity.

Wait a minute.

It was shifting in intensity because the blackness of the moon was expanding beyond the center circle.  The black void and white halo stretched further into the sky. Onlookers cheered all the harder as Luna and Celestia looked towards the crowd.  But you were looking at the Moon, and you were turning pale.

The Sun and the Moon of Equestria are the same size and distance away from the planet. Equality in Equestria.  How wonderful.  The stars that dotted the night sky were all distant and dwarfed in their gravitational affect by these two perfectly balanced entities, and you just put them on the same side of the planet.

The crowd was going crazy over the sight.  Panic set into you. You rushed to Celestia and Luna and tried to explain. It took a moment to get them to stop beaming at each other and look at you.  You try to explain the situation and get them to move one of the bodies.  Luna raises and eyebrow, her lips moving.  You can't hear her over the crowd.  She can't hear you over the crowd.  You turn to the crowd and start gesturing wildly, trying to get everybody to quiet down. Nothing is getting through. No sound from any single entity can be made out.

Gravitational pull of high magnitude causes massive acceleration.  By the time the sky had darkened more than it already was for Celestia and Luna to take notice, the Sun and Moon were traveling at too high a velocity for their powers to halt.  Equestria is obliterated into the face of the Moon, and then singed to charred remains on the remnants of the Sun.  All because you tried to make Luna Happy.  All because of You.