She hadn't seen her sister since she lowered the moon that morning. She had said she was working on something top-secret for a few weeks now, but recently she had disappeared into the library after she finished her lunar duties. Celestia hadn't worried about it too much, but she was starting to miss playing with her dear sister during the day.
That was why she was making her way through the palace, maneuvering through the various wings to find where her sister had disappeared to today. She had mentioned something about being almost done with whatever it was she was working on, and Celestia was eager to find out just what was so important that her sister wouldn't even tell her about it.
The subtle sound of her hooves hitting the floor echoed off the walls and high ceilings, causing her to look behind her occasionally, the echo being indiscernible from the guards' hoofsteps.
The hallway opened into a large, round room, the walls adorned with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, with books covering every topic from anatomy to Equestrian History.
In a far section was a small table, barely large enough for a filly, let alone the dark-blue alicorn that sat there. Several pieces of parchment littered the floor, along with stacks of astrology books.
Celestia levitated a scrunched-up piece of parchment in front of her, looking at the hastily-drawn pattern.
"Working on connect-the-dots, Lulu?" Celestia asked, playfully taunting her sister with a nickname she knew her sister disliked. "That doesn't seem so important to warrant your disappearance every day for a month."
"Well, Celly," Luna grumbled back, "We've actually been working on something special for our subjects. Our night sky is so drab, so boring. We decided to take the stars and organize them into patterns. Almost like connect-the-dots, but on a much larger scale."
Celestia grabbed a few more pieces of parchment with her magic, pulling them to hover in front of her. "This one looks like an Ursa Minor. And this one, a… Is it a hydra, or a fork?"
"It's a hydra," Luna said, feigning hurt, as she grabbed the pages from her sister and set them back on the table.
"I'm sure the ponies will love your idea. I for one think it's stellar," she said, trying to keep from chuckling at her joke. "Though, I must ask, what are you going to call these patterns?"
"Well, we hadn't really thought of that," Luna replied, looking at the ground. Suddenly, inspiration struck her. "Constellations! We'll name them constellations. 'Con', meaning 'with', and your joke about being a 'stellar' idea. So, adding it together should mean 'with brilliance', which is just what we thought the idea was!"
"Huh. So, are these the only patterns you're making?" the elder asked, noting the simplicity and elegance in each design.
"Of course not, 'Tia. We are working on the most extraordinary constellations for the enjoyment of our citizens!"
"Okay then, Lulu. Well, if you need any help, just ask," Celestia offered, turning around and walking back to her quarters. As she reached the door, she turned back to Luna. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it, seeing how happy this idea made her sister.
The nights passed, and slowly, Luna rearranged the stars. The changes were extremely subtle, each star only moving a few degrees a night. The lunar princess didn't want to make any extremely dramatic changes, as the slight movement of stars was a huge drain on her magic. She also didn't want the constellations known until their unveiling on the winter solstice. She knew the night was the longest then, so everyone would have a chance to see her marvelous work.
As the solstice neared, Luna put the final touches on her constellations, highlighting each one with duller stars, putting emphasis on the layout of the brighter stars. When she believed her work to be complete, she lowered her moon to make way for her sister's warming sun, eager for the next night, when her completed work would be on display for all of her subjects to see.
As tired as she was, she couldn't sleep that day, ready to hear the compliments for her works of art. She sat on the balcony, overlooking a nearby town. She watched as the ponies went about their daily business, dashing between buildings for groceries. Pegasi zipped around both the castle and the town, moving rain clouds to their designated areas.
Day quickly became night, and Celestia went to stand by her sister as she lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon, bringing her glorious constellations with it. She looked eagerly towards the sky, seeing all of her work pay off in what she thought was beauty at its finest. She then looked to the town, anxious to see the reactions of the ponies, both in the nearby city, and in the town at the base of the mountain.
As she looked over the homes, her smile faded, and then became a frown, then a scowl. The lights in the houses went out one by one, until not a single light could be seen, except for the dim light from the moon.
Everypony was already asleep. They hadn't even bothered to stay awake for her night, let alone the unveiling of her constellations.
"Nopony noticed our work," she muttered, disappointment slowly turning to rage. "Nopony even cares about our night, do they?" she thought, slowly coming to despise the ponies below.
"Maybe they had long days, Lulu," Celestia tried, attempting to gauge how angry her sister was.
"Yeah, right. Maybe they'll wake up before sunrise and see it," came the hollow reply. Luna's scowl disappeared as a thought crossed her mind. "Maybe they went to sleep early so they can wake up and see it before their day begins, to be able to see the beauty and truly have time to appreciate it."
"That's the spirit, Lulu! Come on, let's go get something to eat. You've been out here all day. I'm sure you're hungry. Plus, I heard the chefs were making some of my favorite carrot cake."
"Tia, do you really need any more sweets?" Luna asked, playfully nudging Celestia's stomach.
"Lulu, I'm hurt. You're calling your big sister fat," she replied, not even trying to hide her laughter. "I try my hardest to stay in shape. We can't all look like bean stalks."
"We know. But we can," Luna laughed, finishing the exchange.
As they turned to walk to the dining hall, Luna looked up to her sister. "Hey Tia?"
"Yes, Lulu?"
"Please don't call me 'Lulu'."
The pair continued to the dining hall, tossing jokes back and forth and laughing the whole way.
After finishing their late-night snacks (Celestia's being the aforementioned carrot cake), they made their way back to the balcony and prepared to do their respective jobs.
Luna looked over the houses for a second time, hoping in spite of herself that she would see at least one pony outside that would admire her work. As she expected, though, she didn't see anypony. Lowering her head to rest on the balcony, she lowered her moon, using it as a distraction to keep from crying.
Celestia dutifully raised her sun, trying to find some way to comfort her sister.
"Luna, I…"
"They… They missed it. They overslept," she choked out, sniffling slightly. "All my hard work… For nothing."
"Luna, I'm sorry," the older sister said. "It's my fault. I'm sorry that I had to raise the sun before anypony could see your work."
"You know, Celestia," Luna whispered, just loud enough so Celestia could hear her, "maybe the night should last forever. Maybe then our work would be appreciated," she finished, turning and rushing to her room to avoid crying in front of her sister. She ran, not wanting to see the sky any more that night.
~1000 Years Later~
Celestia lowered her head, the strain from raising the sun not getting any easier over time. "Maybe I should give Luna back her moon. She's been back for over a year, I'm sure she can be trusted with it," she thought, deciding to find Luna and ask her what she thought.
She walked through the halls, checking each room for her younger sister.
Checking all the other rooms, she arrived in the library. There, in a far back corner, Luna sat, torn pieces of parchment thrown about haphazardly.
"Luna, what are you doing in here?" Celestia asked, noticing the dour look on Luna's face.
"Tia, remember back when we created our constellations?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
"Of course. Such things of beauty, how could I forget?"
"Why did nopony see them?" she asked sadly.
Celestia knew exactly why, but didn't want to answer out of fear of angering her sister any more. "I guess they just had a long day that day."
"Yeah, sure," she said, sighing heavily and turning away from her elder sister.
"So, what's with all the torn papers?" Celestia asked, trying to change the subject.
"Nothing, Tia. Just leave us be. Please." Luna replied grumpily.
"Okay then. If you need anything, just let me know," the elder sister replied as she turned and walked away almost silently.
"Hmm. Maybe Twilight can help get Luna to open up," she thought, trotting to her room to send a letter.
My Faithful Student,
Lately, my dear sister has been a bit reclusive, only leaving the library to eat. I was wondering if you could come to Canterlot and try to get her to open up.
Your teacher,
Princess Celestia
The letter sent, Celestia returned to her throne, waiting for the day's audience to begin arriving.
The audience seekers came and went, the day quickly coming to a close. As the last pony left, one of the day guards came to inform Celestia that she had a visitor. She told the pegasus to let her in, and sent the pegasus to fetch her guest.
The guard returned, leading a purple unicorn to the throne before returning to his last patrol.
"Princess, I came as soon as I got your letter. What can I do to help?" she asked, looking at her teacher with concern.
"As I said, my sister, Princess Luna, has stayed in the library all day and night. I can't figure out why she's so upset. I thought that you might be able to help her."
"Of course. You don't have to worry at all. I will see what I can do. Plus, I would love to talk to her about her night sky," the unicorn said, turning and walking off toward the library.
"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia thought, focusing on lowering the sun and raising the moon.
Luna heard the hoofsteps down the hall, but didn't bother looking for the source, opting instead to just lay there and hope the sound would pass by. The steps just got louder, until the came to a stop in front of her.
"Princess Luna? It's me, Twilight Sparkle."
"We guess Celestia sent you? Don't take this the wrong way, but we would rather not be bothered right now," Luna mumbled.
"Okay. But, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. I won't take long, I promise."
"Very well. What do you want?" Luna asked, still irritable.
"How did you come up with the idea for stars?" Twilight asked, pulling a quill and parchment from her saddlebags.
Luna obviously perked up at hearing interest in one of her creations. "Well, everypony always stayed out during the day. We thought that if we created small, sun-like lights, more ponies would stay awake and like our night. Needless to say, it didn't go over too well," she finished, lowering her head again.
"And what about your constellations? You can't expect me to believe that they were accidental," Twilight continued, writing a few more notes before looking at Luna expectantly.
"No. They weren't. We spent months perfecting each pattern, switching around stars to accent the constellations. Unfortunately, those weren't even appreciated. On the night we were going to unveil our hard work, everypony went to sleep early. From what we've read, the constellations weren't even noticed until one hundred years after our banishment," Luna grumbled, remembering how few ponies ever noticed her art.
"But they're so beautiful. How could nopony notice them?" Twilight asked, shocked that the constellations could go unnoticed for so long.
"We don't know. We never figured it out. We thought they would enjoy them. We guess we were wrong."
"Well, maybe you can show me how you made them some time. I would love to hear about what spells you used," Twilight said, replacing her quill and parchment. "I'll be on the castle grounds for a few days if you want to talk. I had wanted to come to Canterlot anyway, and this gave me the perfect opportunity."
"Thank you, Twilight. Maybe we can talk some time," Luna replied, returning her head to the table.
As Twilight left, Luna dozed off, tired from reading all day.
The next morning, Luna awoke early, and flew up to the highest balcony on the castle, so she could get a good look at the stars before her sister lowered the moon again.
The sun came up inevitably, signaling for Luna to go back inside. Before she got a chance to go, she looked back, inspiration striking her. She dashed back to her quarters, almost eager to put her plan into action.
Through the day, and long into the night, she stayed in the library, marking star locations, plotting possible movements, remapping her constellations.
When she finished, she looked back on her work, pleased with how well it turned out. She thought that everypony would enjoy this.
"But nopony even noticed our constellations when we made those," she thought, her happiness fading back into herself, replaced with her usual sadness.
Just then, Celestia walked in, trying to find Luna for an early breakfast. "There you are, Lulu. I was just heading for the dining hall to have breakfast and catch up with Twilight. Would you like to join us?"
"No thanks," Luna replied sullenly.
"What do you have there?" Celestia asked, noting all the dots and arrows on the page.
"We are forming the most precious of meteor showers," she said. "For ourselves, of course. It's not like anypony else will see it."
Luna stood up, placed the parchment in her saddlebag, and walked off, heading for her room.
"Luna…" Celestia started, and then stopped herself, thinking it better to leave Luna to her thoughts. Rather than follow her sister, she continued to the dining hall.
Luna stayed in her room most of the day looking over her plans, wanting to make sure they were perfect. She hated to see even the most private of plans go wrong, and would hate for anypony else to see something go wrong, on the slight chance that anypony saw it to begin with.
As the sun began its downward descent, Luna left her room and flew up to the balcony. She waited there until Celestia finally raised the moon, so she could begin her work.
Carefully, she reached out with her magic and grasped as many space rocks as she could, and began pulling them across the night sky, sending surges of magic through the rocks, causing them to break apart as they flew, leaving multi-colored trails in their wake. When she believed the rocks would continue on their own, she retracted her magic and let them continue their arcing path.
Far below, much to her shock, she heard a collective gasp below, as though every pony in the kingdom saw her work and had the same reaction.
"They saw it? Well, I might as well give them a complete show," she thought, reaching out with her magic until she had several constellations' worth of stars in her power. She then began moving each star, rearranging them in different areas of the sky, causing dark blue paths from her magic to trail behind them, weaving what almost looked like a fireworks display in the night sky.
The show continued, Luna becoming more elegant and fluid with her movement of objects, until discernible patterns were made of the trails, along with the reformation of her constellations.
As she finished her display, she heard the sound of multiple ponies, from both nearby Canterlot, and what she assumed was the town of Ponyville, clapping their hooves together and cheering. She looked up, and enjoyed the pattern she had made of the main stars in each constellation.
Suddenly, she became aware of the presence of somepony behind her. She turned, and came face to face with her elder sister.
Celestia beamed at Luna and her beautiful display. "Congratulations, Luna," she said, wrapping one of her forelegs around the younger lunar princess.
"They… They saw our work. And they liked it!" she exclaimed, her shock becoming a grin, and then a smile that seemingly stretched from ear-to-ear.
"About time, don't you think dear sister?" Celestia said, leaning over and touching horns with Luna. Her horn flashed a brilliant white, and when she lifted her head, Luna suddenly felt a great pressure in the back of her skull. A pressure she hadn't felt in a thousand years.
"Tia… Really?" Luna asked, trying to adjust to the new pressure.
"You've earned it, Princess Luna," she said, a proud, almost motherly smile on her face.
"We thank you, Tia," Luna replied, wrapping her forelegs around Celestia.
Far above them, the image of the lunar princess adorned the sky, her smile made of only the brightest stars.